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katsu28 · 2 days ago

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pairing: bradley "rooster" bradshaw x reader

summary: after your scheduled coffee date with bradley, your friendship progresses into something more over time. (7k)

part 2 to return to sender

warnings: swearing, some use of Y/N

a/n: hello again my tgm family!! went a little overboard with this, but thank you to my sweet @familyvideostevie, who came up with this beautiful friends to lovers plotline for a part 2 literal ages ago, and the lovely @starryeyedstories for putting me in my rooster feels again <3

You shouldn’t be so nervous for coffee with Bradley as you are right now. You’ve already changed your outfit at least twice, sifted through your pantry for a suitable accompaniment to coffee so many times you’ve lost count, and as the clock ticks its way to noon, genuinely debated on making an excuse to bail.

A few careful deep breaths clears your mind a little, reminds you that no, you aren’t going to bail on Bradley. You’re going to see this thing through if it’s the last thing you ever do, fight or flight response be damned.

You’re a jumble of nerves as you finally make your way over to his apartment, just like the first time you met him.

Only this time it isn’t because you were afraid he was an asshole (you know now that he was the in fact opposite), but because your crush on him has grown tenfold just overnight.

See, you’d spent a good chunk of the time you were meant to be asleep last night on the phone chatting with him about anything and everything, never a lull in the conversation until the sun started to peek through the curtains and the birds began their daily morning song.

He’d sounded sad when you announced you had to grab a few hours of shut eye, but murmured a soft see you later that had your heart thudding a little faster in your chest.

Maybe you even buried your face in a pillow and squealed a little the moment you hung up, but he doesn’t need to know that.

You knock on his door firmly, shifting the package of Oreos from hand to hand nervously as you wait.

The door swings open to reveal a smiling Bradley, and suddenly all your worries seem to fade away.

He’s wearing jeans and a well-fitting Hawaiian shirt this time, which would’ve looked tacky as hell on anyone else, but Bradley found a way to pull it off. He still looks way too damn good for someone who’d been up the whole night.

“Hey!” He exclaims, beckoning you inside with a smile. You mirror his smile, but before you can return his greeting, he brings you into a hug. He smells of fresh laundry and sea breeze and something heady that you can’t quite put your finger on but like nonetheless. “Long time no talk.”

You let out a huff of amusement. “Right, because seven hours is just such a long time.”

“Sure felt like forever,” He replies, reaching around you to shut the door. His arm grazes against the small of your back as he does, a fleeting touch that still manages to make you shiver. Maybe Bradley notices, because he lets his hand linger for another second, expression shifting into something softer as he eases the cookies out of your hands. “This for me?”

“Uh, yeah! I hope you like Oreos, ‘cause it’s really all I had,” You say sheepishly, folding your arms around yourself in an awkward attempt to seem normal.

“I love Oreos. Thank you.” He bobs his head quickly. “Anyways, welcome, come on in, make yourself at home.”

Bradley’s apartment has the same layout as yours, but other than that it looks like a completely different place.

While you’d decorated your space with all sorts of odds and ends, posters and paintings and a plethora of knick knacks adorning your shelves, Bradley’s is…kind of empty, save for a few sports posters and some workout gear scattered in the hallway leading to the bedroom. A piano sits over by the window that gives the place some character, but other than that it doesn’t really look like this is anyone’s home.

It’s as if he feels you taking in your surroundings, because he chuckles awkwardly, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. “It’s plain, I know. Definitely won’t be winning any awards for interior design.”

“Oh, I dunno, the minimalistic look is really in these days,” You hum, shrugging nonchalantly.

“You’re too nice to me. I’m not here a lot of the time, so I haven’t really done the whole ‘making it feel like home’ thing yet. I’ll get to it though.” He admits, kicking aside a lone pair of shorts. “Anyways, uh—forget this, why don’t we keep moving on into the kitchen?”

The kitchen is much more interesting than the rest of the apartment, mainly the wall of postcards and photos next to the fridge that catch your eye immediately.

“Now, this is more like it!” You gasp, beelining for the wall to look at them. Postcards of sandy beaches, snowy mountains, and everything in between. Pictures of a younger and current Bradley with whom you assumed were his fellow Navy buddies, smiling wide for the camera like he’s having the time of his life. A few more older photos of a woman and a man who looks just like Bradley with a kid who you assumed was Bradley.

You feel Bradley’s presence come up behind you, hear him inhale a sharp breath. “Those are my parents.”

“You look just like your dad.”

“Yeah, that’s what everyone says.”

“And your mom is beautiful.”

“She was.” You know better than to pry any further than that. One day, maybe, but not any time soon. He sniffs once, then clears his throat. “You, um, you want some coffee?”

You leave the wall to come settle on one of the barstools across the counter from him, propping your chin up in your hand as he pulls open a cabinet. “Ah, the infamous coffee maker! Damn that thing is huge.”

“Don’t come for me, but I’ve still only figured out how to make one thing,” He warns, pointing at you with a mug. “Hope you like black coffee, ‘cuz that’s all you’re getting.”

“Black coffee is perfect.”

“I have milk if you take yours with some. Only almond milk though. Supposed to be better for the bones, according to Hangman.” Bradley nods his head towards the fridge. “S’in there if you need it, help yourself.”

“First the machine, now the milk—this Hangman must be a trustworthy guy if you take all your coffee tips from him.”

Bradley laughs, a loud belly laugh that sends a tumbling feeling through your chest. “Dude’s a total knucklehead, but he means well. I think you’d like him.”

“What’s that thing they say about a person’s friends being a reflection of themselves?” You muse teasingly, tilting your head.

“I know you didn’t just call me a knucklehead!”

“Your words, not mine.” You lift one shoulder, letting it drop with a look of feigned innocence.

“Funny.”

As always, conversation with Bradley is never dull. Even though you’d talked for hours on end the night before, there is no shortage of stories to be told, life stories shared over coffee and Oreos like you’ve known each other forever.

Somehow you wind up here, talking about how you both ended up in the same apartment complex. You’d found this place on your own and were immediately sold on it. It was affordable, not too small but not too big, and quiet enough for you. Seemed like a perfect deal had fallen right into your lap.

Bradley, on the other hand, had found it a completely different way. His friend Nat had been going out with a total douchebag of a guy who just so happened to be looking for a place at the same time Bradley had been, sharing his apartment hunt findings with her.

She found out he’d been seeing another girl behind her back the whole time, kicked his ass to the curb, tipped Bradley off on the open spot in the complex, and Bradley swooped in to nab the place before the cheating son of a bitch could even blink.

“You did not!” You gasp, covering your mouth with your palm in shock.

“I did!” Bradley laughs, nodding enthusiastically. “Never liked the guy anyways. And what was he gonna do, confront me about it? Dude was a total coward, he wasn’t gonna come accuse me of jack shit!”

“You’re smart, Bradshaw, I’ll give you that.”

“Apparently not smart enough to know that my mail was being sent to the wrong apartment for months. Again, I’m really sorry about that.”

“It wasn’t a big deal, I keep telling you that,” You insist, shaking your head. “I didn’t mind, really.”

“How come you didn’t tell me earlier?”

“Honestly? I thought you were kinda scary,” You admit sheepishly, ducking your head in embarrassment.

It feels silly even admitting it, knowing now who Bradley actually is doesn’t fit your perception of him by a long shot. But at the same time, admitting it feels somewhat freeing, like you’re letting go of someone you never knew to make way for someone you’d really love to get to know more.

Bradley’s eyes widens, mouth falling open just the slightest bit in shock. “Scary? Me?”

“Yes, you! I dunno if you’ve seen yourself from another person’s eyes, but you look intimidating! You’ve got that whole big tough guy look going on, and I’m not great with confrontation.”

“And what do you think of me now?” He asks softly, settling his chin in the palm of his hand as he meets your gaze intently. There go your nerves again, swirling in the pit of your stomach like a whirlpool threatening to suck you in.

You inhale a deep breath, letting it come back out as a sort of breathy chuckle. “I think you’re not at all what I thought you’d be.”

“In a good way or a bad way?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“Anything I could do to sway the odds in my favor?”

Your mouth is suddenly drier than a desert despite all the liquid you’ve been downing, palms clammy against the ceramic of the mug clutched in your grasp.

You aren’t ready to answer that question, even though you already have an inkling of the things he could do. So you do the only thing you could think of to get yourself out of this situation. You change the subject.

“I…um—I really loved the chandelier when I took a walk through of the place,” You blurt, jerking your chin over at the sleek fixture above the dining area to draw Bradley’s attention to it. “Really brings the whole place together. Or, it would if mine would stop flickering all the damn time.”

His face falls just the tiniest bit at the sudden change of subject, but his features twist in curiosity within a split second. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, yours doesn’t?”

“No, mine’s been fine since I moved in. Have you tried taking a look at it, see what’s wrong?”

You offer him a sheepish smile, bashful now. “This is really embarrassing, but I’m—I’m kind of scared that it’s gonna fall on me if I mess with it. Y’know, revenge of the light fixtures and all that?” Bradley’s mouth lifts at the edges, and you could tell he’s fighting another smile. “Don’t laugh at me! It’s a legitimate concern!”

“Not laughing!” He clears his throat, giving his head a little shake to keep his composure. But even then, there’s no mistaking the amusement in his eyes. “Chandeliers are very scary.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have said anything,” You groan, hanging your head. Bradley’s soft chuckle brings a flaming warmth to your cheeks.

“I could…take a look at it, if you want?”

Your head whips up to stare at him. “Right now?”

“Today, yeah. If you’re free after this, I mean.” He shrugs, giving the spoon in his cup a few stirs.

“For real?”

“I have tools. I’ll take a look, see if it’s an easy fix and if not, we can call maintenance.”

“You’re walking a slippery slope, Bradley Bradshaw. If you can get the chandelier working again there’s no guarantee I won’t be calling you for every other household problem in the future.”

“No complaints here.”

After you’ve both finished your coffee, Bradley grabs his toolbox from under the stairs, and now you’re both standing in the entryway of your own apartment. You feel him taking in your space the same way you did his, your cheeks flaming hot at the clutter of things all around.

“It’s usually a lot tidier than this, I swear. I’ve just had a lot of deadlines at work and I haven’t gotten the chance to put everything back in its place.”

Bradley just smiles, giving a noncommittal shrug. “S’no big deal. I like it.” Everything he got from spending more time with you, he could see it reflected in your space. And as cliche as it sounded, he felt more at home here than he did in his own apartment.

He sets his toolbox down, grabbing a set of pliers and hopping up on the table with ease to poke around the chandelier for a while before fiddling with something.

He climbs back down, wiping his hands on the front of his jeans and tossing the tool back into the box, planting his hands on his hips. “Looks like one of the wires was just a little loose. The bad connection caused it to flicker, but I tightened it a bit so it should be fine now. Maybe try it and see?”

You hurry over to the light switch, flicking it on hopefully. Normally it would start to flicker immediately, but when ten seconds go by and the light shines bright, you beam. “So you’re an electrician too, huh?”

“Hardly. One of my buddies is though. Sometimes he needs an extra set of hands so I tag along with him, see what I can learn.”

“Well either way, you’re a godsend!”

“Just glad I could help.”

“Let me cook you dinner! I have—” You exclaim, shuffling over to the fridge and pulling it open only to be met with nearly bare shelves, save for a few containers of old fruit and condiments. “—nothing. I have nothing, because I was supposed to go to the store yesterday. Well, this is embarrassing!”

Bradley had followed you to the kitchen, sliding onto one of the barstools coolly. “No, this is all very reassuring, ‘cause I’ve been meaning to go shopping too but I keep putting it off. Glad to see I’m not the only one with poor weekly grocery trip skills.”

“I’m sure that was meant to be reassuring, but it really just makes us both sound sad,” You groan, slumping over onto your own stool.

“Your words, not mine,” Bradley chuckles, echoing your earlier words with a cheery smile.

You roll your eyes playfully. “Okay, I can fix this!” You exclaim, holding up a finger as you open UberEats on your phone. “We could do Thai, burgers, pizza—”

“You don’t have to buy me dinner, really, I’m just happy I could help.”

“You can say no all you want, Bradley, it doesn’t really matter to me. You’re staying for dinner, and we can either compromise and get something we both want, or I’ll order something you hate,” You insist, trying to sound as firm as you could.

“You don’t give up easily, do you?”

You grin at him, eyes alight with mischief. “No, I don’t.”

“I like that.” I like you, he wants to say. He doesn’t.

“What’ll it be then?”

“I wouldn’t say no to some pizza. Got a six pack back in my fridge I could bring over too, if you want.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Of beer, that is,” He adds. “No relation to my giant package.”

“Oh, you asshole! You swore you’d never bring that up again!” You huff, leaning over to swat at him. Bradley dodges you easily, an easy smile playing at his lips.

“Okay, okay! I won’t say anything else about it, I promise.”

“You’re lying.”

“Yeah I’m totally lying.”

-------

And so it began, a saga of texting Bradley to see if the things in his apartment were as defective as yours, him coming over to help fix various things, and you scrambling to show your utmost appreciation for his help.

A broken thermostat meant going downtown for dinner and drinks at some new restaurant “just to try it out”, a leaky sink resulted in him guilting you into a Mission: Impossible marathon (and a whole lot of insisting the main character looked exactly like one of his Navy higher ups).

That soon turned into you and Bradley spending more and more time at each other’s places, doing fuck all but enjoying each other’s friendship. And over time, that friendship grew a bit more-than-friends-like—he’d always flirt with you, you’d flirt right back—but neither of you had the guts to do anything about it.

Lingering glances, brushing hands that lasted a little too long to be innocent, inside jokes only the two of you were privy to. You’re almost positive he feels the same way about you as you do him, but every time you want to act on it, you chicken out. You've never been one for putting yourself out there, and that hasn’t changed.

You’re about to turn in for the night today, going to close the window in your bedroom only to realize that the lock on the frame isn’t sliding into place the way it usually did.

After jiggling it a few times to see if it would prove a quick fix and finding that it most certainly doesn’t fix a thing, you reach for your phone, instinctively sending off a quick message to Bradley without even really having to think about it.

y/n: quick question! what should i do if my window won’t lock?

Not five minutes after you hit send, your phone buzzes, Bradley’s name flashing across the screen for a video call.

It’s odd, because usually when you text about something in your apartment not working the way it's supposed to, he just shoots back a message saying he’ll be right over. It’s nighttime, so you were honestly kind of looking forward to seeing him in his grey sweats and bicep hugging black tee combo.

You give yourself a quick once over in your phone camera, smoothing down any flyaway hairs before hitting the answer call button. There’s a few beats of nothing as the call connects, but he’s on your screen soon enough, somewhere you don’t recognize and half-shrouded in the dark like he’s under something.

“Something’s wrong with your window?” He asks, brow creased in concern.

“Hi to you too, Bradley.”

“Sorry, hi. But your window, is the lock broken?”

“I think so? Usually when I go to turn the plastic lock thingy it clicks into place, but I tried it like four times and it’s not clicking, so…” You trail off, pouting. “D’you—I mean, are you busy right now? Would you mind popping over to take a look?”

“Shit, I’m sorry, I’m actually not home right now. Won’t be for another few weeks.” Bradley frowns, scratching at his cheek. “I’m overseas.”

“Oh my god, Bradley! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know!”

“No, you’re good! If I was home, I’d be over in a heartbeat, but uh, unfortunately,” He sighs, gesturing vaguely at his surroundings. “Here, flip the camera. Lemme see if I can see what’s wrong from here.”

