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alyssaforevermore · 10 months ago

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Unearthed ↦ Daryl Dixon season one, part two

Synopsis: Based on the events of The Walking Dead television series, Y/N Grimes, younger sister of Rick Grimes, attempts to survive in a world now inhabited by walkers. Family has always meant everything to her, but in this new world, can she keep her family safe and together?

Show: The Walking Dead (S1-S11)

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x fem!Reader

Warnings: coarse language, violence, character deaths, drug and alcohol references, series spoilers and general The Walking Dead content warnings!

Tags: @1ivinqdeadqir1 @callmeyn @thegeorgiahuntsman @mellxander1993 @bigbaldheadname @cjmonsterwolf @abbi23323 @actuallyklee

Masterlist

Later that night, you sat around the campfire with your family and other members of the camp. Rick was recounting his journey here, but you couldn’t quite seem to focus on anything he was saying.

You couldn’t get that look on Shane’s face out of your head; the one when he saw your brother. No matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t explain it away. That feeling twisting in your stomach, making you question what Shane had told you that night. Had he simply made a mistake or was there something more to the story?

It killed you to question him; he had saved your life, after all. He had saved the life of your entire family. Rick had been his best friend their entire lives and you had to believe Shane would never just lie about something like that.

“I felt like I’d been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else.” Rick spoke. “For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever.”

Carl’s response finally grabbed your full attention. “Mom said you died.”

You looked at Shane, his face white as a ghost as his eyes were fixed on your brother.

Rick nodded, his voice soft. “She had every reason to believe that. Don’t you ever doubt that.”

“When things started getting really bad, they told us at the hospital that they were going to medevac you and other patients to Atlanta, but it never happened.” Lori spoke up.

“Well, I’m not surprised after Atlanta fell.” Rick responded. “From the look of that hospital, it got overrun.”

“Yeah, looks don’t deceive.” Shane finally spoke up. “I barely got them out, you know?”

Rick looked at you, his lips curled downwards. “Were you there when-“

You shook your head. “I had a shift that evening, but I hadn’t stayed there that night.”

This was the first time since the fall that you wished you had been there. Rick was alive all this time; you kept thinking about how if you’d stayed, maybe you could have felt a pulse that Shane didn’t. Maybe you could have gotten your brother out of there. Maybe, just maybe, you would’ve never left to begin with.

Rick’s eyes shifted to Shane, a small smile forming across his face. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can’t begin to express it.”

Dale smiled, leaning back in his seat. “There go those words falling short again. Paltry things.”

The sound of a log being dropped into a nearby fire caught your attention. You glanced over at the Peletiers, Ed sitting back down in his seat. Every night since you’d all arrived here, he had insisted that his family have their own fire. He wanted to keep Carol and their daughter Sophia as far away from the rest of you as possible, and you knew why. It made your blood boil.

“Hey, Ed,” Shane spoke up. “You want to rethink that log?”

“It’s cold, man.” Ed responded.

“The cold don’t change the rules, does it?” Shane huffed. “Keep our fires low, just embers so we can’t be seen from a distance, right?”

“I said it’s cold. You should mind your own business for once.”

Clenching your fists, you went to stand up but stopped as Shane gave you a knowing look. Instead, he stood and walked over to Ed.

“Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?” Shane asked, his eyes darting towards Carol and then back at Ed.

Ed thought for a moment, finally giving in. “Go on. Pull the damn thing out.”

Carol nodded, standing from her seat and quickly pulling the log from the fire. Shane shook his head, mumbling under his breath as he stomped the flames out. Finally, he knelt down in front of Carol and Sophia.

“How are y’all this evening?”

“We’re just fine.” Carol gave a small smile. “I’m sorry about the fire.”

Shane shook his head. “No apology needed. Y’all have a good night, okay?”

“Thank you.”

Shane stood back up. “I appreciate the cooperation.” He spoke to Ed before heading back over to his own seat.

Dale cleared his throat, everyone having clearly been watching the situation as intensely as you had. “Have you all given any more thought to Daryl Dixon? He won’t be happy to hear his brother was left behind.”

“I’ll tell him.” T-Dog announced. “I dropped the key. It’s on me.”

“I cuffed him.” Rick noted. “That makes it mine.”

“Guys, it’s not a competition.” Glenn spoke up. “I don’t mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy.”

T-Dog shook his head. “I did what I did. Hell if I’m gonna hide from it.”

“We could lie.” Amy suggested.

“We need to tell him the truth.” Andrea responded. “Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's.”

“Is that really going to help matters?” You asked. “We know Daryl isn’t going to be rational about this. It’s his brother. Hell, if I knew someone left Rick behind to die, nothing would stop me.”

You glanced at Shane out of the corner of your eye, him swallowing hard at your comment.

“I was scared and I ran. I’m not ashamed.” T-Dog said.

“We were all scared. We all ran. What’s your point?” Andrea asked.

“I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It’s not enough to break through that… Not that chain, not that padlock. My point is, Dixon’s still alive and he’s still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That’s on us.”

The camp went silent, everyone reflecting on the conversation. Nobody really wanted to tell Daryl anything; he was a loose cannon, but nowhere near as bad as Merle. You just hoped that nobody would get hurt.

…

The next morning had started off fairly slow, everyone partially looking over their shoulders, anxiously waiting for Daryl to return. You stood by as Dale and a few other men took apart the car that Glenn had come back in. He was clearly devastated by the scene, his arms folded across his chest.

You felt a hand on your shoulder, almost causing you to jump out of your skin. “Good morning.” Rick spoke, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Good morning.” You smiled, pulling yourself together. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I have in days.” He chuckled.

Glenn let out a huff, his arms falling to his sides. “Look at ‘em. Vultures.” Dale looked back at him, shaking his head. “Yeah, go on, strip it clean.”

“Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn.” Dale responded, carrying on his work.

“I thought I’d get to drive it for at least a few more days.”

“Maybe we’ll get to steal another one someday.” Rick smiled, before turning to you. “Have you seen Lori?”

You nodded. “I think she was folding laundry. I should probably join her.”

You lead Rick towards where Lori was standing, taking clothes off of the clothes line and folding them before placing them in neat piles.

“Morning officer.” Lori smiled, noticing her husband coming up behind you.

Rick smiled, kissing his wife on the cheek. “Good morning.”

“Did you sleep okay?”

You began to help Lori, zoning out in the process. You always found peace in household chores. Just sitting in your living room folding laundry was one of the only times you didn’t really need to think; your job already took up enough of your brain power. It was now an escape from the worries that constantly plagued your mind.

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Lori spoke, her voice hushed but pointed enough to grab your attention once more.

Rick swallowed hard. “I’m asking you.”

Before Rick had been shot, you knew of his constant arguments with Lori. He had always been cautious not to speak to you about it, but you were sometimes present for those moments. When Rick had found you all again against all odds, you had really hoped the arguing was behind them.

“Well, I think it’s crazy.” Lori responded, folding her arms over her chest. “I think it’s just about the stupidest way to break your son’s-“

Screams echoed across camp, your ears locking onto Carl’s voice calling for his mother.

“Carl?” Lori asked, her eyes darting across camp to try and figure out where the screams had come from.

Everyone sprung into action, grabbing weapons and rushing into the woods. You had managed to grab a wrench from Dale’s tool kit.

It wasn’t too long before you came across Carol, Sophia and Carl.

“Dad!” Carl called out, rushing into Lori’s arms.

Lori fell to her knees, caressing Carl’s face. “Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?”

Carl shook his head, letting go of her. “No, I’m okay.”

Rick, Shane, Glenn, Jim, Morales and Dale continued further into the woods, you trailing close behind with a wrench in hand.

You reached a small clearing, seeing a man hunched over the body of a deer. The sound of snarling filled your ears, urging you to position your wrench to swing at any moment.

The men began to circle the scene before them, catching the attention of the walker. His snarling intensified as a piece of the deer’s meat fell from his hands.

Rick took the first swing, hitting the walker in the head with his shovel. When that wasn’t enough, everyone else joined in, hitting it with as much force as they could muster. Finally, Dale took a swing with his ax, taking the walker’s head clean off.

Everyone struggled to catch their breath, you knelt over with your hands on your knees.

“That’s the first one we’ve had up here.” Dale commented. “They never come this far up the mountain.”

“They’re running out of food in the city.” Jim spoke, wiping sweat off of his forehead.

You let out a sigh. “What does this mean for us? Are we even safe up here anymore?”

“It’s just one, right?” Glenn asked. “Maybe this is a one off.”

“We should still have a bit more time before more make their way up here, at the very least.” Dale responded.

Shane nodded. “We should start thinking more about safety measures, getting traps and tripwire signals set up.”

A twig snapped behind you, earning everyone’s attention as they held their weapons high once again. After a few moments, a familiar face poked his head out from behind the brush. Daryl.

“Oh, Jesus.” Shane huffed, lowering his gun.

“Son of a bitch, that’s my deer!” The man snapped, walking towards it. “Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!” Daryl kicked the body of the walker with each word.

“Calm down, son.” Dale said. “That’s not helping.”

“What do you know about it, old man?” Daryl asked, getting into his face. “Why don’t you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?”

You shook your head. This was typical any time Daryl or Merle were around. You had begun to get used to the peace around camp without them here.

“I’ve been tracking this deer for miles.” Daryl bent down, grabbing his arrows from the deer. “Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?”

Shane shook his head. “I would not risk that, man.”

Daryl nodded. “That’s a damn shame. I got some squirrel—about a dozen or so. That’ll have to do for now.”

You looked back at the severed head of the walker, his teeth smashing together. Amy, who stood off to the side with Andrea, let out a gasp as she turned away.

“Come on, people. What the hell?” Daryl asked, loading up his crossbow and shooting the walker in the head. “It’s gotta be the brain. Don’t y’all know nothing?”

Daryl turned away, following Amy and Andrea back towards camp. You and Rick shared a knowing look, joining everyone in heading back there as well.

This was it.

“Merle!” Daryl called out, entering the main camp area. “Merle, get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrels, let’s stew them up.”

“Daryl, just slow up a bit.” Shane spoke, his voice calm. “I need to talk to you.”

Daryl turned to face him, his eyebrow arched. “About what?”

“About Merle. There was a—there was a problem in Atlanta.”

“Is he dead?”

“We’re not sure.”

Daryl shook his head. “He either is or he ain’t.”

Rick stepped forward, getting between Daryl and Shane. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it.”

“Who are you?”

“Rick Grimes.”

“Rick Grimes,” Daryl huffed. “You got something you want to tell me?”

“Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He’s still there.”

Hold on, let me process this.” Daryl stepped back, facing away from everyone as he wiped his eyes. It took a moment before he turned back to Rick. “You’re saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?”

“Yeah.”

Without missing a beat, Daryl flung the rope of squirrels at Rick before rushing to tackle him. Shane jumped into action, body slamming him to the ground. Daryl then pulled out a knife, swinging it back and forth at the two men. Rick was able to sneak in a gut punch, allowing for Shane to get Daryl into a choke hold.

“You’d best let me go!” Daryl yelled, thrashing his body.

Shane shook his head. “I think it’s better if I don’t.”

“Choke hold’s illegal.” Daryl spoke through gasps.

“You can file a complaint.” Shane responded, Daryl continuing to thrash in his arms. “Come on, man. We can do this all day.”

Rick knelt in front of Daryl, looking him in the eyes. “I’d like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?”

Daryl thought for a moment, before choking out a quiet “Yeah.” Shane looked to Rick for reassurance before letting the man go.

“What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others.” Rick began.

“It’s not Rick’s fault.” T-Dog chimed in. “I had the key and I dropped it.”

“You couldn’t pick it up?”

“Well, I dropped it in a drain.”

Daryl shook his head. “If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it don’t.”

“Well, maybe this will.” You responded, earning the looks of your fellow camp members. “T-Dog chained the door to the roof, right? With a padlock.”

Rick nodded. “That's gotta count for something.”

“To hell with all y’all!” Daryl snapped. “Just tell me where he is so I can go get him.”

“He’ll show you.” Lori spoke up, looking at her husband. “Isn’t that right?”

Rick stared at his wife for a moment before finally nodding. “I’m going back.”

“Like hell you are.” You snapped.

Lori shook her head, storming off towards the RV.

Rick stepped towards you. “I have to.”

You shook your head, stepping away from your brother. In this moment, you felt like you were losing him all over again.

----

AN: Thank you for reading this chapter, I really hope you all enjoyed it! I originally intended to end this one with them getting to Atlanta, but this chapter was way to long already. We will follow that rescue mission in chapter three! If you'd like to request to be tagged in future chapters, you can do so here. Please be sure to like and reblog <3

#daryl dixon; unearthed #twd #twd fanfiction #twd fanfic #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x you

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teambyler · 8 months ago

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"Byler Endgame, One Episode at a Time" - s5e3

Plot beats and scenes leading to a Byler endgame, one episode at a time, for Season 5 of Stranger Things. (This is just for fun! I have no insider knowledge!)

Also see Part 0, where I explain what I think a Byler Endgame has to address. Link to the previous episode.

s5e3

TIME JUMP. It’s September and school’s about to start.

Will and El are extra close this summer, and the group plays D&D when it can. Robin helps him like himself more, and gets him to her hairstylist (“You think this just accidentally looks great and messy?”).Will’s artist instincts kick in, he starts to get a new wardrobe.

Wavy-haired Will starts the new school year, with a new look and more confident. Girls hit on Will. Dustin and Lucas egg him on. Will has eye contact with a BOY. The girlfriend of Bully #1 is into Will, and Bully #1 notices. Will tells Mike he’s getting all this attention. Mike snaps and says to focus on the A plot.

“A PLOT” DEVELOPMENTS. Danger escalates against Will (Will’s welfare is the focus this season just like in s1 and s2).

The boy and Will eye each other again. Will walks up to him and strikes a conversation. The boy looks immediately excited and then reserved. Will asks if he likes D&D, the arcade, etc. They agree to go to the arcade afterschool, and they both give flirty smiles. The boy is actually Bully #1’s circle, who notices and starts heading over. Will sees him. “Actually I have something, maybe some other time?” He leaves. Bully #1 confronts the other boy. “What the hell was that?” Zoom into the boy, who looks scared to say what actually just happened…

After school the next day, Mike and Will are about to leave the school grounds. The bullies confront Will. Bully #1: “Hey I hear you were asking him out on a date? Can we all go?” Mike tells them to back off, and he prods Mike hard in the chest. Will immediately pushes Bully #1 back. They tackle Will and start to pummel Will badly while calling him gay slurs, and Mike jumps in to defend him and he gets punched in the face. Mike immediately starts yelling for help. El arrives and uses her powers in front of people in the school. This backs the bullies off but makes the bullies surer than ever that they’re into satanic stuff.

The party arrives and bandages their wounds. Mike puts his arm around Will’s shoulder and they go home. His dad Ted overhears them in the basement. Mike: “Stupid mouth breathers. Are you sure you’re okay, Will?” “The pain’s okay. I’ll get over it. “I’m not talking about that… The mean things they called you.” Will: “I’m… alright? I mean, it’s not like I haven’t heard it before.” Will falls asleep and Mike leaves the basement. Ted sees Mike’s black eye and freaks out. “What just happened!? What the hell is going on here!?” “Shouldn’t you be asking if we’re okay?” “What were you and Will doing?” Mike looks at his dad, “None of your damn business.” Mike storms to his room and slams the door.

The next morning, Will wakes up in the basement, and Mike is there by his side reading a D&D book. Will thanks Mike for always being there. Mike shakes his head: “I didn’t do much for you yesterday.” “You couldn’t have. You did the right thing, getting help.” Will meant always being there when he was possessed, just always being there. Mike puts his hand on Will’s shoulder: “I’m your friend. Of course I’ll be there.” “There was a time I wasn’t so sure… like that summer? With the mind flayer?” Mike thinks wistfully about that time. “Yeah, I was with El... Sorry, I was just – I was distracted. You could say I was kind of obsessed (they laugh). But hey, time heals all wounds eh?” Mike gives Will an assuring pat, taking care to avoid a place that hurts. There’s a pause as Will tries to gather the courage … “Ya know, Mike. The things they were calling me?” “The mouth breathers?” “Yeah. They’re... not wrong.” Will looks at Mike significantly.

Mike takes a moment to process. “… So you’re gay?” Will nods. A pause… Mike notices Will’s fear and says, “That’s cool… REALLY cool.” He says there’s nothing wrong with being gay, of course he stands by Will. The whole party has been bullied, of course we stand by you Will. Will starts to tear up. He sits up, “So nothing’s changed?” Mike puts his hands on Will’s shoulders and looks him in the eye. “Nothing will ever change between us.” Will wants to hug him and hesitates. Mike gives him a CLOSE, FULL-CONTACT, INTIMATE HUG. Will: “We’re still friends?… “Of course.” Mike pulls away and looks at him. “Best friends. Nothing’s ever gonna change that, okay?”

Mike tells him to stay here while he checks on breakfast. He walks upstairs. In the basement, Will is crying. He looks at the painting with Mike the Paladin on the wall, and smiles through tears.

FOLLOW ME for the next part of “Byler Endgame, One Episode at a Time”!

Part 0 (what a Byler endgame needs to address) Previous episode Next episode

-teambyler

#byler #stranger things #byler endgame #fanfic #one episode at a time #speculation #st5 #st5 speculation #byler theory

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capybaraonabicycle · 2 months ago

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Dear friend, would you like to write me a drabble with 4. Walks in the forest with one of your favourite couples/characters? 🥰 I hope you have a lovely train ride!

Yes, I would!! Thank you very much for providing inspiration, love! I chose three of my favourite precious beans for this, who I know you love as well. So I hope you enjoy!

(the train ride was very lovely 🥰

Gathering Material (Gorgug & Digby & Wilma)

Rating: General

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None. Prying, overenthousiastic parents, maybe

Words: 444

-you know I haven't watched the finale of s1 yet, but I am just imagining Zelda is fine and her and Gorgug are back to their normal awkwardness around each other afterwards <3

****

It was a warm, sunny autumn day and the Thistlesprings were taking a walk through the forest. Wilma and Digby were flitting around busily, collecting stones and tree bark and acorns - and all the other things that could be turned into useful tinkering material.

"Isn't it just a splendid day!" Wilma exclaimed and Digby nodded enthousiastically.

"The most splendid" he agreed, turning towards their son, Gorgug, who was trailing behind. "Wouldn't you say so, bud?"

"Huh?" Gorgug shrugged. "It's pretty okay."

"Look at that tree!" Digby tried. "Isn't that a gorgeous shade?"

Gorgug looked more closely at the giant tree, shimmering in red and orchre hues, almost seeming aflame. It reminded him of Gorthalax, the insatiable, the father of his close friend Fig.

Suddenly, Gorgug had to smile, too, and he searched for the drum sticks hidden in his hoodie, running his fingers over the familiar wood.

"I guess" he agreed solemnly and his parents squealed in excitement.

"Are those your drumsticks, bud?" Wilma noticed. "Would you play for us?"

"- here?" Gorgug hesitated.

"Why not?" Wilma said, pointing around them. "The whole forest is your drum kit!"

"O-okay."

Gorgug carefully started drumming against the trees they passed. The result had little in the way of rhythm, but Wilma and Digby quickly started singing a gathering song to Gorgug's beat, nevertheless.

"Put into your satchel whatever looks good," they sang, "How fun is a trip to our wood!"

Gorgug even hummed along for a few beats.

"How's it going with - you know" Digby said suddenly. "With that satyr girl of yours, bud?"

"Digby!" Wilma scolded him. "Don't bother the kid with your nosiness!"

"'s fine" Gorgug shrugged again. "There isn't much to tell, though. I - I said hello to her in school the other day."

"That's great!" Digby beamed. "You're doing great!"

"Hey, you know what?" Wilma asked. "You should bring her something back from the forest! She'll love that!"

"I don't know" Gorgug mumbled but he bent down and picked up a pinecone.

"Of course she will!" Wilma ran around excitedly, gathering leaves, and when Gorgug had risen to his full height again, she had crafted a working butterfly robot. Its wings fluttered and its eyes glowed.

She held it out for Gorgug to take.

"Oh" Gorgug said, tentatively revealing his own find. "I got a cone."

"That's amazing, buddy" Digby smiled. "You can give her one or the other! Both are great gifts!"

"Alright" Gorgug took the butterfly and held both presents out in front of him, continuing to walk down the path.

His parents exchanged a proud gaze and hurried behind, resuming to stuff their bags and launching into the next song.

Thanks for reading!

#gorgug thistlespring #wilma thistlespring #digby thistlespring #dimension 20 #I hope I did them justice #Anyway this was very fun but now I must leave and scour for tea :)

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partiallypearl · 2 years ago

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champagne problems and party dresses:

everyone blame @lilfuturescars and @easilydistractedbyfanfic for this. they mentioned how there is so much context behind rivusa’s dynamic in s2 that we simply don’t have the answers to and well… my brain went brr. set in between s1 and s2, during summer break.

He sees her on a Saturday. He almost doesn’t recognize her because of the length of her hair. It’s shorter now, not in the long pigtails he’s used to seeing in the hallways.

She’s standing in the corner of the room, headphones on like always. She looks sad - almost pensive.

In all honesty he wasn’t expecting to bump into anyone from Alfea here, let alone Musa.

“Musa?” He asks as he walks up to her and she startles. She looks up at him and her frown deepens before she realizes what her face is doing. She plasters on the fakest smile directed at him that Riven has ever seen as she slips her headphones off.

“Hey Riven.”

“Wow. I think killing your dog would have gotten me a better reaction.” He mutters and she rolls her eyes at him.

She looks pretty - hair falling down her shoulders as she stands there. She’s in a sundress, black and red with straps that frame her shoulders nicely. Her makeup is simple but it’s clearly there which means she put effort in.

For a moment, Riven wonders why. Then he remembers that not everyone had the same disdain for their parents that he has.

“Your parents here?” He asks, looking around at all the stuff middle aged people who could potentially be related to the girl beside him.

“Dad, and yes. Yours?” She asks and Riven nods curtly. His dad is around somewhere, probably either schmoozing with other businessmen or flirting with their wives - neither of which Riven really wants to witness at the moment.

There’s a lull in the conversation, more than a lull if Riven’s being honest, it’s dead silent.

“You and Harvey still a thing?” He asks in lieu of anything better to say.

“Are you and Beatrix and Dane still a thing?” She asks in response and all Riven can think is: touchè.

They both nod at the same time and Riven finds himself watching the way Musa’s curls bounce up and down. With her hair shorter, she seems more free, but maybe that’s just the shitty hotel champagne.

Out of the corner of his eye he spots one of his Red Fountain friends and he turns to her again. “I’ll uh… see you later. Have fun, lonely girl.”

Musa snorts, raising an eyebrow at him. “Sure thing Damon Salvatore.”

“Vampire Diaries? Seriously?” He asks and she gives him the finger. He snickers to himself before walking away.

Maybe coming to this stupid party wasn’t a mistake.

#riven winx #musa winx #rivusa #ftws #fate: the winx saga #fate the winx saga #*mine #*mine: fic #this is entirely nonsensical and inspired by literati fanfic #why i have written it no one knows #anyway #jess tag #jenn tag #ish tag

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sameheart-sameblood · 2 years ago

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Pillow Talk (for Nerds)

pairing: steve harrington x reader

summary: a relaxing evening in bed turns fiery when you and steve argue about star wars

words: 600

warnings: fluff, playful arguing, me projecting my desire for a bf that looks like steve who i can yell at about sw lol

a/n: while im still completely in love with eddie im rewatching s1 of stranger things and im reminded just how far steve has come. and now im soft for him again. ive also been attempting to write something where i dont ramble on for thousands of words so here we are!

