#local dead man has a heartbeat again. he’s shook

[thehappiestgolucky]

*kicks down door*

Hey guys wanna see my stupid crack au. I’m throwing the Markoth into Hisui :)

[kass-storycorner]

Oh god, okay hear me out. I suffer from insomnia and I couldn’t get Childes letter out of my head (btw the English version is so much less “I am in love with you” than the German one. He literally says in the German version that he misses us and wants us to visit him, like straight up this is a love letter!! The English version is really toned down in comparison).

So. I know his birthday is over, at least where I’m from. But. I wrote this whole ass fan fic, that is way too long, because I was so inspired by that letter. I’m not really satisfied with the ending, I honestly wanted to add so much more fluff but… I also didn’t want to make this too long, I actually planned for it to be short??? help (also it’s 4am now noooo)

Happy birthday, Tartaglia

Genre: a little bit angsty, fluff, comfort

Rating: SFW, though mentions of kissing and sharing a bed

Content warnings: mention of a family death, Bennett’s bad luck lol but both are unrelated haha

Characters: Tartaglia x gn!reader, a guest appearance of Bennett, mention of Zhongli

Word count: 2,796 words (oooh f*ck haha)

-

You’ve been busy the whole day doing some commissions for the Adventures Guild and were now on your way to Mondstadt, when you heard a familiar voice call your name. “(Y/N)!”, Bennett called out to you and ran into your direction. A deep sigh left your throat, while you enjoyed Bennett’s company most of the time… you had to deal with a ton of your own bad luck today. Not one of the commissions today went the way they usually did, everything that could’ve gone wrong did go wrong. It was honestly just very frustrating, although you couldn’t be really sure if it was because of bad luck or because your mind was somewhere else most of the day. You shook your head, trying to get rid of the tiredness you already felt in your whole body and made your way towards Bennett. No matter what he needed help with you would be sure you could handle it. And in that moment, as the thought of how it wouldn’t be a big deal whatever Bennett had on his chest, you saw how the young adventure tripped over his own feet and fell face forwards into the dirt. ‘Ouch, that must’ve hurt’, you thought while running up to him. “Are you hurt? Here, let me help you up Bennett”, you asked while helping him get up from the ground. All you got as an answer from him was his usual laugh and smile. “Oh man, I really didn’t see that stone. Haha, thanks for the concern though!” You couldn’t help yourself and chuckled at the way he wiped off the dirt from his clothes. “So, what’s up? What do you want from me?.” “Yeah, right! I nearly forgot!”, he exclaimed and started fumbling in his bag. “Oh, got a present for me?”, you asked sheepishly. “Kinda, not really. Here!” Bennett held a letter in his hands, both bandaged again, and stretching it out to you. “A letter? For me?”, you took it in your hands. In a fine handwriting there was your name on it. It didn’t even took you a second for you to register who’s hand writing it was. What a surprise.

Before you could even start to ask Bennett how he got his hands on the letter he was already excitedly explaining it to you. “Today I had a commission on Dragonspine and to be honest, it didn’t really went that well until I ran into this one guy. I accidentally activated a few Ruin guards and well, even the most seasoned adventurer can’t fight more than one of these at a time and sadly the newest members of Benny’s adventure team had to go home again before we made it even to the mountain.”

The thought of Bennett nearly finding his end today on Dragonspine really… it really did not sit right with you. You made a mental note to ask him later who the new members were that ditched him. After you had your talk with them they wished they had stayed with Bennett on Dragonspine. “Well, in that moment when they approached me that one guy showed up and it only took him a few minutes to defeat them all. (Y/N) that was so cool! I tried to recruit him for my adventure team, but sadly he said he was already occupied with something else. Oh man, it would’ve been so cool to have him on my adventurer team, imagine with such an excellent fighter no one would be afraid of my bad luck to join my team.” While you enjoyed Bennett’s enthusiasm you had to interrupt him. “Wait, wait, Bennett. The person who gave you this letter is on Dragonspine?”

“Oh yeah! As I was saying I tried to recruit him for my team, but failed however we talked a bit and somehow he mentioned that he knew you! When I told him we were friends he asked me to give you this letter the next time I saw you.”

You felt how the excitement in you grew. He was on Dragonspine? He was so close to you again? Now you hardly could pay attention to what Bennett continued to say, all that was on your mind was the man, whom you saw the last time months ago in Liyue was so close again. “Bennett,” you interrupted him again. “Thank you so much for the letter, but I really need to get going. Thank you so much!”

And with that you changed your direction and made your way directly to Dragonspine. “Oh? Okay, bye (Y/N)!”, you heard Bennett call after you, but your mind was already occupied with opening that letter he gave you.

With shaking hands you read what stood on that thin paper in that neat and familiar handwriting:

“Hey, comrade! How have you been? You must have traveled far and wide since we last saw each other, right?

For me, I can only seek out some entertainment for myself. These past couple of days, I’ve used a work opportunity to explore Dragonspine and seek out some local specialties. I hope they will be of use to you.

The harsh cold of the snow-capped mountains is reminiscent to the scenery of my hometown…

Sigh, I’ve had many mundane days that makes me nostalgic of our time together. Whether it’s a fight or a challenge, I always feel that having you around is what makes life really interesting.

Haha, to be honest, I’ve been planning a special day to meet up with you, today could be that chance! If you have no special plans, how about you swing by my place?

I miss you, Tartaglia”

Quickly you put the letter in your bag with what accompanied it and now you were basically running towards Dragonspine. Right now you didn’t want to think about what kind of “work opportunity” there could be for the Harbringer on Dragonspine, all you could think about was seeing him again.

It has been months since you both parted ways in Liyue. You met him while being on a commission, funnily enough it was a bit similar how Bennett ran into him today. In one of Liyues ruins you looked for a book some historian in Liyue Harbour desperately tried to get their hands on. By the amount of Mora they were willing to pay it should’ve been obvious to you that it wasn’t a one-person mission… and still, you went alone into those ruins. You had no problem in destroying the first two ruin guards you ran into, but when three activated at the same time… If it weren’t for Tartaglia back then you would probably be dead. At first you were very thankful for his help, however when you found out he was also there for the book you needed your thankfulness quickly turned into anger. “Well, don’t you think I deserve a reward for helping you out, comrade?”, he teased you.

After that day you somehow always managed to run into him in Liyue Harbour or on your commissions. Back then you only knew him by his name used by the Fatui, Childe. Though it was well known in Liyue that he was one of the Harbringers, you somehow didn’t get that message after months of openly antagonising him. Only after Childe invited himself to your usual afternoon teas with your friend Zhongli you learned about his affiliations, but also more about him. If someone was hearing two people bickering, the people of Liyue knew it was you two. However none of it was malicious. Somehow it was the way you and Childe showed each other the appreciation you had for one another.

The first dislike you had for him grew quickly into a warm friendship. And that friendship grew in something more after awhile.

The first time you noticed a change in your feelings towards Childe was around the time of the Lantern rite festival. One night you were supposed to meet up with Zhongli - but Childe showed up in his instead. Apparently, so Childe, there was a lot to do at the Parlour because of a new promotion the director wanted to try and needed Zhonglis help with, so Zhongli asked Childe to accompany you to the Lantern rite.

Until this day you weren’t sure if this was just a set up by Zhongli, but even if it was, you wouldn’t hold it against him.

That night, when you and Childe walked around Liyue Harbour and watched the lanterns something fundamentally changed between the two of you. After that night you knew so much more about him and he about you. From that day on he wasn’t Childe anymore, he was Tartaglia. And both of you finally knew how the lips of the other felt on your own.

Now you were so close again to feel his warm arms around you, to listen to the sound of his heartbeat when you rested your head on his chest and to feel his lips on yours again. Oh how you missed him too.

Parting ways wasn’t easy. Both of you knew that it was best to not be so public with your relationship, for several reasons. On the one hand the Fatui weren’t what you would call popular - most people would use some stronger word to describe them. Being a Mondstadt citizen in Liyue openly dating a member of the Fatui, yeah no. On the other it was also not really well liked by the Tsaritsa for the members of the Fatui, no matter if you were just a low henchman or a Harbringer, to get involved in that way with outsides. With “not well liked” it was more implied that she forbade any romantic relationships outside and inside the Fatui ranks when they were on a mission. And Tartaglia was on a mission, a mission you knew nothing about, but to be honest? You preferred it that way. The longer you were able to ignore what it meant for him to be part of the Fatui, the better.

So because of all of this you both decided it would be best to keep the relationship in the shadows.

You both knew for sure was that you had to part ways one day, however none of you expected that you were the one going home before Tartaglia. There were a lot of nights of laying in bed with him, sharing stories from each of your homes. You told him about the Windblume Festival and Ludi Hapestrum, he told you about the festivals and traditions of Snezhnaya. When you shared stories of how your little siblings and you loved to collect as many dandelions as possible when you were children to pretend that it was snowing in the summer, he would counteract that story with the times he built entire fortresses with his siblings out of the snow in the winter. Only to then pull you closer and whisper in your ear that he’ll show you how to do that when you come with him back to Snezhnaya. You would always whisper back “okay, but first you’d need to glide with me off Startsnatch cliff”. The lovely nights you both spend together, telling each other of your homes and how much you want to show it to them were harshly interrupted by a letter you got from your family.

Life sometimes isn’t fair. It’s hard and it brutal and it’s short. So when you got the letter from your family informing you that the youngest member of the family had died, it broke you to pieces. They were only 14. That night Tartaglia held you in his arms, his hand on the back of your head, your head pressed into his chest and none of you could say a word. Only the sound of you crying piercing the quite room. Too heavy was the grief for anything to be said anyways.

The day immediately after you received that letter you and Tartaglia parted way, a quite and sad goodbye. None of you were actually sure when you would see each other again. With his hands against your tear stained face, the tears not only being shed out of grief but also out of the pain you had to leave your lover, he promised to write you as often as he could. You promised you would answer. And then you left, wishing he could come with you. Words you did not dare to speak, because you knew he couldn’t, no matter how much he wanted to.

Now you found yourself close to one of the Fatui camps on Dragonspine. It was quite irresponsible to just run up the mountain, without any proper preparation or knowledge where Tartaglias camp actually was. You sighed. The excitement of seeing him after such a long time, after just exchanging letters got the best of you. Frustrated with yourself you made your way towards the campsite, hoping that this time the Fatui henchmen wouldn’t immediately start attacking every stranger they see. However when you arrived at the camp site you saw that no one was there. Too exhausted from the commissions earlier in the day and running up the Dragonspine you let yourself fall down in front of the extinguished campfire. Slowly but surly the cold weather of the Dragonspine was catching up to you.

Going through your bag you were looking for the stones Tartaglia send with his letter, hoping to ignite a fire with them. But before you could find them you heart footsteps in the snow behind you.

You hadn’t even had the chance to turn around before you felt two arms looping around your body, immediately warming you up.

“Hey comrade, did you miss me?”

You felt his head on your shoulders and you couldn’t help but to lean your own against his. One of your hands made its way up to his face, touching his cheek. “Yes,” you whispered.

Turning your head you now looked into his deep blue eyes, they were filled with all the love he had for you. You wished he could look at you like this forever… that you could look at him forever.

Tartaglia leaned a bit forward, placing a soft kiss on your lips and you couldn’t help it but smile.

He slowly pulled away, entangling himself from the hug and holding his hand out to you. “Come, let’s go inside the tent. You must be freezing out here”.

Inside the tent Tartaglia threw one blanket on another blanket over another over you, while lecturing you on what appropriate clothing was for a weather like this. You really didn’t give it any second thought when you made your way to Dragonspine, still wearing the same clothes you would wear on a sunny day in Mondstadt. But you also couldn’t hide it how much you loved to just hear his voice, even when he was nagging you. “It’s fine really, now stop trying to bury me under all the blankets and warm me up yourself”, you took his hand and pulled him towards you onto the plank. “You know some people would find what you said very suggestiv”, he joked, joining you under the immense amount of blankets. “Mmmmh,” was the only thing you replied, completely enamoured with him having you by your side again. For a few minutes the both of you just laid there, close to each other and feeling each other’s heartbeat.

None of you could actually believe your luck to be in the arms of the other again. How much you had missed this. Missed him.

“Hey,” he spoke softly, making you look into his eyes again. “How you’ve been doing?”.

It was such a soft question and you knew what he meant. You wanted to tell him how exhausting everything has been since your arrival, how your family was breaking apart at all ends, what a shit show it all was. In your letters you only alluded to how bad it actually is. How it was all just made worse by him not being at your side. Though you knew you would have to tell him all of this sooner or later, right now you didn’t want to talk about it. Not in detail. Not when today was actually his special day. “It’s manageable, but better now that I’m here with you”, you replied to his question. “You?”

“Better, now that I have you here”, was his reply. You both smiled at each other, a warm and tender smile. Slowly you adjusted your position so that you now were laying on top of him, your chin on his chest. “Hey, there is something I forgot to tell you.”

“Oh, and what is it?”

“Happy Birthday, Tartaglia”, and with that you kissed him.

[unfocused-always]

Prologue: They don't pay me enough.

A heavy sigh drifted over the spacious office. The man sitting behind an oak desk rubbed a hand over his temple. Firmly squeezing the bridge of his nose, he eyed the documents with great disdain.

Usually, he rather enjoyed messing with humans' lives, but lately, his sons somehow managed to ruin even that part. He only asked them to fall in love. Was it too much to expect?!

A quiet knock broke his solemn monologue, and soon, a servant walked in, avoiding his eyes at all cost. Karl spared him one glance and felt his migraine rising. Tobias. So it was this sort of news.

"My Lord, I am sorry to disturb you, but," his voice quivered. "We've just received word that Reiko is dead." The last word was barely a whisper, but to his ears, it thundered in a closed room.

"Which," he snarled, then quickly composed himself. "Which one of them did it this time?"

"Familiars, they...," Tobias felt a cold drop of sweat slide down his spine, but he knew better than to give way to the panic. He cleared his throat and started in a much steadier voice. "Familiars reported it was master Laito."

King cursed under his breath. He reached for the carafe and poured himself a generous serving. Slamming the bottle back on the table with perhaps more force than was necessary, he began thinking. Karl watched the crimson liquid sway in his favorite glass, took a sip, and felt the tension leave his shoulders as a coopery taste bloomed on his tongue.

"Tobias." The men jumped against his better judgment. Watching his employer as he indulged in his peculiar drinking habits put the poor servant on edge. "I need you to bring me the files of potential sacrifices—all of them. Additionally, I require detailed information on Ryoutei Academy and their headmaster's contact data."

"Yes, my lord." The servant bowed respectfully and headed to the door. His fingers barely brushed a knob when the dreaded voice rang again, making his heart drop. He almost got out of there.

"I almost forgot. Get me an appointment with the local police chief. And arrange for the body to be...," Karl weighted the words for a second, "taken care of properly. Understood?"

"Yes, my lord, but master Kanato has already disposed of the body in his usual way."

Karl nodded at the news, disposing of Tobias with a wave of his hand. When doors closed, he allowed himself to slump into the heavy armchair.

He was exhausted. Everything depended on this plan, and yet - despite his best efforts - his sons ruined his every attempt. "Maybe," he thought. "Adam is to blame? Perhaps it's time to reconsider and try with the other candidates." Almost as quickly, he shook his head, disposing of the idea. "Mukamis, although far more cooperative, have no chance at producing an heir, let alone starting a new kind."

His eyes glided over the office, packed to the brim with priceless books and artifacts, only to stop at a lunar calendar. The vile curse left his lips.

The eclipse will take place in both worlds in a few weeks. A perfect opportunity. Almost like a key on a silver platter with a note, "Please, don't hesitate to break free." His powers would fall drastically, and his enemies would be fools not to seize such a chance. And they were no fools. Perhaps one of them wasn't as bright. But his brother, yes. He was a different matter altogether. "I suppose a few millennia of relative peace was - after all - worth it."

Tobias, again this night, broke the heavy silence with a soft knock, and with a grace typical for a man threatened one time too many, he quickly arranged the requested items and made his leave.

"Let's see what the future holds." he thought, reaching for the first file. He squeezed his eyes shut, and in a heartbeat, white light exploded before him. He stood very still and watched the scene unfold before him.

Her eyes wide with fear, the girl struggled to take in her new situation. His sons delighted at her screams of terror as, one by one, they tried to grab a quick snack. Finally, she made up her mind, sealing her fate.

"Ayato," he thought and winced at what was to come. "Such a delusional boy. And not to mention his temper."

Ayato, unknowingly, lived up to his father's expectations in the worst sense. His new bride met a quick and bloody end, making a delightful gift for Kanato.

Karl slammed the file closed and threw it into the burning hearth. It was going to be a miserable night.

The fire crackled merrily as the vampire king discarded one folder after the other. Over sixty girls, and each one of them destined to fail. His skull throbbed when he reached for the next one, mentally preparing himself for another scene of a gruesome murder. As usual, he skipped over the beginning and felt his dead heat give a decisive thump. "Yes," he murmured, "this has potential. It's far from perfect, but with this one. With this one, we may have a future."

He sprang to his feet and, a moment later, had four pages covered in minuscule writing, perfectly describing his plan. Overwhelmed with childish glee, he raised his glass again and whispered, "To the future."

In the following weeks, a few things happened. Karl pulled a couple of strategically placed strings, made some illegal threats, and - after five minutes of mentally preparing himself - made it through a phone call with Shu. Before Karl could put down the phone, his eldest son had already pushed most responsibilities on his younger brother.

Several dozen miles away, a girl's mouth broke into a massive grin as she flew down the stairs to share the news with her parents. She got accepted with a full scholarship into one of the most prestigious schools in this country. It was a dream come true!

None of them knew this dream would very soon turn into a nightmare.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Masterlist] [Chapter I]

Chapter I soon. As for now we have 2 cover options. Which one?

1.

2.

[shoutaaizawas]

Hi! Can we see Aizawa x reader in a coffee shop!au with the phrase “I want you to be happy…even if its not with me.” ? Love your blog!!

thank you so much! this was a fun request i adore aizawa and coffee so i loved it

↳ aizawa shouta x reader → ❝graveyard shift❞

event: au prompts summary: you own a local coffee shop and when eraserhead shows up in your shop one night you get a crush on the hero. word count: 3.5k+ tags/warnings: fluff, first meetings, confessions, robbery, gun mention, light angst

Owning and working at a coffee shop was something you enjoyed. Yes, it could be annoying at times when dealing with bad customers but the good customers more than made up for it. Your coffee shop was a hot spot for pro heroes. Its location was in the sweet spot between a lot of agencies.

It wasn’t unusual to see Fatgum, Gang Orca, or even Miriko in your shop. You had even had their orders memorized and had them ready by the time they paid which they always appreciated so they could get back to work faster.

There was one hero in particular that had caught your eye. Eraserhead. You kept the coffee shop open pretty late for the various people who needed a pick me up later in the night. College students would often study in the night in your shop. Then there were heroes that patrolled at night that appreciated it.

That’s how you met Eraserhead. You had been covering a late shift for an employee that had a family emergency when he came in. You didn’t believe in love at first sight but you could honestly say you were drawn to him from the second he walked in.

He was tall, dressed in all black with his scarf-like capture weapon around his neck, long black hair, and dark mysterious eyes. You had to stop yourself from staring and act like a normal person. You assumed he was a hero but you had never seen him before.

“Hi, welcome.” You said, the familiar words sounding unsure in your mouth. “What can I get for you?”

“Can I get four shots of espresso on ice, please.” He said. His voice was deep and had a raspy edge to it. You shouldn’t be so pulled in by someone’s voice.

“One of those nights?” You joked as you wrote his order on the side of the cup.

“It feels like it’s always one of those nights, these days.” He said in a tired voice.

“I haven’t seen you before, have you been here before?” You asked as you started his drink.

“Yeah, I started coming here the other week. I’ve been a few times.” He answered. You glanced at him at the corner of your eye making sure he wasn’t annoyed by the conversation but he looked interested.

“You’re a hero?” You questioned.

“Yeah, I go by Eraserhead.” He answered. You hadn’t heard the name before, he must have been an underground hero. There were a few that frequented your shop.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Eraserhead.” You said before giving him your own name.

“How much do I owe you?” He asked.

“It’s in the house tonight.” You said. “I hope your night gets better.” You said with a smile.

“It already has.” He said giving a hint of a smile before he left.

The rest of your night went by fast, you closed up and headed home happy to be in your bed at last. As you laid there thinking of the handsome hero that ended up in your coffee shop you remembered that you had to open the store in the morning. You let out a sigh mourning the sleep you would not get. Turning on your side you tried your best to fall asleep.

Morning came too fast, your alarm a painful sound. You rolled out of bed thankful that you owned a coffee shop and were able to make your own coffee but sad that it wasn’t in your hand yet. You got dressed quickly and made your way to the store. Opening the door you let yourself in and started turning everything on and began preparing yourself some coffee, no doubt the first of many.

Customers filtered in throughout the first hour, it was busy but not overly so at this point in the morning. After the first hour, you had two employees come in.

“I’m so sorry about last night, my sister got sick and no one was home to take care of her and-” The girl who you covered for last night said as she clocked in.

“Don’t worry about it, things come up. It’s okay.” You said waving your hands.

“I feel so bad, you closed last night and you had to open this morning. You must be dead.” She said as she put her apron on.

“That’s the joys of owning your own business. It’s bound to happen. I’ll survive.” You said as you walked to the front of the shop with her. “Besides I met a new hero last night, he was pretty cute. His name was Eraserhead.”

“Oh! Eraserhead, I remember him.” She said. “Wow, do you have a crush on him?”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit unprofessional to ask your boss about who they’re interested in?” You scolded. She looked at you with a pout on her face. “I’m just kidding, I do have whatever you would consider the adult version of a crush on him.”

“You should ask him out!” She said.

“I think you overestimate how brave I am. Besides, who knows when I’ll see him again.” You said.

Just at that moment, the door opened with a jingle of a bell and you both looked over to welcome the new customer only to see the man from last night. Your eyes widened a bit as your employee looked over at you with a cheeky smile.

“Long time no see.” You said. “I feel like I should be concerned that you’re back so soon. Do you ever sleep?”

“I could say the same about you.” He replied. “I teach at UA, not much time for sleep in between that and hero work. That’s where the caffeine comes in.”

“Always happy to help with that.” You smiled. “Although I don’t recommend too much, it can only help so much before it hurts. There is no alternative to sleep. Not to sound like I’m scolding you.” You realized how overbearing you sounded.

“It’s okay, you’re right.” He said. “I’m always so busy scolding my students I forget to scold myself.”

“Well, you know where I am.” You smirked. You could feel your employee’s eyes on you.

“What can I get for you Eraserhead?” She butted in.

“Four shots of espresso on ice.” He said.

“I’ll have that right out for you.” She smiled before starting the coffee.

“How long have you taught at UA?” You asked.

“Three years.” He answered.

“How do you like it?”

“It’s rewarding at times, frustrating at others.” He said humorously.

“I think I know the feeling.” You said glancing at your employee. She placed the drink on the counter for him. He handed her the money but before she could make the change he stepped away.

“I’ll see you next time.” He said looking at you.

“Looking forward to it. Have a great day!” You smiled at him.

“Wow, you could have a little less shame with your flirting.” She said nudging you.

“I was not flirting.” You replied.

“Oh, you were so flirting.” She teased.

“That’s enough out of you, go wipe a counter or something.” You huffed.

Thankfully for you, Eraserhead became a regular customer. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t start working night shifts to see him more. He assured you he did what he could to get sleep in between jobs, you were certain it wasn’t enough.

Some nights he would sit down for a break and you would join him. You loved talking to him, he was smart and had a dry sense of humor that you loved. It always felt good to get a laugh out of him. You denied you were flirting with each other but your employees assured you otherwise.

One night you were closing by yourself, you were short the people and you knew that you would be able to handle the store by yourself so you didn’t close early. It was late, no one was in the store at the tables and you found yourself on your phone waiting for something to do.

The door rang as someone entered and your eyes stayed glued to your phone as you greeted them.

“Welcome, what can I get started for you?” You asked looking up as they stepped up to the counter. Your heart dropped into your stomach as you saw the man standing in front of you with a ski mask on. “Oh,” The word fell out of your mouth.

“Give me the money, now.” His voice was low. You gulped, your body was frozen to your spot standing there. “I said now!”

The sight of the gun in his hand sent ice down your spine as your heartbeat out of its chest.

“I- I- Uh.” Your words stuttered out of you as you looked down at the cash register. Your hands fumbled as you put the code to open it, messing up the code multiple times.

“Hurry up!” He shouted firing the gun at the ceiling. You jumped in fear, trying harder to put the code in as tears ran down your face.

“I’m sorry,” You cried as your hands shook uncontrollably.

Everything happened quickly, the door opened with a chime of a bell and before you knew it the gun clattered to the ground as a familiar scarf wrapped around the man pulling him away.

You collapsed to the ground, your back pressed against the side of the counter as you sobbed into your hands.

“Hey, it’s okay now.” Eraserhead’s voice filled the air. You opened your eyes looking at him, it was odd to see him without his scarf. He kneeled down at your side. “You’re okay now, you’re safe.”

It was embarrassing but you hardly had control of yourself and you needed comfort, you lunged towards him hugging him. To give him the credit he handled it well, standing firm and wrapping his arms around you.

“C’mon,” He said leading you to the back of the store, you pointed him toward your office. He sat you down on the couch, sitting beside you with an arm around you.

Your tears began to slow and the adrenaline faded from your system leaving you even shakier.

“We just have to wait for the cops and once you tell them what happened I’ll take you home, yeah?” He said, rubbing your arm soothingly. You nodded softly.

Thankfully things were said and done with quickly, you let your employees know that they had tomorrow off and the store would be closed and Eraserhead walked you home. As you approached your door the two of you stopped as you unlocked your apartment.

“Thank you, Eraserhead. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up.”

“Aizawa. Aizawa Shouta.” He said.

“Thank you for saving me, Aizawa.”

“I’m glad I was there on time.” He said softly. “Are you okay, do you need anything before I leave?”

“I couldn’t ask you for anything else, you’ve done so much already.” You said.

Aizawa motioned for your phone, you gave it to him and he quickly put his number in.

“If you need anything at all, just let me know.” He said.

“Thank you.” You said.

“Good night.” He said before turning.

As he walked away you felt a wave of emotion, you had never felt so vulnerable and scared before. Images from tonight flashed through your eyes. Almost on reflex, your hand moved to grab his sleeve causing him to stop. You gulped feeling the shakiness from earlier overcome you.

“P-Please stay.” You stuttered out. He turned to you, his dark eyes so soft on yours.

“Of course.” He said leading you into your apartment. He guided you to your couch, you were thankful for that because your legs nearly gave out as you sat down.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask you to stay. I know you’re a busy hero.” You said as he sat down with you.

“A good hero wouldn’t turn away someone in need.” He said. “Much less a friend in need.”

“T-Thank you.” You said as he put an arm around you, you pressed your face into the crook of his neck. You knew tomorrow when you felt better you would be embarrassed by your actions but right now you needed comfort and Aizawa was here for you.

In his arms you were hit by a wave of exhaustion, the day’s events hitting you. You didn’t even realize that you fell asleep. All you knew was you had never felt so safe and comfortable than you did right now in his arms.

It wasn’t shocking that you woke up with a gasp. Your living room was dark, the first light of morning just beginning to light up the city. Images of what had happened replayed in your mind. You realized you weren’t just on your couch, you were on top of someone. That, someone, was Aizawa, who was now half-awake from your commotion.

“I’m sorry.” You said, looking down at him. His arms were still wrapped around your waist.

“S’okay.” He said if you thought his normal voice was enticing his morning voice was on another level. “Nightmare?”

“Yeah.” You said quietly. He nodded, pulling you into his chest. You hated how normal that action felt. Was there any chance he was interested in you as you were in him? You supposed right now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“You’re safe now, it’ll take time till you feel normal again but it’s okay to not be okay.” He said. You tightened your grip around his neck, shoving your face into his chest.

“Thank you.” You said, you knew his words came from a place of understanding and that gave you comfort in its own way.

Laying on his chest, the steady rhythm of his breaths and heartbeat calmed you down as you watched the living room light up slowly as the morning went on.

A growl from your stomach interrupted your peace.

“Are you hungry?” You asked. “I can make us breakfast.”

“I don’t want to impose.” He said.

“It’s the least I could do for everything.” You said looking down at him.

It was a nice morning despite what had happened the night before. You made him breakfast, he helped and you chatted while you ate. It turned out he had the day off so you told him he was welcome to stay. That led to you napping together to catch up on the sleep you both need.