“Are you sure?” You ask, gnawing on your lip. It seems wrong, still having Bradley be your on-call maintenance guy even when he’s somewhere probably a thousand miles away. But he nods enthusiastically so you oblige, flipping the camera so it’s facing the seemingly broken lock.

You watch him blink a few times and squint at the fuzzy video screen for a little bit before sighing again.

“Sorry, Y/N. I can’t see shit from here.”

“Yeah no, it’s fine.” You shrug, flipping the camera back to face you. You prop your phone up on your windowsill, settling into a more comfortable position to chat with him. “Where overseas are you?”

“Afraid that’s classified, ma’am.” He bows his head in apology, but there was a teasing smile on his face. “See, I could tell you. But then I’d have to kill you.”

You let out an amused chuckle. “Oh, really?”

“Unfortunately. And you’re too pretty to meet that end, so I’m gonna have to keep my whereabouts a secret to save us both the hassle.”

Pretty. Bradley thinks you’re pretty.

You have to fight the smile threatening to break your composure. “How gracious of you.”

“Isn’t it? I surprise myself sometimes,” He sighs good-naturedly, looking all too pleased with himself. “But seriously, talk to the super about your window, have them get the maintenance guy to take a look. Don’t think I’ll be able to sleep til it gets fixed.”

“Aw, you worried about me, Bradley?” You tease, pouting playfully at him.

He rolls his eyes. “You know I am.”

“I’ll call the super tomorrow.”

“Not today?”

“I’ll let you know if someone breaks in through my third floor window.”

“Hey, you never know! People are stealthy,” Bradley protests, shifting to a sitting position and subsequently hitting his head on the bunk above him. He lets out a hiss of pain, rubbing the top of his head with a grimace.

“Some people are, but you’re definitely not,” You snicker, to which Bradley gives you another eye roll. “Are you about to go to bed?”

“I was gonna, but I’d much rather talk to you.”

That nearly makes you swoon. God, Bradley is good with his words. Damn him.

“Go to sleep, I’ll let you know when it’s fixed. Wouldn’t want you worrying your pretty little head about me all night.”

“Pretty little head,” He echos, tilting said pretty little head to the side.

“It’s, uh, it’s just a figure of speech,” You insist, feeling your cheeks grow embarrassingly warm. Funny how they always do that whenever you’re talking to him. Or thinking about him. Or thinking about talking to him.

Bradley just smiles again. “Sure is.”

“Goodnight, Bradley.”

“Night, sweetheart. I’m expecting that text to be there when I wake up.” He hangs up before you can register the nickname, but you can’t stop the giddy grin breaking across your face when you do.

First he calls you pretty, now he’s calling you sweetheart. He’s getting bolder. You aren’t sure if that means he feels the same way about you, or if it’s just his personality. Even after you’d known him for almost six months, you still can’t tell.

-------

Bradley rouses from his sleep at five on the dot, throwing himself into his Navy enforced routine until lunchtime, when he could finally sit down and check his phone. Upon powering it back on and glancing at the homescreen, he sees that he has two notifications from you. One of them is a selfie of you beaming next to your newly fixed latched window, sending him a thumbs up.

Shit, you’re so pretty. It makes his heart ache to be away from home this time, not able to help you when you need it.

The other is a text to accompany the photo.

y/n: window is fixed. hope you sleep well tonight knowing no stealthy people are gonna break in :)

He snorts softly, a smile overtaking his face as he taps out a reply.

bradley: i won’t worry my pretty little head about it anymore.

y/n: you better not be texting me from the jet!!

bradley: and so what if i was? i’d call it multitasking.

y/n: i’d call it damn stupid, lieutenant. can’t have my handyman ditching me, so come home in one piece, k?

“Now who in the world could you be texting that’s got you cheesin’ like a big ol’ idiot right now?” Hangman’s voice drawls from across the table, drawing Bradley’s attention away from his phone and to the rest of the squad, who all look at him with the same expectant expressions.

“Five bucks it’s his girl from back home,” Payback chimes in, smirking knowingly.

“I’ll take that action, please and thank you,” Fanboy replies, smacking his hand into Payback’s for a shake to seal the deal.

“She’s not my—have you guys been creeping on my texts?”

“Well, not creeping per se,” Phoenix reasons, holding her hands up in defense. “I was only trying to send myself that picture of Bob sleeping with that marker mustache when she texted.”

Bob makes an incredulous noise, head whipping towards his front seater. “You guys said there were no pictures!”

“Nothing, nevermind,” She hums, waving him off. “Back to the subject at hand. Y/N. Rooster’s girl.”

“How d’you know her—hold on, how the fuck did you get into my phone?”

“Your password is your birthday, dumbass. You should really change it, by the way. Cybersecurity is no joke.”

“Whatever. She’s not my girl, by the way. If any of you cared to know. We’re just…friends.”

“See that hesitation between just and friends? Bradshaw’s a liar!” Hangman whoops, drumming his fingers on the table. “He wants to be her boyfriend!” That last word comes out a teasing singsong, making Bradley roll his eyes. He’s right, of course, but he doesn’t need everyone knowing that.

“Real mature, Hangman. Real mature.”

“Can’t argue with the truth, Rooster.”

-------

You soon discover that life is pretty boring without Bradley around. There’s nobody to bother when you get bored, nobody to make dumb jokes while you watch a movie, nobody to force you to go out even though you don’t want to. Bradley was always the one to do all those things with you, and he isn’t here. Sure, you’re still able to text and talk, but it isn’t the same. You miss him.

So when your doorbell rings and you aren’t expecting anyone, your mind immediately goes to Bradley. You quickly give yourself a once over in the mirror in the foyer, making sure you look at least halfway presentable before pulling open the door excitedly.

Bradley’s already beaming when your eyes land on him, but his smile gets even wider as he takes you in. He looks the same as the last time you saw him, although definitely better than he did on a grainy video screen. He’s a little tanner than you remember, shoulders a smidge broader, but still the same Bradley you’d grown some big feelings for.

“Remember me?” He jokes, shoving his hands into his pockets.

You give him a once over with a tilted head, frowning. “Sorry, no. I think you might have the wrong apartment.”

“Oh, she’s funny now!”

“Okay, ouch. I’ve always been funny, Bradshaw,” You huff, but the smile stretching your lips tells him you’re anything but annoyed. “Welcome home.”

You aren’t sure if you should hug him but you do anyway, wrapping your arms around his neck, breathing in his achingly familiar cologne. Bradley settles into your embrace almost like he’s melting, letting his nose drop into the dip of your neck as he hugs you back a little too tightly. Not that you’re complaining about it.

“Glad to be back. Missed you.” He straightens up as soon as those last two words leave his mouth, backing away almost jerkily with a hand flying to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t—”

“I missed you too, Bradley.”

The edges of his mouth quirk up into the beginnings of a smile. “So me and my buddies were gonna head to our usual spot for drinks tonight, kinda like a being back stateside, welcome home type thing. I’d really like it if you came with me.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t.” You shake your head profusely, fiddling with the hem of your sweater. Bradley’s head cocks in confusion. “It’s your time with your friends, I don’t want to impose.”

“You won’t be. I want you there, I want you to meet them all,” He insists, looking entirely sincere.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Come with me, please.”

You gnaw a little on your lip in contemplation, only managing to hold out a few seconds under his intense gaze before giving a small defeated sigh. “Okay. I’ll join you.”

“Great!” He beams, looking rather pleased. “Now tell me everything that happened while I was gone. And spare no detail either, I need to catch up on the complex gossip. Did that kid Andrew ever stop banging on his drums until three in the morning? Does that family across the parking lot still go on walks with their wailing baby or has that sucker settled down yet? I need to know.”

After bringing Bradley up to speed on everything, it’s time to meet his friends.

Rowdy isn’t sufficient enough to describe the Hard Deck. A Navy joint through and through, the whole place is decked out floor to ceiling with model jets and patches and other various related memorabilia.

The group Bradley leads you towards seems to be the loudest of them all, scattered out around a pool table in the back corner chatting amongst each other and looking happy to be home.

The first person to notice Bradley’s arrival is a dark haired woman with a pool cue in her hand, which she swings his way upon sight of him coming up next to her, nearly taking off his head had he not stepped back a little. “Bradshaw! Tell Bagman he’s insane if he thinks he can chug a beer in under five seconds, tell him that!”

“No, you tell Phoenix that I can do whatever I—well, hello there,” The blond man—Bagman, you assume—stops mid sentence when he lays eyes on you, dropping the offended look and aiming a pearly white smile your way. “And who might you be?”

“Not gonna happen, Hangman,” Bradley warns. He looks entirely serious about it too.

“Oh, so you’re the Hangman this guy always talks about,” You lilt, ignoring the gentle shove Bradley gives you in return.

“Aw, Roo, you talk about me?” Hangman drawls, grinning wildly. “Way to make a man blush!”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t flatter yourself.” Bradley rolls his eyes playfully, giving his head a shake before introducing you to his friends. Each of them has a unique callsign that seems to fit them perfectly. Your favorite name is Coyote because of how cool it is, but you’d never let Bradley know that.

The woman Hangman had been bickering with, Phoenix, inhales a sharp breath, her eyes bouncing between you and Bradley with barely contained glee. “Oh my god, you’re Rooster’s girl! He’s been—”

Bradley clamps a hand on Phoenix’s shoulder before she can continue, cutting her short. “Alright!” He blurts, giving her a quick few pats. He angles his head towards you, offering a guilty smile. “Sorry about her, she’s drunk. Doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“Move the hand or you’ll lose it, Bradshaw,” She says slowly, pinning him to the spot with a death stare. Bradley retracts his hand instantly, looking intimidated as he does so and Phoenix aims a grin your way. “He’s well trained, I promise. I think maybe you’ve had something to do with that?”

“I dunno about training, but I’ve taught him a few tricks.”

“What am I, a dog?” Bradley splutters, looking from your grin to Phoenix’s and huffing out a sigh when you both nod. “I feel attacked! This is so unfair.”

“I like you. We need to get you a drink,” Phoenix says very as-a-matter-of-factly, holding up her empty glass towards you as proof. “Any preference?”

“Surprise me?”

“Copy that.”

You watch her retreat over to the bar, casting a quick glance at your surroundings to make sure nobody is paying attention before leaning in towards Bradley, who mirrors your actions almost instantaneously.

“Rooster’s girl?” You chuckle, raising an amused brow. You’d never admit it out loud, but you like the nickname. It meant that he told his friends about you. Maybe not in the way you’d wanted them to learn about your existence, because he’d probably told them you’re just friends, but nice nonetheless.

Bradley goes positively pink in the face. “It’s, uh—s’nothing, my friends just like to mess around.”

“Okay.” You shrug trying to play it cool while simultaneously fighting the urge to squeal like a damn schoolgirl on the inside. You ought to earn some sort of medal for your performance.

You soon fall into easy conversation with Phoenix and her backseater Bob when she returns with drinks. It isn’t until Bradley finally leaves your side to go play a round of pool with some of the other guys that she props her chin up in her hand, smiling knowingly at you.

“So…you and Rooster?”

“What about us?”

“Are you guys…y’know,” She gestures vaguely in the air, tilting her head over at Bradley. “A thing?”

“Oh my god,” Bob mutters, so soft you barely even hear it. He looks mortified at his partner’s very not subtle insinuation. “Nat, you can’t just ask her that.”

“Oh no, it’s okay! We, uh—Bradley and I are just friends.”

Phoenix doesn’t look like she believes you one bit, but she just nods reassuringly. “Well, just friends or not, you’re good for him.” Then she moves onto a new topic like it’s nothing, but her words echoed in your mind.

You cast a glance over at Bradley a little ways away, where he’s chatting idly with another one of his buddies.

You’re good for him.

If anything, Bradley is good for you. He pushes you out of your comfort zone, he helps you come out of your shell. He’s the reason you’ve grown into a new person, one that the old you would never have even dreamed of becoming.

Maybe your attention lingers a little too long, because he tears his eyes away from his conversation partner to meet your gaze, lips curling up into a grin as he nods at you in acknowledgement. Even from across the bar, you can see the soft twinkle in his eyes, the fondness and warmth in his smile causing your heart to swell in your chest.

By the time you and Bradley decide to call it a night and head home, you already have an indefinite invitation to any and every squad function in the future (whether or not Bradley was present, Phoenix had added with a wink).

“So…what did you think of ‘em?”

“I like your friends. They’re nice,” You say earnestly. You mean it.

“Good. I’m glad. They really like you too, Phoenix and Bob especially,” He says casually, flicking on his blinker to turn left. You let out a pleased chuckle at that.

The two of you chat like normal the rest of the way home once you both settle back into your usual back and forth, exchanging more stories from your respective lives until Bradley pulls into his assigned parking space.

“Before I forget, I brought you back something.”

“Oh?” You raise a curious eyebrow.

He reaches over to your side of the car, fumbling around in the glove compartment for a few seconds until he procures what he’s searching for—a small postcard with a photo of a very picturesque beach. The corners are a bit bent from being shoved in there, but Bradley straightens them out as best he can before holding it out to you.

Turning it around in your hands, you spot a note in his familiar chicken scratch on the other side, much tinier than you remember but only because it details how much he hated sharing a tiny bunk with Hangman, who was an avid sleep talker when he wasn’t snoring as loud as humanly possible throughout the entire night.

One thing stands out to you though, the last sentence before he’d signed his name with a rather crooked looking smiley face—I miss you.

“This town was near where we were stationed. I was gonna mail the card, but I wanted this first one to be special.”

“Special?” You echo, tilting your head.

“Yeah. Thought maybe it’d be fun if I send you one of these every time I’m deployed and you could start your own wall. That way whenever I’m gone and you miss me, it’ll—I dunno…remind you I’m coming home?” He finishes awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

You try your hardest to fight the smile threatening to overtake your face as you study the card intently. It’s very sweet of him, you think, that he wants to share this tradition of his with you.

“Thank you, Bradley,” You say softly. “I love it.”

"I was hoping you would. I'm glad you do."

When he walks you right up to your door, he looks nervous, which isn't like him. You're about to ask him if he's feeling okay, but then he speaks.

“Hey, look, I—um, I’ve had a really good time these past few months, being your friend."

You frown a little. “Uh oh. Why do I feel like there’s a but coming?”

“No! I mean, yes, but also—shit, okay, lemme start over.” Bradley shakes his head as if to clear his mind, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve really enjoyed being your friend, but I don’t wanna be friends anymore.”

Oh.

Your heart may as well have fallen out of your ass at his words. Bradley didn’t want to be friends with you anymore?

You must not have as good of a poker face as you mean to, because he quickly backtracks, eyes wide.

“Fuck, no that’s not what I meant, I—jesus, I meant to say that I don’t want to be just friends anymore,” He blurts, letting his hands drop to his sides. “I really missed you while I was gone. More than I should’ve. And at first I just thought it was because we’re such good friends and because of how much time we’ve spent together lately and that’s why I felt like there was this chunk of me that was missing, but I realized it was more than that. I like you. A lot. So I don’t just want to be your friend anymore, I want to be…more.”

Oh.

Bradley likes you. And you like him right back.

So, you do the only thing you can think of that will show him your feelings towards him.

You lean forward, closing the gap between the two of you and kissing him right here and now.

His palms smooth themselves down your back, fingers splayed across the expanse of it as he kisses you like his life depends on it. His mustache is scratchy, but you don’t mind one bit, not with the way he’s holding you against him, like you’re puzzle pieces slotting perfectly together at last.

