#like yes obviously her and will's relationship is more the focus but like

[monsieurenjlolras]

Crying weeping sobbing about how at its very center His Dark Materials is a story about childhood best friends who love each other so much that one of them literally rips the universe apart because she promised she'd save the other one and she refuses to abandon him. "I told them you'd come, just like at bolvanger" yeah okay okay okay even in the world of the dead Roger never for a second questioned that his best friend would show up and help because she promised. the way children love is strong and pure and more powerful than anything in the world its okay I'm fine its fine.

[lucienne-thee-librarian]

ALSO also gotta love the shorthand assumption that Lesbians Just Be Mean and Rude b-but, but somehow it's not weird to say that because see we're using an ironic loving tone!!! Totally!!! We definitely don't still see female characters as obstacles to be gotten out of the way by making her a Mean Unlikable Lesbo We Clearly Don't Give Enough of a Shit To Actually WRITE About, Nor Her Relationship With Her Girlfriend Either but We Totally Like Tho We Pinky Promise, when she's in the way of two men and our lesbian allyship isn't 1000% nothing but this...super backhanded lipservice that I personally find more fake and off-putting and patronizing than anything!!

Hey so your girlfriend got put into a fandom and um, they kinda. Yeah they made her the Mean Lesbian Friend. Yeah it's entirely because she's the only girl who's not overtly caring or kind. Sorry. Also they-- yeah she's characterized entirely as a wingman for the popular gay ship. Sorry again

[awearywritersworld]

men are so quick to blame the gods

ryomen sukuna x reader summary: your boyfriend is a heavy sleeper, leaving you to form an unlikely relationship with the curse occupying his body during the late hours of the night. w/c: 2.6k tags/warnings: enemies to lovers. angst/fluff. aged up!yuuji. sa is mentioned but it's pretty much just sukuna saying he doesn't condone it. heavy kissing. obvi features yuuji x reader but it's not at all the focus. cursing. sukuna calls you kitten. i'd like to think he's not too ooc in this but im probably delusional. not canon compliant. fem!reader. no use of y/n. no manga spoilers. a/n: am i rehabbing our handsome vicious psychopath? yes<3 loosely inspired by this post (features manga spoilers) of him being v beautiful and poetic series masterlist // masterlist

humans have always irritated the king of curses— pathetic little vermin scurrying around, utterly oblivious to their own weakness.

so it came as quite a shock to him when he awoke after over a millenia, only to find himself trapped inside the body of some teenaged brat.

nearly 7 years later and he's positive there isn't a person he despises more in the universe. not even the cocky six eyes wielder can elicit sukuna's fury the way itadori yuuji so easily does.

that's why he resolved early on to kill his vessel's pretty little girlfriend, an act he hopes might satiate his spite. he's positive nothing would devastate yuuji more.

luckily for you, life has a funny way of working.

you and yuuji are standing at an intersection in the city, the pink-haired man staring at his phone as he tries to piece together the directions to a new sushi restaurant you've been wanting to try.

when the pedestrian sign on the other side of the street blinks, you step out onto the pavement without checking for oncoming traffic.

"what the-" yuuji's confused voice fills your ears just as a rough hand wraps around your wrist, yanking you backward violently.

a car barrels through the spot you'd just been standing, the driver clearly not paying attention to the traffic signal. you look back just in time to see harsh black marks fading from your boyfriend's arm, though the rest of his body has seemingly remained unblemished.

it's an odd sensation for yuuji because he's never lost control to sukuna in such a manner. he doesn't dwell on it long though, as anger blossoms in his chest.

"do not touch her," he scolds the curse occupying his body.

a mouth appears on his cheek and scoffs. "sure. i'll just let her die next time."

"it's okay, yu," you interject before he can retaliate. "thanks, sukuna. i, uh, appreciate it."

he grumbles something incomprehensible, his mouth quickly disappearing. your boyfriend looks at you bemused, but you only shrug. the fact that yuuji had lost control to sukuna doesn't make you feel nervous or threatened. you're grateful that he kept you from being run over, albeit a bit surprised.

as you continue your walk to the the sushi restaurant, you find yourself not quite able to meet yuuji's eye because... well... you haven't exactly been forthright regarding your relationship with the king of curses.

the first night it happens, you're laying in bed eagerly finishing the final volume of a manga you've been reading. yuuji is fast asleep and has been for hours, though you're used to being the night owl in the relationship.

you keep wiping at your eyes, the cheerful ending tugging at your heartstrings and tying the story together in a beautiful way.

"can you stop with your incessant sniveling? this idiot's brain is so rarely quiet and you're ruining it."

you look over to see the eye beneath your boyfriend's is open, staring at you scornfully.

"can you fuck off?" your tone is obviously meant to mock him. "i'm finishing one of my favorite mangas and you're ruining it."

"need i remind you of your place, brat?" he sneers. "it's dreadfully wretched, crying because you don't like the ending to some stupid story."

"since you're so clearly invested, i'll have you know i'm crying because i do like it."

"..and here i thought you couldn't get any more pathetic."

your eye twitches in annoyance. "just because you're mad about being stuck in 'some idiot human's body' doesn't mean you have to go around projecting your feelings of inadequacy onto other people."

you move your hand to cover the mouth on your boyfriend's cheek before sukuna can respond, hissing out in pain just a moment later.

"oh my god, you actually bit me." you inspect the teethmarks on your palm in disbelief.

"just wait until i win control of this body— the punishment you deserve for such insolence. you'd better hope you're miles away, but even then—"

"holy shit, enough already. i'll go to sleep. enjoy your peace and quiet," you growl angrily, flipping off the lamp and turning away from him. for some reason, you still find yourself mumbling, "good night."

sukuna's eye widens before promptly closing, the silence hanging in the air heavily. it's the longest conversation he's had in years and the first casual pleasantry he's heard in a millenia. he tries to feel satisfied that he got what he wanted in the end, before returning to his quiet solitude.

over the next few months, your late nights are graced somewhat frequently by the king of curses. he mainly complains— the friends you hung out with earlier were annoying, the tv's too loud, it took yuuji twenty minutes to exorcise a curse that sukuna could have dealt with in seconds.

it doesn't bother you nearly as much anymore and he's no longer able to get under your skin like he did that first night. it seems as if he's losing his touch, or perhaps he just isn't trying as hard.

it's around one in the morning, a book resting in your lap while your boyfriend snores softly beside you. sukuna's eye pops open, peering over at the text. "you're reading homer?"

your body jerks, startled by his sudden question, but you recover soon thereafter. "yeah, were you two friends or something?"

"no, you fool," he derides. "he lived far before my time."

though you don't comment on it, you find it amusing that your sarcasm had gone over his head. "oh, you're right. how silly of me to think you had friends."

"such profound witticism. i can hardly contain myself."

you sneak a glance over to find he's narrowed his eye at you and you actually giggle. "sorry."

it doesn't dawn on you how bizarre the interaction is, but sukuna abruptly realizes that something feels different. not once before tonight had he made you laugh.

he pushes the thought from his mind. "i did, however, indulge in his works during the heian period."

"really?" you perk up. it's not often you give him your full attention. "what'd you think?"

"i suppose i liked him well enough. one of my favorite lines comes from the poem you're reading."

you motion your hand for him to continue. "well don't be shy. i'm sitting here with bated breath."

he rolls his eye, but speaks nonetheless.

"men are so quick to blame the gods— they say that we devise their misery..." you realize for the first time how gruff his voice is, the deep reverberations sending a shudder down your spine. "but they themselves, in their depravity, design grief greater than the griefs that fate assigns."

his eye flickers between each of yours before you look back to your book, fiddling with the corner of the page. you're suddenly feeling rather shy. "does that mean you think humans are even crueler than you?"

he muses over your question briefly.

"if i recounted how men would flee the villages i burned, leaving their families behind in a selfish attempt to save themselves.. who would you find more revolting?

you swallow nervously. "i.. i don't know."

"what if i told you of the men who would eagerly offer their wives and daughters to me, hoping i'd spare them.. who would you deem more wicked?"

you're so busy avoiding his gaze that you don't see the way he carefully regards you. a question you're unsure you want the answer to tumbles from your lips before you can stop it. "did you accept? the.. the husbands' offers—"

"no," he responds. "i have little interest in unwilling partners."

"oh. well that's, um, good."

he hums in response, leaving you to process everything he's told you.

"you should stop," you blurt out eventually.

"stop what?"

"being nice to me." you wouldn't normally consider discussing literature then reminiscing about the egregious stories of his past life particularly kind, but then again, it is sukuna you're speaking with. "it's weird."

he rolls his eye again. "you're hardly in any position to be giving me orders, you insufferable brat."

"see? that's much better."

"why are you crying?" his tone is even, conveying neither annoyance or concern. truthfully, he has no idea what compelled him to ask in the first place.

you don't answer, hoping he'll leave you alone. you really don't have it in you tonight, even if sukuna's been much more tolerable recently. it's been weeks since you finished reading homer's epic poem.

the moon is already setting and it's just a few days before your date at the sushi restaurant.

when you sniffle again, he calls your name. you don't register that he doesn't say brat or idiot. it's the first time he's used your actual name.

"w-what do you want?"

"i seem to recall asking you a question."

you're laying on your side, facing away from yuuji and by extension, sukuna.

"i'm not crying," you declare.

sukuna briefly wonders why he's stuck dealing with you while yuuji sleeps, but his inward 'annoyance' is half hearted. "you're an awful liar."

you exhale and turn to look at him. the only light in the room is coming from the tv, but it's enough that he can see you clearly. "sometimes.. i can't help but worry about the execution."

yuuji has told you countless times that gojo has a plan, that he won't let anything happen, but you know what the higher ups are capable of.

and while it's down right shameful, you know that much, it's not only your boyfriend you worry about these days. sukuna's become so commonplace in your life, you almost look forward to talking with him at night.

"the thought of losing yuuji... of losing.. you.. it scares me," you murmur.

your words stir up feelings he's never once experienced and it's confusing to him. "i'd have figured you'd at least be pleased to be rid of me."

"well, i-i kind of thought we were friends now," you share without thinking.

"don't flatter yourself."

he regrets the words as soon as they come out of his mouth and the guilt he feels as he watches your face fall is unbecoming of a being so powerful. you apologize meekly, shifting (too late) to hide your hurt.

he can't remember a moment in which he's hated being trapped in his vessel's god forsaken body more. he wants to reach out to you, even if the idea feels entirely foreign to him.

but he can't, so he just sighs. "if you think i'm going to let a few feebleminded sorcerers execute me and the brat, you're even more foolish than i thought."

you peer at him, the smallest smile gracing your lips when you realize that's probably as close to an apology as sukuna would ever get.

"promise?"

for fuck's sake. he feels utterly pathetic. completely deplorable. laughable, even—

"yes," he states impassively. "now go to sleep."

"okay." your smile is just a little wider as your fingertips brush the spot below his eye and above his mouth. you wonder if he can even feel it. "good night, sukuna."

"...night, brat."

less than a week after sukuna saves your life at the intersection, yuuji kisses you goodbye as he heads out to a mission. he assures you he'll be early tonight, as he only has to exorcise a semi-grade one cursed spirit in roppongi.

though things don't go quite as planned because in addition to the semi-grade, he finds himself standing before two special grades. he manages to defeat one of the special grades, but the other two leave him badly hurt, his breathing labored.

he has to beg sukuna to switch out with him. the king of curses hasn't forgotten his promise to you and he's no fool— it's clear this is an ambush by the higher ups— but he'll be damned if he wasn't going to have a little fun with the brat first.

he makes quick work of the curses, each of them going rigid with fear as soon as he appears, and it soon becomes apparent that yuuji is too weakened to take back control of his body just yet.

at last, sukuna has his long yearned for freedom and a new world at his fingertips, but there's just one problem... all he wants to do is find you.

when the lock to your apartment clicks, your eyes shift to the door, an excited grin on your face. you can't hide your shock when it isn't your boyfriend that steps inside.

you don't say anything at first, simply following his frame across the room as he approaches you. he leans against the wall a few feet away from where you're sitting on the couch, folding his arms across his chest.

"seems your concerns about the execution weren't unwarranted."

"w-what?!" you exclaim, rising to your feet and taking a step toward him. "what happened?"

he relays the story to you, emphasizing how 'unimpressive' yuuji's power was and how 'terribly simple' it was for him to finish the job his vessel couldn't.

you narrow your eyes at him, only half joking when you ask, "what are you doing here, then? shouldn't you be off pillaging tokyo or something?"

he chuckles. "such a dark mind you have. it wounds me to hear you assume the worst of me."

you bite your lip to hide your smile. "just figured it'd save time."

he closes the space between you and though you can feel the heat radiating from his body, you don't shy away from him. instead, your eyes trail over the dark lines adorning his face and chest.

he reaches up and your breath catches in your throat when the back of his fingers ghost over your neck. his nails graze your skin and a sly smirk forms on his face. "aren't you frightened? it'd be all too easy to kill a little thing like you."

"but you won't."

he can't tell if your assuredness pisses him off, but it certainly makes his heart rate pick up. his hand now occupies the space where your neck meets your shoulder, his touch surprisingly gentle. "what has you so convinced?"

"well you saved me, didn't you? and.. and you kept your promise."

he hums in response and your hand seems to act of its own accord when it reaches up to rest atop his. any lingering sense of amusement is gone in an instant, the air now fraught with tension.

"so why are you here, sukuna?" you murmur.

the king of curses has never known goodness. he's wrought untold destruction and misery, his name inspiring fear even after millenia. he's a legend— a god, even— yet here you are staring up at him and he swears the look in your eyes is almost tender.

"i don't know."

"and you had the nerve to call me an awful liar."

you know you're taking a risk when you lean up and press your lips to his. he freezes for a moment before his mouth begins to move against yours tentatively. his arm stays at his side, so you grab his hand, moving it to your waist.

it's as if that flips a switch in sukuna. he backs you up against the wall somewhat roughly and you can feel him smile against your lips when you let out a squeak of surprise.

he uses the opportunity to take your bottom lip between his teeth, tugging at it before moving to your neck with the intention of leaving a trail of marks across your delicate flesh.

you know you should care, but you just can't bring yourself to tell him to stop. you're too preoccupied with the feeling. he revels in the little gasps he's pulling from your throat, in the way you grab weakly at his biceps.

"you are divine, kitten," he growls. "been waiting so long to touch you."

just as he finishes speaking, he pulls back a few inches and his body stiffens.

"damn it. not now, you stupid brat—"

the words die in his throat as the black lines begin to fade and you're met with the perplexed face of your boyfriend. he breaths out your name, clearly worried. "what.. what happened?"

[traveler-at-heart]

Lessons of Love - Part 4

Nerd!Natasha x Rogers!F R

Summary: As your relationship with Natasha progresses, you find some bumps on the road.

That was no way to start the day. Natasha had looked everywhere for her notebook, and now she was walking to Advanced Calc without any idea where it went.

Truth is, she could remember most of the things she had written down from lessons. What she regretted the most was losing all the little notes or scribbles you’d leave at random places.

“Looking for this?” she heard you say.

There you were, standing outside her classroom. You had her schedule memorised to know what routes to take to your next class and see her as offen as possible.

“Yes, actually” she nodded, taking the notebook from you. You smiled, leaning forward. To anyone else, it seemed like you two were just talking, but you had your hand on her arm, drawing circles.

“It was under my bed…” you explained, blushing at the memory of the make out session that almost became somethig more. You could tell Natasha was thinking the same thing, as her eyes traveled to your lips. You were about to close the distance for a short kiss when someone called for you.

“Hey, mamacita” it was Jessica Jones, who stayed oblivious to the intimate moment you were sharing with Natasha.

“Hey, JJ” you greeted, turning around and standing closer to Nat, hoping she’d put her arm around your shoulders or something. Instead, she excused herself and went inside the room.

You sighed, disappointed.

“We have Spanish together. Wanna walk with me? Podemos practicar en el camino, muy caliente!”

“Oh, wow. Your Duolingo streak must be on fire”

—-

“Au, K, C, Na” Natasha pulled out study cards, placing them in front of you.

“Gold, Potasium, Carbon, Sodium” you listed all the elements.

“Correct” she leaned back against the headboard, chewing on some M&Ms.

“Where’s my prize?” you said in a low voice, getting closer to her. Natasha blushed and watched as you leaned forward… stealing the candy from her.

“Not fair” she complained, although she was laughing along. You offered her a chocolate to appease her, aware that your eyes followed her movements as she let you feed her.

Obviously, the study session was abandoned for other activities. Her lips were on yours and you had kicked the notebooks out of the way to have more space.

Natasha’s tongue explored your mouth expertly -god, she had gotten so good at kissing- while the other circled your waist. You yelped as she lifted you up, placing you on her lap.

“That was incredibly hot” you commented, licking and biting her earlobe.

Natasha responded by squeezing your breasts over your shirt. You didn’t know what had gotten over her, she was usually shy and let you take the lead, but you were definitely not complainig. Before she had time to hesitate, you took your shirt off, nipples hardening at the cold air and the arousal.

Natasha moaned, burying her face in the valley of your breasts.

“Can I…?” she asked for permission, her hand hovering over the clasp of your bra.

“Yes. Please” you nodded, and a second later felt your bra lose around your shoulders. Natasha pulled at it impatiently, her tongue swirling around your nipple. You jolted forward, moaning and feeling her erection against your leg.

With a cloudy mind, you unzipped her pants and palmed her cock through her boxers. Natasha’s hips went up, as her lips stopped working on your breasts, caught off guard by your bold move.

“I’m sorry, I just got carried away”

“Do it again, please” she asked against your lips, kissing you while her hand took over your nipple. Nodding against her, you continued to stroke her over the fabric, feeling the hardness strain against the underwear. You wanted nothing more than to pull the boxers down and suck Natasha off.

The thought made you squeeze a bit harder, Natasha losing her focus for a second, knowing she’d come any minute.

Your brother’s voice boomed across the hallway.

“Captain Rogers is pulling up the driveway. However’s doing something nasty, wrap it up”

You groaned at that, layind down next to Natasha. Your hair was a mess and you were both out of breath.

“My eyes are up here” you joked when she kept staring at your boobs, your chest going up and down as your breathing evened out.

“I know” Natasha nodded, still looking at them. You laughed, pushing her away as you rolled on your back to put your clothes back on.

“Hey, I didn’t overstep, right?” Natasha asked, kissing your shoulder as you looked in the mirror to fix your hair,

“No, my love. It was perfect” you said, looking at her reflection. Once you were satisfied with your appearance, you turned around and put your arms around her neck. “I liked it way too much”

“I did too” she confessed, smiling as you pecked her lips.

“Maybe we can talk about…”

“Yeah. I know… I’ve been thinking about it too”

“Wait. Are we both talking about marriage?” you said, serious. Natasha’s eyes widened and you laughed. “I’m just teasing you”

“Yeah, that’s what you are. A big tease” she said, kissing you softly.

—

Still thinking about everything that happened the day before, you walked out of Spanish class. It took you a moment to caught up with Jessica, who was talking next to you.

“So, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“I asked you to dinner. Like, a date?”

“Oh” you nodded, and then it clicked. “Oh, JJ, I'm very flattered but the thing is… I have a girlfriend”

“You do? Huh” Jessica said with a smile. “Wait, don’t tell me. It’s Wanda, right? I mean, you guys are together all the time”

“Wanda?” you repeated, confused. It almost felt like you summoned her, because she came out of nowhere, pulling you by the arm.

“Hey, mind if I steal my girl?”

“Wait, that’s not what you think” you tried to correct, but Jessica gave you a thumbs up.

“Happy for you two”

Wanda kept walking down the hallway, her hand firmly grasping yours and you tried to keep up with her.

“Wanda, what’s wrong?”

“Jarvis is coming for the winter break!” she said excitedly.

“Oh, the English lad” you said with your bad accent. The girl rolled her eyes.

“Wait, why is Jessica happy for us?” she stopped suddenly, and you rolled your eyes.

“Don’t worry about it”

Later that day, Wanda came back home with you to tell you all about Jarvis’ upcoming visit.

“I’m happy for you” you said.

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean? Nothing, Wands”

“You didn’t even make the accent since I brought it up again”

You rolled your eyes and threw a cushion her way, making her laugh.

“Is it weird that Natasha and I are still keeping everything private? It’s been three months since we started dating, and we’re not exactly hiding but when someone comes to speak to me she just disappears”

“Have you spoken to her?” Wanda suggested, spinning in your work chair.

“I guess we’re due a talk for more than one reason” you admitted, playing with the hem of your shirt. Wanda caught on to your shift in mood and launched herself to lay next to you.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, yesterday, it felt like we almost… you know”

“Really? Oh my God, how was it?” Wanda squealed and you sushed her, fearing your parents would hear. “What? I wanna know everything. I mean, ew, not everything but… ya know”

“We didn’t do… it. It felt like we were going to, but then Dad was home. Plus, I haven’t even told her how I feel. It’s kind of cheap to do it without saying how much I love her”

“Well, just tell her exactly that. It’s not like she doesn’t love you back”

“I don’t know. Anything is possible” you shrugged your shoulders and Wanda kicked her feet in the air, sighing dramatically.

“You two are impossible lesbians. She’s out there looking at you as if you hung all the stars in the sky and you’re moping because Natasha might not love you back”

“Alright, jeez” you laughed. “Then help me tell her in a creative way”

“What are you thinking? Something she likes?”

“Morse code” you suggested and Wanda made a face. “Alright, non binary language”

“Like saying I love them instead of you”

“No, as in 0 and 1 like computers, genius”

“Ugh, you are a certified nerd” she gagged and you laughed. “What’s wrong with some old fashioned bouquet and chocolate?”

“Going back to the basics… you’re on to something, Maximoff”

—

Your mom was on board with your plan the minute you shared it. She’d been the one to arrange a bouquet of flowers from the family garden. It had baby’s breath, white carnations, pink camellias and a dash of red yarrow.

So, there you were, standing outside the Romanoff home first thing in the morning. You had plans later that day and you knew Natasha was going out for her run, but you were lucky enough to catch her before she left.

“Hey” she greeted you as she opened the door.

“Hi…” you began, and then she pulled you by the waist, devouring your mouth in that new found hunger that made your knees weak. “Uh… I…”

“It’s nice to see you first thing in the morning” she said, her nose against yours in a sweet gesture.

“Yeah, especially when you kiss me like that”

Natasha smiled, but let go of your waist and finally looked at the flowers.

“Going somewhere?”

“Huh? Oh, no. These are for you” you extended the bouquet and she took it. “I’ve grown all these flowers myself and wanted to give them to you because I…”

“Achoo!”

“Bless you”

“Thank… achoo!”

Natasha sneezed a few times before you caught up with what was happening.

“Damn it, you’re allergic”

“Nooo… maybe a little” she looked apologetic and you gently removed the bouquet from her hands, placing it behind your back.

“I’m sorry, baby. I had no idea”

“It’s fine. They’re really pretty. It’s the thought that counts” she sneezed one more time and you sighed. “Let me grab my medicine and I’ll be right back”

“No, it’s ok. I’ll come back later, I should take this back home” you held the flowers as if they were radioactive, as far away from her body as possible. “Catch you later for our date?”

“Looking forward to it” she leaned forward to kiss you, but broke apart to sneeze once more.

“Medicine, now” you sighed against her lips.

So, that was a bust. Your mother was ready to take personal offense when you came back with the flowers, until you explained what had happened.

“Well, what’s plan B?”

“A fortune cookie?”

You honestly thought the flowers would work so a backup plan was not even considered.

“We’ll bake cupcakes!” your mother suggested, always a step ahead of you. “Look for ideas while I get the ingredients”

You browsed until you stumbled upon a cute video. With an edible marker, you wrote “I love you” in a piece of sugar paper. Covering it with a food safe acetate and buttercream, you decorated the cupcake as if it was a letter, placing a small red heart on the center.

You prepared a tray with the rest of the cupcakes, making sure to place the one with the note in the middle.

“Good luck, sweetheart” your mother said as she dropped you off later that day on her way to the gallery.

This time, Natasha’s welcome was a bit more measured, since her parents were up and your mom was waving from the car.

“How’s the allergy?”

“It’s all fine now” she promised, leading you by the hand.

“Well, I got you some cupcakes. I’m pretty certain you’re not allergic to those”

“No, especially when you’re the one making them” she admired the work.

“You should eat this one first” you pointed at the one in the middle and she nodded, taking your face in her hands.

“I want something sweeter first” her lips moved against yours and you grabbed her neck to keep her there.

“Right in front of the cupcakes” Yelena complained and you broke apart, eyes still closed as you tried to bring your breathing back to normal.

“Those aren’t for you”

Crap.

Of course, Yelena chose the one with the note. By the time you noticed, she was done with it.

“Uh… you didn’t taste anything weird in it?” you asked, worried about the acetate. Yelena shrugged her shoulders, and picked up another one until Natasha slapped her hand away.

“Get your own cupcake baking girlfriend”

“Is that all she is to you? A cupcake factory? Natalia, that is so rude. Y/N also has a cute butt, why not mention that”

“You know what I mean. And don’t look at her butt!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” you stopped the arguing, sounding a bit hysterical. “Come on, let’s get going, Nat”

You were silent for the entire ride, and Natasha allowed you to take the time you needed.

“We’re here” she announced after parking at the mini golf course.

“Ok”

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to do something special for you and I think I’ve been failing all day”

“You haven’t. Everything you do is special for me”

“Really?” you whispered, blushing at her kind words. Natasha nodded, taking your hand and kissing the back of it. You suddenly remembered a thing you wanted to mention. “Our four month anniversary is next Saturday… why don’t we go somewhere nice?”

“I love that” she agreed and you smiled, eager to shout back and I love you

But you wanted it to be special, and what’s another week? You could wait, and maybe, this time your plan would work.

—

The Science Club was only five people. Peter, Darcy, Shuri, Ned and Natasha, the founding member. It was an improvement from last year, when it was only her and Darcy.

“So, next week we’re getting the guidelines for the Science Bowl, and then we can plan our study sessions” Natasha said, writing down a couple of dates in the whiteboard.

“Are we doing that?” Peter asked, looking around.

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“Well, I thought you would be focused on the Westview Science Fair. Since they have some people from MIT coming each year” Peter explained.

“Well, I’m a sophomore… I’m sure next year I’ll do it”

“Scared I’ll beat you, Romanoff?” Shuri taunted.

Natasha felt like she was under the microscope. Everyone in the club knew how brilliant her mother was, and how ambitious Natasha’s own goals were for her future as a scientist.

“Are you ok? We’ve had the impression that you’ve been a bit distracted” Ned said in a soft tone, as if he was afraid to upset her.

“I’m fine” Natasha lied, turning to Darcy. “See? Lewis is texting someone while we meet. Bet she’s more distracted than me”

“Hey! I’m just talking to Y//N”

“Why are you talking to Y/N?” Natasha snapped. Everyone in the room shared a look.

“Because we’re partnering for a Biology project. And then I’ll ask her out”

“I heard she has a girlfriend” Shuri intervened, saving Natasha from throwing the marker to Darcy’s head. “No idea who she is, though”

“Well, that won’t stop me” Darcy smiled, going back to texting.

“We’ll do the Science Bowl and I’ll work on the Westview Fair, so that’s thqt” Natasha returned to writing on the board.

“Wow. You’re doing both? Isn’t that a lot?” Peter said. Natasha shrugged her shoulders.

For the rest of the afternoon, her thoughts spiraled, filling her with anxiety. She had gotten distracted and lost focus and now her entire future was jeopardized over it.

It wasn’t until later, when she heard a knock on the door that she snapped out of it.

“Go away”

“You sure about that?”

Another thing she had forgotten; you had plans. She felt guilty, and wished she had cancelled before making you come all the way here when she was in a sour mood.

As she opened the door, you leaned forward to kiss her but she turned her face.

“You ok?” you said, confused at her cold demeanor. Walking to her desk, you placed a gift box and sat on the bed, looking at Natasha. She was tense, and avoiding your eyes.

“Fine. Just busy”

“Oh, ok. Well, want me to just wait until you’re less busy? I can go bother Yel”

“It’s gonna take a while. You should go back home. I’ll text you later”

“Nat? What’s wrong?”

