#mat will still forever be Just A Little Guy to me <3

[markantonys]

they're everything to me

[blue-slxt]

Kinktober 21

🔞Minors Do Not Interact🔞

Kinktober Masterlist

A/N: I love pervy Lo'ak. It's delicious to me for reasons that I will explore more with my therapist lol. I hope you guys enjoy! All characters are aged up.

Pairing: Lo'ak x Fem!Omatikaya!Reader

Warnings: Pervy!Lo'ak, Masturbation (F and M)

It had been 3 days since Neteyam had gone away on the hunt with Jake, Lo’ak, and the rest of the hunting party. You knew it was going to be a long trip, but what you weren’t ready for was how needy his absence would make you. Even his scent was starting to fade from your skin. It’s torturous being without his touch for so long. He never leaves you so long by yourself. Your need burned deep in your belly like forest fire. Tonight, you’re once again searching for relief with your fingers which did little to satisfy you in any real way. Still, you try your best letting your mind fall into a haze of flashbacks. Neteyam’s hands and the way he would grope and massage at your body. Your chest, your thighs, hips, ass, everywhere. His warm breath against your skin while his tongue licked along the insides of your thighs. The way the tips of his fangs would tease over your hardened nipples.

A soft moan passes your lips and it finally feels like your body is remembering how to melt into ecstasy. You curl your fingers up to press against the spongey part of your walls and the sound it makes has your cheeks turning violet. Small waves of relief roll over you and your eyes roll a little letting yourself release a deep breath to open you up more for your fingers to hopefully reach deeper.

Unknowingly, when you shift your position on your mat, your foot accidentally hits the throat comm that Neteyam had given you for emergencies. The tiny device quietly hums to life under your weight.

On the other end, Neteyam and Lo’ak are out searching the ground for where Neteyam had dropped his throat comm and ear piece.

“Bro, are you sure it was over here? We’ve been looking for forever already. I’m ready to go to sleep.” Lo’ak says with an exasperated eye roll.

“Go back if you want, but I’m not leaving without it.” He responds still keeping his eyes trained on the ground and searching through the dense foliage.

Lo’ak huffs to himself almost ready to give up and let his brother continue his search on his own. He probably would have went back if it weren’t for the fact that he knew their dad would chew him out for leaving.

He takes a few steps further in the direction that they were heading and proceeds with pushing random leaves and bushes and things out of the way. Suddenly, his ears perk up with the sound of a low, almost imperceivable hum. He moves closer to where the sound is coming from. After digging through another bush or two, he finally locates the comm and ear piece. “Finally” he breathes to himself.

When he picks up the little devices, he can hear the low static sound that usually means someone is on the other end, but there’s no voice. That is until he hears a sound through the small ear piece.

“Ahn…Neteyam! Mmf!” followed by a wet, squelching noise.

His face flushes immediately recognizing your voice and realizing what you were doing. This may be the most confusing boner he’s ever had. In some ways, he regarded you as a best friend and someone he often got up to no good with. But at the same time, he could recognize that you were still a beautiful woman and the thought—the knowledge that you were just on the other side of this tiny speaker burying your fingers into your wet cunt and squirming around in pleasure had his mind going to obscene, disgusting places.

“Ffffuck, right there! Right there please!” your breathless pleas hit his ears and all the blood races directly to his cock. Fuck, what’s the right thing to do? Clearly, you didn’t mean to call and he should give the throat comm back to Neteyam, but…you just sound so pretty. I mean, it’s not that bad as long as no one else knows, right?

With a quick scan of his surroundings, Lo’ak quickly pulls his tewng to the side and starts to palm himself. His tip is already slick with precum which he uses his thumb to swipe and make the glide easier.

“Shit…” he growls lowly to himself. He can already feel that he’s not going to last long. Not with the sound of your drenched pussy ringing in his head.

“Oh Great Mother, please don’t stop!” you call out and he imagines that it’s him you’re begging to make you feel good. That he’s currently thrusting into your tight heat instead of his fist. Your ankles next to his ears, fingers gripping at the mat under you, a thin layer of sweat making your skin glisten, and the gorgeous flush of your face…it’s extremely enticing. He knows that he shouldn’t be thinking of such things about you, but something about that fact makes it even more thrilling. The high of getting off to the sound of you playing with yourself without anybody being privy to his actions is getting to him.

“Ahn~ oh, I’m gonna cum!”

“Fuck! Yes, baby, cum for me. Wanna feel you…” Lo’ak can’t help but mumble to himself feeling his own composure slip.

“Ah haah ah….AAH!” your moans are sinful and unrestrained while you come undone on your own fingers, slick running down your knuckles. Little did you know, at the same time, you had driven Lo’ak right over the edge and made him make a mess of his own hand.

While coming down from your high, clearly you must have moved your foot again because the device cuts off and it goes radio silent in Lo’ak’s hand. He tries to steady his breathing while also mentally coming to grips with his own perverted actions.

There’s little time for self-reflection now as he hears Neteyam getting closer. In his panic, he quickly tucks his dick back into his tewng which is a sticky, uncomfortable mess, but it’s all he has for now.

“Still nothing over here. Any luck?” Neteyam asks as he’s approaching.

Lo’ak quickly walks his way holding up the small communicator. “Be more careful with your stuff bro.” He drops it into Neteyam’s hand and keeps moving forward needing to put some space between them so he can go clean up.

Neteyam glances at his brother and his throat comm wondering what his deal was, but shrugs it off as Lo'ak just being cranky at the end of a long hunt. Doesn’t matter. All that matters to him is that they’ll be coming home tomorrow and he can finally see you again.

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[pbees]

Marechi!

[𝙐𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙤𝙣𝙨! 𝙓 [𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧!]

Part 1 ☆ Part 2 ☆ Part 3!

WARNINGS!;Future parts will contain NSFW content

This part contains

Blood Mentioned

Cutting

Mentions

Innaproptite

/ˌinəˈprōprēət/

"there are penalties for inappropriate behavior”

⏝︶︶⏝︶ ୨୧ ︶⏝︶︶⏝

強くて美しい

He left you alone in the snow with your thoughts and a saliva-coated lip. You were not turned on by what you're assuming is a human-eating monster with blaring communication issues. If anything you were upset he didn't finish the job, who knew when you would get a moment of peace now?

Luckily you knew where the dead guy's house was - as you started to walk back.

The way you were acting confused you, you weren't hit with a panic attack and didn't feel the need to run away screaming when Kokushibo appeared. Maybe it just hasn't hit you yet? You didn't know how long you would be here, and what for so you might as well tidy up.

Not that it seemed Kokushibo would care.

Taking someone's home like this was extremely disrespectful, and cleaning it only made you think back to your home. You had to get back to France somehow- but you were in no condition to travel, especially like this.

Putting the torn mat back in place you sighed. Where in the world was Kokushibo he said he would “Get the animal himself” but was taking forever. No way his massive ass had trouble finding and killing one you thought opening one of the dead man's many closets. Inside there were a couple of kimonos that definitely didn't belong to him, great were they in a murderer who was murdered house?

Sighing which seemed something you were doing a lot more often you pulled out a match and a candle you found out of their cabinets lighting it. You were unsure of how you were gonna get proper clothing seeing as you didn't want to get lost again.

Rekindling the fire you sat back down, you would wait for the six-eyed man- and if you were Luckily you could get some answers out of him.

__________

“ I killed someone just for you Kokushibo- dono don't I get a reward?” Giggled the cult leader. Kokushibo was annoyed with the demon and tried many times to stop him from following, but he wouldn't budge.

“Why would you need a female human's clothes anyway kokushibo- dono, don't tell me you've been delving into crossdressing recently?”

“ You're annoying me, Douma” Kokushibo didn't care for using any titles the demon withheld, he needed to get it through his thick skull he didn't want him bugging him.

Douma giggled again still following him- unwanted the cult leader was curious is all. Kokushibo was carrying a dead animal that he didn't need to eat, AND carrying a woman's clothes?

They were treading their way through the forest back to the House. Kokushibo was a little angry you left the spot he told you to stay in, but it was for the best.

“A House? You've seriously downgraded Kokushibo- your house before was far better than this?” The 6 eyed demon grimaced how the fuck did he no he's never been invited let alone let near the perimeter.