You pull away first with a hand against his chest, only slightly, just enough to look him in the eye when you tell him, “I like you a lot too, Bradley.”

“Best news I’ve heard in a while,” Bradley sighs, tipping his head back with a sigh of relief. Then his brows furrow, eyes focusing above your heads. “Your light is out,” He says bluntly, squinting at the darkened bulb. “Did you know that?”

“Yeah, I know,” You chuckle. “I would’ve changed it, but the damn thing is rusted over, and my handyman has been out of town for a bit.”

Bradley snorts, rolling his eyes playfully. “Hilarious. You got a spare lightbulb? I could change it right now.”

“You could.” Now you’re feeling bold and you run with it, walking your fingers up his chest until they link around the back of his neck. “Or…you could change it tomorrow, after breakfast?”

His brows fly high at that, tongue darting out to wet his lips nervously. “Tomorrow. Like, as in, you want me to stay the night here, and stay for breakfast in the morning?”

“Well, yes. We’ve got some more catching up to do, don’t you think?” You ask innocently, though your insinuation isn’t quite so. Bradley’s inhale hitches in his chest at the silent message and he nods quickly, antsy now as you go to unlock the door.

He’s on you the moment you get the door open, lips glued to yours even as you stumble across the threshold and into the foyer.

“Wait, wait—” Bradley pants, pulling away only slightly. He’s got a hand skimming over bare skin under the hem of your top, mouth shiny with your lipgloss, and he’s telling you to wait. You raise an impatient brow. “As much as I want to—y’know, and I do, can we just…have a quiet night? I wanna take things slow, make sure everything is perfect.”

“Okay,” You say, straightening out the collar of his shirt. You can get behind taking things slow. It takes some of the pressure off you to adjust to this big change. “Wanna find a movie to watch?”

He perks up at that, grinning widely. “Hell yeah! There was some action comedy I wanted to see before I got deployed and I’m pretty sure it’s out on streaming now. Mind if we watch it?”

You won’t tell him just yet since things between you are the newest they’ll ever be, but you’d gladly watch anything with him. Instead, you just nod. “Go for it. Mind if I go change into some comfier clothes really quick?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll be here.”

Bradley’s queued up the movie on the TV already by the time you return, setting his phone aside when he hears you come back in.

You’re not quite sure where you should sit, but then he extends a hand out towards you, beckoning you into the cozy space under his arm, and all your questions are answered. It feels like you fit right in when you nestle against him, head falling against his shoulder like its second nature to do so.

“All good?” He asks, giving you a little squeeze and a fond smile.

“Never better.”

There’s no mistaking the happy gleam in his eyes, and you’re sure you have something of the same too.

You think the whole mail mix up situation from a few months ago had been the best mistake to ever happen to you, because it led you to Bradley, who—and you might be a little forward with this thought—might just become one of the best things in your life.

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#bradley bradshaw x reader #rooster bradshaw x reader #bradley rooster bradshaw x reader #bradley bradshaw fic #rooster bradshaw fic #bradley bradshaw fluff #rooster bradshaw fluff #top gun maverick fic

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sweetflanfiction · 2 days ago

Text

Asymetrical Symphony - Part 26

Universe: Arcane (LOL)

Pairing: Viktor x reader

Summary: You had been on the rooftop with Jayce and the Herald and somehow you were sent to a place where things can be different with your help

Disclaimers and Warnings: If you want me to tag you on the chapters let me know! Also leave a comment with your thoughts :D Not finished, not proofread. English isn't my 1st language. All I know about LOL is from google and all I know about Arcane is taken from the show, so inacuracies will be plenty. I have a sort of idea on how to I'm gonna go with magic and runes, so bear with me. The reader will be written as GN (going by they/them) to get everyone involved, but if you see any discrepancies let me know

A.N: I'm sorry for the delay. Unfortunately life gets in the way of these things!

Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 • Part 6 • Part 7 • Part 8 • Part 9 • Part 10 • Part 11 • Part 12 • Part 13 • Part 14 • Part 15 • Part 16 • Part 17 • Part 18 • Part 19 • Part 20 • Part 21 • Part 22 • Part 23 • Part 24 • Part 25

• ··········· • ············ •

Thanks to whatever gods were now in charge of watching your endeavors, you made your way quickly and easily through the aqueduct. A mix of Viktor’s knowledge of the place and your ability to unlock doors and create distractions meant you didn’t need to go through the rocky riverbed.

Once on the other side of the river, you both made your way silently toward the main city, and when you arrived back at the park, the sun was already low on the horizon.

Viktor paused next to the small bench you had met by that morning, scratching the back of his neck and biting on his cheek, and you frowned.

“Spit it.” You crossed your arms and raised an eyebrow when he looked up at you, but then his gaze drifted away.

“I have a…suggestion to give you, but I’m afraid of what you might think of me after.”

Your frown got deeper as his cheeks got redder.

“Go on.”

“My apartment is closer to the aqueduct than the penthouse, so…” He cleared his throat. “I think it would be beneficial…and far less exhausting… if…youspendthenightatmyhouse.”

The last part of the sentence came out as fast as the hex claw laser. You got 'spend' and 'house'…ah…

…

“You don’t have to; it is completely up to you, and even if you say yes and then change your mind, you can go! And the walls are really paper-thin, so if you are worried that I do anything to you… I mean you do have magic and I'm not exactly the strongest man in Piltover…once…Jayce gently pushed me away from an experiment, and I toppled over… Embarrassing, really… Why am I telling you this?”

You blinked a couple of times. At first I'm shocked that he had actually asked you to spend time at his place, especially after the day you both had. And then at his comically dramatic rant, a smile appeared on your face as he kept going.

“Alright, sounds like a good plan.”

“Besides, your mother isn’t here yet, and you’d be alone and…wait, what?” He finally stopped to look at you.

“It’s a good idea. We’ll be able to squeeze a few more hours of sleep in and do some planning.”

Viktor started to nod slowly at first and then enthusiastically. His face opened up with a nervous but bright smile.

“You want to go get takeout at Voltaire’s? I’m sure I can convince him to get you some tart…” He announced as he passed you by, waiting for you to follow him.

“No need.” He adjusted his cane, and you could have sworn he had a little more pep in his step. “Jayce came over the other day; his mother usually makes him bring me food. I fear she thinks I can’t feed myself.”

“Eh…pastries and dessert don’t count as a balanced meal plan, Vik.” You joked, and he gave an ‘I don’t care’ type shrug. “I’m just happy you're eating.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” You shifted your backpack’s straps, realizing what you had blurted out.

“Well, work…”

“I can eat and work! That is why I have two hands…” He made a gesture of screwing a bolt and grabbing something to eat.

“Wow…efficient.” He made an agreeing sound with his throat, and you laughed.

“Keep doing it! As much as people would kill for those cheekbones, gaunt wouldn’t look good on you.” You winked at him and laughed when he touched the reddening apple of his cheeks.

Viktor joined your amusement as you both walked towards the Artist Quarters on your way to Engineering Street.

The small apartment Viktor had inhabited was, in fact, closer to the aqueduct, between the riverbed and the Academy. Most of the people working in the Academy had housing there. Mostly because the rents were low for them and proximity. It was a step up from dorms, but not really an upgrade in luxury.

And while Engineering Street was quiet throughout the day and night, you’d even say a bit boring, the Artist Quarters were a lively and colorful place, becoming more energetic at night.

The buildings were smaller, with a maximum of 3 floors, but bright with small shops on the floor levels. Bakeries, art shops, music stores. The cobblestone streets were filled with chalk drawings on the ground, and the streetlights had string lights hanging in between them.

The colors seemed to become brighter in these streets with the number of flowers and small trees and the strewn artists painting on the streets or people drinking and eating on the restaurant’s patio.

You passed by an art supply shop, and someone inside shouted Viktor’s name and waved at him. Viktor did the same, warmly greeting the elderly man storing a display of watercolors on a shelf, and you became curious.

“Mr. Felton sells me the pencils and chalks the council hates so much.” Viktor explained when he saw your expression.

“Have you ever tried drawing?”

“Oh no! Jayce is the artist of the two of us. He’s in charge of doing the initial designs and sketches…I’m good with a ruler, though!”

You were chuckling at his pride and confidence when he suddenly veered right and started to fish something out of his satchel. He took out a key and shoved it into the intricate front door to a beautiful blue-tiled building.

When he noticed you weren’t following him, he turned back and mentioned for you to come.

Viktor, head scientist and co-creator of Hextech, did not live on Engineering Street… Viktor, the color-coding aficionado, lived in the Artists Quarters. And you knew, in your heart of hearts…in the depths of your soul…there was nothing that made more sense than this.

His never-stopping mind didn’t need the monotony of the academy-assigned living quarters. It needs the bustle and the bustle and the colors of this place. You wondered if anything would have been different if the other Viktor had had this thought.

…

The building was beautiful outside and in.

On the outside, the light blue tiled walls were decorated with white columns and stone windows. There were three floors, with the two higher ones having a small veranda on them, just big enough to have two chairs on them. The ivy that crept up on the walls broke the symmetric façade of the building, clinging to the columns and tiles like veiny tendrils of bright green. What really got your attention at first was the front door, a white wood double door with intricate carvings and colorful glass panes, finished with a beautifully curved glass canopy.

The inside of the building was just as wonderful, with pastel brown painted walls and various little plants scattered on corners; the well-used wooden floors gave the inside a cozy feeling. In the middle back of the foyer was an old, small elevator that Viktor quickly made his way to, only stopping at the metal mailboxes to see if anything had been left to him. Nothing.

When you got to the elevator, you noticed Viktor’s hand tapping on the handle of his crutch. He was biting his cheek and slightly frowning, breathing in and out deeply at points.

“Are you alright?” You asked, leaning against the cage of the elevator.

“Mmm?” You nodded to his fingers on the handle, and he stopped, clutching the handle tighter. “Sorry…I--”

“Remember when you said I could change my mind and go? The same applies to you. I can just go.” You made sure your tone wasn’t disappointed or angry or any unintentional emotion that would make him feel bad when there was absolutely nothing to feel bad about. You’d respect his decision the same way you know he’d respect yours.

“No…” he quickly interjected. “I…this is not because I don’t want you here. It is because I do. I’m afraid I may do something that will scare you off…”

“I don’t scare easily.” You want to add, ‘I once spit in the face of a god,’ but then he would start asking questions. So you just touched his hand and smiled.

The elevator stopped with a mechanical groan, and Viktor nodded, more to himself than to you, and walked out to the second-floor foyer. He opened the door and walked inside with you close behind. However, you couldn’t make it past the door frame without gasping wide-eyed while your mind blanked.

Something about butterflies and wings came to mind, though.

The inside of his apartment was the exact same floor plan as the other dimension. A small kitchenette to the left with a window on top of the sink, and the rest was open space. The glass and wood door to the balcony was on a diagonal corner in front of the main door; next to it was a small arrangement of windows with curved lines going through them, giving them a delicate design. There was a room to the side, which you guessed was the bedroom, and another room at the end of the open space, the bathroom. It wasn’t cramped, but it was small.

You knew this floor plan like the back of your hand; you could close your eyes and go from here to the bathroom without bumping into the wall.

What changed, though, made the entire home feel different. The decorations and the colors. The lived-in details of the furniture.

The walls had been painted a deep forest green, instead of the neutral gray of the other dimension. There were decorations on the walls, diplomas, and schematics displayed proudly. The wooden floors were shiny and covered with rugs here and there.

The small table that served as a divider between the kitchen and the living space had a napkin holder and a wooden straw table mat. There were pans on top of the fridge and plates on the dish rack. There were two mugs on the sink, one of them with ‘man of progress printed on it.

It contrasted with the table that only served to hold books, boxes, and schematics. On the other timeline, glasses and plates were stored so as not to catch dust from not being used.

The living room had three bookcases filled with trinkets, books, vinyl records, and their player.

The books weren’t just academic, like the other apartment’s shelves, but also biographies and fantasy, architecture, and philosophy.

You could see the collector's edition of your mother’s saga neatly tucked into a shelf with small ceramic figures of the main characters in front of them.

There were photos of him, Jayce, Sky, and even your mom and Willah. Noticeably he didn’t look particularly comfortable in any of them, but it was a stark difference from the single photo of Jayce and Viktor at the inauguration of the hexgate and the framed newspaper clipping of the hex crystal discovery.

The couch was a light dusty pink color with decorative pillows and two folded blankets on the back of it. It was a sharp difference from the leather-bound couch with blankets thrown about and his bed pillow shoved into a corner.

Behind a clothed divider, a desk and some scientific material were completely thrown around, but the mess was enclosed there. Near a big window, you saw the single-seat, twin version of the couch your mother sent to the lab. Tucked in a nook surrounded by plants and books.

There were shoes on the shoe rack and coats on the coat hanger. There was an open book with a cover-up on the end table near the couch. There were tea stains on the dinner table. There was a life being lived here.

As you walked around the home, with Viktor trailing in front of you explaining and adding commentary to the million new things you were finding in the familiar house, you found yourself wondering why the Viktor you knew from before couldn’t have been gifted this…why was this Viktor standing in front of you smiling and being a generally happy human while his cosmic twin coughed himself to death? It made you sad and happy and angry and relieved.

“Are you alright?” Viktor tapped your shoulder, something he had now started to use to catch your attention instead of grabbing you.

You took a deep breath and mentioned the couch, silently asking permission to sit. Quickly he nodded and grabbed some pillows to make space for you.

When you fell onto the leathery furniture, he took the place next to you, looking concerned.

“V…I…need to--”

“Meow”

Your speech was interrupted by a long, muffled meow by the front door, accompanied by small scratches on the wood.

“Oh…No, no… I’m sorry…Give me a moment…” Viktor gave an apologetic smile and got up, while you looked on intrigued by this.

He walked towards the bathroom door and opened it and then went back to the front door and did the same. The blackest of black cats intertwined itself on Viktor's legs, giving out small greeting squeaks and purrs.

“Go. Go on. Yes, I know.” Viktor said, smiling softly at the cat, talking back to them as if he could understand.

The scientist softly nudged the cat with his foot, making the furry critter understand the big human wanted to move.

The cat finally acknowledged you and walked slowly towards where you sat, sitting gracefully in front of you and staring. Their blue eyes looked at you, and you swore that if all of the lights in Piltover were to turn off, the cat's eyes would be the only thing beaming.

“You have a cat.” You stated more than asked.

“Eehhh…Technically, the building has a cat. She just heard me first.” He limped back towards the couch and sat down.

“What's her name?”

“Noir…Nono for short.”

The cat leaped to the couch and smelled the hand you gave her. After a while, she deemed you worthy of her time and pushed her head into her hand, while Viktor stroked her body.

“Nono.” You called, and she looked at you. You presented her with your name, and she meowed.

When she was sick of the attention, she jumped down and walked to the bathroom, where you heard the telltale signs of her munching on her food.

“What were you saying?”

Viktor’s face was the definition of relaxed, the concern from before being replaced with a soft gaze and smile.

Was the need to come clean to him about his cosmic twin attempting to end the world worth him losing his peace? Would the information you were about to vomit change what he has so carefully built?

“I…think I just need to eat.” You gave him a bright smile, and he laughed quietly.

“Very well.” He got up from the couch and made his way to the kitchen counter, and you followed him. “Please, make yourself comfortable.”