After that, you felt a connection to Aizawa. You had already been interested in him but now you felt a closeness to him. If you were brave you’d call them feelings. When he came in you still flirted, not that you would admit it, but even with the playfulness of it, there was a serious undertone. Were you the only one who felt it?

You debated asking him out. Would he feel like you only liked him because he saved you? Or would he just not be interested in general? No doubt a hero like him could have any pick of love interests. Would he be interested in a coffee shop owner?

Maybe it would be better to leave things as they were. Or at least that’s what you thought until one fateful day.

Aizawa had finally worked up the courage to tell you how he felt. He had been interested in you for a long time but the night of the robbery had been a turning point. He realized he didn’t want to idly flirt with you, as much as he enjoyed all of your interactions together.

Holding you in his arms was something he was eager to feel again. A part of him felt bad as if he was taking advantage of you. He knew that you needed comfort, someone to make you feel safe and he was more than happy to be that person. No, he had to be that person for you. The thought of it being anyone else broke his heart.

He had mulled it over in the passing weeks. Your flirting felt heavy with the feelings he carried for you. A part of him wondered if you felt the change too. He finally reasoned that he should tell you. Well, truthfully Present Mic had been the one to convince him after he explained the situation.

Entering your coffee shop he was more nervous than he had been in a long time. His eyes moved to the counter looking for you but he didn’t find you there. Maybe you had taken off the morning. He was ready to push his plans to another time when he caught sight of you sitting down at a table but you weren’t alone like you were at times on your breaks. No, you were there with Best Jeanist. He couldn’t lie about the twinge of jealously that stirred in his chest but when he saw you laugh he couldn’t hold it back.

Did you have a boyfriend this whole time? Or were you this close with all the heroes that visited your store?

Aizawa caught your gaze before turning and leaving.

Catching Aizawa’s gaze you knew something was wrong as he turned and walked out the door. You looked at Best Jeanist.

“I’m sorry, I have to go.” You said.

“No problem, I need to get to work anyways.” He said waving his hand.

“Thank you, we can continue this conversation another time.” You said as you headed towards the door.

“Of course.” He said.

You knew you had to be quick to catch Aizawa. There was something about the look in his eyes, it looked like heartbreak. Maybe that was presumptuous. Whatever it was you just knew you needed to catch him. You spotted him turning to corner and you rushed to follow him. He turned into an alleyway but you were quick enough to catch up grabbing him by his sleeve, stopping him.

“Aizawa, where are you going?” You asked, concern melting through your words. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” He said pulling his sleeve free from your grasp. You couldn’t help the hurt that blossomed in your chest. You had never seen him so dismissive.

“Aizawa, you don’t sound okay.” You said. “Please, you can talk to me. You were there for me, I can be there for you.”

Aizawa let out a sigh, turning to face you fully. He ran his hand across his face, you could tell he was conflicted. After a tense moment, he finally spoke.

“To be completely honest with you I wanted to tell you that I had feelings for you. I didn’t realize that you had a boyfriend already and I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable so I just left.” His words were rushed, uncharacteristic for him. "I want you to be happy, even if it's not with me. I would never want to interrupt your relationship."

“A boyfriend?” You questioned. There was a lot to unpack in that sentence but you having a boyfriend was the first thing that jumped into your attention.

“Yeah, Jeanist. I didn’t know you were dating.” He said.

“Oh?” You said. “Oh! He’s not my boyfriend, I just asked him for his opinion on the new uniforms I was going to get for the shop. Not that he was any help he just said it needed more denim.”

“Oh,” Aizawa said looking taken off guard.

“I like you too, Aizawa.” You replied taking advantage of his silence while he processed everything. “Like a lot. Maybe even more than just like.”

“Oh.” He repeated looking at you so innocently with those soft eyes. You could feel the embarrassment of his jumping to conclusions.

“I wanted to tell you but I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way but I guess we’re both on the same page.” You said looking up at him.

The two of you stood there for a moment.

“An alleyway is a very romantic location for a love confession.” You joked.

Aizawa let out an unexpected laugh. He reached out grabbing your wrist pulling you towards him. He looked down at you, inches away from your face. Your gaze flickered down to his lips back up to his dark eyes. He got the hint leaning in to kiss you, his arms wrapping around you and holding you to him.

It was easy to get taken away in the passionate kiss but you had to come back for air. You let out a laugh as you pressed your forehead against his, smiling big.

“For such a logical man you really thought I was dating Jeanist after I’ve been flirting with you for months.” You teased.

“What can I say, I guess you make me illogical.” He teased, pulling you closer. You laughed, hiding your face in his chest. His hand brushed against your chin pulling your gaze back to him. “Let me take you out tonight, show you how I feel properly. Not in an alley.”

You smiled up at him.

“That sounds good to me.” You said before going in for another kiss.

[toomanyrobins]

Sugar

Summary: Moving to the small town of Lehigh was supposed to be a quiet escape. But, the local sheriff and his determination to drive you crazy turns your plans right on their head.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Content Warning: some swearing, annoying misunderstandings that would be fixed if people just communicated

Notes: This has not been proofread, so any mistakes are entirely my own. Whoops!

You had just arrived in Lehigh the week before and had been busy moving into your new home on the outskirts. When you’d seen the little cottage, you knew that it was meant to be and used the money grandpa had left when he died to buy it. A few days after moving in the last of the boxes, you wandered through the small town. The help wanted sign in the front of the diner made the job search easy and after a week working as a waitress, you’d settled into a comfortable rhythm. The other waitresses had been kind to her and now you considered Wanda and MJ to be friends. MJ and her boyfriend, Peter, had a young son and she had begged you to take the breakfast shift so that she could be home in the mornings. You had readily agreed, enjoying filling your days with work, and now it was your first morning shift.

You greeted Wanda as she pulled in and together you flipped on the lights and put on music to dance to as you started up the coffee machines and took down the chairs. It wasn’t long before people started coming in. Two men in uniform walked into the diner and sat in one of the booths in MJ’s usual section. You couldn’t stop the little voice in your head from appreciating how attractive they were, but you shut her down. You walked up to the table and plastered on a smile, “Morning, gentlemen. What can I getcha?”

The blonde looked at you, his eyebrows furrowed, “I don’t know you.”

Your internal voice snorted at the obvious statement and you nodded, “And I don’t know you. Now, what can I getcha?”

The dark-haired man did snort at the awkward interaction, “I will have a black coffee and whatever pie you have.”

“Does cherry work?” He nodded and you turned back to his friend, “And you, Officer Stranger?”

“That’s Sheriff Stranger—I mean Rogers—Sheriff Rogers.”

“Alright, Sheriff,” you decided to take pity on the awkward man, “What’ll it be?”

“Toast and black coffee.”

“Right away, Sheriff Stranger,” you flashed him a dazzling smile and went to put his order in.

Bucky chuckled and shook his head, “Well done, Punk. You made a great first impression on the pretty waitress.”

Steve groaned and scrubbed a hand over his face, “Thanks, Buck. Appreciate it.”

“Get some coffee in you and try again. Maybe smile this time.”

After that first failed encounter, Steve had come to the diner every morning. For two weeks, he would come and sit in your section. You couldn’t help yourself and continued to call him Sheriff Stranger. It had evolved into a fond nickname, instead of a sarcastic quip. He had taken to sitting at the counter instead of the booths so that he could chat with you as you moved around. He had been surprised by how quick your mind was and it had become the habit for him to read the paper aloud, the two of you going back and forth about whatever the front page was reporting on.

That morning, just like every other morning, he put in his usual order of black coffee and toast. You threw your head back dramatically and groaned, “Stranger, you’re killing me. Variety is the spice of life. How about scrambled eggs? Home fries? A piece of fruit?”

Steve couldn’t help but smile at your dramatics, “I like my toast and coffee, Sugar.”

“Fine!” You threw your hands in the air, “It’s your really boring funeral.” Steve chuckled under his breath as he looked back down at the paper. It didn’t take long for you to bring his plate over and when he put the paper down, he choked at the sight of what was on his plate. You meticulously had arranged a bacon smiley face with melon balls for eyes on top of his toast. You skipped away before he could say anything and he was left to stare at the ridiculous breakfast. Steve contemplated calling you over, but dreaded seeing the disappointment in your eyes. Instead, he popped a melon ball in his mouth and when he looked up, you had a massive grin on your face. You purposefully avoided looking over, but both of you knew this was a victory for Y/N.

After that first day, you continued to sneak new things on his plate often. The day after, you brought him his usual coffee and toast, but also put a glass of orange juice down. You winked at him, said something about vitamin C, and walked away to help another customer.

The day after that, it was an omelet with peppers and cheese. Every few days, you would allow him a respite from the over-the-top breakfasts and would bring him toast and coffee, but always added an orange juice to the order, insisting he needed some fruit.

One day when you allowed him to order his boring breakfast, as you’d dubbed it, you pulled the paper away from him, “I have to ask. Is the toast and coffee an indication of the other meals you eat? Because if you’re boiling your chicken, we are gonna have a serious problem.” Steve looked ashamed and you gaped at him, “Oh sweet Jesus! You boil your chicken!” You propped your head up with one hand, “It is flavor? Do you just hate things that taste good?”

“I am busy helping to run this town. I don’t have a lot of time on my hands.”

You looked incredulous, but perked up when you saw someone walk through the door. Steve could see the gears whirring in your head and knew this was not going to be good for him. “Officer Bucky, sir!” you waved him over, “I have a question for you! Answer it right and your meal is on me.”

The dark-haired man looked confused, but figured it didn’t hurt to try his hand at a free meal, “Alright, hit me.”

“What did you make for dinner last night?”

“Ciorba de Perisoare. It’s my mother's recipe for meatball soup. One of Nat’s favorites.”

You grinned victoriously at Steve and tapped the counter where there was a seat available, “That answer gets you one of those potato and cheese omelettes I know you love. Oh, and a slice of cherry pie.” You came back out with Bucky’s delicious looking breakfast and Steve’s sad toast and black coffee. The latter rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling, begging God to give him strength to deal with the stubborn young woman who had captured his interest.

“Any chance you can tell me why I’m eating for free?” Bucky asked.

“I boil my chicken,” Steve grumbled.

“What?”

“You’re eating for free because I boil chicken.” Bucky just stared at Steve in disgust and confusion before turning back to his breakfast, shaking his head at the two clueless idiots.

It had been almost three months since you had moved to Lehigh. Once Bucky had told his wife about the pretty waitress at the diner that had ensnared Steve’s attention, Nat had made it her mission to befriend her. She had gone into the diner one day and chatted with you, inviting her to join her friends for a girl’s night. That had been the start of a beautiful friendship that had the redhead trying to sniff out what the feelings were between you and Steve.

At the diner, it had been a long day for you. It was nearly 4 in the afternoon and she was dead on her feet. Nat came flying into the diner, “Sugar, get your best outfit on! We are going out tonight.”

You shook her head at the amount of energy her friend had. All you wanted to do was finish your shift and go home to soak in the claw foot tub you’d just scrubbed clean the day before. You leaned against the counter putting on your best puppy dog eyes, “I have been on my feet since 6 o’clock this morning. The last thing I want to do is go out.”

“It’ll be an easy night, I promise,” Nat hopped onto one of the stools at the counter as you poured her a cup of coffee, decaf of course, “It’ll just be some drinks at the Hideout. Please? First round’s on me.”

You groaned and then nodded, “How could I ever say no to you? I get off in an hour. We getting ready at mine or yours?”

“Mine. I already told Buck that they could meet us there.”

“They?”

“Yeah… Bucky and Steve.”

“Nat, don't tell me this is some setup for a double date.”

The redhead gasped in outrage, “What you must think of me! I just want my friends and I to spend a night out together.” You raised an eyebrow at her friend. Nat held her hands up in defeat, “I promise. No more setups.”

You finished up the last hour of your shift and timed-out. When you walked out, Nat was waiting for her. She drove over to Bucky and her home and they started getting ready. This had become such a common occurrence for the two women that she had taken to leaving a pair of clothes at Nat’s for convenience.

You had opened a bottle of wine while they got ready and by the time the two men arrived, you both had dissolved into giggles. It had not gotten better as the group got to The Hideout. You and Nat were having a great time and the music started playing. The latter had pulled Bucky out of their booth to dance. Steve had slung his arm over the back of the booth and in your inebriated state, you didn’t notice how much either of you had curled against each other. Tucked comfortably in the booth, you people-watched. As the music transitioned into a slower one, he held out his hand, “Dance with me, Sugar?”

“I’d love to,” you laughed as he pulled her out onto the floor. Soon the music slowed, and you were swaying together. Steve had chatted away about his work and you were happy to listen to him speak so passionately. Eventually, you leaned your head against his broad chest, feeling his hand move underneath her shirt. His fingers grazed your lower back, sending shivers down your spine. You felt Steve’s heartbeat speed up and smiled softly to yourself. You weren’t alone the effects of being in such close contact. As the song ended, you lifted her head up and got sucked into his deep blue eyes. Just as you thought he was going to lean down and kiss you, the main door swung open and three women walked in. When Steve saw them, he cleared his throat and stepped back awkwardly. You were left feeling cold and confused as Steve walked away before you could ask him what was wrong. You moved to the bar, wondering if you’d just screwed everything up with that almost kiss. Steve had become the person you were closest to in town and without his company, the loneliness was sure to grow.

Throwing back a shot before heading to the bathroom, you needed a moment to clear her head. You stared into the mirror, wondering how you could fix your mistake. One of the stalls opened revealing one of the women that had come in. She washed her hands and fixed her lipstick before acknowledging you. The smile she gave didn’t reach her eyes. She spun around, “You’re Y/N, right? From the diner?”

“Yeah, that’s me,” you were not sober enough to remember if she’s ever been into your work before, “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met.”

The blonde looked almost insulted that she wasn’t instantly recognized, “I’m Trish. Steve’s fiancée, Carly, is my best friend.”

You thought you were going to be sick right there on the floor, “Steve has a fiancée?”

“Oh yeah!” Trish explained, “It’s not official yet but she found the ring in his sock drawer a month ago. I’m sure that’s why he hasn’t mentioned it yet. But, it’s coming any day now”

“Right--,” you grabbed a paper towel and dried your hands quickly, “It was nice to meet you. I guess I should get back to my friend.” You hurried out of the bathroom and back to the booth, grabbing your purse and jacket. Thankfully, it seemed that Nat and Bucky were still occupied and you made a quick getaway.

The walk back home was only 20 minutes and as soon as the front door was shut, tears started to well in your eyes. You fanned your face, “Stop it. Stop it. He’s not yours.” Walking into the bathroom, you hated how much Steve had melded into your life. You’d brought paint samples into the diner one day and asked his opinion. Now, the color he picked seemed to mock you. How could she have been so stupid as to let this man in? Of course, he had a girlfriend, soon to be fiancé. Why would he want a waitress who forced her way into his life. God, I’m just a nag. You threw the towel against the wall and curled up in bed, letting yourself wallow in self-pity.

The next morning, Steve didn’t show up for breakfast. Every time the bell above the door chimed, your eyes jumped to see who it was and each time you cursed herself for being that way. Around lunchtime, Nat came in and looked upset. “Why did you leave without saying goodbye last night?”

You plastered on a fake, apologetic smile, “I started to feel sick and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“How did you get home?”

“I walked,” When Nat opened her mouth to scold her about being safer, you shook your head, “I know. I know. It was a stupid idea, but I was drunk. I promise I won’t do it again.”

The redhead nodded and then switched gears. A mischievous grin grew on her face, “You and Steve looked comfy on the dance floor last night.”

You scoffed as you turned to refill a coffee pot, “That’s never gonna happen.”

“But—“

You decided to be blunt, “I know about Carly.”

Nat looked confused, “And because of that you won’t give him a chance?”

“Definitely not. I’m kinda insulted that no one said anything to me.” A family walked in and sat in your section, “I have to get back to work. I’ll see you later.”

When you turned back to put the family’s order in, Nat was gone and it felt like a boulder was weighing on your chest.

It wasn’t until a week after that awful night that Steve deigned to come back to the diner. He looked like a child who’d just been told off by a parent. He took his usual seat at the counter and put his hand on top of yours when you came over, “I’m sorry about last week. Sugar, let me explain.”

You slid your hand out from under his and shook your head, “No need. I know the story now. I’m sorry if I gave off the wrong impression. Let’s just be glad nothing happened. I’ll bring your breakfast around.” When you brought him his meal, Steve felt sick to his stomach. There were no melon ball eyes, no bacon smile, not even a glass of orange juice. Just toast and a black coffee. You walked away before he could say a thing.

The food tasted like sand against his tongue and when he swallowed his last bite, he walked out and left the money on the counter without another word. As soon as he was out of sight, he pulled his cruiser onto the side of the road and threw up the “boring breakfast.” His temper was at an all-time high and he was shouting at everyone in the station. Finally, Bucky walked into his office and shut the door, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I fucked up and it’s unsolvable. I almost kissed Y/N last week, but Carly came in and I freaked out instead. You know how those women are and I thought that if they saw me with Y/N, they’d run her off. Turns out I was right. She said she’d heard enough and is glad that nothing has happened between us.”

Bucky was surprised to hear that. You had seemed too sweet to let something like Carly’s lies get to you. Especially without hearing Steve’s side. He ran a hand through his hair. “Damn, Punk.”

Things did not improve as the weeks went on. First, your greetings had slowed down in their enthusiasm and he missed being called Sheriff Stranger. Steve tried to catch your eye, but you quickly put the plate down and went to another table. Steve couldn’t take his eyes off of you. Your eyes weren’t as bright and he could see the makeup trying to hide how tired you were. Everything about Y/N was just off.

It was late that night when Steve swung around the back of the diner. The main parking lot was packed and he decided the back was easier. He saw a figure leaning against the wall and figured it was one of the waitresses on a smoke break. As he walked closer, Steve realized it was you and that you were asleep. You’d had walked out back for some air and had fallen asleep against the back wall. Steve shook you awake and you were embarrassed that you’d crashed like that. He pushed a strand of hair out of the way and you winced at the close contact. He pulled his hand back, “What’s going on, Y/N. Did something else happen?” You shook your head, avoiding his gaze. Steve hooked a finger under your chin and tilted your head up so that your eyes met his. He leaned down and kissed you, instantly making you dizzy. You snaked your arms around his neck, pulling him closer. He moved closer until your back was against the brick, both of you intoxicated with the other.

You were interrupted by someone calling your name inside and you pulled away. With one look back, you hurried back inside. Steve ran a hand through his hair, a grin on his face. Maybe not all was lost if you kissed him back like that. You were the first person he’d been interested in since he’d ended things with Carly. After they’d broken up, she was so angry that she told anyone who would listen about how he couldn’t get it up and was all-around disappointing. One of the downsides of living in a small town was that once something was out, everyone knew. Since their breakup, Steve had been too worried to even try and date someone else. Suddenly, you’d shown up in a hail of melon balls and paint samples and the idea of trying again wasn’t quite so terrifying.

You had gone home that night, the kiss seared in your mind. It felt like you’d just closed your eyes when your alarm went off. It was a rough morning and you were nursing a cup of coffee when you saw Steve, Bucky, and Nat arrive and sit in one of the booths in your section. You groaned when you saw the shit-eating grins on all their faces and walked over to the table, “Morning. What’ll it be?” Bucky and Nat quickly put in their order and then you turned to the blond.

“Waffles.”

You just stared at Steve and slowly brought one hand up to his face. He cheered internally when he felt your cool hand on his forehead, “You don’t have a fever. Are you dying?”

Both Bucky and Nat were dying on the other side of the table. Steve didn’t take his eyes off of you, “Ha. Ha. You’re on me all the time to try something different; so I am.”

The smile that crossed Y/N’s face made it all worth it. She said nothing else, worried he’d change his mind. She put the order in and went to check on her other tables. The minute his breakfast was ready, Y/N brought it over to him, “I won’t force the orange juice on you today. So, your coffee is on me.”

“Sugar, you don’t need to do that. If I didn’t want the waffles I wouldn’t have ordered them.” Nat saw the smile falter at the pet name and decided she was going to get you to talk before she left.

“Unfortunately for you, I’m in charge of your bill. Just say thank you and tell me I’m right.”

“Thank you.”

You tried to stay busy as the trio ate, but you squeaked as Nat came out of nowhere and dragged you into the bathroom, “Spill.” You stammered as you tried to figure out what to say. “I know you and Steve kissed, but when he called you Sugar you looked like you were dying inside. Are you really so shallow that you’re going to let one little rumor from a heinous girlfriend ruin this chance?”

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m honestly super pissed off that you’d try and set me up with an engaged guy just because you don’t like his fiancee.”

“Who’s fiancee?”

“Steve’s!”

“Steve doesn’t have a fiancee.”

It felt like all the air had deflated from you, “What?

“Steve’s not engaged to Carly. Never was. They broke up over a year ago.”

“I don’t understand. Why would her friend tell me that?”

“Because Carly is a psycho bitch hates to see Steve happy. After they broke up, she told everyone that his little friend was less than great and he sucked in bed. Everyone in town has been talking about the two of you and how cute you guys are. You’re the first woman that he’s gotten the courage to any show interest in since it all happened.

“That…” You couldn’t believe you’d been trapped in such a lie, “BITCH! How could she do that to Steve? He’s like the sweetest guy ever!”

“He thought you’d heard the rumors and that’s why you pulled away.” You were so confused and just stood there. Nat smacked you on the arm, “Well, go out there! Kiss him and tell him that you're both idiots. Go!”

You were practically gnawing at your bottom lip, your stomach in knots. You walked up to the table, “Steve, could we talk?”

“Of course, Sugar.”

Your eyes slid over to Bucky, “Outside?” You grabbed his hand and dragged him out the front door. You bounced your leg as you tried to figure out how to start this, “Um--so--you see--I--.”

“Y/N?”

“Fuck it,” You threw caution to the wind and hooked your finger into Steve’s belt loop, pulling him in for a kiss. He buried his hands in your hair, his tongue tangling with yours. He pulls away, both of you trying to catch your breath. His eyebrows were furrowed and vulnerability and fear shone in his eyes. “I am an idiot,” you blurted out.

“I’m just not quite sure what’s going on. We don’t talk for like two weeks and then I kissed you and you ran away and now you’re kissing me again.”

“I thought you were engaged.”

“I’m not.”

“Well, I know that now. Nat explained everything to me. The actual story. I have half a mind to burn down that bitch, Carly’s, house.”

Steve laughed and wrapped an arm around your waist, “I really don’t want to have to arrest you for arson.”

“Technically, it'll be attempted murde--,” He leaned down and kissed you again, shutting you up. You pulled back and smiled up at him. “I’m taking you out tonight. I’ll tell Nat to come by your place to help you get ready.” You couldn’t help but giggle at how well he knew you.

You turned to walk back into the diner and found every patron plastered against the windows watching you. “Somehow, I think she might already know, Stranger.” Steve just smiled at you and laced your finger together, walking back into the diner where it all began.

[dragonrajafanfiction]

Code: Light

Part of my Series based on the in game dungeons lol. Just for fun.

In fact… there was a boy who lived here… 20 years ago…

The words echoed in Lu Mingfei’s mind as he looked over the rundown landscape in front of him. He was sitting on a dirty pillow on a broken, rotted out porch, rain pouring down on his head through the holes in the overhang. Spiders skittered about and made him pull his feet in. In front of him was a table of rice, vegetables and tea. Outside the porch was a small garden with a pond, green and overgrown with algae. It was pouring down rain as it had been all day. The pond was at capacity and it would soon overflow its banks. From the gloomy surroundings, frogs creeled out a constant serenade.

He was led there by a woman, an elder in that particular village, who had first reported what turned out to be dragon activity in this small town. Lu Mingfei, Chu Zihang, and Caesar Gattuso were called to investigate. According to the report on the dossier, a young child in a red coat, carrying a red balloon could be seen standing at the edge of the village. His face was impossible to make out. Japanese towns could be full of local ghost tales, but this one occurred with disturbing regularity. EVA, the Cassell Supercomputer then detected an elemental anomaly. Plants seemed to be growing at such an incredible rate, that the rain clouds over this small area of Japan never seemed to stop. The rain would fall, the plants would soak it up and transpire the water again. It was as if the Amazon Rainforest took up residence in the far East.

After explaining about the child, the old woman took them out to that ramshackle ruin of a place. “If it’s that boy you’re seeking, why not try making him something to eat?”

Then she left.

“Guys I’m so over this ghost hunt. This is so creepy and the lower the sun gets the more I want to leave.” He said. He was wearing his usual combat suit, that skin tight but extremely durable wear that was close enough to the body to avoid catching on anything, but strong enough to withstand the cut of a knife. But was it ghost proof? Who was to say they wouldn’t get eaten by this ghost and the rice be left cold and moldy with no sign of them?

“Are you excited to be on an actual ghost hunt? It’s a shame that the ghost is a boy though.” Caesar sat smoking his cigar and looking out over the grey sheet of rain in front of him. He was dressed similarly, with his Desert Eagles at his side. Of course, he made a much more handsome figure in the muscle-hugging suit.

Lu Mingfei wanted to pull his hair out. “You’re engaged! Don’t lust after the dead you freak!”

Chu Zihang slid his sword part way out of his sheath to check his equipment. “There’s no such thing as the dead coming back to life, unless it’s a dragon. And dragons don’t really die. They just sleep until they can be reborn. What we’re looking for is not a real ghost… but something that has the properties of a dragon.”

“Ghost… dragon… whatever. Do we even know if it’s attracted to rice?”

“It’s not about the rice, Lu Mingfei, it’s the routine. If the boy had a family or cared for anyone at all, wouldn’t it miss sitting at a table with a family meal?” Caesar bit his cigar, 

“And we’re supposed to be its family huh? Who are you? The mom?” Mingfei shot back.

“Well…” Caesar looked down at the food. “I cooked it.”

Lu Mingfei opened his mouth to say something else but Zihang suddenly tensed. His golden eyes stared into another pair of golden eyes. A boy in a red raincoat, stood at the edge of the mossy pond. He was holding a red balloon. Only those glowing eyes were visible under the red hood. It didn’t seem to have a face.

Lu Mingfei’s face went white and then grey with terror. He shook so hard his teeth chattered “G-ghost!”

A small child’s voice echoed clear despite the pounding rain. “Outsiders. I need your help. Come with me.”

The rain suddenly stopped but the sky grew darker, like a great shadow from something large coming over head. The air suddenly cooled. They were still in front of the table but the garden was replaced by sand. The sand was grooved in artistic circles, like an elegant Japanese rock garden. Looking around, they seemed to be in a ruined ancient village. The piece of land they were standing on was floating in mid air, like it had been torn from the earth. There was no sun. The way was lit by ominous paper lanterns that floated in place, painted with a red swirl pattern. In the distance an ancient Japanese castle tower rose out of the misty horizon.

Torii gates were seen floating in the grey, foggy surroundings. Most were shattered. They seemed frozen in the middle of being demolished, their broken pieces spraying at odd angles, their elegant cross bars tilted, but they never collapsed. 

What was most noticeable about this place however, was the sudden sense of crushing sorrow. The feeling one got when they received some sort of horrible news. Like a loved one had just died. It hit Mingfei in the chest and took his breath away.  “Guys. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to …” Mingfei eyes filled with tears. “What’s happening. I’m so scared.” He hugged his own arms and tried to stop the tears from falling. “We’ve got to get out!” 

He turned to Chu Zihang who always knew what to do in times like this. But the man was frozen, his jaw tense and locked, staring at the ground in a trance, trying to control his out of control emotions. He was breathing fast and trying to swallow the lump in his throat.

Apparently, sorrow drove Caesar Gattuso to action. He drew Dictator and pointed it up towards some broken stairs framed by a bright red Torii gate. Caesar suddenly roared. “This place sucks! Let’s get out of here as soon as we can. The only way out is up!”

His sudden yell seemed to break whatever emotional spell had been cast on the other two teammates. Lu Mingfei wiped his face. “What was that all about?”

“I’m not sure. Likely the owner of this place had a terrible life.” Chu Zihang said gravely. “I’ve heard of Longwei, the natural fear that dragons give off to other creatures, but I’ve never heard of a Dragon’s sorrow being projected like this.”

The stairs were floating over empty air, made of uneven, ancient grey limestone. There were dozens of stairs leading up into the ominous grey sky with broken Torii gates at intervals every twenty steps. Chu Zihang held up his hand to catch what appeared to be snow flying in the air. He sniffed at it. “Ash. Like something is burning. This must be some sort of Nibelungen. But I’ve never seen anything like it.” Chu Zihang said. “We should watch out. Where there’s a Nibelungen, there’s always…”

A sudden loud screeching interrupted him. A flock of bats the size of geese suddenly dislodged from under the stairs.  A whole flock of them swept forward in a single black cloud mass. Lu Mingfei ducked his head as the claws and teeth scraped at him. “I hate this place already!”