“Why were you texting Darcy?” she finally snapped, picking a fight over something she knew meant nothing.

“How did you know?”

“So you didn’t want me to find out”

“I’m texting her because we’re doing a presentation for class. She asked me to be on the same team”

“You could have said no” she said, turning her back to you.

“I don’t have any reason to be a total bitch and say no to a group project, Natasha. If it bothers you so much you could tell her we’re dating. I told my friends, unlike you”

“That’s not the point” Natasha said, looking at the card that came with the gift. It was a simple equation.

“Then what is?”

“I don’t have time for this. You want me to do your homework too?” she threw the card on her desk and looked at you. “I’m behind, I totally forgot about the Science Fair and now I have to come up with a really good project in less than three weeks”

“Why are you making it sound like it’s my fault?”

“Because” Natasha stopped herself from saying it is.

But you knew.

She saw the hurt in your eyes and regretted everything that had just happened.

“Don’t worry. I won’t get in the way of your stuff anymore, Natasha” you stood up, walking towards the door.

“Wait! No, I didn’t mean to…”

“Yes, you did” you went out of her room, Natasha staying rooted to the spot.

She was a coward.

—

You had avoided Natasha all day. That’s how she finally realised that all those moments where you met and spoke outside of her classroom or in the hallways were because of you, going out of your way to see her.

During English class, you sat at the front, as far away from her as you could, and spend the entire period taking notes. By the time it was over, you were the first person out the door. Natasha tried to catch up with you but wasn’t even sure how to begin to apologize.

Natasha’s texts, as well as her calls went unanswered. Today was a Saturday, and you’d usually spend time together in the evening… she could try going to your place, or to your mother’s gallery. She had to find you and tell you how sorry and wrong she was. You were the best thing that had happened to her, and it was none of your responsibility if Natasha had too much on her plate.

Yelena walked past her in the living room, wearing her cheerleader uniform.

“You don’t have practice today” Natasha turned to her.

“It’s the end of the football season so we’re meeting today and tomorrow. I’m late” Yelena answered without looking at her sister.

“Wait! I’ll drive you”

Yelena rolled her eyes, but waited in the car nonetheless. She spent most of the time looking out the window, until she couldn’t hold her tongue anymore.

“If anyone had spoken to me the way you spoke to Y/N, I would have broken up with them, on the spot”

“Jeez. Thanks?”

“She’s kind. And she’s in love with you. You’re always so caught up in your world of science like mom. It’s great that you’re so smart but you’re so damn stupid sometimes, Tasha” Yelena said and left the car as soon as she arrived.

Natasha sighed, looking for you in the field. You were speaking to Pepper, smiling as she showed you what the next move would be. Your eyes landed on Natasha and your smile faded. Still, the redhead waved at you and you walked towards the bleachers.

“What’s up?” you said in a casual tone that made Natasha’s heart drop.

“I tried calling you”

“I had nothing to say” you shrugged your shoulders. “And you have a lot going on so I figured you could use your time back”

In that moment, Natasha’s phone rang and she ignored the call, without checking who it was.

“I made a mistake. I’m sorry. I was unfair to you because I had a bad day”

“Honestly, Natasha? I’m not sure if it’s just that”

“What do you mean? Damn it” she complained as her phone rang again. The sound was begining to irritate you.

“What I mean is… you’re very smart and I’m just me. I have no idea what I want to do with my life and I’m ok with that, because I’m 16 and feel like I have time. But if you have everything figured out, and you feel like it should be your priority, I won’t hold you back”

“You’re not holding me back” she promised, taking a step forward. “I just don’t know how to balance everything. I lost focus…”

“Because of me?”

“Because I… I’ve never been in a relationship before”

“Well, that sounds like something you should figure out on your own” you cut her off, starting to walk away.

“That’s not fair. You can’t expect me to feel bad because I know what I want? I’m sorry. But being in a relationship won’t get me into MIT”

“I never said that!” you groaned, frustrated as her phone began to rang again. Natasha didn’t ignore the call, and this time the noise made you even more upset as you both kept arguing.  “Pick up the damn phone”

Taking the phone from her hands, you answered the call.

“Hey, Natty. I’m waiting at your house but your mom said you’re out”

You recognized the voice. Jane Foster.

“Don’t worry. We’re done here” you threw the phone at Natasha, turning to walk away.

“Wait, it’s not what you think. Jane was only going to help me with the Science Fair project”

“Today was our fourth month together, I made a reservation and everything. And I kept it with the hope that we could make things right. But go be with Jane, take her out. Forget about me, us. If this relationship is a burden, you’re not in one anymore”

“No, Y/N, wait, please”

“Goodbye, Natasha”

You left her standing alone, as you walked into school. Yelena followed you, glaring as she walked past her sister.

“Nice one, Natasha”

—

Natasha didn’t know how to fix this mess. You were never alone at school, and she was sure it wasn’t a coincidence.

Pietro or Wanda were consistently by your side, even when their classes were across the school. Bucky glared at Natasha the only time she dared come near you, but you elbowed him and walked away as fast as possible.

You didn’t hate Natasha, nor did you expect anyone else to be mean to her. You were just heartbroken, feeling like everything she had said was confirmation of how unlikely it was for someone as smart as her to love you.

Wednesday seemed like the only chance to actually talk to you, but to Natasha’s bad luck, you skipped Chemistry class.

“No Miss Rogers today?” Fury asked in the middle of practice. Natasha shrugged her shoulders. “This exercise was her idea”

“Borax crystals?” Natasha looked up. The professor shrugged his shoulders, copying Natasha.

“Said she wanted to use the pipe cleaners to do some fun shapes. I’m guessing hearts”

Natasha thought about it for a second, while Fury gave her a knowing look.

“Crystal hearts” Natasha repeated.

“She also showed me an equation to check if it was correct, then wrote in something that looked like a card. Very mysterious”

“Yeah” Natasha nodded, going back to her notes. Feeling someone was looking at her, she raised her eyes and met Wanda’s murderous glare.

“Stop it” Pietro told his sister, while Natasha turned pale. Wanda could be scary.

Fury chuckled and walked back to his desk, hoping whatever was going on could be solved outside of his classroom.

For her part, Natasha wanted to skip the rest of her classes and go home. She was sure the card Fury mentioned was the same you had given her the day she acted like a total ass.

By the time she got home, Natasha went straight to her room. The gift box had been hidden in her closet, because she couldn’t stand seeing it all the time.

“Screw it” she muttered, opening the closet and taking it out. Natasha ripped the paper, trying to figure out what the box had.

Lego flowers.

So you can always have flowers without the allergies, a note inside said.

She didn’t deserve you. Natasha dropped the box in her bed and sat on the floor. How could she know so much about science but not be able to figure out how to fix this?

There was a knock on her door but she didn’t care to answer.

“Sweetheart?” Melina said, opening the door. Her eyes widened when she saw her daughter so defeated. “Tasha, what’s wrong?”

“I’m an idiot” Natasha shook her head, the tears finally rolling down her cheeks. She had tried to avoid it, because Natasha hated crying, hated feeling helpless more than anything.

But right now, she hated the way she had made you feel even more.

“Oh, you’re definitely not an idiot, sweetie. Come here” Melina sat next to her daughter, hugging her. Natasha felt like she was five again, but held on to her mother’s arms. “Is this about Y/N?”

“Yelena told you, huh?”

“No. I just noticed she hasn’t been around and you’ve been hiding in your room. Wanna tell me what happened?”

“I was a jerk. All of the sudden I realised I was gonna have all this extra work from the Science Club and the Westview Fair and blamed it on her, as if she was distracting me on purpose”

“Oh, I see. You’ve never been good with stress, after all”

“I’m not good with people” Natasha shook her head. “She’s better off without me”

“Natasha, darling. You’re so smart. But you put so much pressure on yourself. I sometimes blame myself for it”

“What do you mean?”

“I worked so hard when I first came here because I had to prove myself. Had to be ten times better than anyone else to be seen as more than just the strange girl from Russia. I don’t want that to be your life. Choose a path that makes you happy”

Natasha nodded, wiping away the last tears.

“I don’t know how to fix it” she confessed.

“Say how you feel. Speak from the heart. And be better next time. That’s all you can do” Melina said, squeezing Natasha’s shoulders. “We’ll leave in an hour, the last game of the season is today”

As Melina left her daughter’s room, Natasha gathered the courage to open the card, curious to see if it had the equation that Fury mentioned.

She went over it a couple of times, and then sat, writing it down on her own notebook to solve it.

9x - 7i > 3 (3x - 7u)

9x - 7i > 9x - 21u

- 7i > - 21u

7i < 21u

i <3 u

“I love you” she read, her heart beating out of her chest.

Natasha stood up and tried calling you, but it went to voicemail. You’d probably be at the field, practicing with the rest of the team. It would be nearly impossible to get close to you, and Natasha didn’t want to wait until the end of the game.

She had to speak to you now. Natasha called someone else.

“Peter. I need a favor”

—

As it was to be expected, the school parking lot was packed. Melina walked with an arm around her daughter’s shoulders.

“Feeling better?”

“Yes” Natasha nodded. “I’ll catch up with you. I have to meet with Peter real quick”

“Alright” the woman said, going to the bleachers to find a spot for them.

Natasha walked to the school library, looking anxiously around the building.

“Hey! I’m here, sorry” Peter said, carrying the mascot suit. “This is a very weird favor to ask, Nat”

“I know, trust me. But I need to get to the field now” Natasha examined the suit, accepting Peter’s help to put it on. Once the body was zipped, Peter placed the lion’s head, making sure Natasha was adjusting it.

“How does it feel?”

“How can you even see in this thing?” Natasha’s voice came out muffled.

“Yeah, I can’t. You’ll get used to it, though. Come on, I’ll walk you to the field”

He took Natasha by the hand (well, paw) and she almost backed out of the plan. It was hot and dark in there and she might pass out.

But then she thought of you and the three words she wanted to tell you, and her resolve strenghtented.

By the time they reached the field, Pepper dragged Natasha out, not even noticing that Peter was by her side, instead of inside the suit.

“We change the routine’s speed so you better catch up”

“Wait, I don’t even know it”

“Stay there” the girl ignored her. Natasha looked around and walked with her arms reached forward.

“So, how are you feeling?” that was Yelena’s voice. Natasha walked towards it, hopeful.

“I’ve had better days” you admitted with a sad smile. “I miss Nat like crazy”

“If it helps she’s been very miserable” Yelena said and you laughed.

“She’ll be fine without me. Though I’ve been trying to avoid her, because I know she wants to break up and I cannot take it, not right now”

What? She never wanted to break up with you. Natasha struggled with the head of the suit, but stumbled against her sister.

“Hey, watch it” Yelena said, but turned as Pepper asked everyone to take their places. “Come on Parker, you know what to do”

“I’m not Parker. Y/N, wait!” Natasha screamed, but between the music and the cheers from the crowd, you didn’t hear her. Natasha stumbled around as the cheerleading squad began their routine. She crashed against some of the girls, and by the time she found a quiet corner to go unnoticed, they were pulling her back to the field, almost carrying her to the center of their circle.

Pepper pushed Natasha towards a trampoline, and the girl jumped a few times on it.

“Go, Lions!” the girls cheered as someone threw a ball to Natasha’s head. She flew in the air, losing her footing and the head of the suit at the same time. The redhead landed on her back, the padding helping a bit with the fall.

“Natasha?” you said, rushing to her side. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine” Natasha said, breathing heavily and finding comfort in your closeness. She had missed you so much.

“Are you sure? Does anything hurt?” you insisted, checking her head with a gentleness that made Natasha swoon. Without thinking about it, she closed the distance, kissing you softly. You tried to protest, but gave in a moment later, shutting your eyes and pulling her closer.

You missed her so damn much.

People cheered and then it dawned on you that you were putting on a show for the entire school. You looked at the crowd, your cheeks turning pink.

“Maybe we should…”

“I love you” Natasha said, unable to wait any longer.

“You… do?”

“I finally opened the card and the equation… it was a perfect gift and I’m sorry, I was an idiot. I love you so much and I never meant to hurt you. Please, believe me, Y/N. You’re everything to me”

“Well, how can a girl resist a love confession like that?” you laughed, pulling her up. When Natasha stood up, she lifted you in her arms, spinning you around.

“I love you” she said one more time, kissing you softly.

“I love you too” you smiled against her mouth, not caring about the crowd anymore.

—

Now that you had made up (and made out) in front of most of the school, you and Natasha were inseparable. You walked to classes together, holding hands in the hallway and talking about your day. During break you’d eat together and at the end of the day hung out for a while with Wanda and Pietro, or only the two of you, sharing a few laughs and kisses.

Oh, the kissing.

First thing on Monday, when the school was still buzzing with the gossip of your relationship, Natasha came up the stairs as you entered the school. Her lips met yours, in that hungry way she usually saved for the privacy of your room, and you broke apart, blushing and smiling.

“Good morning”

“Uh-huh. I’ll say” you laughed, taking her hand, aware that some people were staring.

It became a habit. Most times it was innocent, like a kiss on the cheek while saying goodbye before your classes. You’d be talking by your locker and she’d end up leaning you against it, your hands on her waist as you enjoyed being trapped by her body, looking at her lips until the conversation died down and you kissed her, a bit possesively.

It made Professor Harkness warn you about “no funny business during class” and Fury talking about wanting no distractions if you kept working together.

Both of your friends were the most crossed by this, because more often than not, they’d interrupt in the middle of some make out session.

Like today. The Science Club was preparing for the competition, and they met to study at the end of each day. Since it was Friday and you had no classes left, you decided to tease Natasha as she waited for her teammates.

“I’m having trouble with something” you said, sitting in one of the tables.

“With what?” Natasha said, organizing the flash cards and not picking up on your mood.

“I’ll show you”, you asked, pulling her flush against you as she stood between your legs. “I can’t stop thinking about my girlfriend”

Natasha smiled, allowing you to take the lead with the kiss, her hands going to your legs to make them wrap around her waist. She groaned when your tongue darted out.

“If this is how we’re studying today, I’ll pass” Darcy said as soon as she walked in on the room. You broke apart, noticing how Natasha didn’t let go.

Knowing she was jealous of the time you and Darcy were speaking, you placed a small kiss on the corner of her mouth and spoke loud enough for her friend to hear.

“Gotta go. You need to study. I love you, baby”

“I love you too” she smiled, kissing you one last time. You ran into Peter and Ned at the door and Natasha called out for you. “Don’t forget our date tonight. I gotta make it up to you for that dinner we missed”

You blushed as Ned and Peter whistled, nodding and waving goodbye.

All in all, life was good.

—

Comfortable and cozy. That’s what Natasha said you should wear. You had no idea where you were going, but felt excited.

“You look beautiful” your mom said as you went down the stairs. Your father turned as well.

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know”

“What do you mean you don’t know” he snapped, removing his glasses. “That is not safe. You’re staying here”

“Dad, it’s a surprise” you tried to ease his nerves, hugging him. “Plus, it’s not like you don’t track my phone”

“I…” he turned to glance at your mother, who looked ready to murder him.

“Joseph Rogers, that is an incredible invasion of privacy! Do you track my phone too?”

They were so busy arguing, they never noticed the doorbell. You ran to greet Natasha.

“Hi” she said, kissing your cheek. She pulled something behind her back, handing it to you.

“I’m allergic to flowers so I thought I’d compromise here” she smiled, giving you a cactus.

“Thank you, darling” you smiled.

“I’ll take that. You two have fun” your mother said, inspecting the plant. She was probably planning where to place it.

“Alright, don’t wait up” you winked at your parents, making Natasha blush.

“Young lady, that is not funny!” your father said. You laughed, walking with Natasha to the car, while your mother shushed him, still upset.

“Relax. He knows it’s a joke. Now, take me to this super secret date, huh?”

“We have a different ride today” she pointed at a pick up truck that you had seen on her dad’s garage.

Natasha opened the door for you, and extended her hand, as the climb to the seat was steep.

“It feels like we’re in a carriage” you joked as she turned it on and drove you. Reaching a gated park, a security guard opened the door for you two and you were pretty sure Natasha handed him a twenty dollar bill as you drove past him.

“This looks like the country club”

“That’s because it is. We’re just sneaking around the back” she winked at you.

“Well, we can go through the front, you know we have the membership…”

“Detka, trust me, I know the perfect view is this way” she squeezed your leg, leaving her hand there for the rest of the short ride.

“What does it mean?” you asked and she looked confused. “Come on, I don’t know how to say it. That Russian word”

“Detka? It means baby. Sort of”

You blushed and squeezed the hand that was resting in your lap, hoping Natasha would use it again very soon.

Natasha encouraged you to jump, holding you by the waist until you landed against her. She moved aside to show you what she meant, and you gasped as you saw the lake that was away from the courts and the restaurant.

The ground was usually reserved for parties, but it was luckily empty. As you kept staring at the lights reflecting in the water, Natasha uncovered the back of the truck to reveal it was full of pillows, blakets, food and her laptop.

“Hope you’re hungry” she helped you up, holding your hand while you steadied yourself in the back.

“Starving” you said, finally picking a corner to sit in and making room for her. Natasha sat next to you, her arm around your shoulders. “Nat, this is lovely”

“You deserve it, and more”

“I love you” you kissed her, leaning against her side until you needed to catch your breath.

“Love you too. Now, here” Natasha opened up the picnic basket. “We have lasagna and soda, chocolate cake for dessert, popcorn and gummies in case you want more snacks”

“What movie are we watching?”

“About Time”

“Yes!” you cheered, appreciating her choice. You knew Natasha complained about the time travel inaccuracies, but it was one of your favorites.

As the movie progressed, you came closer to Natasha, seeking her warmth when the air became colder.

“Here” she covered you with a blanket and you came closer, sinking in her arms.

“You make me really happy, Natasha” you looked at her, appreciating how soft she looked under the fading light.

“And you’re the best thing that ever happened to me” she leaned forward, pressing her lips against yours. As your hands went down her arms, you sank further into the pillows, until you landed on your back with a squeal. “Are you ok?”

“Yes” you laughed, pulling Natasha down. Her body was on top of yours, and you appreciated feeling her weight. The kissing became more frantic, with your hands exploring the skin of her back while she bit your lip and then kissed your neck.

“Oh, my” you gasped, as literal fireworks lit up the sky. “Did you do this?”

“I could lie and tell you I did, but I’m guessing there’s a party down at the restaurant”

Enjoying the free show, Natasha hugged you as you looked up.

“Hey” you called, squeezing her hand.

“Hi” Natasha smiled, kissing your temple.

“I know there’s a lot going on right now and it may be too soon… but. You know that thing that almost happened two weeks ago in my room”

“Mhm” Natasha nodded against you.

“Well… I’d love it if you… if my first time could be with you. And like I said, now’s not the time and all, but it’s just a step that I’d take only with you because I trust you and I love you”

Natasha smiled, surprised that you of all people were rambling.

“I would love that too, detka. We’ll know when the time is right, don’t you think?”

“Yes. And please keep calling me that. It’s the best thing in the world” you nudged her side and she laughed against you.

“Anything for you, moya lyubov”

“Oh, come on! That’s not fair” you complained, your heart skipping a beat at those new words. “Keep doing that and I’m losing my virginity right here in the back of this truck”

“Oh” Natasha let out a surprised squeal, turning red. Yeah, that was the Nat you knew.

“I love you, baby” you laughed at her sudden shyness. “And I’m kidding, of course”

“Right”

“The back seat is probably more comfortable”

“Incorrigible” she mumbled, kissing you softly and laughing with you.

“But you love me”

“Yeah. I really do”

[magics-neptunes-things]

Kiss Me

Hi!

This is from a request and you can find it here. There is a prequel that you can find here.

Thank you for reading it :)

TW : Jealousy, Angst, Swearing

______________________________________________________________

"Why is your friend looking at me like she’s gonna kill me?"

Surprised by the question that your interlocutor asks you, you follow her eyes to fall on Katie’s furious face. You obviously knew who the brunette you just met was referring to in that dubious nightclub, even before you met the blue of Katie’s eyes.

"Don’t worry about her" you answer with a little smile.

The truth is, you’re nervous. If you find yourself talking to that brunette, it’s because Steph and Kyra pushed you to do it. They saw her looking at you a lot since the start of the evening.

"Come on, she's the prettiest in the nightclub" Kyra told you before practically pushing you down your seat.

"What do you have to lose?" Caitlin shrugged when you looked for her to have some help.

The truth is, Caitlin knows what you have to lose because she knows about your complicated relationship with Katie. In short, you’re both crazy in love with each other. But the complicated thibg is the point of honor that puts Katie not to be in a couple with a teammate, especially following the way her relationship with Ruesha ended.

This doesn’t prevent her from yielding regularly to the temptation that you some way are in her eyes, even ending up just as regularly by spending the night with you. The next morning, however, it’s always the same thing. She apologizes, tells you that you shouldn’t have done this, kisses your cheek and leaves.

"If it makes her react to seeing you with someone else…" Caitlin whispered, even though Katie couldn’t hear her at the other end of the table anyway.

No doubt from feeling your teammates’ eyes on her, the pretty stranger ended up approaching your table. She spoke directly to you with a shy smile.

"Hello. Can I buy you a drink?" she asked.

"Yes you can!" Kyra almost scream, actually pushing you from your seat this time.

"I’m Emma" the brunette introduced herself on your way to the bar.

"Y/N" you just answered.

"Nice name for a pretty girl"

You smiled when you heard her, not really comfortable in the field of flirting. Katie had to stick you against a wall to kiss you to make you realized that maybe she liked you too.

After getting your drinks, Emma pulled you back from the crowd to chat a little more quietly. That’s when she felt Katie’s burning eyes. Emma doesn’t seem to know you’re Arsenal players, and it’s pretty refreshing. And you’re relieved to know she won’t talk about your discussion and Katie’s reaction somewhere on Internet.

"You’re cute" smiles Emma while flicking your hair when you explain to her that you’re not from London but from Australia following the question she asks you about your accent.

Surprised by the statement, you look up at her without knowing what to say. She’s probably very pretty too, to be fair. She has a nice smile, she looks very nice and her eyes sparkle with mischief. But she’s not Katie.

"Thank you" you ended up answering weirdly.

But this doesn’t seem to bother Emma who follows by an invitation to go dancing. You accept, hoping that it makes you think about something else than Katie’s look making you the impression that it will pierce you. So you try to focus on the music and find qualities for Emma. You don’t flinch when she puts her hands on your hips to draw you against her to dance. But you withdraw abruptly when you feel her lips approach dangerously yours, teasing them lightly.

"I’m sorry" you mumble before freeing yourself from her arms.

You’re not exactly sure where you’re going to run from, but you are. Until someone grabs both your arms in each of their hands to turn you around. Katie.

"Did she kiss you?"

Her voice trembles with fury and her breath is short. But her gaze plunged into yours and it gives you the impression that there is more than that.

"No"

"Did you want to kiss her?"

Of course there’s more, like every time she kisses you or you make love. It’s not for nothing that you come back every time.

"No" you whisper

After hearing your answer, Katie abruptly breaks the last centimeters that existed between you. Her lips on yours are far from tender, rather passionate and almost desperate. The force of her kiss makes you back to the wall against which you get pinned. Like for your first kiss.

"You’re mine" Katie pants, her forehead against yours, at the end of your kiss.

"Of course I am. The only problem is that you’re not mine back, Katie."

Katie looks at you for a few seconds, her eyes dipped into yours. You are still against the wall, not thinking for a second that all your teammates are now watching you.

"I’m just scared" Katie whispers, and you feel yourself getting soft immediately at her confession.

You raise your hand on her face still leaning against yours by your foreheads. Katie’s soft side has always made you fall harder than her strong character.

"I know. I’m not gonna run away, Katie."

You feel Katie’s eyes probing yours for long seconds, your fingers still drawing the lines of her face. Her breath caresses your lips and it makes you half mad.

"Kiss me again" you almost beg her.

Katie doesn’t hesitate to put her lips on yours again for a new kiss. You put her hands on her neck and slide your nails on her skin, lightly scraching her, like you know she likes. And you can’t help but be proud by hearing her moan against your lips and feeling her tighten impossibly close to you. Stuck between the wall and her body, you can’t focus on anything but her. And it’s delicious.

"Um. I hate myself to interrupt your moment, but you better finish this at either one of your house before you end up on the Internet."

Lost in your world, you didn’t see or feel Leah approach you. Her amused smile makes you blush but you let Katie grab your hand to train you with her.

"Where are we going?" you ask without resisting.

"Home."

By an incredible luck you get to find a taxi directly out of the bar that brings you quickly to Katie. And you’re unable to keep your hands in your pockets the whole way, but in your defense, Katie doesn’t help you be wise either. Luckily it’s not an Uber, otherwise you probably wouldn’t have gotten the five stars.

Arriving at Katie’s, you quickly find yourself where Katie had more or less left you. That is to say trap between her body and a wall, except that this time it’s in her apartment. You manage to reach her bedroom that you know a little less well than she knows yours, losing your clothes on the way. The hours that followed are without comments and just before you fall asleep you wonder how will happen the next morning. Usually, you’re at your apartment and Katie can run away. The good news is you can sit in her living room until you have a full conversation about your relationship.

********

The next morning, when you wake up, you are surprised to see that Katie is always with you in her bed. You are almost wrapped around her, one of your arms around her waist, one of your legs over her and your face just below her shoulder. You realize that Katie is awake when you hear her laugh softly and you look up at her.

Since she wakes up almost every time before you, you haven’t really seen her in the morning. But you doubt you’ve ever found her as beautiful as she was now. You don’t know what’s left in her head about what happened last night. You know that she’s the type to run headlong and you almost expect her to tell you that you have to put a definitive point to your story. Despite the extreme comfort in which you are, you try to take off from Katie, but she frowns by passing an arm around your waist to hold you against her.

"Did you sleep well?" Katie asks, putting a hand in your hair.

"Wonderfully well" you confess without hesitation, lying back in your initial position.

Katie doesn't answer anything, content to smile gently while continuing to caress your hair. That’s the truth, you don’t know when is the last time you slept so deeply and so restfully. And in your opinion, the arms of the Irish are not unknown.

"So..." you begin after minutes of silence.

"Yeah?"

"About last night?"

"What about last night?" Katie asks softly after some moments of hesitation.

The question takes you by surprise and you lift your face from her body, so that you can observe her. But when you look at her face, you immediately see the gleam of fun shining through her eyes. She’s just teasing you and having fun with your nerves. But you decide this time to play her game, unlike other times when you didn’t know what to answer.

"I don’t know? Does it get serious between us or do I have to go get Emma’s number?"

Katie’s eyebrows immediately frown and it’s your turn to hold back an amused smile. You do so with extreme accuracy.

"Don’t you dare"

"Otherwise what?" you ask with amusement as you lift your face up to hers.

But Katie answers nothing, taken to her own game, and just pouts. Her two hands slide on each side of your face to finish in your hair and put back the few strands that were on your face.

"I want you to be mine"

"I told you last night, Katie, I’ve been yours for a long time now."

"Mine only?"

"Of course"

"Mine only in like no one has touched you in a long time?"

"No one since you"

This information seems to satisfy Katie, whose body relax under yours. Her question obviously attracts your curiosity, but you’re not sure that you want to know the answer. Unless it’s obviously what you’re hoping for.

"Stop beating your brains out. I haven’t been with anyone since that kiss in the hallway either" Katie says after a few seconds.

"You really know how to talk to women" you grumble while rolling your eyes, however relieved of this information.

Katie laughs for good this time, putting her hands on your hips to make you turn and find herself above you. A new laugh escapes from her lips when she hears your little cry of surprise, but all this is interrupted when she kisses you.

"Just to be clear, you’re my girlfriend now, yeah?"

You almost want to tease her a little more, but when you see her face tinged with a certain form of shyness, you change your mind. Instead you stretch your neck to lay a kiss on the corner of her jaw.

"With great pleasure" you answer.

"Nice" Katie grins before kissing you again.

[cannellee]

Will you be sharing any yandere omega Tokyo revenge?? 🫣🫣

TOKYO REVENGERS YANDERE OMEGAVERSE ★

୨୧ alpha!yandere! Tokyo revengers x omega! Reader (pairing : mikey, draken, mitsuya, taiju, kokonoi, hanma, izana, sanzu)

— what is it like being in a relationship with them

cw : sex, manipulation, red flags 🚩...