You already were, the familiar floor plan making you feel at home. You sat at the dinner table watching him open his fridge and take out some glass containers with food and place them in the oven to heat up.

Viktor sat on a chair next to you and slowly took off his leg brace, sighing in release.

“If you want to, you can shower. I can go ask Madame Theroux, my neighbor, if she can let me borrow one of her kid's old clothes… I think she might have something that fits you.”

“Oh no…That’s too much of a bother.”

“Nonsense.” He got up and grabbed a discarded cane that was hooked on the divider and walked towards his bedroom.

After a while, he came out holding two fluffy towels and handed them to you. “She probably already heard I have company; might as well come clean sooner than later; otherwise she’ll be knocking on my door to snoop.”

“Sounds like a charm.” You grabbed the towels.

“She is actually. She’s very protective of us…the people in the building.” He smiled and mentioned the bathroom door. “If you could just leave the door ajar so Nono can come in and out…otherwise she will throw a tantrum.”

The black cat, now curled up on the couch, meowed at hearing her name. You nodded and walked to the bathroom while Viktor made his way to his neighbor's door.

“Oh…you can use whatever you need from there.” He opened the door and paused again. “There’s a robe on the back of the door if you need it.”

The door clicked shut, and you looked at Nono, who looked up at you and blinked slowly.

The bathroom was big, and while in the other dimension, it was just a well, normal bathroom; this one had been enhanced to help Viktor with his disability.

There were grab rails next to the slightly raised toilet and in the shower nook. All of the towel racks were sturdy enough to assist if he needed.

The floor had several thin anti-slip rugs, and the shower also had one that looked like wood.

There was also a stool inside the shower that you assumed he would use when needed.

You and Viktor in your timeline had once talked about this, making his house accessible for when he needed it, but his answer had been dismissive. A shrug and an ‘I spend more time in the lab anyway.’ Maybe you should have insisted; maybe you should have been more enthused about making it easier for him. Maybe if you had, he would have seen you in a better light after he had gotten the news.

It frustrated you that ‘maybes’ were all you had now. Even if you went back to your dimension, those things would still be in a maybe and if pile.

You heard the door close and started your shower quickly. You heard a knock on the door.

“There is a chair outside the door, in arm's reach for you to take. Madame Theroux said she threw in some undergarments…I didn’t check.”

“Thank you.”

You finished the shower and grabbed the clothes. Some red cotton checkered bottoms, a matching shirt, a white undershirt, and undergarments. It looked cozy, and it did fit you perfectly. This brought up the question of how Viktor had described you to the neighbor for her to get accurate measurements.

Walking out of the bathroom intent on joking about it with him, you stopped when you saw him haul a blanket and what you assume was a pillow to the couch.

“Oh. You are done.” He smiled, grabbed some clothes from the back of the couch, and walked towards you. “I think the food will be done soon. I am going to take a shower too, and then we eat, yes?”

You were still looking at the pillow and the sheet that was already tucked into the sofa.

“This for me?” You blurted it out before he passed you, and he shook his head.

“No. You’re my guest. You sleep on the bed.” He sounded proud of himself. “May I?”

Viktor pointed to the door of the bathroom, and you noticed you had been blocking his path. You took a step forward, and he smiled, walked inside, and pushed the door almost closed.

The ruffling of clothes snapped you out of your stupor, and you walked towards the kitchen, throwing daggers at the couch.

• ··········· • ············ •

@marshy-moo @victormydarling @blueesmiski @th3stup1dcat @22carolina08 @httpstes @that-one-shitty-blog @disa-pointment @sseleniaa @kitewa @moons-lighttrail @aysluxe @fae-doodle @local-mr-frog @bakusquadobsessed @cherry-cola-100 @optimistic-but-very-realistic @seeksrsnn @thecordelialetters @notsaelty @lansy-4 @ayupfrogg @sammypotato @wnbrw @lucycarlisleswife @noxturnalmoth @ren-ren23 @furblrwurblr @kapitankarate @mynicknameisgasoline @octo-octopie @birbwithhat @kneelarmhstrung @dedicated2viktor @elvishstudies @iamfandomnerd @jazzypop-op @jojo-at-heart @deceivethedreamer

#arcane #viktor #arcane viktor #viktor x reader #arcane x reader #viktor arcane #viktor arcane x reader #slow burn #viktor x you #viktor x y/n #arcane viktor x reader #viktor league of legends #arcane season 2 #arcane x you #arcane reader

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reveriebae · 2 days ago

Text

Get you better

pairing(s) : Kang Yeosang x reader

word count : 2203

summary : At a club, you and Yeosang share an intense, flirtatious encounter that quickly escalates into a passionate hookup. The chemistry between you is undeniable, and Yeosang takes control, leaving you breathless and craving more.

genre : smut

warning(s) : sexual themes, including rough and aggressive sexual encounters. Power dynamics with dominance and submission, particularly with Yeosang taking control, emotional manipulation involved, with phrases that suggest possessiveness and control over the reader's actions, intimate physical contact, sexual acts, body sensations, and desires. There are also moments where consent may be blurred, particularly with phrases like "begging" and "being taken". Let me know if I missed anything!

part of Songfic

Minors do not interact, 21+ only!!

🪐 smut under the cut 🪐

The neon lights blurred around you as the bass vibrated through your chest, the beat sinking deep into your body. It was loud in here, chaotic even, but that didn’t matter. The only thing that caught your attention was the guy standing by the bar — a dark-haired figure in a leather jacket, his expression calm but those dark eyes watching you from across the room.

Yeosang.

You’d seen him around before, in the same circle of friends, but tonight was different. He was looking at you like you were something worth seeing. Your heart kicked up a notch, your body tingling with that familiar mix of alcohol and anticipation.

You didn’t know what the hell you were doing, but the way his eyes tracked you, slow and deliberate, made it feel like you were both in on some secret. There was a pull, a draw. You couldn’t tell if it was the music, the alcohol, or just the way he looked at you, but something told you that tonight? Nothing else mattered.

You made your way through the crowd, every step deliberate. As you approached the bar, Yeosang’s lips curled up into a smirk, and he leaned against the counter, his body relaxed but clearly aware of you now.

“Didn't expect to see you here,” he said, his voice smooth like silk, a knowing smile playing at the corners of his lips. You couldn't tell if he was just being his usual charming self or if there was something else beneath the surface.

“Well, here I am,” you responded, your voice just a little too flirty, but that was the alcohol talking.

“I like your vibe tonight.” Yeosang stepped closer, his proximity sending an almost electric charge through you. “But I don’t think we’ve ever really talked.”

You smirked, leaning closer so that only he could hear, the air between you thick with something dangerous. “Is that so?”

His eyes darkened for a second, a flicker of something that felt... almost possessive. “Yeah. Maybe it’s time we change that.”

You barely had time to process what was happening before Yeosang’s hand slid around your waist, his touch surprisingly firm, but not at all unwelcome. He guided you closer, the music around you still pounding, but the space between you two felt like it was shrinking with every second.

You leaned in, just enough for your breath to brush against his ear, your lips hovering dangerously close to his skin. “What are you trying to say, Yeosang?” you teased, your voice low, dripping with something playful yet dangerous.

His lips quirked upward, the smirk never leaving his face as he turned his head to face you, eyes dark and unreadable. “That I think you’ve been playing this game long enough,” he murmured, his voice a mix of challenge and something more, like he already knew the outcome.

And then, without another word, his lips crushed against yours.

It was fierce. A collision of raw, unfiltered need, his hands grabbing you tightly, pulling you even closer until you could feel every inch of his body pressed against yours. The kiss was deep, hot, hungry, and you let him take control, the world around you blurring into nothing but the intensity of his mouth on yours, the heat building like an undeniable force.

You pulled away for a brief moment, gasping for air, your chest rising and falling rapidly, but Yeosang was already there, his lips trailing down your jaw, his breath hot against your skin. “You sure you can keep up?” he murmured, voice thick with desire, his hand sliding down your back, stopping just above your ass.

Your body tingled at the words, a surge of heat pooling between your legs. You didn’t even answer, just pulled him back into another kiss, more desperate this time, as if you couldn’t get enough.

Before you knew it, he was pulling you away from the bar, his grip firm around your wrist as he led you through the crowd. Your head was spinning from the alcohol and the excitement, the promise of what was about to happen consuming you. There was no hesitation, no second-guessing, just pure, reckless desire.

The next thing you knew, Yeosang was tugging open a door to a back hallway, and you stumbled inside, your back hitting the wall as he immediately pressed his body against yours, kissing you with an intensity that took your breath away.

“I’ve wanted this for a while,” he muttered against your lips, voice low and dangerous. His hands roamed over your body, sliding up your sides, before he tugged at your shirt, pulling it off over your head with an almost predatory urgency.

You didn’t even care that you were in a barely secluded hallway, the need for him burning hotter than any embarrassment. You wanted him. Right here. Right now.

“Then take what you want,” you breathed, eyes flashing with an almost reckless hunger.

And Yeosang did just that.

Yeosang didn’t hesitate, his lips trailing down your neck, leaving hot, open-mouthed kisses on your skin. You shivered beneath him, the heat in your body intensifying as he moved lower, his hands sliding down your waist, gripping the fabric of your jeans before tugging them down with little effort.

You bit your lip, feeling the tension between you two, the undeniable pull that had only grown stronger with each passing second. He was driving you wild, his every touch setting fire to your skin, his lips leaving a trail of heat that lingered long after he moved on.

You reached for his shirt, tugging it up over his head in a single motion. His body was even better than you’d imagined, muscles sculpted to perfection, and you couldn’t help but run your hands over his chest, feeling the strength and power beneath your fingertips.

“Fuck, you’re even better than I thought,” you muttered, voice heavy with desire.

He smirked, leaning in to kiss you again, but this time his hands were at your pants, unbuttoning them with swift, practiced movements. He didn’t waste time, pulling them down in one go, leaving you in nothing but your underwear. His eyes roamed over you hungrily, and you could see the desire burning in his gaze, a fire that matched your own.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he groaned, his lips brushing against your ear as he stepped back for a moment, just to take you all in.

You felt the weight of his gaze, a shiver running down your spine. “Stop looking at me like that,” you whispered, but your voice was a little shaky, betraying the desire building in you.

He chuckled darkly, then dropped to his knees in front of you, his hands sliding over your thighs. “You sure you’re ready?” he asked, his tone teasing, but you could hear the hunger in it, too.

You couldn’t even answer. You were already too far gone, every nerve in your body on fire for him. You could only nod as he slid your underwear down, exposing you fully to him.

The moment his lips touched you, you gasped, your hands flying to his hair as he expertly worked his tongue over you. The feeling was so intense, so damn good, and you couldn’t stop yourself from moaning as your body instinctively arched into his touch.

He didn’t stop, his hands gripping your hips tightly, holding you steady as he continued to tease you, his lips and tongue working magic on your body.

“Yeosang… please…” you whimpered, your voice barely more than a breathless plea.

He pulled away for a second, his eyes dark and satisfied. “I know what you want,” he growled, standing up and pressing his body against yours once more. “But first… let me make you beg for it.”

You didn’t care how much control he had. You wanted him. You needed him.

“Fuck me, Yeosang. Please,” you begged, your hands gripping his shoulders as you pulled him closer.

And that was all it took. He grabbed your waist, lifting you up against the wall, your legs instinctively wrapping around his hips. He didn’t waste another second, sliding inside you with a sharp, desperate thrust that had you gasping.

The way he moved, slow at first, then faster, harder—he knew exactly how to drive you wild. The tension built in your body, and you couldn’t hold back any longer. The pleasure surged through you like an electric current, every part of you screaming for more as he fucked you harder, his name falling from your lips over and over again.

“God, you’re so tight,” Yeosang groaned, his thrusts getting deeper, more forceful. “You feel so fucking good.”

You could barely think, your body completely at his mercy. He pushed you to the edge, your mind reeling with how good it felt to finally give in, to let him take control. The sound of skin slapping against skin echoed in the hallway, the tension building with every movement.

You were so close, your breath ragged as your orgasm approached.

“Come on, baby,” Yeosang muttered, his grip on your waist tightening. “Let go for me.”

And with that, you came undone, the pleasure crashing over you in waves as you screamed his name. Yeosang didn’t stop, continuing to fuck you through it, until he followed right behind you, his own release coming as he buried himself deep inside you.

He collapsed against you, both of you gasping for air, trying to steady your breaths. Your legs were weak, your body trembling, but you felt a sense of satisfaction wash over you as you both stood there, tangled in each other’s arms.

For a moment, the world outside felt nonexistent, just you and Yeosang in your own little world, and you knew that this moment, this night, was something you’d never forget.

You both stood there for a while, still locked in each other’s arms, your bodies tangled in a mixture of sweat and lingering desire. The room was thick with the scent of sex, the air heavy with unspoken words. Yeosang’s breath was still shaky, his forehead pressed to yours as the world seemed to slow down around you.

But then, just as you thought the moment would linger forever, he pulled back slightly, his hands running down your body, leaving trails of fire wherever he touched. His eyes were dark, a mix of satisfaction and something else—a hunger that hadn’t been fully satisfied yet.

“You still with me?” he asked, his voice low, husky.

You nodded, still a little out of breath, your body still trembling from the intensity of what just happened. “Yeah, I’m here.”

His lips curled into a smirk as he kissed you again, but this time it was different—slower, more teasing. His tongue slid against yours, coaxing you back into the moment, back into the feeling of him. His hands roamed lower again, and you couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of him taking you again.

“You think you can handle me again?” Yeosang’s voice was teasing, but you could hear the challenge behind it. He was ready for round two, and by the way your body responded to his touch, you were, too.

You bit your lip, feeling a rush of excitement course through you. “I think I can handle anything you throw at me.”

Yeosang chuckled, clearly liking your confidence. He pulled you back onto the bed, and before you knew it, he was above you again, his lips trailing down your body, kissing and nibbling at your skin, each movement sending jolts of pleasure through you.

He knew exactly how to touch you, how to make your body ache for more. You could feel his arousal pressing against your thigh, and you couldn’t help but reach down to tease him, your hand brushing against the hardness beneath his jeans.

“Don’t tease me, baby,” he growled, his hands gripping your wrists and pinning them to the bed above your head. “I’m gonna make you beg for it this time.”

You moaned, your body already aching for him again, your heart racing with anticipation. “Please,” you whimpered, unable to hold back. “Don’t make me beg…”

“Oh, you’re gonna beg,” Yeosang smirked, his voice dripping with dominance. “But not yet.”

He let go of your wrists, trailing his hands down your body until they reached the waistband of your jeans. He didn’t hesitate, pulling them off you in a single motion. His eyes scanned your body, taking in every inch of you before his lips met yours again, deep and possessive.

You couldn’t help but melt into him, your body responding to every touch, every movement. He was relentless, his hands everywhere, and just when you thought you couldn’t take it anymore, he pulled back, his eyes locking with yours.

“You’re mine tonight,” he whispered, his voice dark and commanding.

You nodded, giving yourself up to him completely, ready for whatever he had planned next.

#ateez #ateez fic #ateez smut #smut #kang yeosang #yeosang #yeosang smut #yeosang scenarios #yeosang fanfic #yeosang imagines #Spotify

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come-as-you-are-111 · 20 hours ago

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“Left On Read”

Warnings: nothin just angst

You don’t know when it started. The silence. The slow fade of what used to be effortless. One minute, Matt was your best friend—the person who knew you better than anyone. Late-night drives, deep talks, and inside jokes that no one else would ever understand. And then, suddenly, it wasn’t.