Why hasn't he destroyed his rainbow-eyed skull is simply because Muzan wouldn't enjoy replacing the uppermoon two. He was unbelievably strong surpassing Akaza in less than a decade of being turned.

Opening the door without his permission Douma glided in looking around. He was like a nosey neighborhood what the hell?

Much like Douma Kokushibo was looking around too, not for the same thing, however. Where were you? Finally walking back to the makeshift bed, he made you.

You were dozing off which was unfortunate because he was about to wake you up. He quietly approached you from behind you. You were sitting facing the fire most likely trying to stay warm. Bending slightly over your head he dropped the rabbit in front of you almost laughing as you sprung up. That woke you up, but Douma's nosey ass looking through this house's cabinets didn't?

Rubbing the tiredness out of your eyes you blinked, eyes readjusting you looked up at Kokudhibo staring down at you. Looking at him you remembered his earlier menstruation and quickly looked back down spotting the dead rabbit.

I mean he tried at least?

Refusing to look back up at him whose eyes were boring into your soul you grabbed the rabbit.

“ Wel- before you could get another word in someone walked through the opening in the room. He was tall as well, literally, what are they feeding them? Donning White hair with extremely pale skin the man giggled.

“ Is this what you're so focused on Kokushibo-dono? A foreigner?” he walked closer toward the pair, but not without the intense displeasure of Kokushibo. Squatting down he gave you a once over even going as far as sniffing you before you became nervous again.

Was this another creature much like Kokushibo?

His eyes are magnificent.

Finally finishing his intrusion into your personal space he grabbed your wrist in his hand turning it right-side up so he could see the gains in your wrist. He was cold to the touch causing goosebumps to erupt on your skin. It was like the demon completely forgot Kokushibo was there hyperfocused on you. Much like Kokushibo had before he was drooling. Gliding his tongue down the stripe of your wrist he grazed your skin until he made his way back to your wrist biting down.

Blood trickled from your wrist as he continued to greedily lap it up before Kokushibo pulled his head back. Holding him in place Kokushibo drank the blood oozing from your wrist as well to the displeasure of Douma. They weren't verbally communicating at all until the cut stopped bleeding.

Your wrist was wet and sticky as Douma wiped the dry blood they had surprisingly missed off of your wrist pulling back from you.

“ WOAH! I don't know what came over me miss, that was extremely rude of me- especially without and introduction !” he laughed his face flushed as he scratched behind his ear.

Here you thought you finally understood why some 6-eyed creature made you feel jelly and now some white-haired demon was in on it too?

What are they playing at?

A silence running over the three of you.

beady eyes glaring down at you, you gulped your face was heated as you nursed your question the two demons still having a silent conversation.

“You need to eat,” Kokushibo said composing himself. Once again playing off the fact he just went softcore on you again.

“ KOKUSHIBO! - Humans have to cook rabbits first before eating them, and even then they have to be skinned and cleaned.” Douma shook his head at him shame, Shame’.

One pointy finger aimed at the rabbits neck a simple slice at the air and it's neck detached from its already lifeless frame. Recomposing yourself-your wordlessly reached for the rabbit.

Kokushibo got up once again leaving you alone, but this time with the rainbow-eyed demon. His eyes were intently wat thing you.

“What Are you?” The Demon you now know as Douma asked.

“What- what do you mean?”

Sorry I SHORT MAN I HAD TO POST BEFORE FINALS TOOK EVERYTHING OUT OF ME

[drewsbuzzcut]

Forever Doesn’t Measure

mat barzal x model!fem!reader

a visceral in doses fic

Part 3 here

warnings: angst, crying, pregnancy, small argument, and I think that’s all

You sit at the island bar, basking in the sweet sounds of Nolan laughing along with Mat. He’s laid out on the rug, the boy playing with cars and using Mat as a racing track. All while AJ is sleeping peacefully in the pack and play. It transports you back to certain moments of happiness, moments you wish you could always live in.

You make eye contact with Mat and it’s like he takes a skinny dip inside your mind, because he gives you a longing smile. You can see it in his eyes that he knows what you’re thinking about.

The peace doesn’t last too long when AJ wakes up in tears; it’s his feeding time. You’re quick to settle on the couch, your baby boy nestled in your arms under a blanket, happily sucking away. It’s your last month of breastfeeding before weaning him off, knowing that he can’t just not visit with Mat during his allotted time.

You focus on Angel’s blond hair and soft cheeks, distracting yourself from thinking about how you were once a married mom, but now a single one.

Mat’s body sitting beside you on the couch makes you look away from the baby. He peers at you with a softness that you’ve almost forgotten.

“Hey, thanks for inviting me. It really means a lot to be here with the boys and you,” he says, knowing that spending the Christmas holiday together is important.

You honestly didn’t want to because almost 2 weeks ago you were tagged in pictures of him and a girl together, who you assumed was his friend from home. However, the thought of your boys not seeing their father took away all your anger. You didn’t need to ruin their lives even more.

“The boys miss you a lot, and it isn’t fair to them for you not to be here.”

“I miss them, too, everyday. I miss being on morning duty. Believe it or not, it’s one of my favorite parts of being a parent,” he admits. You faintly smile, thinking about all the times Mat would come back to bed with either one of his twins or both.

“You still have morning duty,” you point out, your free hands brushing AJ’s hair to avoid reaching out for Mat.

“Yeah, for like every other week. It’s not the same. Especially because you’re not there with me,” your heart hurts at his words.

“Is this your way of saying you miss me?” You tease, desire taking over when your hand reaches out to brush his hair away from his forehead.

“Of course I miss you,” he says simply, holding your hand in his. The way his thumb sweeps over your knuckles is pure bliss.

You tilt your head towards him while letting it rest back against the couch, eyelashes fluttering and eyes glued on him. Your innocent looks breaks him down into mush.

“I miss you, too,” you say, growing shy and looking down to avoid his stare. He only guides your face to his, lips connecting in a blurring passion. You try to lean into him, but with your baby pressed to your chest, it’s kind of hard. Mat does the job, though, scooting close to you to the point you’re practically wrapped in his arms.

Your tongue seeks entrance to his mouth, prodding the seam of his lips to make its way to dance with his tongue. You have the innate need to explore his mouth as you haven’t done so in a while. He feels the same way.

“Daddy! Daddy, look!” Nolan’s shouts make the both of you jump away from each other, in a state of shock at what just happened.

“Wow, little man! That’s so cool,” Mat clears his throat before complimenting Nolan’s favorite toy that he’s showing off.

“Um… I need to burp Angel and put him down for a nap. I’ll be back,” you mutter before scurrying upstairs.

The second you’re gone, Mat notices your phone going off, and without thinking about it, he picks it up to see who messaged you.

Tito: Happy holidays! I’m so glad we finally got to see you and the boys. Angel is perfect. I miss you guys. Hopefully we can have another visit soon.

Mat frowns at the message, not aware that you flew to Vancouver to visit Anthony.

“AJ went to sleep right away. I swear I can just watch him sleep all the time,” you gush, not knowing what you’re walking into.

“You went to Vancouver?” He asks immediately, catching you off guard.

Your mouth opens and closes, truly not knowing what to say.

“Um… yeah. I took the boys to go visit Tito and Emma. It was only for a few days,” you say softly.

“How could you?” Mat asks incredulously.

“What’s the big deal?”

“We were supposed to introduce Angel to them together,” he reminds you of the detail you stupidly ignored.

“Well, we aren’t together anymore, so it shouldn’t matter,” your voice is in a whisper, hoping that Mat will get the hint to not yell.

“It does matter. He’s my best friend, not yours,” he spits out.

You fight the tears willing to slip down your cheeks.

“I’m tired of you saying hurtful things to me! I’m tired of you breaking my heart,” he tells you.

“Breaking your heart? What about the girl you went on a date with? Huh? That friend from home? Yeah, I saw those pictures of you two together,” you inform him.

“It wasn’t a date! She is a friend from home, one that has a girlfriend, but I guess you didn’t see her in those pictures. And what does it matter if I was on a date, we’re not together anymore,” he throws your words in your face.