“If you were a Jedi, what color would your lightsaber be?”

You pose the question to an amused Steve. He chuckles as he pulls you closer, his bare chest warm and comforting against your cheek. Steve couldn’t care less about Star Wars but he knows how obsessed you are with it, so he plays along.

“I think I’d go red.”

You shoot up, propping yourself on your elbows as you stare at him in disbelief. “You can’t have red, though! That would put you on the dark side!”

Steve may not understand the space opera but he loves how fired up it gets you. He waggles his eyebrows and stares up at you mischievously. “Maybe that’s where I belong. Me and that mouth breather, Garth- “

“Darth! Darth Vader” you interject.

Steve grins, reveling in your fieriness. “I’m just saying. Darth and I could make a kickass team. I am very bad, after all.”

That couldn’t be further from the truth. Steve had put himself in harms way countless times just to save you, Nancy, Jonathan and the gaggle of kids you were always hanging around with. He was selfless to a fault. And right now he looked like an angel splayed out underneath you, hair fanned out around his head and crooked grin on his stupidly pretty face.

You smile down at him nonchalantly, refusing to give in to his cuteness. “That’s fine, then. I’ll just have to duel you with my purple lightsaber.”

It’s Steve’s turn to be outraged. “There’s no such thing! It’s either red, blue or green.”

You settle back down into his arms, your face turned up to his. “I never said it had to be one of those three, Steve. Use your imagination.”

Steve broods for a minute, scrunching his eyebrows together in thought.

“The fact is, I wouldn’t be a Jedi.”

“Oh no?”

“Why be a space monk who can’t even get laid when I could be a bounty hunter or a pilot?”

Of course he sees himself as a dashing rogue making his way through the galaxy. He’s not wrong. You’re the Jedi type. Steve, on the other hand, is all daredevil with excess charm.

“You fancy yourself a Han Solo type, Harrington?”

He blushes slightly but nods confidently.

“If the shoe fits, baby. He’s handsome, he’s always saving the day and he’s great with the ladies.”

On that last note, Steve squeezes your ass playfully. You smack him on the chest, smiling in spite of yourself.

“Nah, I take you for more of a Wookie than anything else.” You run your fingers through the impressive patch of chest hair he’s grown in the past year. “You’ve got the hair to match.”

He feigns a hurt expression and pouts. Those puppy dog eyes of his are impossible to resist. You pull him in for a kiss as an apology. When you break away, you’re breathless and completely under his spell again.

“All right, I give in. You’re definitely Han. A secretly soft bad boy with a heart of gold.”

Steve strokes your hair, looking at you with a love clouded gaze. “Then that makes you my Leia. A badass chick who’s sweet but tough and smart as all hell. Banging body, too”

You burrow into the crook of Steve’s neck, hiding your dopey grin as he laughs. “And yes,” he adds “in this scenario Leia can have a purple lightsaber.”

Sounds perfect to you. The two of you lay in a comfortable silence for a few moments until Steve bashfully raises his voice.

“Hey baby? Wookies are the scary little teddy bears, right?”

******

taglist: @padawansubscription

#in my feels for steve tonight #i just know he'd let me talk about sw whenever i wanted #he'd be confused but just smile and nod and get excited when i got excited ya know??#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington #stranger things #allie writes

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tricksters-captain · 4 years ago

Text

Bucky Barnes imagines - Some Sunny Day Part 4

AN: What a crazy episode! I definitely think this episode was one of the best so far and I cannot wait to see what happens next after that insane ending!

Overall Summary: Before the Blip, you and Bucky were close. After you both returning and Tony’s funeral, you decided to go back to your home town to spend time with your family. When duty calls, you return.

In this chapter: Now in Latvia, you and the boys must find Karli before the Dora take Zemo away (Based on S1 EP4)

(PART 1) (PART 2) (PART 3)

Pairing(s): Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader, Sam Wilson x Platonic!Reader

Word Count: 6,123

Warnings: Spoilers for episode 4, violence, strong language.

Once inside Zemo’s apartment, you started to look through the cupboards.

Zemo had excused himself to take a bath but you felt starved.

Even with the limited stock you managed to whip something up for you and Sam.

“Thank you.” Sam took the bowl from you gratefully. The food Zemo had given you on his private plane wasn’t exactly edible and you were still feeling the affects of the Nagel fail in your body.

“Well, the Wakandans are here.” Bucky announced as he entered the apartment; having returned from his walk. “They want Zemo. Bought us some more time.”

“”Were you followed?” Sam looked up at him.

“No.” Bucky made his way over to you and Sam by the kitchen island.

“How can you be so sure?” Zemo pondered.

“Cause I know when I’m being followed.” Bucky sent an unimpressed glance to the man in the bathrobe.

You pushed a bowl of pasta towards Bucky but he shook his head and pulled out his phone.

“It was sweet of you to defend me at least.” Zemo stated.

“Hey, you shut it.” Sam quipped. “No one’s defending you. You killed Nagel.”

“You gotta eat.” You whispered to Bucky.

“Do we really have to litigate what may or may not have happened?” Zemo rounded the island so he was closer to you all.

“I’ll eat later.” Bucky mumbled back to you as he furrowed his brow at twitter.

“There’s nothing to litigate. You straight shot the man.” Sam argued with Zemo.

“Sam.” Bucky had found something.

“What?” Sam turned his attention to Bucky and away from Zemo.

“Karli bombed a GRC supply depot.” Bucky showed you his phone screen so you could read.

“What? What’s the damage?” Sam’s concern grew quickly.

“Eleven injured, three dead.” You said after skimming over the article.

“They have a list of demands and are promising more attacks if those demands aren’t met.” Bucky added as Sam sighed.

“She’s getting worse.” Zemo spoke up. “I have the will to complete this mission. Do the three of you?”

“She’s just a kid.” Sam was right. She was only young, she reminded you of you when you first joined the avengers. Desperate to fight for a cause.

“You’re seeing something in her that isn’t there.” Zemo disagreed. “You’re clouded by it. She’s a supremacist. The very concept of a Super Soldier will always trouble people. It’s that warped aspiration that led to Nazis, to Ultron, to the Avengers.”

“You’re talking about our friends.” You felt the need to remind Zemo that you were actually apart of the Avengers as you placed your empty bowl in the sink.

“The Avengers, not the Nazis.” Bucky felt the need to clarify.

“So, Karli is radicalised, but there has to be a peaceful way to stop her.” Sam was determined there wasn’t a need for a fight.

“The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideals. Anyone with that serum is inherently on that path. She will not stop. She will escalate until you kill her.” Zemo explained as he reached for the bowl you had originally offered Bucky. “Or she kills you.”

You swatted his hand away to which he frowned at.

“Maybe you’re wrong, Zemo. The serum never corrupted Steve.” Bucky argued his point.

“Touché.” Zemo picked up a biscuit instead. Holding it on his finger as he spoke. “But there has never been another Steve Rogers, has there?”

“Well, maybe we should give him to the Wakandans right now.” Bucky suggested to you and Sam as he moved over to the couch.

“And you’ll give up your tour guide?” Zemo asked as he opened the cupboards to look for some food.

“Yes.” Bucky didn’t hesitate.

“From my understanding, Donya is like a pillar of the community, right?” Sam interrupted with a new thought. “So, when I was a kid, my TT passed away.”

“Your TT?” Bucky asked, unsure of what Sam had meant.

“Yeah, my TT, yeah.” Sam nodded.

“Who is your TT?” Bucky asked as you sat down beside him.

“Fine. When I was a kid, my aunt passed away and the entire neighborhood got together for a ceremony. It was like a week long. Maybe they’re doing the same thing for Donya.” Sam proposed. He could be right.

“Worth a shot.” You proclaimed.

“Your TT would be proud of you.” Zemo sounded more awkward at the use of the phrase before he pulled out a fancy looking tin. “Turkish delight? Irresistible.”

Sam caught the small sweet that Zemo had thrown.

“I say Zemo put’s some clothes on and we head over to the refugee camp that Donya was staying. See if anyone knows anything about a funeral or ceremony for her.” You ignored Zemo as he looked down at the sweets.

“Sounds like a plan.” Sam stood from his seat at the island and looked over at Zemo.

Zemo nodded before disappearing into a bedroom to change.

It didn't take long to get to the camp from Zemo’s apartment.

“Shame what’s become of this place. When I was young, we used to come here for fabulous dinners and parties. I knew nothing of the politics of the time, of course, but I remember it being beautiful.” Zemo seemed saddened by the state of the buildings being used as the camp.

“I’m gonna take a look around upstairs. See what you can find out here. And keep an eye on him.” Sam told Bucky as he gestured to Zemo.

“I’ll stay out of your way.” Zemo promised.

“(Y/n), you look around through there. See if you can... You know.” Sam pointed down through one of the ground floor doors. You nodded and left the men.

Most of the adults fled when you entered the building but you noticed a young girl who looked too busy with what she was doing to notice. She had looked maybe 16 or 17 years old and she was embroidering an old silk scarf.

“That’s beautiful.” You knelt down beside her but as you spoke, her eyes shot up and widened with shock and fear.

“T-t-thank you.” She stuttered as her eyes flittered around the room for help.

“It’s okay. I was just wondering if I could have a look at it.” You smiled softly at the girl as you held your hand out.

She reluctantly gave it to you.

“This truly is beautiful. You are very talented. May I buy it from you?” You placed your hand in your pocket and pulled out a note that you had previously stolen from Zemo’s jacket.

“You c-c-can have it.” She whispered as she stood. You rose with her as you folded the scarf to place into your pocket.

“I insist.” You took her hand gently and cautiously and placed the money in her palm. She smiled but she still was nervous and full of worry. You figured she knew who you were.

You folded your hands over hers and that’s when you unplugged the cork on your powers.

You closed your eyes and within seconds all the girls memories flooded into your head.

You tried not to react as it happened.

You tried your best to filter through the memories quickly. When you reached the time after the blip, you slowed down. You saw the horrors of them being rejected, being abandoned and then you saw Mama Donya and Karli.

You focused on Karli.

You watched Karli smile and laugh with all the children, she’d play and look after them as Donya looked after Karli.

Closer memories brought what seemed like events that only just happened. Karli visiting with supplies.

You saw the mourning of Mama Donya from everyone and then you saw the arrangements for the funeral.

You opened your eyes and let go of the girls hand. She thanked you again and left. She would have never realised what you had seen as the memories are shown to you within a matter of seconds.

You leant against the table and inhaled deeply.

You felt weak again.

You pushed yourself off the table and headed back out to Bucky.

Zemo was surrounded by a bunch of small children.

“You okay?”Bucky asked. The second you reappeared he immediately noticed a change in you.

“I’m okay.” You lied. “I spoke to one of the teenagers inside. I looked inside her head. You were right, Sam. They are having a funeral but she only knew that she would be taken to it later this afternoon.” You explained as Sam joined you both.

“Good work.” Sam wrapped his arm around you and gave you a small squeeze of appreciation.

They both knew how hard it must've been for you to use your powers after the Nagel incident.

The toll of touching the dead had knocked you for six in the past and in a matter of forty eight hours you had touched the dead and looked into the memories of a live person.

You’ll need an energy boost before you can do this again.

Zemo turned back to you and you all returned to the apartment.

“Well, I got nothin’. No one’s talkin’ about Donya.” Bucky slouched down on the couch in defeat.

“Yeah, it’s because Karli is the only one fighting for them.” Sam joined him on the couch. “And she’s not wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Bucky asked.

“For five years, people have been welcomed into countries that have kept them out using barbwire. There were houses and jobs. Folks were happy to have people around to help them rebuild. It wasn’t just one community coming together, it was the entire world coming together. And then, boom. Just like that, it goes right back to the way it used to be. To them, at least Karli’s doin’ somethin’.” Sam explained himself.

“You really think her ends justify her means? Then, she’s no different than him or anybody else we’ve fought.” Bucky pointed over to Zemo.

“She’s different. She’s not motivated by the same things.” Sam argued with Bucky.

“Sam’s right.” You spoke up. “When I looked into that girls head I saw a lot of Karli. She means a lot to those people, she is their light, their Captain America. But she’s just a kid. From what I saw she has a whole lot of love in her heart and I'm not saying that hurting and killing people is right but she sees it as the only way to help her people.”

Zemo had walked over from the kitchen with a tray as you spoke.

“That little girl. What’d she tell you?” Bucky questioned him.

“The funeral is this afternoon.” Zemo only said what you already knew.

“We know that. Now you know the Dora’s coming for you any minute. In fact, they’re probably lurking outside right now. Keep talking.” Bucky demanded.

“Leaving you to turn on me once we get to Karli. Hmm. I prefer to keep my leverage.” Zemo sure knew how to push someone’s buttons.

Bucky shot up and threw Zemo’s cup against the wall. The crashing of the glass made both you and Sam jump to your feet.

“You wanna see what someone can do with leverage?” Bucky threatened Zemo.

“Take it easy. Don’t engage him. He’s just gonna extort you and do that stupid head tilt thing.” Sam tried to de-elevate the situation. “Let me make a call.”

“You want some cherry blossom tea?” Zemo offered Bucky as Sam walked away.

“No, you go ahead.” Bucky grumbled, scowling at the Baron.

“Come on.” You took Bucky’s hand and pulled him away from Zemo.

You headed into the bathroom and started to fill up the tub with some cold water.

“Will you get me some ice?” You asked Bucky to which he complied.

Once the tub was full of ice water, you stripped and climbed inside.

Bucky had taken a stool and faced the door to give you some privacy.

“You shouldn’t let him get to you.” You said as you settled into the water. Your body was screaming at you as the ice touched it but you knew it’d give you the wake up call you and your muscles needed.

“I don’t.” Bucky grimaced.

“You don’t? Oh, so the shattered cup in the other room was just a scare tactic?” You mused.

“Yep.” Bucky grumbled.

“Okay.” You sighed before going under.

The cold water hit your brain and you immediately sat back up.

“Feel better?” Bucky had heard the splashing of the water.

“Yeah.” You admitted, running your hands over your face and hair. “Can I have my towel?”

Bucky kept his back to you as he passed you the towel.

You wrapped it around you and stepped out.

“You can look.” You told him.

Bucky turned and his eyes went straight to the bruises that covered your legs and arms.

“I’m okay, Buck.” You assured him as you watched the cogs turning in his head.

“I forget you aren’t...” Bucky’s words dropped off as he stepped closer and lightly took your arm, examining the damage.

“That I’m not a super soldier?” You smirked. “I may bruise but I can hold a lot more than most, Buck.”

“Doesn’t stop me worrying.” Bucky admitted as he lowered your arm.

“I know.” You whispered, looking up at the man’s deep blue eyes.

“You better get dressed. You already know what Sam is thinking with us both being gone right now.” Bucky went to go towards the door when you stopped him.

“I had a dream about Wakanda on the plane ride here.” You confessed.

Bucky stopped and looked back at you.

“It was the day you finally beat the Winter Soldier.” You told him.

*Flashback*

“These are incredible, Shuri.” You smiled widely as you threw the new high tech Vibranium knives that Shuri had made for you.

“I know. I know.” Shuri was well aware of her awesome brain.

Shuri pressed the combat button on the wall which simulated attackers for intense weapon training.

You inhaled as you closed your eyes.

A footstep gave away your first attacker. You threw the knives to the holograms and the attackers were down. You ducked and dodged and jumped around the room as you practised with the knives.

Shuri cheered you when you finished. You smiled through your heavy breaths and Shuri jogged towards you to give you a fist bump.

“You are something else, my friend.” Shuri praised you.

The doors opening behind you made both you and Shuri turn to see who had entered.

It was Bucky.

He rushed towards you with a bright smile. His lips seemed to quiver and his eyes were glassy. Something had happened.

It had happened.

He embraced you tightly and you returned it. Your fingers gripped onto Bucky’s long hair as he buried his face in your neck.

You looked back at Ayo (who had followed Bucky) and Shuri and mouthed a ‘Thank you’.

Ayo bowed her head at you before leaving the hall.

Bucky had finally gotten over HYDRA’s programming after all these years of being held prisoner by a few words.

You and Bucky stayed like that for what felt like hours. The relief from Bucky washed over you and bound him to you until he was ready to part.

It was an incredible day.

*End of Flashback*

“Maybe you could sense that the Dora’s were close on our tails.” Bucky suggested.

“No, we all knew that they’d come for Zemo eventually.” You dismissed the idea. “I think it was after seeing Zemo treat you like him again.”

Bucky remained silent.

“I don’t think I ever told you how proud I was of you that day.” You folded your arms over your chest as you leant back on the tub.

“You didn't need to.” Bucky assured you. “I already knew.”

You watched Bucky leave the bathroom so you could change.

When you had returned to the main space again it was just about time to head out again.

You felt a little nervous as you didn’t really want a fight with Karli since you weren’t 100% but you figured you had felt a hell of a lot worse before.

As you left the apartment, a voice and face you didn’t particularly wanna see called out.

“Karli Morgenthau is too dangerous for you guys to be pulling this shit.” John Walker and his little side kick were walking down some stairs towards you.

“Ah! How’d you find us now?” Bucky called back.

“Come on. You think three Avengers can walk around Latvia without drawing attention?” Lemar, Walker’s partner, scoffed.

“No more keeping us in the dark. You could start by telling us why you broke him out of prison.” Walker pointed out Zemo.

“He did that himself, technically.” Bucky corrected Walker.

“This better be an unbelievable explana––”

“––Hey, take it easy before it gets weird.” Sam interrupted Walker before things could get heated in front of civilians.

“I know where Karli is.” Zemo kept walking as the others stopped.

“Well, where?” Walker asked, stopping Zemo by stepping in his way.

“All we know is it’s a memorial. So, we’re gonna intercept her there.” Sam informed them.

“That means civilians. High risk of casualties.” Lemar relaid to his partner as you continued to walk.

“All right, good, we’ll move in fast. Take her by surprise.” Walker started to talk through his plan when Sam stopped him.

“No, I wanna talk to her alone.”

“I’m not losing her again.” Walker argued with Sam.

“Look, the person closest to her died, she’s vulnerable. Now is the best time to reason with her.” Sam was trying to defend his reasoning but Walker wasn’t having it.

“What? No. Wait, no! No! Stop. Hold on. Stop, okay?” Walker ran up ahead to stop everyone again. “I think we’re way past reasoning with her, unless you forgot that she blew up a building with people still in it.”

“Sam, you walk in there cold, she could kill you, man.”Lemar tried backing up his partner.

“If I go in hot and the op goes wrong, more people will die.” Sam handed over the other scenario.

“You’ll let him do this?” Walker looked between you and Bucky. “Are you gonna let your partner walk into a room with a Super Soldier alone?”

“He’s dealt with worse.” Bucky told him flatly. “And he’s not my partner.”

“I used to counsel soldiers dealing with trauma, okay? This is in my wheelhouse.” Sam walked past you and Bucky to face Walker.

“I know. And I know those soldiers, which is why I know this is a bad idea.” Walker still wasn't on board.

“Wait, John.” Lemar stopped Walker. “If he can talk her down, it might be worth a try.”

“Thank god Battle-scar here has some sense.” You declared.

“It’s Battle Star actually.”Lemar smiled at you but you ignored him.

“We’ll deal with you later.” Walker told Zemo as he caved in.

“I’m sure it will all come to an agreeable conclusion. My associate is just up ahead.” Zemo lead you towards the young girl he had spoken to earlier that day.

“Hello, my friend. This is for your family. Can you show us the way?” Zemo handed her some money and the girl beckoned for you all to follow.

“What the hell?” Walker seemed a little confused by Zemo’s ‘associate’ being 12.

The girl lead you to the building where the funeral was being held and you all waited for a signal.

“Karli’s in there.” Zemo announced as the girl ran off.

Sam went in whilst Walker cuffed Zemo.

“You got 10 minutes. Then we are doing things my way.” Walker told Sam before he left.

“Aggressive.” Zemo mumbled after being handcuffed. “But I get it.”

You rolled your eyes subtly at both Walker and Zemo.

You took up a position by the door with Bucky.

You watched Walker sit down, his grip on the shield was tight as he slowly huffed in and out.

You frowned as you studied the man. Your eyes glanced over to Zemo who was also watching Walker.

You shared a look before you let your eyes fall back down to your feet.

“Uh-uh. No, no, no. This is a bad idea.” Walker started to pace as he let his impatience get the best of him.

“It hasn’t been ten minutes, John. Just sit tight.” Bucky sighed unimpressed by the young solder.

“Don’t do that. Don’t patronise me.” Walker glared back at Bucky.

“Sam knows what he’s doing.” You backed Bucky up.

You all watched Walker stop as he thought. His heavy breathes causing his chest to rise up and down quickly.

“I’m goin’ in.” Walker didn’t want to listen anymore. He stormed towards the door but both you and Bucky stepped in his way.

“This is all really easy for you, isn’t it? All that serum runnin’ through your veins.” Walker didn’t even look at you as he squared up to Bucky.

That really bothered you.

You took hold of the man’s upper arm and yanked him to look at you.

“You may be Captain America right now but we don’t follow you. We said we’d give him 10 minutes. So, he’s getting 10 minutes.” You glowered at the man.

“Your partner needs backup in there. Do you really want his blood on your hands?” Walker leant towards you, trying to be intimidating but it wasn’t working.

“Just wait.” You looked the man in the eye with a subtle threat in your stare. His jaw clenched as he tugged his arm away from you.

Walker went back to look at the clock again.

After a couple more minutes, he tried once more.

“Time’s up! Our turn.” Walker didn’t hesitate to push past you as he charged ahead.

Bucky kept his tongue in his cheek as he watched it happen.

You and Bucky stayed behind Walker and his partner as they marched ahead.

“Karli Morgenthau, you’re under arrest.” Walker announced as he entered the room.

“This is what that was?” Betrayal flashed across Karli’s face as she looked at Sam.

“No, wait––” Sam didn’t have a chance now that Walker had intervened.

“––Tricking me until help came?” Karli started to back away.

“We had enough time to talk.” Walker exclaimed as he headed straight for Karli.

“Nazi! “ Karli wasn't going the easy way. She hit Walker back and he went straight into a table.

Lemar tried to keep you and Bucky back but you had easily managed to get round him to chase after Karli.

Bucky being what he was managed to get ahead of you but you were close on their trail.

Sam had found his own way but ultimately you all lost Karli.

“I lost her.” Bucky sighed.

“This place is a maze.” Sam looked around at the several doorways with a frown.

The sound of gunshots is what caught your attention next.

“Come on.” You rushed through the building trying to get to the source.

You didn’t manage to get there before Walker did.

Zemo was unconscious on the floor and vials of the serum were smashed around the concrete floor.

“What happened?” You asked as you looked down at the mess.

“He was shooting at Karli. I stopped him but she got away.” Walker lifted his shield a little to symbol how he had stopped Zemo.

“Let’s get him up.” Sam started down the stairs and you followed.

Zemo woke up after a little encouragement and some smelling salts. You had decided it was best if you split up on your way back to the apartment.

You and Sam were going to stay with Zemo and see if you can dig up anything on socials and the computer and Bucky was going to do a round and see if she had holed up anywhere familiar.