At first, you tried not to overthink it. You told yourself he was busy. That life got in the way sometimes, but he’d come back when he could. It wasn’t until the ignored texts started piling up, until the invites were met with, Sorry, can’t tonight, that you felt the first real crack in your chest.

Then came the moment that shattered everything.

It was late—past midnight, when the weight of missing him became unbearable. You sat in bed, staring at your phone, scrolling through months of old messages. Conversations that used to be filled with excitement, warmth, and care. Messages that now felt like echoes of something long dead.

You tried to ignore the lump in your throat as you typed.

Matt, if you don’t want me in your life anymore, just say it.

I don’t know what I did, but if I hurt you, I’m sorry.

Please just tell me what’s going on.

Your thumb hovered over the send button. Maybe this was stupid. Maybe you were making a big deal out of nothing. But deep down, you already knew the truth.

You sent it. The message turned blue. The seconds ticked by.

And then—

Read 1:14 AM.

Nothing.

Your stomach twisted painfully. Maybe he fell asleep before he could answer. Maybe he needed time to think. Maybe, maybe, maybe—

You turned off your phone, rolled onto your side, and let the weight of it settle over you like a heavy, suffocating fog.

The next morning, you woke up with dry eyes and a hollow chest. You checked your phone once, heart racing despite everything. But the screen was empty. No message. No explanation. No closure.

He wasn’t going to answer.

—

Days turned to weeks. Weeks turned to months. The pain didn’t leave, but it changed. It became quieter, duller, slipping into the background of your life. You stopped checking your phone so much. Stopped replaying old conversations in your head, wondering what you could have done differently.

But the reminders were everywhere. Songs that used to be your songs. Places that used to be your spots. People still asking, Hey, what happened between you and Matt?

You never had an answer.

And then, one evening, it happened.

You were halfway up the steps to your front door when something caught your eye. A single envelope, tucked into your mailbox, your name written in familiar, messy handwriting.

Your stomach dropped.

No return address. No indication of who it was from. But you didn’t need one. You knew.

Your hands trembled as you ripped it open.

I know you hate me. You have every right to.

I never meant to leave you like that. I thought I was doing the right thing.

I didn’t want to hurt you, so I left before I could. But I see now that I just hurt you worse.

I miss you. More than I can explain. But I know it’s too late.

Your breath hitched. The words blurred as your eyes stung.

I hope you’re happy. Even if it’s without me.

That was it.

No explanation. No apology that actually mattered. Just a half-hearted attempt at closure that came far too late.

You stood there on your porch for a long time, gripping the letter like it might disappear.

And then, finally, you pulled out your phone. The last message you had ever sent him still sat there, unread since that night. A message that never got a response, because he had decided you didn’t deserve one.

Your fingers hovered over the screen.

You could text him now. You could say something. Anything.

But instead, you folded the letter, walked inside, and tossed it into a drawer without another glance.

This time, you were the one leaving him on read.

A/n: Hi my lil monsters!! How we likey? Just felt like writing some angst today so hope yall liked it!

Love ya, Twilight

Sturniolo taglist:

@sturns-mermaid

#matt sturniolo x reader #matthew sturniolo #the sturniolo triplets #christopher sturniolo #chris sturniolo x reader #nick sturniolo #chris sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #matt sturniolo #sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #sturniolo x reader #sturniolo smut

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erikftglitter · 1 day ago

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Ch10 | The Piteous Life of Dr. Stevens' New Wife

Killmonger AU

Created By: Erikftglitter

Erik might be the sweetest man in the world. At least from Kari’s perspective. Kari woke up to the smell of savory food and low music. Memories of the morning began flowing through her mind. If it wasn’t for the ache of her muscles then she wouldn’t have believed that it was real.

Erik appeared after a few moments. He sat on the edge of the bed and admired Kari. He pulled back the blanket to access the damage. Just as he predicted Kari was covered in love bites and bruises. He didn’t flip her over but he knew that her ass was quite red as well.

“I ran a bath.” Erik softly announced. Kari was thankful for his strength. She didn’t realize that her body was sore until she tried to put pressure on her legs. She tried to hide the wince but of course Erik seen it.

“Call me if you need me.” Erik kissed her forehead before disappearing into the bedroom. Kari’s mind began to wander about the morning’s events.

How’d I get here, Kari thought. Erik was the perfect person for her and she loved every second that she spent with him. What was the catch?

“D-did you like it?” Kari couldn’t help but to ask Erik once he reappeared in the bathroom. She hadn’t had sex in years and Erik was just different. This wasn’t the sex that she was used to.

“Like what?” Erik was confused. Did he like the dinner selection? The one he chose and paid for?

“Us. You know. The sex.” Kari wanted to bury herself underneath the bubbles in the bath. Erik’s eyebrows slightly raised before resuming back to their normal position.

“I did. We can talk about it after dinner.” Erik suggested before helping the girl get washed up.

Kari decided to wear comfy clothes to dinner. Her body felt sore and she didn’t feel like wearing tight clothing. Erik assured her that she looked great regardless.

He would also agree.

Erik made both of their plates. He was fond of the drowsy look of Kari in front of him. Soon she wouldn’t have to worry about anything else but being in the house to entertain him. Erik was sure of it. The poor girl could barely walk on her own. It’d be irresponsible for him to send her to work so fucked out. Right?

Kari’s eyes lit up to the meal in front of her. Garlic butter steak bites, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. This was a great meal to wake up to after being put to sleep.

Kari felt something that she couldn’t quite explain. She felt drawn to the doctor in the present moment. She just wanted him to know that he was appreciated. She didn’t seem to process her own words until she heard them.

“Thank you daddy.”

If Erik was surprised by her words then he showed no emotion. His utensils remained steady in his hands and his face was still.

“The pleasure is mine kitten.” Erik’s response knocked Kari out of her trance. She mentally cheered at the fact that he returned the energy. She’s afraid of scaring him away and letting the fairytale come to an end.

Erik can’t say that he’s surprised by Kari’s words, but he can say that he enjoyed it.

Let’s take it a step further, shall we?

“Kari,” Her eyes quickly darted up to meet his, surprised by the use of her first name.

“Sit here. Why don’t you?” Erik suggested.

Kari quickly stumbled over to him, ignoring the way that her body ached with each step. He pulled her up to his lap and looked down at the woman.

She leaned back into his wandering arms, his hands trailing along her hips and thighs.

“I’ve made some arrangements while you were sleeping." Erik started, pausing to chew the last of the food on his fork. "You’re to be at my condo whenever you’re not teaching.” Erik ordered.

Kari’s heart sank. She tried to raise her body from his but was unsuccessful. He kept her in place and didn’t even bother to look down at her.

“Eat your food before it gets cold.” He demanded, but his tone never changed. He was unfazed by the look of confusion on her face. Erik didn’t like repeating himself and Kari now knew that.

“So that’s it? Erik you’re joking. Right?” Kari retorted, only being able to reposition herself due to Erik resuming his meal.

She didn’t miss the way that he glared down at her. She also hated how turned on that made her. Erik’s presence was intoxicating. Some part of Kari didn’t know why she questioned him. Why wouldn’t she want to see him on the regular? But this was insanity.

Erik ignored her. She watched him eat his food and was quickly reminded of her own task. She couldn’t take anymore blows to her sore cheeks tonight so she quietly ate her food.

Kari was ready to put some distance between the two of them. She needed a moment to recollect her thoughts. What did this mean? She didn’t have any close girlfriends to share this with, but would she share something like this? What would she say?

She was relieved when she finished her food. She promptly took their dishes off of the table so that she could wash them and be alone for a little bit.

Erik’s hands on her hips stilled her. She hated how much she enjoyed the hand placement. If she was upset with him then her body betrayed her feelings. She leaned into every touch and quickly lost her initial plans.

Erik seemed to know this. He knew that he just dropped a bombshell but he figured that he shouldn’t wait. Kari wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon and it’d be nice to establish that now.

“You rushing away from me baby?” Erik asked, humor laced in his tone. He knew exactly what he was doing. He's come to know Kari better than she had realized. She could never stand on her initial feelings after Erik touches her and he knew it.

"No. Just cleaning." Kari sighed. Without having her own place, what would she do when she needed to debrief? Did they need to live together right now? Was this a post sex agreement that she signed up for?

"Mhmm." Erik nodded. "And it has nothing to do with the fact that you're moving in to my condo?" He eyed Kari carefully, sure to watch her body language.

"No because I know you don't mean that shit so stop acting like you do." Kari finally found her thoughts and walked away with their dishes. It wasn't long before Erik was on her heels.

"If you got some shit on your mind Kari just be a big girl and say what you need to say." He was everywhere that she turned and there was no escaping him. He wanted this conversation now.

"I'm not even your girlfriend. Why would I leave my home to be in yours all alone?" The thing that had been bothering Kari was finally revealed. She still couldn't tell if they were exclusive and she really liked the doctor's company. She also didn’t understand why she would be alone in his condo when she had an abundance of space at home.

"Let me get this straight. I tell you to come and live with me and you think that I would have other women in the equation?" Erik's fingertips rested in between his eyebrows.

"Kari. Would you do the honors of being my girlfriend?" He's almost certain that this is the only way to get the girl to calm down. He also doesn't mind the title. She belonged to him regardless.

"I'd like to hear your answer kitten." Erik prompted. Kari was looking up at him with a frown on her face but Erik wasn't budging.

"Yes Erik. I'll be your girlfriend." She rolled her eyes at him for ignoring her previous head nod as an answer.

"Great. Now you can think of this as an extended stay at your man's house." Erik concluded.

"You shouldn't be in this huge home alone and you'll always be in my reach. Is that really such a bad thing Kari?" Erik was doing it again. He would make his point then softly rub his hands down Kari's body. Kari could never think straight like this.

"Yeah yeah." Kari dismissed him half jokingly as she escaped his grasp. Erik took that as an opportunity to segway to his next announcement.

"I got something else for you." Erik disappeared from the kitchen to retrieve the items. Kari was willing to admit that he was definitely full of surprises.

"If you're going to be unlocking your submissive mind then I figured you would need these." The look on Erik's face is smug as he hands Kari two velvet boxes.

“I’m nervous.” Kari breathed out. The uncertainty of the boxes and being under Erik’s gaze made her start to feel anxious.

Starting with the larger royal box first, Kari’s hands opened to lid to reveal a studded piece of what she assumed to be jewelry.

“Wow.” The doctor was pretty pleased with himself. He took the piece out of Kari’s hands to properly fasten the piece.

“If you didn’t think that you were mine by this time Kitten, I have to say I’m a little bit disappointed.” Erik spoke after taking a moment to appreciate Kari’s appearance.

“I got this choker made just for you. Open up the next one. I like that one even more.” Erik watched as Kari’s hand trembled slightly.

The second royal blue box held the most lustrous pair of panties that Kari had ever seen. She was confused by the surprising amount of weight to them. As her eyes glanced over the glistening jewels along the waistband, she realized that she overlooked the small device that was underneath the panties.

“Erik what is this?” She eyed him suspiciously. The dimples of the man appearing confirmed Kari’s suspicion. There was definitely something very obvious about these panties that she was missing.

“Just a little something to wear to the Governor’s ball.” Erik casually replied. There was nothing causal about it.

“I now live with you. I’m your girlfriend and I’m also attending the governor’s ball. What’s next Erik we getting married?”

Kari sighed. She wasn’t upset, actually there was something inside of Kari that was deeply satisfied, but she hadn’t had a moment to process a damn thing yet. Erik was not one to spoon feed change.

“I can make that happen.” Of course Erik was going to be a smart ass about it. “Is this not what you wanted and what you begged for not too long ago?” Erik was behind her again.

“Huh Kari? When you was begging for this dick did you not think about what it came it?” Kari wanted to object. She wanted to calculate a logical argument and argue that this was extreme but her body betrayed her. She loved this. She needed this and surely Erik knew that.

“This my world baby. We do what I want. You got that?” If it wasn’t for the heat that radiated from Erik’s body, Kari would think that she’s dreaming.

“Yes daddy. I got that.” It was now Kari’s turn to stun the doctor. That instinctual submissive nature embedded in Kari is exactly why she’s in this predicament.

“Yeah gone head and take these off.”

///

I can’t even say that this is late due to procrastination. It was just anxiety lol.

Taglist 🤠

@theesmartblonde @ms-mosely-ifunastyy

@ziayamikaelson @yourstruly711

@brigolightly @idyllicbarb @bendoverboo18

@ladymac82 @harleycativy

#erikftglitter #erik killmonger #black panther fandom #killmonger #black mcu #black panther #black panther blog #erik stevens #black panther tumblr #black mcu imagines #erik killmonger smut #killmonger smut #killmonger fanfiction #black fanfiction #tplodsnw

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vintagesimstress · 3 days ago

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Northern & Southern European Dyes Palette(s)

It's been almost exactly two years since I made my Iron Age Palette. To celebrate that anniversary... No, you know what, actually not, it's a total coincidence 😅 I was working on a new thing and started wondering about this and that; to not bore you with the details, let's just say that one thing let to another and of course I ended up revisiting the very basics. So here it is! Not one, but TWO new colour palettes for our oldtime-y sims. Based on the lives of my Britons at some point in 1st century CE, shortly before the Roman conquest.

An important note: the southern palette is actually rather an add-on than a separate palette. As in, Romans would surely have access to the dyes from the northern palette as well. But as stated above, I made this whole thing from the viewpoint of a British Celt, hence we have two palettes: one with dyes which he could just obtain from native plants and the other with those he'd have to import. The southerners were more blessed in this aspect :]

You can download PDF files for both of those palettes and .txt files to be used in Paint.net (put them in Documents\paint.net User Files\Palettes). If anyone wants to help me out and make them useable in Photoshop too, please go ahead!

DOWNLOAD them on my Patreon! (always free, no early access etc.)

Apart from a bunch of visual changes (maybe the font will actually be readable this time? Gasp!), there's some new stuff in the palettes themselves (duh). Let's take a quick look, shall we?

undyed wool - hard to call it a dye, lol, but ofc it had to be here. The so-called primitive sheep of the Brittonic era looked quite different from what we imagine when we think 'sheep', and they most certainly came not only in white, but also in many shades of brown or even black. Perfect for making a colourful garment even without any dyes;

birch leaves - easy to obtain, easy to dye; almost no changes here, other than one added shade which used to be under 'mixed ingredients' before;

birch bark - OK, I don't remember where I took the old colours from, but I'm afraid I was being too optimistic. Birch bark gives rather pinkish than reddish shades; actually, it needs a looooooong soak and proper pH to turn anything but very bright, subtle pink. But it seems you can get them and they don't wash out that easily, so - there you go;

elderberry - here I was for sure being too optimistic, especially with that one pretty, saturated blue shade which got thrown away. From what I've read (and seen in photos...), elderberry is a very tricky dye, not particularly water- and lightfast. 'Not particularly' is mildly put - it just washes out in no time, leaving you either with a very pale or very greyish shade of the once vibrant colour. Adjusted accordingly (and they're still too pretty tbh);

apple leaves/twigs - that's a bit of a tricky point, because the Internet claims it was only Romans who brought apples to Britain. But at the same time apple cider was Britain's national drink allegedly already during the Celtic times. Heck, Welsh mythical island of Avalon literally means 'isle of apples', and mythology tends to be... you know... old. Huh? After a bit of research on the topic I'm inclined to believe that what Romans really brought with them were big, sweet apples and their organised cultivation; but small, tart, 'untasty' varieties did exist in Britain even before, growing in the wild. Perfect for making cider - or dyes 😉;

nettle - no changes here. Easy, cheap, grows everywhere, just that the colours are probably not something you'd wear to a party;

hedge bedstraw - seems it's growing everywhere in Britain, so it's plausible the ancients would've made use of it;

lichen - aaaaalriiight, now, that is a big discovery! Beautiful shades and absolutely possible to obtain from the varieties growing on the British Isles. One of the most crucial omissions from my old palette, here finally in its full glory.