Your hands gravitate to your stomach out of instinct, holding on to the soon to be last piece of Mat that you’ll ever have. You can feel your heart cracking, knowing that most of this is your fault. You’re the one to blame.

“You’re right. It doesn’t matter. You’re free to date whoever you want. I’m sorry for saying hurtful things to you. I don’t hate you, I hate myself. Excuse me, but I think I’m going to take a nap. I’ll be down in time for dinner, just please watch Nols and keep an ear out for Angel,” you whisper, voice hoarse and ego crumbled.

You drag yourself upstairs, heading to your closet to pull on a large hoodie that you sneakily took from Mat before you moved out. Undressing out of your outfit, you put your hair up in a messy bun, and cuddle into your bed. Sleep takes over your body in less than a second. You hope you have dreams of your family being all together again.

Mat’s upset with himself for making you cry. To keep the picture of you heartbroken out of his mind, he starts completing miscellaneous tasks around the house, something he knows you’d appreciate. He’s lucky to get Nolan down for a nap even if it’s for 20 minutes. He takes a load of laundry upstairs to fold and put away. As he’s putting some of your clothes in your drawer he finds your paperwork confirming your pregnancy. To say he’s shocked is an understatement. A flurry of thoughts rush through his mind, tears starting to cloud his eyes at the secret you’ve been keeping. He’s not upset with you for not telling him, but at the fact that he has been missing out on the journey so far.

He exits your walk-in closet, coming face to face with your sleeping form. No one can stop him as he strides over to what would be your side of the bed- you’re asleep on his side -and lets his body sink next to yours. You’re on your side, facing away from him, so once he settles he nudges your body to turn into his hold. Your face connects with his chest, an arm holding onto him while one of your legs tangles with his. Eventually you end up on top of him, the natural instinct taking over. Besides, his warmth is to die for.

He allows his fingers to card through your mess bun; the urge to comfort you, strong. He watches your features as they are contorted into something resembling peace. You never see it, but Angel and Nolan look like you when you’re asleep. Both boys share that same blissful smile with you when sleep takes over. Mat first noticed it when Nolan was around one year old, and now he sees it all the time.

Light, pounding footsteps alert Mat, Nolan is making his way to the room.

“Mommy?”

“Mommy is sleeping, buddy. What’s up?”

“I hungry!”

“I know. We’ll start dinner in a little bit. Why don’t you lay with me for a bit,” Mat makes enough room for Nolan to cuddle with you both, you ending back on Mat’s side, facing him while your arms are still around him.

His eyes start to sting, thinking about another baby with you. He is so excited. His hand travels to your stomach, alerting you in the process. Your eyes pop open and you stare into his beautiful eyes. You know he knows. It’s as if anything but you touched your stomach, you immediately go into protective mode.

“Another baby, eh?”

“Another baby,” you confirm. He just smiles, eyes closed and lips closed, but the smile is so happy and a little smug.

Your one arm falls to rest around his waist, relishing in the small contact you have with his bare skin from where his shirt rides up.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t,” you shake your head fast and repeatedly, swearing away the thoughts of telling him before this moment. “I just couldn’t tell you. We had just broken up, and I was so shocked about the news. I just didn’t want to disappoint you even more. Even Tito said I should wait,” you say rushing through your words.

Mat’s face falls and for a minute you’re confused until you realize why. You told Tito before Mat.

No no no.

“You told Tito before me?” He asks surprised and hurt, immediately getting up and your hand latches into his waist to keep him close to you, but he’s stronger and upset. He rips himself out of your hold, disturbing Nolan in the process.

He stands, pacing a bit, one hand through the hair and the other rubbing at his neck. Those actions stop when he realizes Nolan is watching his every move, so he picks up Nolan as if he’s a protective blanket, constantly playing with his hair and kissing his head.

“Don’t be mad at Tito, please. It was word vomit. I didn’t mean to actually tell him,” you explain.

“But you still did,” Mat finishes, walking downstairs and leaving you alone with more guilt than you can handle.

You stay in bed for no more than 10 minutes, forcing yourself to get up and attend to Angel. Once he’s all changed and settled, you make your way downstairs. The air is tense beyond measure. Mat is prepping the kitchen, but takes over with AJ to let you cook as he isn’t the best.

From the time of cooking and preparing to eating, everything is silent except for the scrapes of the utensils against the plates and chewing.

Mat sits across from you, holding Angel in his lap. He’s so small compared to Mat’s arms. You start to think about just how much time Angel is missing out with him and vice versa. That’s how it’ll most likely be with the new baby, too. You don’t even realize your tears are falling until Mat is seating himself next to you to comfort you. You can only push yourself away from him. You don’t deserve his affection.

“I love you. Don’t push me away,” he whispers in your ear.

You only shake your head in response, and for the rest of dinner, you’re both silent, just watching the boys.

As you and Mat clean up around each other, you ponder how things should go from here. How will it work with you being pregnant? At the sink, you feel his arms cage you in. His tall, strong frame surrounds you. His breath flows out his mouth and down the back of your neck. You ward off the chills that sensation brings you. His head leans down, forehead resting on your shoulder. His hands move to rest on your stomach. It’s at that moment when you break down completely. Your body goes limp as your silent cries take over, but his body flows seamlessly with yours, so he has you in his hold before you hit the ground.

“Don’t do this, Mat,” you say.

“Don’t do what?” His face frowns in confusion, eyes searching desperately for yours for a clue.

“Don’t forgive me or love me just because I’m pregnant. I don’t want you to be with me for the sake of the kids,” you sob out.

“What about wanting to be together for the sake of us? I love you and I will never stop loving you,” he says so sure.

You turn to look at him when you feel droplets hitting your blouse and soaking your skin through the fabric.

“You’re breaking my heart. Please don’t,” he mutters.

“I love you,” you say for the first time in what feels like forever.

“I love you.”

“I want to be with you. Please. I want you. I want our family. I fucked up so badly. I don’t hate you. I love you. I overreacted about the whole nanny situation and I’m a fucking mess, but I need you. I want you,” you practically chant as you break through your stubborn walls.

“You didn’t overreact. I was being an asshole. I’m sorry. I love you. I want you. I want our family,” he says, sealing his lips to yours. It’s a kiss that can bring you back to life. A kiss that only gives you that fleeting emotion. A kiss that only Mat can give you.

“Mommy?” You hear Nolan calling out for you, so you break away from Mat.

He looks at you with a hint of worry, but more loving than anything.

“You ‘kay?” He forces himself between you and Mat, your face held in between his little hands. He looks at you with a look that you’ve only ever see on Mat when he’s making sure everything is good.

“Yes, baby. Mommy is okay. Mommy is happy,” you breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that you aren’t lying anymore. Pulling yourself off the ground with help from Mat and your little man, you bring all your boys into your arms on the couch. You feel like you can finally breathe again.

You and Mat make eye contact once more, fighting and breaking through each other’s walls- even though yours are more of a struggle to get through. You hate the way you treated him over the few months of separation, but there is nothing more healing than love being shared, love being felt, and love being created.

a/n: I’m so sorry this took long, but I hope you all love it! Thank you all for all the love and kind words<3

taglist: @literatureluster

[crazyunsexycool]

My little love

Chapter 6

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x enhanced!reader

Word count 5.3k

Warnings: a bit of crying (happy tears), kissing, Bucky gets to relive a bit of the 40s, Bucky is a whole ass charming warning ok! So much fluff!

A/N: if you’ve read the last chapter of is it a crime? Please accept this as an apology 😂 also I’m having issues with tags again so if you see you’re tagged more than once I’m sorry!

Series Masterlist

Ch. 5

Charlotte stood in the middle of the mats in the training room. Arms spread out to stay balanced and big bright eyes on you. Nat sat behind her, hands hovering around Charlotte just in case she fell. You sat in front of her with your arms extended trying to convince her to take her first steps.

“Come on Lottie I know you can do it.” You say sweetly.

“Won’t Barnes be upset if he misses her first steps?”

“I’m recording just in case. I’m hoping her first word is dad or daddy.” You add as Charlotte wobbles in place and falls softly against Nat’s hands. She giggles as she tilts her head back to look up at the redhead. Nat scoops her up and sits her on her lap, tickling Charlotte sides to get the toddler laughing fully. “She should already be walking and talking but with everything hydra did these developmental stages were delayed.”