Sam sat at his computer, he was contacting Sharon whilst you stood with your phone searching Twitter to see if any Flag Smashers appearances or Karli were popping up in recent tweets.

Zemo laid down on the couch with a wet towel and a strong glass of scotch.

“You got anything?” Sam asked you.

“Nothing. I don’t think we’ll find her this time if she doesn’t want us too.” You put your phone down in defeat. It wasn't usual for people to give her Karli’s location anyway.

“I think you’re right.” Sam hated to agree but this was the first time you had come close to actually talking Karli down and it failed.

“And now with the serum’s gone. Who knows what her next move will be.” You knew that Karli didn’t have the option to create more super soldiers now and that gives her a disadvantage. The idea of an army is gone now and she would only have her current foot soldiers to help her.

Zemo moved for the first time in ten minutes as he lifted his cold compress.

“Were you ever offered it?" He asked aloud.

“What?” Sam furrowed his brow at the man.

“The serum.” Zemo replied.

“No.” Sam smirked at the idea.

“If you had been, hypothetically, that is, would you have taken it?” Zemo inquired.

“No.” Sam answered instantly, his smile dropping.

“No hesitation. That’s impressive.” Zemo nodded before removing his towel. “Sam. (Y/n). You can’t hold out hope for Karli. No matter what you saw in her, she’s gone. And we cannot allow that she and her acolytes become yet another faction of gods amongst real people. Super Soldiers cannot be allowed to exist.”

“Isn’t that how gods talk?” Sam queried. “And if that’s how you feel, what about Bucky?” There was a silence from Zemo. “Blood isn’t always the solution.”

Before the conversation could continue, the door opened and Bucky strode inside.

“Something’s not right about Walker.” Bucky stated as he removed his jacket.

“You don’t say.” Sam huffed with amusement. It was clear as day that Walker was at his wits end with the pressure on him.

“Well, I know a crazy when I see one. Because I am crazy.” Bucky poured himself a glass of whiskey. You rolled your eyes at his statement.

“Can’t argue with that.” Sam retorted.

“Shouldn’t have given him the shield.” Bucky was back on this topic again.

“I didn’t give him the shield.” Sam rose to his feet to face Bucky.

“Well, Steve definitely didn’t.” Bucky sipped on his drink just as the doors flew open.

All right. That’s it. Let’s go. I’m now ordering you to turn him over.” Walker commanded, his face red and his ears steaming.

“Hey, slow your roll. Shield or no shield, the only thing you’re runnin’ in here is your mouth. Now, I had Karli and you overstepped. He’s actually proven himself useful today. We’ll need all hands on deck for whatever’s comin’ next.” Sam approached Walker to try and pump his breaks.

“How do you want the rest of this conversation to go, Sam, huh?” Walker chuckled softly as Sam remained silent. “Yeah. Should I put down the shield? Make it fair?”

Sam scoffed, shaking his head at the man’s antics.

Walker put down the shield but the only thing flying next was a spear that struck the pillar by Walker’s head.

It was the Dora Milaje.

They had come for Zemo.

From your time in Wakanda you understood the language as Ayo spoke to Bucky.

“Even if he is a means to an end. Your time is up.” Ayo reverted back to English. “Release him to us now.”

Walker introduced himself to Ayo, not that she cared for him.

“Well let’s, uh, put the pointy sticks down and we can talk this through, huh?” Walker suggested, only to be met, yet again, by silence from the Dora’s.

“Hey, John, take it easy. You might wanna fight Bucky before you tangle with the Dora Milaje.” Sam tried to warn him but he wasn’t backing down.

“They don’t have jurisdiction here––”

“––The Dora Milaje have jurisdiction wherever the Dora Milaje find themselves to be.” Ayo cut Walker short.

“Okay.” John chuckled lightly. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot.” Walker made the mistake of putting his hand on Ayo’s shoulder.

Ayo responded with an attack.

The surrounding Dora’s fell into defence positions as Ayo and Walker fought. Lemar bounced into action, trying to help his partner out but it only warranted in more fighting. Or more asses getting kicked by the Dora Milaje.

“We should do something.” Sam said as you, him and Bucky stood together watching.

“Looking strong, John.” Bucky called out.

“Bucky!” You tried not to laugh as you scolded the man.

“Guys...” Sam nodded to Ayo about to strike John with her spear which made Bucky reluctantly intervene.

“Ayo, let’s talk about this.” Bucky only landed himself directly in the mess.

You realised how serious this was as Ayo didn’t hold back and went ahead to help Bucky. Sam went over to help Lemar but was met by more Dora's.

You grunted as one of the women attacked you. You had almost forgotten just how incredible they were at combat. Almost.

You were backed against a wall with the spear to your chest when the room fell silent.

You looked over at Bucky to see his arm was on the floor.

You wanted to move towards him but you were stuck until orders were given to release you.

“He is gone. Leave it.” Ayo had opened the bathroom doors to reveal the manhole had been opened. Zemo had escaped.

You were trying to slow your breathing when finally the Dora’s fell back.

She retracted her spear and left with Ayo and the others.

“Did you know they could do that?” Sam asked Bucky as he pushed himself off the floor.

Bucky reattached his arm. He groaned as he swung it round to adjust it.

“No.” He said but the shock on his face from before had already given away that answer.

You looked past Bucky to where Walker was still on the floor.

“You all right, man?” Lemar offered his hand to help him up.

“They weren’t even Super Soldiers.” You heard Walker mutter.

“Come on.” Lemar tugged him to his feet.

“I can’t believe he pulled an El Chapo.” Sam walked over to the bathroom and stared at the hole.

“I can.” Bucky wasn’t really that surprised and neither were you truthfully.

“Come on.” You beckoned the boys out of the apartment so you could talk.

You got down to the streets and away from Walker before you spoke again.

“Walker isn’t stable. He’s on the brink of cracking.” You kept your voice low as you spoke to the boys.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked.

“We may not like him but he’s not stupid. He knows that he can’t be Steve, do the things Steve did and it’s killing him. He's so obviously trying to win this fight by himself and it’s going to drive him insane if he isn’t the one to beat Karli.”

“But he can’t beat Karli. You saw her kick him across the room like he was a cardboard box.” Sam reminded you of what happened earlier.

“We have to get to Karli before he does because he’s either gonna stop her or kill himself trying.” You weren't worried for the man but worried about what would happen if he finally snapped.

Suddenly, Sam’s phone started to ring. It was his sister.

“She said what? Right. Hold on, hold on. I know, I know. Listen, pack an overnight bag and take the boys...” Sam sounded worried.

“What happened?” Bucky asked.

“Karli called Sarah. She threatened my nephews.” Sam told you both. “Okay. Go somewhere safe. Only pay cash. All right? Tell me when you arrive. I know. Look, I love you. I’ll never let anything happen to you and the boys. Okay. Bye.” He hung up and then immediately texted an unknown number.

“What does she want?” You knew Karli was desperate but threatening kids was a different story.

“Karli wants to meet. She left a contact number.” Sam’s phone buzzed with a new text. “She said come alone.”

“We’re coming with you.” Bucky wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Alright but keep your distance.” Sam didn’t bother to fight you on it. “We better suit up.”

You suited up by adding a few more weapons to your body. You placed your favourite thigh holsters on that held your Vibranium knives out on display.

Sam got his wings and soon you were at the location.

“Karli!” Sam bellowed as you entered the building.

Karli leant over a balcony to make herself seen. You remained on the ground floor but looked up at the girl. Bucky followed Sam.

“You called my sister? That’s how we’re gonna play this?” Sam was upset and understandably so.

“Sam, I would never hurt her. I just wanted to understand you better.” Karli confessed.“I see you, um, didn’t come alone.”Karli peered down at you then up at Bucky.

“You have to end this now.” Sam told her.

“I don’t wanna hurt you. You’re a tool in the regimes I’m looking to destroy. You’re not hiding behind a shield. If I were to kill you, it’d be meaningless. I was gonna ask you to join me. Or do the world a favour and let me go.” Karli spoke pretty boldly for someone who seemed to be alone. Super Soldier or not.

“Hey, Sam, new Cap is moving, looks like he’s found them, or maybe they found him.” Sharon’s voice came through on Sam’s intercom.

“It’s Walker.” Sam looked down at you and then Bucky.

Karli jumped from the balcony at the realisation the jig was up but Bucky was quick to jump too.

Karli kicked Bucky back but you managed to weaken Karli as you flipped over and kicked her in the jaw.

Sam put her down momentarily as he flew down and kicked her also.

“I’ll send you the location. Go!” Sam ordered both you and Bucky before he took off.

You knew Bucky would be fast enough to run there but you didn’t have that luxury.

You crossed the street to a parked motorbike and opened up it’s wiring. Just as you managed to get it running, Sam’s coordinates came through.

You docked your phone and set off.

You dodged through the narrow streets and traffic to arrive at another large building. Karli must have a favour for buildings you could get lost in.

You drove through the doors and skidded to a stop.

Bucky had gotten there before you. You could hear his grunts from a flight or two up.

You raced up them only to be met by a super soldier fighting Bucky.

You sent a knife forward, it embedded itself into the man’s soldier, he cried out which gave Bucky some time to throw him down the stairs.

You tucked up, over the tumbling body, holding onto the railing and the wall.

Bucky jumped over the rails and with one final blow knocked the soldier unconscious.

“Stay there.” Bucky told him before climbing back up to you. He thanked you for the help, handing you back the knife that had been in the man’s shoulder.

You then both went ahead to find Sam and Walker.

They were fighting more super soldiers a floor up.

You didn’t hesitate to go in for the attack.

You pulled a knife and threw it to Bucky for help; he caught it midair.

You screamed with frustration as the soldier you were fighting, pulled your arm behind you and slammed you into the pillar. You managed to swivel around, taking out the soldiers legs as you freed your arm.

You threw a knife into both his biceps. You only intended to injure, not kill, them anyway.

He groaned as he pulled them and tried to use them against you.

All at once, the fighting stopped when you all witnessed Karli kick Lemar into one of the concrete pillars.

Lemar’s body slumped down with blood painted across his lips.

John broke free from his attacker and slowly made his way over to Lemar.

From the sight of the body, you already knew he wasn’t walking out of there.

Walker desperately tried to wake him up.

That’s when Karli took her chance to flee.

You and the boys took off after her but lost her again pretty quickly.

When you rounded the building, you saw a crowd gathering.

What you saw next made you feel psychically sick.

John Walker stood above Karli’s right hand man, blood splattered up Steve’s shield and across his uniform.

He had killed the man in front of all these civilians. He had killed a man as Captain America.

(PART 5 HERE)

Bucky Barnes Tag List

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#Bucky Barnes imagines #bucky barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes imagine #falcon and the winter soldier #falcon and the winter soldier imagines #Sebastian Stan #sebastian stan imagines #Sebastian Stan x reader #Sam Wilson #Sam Wilson imagines #Zemo #baron Zemo #John walker #the winter soldier #imagines #series #part 4 #some sunny day

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stayarmytinyzenmoa-l · 3 years ago

Text

Prominence [WCh. 2.40]

Social Media AU ; Idol AU ; Added Unit AU CW/TW: Language Genre: Comedy, Romance Pairing: NCT x Idol!Reader, Seonghwa x Reader, ft. NCThree (Mark and Yangyang) Y/N Pronouns: Female (She/Her) Word Count: 4.0K

Notes: WE'RE ALMOST THERE LADIES, WE'RE ALMOST THEREEEE Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!! Thank you for reading!

You put your phone away as soon as you sat back down at the table.

"Everything alright?" Yeseul asks. You nodded your head.

"Yeah, it's just that Yang and Mark had been kind of side-eyeing Kyungjae for a while now, so I figured I'd ask if they knew anything before I forgot," you frowned.

"He's a weird dude, (Y/N). Dude shit talks some members of NCT, you know," Rebecca rolls her eyes. "Just the other day, one of my work friends said that he was saying bad things about Sungchan."

"Sungchan? What? I guess he's a little eccentric, but nothing bad," you shook your head.

"You stay as far away as you can from him," Rebecca says. "I'm putting in another request for transfer."

"I'll try, he's one of my stylists for NCThree," you shuddered.

"Oh hell no," Yeseul gasps. "We're reporting him first thing when we get to the company!" She crosses her arms. "Stay here, I'm getting my bat," Yeseul cracks her knuckles.

"Whoa, let's not assault anyone," Daniel holds his hands out. "We really should be more careful, I mean," he looks around.

"Oi, I have an idol image to uphold. The bat's just a warning," Yeseul huffs. "The dent on it should be enough."

"Allegedly, you hit a baseball so hard it dented, no?"

"Then it slammed into Jaehyun's million-dollar face," Yeseul laughs. "Ah... I had to buy him so much food after to apologize," she shakes her head.

"But back on topic, (Y/N), that guy was really sketchy," Crystal cuts in.

"Yeah... come to think of it, he flirts with me a lot at work," your eyes moved up in thought. "I didn't think too much of it until I saw Mark of all people give him the disappointed look of indifference," you shook your head.

"Oh shit," Yeseul goes wide eyed. "Yeah, (Y/N), you'd better be careful."

"And, holy hell, not to mention he's wearing the same coat as Dan," Rebecca nods her head towards the otherwise quiet man. Daniel only pulled at his coat collar.

"How would he even know about that?" You asked. Daniel hummed.

"One of the tiktoks I posted, [the one in the snow], I think you were wearing this coat, (Y/N)," he mutters. You remembered exactly what event he was talking about, not the tiktok itself, you didn't get to see it before he took it down. How long ago was that now? Four years? It was around the time you started training seriously, you saw the snow falling outside, so you grabbed the closest coat next to you, not caring that it was too big for you, and ran outside. A quick glance down, now, showed the small tear at the bottom of it from when you accidentally stepped on it and fell backward, the last thing that happened in the video before Dan turned it off.

"Oh, god, I just got chills," you shivered.

"We should wait a little before leaving, he might still be here," Yeseul looks over at the parking lot.

"Good idea," you nodded.

"Hey, we'll stick with you!" Crystal says.

"(Y/N), take it from me, if this guy is anything like Juliet then..." Carson stops talking for a moment. "How's security at SM, anyway?"

"Depends on the event," you answer. "Everyday things like this," you gestured to the group. "We're usually on our own."

"That's so scary," Rebecca shakes her head.

"Who knows, maybe we're all overthinking it... it is a popular coat, my brother has one too," Crystal says. "But then again, I'd trust your opinions more than my own."

"Geez..." You shook your head. "Can we change the subject? This thing's really freaking me out," you shuddered.

"Oh! I can do that, if he comes near us again though I'm unloading all of my pepper spray on him," Crystal beams. "Let's do a drinking game! Non-alcohol styled, of course," she grins.

"Crys, we have no drinks," Carson frowns.

"Why not?"

"Because you were in charge of that and you brought booze instead!" Carson groans.

"Oh, yeah... whoops?" She chuckles.

"I can go get some," you pointed behind you. "There's a convenience store over there."

"I'll go with you," Daniel raises his hand.

"I'll go," Yeseul says at the same time. You look between them and Yeseul looks back at the car. "Or maybe I should keep an eye out by the car..."

"It's fine, I didn't see any paparazzi around," you glanced around again. Actually, there was barely anyone here at all, come to think of it, for a weekend, at least. You and Daniel stood up. "We'll be back! Any requests?"

"Just colas and waters should be good, (Y/N)," Rebecca says.

"Sure," then you were both off. The convenience store wasn't too far away, actually. It was barely even a two-minute walk before you were inside.

"Hey, they've got some over-the-counter stuff," Daniel remarks. "Crystal's got a headache, so I'm gonna grab some for her, yeah? Know where the drinks are?"

"Huh, no wonder she's a lot less talkative than usual. Yeah, I still remember where they're at, meet back at the register," you grabbed a basket and headed straight for the back aisles. You counted on your hands how many people were back at the table before placing them into a basket.

"Oh! Is that Miss Jung (Y/N), I see?" Your heart jumped out of your chest, ready to dash, until you saw who it was.

"Mrs. Park! Long time, no see," you smiled. You noticed the basket she was carrying with both hands, it was filled with different things. "Oh, let me get that for you," you reached forward and held onto it.

"Thank you, dear, so strong!" She smiles. "Sorry, it's a bit heavy, no? And you have all those bottles in your own," her face sinks for a moment.

"It's fine, you looked like you were having some trouble. Where's Mr. Park anyway?"

"Holding down fort! As he likes to say," Mrs. Park smiles. "He's back at our table," she adds quickly. "But how about you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm just catching up with a few friends of mine," you said.

"I see! So my brat son hasn't spoken to you yet, huh?" She huffs.

"He has, technically," you corrected her. "He sent it to me through text, though-"

"He what?! That's exactly what I told him not to do!" Mrs. Park exasperated.

"No, no! It's my fault, I had him blocked for a bit because I was just being stubborn," you laughed nervously.

"Well, did you unblock him?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Block him again!"

"I promise- I'm sorry, what?"

"That bratty child, he only does things right when he's forced to," she shakes her head.

"No, it's really fine, Mrs. Park. We're meeting tomorrow, actually," you told her. "Just to discuss some things and-"

"Get back together, I hope," Mrs. Park finishes.

"... get some closure," you corrected.

"Closure's for dead people, honey," she lightly pushes your arm. "I hope you two could at least get along, I miss talking to you!" She says.

"Ah, I don't want to overstep anything," you waved your hand.

"You know, my husband and I were serious about adopting you! You're such a wonderful girl," she says. "You remind me of my husband, actually," she laughs.

"Oh, do I?" Again, you felt a bit awkward.

"You do! You know, Seongie's a real Mama's boy too, and that's how I know you two, at least, will be fine," she squeezes your arm softly. "Either way, you know you can still come talk with us. We like you!"

"I don't want to make things awkward for Hwa, you know? I have to respect that."

"Respect him? We're his parents!" Mrs. Park laughs again. "What can he do if I invite you over for Christmas, hmm?"

"I suppose he can't do much," you chuckled. You placed the basket on the counter and the cashier started scanning Mrs. Park's items.

"It really is so nice to see you again, I've been so worried for you," she frowns, placing her palm on her cheek. "Are you doing well, honey?"

"I've been alright, I've been working a lot of late nights recently though," you admitted.

"I can tell! Those bags under your eyes look heavy," she sighs. She reaches in her purse to grab her wallet, but you held your phone up to the reader first. "Hey, now!" She says.

"I still owe you for all those dinners, Mrs. Park, this one's on me," you insisted.

"Whoa, look at you, you really are like my husband," she teases. "You take care of yourself, (Y/N)," she takes the bagged items before you could even think of it. "And if my son does anything bad, you let me know right away so I can scold him!" She calls as she leaves the store. You placed your items down.

Daniel, meanwhile, fiddled with the medicine bottle in his hand, watching the exchange unfold with a strange feeling of fondness in his chest. He places the bottle down next to the drinks. In no time, you were both making your way back to the group.

"I'm happy for you, (Y/N)," he nudges your arm with his.

"Hm?"

"I'm serious, I'm happy for you," he says. "You know, you found some really good friends, you have this knack for surrounding yourself with good people too."

"Course I do, I met you, right?" You nudged his arm now. "I brought the drinks!" You announced.

"Woo! Let's go, let's go!" Crystal sings.

Mark had just finished shoving everything into his closet when Yangyang essentially kicked down the door.

"I knew it! I fucking knew it! That dude's creepy as hell!" Yangyang announced.

"Yeah! Yeah, I know," Mark holds his closet shut.

"Look, flirting at work, okay, yeah, I get it, I flirt with the stylists too sometimes, but this guy just has vibes, you know?" Yangyang collapses on Mark's bed. Mark, meanwhile, leans against his closet door.

"Where's (Y/N)?"

"On her way," Yangyang holds his phone up. "They took a detour because they temporarily closed the road or whatever," Yangyang finishes. "No, but like, I'm serious. This is actually getting kind of scary. Like the whole Juliet thing was creepy enough with all the shit she had allegedly, but I think this guy's genuinely trying to like start something," Yangyang says. "You and I both have experience with that."

"Yeah," Mark shudders. "I was so happy when that fan left me alone, I had no idea she switched to you for the longest time."

"Our saving grace is that she hasn't done shit to (Y/N)."

"Don't jinx it." The door opened once again.

"You boys will not believe," you started, marching into the room. You placed three bottles of beer on Mark's desk. "What just happened."

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Yangyang eyes your ruffled hair and slightly smudged makeup.

"Cola cup pong with alcoholics," you muttered quickly. "Either way, I kid you not, he was wearing the same coat Dan was."

"Who's Dan again?" Yangyang asks.

"Ex-boyfriend. Broke up on mutual terms before debut because his parents hated me. Anyway, it was so random, and Rebecca-"

"Who's Rebecca?" Mark asks now.

"Friend from uni, intern stylist assigned to SHINee because Kyungjae took the NCT spot."

"What?!"

"I know! Wait, which one of you said that?" You looked around.

"I did," Mark smiles. You now notice him holding the door shut. You narrowed your gaze but continued anyway.

"Rebecca told me that Kyungjae's been bad-mouthing a few NCT members, one of which being Sungchan and you know I'm not cool with that."

"We heard from Jungwoo," Yangyang says.

"It would be Jungwoo," you said before continuing. "Either way, god, I wish you guys pushed your case sooner! I didn't realize how creepy it all was until today."

"We genuinely felt like we were overreacting for a bit, because of the whole Juliet case, ya know? We can't be too careful," Yangyang shrugs. "So we asked Saeron to use her bullshit detector on him."

"You asked Saeron?! Wait, is that why she and Johnny showed up the other day?"

"Yeah... sorry, (Y/N), we really meant to tell you, but when we were going to call you over, Jihyun told us you went to meet with your uni friends!" Mark says.

"Mark, are you okay? You're sweating over there," you leaned to your side to look behind him. The sliding door of his closet seemed to be pushing out.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," Mark nods.

"Okay...? I mean, I guess it's the intention that counts," you sit on the desk chair and swivel around on it. "Alright. Kyungjae's fucking weird, I acknowledge that, now what?"

"You report him yet?" Mark asks.

"Yeah, me and Yeseul called the company and anon tipped it. Rebecca did too, so that makes, what, four?"

"Six, I think Johnny and Saeron called it in too," Yangyang says. "Or, wait, no, Saeron did the paperwork and everything."

"So her name's attached then? That might speed things along..."

"I think Jungwoo reported it too," Mark says. "I guess we'll have to wait for the investigation then. We should just be more careful around him until then."

"Agreed, yeah... I'm more worried about if they don't find anything on him," you sighed. "That means I'm going to have to deal with him longer. God, how do you two do it?" You slumped against the chair now.

"Oh, we just redirect her to Xiaojun," Yangyang shrugs.

"Taeyong usually handles it," Mark adds.

"You know, this is going to sound weird, but for some reason I feel like our cases are a little different," you mumbled. "I dunno, I dunno," you sighed. Your phone pinged and you shot up. Mark and Yangyang, recognizing the notification tone, grew wide eyed too.

"You two are texting again?" Yangyang gasps. You hopped off the chair.

"Off the bed, move," you pointed to the desk chair and Yangyang, with an exaggerated sigh and eye roll, switches spots with you. You roll onto your stomach and open the text.

"What's he saying?"

"Huh? Who said that?" You looked up.

"I did," Mark smiles.

"Uh... okay... he's just saying that his mom told him we ran into each other."