(I'm not doing baji here but later since I got a separate request for him! enjoy!)

౨ৎ my other yandere work : baji

౨ৎ my masterlist : ☆

MIKEY

it's safe to say yandere alpha mikey is a bit protective, to say the least.

always questioning whether his omega will be safe or not, the all consuming fear of losing his relatives is so strong he can't help it.

you can't go out on your own obviously, mikey needs to keep you under his watch and make sure you're not in danger.

that's why he's almost always keeping you inside, only allowing you a brief taste of fresh air once in a while and only if he's with you.

he can't risk losing you.

alpha mikey is proud and possessive, a look your way and he's throwing hands and sending anybody to the hospital.

you learnt the hard way it's better for your safety and everyone's that you listen to him, because once he's set his mind on something, there's no going back.

will actually restrain you if you ever try to leave without his consent. why can't his omega stay still? he knows better than you, he knows what is safe and what isn't, so why are you so adamant to disobey him?

yes he prevents you from going out, yes he's the one who gets to decide what you can wear or not and yes if he tells you to strip, you strip. but, at the end of day, isn't he doing all that for you?

he knows how tough the outside world is, his sweet omega wouldn't last a day. he needs to shield her from the ever so unfair world and show her that mikey is the only one you need.

he can provide, he'll work hard just for you and he'll make sure you're always fed and have a roof over your head.

in exchange, you need to promise you'll stay right by his side.

your delicate self can't handle the roughness of the world.

TAIJU

yandere alpha taiju is violent, you can't change my mind.

he's obsessed with his omega and thinks the only way for him to protect her is to scare her enough she'll never think about disobeying, hence doing stupid things.

taiju is very sure of himself and he knows exactly what an omega like you needs.

you're weak and vulnerable, taiju is going to be your only support in life, be grateful.

wants pups and you'll give it to him. he has a predefined image of the perfect mate : a submissive omega, devoted to her alpha.

and that's what you better be if you don't want taiju to beat you into being a good little pet.

he has no problem using his pheromones to force you into submission either. you can plead and beg all you want, taiju will only stop once you've sworn you'll never upset him again.

you need to initiate pda, he acts like he doesn't like it when you do, but if you don't expect a grumpy taiju. he'll doubt your affection for him. why aren't you clinging to him like any lovesick omega would?

you're too dumb for your own good in taiju's eyes, omegas like you need an alpha in their lives otherwise they're lost and putting themselves in constant danger.

useless to mention, but you can count on taiju to never let you see the sun again. the only thing you need to focus on is him, your alpha. other people are futile.

MITSUYA

now mitsuya is smart and sweet. a great combo which makes your dumb omega brain so oblivious to his manipulation.

treats you like his doll, so delicate and precious, you need his care and attention. his omega is so needy :(

tells you what to wear, scolds you like a child when you misbehave, controls what you eat and your sleep schedule.

you can't handle yourself, mitsuya knows that, and that's why he's here<3

but you won't notice him slowy cutting off your contacts or progressively keeps you more and more inside his house until they point it out to you.

and you realise they're right. it's been so long since you've last went out, you're getting bored. but mitsuya is quick to reason his gullible mate.

how cute of you to think about going out when you have him right next to you! you don't like being with him? even though he des all those things just for you? how ungrateful:(

but mitsuya is so understanding, he knows you're just overwhelmed. don't worry, as your alpha mitsuya will make you feel better<3

now go and make a nest for the both of you, like the good omega you are!

mitsuya will soon come to cuddle you, he knows how needy you are for him<3 he'll praise you for doing so well to please your alpha and you'll thank him for being so kind and reliable. that's the perfect scenario in his head!

DRAKEN

now alpha draken is patient but he makes sure to keep you in line.

while mitsuya can be a bit lax on how you behave, draken will make it clear from the beginning he doesn't tolerate disrespect.

he loves you, he really does, that's why he's so strict when it comes to your relationship.

as his omega, you have your own role you need to follow. draken will follow his, keeping you safe and happy.

in the mean time, you listen to his words without any complaints or he'll have to punish you, and you know he hates that:(

he isn't too rough when it comes to punishment, he'll most likely scold you really harshly, scare you a bit and cuddle you. all of that to put you in your place a little and remind you that, while he can protect you, he also has the power to hurt you really bad.

but he doesn't! because he loves his omega, and you should thank him for that<3

when he's stressed, present yourself to him without a word and let him fuck you until he's satisfied. as a thank you, he'll buy you plushies, nest items... name it and it's yours!

if you obey well, a relationship with draken is actually really great!

KOKONOI

alpha kokonoi is dominant and tends to mock you when you don't listen.

he wants to make you feel dumb, so you don't tempt anything by yourself.

what do you mean you can decide on your own? of course you can't, that's what kokonoi is here for.

now shut up and listen to your alpha for once. you think you can actually be smarter than him? he's sure you're lost if he's not here to guide you.

kokonoi is absolutely delighted by the fact that you're financially dependent on him. and he makes sure it stays that way : not letting you work and cutting all of your ties with the working world.

now he's your only support and he feels so much pride and happiness to know he's that needed by his precious omega.

he will buy you tons of gifts, money doesn't matter when it comes to you. praise him and show him your love, that's all he wants as a thank you!

he is possessive, don't get mistaken by his soft tone and gentle smile.

he'll probably never really get into a fight ; he'd rather ruin someone's life forever. either by using his money or his connections, you know kokonoi can do great things.

he lets your relatives alone though, he knows you would never forgive him. but that doesn't mean he won't threaten you to hurt them if you were to misbehave. of course he wouldn't touch a hair, but you don't need to know that<3

HANMA

worst alpha ever. I hate him sm

alpha hanma has a laidback behaviour, which could trick you into thinking he actually doesn't care about your whereabouts.

but you find out soon enough that you can't escape him.

he's a scent lover, and really possessive. this combo makes him super clingy in an unbothered way (if that makes sense).

always groping you lazily while inhaling your flowery scent, his grasp appears soft but it tightens the more you try to wriggle out of it.

mocks you like you're the stupidest omega on earth, he makes you feel so small and helpless that you sometimes don't even talk back.

and while he gets off the fun it gives him to have a bratty omega by his side, he also loves it when you're submitting yourself to him, never challenging his authority over you.

expect hanma to be absolutely shameless when it comes to sex. he's touching you anywhere anytime, flicking up your skirt and bending you over when you're cooking, pushing you down to your knees when you're out in a dark alley... hanma doesn't care and neither should you.

but your embarrassment, unable to retort anything at all because he's your alpha and he can do whatever pleases him, makes him want to ruin you even more!

IZANA

as his omega, you're not leaving anytime soon.

he probably has you shackled and locked inside a beautifully decorated room, meant for his omega's use only.

it's full of nest items, plushies he precociously chose himself, tons of clothes that smell like him and the food he brings you when you've been good.

the sight would be very pitiful to any outsider, but to izana you looked so perfect, throning over his apartment like a delicate princess.

you can't get out of this room and only izana is allowed to come inside. that means he's the only person you can talk to.

he's so scared to loose you, the only person he loves so much that he's being extra careful!

he actually hopes his vulnerable omega will come to love him as much as he loves you if he's the only one in contact with you.

surely you'll grow desperate for human touch and throw yourself in his arms, right?

forcefully scents you and uses a system of privilege to push you into acting good.

actually thinks he's the reason why you're being a bad omega with him and is reviewing everything he's done so far.

misbehave and he's leaving you on your own for days or even weeks, you won't know for how long and you also won't know if he'll at least come back to feed you.

now you're left in the dark and silence of your room, with nothing to do but overthink and sleep. your brain quickly becomes hazy and cloudy, your mental state not helping at all.

once he's back, you better apologise and beg for him to never let his dumb omega alone again. show him just how much you need him, he relishes on your neediness for him.

your anguished whining and pleading, along with your sad scent is enough of a proof that you don't need any more punishment.

he loves that his method worked on you and that you've grown to become so dependent on him<3 he'll have to be more careful in the future though, it seems his omega is more vulnerable than he thought:(

SANZU

now sanzu probably is the worst alpha actually (I was a bit harsh with hanma😒)

is 100% drugging you. he can't have his omega disobeying him and being so trashy with him when he's only trying to cuddle.

you become so docile once you've swallowed a couple of pills sanzu can't help but abuse it.

he's making you gulp down the strangest of drugs. they now messed with your head and you never complain at all!

you've become the most clingy omega and he's not complaining! your glossy eyes and blurred speech is just so cute, you messy but sweet scent is like a drug on its own, he can't resist you<3

sanzu is one to drag you basically anywhere with him. but of course you're not allowed to speak or look at anyone beside of him.

that why you keep your eyes glued to the ground. and when you're at one of his club and you're left all alone for a few minutes, it doesn't matter if you're being bothered or harassed : shut up and wait for your alpha. he's not far away anyway.

the alpha that was being annoying is shot dead the moment sanzu sees him within a perimeter of 10 metres from to you.

by now, everyone is accustomed to his antics and know to never talk to you.

he has so shame as well, and will force you to have sex basically anywhere if he feels like it. especially if someone was about to threaten his claim on you.

you're his, nobody should even look at his property wth.

now he's fucking you on the couch of the vip room of his club, the music blasting outside making you dizzy and his pheromones forcefully wetting your entrance.

sanzu will never let you go, he'd rather die than doing so<3

[anyydidi]

Okay, I might be crazy, or someone might have already pointed it out (after all, I am sighs a new fan), but hear me out on this.

Am I the only one who kinda compares the relationship between Gideon and Mabel to Billford?

I feel like they are the easiest way to show that you can agree that Billford is indeed canon, while still acknowledging all the terrible things Bill has done to Ford.

To be completely honest, my focus is more on the similarities between Gideon and Bill, than Mabel and Ford. I'm sure I could find some, but let's focus on the two that are more prominent.

Gideon is the perfect example when you want to point out that Bill has "loved" (in quotes, since people like Bill or Gideon (till Weirdmaggedon) aren't capable of real love) Ford even through all he has done to him in the past and in the present.

We know that since the introduction of Gideon, he had this incredible obsession with Mabel. Instantly he wanted her to be his and would go to great lengths to get her. He wasn't afraid to lie and manipulate. He wasn't afraid to hurt her through her own brother. When he didn't, in fact, get her for himself, he turned on her and her entire family. Now, his obsession stayed persistent. He still claimed to love her, even though he was ready and literally planning to rid her of her home and family. He prioritised his own selfish goals in obtaining the Mystery Shack and power, than her, well, welfare. He also wasn't opposed to physically hurting her on multiple occasions. Yes, he did always give her a chance to join him by his side, but the second she refused, he'd try to hurt her, or worse, just straight up kill her alongside her family. Remind you of someone?

The point I'm trying to make is that, while Billford is on a whole another level, these two relationships are kind of similiar. Dare I say parallels? I don't know.

The differences are that Mabel has never fallen for Gideon's flattery and did not take his bullshit, while Ford obviously has fallen and taken Bill's. Gideon at the end did switch up and redeem himself by finally seeing love for what it truly is and put Mabel over his own selfish wants, while Bill stayed on his path and was more content to torture Ford than give up his centuries-old plan to dominate the universe.

Bill might have adored in the past, probably still adored Ford in some way till his death, even though he was incredibly abusive towards him. The line between love and hate is incredibly thin, and can get mixed up on multiple occasions. Gideon hurt Mabel, while still claiming that he loved her and Bill probably did the same with Ford. For Bill, Ford was a plaything, a pet. But children can still care for their playthings and owners can care for their pets, while throwing them away in the end when they cross their path. Bill had tried to keep Ford by his side, but alas, Ford truly did not want his world to become a playground for an interdimensional being, so he crossed Bill's path. Bill had his priorities sorted, and his number one spot was taken by his dreams of domination, so he threw Ford away, which might have hurt a little (maybe even a lot, who knows), but he was still a meaning to an end.

So, this is my surprisingly long rant on how the people who claim that there is no way that Bill and Ford might have had something more intimate going on in the past, when Bill has hurt and wronged Ford on multiple occasions, do NOT understand toxic love!! And I am showing that through a strange relationship between children!

[igotanidea]

Home : bat!family x bat!sister

Summary: no one gets to offend my siblings and father. No one but me. I'll make sure of it.

***

Maybe it was a bad idea to apply for that Erasmus program and leave her brothers and adoptive father alone for whole three months. Sure, studying abroad, expanding knowledge, learning language and customs was an amazing experience, but it came with the cost. The price of being in fear that her family would get themselves in trouble, pain, fight they could not recover from.

The first two weeks of her adventure was the worst, since she was waking up at most random night hours, ready to jump into fight, those vigilantes instincts and habits kicking in.

Those were the nights when she was turning and tossing in her bed unable to close an eye and in result sneaking out her dorm room and walk around the campus like the ghost. The quietness and peacefulness of her surroundings at the academy were so different from those she knew in Gotham, it was almost disturbing.

There was no denying that Y/N was the smartest in the family, even Tim admitted it once (obviously not while talking to her, but she overheard his conversation with Bernard) but at times like this she was second-guessing her choices.

Due to her specific upbringing and family background she also never managed to form any deep connection with her fellow students, preferring to stay by herself, focus on the task and putting a lot of work into expanding her knowledge and skills in technology. She never complained, but from other people’s perspective she was an eremite. Kind, polite with perfect manners when someone asked her for something or while working in group, but still highly reserved. Just like her adoptive father, whose relation to she was trying to keep a secret. And it worked up to the day when one of the lecturers accidentally called her  “Miss  Wayne” in front of the whole class. The second he did it the air in the auditorium froze. She might have been in different country, but for God’s sake she was studying technology, of course everyone heard about the Wayne Enterprises and the  Bruce Wayne.

“You’re his daughter?” one of the boys in the lower row turned around and eyed her suspiciously

“Yes. Adoptive one.”

“Of course. He’s well known for taking kids in, right? Seems like some sort of complex or maybe even a disease” he smirked and it made the girl clench her fist. Her relationship with Bruce might have been rocky, but no one except her and her brothers were allowed to judge and offend him.”

“Care to elaborate on that?” she hissed, eyeing the guy with ice cold gaze

“Miss Y/L/N! Mister Olsen! Please calm down and sit down!” the teacher tried to make up for his mistake but it was far too late for that.

“You misspelled my name once, might as well keep calling me Wayne now.”  the tone of her voice matched the gaze. She was not going to let the guy easily, but getting in trouble with the dean was not a part of her plan. “Now, can we continue with the lecture? I don’t know about anyone else in her, but speaking for myself I would love to actually learn something useful.”

***

Y/N was the middle child. Younger than Dick and Jason, older than Tim and Damian which placed her literally halfway  in the family. Because of that she was a mix of responsibility and carelessness, doing her own thing, not always the right way, but still capable of getting away with a lot more than the others. Not as family oriented as Dick, feeling a bit overshadowed by Jason, highly competitive with Tim and more independent and individualistic than Damian. Still, even despite her “boss bitch” attitude, she was sandwiched between her brothers which made her the best negotiator and mediator in the family. Y/N also had a strong sense of fairness and morality and would always try her best to do the right things. Objectively, not subjectively. And making fun of her family was not one the things she could forget. However, before taking any action she had to gather intel, figure out what the guy knew and then come right at him.

***

Waiting till the end of the class was probably the greatest torture she ever had to endure, every minute stretching into infinity and when it was over the sense of relief almost made her drop the plan. Almost.

“I’m not done with you, Olsen.” she was faster to the door, stopping her potential victim from getting away.

“You want more, Wayne?”

“Please. Hit me with your best shot. What is your problem with my family, exactly?”

“Let me think” he tapped his chin. “There are so many. Like for instance, your oldest brother. What was his name again? Oh, right! Dick. Suits him quite well, doesn’t it. A prick, if you ask me. Definitely a show-off with no skills.” He scoffed “Shall I continue?”

“ Please. You got like three more people to gossip about.”

“The second in line, Jason, right? Oh, the unhinged  one. Violent, mocking, thinking he is better than anyone else around, when in reality he’s just a lost, scared child. Probably a dumbass too.”

“Pretty sure he would agree with that. Now what about Tim and Damian?”

At this point Olsen was getting a bit surprised that the girl in front of him was still unfazed. Her calmness, a sign of silent inside fury making him slightly uncomfortable.   Not enough to stop however.

“Drake…..” the name rolled of his tongue while the boy was wondering what words to choose “oh, he’s the gay one, right? Such a shame that the renowned Wayne family has someone like that as a member. Bet your father would never take him in, if he knew. A fairy becoming the next CEO of his renowned company. How ironic!”

“Hm.” Oh, Y/N was so much like Bruce at times and it showed in the least expected moments.

Damn that girl! How could it not make her angry?

“And …… Damian, the only biological child. Absolutely maladjusted and unaware of social norms and boundaries. Tell me, how was it like to have your youngest brother violate your boundaries and personal space?”

“It was. ….educatory. Just like it was with everything you just said. You presented yourself as someone with some serious psychological issues and possibly an unhealthy interest in my family’s life. So thank you, it truly was illuminating.”

***

“What the hell did you do Y/N?” a very alerted Dick appeared  on the other side of the screen

“I have no idea what you are talking about.” The girl sighted and fell onto the cushions bringing the computer onto her lap to see her brother better

“Don’t lie to me now, sis.”

“I wouldn’t even dream of it.”

“Bruce has been on the phone for the last fifteen minutes and from what I figured it’s about something that happened on the campus.”

“The only thing happening on the campus are students who skip classes.” She mumbled “maybe except that one time when one of the boys lost some stupid bet and blew up the fountain as some sort of punishment. That was funny.”

A little grunt was heard on Dick’s side and for a second he disappeared from the screen.

“Dick?”

“Sorry, I had a little interruption.” He rubbed his forehead “Now, back onto what you did…..”

“Did you say that someone blew the fountain?” third face appeared on the screen in the corner, taking over the conversation.

“Hello, Jason.”

��Hi sis. Maybe I should have joined you in your academic career. Seems like you have a lot of fun there. Besides, I never really finished school, since you know…. I died.”

“We know.” Y/N and Dick said in unison

“Always a good opportunity to remind you, right?” he grinned “Now, sis, tell me, how was it going full rogue on fellow student? I gotta admit I’m proud of you here.”

“So that’s what this is about?” Dick’s eyes grew wider than ever “I;m gonna ask you once again, Y/N. what did you do?”

“Nothing permanent.”

“What…..?”

“Cut her some slack, Grayson.”

“Look who decided to join us.” Y/N smirked “improved your computer skills much, Damian?”

“I got tired of being left out.”

“Since when do you care about the group?”

“Leverage, sis. Knowledge is power, I thought you knew that.”

“Ok, that is enough!” Dick finally lost his patience “I’m trying to have a conversation with my little sis here. Both of you, get out of the line!”

“Mhm, keep dreamin’ Dickhead.”

“For once I agree with Todd.”

“You have no right to…..”

“Guys…..” Y/N tried to mitigate them, but deep inside she enjoyed their bantering. It was a while since she experienced it and only now realized how familiar it was.

“I was here first!” Dick yelled “And I’m the oldest”

“No one cares Grayson! You are a Bludhaven resident now.  Just because you visit the manor does not mean you can keep Y/N busy using the wayne’s devices!”

“Don’t you have someone to kill in the crime alley, Jay?”

“Unlike you, I succeeded in all my latest missions.”

“Is that what you call coming back to your safe house bloodied and injured. You were on the verge of death!” Damian smirked “you were absolutely inept, that’s not a success.”

“You were what, now?!” Y/N shrieked. Her second oldest brother was sometimes too careless.

“It was not that bad, Y/N, I swear. And how the fuck do you know about it, demon?”

“I have my ways.”

“I would suspect Drake of spying on me, but you?”

“Speaking of the devil, I’m surprised Tim hasn’t already join us.” Dick muttered

“Oh, he did.” Y/N pointed out

“WHAT?” her brothers cried. Now there was another one fighting for her attention and it was not a secret that Tim was her favorite making the situation harder.

“I did.” Tim chuckled  “Well, to tell the truth Y/N let me in the channel. We have our ways with technology. Something none of you could ever fully understand. “

“Of course not….”

“Cheer up, Dami. You can’t monopolize all the areas.”

“I would beg to differ.”

“Ok, everyone hold up here. I think we lost the point of the conversation. The thing was that Bruce was on the phone, probably taking to the dean about….”

“Y/N played a little prank on her classmate, is that right?” of course Tim was the one who everything best.

 “He deserved it.”

“Y/n…..”

“Stop using the big brother voice on me! It’s not going to work!”

“How about we use Damian’s youngest one?” Dick teased

“I refuse to be used in this….”

“SHUT UP DAMIAN!” Dick and Jason shouted together and shared a murderous look between one another. Now they were both desperate to find out what happened since Tim would rather die than spill the bean. It was infuriating. They were the older brothers! This had to mean something.

“Ok, that’s it.” Damian stood up and the view of the empty chair in the place where his face should be was highly disturbing.

“That is not good.” Y/N said out loud something that all of them already knew. Her presumptions turned out to be right a second later when the shouting and yelling reverberated through the speakers and a blur of black and green rushed into Dick’s room.

“hey, I want to join the fight too!” Jason started up and with a speed, Wally West could be jealous of involved in the mix of limbs and screams.

“Wait! I though Dick was in Bludhaven! Tim?”

“Not today. We’re all in the manor.”

“And you idiots were talking to me through four different computers?”

“Are you actually surprised?”

“On second thought, not at all.” She sighed. It’s a good thing you are the reasonable one here…..”

“There you are, Timmy” now the situation has turned as it was Dick who appeared in the door of Tim’s bedroom “you are not  getting out of this. If you want Y/n to yourself you have to fight me.”

“And me!” Jason tackled Dick to the ground with a loud thump

“Losers!” Damian jumped over their bodies and came right at Tim

Because of their actions, Y/N was the only one who noticed two men stepping from the shadows and exchanging some words. Apparently Bruce wasn’t capable of putting the boys in their places and asked Alfred to try this instead. And a single grunt from the butler did a miracle as all of them stood up and started explaining and apologizing. Funny as it was, Y/N knew that with Bruce’s arrival she was heading straight towards preaching from her father.

“Y/N.”

“Hello Bruce.”

“Did you break his arm?”

“You broke his arm?” Dick was halfway out but turned back immediately

“No.” Y/n shook her head “I broke his arm and hurt his legs.”

“Don’t forget that you also demolished his dorm room.”

“That wasn’t me. That was….”

“Did you go at him as a vigilante? Wow! Way to go, sis. Now I truly am proud of you.”

“Ok, both of you, out!” Bruce lost the rest of his patience pushing Dick and Jay away. “Now that we are alone…….” he sighed deeply closing the door tight  

“I;m not sorry.”

“Oh, I know. And I’m not mad, because I’m sure you had a reason to do it. So tell me, why?”

“you…. you want to know ?”

“Of course. Look Y/n, I’m aware I won’t get  a father of the year cup from you, but I care all right? Did that boy hurt you and you took retaliation? Just tell me….”

“He was talking shit about our family.”

“And you felt the urge to protect the Wayne’s honor?” Bruce smirked “this is so not like you.”

“Honor, my ass. We’ve lost that ages ago, Bruce. The only thing I was protecting was my sole privilege of mocking you. No one else is allowed to do it.”

“I’ll be sure not to tell your brothers that you miss them. “

“That would be most welcome.”

“And you have to know that we don’t miss you either, y/n.” father and daughter’s gazes met and they both nodded in silent agreement, right corners of their mouths lifting almost unnoticeable. “You coming to visit next week?”

***

Something was wrong.

Something was terribly wrong and that tingling sensation became unbearable the second she climbed the manor’s stairs and reach for the doorknob with a heartrate so fast it would send anyone else straight into cardiac arrest. Y/N however kept her cold blood, focusing on what may happened inside and considering her options and strategies for a potential fight.

She could not expect  that the moment she opened the door four figures would jump out from the shadows making the noise that would bring the dead from behind the grave. It startled her and as a result she stumbled back, hitting the wardrobe and making it shake. She could not expect that on said wardrobe there would be packets and packets of paint and that those would fall down straight on her making her look like some abstractionism painting.

“I hate you all.” She muttered while her brothers run away in four different directions.

“Welcome home, miss Y/N” Alfred approached her with a tissue so she could at least wipe the paint from her eyes.

“Home.” She whispered “Yes, it definitely feels like it.”

It was good to be back.

But she was still going after them. .....

Later. When they would least expect it.

[fumifooms]

Analysis of Laios’ succubus and theories on what it means - deep dive on Laios’ desires in human connections

Laios’ succubus is a very odd incident. I have some particular interpretations of why it was Marcille, and why things went down the way they did.

We know that a succubus shows what one desires, stated in canon as “an alluring form”; yes often in a romantic or sexual sense, as seen with Chilchuck’s succubus being entirely set on looks and seduction, meanwhile Marcille’s does have a focus on chivalrous noble demeanor as well, showing romantic behavior and personality. BUT with Izutsumi we also see that the liaison doesn’t have to be romantic or sexual at all, either, in Izutsumi’s case it’s a familial bond she craves. So perhaps we can say that the succubus exploits a desire based on connection, in whichever form that takes. Marcille wants an emotional connection foremost(which is also reflected in how it’s a character she knows very well and not a stranger. Perhaps romantic.), Chilchuck wants pleasure(a simple pleasure not unlike alcohol, perhaps such a connection is free of the more risky or unpleasant parts of a relationship, he doesn’t have to worry or to think and can just let himself go. Sexual.), Izutsumi wants a mother figure that can offer her warmth and comfort with who she doesn’t have to be tough (Familial), and I believe Laios’ is platonic and centered on his desire to have people with who he belongs and can be himself with…

But Laios’ case is more complex, it has layers. The thing is, even if Laios wanted to have someone able to turn him into a monster—which it didn’t even have to be, could straight up have just been a monster with such powers—, it didn’t have to be someone he knew. You could say the succubus wanted to disarm Laios’ suspicions with someone he knew and that was nearby, but the succubus seem very direct in every other case, simply appearing with someone’s greatest appearance even though both Marcille and Chilchuck were fully on guard and the succubi knew it. "Believability" isn’t an important factor. No, his succubus being someone he knew was important. It being Marcille was important.

There’s a TLDR at the end of this if you want to cut it short. For everyone else, strap in everyone, if you don’t know me hi I’m Fumi and I made this 3k words long analysis and theorizing bc I am autistic much like the character in question and I think this is both fascinating and has a lot to say. In this I offer both platonic and romantic reasonings and I do go rather in depth in Laios’ psychology and relationships to dissect what ever could this damn cryptic event MEAN. Spoilers for the succubus chapters obviously and also the last few arcs of the series so… Spoilers for the series as a whole!

—

So attraction wise it’s kinda unsure where Laios stands. He does sort of logically list off aesthetically pleasing traits of the orc’s wives, but besides that… Not really, or he never voices it anyways. He and Marcille never share like “omg you’re pretty” moments or anything. Senshi gets more compliments than either of them through the series lmfao. Maybe Laios is asexual, maybe he simply doesn’t show outwardly his attraction much or even maybe isn’t self-aware about it, regardless… Laios HAS implied preference for Marcille’s looks in the past. With the orcs, he said that “tallmen like long ears”. Laios’ shapeshifter of Marcille has her hair down just like her succubus, which by Kui is explained to be because she had it down when she revived Falin and it really marked him, though it could also be interesting to see it as his mental image of her as her most authentic self, I’ve seen it theorized that it’s a preference too but I think that’s disproven. But of course the most damning evidence itself… The succubus scene. It could have been anyone else in the party, certainly Senshi shares Laios’ interest in monsters much more already. We shouldn’t discredit the way Laios was blushing madly once she revealed she was a monster, that made her more attractive to Laios for sure, but he still wouldn’t have reacted that way if it was just anyone. The contexts are very different, but we can compare it to how Laios reacted when Lycion turned into a wolf man in front of him for instance. Laios certainly doesn’t act that way with Izutsumi- and it’s confirmed like a page later that he does see Izutsumi as a monster already. AND!! Laios starts blushing madly BEFORE she says that she can turn him into a monster- and we can safely assume that the blush isn’t out of simple fluster but out of desire/infatuation since he clearly wants her to bite him in the next page and his blush does not relent at all.