Caesar drew his pistols and fired. The bats were flapping and tilting and whirling, but he just needed to aim for just a moment before shooting one out of the air without missing. Likewise, Chu Zihang quickly slashed once and twice, neatly severing their bodies in two without trouble.

“Bats are better than snakes!” Caesar yelled, reloading his Desert Eagles.

“At least Snakes don’t fly!” Lu Mingfei yelled.

 As they climbed the stairs, they stayed back to the back, firing and slicing through the endless swarm of screaming bats. The sound of it was like a constant siren. Mingfei held his hands to his ears and allowed himself to be shielded by his two older students. He could hardly see anything between the endless assault of black bodies.

Caesar’s eyes glowed yellow. “There’s something big at the top of the stairs. That’s where they’re coming from!” He had sent out his Scythe Itachi and they returned with a huge heartbeat up ahead. “Chu Zihang, get rid of these things!”

“Get down.”  Chu Zihang closed his eyes for just a moment and then an evil snarl emanated from his throat. Black waves of heat drove back the bats and then exploded outward into violent flames. The bats were instantly set alight and hundreds of burning bodies folded their wings and fell into the endless pit below. Lu Mingfei didn’t even want to think of what it meant to fall down into that grey void. Would he just continue to fall forever?

“Eugh…” Caesar pinched his nose to escape the smell of burning flesh and hair.  “Good.” He said, reaching down at pulling Mingfei to his feet.

A loud roar shook the stairs and cracked them.  Then the stairs started to crumble, starting from the bottom. If they didn’t hurry, they would be the ones falling. “Run! Run!” Caesar yelled. 

Ahead of them was a large gap. The stairs were falling apart around them, coming to pieces, like the mortar that held them together suddenly lost all its strength. “We’ll have to jump it!”

It looked to be ten feet across over the nothingness. They’d never make a jump that far. But it was either try to jump or fall to their deaths anyway. Chu Zihang suddenly grabbed Lu Mingfei’s arm and without explanation took a leap and dragged him with him. For a moment, there was nothing but empty air under him. And then a sudden blast of heat and a loud boom! Chu Zihang used Royal Fire to blast himself over the gap, dragging the terrified Lu Mingfei the extra few feet needed. They landed and Lu Mingfei collapsed on shaky legs. “Are you out of your mind? You could have at least told me!” He gasped.

Chu Zihang looked at him with no expression. “You would have hesitated.”

Lu Mingfei froze. “I- n.- No…” Lu Mingfei looked away and then looked around. “Where’s Caesar?”

Caesar pulled himself up onto his arms. He was hanging from the ledge, having barely made the jump himself. He looked at Chu Zihang, annoyed. “Sure. Don’t mind me. I’ll just help myself up.”

His eyes suddenly widened at something behind Chu Zihang and Lu Mingfei. They turned around and saw a looming snake with a thick human-like torso and bulging human arms. It glared at them with yellow eyes shining from the skull of an ancient predator it wore as a mask. It brandished a spear as long as a car with a sharp bone tip.

[thexam-union]

Straight-To-Video Sequel

Here’s a fic about Alphecca and their Nonsense! They’re a clown and a fool but I care them so much, especially when they make things so much harder for themselves for entertainment value.

Length: 1370 Words

General Overview: Alphecca’s bored and goes on a “20 minute adventure” to keep themselves sharp. They’re bored of the base material, so they shake it up a little!

Warning(s): Arson, Being chased down, Serial Killer

( If you need anything else tagged/forewarned about let me know!! )

The air is cold, biting at you like teeth without a sense of weight to them and with an endless hunger only obtainable without a stomach. The rain is pelting at you with equal force and hatred, spattering haphazardly on your face. You blink more than usual, but this is what you have to deal with. There’s a threat on the horizon. You know what it is. It’s a man. About your height. He has a machete, and smells of blood and rotting meat. He drove you out of the only shelter for miles around, and you are running. You are running in this forest in the driving rain, careful not to slip and fall but every bit as desperate to just get out. He can smell your breath in the cold air, the warmth of your shaky heartbeat. He can move faster than you in the storm, and you know it.

Alphecca jumps into these scenarios every other day. For fun. Sometimes alone, sometimes with other people. It’s a personal favourite, but overdoing it removes any and all appeal. So they shook it up. This time, the killer can smell you. A slight retelling, diction to a recorder, but it’s worth it! It’s always worth it to shake it up a little, and dashing around in the dark in the rain with sunglasses of all things on? It was a fun experience, actually. Especially since they didn’t know how the story would end this time.

They see a sturdy-looking tree with a low-hanging branch, and start to climb. They fall off once, but pick themselves out of the mud and pull themselves up again. If they feel in actual danger, they can just leave. They don’t want to, of course, but they do remind themselves of their power in this situation. Turning on a gamemode where you can’t die when you’re actually at risk so nothing bad actually happens. But they swing up into the tree, regardless, and push up their glasses with a satisfied sigh, even with their hoodie tied around their waist despite the chill in the air and the driving rain, they’re enjoying themselves. They look at the ground below, but they know their little diversionary tactic is a very short-term solution. Of course, they’re unarmed - it’s no fun when you drop into a situation with a tailor-made fix - but these branches should be able to accomplish something. Maybe. A blunt instrument’s a blunt instrument, despite the encumbrance. The adversary’s faster and has every advantage, after all. Actually, that’s a good point.

Untying their hoodie from their waist, Alphecca tied it around a branch with a satisfied nod before continuing on their way. A meaningless distraction, but there’s better options elsewhere, and that elsewhere’s back at the lakeside cabin. So a meaningless “make the opponent scramble up a tree” means they have time. And obviously, they’re not dressed their best when going up against this scenario, so they don’t have to worry about damaging their favourite jacket. Just a hoodie that’s a bit on the small side and some easily-repaired trousers that are probably going to be caked with mud. All in all, not much problem if it was a close shave. They like things better that way.

Next course of action on this mad dash around the trees is to circle widely and then beeline for the right place. The wind may be howling, but in these make-believe fictions it’s an inconvenience that’s there for the sake of immersion and fear factor. Fear, in all its forms, can make the world go round. That much they live by. The chase wasn’t their main scene, but getting lost in the same trees over and over again? That had the perfect zest.

They were starting to lose steam a little bit into this, which is always disappointing, but ultimately expected. It’s fine, though, they knew they were going the right way, even if it was just by muscle-memory and general awareness of the area. The off-step snapping of twigs that occasionally hit the ground like a bunch of kids with a bag of bang snaps wasn’t a good sign, but what was a good omen was the lake coming into view. A supposed holiday location gone wrong, but who in their right mind would want to have a holiday here? The only reason Alphecca chose to be here was the fact there was a risk and hazard to experience, not the lakeside view. They have no interest in fishing, either, but it’s not as if the fish in the lake are anything but dead.

Alphecca slammed the door behind them and jammed a chair under the handle before taking a minute to breathe and wipe off their glasses. No, they weren’t coming off during a killer chase. They’re iconic, for one thing, and the lamps in the building were just too bright. Now, as for potential defense mechanisms, the best thing to grab is a ranged option. Wood not recommended but might have to be settled for - they didn’t take in every detail of the building even in their numerous passes, because who would? - but something they did like the look of was the rope. Bang.

Not to go full Home Alone on a nonproblem, but rope’s the gift that never stops giving, and those banisters are looking very tetherable. Especially with this thickness and length, where it’ll take a few slashes to take out a shard, and could probably be a safe exit. Killers aren’t that smart, or they’d find the sweet spot immediately. Burning the place up isn’t an option for a few reasons, but that never translates into “don’t even try”. It’s actually very cinematic to douse-- Ohoho, that’s devilish. And the new plan!

Picking up a bucket and a canister of fuel and pouring it in, Alphecca saw the door start to give with a crack. That had to be done manually, then. Fine! No problem. Just throw it at him through the ropes and maybe hit it into the lake while they burn the place? Sure. Sounds good. Sounds very dramatic, so of course it had to be the solution. No one min-maxes their killer escapes, thank you very much.

The door gave way and the chair did too in the same moment, splinters going everywhere as the man started clanking up the stairs at a pretty steady rate. At least, until the gas was thrown at him, along with a lantern that started the fire. Bingo. Next up, window! One end of the rope thrown over the edge, and shimmy down it ju-

Or not! That hurt, actually. Hopefully nothing was broken in the fall, they could still stand, but they’d probably be limping for a bit. Not good. At least the screaming from the local inferno wasn’t coming in their direction. They’d call that a win, actually. Nice!

Alphecca reached into their handbag, pulling out their recorder and hitting the stop button, and the familiar smells of popcorn and pure sugar were in the air more than blood and rain and burnt wood. Their hoodie lied at their side, undamaged, but equally damp and in the same tied position as they’d left it on the branch on.

Their leg still really hurt, but nothing that sitting in the projection room with it up couldn’t fix. They’d been through worse! Besides, that was an escape if ever there was one! Put that in the history books. They coped so much better than that clumsy bint that didn’t know what an arson was.

Alphecca stood up with a self-satisfied smile, popping the tape out of the player and heading into the employees only room to pick up their ‘bag of tricks’ - bag of tapes was more accurate, but magicians never reveal their secrets - and to continue their day. Probably spend some time elsewhere to dry off, they were chilled to the bone, but that implied that the local beach was anything but overcast on a given day. The jungle was warm, sure but forests after that, uh… no! Best chances were probably over in the District, given that rain was pretty rare. That meant they could see the friends over there, too!

[cowboyshit]

starlight will be the only light when I can tell my heart to you... PART ONE OF ? future parts: two, three

Ship: Hangman Adam Page x Female OC (Hazel Baker) x Matt Jackson  Summary: Hazel’s engagement ended awhile ago, and she’s finally decided she’s ready to jump headfirst back into the dating game by having a fun, carefree, no-strings-attached night with a handsome cowboy at the local rodeo. Instead, she finds something much, much more complicated and catches herself between two men and a whirlwind of feelings.  Rating: explicit (part one only has a brief, heavy-handed make-out scene but it’s written explicit enough to elicit this rating, and the piece itself will become more explicit in the future) Length: 14,079 words Warnings: alcohol mention, brief descriptive make-out/verging on smut situation

author’s note: wow, this thing turned into a monster I didn’t expect. Initially, I just wanted to have a little fun and write the elite as rodeo cowboys in a rodeo au, but this fic sort of took on a life of it’s own. I will warn that not much happens in this part, despite how long it is. It’s just a bunch of FEELINGS. Look forward to part two, where things get even messier than they are here! And yes, I promise in the next one they’ll actually get together.

“Oh wow, look at that one.”

“Hazel, I told you I wasn’t going to bring you here if you weren’t going to behave yourself.” Her friend, Andrea’s playfully exasperated tone made Hazel grin wide.

“I know, but can you blame me?” She said and nudged Andrea with her elbow, jerking her chin toward the blond-haired cowboy dead ahead. 

He was handsome in a heart-stopping, jaw-dropping kind of way, she thought. The late afternoon sun hit the edges of the blond curls that stuck out of his cowboy hat, making them look as if they glittered. His eyes crinkled at the corners as his cheeks pushed into them, a big smile on his face as he laughed. She could just hear the faint hint of it - that laugh - through the people passing between them and it sounded warm, and rich, and honest. She wanted to hear it closer.

He was wearing a bright pink, long-sleeve button-up with some sort of white pattern she was too far away to figure out. It was fine print, but looked like swirls. Maybe paisleys. The sleeves, upper back and chest supported bold, silver-white thread and patches sewn into it of varying sponsors and brands. Considering the multitude she could count, it was easy to guess he was one of the hot shots on the rodeo circuit. The money went where the winners were, after all. Plus the addition of that big silver, gold-trim belt buckle that was biting gently into the fat of his stomach had likely been won as a prize at another rodeo. It looked pretty fancy, even from this distance.

“Who is that?” She asked, and when Andrea didn’t answer she finally pulled her eyes off him and looked at her friend. 

Andrea blushed and shook her head. “You don’t need to go near those guys.”

“What?!” Hazel exclaimed, frowning at Andrea and looking back at that beautiful pink-shirt wearing blond-haired cowboy. He was talking with two other cowboys, both with long, dark-brown hair. She looked from them, back to her friend and found Andrea frowning at her. Hazel rolled her eyes. “Oh come on! You know how long it’s been since Ethan and I called off the engagement and ended things. I’m finally feeling like me again, like I’m getting over that heartache. I could use some fun! The best way to get over someone is to get under someone, right?” She wiggled her brows and grinned playfully. “So, spill it, who is he? What’s his deal?”

Andrea worked the grounds when the rodeo pulled into town and had been doing it enough years that she was known and knew the folk who came to compete. It was a side-gig she had on top of working the cafe at the stockyards. This meant she often knew the rodeo competitors and other cowfolk who found themselves in Brimwood Creek. Therefore, she knew exactly who Mr. Blond Haired Angel Cowboy was and for some reason she was withholding that information. Andrea knew Hazel had a penchant for falling for those handsome cowboys and was enough of a confident little flirt to strike up some fun with one, but she’d never minded before. A thought occurred to Hazel as she remembered her friend blushing, and she looked both surprised at the realization and apologetic.

“Oh! Are you two a thing?” Understandably Andrea wouldn’t want Hazel making eyes at him if she was after him.

“What?” Andrea laughed and shook her head. “No.”

“Okay, so what’s wrong with him then?” She was getting suspicious. She narrowed her eyes on him, trying to find the flaw, but just found herself more distracted by how handsome he was. She glanced at his hand, or tried to, but couldn’t see his ring finger from where they were standing. “Is he married?”

“No! Hazel, look. He’s not the kind of guy you’re after. He’s sort of a recluse. He comes out to compete and then disappears after hours instead of spending time hanging out with everyone. I’ve never once seen him with a girl. He’s not like the rest of them, at least from what I’ve seen.”

Now that was surprising. A lot of these cowboys were known to be roaming heart-breakers with a little lady in every town the rodeo made a stop in. That’s what Hazel had been thinking when she’d gotten Andrea to agree to not only bring her to the rodeo, but get her a little bright green paper wristband that’d let her stay once the rodeo wrapped up for the night and the citizens took off, happy and entertained. After her serious, four-year long relationship had ended over half a year ago she was finally ready to get out, but she’d only meant to find herself a good one-night stand. Her heart wasn’t ready to open up to anything more than that.

“What a shame,” she murmured, eyes still on him, “cause he is quite the looker.”

“Adam! Harper’s out, you’re takin’ his spot!” A sudden barking shout from an older, bow-legged cowboy to her right drew his eyes, and when he nodded and lifted a hand to signal he heard and understood, he caught her watching him. His gaze moved from the cowboy to her, lingering a little, and she wished she could tell what he was thinking. Probably: Why the hell is this woman gawking at me?

His frown deepened and then he looked away as one of his friends - a handsome man with a dark beard and his long, equally dark brown hair secured in a ponytail, tucked beneath a black wide-brim cowboy hat - asked him a question. Hazel’s eyes jumped between them for a moment, admiring the view, before Andrea tugged her sleeve.

“Come on, quick gawking. You promised you’d help me work and not spend the entire day ogling cowboys, remember?”

“Oh, right,” Hazel said, dramatically overacting with a heavy sigh, “I did say that. What a bummer.”

“Shut up,” Andrea laughed and pushed Hazel’s arm playfully, to which Hazel gasped in mock offense, which quickly spilled into laughter before she pushed her back, the two turning to walk toward the chutes and figure out where they’d be best helpful. Neither girl saw the blond-haired cowboy, Adam, turn and watch them retreat with a curious, lingering, thoughtful frown across his naturally down-turned brows.

The rest of the afternoon and evening went by rather quickly. In between lending a hand wherever Andrea needed her, the girls propped themselves up on the metal fences and watched the rodeo events take place. It’d been a couple years since Hazel had gone to a proper rodeo, and her heart felt full to experience it all again. Even the way the crowd hollered encouragement for a particularly good ride, or how everyone lingered in groups and their familiar conversations drifted by her ears as she walked past them brought her back home. She’d missed it, every sense of it, and for a good moment during one of the last rides she let herself close her eyes and soak everything in as deep into her skin as she could get. For the most part she’d wanted to find some cute cowboy to hook up with after the show, but in reality she’d needed the entire day spent here more than she realized she would. She’d been away from this world for too long.

Eventually the citizens were gone, the gates were closed and security made their rounds past little encampments where friends had gathered around portable barbecues and bonfires to check and make sure everyone had the wristband saying they could stay. Hazel and Andrea were hanging out with a small group of workers like Andrea who saw to the set-up and tear-down of the chutes and paddocks, the feeding of the animals and the cleaning of their pens, the organizations of the rides and kept the level ground of the arena smooth for each competitor. One of the older men, a veteran of the rodeo, was telling a hilarious story about a mishap with an angry bull when Andrea gently nudged her elbow in Hazel’s side.

“I heard there’s a cowboy who was asking about you,” she whispered suggestively with a little wiggle of her dark, bold brows.

Immediately Hazel thought of him - blond curls, pretty eyes - and her heartbeat increased. She looked hopeful at Andrea. “Was there?”

“Mhm,” she nodded and tipped her beer bottle back, taking a slug and drawing out the anticipation. “One of the Jackson brothers. Matt.”

“Oh,” Hazel’s shoulders dropped as she felt a stab of disappointment that it wasn’t Adam. But then again, what had she been expecting? She’d only ogled him like a weird-o, then made sure to watch his ride and holler for him until she couldn’t breathe, wrapped up in watching him sit through each buck, knees bending in perfect rhythm with every jolting land and upward hop and twist the bronco put him through. He hadn’t even looked twice at her, but she’d hoped…

“Oh?” Andrea blew a breath from her lips and shook her head. “I thought you’d be all over that. He’s exactly your type and,” she tipped her beer bottle with her brows raised, “exactly what you’ve been looking for.”

No strings attached. Just adult fun with no expectations.

“Yeah, no, I am, believe me.” That was the dark-haired bearded cowboy Adam had been talking to. Hazel remembered thinking he was handsome, but she was so distracted by Adam that even in her mind she could barely remember him. “He’s hot. I was just… you know… hoping maybe Adam had said something?” She felt like she sounded pathetic, fishing desperately for some sign he’d thought something of her too.

“Adam? Adam who?” Andrea asked, perplexed.

“The blond haired cowboy we saw first thing today!”

A few curious eyes pulled their way as Hazel talked louder than a whisper, interrupting the old cowboy’s story. He set her with a heavy glare and she sheepishly shrugged her shoulders.

“Sorry!”

“Adam Page?” Andrea asked with a whisper once everyone had gone back to talking, then shook her head. “Honey, no. I told you, he’s not like the other guys around here. You could prowl the entire rodeo grounds tonight and you wouldn’t find him. He never sticks around here. Goes right back to his trailer, keeps his nose clean of trouble.”

“I wouldn’t be trouble,” Hazel retorted with a pout.

“Oh yeah, right.” Andrea snorted and slugged another swallow of beer. “Speaking as a friend that knows you, I’d say go find Matt. He and his brother have a little bonfire on the other side of the grounds, past the corrals. A few of their friends will be there too, so it won’t be too weird for you to drop by.”

“Won’t you come with me?” Hazel asked, frowning.

“Oh, no,” Andrea shook her head quickly, but even by firelight Hazel could swear she saw a little bit of color in her cheeks again.

Andrea was always so busy with work and her four younger siblings that she never found time to date, and normally because she didn’t have the time, she didn’t get boy-crazy the way Hazel always had. It was… interesting to see Andrea a little flustered.

“Alright, spill the beans. Why won’t you come with me to the Jackson brother’s little fire pit?”

Andrea glanced at the people they were sitting with, who were still engrossed in their own stories, and then back at Hazel.

“Hazel, it’s nothing.”

“Unless you tell me the exact reason I’m going to grab you by your wrist and drag you over there with me.”

“Hazel!”

“Don’t test me.”

Andrea groaned and set her beer bottle in the cup-holder of the camping chair so she could bury her face in her hands. “I kind of sort of have a crush on Nick Jackson.”

Nick Jackson, obviously the other half of the Jackson brothers. 

“Really?!” Hazel was so enthralled by the idea of Andrea having a thing for one of the cowboys she immediately wanted to hook them up. “Well, come on! Come with me, come talk to Nick!”

“Hazel, no. I can’t. You know I can’t. I don’t want to do the whole one-night-stand thing with a rodeo cowboy I’ll have to see next time they come into town, and I have too much going on to add an attempt at a long-distance relationship to everything. He’s cute and he makes me feel tongue-tied and stupid when he smiles at me, but that’s just all it’s going to be. You, on the other hand,” she fixed her with a pointed stare, “should go get what you came here for before it’s too late.”

Hazel wanted to drag Andrea with her anyways, just to shove her in front of Nick and let the sparks fly, but she knew her friend and she knew what she said was right. Andrea’s life was already packed and bursting at the seams, the last thing she needed was a romance with one of these rodeo cowboys.

“Okay, I’ll go talk with Matt.” She said as she popped up, “and I’ll make sure to tell Nick you said hi.”

“Hazel!”

She smiled at Andrea’s frustrated, warning tone and gave her a wink before turning and heading off to make the walk across the grounds, past the corrals just outside the touch of the bright stadium lighting. Hazel was used to those kinds of slide-in conversations at these after-hours events. Everyone was everyone’s friend, and if a cowboy had been asking after you, all his attention would be yours the minute you were in that firelight. Honestly, was she really the kind of girl who was going to pine after some guy who wouldn’t give her the time of day or was she going to let loose, be free and have a little bit of fun with a totally handsome, dark-eyed cowboy who definitely wanted her? The decision was too easy to make.

She started to walk across the grounds and could just make out the horses in the pop-up pipe-fence pens, lined in a halo of white from the distant stadium lights. She could hear their soft breathing as she drew closer and the gentle swish of their tails as they flicked away late summer night flies. Her pace decreased until she stopped, turning toward the corral and watching the shape of a large golden palomino mare who dozed on the other side of the little one-horse pen. Noticing eyes on her, the mare's ear twitched and she shifted her weight, opening her dark eyes on Hazel. Her pale lashes looked gilded as they caught the light.

“Hey girl,” Hazel beckoned with a soft clicking under of her tongue, slipping her hand into the pen and holding the back of it out as a greeting. “Aren’t you a pretty thing,” she talked gently, her voice just above a whisper. All the people were far from the pens, set up in little circles around their parked trailers, and their laughter and conversation was a happy, distant noise. It left Hazel feeling as though she were in some hushed, isolated place, somewhere special.

She’d always lived for these moments as a kid, these points in time where it was just her and a horse, and she could talk about everything. The things that she was going through, the dreams she had, or even all the places she’d love to go riding if she ever could.

The mare drew close at the sight of Hazel’s hand and brushed her velvet, whiskered lips over the back of it, huffing a warm breath gently that smelled like sweet hay. Hazel smiled. “Hello, beautiful,” she said, gently turning her hand and letting the mare sniff and lip curiously at it, testing her smell. 

“You have a little snip on your nose!” she exclaimed softly with delight, seeing the oddly shaped little white mark between the mare’s nostrils. 

“When I was a little girl I had an imaginary horse I used to pretend was with me when I ran around, and I always imagined she was a pretty golden palomino with a little white snip on her nose just like you, and one, two,” Hazel scratched beneath the mares chin and leaned to try and count the markings on her legs, “Oh, darn. Almost.” She looked back at the mare’s face and smiled. “My imaginary mare had three socks, but you’ve only got two. Well, you’re still beautiful anyways. Dreams can’t always come true, hm?”

She laughed gently under her breath as the mare stepped closer to the fence, stretching out her neck and as if to offer more areas to scratch. 

“Her name is Dolly.” A warm, low, soft voice nearly startled her, but she kept herself calm so as not to spook the mare. The mare clearly knew this intruder, though, as she swung her head forward and pointed her ears, letting out a loud rumbling whicker in immediate greeting. She forgot all about Hazel’s scratches, clearly too happy to see whoever had joined them. Hazel glanced over her shoulder and saw him - Adam - with his blond curls tucked neatly beneath his wide-brim cowboy hat and a sheepish expression across his face. He almost looked embarrassed to have interjected. “Well, it’s Lil Dun Dolly, officially. But I just call her Dolly.”

“Oh! This is your mare?” She felt her face go hot. He was going to think she’d stopped here on purpose. Probably saw her lingering outside his mare’s pen and wanted to know why the weird-o who’d been staring at him earlier was now bothering his horse. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I didn’t mean to disturb her.”

“Ah, no, ma’am. It’s no trouble,” he laughed a little weakly and cleared his throat, waving his hand between them, “Dolly doesn’t mind the company.” He glanced at her and almost looked like he wanted to say something else, but lost the courage.

“So uh, how much of our conversation did you hear?” She asked, already cringing a little inside, but when she braved a peek at him, saw he was smiling a sort of lop-sided smile.

“Are you going to be mad at me if I say all of it?” That smile of his seemed to want to stretch a little wider.

“No,” she said, laughing, “but I am going to be embarrassed you heard me telling your horse about the fact that I had an imaginary horse when I was little.”

Adam had walked up to the fence and leaned on it while they talked, cheating his body toward her and glancing down beneath the brim of his cowboy hat. She could just barely make out the sinful blue-green of his eyes with the way the shadows and light played on either side of his bearded face. Dolly abandoned her interest in Hazel and was now affectionately lipping at the folds in his shirt with the arm he had leaning on the fence, clearly happy to have him in reach. He reached over and affectionately rubbed his palm over the bridge of her nose and up her forehead before he started talking again.

“Mine was a little bay paint.” He said, and she frowned at him, confused by what he meant. “My imaginary horse I had when I was little? It was a bay paint with a big white spot across it’s chest and one over its haunches. I called him Bandit. What’d you name yours?”

She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face, pushing high into her round cheeks. She wanted to worry over the way her heart started beating a little faster, but she couldn’t be bothered, trapped in those pretty, bright eyes of his. “Her name was Honey.”

“Honey, that’s a good name for an imaginary horse.”

“So is Bandit.”

They smiled at each other for a minute too long before they seemed to realize it, both clearing their throats and trying to jump into a different conversation, cheeks hot. They laughed awkwardly and Hazel shook her head. A change of conversation was probably for the best, so she grabbed at the first topic she could think of.

“I saw your run earlier, by the way. You were impressive! The way you sat that bronc despite his best effort to throw you was honestly amazing.”

He looked flattered and it endeared her how humble he was. Most cowboys at his level soaked in whatever adoration they could get. Damnit! Couldn’t he do something to make her not like him? This was becoming unfair. 

“Ah, I owe most of it to that little firecracker I was riding,” he said, patting his hand against his mare’s muscled neck and gently ruffling her cream-white mane. “I’ve ridden him a couple times at past rodeos, but he was on something else tonight. He helped me get that good score.” 

“Oh stop being so humble,” she laughed and rolled her eyes, “any cowboy or cowgirl who competes in the rodeo knows it’s the animal, the rider, and the rider’s understanding of that animal and their communication that makes the ride. No matter which sport it is. It’s about how you work as a team, you know?”

He was looking at her with an expression she’d describe as surprised understanding, like she’d just said something he thought of as important, too. Like they shared the same understanding of something a lot of people took at face value. 

“Yeah… it’s... exactly that,” he stumbled over. “I haven’t seen you around before, how do you know so much about the rodeo?”

She felt her cheeks get hot and shrugged, choosing to look at Dolly just as an excuse to not see him looking at her like that. “I did some barrel racing a few times in my late teens and very early twenties.”

“You did?” He said with delighted surprise.

“Yeah! It wasn’t anything huge, just locals, qualifiers, and a few state shows. But I always enjoyed it.”

“Why’d you stop?”

She hesitated. “It’s… complicated.” Her eyes lifted slowly and apologetic to his. “Sorry,” she started, trying to explain it wasn’t something she talked about with practical strangers, but he held out a hand as if to stop her and gave his head a little shake.

“You don’t have to say any more.” He assured her, “I’m sorry if I touched a sore spot.”

“It’s okay,” she noticed the way his brows tilted downward a little harder than they were naturally set and it tugged at her heartstrings in a way she wasn’t ready for. “I don’t tell many people about that, actually. Although it figures that my rodeo past would come up at a rodeo though, so that’s kind of on me.” She laughed, and he grinned a little deeper.

“Man,” he said and sucked air through his teeth. When she looked at him he shook his head in disappointment. “I can’t believe you missed the opportunity to tell me this ain’t your first rodeo.”

For a drawn out second she just stared at him - the way a half-smile hung on his lips, just showing those slightly imperfect teeth; the way his eyes hung on her face, hoping she thought the silly joke was as funny as he did; the way one blond brow quirked higher than the other; the way that smile inevitably deepened as a couple more seconds crawled past. 