“What about her abilities?”

“She hasn’t had another vision. At least we don’t think she has or she hasn’t had any bad ones.”

“That’s good, Steve told me Bucky’s been on edge since the second one.”

“Yeah, he barely leaves her side. I’m surprised he went on this mission.” You say as you get up and take Charlotte from Nat.

You both head over to the row of treadmills and place Charlotte in the playpen you had set up earlier.

“Knowing him, he'll try to finish this mission as fast as possible so that he can get home to his two girls.”

You smile at her comment. She still didn’t know Bucky had asked you out but the thought of having a chance of being with him had you grinning like a love struck teenager.

“What’s that smile for?” Nat asks as she starts up her treadmill.

“Bucky asked me out.”

“What? When? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Wanda asked as she joined both of you.

“Bucky asked Y/N out on a date.”

“Finally!” Wanda exclaims.

“Ok you two are being dramatic.” You say with a laugh.

“You’re kidding right? I have a hard time ignoring both of your thoughts when you’re in a room together.” Wanda says before changing her voice to mimic yours. “Bucky looks so good in that shirt. Oh he’s so sweet. The way I would let him fu-“

“Ok enough! Little ears.” You say as you nod toward the playpen. Wanda grins innocently at you.

“You’re going to have to tell me more about that last one.” Nat tells Wanda before turning back to you. “It’s only taken forever for him to ask. Tell me you wouldn’t have said yes if he asked as soon as he moved into the compound?”

You don’t say anything, instead you focus on starting your workout by setting an easy pace on the treadmill.

“The silence is so loud.” Nat says with a smile. “Have you guys decided on when and where you’re going?”

“Not yet. We really didn’t get that much of a chance to talk about the date when he was called in for the mission.”

“Hhmm, well from what Steve has told me, he’s a hopeless romantic. I bet it will be something special.” Wanda assures you.

“We could literally go anywhere and I’d be happy. I just like spending time with him.”

“And he’d like some alone time with you.” Wanda wiggles her brows.

“Wanda!”

“What? Trust me Charlotte wouldn’t be an only child if you two had been dating for a while is all I’m going to say.”

The three of you laugh at her statement before you continue with your workout and discuss what you could possibly wear to this future date.

It had been three days since Bucky had left for the mission and he was finally coming home. Steve had called ahead and let the team know they were headed back. By 3:00 pm the jet finally touched down at the compound. Steve and Sam quickly exited the jet and it was obvious the mission hadn’t been an easy one. Sam gives you a quick hello before he keeps going.

“If it isn’t my favorite person in the whole world. Did you come to welcome me home?” Steve said as he got closer.

“Of course I did. I missed having you around Rogers.”

“You know I wasn’t talking to you,” he says as he kisses the top of Charlotte’s head. His voice goes high pitched and slightly squeaky as he talks to her. “I was talking to this sweet Angel right here, wasn’t I? Yes I was, sweet girl.”

Charlotte claps and smiles in approval.

“Wow, you should give your next pre-mission speech in that voice.”

Steve playfully glares at you as he straightens himself up. He looks back at the jet before looking back at you a defeated sigh escapes his lips.

“This one was rough for him, he’s in some type of mood.”

“Thanks for the heads up. Go rest.”

You adjust Charlotte on your hip and head to the jet. Bucky is still in the spot you assumed he’s been in during the whole flight. It was obvious he was lost in thought because you were practically in front of him and he hadn’t even moved.

“Bucky?” You called out softly but he didn’t react. “Buck?” You said his name again and still nothing so you wave your hand to move his left hand.

His eyes snapped up to yours but he quickly looked down. You set Charlotte down, letting her hold on to your legs as you sat down next to Bucky.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Bucky shakes his head. You place an arm on his back and rest your chin on his shoulder. A few minutes go by with both of you just sitting in silence while Lottie’s attention is held by everything around her. You were thankful she wasn’t walking yet or she should have caused some trouble.

“I froze.” Bucky reveals with a sigh. “Steve and Sam needed me and I just froze on the mission. That’s never happened before.”

“Why do you think it happened?”

“I don’t know. One second I'm in hand to hand combat then another I’m ducking under a desk. All I could think about was what if Lottie is left alone because of one well placed bullet?”

“Oh Bucky,” you wrapped your arm around his midsection and hugged him tightly. “I know how scary it is to feel like this. I just wish there was something I could say to help.”

Bucky tilted his head to finally look at you and you offered him a warm smile. He rests his forehead against yours and closes his eyes.

“For the first time in a long time I was scared I wouldn’t come back home and now I’m afraid I won’t be able to shake that feeling. I have too much to lose now. This is the first time I want to be home. To be here for her… and you.” He says softly.

“You’re here now, we’ll figure out how to deal with everything else together.” said as you cupped his cheek.

Bucky pulled back slightly to be able to look at your properly. His eyes darted from your eyes to your lips, his tongue dragged along his bottom lip before he started closing the small gap between you. Clapping and giggles interrupted the almost kiss. Both of you turned your head to look at Charlotte who now stood in the middle of the aisle.

“Oh my god.” You gasped.

Her eyes lit up when she noticed the attention was on her. Suddenly she takes a step and then another until she’s standing in front of Bucky. She’s gazing sweetly up at him and her arms reach out, a silent request to be picked up by her father. Bucky on the other hand is a sobbing mess. He picks Charlotte up and peppers kisses on her now chubbier cheeks. The action only causes her to giggle more before she puts both of her hands on his face. Charlotte babbles and coos happily at her father and you can’t help the happy tears that fall from your eyes as well.

“You did so good, doll.” Bucky says before giving her another kiss.

“I’m so proud of you sweet Angel.” You say with a smile. “Let’s see how much we can get her to walk.”

You get up and Bucky grabs his go bag after placing Lottie on her feet. Bucky starts walking backwards and calling Lottie to follow him. You stay behind her just to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself. Wobbly step after wobbly step Lottie follows Bucky out of the jet happily until you get to the ramp. You grab one of her hands and Bucky grabs the other but you let her lead. It took an extra minute or two but she safely reached the leveled ground. Then she took off, with every step she got a better sense of balance and slightly faster.

“We are never sitting down again.” You joke.

“I’ll have to go to the store and get some extra baby proofing items. Make sure she doesn’t get into anything that could hurt her.”

“That baby proofing thing might work for regular kids but she has the serum. All she would have to do is pull a bit harder and she could probably rip anything apart. We might have to talk to Tony about it.” You tell him while keeping your eyes on the now wondering toddler. “Come this way Lottie.” You call out to her as Bucky holds the door into the compound open.

She stands in her spot for a moment looking between you and the open hanger door. It was obvious she wanted to head back outside and explore.

“Charlotte Barnes, inside now.” Bucky says in a slightly stern voice.

You have to stifle your laughter when she pouts but does as she’s told. She tries to walk faster than she can and she wobbles. You and Bucky have matching smiles as Lottie keeps going until she trips but catches herself, her little hands hitting the floor before she could actually hurt herself.

“You ok sweet Angel?” You ask as you get closer. She just babbles and stands up to continue her journey. “This way, Lottie.” You say after asking Friday where everyone was.

You stepped into the living room before Bucky and Lottie and called out to everyone to look in your direction just as she rounded the corner. Lottie stops dead in her tracks when she notices all eyes on her. Bucky is right behind her, unable to keep his eyes off of her and smiling. It’s silent for a few minutes before everyone cheers and the toddler starts clapping along.

“Come here, Charlotte.” Nat sat on the floor and stretched her hands out.

Charlotte starts walking towards Nat and at the last second changes direction and heads for Steve. She throws herself on his legs and waits for him to pick her up.

“Traitor.” Nat mumbles.

“Everyone here needs to understand that I am her favorite person.” Steve gloats. “So when did this happen?”

“On the jet. Nat and I had been trying to get her to walk all week and nothing. I think she was waiting for her dad.” You say as you and Bucky take the love seat. His arm rests over the back of the couch where you’re seated and everyone notices how at peace and happy you both look.