There’s something we could say about Laios’ liking of Marcille being born out of companionship rather than aesthetic attraction, on familiarity and intimacy. As members of the same party they’ve spent a lot of time together and we’ve seen that Laios trusts in her and relies on her for her skillset and avice. If Laios’ interest in her developped more naturally and gradually, valuing the familiar bond they have, I don’t see why he’d be acting all blushy and lovesick every time they interact or whatever, which is the explanation I have for Marcille genuinely being Laios’ most alluring form but him not freezing at the sight of it. That could also be a reason why he physically rejects succubus!Marcille instinctively, because something about her feels off or different (which is sorta the most direct interpretation of the scene, since Laios’ first thought is that it can’t be Marcille and must be a monster).

 [Edited in: Oh my god. The picture above is the last page of the dullahan chapter, chapter 57, a chapter that centers around Laios and Marcille’s relationship through flashbacks as Laios is on the brink of death and sees his life flashing before his eyes (he remembers how they first met, etc, which is also interesting to note that on the brink of death he reminisces about her the most). The last page of that chapter, more or less the thesis of the chapter in which we see Laios opens up about the real reason he and Falin go dungeon diving to her after them having a rough meeting but she turns out to also have an interest in dungeons, has Laios go "she starts out frowning but she ends up smiling! Wether its’s about eating monsters or about me :)”. That chapter is the one right before th succubus chapters. Laios’ most alluring form wasn’t “just” Marcille, it’s a SMILING Marcille. Which is why the succubus had such a weird and off demeanor right away (which gets knocked off once it doesn’t work and becomes a more Marcille-like Marcille)! It was only focused on smiling because it was the angle it was working from.

Oh my god it makes sense. It’s a direct narrative link, it’s as explicitly put with its story structure without Kui just stating it, besides, you know, the many times Laios says how precious her smile is to him. He’s like “I love her smile” and right next chapter the succubus is like “yes this is what he likes seeing most”. But… This also does mean that the focus might be less romantic, like Marcille’s significance doesn’t diminish, but then the alluring form might be less about her and more about the smile itself. About having a friend who looks at him like that, about someone who smiles after eating monster dishes or surpassing obstacles together… Or it can actually be so much more romantic. Like, maybe the smiling Marcille doesn’t work is because well, it’s not like Marcille, she wouldn’t just be smiling like that and behave like that (esp since his musing is about how her smiles are sort of “earned”, that she doesn’t smile right away but it’s sort of like a rewarding sight when she does). So then the most alluring form of Marcille doesn’t work because she doesn’t convincingly BEHAVE like her. His most alluring form isn’t a Marcille-lookalike, it’s her as a whole. More on the succubus shifting/switching in its approach later.]

Anyways.

Where was I. Ah yes, “It could have been anyone else in the party, certainly Senshi shares Laios’ interest in monsters much more already.” But then that’s the point isn’t it. I think Laios’ succubus being Marcille is because his wish isn’t so much focused on her, or on becoming a monster, but on not being alone. On being understood. On having others finally share his interest. On not only becoming a monster, but having someone to share that with. A trusted friend, a companion, or a lover, it matters little in my interpretation, the bedrock of it stays the same. And this is why it’d be someone he already knew instead of someone new, because it’d defeat the point, and it was maybe Marcille because she’s the most vocal about finding monsters disgusting: it’d have finally been a shift in her that she now liked monsters. And again this brings back to when he talks about her smile, when he says that she starts out unhappy with eating monsters, but ends up smiling by the end of it. Her smile itself represents that though first impression or reflexive dislike, someone can turn around and end up liking it anyways, it’s hope for his interests to be liked and perhaps for him to be lovable as well, that it’s possible to be accepted.

But I do think it would be a mistake to say that there’s absolutely no romantic interest, that it’s plainly platonic or another kind of interest misplaced and idealized in her. What we saw with the other succubus is that they 100% act in ways that the person desires, sure Izutsumi’s start attacking after a while, but that was after pushing them over the edge, and succubus Marcille wasn’t being agressive nor did she have a reason to be (even when she could have with Laios’ choking, she didn’t turn to violence, so she was 100% still in seduction mode). Ultimately the goal of the succubus is to make physical contact to be able to suck their essence, but the way they go about achieving that is tailored to the individual’s desire, Marcille’s kissed her hand and Izutsumi’s offered a hug.  The succubus can identify and embody complex desires, often subconscious ones, shown with Izutsumi’s. They go straight to it without complex subterfuge either. Chilchuck’s succubi were very direct because that’s what he wanted, Marcille’s was courtly because that’s what she wanted, Izutsumi’s offered motherly comfort and affection because that’s what she wanted, and Laios’ is Marcille attempting to kiss him. Let that sink in.

Laios why are you choking the supposed key to your heart?

Ok so the theory that Laios’ desire is to have a deeper companionship from an existing companion is pretty tame and surface level I’d say, but strap in… The way Laios reacted violently to Marcille trying to kiss him is VERY interesting. The first thing he thinks about is that she isn’t Marcille so she must be a succubus, then confusion at to why it’s her. He’s even afraid of what the others would think, feeling… Shame? With how he imagines Marcille would be horrified that he likes her that way. Fear of rejection?

But no no, what interests me is the shift that the succubus makes. It seemed very confident at first, went straight in, but when overpowered shifted the direction it was going in- shifted from a desire for Marcille to a desire for a monster Marcille and whatever deeper desire that hides. But??? Succubi did not make mistakes as to what someone wanted thus far, possibly that has never ever happened before by human records. Could the succubus truly have miscalculated what Laios desires? It’d be hard to imagine that the succubus would misunderstand what type of companionship someone wished for or what approach to take, since it’s done complex cases before too, Izutsumi being very much in denial before it & at first. In Izutsumi’s case, even with her complex feelings over it and her two souls desiring different things, the succubus did not miss its mark, and ultimately it was having a second soul for who the succubus wasn’t alluring that allowed her not to be frozen to the spot. But with Laios the succubus fully switches strategy.

The thing is that succubi don’t usually need to switch strategies, because the form and approach they take always work and always leave the victim frozen. Izutsumi bypassed this because of her two souls, but was still frozen and struggling to reject the succubus at first. And yet? Laios did. A succubus’ victim is supposed to be instantly frozen, and yet Laios acts on instinct and defensively agressive as soon as his reaction time allows. And well, it’s hard to really come to a logical conclusion as to why, since we have no idea of what rules can override a succubus’ temptation besides multiple souls… C’mon regular Marcille can’t be the winged lion/kenksuke’s desire bc of the loose hair being Laios’ mind-Marcille we’ve gone over this /hj Although, since it’s confirmed that the winged lion was watching with the dream Laios gets induced right after, maybe he’s what allowed Laios to be moving? It’s possible that it’d have frozen him otherwise, even if Laios with his full rationale wouldn’t have accepted the kiss faced with supernatural allure he might have gotten paralysis from being overwhelmed, similarly to how if Chilchuck had his full rationale he wouldn’t allow a woman like his succubus to kiss him (he’s always stayed faithful to his wife even after 4 years of separation, give the guy his earned credit). Getting somewhat offtopic, but something to say about how if that’s the case once again the theme of ‘irrational desire you crave vs what you truly want/need’ that is present throughout the manga would be reflected.

My best guess however on why Laios reacted so quickly and forcefully is: trauma. The more recent arcs with Laios suggest that Laios has deep-seated trauma over humans. He dislikes humans as a whole, that was like, pretty much stated, though perhaps exaggerated. As a kid he fantasized about monsters wiping out human towns. We know Laios has been ostracized for most of his life by others, in his village and in the military, and beyond social rejection it’s shown he got beaten in group too and it was implied that it happened regularly. But damn, disliking humans to the point of wanting to be a monster and murderous genocidal reclusive envies and all of that stuff? That is massive trauma, massive identity & belonging issues and hint at massive trust issues.

So then, the negative reaction could be because of Laios’ deep trauma with humans. Because of trauma getting activated, not due to a miscalculation on the succubus’ part but due to a contradicting dislike of the desire that makes the form inherently and straight out of the gate un-alluring, Laios’ repression being so strong that he’s able to affect his own desires in that way, or an instinctive defense response to the trigger (a human).   Even though Laios hides it well, once again recent arcs (and some other moments) make it clear that Laios still has some innate dislike of humans, which in canon is a term that all races like elves fit in. He has a bias against them, perhaps even an innate distrust of them. Who knows how aware he is of it, or how much control and will he has over it. What if Laios reacting agressively to it was his defense mode tied to this kicking in, a survival and security instinct, stopping any possibility of Laios wanting a romantic relationship with a human? Any chance of that human getting close and being hurt by it, either rejected or stabbed in the back? It’d then make sense if Laios is unaware and doesn’t understand his attraction to Marcille then, if it’s a sort of self-made blockage, denial. And that’d make full sense with how, when Marcille is suddenly a monster, then all of Laios’ reluctance is gone and he’s fully enthralled, all that it took was taking away that one blockage for Laios to be utterly charmed. It takes away the trigger element, humans, and replaces it for something safer. A desire for connections, but connections with people that are ‘safe’, people who also don’t fit in with society, who are part of his interest in monsters, who would accept and understand him. I think that Laios does desire human connections, specifically, but can’t allow himself to pursue them either from conscious or unconscious trauma, so though he does desire it he can’t accept that he does/can’t accept the relationship even if it’s handed to him on a silver platter.

Conclusion

The succubus’ shift could then be either that it switched from one wish, a wish for Marcille, to another, a wish for companionship in monster-liking, or that it stayed on the same fundamental wish, but had to improvise with the new information (that Laios is human-averse)(not bc it didn’t exist previously but bc it wasn’t manifested) to take out of the equation the thing that was holding Laios back (from giving in).

But well, the fact that the rest of the party is included does lean towards the former, but in any case that doesn’t erase all I’ve spoken about, all about how Marcille is 100% the focus of this whole thing. It could still be a bit of both. But it is interesting that he worries about the party’s reaction to seeing his succubus being Marcille, and when she shifts into monster Marcille he *still* worries about the others: “b-but what about the others?” He’s a mess, with his most alluring form seducing him, and he still has a shred of resistance in him to question how the others would react, and it’s only when she says that they’re already monsters too that he truly gives in. Is he really so afraid of ostracization? Of losing the people he cares about due to judgement? Then the mention of the others in the party can simply be something the succubus added on top to unlock another “blockage”, the same way she added Marcille being a monster on top of the basic premise of Marcille; Take out the immediate dismissal of humans first, and then the fear of loss and judgement from other friends so Laios can finally stop worrying and give in. That worry/framing I’d say makes the latter more credible, because it’s not the premise of the alluring form but an extra.

In the end, like the recent arcs kind of spell out, the thing central to Laios’ character is less so a love for monsters and moreso a dislike for humans, and this is what this puts on full display.

Laios’ most alluring form is Marcille, a human that doesn’t understand his interests and thus him, and regardless of everything else that Marcille is, that is so traumatic to him that all of his being immediately rejects it.

—

Thanks for coming to my ted talk! I’ve spent so much time thinking about this and wording and rewording this same train of thought, also it’s the end of my college semester and I’m going crazy

Tldr: My personal fav theory for Laios’ succubus is that Laios really values Marcille’s smile a ton like it’s often mentioned, and that’s what his most alluring form centers on. I’ve got a ton of different interpretation on the why it’d go for a kiss? Since it tailors its approach to the person’s desires, but obviously something goes wrong with Laios’, which is really interesting because even with Izutsumi who resists because she has 2 souls so one part of her can always remain unaffected, the succubus hit bullseye on her most alluring forms. But regardless of that, I think his desire for Marcille (either her or what she represents, wether as a platonic ideal or something else) isn’t wrong/untrue perse, but that Laios has such a complex with humans and intimacy and connecting with others that his defense mode kicks in and that’s when the succubus has to shift into a different, safer desire: one that doesn’t involve humans but that still shows connections and acceptance and belonging. Also Laios realizes that it isn’t Marcille when she goes in for the kiss, which if his allure for her is based on familiarity since they’re friends and all could make sense that it’d break him away from it, or since it’s a liking based on familiarity he doesn’t freeze, or maybe it’s because the winged lion has its eye on him. I think that’s so much more likely with how Kui makes even her jokes be character moments or at least consistent, and also with the tension of the scene, than just the scene being a gag about how Marcille doesn’t mean much to Laios actually.

I think there’s a lot to be said about why Marcille is special to Laios, why her smile means something to him, etc, and I don’t think saying Marcille is special to him is exaggeration or reaching at all. Laios, Marcille and Falin are the golden trio, she’s the deuteragonist, she’s the only other character in the main party whose goal in going back for Falin is Falin and who has a bond with her and Laios outside of being coworkers, in post-canon they live together, happily, in the anime’s ending they’re emphased on by dining out all three together... I could go on.   Marcille has the benefit of being very trusted by Laios, not only with the time they’ve spent together but how she was Falin’s friends first, the person he himself feels so protective of and has been so consistently ostracized throughout her life. Marcille represents a positive odd one out that’s like, the good example of "humanity can be good and safe and warm actually".  Which is a big reason why imo Marcille is like, the secondary protag and with Falin they form the golden trio. She’s central to the story in many ways including making Laios see that humanity is worth saving and sticking with, but that’s a topic for another analysis. One such reason is how his first meeting with her went: it started really badly but ended with her coming around and unexpectedly sharing their interest in dungeons, which made him and Falin open up about the real reason they go dungeon diving, perhaps for the first time. There is just so much that goes into it but Laios seems generally very expectant of rejection: in the climax chapters after he transformed back as a human and was hiding out in the woods, pre-canon in an extra where we see him battling himself on if he should suggest eating monsters or not. But another one, the one I truly want to bring up in this post, is how genuine Marcille is! And funnily enough, how dramatic she is, and how her elf ears change position depending on her emotions. Like, let me compare her affectionately to a dog for a second, but dogs move their ears and use whole body language to communicate, and I think that part of Marcille, really strong emoting, with her ears and body language on top of her often dramatic facial expressions, reassure him. Like ok, maybe he can’t tell when Shuro and Kabru would lie to him, but Marcille? She wears her heart on her sleeve and her feelings on her whole self. And that takes away some of the stress and trauma he has with humans, explains why her smiles would “put him at ease”, doesn’t it?

I don’t remember wether I’ve mentioned this somewhere or just in my reblog linked at the end of the post, but while at first I thought the succubus going for a kiss on the lips heavily implied a romantic desire in Laios,  now I have a couple different theories on why the succubus would have gone for that approach. I think the most likely is that, if the principal allure of his succubus is her smile, the succubus is like "as long as he sees her face right up until i can suck up his blood and he passes out I’ll be gucci", so it’s not about the kiss but about him seeing her face all the while until the very last moment, so he stays charmed.

Btw chapter 34 explores Laios’ relationship with touch too imo, and we see that he is uncomfortable with touch to some degree, very unsure and hesitant and tense. I feel like it’s something more shown in a bigger picture sense with his whole struggles with humans and extras, than just in any one page so go reread the beginning of that chapter if you want I’d say, but putting a page below as example anyways. I think it’s notable that it’s a character moment shared with Marcille too, she acts sort of like a bridge to humanity with social propriety and being extroverted in many cases. In the chapter Chil and Marcille point out how awkward he is with touch, but he learns to be casual/comfy enough about touch to do healing magic with her (something that was also enforced through him having to practice magic on Marcille turned to stone, he got a lot of touch exposure and magic practice done in those days. Dammit Laios, MArcille and touch is worthy of a whole analysis of its own). She’s just like, his human comfort zone, even if they aren’t that close at least at first, besides Falin he has literally like no friends and I think that itself shows how he doesn’t fit in well socially and that it’s a significant struggle for him. But yes what I was saying here is I believe there’s setup for him recoiling from touch like he did with the succubus (due to an instinctive aversion to touch made especially intense due to the succubus’ oddness and forwardness).

I have even more theories and rambling on details on the succubus here in a reblog, but unless I want to put in some pictures of Laios repressing himself around others and such I don’t think I’ll be touching this post again in a while

[holdmytesseract]

A Stroke Of Fate

☆ The Baby Fever AU ☆

Loki x Y/N

Summary: Life isn't always sunshine and rainbows. You and Loki learn that in a very hard way. A path you are forced to walk on, which puts your love, relationship and even marriage to the test.

Warnings: 18+! MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING! PROCEED WITH CAUTION! Angst, grief, sadness, loss, fights, mentions of injuries, pregnancy/pregnancy loss! trauma, misunderstandings, inappropriate touching - no rape, but it goes in that direction, violence? fluff! tiny bit of suggestive smut - blink and you'll miss it. Tell me if I missed something!

Word Count: 6k

a/n: This is most likely the saddest thing I have ever written - and it hurt me to the very core to do this to Y/N and Loki, but I had to. The idea was in my head for a long time. I fully blame 'Stay' by Rihanna and Mikky Echo.

Also, this isn't just another Baby Fever fic... This takes their story into a new direction - kind of...

Baby Fever Masterlist °☆• Loki Masterlist °☆• Masterlist

divider by @fictive-sl0th <3

Loki’s eyes widened in realisation; jaw slacking. He wasn't able to move a single muscle. All he could do was stare. Stare at the tiny, seemingly plain object laying inside his big palms.

Millions of thoughts ran through his head at lightning speed. The god's heart pounded violently against his ribcage. He tried to focus, but he couldn't. Too overwhelmed by the various emotions coursing through his veins.

But at last, he felt how the happiness finally took the upper hand and overweighed everything.

Tears started to pool in his oceanic blues; clouding his vision. And with the first tears falling from the corner of his eyes, Loki sunk to his knees on the bathroom floor; clutching the small object tightly against his chest; crying.

All he wanted was to get a towel from the little cabinet underneath the sink to clean up the mess two-year-old baby Narfi had made with his sippy cup - and now he was holding the future in his hands. Literally.

Loki had anticipated a lot... But certainly not to find a positive pregnancy test. Obviously, your pregnancy test; hidden in between the towels.

"Rogers!" Loki called after Cap, before he could step inside the elevator. The blond man's eyes lifted and landed on the god, who was literally jogging down the long hallway, with little Narfi on his arm.

"Have... Have you seen my wife?" He asked; tears still pricking his eyes. Steve raised an eyebrow and thoroughly scanned the prince's features. "Is everything alright, Laufeyson?" Loki nodded quickly; causing his raven locks to gently bounce against his shoulders. "More than alright, Rogers. Now have you seen my wife?" "Um, yes, I- I think she's in the training room, testing her new combat suit. At least that's what Y/N said earlier when we-" Loki slapped Steve's shoulder; interrupted him. "Thank you, Rogers." The god smiled at Steve and rushed past him; quickly pressing the button on the elevator.

Before the soldier could react, the metallic doors shut close in front of him.

Loki could barely contain his excitement. Something the little man on his arm noticed as well...

Narfi looked at his father with big ruby eyes. Sure, he didn't understand the situation, but the boy also didn't have to yet. He was still so young. Lifting a little blue hand, Narfi touched his father's cheek; feeling a tear against his tiny fingers. "Daddy?"

Loki smiled at his son. He adjusted the two-year-old on his arm and turned his head; kissing his palm and blew a raspberry against the skin - which caused Narfi to giggle and Loki to smile even wider. "Let's go, see mommy, yes?" He run his free hand through Narfi's short black curls; still fighting the tears. "See mama?" The god nodded; chuckling. "Yes, little man."

With a ding arrived the elevator on the 5th floor and the doors slid open. Loki stepped out and let Narfi stand on his own small two feet. Then the god squatted down and quickly fixed the boy's jumper. Today he wore the beige one with the dinosaurs on it - gifted to him by his uncle Scott. Narfi's forest green sweatpants needed adjustment, too, since they were still a little too big. After that was done, he stood up again and took Narfi by his hand. "Come one, buddy."

Together, they rounded the corner and entered the training room - well, rather small hall. It had everything an Avenger needed to prepare and train for missions.

Loki’s eyes immediately searched for you - and they found you quickly. You were standing on a mat; doing some stretches, launches and small jumps. Testing your new combat suit - like Steve said. If it weren't for all the Serotonin and Oxytocin coursing through his veins, he'd probably ravish you right then and there. Anyways, he was happy that no one was around...

Narfi was the one to announce your men's arrival. As soon as he saw you, he squealed out and ran as fast as his little legs carried him towards you.

"Mama!"

You immediately turned at the call of your child; seeing Narfi and Loki. You smiled and squatted down; ready to catch the boy. "Mama!" "Hey, sweetie!" You hugged him close and pressed a lingering kiss on his cheek. "Are you and daddy visiting me?" Your son nodded. "Uh.Huh." "Ohh, that's great." You ruffled his hair and stood up again to greet Loki.

"Hey, babe." You smiled and wrapped your arms around your husband's neck. "Hello, love." He placed his hands on your hips; pulling you closer. That was the moment you saw tears glistening in his eyes. He cried... You were of course immediately worried; your brows slanting. "Loki, why are you crying? What is-" He interrupted you with his lips on yours; kissing you with all the love he possessed for you.

Only Narfi's little tuck on his sweatpants was able to break the kiss. "Daddy! Narfi pway ball?" Both, yours and Loki's gaze followed Narfi's pointing. Loki chuckled; realising that the blue softball the boy always played with when he was with you or Loki laid only a few meters away from him. "Sure, buddy, go play."

Narfi ran away; giggling and started to kick the ball across the floor.

"Loki, what is it? You are crying, what's the matter?" Your husband smiled; thumbs tracing over your clothed hips. "I love your new suit." You couldn't help but smile as well, but still quite a bit confused. "Thank you, I... I thought it was time for a new one." "It fits you, my love. You look absolutely ravishing, if I might say so." You bit your lip; noticing the naughty, mischievous glint in his blue eyes. "Ahh, I see..." You giggled and pulled him into another kiss; not forgetting to cast an eye on your son now and then.

With a soft pop ended Loki the kiss - still smiling like a Cheshire cat. "But... You won't need this suit very much longer, right?" He whispered, and you could see how another tear rolled down his cheek.

And suddenly it fell like scales from your eyes. Your brain had quickly connected the dots.

You swallowed. "You... You found the-" "Pregnancy test, yes." Loki finished your sentence with a small sob. "B-But how? I thought I hid it so well..." The god chuckled; shaking his head. A tear dropped from his chin on his sweater. "Not good enough, my love. Narfi spilled water over the table with his sippy cup a-and I needed a towel, so..." You face-palmed yourself. "So you looked in the cupboard underneath the sink, of course. Silly me..." You giggled along Loki, who pulled you closer again.

"I assume you planned to surprise me. I apologise for ruining it." You shook your head; playing with the curls on the nape of his neck. "Indeed yes, but it's okay. It's been a surprise for you nevertheless..." Your husband shook his head - still in disbelief and with silent tears running down his cheeks. "I can't believe that this little joke of ours turned into reality so quick." "Well... I have been asking for it and challenged you, so..." A deep chuckle rumbled through Loki's chest. "Never challenge a half Frost Giant in spring to such things." "Yup, lesson learned," you giggled.

Your husband wrapped you up in a big hug then; holding you close, while you kissed his tears away. "No, honestly, darling... This is great," he whispered; gazing deeply into his eyes. Loki was positively radiating happiness - you could feel it. You nodded. "It is."

He kissed you once again; soft lips melting against yours.

You and Loki sat down on one of the benches then, which lined the wall beside the entrance; watching Narfi play and burn off energy. You had placed a hand on his thigh - which Loki had now wrapped up in his bigger hand.

"When did you take the test, love? And do you know how far along you are? I tried to figure it out myself, but we do way too much love making to do so." A snort, followed by a laugh slipped past your lips and you slapped his thigh. "Loki!" "What?" He asked; smiling mischievously and shrugged his shoulders. "It's the truth, is it not?" You just giggled, but nodded.

He wasn't wrong, after all.

"I took the test three days ago, but I have absolute no idea how far along I am. I'm gonna call my gynaecologist tomorrow and make an appointment." You smiled and squeezed his hand. "You could accompany me..." Loki gazed into your eyes and tuck a loose strand behind your ear. "I'd love to."

Just a few days later, you had your appointment at your gynaecologist's. Loki accompanied you. Ella was at school and Narfi with his auntie Nat. A white lie needed to be told to your best friend, since you didn't want to shout the good news from the rooftops yet.

The pregnancy test you took didn't lie to you. You were, in fact, pregnant again. Five weeks, said your gynaecologist, so it was new, fresh and vulnerable. You and Loki decided to tell it nobody yet. Not a single soul. Not even Frigga. And it turned out to be the right decision, because what happened only three weeks later was something you never thought would happen. At least to you...

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" You asked Loki, while you stood in front of the mirror. The god was leaning against the wall of the bathroom behind you. He had his hair tied up into a bun and his hands buried in the pockets of his sweatpants. "No, thank you, darling. I'd rather stay here with the kids." You giggled and caught his gaze in the mirror. "Does that mean you prefer Ella's tea party over a night out?"

Loki couldn't help but smirk, "Oh, definitely." and join your laughter.

"Alright..." You started; lastly applying some perfume to complete your look. "I'll be going now." You turned to face your husband. Placing both hands on his chest, you leaned in to kiss him.

Loki nodded; pulling you closer by the belt around your waist. "Take care, alright? Please, by the love of the Norns, look after yourself and the little bean, yes?" You rubbed your palms across his pecs. "Of course, my love. I promise." You kissed him again and then left the bathroom. "And no alcohol!" You heard Loki calling after you. "I know, babe!" You giggled.

After you bid your goodbye to Ella and Narfi; giving them both a big smooch on the cheek, you met up with Nat and Jane to go out for a, well... small girl's night out.

The actual plan was to do a 'couple night's out' - but none of the boys wanted to join in and Pepper and Jane didn't have time in the end as well. Therefore it was just you, Nat and Wanda.

"No Loki?" asked Jane as you walked out of the building. "Nope... He preferred Ella's tea party." That had the three of you giggling. "Understandable," threw Nat in. "Ella's tea parties are the best."

You and the girls headed for your favourite bar; talked, danced and definitely had fun. It seemed like a perfect night. At that point, you not waisted one thought that it could turn some way somehow sour...

But it did. In the worst way possible. A harmless night, which turned into a nightmare.

Shaky hands reached for your mobile. It was almost midnight. You had danced around this for minutes now; not conjuring enough bravery to call him. By now you've tried about a million times - failing.

So, once more you took a deep breath, squeezed your red and teary eyes shut and swallowed the lump in your throat. Your finger hovered above the green button beside your husband's contact.

I have to, I have to, I need to, I want to, you repeated within your head like a mantra, now or never - and finally tapped on the button.

His phone rang. One, two, three, four, a fifth time. You already were on the verge of hanging up when a sleep filled voice croaked out: "Darling?"

On every other day you'd have found Loki's sleepy voice drop-dead sexy... Not today.

"L-Loki?" You heard a bit of a rustling on the other end. "M here, my love, 'm here," he said huskily; "Wha' is it?" audibly trying to wake up. You swallowed hard. "I-I..." You had to cut off your own sentence, in order to hold back the tears - unsuccessfully. A small sob slipped past your quivering lips. Something the god on the other end picked up. It didn't slip his notice.

He immediately sat up and switched on the lamp above his bedside table; wide awake all of a sudden. "Y/N, what's wrong?"

"I... I am at t-the h-hospital."

Loki's eyes widened instantly in shock and fear; his heartbeat skyrocketing. "I beg your pardon; you are where?" You swallowed again; feeling the tears run down your cheeks. "The h-hospital."

Loki was already jumping out of bed.

"What?! Why?! By the Norns, what happened?! Are you hurt?!"

You wanted to scream.

"T-There was... was an incident at the b-bar and-" Loki was already slipping inside a white shirt; hastily buttoning it up and totally forgetting about his magical abilities at that moment. All he could think about was you... And his unborn child.

"I'm coming, love! I'm on my way, I-" "No," you interrupted your husband; causing him to stop dead in his movements - frowning.