"You saw Mrs. Park?" Mark asks.

"Yeah, we were both having picnics, I guess. It was kinda nice catching up though. We're talking about meeting tomorrow though, so give me a second," you held your hand up again.

"Dude, she's swinging her legs," Yangyang snickers.

"Leave me alone, Yangyang," you glared at him.

"Nah," he replies to you with a cheeky smile and you groan.

"You say that like you didn't swing your legs whenever (Y/N) texted you..." Mark laughs.

"Dude don't tell her that!" Yangyang's face turns into an undeniable color of red.

"You what?!" A huge smile creeped on your face and Yangyang groaned, turning the chair away from you. "Aww, Yang! That's so cute," you laughed.

"Oh my god," Yangyang hit his head against the back of his chair.

"Yangyang~ Wanna go on a date?" You teased.

"No! Not anymore!"

"What do you mean not anymore?!" You gasped.

"What?! Why are you so mad about it?!"

"Anyone would be mad when they hear that, the fuck?!"

"Well it's cuz you're going to bleed my wallet dry!"

"Excuse me?! Sir?! You're the one who's bought fifty pairs of sneakers forty-five of which are collecting dust on top of your closet!"

"Hey!" He turns back around. "Binge shopping is my stress coping mechanism! You're the one to talk Miss 'Oh gosh I spent another $20 on Mystic Messenger!'"

"Don't you dare bring Jumin into this!" You hissed.

"Oh I'm bringing your 2D Sugar Daddy into this! You just like him because he wouldn't lie to you."

"Of course, he wouldn't! He's fictional!"

"Typical, your love life persists in the 2D world while it suffers in the real one," he continues to banter. He grabs one of the bottles and offers it to Mark, who just shakes his head. Yangyang shrugs and drinks it instead.

"At least I had one!"

"Oh shit!" Mark laughs. "Take him down, (Y/N)!"

"Ah! Wait! Shut up! He's texting again!" You waved your hand harshly and turned back to the screen.

"Oh, god, what do I say?!" You sat up and turned the phone around.

"Why are you asking us?!" Yangyang squints his eyes to read the message from his spot in the room. "You're the one who dated him!"

"Okay, well I'm also the one who broke up with him. How do I respond to this without sounding needy?"

"Just put I'll see you tomorrow too?" Yangyang shakes his head.

"What? No! I can't do that!" You gasped.

"What do you mean?!"

"What if that makes me sound like a bitch? I don't hate him!"

"But you're stating a fact?" Mark says, his voice now sounding somewhat strained.

"Mark, sorry, tangent, are you sure you're okay?" You ask him. He ods wordlessly. You and Yangyang share a quick glance. "What's in the closet, Mark?"

"Nothing."

"That was a pretty quick response, Mark," Yangyang probes.

"There's nothing in my closet."

"Those doors look like they're going to break soon," you continued. Mark shook his head quickly.

"There are only clothes in here, I haven't had time to fold them so I just threw them in there, you know?" He laughs nervously.

"You have that much clothes?" You ask.

"... yeah."

"Step away from the closet, Mark," you deadpanned. He shook his head.

"I can't."

"Mark, I'm, like, half sure that if you don't step away from the closet, the closet will step on you," Yangyang frowns.

"It won't, I promise," he shakes his head again.

"I'm inclined not to believe that, but I am genuinely afraid that if you break concentration you will get hurt, so I'll drop it for now," you sighed. "Okay, okay, so, here's the plan," you stood up and clapped your hands together. "Oh shit! I forgot to respond!" You fell back onto the bed and clutched your phone with both hands.

"Send a kiss and a heart," Yangyang teases.

"Fuck off!"

"What?! You still like him, right?"

"Shh!"

"Bye?! Bye?! Are you joking?!" Mark's shoulders slumped for a moment before he focused on holding the door back again.

"Oh hush like you would've done any better!" You starfished on his bed, your heels planted on the hardwood floor beneath it. You stared at his ceiling and sighed.

"(Y/N), you still like him, right?"

"I mean, yeah..." you huffed. "But that's the thing, isn't it? I just like him," you shrugged against the mussed covers. "I don't know if I love him anymore..."

"That could just be the distance," Mark says.

"That's what I was thinking but... I don't know..."

"(Y/N), knowing you, I think you'll crack as soon as you see him," Yangyang reasons. "I know you, girl. You're saying this now but you're going the melt as soon as you see him tomorrow," he rolls the chair over to you and leans on his arms over the bed. "And there's nothing wrong with that. You like him, that's cool. And I'm like 94% sure that he likes you back."

"How do you know?" You took one of Mark's pillows and placed it over your head, not enough to suffocate, but enough to block out the light.

"We're in a groupchat," Yangyang shrugs.

"Were in a groupchat," Mark corrects. You sit up again, the pillow falling onto your lap.

"What kind of groupchat?" You ask.

"Well..." Mark sighs. He takes his phone out. "I took screenshots, after they kicked Yangyang out I had a feeling I was next so I took receipts," he says. He nudges the phone to Yangyang, visibly straining to hold the closet back. Yangyang takes it and slides back to you.

You skimmed the messages over quickly. Yangyang and Mark stood at a tense silence. Then, what they would have never expected. A chuckle.

"You guys are fucking adorable," you smiled. "Mafia? Really? Juliet is working for hire? Oh god, San's imagination is truly out of this world!" You laughed. "Poor boy is fighting for his life in this chat and, goodness, Mark, how many times were you removed until it was permanent?"

"I lost count, maybe like eight?"

"Ah, and Yangyang never even got to plead his case," you began to settle down and you placed the phone at the edge of the bed. "But, I suppose to point still stands. We wait for tomorrow and maybe things will change," you shrugged. "Who knows, now? There's so much going on I don't even know what's going on in here," you gestured broadly.

"I mean, just do what makes you happy, (Y/N)," Mark says.

"Mark, sorry, quick question, why do you sometimes sound like Jungwoo?" You ask him.

"I'm... uh... trying to train my impressions," he says. "The fans like it when Jungwoo does it."

"Fair, continue."

"Okay, well... Life's too short to stress about the bads, ya know? That and this dude's getting shipped back to China soon so I don't wanna rush you or tell you to check your priorities, but, like, yeah," Mark adds quickly.

"Oh yeah, it always slips my mind," you frown. "Alright, loser, what do you want to do first?"

"When we get the opportunity, let's finish our four-star run on Overcooked," Yangyang crosses his arms. You and Mark both, in an instant, shuddered.

"You really want to sign up for that, Yang?" You ask. "You can't even keep up with your one job in that game."

"Two, I have two jobs, thank you very much," he huffs. "Washing the dishes and fire extinguisher control," he smiles.

"It'll definitely help me release some steam," Mark shrugs.

"I swear if you throw my joycons at the wall again, Mark, I'm throwing you with them," you teased.

"And I want to see it happen," Yangyang adds. "No more of this elusive bench press bs, (Y/N), I wanna see you body slam youth-leader over there," Yangyang grins.

"Oh, you betcha."

"I'm sorry, did you just call me a youth leader?!" Mark laughs.

"Yes, next question! I also request at least one mall trip."

"We'll talk to our manager about it," you say. "But, after we finish our music show filming!"

"Okay, okay!" Yangyang shoots you a thumbs up.

"It feels like we're doing a bucket list," Mark mutters.

"And at the top of my bucket list was to see you, be with you, sing with you, dance with you," you said your verse from Echoes.

"But off in the distance all I saw was what was left of you. Echoing from the stars, to the ground, I could feel you," Yangyang says Mark's verse before he could get the chance.

"Wow, guys, okay," Mark laughs. "Okay, wait, but, like, for real, I'm gonna need you guys to step out because I just heard my closet door crack."

"Oh, shit, okay, yeah, we'll head out now," you and Yangyang were heading to the door within seconds. "I'll text you some sexy closets later."

"Some sexy what?!"

"Bye, Mark!" You said it first.

"See you tomorrow!" Yangyang was next. He shut the door behind him for you.

General Tag List: @vickylamore @kazooms @sehunnies-hunnie96 @yangsrose @bat-shark-repellant @cloudreads @raeincitizen @here-aeth @lune1897 @gaiyofanfiction @jaeminsespresso @umbralhelwolf @morningsunandnightsky

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ayanna-wild · 4 years ago

Text

Broken Wings

Word Count: 2921

Pairings: Lucifer Morningstar x Reader

Warnings: angst, fluff, hurt, comfort

A/N: Request from Wattpad, for the sake of this story Lucifer and the reader will not be related, set somewhere between s1 and s2, and I have nothing against Amenadiel, but he was kind of a dick during s1 lol

Requests and Tag List are open

Summary: It was a simple matter of loving the wrong man, but you couldn’t control your heart. How was it fair for you to be punished? But life was cruel that way.

.................................................................................

You weren't an angel per-say. You had the wings, the immortality, yet you lacked the power that came with being a true angel. To be blunt you were a side project God had taken up before abandoning it to create humanity, more a helper to his children than anything.

The only of your kind.

With little other purpose you dutifully fulfilled your role as the aid, accompying the true angels to earth. A mundane existence, but one you tolerated.

Until Lucifer had taken an interest in you, life was so much better after that. So full of fun and laughter, he called for your help more than any of his brethren or sisters. Although he never really needed any assistance, it was all an excuse to steal you away for a while.

For centuries that was your life, and you were content with it if it meant spending more time with him. You two grew impossibly close and thought you'd be with him until the stars in the sky fizzled out.

But that was before, before the rebellion, before his banishment, before your existence dulled so drastically. Spending centuries, millenniums feeling as though you were missing out on something better.

Which is why you had so graciously agreed to accompany Amenadiel to earth. So he could once again fail at convincing his brother to return to hell. You masked your excitement surprisingly well, or Amenadiel was just incredibly oblivious. Either way you weren't complaining.

"You seem happy..."

Your wings fluttered a bit, unable to contain the smile on your face as you glanced at the dark skinned angel.

"Well it's nice to get out of heaven once and a while, you know?"

That was only partially a lie, you really did enjoy earth much more, but truthfully you were excited about seeing Lucifer after so long.

"No. Heaven is perfect. " Amenadiel stated bluntly.

You watched him walk inside from the balcony, hanging back a moment to mutter to yourself.

"For you maybe..."

Your wings folded into your back as you walked in, not the least bit surprised to see the brothers at each other's throats already.

"Such hostility from such divine beings."

Your sarcastic remark quickly drew the attention of the king of hell, who turned to you with a grin so wide you wondered if it hurt his face.

"Oh brother, you failed to mention you brought along this beautiful little creature. Y/N, it's an absolute pleasure to see you again."

Lucifer approached you with open arms, your smile matching his as he embraced you.

"It is her role to assist us." Amenadiel said as if that was the obvious answer.

Lucifer pulled away from you, noticing the way your shoulders sagged a bit at the elder angels words. The devil frowned a bit.

"Role? Are you still listening to such nonsense?" Lucifer scoffed.

Amenadiel rolled his shoulders, flexing his wings a little in irritation.

"It is our father's will. You should be following your role as well."

Lucifer clicked his tongue, strolling over to his bar.

"It became rather dull, so many years doing the same thing, a drab existence, isn't it angel?"

The ending was directed towards you, and you almost forgot yourself, almost allowed yourself to agree, in front of Amenadiel. It was a nickname he had given you centuries ago. His own way of telling you he saw you as his equal, unlike the others.

You were his angel.

"She's not a real angel Lucifer, don't try to fill her head with your rebellious nonsense."

His words stung a bit, but he wasn't entirely wrong, you weren't a true angel. That bit of fact didn't seem to lessen the blow to your pride though.

"With such exquisite wings as hers, who could tell the difference?" Lucifer winked at you.

You straightened your back, feeling proud of yourself, your wings always were your favorite feature. You took immaculate care of them. Just as quickly as Amenadiel tore you down Lucifer built you back, you supposed that was one of the things that had drawn you to him all those years ago.

"You're a disgrace."

You stepped between them, placing a hand on Lucifer's chest.

"Maybe I can talk to him? He was always��at least willing to listen to me." You offered.

Amenadiel seemed to ponder this a moment before nodding.

"I'll return tomorrow, don't let him pull you into any of his schemes."

Lucifer scoffed at his brother's warning. You smiled softly.

"Of course."

With a flutter of wings he was gone, and you were left alone with the fallen angel. Without a moment to appreciate the silence, a cup of amber liquid was held in front of your face.

"Fancy a drink my dear? We have so much to catch up on."

You weren't sure how it happened, maybe it was the drinks, or the way he spoke to you, but you found yourself stumbling out of his bed the next morning. Panic surged through your veins as you hastily pulled your clothes back on, cursing softly. You regretted nothing, but there'd be hell to pay if any of the heavenly host caught you bedding the devil. Lucifer still slept soundly, and you tried your best not to wake him.

You rushed from his room, running straight into a broad chest causing you to stumble back a bit. Amenadiel stared at you with an uncomfortably blank expression, and your heart dropped.

"Amenadiel... I-"

Your world became a blur in the next second, and you fell forward as your feet unexpectedly hit the roof of a hotel.

"What were you thinking! Fornicating with Lucifer!"

You glanced up at him, snorting at his wording.

"Fornicating? For someone who comes to earth so frequently, your vocabulary is a little dated."

You couldn't help the poorly timed jab, humor your way if deflecting tense situations. Unfortunately for you that only seemed to make Amenadiel more angry.

"Have you no shame? You don't seem the least bit remorseful for the sin you just committed!" He shouted.

You flinched a little, sitting back on your ass as you stared up at him. Should you grovel? Beg for forgiveness?

That would be the logical thing to do, it was what he was expecting. But perhaps your short reunion with Lucifer had sparked something in you because you found yourself leaning back on your hands, staring up at the angel before you with no remorse.

"I regret nothing."

Blood soaked your once white shirt as you leaned against an alley wall, shifting most of your weight onto your side. Anything to avoid the crippling pain in your back. Tears stained your cheeks and burnt your eyes. Dry sobs shook your body, no tears left to cry.

He'd ripped your wings from your back, tore them from your body, taking your immortality with him. You barely registered the sound of footsteps, hardly heard the woman talking to you in concern. You just felt so tired, a feeling you weren't used to.

It'd be okay if you slept, just for a moment, right?

Chloe panicked as she saw your eyes close, waving frantically as the paramedics arrived just moments later. Her hands covered in your blood as she wondered who could have possibly done that to you.

You woke to steady beeping, and an uncomfortable feeling of something wrapped just a little too tight around you. Bright lights forced you to close your eyes almost as soon as you opened them. You took a moment to adjust as you sat up, looking around the unfamiliar room that you slowly realized was a hospital room.

It all seemed so... human.

The reality of your sudden mortality crashed down on you, and you carefully pulled the I.V. from your arm. You hissed as you quickly stood from the bed, the sudden movement causing pain to shot up your back.

You nearly collapsed.

But no, you had to leave, get out of this place before questions you couldn't possibly answer came. You gathered your ruined clothes, fleeing before anyone could notice.

You kept your head low as you left the building, the bandages on your back straining against your hasty movements.

"Hey!"

A voice called out, catching your attention and a blonde woman hurried over to you. You stared at her in confusion, and she looked you over with concern.

"What are you doing out here? You shouldn't leave the hospital yet."

It suddenly clicked and your body tensed as you vaguely recognized her as the woman who found you.

"I'll be fine."

She looked ready to protest, and you grabbed her hands in desperation.

"Please... I just can't be there..."

She seemed to relent a little, and you breathed a sigh of relief until she told you her name. Then you found yourself begging her not to tell Lucifer anything, and she promised not to utter a word, if you told her what happened to you.

It had to have been the greatest lie you ever told, a fabricated story about a scorned lover. She believed it nonetheless, offering to help you get a change of clothes. Something less covered in blood, you went straight to Lucifer afterwards, carefully hiding what had happened.

Perhaps he trusted you too much, or maybe you were getting better at lying because he didn't question your claim to want to stay on Earth. He seemed thrilled, and you hid your pain with a smile when he embraced you, thankful your new jacket hid the bandages.

For months that was the routine, a difficult dance to move to, especially with how close you two were becoming once more. But you'd stop his hands before they could trail up your back in your more heated moments, directed his attention to something else. You were so careful not to let him see your back.

Careful to never let him follow you into the shower. Careful never to sleep on your side, or let him give you a back rub. Always avoiding Chloe, lest she bring up your injuries. You were so careful, for months.

So why had you forgotten to lock the door while you were getting dressed?

"Should we order out again darling? Perhaps from that little coffee shop you so like much? I heard they have a new..."

Lucifer had barged into the bathroom, clad in only his underwear and robe loosely tied as he questioned what you wanted for breakfast. Your whole body froze, mind shutting down as his words came to an abrupt stop. The atmosphere of the room suddenly felt thick, and you could have sworn it became harder to breath.

Lucifer said nothing, staring at your horribly scared back. You held your shirt to your chest, refusing to turn and meet his eye. Worried what emotion you might find. He had moved so quietly, and so quickly that you jumped when his fingers were suddenly grazing your back. Just below the rough skin where your beautiful wings had once been.

"Who did this to you..."

It was more of a soft demand then a question, but you hesitated.

"I... I cut them off..."

He chuckled a dry, humorless chuckle, and he draped his robe over your shoulders. Probably realizing you'd be more comfortable if you could cover your scars. You muttered a thank you and his hands rested on your arms, rubbing soothingly up and down as you grabbed the silk robe, holding it tighter around you.

"Those aren't the scars you get from cutting your wings, I would know. No, those are harsh, angry scars, something tearing wings off would cause. Don't lie to me angel, who did this?"

His grip tightened on your arms ever so slightly, but it wasn’t out of anger, at least not towards you.

"Amenadiel..." Your voice was so faint you barely heard yourself, but judging by the sharp intake of breath, he had heard you just fine.

"What?"

"A punishment... for being with you..."

You caught his reflection in the mirror, the flash of his eyes, his face shifted, just for a moment, but it was enough for you to realize just how angry he truly was.

"Lucifer-"

He turned on his heel, leaving the room and getting dressed in a fury. You approached him cautiously, closing the robe around you and tying it into place.

"What are you doing?"

He finished buttoning his shirt before turning back to you.

"I need you to do me a favor my dear."

A frown pulled at your lips, but you slowly nodded.

"Pray to my brother."

You jerked back as if someone had physically slapped you.

"What?"

"You trust me, don't you?" He smiled, but there was something in his eyes, something that unnerved you.

"Of course."

He seemed so calm, contrary to what he had been just moments ago.

"Then pray to my brother."

He guided you into the living room and stepped just out of sight. You hesitated, shifting your weight from one foot to the other before finally doing as he asked. It only took moments before Amenadiel appeared in front of you.

He'd come so fast, probably expecting you to beg for forgiveness.

You had no idea how vastly unprepared you were to see him again. Your hands trembled, and you held the robe closer around you, taking an unsure step back.

You didn't have time to dwell on it and Amenadiel had no time to say anything before a sickening crack filled the room and the angel was sprawled out on the ground.

"Hello brother."

You blinked slowly, taking a second to catch up with the fact that Lucifer had just delivered a crippling blow to his brother's face and Amenadiel laid dazed on the ground. Blindsided by the unexpected blow. Lucifer gave him no time to recover, picking him up by his neck carelessly throwing him into a wall. You shielded your eyes from the debris flying by.

"I've just had the unpleasant surprise of discovering what you did to my darling little slice of heaven."

You wordlessly watched Amenadiel pull himself out of the now prominent hole in Lucifer's stone wall. He was unsteady on his feet, but that mattered very little to Lucifer who swiftly grabbed his brother's shirt, tossing him across the floor as if he weighed nothing.

"And they call me the devil." Lucifer scoffed.

Amenadiel managed to at least prop himself up with his arms, spitting out a bit of blood.

"You are the devil, Lucifer, and she betrayed heaven by being with you."

Lucifer took a step forward, clearly ready to continue the one-sided fight. But you quickly stepped in front of him, worried he might go to far, if his red eyes were anything to go off of.

"Just let him leave, you made your point. You're flogging a dead horse at this point." You uttered, refusing to glance at the angel pulling himself off the ground.

"She received a punishment fitting her sin and she still crawled back to you."

Your skin bristled at his comment, and you found your unease fading away to anger. You rounded on him so fast you surprised even yourself at the words spilling from your lips.

"My sin!? You think you're a saint, but you're no better than me! It wasn’t sin Amenadiel, it was free will, if humans can have it why can't I?"

Amenadiel narrowed his eyes as he stood, but you didn't back down.

"You sound just like Lucifer."

You found yourself laughing at that, and with a sudden burst of confidence you shoved his chest back a bit. His beating from Lucifer making it slightly easier to do so. Speaking of the devil, he watched you unleash your anger, gazing at you with amusement and satisfaction.

"Good! You know what, I should have sided with him during that rebellion! Because he seemed to have the right idea! Heaven might have been perfect for you, but it was hell to me! I was beneath all of you, an errand girl for you to degrade, treat like shit!"

Lucifer pulled you back a little when he saw the anger in his brother's eyes. You were mortal now after all. You let out a cruel laugh, though there were tears in your eyes.

"Do you want to know the best part it all?"

Your laughter died down, and you gave him a cynical smile.

"I don't owe the Silver City a goddamn thing anymore, you think you were punishing me? You freed me, you and all your kind can go to hell, because if anyone belongs there it certainly isn't Lucifer."

Amenadiel opened his mouth to say something, taking what he probably assumed was a menacing step towards. But Lucifer rested his hands on your shoulders, daring his kin to try something. You didn't seem fazed though.

"Run back home and lick your wounds like the obedient lapdog you are. I'm not wasting any more words on you."

Amenadiel clenched his fists in repressed rage, but said nothing, not in any condition to fight his brother. He was gone in a blink, and you felt all the energy drain out of you. Lucifer caught you as your legs gave out, and he smiled proudly at you.

"You were marvelous love, I'd nearly forgotten how sharp your tongue can be."

You laughed breathlessly, and he brushed your hair away from your eyes.

"How do you feel?"

You smiled up at him, the heavy feeling finally lifting from your shoulders.

"Free."

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#lucifer morningstar #lucifer morningstar x reader #lucifer morningstar imagine #lucifer morningstar imagines #lucifer morningstar one shot #luciferonnetflix #luciferonfox #lucifer morningstar x you

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thekisforkeats · 4 years ago

Text

Love Languages

Info: The Magnus Archives, JonMartin, rated T probably for swears. Canon-Compliant. Set post-MAG 22, with a coda post-MAG 159. Everyone is ND and everyone is trans because that’s just how my personal S1 Archives gang rolls.

CWs: Mentions of ableism and Martin’s mother. I’d say canon-typical worms but the worms don’t really come up except in passing.

I do not know anything about BSL, so I did not try to describe the signs.

Summary: A love language is not just about how you best show love and affection; it is also about the ways you best receive love and affection. And so, for someone like Martin, who shows love by going out of his way to help others, someone going out of their way to help him, well. What better way for him to realize just how loved he is?

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The first time Martin went completely non-verbal after starting work in the Archives, it was the morning after giving Jon the statement about Jane Prentiss.

It wasn’t a surprising development, really. Martin didn’t go fully non-verbal that often, but when he did it was almost always a thing that started in the morning and lasted most of the day. Sometimes it wore off by the time he went to bed, sometimes it lasted until the next morning.