And then, she laughed and shook her head. “I can’t believe you just made that silly of a joke.”

“Believe it,” he laughed and shrugged, warm southern accent merrily heavy as he talked. “I didn’t become a rodeo competitor to shy away from making rodeo-specific jokes whenever and wherever I can.”

“So that’s why you decided to compete in rodeos for a living, huh? Not the thrill of the sport, not because you’re good at it, not for the money…”

“Nope! Just the jokes.”

They laughed together in gentle breaths, their smiles still on their mouths by the time it stopped. She knew then exactly how dangerous this was for her. She needed to excuse herself and step away, because there was something between them that made her nervous and excited and painfully hopeful. Hopeless, more like. Everyone knew rodeo cowboys didn’t settle down; they traveled the road over half the year during the season and went from town to town, never too far from a pretty doe-eyed cowgirl in denim she’d cut into too-short Daisy Duke’s. After what Hazel had just gone through, the last thing she could afford was catching feelings for a rodeo cowboy.

“I should probably um-”

“Hey, would you like to-” 

They had started talking at the same time and talked over each other, sharing an awkward laugh before he cleared his throat and tipped his head toward her with a smile. “Please, ladies first.”

“No.” She said it a little too breathlessly and cleared her throat when he looked at her with a curious expression. “Please, I want to hear what you were going to say.” 

Carelessly, she mentally shut off the alarm bells blaring in her head and refocused on him. 

“I was going to ask if you wanted to walk with me? I kinda like walking the corrals away from everyone at night. I normally do it alone but, if,” he glanced at her as if asking permission even as the next words tumbled out of his mouth, “if you wanted to, I’d like your company.”

“Yes!” She said, almost too quick, and then blushed and shook her head, heating up clear to her crown with embarrassment for how eager she’d just obviously been. “Sorry - erm - I mean yeah. That’d be cool, I guess.” 

When her eyes darted to him, she saw he was fighting a grin. He jerked his head to the side and turned, starting to walk down the fence line. She fell in step beside him and for a moment they shared the quiet together. The crickets chirped in the tall grass outside the dirt grounds; the horses snorted and swished their tails, some of them lifting their heads and watching them curiously; the cattle flicked their ears and huddled close together, moving as a group wherever they went.

“What was your run when you were competing in barrels?”

Of course he’d ask a rodeo related question to break the ice and figure out what they should talk about. Typical cowboy.

“My mare ran between 18.3 and 19 seconds. My gelding was a little slower, he normally clocked solid 20.”

Adam sucked in a breath and released it slow, brows raised, he tilted his head toward her and appeared impressed. “Those are some good times.”

“Not World Championship times, a few seconds off, but yeah, I did pretty good in my local and state classes.” Wanting to shift the attention off herself and back onto him before he asked a question she wasn’t comfortable answering, she decided she’d throw a rodeo question his way. “So why bronc riding?”

He glanced at her a little sheepishly.

“Come on! Why bronc riding?”

“It’s just you have to really know a horse well when you’re riding them as they buck. It becomes a kind of dance; you need to anticipate every move, where that horse is going to shift its weight, making sure you’re as fluid with it as you can be so you don’t get dislodged. It’s about precision and timing, nothing can be off. It’s a constant attempt to achieve perfection in a narrow time window and it’s just you and that horse. You have to trust yourself to understand those animals so you can do it exactly right and not get yourself hurt, either.”

“Wow.” She was stunned, genuinely, and she wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t unheard of for a cowboy to talk so highly and credit the animals he competed with, but there was something about the way passion bled into Adam’s voice the more he tried to break it down that really got her. “You really love doing this, don’t you?”

“Is it that obvious?” He laughed, and she decided she definitely liked the way a smile looked on his face. 

“I love it,” she said, and tried not to pay attention to the way that made him grin a little more, scuffing the toe of his boot against the hard packed dirt ground they walked. “So why trailer in Dolly if you don’t compete in a sport you need your horse at?”

“Sometimes I help pick up, if something happens and they need someone to step in and help. Dolly’s been doing it for years and she’s a great little pick up mare, never lets the excitement from the broncs or the bulls rile her up.”

The cowboys who did picking up were the ones who rode in at the end of the eight second ride to offer a horse for the cowboy to safely jump off and onto. They’d take the rider away from the bucking roughstock and somewhere they could safely dismount and await their score. That required a sound horse who’d listen to its rider and not get carried away with the spirit and herd mentality of another horse kicking its heels up or a bull twisting and threatening to charge with angry snorts. Telling a horse to run toward another horse that was bucking like that was a whole other ordeal. Those cowboys needed people they could trust, and it said a lot that Adam paid the extra gas to haul a trailer and dealt with loading and unloading his mare here just in case he was needed.

“Plus,” he concluded, and looked almost a little sheepish, “I like having her company.”

“You really have to stop being so cute.” The words were out of her mouth before she could think about the consequences, and he laughed. If not for the shadow beneath his wide-brim hat and the gentle haze of darkness they walked through, she thought she might have seen him blushing.

“Ah,” he rubbed at the back of his neck and stopped in his tracks, making her stop a second later and turn to face him, her head tilting curiously as she looked up at him. He knocked the brim of his hat back so it sat more slanted on his curls and let her see that handsome, blond bearded face more clearly, lit in gentle white-blue from the distant haze of the stadium lights. It caught one side of his face more than the other, and his eyes were such a dark, pretty grey-green that she bet they’d have her heart doing somersaults over how pretty they were in the daylight. 

“Look, I don’t normally do this, but,” he started, pausing a little between his words, struggling to get out what he wanted to say. Her heart increased its beat, racing with anticipation, her full lips fell apart in a gentle break to let her suck in a sharp breath of air. His eyes fell dark down to them and he trailed off, looking intently. She was dizzy. Was he going to kiss her? Oh God, he was going to kiss her. 

Please, she thought, kiss me. 

No, she groaned inwardly, don’t kiss me! 

If he kissed her, she wasn’t sure she could keep fighting off the chemistry that was obviously between them, and something was telling her it would hurt a little bit to see this one leave her bed in the morning and never call again.

He started to lean in. She caught her breath.

“Hey, Page! Finally coming to hang out with us or what?”

They both jumped apart and looked with wild eyes on the cowboy standing a few paces behind Adam, who must’ve just walked up from the glowing orange fire pit set up near the trailer at his back. She didn’t recognize him immediately, but Adam clearly did. 

“Hey Nick, actually, I-” Adam had turned his body a little to answer Nick, and when he did it revealed her standing near him.

“Oh jeez,” said Nick, blinking, the wide happy smile he’d been wearing slipping away almost immediately, “I hope I didn’t just interrupt something.”

“No!”

“Nope!”

They were both too quick and too eager to jump in and defend themselves, as if they hadn’t just been seconds away from giving in to temptation.

“You didn’t interrupt anything,” she said, rushed, and tried to ignore the way Adam’s eyes shot back over her, and how he took a small step away, as if her words had repelled him back. She wished she could explain it, that it wasn’t that she didn’t want to kiss him, but that she knew better than to. That she was guarded against any kind of hurt right now, even something as little as regretting the cold space that’d be on his side of the bed by the time she woke up the next morning.

“Right,” something in his tone told her Nick wasn’t buying it from either of them, and when she pulled her eyes away from Adam and looked at him, noticed he seemed to be struggling to keep from grinning again. Her cheeks felt hot. 

“Well, things have wound down a little bit, but Kenny’s still hanging out and we’ve got food and drinks leftover if you guys want. Well,” he shrugged and held up his palms, stepping back as if to physically excuse himself from their space, “I mean, you guys probably want to get back to whatever you were doing out here all alone, so…” Did she sense a sort of mischievousness in his tone? Was he teasing them? Maybe she should have brought Andrea and sent her ahead to keep him occupied so he wouldn’t have interrupted them.

“No,” Adam was the one who spoke up this time, but he wasn’t looking at her. “I’d love to come hang out.”

“Really?” Nick said, “huh. That’ll be a first.”

He was definitely poking fun at Adam in the same way you’d tease a good friend. It occurred to her that if Andrea, someone who worked the rodeo grounds when they came into town, knew that Adam was the type to be a loner, the friends he had would know it even more. What had Nick thought when he’d seen that Adam was with her? Was he surprised? Glad that Adam wasn’t alone for once? Did he even care?

Adam shot him a glare she just caught as they started towards him, to which Nick bit into his wide grin and turned away, leading them both back toward the nearby fire with camping chairs strewn in a haphazard half-circle around it. She bit into the inside of her lip to keep from smiling, not wanting to give away that she’d seen the interaction between them and fought the urge to playfully bump her hip into Adam’s. The warm glow of the crackling fire and the light laughs and conversation grew louder as they came close.

“Found a couple wanderers near the corrals,” Nick announced as he made his way back to an empty chair, flopping unceremoniously down into it and grabbing a can of diet coke from a nearby ice chest. It made a soft pop as he cracked it, and Adam and Hazel were left staring at the little group.

“Adam!” Said a man with surprised delight. He was sitting in the chair beside the one Nick had sat down in, and made it look tiny by his mass alone. Even beneath his purple checkered pearl snap, she could see how big his arms and chest were. He wasn’t wearing a hat, though he must’ve been all day, as his tight wound dirty-blond curls had a slight crimp from where the band had sat. He had eyes a more vivid, concise blue than Adam’s could be. They were so blue that she could tell even in the orange glow of the fire. “Who’s your friend?” He asked, turning a politely curious eye and friendly smile on her.

“Oh,” Adam started and glanced at her, slight smile on the edge of his mouth before he looked back, “this is-”

“There you are Hazel. I was beginning to worry you weren’t going to come after all.” Matt Jackson had walked from around the trailer, chewing gum, returning and eyes all hers, not having noticed he interrupted Adam talking. His attention absorbed Hazel, like a dog trained on a scent, he wasn’t going to give up until his paws were on her. She’d seen that look before on a man, and normally it excited her, especially a man as handsome as Matt was. Alright, maybe it still excited her a little (she was only human), but Adam shifted ever so slightly beside her and she felt the change in the air around them and watched as Matt’s eyes jerked from her to him, and he looked genuinely shocked.

“Page?! Finally decided to be social, huh?” His smile showed teeth. “That’s great! Sit down and hang with us.” He waved toward an empty chair near Kenny, who was watching the three of them with a curious eye.

Matt’s attention was hers again, those brown eyes dark as sin, smile just the right level of smug that made her palm itch to slap it and grab desperate around his shoulders to pull him down into a passionate, heated, dizzying kiss. To spell it out in one word, Matt Jackson was one-hundred percent certifiable, damningly handsome trouble. It was the kind she’d been initially looking for, the perfect distraction from her broken heart… So why was her smile a little pained? Why did she want to turn toward Adam and ask where he was planning to sit so she could sit with him, put her hand on his arm, do something to let him know the only place she wanted to be was back to where they were? Why the fuck did it matter? He was just a guy; a guy who was trouble in a different way. That kind of trouble that meant broken hearts and burning aches in your chest for days; that kind of trouble was exactly what she was running away from.

Matt had moved closer to her while she was thinking, and she snapped out of it when his hand waved in front of her. He laughed softly, as though finding her momentary lapse in concentration adorable. Assuming she was so taken away with seeing him again and knowing he’d wanted her, she’d had her feet knocked right out from under her.

“Earth to Hazel!” He said, smiling. “Come on,” his head jerked toward a pair of chairs on the opposite side of the fire. Still a part of the group, but paired off a little separately. “I saved you the best seat in the house, right next to me.” He said, a grin growing before he winked.

Pretentious, egotistical prick. She nearly snorted. Fuck, he’s hot. 

But she managed to pull her eyes away, intending to make eye contact with Adam and get help on what she was supposed to say here. Only… she didn’t meet Adam’s eyes. He had turned away from her and was already edging around the fireside to join Kenny and Nick opposite of where Matt was. He’d walked off without even waiting for her, or waiting to see what she’d say to Matt. 

Hazel sucked back a sharp stab of disappointment and mentally chided herself immediately thereafter. What a fool. Just because he was cute and she was sure they’d been about to kiss didn’t mean anything. A momentary lapse in judgement where he’d been about to kiss her didn’t mean anything if there wasn’t going to be any follow-up. If he was willing to fold at the first sign of another man’s interest, it wasn’t worth her getting hung up on either.

But maybe she was being a little childish and spiteful when she turned a charming smile back toward Matt and made sure to speak loud enough that Adam would hear her, saying, “I’d be happy to sit with you!” She put a bright smile on her face she didn’t necessarily feel, and looked up beneath her mascara-curled lashes as she bit into the corner of her grin to match his smirk.

They sat in the two camping chairs, pointed inward toward one another, though hers damnably kept Adam in her sights too, just beyond Matt. She could avoid looking his way, she thought, focusing on Matt’s smile and his appreciative dark eyes, wondering what the hell was wrong with her that she’d waste her chance for some fun with a guy this handsome over one she barely knew.

“You seem to know your way around a rodeo, huh?” Matt asked her, chewing thoughtfully on his gum after pushing his hat back on his head so the firelight would catch his face and reflect the warmth and hunger that was in his eyes. His long dark hair was tied back, a few wispy strands caught the soft night breeze and stirred. She wondered what it looked like down, around his shoulders, curtaining his face.

“Do I?” She asked him, and remembered how she’d told Adam about her former barrel racing days. She didn’t volunteer that information here.

“You do,” he said, and reached lazily between them to tap a long finger playfully on her knee. An excuse to touch her. “You don’t seem that green to me, little filly.”

Alright, maybe she swooned a little bit at that, and maybe the smile on her mouth was a little more honest than before, and maybe her focus sharpened on Matt and Adam became a soft, firelit blur of pinks and blues and golden blond in the background. She laughed and didn’t notice the way Adam stiffened at the sound, and how his eyes shot fast over to see her grinning at Matt, and Matt’s finger on her knee. She didn’t see Nick frown and glance between herself, his brother, and Adam. She didn’t notice any of it but Matt. There was something… commanding about his charm.

“Well, you haven’t even tried to ride yet, cowboy. You don’t know how hard I can buck.”

The smile he wore stretched wide enough it showed his teeth. Endearingly she noticed his bottom teeth were crooked; it softened her to see something human peek through what had so far only been arrogance wrapped in a damningly handsome package. A little imperfection. Cute. He laughed loud at that, too, and his brows shot up with surprise.

“Alright!” He laughed again and his hand smoothed over her knee. It’s weight was heavy with intent, and warm.

Adam came a little more into focus past him. She could see how he tilted his head toward them. Was he listening?

“Do you have any experience riding a wild filly? Can you manage to stay on?” She barely managed to get the words out, and she wished she was looking into those soft grey-green-blue eyes, and that she’d get to see the wrinkles push up his hat when his eyebrows shot up after she got the words out. She wondered what sweet-seeming Adam was like when faced with bold, flirtatious advantages. Instead, she refocused on Matt, and she saw the self-assured expression cross his face at her tease. He slid his fingers off her knee and leaned back in the chair, gesturing down at himself.

“You’re talking to the top number one PRCA Team Roping Header champion, sweetheart.” He scoffed playfully, jokingly offended she’d question his skills. She wished she didn’t feel the need to press her thighs together and adjust her seat, or the way she wanted to take in a sudden, sharp breath when his eyes pinned hers. What was it about a cocky man that made something inside her come alive? That’s why he was fun to play with, but she’d never make the mistake of dating someone like him. That ego was fun in small bursts, but too much was liable to get you burned.

Somehow she managed to cover the jolt of attraction with a soft laugh and a jerk upward of one of her brows. She knew she was smiling too much into her words and couldn’t stop herself. “A roper? That doesn’t tell me you can ride a bucking horse, cowboy. Maybe I should go find myself a champion bronc rider, then I’ll be sure he’ll stick the ride.” 

And she hoped Adam was eavesdropping and heard her say it, but she couldn’t look away from Matt to check.

Something in that dangerous look that flashed dark in his eyes told her he caught on to exactly what she was trying to do and say. It was a challenge, and she was quickly learning Matt was the type of man to grab on to a challenge with everything he had. He had a boldness that matched hers, and it invited her to play along. They continued to flirt and talk, weaving around and through topics, using little chances here and there to lay a hand on an arm, or a knee. She danced a dance she knew well, avoiding giving pieces of herself away she assumed a man like him wouldn’t actually care about. He was just trying to get into her pants, not her heart. 

That was a good thing, she reminded herself, once again trying to resist the urge to let her eyes find Adam. They’d made eye contact by accident a few times that night as she talked with Matt, both catching the other trying to sneak a glance and looking away just as quickly. Matt had noticed a time or two as well, but he never made a comment or said a thing. Instead, they kept talking, kept flirting, and eventually got on the topic of his recent, most impressive roping championship run.

“That’s where I won this buckle,” he said, tapping the shiny, gold-filigree decorated silver buckle with it’s bold writing proclaiming him as champion of that specific rodeo.

“Is there a replay of the run?” Hazel asked curiously, wanting to see the way he and his brother worked in-tandem to rope a calf in less than six seconds.

“Yeah,” he said, and pulled his phone from his pocket. He tapped away, and she used the chance to look at Adam. He wasn’t paying attention to her this time, but was nodding and talking to Nick, moving his hands. Expressive. Nick had his hat in his lap and was stretched out, boots propped on the ice chest the sodas had been. He was nodding in agreement. She blinked, watching Adam’s hands… and then Matt leaned over to show her the clip and drew her sharply back to him. Suddenly, with his free hand he reached up, fingers skimming her cheek as he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

“Sorry,” he’d breathed softly near her when her eyes darted to him and she noticed how close they were. She’d barely have to move to put her lips on his darkly bearded cheek.

“No you’re not,” she said.

“No, I’m not.” He agreed, and she noticed his eyes had fallen to her lips, which ached and wanted all at once after having been denied earlier.

“Alright, I’m going to call it quits.” It was Kenny speaking up and moving out of the chair that made her jump and glance toward the rest of the group. He somehow came across as even larger when he got out of it, and she briefly wondered what the hell his workout routine was like. It was then she noticed the light had died down, the fire was burned to coals glowing a soft orange-red among the black. It’d be safe to put out, clean up, and leave. Nick had popped up as Kenny edged around the fire, and was starting to grab up empty soda cans and whatever other trash they had to throw out. They made quick work of taking care of things before she could even offer.

“I’m heading out too,” Adam volunteered quickly and without a glance in her direction. “Night guys, see y’all in the morning.” He didn’t linger, lifting his hand in a slight, dismissive wave before he took off and didn’t let his eyes touch her again. He was avoiding acknowledging her existence entirely. Where did that nice, genuine sweetheart go that he’d been earlier? The one that’d made her heart skip in a way it never had, not even with her recent ex. 

The way Adam was treating her stung, and she was, yet again, angry that it did. He’d chickened out of making the move on her and let Matt step in. That was on him. It wasn’t her fault and she didn’t deserve to be treated like shit for getting attention from someone who wanted her and was willing to do something about it. She didn’t deserve to feel guilty for flirting with Matt.

That’s what she told herself as she watched Adam disappear into the night.

“I’m going to get a ride back with Kenny,” Nick said as she and Matt stood up from their chairs and started folding them, helping each other shove them into the canvas bags and handing them toward Kenny’s outstretched hand.

“Alright,” Matt nodded, “see you guys in the morning.” 

Today had been the qualifying runs, tomorrow they’d have to compete with the best in their sport to try and win both the purse and the added points to keep them at the top of the yearly rankings.

“Nice meeting you, Hazel.” Nick smiled kindly, and Kenny bobbed his head of curls in her direction with a smaller, shyer smile before slinging three of the canvas bags with camping chairs on his back and grabbing up the ice chest in the other. Nick grabbed the other ice chest and the remaining two chairs, leaving nothing for her and Matt to take back but themselves.

“You too!” She said politely in return, and then they left and it was just she and Matt, completely alone.

“You want to come back to my hotel room?” The blatant invitation was asked without hesitation, wasting little time, and the look on Matt’s face was unmistakable. He’d reached out between them and grabbed one of her hands to pull her body in a little closer to his, and she realized the calloused pad of his thumb was gently skimming her skin and making goosebumps rise up along her arm. Her heart even started beating a little faster in her chest, making her pulse jump.

So why wasn’t the obvious answer so… obvious? Why did she look in the face of that handsome man she’d been flirting and talking to for hours and not find the word yes leaping off her tongue? 

“I-” she struggled with the hesitation, and a slight frown disrupted the predatory expression he wore. She saw confusion, and knew he had every right to be. Up until this point she’d been giving him every sign that he would have her in his hotel bed with her feet pointed up to heaven by the end of the night. “I want to say yes…”

“But…?” he volunteered softly, watching her. There was something suddenly gentle there in those brown eyes and across his face. It made something stir in her. Something she’d been reminding herself all day and all night to be wary of.

“I’m in a weird place right now,” she felt guilty, like she’d led him on, and hated that she did, immediately jumping to explain herself in a rush. “I was in a relationship for a long time and our break-up has me kind of messed up, I thought it’d been enough time and I could just have some fun but, I’m just… struggling. I’m so sorry Matt.” 

“You don’t have to apologize to me.” He sounded even more confused that she had, and chuckled softly just once before giving her hand a little comforting squeeze. “I’m not pissed at you just because you don’t want to fuck me.” He laughed a little dryly and shook his head. “Come on, let me walk you to your car sweetheart.”

He still hadn’t let go of her hand.

“Okay,” she said, and tried to shrug away the anxiety that told her somewhere, deep down, he probably was. He just didn’t want to be an asshole, so he’d said that to make her feel better. He’d probably noticed how many times she was paying attention to Adam instead of him.

After a lengthy period of silence filled only by their boots scraping the packed dirt ground, Matt tugged her gently by their joined hands, pulling her off balance to crash lightly into his body.

“Hey!” She said in surprise, jerked out of the anxiety spiral her thoughts were becoming, blinking rapidly at him.

He was grinning.

“Earth to Hazel,” he said, echoing that same phrase he’d had to use to pull her out of her thoughts earlier. They didn’t even know each other, how did he know to do that? 

“Sorry, I’m such a basketcase today, I swear I’m not normally like this.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes, exasperated with how much she was struggling.

“Aw, you’re fine.” He reassured and smiled at her. “Get out of your head, wild filly.”

Butterflies in her stomach at that little pet name he’d decided on after their earlier conversation and she blushed, looking away from him to gather her thoughts on a safer topic. She was thankful she saw her vehicle and could avoid answering altogether. “That one’s mine,” she said, pointing toward the little bright blue Ford Ranger waiting in the dimly stadium-lit field where they’d been parking cars throughout the day. They walked toward it, just a few paces away.

“I didn’t think you drove a truck.”

“I mean,” she laughed, “does a Ranger really count as a truck?”

He laughed and pulled her to a stop beside her truck, turning her to face him. He still held her hand and grinned down at her. “I was right. This definitely ain’t your first rodeo.”

And just like that, she remembered Adam’s joke, the same one he’d made earlier when she’d talked about her past. She hadn’t told Matt about that. She inhaled a sharp breath and blinked, but Matt was leaning in, pulling her close, and pressing his mouth hot against hers. And her lips were moving, forming to his, opening, her tongue prying at his mouth, his sliding into hers. And he was pushing her up against the side of her truck, jean-trapped cock rubbing against her thigh as she opened her legs to give him better access. And his breath was a hot hiss of air from his nose, and his beard scratched her skin as he moved his mouth hungrily over hers. His hands pinched her waist hard, trapping her at the angle he wanted to fit best between her legs. She spread them wider, and he dipped, fitting his hips up so he could rub the swollen, hard lump of his need and want more firmly against her. The pressure just barely teased her, enough to make a needy, whiny moan crawl up from her lungs and push desperate into his mouth.

He pulled his mouth off of her like he’d had to be forcibly removed, his arms shaking, fingers curled tight around her hips, hard enough she wouldn’t be surprised to see little finger-print shaped bruises on her skin later on. He tried to laugh, but was too breathless to do even that, and he hadn’t moved his body away from hers. He was struggling, trying to catch his composure.

“Sorry,” he said, and flashed his eyes toward her, “I just… meant to kiss you. I didn’t mean to get carried away.”

“No, it’s okay,” her voice barely had any volume to it and she was dizzy. Her lips were tingling and the breath she sucked in with need tasted like him. Like the faint mint from his gum.

“You are something else,” he murmured in a warm breath, grunting as he seemed to all but force himself to step off of her, peeling his weight away from her and letting her settle flat on her feet again. The night felt so much colder, all of the sudden. Her hips ached pleasurably where he’d been holding her. She flushed under the compliment, and the stare in his eyes that was still eating her up. It was killing him not to take her back to his hotel room, but he wasn’t going to cross that line again unless she gave him the invitation. 

“You too, cowboy.” She said, and her voice sounded dazed. Her blood was rushing in her ears.

“Drive home safe now, alright?” He said, and his hand moved at his side, like he’d wanted to reach out and grab her again but had to remind himself not to. It fell back down again.

“Okay,” she said, heart aching suddenly, confused on why she was still deciding not to say fuck it and throw caution to the wind. She pushed herself off her truck and turned to fish her keys out of her pocket. She’d turned it in the lock to pop the door open when Matt spoke up behind her.

“Actually, can I get your number? You can text me when you get home so I know you’re alright?”

It was a cute, classic excuse to hide the real reason he wanted her number, but she didn’t mind. She assumed he likely wanted to have her number on hand in case another rodeo brought him close enough to justify them meeting up and, maybe, he’d get lucky to actually sleep with her the next time they did. It wouldn’t surprise her and she wasn’t offended, in fact… she was more than interested. If he got her that crazy just kissing her up against her little truck… Wow.

“Yeah,” she said and smiled so he’d know she knew what it was about. She didn’t expect good morning texts and long conversations late into the night. She tugged her phone out of her pocket and pulled up her contact screen, passing the phone to him as she pulled her truck door open and hopped into the cab. He finished typing his information in by the time she turned to look at him. Matt extended her phone toward her with one hand, and leaned his forearm on the roof of her truck with the other.

When she grabbed the other end of her phone, he didn’t let it go. Instead he dipped down, and he pulled her toward him (though really she leaned up of her own volition) so their lips could meet for another kiss. He started to press in hard, to smear his lips against hers, the energy building back up inside him again, and pulled back with a sharp inhale. He released a slow breath through his nose, lips pressed together as he looked down at her.

“Are you planning on coming back tomorrow?” He asked, voice warm and smooth, his finger skimming her jawline after he let her take her phone back, thumb resting at her chin and keeping her face pointed up at him. Tingles spread from his touch. “I’d love to know there’s a pretty little thing like you in the audience cheering as me and my brother win the championship.”

There it was, that big ego that was all too natural and he couldn’t help flex with such confident casualness and a knowing grin shortly after. He might as well have winked when he took his fingers away from her chin. She playfully pushed her hand lightly into his chest as if to shove him off her truck, and he stumbled back.

“What makes you so sure you’re going to win?” She teased, pushing the key into the ignition and turning it over to start the engine. He flattened his hand on her still-open driver’s side door.

“Oh please,” he laughed and rolled his eyes. “Tomorrow night,” he tapped the belt buckle that currently clasped the belt slung through his Wrangler’s belt-loops. “I’ll have a shiny new buckle on my belt.” 

He was so matter-of-fact about it, she didn’t question that he was probably right. He slid his hand down her driver’s side door and slowly started to close it, but before he was shut out, he arched a brow beneath the shade of his hat.

“So, am I going to see you cheering me on tomorrow?” Something hung in his tone. Something that told her he actually cared if she’d be there or not. Funny… but she decided to not let herself wonder about it for too long.

Her smile pushed high into her cheeks. “Yeah,” she said with a nod, “I’ll be there to cheer you and your brother on tomorrow.”

“Good girl,” he murmured, and she suddenly felt dizzy all over again. 

He gave her that damnable wink, as though he knew the exact effect he’d had, with a smile pushing a little higher into one side of his bearded cheek than the other, and gently closed her truck door, stepping back to watch her drive away and giving her a wave in the rearview mirror.

**********

She chucked her keys on the side table, pushed the door shut behind her and half stumbled, half kicked off her boots as soon as she got home. The scrabbling of dog nails on hardwood from the kitchen alerted her that her two golden retrievers, Callahan and Carson, were about to rush around the corner to greet her. Hazel pulled her phone out of her pocket, typing across the touchscreen with one hand as the pups came panting and wagging their entire bodies, dancing and prancing around her, pressing their nose to her clothes and demanding attention for having left them alone all day.