"Stay w-with the kids, okay? You..." Fresh tears ran down your cheeks. "You can't leave them a-alone." "But..." Loki threw immediately in; blinded by his fear and worry about the woman he loved; about to just act headless. "Please, Loki, please," you pleaded. "Natasha is going t-to take me home. I-I just wanted to... To tell you."

Your words confused Loki. She can leave the hospital already? "B-But, love, what-" You couldn't take this anymore. You didn't have the strength to talk to him further - and you'd need all your remaining power to keep up the façade later in front of your best friend. "I'll tell you later, I p-promise," you managed to somehow choke out...

...and hung up.

Natasha and you had returned to the Avengers compound about an hour later. Now you were standing in front of the door to your family's apartment. You were exhausted. So utterly exhausted. All your power spent on crying and pretending everything was alright. All you wanted was to break down and cry yourself to sleep - but you had to talk to your husband first...

Unlocking the door, you stepped inside the dark apartment. Mostly dark apartment. The only light source came from the living room. He was waiting for you. Of course he was waiting for you.

You could already picture it in your head. He'd walk up and down in the room; worried and afraid - like a caged and hurt animal.

You took a deep breath; gathered all your leftover strength and made your way into the living room.

Loki was indeed walking up and down the room, but currently had his back to you and a hand in his messy curls. You swallowed.

"Loki..."

The soft, almost inaudible call of his name attracted his attention. He swiftly turned around; facing you. Worry was written all over his face. Your husband's eyes widened, "Y/N!" before he literally ran over to you. His big palms landed on the sides of your upper arms and his oceanic, tear stained blues wandered up and down your body; searching for injuries. "What happened?! What is wrong?! How are you feeling?!" The god's mind was racing - already. And you'd make it worse.

Tears pooled in your eyes again, just at the mere thought of what you were going to tell him.

"At... At the bar, there was an... an incident and-" While you spoke, his palms had wandered down your arms and to your hands. He lifted them gently and wanted to kiss your knuckles, as a frown formed on his forehead. "Y/N, what..." Loki interrupted you; thumbs brushing over the bruises on your wrists. "What is this? Tell me what happened, please. Right now."

You swallowed again, nodding. "There was a-a man. He... He had his eyes on me the whole evening. I could feel it. He was watching me. Just me. Not N-Nat or Wanda. Me." You could already see how Loki's jaw tightened. Anger was taking over his system already. "At s-some point I had to go to the ladies. He... He followed me. He said that he had cast an... an eye on me and that he would like to..." You cut off your own sentence. Not that you needed to finish it. Loki knew what you were going to say. "I refused, of course. T-Tried to stay polite and leave, but... He didn't let me. He... He trapped me inside the ladies, caged me against the wall." That's where the bruises come from, Loki thought. "I fought against it - against him. He was so strong."

Loki felt like he could burst because of the anger and fear running through his veins. "Please tell me he didn't..."

You knew what he wanted to say and quickly shook your head. "N-No, I headbutted him, t-then kicked him in the balls a-and perhaps even broke his nose." A relieved breath left your husbands lips. "That's my girl."

"He fled then, but..." Loki’s face hardened again. "But what?" Deep down the god knew there must have happened something else. Unless Natasha and Wanda wouldn't have taken you to the hospital.

"He... He had slammed my head against the wall, which resulted in a small cut and-" "There's more?!" You could already hear in his voice that he was furious once more. You knew that he'd love to find that guy right now and do terrible, awful things to him.

You nodded once more. "When he grabbed me, I... I tried to fight against him a-and escape. I almost made it, but then he..." You had to swallow down the lump in your throat and suppress the tears. "He kneed me in the s-stomach to prevent me from e-escaping."

Your husband's mind was way too clouded with anger and fear. He couldn't think clearly, and therefore was unable to connect the dots. Norse curse words spluttered from his lips and his eyes darkened. Threat his family and you'll bring out the darkest side of him - you knew that.

"I'll find him, my love." "Loki." You spoke in a weak voice, trying to get through to him. "I'll find him and then I'll kill him." "Loki." "Slowly and intimately." "Loki, please." "I'll make him pay for what he did to you and-" You couldn't take it any longer. You had to tell him.

"Loki, I lost the baby."

Your sentence cut through the air like his daggers through skin. Loki's mouth clapped shut and a very unpleasant silence spread in the living room. He needed a second to process your words. You just stared at him; silent tears running down your cheeks and dripping on your blouse, as you watched Loki fall apart in front of you.

"W-What?" He croaked out; seemingly still unable to grasp this.

"I... I lost our baby."

He started to shake his head. "No, that's... It can't be. Everything was alright!" "I know," you sobbed. "But I was at the hospital... They checked. The incident caused the m-miscarriage." You stepped closer and reached for his hands. Loki blinked; tears escaping the corner of his eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I-I'm so sorry."

You wanted to hug your husband; catch him mid-falling and preferably crash on the hard ground of reality together with him - but he took a step back. "No, no, no, no..." His hands suddenly dropped yours. Without his touch, you had never felt more cold and lonely.

"Loki, what-" "This is your fault." He suddenly exclaimed; driving an invisible dagger straight through your heart. "It's your fault, Y/N and you know it. I told you! I told you to stay and not go in the first place! I told you to take it easy this early in the pregnancy!" He ran both his hands over his face and tugged frustratingly at his raven curls, while you just stood there; frozen. You didn't know what was happening.

"We almost lost Narfi, because you explicitly wanted to accompany me to that stupid charity event and now?! Now exactly that happened, of what I've always been afraid of! Of what I've always warned you! But no... You just didn't want to listen!"

You were still staring at him, mouth agape. This wasn't real, you thought. I must be dreaming.

"M-My... My fault?" You croaked out; feeling like you were going to fall apart. "Yes!" Loki hissed. "You heard what I said, did you not?!" Sure, you understood that this was equally as hard and sad as it was for you. You understood the cocktail of emotions which must be brewing inside of him, but that... That was unacceptable. You hoped he'd catch you, be there for you, grieve together with you... But certainly not that he'd blame you.

"How can you blame me for this? I didn't kick myself in the gut, did I? Besides, you could've just accompanied me! Perhaps all of this would've never happened, but no, Mr. Laufeyson didn't want to!" You felt how anger rose within you as well. It was just too much.

"Me?!" Loki hissed; pressing his pointer finger in the muscle on his chest. "Oh, I'm the one to blame now?! Sure... It's easy to blame me - for everyone! Just blame the former war criminal. Just blame the untrustworthy god. Just blame the monster from another realm - and all your problems are solved!" He laughed bitterly; shaking his head.

"That's... That's not what I meant - and you know it!" Your husband cocked his head. "Oh no? It's not? Enlighten me then, Y/N!"

You sighed. "Look... I understand your worries. I really do, but I can't just sit on the sofa 24/7 and not move a muscle, just because I'm pregnant! That's not how it works!"

Loki snorted. "Well, it should! As you can see, everything else is apparently not working!" You shook your head; stepped closer to Loki. "We... We just lost our baby... Shouldn't we... Shouldn't we grieve toge-" The god interrupted you, tears streaming down his face. "Yes, and I'm not the one to blame." With those words he brushed past you, "I will be sleeping on the sofa tonight." and left you behind; feeling more cold and lonely than you ever did in your whole life before...

The loss of the new life growing within you and the fight you and Loki had that night caused a wide rift to appear between the two of you. It split your relationship apart. Everything else would be a lie.

You felt how he grew cold and distant. Just like you did. The once perfectly harmonic, loving and desiring bond cracked.

Sure, there had always been fights, misunderstandings and disagreements - totally normal things. But this... This was different.

...and you just didn't know how to stop your marriage from falling apart...

Whenever you tried to speak with him about the topic, he'd immediately steered the conversation into a different direction. Hence, he talked less to you in general. No deep conversations anymore, no love declarations - nothing.

The communication lacked, just like the physical touch. You'd get a kiss from time to time, yes, but nothing more. Barely cuddles, no long, intimate kisses and certainly no sex.

It hurt you. To the core - but the sad thing about it all was, that you actually hadn't a single reason to complain, because you weren't better. You gave him just as little as he gave you. It was a mutual thing - and at some point didn't go unnoticed anymore...

"Y/N."

"Y/N, hey."

Natasha's voice urged to your ears, but didn’t reach your brain. All you did was staring ahead; totally lost in thoughts. Only when you felt her touch on your shoulder was your best friend able to get through to you.

"Babes, your glass in flowing over." You snapped your head down at her words; eyes widening. "Shit, shit, shit." You hastily turned off the tap, while Nat helped you to dry the outside of the glass, so you could wipe your hands on a kitchen towel.

"Thanks, Nat." You took the glass, "I-I've been a bit lost in thoughts." and gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I saw that," the Widow pointed out and crossed her arms over her chest, before she leaned against the bar counter across from you.

"Okay, babes... We definitely need to talk." You swallowed; frowning. "Talk? W-Why?"

Nat scoffed. "Oh, please stop that, Y/N... You can't fool me. Perhaps the others around us, but not me. Something's off. I can tell. You've been so absent-minded lately. Always in thoughts and very quiet. Your smile doesn't reach your eyes either - and..." She gave you an intense look. "... the most worrying thing... You behave differently around Loki. More distant. Colder. Less touchy." Her eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong between you two? And no, don't tell me it has just been a small fight, because this goes already on for at least two weeks. I saw it. So, don't even try to shit me, girl."

You swallowed again. That was clearly an order. You already knew that you weren’t going to lie yourself out of this situation, but... Did you even want that? Perhaps it was good to finally get this off your chest...

So, you nodded; nervously fumbling with your hands. "You... You are right. But, please can we talk about this in private?" Her eyes widened. "It is that bad?" You took a deep breath; nodding again."I'm afraid, yes."

Natasha nodded; rubbing your upper arm in a reassuring manner. "Let's head over to mine. Bruce is in the lab."

You followed your best friend to her apartment and only five minutes later sat down on her sofa; Nat following. "He didn't cheat on you, did he? Because if this fucker did, I'm going to cut off his ba-" "He didn't," you immediately interrupted her. "Loki never would. I know that. You know that." The red-haired beauty looked you straight in the eyes. "What did he do then?"

You swallowed. Memories of that night four weeks back started to flood your brain and causing you to hold back the tears.

"Remember that night where... Where we were at that bar? You, Wanda and I? And that incident with that strange man? You, taking me to the hospital afterwards?" The spy nodded; "Of course, yes." listening to you patiently. "I told you it was about the cut on the back of my head - and that was the truth, but... There was also something else..." You had to take a deep breath.

No one besides Loki had known about the pregnancy... Until now.

"He kneed me in the stomach - which wouldn't have been that much of a problem, but in my case it was, because I..." Your best friend's eyes widened. She was smart and therefore seemingly already had connected the dots. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Nat's eyes dropped to your stomach, before they lifted to face you again. "Are you...? Again?"

You nodded. "Pregnant, yes. I-I was pregnant again." Those words still hurt you more than you thought. You lowered your head; feeling a few silent tears running down your cheek.

"No... You... Oh my gosh..." Natasha gasped; immediately reached for your hand. "You're telling me that this wanker caused you to have a... miscarriage?" "Yes."

"Shit, I'm so sorry, babes. Gods, that's horrible. Come here." Your best friend hugged you tightly against her chest; just letting you cry for a while.

"And... Loki?" You snivelled. "Well, that's the point... I told him afterwards. We kinda had a fight and... He blamed me, I blamed him and ever since we didn't properly talk. We are drifting more and more apart. What had happened, split our relationship. We are losing each other - and it kills me." "Why didn't you talk with him then?" You swallowed; shaking your head.

"Because I feel like the rift between us is already too big. I won't make the jump." Nat squeezed your hand. "But you gotta try, babes. You love that man, right? He's your soulmate. The love of your life. Your baby daddy." You nodded. "Yes, I... I do. With all my heart." "See? You gotta try. But remember... It takes two to tango."

Her last words roamed through your head even several hours after the conversation. Perhaps it was really both your faults... You took a deep breath. You and Loki had to save this ship from sinking - at all costs. You didn't want to lose him. Never.

"Daddy?" Loki looked up at Ella. She was seated on the sofa backrest above him; legs dangling over his shoulders, as she was braiding several plaits into his long raven locks.

"Yes, princess?"

"You love mommy, right?"

The god's eyebrows slanted. "Of course, princess. Why are you asking?" The little girl shrugged her shoulders. "Because you and mommy don't have private time anymore."

Loki swallowed; realisation hitting him like a truck – completely out of the blue. "Well..." He cleared his throat. "Sometimes, we have little time for this, you know?" "Oh... Okay." Ella paused and Loki hoped that she'd just drop that topic know.

She did. Almost.

"Is mommy happy?" Ella dropped the next question, while small hands worked through another strand of her father's hair.

Again, Loki had to swallow - hard. "Y-Yes, I think so, why?" Yes, it was a lie. But he couldn't tell his eight-year-old daughter that you just lost her baby sibling, could he?

"But why is mommy crying so often then?"

Ella's next words hit Loki even harder. It felt like his heart was jumping over the edge of a cliff; free falling and shattering into a million pieces.

"W-What?" He croaked out; mouth falling agape.

"I see and hear mommy cry a lot."

Loki wanted to scream from the top of his lungs. You had shut him out - of course you did. After all he said why wouldn't you? You had every reason to banish him.

He blamed you; acted headless and stupid. He pushed you away when you needed him most. He fucked it up - real bad this time.

"I'm a fool..." Loki mumbled underneath his breath to himself. "I'm such a fool..."

"What did you say, daddy?" His daughter's innocent voice cut through the air once again. "Nothing, princess..." Loki answered; shaking his head. "I'm going to talk to mommy, okay?" Blue eyes looked up to meet his identical ones. "Will you make her feel better?" A breathless laugh escaped the gods lips; tears dripping down his chin. "Yes, princess... By the Norns, yes."

Loki watched you move through the kitchen from the hallway. He had just tucked the kids in and was finally able to talk with you. The conversation was long due.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped closer; feeling his heart hammering against his chest. He was so nervous. So afraid. What if you couldn't forgive him? What if he was going to lose you?

"Y/N?" The god called out your name softly. "Yes?" Your voice was cold. Distant.

A shiver ran down his spine.

"Darling, we... We need to talk... Please."

You froze in your movement; back towards your husband.

"Why? When I tried to talk to you a few weeks ago, you blocked me." Loki swallowed hard; Adam's apple bobbing within his throat. "I-I know, but... I see clearly now." He cautiously approached you. "I am so sorry, my love. I know now that I really fucked it up. I was- am such a fool. Norns, I don't know what has gotten into me. I... I just... saw red. Blaming you for the loss of our baby is the worst thing I ever did in my whole life." Tears pooled in his eyes, as you turned to face him.

"I pushed you away when you needed me the most. I should've been there for you. I should've supported you and help you through this, but no... I did the exact opposite." Loki paused for a moment; trying desperately to control his tears.

"I know what I did is unacceptable and I can't expect you to forgive me, but..." The god felt how his knees started to buckle. The weight of the possibility that you weren’t going to forgive him or even worse... Leave him, was hitting him full force. All his strength left his body and he fell down on his knees in front of you. "I-I'm begging you for forgiveness. Please, my love, please... I beg of you. Please don't leave me. I couldn't take it, I-" The lump in his throat cut off his sentence. All he could do was cry.

You witnessed the scenes in front of you; heart shattering.

"Loki..." Your soft, almost angelic voice urged to his ears. "Loki, I... I would never, ever - not in my wildest dreams leave you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. I never could, I... I love you."

Blue eyes looked up at you in disbelief. "W-What? You... You forgive m-me?" You nodded; feeling tears build up in your eyes as well. You couldn't help but lower your hands and cup your husband's tear stained cheeks; feeling his soft skin underneath your palm. "Of course, my love."

Loki blinked. "Why? I treated you so bad. Something I swore I'd never do and yet I did... I blamed you for... For something which was entirely my fault."

You frowned. "Your fault? Why would this be your fault?" You wiped away another tear with your thumb. "It isn't, Loki. When it's somebody's fault, it's mine. You were right. It is my fault. I should've been more careful." "No..." Loki shook his head quickly. "No, Y/N, stop that right now, please... Don't blame yourself. I should've protected you better... And the baby, I... I failed."

You feared that your heart was going to stop beating right then and there. It hurt. Seeing Loki like that destroyed you. "No, Loki..." You sobbed and sunk to the floor as well; immediately embracing him. "We both failed, but... It happened. We can't change the past. We have to live with it." You felt Loki nod against your shoulder. "I-I know."

You squeezed him tightly against your body, just like Loki frantically tried to hold on to you. Finally, you felt better again. Since weeks. You had missed the comforting touch of your husband. It was all you ever wanted and needed. Just like he did.

You almost physically felt how the rift between you got smaller and smaller with each passing minute.

You had found each other again.

Neither of you knew how much time had passed. An hour? Two? More? But it also didn't matter. Not right now, not here. You were still embracing each other; your hand gently running through his long curls. "We're going to make this, okay? Together. Like everything before." Another nod from Loki. He was overwhelmed by all the emotions running through his veins. "Yes."

And you did.

Sure, what had happened didn't fail to leave marks on both you and Loki; a deep scar carved into your heart and soul - but it also didn't fail to make your bond stronger. Even if it did not seem like it at first.

Baby Fever Crew: @muddyorbsblr @mochie85 @asgards-princess-of-mischief @jaidenhawke @multifandom-worlds @jennyggggrrr @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @fictive-sl0th @herdetectivetheorist @hisredheadedgoddess28 @chennqingg @princess-ofthe-pages @km-ffluv @simping-for-marvel @huntedmusicgardenn @lokiforever @stupidthoughtsinwriting @loz-3 @jaguarthecat @icytrickster17 @eleniblue @yourfriendlyslytherinhc @kimanne723 @lou12346789 @mypainischronicbutmyassisiconic @smolvenger @lokisrealpurpous @isaidoop @lokisgoodgirl @aagn360 @cakesandtom @alexakeyloveloki @glitchquake @anukulee @lady-rose-moon @ainsley30 @lovingchoices14 @lokischambermaid @irishhappiness @mandywholock1980 @totsnotlynn

[politemenacephd]

Arachnophilia: (Part Thirty)

Drider!Miguel O'Hara x Reader (+18)

Chapter Masterlist 🕷️

Content/CW: Mig is rutting, workplace sex, fear kink, breeding kink, intercrural sex, copious sexual fluids, oral sex, tongue play, hormone scenting, unresolved sexual tension.

Word count: 11,000 Notes: IM BACK BUT ALSO THIS IS A LONG ONE LMAO IM SORRY

Mig stuck to his word as Autumn continued to roll in.

You would be his, no matter what.

The days passed and soon Nueva York was a beautiful patchwork of dull oranges and reds, with the upper city parks creating a gorgeous spread of burnt amber grass beneath the cold sun. Mig’s own universe went much the same way, with his forest home going from a bright evergreen to a spread of dark greens and slowly melting auburn shades as the trees lost their hue. You woke every day in his nest to a new blanket of leaves coating your front door, each load bigger than the last, and soon it was clear that winter was approaching.

You were getting chillier in the mornings, even with Mig’s huge, fluffy body at your side. More and more you were relegated to sleeping beneath his folded form like a baby bird beneath its watchful parent, and at a certain point the bed was so covered in silk blankets it looked almost like a mountain.

More of your stuff from your apartment made its way in too. Your clothes, your toothbrush, your kitchen utensils, your bathroom supplies.

It was a strange mismatch. The nest was rustic, with Mig’s makeshift tools and handspun tapestries, which made all of your modern appliances look out of place. There was nothing more jarring than a portable electric toothbrush sitting next to a hand-carved wooden basin over a bamboo drip, which was your version of a sink, or your phone sitting next to the firepit he used to boil water.

It was strange, yes, but welcome. It really was beginning to feel like home.

It was just that, with home, came pressure.

Time was passing, and it was passing fast. In those sweet early months with Mig it’d felt like you had all the time in the world, but the world was proving that wrong.

You had to find a solution to your universal separation, a way to prove that you and Mig could safely cohabitate forever, and potentially have a family if you desired that in the future. If you couldn’t prove it was safe, the society couldn’t sanction it any further. They couldn’t risk anything that might cause multiverse instability.

That left only two outcomes to this relationship, but in Mig’s mind, there was only one outcome he was willing to accept, and that was success. He was beyond the curious, testing phase of the relationship, the tepid exploration of lust and companionship.

He was in love. He was madly, inescapably in love with you, and he would not let you go.

This left him in a state of feverish devotion to his work, and he spent almost all his free time in Miguel’s labs working out the calculations to a cross-universe serum. At first, he tried to bring you with him, since he missed you far too much, but that ended poorly. He felt too bad making you stay up in Miguel’s office, where you’d inevitably fall asleep from exhaustion and Miguel would have to cover you in a blanket.

So instead he started doing calculations late into the night in the nest while you slept beside him. He even started doing calculations in his sleep. You’d wake to find wall after wall covered in markings you couldn’t comprehend.

The only other hiccup in his way was that he was also totally devoted to helping Micaela and Gabriel. Much of his and Miguel’s previous work had been put to the side to focus on her, using their joint background in genetics to find a cure for her ailment.

Miguel was obviously far more concerned with protecting the existing Micaela than with securing Mig’s future, and while it frustrated you both you couldn’t exactly blame him. Micaela did come first, and he was right to prioritize her, but the uncertainty in your future was becoming a strain.

Mig wanted to start living again, to hope again. He wanted to sleep beside you knowing that you were his, forever and always, and that he wasn’t a doomed abomination. He wanted to know you’d be with him until the end.

No more lonely wailing in the woods. No more singing for a person who would never come.

He wanted to live. He wanted you. He wanted his family.

But the longer their work took, the less certain it felt. Every little re-calculation felt like a punch to the gut, and every mission or postponement felt like a weight on his back.

But you can’t stay in limbo forever.

Closure had to come eventually, one way or another.

…

‘Come on, come on…’

You struggled not to impatiently tap your foot as you peered around the line ahead. You had to crane your neck to see over the 10 or so other spiders all idly waiting for their turn at the counter.

You were waiting in line at the HQ cafeteria to get lunch for you, Miguel and Mig, something you did almost every day now as an unusual little trio. The boys, as you called them, were utterly fixated on their dual projects, and while you weren’t much use scientifically you were the one little lifeline they had left to sanity and stability.

If left to their own devices they’d science themselves into husks. This left you the task of keeping them grounded, keeping them fed, and slapping them back into reality when need be.

It was slightly grating to be around two supergeniuses all the time. Mig was a sweetheart as always, and while he could be a little annoying when he talked to you like a child, he was never condescending or mean. Miguel, on the other hand, was very condescending. He had a need to explain, a need to teach, but he had the patience of a mouse and a tendency to get sassy if you ever got anything wrong.

However, you couldn’t pretend you didn’t enjoy your time with the two. Now Miguel had cooled down he really did seem to be making a difference in his attitude, especially after meeting Gabriel and Micaela. He was short-tempered and stressed, and that would probably never change, but there was an unspoken gentleness to his attitude now. It was almost, protective.

And Mig…

Your face grew warm at the thought of him. His smile. His soft-spoken compliments. His little abdomen wriggles. His big, open, honest eyes, peering down at you as they practically dripped with affection.

Your mind wandered to his breath on your neck in the morning, when he’d blow your hair aside to kiss your forehead. That warmth grew exponentially.

Mig was always perfect. Not literally, but to you… Yes. He was perfect.

‘Hey!’

You jumped in place as someone tapped your shoulder. You spun back and forth only to realize that the line had moved three spaces ahead, and you’d been too lost in your little daydream to notice. The spiders behind you did not look impressed.

‘Sorry! Shit—just a second.’

You stammered an apology and hurried forward, trying to ignore the curious stares you get. The morbid interest in Mig’s lover never seemed to go away.

You stayed hyper-vigilant as you waited to finally reach the front of the cafeteria. You’d replayed asking for your order so many times that it practically tumbled from your lips when you reached the server, making you appear like some kind of empanada-loving robot.

As you made your way back to the office you couldn’t help but pause to admire the new décor.

The whole building was covered in dainty, slightly tacky Halloween objects, coating the walls from top to bottom. It was all in place for the Halloween party tomorrow. There were skrunkly little paper spiders hanging from the high beams, orange cut-outs of cats and pumpkins plastered to the wall.

It was almost painfully twee, but you kind of loved it. It felt authentically true to form for this place. You also knew Miguel had refused to spend any more than the absolute bare minimum on decorations out of spite, since he hated the idea of doing this in the first place. Hosting events and being considerate of members' well-being was one thing, but being drawn out of work to wear costumes was, ironically, not his forte.

Unfortunately, despite being the de-facto leader, he’d been outvoted by the other elites, along with every other Spider in the society. You’d been subjected to his rambling about this for almost a week. Luckily, he didn’t know you’d also voted to have the party.

You prodded a little cheap plastic bat that was hanging from the ceiling as you hopped from the beams into the main corridor before Miguel’s office.

You were quick as you hurried down the same familiar route; passed the Spiders crowding the hall, passed the rudimentary go-home machine, and down the darkened empty corridor filled with Miguel’s old suits and gadgets.

As you approached the door you were hit by the smell of metal and the low hum of a machine. It vibrated through your bones in the most eerie way, causing the walls around you to jitter as if moving.

You instinctively slowed down.

Shit, they were in the middle of running their experiments again.

You crept up to the entrance to Miguel’s office and carefully nudged the door aside, being careful not to dip in any further. You didn’t want to startle them.

‘Pressure at 53%’

Lyla’s voice floated out from beneath the eerie hum as you peeked around the doorway. The office was usually dark, awash with cold navy light and the dull orange glow of Miguel’s monitors, but right now it was alight with an almost supernatural glow emanating from its center. It cast odd shadows across the walls and floors, like hands sneaking up to grasp you.

‘Lyla! Speed it up.’

‘Pressure at 73%. I’m going as fast as I can!’

That was Miguel’s voice, you thought. It was nearly identical to Mig’s but you knew them both well enough now to pick them apart. You peered a little further into the room.

‘Qué chingada… Come on.’

Mig hissed a few more curses under his breath as his abdomen rustled.  

He’d bent his front legs like a horse so he could grasp the computer with both hands, and he was right on the verge of physically shaking it. Every

He was so close, so damn close. He’d gotten the formula down to a predicted 3% success rate, and if he could just get a few more test runs in, he’d have it. He’d have you.

‘Alright! Are you ready?’

Miguel called down to Mig from his floating office. He had to about halfway in the air, allowing him to look down on Mig as he ran some sort of experiment.

You could see the enormous table they were always huddled around, covered in glass jars and holographic screens all flashing with a million numbers at once. As you sank against the door frame, you noticed that the crackling was getting louder.

‘Pressure at 89%. Almost there.’

You could see something starting to spin on the table, creating a whirring noise akin to a helicopter’s blades. The sound was triggering every instinct in your body to run, to hide, and you had to fight yourself just to continue watching.

‘Hold it steady!’

‘I’m holding steady.’

The light expanded until you were forced to squint and pull away, hiding yourself behind the door. The sound was unbearably loud, the whirring grating on your ears as the light grew brighter and brighter.

‘Pressure at 98%...’

‘99%’

‘100%!’

And then—

A crackle filled the room and the light dimmed in a single split second, leaving the room in darkness. You had to wipe your eyes to adjust to the dimness. Everything smelled like hot metal, and you could see smoke drifting up into the rafters of the office.

‘Serum stability at 99%’ Lyla’s voice called out, followed by a sharp bark of a growl.

‘ARGH!’

Mig pulled back and kicked one of the loose chairs right into the wall, almost totally obliterating it with the faintest display of aggression. ‘¡Jueputa! Chingada Madre!’

As the low whirring of the machine dulled, he began to pace, his spider legs scuttling back and forth. His abdomen was shaking dangerously, that much you could see. He had his head in his hands and seemed to be trying his hardest to not lose his temper any further.

You felt your heart sink a little in your chest at the sight.

Miguel was cursing beneath his breath as he put out the fire. ‘God damn it… Lyla, what keeps going wrong?!’

‘It’s just routine checks, Miguel. It’s totally normal.’ 