That was it for the northern palette. And the southern? Glad you asked:

weld - previously called 'dyer's rocket', but no one in the whole wide natural dyeing Internet calls it that. Beautiful, vibrant, very steady yellow; won't give away even if you overdye it with indigo or woad. It's native to the Mediterranean and while it was cultivated in Britain in later centuries, I have no reason to believe that was also the case in 1 c. CE. I dub it imported;

madder - I keep reading that it's giving saturated red shades, but I have yet to see anyone dye a skein of yarn deep red with madder only. All that keeps popping up in pictures are gentle, pinkish reds, so that's what I included in my palette too. The orange comes from changed pH of the water;

woad - OK, that's my most epic fail of all. To make a Celtic palette and not include woad?! Putting aside the whole matter of Britons possibly maybe but actually maybe not using it to paint their faces (a very controversial matter, let's not go there 😅), woad was the blue dye in those times. Indigo was far away and while it was being imported to Rome, afaik it was used mostly for painting, not cloth dyeing; and besides, as crazy as it may sound, woad seems to do the job better. Seriously. Higher water and light fastness. The question is, was it cultivated in Britain or imported? Just like weld, it's native to the Mediterraean. There is a British find of a bunch of woad seeds, from 1 c. BCE - but then again, it's just one find. So... Mostly imported but slowly being introduced to the Isles? Maybe?

mixed ingredients - the ingredients specified in the PDFs are given in the order they're used - that makes a difference! My biggest discovery of this whole natural dyeing research is that, surprisingly, vibrant green is the absolutely most difficult colour to obtain. That dark green you see at the bottom - so-called Lincoln green - requires super high levels of both weld and woad, and you must put your yellow skein in the blue dye asap - if you're too slow, you get a lighter shade, e.g. like the one above it. The Hightowers surely knew how to show they're rich, huh...?

and last but not least, the luxury dyes! Some imported from far away (turmeric), some from nearby lands (Tyrian purple), some even grown locally (there were saffron plantations on Sicily. True story), but nevertheless, all super duper expensive. Tyrian purple was actually legally reserved for the emperor only - even if you could, by some miracle, afford it, you'd probably get arrested if you dared to dress in that particular shade of purple. Good that lichens could always come to the rescue!

Guess that's enough of behind-the-scenes trivia, isn't it? Props to you if you managed to get to this point, lol. Have fun with the palettes and happy recolouring!

***

Sources:

dzikiebarwy.com - in Polish, but the pictures should speak for themselves. Here you've got a post about dyeing with summer plants, including birch leaves, here - elderberry, here - apple leaves and twigs, here - nettle;

https://woolandpalette.com/blogs/news/making-vibrant-green-with-natural-dyes was my first step in finding out how to obtain a proper green shade with natural dyes;

wooltribulations.blogspot.com - dyeing with birch bark (here), another failed elderberry experiment (here) and overdyeing weld with woad for a deep Lincoln green shade (here);

www.jennydean.co.uk - an absolute godsend, especially two posts: 'Dyes of the Celts' (here) and 'Colours of the Romans' (here);

https://craftinvaders.co.uk/making-dye-from-lichen/

https://earlychurchhistory.org/fashion/colors-dyes-for-clothing-in-ancient-rome/ - on the posh dyes for the rich;

https://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/gallery - except for the general vibe (*chef's kiss*), the 'animals and nature' section of the gallery has pictures of the 'primitive' sheep which they keep at the farm;

...and a bunch of others which I didn't save in my bookmarks 🙃

#resources #palette #colour palette #ts4 iron age #ts4 celtic #ts4 roman

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deadhands69 · 16 hours ago

Text

Cute When You Stutter

loser!Shigaraki x gn/afab Reader

↻ prev ◁ part 2 ▷ next (coming soon) ↺

[series masterlist]

After planning a mission with the league all day, you’re exhausted. Kicking your shoes off at the door of your bedroom, you immediately crash on to the bed. When you pull out your phone, you expect to see a lot of notifications since you haven’t been able to check while in meetings. What you don’t expect is a text from the ex you saw at the grocery store yesterday.

When the two of you broke up, he blocked you as a way to not have to listen to your feelings or be held accountable for anything. Unfortunately, people let him and, in spite of everyone knowing your story, they all still tolerate his bullshit. Some of them even believed whatever he made up about you. Most chose to go with some middle ground peace keeping and he thrived on that. This means you had way more to worry about at the time than remembering to delete his number. You open the message, cringing in advance.

ex: that wasn’t actually your boyfriend, was it?

He took you off block for this? You reply quickly.

y/n: yeah, that was my boyfriend you begin to type, quickly changing was to is.

ex: oh come on, that dude looked terrified of you. there’s no way youre dating

What if I like them terrified you think as the texts continue to pour in.

ex: just wait until the group chat finds out you faked a relationship to make me jealous

ex: still fucking pathetic

Fucking asshole. This time you block him, not bothering to reply. Your heart is pounding out of your chest as you stare up at the ceiling.

Great, now you’ll have to convince your friends you’re dating your boss so you don’t look like an absolute idiot when he tells everyone. Maybe you shouldn't have grabbed his hand. Although, the other alternative was letting him tell everyone how sad and single you were in the Valentine's aisle by yourself. There was never any winning. Unless you can get Shigaraki to help you. He's had a crush on you for ages, he'll probably jump at the opportunity.

You grab your phone to text Shigaraki and see if he’s home before throwing it aside. Of course he’s home, he barely ever leaves his room.

Knocking a few times as a warning, he doesn’t immediately yell at you to go away so you push open his door like you usually do. He’s laying in bed playing his switch. His whole body stiffens as you enter the room. Fuck, he really does look terrified of you.

“Don’t worry,” you say, trying to sound as reassuring as you can manage, “I’m not here to sit on your lap or hold your hand or anything.”

Your words are the opposite of comforting, the blush on his face only deepens.

“Well, not yet at least,” you add. He glances away, no longer able to look you in the eyes. “I’m here to ask you a favor. And in return I’ll…” you pause to think of something he might want, “I’ll let you touch my boobs.”

“Under the shirt?” he asks so quietly you almost don’t hear him.

“Yeah, whatever. I just need your help.”

“What do you want?”

“I need you to take pictures with me and let me pretend you’re my boyfriend online,” you blurt out almost too fast for him to understand. Setting the switch down, he nods. You’re surprised he doesn’t question any of this, acting as if you just asked him the most normal thing ever.

“And you’re okay with people thinking you’re with me?” he asks.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn't.”

A few minutes later, you’re back in your room. This seemed like the better option considering that his desk is currently covered in tissues and takeout boxes that you'd rather not have in the background of any pictures you post.

Sitting on your bed, you gesture for him to join you. He does, picking a spot clear on the other side.

“I need you to sit next to me,” you say while moving closer to him, “because you have to be in the picture with me.”

He nods.

You wrap an arm around him, smiling. Holding your phone at arms length you take a few selfies at different angles then look to see which is the best. He looks awkward, to say the least. His arms are crossed firmly over his chest and he’s not looking at the camera.

“You have to at least try,” you tell him, deleting bad ones (all of them.)

“I don’t know what to do,” he grumbles, face turning pink.

“Just do what you’d normally do in pictures with a friend and we can go from there.”

He stares at you as if that's the most outlandish thing you've said all night.

“Okay, got it. Uhm, start by putting your arm around me.”

Awkwardly, he does. Leaving all five fingers hovering above your shoulder. You lean into him, bringing your free arm around his back. Taking a few that you think will be cute, you turn and remind him to smile. He tries and you end up adjusting the camera angle to make it work. For the last one, you plant a kiss on his cheek. He gasps, nearly jumping off your bed.

Once you stop laughing, you look through your options. With the weird angle, you can make them work in a boyfriendcore-overly-aesthetic-Pintrest-board kind of way. You post a few of the cute ones then set the last one as your lock screen background.

Success! That was easy. Well, almost. You’re not quite done yet. There's still the part where you have to fulfill your end of the deal.

Moving to stand in front of Tomura, you grab the bottom of your shirt, bunching it up over the lower half of your face. Bold to just go for it, but if there’s anyone who won’t judge you for it it’s him. You aren’t wearing anything underneath which he very much notices. His jaw drops.

“Wow. C-can I? I’ll be careful,” he gulps staring up at you.

“Yeah, that was the deal.” Biting your shirt to keep it in place, you gently grab his wrists and move his hands onto your chest. With his pinkies up, he gives a tentative squeeze. When you arch your back to press into him, he clutches you tighter. His fingers slide over your skin, thumbs grazing your nipples. They harden at his touch so he pinches them lightly at first then harder. Your eyes close, focusing on his touch as he rolls you between his fingers.

Involuntarily, you let a moan slip out. His eyes flick up to yours. Biting his lip, he groans, grabbing the front of his pants before he jumps up and towards the door.

“I have to go now,” he mumbles, running back to his room.

series masterlist - bnha masterlist

taglist: @shigarakislaughter @kalulakunundrum

#do you ever look at reader and think no stop don't #bnha smut #tomura shigaraki x reader #shigaraki tomura smut #tomura shigaraki #loser shigaraki #tomura x reader #my hero academia smut #tomura shigaraki x y/n #tomura shigaraki x you #shigaraki x smut #shigaraki x you #shigaraki x reader #shigaraki tomura #mha shigaraki

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lucy---lou · 3 days ago

Text

Part 17 Lucys-hdg-story

I wake up in a cocoon of vines. I feel safe and relaxed and decide to fall asleep again.

****************************

"Time to wake up little one."

"Njjjooo more cuddles", I mumble.

"Alrigth you can cuddle a bit more"

I didn't expect is her to just stand up wiith me inside her. That'll do I guess. We move put I can't see anything from inside her.

"Good morning my little Ellie, sleept well?"

"Good moring Mistress. It was alright, but Lucy wasn't there to cuddle"

I feel a pang of guilt and pull on a vine to tell Misstre Miss Duralis to let me go. The cocoon opens and I am lifted out.

"I'm sorry I - don't know what to say. I... I ehm sorry for leaving you.", I embrace Ellie in a tight hug.

"That's relly cute of you thanks, but you definitely needed the core cuddles. But you do seem surprisingly lucid."

"After a while I moved some leaves between her and my core, otherwise I don't think she would be thinking right now"

"Your core? sorry I didn't mean to go up your privates. I thought is was a big stem or something like that."

"Oh my little kitten, you and Ellie both have a very special place inside me. That includes my core"

"I .. ehm", don't know how to process that," Soooooooo breakfast? Cereal please", I distract. An eeep escapes my mouth as we are picked up on deposited at the table. Cereal is placed in front of me and I just stare at it.

"Can't eat yourself anymore? Do I need to feed you?"

"No- no need to, I was just lost in thought."

I take a spoon full and then begin to stare at it again. Not really at it more like into the nothingness behind it.

*tap* yeah cereal is good

*tap* I chew, wait - oh. I blush again and look at them dumbfumbled.

"I can-" *tap* *tap* "-feed myself"

"Well you were struggling so I'm helping you"

*tap* *tap*

"I was just-" *tap* *tap* "-lost in thought!"

"Sure cutie♡"

"Could you-" *tap* *tap* "-stop?"

"Well petal"

*tap* *tap*

"We're finished anyways", Misstr Miss Duralis smirks,"Your are a natural at receiving commands. Makes me think you want this"

"No! Why should want this. This is humiliating. I can feed myself. I can-" *prick*

"-meow mreow. miauw meow mauw. meowe mrrp mreeoowwwww", I cross my arms and - get petted. I turn away from them and still get petted.

"Is my kitty angyy, awwww", Ellie kisses me.

"skeeecchhhh", I hiss at her. Water is sprayed in my face.

"Bad kitten, we dont attack florets"

"meowwwww", I shake the water of my face and hop of the table. Well I hop of and then get gently lowered to the floor.

"What did I tell you kitten"

"Meow miau", I pout.

Ellie can barley contain her laughing. I walk over to the compiler and hope it can understand catspeak.

"mrrp meow mreau, meoww?"

"Coming up kitten", the hab chirps. Atleast the hab can still understand me.

I grab the cardboard box and lift it over me before I settle down underneath it and sulk. Great they're aawwwing me again. Even worse Ellie is full on laughing at me.

After I while my box is lifted with me inside it, flipped over and closed, tumbling me around. I get carried away.

I poke out to see where I am and spot a plushy. I lift the box grab it and hide again.

"awwww"

"so absolutely adorable, hab please tag this recording"

"Recording tagged, Miss Duralis"

"Thank you"

"grrrrrrrowoworrrr"

"Even cuter"

My pad is slid into my box and I happily accept the distraction it provides. Until Ellie texts me.

Elnolongerlonely: Hey I hope you come out soon. I'm really sorry. I miss you.

Cuddlekitten: Heyi, maybe dunno. Maybe never.

Elnolongerlonely: I won't survive that.

Cuddlekitten: Im sure miss Duralis won't let you die. Also why are our usernames different.

Elnolongerlonely: I think mistress changed them. Can I atleast join you in the box.

Cuddlekitten: fine if you have to

Elnolongerlonely: Yayyyyy, I'll be there in a sec.

The box shuffles a bit an Ellie joins me.

"Hi cutie", she giggles

"miau meow"

"Oh, oops forgot about that. You dont need it to cuddle anyway"

"moewe"

"You'll be fine", and she cuddles me. It actually helps me calm dawn and I feel my self doze of.

-Yes Lucy sleeps alot, that's her way of processing things. Also it's an easy way to start and end a chapter. Call me lazy.

#human domestication guide #hdg #affini #lucys-hdg-story #seed

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kikyoupdates · 2 days ago

Text

Changing Plotlines ⭑˚💞⭑ 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟

yandere!ocs x f!reader

yandere, reverse harem, yandere reverse harem, original characters x fem!reader, slowburn, isekai

A desperate cry on your deathbed leads to you being given a fresh start at life. You're overjoyed at having finally obtained a healthy body and a real chance at living normally, only to discover that you've been transported into a yandere game, where danger lurks at every corner. Determined to protect your new life at any cost, you vow to stay as far away from the major characters of the game as possible. But things don't always go as planned.

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“Honestly, I thought you would’ve given up by now,” Sergei sighed.

“What? Of course not,” you frowned. “I’ll have you know I’m very serious about this. Look, I’ve even been practicing!”

You proceeded to swing your wooden sword with visible enthusiasm, making cutting motions left, right, and center.

Needless to say, he wasn’t impressed.

Today marked the second day of your lessons with the kind-hearted knight who ended up meeting a gruesome fate. Naturally, you had no intention of getting ahead of yourself. It wasn’t as if you expected to become some sort of prodigy overnight. But every effort counted, and the more you practiced, the better equipped you were to defend yourself if something went awry. After stupidly letting your guard down and helping out Flora, you needed to keep up with your training, now more than ever.

“So?” you huffed, wiping the sweat off your forehead. “What do you think?”