“Alright, alright!” She laughed gently as they pushed at her, and abandoned finishing the text message to give them affection and apologize for not being able to take them to the rodeo. They followed her as she made her way down the hall and toward the master bedroom and adjoining bathroom. She finished typing the text message and hit send.

TEXT TO: MATT JACKSON Made it home in one piece!

She gently tossed the phone atop the fluffy comforter that lay over her bed, letting it land with a soft thud. It chimed with a returned text message as she rummaged through her drawers just as Callahan and Carson jumped up onto the mattress, flopping down with huffs. Carson perked his ears and glanced toward the phone as it buzzed again, then glanced over at her.

“I’ll look at it in a minute, Carson.” She chided, unbuttoning her long sleeve shirt and pulling it off, unclasping her bra and barely suppressing the relieved moan as she took it off. She slipped a soft, large shirt over her head, it’s hem just brushing her mid thigh. She unbuttoned and stepped out of her jeans, tugged off her socks and padded barefoot to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash the rodeo dust off her face.

And of course Callahan and Carson got a few more cuddles before she finally reached for her phone and swiped to see Matt’s reply.

TEXT FROM: MATT JACKSON Glad to hear it. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

She smiled and reached to flick off the lamp on the side table, typing away into the white-blue glow of the phone screen.

TEXT TO: MATT JACKSON In case I’m too busy working and don’t see you before your run, good luck!

TEXT FROM: MATT JACKSON Didn’t we already discuss that I don’t need luck, because I’m definitely winning? Anyways, hope I do get to catch you before the run, I’d hate to not get a little good luck kiss.

At that she rolled her eyes, but pressed the button to give a “heart” reaction on his text.

TEXT TO: MATT JACKSON Goodnight, cowboy. Rest up. 💗

TEXT FROM: MATT JACKSON You too, wild filly. ❤️

**********

The second day went by quicker than the first. Maybe it was because they were busier, with more people to watch the championship runs than had come for the qualifiers. Maybe it was because she threw herself wholeheartedly into her work to keep her distracted so her wandering eyes wouldn’t pull toward every blond haired cowboy she saw out of her peripherals.

Not that she had to worry. Either Adam was avoiding her, or there were just too many people to single him out, because even ducking along the chutes and helping sort and load the roughstock for the upcoming rides, she didn’t catch sight of him once. She thought it was peculiar, especially given that she crossed paths with Matt and his brother Nick at least four times that day, and had even run into Kenny once.

But never Adam.

“Ash! Give us a hand!” A shout from Andrea distracted her, and she shook her head as she glanced down the lane of pipe-fencing. “Stand by that gate,” Andrea pointed at a gate near her, “and swing it shut as soon as we push Bueno away from Brisket! Don’t let Brisket bully by you, cause he’ll try!”

They were trying to separate two of the bucking horses in the pen, Bueno, a big seal bay gelding, needed to be sent down the lane to the chutes where he’d get tacked up for the ride, but Brisket, the dun bay, needed to stay in the pens behind. Brisket was running as though stuck to Bueno’s side, as if he knew they were trying to separate them and he wasn’t interested in doing so.

Andrea and the young volunteer that’d stepped up to help her shouted and raised their hands, sending the big horses thundering in bouncing trots toward her. They were picking up their gait, coming faster. Hazel planted her boots firm and lifted her chin, getting ready to spook Brisket so he’d turn about, but keep Bueno running forward. However, as they got near, Brisket pinned his ears and lurched toward where she was standing, lips peeled and flat, yellow teeth showing.

“Hey!” She shouted, jumping back to keep from getting snapped by the grumpy horse, though, at the same time someone else shouted loud over her.

Whoever it was reached to wave a hat over her head, spooking Brisket into pulling his gait up and jerking his head upwards over his withers, ears flat and eyes rolling white. It had the needed effect, as Bueno jolted forward down the lane he was meant to go and Brisket back-stepped and turned about, releasing an angry, loud snort as the gate closed and he didn’t get his way. Whoever behind her had scared Brisket off swung the gate shut, and the automatic lock secured it.

“You alright?” He said.

She glanced toward the familiar voice and found herself trapped in pretty eyes that looked more blue than green today, framed by gold ring-curls that had a soft impression from the hat he’d taken off to shake in the horse’s direction. The mid-afternoon sun was beating down and made his hair look as though it were gilded, like he was some creature of heaven. She could have rolled her eyes at how stupidly romantic that thought was. He raised a hand to shake through his hair and set his hat back on his head, frowning with concern down at her.

“Adam,” She said his name on a breath, exhaling slowly, her entire body suddenly on fire, standing so close to him. She blinked, and her brain caught up through the surprise at seeing him to remember he’d asked her a question. Heat flushed her cheeks immediately. “Uhm, yeah! Yeah, I’m fine. He didn’t get me, just tried to intimidate me. I don’t even think he was going to bite.” She glanced toward Brisket, who was being guided back through the lanes toward the holding pen where he’d wait for Bueno’s return, his ears perked and posture far less aggressive than before.

“Glad you’re safe.” Adam’s tone was dismissive and she whipped her head around to see him turning away, planning to walk off.

“Adam, wait-” She said it before she knew what she was going to say next. Adam paused and looked at her, though she could easily tell he didn’t actually want to. “I didn’t sleep with Matt last night.” She blurted it out and immediately felt embarrassed. Heat crawled up her neck and flushed her cheeks as she fought to keep looking at him and not fall to the cowardice that wanted her eyes at his boots instead.

A look crossed over his face, but before she could wonder what it meant, it was gone and a polite expression was in its place. Despite his cordial look, his voice that’d been honey warm the night before was cold when he spoke, and it sliced right through her. “That’s not really any of my business.” And I don’t care, seemed implied. He reached up to pinch the brim of his hat and tip it to her. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Baker.” 

Miss Baker, now. No longer Hazel. 

Those eyes lingered on her a second more, and then he turned away and walked off to prepare his bronc rope and get ready for his ride, his shoulders tense and back a little hunched.

She was hurt by his dismissal, and she was angry that she was hurt. What was he supposed to have done? Walk over and kiss her? Admit that he’d been jealous and that he wanted her? 

Yes, her heart whined. 

Fool, the scars across it mocked.

Maybe she wasn’t even ready for casual fun like she’d thought she was. How could she have been so affected by him? They’d only talked for a little while. Maybe there were still some things she needed to work through from her break-up instead of trying to bury that pain in attention and sex. Maybe she was just shaken because she’d been open with him, vulnerable, only to have him treat her poorly after she’d trusted him so quickly. 

Maybe, maybe, maybe...

Hazel shook her head and closed her eyes, taking a breath and giving herself a moment to try and breathe and get out of her head.

“Up next, Adam Page’s ride on Brisby’s Bueno! This young man has had a stellar career this year, after running mid-rankings the last few years he’s risen to the top this year and is definitely this announcer’s must-watch kind of ride!” Kenny’s voice crackled over the announcer’s microphone, and she found herself mildly surprised to learn he was an announcer. He didn’t exactly have the look of an announcer…

Adam’s ride. His championship ride.

For some reason, despite what had just happened between them, she couldn’t help but wander toward the arena. She couldn’t deny herself wanting to watch his ride.

He rode beautifully, with his free arm raised, moving fluid as the rest of his body did with every twist and hard kick and upward hop the bronc gave underneath him. She watched the determination on his face, the way his chin bowed to his chest, and how hard his gloved hand wrapped around that bronc rope. Bueno kicked hard and jumped high for a horse as tall as he was, earning delighted and excited gasps from the audience at the show unfolding in the dirt ring in front of them. No matter what the horse threw his way, Adam stuck on, his legs moving in perfect synchrony over and down Bueno’s withers with each leap. The counter ran up, and Kenny’s voice excitedly crackled over the speakers, growing more and more heated as the ride progressed through snapping bucks and high-spirited kicks.

The buzzer hit eight-seconds. It’d felt like time stood still.

The pick-up riders charged their horses up, one took Adam as he took his hand off the rope and leapt over the pick-up horse’s haunches. The rider turned the horse away while the other pick-up rider unbuckled the snap on Bueno’s flank strap. He gave a few more excited, hyper bucks before slowing to a trot and allowing himself to be guided back toward the chutes. Meanwhile, Adam slid off the horse that’d taken him a slight distance away and landed with a thud onto the dirt, getting a supportive cheer from the crowd as he finished his ride safely. He didn’t even soak them in, but immediately turned his eyes toward the scoreboard, waiting for the judges final call.

89.6 point ride.

The crowd erupted into cheers, and she saw him glance down at his boots and smile, as though soaking it in himself, trying to believe it before he finally let himself look up at the crowd. They hollered even louder. She realized she was screaming for him too.

“89.6!” Kenny’s voice crackled excitedly over the speakers. “With that score, ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a champion! Raise a hand Adam, give them a wave!” He encouraged from the announcer’s booth, earning a glance and almost bashful smile from Adam before he shook his head and waved a hand at the audience, making his walk back to the chutes. Back toward her.

She was smiling when their eyes met, and he smiled too. It turned a little apologetic. A little sad.

She decided he was something of an enigma, and she would never understand him or these feelings she had for him. She shook her head and turned away, knowing she’d be needed in the holding pens as hands always were and deciding she’d rather throw herself back into work as a distraction to keep her mind from mulling. Unsurprisingly, it worked. Needing to stay alert while helping work around the animals and being a willing hand kept her busy and unable to pay attention to much else than what needed done and she could help with.

The only time she let herself stop again was to get herself a cold water bottle and perch up on the top of the fence to watch the Jackson brothers have their final run. She watched as they rode toward the box, the young white and grey-roan speckled roping steer loaded in the chute and ready to run the moment those gates flew open. Hazel caught sight of Matt glancing Nick’s way, Nick giving a reassuring nod before the pair separating to load up in their separate boxes. Matt hadn’t been putting on a front with his confidence; they gave the signal, the man pulled the chute latch open and the calf sprung forward, the brothers in quick pursuit. Matt, the header, threw his lasso over the steer’s horns and turned his direction. Nick, without hesitation, threw his lasso straight through the air and looped it perfectly around both back legs. He did it so quickly and so flawlessly, he made it look easy. Wrapping the rope around his saddle horn, he leaned back, holding tight as his horse dropped its haunches and pulled the steer taut. A cheer rocked the stands as the boys let the ropes go and the calf was able to kick free. The timer buzzed as they gathered and looped the slack of their ropes, still sitting on their horses.

She released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, and shook her head in disbelief. It’d been over so quickly, with such precision, she found herself gaping as she watched the little speckled calf trot with a bleating cry back toward the pen to be with the other calves.

“And with that impressive time rounding out their final roping session of the evening, the Jackson brothers have done it again! Matt and Nick Jackson everyone, your rodeo tag roping champions!”

She screamed with the rest of the folks in the stands, jumping up and down and hollering enough to make her voice go out. The brothers shared broad grins and Matt turned his horse to ride alongside Nick, giving his younger brother a quick pat on the back and another happy smile. Nick returned the gesture of affection and waved toward the crowd as Matt rode off back toward the gate they were swinging open for him.

He saw her, and his grin slipped a little higher up one side of his bearded cheek. She noticed when he’d ridden, the tie on his hair had come loose not quite enough to be completely undone, but enough to give her a hint of how handsome he looked with it loose around his face. He shrugged as he pulled back the reins and stalled his sleek, bay roan roping horse to a halt beside her.

“What did I tell ya?”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled still. 

“I didn’t doubt you for a second.”

He leaned in the saddle, the leather softly creaking. She smelled the faint cologne, a damp of sweat, a little rodeo dust, horse and leather as he reached and ran his calloused thumb gently along her jawline. Tingles again.

“Good girl.” His smile showed teeth before he winked, slipping his hand away, leaving her skin warm. He gave a gentle squeeze of his knees, getting his horse to walk back to where he could dismount and tend to it. Along the way she watched him pause to clap hands and receive congratulations from his fellow rodeo buddies, a fond smile resting gentle over her lips.

“You guys must have had a good night,” Andrea’s familiar voice broke her from staring after Matt and she shook her head, focusing on her friends grinning face.

Hazel laughed. “We didn’t hook-up.”

“Don’t lie to try and impress me or make me think you’re some innocent angel. I’ve known you too long for that.”

“I’m not lying!” Hazel protested, “Honestly! I… got myself confused.”

“What? Like lost your way across the rodeo grounds?” Andrea frowned at her.

“No, I… ran into Adam, and we talked and I opened up to him like…” Hazel glanced around, looking for anyone overhearing, then back at her friend's expectant, curious face. “Like no one I’ve opened up to in a long time. He was going to kiss me, but then Nick interrupted us and assumed we were coming to their little fire. Matt was there and he assumed I was there to see him and Adam got pissed off and now he’s acting like an asshole and Matt and I made out but I didn’t fuck him and now I’m more confused than I was coming into this mess.”

She’d talked fast, and her pleading eyes looked desperately at Andrea, who blinked rapidly.

“Wow, a hell of a lot more happened last night than I thought.”

“Yeah!”

“Don’t bother with Adam getting his panties in a bunch. Like I said, he’s a keep-to-himself kind of guy. If he was so upset with you and Matt flirting maybe he should have spoken up.”

“Thank you!” Hazel exclaimed with frustration. 

“Still, I can’t believe you didn’t sleep with Matt.” 

“You and me both.”

**********

Fire in his belly, it licked hot at the insides and spread over his skin like an itch he’d never scratch. In his mind, as he loaded the trailer and collected his winnings, preparing to leave the rodeo, he just kept seeing them.

Matt, leaning down on his horse to gently, affectionately hold her face. Her, looking up at him with a smile that he would like to have had reserved for him.

It was stupid, he told himself for the hundredth time as he climbed into the cab of his truck and started the engine, letting it gently rumble to life. It was stupid because she wasn’t anything to him.

Only that he’d felt like he’d been struck by lightning the moment he overheard her talking to Dolly. Only that he’d found a funny little smile on his face as he stayed quiet and listened, feeling bad for eavesdropping but finding a foreign, comforting warmth settling inside him the more he listened to her talk. Only that he’d thought the wind had been knocked out of him, like he got kicked in the gut by a bronc, when that soft light lit her profile and showed him the most gorgeous woman he could ever remember lying eyes on. Only that when her eyes had gotten sad, and she’d said she left competing for a reason she couldn’t share, he wanted her to trust him to take on that pain with her, and help her heal from it. Only that he’d shut himself off to the possibility of romance years ago, but when he talked to her he felt like every second of their time together was the most important moment of his life…

And then came Matt.

He flexed his fingers on the steering wheel and squeezed hard enough to turn the knuckles white. His jaw clenched as he glared at the open road, turning truck and trailer onto it, leaving the rodeo grounds behind. It wasn’t Matt he was angry with, or her for that matter, though he might as well have been with how he behaved.

It was himself.

The tension in his body slowly leaked out, color returned to his knuckles, and his shoulders sagged. It pierced right through him, remembering that look across her face this afternoon when he’d dismissed her. As he’d walked away he’d called himself every name in the book, begged himself to turn around and grab her and ask her what it was about her - a stranger - that made him feel so many things he hadn’t felt in years.

And how much that scared him.

And how much he let that fear control his life, removing the chance of losing her by driving her away before it could happen.

Driving her into Matt’s open, eager, waiting arms.

I didn’t sleep with Matt last night.

Why had she told him that?

He knew why. He only wished she hadn’t. He only wished she hadn’t looked up at him with those big, amber-brown eyes that made him ache to his core like he’d always known them. He only wished she hadn’t kept reaching for him with that longing he felt an understanding of, that made the defenses guarding his wounded heart snap and snarl and drive her away. It’d been bruised again and again and again, it no longer knew how to accept even the gentlest touch without fearing pain that might follow.

It was better this way.

He’d been telling himself that since the night prior, since watching her eyes light up as she talked with Matt by the fireside, and still finding himself aching for her company. He hadn’t been able to follow Nick and Kenny’s conversation, because any time her giggles swelled a little in volume his eyes shot to them, and jealousy was something bitter in the back of his throat. He had a feeling he hadn’t been subtle about it, because eventually they stopped trying to include him in their conversation and kept talking to one another, instead.

He had enough to deal with from helping his dad with the family tobacco farm, to trying to raise, train, and sell his own rodeo circuit horse stock, to trying to make a name for himself as the top, undeniable bronc bustin’ champion. There was no place, no room in his life for a woman that made him feel like loving her would change how he saw the world. Especially not one who lived a good six hours from where he did. Especially not one he’d hardly ever see as he traveled town to town to compete in the rodeos. It would never work, and the pain it’d cause when it didn’t wasn’t something he was brave enough to risk.

No matter how he tried to justify himself walking away from her, every piece of him screamed and rebelled against what he’d done. It was an exhausting spiral from want to anger to anguish to disappointment and he hoped it’d leave him soon. 

The more miles he put between her and those damningly beautiful eyes and that pretty little smile that made his heart skip a beat in his chest, the better.

Or so he tried to tell himself.

[zombiejoepino]

The Scavenger. CH: 2 (Cobb Vanth x OC fanfic)

CH 2: The Bounty

Fandom: The Mandalorian

Pairing: Cobb Vanth x OC!Female (in her late 20´s if you wondered)

Word count: 2923

Summary: A dangerous man is trying to keep a bounty in secret. He is waiting news from his missing hunters. Back in Mos Pelgo, The Marshal guards at night.

Warnings: angst

A/N: English is not my first language so i apologize in advance if i butchered your language. If you want to read the first part is right here. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy it

FULL STORY HERE :

UPDATE. CHAPTER 3 IS UP! 

CHAP 2: THE BOUNTY

Another night in the crowded bar.

A light smoke covered the atmosphere, live music was banging in the walls as the blue-skinned singer charmed the audience with her smooth voice.

Hunters, travelers, or anyone looking for passage was that night. Some of them just enjoyed a drink while talking business, others just gambled from time to time the sound of a blaster roared and another body dropped dead. Didn’t pull fast enough, others thought.

Just a regular night at Mos Espa.

The smoky drink traveled its way around the joint, crossing around colorful and loud characters. All of them must have a good story about the Old Republic or the Empire. They would exchange facts and anecdotes but there was always someone taking credit for things that didn’t happen. That would end up in a whole fight.

The drink finally made its way to the lone booth, stopping right in front of this man. Dark hair, a dark eye, and a pale one that followed the X shape scar across his left side. A strong clean shaved jaw and a heavy frown. Captain Qod was his name.

There were rumors about him, no one could tell for sure if he was a rebel pilot that went rogue or an imperial pilot turned into a bounty hunter. All that everyone knew was that he was good at stealing and hunting.

He and his gang, the Shadows, got quite a reputation for pulling out heists on New Republic cargo. They were smart enough to stay low for a time before going all over again. The last job was easy on terms, things went sideways in a matter of seconds. He lost two crew members, one betrayed them, the rest flee to the closest location.

His fingers drummed patiently, then stopped to take the smoky drink. He took a small sip and made a face.

Between the crowd, a skinny pale man flashed his yellowish smile at him and waved nervously. Wan Plog was a slippery one that always shifted between alliances. Our lone man didn’t make any expression while looking at him but just followed his clumsy actions with his eyes.

The nervous pale man reached the lone booth and waited before he was allowed to sit down. He rubbed his hands together and took the cloak from his head.

“They haven’t come back, boss.” Plog smiled nervously. “But maybe that’s not all bad. Probably found her and are just waiting to bring her. You know how the desert is. Raiders and other creatures.” He chuckled.

Max Qod, just gave him a long stare and sipped the smoky drink again. He didn’t blink even once.

“But if they don’t find her, I made this.” The pale man looked through his pockets and dropped a rounded dark object. He picked it up quickly, cleaned it up a bit, and slid it through the table.

Qod put down his drink and rose a brow looking at the puck. He pressed it and the blueish hologram displayed the young redhead image and last name; Roznev. Charges: Theft.  

“I know It’s a high price, boss, but maybe the best of the best can find her. Maybe if we send this to the Guild. After all, what she took is wh-” Plog's words were cut when the Captain's large hand-pulled him by the hood and made him bang his head in the table.

There was a small moment of silence but the crowd just decided to ignore it as they do with other conflicts or shootouts.

Qod press his head down on the table and moved close enough to his ears and whisper. “You know if you spit any word of what she has, others will come for it. I dunno who told you to make that, but you better destroy it.” He squeezed the head down, poor Plog let out a squeak.

“Better find those idiots, I don’t care if you have to track them down personally. Cant trust bounty hunters.”  

Qod shoved him away from the booth and looked down at the pale man. His expression was severe. He left 3 rounded chips on the table and walked away. The folks around just stepped aside to clear the Captain's way.

No one wanted to mess with The Shadows' leader.

…

Nighttime was the quietest at Mos Pelgo; kids were at the house getting ready to sleep. The local business closed when the sunset down. Only the old Weequay kept the light up as he cleaned up his pub, sweeping quietly. Even Banthas were mooing from time to time, almost like they were singing at night.

There was no much action after earlier events. The stranger crashing a speeder close to the town and the Marshal taking down two of them. The third one wounded, probably a victim, or just trouble. That was the two ideas that bounced on The Marshal's head.

He fought so hard for this community to have a moment of peace and he wouldn’t allow strangers to bring trouble to them. No more Key Raiders, Mining Collective, or the Sand people, he would face them all if it was necessary.

Of course, he would stand for his town, he knows that bounty hunters can be ruthless like any enemy and they would try to hit on his weaknesses just to get the worst of him, just enough to make a mistake.

But what were Cobb Vanth´s weaknesses? He wasn’t sure, so far he grew a soft spot for the young stranger.

Her behavior towards him was amusing for him. It was a normal reaction not to trust each other, and yet he felt her long stares, quick looking aways followed by a frown and a tiny blush. He chuckled thinking about it.

He was aware of his appearance, he noticed when women stared at him a little longer, followed by flirty smiles or nervous giggles but it didn’t bother him. Cobb barely had time to flirt back or give them too much attention. There was a lot in his mind, responsibilities, and more. He kept those ideas away and tried to focus on the facts around the accident.

Two bounty hunters were after a young girl. He found a trashed puck but the bounty in the hologram was not her. There was a bag with different pieces that reminded him of Jawas. So, that made her a scavenger, stole from them by mistake and they followed.

The Marshal didn’t have much time to ask her anything about those two cause she passed out in his arms. He was quite surprised how long she endured after the crash and the beat up. That last part made him angry. He would get more intel if he let one of them alive but there was no reason to spare a woman beater's life.

The bruises on the redhead were not severe; puffy cheeks, a black eye, small scratches but the wounded knee worried him the most. It would take her a couple of days to walk and maybe keep up on the road or wherever she is going.

He needed to decide how long he would let the girl stay and not make the villagers anxious about her cause they didn’t like strangers at all. These are hard times and you can’t trust everybody you meet.

That cold night, he was guarding outside the town, keeping an eye in the dark desert, hoping no man or creature would dare to step a foot in his town; A long watch.

He didn’t mind staying there in the cold, after all, he couldn’t patch his eyes at home. All those nightmares kept him awake and just rolling around. He didn’t want to remember all over again when the red-hot steel was burning his skin. He kept his mind on the moment and not in the past. Besides, the new guest/prisoner needed a place to rest.

Was she a prisoner? She didn’t resist the arrest, it was like she had no other choice. It was hard to believe that such a fragile and delicate figure would be dangerous. He didn’t find any weapons in her belongings, there was a bag with random items and pieces to improve a small speeder.

Maybe she stole from the wrong people, the bounty hunters, but they didn’t kill her right away so, there must be something else.

His mind shook off all the ideas and focused on a moving shape. He rose the rifle and waited for a moment.

The old Dewback made a few grunts while stomping his way on the sand. His steps slowed down before it collapsed, breathing heavily. At any time, scavengers would come out to eat the agonizing old beast.

He thought about putting it down to ease its pain, but the noise would bring out something big and mean.

The Marshal observed another food chain example.  

…

Screams heard in the darkness.

Her feet felt heavy but didn’t dare to stop. Blasters and explosions just felt closer. Space was getting smaller each time and all the bodies squeezed together trying to breathe when the water reached them. The cage was closed, no one else was allowed to come out, they were left behind. They begged for help, for mercy but the faceless shooters couldn’t tell the difference. Extermination was everything in their program. She backed off to escape until she felt the heavy hand around her throat.

She gasped. The heartbeats pounding in her ears, trying to scream but she couldn’t open her mouth, unable to utter a sound and unable to move.

What seemed an eternity was probably no more than a few minutes when she found herself able to move again. A violent reaction followed by the struck of reality. There was no cage, no water, or hand around her throat. She couldn’t place her thoughts properly.

Her first move was to kick the bedsheets away. Her leg was burning and the other one was not enough to hold her weight. She groaned in pain but stop when the footsteps approached the room.

Nath did her best to sat up and reached the first object to cause enough damage to her captor; a bottle. It was still pretty dark so it was hard to tell. The adrenaline kept pumping in her veins.

The large shadow walked in and, she let out a mighty roar and jumped over it to smash a bottle on its head. The shadow stumbled with her, both crashing the ground. He struggled to keep her hands away from him as she swung her fists furiously.

“Hey! It's me!” He yelled while dodging the fists.

She was lost in her thoughts and kept fighting. He quickly wrapped his legs around her waist to shift the position to overpower her.

“Stop it, Nathsca!” His hands pinned her down on the floor. She wiggled trying to set herself free from his grip.

She fought for a few moments, then huffed and looked back at her captor. It was hard to tell. Both of them were panting and not moving in the darkness, the heartbeat was drumming in her ears, her breath was warm just like his. Her eyes widen when she realized how small was the space between them, feeling each other´s heat and shaking. She didn’t dare to move or saying anything.

“It´s the Marshal,” He spoke softly to break the tension “You had an accident and I brought you here, remember?” Trying to read her expression in the dark.

Nath focused on his words when the memories jumped back. The chase, her speeder crashing and her face buried in sand, the burning slap across her face and then thuds. Two dead hunters and the armored man. She took a deep breath.

“I'm letting you go, alright?” Cobb said.

She was not sure to reply or make any sound, she nodded lightly. Cobb drops the grip on her wrists and moved back slowly. He sat back and kept his distance before checking on her. Nath rested her back against the wall and winced when she tried to stretch her leg.

Cobb studied her body language and sighed. Maybe he went hard on her but she was being erratic and needed to calm down. Pretty strong for a little lady, he thought.

“Where am I exactly?” She asked.

“Mos Pelgo, my place.” He cleared his throat after feeling her murderous glare. “This is a small community, the folks didn’t feel comfortable having you around and, I offered my place, so you could rest. And dont worry, I just arrived, we are not that kind of place.”

“Which kind of place then?”

“Just a town trying to survive, not letting trouble bite our asses again.” He stood up and offered his hand. The woman looked at him for a moment and took it.

She hopped her way back in bed to sit down. Cobb stood right in front of her and folded his arms getting pretty serious. There was a long silence before he spoke up.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, are you bringing trouble to the town?”

“I'm not planning on staying.” Nath glared him.

“That´s not what I am asking. I mean, two bounty hunters right after you, you must have quite a story for that, miss.”

“None of your business.” She snapped.

“Is my business if you are a guest in my town.” He kept a serious expression.

Nath just rolled her eyes and drummed her feet on the floor while thinking what to say and what not to say. She didn’t want to get into so many details and share her matters.

“I stole from them.”

“That´s pretty obvious but what did you steal exactly? Cause I don’t think two bounty hunters took so much trouble to chase you just for missing parts.”

Her eyes darted him and frowned. She just decided that she didn’t like this man. He was asking too much like he was a real law figure, which was rare around this planet.

“I don't know. I just took off. Look, mister, if we are gonna have a problem cause I'm staying in your dead town is fine. Just give me back my belongings and I'm out.”

“And walk by yourself in the desert and risk to fall in a sarlac pit cause you don’t know the area?”

“I´ll take my chances.”

Cobb huffed and rubbed his temples to keep his cool. This woman is stubborn, he thought.  

“I'm sorry, I can’t let you go by yourself.”

“You don’t need to worry about me, is not like you are my father.” She folded her arms and frowned.

“No, but I'm in charge of this town.” He moved close enough to look right into her eyes.

“What is that suppose to mean?” She did her best to keep it with the stare.

“That I'm responsible for everyone in here, and that includes you. So, this is what’s gonna happen. You will stay a day or two until that leg gets better but I need to know what’s coming after you.” He had an intense stare, probably the same one he had while shooting down those hunters.

“Cause whatever comes, will find you and take you down easily and, if he pleases, he will stop by the town. I can’t let that happen. So, if it's necessary, I will make you the first prisoner in Mos Pelgo.”

“Are you putting me in a cage?”

“Or a box, your choice.”

“And you expect me to trust you after saying you are gonna put me in a box? Wow.”