‘We’ve been stuck at 99% for a week!’ Miguel barked back, ignoring Lyla’s slightly snarky tone.

‘99% is good! That’s better odds than your watch had when you tried it out’ she argued back. You could faintly see her hologram floating in the air beside them, pacing back and forth across the open air. Miguel bitterly waved his hand through her digital form.

‘Yeah, and I was stupid to do so. I can’t approve it until it's 100%.’

‘Maybe the calculations are off’ Mig murmured to himself. You saw him drop back down to the computer again, grasping at its mass like it was a person who he could shake sense into.

‘My calculations aren’t off!’ Miguel snapped back in a slightly harsher tone. ‘I know what I’m doing!’

You could see the tension rising. They’d just keep getting more and more irritable if they remained fixated on their work. You decided now was the time to step in.

With a huff you pushed the office door aside and bellowed towards them. ‘Hey! Come on guys, break time!’

The sound of you voice drew Mig to snap and turn, a motion so inhumanly fast he nearly wrenched the entire computer apart from with his hands. Miguel had to step in and shove him off just to salvage it.

‘¡Tonto! Ah, ten cuidado’ Miguel snapped under his breath, though Mig heard none of it. He didn’t even respond when Miguel elbowed him away.

He was fixed on you, watching you run down the corridor towards him. The way you smiled, the way you bounced as you sped up. He couldn’t stop his abdomen rustling and vibrating with a deep, profound sense of joy. Miguel noticed that too and promptly rolled his eyes.

‘Miggy!’

You squeaked and jumped up into his arms, with the enormous spider catching you with instinctive prowess. He drew you up to his chest and held you like a large cat.

‘Mi tesoro’ he purred. ‘I missed you.’

‘They were gone for 15 minutes’ Miguel sarcastically replied.

‘I know’ Mig replied, his big crimson eyes still fixed on you. He kept tilting his head to get a better angle of your face, deliberately staring until you got flustered and tried to look away. You could feel him nosing at your hands as you covered yourself. Your quiet giggling was almost addictive to him.

‘It was still too long…’ Mig whispered against your fingers. ‘Too long…’

‘Still too long— Alright! Come on, computers finished that round. We can break.’ Miguel grunted and pushed the computer aside as he stood, his hands outstretched. ‘Can I eat, then? Or did you forget about me?’

You pulled back your hands and peered down at Miguel. ‘Forget? What? I wouldn’t forget about you.’

‘Ahuh. What about—’

‘Oh my god—I forgot your lunch order ONE time!’ you cried, cutting him off before he could bring up the same story he always brought up. Despite himself, Miguel’s lips did tilt into a slight smile.

‘Exactly. Once. And you could do it again’ he replied in a slightly snarkier tone. You huffed and threw his box of empanadas at his chest, which he caught mid-air with his webs.

‘You went—you were on a mission twice—’

‘Ahuh, ahuh—’

‘So, I had to remember to NOT get your order—’

‘Yep, keep digging that grave—’

‘I had to remember to NOT get your order the second time, because you sent that memo saying it was wasteful to leave your food, and then the third time you didn’t DIRECTLY tell me you wouldn’t be on a mission, so I didn’t have it there! I am not in the wrong!’

You burnt your throat out while rambling off your excuse. Miguel just kept trying to hide his growing smile of endearment as he webbed his way up to his floating desk, leaving you and Mig to sit beneath him.

‘It’s not my job to babysit you. If you can’t check the schedule that’s something for you to fix, not me. Consider it… character building’ Miguel replied smoothly.

‘Next time I won’t get it deliberately’ you huffed, before reaching into the bag and giving Mig his order. He purred as he took it. ‘At least you’re grateful, Miggy’ you mumbled, which caused him to purr even louder.

‘Always, arañita.’

As Mig folded his legs and settled down on the floor you sat at the front of his abdomen, snuggling into his fur with your meal resting on your folded legs. You could hear Miguel grunting with barely suppressed pleasure as he started eating above you.

Mig paused then as his watch buzzed. He glanced down and awkwardly tapped it at with his huge claws until he finally got it to recognize his touch.

‘Mm? It is—Oh!’

Mig’s face lit up into a smile as a hologram flashed up from his watch, revealing a line of text and a blurry picture. You tilted your head out of curiosity.

‘Hm? What's up?’

‘It’s ah- Gabriel. I’ve been re-learning how to text so that we may, converse, more easily, and he has sent me a picture of Micaela.’ Mig sounded so proud as he spoke, and his eyes as they flitted over the picture were deeply endeared. It filled you with joy to see him looking so comfortable.

‘Oh! That’s nice, that’s good. I’m glad you’re properly keeping in touch now. What’d he say?’

‘Mm! Well, last night he was telling me about how bad the hospital food is. I offered to send him some of my deer meat, which he seemed to find humorous, and today he has sent me a picture of his mates cooking and—’

‘They don’t use mate, Mig, that’s his wife’ Miguel added.

‘Wife. Yes. I forget… Ah, his mate- wife¸ gave him food to sneak into the hospital, and he has sent me a picture of him eating it with Micaelita.’

He glanced at the photo for the second time as he spoke, and the sight caused him to purr all over again. He’d only known his baby niece for a few months now, but he truly loved that little girl. He had an outlet at last for all his pent-up paternal instinct, and seeing her happy brought him so much joy.

‘How is the um- I mean I guess, sensitive subject to bring up, but… How is the serum going?’ you asked.

‘Well, Micaela’s stuff is almost fully done’ Miguel replied. Mig was too busy trying to catch an unseemly long bit of cheese now dangling between his mouth and his empanada to speak, so his variant took over with a slightly exasperated sigh.

‘Luckily, we buckled down and, Lyla did a lot of the work. Scanning the multiverse for somewhere with more advanced medicine was pretty easy, unfortunately the place we found with the right equipment does not have a Spider-man in it for easy contact.’

‘Did you need to go there to get it, though?’ you asked. You were trying to listen while also teasingly nipping in to steal from Mig’s string of cheese, something he found both adorable and aggravating.

‘Luckily again for us, uh—no. Not really. We scanned a few computers and managed to replicate it here’ Miguel explained. ‘Micaela should be just fine.’

‘Yes! But, it means we’re behind on the solution for us’ Mig said as he finally swallowed his food. ‘Which, we are trying to resolve, right?’

‘Jess is getting antsy’ Miguel remarked, more to himself than to you or Mig. He was picking at his own empanada bit by bit, taking off little chunks which he then threw into his mouth and slowly chewed between his fangs. He chewed his food like nicotine gum, as if he was in constant deep thought. ‘Everyone is. Especially with the anomalies getting worse.’

‘I mean… that’s not, our fault, right?’ you said.

Miguel didn’t reply for a moment. He stared into the distance before double-taking at you, almost as if taken by surprise. ‘What? No. No, it’s your fault. It’s… we’re not sure. Maybe it’s a coincidence. But, it’s not you.’

‘Oh… Good.’ You weren’t sure you believed him, but you also weren’t willing to press the issue. ‘But, um—I mean regardless it’ll be okay, right? We’re, getting close?’

To your relief, Miguel did nod as he swallowed his last bite of empanada. ‘Mhm. Mm… Yeah. I think it should be finished soon, if we can just complete the last checks.’

‘Checks?’

‘The stabilization test-runs’ Mig said. He’d finally finished his meal as was now paying very close attention to you, ensuring you continued to eat in between asking questions. He’d grab or gently nudge your hand up to your face to ensure you took bites. He was fussy, yes, but very sweet.

‘De-stabilization, huh? Sounds scary’ you added between quick bites of your sandwich.

‘Catastrophic’ Miguel corrected.

‘Not—necessarily’ Mig said as he wiped crumbs from your face. ‘All it means, is that we need to ensure the serum won’t de-stabilize and cause any anomalous activities or holes when used. We’re delicately re-organizing multiverse DNA, but, we are handling it with utmost care.’

‘You don’t need to convince me, Miggy, I believe you’ you snorted back.

Mig opened his mouth to speak again when a low beep drew his attention away. It was Miguel’s watch, most likely a message, and whatever it was had turned his contented expression into a deeply sour one.

‘Ah… Mierda. So stupid.’

He cursed beneath his breath as he dropped from his office back down to the floor, landing with a dull thud.

‘What’s up?’ you called over.

‘It’s Jess. It’s this Halloween party, ah—I didn’t even vote for it! But I’m the leader, apparently, of course I only become leader when it suits them—’

You paused Miguel mid-rant by snapping your fingers. ‘Miguel! Come on, to the point. You’re rambling.’

‘Ay, don’t be rude. What I meant to say, then, is apparently I have to go approve these new decorations. I’ll be back soon, we’ll finish the second test run when I’m done.’

Miguel had begun walking before you could even think to say anything else, so you and Mig just resorted to waving him off with a soft ‘bye!’. He shot you a deflated thumbs up over his shoulder before vanishing out the door.

Silence fell in the wake of his departure, and for the first time you were alone with Miguel. All you could hear in the office was Mig’s thudding heart and his slow, rhythmic breathing against your scalp.

‘Arañita?’

You blinked and leaned back against his abdomen until his face came into view. His eyes were wide, and as they watched you awkwardly blowing his fluff out of your eyes, they dilated. ‘I didn’t get to mention, this morning…’ He paused and swallowed. ‘You look, radiant today, mi amor. You look very, pretty.’

The second those words left his mouth you broke out into a dumb little smile. You tried to look away, but Mig was quick to catch your chin with his claw, forcing you to hold his gaze. His eyes softened.

‘No, no. Don’t deny it. I know you want to.’

‘Miggy…’

‘That is not to say that you don’t always look pleasing. You do. But I wanted to tell you today. I feel I don’t tell you enough.’

‘You make it more than clear how you feel about me, Mig’ you whispered back. His fur was warm and sweet on your cheek, and you couldn’t help but nuzzle deeper into it. ‘You don’t have to say it.’

‘Mm… But I will, mi amor’ he whispered back. God, he loved saying that. He’d say it all day every day if given half the chance. ‘Mi amor, you are such a beautiful creature. I am grateful every second of every day that I have you as my mate.’

You felt the heat in your cheeks growing in tandem with the lightness in your chest. You squealed internally as he smiled down at you, his face filled with open, honest sincerity. ‘Yeah, well… I could say the same about you too, so… you know’ you murmured. His eyes narrowed with barely suppressed joy.

‘Do I know?’

‘You… Yes, but—Okay. You are also, a beautiful creature, and I am extremely grateful every millisecond of every day that I met you’ you replied with a teasing jab. He chuckled, and when you chuckled back, he bent his torso down to meet your own.

‘I missed you’ Mig whispered. You could feel him nosing at your hair as he spoke, taking deep and lingering breaths around the crown of your head.

‘I missed you too, Mig’ you whispered back. The warmth of his fur was nice on your back as you leaned into him, relishing the small moment of peace and quiet. You could hear nothing but a distant beep of some nebulous electronics and the soft, deep breaths Mig was savoring above you. You could tell he was huffing your scent.

‘You, uh… you sure are smelling me a lot, lately’ you said. The break in silence and the bluntness of the question caused Mig’s eyes to shoot open.

‘… I am?’

‘Mhm.’

‘As in, more than usual?’

‘Mhm.’

‘Oh, I—I’m sorry, arañita—’

‘No! No, don’t apologize. I didn’t mean it was an issue. I just…’

You slowly rolled your head back to catch his gaze, only to wind up nose to nose with him. You felt his breath on your lips as you both locked eyes. The warmth, the proximity, it made something familiar in your gut tighten and twist.

Mig purred. ‘Then, how did you mean it, arañita?’ he whispered.

You felt that sweet tightness in your gut twisting tighter, and without even thinking your thighs squished together. Mig’s eyes darted down, catching that tiny act, before sliding back up and narrowing ever so slightly. He let you catch his tongue slipping out to slide along his lower lip.

‘I meant, ah… I meant, I just, noticed it. It—it’s usually a sign that, something else is going on, you know?’ you stammered back.

‘I know what you’re referring to, mi arañita’ he murmured back. ‘Are you implying I might be heading into a rut?’

‘Well… I wouldn’t, dare, assume, but…’

You felt your breath starting to catch as your heart rate sped up, matching the steady rhythm of his own thundering beat. You could see his eyelids drooping, his abdomen gently jerking back and forth like a dog wagging its tail.

The growing heat was physically palpable. It was like the sun on your skin, itchy and hot. ‘We’re in the office’ you whispered softly. You’d both drifted so close now that you could feel his lips on your own. Mig was panting, breathing in you, verging right on the edge of snapping you up and eating you whole.

‘Yes…’

‘Mig… W-We’re in the HQ, we—’

‘We’re in the office…’

Mig pressed one sweet, tender kiss against your lower lip, but he lingered just long enough to let you know that, if he could, he’d have bitten down on that lip in a second. You stammered out a shaky whine in response.

‘Mig, we can’t.’

‘Do you want to go back to the nest?’

‘What if Miguel comes back? We need to—finish the, stupid work—’

‘Then here.’

‘Mig—’

You paused your soft whispering to kiss for the second time. It was almost reflexive, with your lips losing focus and going against your better judgement to press up against his. You’d kiss once and then pause, as you both brushed against the realm of better judgement for a fleeting second, only to kiss each other once more.

Soft then hard, lingering and passionate, tasting him for just a second until it got too painful to not kiss him again.

‘Mm—Mig, mm—’

‘Arañita…’

You felt his tongue slip out and obediently parted your lips, letting your tongues wind between your barely open mouths. You could taste his breath, you could feel the heat brewing in him as he tried to slip into your open maw. At this point your skin was burning, and worst of all, you could feel your clit throbbing like a second heartbeat.

You were a shivering, burning mess. You’d gone too far.

‘Miggy— Mm… Miggy, come on—’

‘Arañita…’

‘If, Miguel comes back—’

As you withdrew from the kiss Mig moved closer, gripping your waist with his thick, heavy claws so you couldn’t pull away. He didn’t kiss you, but he did press his lips to your nose, and there he spoke again.

‘Don’t make me chase you, arañita.’

Those sweet, husky words whispering against your skin made you shudder. It was enough to make your insides clench and quiver, and Mig knew it.

‘F-Fuck, god damn it… hah… mm. Okay. You wanna play like that?’

You stealthily shifted your suit down by just the pants, taking your underwear with it. Not enough to be naked, but enough to get Mig hooked in the sweet scent you knew would drive him crazy. Just as planned, the moment your underwear went past that navel line, his pupils dilated.

‘Mm… arañita… You smell, delicious…’

He lowered his head with a speed and strength you knew you couldn’t match, but he did relinquish his grip on your waist to do so. You let him bury his nose between your thighs, slipping right into the little defined curve where your suit met your pussy lips, and he huffed like a madman.

‘Mmm… qué rico, mi arañita hermoso/a…’

He whined the words directly against your clothed cunt, letting you feel his lips and tongue moving against every ridge and inch he could get. You were sure that if you let him linger any longer he’d rip the fabric with his fangs and have himself a little dessert, and while part of you desperately wanted to let him, that wasn’t the plan.

You grabbed his hair and pulled, letting him get as pussy drunk as you could allow without fully tipping him over the edge.

‘Good boy, good, good boy…’

You held him there just long enough, until his spider legs were tapping that familiar mating rhythm and his abdomen was shaking with feverish intent, and then—

‘Catch me, big boy.’

You whispered those words before webbing yourself out of his grip, flying over his abdomen and landing squarely on the office floor behind him. You saw his claws grasping to try and catch you, but he was too late. You’d escaped.

He spun around just in time to see you hurrying into the dark corners of Miguel’s office. He hungrily growled. ‘Oh, arañita… Okay. We’ll play that game then.’ He licked the little traces of your scent from his upper lip, and he gave chase.

You webbed your way into the darkness and crouched down behind a pile of forgotten electronics, moving stealthily on four legs to avoid being seen. You could faintly see Miguel’s shadow as he moved through the office and toward your location. As he abandoned the light his eyes began to glow, illuminating the shape of his spindly legs with an eerie red outline.

‘Mi tesoro?’

The adrenaline was thick. You knew that it was just your sweet, gentle Mig roaming after you, but that didn’t stop the sweet, controlled dose of fear that you got whenever you played hide and seek with that enormous, skulking spider.

‘Naughty arañita… You like playing at this, don’t you?’

Mig purred softly as he crept around the edge of the lab. His paws were quiet underfoot, carefully padded to keep even his enormous body nearly entirely silent.

‘You like playing at being prey… So cute. You know what’ll happen when I catch you… Does that excite you, arañita? That I will rip those pretty clothes off and mate with you the moment you’re in my paws? Are you thinking about it right now?’

The echo of his voice drove you lower to the floor. You could hear him getting closer, but your cover was running out, and if you raised your head he’d surely see you and pounce. You didn’t want the fun to be over that quickly.

You began to back up instead, shifting along the wall until you found an opening. It felt like a door of some kind, and as you carefully, carefully creaked it open, you realized that you’d found an old, unused closet in the back of Miguel’s space.

‘Arañita…’

Miguel’s hungry, husky groan filled the air, alongside an animalistic rustling. It sounded like a rug being shaken out, or a rattlesnake, but you knew better. That was his abdomen prepping for his mating ritual.

You subdued your own shiver of excitement and slipped into the closet.

In here it was pitch black. You could feel the dust on the floor, betraying just how old this space was, and the trickle of light peaking in through the door wasn’t enough to go more than an inch into the closet’s depths.

You were forced to blindly shuffle until your hands hit a wall, forcing you to turn and shuffle backward until you met the same fate. Eventually, you stopped moving altogether, realizing that it was pointless, and resigned yourself to cowering in the dark like a rabbit.

You couldn’t hear Mig in here. Either that, or he’d stopped taunting completely.

It was terrifying how quiet he was. For something so big his soft paws muffled any sound he might have made, allowing him to move with little to no noise. He was a real predator, a creature at the top of his theoretical food chain, and you often forgot that yourself.

In the dark you waited, listening to your own heart hammering in your chest. You could feel the cold creeping up on you in here, giving you goosebumps on your arms. You felt the strain of the concrete floor on your knees.

But that wasn’t all you felt.

A heavy, overwhelming presence had abruptly settled against your back, and now something hot, warm and wet was sliding up your nape to the base of your skull. Instinctively your body tensed, but then you felt it again, and in a second that primal fear disappeared.

It was Mig’s tongue. He was licking your nape, tasting your scent with your highly adapted senses. He’d move in shyly, lapping once or twice, before nuzzling his nose into the thick of your hair and starting the cycle all over again.

‘I caught you, arañita.’

Your body began to relax. You felt his claws fondling your chest and rear in the darkness, squeezing your ass until his claws left a little imprint. His lips, too continued to grope at your nape, licking and nipping the skin until it bruised.

‘You know what that means.’

You let out a low groan. Between the fear, the heat, and now the dark, cramped space you’d been trapped in, there was no turning back now.

‘Mm… O-Okay, you win. Just… just a little…’

It took very little convincing for you to turn around and smash your lip into his. This time you didn’t hesitate before opening your mouth for him to explore, letting his huge, warm tongue slide into your mouth. He wound his tongue around your own, tasting your scent, your moans, everything he could get.

‘Mm… arañita…’

His hands began creeping up and down your body, squishing lightly at your belly and waist. He loved feeling the way your flesh moved beneath his fingers, how frail your ribs felt under his claws. He deepened the kiss.

‘Mm…’

You could feel that Mig was already getting erect. In the pitch black you could only rely on touch to sense any changes, and you could feel his soft phallus slowly beginning to peek out from the slit in his abdomen. It was twitching against your belly.

The kissing just barely muffled your sounds as you tried to speak. ‘Mm… Mm.. I-I can’t, get fully naked, but—’

‘Why not?’

‘Mmm—’

With a soft moan you broke the kiss, leaving the two of you panting into each other’s mouths. ‘I need to- be able to re-suit quickly if anyone comes in, you beautiful idiot.’

Without another word you shifted your suit pants down to the middle of your thighs, leaving just enough bare room for Miguel to slip himself between your legs. His eyes dilated at the sight.

‘Oh… r-right. Hah. Right…’ Mig purred as he grabbed your body and spun it around, bracing you in a slightly tilted position. He braced himself with his hands on either side of the closet walls, and with the bare minimum delicacy he could muster, he began to buck himself in.

‘C-Careful… just, s-stay still. I’ll be quick.’

He started thrusting, shifting his cock in the darkness as he searched for his prize. You felt that bulbous tip nudged at your back, then your ass, before slowly making its way down to the warm, sweet space beneath.

You bit your lip and braced yourself, internally prepping for the pressure. He paused, angled, and thrust.

However, he missed.

‘Ah! F-Fuck—’

In his haste, he slid right past your cunt. His cock was so big that it slid right between your thighs, settling between your pussy lips with a full handful of member poking out the other side. It almost made you dizzy, remembering that you so frequently let such a beast of a shaft inside you.

Mig groaned at your back and began slowly humping at your clenched thighs, shifting his plush phallus back and forth.

‘Mm… S-So, warm…’

You were quickly coated in thick, sticky pre-cum and your own slick as he began to thrust faster and faster, riding out his frustration. He was too eager to even stop and try to enter you properly. This would have to do.

With one hand over your mouth and the other bracing your body to the wall, you let Miguel rut his cock between your thighs, eagerly fucking them and your clit raw.

There was only one thought in your heads:

More. More…

You coyly grabbed the little bit of shaft slipping out the other side of your thighs and began to manually pump it with your fist, relishing in the warmth and the slipperiness against your palm.

‘A-Ah, arañita…’

Mig moaned your nickname into your hair as he continued rutting against your back, the double stimulation driving him absolutely mad. You were beside yourself as he continued grinding that soft, plush, velvety shaft up against your clit, using your slick as lubricant to slide a little easier.

MORE. MORE.

You bent forward and down, contorting yourself so that you could hungrily lap at your member. Mig barely stifled his predatory groans.

‘A-Arañita, ah—c-careful—!’

You slurped at his member until you could just about get a little of it between your lips, and while he continued furiously pumping between your thighs you began sucking on the tip. It was weirdly sweet, as always, though not in a sickly way. It was thick and slightly earthy, like raw, natural honey, and it soon coated your tongue in that sticky white fluid.

Mig, at this point, was losing his mind. He dug his claws into your hips to hold you steady as he began bucking without rhythm, driving himself into every crevice of your body he could.

‘Hah- o-okay, good arañita. G-Good. That’s it, lick it up.’

You allowed him to thrust between your parted lips and groaned. Mig was left breathlessly humping, with one hand still dug into your side and the other tenderly petting your hip as he rode out his frustrations into your mouth and between your legs.

‘Good, there you go. There you go. Mm… Así así, arañita, estás haciendo un buen trabajo.’

His sweet praise helped to ease the pain in your jaw as you took more of him in. The plush, squishiness of his cock made it easier to mouth and suck, but there was just so much of it. You were choking on the tip.

Luckily, Mig could only handle so much. He was utterly overstimulated, between the beautiful sensation of your lips and tongue on his member and the warmth and wetness of your thighs, topped off with the sight of you bent over and taking him from all angles—

‘Ah! Bájale, bájale, arañita.’

He pulled back and began patting your hip for clemency as your lips nearly drew him to a violent impromptu orgasm. You gasped as he withdrew. You were panting hard, slightly dazed from the pleasure and the blood rush to the head, your lips now a mess of saliva and pre-cum. You couldn’t see it, but you could feel the little trail of fluid hanging between your lips and Miguel’s twitching member.

‘Ah… h-huh?’ you mumbled. ‘W-What?’

Mig had to tilt you back to an upright position himself, and there he hugged you close while still slowly pumping between your thighs.

‘Shh, that’s it arañita. You did so good. Just rest now, treasure, let me do the work.’

‘Mm… But—’

‘Let me do the work.’

He repeated those words in a sweet, cooing manner, drawing you to relax in his grip. It was easy to give in, especially with his shaft still gently massaging your swollen clit.

He wanted to focus on you now.

He drew back and began carefully thrusting at just the right angle, probing his hot and now very wet member was pressed right up to your clit. The sensation was hard to describe. All you knew is that you weren’t going to last long like this.

‘Ah… M-Mig, fuck…’

He kept you stabilized with his arms, allowing you to focus on just the pleasure of his movement.

‘You smell so good’ he moaned directly into your ear. ‘So good, arañita. I’d eat you up if I could. My beautiful, beautiful little spider. So—f-fucking, soft—’

He groaned out loud as he started to speed up, frantically squishing and grinding every inch of his cock between your lips. You could hear the manic, wet squelching of your own slick being papped back and forth by his movements, a soft ‘thwap’ that was getting louder and louder.

‘M-Mig—’

‘Mm, so soft, want you—covered in seed—’

‘Mig!’

‘Stuffed, s-stuffed with it. Stuff with my cum. Pretty little spider, full of my babies, full of my e-eggs—’

You tried to warn him, but Mig was too wrapped up in his own manic, heat-induced fantasy to notice. He was dizzy with the thought of web-knotting you, imagining his cock sliding right up to your cervix and then being webbed into place so none of his seed would spill. He was imagining you swollen with his offspring and resting in his silk den, his perfect little mate for life, fulfilling all of his desires.

You had no chance of stopping him, so you did the only thing you could do: you shuddered and orgasmed all over his shaft.

It was your barely muffled scream of pleasure that finally jolted him back to reality, and back to the gorgeous sight of your body trembling and spasming as it throbbed all over his member. He audibly gasped and twitched, letting his cock throb right back as he milked you for all the slick you would offer.

When your knees began to shake, he held you in place. Your weight was nothing to him. No matter what you weighed, with his size, he could have carried you like a kitten.

‘Mi amor’ he cooed into your hair. ‘Mi amor, mi amor… So beautiful. What a beautiful sight.’

‘Hah… f-fuck, uh… I-I can, barely feel my legs’ you panted back.

‘Shh. I’m here. You did so good, arañita.’

‘I-I didn’t, do anything, mi amor, I just… came’ you said, letting out a breathy laugh.

‘You did more than enough’ Mig purred sweetly. He took the chance to slide two fingers down between your lips and around your clit, letting your slick accumulate on his claws. Your body jerked at the sudden rush of stimulation.

‘Ah—’

‘More than enough. I’d pay to watch you do that again.’ Mig kissed your forehead as he slid his fingers back up and pressed them to his lips. You heard him licking them clean.

‘But I’ll take my payment another way, I think.’

You let out a shaky groan as he moved your body back into position. He was lining himself up again, and this time, he wasn’t going to miss.

You could feel his thick member pulsing at your entrance, teasing the sensitive skin before its final penetration. He’d rock himself a few times, shifting just an inch in before pulling back out, just enough to make that sweet squelching pop ring out. He could picture it now: the sweet feeling of your cunt enveloping every inch of him, welcoming him in, squeezing the life out of him as you moaned his name.

His name. His mate. His.

‘That’s it, arañita, are you ready for me?’

‘Y-Yes, yes—fuck, please Mig—’

‘You want it?’

He bucked closer, preparing to push in. You cried out.

‘Yes, fuck, please!’

‘You want it?’

‘Yes!’

‘You want—’

‘Hey! Mig?’

Miguel’s voice echoing through the halls drew you both to an abrupt and awkward halt. God damn it.

Mig tried to force himself to push through it, with the animal half of his brain wanting to just ignore the call of his variant, but he couldn’t bring himself to it. He slowly rocked to a stop and, with great reluctance, yanked his cock out from between your thighs.

‘Ah, my mistake… We got carried away again, didn’t we? Come here, mi amor. Let’s calm you down.’

He whispered those soft words into your hair as he yanked your body up and into his arms. He began applying as much desperate aftercare as he could; stroking your hair, kissing your neck and cheeks, stroking over and gently rubbing your muscles until the weakness in them subsided.

He held you with the utmost care while you struggled to recover from your orgasm. It was a big ask to compartmentalize all of the sweet arousal you’d just barely tasted.

‘Mig, you… b-but you didn’t fini—’

‘I’ll be fine, arañita’ Mig whispered. He was already carefully concealing his erection, letting it subside back into the little slot in which it was usually hidden. He was sweating from the strain, yes, but he had some control.