Charlotte wiggles against Steve and he puts her down before she makes her way around to Sam. He teaches her how to give a high-five and immediately decides that everyone needs a high-five. Clint, Wanda and even Bruce stretch out their hands as she gets closer. She smiles and coos happily. When she gets to Tony she begins to babble and he holds a full one sided conversation with her. He nodded along and gave a few oh yeahs as she pointed at random objects.

Soon enough she gets tired and makes her way to you and Bucky. He scoops her up and sits her in between you both. She leans into your side and yawns softly. Then you feel it, she tenses beside you and you’re quick to pick her up. That distant look in her eye and her breathing is very shallow. You don’t have to say anything, Wanda is already reading her mind. As quickly as the vision started, it stopped but there was no crying or fear Charlotte simply wrapped her arms around your neck and rested her head against your shoulder.

“Wanda?” Bucky asked, worry evident in his voice.

“It was a good vision.” She smiles at both of you.

“But what was it?”

“I’ll tell you when it happens.”

You and Bucky look at each other confused but shrug. There wasn’t anything you could do to get her to talk. You turn a bit and ask Bucky if she’s asleep and sure enough she is. He takes her from you and gets up from the couch saying he’s going to put her down for a nap. You grab his go bag and follow him out.

“I can’t wait for their wedding.” Steve says.

“Who do you think will be the best man and maid of honor?” Sam asks.

“I’ll be the best man obviously, Lottie will be the flower girl and Y/N won’t have the heart to choose so Wanda and Nat will share the title of maid of honor.”

“Do you have the seating arrangements and flowers picked out already too, Rogers?”

“Tony don’t start,” Steve shakes his head. “Besides, we're all thinking about it.”

“I changed my mind.” You whisper as you stand by Bucky at Lottie’s crib.

He was looking down at her with such fondness. With every passing day and every moment you witnessed them interacting you could tell that he was accepting and loving fatherhood. You understood his reaction at first, the existence of a child which he had no recollection of willingly creating was terrifying. It opened up old wounds and brought up new questions. But you could see how the knowledge of someone so pure and innocent existing and being hurt how he had been tugged at his heart. The heart he had said so many times was tainted and broken that he couldn’t be considered worthy of love or good. Yet here he was doing both of those things all because of this tiny person that was part of him.

“About what?” He asked, worried you’d changed your mind about the date about him, or even worse about Lottie.

“When I said I didn't know what to say to help. The reason we have to go out there and fight is because of her. She’s already been through so much but we have the ability to not only keep her safe but get rid of the things in this world that would try to harm her again.” You sigh as you rest your head against his shoulder. “I mean we might not be able to save her from things like heartbreak but the other things. Hydra, anyone that might want to use her, we can stop them.” You take his hand in yours and pull him out of the bedroom and into the living room.

“Heartbreak? You think I’m going to allow her to date ever?”

“Wow you sounded like my dad for a second.”

“Please don’t ever say that again.” He shivers.

“But it’s true,” you laugh as you take a seat on the couch. “It’s ok though, I’m a total daddy’s girl. I’m pretty sure Charlotte is too.”

Bucky smiled at the thought as he pulled you into his side. He places a kiss on your forehead before getting completely comfortable.

“So.” Bucky says.

“So?”

“Do you still want to go on that date?”

“Did you change your mind?” You look up at him. “It’s ok if you did. We don’t have to go out on a date”

“No way did I change my mind. I just wanted to make sure you still wanted to go.”

“Oh, well the answer is still yes.”

“Friday night?” He asks hopefully.

“It’s all yours, Barnes.”

“Good. I just have to decide where I wanna take you.”

“Please say dancing.” You sat up straighter and gave him a hopeful smile.

“Dancing?”

“A little patriotic bird may have said that you used to go dancing all the time.”

“That was decades ago,” Bucky frowned slightly. “I don’t even think dance halls exist anymore.”

“Well it’s ok. As long as I spend time with you I don’t care what we do.” You relaxed against him again and rested your head on his chest. Sighing happily when you felt his arm wrap around you.

Between starting up your training again and having a now walking toddler on your hands the days had blurred together. You stood in front of your closet in your robe as you looked through some outfit options. Nothing stood out to you and since you didn’t know where you were going you really didn’t know what to wear. There’s a knock at your bedroom door and Nat and Wanda come in once you give them the ok. Nat places a dress bag on the bed and Wanda has a few bags in her hands.

“What is going on?”

“Barnes recruited us to help you get ready for your date tonight. Hence all these things.” Wanda said as she put her things down. “Let’s get started.”

The three of you joked as you did your hair, nails and makeup. Nat held up the garnet bag to reveal a beautiful red dress. The style reminded you slightly of dresses from the 40s but not in such an obvious way.

“He’s here.” Wanda announced as she walked back to your room. “Oh Y/N, he’s going to lose his mind when he sees you.”

“You think?”

“Of course, maybe by the end of the date Lottie will have a sibling.” Nat wiggles her brows.

“Oh come on, you’re being ridiculous.”

“Yeah well wait until you see him, you’ll be climbing him like a tree.” Wanda gives you a cheeky grin.

You roll your eyes as you put on some of your favorite perfume. Nat and Wanda say their goodbyes for the night and walk out of your room. After doing one last once over in the mirror you finally walk out to the living room.

Bucky was up and off the couch as you entered the living room. He was dressed in a white button up shirt with a navy blue suit and matching tie. His hair was parted on the side and styled back and he had shaved. It was as he had been pulled straight out of the 40s. His smile was sheepish as he made his way over to you. You noticed how his eyes traveled the length of your body and his cheeks were tinted pink when he realized he had been caught.

“You look just, breathtakingly beautiful.” Bucky holds in hand out, offering you a beautiful bouquet of your favorite flowers.

“You look amazing. And thank you.”

You walk into the kitchen and quickly get a vase to fill it with water and place the flowers in. When you turn back you find Bucky just watching you with a lazy smile on his face.

“Ok, I’m ready if you are.”

“I am, shall we?” Bucky offers you his arm and leads you out of your apartment and the compound and down to the garage.

When you get to the garage you start walking towards Bucky’s car but he stops you, instead guiding you out a bit further. You smile when you see a car that was easily from the late 1930s or early 1940s. It was obviously well taken care of.

“My family used to drive a car like this. Thought it would be fun to drive it tonight.” Bucky explains as he opens the door for you before jogging around to get into the driver's side.

“Is this yours?”

“No,” he chuckles, “it belongs to a friend of Tony’s.”

“Hhmm, so what are we doing tonight?”

“It’s a surprise.” He winks at you before he starts driving away.

Bucky parked on a busy street and walked around the car to open your door. He stretched out a hand to help you out and then offered his arm for you to take. The conversation in the car was easy, mostly talking about who was babysitting Lottie and all the rules Bucky made Steve promise to follow.

“You know Steve’s going to spoil her right?” You ask as you cross the street.

“Yeah, but when has he ever followed the rules?”

“You’re right. That's why I told Nat to check up on them.”

Bucky chuckles as you finally get to your destination. You could hear music coming from inside and there were others walking in and out of the building. They were also dressed in a similar style than both of you. Excitement built in your chest as your grip tightened around Bucky’s arm.

“Bucky, where are we?”

“See for yourself, Sugar.” He says as he opens the door.

It was like stepping back in time. The sound of live music is even louder but not bothersome. There was a hostess at the front that Bucky went to speak with while you looked into the main room. The dance floor took up most of the space but there was a bar to the left and tables and booths surrounding it as well as a balcony with more tables that you could look down from. Your eyes traveled throughout the room, taking in the decoration and how it seemed like it had been taken straight from the 40s. The band was on the stage at the back of the room and they were playing like their lives depended on it.

“Ready?” Bucky whispered in your ear as he placed his hand on the small of your back to guide you to your table.

“Yes. Bucky I can’t believe you did this.” You say excitedly.

“If my girl wants to go dancing, I’ll take her dancing.” He said boldly before taking your clutch and placing it on a table with a reserved sign on it. “Shall we?” He offered you his hand as the band started playing a slow song.

You smile and nod as you place your hand in his. Bucky pulls you onto the dance floor. He walks on to the dance floor but not too close to the center. It’s his training kicking in, he can’t help it. He puts one hand on your waist and holds your hand in the other while you place your free hand on his shoulder.