After his mother’s diagnosis, he’d been unable to speak for an entire week. That hadn’t gone over well--as much as his mother wanted him to be quiet, she didn’t like the “silent treatment,” as she called it.

Martin hated that she’d called it that, as though his non-verbal episodes were anything he did on purpose. Some days talking just felt like a chore; those days he could get by only forcing words out when he had to. But some days, the worst days, he just couldn’t talk. He could understand other people just fine, he could make noises, sometimes he could even hum. And he could definitely read and write. But speaking words, aloud? No. He could not speak, on these days, however much he may have wanted to.

As Martin grew older and learned more about himself, he learned words and reasons and coping mechanisms. He realized that some of the problem came from dysphoria and the longer he was on hormones the less often it happened. He realized that he was autistic (even if he never got diagnosed), and learned how to handle the episodes that still occurred. He took sign languages classes because it was a good and useful thing to know regardless, to be able to communicate with more people.

As many Deaf people had learned before Martin, he’d found himself in plenty of situations when nobody around him knew BSL, so he’d found a phone app that let him type out things he wanted to say and repeated them in a tinny, mechanical voice. Feminine, but he found it didn’t cause dysphoria; it wasn’t his voice. It was the app speaking for him, a robot lady translating his words.

Martin was fairly certain he was going to need the robot lady to speak for him today, and he was dreading the whole idea. The app got him a range of reactions from scorn to derision to faux sympathy. The last time he’d done so at work, the Institute library staff had regarded him with such pity that he’d called in sick the two other times it had happened since.

He’d woken early, because he was always awake fairly early, to ensure he looked presentable and got to work on time. He did not want Jonathan “Crisply Professional At All Times” Sims giving him that look again. The particular look that was “I highly disapprove of your sartorial choices but I’m not going to get into it right now because I have so very much else to do. Nonetheless, if I could fire you for what you’re wearing I would.”

Jon had a lot of looks. Martin fervently wished he could stop categorizing them; he very much disliked his boss, and very much wanted to stop thinking about Jon quite as much as he did.

Jon was attractive, that much Martin had noticed the first day he’d come in, with a jawline Martin would’ve loved to trace with his fingers, eyes sharp and deep and intelligent, salt-and-pepper hair that Martin would have tangled his fingers in gladly.

Except, of course, that Jon was also a prick who didn’t like Martin one bit and made that very clear. He’d put down on record that he thought Martin would “contribute nothing but delays.” Martin was not such a sucker for punishment that he would put up with someone who hated him just for a pretty face. The tiny potential blossom of a crush had been, well, crushed five seconds after it had poked its head above ground, by Jon’s declaration that he could dismiss Martin if he didn’t resolve the “dog situation” immediately.

Martin counted his lucky stars every day that Jon had not, in fact, dismissed him, despite having had to deal with a doggy mess. The luck was really in having Tim around, Martin figured; Jon actually seemed fond of Tim, and the other man had managed to smooth the entire situation over.

Martin had fallen asleep last night thinking about the new look Jon had given him yesterday: concerned. Truly, genuinely concerned, which had rather taken Martin aback. He’d been certain Jon wouldn’t believe him, would scoff and roll his eyes at the entire statement, and instead he’d just looked… concerned.

And then Jon had offered Martin the cot that he’d woken up in this morning.

It wasn’t the look of concern that had Martin non-verbal, though; of that he was certain. It was the stress of the last two weeks, and dumping out the statement yesterday, and all the whirl of figuring out how to live in the Archives. Jon’s insistence on going with him to pick up basics with a toothbrush at the convenience store, and then coming back to be sure he was okay. Jon finding clean sheets and discussing how he’d do his laundry. Jon had expensed clothing bought online to the Institute, including next-day shipping, because he’d “lost access to his flat and thus his wardrobe in the line of duty.” It had all been bewildering and overwhelming and it was no real surprise that Martin was in the state he found himself when he woke.

Martin had known as soon as he’d opened his eyes. It was just there, the feeling of nope can’t talk today. He’d pulled on his binder and the same clothing he’d worn the day before and then fumbled around for his phone. Which… he didn’t have. The damn worm-hive-lady had stolen it from him. Well, shit.

He managed to avoid having to figure out how to talk while he went out to get breakfast, just pointing at a scone in the display and smiling at the guy behind the counter as if he wasn’t secretly irritated by the price of everything in Chelsea. By the time Martin got back, Jon was already in his office, so thank God he’d avoided that awkward interaction. He went to make himself tea, and had his breakfast in the breakroom, and brushed his teeth, and then went to get started on…

Wait. He didn’t even know what they were working on right now.

Well, he wasn’t going to bother Jon about it; however nice he’d been last night it surely must have worn off by now, and Martin had no interest in summoning one of his boss’ looks this early in the morning. Normally he’d still be on his commute at this hour.

After a moment’s thought, he went to go see what they’d recorded in his absence, and soon had a stack of statements on his desk. They’d gotten through five statements in the two weeks he’d been gone. Maybe Jon was right. Maybe Martin did contribute “nothing but delays.”

Pushing the thought aside, Martin focused on listening to the tapes, and was just finishing up listening to the second half of Father Edwin Burroughs’ statement when Tim came into the shared office the assistants used.

“Hey, you’re in early. You get the email?”

Martin raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

Tim snorted. “Jon claims he’s got something to warn us about, something that ‘won’t parse properly through digital means.’” He rolled his eyes. “Which is Jon-speak for ‘it’s a weird thing and I don’t want to admit it’s a weird thing because I have to keep my skeptic hat on to preserve my self-image.”

Martin chuckled in solidarity, then gestured toward the door to Jon’s office, to indicate that’s where their boss was.

“Not coming?” Tim asked, his own eyebrow raised. When Martin shrugged, he said, “Well, I guess if you didn’t get the email…” Tim also shrugged, then said, “Guess I’d better get it over with. Wish me luck!”

Martin gave him a thumbs up.

When Sasha came in, Martin silently directed her to Jon’s office as well, then heaved a sigh of relief. He hadn’t had to explain being non-verbal at all yet, and it was already nine o’clock. Maybe if he was lucky, Jon would warn them off talking to him and he’d manage to make it the entire day without having to explain the whole “non-verbal” business to anyone he saw on a regular basis.

Alas, it was barely thirty minutes later that Tim and Sasha returned to talk to him, both wearing expressions of mingled concern and guilt. When they spoke it was a flood of the usual, expected platitudes:

“We’re so sorry!”

“We didn’t know!”

“Are you okay??”

And such like.

Martin shrugged and nodded and shook his head in all the right places, and evidently Jon had played them the tape of his statement so he didn’t have to explain it all again (thank God), and he thought maybe, maybe he could even figure out what statement they were working on right now if he just listened to their chatter after they were done with the niceties, but then…

Well. Then Timothy Stoker happened.

Which is to say, Tim actually looked at Martin, and said, “You’re being awfully quiet. You sure you’re okay?”

And then he and Sasha just… sat there, looking at him expectantly.

Martin sighed and reached for a piece of scrap paper and wrote, I’m autistic and sometimes I go non-verbal. Today’s one of those days, but I don’t have my phone anymore, so no communication app.

As he held up the paper so the others could read the words, Martin braced himself for the ensuing reactions. Pity, probably, like those in the Institute library, and he couldn’t even call in sick to avoid it; he’d rather have scorn and derision. At least those reactions were honest.

What he got from them was not pity, however, nor even scorn.

Sasha hummed. “Autism explains a lot, actually. Don’t worry, it’s not a problem.”

Tim grinned and clapped Martin on the shoulder. “Yeah, why didn’t you just say so? It’s fine, you’ve been through an ordeal. And so you know--you’re hardly the only neurodivergent in the Archives.”

Martin blinked at Tim, then wrote: Wait, what? Who…?

“Would you believe me if I said all of us?” Tim said with a grin. “I have ADD, Jon’s… well… he’s Jon, and as for Sasha…”

Sasha sighed in fond exasperation and cut in, “Tim…”

“I contend that you cannot be neurotypical, Ms. James. You fit in too well around here.”

“I am not admitting to anything on Institute property,” Sasha said with aplomb. “And you shouldn't have either, but here we are.” She looked at Martin. “If HR finds out and they give you any trouble, let us know and we’ll figure out what to do.”

Tim, in the meanwhile, pulled out his phone. “Here, go ahead and use mine for now, until your replacement gets here or whatever. What’s the app so I can install it for you?”

Martin’s jaw had dropped open. Tim having ADD made sense; what did he mean about Jon, though? And Sasha? And what did Sasha mean about HR? And… and why were they being so… nice? So… understanding? It wasn’t an act, or at least he didn’t think it was. They seemed… genuinely fine with it. Accepting, even.

It was the strangest thing Martin had experienced in a while, and that was including the worm-riddled woman who’d stood outside his door for two straight weeks.

From there the day just… went on as normal. Tim installed the app on the phone, Martin’s robot phone lady spoke for him, the three of them did their work, and everything was fine.

Until, of course, the nature of their work reared its ugly head. They were discussing the statement of Leanne Denikin, case #0051701, which they had yet to attach a pithy name to; hence the discussion. It had long since become standard practice to attach a name to the “weirder” statements, to make them easier to discuss. (Jon insisted on using the case numbers on tape still, which was annoying, given that was the only place he did that.)

Martin was reading through the statement, and he typed into Tim’s phone: What do you think of this bit? “Be still, for there is strange music.”

What came out of the phone’s speakers, however, was garbled static followed by high-pitched screeching that startled Martin so much he actually dropped the phone.

Jon was walking in just as this happened; he stopped in the doorway, blinking. “What on Earth was that?”

“Martin’s robot lady gave Tim’s phone an aneurysm, I think,” Sasha said, eyeing Martin as well.

Martin scrabbled on the floor for the phone, pulled up the app (which had crashed), and typed, I don’t know what happened!! I was just typing in something from one of the statements!

Jon frowned at him sharply. “What are you doing with Tim’s phone? Are you quite well?”

“No, Martin is not ‘quite well,’” Tim said. “Non-verbal for the day.”

Then Jon did something that stunned Martin: Jon signed at him, specifically, “Do you know sign language?” He spoke aloud as he said this, too, but also raised his eyebrows and gave a quizzical tilt to his head to convey that he was asking a question.

Martin blinked rapidly, then signed back: “Yes, actually. But Tim and Sasha don’t.”

Jon nodded, then said aloud, along with signing, “Why are you non-verbal, exactly?”

“I have autism,” Martin signed. “Sometimes talking is overwhelming and sometimes, especially in stressful situations, I can’t talk at all. Woke up that way today. It should be gone by tomorrow morning.” Why was he explaining so much more to Jon than he had to the others? Maybe just because Jon knew sign, and thus could communicate in a language Martin found much easier than even the typing.

Jon frowned thoughtfully, then nodded again. Then, still speaking and signing both, “What were you typing into your phone?”

“Be still, for there is strange music. From the statement.” Martin gestured to the statement on his desk.

Jon’s frown deepened and he repeated the words. “‘Be still, for there is strange music….’” His expression went slack for a moment, and then he shook himself. “Right. Well. Just… just… I’ll be right back.” Then he abruptly turned and left the room.

Tim and Sasha exchanged bewildered looks. Then Sasha asked, “Do you know what that was all about?”

“I forgot Jon knows BSL,” Tim replied thoughtfully. “Hard of hearing on one side. Not that he’d have agreed to interpret all day or anything.”

Martin shrugged. It’s alright, he typed. This works just fine.

“Well, no, obviously not for some things.” Jon had reappeared as suddenly as he’d disappeared, holding a small brown notebook the size of Martin’s hand. “Here,” he said, thrusting the notebook at Martin. “This will work better, for communicating about the statements. You needn’t use it with me, of course, unless signing is also taxing.”

Martin stared up at Jon. There was an entirely new look on his boss’ face. Not any level of scorn or sneer, nor even concern. He was… nervous. Fidgety. Like he was offering a gift that he was afraid might be rejected.

Something went flip in Martin’s stomach and it was like the entire world turned upside down. Suddenly, in light of Jon’s actions in the last 24 hours, he saw the way his boss had acted toward him the last six months for what it was: a defense mechanism. Armor pulled up around someone fragile and soft and sweet, someone so terrified of rejection that he went about making sure it happened preemptively so he wouldn’t be hurt.

Martin had a sudden, fierce desire to hug Jon and tell him everything would be okay. It was so bewildering a sensation--he didn’t even like the man! At all!--that he just took the notebook with a nod and a signed “Thank you,” eyes still very wide.

Jon nodded in return. “You’re welcome.” He let out a breath, and seemed to relax a little. “Well. Then. I think we’ve found the name for this one, given the way Tim’s phone reacted to those words. ‘Strange Music’ it is.” He straightened himself. “Tim, you said something about the organ reminding you of articles you’ve read…?”

Tim nodded, expression suddenly serious. “Yeah. I’ll see if I can find them for you.”

“Right. Well, then, Sasha, if I could ask you to look through the Archive like we talked about? I’m certain we’ve had a statement from Jane Prentiss.” Jon then turned to Martin. “And if you wouldn’t mind helping me with ‘Schwarzwald?’ You used to work in the library, right?”

Martin was still staring at Jon in confusion, but nodded.

Jon actually smiled at him. Faintly. “Well, then, I’m certain you must know where to find the German history reference books, if you could go grab whatever they’ll let you bring down?”

The strangest thing about it was, Jon seemed sincere. Like he actually believed Martin did, indeed, know the library well enough to just… go up there and find the German history reference books. The faint, confident-in-his-assistant smile was a new look, at least directed at Martin; he’d seen Jon look at Tim and Sasha that way many times before.

Martin’s stomach was doing cartwheels. There were butterflies taking up residence in his intestines. His heart was pounding. How had he never noticed how nice Jon’s smile was? Soft and small, like he was afraid to let it actually take up residence on his face for too long.

Oh, God, oh, no. Martin could not fancy his boss. Jon hated him. Or, well, no, evidence suggested that perhaps Jon did not hate him, but Jon most certainly did not fancy him. This crush had to disappear, just as fast as it had come. This would not do.

He was going to be writing poetry again tonight, wasn’t he? Crap.

“Martin?” Jon’s tone was concerned rather than sharp, and the way Jon said his name made Martin want to sink into the floor.

Instead, he scribbled furiously in the notebook and held it up so all three of the others could see: Yeah, sorry, was just thinking about where that’d be. I’ll bring them down as soon as I find them.

Jon practically beamed at Martin’s use of the notebook and he nodded briskly. “Right! I’ll be in my office when you have the books, then.” He started to turn away.

Martin’s heart went pound pound pound because oh wow Jon was really cute when he let that smile take up more of his face. Throwing caution to the wind, he made a noise to get the other man’s attention.

Jon turned around, quirking a brow. “Yes, Martin?”

Martin signed, “Tea?” He, too, raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to indicate the question.

Jon nodded. “Tea would be lovely, yes.” He smiled at Martin for a brief moment, and then suddenly looked flustered. He glared at them all. “Anyway,” he snapped in his ‘boss’ voice, the impact of which was ruined by the flush rising in his cheeks, “there’s still work to be done. So let’s… do it.” And with that, he turned on his heel and left the office.

Had Jon blushed because Martin had offered him tea? Did Jon like his tea that much? Was Martin imagining things? He had to be imagining things. He put his head down on the desk and wrapped his arms over it so he could grab at handfuls of hair. What was happening to him?

Sasha tried to make her voice serious, but couldn't quite manage it past quite clearly holding back giggles. “Mourn for poor Martin, working alone with Jon.” She looked at Tim. “We should call HR preemptively, it’ll be a bloodbath.”

“Nah, I think Jon’s softening on our boy,” Tim said with a laugh. He reached over to ruffle Martin’s hair with one hand while he took his phone back with the other. “Don’t worry, Marto. I told you he’d come around one day.”

Martin looked up at Tim with a stricken, betrayed expression. In the notebook: Is this how you comfort me in my hour of need??

Sasha shook her head. “For once, Tim’s being serious. You weren’t in the room when Jon explained things to us. He’s worried about you, he doesn’t want you to have to leave the Institute alone, he doesn’t want you to have to look for the Prentiss statement in case it’s ‘too traumatic’ for you to run across on your own. He actually asked us if we thought we should avoid any mention of Prentiss altogether in your presence.”

“I told him no,” Tim said. “I hope that was okay. You seem like you’d rather deal with trauma by facing it and figuring it out, rather than avoiding it entirely.”

Matin gaped at them. Really? he wrote. Jon’s… worried about me? Really? As if he hadn’t seen the evidence just now that Jon was, indeed… softening.

Tim gave Martin a very serious look. “I’ve told you before… I’ve known Jon, well, not as long as I’ve known Sasha, but for a long while now. He’s prickly and thorny, even to people he cares about, but that’s a front and I’ve said so. You just didn’t believe me.”

“In Martin’s defense,” Sasha put in, “Jon’s been awfully ‘prickly and thorny’ to him specifically.”

Tim put up a hand. “Oh, I agree. I have had words with our dear boss about the way he treats Martin, largely because I’m one of the few people he might actually listen to.” He looked at Martin. “I don’t want to take the credit, because it’s really been a remarkably fast turnaround, but I’d like to think I helped, a little.”

Martin frowned thoughtfully. Thank you, he wrote. If Jon’s at ‘I can stand Martin’ instead of ‘Martin is the source of all bad that happens in the Archives’ work might be… better than tolerable, for once.

“That’s the spirit!” Tim said with a grin. “Now, then, Jon did say to get back to work…”

Jon gave Martin another of those soft smiles when Martin brought in the tea, a smile which widened on seeing the stack of books he carried in right after. That afternoon, spent sitting and going through books and discussing the Schwarzwald statement, was the first of many they’d spend together, reading and talking and comparing notes.

Martin was feeling verbal again the next morning, but he kept the notebook. If nothing else, it was a good place to jot down poetry. And it came in handy when he found himself unable to speak the morning after Jane Prentiss’ attack on the Archives.

And the morning after Jon confronted him about his CV.

And the morning after Jon disappeared, leaving Jurgen Leitner’s body at his desk. (Martin blamed that on the corridors more than the body, really.)

Funnily enough, he didn’t need it the morning after the Unknowing. But he kept it with him that day all the same, the first gift Jon had ever given him, and one of the few things he had left of him with Jon in a coma.

--------------------------------------------

When they reached Daisy’s safehouse in Scotland, Martin had hoped he’d somehow manage to dodge the threat of going non-verbal. He’d been the one to drive the car, over Jon’s protests; it was something to focus on, to keep him remembering he was alive and real. He’d clutched the wheel and driven north north north with Jon giving directions in the passenger seat.

Martin had finally figured out that it was the chance to stop and think about trauma that led to his being non-verbal, which was why it was almost always a thing that hit in the morning. Adrenaline would keep him running after a stressful event, and then he’d carry himself through the rest of the day trying to clean up whatever mess had been caused. But sleep was enough for his body and brain to both tell him to stop, to process, to deal with whatever he’d run into.

It was possible, in hindsight, that he’d gone non-verbal more than once since the Unknowing and just hadn’t noticed because he’d been barely interacting with anyone. He’d certainly had a bad bout the morning after his mother’s funeral, dealing with so much misgendering and fake smiles. And there had been more than enough trauma to try to process in the past year, so it must have happened before.

He’d just really, really hoped it wouldn’t now, because he didn’t want to put Jon through that. (Why he thought he was putting Jon through anything he didn’t really want to examine. It made him feel Lonely, and that was bad.)

At any rate, the realization of why he went non-verbal had led to him keeping busy in order to hold it off, in order to hold himself together. So he drove, and he puttered about the cabin poking into cupboards, and he talked to Jon, and he talked to the shop lady in the village, and he brought back food and made dinner with Jon, and everything was good and fine.

And then he woke up the next morning, in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, and he could not speak.

There was the smell of bacon and eggs and pancakes cooking, and Martin made his bleary way out into the main room of the cabin and peered at Jon, already up and dressed and cooking.

His boyfriend turned to look at him and smiled, one of those soft smiles Martin had come to love so much. “Sleep well?”

"Not really,” Martin signed. “I mean…” He gestured at his throat.

Jon nodded. “I figured you might feel that way this morning. I, uhh… hold on a moment, I need to….” He grabbed the pan of bacon and moved it off the heat, pulled a pancake off the griddle and deposited it on a plate, then turned off the stove and went to poke around in one of the bags.

Martin chuckled fondly. “What’re you looking for?”

Jon was still digging through his bag. “When I was grabbing essentials at the store, back in London, I was thinking, you’ve been through a lot, and the notebook I gave you before must be full if you even have it anymore. I know you were writing poetry in it, and… oh, here we go.”

Jon came up with another small notebook. This one was not plain and brown, the way the first one he’d gifted Martin all those years ago had been. This one was black, and had silvery stars on its cover that, as Jon held out the book and thus tilted it through the light, shimmered into rainbows.

“Just in case, you know, the shop lady doesn’t know BSL.”

Martin blinked at the notebook.

“It, uhh… I know it’s not your usual style,” Jon said, his voice suddenly nervous. He was looking down at the notebook as he spoke, instead of at Martin. “Not… retro. But… I saw it and I thought of you.” He paused. “That tape, where you were talking to Simon Fairchild. He talked about the ‘cosmic scale,’ and how we’ve never even been alive on that time frame, and you said… what was it? You said, ‘I think our experience of the universe has value. Even if it disappears forever.’ And I just… that was… maybe the most… it was very… you. And there were other options, flowers or cursive writing, o-or… I don’t know, they all seemed so obvious, but this…”

Jon swallowed, and finally looked up at Martin. “I thought, after the Lonely, you might like a reminder that, you have value. That… that to me, you shine as bright as any star.” And then he flushed, and Martin knew it was for him, just as he now knew the flushes about tea all those years ago had also been for him.

Martin was gaping. Oh. Oh. Jon… loved him. Which he’d known, intellectually, but the emotional knowledge of it hit him suddenly, took his breath away. He knew it, all at once, in that “oh we could spend the rest of our lives together” way he’d never really thought he’d ever feel.

Jon had clearly misinterpreted the expression; he started stammering, “I-if… it it’s bad, I can… well, no, I can’t take it back, stupid, I should’ve just grabbed the one that had--”

Martin cut him off by reaching out to take the notebook from Jon and reached out with his other hand to cup the shorter man’s cheek. He smiled, and because he’d realized long ago how well Jon responded to physical touch, he leaned in to plant a soft kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead.

Then he pulled back to put the notebook aside on the counter and signed, “It’s perfect. Thank you.” A pause, and then, “I love you.”

Jon smiled, both speaking and signing, “I love you, too.”

And for once in his life, Martin knew that to be true, and trusted that knowledge. He was loved. He had been loved, and he would be loved for the rest of his life, whatever state his voice was in.

#the magnus archives #tma #jonmartin #jon sims #jonathan sims #jon the archivist #martin blackwood #tim stoker #sasha james #archives gang #otp: one way or another together #fanfic #my fanfic #ableism tw #jmart #canon tma fic

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fific7 · 3 years ago

Text

Fake or Fortune

For @omgrachwrites 1K Follower Celebration - congratulations!

AU: Fake Relationship

Billy Russo x Reader

A/N: This does not follow canon, it takes place in my Alternative S1 Punisher Universe, with Arrogant!Billy in attendance.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content, slightly questionable consent, some dom/sub interaction, oral and unprotected* sex between consenting adults. Swearing and drinking.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My Photo Edit)

Karen put a large G&T down in front of you, accompanied by a sympathetic look. You picked it up and took a large sip, sighing as you put it back down again.