‘Mig, the rut—’

‘I have your slick covering my phallus with your scent’ he very bluntly murmured into the curve of your ear, causing you to shiver. ‘I wreak of you, arañita. That is enough for me right now. At least… It will tide me over, until I can get you home properly.’

You managed a small, slightly breathy giggle. ‘And then I’ll be your little cum dumpster, huh?’ you teased back. Mig purred.

‘You will be a good mate’ he whispered, ‘and you will do your duty by me, I’m sure.’

‘And that duty is?’

He leaned closer, gently nipping your earlobe. ‘Being, as you so brazenly put it, my little cum dumpster.’

You may have given in and fucked him right there in the closet space if Miguel hadn’t called out once more, drawing you back to the present.

‘Hey! Mig?’

You both gave a slightly similar sigh. You knew this was your own doing, and you couldn’t exactly be mad at Miguel. You just couldn’t wait for this stupid serum to be done.

‘Alright, come on. Let’s go get back to work’ you whispered. Without another word you began frantically pulling your suit back into place, and once you were both relatively dressed and presentable you silently crept back out into the main officer together.

‘Mig?! Ay! Are you—Oh. Oh… ¡Ey, que la chingada!’

Miguel raised both hands to his face as you both sheepishly appeared from behind the loose paneling. He didn’t need to ask what you were doing.

‘In my office!’ he snapped. ‘My office— Dios Mio… It’s going to smell, in here, for- hours, if not days!’

‘No, it’s not’ you called back as you hurried over. ‘Calm down.’

‘DON’T—Don’t, tell me to calm down, YOU did this!’ he seethed.

‘We’re—it’s, stressful, with the heat, and- we are very sorry, I swear’ you hissed as you finally caught up to him. Mig remained sheepishly stone-faced at your back.

‘I’m stressed too!’ Miguel replied just as sharply. ‘¿Y que hay de mi? Eh? Nobodies around to relieve my stress, but you don’t see me complaining!’

You and Mig both blinked and glanced at each other before turning back to Miguel in near unison, all while he continued to heave his chest in righteous indignation. You allowed the silence to continue just long enough to make his eyes dart a little.

‘… What? Why are you staring at me like that?’ he hissed.

‘… I mean, are you asking to be involved?’ you replied bluntly. You just barely managed to suppress the urge to giggle as he blanked. The way his eyes widened, the way his lips drew back to flash his fangs in a mixture of intrigue, disgust and confusion. You knew your response would create that exact reaction, but it was funnier to fix him with a neutral expression as he scoffed.

‘You- no!’ he snapped back. ‘No, I wasn’t- no! No!’

‘Are you sure?’ you asked. As you spoke you coyly leaned forward, noting the way his eyes darted over your body. He was forced to physically turn his back on you to avoid being accused of anything unseemly.

‘Tienes una mente bien cochambrosa’ he grumbled under his breath. ‘Look, whatever traits me and him might share, there is one big goddamn difference, and that’s that I’m not a massive pervert.’

‘Aw, but you’re stressed, like you said! Come on, lemme help.’ You continued your teasing as you took a few steps closer. He glanced over his shoulder, catching your little tiptoe motion, and like a frightened deer he stumbled away.

‘What- no!’

‘Yeah, come on! I’ll help you out’ you cooed, your hands stretching out to grab him. He took another step back.

‘What are you- has the heat melted your brain or something?’

Miguel was getting more and more heated as you crept towards him, his irritation betraying the little auburn glow in his eyes and cheeks. Your eyes crinkled with joy; you could practically smell his inner thoughts, and he could definitely smell you.

‘Come ‘ere, Miggy’ you cooed again. 

‘No! I will- I will subdue you! I’m warning you!’ he hissed, which only made you giggle more. You continued forward, and with each step you took Miguel scurried in the opposite direction. It was almost absurd to see that enormous, terrifying hybrid of a man fleeing from you in circles around his office, like a kitten chasing a guard dog.

‘I’m serious! If you don’t stop—’

‘Come on, come here!’

‘YOU- Hey, pendejo! Control your- mate!’

Miguel made a desperate plea to Mig as you both sped around his body, but Mig was enjoying himself at this point. ‘They are correct. You did say you were stressed’ he purred back, which caused Miguel to sneer at him.

‘MIG!’

With a grunt of exasperation Miguel sank his claws into the wall and began frantically climbing, forgetting that you could use your webs to follow. You pursued him up into the rafters and back down again, all while Mig watched with a smile on his face and his hands clasped in his lap.

You knew Miguel could have genuinely ended the chase immediately. He could have used a light cage, a web, anything really, but he didn’t. He let you chase him until you were exhausted, too tired to even finish swinging from the web you’d slung, and only then did he grab you by the nape and carry you back down himself.

He handed you over to Miguel like a stray cat, unceremoniously dumping you into his lap.

‘You are both a strain on my existence, and if I could I would have you both exiled to a barren universe where nobody would ever hear from you again’ he said in a totally deadpan voice, which only drove you into another fit of breathless giggling. Mig, too, chuckled a little in response.

‘No, come on. You love us’ you cooed back.

‘I hate you both. Sincerely. With absolute determination, in every universe.’

‘No, don’t lie! You love us!’

‘Dios mio— Alright. You, you—’ Miguel said, pausing just to point his claw in your face. ‘Yes, you, go help Jess with the Halloween party.’

‘What?! But—’

‘You are distracting my co-worker’ Miguel slowly repeated, cutting off any excuse you might have made. ‘You can mess around after our work is done. So, you know what? You’re taking over my Halloween duties. Got that?’

You instinctively shot Mig a look, expecting him to argue on your behalf, but the moment you locked eyes you realized he was technically right. Mig wanted you, badly, but he wanted to finish his work too. After a moment of silent conversation, you relented.

‘Alright’ you sighed, ‘alright, fine. I’ll go do the stupid party work.’

‘Good. Thank you’ Miguel said, though he clearly tacked the apology onto the end at the last minute. You took it regardless.

‘Actually, that means I can go get my costume’ you mused as you grabbed up your bags. ‘I’ll come show it to you later, you’re gonna LOVE it!’

‘I’m sure I will, arañita. Be careful’ Mig hummed back.

You reluctantly bumped foreheads with him, giving each other a very quick kiss to avoid starting up any more unwanted urges, and with that you hurried out of the room to go find Jess.

Mig watched you go with a slightly melancholic expression. He was doing a good job of hiding how badly he wanted you, how painful the rut was as it went unfulfilled, but he was less adept at hiding how much he missed you in general. He pined openly as he stared at the empty space where you’d been.

‘Come on, back to work’ Miguel snapped over his shoulder. He tossed him a pair of safety glasses to snap him back to reality, and after watching the enormous spider struggle to catch them he slipped on his own.

Mig paused and glanced between the glasses and the empty doorway, but he only allowed himself a moment to disassociate. After a few seconds of thought he obediently slipped the glasses on and got back into position at the desk.

‘Yes, sir.’

The two managed to work in silence for about a half hour, but there was a strange tension in the air that was hard to place. They were struggling to focus on their calculations or on the prep required to run the next test. Despite their attempts to hunker down and focus, it seemed inevitable that one of them would break the silence.

‘… You okay?’

It was Miguel who spoke first. Mig paused on his calculations and turned to glance at his counterpart, carefully shifting his glasses down so he could see him better.

‘Me?’

‘Yep. You’re the only one here, bud.’

‘… Yes. I am, fine’ Mig replied cautiously. ‘Are you, okay?’

‘Mhm.’

‘… Why do you ask?’

Miguel grunted and withdrew after soldering a single piece of metal together. He, too, raised his glasses, and fixed Mig with a veiled glare. ‘… I mean you were, copulating in my office’ he said bluntly.

‘… Ah. Right. Yes. I—Should apologize for that, I suppose’ Mig mumbled. He didn’t drop his eyes the same way you did, but he looked bashful enough to seem sincere. ‘I swear it was not personal, this time, I wasn’t trying to—’

‘Yeah, I know’ Miguel sighed. ‘You’re just two stupid rabbits. I got it.’

Mig didn’t reply. He held onto that silence for a minute or so more before Miguel spoke again.

‘… Three, stupid rabbits. I know I can’t keep discounting myself.’

‘Mm. I do not, blame you for discounting yourself. I know our nature is frowned upon’ Mig replied in a kinder tone, one that irritated Miguel. He couldn’t stand Mig’s gentle nature. He knew, deep down, he didn’t deserve it.

‘Let’s just… focus on the experiment’ he grunted. Mig gave a curt nod, and he turned back to the table.

But they both knew that they couldn’t actually stay silent.

‘I think… if we try it this way, we might be able to get over that final 1% hurdle’ Miguel said after a minute's silence.

‘Mm. I hope so. I have high hopes for these next few trials’ Mig purred, giving his abdomen a happy little wiggle. ‘It has been a hard wait, but, I will be grateful to have it finished. I will be grateful for the help you offered. To finally be with mi arañita…’

‘Yep. You’ll get everything’ Miguel murmured. ‘If this works… You’ll get everything we both wanted.’

Mig’s purring dulled as he gazed over at his counterpart. ‘… You, make it sounds as if you are jealous of that fact.’

‘Do I? I hadn’t noticed.’

Miguel’s sudden, sarcastic tone caught Mig off guard. Miguel’s face hardened as he tried to maintain that cold façade, but even that quickly fell apart. He couldn’t stay mad at his big, stupid variant anymore, not now.

‘… Yeah, I’m jealous’ he murmured.

‘But, why?’

‘You know why.’

‘I’m aware we had our troubles, yes. But I don’t understand why you would still be envious of me now.’

Miguel scoffed a little, which only urged Mig to get closer. He bent his front legs to peer at Miguel with earnest eyes.

‘Is it still mi arañita? Do you—’

‘No! Not—’ Miguel paused and instinctively raised his hand. ‘Sorry, that sounds defensive. Ah.’

He ran that same hand down his face with a sigh. ‘It’s not. At least not… I mean I’m not, envious of your relationship to them, but… Perhaps, maybe I am envious that you have someone.’

‘Right. I see.’

‘It all, just… works for you. It works out for you’ Miguel grumbled, his hand slowly sliding back down to his side. ‘And I don’t know why.’

‘That seems an unfair assessment’ Mig replied quietly. ‘You are, implying that my life has somehow been notably easier than yours.’

Miguel opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it.

‘I used to think you were the better of us all’ Mig said when Miguel failed to speak for himself. ‘You were the most human. The most adjusted. You had friends, co-workers, your… your, Dana was still alive, even if now gone.’

‘I’m sorry’ Miguel grumbled reluctantly. He couldn’t look Mig in the eye as he said it, but he managed to force it out. ‘I am. I didn’t—mean to imply that.’

‘It’s okay’ Mig purred. ‘In that mandatory therapy you made us go to, I… Came to understand a lot about my perception of you. You were everything that I wasn’t. A hybrid who passed for human, surrounded by people. And I hated you for it, but, I didn’t hate you—’

‘Well, you did. You hated me. For, justified reasons, I will add.’

Mig purred a mild chuckle in response. ‘Yes, I hated you after you tried to interfere. But I know why you did, perhaps better than anybody else. I liked rubbing it in your face, that I had achieved something unique and beautiful, because I put all of my misgivings onto you.’

In almost near synchronicity their smiles faded.

‘… Yeah’ Miguel murmured back. ‘Yeah. I see what you’re getting at.’

For a few minutes the two were silent. Miguel continued running logistics while Mig watched the screen, keeping track of the numbers as they flew past. For a while Miguel wanted desperately to pretend that he could leave the conversation there, but, that was a fools hope.

After testing a few logistics he paused the screen and gripped his desk for stability. Mig watched him with unblinking focus.

‘I tried to have a family. Even a, tiny little piece of a family, for myself… and I failed’ Miguel murmured. The cold blue light of the screen danced across his expression, filling in the hardened trauma lines in his face. The shadows in his brow and nose were sharpened under that dead light.

‘I failed. There was only one universe where I was happy, and I lost it, because—’

Miguel paused, unable to continue with that line of thought. Mig just purred.

‘Did you never wonder why?’ Miguel said, his voice barely a whisper. He sounded like a child re-calling their nightmare to their parent.

‘Why?’

‘Why we suffer?’ Miguel hissed. ‘Did you never wonder why? Why every O’Hara has to suffer, alone? Why there was only one universe where one of us was happy, and even there he… even he… and I…’

Miguel bit his tongue and went totally still, his eyes wild. Mig allowed him a few more moments of silence before speaking again.

‘… I pondered that thought all the time’ Mig murmured back. He turned to gaze at the screen, seeing the little snippets of video flashing in the corner. He could see you, making your way down the beams, and it made his heart ache.

‘I pondered it before I came here. Why did I have to turn, why did my loved ones have to go, why did I have to be left alone? I’d ponder it every night as I looked at the stars, playing my silk strings, wondering why I didn’t deserve better.’

‘I always said, I created interdimensional travel to try and keep things on the straight and narrow. To, fix everyone’s stupid little mistakes’ Miguel said, more to himself than to Mig. ‘But I don’t think that was true. I don’t think that’s very honest.’

He caught a glimpse of the same video Mig was watching then, and he froze up. He saw that little girl tossing the football around, beaming and smiling at the camera with mud on her face. His little girl.

His expression darkened, and he swiped the video away.

‘I did it to fix my existence. To find somewhere better.’

‘And you did, did you not?’ Mig replied.

Miguel scowled until the red light of his eyes was reflected onto his cheeks like tear stains. ‘… I did something, that’s for sure’ he replied. He ran another hand down his face as he mulled over the choices he’d made, and the choices he was about to make.

‘If this serum works…. We are going against fate by doing this’ Miguel said slowly. ‘We are, testing the very limits of what fate allows.’

‘You talk of fate as if it’s a real thing’ Mig replied. Miguel’s scowl deepened.

‘… What if it is?’

The two men glanced at each other in unison. The two were now barely a few inches apart, with the monitor light perfectly highlighting their differences. Mig’s soft, hopeful eyes against Miguel’s dark, narrowed hopelessness. Red like blood, and red like the sunset, fixed on each other in the silence.

‘There is no such thing as fate’ Mig said directly to Miguel’s face. ‘There is no fate. There is a universal series of likelihoods, that are numerically inescapable. They must exist, in a world with infinite possibilities. In every universe, for us to exist as we are, as hybrids, as monsters, there must be suffering. It’s not fate. It’s just the same, sad event, playing over and over again. But after that event… There are a million choices to make.’

Miguel narrowed his eyes further as Mig spoke. He clenched his fists and let the squeak of leather stretching fill the silence.

‘Then why does it still all go wrong?’ Miguel hissed.

‘Because bad things happen’ Mig replied matter-of-factly.

‘Bullshit. This is more than just- regular bad things. You can tell me what happened to us is just, regular bad!’

‘No. Some people, have it worse, I admit—’

‘Much, worse. Much worse!’

‘Okay. Much worse. Yes. I concede that.’

The two fell into a slightly awkward silence as Miguel tried to soothe his temper. It was his only coping mechanism

‘All I meant, is… Bad things will always happen. But the good still happened too. No matter what happens from here… I will be grateful for the time I had’ Mig said softly.

‘Do you really think, you could lose this, and still be happy?’ Miguel argued back, though his tone had also softened. ‘Really?’

That thought drew Mig to pause. He tapped his little fluffy paws on the floor of the office, as he tried to decide how to respond. In the end, he did what he always did: he spoke the painful truth.

‘No’ he whispered. ‘No. I could never be happy again if I lost them.’

Miguel didn’t reply with words. He just gave his own somber nod of agreement. Despite the nice platitudes, despite wanting to altruistically believe they could be calm and composed enough to accept their fates with grace, both of them knew what loss could do.

In the end, there was only one thing Miguel could think to offer.

‘Okay. Come on, I’ll handle the last of this. I can run the last few tests by myself with Lyla. The Halloween party should be starting in a few hours, just um- just, you go and help them out. They probably got themselves lost. Tonto.’

‘But, Miguel, I want to help—’

‘That’s an order’ Miguel said, sharply cutting off Mig’s retort.

The two stared at each other for a moment longer, almost as if they could speak without saying a word. Their eyes were locked.

Part of Mig wanted to say no. He didn’t want to leave his work, he didn’t want to wait. He also, deep, deep down, didn’t necessarily trust Miguel fully yet. What if it was a trick? What if Miguel used this as leverage to sabotage the test? After all, it’s what he’d have done in the past.

But the more he looked at Miguel, the more he doubted those fears. He looked so irritated, the stubborn fool, but he looked so open too. So genuine in his annoyance that he was allowing himself to do this kindness. There was no quiet pride, or any façade of politeness to hide his intentions. He really wanted to do something nice, and he hated himself for it.

Eventually, just as you’d done, Mig relented. He bowed his head and agreed to go, but not before giving Miguel an awkward clap on the shoulder.

‘Thank you, amigo.’

Miguel flinched at the new nickname. It caught him so off guard he nearly snorted out loud.

‘You, wh… Shut up! Jesus, you tried to fuck in my office behind my back, don’t start with that. Get out. Go on.’

To save face Miguel quickly snapped and pushed Mig’s hand aside, though there was no genuine fire in his words. Even Mig could pick that up. ‘Very well. I shall see you later, then. Take care’ Mig added, before turning and padding his way out of the office in hot pursuit of wherever you’d gotten off to.

Miguel was left alone, hands clasped to his desk, trying to hide the bemused and confused expression on his face. He hadn’t even noticed his claws had sunk into the desk.

Amigo…

‘Tonto’ he hissed beneath his breath, and with cheeks now burnt a soft shade of auburn red he returned to his work.

Link to next part!

[thinkwosolife23]

The Set-up, Leah Williamson

In Y/N's POV:

"You expect me to do what!"

Okay, let's rewind a bit.

I'm Y/N Steinfeld. Yes, it just so happens that my older sister is Hailee Steinfeld. And, it also just so happens that i'm a singer, just like her.

I never did the acting like Hailee has, my main focus has always been my music. I've always done really well with my music. So at the end of this year, I start my very first World Tour. After 5 number 1 singles and a number 1 album, it made sense for a World Tour to be my next step.

However, unbeknown to me, my agent had other plans.

And this is where it all begins.

Somehow, i've ended up on a plane, with my sister and agent, flying from America to England.

2 weeks ago:

The phone call:

Me and Hailee were currently sat in our shared studio; just messing around with different tracks, when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I said when I answered the phone.

"Hi Y/N, it'a Nick." My agent answers.

"Oh, is everything okay?"

"Yes. Well, sort of." He sounded hesitant, almost nervous.

Hailee glanced at me with a questioning look, to which I just shrugged my shoulders at. I was as confused as she was.

"Y/N, I need you to hear me fully out on this okay." He continued.

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?" I could feel myself getting more fustrated at his ominious answers.

"So, as you know, we need to get as much publicity around you as we can before your tour."

"Yeah? Can you just get to the point Nick!"

"Right. Yeah, sure. Me and another agent have been in contact over the past couple of weeks regarding your publicty and we've come up with a plan to heavily boost your publicity." Nick told me, still hesitant to finish.

"And what is this plan?" By this point, my patience running thin. Hailee always knew when I was getting fustrated at something, and gently took ahold of my hand, trying to calm me down.

"Long story short, we are basically planning to stage a relationship. However, it is required of you to be in England for this, so your going to have to fly out."

"You expect me to do what?"

"Y/N, your tour is in jepardy if your don't do this." His voice becoming firmer as he spoke.

"What! So your telling me, that if I don't do this stupid publicity stunt, that I won't be able to go on MY tour. Do you know how fucked up that is?" Anger and fustration now, completely getting the best of me.

"Your flight is booked for 2 weeks from today. You and Leah will be expected in a meeting the day after you land." He answered, not even acknowledging my arguement.

"Leah? Who's Leah?"

"Leah Williamson. She has just captained the England Women's Team to winning the European Championship. Obviously, winning the Euros has brought a lot of attention to her name. Hense, why she is the option we have goe with."

"Right, so, an arrogant, cocky footballer. How lovely."

To say that I was angry would be an understatement. My hands running through my hair in fustration as Hailee pulled my phone from my hold.

"Nick, it's Hailee. I think it's best if you finish this conversation another time. You've clearly upset her, so I would leave her alone for now."

I couldn't hear Nick's response to Hailee. But after a couple of minutes the phone call ended.

Hailee placed herself down, next to me, wrapping her arms around me. Tears now flooding down my face in fustration and realisation of having to leave my country, let alone home, for someone I don't even know.

"Sis, look at me. Whatever it is, we'll get through it." She told me, grabbing my chin to look at her.

"He's making me go to England for some stupid footballer."

"Wait, woah. Calm down, he's making you do what?"

"I've got to go to England. They want to stage a relationship between me and this Leah, to basically bring more attention to me for my tour. But he told me, that if I don't do it, my tour could be cancelled." I told her, through stuttered breaths.

"Right, okay. So, this Leah girl, she hot or no?"

"Hailee, you can't say that." I said, laughing slightly at her outburst.

"Why not? Only the best for my sister. And I made you smile."

Back to now.

Me and Hailee have just arrived, with Nick, for the meeting with Leah and her agent.

We were there before them, so we were already sat and waiting by the time they got there.

Oh Shit. That's Leah.

She fucking gorgeous.

Fuck Me.

Right Y/N, get yourself out of them thoughts. Your not actually supposed to fancy her.

"Hey, i'm Leah." She said, as she got to me, holding her hand out for me to shake.

"I'm Y/N." I took her hand in mine, giving it a squeeze before quickly smiling at her and gently letting her hand go.

Her hands. God, there so soft.

After all the introductions, and everyone meeting each other. All 5 of us sat back down at the table.

We had to listen to our agents bang on about how this plan was supposed to work and what me and Leah had to do to make it believable. They spoke for a good half an hour. I hope they don't expect me to remember all of that.

Leah was sat opposite me. She kept pulling faces and rolling her eyes when either one of the agents were talking. making sure only I saw her doing it, it made me smile back at her before putting my head down so I didn't laugh out loud.

"Right, I think that's everything. We'll leave you two to get to know each other." Nick said, which pulled me out of my thoughts.

Nick, Hailee and Leah's agent all left the table, heading towards another room, leaving me and Leah alone in ther room.

"So…" I said, kind of akwardly. Not really knowing what to say.

"I've followed you for ages, y'know." Leah told me, after another couple minutes of silence.

"You have?"

"Yeah, I love your music. My teammates do too, but they always complain that I play your songs a slight bit too much, before and after matches."

"Your making me feel bad now." I told her, feeling kind of guilty.

"Why? What did I do?"

"No, no. You didn't do anything. I just, when I got told about all of this and you, I didn't really know who you were. Football has never really been my thing."

"Well, at least you say football and not stupid soccer. And hold up, your telling me that you've never watched or been to a football match." Leah said shocked, jokingly clutching her chest.

"No."

"Well, that's definatly gonna have to change. You'll have to come and watch me play."

"You want me to come and watch one of your games."

"Yeah, course."

Her hand reached out for mine, across the table, mine going straight into hers as if it was normal. It felt comfortable, almost natural for us.

"You know, I don't want this whole thing to be all contract and serious. I want us to be comfortable with each other and for us to be able to have fun. The least I want is a friend by the time it's all over."

Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought it would be.

INSTAGRAM

y/n.steinfeld added to story

[ciaomarie]

ESCAPING INTO A SHIP

So what exactly made me latch onto the Sydcarmy ship like a leech on a water buffalo?

It was unexpected (for me)! Yes, the very first meeting between Syd and Carm did make an impact. I thought "Oooh, what's this?!" However, Carmy was/is such a mess that I quickly dismissed it. And Sydney just seemed to want his professional approval and a partner in making something great after the soul-crushing failure of Sheridan. So, the first season I personally didn't feel a mutual sexual/romantic tension, more like an automatic respect and shared goals/passions. Sydney nor Carm were obviously trying to flirt. Most slow burns on TV are 100% obvious like a Jeanine and Gregory (Abbott Elementary), Nick and Jess (New Girl), Jake and Amy (Brooklyn 99), Jim and Pam (The Office)...Until Braciole Ep. 8 that is.

S. 1 Episode 8- I won't get into everything but Carmy was desolate. Yes, he became a psycho chef and two people quit in Ep.7. However, he mourned Sydney more than Marcus. She was in his flashback/nightmare (?), then the way he told Tina that she looked like Syd (the poor pup), him texting her before opening the note from Mikey, and finally the most gorgeous locked gaze scene since Pride and Prejudice (2005). The soft lighting, the music, the colors, the mind-reading...magical. I still didn't get it initially. Silly, blind me.

Mentorship where??? Season 2 Carm and Syd's "mentorship" dynamic is pretty much over. They are true partners and spending more time together. They're dressing alike even when not in uniform, finishing each other's sentences or talking in unison. Sydney is opening up more of herself and Carm is asking to know more. They use the ASL sign for sorry with each other and no one else until ep 10. Then there's that locker scene in ep. 1 or 2, when they almost hang out just cause. However, Carmy misses the moment and there's the return of the kicked pup face. Before being on the ship I was delighted with all of their scenes and was looking forward to the food tour. They just ROCK together on screen.

Classic Love Triangle- Who's Claire? She's "Claire Bear", the prototypical "cool girl", who is willing to chase an socially awkward, wrong-number-giving man, despite being a pretty ER resident with no shortage of options. Did a CW writer get hired? Anyways, why was her presence used almost exclusively to put strain on Carmy and Sydney's relationship instead of The Bear generally? We could have had scenes with Nat, Richie, and Marcus arguing with Carmy about him being distracted due to Claire. They saved 99% of that for Sydney. They CHOSE to insert her in between or just after scenes with him and Claire. Showing Sydney's tattoos and her getting dressed with the stained chef's coat juxtaposed with them was WILD.

I LOVE that both believe their interpersonal problems are solely about The Bear/business partnership. In most "slowburns" the characters are far more conscious and actively work to keep things platonic. Jeremy might be a smidge aware that Sydney means more to him after the panic attack, but I bet he's shoved it down. All he knows afterward is that being with Claire feels wrong hence ignoring her call and recommitting to SYDNEY. He could of said "You all/This/The Bear deserve my full focus etc..." He was also nagged into greeting Claire at Friends and Family, seemed anxious when Fak brought her up right before The Table scene, and also while explaining that "she's great" to Sydney. He was at peace when focused on Sydney in the moment below.

The actors: Jeremy and Ayo's real life friendship is warms my soul and their chemistry onscreen is amazing. DON'T WASTE IT!!!

Jeremy smolders on screen. I want to see Carmy continue to stare, yearn, fall, then eventually confess and for Sydney to reciprocate his feelings. Anyhoo, does anyone else melt when Carm means business?! They do this twice in season one and it's not good for me. Whew, I need to clean my whole house or run a few miles.

Finally, there's so many other parallels between these two. They are fearful avoidants, have a missing or dead parent, jacked up stomachs, use sarcasm, but are generally very earnest, they struggle with anxiety, are compassionate, are perfectionists, peace-makers, give people multiple chances, are workaholics...so much more. A lot of that is also ME, lol.

Sydcarmy is my Roman Empire. I love them as much as you can fictional characters and they deserve the most tender, angsty, triumphant, romantic best-friends to more love story.

[agoodroughandtumble]

Do You Think They Know? - Roronoa Zoro x Reader Part 5

Do You Think They Know? - Roronoa Zoro x Reader Status: Complete (5 of 5) Summary: A culmination of oneshots ascertaining Reader & Zoro's relationship Warning: 18+, Language, Implied smut

“Good morning, sunshine.”

You glared at Nami – half shielded away from her annoying good mood by your duvet. She was always annoyingly loud and chipper when she knew you had a hangover. Your hand snaked out of your cocoon to take the coffee she always brought you. “How bad was I?”

“Hmm,” having given you the drink she flopped onto your bed, tucking her feet underneath the duvet. “Well, that depends.”

An irritated groan left you as you sat up, holding the coffee cup in both hands. “Stop being a dick. Just tell me.”

There was a pause as she mulled over her answer.

Another groan. Another pause. You let out a sigh – far more annoyed with yourself than her. “Is he that pissed off?”

“He’s not...happy.”

“So, yes.”

“It’s Zoro,” Nami shrugged as she helped herself to a mouthful of your drink. “He’ll hit some stuff and be fine.”