Bucky begins to lead you in a slow dance. You look around as other couples join. It was definitely the best date you’d ever been on and the fact that it was with Bucky made it even more special.

“So, your girl huh?” You look up at with the intent to tease him a bit but the intensity in which you find him looking makes your heart skip a beat.

“Was I too forward?”

“No, I’d like to be your girl if you really want that too.”

Bucky smiled before he dipped you. “You have no idea how much I want you.” He confesses as he pulls you back up.

“The feeling is mutual.” You whispered as you continued to dance.

The night is filled with music, dancing and laughter. You barely sit at the table Bucky had reserved for you, only doing so when he went to get drinks for both of you at the bar. You’d had someone take a picture of you so that you could frame it later. It was good to see Bucky like this. A glimpse at the young man he used to be, before the war, the serum and all the pain he went through. His eyes were brighter and his smile was blinding.

By the end of the night he had draped his suit jacket over your shoulders as you walked back to the car.

“Hungry?” He asks as he slides into the drivers side.

“Starving.”

“Good, I know just the place.”

You sat in a booth in the back of an old diner. Bucky had mentioned him and Steve used to go there all the time.

“It’s been family owned since the 20s.” He mentions as he puts down the menu.

“When did you find it again?”

“When I first got to the compound. Steve and I would get on our bikes and just ride. It helped clear my mind. One night we were driving through our old neighborhood and we passed it.”

“It must be nice to have somewhere to go to that reminds you of those days.”

“It’s helped a lot actually.” He says just as the waitress comes up to take your order.

You both give your orders the waitress and when she leaves Bucky gets up and slides into the seat next to you.

“I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.” You say as you grab his hand under the table.

“Me either.” He sighs before clearing his throat. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Is everything ok?”

“Yeah everything is ok. More than ok actually. For the first time in a really long time I feel happy. And a lot of it has to do with you. I care about you a lot and I really want to see where this, between us goes. But it’s not just me I have to worry about now, there’s Lottie too. I don’t want you to feel like I trapped you in this relationship or something or that I used Lottie to pressure you into this.”

You put a finger over his lips to get him to stop talking.

“I care about you too. I have for a long time, longer than Lottie has been in our lives. If anything I wouldn’t want you to think I’m using Lottie. I care about her a lot and not just because she’s your daughter but I do think the Barnes family have a way to steal my heart. I take care of her because I want to, because she deserves to be loved and cared for and she deserves happiness, just like you.” You smile up at him. “So ask me the question.”

“Y/N will you be my girl?”

“I’d love nothing more.”

Both of you smile at each other and Bucky begins to lean in. The sound of a plate hitting the tables pulls you out of the little bubble you created. Bucky glares at the unsuspecting waitress.

“Here you go folks, let me know if I can get anything else for you.”

“Thank you.” You say as she leaves you alone. “Eat up or it’ll get cold.”

Bucky intertwined his fingers with yours as you made your way back into the compound hallways. You both stop when you get to your door. To anyone else it may seem a bit odd, his own apartment was down the hall and around the corner but Bucky was a gentleman at heart. You turn to look at him to find him already looking at you with a soft smile.

“Thank you for tonight Bucky, I had so much fun.”

“I did too, and we’ll go out again soon. I promise.”

“I’m counting on it, handsome.”

“Goodnight, sugar.” He says before leaning in and kissing your cheek.

As Bucky pulled away you tugged on his tie just enough so that he would get the hint. You smile at each other as you lean in. His soft pink lips brush against yours lightly. The seconds before your lips finally meet his are torturous. And suddenly his lips are on yours, moving together as if they had done so many times before. Bucky’s hands grip your waist as yours meet being his neck. You feel the slightly tacky texture of the pomade he used to do hair. A small moan escapes your lips as Bucky deepens the kiss and pushes you against the door. There was no way for you to understand how a kiss could be soft and sweet but also set you ablaze. The butterflies in your stomach had turned into a hurricane in the most delightful way. You didn’t want it to end.

You find yourself following his lips as you realize he’s pulled back slightly. Bucky rests his forehead against yours but it takes you a second for your eyes to flutter open and meet his bright blue ones. Your lips are still slightly pursed so he gives you another quick kiss.

“Goodnight, sugar.” He says as he finally starts walking away.

“Hey, that’s not fair.” You call out, hearing him chuckle.

“Trust me sugar, we’ll be doing a lot of that. Good night.”

“Good night.” You grumble back before walking into your apartment with the biggest smile.

Bucky walks into his own apartment where Steve and Sam had agreed to watch Lottie. Both men were asleep on the couch but he could hear Lottie cooing softly in his spare room. When he walked in he found Nat sitting on the floor with her.

“So how did it go?” She looked up once Bucky was in the doorway.

“I’ve got my girl and now I’m getting my doll. Come here baby.” He lifted her and peppered kisses on her cheeks. “What are you doing up so late?”

“Those idiots you left in charge put her to sleep too early. But she only woke up a few minutes ago.”

“Well thanks for looking out for her, I got it from here.”

“No problem. See you later sweet Angel.” Nat says before leaving.

After taking a quick shower and getting ready for bed Bucky sat against the headboard of his bed with his daughter on his chest slowly losing her fight with sleep. He allowed himself to dream about what his new future would look like now that he really had you. As he finally fell asleep his last thoughts of the night were of his girls.

Ch 7

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[mentallyshattered]

This is part 3 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

"Myaah, keep going!"

"Non, chat. You no longer need to be brushed. Vil, how is Yuu's hair coming along?"

Vil sighs. I've noticed he does that a lot. "Not as well as I thought, Rook. Even though the top layer was absurdly thick, the lower layers don't look much better. This is going to take longer than I expected."

I look up and into the mirror in front of me. Vil has cut my hair short, but the process of detangling the remaining mat of hair has caused the detangled hair to be noticeably longer than what's still a total mess. I'd say the hair he's worked through is about 4 inches, just long enough to cover my ears.

"Say, Monseur Mystery, how did you guess Monseur Chat's name?"

"Well..." I hesitate. Even now, the thoughts of his death still hurt. "When I was living in my world, I found a cat. He was my only friend. He was an alley cat, but chubby- not in a concerning or limiting way, just in a cute way- and he was grey with a large patch of white fur on his front, and his tail faded into black at the end, and... he had polydactly. I think that's what it's called, at least. Do you guys know what that is?"

"Nope!" Grim's reply is cheerful, like an island of comfort in a sea of mourning.

"Well, it's a condition where your limbs split off into multiple limbs. So, a two-tipped finger or extra toe or something. Well, my cat had it on the end of his tail. It looked, " I pause, reaching my hand toward Grim and trying, failing, to hold back tears. "Into three. A trident tail, just like this." I'm holding his tail in my hand now, careful, like he might break just as my voice is doing now. I can hardly speak through the lump in my throat, but I can speak.

"A-and that cat's name was Grim. And he was hit by a car when he was eight, and I've never been the same." I'm crying now, my eyes reduced to floodgates and my voice to a wreck. Vil is hugging me, his arms bringing some sense of safe to me, but that sense of safe pales in comparison to the comfort of holding Grim in my arms. His fur is soft, much softer now that he's been brushed, and Rook has joined the hug.

We stay there, just like that, for what feels like forever. Vil's arms are strong around me, as are Rook's, and I'm holding Grim again, and I don't want to lose him again. I can't. I barely survived the first time; I can't survive a second. The guilt would kill me.

"I guessed his name, too. I didn't know how. It just felt right. But... Yuu, you kind of remind me of someone. Another human. He fed me in my dreams, and his name was Yuu, and we were great friends, but one day he just stopped showing up. I never saw him again." Grim's previously sad face brightens a little, like a tea candle with just enough air to burn. "You look a lot like him, but older. Maybe... maybe he was you."

The tears come back. I let them. This time, they're happy tears, and Grim is crying them, too. Vil allows a few more minutes to pass, just like that, before he lets go and resumes his task of unmatting the other half of my hair. Rook pulls away, too, and waves his magic pen.

A tape measure, like you see tailors using in movies, appears in the air in front of him for him to wrap around my waist with skillful hands. Soon, he's removed the tape measure from my waist in favor of wraping it around my chest, and then my arms, and then Vil tells him off for doing something unnecessary.