“I give up, Karen. No matter what I do, without fail I either pick the wrong guy or else think everything’s fine, and then boom - it isn’t.”

This was a commiseration drinking session, which Karen had suggested after she’d noticed you moping around the office. You both worked at the same big newspaper but in different departments, and became good friends after spending numerous lunchtimes together in the staff restaurant.

“What happened this time?” she asked, then winced as she realised maybe that wasn’t the most tactful way of putting things. “I mean, I thought you and David were getting on really well?” You took a larger gulp of your drink, “Well, that’s the thing - so did I. Until I got the “it’s not you, it’s me” talk on Saturday.” You’d been seeing this guy from your Digital News Content section for a few months, and you’d really thought everything had been on track.

Karen sighed, “Oh lord, not that old pile of bullshit.” You nodded, “Yeah, right. I tried to pin him down to exactly what the problem was, but I guess it was just me, when it all came down to it. In fact, I saw him chatting up a girl from Accounts yesterday so he’s already moved on to pastures new. That didn’t take long, did it? Or maybe he’d already moved on but didn’t have the balls to tell me.”

“Look, I’m meeting up with Frank on Friday night for a drink...” her cheeks pinked up, and you smiled at her obvious pleasure in that thought, “....so why don’t you come along? He mentioned one of his friends might tag along.” You held up a hand, “Oh no! No! I’m not being set up.” She shook her head, “It’s not a set-up, I swear. They’ve got a little....issue.... with Homeland and we’re going to talk about it.”

You knew she’d recently met this ex-Marine called Frank when - in her role as investigative reporter - she’d been digging into some big CIA scandal. When was there not a scandal about the CIA, you thought. You knew she’d met him several times over the past couple of weeks and had detected a more-than-just-business interest in him. “Oh, so.... strictly business, then?” you teased. She shifted in her seat, “Well, mainly.... we’ve also been talking about more personal stuff.” “Uh-huh,” you nodded, smirking, “Karen fancies Frank, Karen fancies Frank!” you sang, while she batted your arm and gave an embarrassed laugh.

“Oh shut up, you,” she said, “...are you coming along or not?”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

And that’s why you found yourself sitting in a neighbourhood bar with Karen on Friday night, feeling quite nervous for some reason. Probably because Karen was fidgeting like hell next to you, and you were picking up on her nervous energy. You smiled over at her, “So you really like this guy, huh?” “No!”she denied, then as you raised an eyebrow at her, “Well... okay, yes I do like him. He’s so sweet.” Her eyes widened as she spoke, catching sight of two approaching figures, “Oh! Here he comes.” A big bear of a man came up to your table, smiling broadly at Karen and then including you in the smile as he stopped beside you. “Hey, Karen,” he greeted her, and she beamed back at him. “Hey, Frank,” and then she introduced you to him. His friend, who’d been partially blocked from your sight by Frank’s bulk, moved out from behind him and said ‘Hi - I’m Billy Russo,’ and shook your hand as he did so. “Nice ta meet ya,” said Frank, also shaking your hand and sitting down in the booth next to Karen.

The man who’d just introduced himself as Billy slid in next to you, and you tried not to stare. He was hot. Like, really hot. Dressed in a smart suit and overcoat, he really didn’t look like an ex-Marine, but Karen had told you that both Frank and his friend were ex-service, and that the friend had opened up a security firm called Anvil when he left the Marines. His handsome face turned towards you, and two very dark eyes looked into yours, “So.... you’re a friend of Karen’s?” You nodded, “Yeah, we just worked together to start with but now we’re besties.” “You a reporter too?” “Nah, I’m a lowly sub-editor on the news desk.” A sudden thought occurred to you, “Oh... and just to reassure you, this isn’t a set-up... you and me, I mean.” He smirked, and you found yourself staring at his lush brushed-back hair and sculpted jaw with its light beard. “Would it have been a big problem if it had been?” he was saying to you, and you shook yourself out of your little trance.

“No, I guess not...” you replied, laughing nervously, “...but I just wanted to get it out there.” He looked you over appraisingly, “Well, I wouldn’t have been disappointed at all,” the smirk got bigger, “....so if you change your mind, just let me know.” This left you speechless but he was still looking at you, asking, “Whaddya want to drink? First round’s on me,” before turning his gaze to the others.

Several beers later, you were sitting listening to the other three talking about a lot of indecipherable nonsense (from your point of view), and you were beginning to get antsy. “Karen, I’m going to head off,” you said in a break in the conversation and she looked slightly guilty, “Oh sorry... we’ve been going on about this for ages.” You shrugged, “It’s fine, Karen, honestly. I’ll see you Monday, okay? Have a great weekend.” You turned to the guys, “You too, and thanks for the drinks,” and made to move out of the booth. But Billy didn’t move. “See you home?” he questioned you, and you saw small smiles on both Karen and Frank’s faces. “Yeah, okay,” you nodded, and then he moved, standing aside as you slid out of the booth. As you headed to the door through the crowd of people, you felt his arm snaking around your lower back. Oooh, very confident, you thought. You’d marked him out as a player as soon as you’d set eyes on him.

“Sorry about the boring shop talk,” he said as you both hit the street, “....me and Frankie’ve got some problems with Homeland right now.” “That doesn’t sound good,” you said as you found yourself being guided around the corner from the bar. “Oh, I was going to take the subway,” you protested, but he shook his head, “This time on a Friday night? Nah.” He pointed towards a rather flashy-looking car parked in the street, “Got the car with me so I’ll take you home. I only had one beer, case you didn’t notice.” “I didn’t,” you admitted, “I thought you were sinking beers like the rest of us.” He gave a low laugh, “I was a sniper in the service, so I like to be aware of my surroundings at all times.” A little frisson ran through you, this guy was quite dangerous, you could tell. As you reached the car, he held the passenger door open for you and you climbed in, trying to be as elegant as possible although you weren’t sure you quite achieved that.

As he started the engine and moved the car out into the flow of traffic, he asked, “So what made you come along tonight if it wasn’t a set-up?” “I was bored. I just split up with my boyfriend of a few months so...” you shrugged. You heard a chuckle, “His loss.” “I don’t think that’s what he thought,” you replied, with a self-deprecating laugh. “Well, it’s true,” said Billy, “...believe me. He must be mad to give you up.” “You silver-tongued charmer,” you said back to him, and again you heard his deep chuckle.

“Seriously, it’s my gain. Look, this might seem a bit of an odd request seein’ as how we’ve only just met...” he began, looking across at you as he pulled up outside your apartment block, “....but you’d be doin’ me a big favour. How ‘bout you come along to this charity event I gotta go to next week? As my ‘plus one’?” You hesitated, and he carried on, “No strings, I promise. Just come along as my girlfriend and be on my arm all night. Help me ward off the attentions of someone I’d rather avoid.” You scoffed, “Fake dating? Really?!”

Much to your surprise, you found yourself walking into your building a few minutes later having just agreed to go to this event with Billy. He’d looked pleased, thanking you for saying yes. And you’d also been on the receiving end of a surprise kiss from him. He’d suddenly leant in, slid his big hand around the back of your neck and pulled you in, his mouth finding yours as he did. The kiss had been short but very sexy and you were still tingling from the after-effects.

He’d laughed at your look of total surprise, and wished you sweet dreams. You’d better be careful, warned your internal guardian angel, he said ‘No Strings’.... remember? So don’t go getting all invested in this guy. He’s a player.... for sure.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy and you had swapped numbers, and the following morning you were pleasantly surprised to get a text asking if you could meet him later that day. Intrigued, you texted back saying you didn’t have any other plans but why did he need to meet up? He came back saying he’d had an idea to help out with the event next week, and said he could pick you up. Feeling like you could be making a big mistake, you agreed so he said he’d be at your place around two.

You made sure you dressed casually. Not having any idea where you were going, but sure it wouldn’t be a date as such, you just chose a shirt and jeans with some suede ankle boots. When Billy texted you to say he was parked outside, you left your apartment and locked up, feeling a spark of excitement run through you as you did. “This is not a date, this is not a date, this is not a date!” you chanted in your head as you went downstairs. Billy, you saw with relief, was also dressed casually in jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket and combat boots. He gave you a big grin as you got in the car, the luxurious leather aroma of the interior filling your nostrils. “What make of car is this?” you asked, being an “it’s a black one” kind of girl. He gave you what could only be described as a smug smile, “Rolls Royce Wraith, sweetheart,” he answered. “Oh, okay,” you said, “....expensive, I take it?” “Very.” “Surprised you park it on the street the way you do then,” you shrugged, and he burst out laughing. “Is it one of those so-called penis extensions?” you asked next, and Billy nearly choked he was laughing so hard.

“Firstly, I take it that means you aren’t particularly impressed,” he gasped, getting his breath back after his laughing fit, “...and secondly, no darlin’, it definitely isn’t one of those ‘penis extensions‘ as you put it. Got no need for one-a those.” You returned his smirk, “Really? Well, I don’t care what car a guy drives,” you said firmly, “...that’s got nothing to do with what he’s like.” He glanced across at you as he swung the car into one of the downtown underground car parks. “And what do you think I’m like?” You looked at his profile as he concentrated on parking the big car in a corner space, “Mmmm... I think you’ve had a hard upbringing and now you’re making up for it. Big time.”

Billy switched the engine off and turned to stare at you, the dark eyes drilling into yours with an intensity you hadn’t been expecting. “Wow,” said Billy, “....you sure you’re not one-a these psychoanalysts or somethin’?” “Definitely,” you replied. “Well, you sure sound like you’ve been analysing me, sweetheart,” he said. You didn’t know him well enough to gauge his mood, and he carried on, “I mean, you got all that from meetin’ me last night and just now?” You nodded, saying neutrally, “I’m just speculating of course... but the expensive suits, the car, and I bet a big flashy apartment too, it just says ‘I can afford this now and I’m gonna enjoy it’ to me.” You were relieved to hear a chuckle as you’d been worried you’d really offended him. “Spot on,” he said, “...yeah, you’re spot on. I think you’re maybe in the wrong business.” You decided to change the subject, “So... where are we going, Billy?” “You’ll see in a minute,” he grinned, “....c’mon, let’s go sweetheart.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Minutes later, you were standing outside one of the expensive and trendy boutiques in the area. Billy’s hand went under your elbow and he steered you inside. “Billy... what’s going on?” He nodded to one of the staff who started making her way over to the two of you. “Look, it was my bright idea to drag you along to this thing, so the least I can do is treat you to a new outfit.” You were shaking your head before he’d stopped speaking, “Oh no, no... I can’t let you do that!” He was nodding back at you - it must’ve looked quite comical to the store assistant, “Oh yes, you will - I insist.” He turned to the woman, “Please can you help my girlfriend pick out an outfit for a formal event?” And before you could say anything else, he’d wandered over to a seating area near the changing rooms and seated himself in a comfortable armchair. “I’ll be right here, sweets,” he said, beaming at you. Girlfriend indeed, you thought.

The store assistant looked expectantly at you and you nodded hesitantly at her, so she led you over to some rails filled with lots of beautiful dresses. “How nice of your boyfriend to buy you a whole new outfit,” she commented, beginning to slide the dresses back and forth along the rail looking for a selection for you, “He’s very charming,” she continued, admiringly. “Yes, isn’t he,” you said between gritted teeth. Truthfully, you were feeling as if you were out shopping with your sugar daddy. But you had to admit that your bank account would’ve been protesting loudly if you’d had to make the purchase yourself, and you definitely would’ve had to buy something new as nothing in your wardrobe was even remotely suitable for a formal event. And he was right, this was all his bright idea. So you’d just suck it up, you thought, however reluctantly.

Eventually the assistant had several dresses folded over her arm for you to try on, and you sailed past Billy to the changing rooms without as much as a glance at him. But you just knew he was staring at you as disappeared behind the curtain.

After twenty minutes of struggling in and out of the various dresses, you had to admit that the assistant had made some good choices. There were three that you really liked, and you finally chose a midnight blue silky sheath of mid-thigh length, an asymmetric one-shoulder-strap neckline and a swirl of sequins diagonally across it from neck to hem. It was tight-fitting but didn’t show off an excessive amount of skin - you didn’t want to have it all out there on show after all.

The assistant had also brought several pairs of shoes to you once you’d chosen your dress, and you picked out a pair of matching delicate strappy sandals. Pleased with your choices, you put your own clothes back on and went out to find Billy. He looked up from his phone as you exited the changing room, a disappointed look on his face, “What.... no catwalk show for your boyfriend?” You leant down and whispered, “Okay, you’re laying it on a bit thick, Russo,” to which he grinned, gently took hold of your chin and softly kissed you. “You’re welcome, sweetheart,” he smirked. Then a horrible thought occurred to you, “Billy!” you whispered forcefully. He looked a bit nervously at you, “What?” “There was no price tag on that dress or the shoes either!” He waved a hand at you, “Yeah? That’s okay, just leave it to me.” “No! That’s not on. I’m going to ask her what the price is.” He jumped up out of the armchair, “Nah, nah! Told ya, it was my idea you come along so just let me do this, okay?”

He set off without further delay to the cash desk, while you reluctantly waited in the seating area. Not particularly comfortable with the idea of him buying you an outfit, you decided that you’d offer to buy him dinner to kind of offset his no doubt hefty bill for the dress purchase. He came back over to you a few moments later carrying a large box in one of the boutique’s carrier bags which he handed to you with a grin. “She’d already boxed it before I could see it so it’s still gonna be a surprise when I see it on the night.” You smirked back, you were quite pleased about that. “Billy, let me buy you dinner as a thank you for the dress.” “Okay, I won’t say no to a free dinner,” he grinned, “...where d’ya wanna go?” You mentally reviewed your bank balance and named a mid-priced restaurant close by.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

After a pleasant couple of hours chatting over dinner, Billy drove you home. Debating how to end the night, you came up with what you felt was a decent plan. Not that you were trying to extend the evening of course. That would be just plain stupid as the ‘relationship’ was all a big fake. Remember? your brain asked you. “You know Billy, we haven’t prepared a back story yet, have we?” you said as he drew up outside your place. “A back story?” “Yeah. I mean, if this person you’re trying to avoid happens to ask us - together or separately - about our relationship, we need to be singing from the same songsheet, don’t we?” He looked thoughtful, “Uh yeah, you’ve got a point there.” “OK, well how about you come in for a glass of wine or a coffee and we can get that sorted now?” A devilish smirk appeared, “Plannin’ to ravish me, sweetheart?”

You felt your face heat up with a sudden blush, “No!! Purely to agree on the back story. But hey - we can just text about it if you’d prefer!” Embarrassed, you grabbed your bags, opened the car door and began to get out, but Billy grabbed your arm, “Hey, hey, sweetheart - I’m just kiddin’. Hold on an’ I’ll park up. We can walk up together.” You huffed slightly and closed the car door again, while Billy looked around for a parking space. Once parked, the two of you went up to your apartment and you unlocked the door, waving him inside and over to the sofa while you stashed the bags and headed to the kitchen area. “What would you like? Wine, beer or coffee?” “I’d better just have a coffee,” he said, “...don’t wanna get drunk and pass out in your apartment. Not a good look.” “I don’t see you as a ‘getting drunk’ kinda guy, Billy. You already told me you like to be aware of your surroundings.” He laughed, “You’re right, I don’t make a habit of gettin’ wasted.”

So you switched on your coffee machine and asked what kind of coffee he’d like, holding up a handful of different capsules. He strolled over to you, draping his leather jacket over the back of one of the high stools at your breakfast bar as he reached you. He leaned down slightly and looked at the selection you had in your hand, and you were suddenly very aware of the scent of his aftershave. “Whattya got there, then?” You took his hand and dumped them all in it, saying, “I’m just gonna fill up the water jug while you decide,” and moving swiftly away from him. You were finding it very difficult indeed to ignore the magnetic attraction he was exerting over you, but you really had to try harder as you were only going to end up getting hurt otherwise. He held out a capsule toward you, “Americano’s fine,” he said.

The two cups of coffee made a few moments later, you led him back over to the sofa and you both sat down at opposite ends. “Okayyyy,” said Billy, “....back story then?” You nodded, “Yeah. Nothing too fancy as the less details we have to remember the better.” “Good idea. We should probably add in some truth too. So.... we met through Karen & Frank?” “Yes, that’s a good start. Where did we meet and how long have we been seeing each other?” “Neighbourhood bar, and a coupla months?” “Okay, yeah. Actually is that about it? That was easier than I thought! Or...what else might they ask? Who is this person you’re avoiding - are they gonna be really nosy?” Billy snorted, “Oh yeah! Her name’s Caroline, a spoilt rich bitch. Her father owns a tech company and he supplies some of our equipment. She came along to one of the meetings recently and now she’s stalking me.” You grinned, “And that’s a problem for you? I would’ve thought you’d quite enjoy that, Billy.”

He grinned back, “Are you sayin’ I’m a player or somethin’?” “Well, aren’t you? I’m kinda getting that vibe.” Now he laughed out loud, “Maybe. But I like doin’ the chasing, sweetheart, not the other way round. If she ever got hold-a me, I’d never get outta her clutches.” “What - you wouldn’t? Not much of an ex-Marine then, are you?” He rolled his eyes, “Seriously, this woman’s so clingy she’d attach herself to me like a limpet mine. And I don’t like violence against women so I’d be in a difficult situation. Plus the main thing’s the business link with her daddy. His stuff’s good, I wouldn’t wanna have to replace him as a supplier. So you see, you’re doing me a solid here.” “When you say stalking you, do you mean literally?” “Well, like turning up at Anvil all the time to ‘check on the equipment’ and shit like that.” “So not outside the office then? I’m just thinking along the lines of her not seeing us around together before the event if she’s around you outside business hours. She might not buy it.” “As far as I know, only in office hours.”

“As far as you know? That’s not exactly reassuring if she’s as much of a stalker as you say she is.” He laughed, “No, I’m sure she’s not around apart from that.” “Okay, well is there anything else you can think of that she might ask?” He gave you a sly grin, “If we’ve slept together.” You got up and took your empty cup over to the kitchen sink, “Uh-huh.... well she can ask! We’ll just have to lie, won’t we?” You turned round only to find Billy invading your personal space again, and you moved back slightly in surprise. He followed, crowding you against the counter, dark eyes gazing into yours, “Uh... we don’t have to lie.” You leaned further back, your brain yelling ‘don’t give in to him!’ at you. “Billy... you suggested this whole thing and you also said ‘no strings’, remember? Well, if we did that... that would be strings, don’t you agree?” He reached round you and put his cup in the sink too, “Yeah, I guess so. Just thought we could make things look a little more.... authentic, y’know?” He turned and grabbed his jacket off the back of the stool, but then took you by surprise again by swooping in for a long kiss, pulling you against his body and his big hand sliding around the back of your neck. You pulled away, trying to catch your breath.

Those espresso-coloured eyes were gazing into yours, a lazy grin on his face. “Hey, you’ll need to get less jumpy when I do that else she’s definitely not gonna buy it.” He stood back from you, shrugging into his jacket, “Might need a bit more practice, sweetheart,” he smirked, “....so how about we meet up again tomorrow? We can learn a bit more about each other, as well as you getting more comfortable when I get physical with you,” and wiggled his eyebrows at you. Against your better judgement, you agreed and so he said he’d pick you up at four the next day.

Once he’d gone, you poured yourself a stiff brandy. You couldn’t deny you wanted to spend more time with him, much as you knew you were setting yourself up for a fall. Really... just what the hell did you think you were doing?

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy was thinking the very same thing to himself as he drove away. He was enjoying those kisses way too much. But he was the one who’d suggested this whole fake relationship thing, and definitely with ‘no strings’. Because that was the Russo Way.

He’d better get his head back on straight, and stop thinking about the gorgeous woman in the apartment back there as anything other than a way to ditch the very irritating Caroline.

He also got the distinct feeling she’d marked him out as a player and wouldn’t want to get involved with him anyhow. Well, he was a player and he couldn’t deny that. Wasn’t sure he could ever see himself as a one-woman man. Caroline was attractive enough and in the normal way of things, he’d’ve taken her out maybe a couple of times, fucked and then forgotten her. But her father and Billy’s business relationship complicated things somewhat.

So yeah, he’d make sure she saw him with a lovely woman on his arm at the gala, kiss (and maybe fuck if he got lucky) the lovely woman at the end of the night and move right along. Apart from anything else, the fact that she was Karen’s friend complicated things way beyond what he wanted to get involved in, because he couldn’t afford to upset either her or her friend, Frankie’d kill him if he did.

Definitely better stick with the Russo Way. It had never failed him before, had it?

»»————————————-—��—-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The next day, Billy glided the car to a stop outside her apartment block at 4 o’clock as promised, dropping her a quick text to announce his arrival. Soon, he saw her figure walking out of the main door and making her way towards him.

Damn! Mmm, she was looking good. Little pink sundress, short denim jacket, bare legs and low wedge pink sandals. Yeah, really cute. Smart and funny too. And sexy, of course. Very sexy. Totally fuckable. Completely and utterly fuckable. Woah - stop that Russo! Right now!

All these thoughts ran through his head in the 10 seconds it took her to reach the car.

He leant over and pushed open the passenger door for her, “Hi sweetheart.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You’d noticed Billy’s eyes running over you as you went up to the car, and then spotted his tongue making a swift trip over his bottom lip as he greeted you. You got the feeling he was looking at you like you were a snack to be consumed. Determined to resist how attracted you felt to him, you hopped into the car and said Hi back. Billy’s big hand landed on your thigh as you fastened your seat belt, his long fingers sliding upwards. Batting them away, you continued clipping yourself in and he laughed, leaning across and pulling you to him, kissing you long and slow. Breaking apart, he said, “Remember we gotta practice, sweetheart,” grinning at you. “Mmmhuh,” you nodded, “I remember you saying that.” “Just relax! Get comfortable with me touchin’ and kissin’ you. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend after all.” “Mmmhuh,” you said again, and once more his hand found its way onto your thigh and began stroking, eventually inching upwards again.

This time, you decided to stay still, thinking that yes, you had better get comfortable with this if this whole stupid fake relationship thing was going to work. But when his hand parted your legs and one long slim finger swiftly made its way inside your panties and - without further warning - actually inside you, you jumped like a startled deer and squirmed away from him. “Billy!” you protested loudly, but he merely smirked victoriously at you and pushed a second finger inside you to join its cousin. You shoved at his resistant arm, “Stop it!” His mouth found yours and he began kissing you as his fingers moved steadily in and out of you then his thumb was on your clit, and he began massaging firmly. “Sssshhh, sweetheart, we’re just messin’ around,” you heard his low voice in your ear, “...this is high school stuff.” “But I didn’t say you could do this to me!” you snarled, trying to ignore how good he was making you feel, and you felt his fingers leave you. He sat back in his car seat, taking a tissue out of his jacket pocket and slowly wiping his fingers, looking across at you all the while with a contemplative look on his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, but not sounding regretful at all, “I didn’t think you’d mind. Thought it’d loosen you up a bit like we said.” He smirked at you, “You can’t deny I got you wet, and I know you’re attracted to me. Thought you’d enjoy it.” Your mouth dropped open, “You arrogant fucker!” you exclaimed, “You know what, you can take your fake dating shit and shove it where the sun doesn’t fucking shine!” You jumped out of the car, slamming the door with an almighty bang behind you. Stomping back up to your apartment, you opened your front door and slammed it behind you too, angrily throwing your bag onto the sofa as you passed on your way to the kitchen. You took off your jacket and threw it onto a high stool, furious enough to take a bottle of gin out of the cupboard and grab a clean glass from the dishwasher. You were just taking a bottle of tonic water out of the fridge when there was a knock at your door.