She was right, but also not helpful. Zoro had an annoying habit of not actually talking about anything, or at least, not talking about anything you wanted to talk about. Not that you really tried to talk about...anything. But it would be nice if he could at least be angry towards you, shout at you, show any semblance of human emotion instead of locking himself away with his swords and his saké and pretending nothing happened. All the while you were a dweller, forever playing out the same embarrassing scenario in your head until you swore you brain was going to pour out of your ears. Hyper-fixating on everything you didn’t do, should’ve done. So of course you were going to over analyse every move he made until it drove you insane, and then you’d drink and make an arse of yourself, and then over analyse every move he made until you needed a drink only to make an arse of yourself ad infitum.

“Urgh,” you threw the covers over her legs and stood up. This was ridiculous. You had no idea what needed to be said to him but clearly something did. If anything, to improve crew morale. Or some bullshit like that. Fuck. This was a bad idea. And the thought of wallowing under the duvets with Nami certainly was tempting – especially as Sanji would obviously bring room service. But no. Big girl pants because… because something. Your brain was too foggy to care about optics.

Nami eyed you up and down. “What are you doing?”

“Making a horrible decision.” You threw on a jumper before flashing her a grin, “Care you watch?”

*

It was with heavy limbs and a frustratingly heavy heart that Zoro climbed down from the crow’s nest. Usually he was on top of over working himself, but with each rung he could feel the aches and pains. He hadn’t slept much. After drinking with Nami and, probably, possibly, too many shots he’d made his way up the rope ladder in the hopes of letting off some steam. Only he hadn’t. He’d been stewing. Eventually he’d managed to get some sleep but awoke the next morning still full of anger and what better way to take out his frustration than to focus on his muscles, on the way they hung limp at his side despite his endurance, despite how much he desperately wanted to think about anything other than you. And yet every time he thought about you the fire was reignited – only to be sated when he was too exhausted. Too exhausted to do anything but think about how much he’d fucked up the night before, the look in your eyes, the pure defeat across your features… So he got his swords out. Again. Ad infitum.

Heavy boots finally made contact with the deck – he surveyed his surroundings. Robin was reading on a sun lounger, Chopper lying across her lap. Usopp and Luffy were doing… fuck knows what they were doing but they were in a corner obviously egging each other on and he should be more concerned but fuck it. And, of course, you were nowhere to be seen. Neither was a certain curly brow. Fuck. He hated you.

Avoiding the others, he sat down and closed his eyes, head resting against the gunnel, fully embracing the soft breeze running through his hair and trying his hardest to think about anything other than you.

And then he heard your voice.

“Hey,” there was a pause and he could hear a sharp intake of breath. He opened one eye curiously. You were fidgeting with your fingers which usually meant you were overthinking something. “Can we talk?”

He closed the eye again, sinking further against the gunnel. Deliberately basking in the sunlight and warm breeze. The anxiety coming off you was almost palpable – so he’d let you wait a little longer.

A frustrated sigh. A pause. “Fine, fuck it. Don’t say I ne-”

His hand gripped your wrist. Both eyes open, looking you up and down. You were dishevelled; clearly just woken up and against his will he couldn’t help but focus on the oversized jumper coupled with pyjama shorts. Your thighs were close enough to his face it would hardly be a use of his neck to leave bite marks. Still, he was cautious and a tilt of his head confirmed that Nami wasn’t far behind – albeit very obviously “not watching” as she walked over to Robin and Chopper. His gaze focused back on you. “What?”

You bit your lip. “Are you going to continue to be a dick? Or get over it and let me apologise?”

“Maybe both.”

You wriggled your hand out of his grip. “Right, well, glad I tried.”

“(Y/N), wait.” He swallowed, all too aware of the desperation in his voice. “What did you want to say?”

“Well, nothing now.” You shuffled awkwardly on your feet.

Zoro stood up, taking your wrist again, perhaps taking a little too long to stare at the spot at which your skin connected. Hopefully you didn’t notice. Really, really hopefully. He cleared his throat. “What’s wrong?”

Your face scrunched in thought; he had to fight the smile threatening to break. And then there. The snap. You looked at him, eyes like steel – eyes that could cut his soul in half. Voice running as mercury. “I just wanted to say that we’re okay. Bygones, and all that. For the best of the crew. And I’m sorry for being a dick. So, that’s that.”

Zoro let go of you – hand dropping to his side, the echo of your touch still radiating through his veins despite every instinct screaming at him to fly. He stretched his neck a little, hardening the armour. “Good. I’m sorry too.” His teeth gritted together, jaw clenched yet he forced out the words, “For the crew.”

*

Nami pulled the sun lounger closer to Robin – eyes never leaving you and Zoro. Although at this point she was lobbying at just locking the two of you in the brig. But, apparently, it wasn’t anyone’s role to intervene. Honestly, everyone else was such a stickler. And there was only so many times she could pretend to care about the fact that there were emotions that every one else could fucking see because they weren’t blind. Like yeah, we get it. Just fuck already.

“How’s it going?” Robin quirked an eyebrow, one hand holding up her book and the other gently playing with Chopper’s fur as he snored lazily on her lap.

“These two will kill each other.” Nami rolled over onto her side, mischievous grin on her face, “Want to bet who gets the first hit?”

Robin smiled, setting her book against her lap. “Do you think they know?”

“About the bet?” Nami sat up, slightly offended at the thought that her cunning plan wasn’t quite so cunning. “It’s literally just happened.”

Robin roller her eyes. “No, do you think they know? That they’re both in love with each other?”

“Oh,” Nami turned back around, face towards the sky. “No. They’re both fucking idiots. Would make our lives a lot easier if they did though.”

[melodic-haze]

haii!! I really like ur arle fic ^_^ could you write smth for sub yelan? can be a thirst :)

☆ — SONG TITLE: Safe and sound

☆ — PAIRING: sub!Yelan x dom!Reader

☆ — TYPE: Hurt with comfort, fluff, NSFW

☆ — CONTENT WARNINGS: MIGHT be ooc bc by GOD do I barely remember things now, gn but she calls you "doll" so there's that, praise kink, body worship, soft sex :3, fingering to cunnilingus pipeline, does it count as semi-public if you have sex in the bedroom interior thing of the pharmacy, silly banter bc I think sex is silly❗️❗️❗️

☆ — NOTES: HIII YAYYY THANK YOU 🫶🫶🫶 I absolutely can anon❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️ I need Yelan in my life so baaaad. Also do they even have actual hospitals in Liyue cuz Bubu Pharmacy's.....a pharmacy 😓 idc pretend they have patient rooms

☆ — WORD COUNT: 3,875 wtf

You told yourself that you knew what you were getting into, when you began your relationship with Yelan.

She's a busy woman—when your girlfriend technically doesn't exist for the sake of keeping her job as the personal intelligence officer for the Tianquan, you didn't really have a choice but to accept that things would be.. inconvenient for both you and your relationship.

You knew there would be risks. You knew that in order to make this work, the both of you had to reconcile with the fact that neither of you are completely safe from the possible consequences that came from her working in the more definitely-not-legal clandescine side of peacekeeping. One wrong move and she, the hunter, could get hunted.. and you could easily be used as bait.

You both knew that, and neither of you took it lightly. Obviously not; one stupid mistake and whatever cover she had on would be uprooted and someone would get hurt. But it's easy to admit that with how proficient your lover is with her work, the danger seems oh so far away...

Which makes the falling action hit all the more harder, because hope is a painfully fragile thing.

You're a storyteller at the Heyu Tea House, much like Liu Su is. Perhaps you could've worked at Yanshang, considering your very intimate connection with its owner, but such closeness risked turning you into an accessory people could exploit to reach their target. Those who've witnessed you consider you a talent—you had a way of weaving words together at a second's notice, your voice the only element needed to transport the public's focus and imagination to another world.

Yelan had admired that silver-tongued quality of yours.. or, as she had joked about more than once, your delightful skill with your mouth. The joke aside, it was something that you two had in common, except you told tales of the brave and the bold with freedom and joyous passion while she told tales of ever-shifting identities to keep herself hidden as she did her job.

..But no tales of glory could ever reassure you when a messenger brought news of Yelan's state, no tales of security could keep you above the ocean of overwhelming dread.

You had to rush over to Bubu Pharmacy, not caring that you were leaving work and all the tea house's patrons behknd when you had just been told that she was in critical condition. What kind of state is she in? How did it happen?

By the time you get there, you were almost ready to burst into the interior before Herbalist Gui steps in the way, "Wait, wait. Who--"

"Where.." you heaved, having just ran basically from one end of the Harbor to another, "where is she? Yelan? Inside, yes? I have to--"

"Slow down."

"But she's in critical--"

"Assuming you're the one I've been told to wait for, she was in critical condition. She's recovering, at the moment.. though Dr. Baizhu himself was tasked to brief you about it inside."

The feeling of relief was small and momentary but comforting, "Then can I see her? Please?"

He nodded before opening the door himself, "Just don't rush in like you were about to."

With a hum of affirmation, you stepped inside, eyes darting around to find your lover before eventually locking onto a certain bedridden figure in hushed conversation, along with Dr. Baizhu.. and Lady Ningguang.

Sure, it would've done you some good to act relatively composed in the Qixing's presence, but it's not like that was the time for it.

So instead you quickly walk over with urgency, the other two weren't much of a priority to you right now, "Yelan!"

She pauses before turning her head and smiles as she sees you approach, opening her arms to you, "Y/N, sweetheart, there you are..."

You move to quickly embrace her, burying your face in the crook of her neck. Her familiar scent and her comforting warmth overtaking your senses and reassuring you that she is fine and she is NOT dying and--

You feel her wince before trying her best to cover it up, unintentionally prompting you to let go. You look at her with worry once again before you see her try to smile, though it looks more like a grimace to you.

"I'll be fine, you don't need to treat me like I'm made of glass." She then winks at you, as if she wasn't at all injured, "You know I like it rough, doll."

You couldn't help but roll your eyes with a huff despite the situation, "Your possible death bed isn't really the place to be joking like this..."

She shrugged, "On the contrary, I think this is the perfect time. I'm not dead yet, though."

"You could've been."

"You, indeed, could've been."

Both of you turned to look at the two briefly forgotten figures in the room, said two sporting small smiles befitting of their own nature. The doctor's snake, Changsheng, looks to the side as if disinterested but you see that there's some sort of pleasant glint on her eyes.

Baizhu starts off slow, as if speaking to a spooked deer, probably for your sake, "Unfortunately, Yelan's life was almost taken due to a mix of a poison build-up and bleeding out too much. We've.. had to keep her here in secret for a while in order to keep watch of her state. At least," he let out a light chuckle, "until she managed to stay conscious for longer than five minutes."

"It was a lot of trouble, you know." The albino snake hissed out, "Really had to keep an eye on her 24/7 in case she suddenly curled up and died more than she looked instead of just taking a nap."

"Now, my case wasn't that dire--"

"Barbaric as it is, I'll bite you and fill you with poison again if you say otherwise, human--"

"Before your pet snake threatens my agent's life a week after she almost died, might I suggest we hurry this along? I'm sure Y/N would like to be alone with your patient instead of witnessing this little farce of yours." Despite her words, Ningguang's lips had easily curled into a small smirk, her eyebrows slightly raised and her tone amused.

"Come now, you heard the Tianquan; no need to threaten the patient, Changsheng," Baizhu sighed as he softly nudged her head away with a knuckle. "The sooner we brief her other half over here, the sooner you can go, okay?"

The snake companion offered no other form of acknowledgement beyond a little huff before resting her head on Baizhu's shoulder.

"So..." You start, "You're telling me that she's been here for.. a week."

Ningguang nods.

"And nobody went to tell me."

The Tianquan let out a small sigh before lifting a hand to idly summon a few of her small gem constructs and swirling it around, "After thinking it through, we weren't necessarily left with a choice. She was in dire need of immediate help, everything else came after."

'Necessary' this, 'thinking' that, it was getting a bit infuriating, "If it was so bad then why send her in such a dangerous mission in the first place?!"

"It wasn't supposed to be."

You all turned to look at Yelan, who had been silently watching you on her bed, and you just now notice the slender hand that gently tugged down on your arm.

She then turns to the others with a smile, "I'll take the rest of the explanation. With my service, I think I'm at least owed some time alone with this sweetheart I'm holding onto right now."

Ningguang nods as Baizhu stands up, the both of them moving to leave. However, you hear the doctor call out as he closes the door, smug amusement practically radiating off his voice, "Don't exhaust her too much now!"

The door closes, leaving you two alone, and you couldn't help but cringe at the Doctor's remark as Yelan laughed. That moment only lasted for a few moments, however, before worry and dread came back to make itself known to you.

"I'm still mad, you know."

"I know, doll."

"And worried."

"Mhm."

"If you knew then why wasn't I told that you've been here this whole time?" You ducked your head as your hands sought to hold onto yoour lover's own, "You could've died nearby and I wouldn't have known until it was too late."

Her hands reciprocated your gesture, giving you a light squeeze, "Don't hate me."

"What for?"

"I was the one who told them not to say anything until I was all better."

"..But why?"

"It was something I arranged with Ningguang a while ago about you; if I'm ever in a really bad state, it should be kept secret until I either recover or.. well, you know."

"That's not telling me why."

"I was getting to that, sweetheart," she chuckled as she lifted one of your hands to press a small kiss on the back of it, "it's to protect you. I'm not risking my life to risk yours even more.. and I didn't want you getting worried or getting false hope in case I didn't get through. I wanted to come back to you injury-free."

You took pause, considering her words. You knew she was right, getting all wound up about something that would or wouldn't have come would've been.. stressful. And in doing so, there's a chance that you might be identified and used against her. It might be extreme, but it pays to be careful when your girlfriend's basically a spy.

"You still had me worried, though."

"Haha, yeah, I'm sorry."

"I almost knocked some poor patron's tea onto his lap from rushing out to see you and yet all you do is laugh it off."

Yelan snorted, "Really?"

"Yes? I don't have time to be careful when you could've been dead! What even happened?"

"I took a gamble on the whole thing and it ended up backfiring, that's all."

"..And I'm guessing that's all you'll tell me?"

"Until I get the all-clear, yes. Sorry, love."

"That's fine. It's.. the same old. I just wish you were more careful."

"Mm. I said I'm sorry, didn't I?"

You look up at her to reply but you stop in your tracks as you see the way she's looking at you.

Her eyes, coloured a dazzling aquamarine, looked at you with such love and care. Coupled up with that easy, relaxed smile, it reminds you of why you're willing to put up with.. all this for the love of your life.

Your words are taken from you and you couldn't care less, not when she lets go of your hands and wraps them around your neck.

"I missed you," she says, and you can't help but melt.

"I missed you too. So much."

"Then can I..?"

Your eyes crinkled at the request, easily falling back into the dynamic you have with her, "We're not done talking about this. And you're not meant to be exhausted."

"I almost died, can't a woman get a reward for surviving a bad roll?"

"You could, but that's not how you ask."

Her voice turns airy yet raspy at your reminder, her tone simultaneously taunting and begging, "Please?"

"..Alright, fine then. Come here." And that's all you say before you both lean in, her arms slowly tugging you down on the bed with her as you follow through the movement.

Soon enough, you're on top of her as slow, gentle kisses progressed and increased in intensity, her hands wandering and grasping onto you as if you were her one lifeline, the reason why she lived. And perhaps you are, with the way she cherishes you and lets you do whatever you wish to her, both in body and soul. Your touch, in contrast to her uncoordinated movements, is gentle and unhurried as you make sure to be careful of possibly hurting the woman underneath you.

The both of you make relatively quick work in removing the clothes you have on, with more effort on your part due to your insistence in letting her lean back so that she doesn't accidentally strain herself. You almost regret it when you see the state of her body—the bruises are fading away faster than it probably would've, were it not for Baizhu's help, but the cuts...

"Even with the doctor's healing, they don't look too good, do they?" You hear Yelan muse, her ever so confident tone slightly tinged with a touch of self-consciousness, "You don't need to look at them, doll. I wouldn't--"

"No, they're.. beautiful."

She snorts again, an unsure smirk on her lips and a light pink dusting her cheeks, "Usually I'd agree, but those are recent gashes you're looking at."

"And?" You raised an eyebrow, "They may look a bit.. gnarly but you survived all of this. How can I not think they're beautiful? How can I not think you're beautiful?"

She doesn't say anything back, though you hear her exhale shakily before she pulls you back into another brief kiss. You don't stay there long, however, as you slowly make your way down: gently biting and licking her neck, playing and sucking onto her nipples with great care, kissing every scar and bruise and wound she's received in great reverence to the one you love, caressing every inch of her body...

Underneath you, Yelan squirms in pleasure and anticipation, her breathing deep and her skin flushed as you take your time in worshipping every single inch of her body. Her hips rock up in an effort to grind her clit up on your thigh. She was desperate—of all the places you decided to caress, you've yet to touch the one place she needed you the most after the whole time you've been apart. You knew this, and yet you kept going.

Yelan knew how to handle hard and rough, but she was lost when it came to soft and gentle.

"Please, babe," she practically moaned out, "Aren't you-- ah.. taking longer than... than usual..?"

You pressed a kiss on a closed wound as you grazed a nipple with your thumb, "Am I? I didn't realise you timed me whenever I had you at my mercy."

Her breath hitched at the movement, "No, just.. instinct... How long are you--"

"But I haven't shown how much I love every single inch of you yet."

"I think I'd get the message if y-- ohfuck... if you got to the main event."

You sported a mock pout, your words failing to hide your teasing intent that just wants to have her squirming for you, at least for a little while, "I haven't seen you in a good while, can't you let me savour you?"

You see her gulp, her eyes half-lidded before one of her hands move to comb her hair out of the way, "You have.. you have all of me, no matter what."

..That was enough, especially after finding out that you almost lost her.

Your hand grazed her skin as it travelled down to her core, your fingers lightly swabbing the slit to get a feel of the wetness accumulating in the apex of her thighs. "You're so wet... Maybe I should treat you like a fragile little princess more often, hm?" You couldn't help the remark as you rubbed circles on her clit and gave her what she wanted, especially when she lets out such a delicious whine.

"I need.. inside... Come on, now, sweetheart, I--"

"You were doing so well..." Your minstrations slowed down, earning another whine from who was supposed to be a mature woman, "What's the magic word, hm? We've gone through this."

She doesn't hesitate, "Please put.. put your fingers in me, I've needed you for s-so-- oh my fucking-- mmnf!"

You made quick work in finding someone's discarded panties—yours or hers, you couldn't care less right now—and using it as a makeshift gag to silence your lover when you finally sink your fingers into her wet, hot pussy. "I don't know if you remember since apparently you've been here the entire time, but we're not home right now. So I suggest you try your best to stay quiet."

"That is," you continue with a raised eyebrow, keeping your hand still inside her and practically relishing in her pleading gaze, "you can keep quiet, right? I wouldn't want us to be a disturbance so if you can't, then..."

You make a point to remove your fingers at an agonising pace, its presence leaving just as soon as it came, but her hand reaches out in an effort to keep you inside. You see her shaking her head 'no', though she doesn't let out a sound.

"Good girl," and you plunge your fingers in once again as some sort of makeshift punctuation to your brief praise, to which you could feel her hips buck sharply into your hand in response.

Your lips and your unoccupied hand wandered around her body, as if making sure that she was there with you and actually alive instead of whatever worrying condition she was in. And really, if it weren't for some lucky stroke of luck, she wouldn't even be here in your arms right now.

You knew the risks of being with her but that didn't mean you liked it—the thought of losing your lover was...

"..Mm?"

You looked at her and you see a questioning yet knowingly sympathetic look in her eyes, and that's when you realise that you had unconsciously stopped moving entirely.

She moves her hand, though it isn't to remove the makeshift gag in her mouth. Rather, she moves it to softly brush her knuckles on your cheek, reassuring you of her present existence without words.

..You needed her just as much as she needed you.

With a pleasant hum, you kissed her again before moving your head down and leaving a trail of kisses in your wake. You stop at her glistening core, wet with slick and anticipating your next move from the way it squeezes down on your unmoving digits, before you descend further and give her clit a slow, tentative lick. The effect is immediate—you hear her let out a muffled gasp as her hands dart to the back of your head.

Her reactions have always been a delight to witness because of how it was always such a gamble to you; was she going to try holding it in or was she going to be so expressive that you have to keep her still? Was she going to be a good girl and follow every little thing you say or was she going to be a brat and defy you until you've broken her in? But this time it's delightful in a different way—your entire exchange is so utterly intimate and caring and reassuring for the both of you.

And the effect on her is also delightful too. Putting her hands on your head and alternating between gripping it tight and massaging your scalp as you consumed her entire being, murmuring sweetly broken-apart words of her love for you as she tries to quiet down for you, pulling you closer by wrapping her legs around your head and never letting you go while her body twitches and reacts at your every minstration... For once, she doesn't know what to do, simply laying there as a helpless pile of need and desire that's being wound up tight with care until she possibly can't anymore.

When your fingers curl up into that one specific spot as you sucked on her clit just the right way, you feel her finally snap and let go before you hear it.

It happens in such a mesmerising sequence; her breath hitches once more as her body locks in place for a mere second before she bucks her hips and shakes uncontrollably. Her hands claw on your scalp and her thighs squeeze you tighter, practically closing up any space to breathe and yet you don't care—you happily continue on with your movements and help your lover ride through her much-needed orgasm. Then that's when you hear her garbled screams, the makeshift gag in her mouth definitely not enough to contain the sound, mixed with "I love you"s and scrambled words of gratitude as she rides out her high.

It takes a while, but eventually she settles down. Yelan's grip on you softens up and you are given room to move off her and finally breathe (not as if you were complaining, in the first place). So you extract yourself from her lower body, though not without cleaning her slick up with careful licks as you slowly took your fingers out as to not overstimulate her further. You licked your own fingers clean right after with a little wink at her and you see her roll her eyes with a smile as she takes the panties out her mouth and puts them aside, the expression complimented with a blushing tint on her cheeks.

You kiss all the way back up her body until you reach her lips, and a hand goes up to cup your cheek as you share this tender moment together between you. And when your lips break apart, your body doesn't follow—instead, you lie beside her with both your limbs tangled up together and never letting go. You would have lied down on her but you didn't want to put pressure on her still-recovering body.

Neither of you speak for a little while, satisfied with simply hearing the sounds of each other's breathing. Of her breathing, an indication that she's alive and with you at this present moment. It's so easy to just.. close your eyes and fall into a comfortable slumber with your partner right here with you.

But eventually, Yelan manages to form her words, "I missed that."

You raised an eyebrow, "What, the sex?"

"Well, yes. You're a natural, sweetheart. But no, I meant being with you."

"..Me too."

...

"There is.. one more thing I want to do."

"And what's that?"

And she turns to look at you with that dazzling sea of aquamarine blanketed with a warm, loving gaze, "Rest. With you."

The smile that stretches your lips isn't enough, could never be enough, to express the happy warmth that blossomed within you, "We can do that."

You don't do it immediately; you've had to briefly extract yourself to put your own clothes back on and help Yelan with hers (despite her insistence that she can do it herself) because the least you two can do is look somewhat presentable in case someone comes in. But when you finish up and you come back to bed with her, it doesn't take all that long for peaceful exhaustion to overtake you.

The last thing you see is Yelan's live, blissful expression of happiness, something one wouldn't expect from someone in her line of work and yet there it was.

And it's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

(And when you wake, you see her snoring lightly with her lips slightly apart.

And you wouldn't want to trade this—her—for anything.)

[the-silence-in-between]

When I sift through my heartbreak about the Agatha All Along finale, the thing I keep coming back to is what a terrible choice it was to make The Road a con.

Now, I've seen folks theorizing (with evidence) that Billy subconsciously created The Road for weeks now, so I'm not going to say that the twist came out of nowhere. The hints were there.

But thematically, episodes 1-7, were about womanhood, sisterhood, and community. We saw Agatha deeply long to be part of a coven, even though she didn't trust anyone and felt so obviously, deeply uncomfortable sitting around that campfire in episode 4.

Episode 8 seemed like it would be continuing that same theme, but once we get to The Twist, episode 9 necessarily has to be all about Explaining The Twist. And so, even though the flashback scenes in episode 9 are truly beautiful, they feel like they belong to another show.

Agatha's Character Development

Think back to everything that episode 1 set up. We've been teased with Agatha and Rio's relationship since the very beginning, but we get nothing about how they met and virtually no backstory for Rio. I had zero illusions that we were going to get some sort of happily ever after for them as a couple, or that the show would be all about them. But this was a seminal relationship in Agatha's life, and given how much the actors were talking things up, I really expected more.

Episode 1 also seemed to set up so much more with regards to Agatha's backstory. There was so much about the Darkhold (and it came back up again in episodes 2 and 3, too), but we never found out how or when Agatha attained it. At one point in episode 1, Agnes tells Rio that every case is always about the specific small town and the secrets buried beneath it, but we don't find out anything new about Agatha's life in Salem or why she was nearly executed, nor do we learn why Evanora thought Agatha was born evil.

In fact, when we look at all nine episodes, Agatha really doesn't have a character arc. Once she breaks out of Wanda's hex, she doesn't grow or change. She doesn't make peace with Rio, or with what happened to Nicky -- she literally chooses to become a ghost because she's too afraid to face him in the afterlife. She clearly longs for sisterhood, but Sharon, Alice, and Lilia are dead, and despite Agatha and Jennifer being incredibly similar as characters, they never make peace with each other. Episode 8 presents Agatha choosing to sacrifice herself for Billy at the last minute as "growth," but she literally drank poison for him way back in episode 3. This was already something we expected her to do.

So we end episode 9 with Agatha in the same position she was in in episode 1, only translucent and filmed through a thick layer of Vaseline. Yes, I know she forms a "coven two" with Billy, but after all the earlier focus on sisterhood, the fact that it's just Billy feels really insufficient. And yes, I know that Agatha will likely return in other MCU titles, but this was her show, damn it, and it felt like a miracle that we even got a show starring a queer character played by a woman over 40. And if Agatha can't even get a character arc in her own show, how am I to believe that she'll get one as a side character?

(On a personal note, I think I have always loved seeing a villain do a heel-face turn because I find something so hopeful about seeing a character overcome and grow beyond behaviors and characteristics that only harm them. I've identified really strongly with Agatha's desire for sisterhood and difficulty opening up and trusting others, and for this show to essentially end with "the only change Agatha is capable of making is dying" is just ... honestly devastating on a truly embarrassing level.)

Breaking the Spell Cast by The Ballad

But beyond the way the need to explain The Twist short-changed Agatha's development, it also retroactively cheapens the ~magic~ of The Road and The Ballad. The Road was presented as a journey that sisters in the craft would embark upon together -- the comics have a really moving storyline where Wanda actually meets her biological mother on The Road -- and in singing along with the ballad, it felt like we the audience were part of that sisterhood, that journey. But now knowing that The Road never existed, and only exists now because of a teenage boy who can't control his magic, it feels like the spell Jac Schaeffer spoke about casting on the audience with The Ballad has been broken. It's no longer something I can sing to make me feel like I'm a powerful witch -- it's something darker and less than what we were promised.

Two Halves That Don't Fit

Because of the shift that had to happen once The Road was revealed to be Billy's creation, so much foreshadowing and character development that were begun in the first seven episodes really seemed to just seemed to have no resolution by episode 9.

Maybe this is the story that the writers set out to tell, with The Twist firmly in place from the beginning. But it just feels like at the 11th hour, someone was like "OMG what if The Road is another hex?" and they shoved it in, sprinkling some breadcrumbs backwards so eagle-eyed fans could spot the clues, but not stopping to make sure that the themes they laid out in the early episodes came to a resolution by the end.

And hey, maybe they originally did that, and Marvel/Disney execs came in and removed stuff at the end to fit better with other MCU properties. (Though if that is what happened, I have very little hope for anyone trying to tell an interesting story within this universe.)

This was obscenely long, and I've begun to ramble. There were parts that I liked about both episodes 8 and 9, but over all I just felt so let down after six weeks of falling in love with this show and the story they told us they were telling. They came so close to perfection and really just dropped the ball at the end.