I laugh. "Say, Monseur Mystery, have you tried to use magic since you arrived?"

I ponder. "Not really."

Rook chuckles. "Facinating."

"Are you okay with others being let into the room, Yuu?" Vil's voice is soft and soothing. I'm a little jealous, but who cares?

"Go right ahead." The lump in my throat is gone now that Grim is purring happily in my arms, just enjoying the sensation of being pet. Rook leaves the room- still holding his tape measure, I notice- and the door shuts behind him. Surprisingly, I don't hear his footsteps as he walks away, even before the door is closed and blocking my view.

Less than a minute later, the door opens again, revealing Rook, Korrak, and Korrak's familiar, whose name I do not yet know. Rook waves his pen, cleaning the cat brush with magic, and starts brushing the strange oppossum as he brushed Grim.

"Hey, what's your name? I'm Grim!"

"Call me Mandible."

Well, I guess I have a name to go with both of my roommates now. Unlike Grim, Mandible needs only a few minutes of brushing before his fur is even and soft, at which point Rook measures him, waves his pen, and voilá: five small stacks of clothing appear on the counter.

"What are those?" Mandible is already poking at the piles by the time he thinks to ask. I wasn't expecting Mandible to be more talkative than Korrak, but I guess Grim and I are no better.

"Uniforms! The white one is a lab coat for alchemy, the violet one is a dorm uniform, the one next to the lab coat is a PE uniform, the one next to the dorm uniform is a school uniform, and the one in between the dorm clothes and lab coat are some ceremonial robes. All are sized exactly for Monseur Opossum, of course." Rook looks quite proud of himself.

"Myaah, neato! Do I get some?"

"But of course, Monseur Chat! If you'll allow me a moment..." Rook starts measuring Grim just like he did with Mandible, and Vil lets out a triumphant "Hah!"

"Finally conquered my hair?"

"Not entirely, but I'm done with the hard part." With this, Vil pulls out a brush- not a cat brush, just a regular human brush- and starts running it through my hair in a soothing rhythm. Tired from the short day's events, I allow it to lull me to sleep.

[dejabluebabygirl]

I See You - Chapter 3

Miles Quaritch x Fem! Na'vi OC

Summary: Vira Te Wou Auhew’ite, an albino Na'vi and future Tsahìk of the Tayrangi Clan, The Ikran Riders of the Eastern Sea, keeps needing to save the demon Miles Quaritch at Ewyas command. When she's given a sign to try to teach him The People's way, both she and Miles struggle with their growing feelings for each other.

Authors note: Sorry this took so long guys, I don't love this chapter and it has been rewritten like 3 times and I just couldn't do it anymore. I also just got back from vacation to 99+ notifications and I'm floored but also too overwhelmed to go through them so I will be updating the tag list if there are any AFTER CHAPTER 4, which is going up tomorrow as an apology for taking forever. I do enjoy the next chapter so hope you guys do too!

PS I tried moving the taglist to the comments, please let me know if it doesn't work! This is my first time ever using tumblr, still learning!

Rating: T (last T chapter just FYI)

Warnings: Canon typical violence, strong language/swearing, mild mentions of mating/sex, depiction of animal birth

Words: 5820-ish, give or take a few.

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Chapter 3

Miles stayed up into the night, the albino Na’vi passed out beside him snoring softly on his shoulder, the hammock she worked on tirelessly draped over her small form and partially over his legs. Anyone else and he probably would have shoved them off him but he let her and the mess of white-blonde hair stay put as he watched the fire smolder down to ashes. 

Why did he touch her hand like that? He’d been interested in watching her experiment with his had, she wasn’t scared of his pinky, she found it fascinating, found him fascinating. Miles saw no fear in her like the other natives had for him, except that time he’d pushed her up against the tree.  She even liked hearing the stories about humans l, Bridgehead city and earth, curious little thing she was. Her orange eyes lit up sometimes like he was talking about magic. 

But he had no explanation even to himself why when she'd put their palms together he’d folded his large hand over her small pink one. Reflex? It had felt right when she lined up her little hand, it was something maybe his grand pappy had done once when he’d gone to visit as a kid. It was something he felt boarded on affection. Couldn’t be having that. He told himself he was just trying to make her happy so she wouldn’t run home. Swore to himself he’d be damned if he ended up like Jake Sully, abandoning his people for some local tail.

The thought did cross his mind briefly that he was even less human than Sully had been when he’d taken a Na’vi mate, he’d merely been an avatar driver. Quaritch was a damn na’vi, grown in some lab with human memories and his own human DNA spliced together to create who he was now. 

Miles felt sleep getting the better of him, yellow eyes growing heavy as he started into the embers . He moved Vira’s little pink body as gently as he could off his shoulder and the tree so she was laying on the mat, facing away from him. She didn’t even wake up as he easily cradled her in one arm to move her, her sweet scent filled his nose. If he left her sitting up she cursed the whole morning under her breath about her back hurting and he didn't want to wake up to her whining again. Miles didn’t know what to do with her hammock and he threw it over her like a blanket and laid down beside her, back to her. He did put his tail over her small pink waist, so he’d feel if she moved, couldn’t have his na’vi teacher falling off the tree. 

Quaritch fell asleep knowing well enough that there was room to sleep 4 more full-grown na’vi on the branch and none of them would have fallen. 

What was he doing? 

He just cared because they were in close contact, she was the only person to talk to for a thousand clicks. Even soldiers who didn’t like each other got close living together in barracks. 

That’s all it was. 

—

Vira rose with the sun, deciding instead of hunting again today, she would use the day to try and teach Miles to better move through the higher limbs in the jungle. They had gone hunting the past few days on the ground with little success, it was time to take their hunt to higher ground. She’d gotten them a Syaksyuk to eat from the ground that would last a few days yesterday but Miles needed to master hunting with the bow. She blamed Miles' noisy clothes for scaring away the animals on the forest floor. From above though, their sounds would be less suspicious to the wildlife and it would be advantageous if they could move quickly and quietly through the trees with bows. Their prey would never know they were even there.

The Na’vi swiftly could move from layer to layer of the jungle, swinging on vines, using their bodies to propel them, and jumping from high places. Miles needed to learn to move like them in addition to living and hunting like them, it was part of their way of life. 

Vira sat up from the sleeping mat, Miles still snored softly beside her and she removed his tail from being draped over the nivi and her midsection. She’d worked on the nivi every moment she didn’t have anything else to work on, she looked forward to a good nights sleep in a hammock. Many times she had fallen asleep against the tree’s trunk but Miles lately had been moving her to her side and covering her with it. She woke up nearly every morning with his tail somewhere on her too,  Every spare moment she dedicated to it, when she’s seen the elders work on it in other villages it was something special to add a new one, something not to be rushed and could take several short cycles to finish but in this home tree they selected they had no other place but the branch to sleep on. She wanted them to have comfort for their stay and be well rested. Her back and limbs were sore most mornings, the grass had been more comfortable but it was dangerous for only two na’vi to stay on the ground. 

Back at the Eastern sea her people slept in small huts in a large cave. They slept on soft beds of glowing moss and soft spun linens of all colors spun by their own elders. Families shared a hut until they were mated. Her sister, her three younger male cousins who her mother had taken in after her sister, Ìveye passings. She had lost her aunt, closest confidant at that young age but gained 3 brothers, even the youngest who had lived for eighteen full sky cycles had mated and left their hut. Only Vira and mother were left in their hut, she wondered what her mother would do once she left. In truth she could take another mate if she desired and even have more children, she was not too old. Na’vi could live over 160 full sky cycles, mother was not even halfway through her lifetime, at 56 full cycles. 

But Vira did not foresee her mother doing this, she was rigid, she was Tsahìk. She would likely stay alone or move to the hut that housed the elder females who were widowed, the village Aunties. 

Vira stretched and popped her limbs, not wishing to think of her mother or home anymore. She gathered her nivi back up into her pink hands and continued weaving.. She got lost watching her pink hands in the repetitive motion, looking at them made her mind wonder back to several nights past. Thinking back to her hand being dwarfed by Miles own with his fingers folded over hers. They had not spoken much after, eating the Yovos in silence until Miles fell asleep. She’d stayed up weaving until her eyes could no longer stay open and her fingers were numb but when she’d awoken that was the first time he’d moved her to sleep on the sleeping mat. The act made her already tender heart soften to him, a kind act even amongst all his sharp edges. 