He sighed quite exasperated and shook his head. He was just arguing with a stubborn brat that had no interest or respect for the town.

“Listen, I'm just trying to find a solution so no one gets harmed. You are just a kid.”

“I'm not a kid, I can look after myself and always have.” She snapped again. She hated it when people underestimate her or call her kid.

“So, here’s your solution. I'm leaving. I'm not gonna follow your orders just cause you wear a stupid armor and think you can control everyone.”

Cobb sighed in frustration and took a deep breath, he was too tired to keep arguing with her.

“Fine. You are free to go whenever you want.” He was about to exit the room and stopped for a moment.

“Just don’t do something that would harm the town. These are good people if that means something for you. I suppose thieves don’t know much about loyalty.”

Her words sank when he exited the room. She would argue with him or anyone for hours but, that last one did hurt. She was loyal to those she cared or loved, but right now, she was uneasy about everyone after her crew betrayed her.

He betrayed her for what? Crystals? Beskar? She didn’t even want to open that canister again to know her answer.

Nath just curled back in bed, lost in her thoughts, studying the rounded walls in the small room.

She even felt guilty staying there, in his bed, wondered where he might sleep now. Her temper, that stupid temper always got her in trouble. Being rude towards people that are nice to her, like the Marshal.

He saved her from the hunters, patched her up, gave up his bed, and still, she backlashed at him like she was arguing with someone else.

What was this thing about the Marshal that made her angry?

She didn’t even ask for his name.

[softbiker]

Born to Run - Chapter 15

Warnings: language, literally zero editing

Word count: 3k

A/N: Wow I’m back to updating this story??? A million years later?? I am so sorry to anyone who was following this - but if you’re still reading and still interested, here’s an update! God as my witness, I will finish this. I actually have more ideas and inspiration for where the story’s going now - plus we’re all getting quarantined, so these WIPs have never had a better chance of getting done. Anyways, here it goes! Please let me know what you think! 

The lone monitor beeped steadily, plaintively, in the early morning quiet of the hospital room. Air rattled through the breathing machine, filling unknowing lungs over and over. A starched white blanket was pulled up to his chest, covering most of the bandages wrapped around his torso from the hours of emergency surgery. His left arm was already in a cast and laid on top of the blanket, resting against his stomach. 

Natasha felt sick.

And angry. 

How could she have been so stupid? Acting like a goddamn rookie, for starters, and running to Nick to fix their situation - letting things get out of hand with the Avengers, failing to convince Y/N to get out of here before things got bad. And they were only going to get worse. 

If Nick had been identified, then they were all in danger. And there was no fucking way, to her mind, that he couldn’t have been I.D.’d. This wasn’t a random accident, regardless of whatever the hell the local police wanted to write on the incident report. It was an attack, a warning. First blood. 

Her knee bounced in her seat by the bed, plastic upholstery squeaking with every shift in her weight. She chewed her nails - a habit she thought she had finally managed to kick. A tall nurse, dark curls piled into a bun on top of her head, came in to check Nick’s vitals; she was quiet, efficient, offering Nat a sympathetic smile. 

“If you need anything, just contact the nurse’s station, ok?” Her pink bubblegum, tucked in the back corner of her mouth, was visible when she talked. “And there’s a coffee machine around the corner, in case you need your fix before the cafeteria opens up.”

Nat nodded her thanks as the woman slipped out of the room, her white nursing clogs creaking a little, not yet broken in. 

The sky outside the window continued to brighten, a clear and cold winter morning; she wasn’t sure how long she stared at him before she decided to have that coffee after all. Massaging her temples, she shuffled down the hallway towards the flickering glow of the machine. Her boots echoed on the tiles in the empty hall, the low hum of the coffee machine filling the little alcove near the elevators. It whirred and hissed and spat out her coffee into a blue paper cup with slow, deliberate drips. 

How had she let it get this far? What was she going to do without him? And who the hell could she trust? She winced as the first sip of coffee burned her tongue. It wasn’t as though she didn’t trust the team…but she’d gone to Nick in the first place because they were no longer being objective - Barnes especially, and Rogers was only enabling him. 

Her eyes on the waxed linoleum floor, she barely noticed him standing outside the door of the hospital room. Steve squared his shoulders, directly in front of her, his eyebrows tilted at a thunderous angle. 

“You gonna tell me what the hell is going on here?” he gritted out, the hoarse edge of his voice scraping in his throat. 

Nat didn’t answer, not right away. Instead, she let him stew in the boil of his righteous anger, air tightening between them. The coffee had cooled a bit, but left a funny taste in her mouth - the flavor mixed badly with the mints she’d been sucking on an hour ago. The muscles in her neck and back ached from hunching by Nick’s bed all night, and she arched a little on her feet, stretching and flexing, though the early morning tightness never quiet left her muscles. 

Finally, when the flare of Steve’s nostrils told her he was on the verge of making a scene, she gestured toward the door with her coffee cup. 

“Why don’t you head in there and see for yourself?”

Clenching his jaw, Steve turned and let himself into the hushed dimness of the hospital room. He filled the doorway - he filled most doorways - and from behind Natasha wished he could march into this and save the day, the way he always wanted to. At the foot of the bed, he stopped and rested a hand on the mobile tray waiting there, now cleared of the uneaten food from last night. His mouth turned further down, matching the turn of his eyes as he watched the sleeping man tucked into crisp hospital linens. After all these years, I was so strange to see Nick this way - weak, still, not in command. It shook something loose inside of him, but he tamped it down, cracking the knuckles of his fist. 

“You know who did this?” he said, his voice a low growl under the tone of the monitors. Behind him, Nat closed the door with a soft click. 

“Of course I do - don’t you?” She slipped behind him, sipping from her coffee, and took up her chair by the bed again. 

Big hands curling and uncurling, Steve remained silent. From her spot in the squeaky hospital chair, Nat watched the slant of his profile, reading the rage in every line. 

“Rumlow is dead,” Steve said through clenched teeth. 

“But not the rest of them.”

“Without a leader? They’re just a bunch of thugs.” Steve shook his head. “There’s someone else pulling the strings - someone smarter.” He nodded towards Nick’s prone body. “Someone who knew about Nick. Maybe about all of us.”

Natasha nodded slowly, one finger tracing the rim of her coffee cup. Usually she enjoyed being right. 

Steve scrubbed at his face with his hands, blowing a harsh breath past his lips. He turned away from the hospital bed and paced along the edge of the room, towards the window. With the thin curtain drawn, pale sunlight cast shadows beneath his eyes, sharped the noble angle of his nose. HE never dreamed they’d be standing here, years deep in a life built on lies and duty. Fresh from the army, him and Buck, and no plans - that’s when Sam approached them. Intelligence work, a chance to do something important, to keep fighting the good fight on the home front. 

“They’re all in danger.” Natasha’s voice scraped at the edges of her throat. “You know that, Steve.” 

“I know.”

“It’s time.” He turned to look at her, bits of hair falling from her ponytail to frame her face. Bits of mascara had smudged underneath her eyes, bloodshot and heavy. 

“Make the call,” Steve said, looking back towards the window. “Get Pierce if you have to. It’ll piss off Stark to go over his head, but I’m not worried about his ego.”

Nat licked her lower lip, tracing the chapped skin. 

“What about Barnes and his girlfriend?” she asked, leaning an elbow on the arm of her chair. “I can’t see him being eager to burst their happy little bubble.”

Steve sighed through his nose, crossing his huge arms across his chest. The monitors beeped a lonely rhythm behind him. 

“I”ll handle Bucky. Just get everything ready - make all the arrangements. Do what you have to do.” 

  ***********                                                                                                  

“So for dinner, I’m thinking…we still have that spaghetti squash in the fridge? I could whip up some kind of sauce to go with it…” she peaked her head up over the door of the fridge. “Sound good to you, Buck?” 

Startled, Bucky’s head popped up from his phone. 

“Uh, yeah sure,” he said, ducking back down and resuming the rapid movement of his thumb. 

With a frown, Y/N hip-checked the door closed, bottles rattling inside. 

“Are you listening to me, Bucky Barnes?” she asked, eyes narrowing as she leaned back against the fridge. 

He looked up again - a well-developed sense of self-preservation kicked in when he caught that dangerous glint in her eyes. 

“Yes - yes, sweetheart, I’m sorry,” he sighed, sliding his phone into his back pocket. “Whatever you want for dinner is good - I’m fine with the spaghetti squash.”

She was never so easily distracted. 

“What was so interesting?” she nodded his direction. “You’ve been glued to that thing all afternoon.”

Bucky’s shoulders dropped as he sighed, rounding the edge of the counters to approach her in the kitchen. Soft hands reached for her hips, reeling her in closer, sharing heat and heartbeats. The scent of his cologne drifted up on the air between them - spicy, warm, just subtle enough to remain sexy. He leaned in close and pressed his lisp to her forehead, devoted and sweet, and always properly apologetic. 

“I”m sorry, baby,” he said, squeezing her waist softly. “It’s just Steve-”

“Steve?” She looked up at him with a frown, neat little line forming between her brows. “Steve has been blowing up your phone?”

“Yeah, I know.” He shook his head. “It sounds like total bullshit, but I swear that’s all.”

“What’s going on with Steve?” 

Bucky sucked in a deep slow breath, hoping to hide his hesitation. Their “club business” had always taken first place, first priority…the job came first. The job was important. They were saving lives, putting away criminals. But now his girl was pouting at him in the kitchen, and he’s so tired, so goddamn tired all of a sudden - of all of it. Of being a public servant or a hero or whatever the hell. Of duty. He wants to pack it all up and just start driving. Move back to the city - or hell, even the suburbs would be nice. He’d take Y/N to Sunday dinner at his mom’s place; they’d move in together, and Y/N could decorate just how she wanted, and he’d sweat over rearranging the furniture and complain about trips to fuckin’ Ikea and all the other stuff that normal boyfriends got to do. In this moment, this inhale, he tasted it all, the life they could have. A dream they could build, together. 

And all he had to do was come clean. About all of it. 

In the space of an exhale, he faced it. He wanted this. It was on the tip of his tongue. 

And then the next breath. 

“Just club stuff,” he shrugged, feeling the weight of the lie dropping on her. “There’s…been a little drama between the members lately. Nothin’ for you to worry about.” 

With another kiss to her forehead, he turned away and opened the fridge. 

“I’ll put that spaghetti squash in this afternoon if you want me to,” he offered. “That way it’ll be ready when you get off work. Sound good?” 

Y/N nodded mutely, pressing her lips into a smile. She had to admit it was nice having a boyfriend who was mildly competent in the kitchen. 

“Okay, well, I’ve got to get in to the clinic,” she sighed, checking her watch. “Shit! I’ll be late.” Swinging her bag and lab coat over her shoulder, she gave him a final peck on the lips before bolting to the door. 

“You sure you don’t want me to drive you?” Bucky called from the kitchen. 

“Too cold!” was her reply - and then she was out the door. 

Bucky stared at the closed door for a moment, one hip leaned against the counter, worrying at his lower lip with his teeth. He just needed some time. Just a little more time to sort all this out. And then he’d tell her - the whole truth. Everything. And after, they could have a life together, something real, something safe, a home. 

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Steve again. 

Call me. Now.

Even as he rolled his eyes at Steve’s flare for the dramatic, a little tremor seized Bucky’s heart. Dread hovered in the back of his mind as he swiped his thumb and dialed Steve’s number. 

This could only go badly.

  **********                                                                                                  

One breath.

Inhale to exhale. That was how long it took for him to lie to her. 

Cold fingers wrapped tight around the steering wheel, it was all she could think about. It scared the hell out of her, whatever it was he tried to hide in that breath, whatever he decided to keep from her. He’d never done that before…or had he? Did she know? Would she know? Would she be able to tell? 

Calm down, Y/N. You’re overreacting. She lectured herself, cranking the heat in her car to a higher setting. A top 40 song, thumping beat and repeated lyrics, hummed faintly on the radio; she was running late enough that the morning talk show had already ended, moving on to the daily shuffle of hits and local business commercials. It all went unheard in the worried circle of her thoughts. 

What could he have to hide? Unbidden, her mind flooded with horrible possibilities, every possible answer to that question, and each more horrible than the last. Was he cheating? Another woman was responsible for the constant barrage of text messages pinging his phone? Bucky was handsome, not to mention clever, flirtatious, romantic; she had no doubt he could get any woman he wanted. But his attention and affection for her hadn’t waned - just this weekend he’d planned a beautiful dinner for the two of them, followed by a homemade cheesecake he had slaved over for dessert, and then well…he was certainly still eager in the bedroom. The warning signs just weren’t there. 

So what else? He’d never been secretive about the club before. Avengers business was Avengers business, but he’d never lied to her about it. It turned her stomach sour, and she regretted having those pancakes this morning, the cloying smell of syrup still on her hands making her want to pull over and vomit on the side of the road. 

She knew she was working herself up, letting her mind run amuck, but she couldn’t stop herself. By the time she pulled her car into the parking lot of the clinic, she’d half made up her mind to turn right around, go home, and confront him. The image of herself, half-crazy with ideas of secret affairs or violence or drugs, marching into the house and accusing him of lying - it stopped her short.

God, why am I losing my shit over this? Y/N dropped her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, the car idling in the lot, warm and safe from the harsh winter morning. She’d dealt with shitty men before, she’d survived bad boyfriends. It was impossible to make it very long as a woman without that experience. And yet, somehow, the memory of that paled in comparison to the devastating knowledge that Bucky was lying to her. 

You love him. Oh god, she did, she loved him - she was in love with him. 

She hurried out of the car and into the clinic, preferring to bury herself in wellness checks and vaccines and the flu than to keep thinking on it. 

    **********                                                                                                   

At the reception desk, Charlotte stopped her before she could get to her office.

“Oh! You’re needed at the county hospital today.” She handed Y/N the note, written on robin’s egg blue stationary. 

“I’m sorry? Why?” Y/N squinted at the note, a handwritten scribble. Charlotte shrugged. 

“No real explanation - but the chief surgeon said that they could use an extra set of hands with all the flu cases they’ve got coming in.” She took a sip from her travel mug. “I’ve heard they’re a little overwhelmed down there, since they’re the closest treatment for a lot of people in the county.” 

Y/N sighed, looking back out to her car. She hadn’t planned to drive the extra mileage out to the hospital today; not to mention it would probably make her late coming back for dinner tonight. Digging in her purse, she grabbed her phone and shot off a quick text to Bucky, explaining the change. 

“Alright then,” she huffed, placing her purse back on her shoulder. “I guess I’ll see you later.” 

With a wave to Charlotte and the other nurses, she was back out the door and heading to her car. This time around, she turned the radio up loud, singing along and tapping her fingers on the steering wheel and not thinking about this morning, or her own life, or anything at all. 

    **********                                                                                                   

At the hospital, she was assigned to make rounds for one of their physicians who had called in sick. Simple enough. The elevator ride up was quiet, new nurses and doctors all quiet and polite, but holding down their conversations in the presence of a stranger. 

She started on the third floor recovery ward, making her way down the hall door by door. Bedside manner was always one of her strengths; she could charm most patients with just a few words, breezing through her examinations and questions with ease. Chalk it up to customer service experience, but even the difficult patients usually treated her with gruff politeness, the insistence of her friendly manners forcing them to match with their own. Room by room, she checked charts and asked about pain levels and wrote prescriptions, the morning passing by in hours of sterile white tile and the smell of hand sanitizer. 

Turning a corner onto the next ward, she was just looking up from her clipboard when she caught a glimpse of a familiar shade of red ducking into a doorway. Y/N hurried her steps, her cadence almost a jog as she tried to catch-

“Natasha?” She knew that hair, the back of her jacket, the set of her shoulders. 

Nat was standing in the door of the hospital room, propping it open with one arm, head turned over her shoulder to stare at Y/N with weary eyes. Her face was pale, scrubbed clean of makeup, the bright baby hairs around her face twisting in tight little curls. At the sight of Y/N, she quirked the corner of her mouth up in an attempt at a smile, but it only managed to make her look more strained and exhausted. 

“What are you doing here?” Y/N went on when she didn’t get an answer. Her eyes cut past Natasha to the dim fluorescence of the room behind her. “Is everything okay?” 

Nat stared for another moment, her lips pressed tight together, jaw working back and forth. The hand she held on the door was curled in a small, tight fist, the peaks of her pale knuckles standing out against the long sleeve of her hoodie. Then, still silent, she stepped aside, gesturing for her friend to enter. 

“Come in,” she said hoarsely. “We need to talk.” 

[and-what-the-hell-is-love]

Love is...

Patience

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he stepped into the small tavern, heads couldn't help but turn to the slam of the door. And once they noticed him, a silence sharp enough to split diamonds filled the small lodge. But before anyone could do or say anything against the witcher, a melodious voice rang out his name and lured the patrons' attention to the center of the room, where a familiar face stood out from the sea of strangers.

After the eyes were called off him, the witcher made his way his way to the bar, where a pretty barkeep was wiping the counter of spilt wine and ale. She cocked her head when she saw the witcher, and a small smirk spread across the young woman's face.

"I've never served a Witcher before," she said. "I hope you ain't picky with your poison."

He grunted and layed a few coins on the counter. "I'll take whatever you'll give me for these."

The woman took the money saying, "I've some stout, if that suits your fancy."

The witcher nodded, and the woman fixed the drink. She handed him the mug and nodded her head in the direction of the exuberant man in the center of the room. "I believe he called you when you walked in, did you hear him?"

The witcher nodded, so she continued, "He's been singing of you all night, White Wolf. Do you know him?"

"Unfortunately," Geralt said. As the bard finished his song, he caught sight of the witcher and smiled, slinging his lute around to his back. Geralt turned back to the woman, who was now taking another man's drink. Behind him, he could hear the bard's light steps coming closer until the younger man slapped his hand onto the witcher's shoulder.

"If it isn't the hero of my verses himself! Making an appearance to wish his very best friend the greatest of luck tonight, are we?" said the bard.

"Jaskier," the witcher said, turning to face the younger man.

"Well hello to you too, Geralt. You know, you could actually pretend to be happy to see me," said the bard with a smile threatening to break through his hurt guise. Geralt shook his head and turned his attention back to his drink.

"It's no matter, I'm actually glad you're here, my friend. You see, I may have a job for you," he said, sitting beside the witcher.

Geralt looked to the man, seeing his bright blue eyes shimmering with excitement. Jaskier continued, "Ah! See! I knew that'd get your attention."

"Details, Jaskier," Geralt said.

"Right, right. Do you see that man over there? The one in green beside the door?" The bard asked, pointing to the said man. Geralt nodded.

"Right," Jaskier continued, "well, he said he found his daughter dead out in the woods. Ripped in half, he said, with her head missing. Now I've been talking to other locals, and this isn't the first time this has happened. A couple weeks ago, another girl was found the same way. Ripped down the middle without a head. See I was thinking, maybe we could --"

"We?" The witcher interrupted.

The bard smiled, "Yes, we."

"No," Geralt said, refusing to let the younger man finish. The bard sighed and crossed his arms.

"Excuse me, Geralt, but I am most definitely coming with you," Jaskier said, letting a hint of desperation come through with his voice.

"You're not."

"Geralt, the songs I could make out of a beast like this are infinite. I am not going to let this opportunity go. Just imagine it! 'The White Wolf: A Hero of Skellige!' Oh Geralt, I can see it now!" The bard exclaimed.

The wonder on the young man's voice almost caused a smile to dance across the witcher's lips, but it was the same wonder that solidified the older man's response. "You're not coming, Jaskier."

Amusement filled the bard's blue eyes. "You say that now, Geralt of Rivia, but you do know I'll still be joining you."

"I know," The witcher said gravelly.

~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, warm beams of sunlight shined through the bedroom's windows as Geralt rose with the dawn. Jaskier lied still asleep while the witcher was rummaging through his bags, making sure he had everything he may need for his upcoming fight.

The bard had been kind enough to share his room with the witcher, a room Geralt was happy to have as the inn wouldn't serve "his kind." And although he enjoyed the warmth and comfort of a real bed, the witcher was now regretting his choice of spending the night with the bard, as he was afraid he wouldn't be able to leave the room without waking the young man.

Geralt had hoped he would be able to leave silently and slay the beast all while Jaskier slept, but his hopes were diminished as soon as he heard the bard stir behind him.

The witcher took this as a sign to leave, despite the other man's protests. Geralt had almost made off with Roach when he heard the inn's door slam and the bard's footsteps coming quickly behind him.

"You thought you could leave me, didn't you. Well jokes on you, because you need me!" The bard exclaimed, prodding his finger into the witcher's arm as he caught up to him.

"And why is that?" The older man inquired, leading his mare down the muddy roads.

The bard smiled a-matter-o-factly and said, "because I know where the victim's father lives."

"The man in green?" Geralt asked.

"Precisely," Jaskier said. "His name is Jarro, and he lives right over there."

The witcher followed his gaze to where the bard was pointing, and headed for the house.

Upon their arrival, a burly man came out of the aforementioned house carrying a small bouquet of yellow flowers.

"Excuse me," Jaskier called to the man. The man looked to the duo, and a small hopeful smile glimmered at his lips. Jaskier continued on, "This is my friend I was telling you about. The witcher. He's here to rid these lands of your foul beast and seek justice for your daughter."

The father looked to the witcher, only to get a nod in response. Jaskier led the man inside his own home, and Geralt let the bard handle the conversation. A short while later, Jaskier came out of the house with a confidant gate and headed straight past the witcher.

Geralt grabbed the bard's shoulder and glared down at him. "Where are you going?"

"I can't tell you," the bard said, shrugging the hand off his shoulder. "Because if I do, you'll run off to slay the beast without me. So, Geralt of Rivia, Mighty White Wolf, you're going to just have to follow me."

The witcher narrowed his eyes at the young bard, but let him lead them through the town and into the woods.

Not long after, the witcher could start to faintly smell blood, and as they headed deeper into the forest, the scent became stronger until they were standing in a clearing that reeked of not only recent blood, but of ancient blood also. The witcher realized people had been getting murdered in this spot for years, and to the beast, today would be no different.

After taking in his surroundings, the witcher understood the brute he would be up against. The claw marks on the trees, the tracks leading in and out of the clearing, the fur left behind, and a foul stench hidden within the smell of blood pointed to only a few creatures. Those facts, coupled with the targets and sheer strength of the attacker left only one beast in the witcher's mind.

"Sooooo, where is it?" A voice asked, disrupting the witcher's thoughts. "I mean, I thought the beast would be here but...I don't see anything. Could you imagine if we saw something completely unimaginable. Like a dragon, or a hydra, or a--"

"Berserker," said the witcher grimly.

The bard carried on, "Yes, I suppose a bersekerer would be interesting, but what if--"

"No, Jaskier. That's what we're up against," Geralt said.

"Oh, I didn't realize those actually existed. This will be an amazing fight, don't you think Geralt? I mean, I've never seen you fight a berserker before, and I'm sure many of my fans would love to hear this story," said the bard, surprised to find Geralt not interupting him to tell him to shut up.

The witcher instead simply ignored him, and instead looked for a safe spot for the bard to watch from. To the east, he spotted a small rock formation that seemed to be empty and sturdy. He ordered the younger man to wait there until the fight was over, and with some mild arguing, the bard obliged.

After hours of waiting, Jaskier called to the witcher from his hiding spot asking, "When is this beast coming, Geralt? Maybe we scared it of. That would be a shame."

"Patience, Jaskier," said the witcher as he motioned for the bard to retreat back to safety.

Another five minutes passed when Geralt could finally hear a heartbeat other than his bard's. A heart beating much faster, with much more blood coursing thought it's veins.

No longer could be hear the calm shallow breathing of the younger man, but instead heard rough ragged breaths coming from the south. Coming from the town.

Then he could smell it. Jaskier's sweet smell of cedar wood and raspberries slowly became over run with a stench of blood, sweat, and death until he could only catch small breezes of his friend's scent coming from the east.

And finally, it was upon him. A bear-like creature more than double the size of any bear he had seen before. It's brown fur was matted with dirt and blood. It's powerful teeth were stained yellow and red. It's paws were four times larger than his head, and adorned with razor sharp claws. And when he saw this beast towering before him, his mind wandered back to his friend, who he hoped would go undetected by the warebear.

The fight wasn't magnificent, and the witcher had taken a few hits. But in the end, it was the White Wolf who came out on top, and the beastly brown bear who had been slain.

From atop his inlet, Jaskier called for his witcher once again, asking if it was safe for him to come down. Geralt nodded, and the bard made his way to the slain beast. And in an instant, the young man started reliving the whole fight.

He showed Geralt his pages of notes and asked him for more details, but stopped talking when Geralt held up a finger. This surprised the witcher, as his friend had never been patient with his stories, but the bard could see his witcher wasn't currently in the best of shapes. And so, together they made their way back into town with the head of the beast. Geralt turned it in to the farmer and collected his well earned coin.

And all the while, Jaskier didn't ask a single time about the fight, but instead strummed his lute, trying to find the perfect chords to create a beautiful melody. And all the while, The witcher didn't ask the bard to quiet his strumming or his singing, but instead listened to the voice beside him as they walked together alongside his mare.