Sergei’s brows were creased. He looked like he was searching for the right words to say.

“I think that you have absolutely no talent with a sword.”

Okay, well he clearly hadn’t found the right words, because ouch.

“You’re so mean,” you whined. “This is only our second lesson! Don’t you think it’s too early to jump to conclusions? Of course I’m not going to be great right off the bat. I’m only a beginner. Were you immensely talented from the get-go?”

“Yes,” Sergei said calmly. “My talent is the whole reason I decided to become a knight.”

“Ugh. Okay, that’s beside the point. What I’m trying to say is that someone can suck at something at the beginning, but that doesn’t mean they can’t improve one day.”

“I agree with that,” Sergei acknowledged. “I’m not saying that you can’t learn, but from what I’ve seen, it’s already quite clear that this isn’t the sort of activity that will come naturally to you. Everyone has different types of skills. Why not take up a hobby that you might be better suited towards? It could save you a lot of frustration, and sword-fighting really isn’t the sort of thing a lady like you will ever have any use for...”

But I can’t learn something else. It’s not like I’m doing this for fun. I need to make sure I’ll have some way of protecting myself.

Obviously, you couldn’t tell him that for you, learning to use a sword was absolutely essential. So, you did what you did best. You lied.

“As I’ve told you before, I am a very prudent woman,” you said.

Sergei snorted. Okay, rude.

“Lately, I keep having nightmares of criminals attacking me in the middle of the night, and I can’t do anything but quiver helplessly. I refuse to be helpless,” you frowned. “I never want to end up in the sort of situation where I just cower in fear and hope for the best. I want to take charge of my life and fight until the very end.”

“This seems to be an ongoing concern of yours,” he remarked, looking a touch concerned. “Being cautious is all well and good, but there is such a thing as worrying too much. If you’re really so afraid, why don’t you just make sure to take a personal guard when you go out in public?”

“Yes, I can do that.”

“So, then...”

“But if they fail to protect me, then I’m right back to square one.”

Sergei shook his head in disbelief. “Alright, alright. If training with a sword will really help to put your worries to rest, then I suppose it’s the least I can do for you. But you really should know that the odds of you getting hurt, especially if you aren’t on your own, are remarkably slim. Infinitesimal, even.”

Ha. You’d be surprised.

“Yes, I know,” you said, mustering a smile. “But this really does make me feel better about the whole thing. I feel powerful, even though I realize I’m far from it yet. And now I have the added challenge of becoming so good that you’ll be forced to eat your words. Hehe.”

“At the very least, your enthusiasm is certainly admirable,” Sergei chuckled.

Right. That was all you had, really. Enthusiasm. And fear. Fear for your life. With such emotions driving you forward, you were certain that you could somehow compensate for your lack of athletic abilities.

As proof of your readiness to train your butt off, you swung your sword several times in quick succession, building up a noticeable burn in your arms. Sergei wasn’t saying anything, just watching you in silence. It didn’t matter if you sucked. Hell, you knew you sucked, but that still wasn’t going to change the fact that you were going to do this, no matter what.

“Lady [Name], please stop,” he eventually said.

You looked back at him in confusion. “Yes? Am I doing something wrong?”

“You’re doing many things wrong, but that’s not what I was getting at. How would you like to try using a real sword today, just to get a feel for it?”

You could hardly contain the grin that burst across your lips. “Really?!”

“It would be good to try,” he nodded. “If the point is to protect yourself, a wooden sword won’t do much to achieve that. It was just to get you a bit familiar with the length and girth of the weapon you’ll be holding. Keep in mind that the real thing will be quite a good deal heavier, though. It will be difficult to adjust to at first.”

“That’s totally fine!” you babbled, eager to finally try out the real thing. You’d never held a sword before. It was difficult to even find swords back in your previous world. All of this was to learn how to protect yourself, but it was still so exciting!

Sergei bit back a smile. “It’s not that amazing. But I have to admit that it’s quite amusing to watch you react so expressively.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re amused. C’mon, gimme!”

“You certainly don’t speak like a noblewoman, though... anyways, here you are. Be careful. Don’t move too suddenly with it.”

He gently placed the hilt of the sword in your hands, with the blade pointed downwards. You couldn’t feel the full weight of it yet, not while Sergei was still gripping it as well.

But then he let go. And the sword fell to the ground.

“Ouchie!” you squealed, frantically shaking your wrist. “My hand nearly broke!”

Sergei clamped a palm over his mouth. “Pfft... n-no, you’re just exaggerating. I did warn you, my lady. Perhaps you were just surprised. Care to try again?”

You grimaced, cheeks glowing bright red. Okay, maybe you were exaggerating just a bit, but that thing was heavy as all hell! In the interest of staying as safe as possible, you knew wielding a sword was practically crucial, but you were slowly realizing that it was an even bigger obstacle than you’d once presumed.

“I can do it,” you huffed, crouching down to pick the sword back up. “It’s okay. I have muscles. Weak, underused ones... but they’re still muscles!”

Sergei was trying not to laugh at you—and failing horribly, at that.

But by some miracle, you managed to pick the sword up. Granted, you had to hold onto it with both hands, and the strain it was placing on your wrists was enough to make your arms shake, but you were actually holding a sword. God, you felt like such a badass!

“I-I’m amazing,” you said, grimacing in between breaths. “Showstopping, incredible, phenomenal. S-Super epic... ugh, I just can’t anymore!”

You dropped the sword once again, sighing in relief. Okay, so it was a work in progress. Strengthening your wrists would likely be crucial. Maybe you could practice by repeatedly opening jars.

“Good effort,” Sergei mused, flashing you a thumbs-up. “It was—pfft! —very entertaining."

“Well, I’m glad one of us enjoyed it,” you eye-rolled.

“Weren’t you going on earlier about how you’d make me eat my words? Surely the weight of the sword isn’t enough to make you quit?”

“I have no intention of quitting,” you reassured. “That being said... is it all possible to make my own sword? One that’s a bit lighter? I’m not as tall or strong as you. I can have one personally customized to better suit me, right?”

Sergei nodded. “Yes, you can have one made by a blacksmith. If you provide him with the rough dimensions of the sword, and what sort of materials you’d like to have used, I’m sure he can craft one that’s more comfortable for you to use. It still won’t be too light, not if you want it to be sturdy enough to deal damage, but you can figure out the details and strike a good balance between what you’d like to achieve.”

“Is there a particular blacksmith you recommend?”

“As a matter of fact, there is. Remind me to write down his name and some other details for you later.”

“Alright. In that case...” You picked up the wooden sword instead of the real one, smiling sheepishly. “Um. Until I have my personal sword made, I’d like to stick with this one, if that’s okay...”

Sergei was clearly holding back the urge to laugh again. “Whatever you say, Lady [Name].”

“Back to training I go,” you hummed. “Watch this! Consecutive wooden sword slashes, but at a dizzying speed. Hyah!”

“Again with the battle cries...”

Even if you were still a noob in the purest sense of the word, over time, your body was bound to adapt. You were intent on getting by through muscle memory alone. Besides, as far as you knew, only two of the yanderes were proficient sword-fighters themselves—namely, Triston and Friedrich. So long as you were armed, and they weren’t, you would probably stand a chance.

Point being, it was best not to skimp on your training. Even if you probably looked like a fool flailing around all over the place.

Still, it was certainly tiring swinging a heavy wooden sword continuously. With every motion, you could feel your arms progressively turning to jelly. Coupled with the fact that it was so hot out, you were really starting to break a sweat.

“Time out,” you groaned, throwing your sword down. You tried to fan yourself off with your hand, but it wasn’t doing much good. This goddamn tunic was making you burn up. It needed to go.

So, you proceeded to get rid of it, stripping your outermost layer and exposing the thin camisole you had underneath. The relief was almost immediate. Granted, it was still hot as hell, but your skin could finally breathe now.

“L-Lady [Name]!” came the horrified splutter. You turned to find Sergei gaping at you in disbelief, several shades redder than he’d been a few seconds ago.

“Yes?” you frowned.

“You can’t just get undressed like that all of a sudden! Please remember that you are in public!”

He looked away in a hurry, and you had to admit, it was kind of cute. In the game, Sergei made every effort to act the part of a knight. He was sometimes guilty of being too serious, although he eventually came to let his guard down around Flora, after falling for her gentleness. From what you recalled, he’d never been much of a joker, yet in the few interactions he’d had with you, you’d already gotten to see him laugh it up plenty of times at your expense. And now he was even blushing. It was refreshing to see such different sides to a character you liked.

But honestly, you didn’t really get what the big deal was. The camisole was pretty thin, sure, but it wasn’t all that revealing. A tiny bit of cleavage and bare shoulders, but that was about it. Back in your world, people showed plenty of skin, so you definitely weren’t used to such an innocent reaction. Your case especially was rather unique. Countless doctors and nurses had seen you butt naked before, so something like this hardly fazed you.

Watching Sergei get increasingly flustered was rather amusing, though.

“You can drop the title, you know,” you chuckled, still fanning yourself off. “Just [Name] is fine.”

“No, I really mustn’t,” he insisted. His face was buried in his palms, and it almost seemed like he was itching to move them out of the way and steal another peek, but his willpower remained undaunted. “This is already quite improper... and you allow me to speak to you so casually in the first place. Now, please, will you get dressed?”

“Aw. But it’s way too hot out. I’d rather keep practicing like this.”

“Lady [Name], what you have on leaves almost nothing to the imagination. Please, for my sake, I’ll ask that you cover up again.”

“Prude,” you muttered under your breath. Alright, alright. You could sort of understand that this was set in a different time period, with different standards and all that, but you were really struggling to feel modest given your previous lived experiences. Guess that was yet another thing you’d have to get used to here.

With a great deal of reluctance, you put your tunic back on, cursing the fact that they didn’t even have air conditioning in this world.

“You can look now,” you announced. “Rest assured that my breasts are back in their rightful place.”

Sergei gritted his teeth, still red as a tomato. “In the name of all that is holy, I am literally begging you to stop.”

“Hehe.”

“Don't hehe me!”

It was safe to say that Sergei was too embarrassed to look you in the eye for the rest of your training session.

Cedric Lightsteel, huh?

You stared down at the piece of paper in your hand. It was the name of the blacksmith Sergei had personally recommended to you. Sergei spoke very highly of him, so you didn’t doubt that he’d be able to craft you the perfect sword. Once you’d obtained a weapon tailored to suit your needs, you were confident that your skills would improve astronomically.

Anyways, things were looking good. As expected, it felt good to plan everything out in the event that you got caught up in something dangerous. Based on the natural progression of the plot, you still had plenty of time until the yanderes began exhibiting their dangerous tendencies—not that you planned on ever seeing any of them again.

There had been a little hiccup with Flora, sure, but you’d ignored her letter. By now, you were confident that she would’ve gotten the message. Even if you did feel really shitty about it.

“Man, I’m pooped,” you yawned, stretching your arms out. Living in a healthy body really was incredible. You’d worked your butt off today, and you were definitely tired, but it still didn’t even come close to the fatigue you experienced every single day back in your old life. Even with minimal activity, you’d been in a perpetual state of exhaustion back then. You slept just about always, lied around doing very little when you were awake, and your body struggled to do even that much.

It almost made you want to cry. The fact that you actually got to live like this now. That was why you needed to hold onto it with all your strength.

You decided to unwind by taking a nice, hot bath. Modern day luxuries were certainly missing in this world, but that just meant that you had more time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. You could even feel some of your vigor returning to you as you soaked in the delightful bubbly water. You’d trained for hours, but with this body, it felt like you’d be good to do the whole thing all over again after just a little bit of rest.

Sighing happily, you eventually decided that you were squeaky clean and stepped out of the tub, wrapping a towel around your body.

Then, you walked back into your bedroom.

Only to find a strange man sitting on the bed.

“Ah,” he smiled upon locking eyes with you. “Did you have a nice bath? I was waiting for you to finish. Come, let’s have a chat."

Unsurprisingly, you screamed.

More chapters are available on Quotev!

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littelovelunette · 7 hours ago

Note

this one isn’t smut, but could you do vi and reader having an argument, and vi raises her arms in exasperation, and the reader flinches and has a panic attack because of past childhood trauma, and vi comforts reader and makes sure they’re safe

Promise Me

Contains implied PTSD, trauma, mentions of abuse, sensitive content

This one feels personal…

Vi had been letting go of herself, pit fighting and getting drunk, it made you sad.

You knew she was suffering deep inside and she was hurting but acting the way she did, hurt you as well. You just wanted her to put things in the past and move on with her life but she didn't seem like she was interested in doing that anytime soon.

You both weren't in an exclusive relationship, it was more like a random hookup where you both caught feelings somewhat and now live together. It was weird but you never found her sober enough to talk it through.

You were watching Vi stumble into the living room, clearly drunk as the bottle of alcohol fell out of her loose grip. The bandages she had on her arms and the chest bindings were all soaked with blood and sweat. She looked awful.

“You're drunk. Again.” you said, your tone clearly fed up and angry.

Vi only hiccuped a little and slurred a response back, “Looking so pretty while so angry.”

You rolled your eyes and walked over to her, sitting down at the couch, pulling her by the wrist so she would sit down beside you. “I don't understand. I'm trying to help you but you're not letting me. You're ruining yourself going down this path of painless self destruction.

While I wouldn't exactly say it's completely painless.” You pointed out the bruises and cuts she had from the fights.

You hated her being like this. She was just as good as an alcoholic by now.

“Stop nagging me,” Vi simply said, getting off the couch instead of letting you patch her up like she usually allowed while she was drunk.

You got up, now even angrier than before. “Vi,” you called, “I'm not nagging, I'm only saying you should take care of yourself. How do you even tell yourself you love me if you can't even bring yourself to love you?”

Vi groaned a little, “Blah, blah, blah, I'm too tired to go through your shit right now. Can't I just go to my room and take a fucking nap?”

“No, we need to talk about this.” You pressed despite knowing she was drunk. She was drunk pretty much all the time. What difference would it make if you questioned her about it now?

Maybe she would change, maybe she wouldn't. Instead of waiting longer for pretty much no results, it was better to just know now.

Vi huffed and crossed her arms, eyes bloodshot due to the alcohol, “What do you gotta say? Spit it out.”

“You need to stop all this fighting drinking, it's not a healthy coping mechanism,” you said, crossing your arms as well as you eyed the other woman.

“Healthy coping mechanism?! Look around! We're in the Undercity! Nothing’s healthy here if anything!” Vi yelled, her voice raising, making your heart pound against your chest almost painfully. You hated seeing her so drunk… and verbally hurtful.

“Do you wanna be like all the junkies we see out on the road?” You asked, trying to maintain a calm collected tone.

Just then Vi raised her hands in exasperation and you took a step back, flinching and hiding your face. Vi completely paused seeing you do that.

“Love,” she said, her voice an octave lower, she walked closer, hand hovering over your shoulder as if scared to break you, “Love, what's wrong?”

“N-Nothing,” you pushed her away and walked into the shared bedroom, trying to collect yourself.

Her raising her hands like that brought back bad memories. Pain. Screaming. Begging. To just stop. It felt like something was stuck in your esophagus and you couldn't breathe properly.

Forcing yourself to swallow the growing lump in your throat, you stared at yourself in the mirror. A small, barely visible scar on your left eyelid, the bruises that littered your legs. It was like every other memory you tried to bury deep away, away from your everyday day and mannerisms, they were coming back to haunt you again.