Okay, well that was either your annoying across-the-hall neighbour... who complained about anything and everything... here to moan about the door-slamming, or else it was Billy. Whoever was on the other side of the door was going to be greeted by your frowning face, and you really didn’t give a shit which one it was. You dramatically swung open the door, and it was in fact Billy Russo who was confronted by your unhappy visage. He immediately held up his hands in a placatory gesture. “Look, I am really, truly, sorry. I ... can I come in and explain?” You turned on your heel and walked back to the kitchen, leaving him to close the door behind him and follow in your footsteps. “Want a drink?” He nodded, “I’d love a beer if you’ve got one, please.” You took a bottle of beer out of the fridge and handed it to him, then got a bottle top remover for him out of one of your drawers.

He popped off the cap then took a long swig, as he watched you prepare a G&T for yourself. You also took a big sip then leant back against the counter and regarded him with a steely gaze. “You said you wanted to explain.” He took another gulp of beer and began, “I.... look, I’m so sorry okay? I totally misread the situation.” Sipping your gin, you said, “I’ll say you did, Billy! I get the distinct impression you mistook me for one of the easy lays you no doubt pick up in bars. Is that how you treat your one-and-done’s, huh? Well, don’t try that shit with me, okay?” He looked over at you shamefaced and shrugged, “Uhhh...I ..uhh.. yeah, I guess I did.... look, I really am sorry, sweetheart. I can’t apologise enough, and I really didn’t mean to upset you.” You took another big hit of your gin, slightly - but only very slightly - mollified. “And as for your comment that I’m attracted to you...!!!” Momentarily you were speechless, unsure what you wanted to say or how to put it. Mainly because it was the truth, you acknowledged to yourself.

Before you could say anything, Billy held up his hands again, “I’m incredibly embarrassed about saying that. Really crass. And arrogant, as you said.” You noticed that his face had pinked up somewhat. “In fact just forget I said it,” he carried on. “Bit late for that now isn’t it! Did you say it because you’re used to women falling at your feet, Billy?”

He looked down at the beer bottle in his hand, waggling it back and forward before saying, “Yeah. If I’m honest, I don’t usually haveta try too hard.” His eyes met yours, “And if I’m bein’ even more honest, gotta admit I’m attracted to you. Like, really attracted. So, yeah - I was hoping for something more than just going to the charity event with you.”

You drew in a big breath. What? What did he just say to you? No. You mentally shook your head, and then realised you were actually shaking it. “Billy.... you’re a player, that much is blatantly obvious. Would you know what a relationship is if it came up and bit you on the ass? Something tells me you wouldn’t.” He had the grace to look guilty. You continued, “So here’s what we’ll do. If you still need me to come along to the gala, then I’ll do that. And then we’ll go back to being strangers. Okay?”

He twirled his beer bottle between his long fingers, and shrugged, “Okay, sweetheart. M’happy you’re still gonna help me out. But can’t we at least be friends afterwards? Reckon Karen ‘n Frank’re gonna be seeing a lot of each other so we’ll probably keep bumping into each other.” Your face softened into a smile, “Yeah, they like each other don’t they? You’re right, we probably will be spending some time together because of those two. Okay... friends, then.”

He smiled at you, approaching warily and sliding his hand round to the back of your head and up into your hair, pulling you closer. “M’gonna kiss you, s’that okay?” but being Billy, didn’t wait for your reply. His lips met yours in a gentler kiss than earlier, his fingers stroking the back of your neck. He moved his hips against yours, and you knew he’d done this so you’d feel his erection against your body. You moved sideways and pulled away from him, why did he have to make you breathless when you just wanted to be cool, calm and collected around him? He looked a bit crestfallen, but recovered swiftly and asked, “How about we order in some food and just spend some quality time together?” You sighed, “Okay, Billy, let’s do that. But no more groping or anything, okay?” He nodded, looking serious and miming a cross over his heart, “Promise.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You pushed the pizza box away from you, “God, I’m stuffed.” Billy picked up his beer bottle and drank, giving a small delicate burp as he did so, “Me too.” Reaching over, he picked up the remote and began flicking through Netflix, “Whaddya wanna watch next?” he asked. “Mmmm, you pick a movie. But not one about war.” He laughed, “Oh don’t worry, I never watch war films, had enough-a that in real life.” Lying back and letting out a deep breath, you said apologetically, “I bet you did. Sorry.” Shrugging, he also lay back, his head turning towards you, “S’okay. We can talk about it sometime if you like. And about my less-than-perfect childhood. And some of my more recent fuck-ups.” He gave a bitter laugh, “I’m a fuckin’ train wreck, sweetheart - you’ve made the right decision, best you don’t get involved with me.” His eyes looked big and a bit glossy, and before you could help yourself you’d laid your hand on his shoulder, “I’m sure you’re not that bad, Billy.” He turned away from you, looking at the TV before selecting a sci-fi fantasy movie, “Oh believe me, I am,” he said in a low voice.

You shifted a bit closer to him on the sofa, “Don’t be so down on yourself, Billy. You’ve achieved a lot of things... got your own company, fancy car, fine suits, lots of money, prestige.” He grinned at you, “But all that doesn’t matter to you, does it?” You shook your head, “No, but they’re still achievements to be proud of.” His head dropped and some locks of hair fell over his forehead. “Thank you,” he mumbled, and you watched as your hand went of its own accord to his face and stroked the errant hair back off his forehead. His head swivelled towards you, dark eyes gazing into yours; he took hold of your arms and drew you against his chest. “Can we snuggle?” he asked you, then wrapped his arms right around you, before lying down and swinging his long legs up onto the sofa, pulling you with him. You snorted out a laugh, “Snuggle? That doesn’t exactly fit with your ex-soldier or current playboy personas!” “Aw, c’mon sweetheart, gimme a break - I’m tryin’ to be a well-behaved boy here!” You snuggled into his chest a bit, “Okay, but remember - no wandering hands!” He held up both hands, “Not wandering - look!” before placing them chastely on your arm and shoulder.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Your eyes opened, and you groggily looked around you, disorientated. Hearing soft little snores from beneath you, you raised your head to look at Billy’s sleeping face. Oh. You’d both obviously dozed off in front of the TV, the Netflix menu now on the screen. Moving slowly, you started to try and stand up but two hands went round your arms in a vice-like grip. “Where you off to?” said Billy’s deep voice. “Just...ummm... just...” you stuttered, but suddenly you were underneath him, his weight pressing you down as his mouth found yours in a hungry kiss. You knew you should resist but damn, he was a good kisser! Feeling yourself dissolve into the kiss, one of your hands moved up to his bristly jawline.

His kisses became more passionate and he pushed himself against you even more, his arousal very evident. You tried to ignore them but your feelings of desire for him were becoming overwhelming, and your arms went round his neck almost unbidden. He was smiling against your lips, and you heard, “Wanna sleep with me? D’you wanna?” Your treacherous mouth said “Yes!” in a breathy whisper, and that was all Billy needed to hear.

He picked you up in his arms, whispering “Where’s your bedroom?” You nodded towards its general direction and he carried you across the apartment and into your room. Setting you down, his fingers were immediately at the zip of your dress, pulling it down, pushing the fabric down then further down until your dress was round your ankles, before whipping it fully off and dropping it onto the floor. You watched him as his eyes roamed all over your body, taking in your lacy lingerie and moving the straps of your bra off your shoulders. “Mmmmm, sweetheart - wow - even better than I imagined,” he said hoarsely, his hands going round your back and unclipping your bra. He stripped it off you and dropped it, both hands immediately cupping your breasts and massaging firmly, thumbs running over your nipples as they peaked. Moving you backwards until your head hit the pillows, you felt his fingers pulling the fabric of your panties aside and suddenly the head of his cock was at your core and pushing inside you. “No time for foreplay, sorry,” you heard and you gave a deep groan when he kept going, feeling his balls brushing your pussy as he fully sheathed himself. His head went back and he gasped, “Fuck!” before he began to thrust. He lifted your legs and draped them over his hips, encouraging you to cross your ankles on his back to pull him even closer.

His mouth was everywhere on you, kissing you deeply one minute before his mouth went to one of your nipples, teasing it with his tongue while his thumb and fingers toyed with the other, then his mouth and teeth were on your neck and shoulders while he set a ferocious pace. A constant stream of low groans were leaving your lips as he moved on you, and you could hear him gasping and muttering words above you, not all of which you could catch, but you did hear “Uhhh, been wantin’ to do this to ya since the minute we met” between thrusts. You ran your hands over his chest and up around his neck, threading your fingers through his lush hair, and you felt him shiver as you pulled on it gently. His thumb was on your clit now, rubbing at you relentlessly and your orgasm washed over you like a wave. His teeth were fastened onto your shoulder and he bit down as you felt his body tense as he came. He lowered himself gently onto you before rolling off, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling as he got his breath back. “Wow,” he said quietly, before moving onto his side and gazing at you, running a finger gently along your jaw. “Yes, wow,” you replied, putting your hand on his bristly cheek.

“Well, if Caroline does ask if we’ve slept together, now we don’t have to lie,” smirked Billy. This instantly ruined the mood and you sat up, prior to wrapping one of the covers round you and getting out of bed. He looked a bit surprised, but you began moving away from the bed towards the bathroom. Returning a few moments later, you hesitated for a moment before climbing back into bed beside Billy, who was still lying there in all his naked glory. He immediately moved next you, his hands on your arm, “Did I say something wrong earlier? You were up and off like a ballistic missile.” You looked over at him, “A girl doesn’t exactly like to hear another one’s name getting mentioned just seconds after lovemaking.” A guilty look passed over his face, “Awww, shit!... I didn’t think, I’m really sorry... I was just so happy you slept with me, sweetheart.” He stroked your hair away from your face, “Forgive me? And my big clumsy mouth?” You huffed a bit but eventually nodded, not least due to the soft kisses he was peppering over your face and neck.

He breathed a sigh of relief, “I seem to spend all my time apologising to you,” he chuckled, “I’m really making a mess of this fake dating.” “Can’t argue with you there, Billy,” you agreed. “Look, I’m gonna try a lot harder, okay?” he said, running a finger along your arm. You sighed, “Okay... well here’s hoping it’ll be alright on the night.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The rest of the week, you and Billy had traded phone calls and text messages but (to your secret disappointment) the two of you didn’t meet up. To your mind that could only mean that Billy, who’d admitted to you that he liked the thrill of the chase, had now already caught you so that was it as far as he was concerned. He’d said that his work had been crazy busy but you didn’t feel at all convinced by that.

Friday eventually rolled around, and you were glad you’d decided to take a half day off work to get ready. Karen had strolled up to your desk as you were packing up your stuff before leaving, and you recognised her ‘Serious Talk’ look on her face. She walked along to the elevator with you and followed you inside. “Y’know I hope you really enjoy your evening with Billy tonight, but....” she bit her lip before continuing, “...you know he’s a player, right?” She quickly put her hand on your arm as the elevator reached the ground floor, “I’m not trying to spoil your fun, honestly I’m not, but some of the things Frank’s let slip recently would make your toes curl. Billy’s totally ruthless when it comes to cutting women loose.” The elevator doors opened and you both walked out, with you saying, “Don’t worry Karen, I sussed that out the minute I saw him,” over your shoulder as you continued out into the main lobby. You stopped and turned to her, lowering your voice and continuing, “But I slept with him last weekend and just as expected, he’s avoided meeting up with me all during this week.” Her mouth tightened, and you knew you were in for a Page Lecture. “Gahhh! What were you thinking?! You’ve just reinforced his impression that he can pull any woman he wants and then disappear on her! I can’t believe you didn’t even wait for this gala thing tonight! You could at least have held off till then.”

“Yes, mom,” you sighed, then smiled at her. “But you know what Karen, he’s so hot I just couldn’t resist! And I knew exactly what his reaction would be, and he hasn’t disappointed. He’s been in touch obviously because we’ve got this thing tonight, but he’s been ‘too busy at work’ to meet up. I’m sure that in Russo-speak, that really means ‘too busy chasing tail’ but I’m cool with that. Like I said, it’s what I expected,” shrugging as you said this. “Hmmmm,” replied Karen, staring at you intensely as if trying to read your mind, “...well as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into.” “I do,” you reassured her, hugging her before walking away with a nonchalant wave.

Out on the street you exhaled a big breath. If only you truly believed that.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy pulled up outside her apartment block and, as before, texted her to say he was there.

He was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to meet up with her during the week, and was also aware she probably thought he was avoiding her now they’d slept together. But he’d truly been up to his ears in it at work, and he wasn’t yet established enough in the security market to turn down job offers. So he’d taken on probably a few more than he should have done, and both he and Frank had had to weigh in on a couple of them to make sure they were handled correctly.

So apart from calls and texts, he’d had to miss out on seeing her. In fact, all he’d been thinking of the entire week was the prolonged session they’d indulged in last weekend. Once he’d apologised for mentioning Caroline’s name after they’d first made love, (really smart move Russo, he thought to himself) there had been a whole night of energetic and very enjoyable sex. Then a shared shower late the next morning after she’d woken him up with a surprise and very welcome blow job. God, the things she could do with her mouth! He squirmed in his seat, starting to get hard just thinking about it. He couldn’t wait for another one of those, that was for sure. Tonight after the gala if he was lucky!

He saw the main door to her apartment block open and she started walking towards the car. Wish I could get a better idea of how she looked in her dress, he thought. Oh well, I’ll just need to wait till we actually get to the place.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You slid into Billy’s flashy car, tucking your feet in last in an effort to be elegant. He leaned over, grabbing the back of your neck and kissing you long and hard. You eventually shoved him away, exclaiming “Billy! My lipstick!” You peered at his face, “And you’re covered in it!”

He burst out laughing, “Well, hello sweetheart!”

You handed him a tissue whilst you began trying to repair the smudges around your lips. He dampened it on his tongue and then quickly rubbed the burgundy colour off his mouth. Once you’d fixed your face, you leant over towards him and his mouth headed to yours again but you pulled back. “I’m checking your shirt collar to make sure there’s none on there!” Chuckling, he started up the car, “I did wonder why you waited till you’d put your lipstick back on before kissin’ me again.” “You kissed me!” you protested. He just laughed and manoeuvred the car into the traffic stream.

His head then swung towards you, “If you say so, sweetheart! Hey, I’d say you look beautiful but I can’t get a proper look at you in the car. So wait a little while till we get there and then I can compliment you properly, okay?” You nodded, “Yeah, same. I can’t get a look at you either.” Another chuckle, “You can see as much of me as you want later tonight, sweetheart.” “You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?!” Billy’s hand stole onto your thigh and travelled higher. “Wearin’ panties?” You tolerated his wandering fingers, “Yes I am, Marine. Sorry to disappoint.” He shrugged, smirk firmly in place, “Fine by me. They’re not gonna stop me gettin’ to where I wanna be anyhow.” Somewhat surprisingly to you, his hand went back onto the steering wheel. “But I’m gonna wait till we’re alone later. See, sweetheart - I’ve learned my lesson!” “Glad to hear it!” you shot back at him, before looking out of the window at the passing streets.

After arriving and parking at the venue, one of the big downtown hotels, you and Billy made your way upstairs to the function room. Leaving your coats at the cloakroom, Billy twirled you round in front of him, looking you over slowly from top to toe. “You look gorgeous,” he said admiringly, “really beautiful.” “Thank you. Not so bad yourself, Russo.” He was in one of his bespoke suits and was looking edible. He mock-bowed then leant down and kissed you on the lips, and you reminded yourself to act naturally when he did that. You both began walking towards the sound of music and chatter, his hand straying down onto the top of your ass as you went. Karen’s voice rang in your ears about how much of a player he was, and once again you fought the instinct to swat his hand away. If you could just do your duty and get through tonight, then you could put yourself deep into protective mode over this handsome devil.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Several gin & tonics later, you were returning from the ladies’ room and heading back to where you’d left your ‘boyfriend’ at the bar, wondering how much more of this tedious event you could stand, when you heard a high-pitched voice trilling, “Oh Billy! There you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Hahah! you thought, this must be the infamous Caroline! Well, at least this next part is going to inject some much-needed fun into the evening.

You could see a small brunette standing in front of Billy with her hands grasping his biceps and beginning to pull him towards her. He spotted you approaching over her shoulder and extricated himself from her clutches saying, “Caroline.... how nice to see you! Just in time for me to introduce you to my girlfriend...” “Girlfriend?!” She whirled round and met your eyes, her own narrowing as she looked you up and down in a flash. You continued walking towards the two of them, noting that she was pretty but was heavily made up; she really didn’t need to plaster it on like she had but - whatever, you thought. Billy moved past her to swiftly put his arm around your waist and draw you to him, introducing you at the same time. She nodded her head briefly at you, “Hi, I’m Caroline. A friend of Billy’s.” She emphasised the word ‘friend’. You beamed back a big smile at her, “Lovely to meet another of his friends,” you said, also emphasising the word. You felt Billy tense up a bit, but you thought that playing the jealous girlfriend might be a good way to go, especially when you noticed the little smirk on her face. You tugged on his arm, “C’mon Billy, you promised me a dance,” you said in a ‘little girl’ voice, which nearly made you heave quite frankly but you felt struck the right note.

Billy raised a hand vaguely towards Caroline as he said to you, “Yes I did, sweetheart. Let’s go. Bye, Caroline - good to see you,” and then gave you a long kiss as the two of you headed to the dance floor. Once Billy had you in his arms, you felt his lips next to your ear and he whispered, “So.... jealous girlfriend, huh?” You nodded, smiling up at him, “She’ll like the fact that I think she’s a threat. But as long as you keep up the PDA’s, I think she’ll buy it.” He immediately kissed you, the hand which had been on your waist surreptitiously sliding downwards at the same time. As you broke apart from the kiss, you caught sight of Caroline glaring at the two of you from a table near the edge of the dance floor. You ran your hand up onto Billy’s jaw before continuing to the back of his neck. You’d discovered during your night together that this was one of Billy’s weak spots, so you trailed your fingers over his skin and had him wrapped round your finger within seconds, just as had happened that other night. He pressed his body close against you, ensuring you felt how aroused he was. “When can we skip out of here?” he breathed to you, making you laugh. “I don’t know! It’s your event - when do you want to stay until?”

Before he could reply, you were aware of a figure next to you and a hand went onto Billy’s arm. “Mind if I cut in?” asked Caroline, giving you a nasty smirk. However it dropped off her face when Billy said hurriedly, “Sorry, Caroline - we’re just leaving,” and began leading you off the dance floor. “Oh, that’s such a shame,” you heard, and realised she was trailing after you and Billy as you left the dance floor. “I was so looking forward to hearing all about how you & Billy met.” You stole a quick glance at Billy before saying over your shoulder, “Through mutual friends.” Still following you both as you headed over to pick up your coats, she rattled out, “it’s just that I’m a bit surprised - it seems quite strange that Billy never mentioned a girlfriend before tonight.” Billy looked irritated but his face became blank as he turned slightly back towards her and replied, “Uh, I am right here y’know!.... well Caroline, we never spoke about our personal lives so it’s not that strange at all to be honest.” You’d reached the small counter by now and had handed over the tickets to the attendant, and while you’d hoped that Billy’s answer would have silenced her, Caroline continued, “So how long have you been dating?” You turned and stared at her, and found her already staring back at you, “Mmm, it’s about two months now, isn’t it Billy?” and moved your eyes to his. He glanced quickly behind him at her, “ Yes, sweetheart - a little over two months actually,” he turned back to you, smiling fondly, “and I gotta say, they’ve been two of the sweetest months of my life.” He leant down and kissed you full on the lips.

Caroline’s lip curled up at this and was still curling as you met her annoyed gaze once Billy’s lips left yours. “Well,” she began, but was then interrupted by a tall older man who came up to the three of you and placed a hand on Caroline’s shoulder. “Hello, Russo,” he said, shaking hands with Billy who greeted him with a “Hi, Mike,” as the older guy’s eyes wandered quizzically over to you. “And who’s this lovely young lady, then?” he asked but before either you or Billy could say anything, Caroline spat out, “His girlfriend, Daddy - imagine that!” However her father merely gave you a friendly grin while Billy introduced you. After a quick handshake, he commented that it was a real shame that you were both leaving before he could buy you a drink. But Billy said firmly, with a mischievous look at you, “Sorry, Mike.... we’re... uhhh... quite anxious to get home.” Mike laughed knowingly while you heard a loud ‘tut’ from his daughter. You smiled brightly at both of them, “Well.... lovely to meet you and hope you enjoy the rest of the evening. Bye!” Taking your coat from the attendant, Billy helped you into it before putting on his own and the two of you said final goodbyes to Mike and Caroline before making your escape.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

“Thank god that’s over!” you breathed out a sigh of relief as you settled back into your seat, while Billy switched on the car’s powerful engine and it purred into life. “You didn’t enjoy it?” he grinned, “...even with such a charming boyfriend attending to your every need all evening?!” You laughed, “Sorry Billy, no I didn’t. I hated every second of it! But I think we accomplished the mission, don’t you?” Turning your head and watching his profile as he reversed the car out of the parking space, you asked, “D’you want me to get the dress dry-cleaned and you can take it back to the store? I mean I’ve only had it on for a few hours and I managed not to spill anything down it.” He glanced over at you, a strange look in his eyes. “No, I don’t want you to clean it and return it. It’s yours to keep. And yes, we did achieve our goal.” He started driving away from the hotel, and you realised it was the wrong direction for your place. You’d never been to his apartment but had a feeling that’s where you were heading.

“Where are you going, Billy? I just want dropped off at home so I can get out of all of this and relax.” He laughed, and for some reason you thought he sounded a bit pissed off. “Ahh no, that’s not happenin’, sweetheart,” he said, looking across at you, eyes gleaming with something but you weren’t sure exactly what. Determination? Desire? “We’re headin’ to mine. And yeah, you’re gonna be gettin’ out of those clothes, don’t worry.” “Look, Billy,” you said, feeling a bit uneasy for some reason, “...we’re done here, okay? We’ve already slept together, you got what you wanted so now you move on, correct? That’s your usual M.O. isn’t it? You made that obvious this week. Don’t worry, I got the message loud and clear. I’m not some clingy desperate woman that’s gonna keep chasing after you. I knew what the deal was with you the minute I set eyes on you. So.... just turn around and take me home.” You’d been staring at the road ahead but were aware of him shaking his head, “No.” You looked across at him, “No? What, you’re kidnapping me now?” “You can think of it that way if you like, sweetheart. I knew you’d think I was avoidin’ you this week, but I wasn’t. I’m not ready to let you get away just yet. We’re gonna go to mine, and you’re gonna spend the night on your back - and in various other positions - cos I need another night of sex with you.”