Afterwards, the pair took to the roads, and the bard grew surprised his witcher let him tag along. Eventually, Jaskier started asking for more details on the fight with the berserker, and instead of growing ill with his friend, Geralt realized his patience was no longer running as thin with the bard, and he answered Jaskier's inquiries the best he could. For he realized he may actually not dislike travelling with his bard as he previously thought.

~~~~~~

To anyone who may have read this, thank you so much. This was my first time writing about these two, so I hope I made y'all proud!

Love, Kai ♥️

[wolfiefics]

WIP Wednesday-Vampire Knight

I wrote on this quite sometime ago, was cruising my files and stumbled across it. Read through it, tweaked it, started writing on it again but got distracted because I’m a Gemini with the attention span of a peanut. My favorite characters in Vampire Knight are Kaien Cross and Takuma Ichijo. No idea why. Just the way it is. This is a Kaien Cross story. Massive liberties taken with creator’s world and backstories, I’m sure, but I’ve done a little bit of tweaking here and there to make it a bit more ‘canon-compliant’. The title is The Vampire Without Fangs and it’s an origin story essentially. It’s set during the series arc (sort of) but this snippet is from Kaien’s past (totally made up). It is slash with an original character, mainly because shipping him with anyone else is weird? He’s as old as some vampires so everyone’s a child to him. This is actually from mid-way in the story thus far and from Kaien’s vampire lover’s point of view.

Autumn leaves swirled through the trees as Reya watched with no little interest the sandy-haired hunter worked his way through the undergrowth with surprising agility. There was something otherworldly about this one, like a human child trying to play grown-up games. The hunter silently pulled the razor-sharp long sword from its scabbard, the metal gleaming in the dull light filtering through the tree branches.

Reya longed to tell the hunter he was wasting his time. Most of the little pack of Level E vampires were dead at Reya’s own hand, or rather fang. He’d been hungrier than usual for some reason. However, Reya had no intention of garnering the attention of the Hunter Association. The fewer people who knew of a progenitor’s existence, the better off said progenitor would be.

Also less harassed by the so-called Vampire Senate and their Kuran puppet ruler.

There was a growling hiss, fallen twigs and leaves rustled with quick movements and Reya noted that the hunter disposed of one vampire already. Sand fell to the ground.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” whispered the hunter with no emotion.

Reya’s interest was further peaked. It was a strange thing to say. He watched the hunter kill the remaining two vampires in quick succession, repeating the same mantra as their dusty remains settled to the earth.

“You can come down, vampire, I know you’re up there,” called the hunter, turning in Reya’s direction and looking up right where he sat crouched on a tree limb.

“Impressive instincts, hunter,” approved Reya, leaping from his perch and landing expertly on his feet. He bowed formally, politely. “I am Reya and –“

“I don’t care. Fight or die or stand there and die. Either way, die.” The hunter rushed forward, sword raised and Reya nimbly dodged away. The hunter froze for half a heartbeat and then lowered his sword. “You are not one of them.”

Reya smiled. “Indeed, no. In fact, I just finished consuming my fill on them when you arrived.”    

The hunter looked around with a frown. “I thought there should have been more,” he noted, as if interested despite himself.

He looked at Reya squarely and the vampire felt as if someone punched him in the gut.

The hunter was more than handsome, he was exquisite. Pain and loneliness shone from within, his brown eyes more golden than earthy and his features were fine and aristocratic in make. Sandy brown hair pulled back in a queue was tugged by the slight breeze. His long body and delicate-looking stature was misleading of his actual strength. If he’d been female, the term ‘elfin’ might have been applied to him.

The sword raised once more and Reya was brought from his reverie. “And it’s the hunters’ job to hunt vampires, not yours.”

“There was no hunt with these fools,” scoffed Reya, flicking a dismissive hand at the sandy remains scattered here and there. “I was hungry and I needed to eat. I frown on consuming the local human populace. That leaves rats or vampires. I assure you, vampires are less trouble than catching a rat. They taste better as well.”

The hunter’s confusion increased, if his furrowed brow was any indication.

Reya stepped forward, bypassing the sword point and grasped the hunter’s other wrist gently, bowing over the man’s hand in gentlemanly fashion as if he were a courtier and the hunter a fine lady. “Might I have the pleasure of your name, hunter?”

The hunter became flustered and drew away nervously. “Kaien Cross.”

Reya gave a start and then chuckled. “One of the famous Cross clan hunters! I have not met one of your bloodline in many generations.”

Cross’ features darkened. “You won’t meet another ever again,” he stated grimly. “I am the last and it will stay that way.”

There was bitterness there but something else nudged at the vampire, something that Reya couldn’t quite put his finger on. He dismissed the feeling for a moment and surveyed his wary companion. “I mean you no harm, you have my assurances.”  

There was a distant roll of thunder but no clouds lined the sky.

“I see the battle has recommenced.” Cross sheathed his sword and nodded brusquely to Reya. “If you will excuse me, I have to return to my post.”

“Who are the French shelling now?” Reya asked with a frown.

“It’s mutual shelling,” the hunter told him grimly. “The Austrians aren’t giving up without a fight.” Cross looked at his vampire companion. “Do you not know where you are?” he asked incredulously.

“A mountain looks like a mountain, a river looks like a river and a sheep meadow looks like a sheep meadow,” philosophized Reya with a negligent shrug. “After thousands of years, one area looks the same as any other and the political borders of countries shift enough that it matters little.”

Cross waved a hand in the direction of continued cannon bombardment. “Austerlitz will fall soon and Empereur Napoleon will only have the British and Russians to worry about before unifying Europe under his command.”

Reya snorted derisively. “I wish the little general the best of luck. He is going to need it. Even the might of Rome failed and Julius Caesar, I assure you, was taller, prettier and more charismatic than Bonaparte shall ever dream of being.”

Cross’ honey-colored eyes narrowed in disapproval. His back stiffened and his lips thinned. Obviously he disagreed with Reya’s assessment of Napoleon’s skills and odds of success. “Vive l’Empereur,” he murmured stubbornly.

“I prefer Viva Espana but it is probably a touchy subject. Hunter Kaien Cross, until we meet again.” Reya bowed formally to his companion one more time. “And I assure you, we will meet again, I shall make certain of it.”

Cross scowled at him and shook his head. “It will be a battle to the death then.”

Reya looked amused. “Will it? I would prefer a battle of another sort but if not, that is a battle I would like to-“

There was shouting in French and German, followed by a close barrage of musket fire nearly drowning out agonized screams.

“Damn!” growled Cross and he put his sword at the ready.

“Fool, sharp as it is, it will do you little good against a musket ball,” snapped Reya and jerked Kaien to him before leaping into the air and into the highest tree top.

The hunter started to struggle but both of them stilled at German voices speaking low, muttering about the sounds of a fight they swore came from this direction. For twenty minutes, soldiers in Austrian uniforms searched the wooded area, never once looking into the treetops where two men watched them from above.

Once the Austrians moved away, both men relaxed. “That could have been unfortunate for you,” noted Reya casually, regretfully releasing the handsome armful from his grip. The hunter turned his scowling features from the ground to the vampire next to him. “What do you look like when you smile, I wonder?” The scowl increased. “I shall have to find out at a later date then.”

“You’ll be dust,” snapped Kaien, leaping from their branch perch and landing nimbly on the ground. “I must report back. Au revoir.”

Reya watched the hunter disappear toward the French lines. There was more to this hunter than met the eye.

Hunters normally stayed out of the politics and machinations of humanity and vampire alike, content only to hunt their prey as needed and stand on the sidelines. This hunter seemed to be up to his winsome neck in the French revolts and it’s following regime.

His interest peaked by the oddity of Kaien Cross, Reya decided he had nothing better to do so he followed the hunter home, so to speak.

[bgn846]

Satum Novum Chapter 1:High Seas FFXV Gladnis

This is a repost of an older work from AO3.  Hope you all enjoy. :)

Summary: Noctis gets kidnapped and Ignis is lost at sea after he tries to thwart the plot. Now as he struggles to save himself and locate the missing prince, he stumbles upon the last person he ever expected to find.   Gladiolus Amicitia, the shield that decided to become a fisherman instead.   Will he make it in time to rescue Noctis or has he failed his one and only friend?

Chapter 1:

The idea of death had crossed his mind several times.  The odds of being rescued were extremely rare and his body couldn’t hold out much longer.  Ignis wasn’t sure what was worse, the idea of traitors in the royal ranks or his princes questionable safety.  Not that it mattered he was going to die soon and no one would ever know what had really happened.

Treading water was an interesting thing.  A human could do this action for a couple days at most, but that was under certain circumstances.  Ignis had been in the water now for about eighteen hours.  Things flittered through his mind in uncoordinated bundles.  He had been grateful at first that the water temperature had been warm.  It saved him from catching hypothermia right away, though he was shivering now as he’d been in for far too long.  

However, his traitorous brain would then tell him this was merely prolonging his death.  Dying slowly was agonizing.  He knew he would run out of energy and sink beneath the waves to eventually drown.  With no water and nothing to drink he was pushing it already.

The items on his person that were waterproof, his watch and phone weren’t much use.  His phone had run out of battery and was out of range anyway.  His watch only served to remind him of the countdown to his demise.

Continuing to stay upright he focused on breathing.  Why was he even bothering, he was a dead man playing with time.  Then he saw it, a ship in the distance.   Despite the fact that Ignis knew they couldn’t see him, he still screamed at the top of his lungs.  Waiting for the ship to steer his direction was excruciating.   What if they went the other way?  He would watch his one and only chance at savior sail away that would be heartbreaking.   

Several times it appeared the ship was turning away and he nearly cried.  Then against all odds it got closer and closer.  He waved his hands and yelled hoping someone would see or hear him.  The moment when a tall dark haired man waved back and pointed to him was overwhelming.  The rush of relief at being spotted made Ignis temporarily stop moving.  Sinking beneath the surface he struggled to get his head above water once more.  His body was reaching its limits.

The dark haired man was shouting directions to his crew as they navigated the craft closer to Ignis.  It was a fairly good sized fishing charter boat, big enough that there was no way to board without a ladder.      

He kept sinking beneath the surface due to the shock of being rescued.   Someone shouted something, a warning, and then a life ring was thrown out for him.  Swimming to the floating ring was a challenge.  Ignis swallowed sea water as he attempted to stay afloat.  Finally he was able to grasp it and he could mercifully rest his legs and arms.

As the dark hair man pulled him closer, Ignis noticed another crew member with a new rope.  It had a harness attached.  Once he was next to the hull, the second rope was lowered with instructions for looping his arms and upper body into the harness.  He complied and then he began to feel himself being lifted.  Focusing on holding on tight he closed his eyes.  Part of his brain was unable to come to terms with the fact that he was being rescued.  It was so surreal, in a panic he opened his eyes to check it was still happening.

That’s when he saw his rescuer up close.  The tall dark haired man was holding onto his arm and hauling him over the railing.  He had long hair that was pulled back away from his face, and he was talking to him.  Ignis could barely process anything, he was dimly aware of hands removing the harness and being laid down.

“Hey buddy stay with me.” A voice urged.  “What’s your name?” The man tried again.

“I—Ignis.” He managed to croak.  His voice was raw from yelling and lack of water to drink.

“How long were you out here?” The man asked.

“More than a day.” Ignis rasped.  “He desperately wanted something to drink, but wasn’t sure he’d pass out before he was able to ask.    

“Shit!” The man exclaimed. “Prompto go fetch me water now!  Hey stay with me for a little bit longer.  You need to drink something and then I’ll take you below deck and get you dried off.”

This Prompto returned with the water, but that meant he had to sit up.  His body was done moving and was on strike.   His rescuer figured this out pretty fast and helped lever Ignis up into sitting position.  Making a move to take the bottle almost worked, Ignis was tired and uncoordinated so he faltered.  The dark haired man gave up after a second and brought the bottle to Ignis’ lips.

Normally this type of action would have not been tolerated by Ignis but he needed water.  It may have been a blessing he wasn’t holding it.  The man slowly tipped the water back and Ignis knew he would have tried to gulp the whole thing down in heartbeat.

“I’m not feeling so great.” Ignis mumbled.  “I’m cold.”

“Working on that next buddy, I’m going to carry you so don’t freak out.”

The next few minutes were odd indeed.  Ignis’ world tilted as this man picked him up off the deck.  Then a blur of dark and light spaces proceeded to pass him by.  Finally they stopped and he was being put down on the floor again.

“Prompto!  Kiddo where are you?  I need those towels.”  The man yelled.

The blond haired youth named Prompto appeared with an armful of towels.  He quickly came into the room and waited for more instruction.

“Hey Ignis.” The man spoke.  “I need to get you out of your wet clothes and dried off.  Are you okay with me doing that?”

Ignis managed a nod and tried fumbling with the buttons of his own shirt.   His fingers were numb, astrals this was bad.  The stranger got his buttons undone fast and tugged Ignis up into sitting position to remove the shirt.

“Prompto help me, make sure he stays upright.”

Ignis felt the blond haired man grasp his shoulders and hold him firmly.  It helped tremendously otherwise he would have fallen to the side ages ago.  His shirt was taken off and then his undershirt was pulled over his head.

Next came his shoes and trousers. Ignis chose to ignore the last shred of his dignity being stripped away, as his boxers were taken off.  He knew it was necessary and honestly it felt so much better to not have any wet clothing sticking to his skin.

The stranger spared him complete humiliation by quickly throwing a towel over his midsection once he was fully disrobed.

“You’ve got hair drying duty I’ll get his legs.” The man said as he handed a towel to Prompto.

Ignis zoned out, despite being out of the water and getting dry he was still shivering violently.  “Do --do you have a blanket?” He asked hoping they would wrap him up soon.

“I’ve got a bunk right here with a pile of blankets on it just for you.  Give me a sec.”

As promised a moment later the dark haired man bodily lifted him again and placed him in a bunk a few feet away.   Ignis sighed loudly in contentedness as the covers were pulled up around his body.  He might survive this ordeal yet.

“Try and relax, you’re safe, you can rest.” The stranger urged.

That was all Ignis needed to hear and he passed out.

--

“Uh Gladio – come take a look at this.” Prompto announced as he held Ignis’ clothes while they both stood in the common area.

“What is it Blondie?  Upset because he dresses better than you?”

“Hey! I like my style.” Prompto huffed. “Stop distracting me, this could be important.  Take a look at the label in his shirt; it says it came from the ‘crown tailors’.  Does that mean the crown?” He stressed.

Gladio trudged over finally and took a peek.  Sure enough the label inside read as Prompto had described it.  “Have you heard any chatter over the radio about any boating accidents?”

“Nothing, which is really weird right?” The younger man pondered.  “Unless it was on a secret mission and the boat sank and Ignis is the only survivor.”

Staring at the blond Gladio sighed heavily.  “You and your imagination.  If there had been other people don’t you think Ignis would have said something about looking for other survivors?”

“Not if he is sworn to secrecy and the mission failed.”

Rubbing his face with his hands Gladio chose to walk away and rummage through the food stores.  “I’m going to go sit with him in case he wakes up again.  I’m worried he didn’t drink enough water before he passed out.   You gonna keep my boat float?”

“Okay you have trained me really well on that part; I promise I won’t let anything too terrible happen.” Prompto swore as he crossed his heart with his fingers.

Pursing his lips together Gladio shook his head.  “I’m not sure whether to be happy that you know your limitations or worried that you know your limitations.”

“Oh go I’ll be fine.  I know where you are and I can use the P.A.  if I need to.”

“Fine.” Gladio huffed as he grabbed some apples and water.  Smiling at Prompto he turned and left the common area. His blond friend was an odd ball for sure.  Poor guy had been chased down by a bunch of local thugs one night, and he’d sought solace on Gladio’s fishing boat.   Why on Eos he’d been trailing around the run down port of east Niflheim was beyond him.

Gladio had finished his business and put out to sea without even realizing the plucky kid had gotten stuck in his bait hold.  He remembered getting the fright of his life when he went to check the bait stocks.   All he saw was a shock of blond hair and a skinny arm reaching out to grab him.

That was almost two years ago and no matter how hard he tried the guy wouldn’t leave.  Not that he minded so much, it was nice to have company when he was in between fishing seasons and down a full crew.

Approaching his cabin he pushed the door open slowly and walked in.  Ignis was still unconscious but thankfully he’d stopped shivering.  He’d only left him for about ten minutes and he looked so much better already.  Gladio figured he’d wait another hour and then try and wake Ignis up to drink something.  For now he setup his hammock and grabbed a book.  

--

Panic gripped the advisor as he awoke.  Where was he? What had happened to Noct?  The gentle shaking of his shoulders stopped when he finally opened his eyes.  It was immediately evident that his face had betrayed his fears.

“Whoa Ignis don’t freak out, you’re still safe.  I picked you up in the open sea about two hours ago.  Remember?” His rescuer asked.

The memories of his hellish adventure came flooding back.  The royal vessel and the traitors that had so cruelly shoved him overboard, he could only pray that Noct was unharmed.  He needed to find his prince before it was too late.  “I need to go.” He uttered quickly.

“I figured you’d say something like when you woke up. I’ve already charted a course back to the main land.”

“Where?”

“A fairly decent sized port near Altissia.  I can radio ahead if you need to deliver a message of any kind.”

“No!” Ignis hissed that was the last thing he needed.  He had no idea how many other kingsglaive had been turned.  

The stranger held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. “Don’t stress, I won’t do anything until you’re ready.”

The response calmed Ignis somewhat.  At least he didn’t have to fight with this man over things of that nature.  “What do I call you?” Ignis asked suddenly when he realized he had no name for his savior.

“The names Gladiolus Amicitia, but you can call me Gladio.” He smiled.  

Ignis blinked stupidly at Gladio.  Blaming his exhaustion for being unable to think clearly he tried to find out more information.  “Who’s your father?” He asked weakly.

Gladio narrowed his eyes.  “I’ll play fifty questions with you but you need to drink some water first.”

Oh.

The thought of water was so pleasant it nearly distracted him completely.   Working an arm out from the covers he reached out to take the bottle.   Gladio carefully helped him sit up so he could drink.   After the bottle was drained Ignis became aware of his state of undress.  He opened his mouth to speak again but Gladio cut him off.

“I’ve got some spare clothes for you if you’re able?”

Nodding quickly earned him a lap of comfortable looking garments.  Gladio remained by his side as he pulled the worn but very soft t-shirt over his head.  It was good that Gladio was nearby, as he almost toppled sideways out of the bed, when the shirt was over his head.   He could add lack of balance to his list of problems.

Laying back down Ignis took the sweatpants and managed to don them while staying under the covers.  He sighed heavily after the task was complete.  “Thank you.” He mumbled, sleep was threatening to take him again.

“Let me cut you up an apple before you pass out again.” Gladio added as he patted Ignis’ shoulder.

Watching as the dark haired man pulled a chair over to sit beside him, Ignis worked to remain awake.   He focused on Gladio cutting the apple and watched his fingers work the blade around the fruit.

“Here.” He offered as he held out a small slice.

Ignis accepted and munched slowly, astrals he was hungry.   Accepting each slice gratefully he was starting to relax slightly.

“So my father is Clarus Amicitia, the King’s shield.  However, I have a feeling you already knew that.”

“Did my phone make it?” Ignis asked suddenly.

“Huh? A yeah it did actually.  Prompto’s charging it now.  Fancy with technology these days eh, making water resistant phones and all.”

“I must get to shore quickly.” Ignis reiterated.

“Don’t worry I’m working on it trust me.”

“When was the last time you saw your father?” Ignis asked as he bounced back to the topic at hand.

Gladio rubbed at the back of neck.  “I dunno exactly but it’s been a while.   After my mom died, when I was young, I went to live with an Aunt.  My younger sister and I spent our youth visiting dad on the weekends.  That got to be hard with his work schedule so we stopped going after a while.”

“I’m sorry to hear it.” Ignis offered.

“I have good memories, which helps, but it was still sad not being with him all the time.”

“May I ask why you haven’t taken up the family profession?”

Gladio scoffed.  “I’ve trained for it, believe me.”

Ignis knew this was true simply based off of Gladio’s actions to date.  He’d been picked up twice already by the man, and he could see his muscled physique plain as day. “What happened then?”

“I didn’t want to get sucked into a life that wasn’t my own.  I grew up never seeing my dad and it was because of his job.  I didn’t want to do that to my sister.”

“But aren’t you out on this boat a lot?” Ignis asked unable to stop himself.

“Yeah – you got a point there, but I do spend the off season at home with Iris, my sister, and she tags along sometimes.  Titan’s ass, listen to me rattle on about shit you don’t care about.  Sorry.” Gladio admitted.  

“I don’t mind, it’s nice to hear actually.” Ignis had been curious about Clarus’ home life or lack thereof.  He’d known the man had children but he’d never met them.  Sighing he decided he might have to divulge more information about his situation.  He had a feeling he might need the services of a runaway shield.

“So what about you? How’d you end up floating in the middle of the sea?” Gladio asked with a concerned look.  “You don’t have to answer that yet, I really should let you rest.  You look wicked tired.”

It was true Ignis was struggling to stay awake, but he did feel it might be beneficial to share some of his story.  “It’s alright, you deserve to know more.” He added right before he yawned widely.

“You need to sleep, it can wait.”

“Mmm sleep does sound wonderful, but I must tell you some part of my story in case it proves useful.” Ignis could see the look of confusion cross Gladio’s face.  “My full name is Ignis Scientia and I’m the royal advisor to his highness Prince Noctis.”

Gladio appeared dumbstruck.  “I would hear my father mention someone by the name of Scientia when I was younger.  The prince’s future advisor and babysitter, if I recall.”

Ignis smiled at that remark.  “Ah yes I do still hear that occasionally.”  The thought of caring for his prince did reignite his worry.  “I was accompanying the prince on a special fishing trip when I discovered there were traitors in our midst.  I was unable to act fast enough and they literally shoved me overboard in the dead of night.”

“Damn!  That’s shitty.  The astrals must want you to save him since you got rescued.   Honestly, I wasn’t even meant to be where I was when I found you.  I’d gotten off course and was about to correct it when I saw you waving.”

That information caught Ignis off guard.  He wasn’t expecting to be told of his near doom.  “Oh – that is – uh.” The advisor couldn’t figure out what to say.  Being reminded that he had nearly died was doing funny things to his brain.  The feeling of tears pricking at his eyes surprised him.  Taking a deep breath Ignis worked to calm down.  He’d been saved and that’s what mattered.

“Oh sorry I didn’t mean to upset you.  Try not to focus on the ‘what if’s’ you’re safe now.”  Gladio announced kindly.

“Can I ask that you keep this information quiet for now?  I’m not sure who I can trust.”  Ignis asked seriously.

“Sure thing, you’re lucky my dad likes you otherwise we might have a problem.”

“Huh?” Now it was Ignis’ turn to be confused.  “I thought you didn’t talk much anymore?”

“Yeah well you’ve been in service to the crown for a long time, and I do remember my dad talking about you.  Nothing personal just that he thought you were a good influence on the prince.  I’ll have to take your word that you’re not one of the traitors.”

“I would die for highness; I can assure you I’m one of the good guys.”

“Well you almost did die for your prince already, so hopefully you won’t have to do it again.” Gladio added.  “Now rest, I’ve chewed your ear off for far too long.”

Ignis hummed his approval and closed his eyes.  He could feel the blanket being pulled up to cover his shoulders.  Shoving his thoughts aside he tumbled into sleep once more. 

--

“What do you mean he’s disappeared?” Noct yelled. “People don’t disappear on a fucking boat!”

“Highness watch your language.” Drautos hissed.

“I will do no such thing, my friend is missing and we need to figure out what happened!”

“You must consider the possibility that he slipped and fell overboard last night.”  Lazarus offered with a sneer.  “It’s hard to see at night and the seas were choppy.”

“Ignis is smart he wouldn’t have fallen overboard.  We need to turn around and backtrack; we need to find him before he drowns!” Noct added frantically.    

“I’ve put out a distress call just in case there are any other boats in the area.  They will keep an eye out.” Drautos added with little sympathy.

“No this is unacceptable.  We are turning around now!  That’s an order!” Noct huffed crossing his arms and frowning.

Drautos looked irritated and he looked to Lazarus with a glare.  “Of course highness.  Lazarus go tell the captain to get this boat turned around.”

Lazarus left quickly and then it happened.  Noct watched in horror as Drautos suddenly morphed into a full suite of magical armor.   The ensuing battle was far from fair.  Sure, he could use his magic to defend himself but it wasn’t working real well.  Fighting on a boat was hazardous.  One wrong move and the boat would sink essentially dooming them all.  The turning point had been when Drautos had threatened just that.

He had forced the battle down to the cabins below and was ready to open a hole in the bottom of the vessel.  Noct was livid he’d been duped by the very captain of the guard.  A small hope flickered in him that Lazarus had made a distress call.   That idea was squashed when he saw the glaive coming to join them.

“Put it on him.” Drautos ordered.

Before Noct could ask, Lazarus was standing beside him holding a metal collar.    “I’m not wearing that fucking thing!” he sputtered.

“You don’t have a choice.  Put it on or I’ll sink the boat.” Drautos growled.

After an intense stare down Noct finally took the offending item from Lazarus and fastened it on his neck.  The device blocked his use of magic.

“If you try and remove it, it will electrocute you.”

The prince wished it was full of explosives instead.  He would have considered trying to remove it with them all on the boat.   He would at least be taking down two traitors.  His advisor was most likely dead and things were looking grim.  “Why?” he asked curtly.

“Nothing personal highness, I want money plain and simple.  Lazarus, lock him in his cabin would you.” Drautos ordered.

Once inside his room Noct sat down and tried not to cry.  This was so bad.   He needed to figure out how to send a distress call.  Reaching for his phone revealed no signal.  He’d need to get to the bridge above to use the radio.  Without his magic that was going to be a hard task.

The Eos was a boring place these days.   There had been no major wars in the last three hundred years, and no one died from the scourge anymore.  The history books were full of tales of the black death but the malady had been banished half a millennia ago. Even the daemons that roamed the lands were gone.  Monsters still lurked here and there but they were manageable.

Some ancient Lucis Caelum had come back to life and saved them all.   Or at least that’s how the story was told.  No one knew exactly what had happened, merely that the current Lucis Caelums were tasked with protecting the crystal that gave life to their Eos.  He used its very magic to fight with and it felt brilliant.  What a waste to have such power and not use it for domination.  

However, the soldier wasn’t stupid and he knew a rebellion of that nature would never work.  The Eos liked being at peace.  The idea had come to him to operate on a slightly smaller scale.   Every large city across the Eos had a darker side.

Organized crime.

Once he’d completed this mission and gotten his ransom money he was going to relocate to Niflheim and open up shop as it were.  He had power, and he would have money to go with it soon.  He’d instructed Lazarus to plot a course to angelgard.   The time had come to make his move.

>Next Chapter 2 or read on AO3

[hysterialevi]

Red Dead Rising | Chapter 1

Fanfic summary: 12 YEARS BEFORE RDR2 - Greed, money, and larceny. These are the only things Arthur has ever known; the only things he’s ever been taught. But when Dutch decides to hit a town called Harlow, what started out as nothing more than a plan to rob the local bank ends up igniting the events that lead to RDR2, and a 24 year-old Arthur is forced to confront his morality while the gang faces a terrifying enemy of their own making.

Point of view: third-person

This story is also on AO3 and Wattpad

Next chapter

Author’s note: Well! It’s been a couple months since I last sat down and wrote anything, but it feels good to be writing fanfic again. Please let me know what you think of this first chapter, and I hope you enjoy :) I missed doing this.

SOMEWHERE IN OREGON

APRIL, 1887

“GET BACK HERE, SHAW!” Farley roared over the thunder as he chased the deputy through the pouring rain. “We ain’t done until one of us drops dead!”

The other man frantically hurdled his way over a series of boulders and continued to climb the small mountain, his feet clumsily slipping on the wet rock as he desperately tried to escape his pursuer.

“I-It’s already done, Farley!” The deputy yelled back. “Ain’t nothin’ you can do that’ll change what’s happened!”

“Maybe not!” Ronan conceded. “But that don’t matter. Not anymore. All that matters now is killing you. So get back here and finish what you started, you goddamn snake!”

Storming his way up the steep hill, the ex-sheriff hoisted himself onto a ledge and let out a strained grunt, his fingers practically digging into the solid stone as cold rain streamed down his bloodied face.

Ronan was already drained of all energy just from hunting this man down, and the more he scaled this godforsaken mountain, the more he found himself wanting to give up and simply collapse.

But regardless of how exhausted he grew, or how much his body threatened to break underneath him, Farley absolutely refused to drop. He had already been through so much, and lost everything he ever cared for. His closest friend was dead, his wife was nowhere to be found, and now, the only life he ever knew was crumbling around him all because of one man.

It may have been futile, but nothing was going to stop Ronan from doing what he intended.

Nothing was going to stop him from killing Benjamin Shaw.

Whipping out his pistol, Farley quickly shot the deputy’s abdomen just as he began hugging a corner, causing the man to leave a trail of blood in his wake as he continued to flee.

“…Dammit!” Ronan muttered once he realized he missed. But he wasn’t giving up just yet.

Forcing himself up the ledge, the sheriff carried on with his pursuit and chased after Shaw as he limped towards the mountain’s peak, groaning in agony with every step he took.

By now, the monstrous clouds above them had parted slightly so that they were blanketing the entire region, allowing nothing more than a sliver of sunlight to bleed through as the rest of the land was shrouded in a miserable darkness.

From up here, it was impossible to see any sign of civilization hiding in the vast wilderness beneath them. For just a moment, Ronan felt as if he and Benjamin were the last remaining men on Earth.

There was nothing out here except the two of them. Nothing except two, insignificant killers fighting to the death… all for something that had already been destroyed beyond repair.

It was meaningless, and the world would carry on without them even when they were dead, but killing Benjamin was one of the only two things Ronan gave a damn about anymore -- and by God was he going to do it.

Finally reaching the top of the mountain, Ronan found Deputy Shaw sitting against a lone tree just by the cliff’s edge as he clutched his waist, groaning and cursing to himself while blood continued to stain the grass below.

It seemed unlikely that Benjamin would survive his injuries, but when the conniving man finally noticed Farley’s presence, he did nothing except let out a weak chuckle, his voice slowly faltering in pain.

Shaw smiled at the former sheriff from a distance and laughed, revealing the red-stained teeth he had uttered so many lies through.

“…A-Alright, Farley…” Benjamin panted out, casually raising his hands in defeat. “…You… you got me. Well done, I guess.”

Slowly prowling towards the injured deputy, Ronan kept his gun aimed directly at Shaw’s head and glowered at him with a wounded gaze, trying to conceal the broken man hiding inside.

“Shaw.” The sheriff replied in what was almost a whisper.

He had about a thousand thoughts rushing through his head right now, but none of them reached his mouth. He knew neither what he wanted to say, nor what was worth saying.

And so, Benjamin spoke in his place.

“I-I suppose… you want an explanation…?” The deputy asked. “Is that it?”

Ronan clenched his jaw at the response. “You could say that.”

The sheriff continued, barely speaking in an audible tone. “I treated you fair, Ben. Always did. So why’d you do it? What do you gain from all of this?”

Shaw hung his head low, not even bothering trying to talk his way out of this one.

“Awww… it weren’t nothing personal, Farley. Just business. We have our jobs, after all, and I was just doin’ mine. Trust me. It’s what’s best for my people.”

Ronan picked up on the last statement.

“Your people…?” The sheriff questioned. “And what about Andrew? That poor boy had barely grown into a man before you murdered him. You think this is what’s best for him?”

Benjamin appeared unfazed by that. “Better him than my folks.”

Angered at the reply, Ronan suddenly lurched forward and forcefully grabbed Shaw’s collar, hauling the man’s face closer to his.

“You sick son-of-a-bitch…” Farley nearly growled. “I’d kill you right now if it wasn’t for my wife.” He violently shook Benjamin in his grip. “Where is she, you bastard? What have you done with Annabelle?!”

Shaw choked on the blood gathering in his mouth and let out a series of coughs, eventually spitting the red liquid on the ground.

“Oh, don’t you worry ‘bout her…” he mumbled out. “She’s in safe hands.”

Ronan yanked him closer. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Benjamin looked the sheriff in the eye, repeating his answer. “I said, don’t worry about her, Farley. She’s with my people now. She’s safe.”

Farley remained unconvinced. “And I’m supposed to just believe you?”

The deputy smirked, but in an oddly sincere fashion. “I done told… a lotta lies recently, but that… I promise you. My friends… they’ll take good care of her. It’s what they do. What they’ve always done.”

The sheriff sighed in frustration. “But where is she? Who are ‘your people?”

Benjamin shook his head and gave Ronan an apologetic gaze, keeping his lips tight.

“Oh… now, you know I can’t tell you that, old friend. S’much as I’d like to. It’s… it’s confidential. I’m sure you understand.”

Farley persisted. “No, I’m afraid I don’t.”

Shaw only grinned at that and patted the sheriff’s fist in a friendly manner as he slipped away, hacking up even more blood.

“…Well, you will. Someday. You’re a smart fella, after all. I mean… you found me, didn’t you?”

Ronan’s tone softened and he gazed at the ground, his expression plastered with regret.

“…So I did. After it was too late.”

Benjamin nodded in understanding, his brow furrowing due to the pain. “Yeah…that’s usually how it goes.”

Realizing that there was nothing he could say or do that would convince Shaw to help him, Ronan finally released the man from his grip and steadily rose from the ground, his coat wildly flapping in the adamant breeze as he reluctantly prepared his pistol.

As much as he hated to admit it, it did pain the sheriff to kill Benjamin. Despite everything he had done in these past couple of weeks, Ronan still hadn’t forgotten the deputy he once called friend, and it certainly didn’t help to lose another familiar face right after saying goodbye to young Andrew.

Farley may’ve despised Shaw with all his heart and hated him for his crimes, but he also didn’t want to destroy the one remaining piece of his past left. There was a warped sense of camaraderie between them, and in a twisted way, it almost made Ronan want to spare him.

…But he knew he couldn’t.

Reloading the gun with one last bullet, Ronan pulled the hammer down and stared helplessly at his old partner, wondering how in the hell he got here.

It wasn’t too long ago that Farley was a respected sheriff in his town, but now… he was no more than an outcast. Just another lost man who had given in to vengeance and betrothed himself to a lifetime of pointless redemption, only to discover that no one gave a damn anyways.

Ronan Farley was already dead, as far as civilization was concerned. He was nothing but a tarnished face whose only legacy would be hushed whispers and cautionary tales.

He had become the very man he once hanged for a living, and the world had forsaken him because of it.

He was alone.

Taking a deep breath, Ronan inched his finger over the trigger and aimed the pistol directly at Benjamin’s head, trying to hide how much his hand was truly trembling.

The only thing that Farley could hear aside from his own heartbeat was the low cracking of the distant thunder and the wretched howling of the wind, both of which filled his head like a wailing phantom.

He was finally ready to carry out what he had come here for, and to live with whatever consequences arrived. He was ready to put all remorse aside.

“Goodbye, Ben,” Ronan said flatly as the day came to an end. “I wish I could say I was sorry.”

Shaw smiled loosely at that and closed his eyes, resting his head against the tree.

“…You really shouldn’t be.” The deputy let out one final, jagged breath. “I just wish it didn’t have to end like this.”

Ronan shook his head and gazed vehemently at the man, softening his tone as the sky began to lighten around them.

“Don’t we all.”