You could almost hear the screams and the begging behind your eyes, somewhere in your head and you weren't sure if you were being sane right then.

Something was bothering you…

“Sweetheart,” Vi walked into the room and cupped your face making you look up at her, “Tell me what's going on.”

You let out a breath, a shuddering breath as the imagery of blood, darkness, tears flashed through your brain at once making you flinch and try to pull again but Vi didn't let you.

She wrapped you up in her strong arms, hands caressing the soft locks of your hair and even if she was sweaty, bloody and reeked of alcohol you couldn't help but find love within her hug. And acceptance.

You knew she was always there but it was harder to open up about something so sensitive if you've buried them deep long enough.

“I'd never hit you. Never.” Vi said, kissing your head and making you look at her again to ensure that you understood what she said.

“Pinky swear?” you managed to ask in a low voice.

It broke Vi’s heart that you needed that much reassurance despite her saying she wouldn't hurt you ever, making her wonder just how many levels of hell you had been through in the past.

“Pinky swear…”

#arcane #vi lol #vi writes #violet arcane #vi is the best #vi #vi is so hot #vi imagines #arcane vi x reader #vi x reader #vi x you #vi x y/n #vi my beloved #vi league of legends #vi angst #vi arcane #arcane violet

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drvirgus · 5 hours ago

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Glow

Danielle X Reader

Description: Despite your initial distrust of Dani's relentless optimism, you discover that having someone as bright as Dani in your life is exactly what you need.

Warnings: insults; trauma; harsh words; foul language; kys/kms jokes; naughty jokes; drinking; smoking;

Chapter 27: Alone

Masterlist

———————————————————————————

Yn didn't know what was wrong.

She just felt alone.

After spending time with Jihye and her family, she had felt so comfortable. They had listened to her—truly listened. No one had interrupted her, no one had ignored her.

At first, she had been unsure about their whole family dynamic. It was so unfamiliar to her. But after a while, she realized it wasn't fake or forced—it was just how they were.

And after that night, her own home felt even emptier. Even when her family was right there...

Maybe that was why she had never understood familial bonds the way others did. She didn't understand why someone would go out of their way, take the fall, or make sacrifices just because it was their brother or sister.

She just didn't get it.

She felt closer to her friends than she ever did to her family.

"So what exactly did Roberto do?" her brother asked, barely suppressing his laughter.

Yn looked at him, confused. "Who's Roberto?"

No one answered.

She frowned, waiting for the joke to end. But even when the laughter had died down, no one acknowledged her question.

"Who's Roberto?" she repeated, her voice sharper this time. But again, she was ignored.

With an irritated sigh, she simply nodded to herself and reached for the pack of cigarettes on the table. She lit one without thinking twice.

It was unbelievable what people could get used to.

Cigarette smoke was harmful. Everyone knew that. It burned the lungs, scratched the throat, left you short of breath. Especially in the beginning. But even pain was something humans could adapt to.

Just like the feeling of being ignored.

"And Yn? What grade are you in again?" her mother asked casually.

Yn's mouth fell open slightly, stunned by the question.

She was actually asking that?

"Mom, she's in eighth grade." her brother groaned before she could answer, like he was bored of the conversation already.

"I'm not in eighth grade," Yn corrected, exhaling smoke as she took another drag. She opened her mouth to say what grade she was actually in, but before she could, her mother had already turned to start a conversation with her other daughter.

Yn let out a short, bitter breath through her nose.

So different from Jihye's family.

"I'm student council president," Yn said, louder this time, forcing their attention back to her.

For a moment, there was silence. Then, they just looked at her with vague confusion.

"Oh wow," her mother finally said. "That must be stressful, right?"

A small smile crept onto Yn's lips, ready to talk about her role.

"Stressful?" her sister scoffed before she could even respond. She let out a dry, mocking laugh as she put out her cigarette in the ashtray. "She doesn't even know real stress. What I go through? That's what real stress looks like." She gestured dramatically at herself. “Yn could never handle my life.”

Yn's jaw tightened.

You have no idea.

You don't know anything about me.

Just stop talking.

I hate this.

I hate you.

Selfish, narcissistic bitch.

Her mind was full of thoughts—too full. But not a single word left her lips.

Because it wouldn't change anything.

In the end, she would be the bad guy. It would be her fault when her sister started slamming doors or smashing glass.

It was never the actual culprit's fault.

Makes sense, right?

Yn was good at one thing: running away.

Just like now. She put out her cigarette, stood up from the kitchen table, and stretched with an exaggerated yawn.

"I'm going to bed," she muttered.

Most of them just nodded and continued their conversations.

"Oh, Yn—what about dinner?" her mother called just as she reached the door.

"Not hungry, thanks."

“Ugh, of course you’re not,” her brother scoffed. “Always so dramatic.”

“Jesus, just eat and stop acting so special,” her sister muttered, rolling her eyes.

Yn didn’t even react. She just walked away.

And just like that, she was gone.

Alone.

Even when she was surrounded by her family.

Well… maybe except for her mother.

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Taglist: @sixflame438 @saysirhc @illithharmony @somedaydream @yuyuy90 @wonyoungssi @peranoo @gornoi @multiliker @wtfisthisnoclueman @prologue-ae @he------len @tormaa1

#newjeans minji #hanni pham #newjeans hanni #newjeans #haerin #danielle #newjeans hyein #newjeans smau #dani smau #danielle x reader #danielle marsh #jihye x reader #glow

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mieanme · 3 days ago

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Merman x Siren au

Hualian - (part XIII)

First part: PART I Previous part: PART XII

~ Previously on the underwater telenovela ~

After the siren playfully pats Xie Lian's head, they take off in the direction San Lang heard the noise come from. They swim for a longer while before Xie Lian notices a small shadow on the surface of the ocean.

It's a human boat.

***

Xie Lian's eyes instantly travel to the siren's silhouette. He feels a cold shiver run down his spine, when he sees the intense gaze with which San Lang is staring at the boat. When Xie Lian reminds himself of what the siren probably does with intruders like these, his stomach flips around inside his guts.

Humans… are problematic in general. They pollute the waters, they hunt down underwater creatures for fun and, at the top of all that, they think of themselves as superior. Not all of them are like that though, as Xie Lian has heard, but he himself never encountered any humans. The only connection he has with them is the trash he collects.

He must admit he's always been curious about the species that is ruling the land. Their unusual concept of making so many different tools is fantastic to him, which is no surprise at this point. However, he's always been wary of humans themselves. He's heard too many horrible stories and he's too much of an easy prey to ever try his luck in looking for friendly and safe humans. Most of them would probably want his white tail somewhere on display without the rest of the body.

It still doesn't change the fact that San Lang probably won't ask those humans their motives for entering his waters before simply drowning their boat and getting rid of the intruders. Xie Lian needs to magically make sure they're not dangerous and convince San Lang to not hurt them if they have no bad intentions.

“San Lang,” Xie Lian squeaks, quietly, but still manages to get the siren's attention. “Can you… hear how many of them there are and what are they up to?”

“Not clearly, but I do. There's two humans on the boat,” the siren states and looks back at the boat. “It's not going to take long, stay back.”

“Wait, San Lang!” Xie Lian grabs the siren's arm without thinking, pricking himself on one of the siren's spikes. He lets out a pained hiss, which earns him a horrified look from San Lang.

The siren takes his palm in his other hand and carefully but firmly leads it away from the spikes on his elbows. Xie Lian looks up at him and already feels guilty for his own actions. He can feel the little stinging in his finger, the one siren slowly inspects.

“Sorry, I didn't think this through,” the merman speaks up, not wanting San Lang to take the blame for this situation. The finger lets out a small amount of blood, but it stops soon enough, before the siren is even able to try helping.

San Lang looks Xie Lian in the eyes when he makes sure the merman is only in a slight inconvenience. Even though he didn't do anything wrong, the merman can see the look in his eyes. The siren is not only worried, but he also feels guilty.

“You should be more careful when trying to touch me. I don't want to hurt you, but by nature I shouldn't be easy to touch.”

The merman nods.

“It's entirely my fault, please, don't feel bad about it!” Xie Lian assures. “Besides, I'm fine, it's nothing.”

“You wanted to tell me something,” the siren reminds, getting back on track. He also gives one look to the boat that is slowly approaching their way.

“Ah, yes!” Xie Lian clicks, even more nervous now. “Please, if they're not evil, can we, maybe, lead them away from your territory? Or talk to them?”

The siren sighs. Only from that Xie Lian can tell he doesn't like the idea of caring for the intruders.

“It's quite a risk to just approach the humans, even with the best intentions at hand. And I do not speak human language.” San Lang explains, bringing a new issue to Xie Lian's face.

The merman doesn't speak the human language either.

He knows how to say a few words and understands most of the sentences, but he rarely gets his head above the surface to practice their way of speaking. His knowledge comes from listening to the other mers at the canteen, from his friends or from the trash.

“Then maybe—,”

“Ming-xiong, are you, …, we, …, going, …, right way?”

“We are. Si… down.”

Xie Lian didn't even notice when the boat got close enough to hear the humans speaking to each other. They probably must have been silent before, because not only the merman gets a little startled at them, but also the siren cocks his head upwards, as if the voices really brought his attention.

The merman swims closer to the siren, just in case, even if the humans don't seem interested about what's underneath them at all.

“We … been … around for so long! I thought you really knew the place to see them!”

“I know. Be patient.”

A cold shiver runs down Xie Lian's spine yet again. “The place to see them”? What are those humans looking for? His pod members? The siren? Maybe they are more dangerous than he expected.

“I'm hungry though! Are you sure we're getting closer to the whales' feeding waters? I want to see them without a sandwich in my hand!”

“You can eat. Food is in the backpack.”

Xie Lian blinks at those words. He turns his head to look at San Lang, but the siren already has a smirk on his face, looking right where the boat is.

“We can leave. No underwater life is getting harmed by them,” the siren announces and turns around. When he does, Xie Lian notices the way he moved his tail fin - slightly smacking the surface of the water, sending an almost unnoticeable wave towards the boat.

Xie Lian thinks that it must have been some kind of a warning for the humans. If they heard the subtle change in how the waves of the ocean sound at that very moment, they might get more alert and leave sooner. At least that's what Xie Lian wants to believe - it was all way to easy to convince the siren to leave them alone, but Xie Lian isn't going to complain.

He doesn't argue though. He's happy the siren gave up on hurting the humans, even if it's probably against his usual way of acting - after all, letting intruders into your territory isn't something the siren normally does. Xie Lian and those humans are an anomaly.

They get back to the coral reef in silence. San Lang seems at ease, leading the way, while Xie Lian tries to apply the movement tricks the siren has taught him today. From time to time the siren points out that he's doing a good job, so he probably figured out not to disturb the merman in putting the new knowledge in use.

When they swim into the siren's caves, Xie Lian instinctively grabs onto San Lang's hand, this time being way more careful to not hurt himself. The siren leads him to the resting place and suggests that the merman should take some rest after another intense day.

“What about you?” Xie Lian asks, obediently lying down on the glowing corals. He cannot deny that he's exhausted. He not only swam across some stressfully open areas, he also tried hard to learn what the siren was showing him and at the top of that, he also almost interacted with humans for the first time in his life. However, the siren didn't seem to be even a little bit tired. “Aren't you tired? We've been swimming around all day and it's almost dark now.”

“I'm alright. I do not need as much rest as merfolk. Also, I'm a nocturnal creature. I usually rest for a few hours right after dawn and it's enough for me,” the siren explains.

Xie Lian nods and breaks eye contact with San Lang, slowly relaxing into the soft bed of corals. He still feels a little anxious, or maybe ungrateful - he's not only going to sleep when the siren isn't, but he's also made the creature's whole day almost only about himself.

How selfish of him. He's never been like this. Noone has ever let him be such a bother. Even if the siren denies that, Xie Lian still feels bad.

Maybe he should just go back to his pod? Forget about learning anything and just continue to go about his life like he always did? This way the siren wouldn't have to babysit him anymore.

Because, yes, now San Lang doesn't see him as a bother, but what if the merman doesn't make any progress in learning? What if he takes too long to get a hold of the siren's technique? Sooner or later, but the siren will probably get… annoyed with him. And Xie Lian would do anything to avoid that.

“What's on your mind, little merman?” The siren asks suddenly, startling Xie Lian. “I have a strange feeling your thoughts are up to no good.”

“Ah, haha, no, no, I just—,” Xie Lian scratches the back of his neck, unable to come up with any valid excuse. He deflates a few moments later, deciding to just confess how he feels. “Well, I really appreciate everything you're doing for me, but I do not deserve that. And… I'm pretty sure you're going to find me annoying and useless in no time if I stay here.”

The siren is silent for a while. 'He's probably agreeing with me', says Xie Lian's mind, which pierces an invisible spear through the merman's heart.

Finally, after a while of just looking at his own tangled fingers, something else comes into Xie Lian's view. It's the siren's big hand, covering his own, as well as the shadow of the red tail enveloping the merman just like it did in the morning - all around him, but without a single touch. Xie Lian follows the arm that came from behind him with his eyes, just to track the siren's face.

San Lang is settled right behind him and is looking at him with a gentle smile. It's so beautiful that Xie Lian doesn't know what to do with himself. The siren squeezes their hands together, trying to comfort the merman, before he speaks up.

“You really don't trust my words, little merman,” he clicks in such a soft tone Xie Lian would never think the creature is capable of. “I can't blame you. I know it's hard to be vulnerable to this extent, especially after getting your trust shattered many times,” the siren continues, as if he knew exactly how Xie Lian felt. It's honestly a little scary - how good the siren is at reading others.

Or maybe Xie Lian is just like an open book?

“But I have no reason to not be sincere with you. I believe anyone should be able to provide for themselves. If that's what you want, I will be teaching you until we reach our goal. If you prefer me to provide or the way it is arranged in your pod, I cannot make you learn. If you want to leave, you always can, but you're also welcome to come back. You can take one thing for granted - I will never call you selfish for trying to learn how to survive. Ever.”

Xie Lian abruptly turns around, causing the siren to withdraw his hand and back away a little bit to not hurt him. San Lang thinks the merman just wants to face him, but he's completely caught off guard when the other one simply wraps his arms around his neck and hides himself in the siren's chest.

“Little merman?” San Lang clicks, slowly placing his hands around the merman's waist.

“T-thank you,” Xie Lian says, hugging himself into the other's body. The siren hugs him back a little more firmly, hearing a silent sob escape his mouth. “Thank you so much.”

“No need. You can stay by my side until you get tired of me,” the siren assures, causing Xie Lian to back away a little bit from his hold to look at San Lang's face.

The merman's eyes are slightly reddish, but even if he shed a few tears, they dissolved into the ocean water with the speed of light. However, he's smiling now, looking up at the siren with ease.

“How could I get tired of being treated so kindly?” Xie Lian asks in a tone that makes him sound like he's stating the most obvious facts in this world.

The siren offers him a smile too, gently lying him back down on the corals. This time he stays closer to the merman though, hugging him lightly to his chest.

“Rest. I will be here,” San Lang clicks, brushing his fingers through the merman's hair, petting his head on the way.

“Thank you…” is the last thing Xie Lian whispers before he falls asleep.

***

That's it for today! I wonder if anyone knows what's my plan with beefleaf here hehehehe *laughs in evil*. See ya soon!

#tgcf #hualian #hua cheng #hualian au #mxtx tgcf #tgcf hua cheng #tgcf hualian #xie lian #mxtx #tgcf fanfic #merman au #merfolk

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