“And what if that’s not what I want? What if I don’t want to be used like a fuck toy before you disappear over the horizon? Doesn’t it matter to you what I want?” He chuckled, and you felt a little shiver of fear run through you, “Not right now, no. Because this is all I’ve been thinkin’ about the whole week. And because you’re sayin’ one thing, but you mean another.” “Really?! That’s what you think?” you scoffed, shaking your head, “You’re unbelievable, you know that? The level of arrogance....!” He pulled the car over into the inside lane and then turned into an underground car park. He killed the engine, and in the sudden silence you heard him say in a low voice, “Call it arrogance if you like. I call it knowing what I want and makin’ sure I get it.” He released his seat belt and got out of the car, coming round and opening your door before taking hold of your arm and pulling you out of it. He locked the car with a bleep of the remote on his keychain, then dragged you - firmly but not roughly - over to an elevator which he unlocked with a key before calling it down. Once it arrived, he hustled you inside and once the doors closed, his mouth was instantly on yours. He kissed you roughly, open-mouthed with teeth and lips and tongue all involved. His hands were undoing the buttons on your coat and then were inside it, immediately going to your breasts.

You struggled with him, trying to push him off but he continued kissing you, and you heard his voice telling you to just admit you wanted it. The awful thing was, you did want him and it annoyed the hell out of you. However his current attitude was also annoying the hell out of you so you continued to push at his muscled, toned body to get him off you. But you were no match for the ex-Marine and you heard a ‘ting’ and the elevator doors opening as Billy continued to kiss and grope you. He pushed you firmly out of the lift, keeping hold of your arm and propelling you towards a door - the only door, you noticed - and then into the apartment after he unlocked the door. He slammed it behind him then was on you in a flash, grabbing your bag and throwing it onto the sofa before stripping off your coat and dropping it on the floor. You were aware of being in a large open-plan space with floor-to-ceiling windows and trendy furniture, before you were scooped up as easily as if you were a throw cushion and carried into an equally large bedroom. He kicked the door shut behind him and dumped you rather unceremoniously on the bed, stripping his clothes off in a matter of seconds and letting them fall where they may. Then he was back on you, flipping you over and unzipping your dress in one quick motion. He stripped it down off your shoulders, turned you back over and pulled it off you. You looked up at him, finally finding your voice, “Billy! Stop it.” He shook his head, “Nah, not happenin’ sweetheart. We’re gonna have sex now.” You opened your mouth but nothing would come out. Why couldn’t you say anything else?

Because you do want it, said a sly voice in your head. And whilst the caveman routine might not be the most appealing of Billy’s wooing techniques, he’d excited you beyond belief and you could feel how damp your panties were. You’d told yourself before the evening started that you weren’t going to have sex with him that night, but at the same time had perversely hoped that it would in fact happen. You were absolutely furious with yourself but at the same time, totally conflicted and unable to ignore the desire you felt for him.

You felt his fingers fumbling a bit at your back and then your bra was dramatically whipped off and thrown across the room. His mouth and hands were immediately on your breasts, fingers massaging and toying with one nipple while he licked the other, his tongue roughly raking over its peak and surrounding skin before he started to suck and bite at it, enough to make you squeal but not hard enough to cause you real pain. Then he swapped and your other breast came in for the same treatment. You felt his fingers sliding down your body and pulling at your panties, after a few seconds he then sat up and stripped them off you. They also joined your bra across the other side of the room. He lowered himself onto you, hands parting your legs and you knew he was guiding himself inside you. His hard length pushed into you and you felt the stretch much more than you had the first time you’d had sex with him. Of course he was in a more of a rush this time, seemingly desperate to have sex with you, judging by the way he’d thrown you down, ripped your clothes off and immediately got between your legs.

He slid his hands under your knees and lifted your legs up until your ankles were on his shoulders, deeply thrusting into you as he did so, and you heard yourself give a loud groan. He gave a long, low groan himself as he picked up his pace, and you heard his whispered words next to your ear, “You like that, sweetheart? Feel good?” “Yes!!!!!” you gasped, hating yourself for admitting it but it was the absolute truth. He kissed you passionately, hands running up and down your legs and onto your body as he thrust hard into you, mouth moving to your neck and collarbone, nipping at your skin then licking where he’d lightly bitten you. You climaxed first, Billy’s thumb having found its favourite place on your clit, and you’d dug your nails into his shoulders before running your hands up into his hair and pulling it. Hearing his answering chuckle, his hips cannoned into yours a final few times before you felt him release into you, and he sank down heavily on top of you, panting and trying to get his breath back. He moved off you and laid on his back, seemingly exhausted by his over-eager exertions. His head tilted towards you, “I’m not finished with you yet, sweetheart. Need more.”

You propped yourself up on an elbow, “Just what the fuck is all this neanderthal stuff about, Billy?” He sighed and looked back up at the ceiling. “Remember you said I wouldn’t know what a relationship was if it bit me on the ass?” “Yeah?” “You’re right. I’ve never experienced a loving relationship in my life. I dunno what love is, really.” Then out it all spilled.... his abandonment as a very young kid, the group homes, the abuse, the stigma. How he’d signed up for the Marines as soon as he was old enough, got a business degree before shipping out, how Frank had his back almost from day one. The dark eyes eventually looked into yours, “So just confirmin’ - I’m officially shit at relationships.” You nodded thoughtfully, “Well... now I understand things a little bit better, Billy. You discard women after a very short time as a self-defence measure, because you have a fear of being abandoned again. Ditch them before they can ditch you, right? Because you still have self-esteem issues, deep down underneath that confident exterior. It’s hard to overcome years of being looked down upon and sidelined.” You reached out and ran your fingers through his small patch of chest hair. He flinched slightly so you withdrew your hand, but his own hand went out and he laid it on top of yours for a brief moment.

Then he sat up a bit and stretched, laughing as he did so, “Told you, you’re in the wrong job, sweetheart.” He leaned back onto the pillows, carefully looking away from you, “Guess I didn’t do a very good job of lettin’ you know I want you to stay around and be with me?” You sat up, pulling one of the sheets over you, “What?” you asked. He looked over at you again, “All of this,” his hand waved vaguely between you and him, “This is me tryna let you know I really like you. I honestly missed bein’ with you during the week. An’ I was really busy, me and Frank, all week - I wasn’t tryna avoid you, okay? All I could think about was the night we spent together, how I want that to be a regular thing. Spend time with you.”

You started chuckling to yourself before it bubbled up into real laughter. He’d been looking down and fidgeting with the covers but now his head swung up and his eyebrows pulled into a frown. You calmed down a little and reached out to him, softly stroking his shoulder, “Billy... I’m not really laughing at you. Well, I suppose I am but only because I’m really surprised. That’s not how guys usually let girls know they’re interested! - kidnapping them and telling them that they will have sex with them.” Billy grunted, “Yeah, I realise that. It’s what I’m tryna tell you, sweetheart. I’m shit at this kinda stuff.”

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Sunday lunchtime, you met up with Karen who was gagging to know what had happened on Friday night. You dutifully recounted everything, even Billy’s metamorphosis into caveman as you left the hotel. Karen’s expression got more and more incredulous and as you drew to a close with his admission of being completely crap at all things relationship-related, she finally said, “Fuck! That’s unbelievable. So how did you leave things? You kick him to the curb?”

You took a sip of your G&T, and smiled back at her, “He wants me to teach him what a real relationship is all about.”

“And you’re prepared to take a chance on him and show him, are you?” You nodded, “Yeah I guess I am, Karen. I know it sounds crazy, but he wants to try. And I’d like to try. So we went from fake to genuine as of Friday night.”

She chuckled, shaking her head and sipping her drink before saying, “Well, you’re a glutton for punishment, I’ll say that for you. And I wish you the best of luck trying to tame that bad boy.” She lifted her glass and you clinked yours against hers, “Thanks, Karen. I’m just gonna take it one day at a time. If it doesn’t work out...” you shrugged, “...at least I gave it a shot.” She put her hand over yours, “Do you think he’ll keep it in his pants? He’s used to putting it about all over town,” squeezing your hand, “...sorry to have to say that honey, but it’s true.” You nodded, “Yeah I know, and all I can say is he’s promised he won’t be doing that from now on. But if I get even a whiff of another woman’s perfume off him, I will be kicking him to the curb faster than he can say ‘it’s not what you think, sweetheart’, believe me! And I’ve told him that too, in no uncertain terms.” She nodded, “Well, you’ve given him fair warning so if he fucks up, that’s definitely on him.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Frank threw his head back, giving a great belly laugh which went on for a lot longer than Billy Russo thought it should do. After a few moments, Frank’s face had gone beet red and tears were squeezing out of the corners of his eyes. Billy folded his arms across his chest, sitting back in the diner booth and scowling at Frank, “Okay, okay, Frankie - enough already,” he grumbled as Frank continued to laugh. Eventually Frank calmed down enough to speak, “Russo! I don’t believe it, I really don’t. Does that girl know what she’s letting herself in for?! She must be missing a few rounds out of her ammo clip.” Billy pulled a face, “Look... I like her, okay? She’s gonna teach me what a proper relationship’s like. She’s willin’ to give me a chance, so cut me some slack over here, will ya?” Frank took a big pull at his beer, “Oh Russo, how the fuck ya gonna keep it in your pants?” (unknowingly parroting Karen’s very same comment to her friend). Billy shrugged, “Look...I will, I tell ya. I mean it, I only want her. The sex is....” he made a chef’s kiss hand gesture, “....and she doesn’t take any of my shit, either. I really like her, Frankie. I think I’m ready to...” “Settle down? Really, Bill - are you? Cos if you fuck this up, you’ve got Karen to deal with as well as your girl.”

Billy took a hit of his beer, “You think I don’t know that? And I’d get a ton of crap from you too, cos Karen’d be upset. You like her, dontcha?” Frank’s cheeks went a slight shade of pink, “Well, yeah. I guess I do.” Now it was Billy’s turn to laugh, “You guess you do? Frankie, you’re like a teenager with a major crush every time your phone rings! ‘Ooh, it’s Karen!’” he said, the last bit in a high-pitched voice. “I do not talk like that!” Frank growled at him, “And you better spend your energy learning how to treat a woman properly, rather than ripping the shit outta me, Russo!”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Your phone dinged and you picked it up, seeing a text notification from Billy on the screen. Turning your phone briefly towards Karen to show her this, you clicked on it and then smiled as you read it. Showing the message to her, she also smiled, “Wow, seems like he’s definitely trying!” You agreed, “I do believe he is!” Maybe this crazy relationship thing you and Billy had agreed to embark on did have a chance of working out after all. You definitely still had your misgivings - does a leopard (or panther) really change its spots? - but you were willing to give it a try as long as Billy stuck to his end of the bargain. No other women, no lying, spending a lot of quality time together... let’s just see how all that goes, you thought. Re-reading the text, it made you smile once more.

Billy’s text said simply, “I’m missing you, sweetheart. Come over to mine, I’ll cook you dinner.”

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(My photo edit)

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Tags: @blackbirddaredevil23 @galaxyjane @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @ourloveisforthelovely @swthxrry

(Using D&D’s taglist, if you’d prefer to be removed, just let me know!)

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#ben barnes #billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo fanfiction #billy russo imagine

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gins-potter · 3 years ago

Text

Casting Thoughts

Yes, I did a long post when the rumours first dropped but hey now it’s confirmed plus we have characters descriptions, and I’m bored so let’s do this all over again people. Under the cut because it got long

Sisi Stringer as Rose Hathaway

I said this in my other post but I’m pretty happy with Sisi as Rose.

Visually I think she’s a great fit, I love that they casted a WoC in the main role, and I think if she can bring Rose’s humour and sarcasm to the role, she’s going to do great.

The character description mentions Rose being “fiery and outspoken”, happy to jump into the action, and the strongest fighter in her class but struggling to toe the line, which is all very Rose-esque, especially in the first book. It sounds to me like they have a good grasp on her character.

I’m a little disappointed we didn’t hear more about Rose as a character since she is the lead - it felt like the descriptions for Lissa and Dimitri both gave us a little more to go on - but it is only a very preliminary description so I’m happy to wait for more.

Daniela Nieves as Lissa Dragomir

Daniele is another one who I was happy with straight away.

She’s probably not what I imagined for Lissa visually but that’s not a bad thing either; I will be interested to see if they dye her hair a lighter colour (like a caramel-blonde) but personally that’s not something I need to see for her to be a great fit for Lissa.

I think she has a very sweet face which works well for a character like Lissa but I think she’s also going to be able to stand up in Lissa’s more fiercer moments which is nice to see as well.

The character descriptions mentions her as being “carefree and kind-hearted” who “coasts” through life until a death in the family thrusts her into a new role. That sounds a lot like pre-series Lissa so I wonder if we’re going to see a bit of that in the show before Andre (and her parents??) die and see that change.

It’s curious though that she’s described as the younger sister of the heir apparent - which would be Andre - so it sounds like they’ve changed it so Andre was supposed to be King. Obviously a deviation from the books but I don’t hate it? I don’t think it would change Lissa’s arc all that much because obviously she was always going to grow up to be an influential royal figure, this just slightly changes the dynamics of it.

The description also specifically mentions that she’s uninterested in “political machinations” and the “hypocrisy of the moroi royal society” which sounds very accurate to book!lissa as well.

All in all I’m very happy with what they’re doing with Lissa.

Keiron Moore as Dimitri Belikov

This is one who’s really grown on me since the rumoured cast list started circulating. At first I was kind of eh about him but I can really see him as Dimitri now.

I will be curious to see if he grows out his hair or not though.

As far as I know Keiron is not Russian, there’s not a lot about him online, but there’s some instagram activity on his account linking him to UK based companies so that would be my guess as to where he’s from. They’ve kept Dimitri’s incredibly Russian name so I guess we’re to assume Keiron might be doing an accent and they’re keeping Dimitri’s backstory relatively the same? I’m not gonna be super mad if they change it just because I think it’s doable for him not to be Russian (I know, I know a whole book is set in Russia but lbr here they could make him from anywhere and just send Rose there in that book).

The biggest thing for me will be his chemistry with Sisi, Danila and Zoey had great chemistry (imo anyway) which saved the move a little for me, so it’ll be important that Sisi and Keiron do as well. They’ve interacted a few times online which is cute so I’m hoping they were able to do some chemistry reads and that will translate on screen.

The character description mentions Dimitri as being “lethal, disciplined, discreet, and totally committed” as well as living by “a deep moral code” but with more going on “beneath his stoic, watchful surface” which sounds exactly like book!Dimitri to me.

They don’t really specify what his role at St Vlad’s is going to be but they do mention that he is a guardian so I’m assuming they’re keeping some sort of age gap between him and Rose. They also don’t mention anything about their relationship in the description, be it student/teacher, platonic, romantic, whatever, but they do say he has “an expansive spirit that could threaten to expose the underlying tension between his sense of what’s right and his formal duty to the Moroi.” which seems like a nod to their relationship.

Andre Dae-Kim as Christian Ozera

This was one of my favourite casting choices from the original rumoured cast list and I still love it.

The idea of a non-white Christian makes a lot of sense to me and I think Andre could do a great job of Christian’s aloofness (in the first book) as well as his sarcasm and growing confidence across the other books.

His character description confuses me a bit though: “Intelligent and thoughtful, Christian is the pariah of the school and royal court, due to his parents’ unforgivable societal sins.” sounds accurate enough to the book (although idk if thoughtful is quite the word I’d use for Christian - maybe they mean it in the sense that he’s quiet and keeps to himself?).

Even “Well-read and hungry for knowledge” doesn’t sound that far off, idk if he was *that* particularly studious in the books, but it doesn’t necessarily not make sense either you know?

But “he searches for faith-based answers and discovers a kindred spirit who is also looking for the truth” ??? My cynical, irreverent asshole Christian is now a man of faith? I’m assuming Lissa is the “kindred spirit” (again weird word choice but maybe they mean she’s feeling lost because of the death of her family?) but I just cannot see Christian as being particularly religious.

I’m trying to keep an open mind about these changes because you never know they might play out totally different on screen, but I really hope they didn’t make these changes, particularly that Christian is studious and religious, just because they cast an Asian actor as him (because they feel a little like Asian stereotypes).

J August Richards as Victor Dashkov

This is one that didn’t appear on the original rumoured cast list (as far as I saw) and it’s so different to his description in the books that I kind of don’t have an opinion about it as a casting choice.

I’ve never seen him in anything before so purely on a visual level I think he could be a great fit for Victor, I just think it’ll really come down to how he plays it.

As for this character description: “Victor is a Moroi noble vampire with a heart of gold who’s highly regarded for his role as advisor and political strategist to Moroi dignitaries.” as well as mentioning that he has intelligence and influence, sounds pretty accurate to the book. Obviously if Andre was the heir to the throne, Victor had to be shifted out of that role, but I think his book 1 arc could still work if they wanted it to.

The “heart of gold” bit obviously made me chuckle and I really hope they threw it in there as a kind of decoy to throw non-book-readers off the fact that he’s actually the villain in book 1/s1.

As for giving him a husband and two daughters, my thoughts are: why the fuck not? He didn’t have a love interest in the original books and I’m always down for more lgbtq+ rep. My only concern is it maybe playing into the trope of evil/villain characters being queer-coded. And as for having two daughters, well as long as one of them is Natalie I don’t mind.

Anita-Joy Uwajeh as Tatiana Vogel

Okay this is the most bizarre one imo, not because of the casting, but just the character description.

I mean “Tatiana is a Moroi vampire and political underdog who slowly takes the royal court by storm. Motivated by love and a sense of justice, Tatiana has a unique skill of making herself seem of no consequence until we realize much too late that she was always the one to watch.” sounds extremely Tasha Ozera to me, so like why not just make this character Tasha? Nothing about this sounds like Tatiana, and Tatiana wasn’t even a Vogel anyway (well Vogel wasn’t even one of the 12 royal families), she was an Ivashkov.

In terms of Anita-Joy herself, well I mean we don’t really have a character to compare her to, is she supposed to be more like Tasha or Tatiana? She looks fairly young, so my guess is actually on Tasha, but we’ll have to wait to see I guess.

Mia McKenna-Bruce as Mia Karp

This is another one that I was instantly a fan of.

I was so not a fan of Mia’s casting in the movie (I can’t even remember who played her tbh but I really didn’t like it) so this Mia is a lot closer to how I imagine her.

I think she’ll be able to carry Mia’s transformation from bratty social-climber to badass fighter really well.

The character description is interesting though. “Witty, cutting, and just the right kind of ruthless when necessary, non-Royal Mia has a long-term plan to social climb her way into the ranks of royalty, with all the privilege and freedom that entails.” sound pretty bang on to Mia in the first book.

“A plan complicated by her instant chemistry with Meredith, a Guardian-in-training, as Mia struggles to reconcile her attraction to Meredith with her lowly status.” is an obvious deviation though, and one I kind of love??? Give me all the queer rep, and if we get to see Mia confront the issue of comp-het I’m so here for it.

It’s kind of funny though because I’ve seen theories that Meredith is a replacement for Eddie and Mia/Eddie has always been my sort of rarepair ship.

The last name Karp is weird af though. Is she supposed to be Sonya’s daughter? And if that’s the case I wonder if we’re going to actually see Sonya turn Strigoi in the show’s first season or something and that triggers the change in Mia? Interesting concept but I’m not sure how the timeline will work.

Rhian Blundell as Meredith

So this is another new one, and tbh I hadn’t given Meredith *that* much though in the past but she’s probably close to how I would have pictured her which is cool.

The elephant in the room with this casting is that Meredith’s role in the books was relatively minor - she was just kind of that character that got brought up whenever R.M needed a dhampir who wasn’t Rose/Dimitri/Mason/Eddie. So clearly she’s going to have a bigger role in the tv show which I don’t mind but I do wonder if we’re going to lose a character - probably Eddie lbr - in order to have her. They haven’t casted an Eddie yet as far as we know, but I have seen it pointed out that Eddie’s role in book 1 was pretty small so maybe they just aren’t announcing it. But there’s also the possibility that maybe Meredith will sort of replace Eddie and be the third part of Rose and Mason’s friendship.

I’m very interested by this part of her character description though, “She has little patience for Rose’s volatility or Mia’s elitism, and regularly calls both of them out.”

Jonetta Kaiser as Sonya Karp

I don’t necessarily dislike Jonetta as Sonya but I am confused by this choice. She looks fairly young, which tbf Sonya was young-ish I guess, but if Mia is supposed to be her daughter she doesn’t look old enough to have a teenaged daughter. So maybe Sonya and Mia are sisters? Cousins? Just have each other’s last names for no reason? I really don’t know. They also look nothing alike.

Other than that, I don’t really have an opinion about Jonetta as Sonya. Obviously looks nothing like how Sonya was described but that’s not new nor a massive concern for me.

I can’t really tell just from looking at her, and I haven’t seen her in anything, if she would play a good Sonya. I think with a lot of the characters it’s going to come down to the personality they bring to the part and the writing.

I looooooove her character description though: “Quiet, careful and decidedly odd, Sonya is not of royal bloodline and sits out on the fringe of Moroi society, preferring to spend her time in the library or her gardens. Not a person who likes a scene, nonetheless she has a quiet but profound power of her own. She is taken by surprise when a Dhampir Guardian named Mikhail shows interest in her, a relationship that will expose both the brightest and darkest parts of her heart.” It’s everything I would probably want from a description of Sonya and I’m more and more convinced that we’re going to see Sonya’s descent into madness and transformation into a Strigoi play out in maybe the first season which I am so curious how they’re going to work into the timeline.

Andrew Liner as Mason Ashford

Our last one and another one who doesn’t look remotely like his description but again? Not a surprise and not a problem for me. He looks like he could play Mason’s goofiness really well as well as be a solid contender for a love interest for Rose.

“Charming, loyal and popular, Mason is Rose’s main competition in the quest to become the No. 1 Guardian-in-training. Though their relationship is casual on her side, he is hopeful she will finally look at him and see him as something more.” His character description makes a lot of sense, maybe him being Rose’s main competition is a bit of a deviation? But I think that’s more an indication that he’s supposed to be a strong fighter which isn’t inaccurate to the books. The rest sounds great.

Other Thoughts

Descriptions of the show specifically mention friendship and classism as major themes which I am very happy to hear about because those are the two parts of VA that I love the most.

Am a little more worried about it being described as “sexy” though, if they shove a whole bunch of meaningless sex scenes in it just because it’s a YA show I’m not gonna be happy.

Seen the show compared to “Game of Thrones” and “Bridgerton” which at first had me like oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck not good not good not good. But thinking about it more and trying to understand where Plec’s coming from with that description I wonder if means similar to GoT as in the cut-throat nature of the Moroi/Dhampir society cause I can kind of see that. And as for Bridgerton I wonder if she’s referring to the kind of social-climbing aspects of it, because again that makes sense and it seems like a theme she really wants to concentrate on. I hope that’s what she means by those comparisons, or that she just wants to compare it to popular shows to get people to watch it. The worst would be if she tries to throw in a lot of unnecessary sex scenes to make it like those shows, because I hate when they do that, especially when the characters are teenagers.

Interesting to hear that Plec has known about the series since before Twilight or TVD - not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Seems like it’s actually mostly (or all??) written by Marguerite MacIntyre which is interesting because I know people were worried about Julie Plec - I’ve never watched anything by either of them so I’m neutral at this point.

#wow this took me most of the day to write so i got absolutely no uni work done #oh well #worth it #vampire academy #va #va tv show #rose hathaway #dimitri belikov #lissa dragomir #mason ashford #meredith (va)#mia rinaldi #sonya karp #christian ozera #respond to this and tell me your thoughts cause i want to hear what everyone things #*thinks #keep things respectful tho guys

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