~~~~~~~~~~

EARLIER THAT YEAR

FEBRUARY

HARLAN LAKE, DAWN

Filling the silence of the dying night, a few birds started to sing joyously into the emptiness just as the sun began peeking above the jagged horizon, its vibrant light painting the nearby mountains with a striking salmon color that stood out prominently from the deep, purple atmosphere.

It was rather peaceful at this time of day. Aside from the birds, there wasn’t much activity among the local wildlife at the moment, and the humans inhabiting the area had yet to rouse from their slumber either.

All of their tents were still shut, and the only noises coming from their camp were the distant sounds of content snoring accompanied by the soft crackling of a flickering campfire.

Meanwhile, their horses slept unperturbed under the numerous trees surrounding the vast lake as their leaves rustled in the crisp morning breeze, softly swaying in a way that almost made it look like the forest was breathing.

As for the unseen fish in the lake, a few of them had just started periodically poking their heads above the rippling surface, eager to feed on the insects buzzing around in the air.

But for the moment, everything was calm. Not single thing disturbed the overall peace in the region, and the only person to be ambling about was a distinctive man who was currently making himself comfortable on a stump.

He paid no mind to the nature slowly waking up around him nor to his fellow gang members who still lingered in their dreams, and instead, focused entirely on the peculiar item in his hand.

It was a letter.

And not only that, but a letter from someone he didn’t expect to hear from again. The two of them parted ways a while ago, after all, and he didn’t anticipate the other to contact him so soon.

They seemed quite determined in their plan to meander down a different path in life the last time he saw them, so it was both a pleasant and worrying surprise to see that they were trying to reach out.

Whether it was to ask for help or to officially say goodbye, he didn’t know. He just hoped that everything was alright. There was little to no safety in their line of work, and if anything had happened to his dear friend, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

The man supposed there was no point in delaying the inevitable and hastily unfolded the piece of paper, curious to see the message waiting on the inside:

“Hello, old friend,” the letter began. “It’s Hosea. I know it’s been nearly an entire year since I last contacted you -- and I regret that -- but I’m afraid I’ve hit a wall, Dutch.”

“My life with Bessie -- it’s been going well. We’ve settled down for a bit and tried to squeeze ourselves back into civilization... but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the times I spent with you. And with Arthur.”

“I love Bessie with all my heart, of course. There’s no denying that. In fact, she’s the reason I decided to put the gang behind. I wanted to start a new life with her -- a life away from crime. But after all this time of being separated from you degenerates, I’ve learned that there’s no use in hiding the man I truly am.”

“I was never meant to be a man of civilization. You know that. Being bound by the law feels like wearing a leash around my neck, and frankly, this old boy’s grown tired of it. Needless to say, Bessie ain’t too happy about my choices, but I’ve got something good for you, Dutch. Something you might be interested in. And I’m willing to bet it could help the gang too.”

“Come meet me in New Aubertin at the end of this week. It’s a city to the northwest, accessible by any train station. I’ll send a contact in my stead to greet you just in case the law gets wind of our ideas. Look for a man by the name of Thomas Moreau. I’ve instructed him to wait for you by the pond. He’ll lead you to me. Oh, and one more thing: bring Arthur with you. The boy doesn’t need to be there necessarily, but I miss him dearly. It would be good to see you both again.”

The man flipped the letter to the other side, reading its final sentence.

“...Stay safe, Dutch. We’ve got big plans ahead of us.”

[floatingpetals]

One Last Call || Maybe Not

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: Angst, language, eventual fluff

Word Count: 2400+

Summary: A mission had gone horribly wrong. She knew things were grim, and she had something she desperately needed to get off her chest. All she needed was one last call.

A/N: HA YA’LL THOUGHT I WAS GONNA LEAVE IT LIKE THAT?! HAAAAAA!! APRIL FOOLLSS!!! But seriously, I couldn’t leave that story off the way it did. It just hurt too much. I’m not gonna give much more away, so I hope you enjoyy!! 

Gifs not mine, credit to the creator!

Natasha was there the second the phone slipped from Steve’s fingers. She knew how important Y/N was in his life, how quickly he had grown to care for the woman. It was heartbreaking to watch; he was just forced to listen to her dying breath and there was nothing he could do about it.

Tony let out a heavy sigh, biting back his own set of tears. His gaze swept around the rest of the team, seeing similar reactions on the rest of the team. They fought back their own tears, the air was thick and somber. With heavy steps, he walked over to the discarded phone on the floor and picked it up. He paused when he heard shouting from the other end. The line must not have dropped. Raising the phone to his ear, he winced after a loud shout and snapped back.

“Hey-What’s going on?”

The officer on the other end let out a string of words in Ukrainian before letting out a sigh of relief.

“Добре. Ти все ще там.”

“Yup. Gotta speak English.” Tony said flatly. He figured they’d need to discuss where to pick up Y/N’s body, no doubt they’d have to take her to a corner before they could get her back to them. To bring her home one last time. The words the officer spoke next made Tony’s heart burst with hope.

“She’s still breathing.”

Sinking back into his seat, Tony let out the breath he was holding. Voice shaking he asked the man to repeat himself.

“The woman. We were able to get her breathing.” The officer said. He could hear the sirens pulling away in the distance, the officer closing his car door. “She’s in critical condition, but she is alive. For now.”

“Oh-That’s-“ Tony was at a loss for words, fresh tears now streaming down his face. Only this time they weren’t for sorrow. “What hospital are you taking her to?”

“A local hospital. They need to do surgery. There’s still a bullet in her side-.”

“Yes. Get her in and get it out. Do not let her code on us again.” Tony said firmly, spinning around in his seat to go at the controls. He kicked the jet into overdrive, pushing it to its limits.

Behind him, the rest of the team listened in shock. Steve’s sobs had stopped, his eyes wide as Tony explained that they were a few hours away. He glanced at Bucky, whose eyes were just as bloodshot as his. Was this a joke, or was Y/N still alive?

“I’ll send you the coordinates to our landing site. We’ll need transportation to the hospital. You can? Great.” Tony flipped off his tears and switched into the leading role. Y/N meant a lot to him as well, but someone needed to step in until Steve could recollect his emotions. Tony understood, he was the same and is the same when it comes to Pepper. “What’s your number? I’ll text you from my phone when we’re close and you can keep us updated.”

Natasha passed Steve a tissue, a happy smile spreading on her face. This was good. Y/N was still alive. Barely, but she was alive.

“Talk to you later.” Tony hung up the phone and spun around to address everyone. “We have great news and bad news. Good news, Y/N might have coded before they arrived but by some miracle, they were able to bring her back. Bad news; she’s hanging by a thread, needs surgery and we’re still five hours out.  Petro, the cop who answered her phone, says she’s got a bullet they need to get out and is suffering from significant blood loss and definitely has internal damage. She’s probably going to just get out of surgery by the time we get there if the damage is as extensive as they thought.”

“But she’s alive?” Natasha asked, resting a hand on Steve’s shoulder. Tony smiled, although grimly, and nodded.

“She’s a fighter apparently.”

Steve stared down at his hands on his lap and gave a watery chuckle.

“That’s my girl.”

~~~~

True to Tony’s word, six hours later the jet landed in a field just outside of the village Y/N was sent to. Right where he said he would be, was Office Petro and four squad cars. He shook hands with Tony and directed them to pile in the cars. Steve joined Tony with Petro, eager to learn about Y/N’s status.

“She just got of surgery,” The bigger man said in his heavy accent. His voice was rough but gentle. He understood their concern for the woman he thought too was dead. She would have been another unfortunate statistic to the death of drug crimes around the area. “If you don’t mind me asking, why was she in the area we found her. You say she is an agent?”

“Yes,” Steve replied. “She was supposed to be tailing some of the drug dealers around this area. They’re small, but the demands for the drugs they supply is quickly growing. It’s a mix of molly and Adderall that a lot of younger teens seem to prefer.”  

“Ah, yes. They have quickly become a problem around here. But how would they know they were being watched by anyone, let alone a single woman?”

That caused Steve and Tony to pause. Petro was right. How else would they have known about Y/N? The gang wasn’t known for its use of guns and violence as of yet. They both shared a look, fury starting to build in their chests. Someone tipped them off.

“Anyways. The last thing they told me was she’s in ICU. She coded once on the table, but they were able to bring back once more.” Petro sounded impressed. “I don’t know what you give her to eat, but she wasn’t ready to leave just yet.”

Tony grimaced a part of him proud of Y/N but worried she wasn’t going to make it through the night.

“She’s a stubborn one, that’s for sure.” He clapped a hand on Petro’s shoulder. Petro pulled up to the front entrance of the hospital, throwing the car in park. Steve was out of the car before it stopped, desperate to see Y/N, to make sure she was still breathing.  

The nurse at the front desk had seen a lot of things in her days. Bullet wounds, people with limbs handing on by a thread, even people with screwdrivers embedded in their thighs. Looking up to see The Captain America, Ironman and party rush up to the desk looking like they were ready to tear the walls down was a different level of terror she experienced that day.

“There’s a woman, Y/N Y/L/N. She was brought in a few hours ago for a bullet wound and just came out of surgery.” Steve demanded, leaning over the desk. The nurses’ mouth fell open, her wide eyes darting frantically between the Avengers that loomed over her desk. She shook her head, unable to understand English. Petro tutted and pushed the overbearing Captain aside.

“She doesn’t speak English.” He explained and then turned to the woman. He explained quickly, asking for the room number Y/N was in. Relief washed over the woman, nodding quickly and leaned over the desk to point down the hall as she spoke. Petro turned to the Avengers. “She’s on the third floor, room 308. I’ll come so you don’t scare the other nurses.”

Steve bit back a snarl but nodded. He needed to get to Y/N, not get thrown out for terrorizing the natives. He followed a step behind Petro anxiously. The ride up was excruciating, and the walk to her room was terrifying. Petro stopped him at the door, waving to a sink.

“They want you to wash before you go in and only one at a time.”

“You go ahead.” Tony patted Steve on the shoulder. Steve stay rooted to the spot, staring blankly at the door in front of him. “Go on Cap. The team and I have things we have to take care of. Go see your girl.”

As he walked over to the sink, the reality of what happened and what he was about to step in to hit him. His stomach felt like someone filled it with lead, and his legs struggled to hold up his weight. He was terrified. He already thought he lost her once, just seconds after admitting how much she meant to him. She was nowhere near out of the clear. The second he’d open that door, it meant this was all real. It wasn’t some twisted nightmare he was forced to live through.

Nothing in his line of work could have ever compared to slowly opening the door and seeing Y/N hooked up to all machines. The door shut softly behind him, the click releasing the silent tears he held back. She looked so frail, her skin a sickly shade lighter than her usual tone. His heat shattered in his chest. He moved to stand beside her, afraid if he took her hand in his he’d hurt her further.

Letting out a heavy breath, Steve pulled the chair closer to her beside and delicately reached out to take her hand in his. Her skin was clammy and cold, but he could feel her faint heartbeat. It was enough to soothe his fears for now, even though he knew she still had a long recovery ahead of her. Pressing a kiss against the balk of her hand, he settled in beside her for the long wait for her to wake.

~~~~

The door popped open, startling Steve awake. He blinked, blearily looking for the newcomer. Bucky walked in with a fast food bag in one hand, and a giant drink in the other.

“Hey.” He greeted, passing the food over to his friend and sat in one of the large armchairs. Steve mumbled thanks and turned his eyes back to Y/N. They had taken her out of ICU three days ago, her body healed enough that she didn’t need to be on constant care. She, however, had yet to wake up. The doctors assured the team it wasn’t a bad thing, she went through extensive trauma and her body would wake on its own. Now in a new room, Tony made sure she got the best treatment he could get her. After two weeks sitting on the painful plastic chairs, Steve was grateful for the soft chairs in the nicer room.

“How’s she doin’?” Bucky asked, his eyes growing sad looking over her prone body.

“Same as yesterday,” Steve replied solemnly. Bucky grunted and reached in his pocket, pulling out a phone. He passed it over to Steve.

“Tony fixed it for you. Also wanted to let you know we found the assholes who did this. Natasha made sure the rest that went into hiding wouldn’t ever come back.” Bucky said with a hint of pride. Steve felt the corners of his lips turn up in a smirk. “Doesn’t mean they’ll stay there long. Natasha and Wanda both took this to a whole other level.”

“Good,” Steve stated, digging the food out from the bag. Bucky smirked.

“Tony threw a fit when he couldn’t get us the suite in the only hotel here in town. So, they set us up in the honeymoon suite.” Bucky muffled a groan and rolled his head to look at Steve. “It’s been an interesting few weeks. You ever gonna come up to the room?”

Steve shook his head, chewing on a bite from the burger. The room had a shower, and he had Natasha bring him a change of clothes and deodorant. The only time he left was when he went to get coffee or food from the cafeteria. The nurses and doctors stopped trying to push him out after visiting hours, instead opting to just ask him to stay in the room with Y/N. Not that he ever had plans on leaving her side for too long.

“Come on man.” Bucky started up. “You can’t stay here the whole time. You need to sleep. In a bed. And not curled up on a half stuff ottoman in a hospital.”

“I hear what you're saying, but no Buck. I can’t leave her.” Steve said firmly. “I wasn’t there for her when she needed me, but I’m going to be here for her when she wakes up.”

Bucky fell quiet, observing Steve for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh.

“Alright. But when she wakes up and bitches you out for not taking care of yourself, give me a heads up. I want to get a seat and popcorn for that show.”

“You’re hilarious,” Steve stated dryly. Bucky flashed him a toothy grin and swung a leg over the arm of his chair.

“That’s why you keep me around.”

“Punk.”

“Dick.”

“Hey now. That's rude.”

The two froze, their eyes going wide at the scratchy feminine voice that entered the fray. Their heads snapped towards the bed, both their eyes growing wide in shock. Steve moved first, vaulting off the chair to rush to Y/N’s side. He grabbed her hand while Bucky shot off outside to grab a nurse, giving the two a moment before the doctors would come rushing in.

“Shit, sweetheart.” Steve croaked, the tears starting all over again. “I’m so glad to see you’re awake! How are you feeling? What hurts?”

“Slow down, Stevie.” Y/N giggled, wincing at the flash of pain that shot up her side. “Clearly, I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

“Jesus, you gave me a heart attack. I thought I lost you.” Steve stated his voice cracking. “I heard you die. I just-.”

“Hey.” Y/N interrupted. She reached her free hand up, and cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb along his lips. “I’m so sorry you had to hear that. I didn’t though. I’m here. That’s all that matters.”

Steve couldn’t say a word, his voice caught up in his throat. Instead, he did what he’d wanted to since the day he realized he started to fall for her. He closed the distance between them and pressed a searing kiss against her lips. Y/N melted under his touch, tugging him closer. They didn’t pull back until the door swung open, the doctors filtering in.

Stepping back, Steve’s eyes never left Y/N as the doctors went through the motions. A smile spread on his face, his eyes shining with fresh unshed tears. He wasn’t going to mess this up. He was tired of being careful. He had a second chance, and he wasn’t going to ruin it.

Perma Tag: (CLOSED)

@dolphinpink310 / @breezy1415 / @hymnofthevalkyrie / @sebbyismyking / @vivideley / @cherrynat / @heelsandfaces / @lovely-geek / @libbymouse / @the-crime-fighting-spider / @dkpink123 / @moderapoppins / @chuckennuggets1213 / @jack4xx / @witchymarvelspacecase / @xxxunluvablexxx / @mannatgalhotra / @kingslaxerpark / @xxashy999xx / @silver-starburst / @cartersbarnes / @thinkwritexpress-official / @feelmyroarrrr/  @m-a-t-91 /  @pizzarollpatrol /  @sea040561 /  @thefridgeismybestie /  @sergeantjbuckybarnes /  @jasura /  @palaiasaurus64 /  @teller258316 /  @disagreetoagree /  @lazinessisalliknow / @palaiasaurus64 / @bfuckjames / @sxdapxpcutis / @doraola / @kkaos15 / @tylerrose931617 / @mummy-woves-you / @claraoswinns / @buckybarneshairpullingkink / @delicatelyherdreams / @thisismysecrethappyplace / @dsakita / @look-to-the-stars-and-wish / @tomhollandtrashtm / @delicatelyherdreams / @cuddle-me-muke / @joyfulzipperpersoneclipse / @lisadickenson / @revenqers  / @dannydelay / @musicgirl234 / @iamwarrenspeace / @breathlesspeter / @thebunkerofatlas / @geeksareunique / @ravennightingaleandavatempus / @mcdesij / @unlikelygalaxygiver / @tranquility-or-chaos / @bandbooktvaddict / @mywinterwolf / @piensa-bonito / @nevernotfangirling / @cutie1365 / @harryngtonewithyourshit / @slytherinqueenie / @famouslastlove / @riseandshibe / @blizzbx / @electra-hxart / @lianadelphius / @steebrogurz / @foundthezucchini / @bi-bi-bi-bisexualz /  @whileinparis / @for-the-love-of-the-fandom / @delva-stardust / @awkwardfangirl2014 /

(Let me know if I missed you, the strike means I can’t tag you for some reason.)

Steve Tag: (Open)

@biologik / @screamimalive / @ahsokastarwars / @bucky-smiles / @robfangirl/

(Let me know if I missed you, the strike means I can’t tag you for some reason.)

[crazyfreckledginger]

Hideyoshi Toyotomi x Reader - “My Heart Stopped And I Wasn’t The One Who Was Poisoned”

Having convinced Nobunaga to give Hideyoshi a day off because he overworks too much, you plan on spending the entire day together. What you didn’t expect, however, was to prevent him from being poisoned by being the one on the brink of death.

Requested by anon: “ Hideyoshi and mc goes on a date and decided to have a meal together. They were busy chatting especially hideyoshi , venting his frustration with his work. When he’s about to take his first bite, mc shoves away all the plated food off the table. The food had been poisoned and she violently coughed up blood. How would he reacts to this? Can you make this from his pov. I’ll leave it to you for the ending."

A/N: I don’t write in a certain point of view anymore, but I’ll include as many of his thoughts as possible, hope you like it! 

Warning: floof followed by a little angst.

“Enter,” the voice ordered. The girl slowly slid the door open, bowing as she closed it.

“Is there anything you need, (Y/N)?” Nobunaga looked up with a smile, placing the brush beside the script he was writing on.

“Yes,” she nodded, sitting in front of him.

“I’m listening intently,” He encouraged.

“I was wondering if you could let Hideyoshi have a day off tomorrow,” She requested. The lord’s face fell.

“Why would I do that?” he frowned slightly.

“Because he’s been overworking and no matter how many times I’ve told him to go easy on himself, he still insists he needs to get work done. I don’t want him to collapse,” She expressed her concerns to him. Nobunaga stayed silent for a few moments. The girl feared she might of expressed her worries too openly -- but knowing him, she was sure her message had fully registered in his brain.

“Alright, I’ll grant tomorrow as a day off for him, anonymously, I presume?” He agreed.

“Yes please, and thank you so much for this” (Y/N) beamed brightly.

“Your devotion and concern for Hideyoshi is one to learn from, I admire it,” He praised, picking up his brush again. The girl stood up, bowing and thanking him again.

“I will leave you to your affairs, thank you again, Nobunaga,” She opened the door.

“Of course, serve me well,” He saw her off and returned to his script as the screen slid shut.

It was only mid day and decided to run a few errands in town. Her day was surprisingly productive despite how the morning started. The girl was able to deliver two kimonos to two of her clients, who were more than happy with their articles.

Her day came to a close as she sewed the soft fabric in between her finger tips.

“(Y/N)? I’m back,” The familiar, honey coated voice announced as the figure stepped into the room.

“Hideyoshi, you’re back!” She smiled brightly, delicately smoothening the material on the floor. Standing up, the (H/C) haired paced to her boyfriend, placing her hands against his chest and kissing his lips sweetly. He smiled in the kiss, sliding an arm around her waist and cupping her cheek.

“I missed you too,” he chuckled against her skin, nuzzling his nose with his and he pulled her closer to him.

“How was your day?” She stared up at him, hugging his waist.

“Long, but productive,” he admitted, kissing her forehead and playing with his hair, “you haven’t been waiting too long on me have you? If you were tired, I wouldn’t have mind if you went to bed,” his warm hand caressed her cheek as her gentle but tired gaze met his.

“Let’s get to bed,” he smiled softly as she nuzzled his palm for heat. She nodded lazily, humming before letting herself be dragged by her boyfriend.

*****

“What’s with that look?” he smiled, running his fingers through her hair.

“I just,” she released a small sigh with faint tainting blushed cheeks, “I love you,” a shy murmur escaped her lips as she hid in his neck.

“I love you too,” his cheeks flushed a little as well as he dipped down, pulling her up at his side and capturing her lips in a firm kiss.

“Mmh, guess what?” His lips trailed along her cheekbone.

“What?” she hummed, holding onto him.

“Lord Nobunaga has given me the day off tomorrow,”

“That’s great!” she beamed widely, feeling her chest tighten as she acted out. On any other day, Hideyoshi would have known she was hiding something, but, fortunately for her, he was too tired to notice.

“Rest now, you overworked,” she soothed, pecking her lips. A sleepy smile appeared on his lips as his eyes slowly fluttered close.

“Is is wrong to enjoy, you taking care of me?” he murmured.

“Not at all,” she chuckles, massaging his scalp, “I like when you mother me,”

“I don’t mother you,” he defended, words becoming slow as he slowly drifted into sleep.

*****

“Mmh,” the girl shuffled.

“Good morning lass,”

Her nose scrunched.

“Masamune?”

“Hi,” he grinned, peering from over her. She still felt Hideyoshi curled up beside her but couldn’t get her sleepy mind wrapped up in what the One-Eyed Dragon was doing in their room.

“Why are you here?” she grumbled, moving closer to her boyfriend.

“Nice to see you too,” he chuckled softly, placing a tray beside their futon, “I thought I’d bring some food if it’s taking-care-of-Hideyoshi-day,” he grinned.

“Shush,” she scolded lowly, glancing at the sleeping figure beside her, “he doesn’t know and doesn’t need to know, so stop!” her teeth were gritted as she glared at the man.

“Okay, okay, kitten,” he smirked, “I’ll get going,” Masamune offered a small wink before tip toeing out of the room.

“Thank you,” she waved as the screen slid shut behind him. The girl released a sigh in relief before placing her cheek back on Hideyoshi’s chest. A lazy smile etched on her face as she listened to his steady heartbeat, his regular breathing and his soft snoring.

So cute.

Suddenly, he shuffled, a small groan rumbled in his throat as he pulled the girl in his side.

“Morning,” he murmured.

“Good morning,” she smiled, hugging him tightly.

*****

“This place is nice,” the girl scanned the scenery before the plates were placed on their table.

“It is, it’s been a while since we went out,” he smiled, thanking the waiter, who seemed a little too nervous to bow curtely. Hideyoshi only assumed it was because of how warm it was out and that it was near the end of the service for the morning.

“Happy Wednesday morning!” she grinned, clicking her chopsticks with hers before picking up some food.

“Happy Wednesday morning,” he chuckled, watching how cute she was. A small cry on the road behind them made him stop reaching for food. His head snapped behind him. (Y/N) seemed unmoved, munching on the dumpling slowly.

As his eyes met the source of the voice, he released a sigh of relief as he watched the small child crying as he dropped his apple to the floor. Hideyoshi felt his heart tighten as the mother came up from behind him, scooping him in her arms after she picked up the fruit, cleaned it and gave it back to her son, smiling widely.

Maybe that could be us….

His content moment was interrupted by a pained cough. He turned back to his girl, eyes going wide as she coughed violently, trickles of blood falling down from the side of her lips as her hand caught blood as she covered her lips. She shook frantically, shaking as she stood up and pushed all the plates to the floor.

“(Y/N)!” He yelled, rushing to her side as she collapsed on the floor.

*****

“Finally, you’re awake,” Ieyasu grumbled.

“What happened?” her voice was a broken whisper as it burned in her sore throat.

“You were poisoned,” he replied stoically, knocking on the wall before standing up with a cup of tea in hand. Kneeling down beside her, he gently helped her sit up, not wanting to hurt her already damaged body.

“How-” she was cut off as he helped her drink the tea.

“A local daimyo put poison in your food because Hideyoshi had stopped him whilst he was trying to start a revolt. He threatened the shop owner to poison the both of you, you ate the food before Hideyoshi so he was able to save you in time. If he ate at the same time as you, you would both be dead by now.” He carefully examined her sips, making sure he hadn’t missed any injuries.

“I-” she was left speechless. Sudden heavy and fast footsteps echoed outside. The door slid open.

“(Y/N),” the broken voice for the red and green vassal could have shattered anyone.

“I’ll leave you two,” Ieyasu looked away, helping her back on the futon and walking out.

“Hideyoshi,” she choked, her eyes became glassy as he rushed to her side one more, holding her tightly.

“I t-thought you left me,” he clenched his jaw, holding onto her like his life depended on it.

“I’m s-so sorry,” she pulled him close, feeling warm tears drizzle down her cheeks.

Comments, votes and feedback improve motivation, writing and publishing, so it is in your best interest to leave some! :)  

Want to be tagged? Let me know in which ever way you are the most comfortable with!

Tagging: @lumifuer @ijustwantmyshipstobehappy @plethora-of-things @xlatinaaxx @lostnliterature @batette @pythiaaa @nxxttime @gearsinice @mizmahlia @tina8009 @alex--awesome--22