The pink Na’vi was intuitive, she sensed much conflict in his heart. Miles heart was torn between embracing the Na’vi teachings and being one of the sky people. She saw it in his actions, in the way he spoke. In this short time together she felt his growing connection to the forest, to the Na’vi ways, how he had used the spear so perfectly was proof enough to her. But he could not shed himself yet of the alien clothing nor fully of their weapons, he still held the gun on his hip and the wicked metal knife behind him.

Vira did not take offense to his lack of change, change was hard, even for the Na’vi. She knew the change that waited for her when she returned home would be hard, she would become a mated pair with Huärì and leave the safety of her mothers hut. She would no longer travel, would no longer teach the younglings of the other clans and customs. Tsahìk training would be how she spent her days, a task she was unsure if her heart truly desired but it was what it was meant to do. The only change she looked forward to was having her own brood of Na’vi babies. Na’vi women had anywhere from one to ten children in all stages of their life. Her own mother had only bore she and Ikeyni. Vira secretly prayed to Ewya she would have more children than that but any child would be a gift. Her sister already had three of her own, surely she would have as many. 

Her thoughts and hands stopped when Miles finally opened his sleepy yellow eyes. 

“Mornin’” voice deep and grumbly with tiredness as he sat up. 

“Big day today,” 

“We huntin’ with the bows again?” 

She shook her head of white, wild curls. “You need to learn the upper forest, how to move quick and quiet, it will make you better hunter.”

“I’d say I’m pretty damn good with a spear” he gestured behind him with his thumb to her etching of him with the Yerik. 

She smiled, he was a prideful one. “How many kills have you made with bow?”

Miles made a thoughtful sound and the corners of his mouth turned down in reluctant acceptance of her plans. They’d gone out on the ground with their bows and had seen lots of wildlife but they had not gotten a kill. Vira blamed Miles loud pants for scaring off the animals but he didn't seem to agree. Either way, a kill from above would be better for them, helping hide any noise or scents.

They’d been eating fresh Teylul they gathered over the past few days as well as fruits. She’d gotten a syaksyuk one night and roasted it over the fire spit they’d made but she wanted Miles to be the hunter, he needed to learn, not her. 

“Once you master hunting from the tree, the next step will be from Ikran.”

“Now I like the sound of that Princess .” He grabbed his bow. 

With bows in hand, they scaled down to the mid branches of their home tree. A fall from this height would not kill Miles but it would not be pleasant if he fell. To the Na’vi sometimes pain was a necessary tool for teaching, not corporal pain inflicted on purpose but the pain from an experience, to learn from it. Vira said a small silent prayer to the great mother that Miles would be sure of foot and not do harm himself. 

She held her bow in one hand while Miles kept his slung over his shoulder so he could easily use two of his hands. Vira ran along the branch they stood on and jumped to the next tree over, the gap was small and Miles followed her with no problem. 

Vira took off then through the jungle, a grueling pace but she judged Miles a quick study in all things physical. Hunting, weapons, and now even racing through the tangles of branches. The injuries he sustained no longer seemed to affect him, Ewya had healed him quicker than expected was her only explanation. The great mother must have wanted him to learn quickly, Vira would obey her command. 

She’d been right to go fast and strenuous, Miles was keeping good pace with her, running and jumping with ease. He only paused when there was a small gap between two branches but a low hanging one overhead could be reached. Without hesitation, Vira jumped to grab the branch and rolled her body, using her body weight with one hand to propel her pink body forward. 

The Na’vi woman turned back when she did not hear the large blue Na’vi behind her, he was standing on the edge of the branch, staring at her with his jaw wide. Vira beamed a smile at him.

Miles let out a low whistle. “Didn’t imagine you could move like that, Princess,” he complimented from across the branches. His yellow eyes looked back and forth from where Vira stood. 

“You can do it!" she encouraged "Move back, spring up with your body, and swing yourself over. “ she instructed, doing her best to illustrate the movement again from where she stood.

“I got this one Tiny, don't worry 'bout me. " Miles backed up a few paces, easily jumping up with his large body, he grabbed the branch Vira had swung from with two hands and swung himself over with ease. 

“Have you done this before? You are quick. Fast learner.”

“Someone taught me a little bit, never gone so fast before.”

“The sky boy?” She remembered him from the beach, from when the Ilu was shot. From when the huts were burned. The boy had dressed and spoken Na’vi as though he was a true-born son of Ewya.  She remembered he had painted himself with blue stripes in an attempt to appear more like one of The People.

Miles nodded. “Spider, he likes to go by Spider.” He looked down at her, she couldn’t quite read the tall Na’vi’s expression but his yellow eyes were sad. They reflected the sadness and conflict she knew resided in his strong heart.

“He’s my son.”

Vira couldn’t hide the surprise on her face, her orange eyes opened wider and wider as she thought of question after question.  Was she keeping him from returning to his mate, to his child by teaching him to be Na’vi out here in the forest? Miles had already told her when they shared stories around the fire in the evenings, about how he was once a sky person, a human, but was now was in a Na’vi body. He didn’t dream walk like others who had came before. The details entranced her, all the science the Sky People possessed seemed like magic to her. She had not thought that he had a family from when he was human. She sometimes forgot he was anything more than Na’vi. 

Guilt and something else twisted deep in the pink na’vis stomach. Vira had never considered he was spoken for and she didn’t enjoy the thought, even though she had a betrothed of her own waiting for her at the Easter Sea. 

“Am I keeping you from him?” Her mouth felt dry, like no amount of water could quench her thirst. A lump formed in her throat. “From your mate?” The question came out meeker than she intended.

“No, nothing like that Tiny. His mom is died a long time ago. Spiders off somewhere with the reef people, pretty sure anyway,” there was a bitterness and maybe a hint of jealousy in his words. 

Something he left unsaid.

Vira swallowed hard, feelings she couldn’t place swirling in her head and her stomach. Did she really feel relief to hear someone had passed on from this life? Why did she feel relief at all? What kind of monster was she to feel this way? Miles did not seem particularly sad at the mention of Spiders mothers death. Na’vi could not have children without being mated for life, surely the sky woman had been his mate. If a Na’vi’s mate passed on in an untimely way, they were able to choose another to mate with, any other circumstance it was not possible to mate with another. 

The pink told herself it was because she had grown fond of Miles, she did not want to see him be alone. Part of being Na’vi was mating for life once you came of age and completed your trails. He would not need complete Iknimaya as he had already claim an Ikran, with her assistance, but he would need to have a Uniltaron to be full considered a member of any Na’vi tribe. Once he completed that, maybe another Na’vi woman would learn to accept and be fascinated with his five fingered hands as she had. 

The thought of another na’vi woman mating with him made her stomach turn sour, as if she’d eaten something gone to rot. 

“We could go look for him, take the Ikrans and go,” Vira suggested, pulling herself out of her own thoughts. She gently placed her pink hand comfortingly on his large, toned bicep. 

“Naw, he chose not to come with me.” 

She removed her hand from his arm, there was a silence between them. Questions and unspoken words hung in the air. Vira felt shifted uncomfortably on the balls of her feet, both equally avoiding not looking directly at each other. The pink Na’vi wanted to ask more questions but his words had felt final, putting a hard stop to the conversation.

Miles flicked his tail against her leg. “C’mon, let’s move out Princess.”

They pressed on further away from their Hometree. The farther they ran the more obstacles they encountered and Miles seemed to be fit to conquer them all, even if his mind was far away with the boy. His boy. Vira still tried to wrap her mind around it. 

Partially to distract herself and partially to distract Miles, Vira would slow her pace sometimes to let her own tail playful smack against Miles or wiggle it just out of his grasp, in turn Miles would try to playfully grab it. Vira played often with the children of her village and those of the other clans she visited, this was a common one played across the clans, it helped teach balance and coordination in the trees. Miles even succeeded once in successfully snatching her pink tail, eliciting a playful yelp from her as she snatched it back from his large blue paws. It made the large na’vi give her a fanged, triumphant smile. She rewarded him by sticking out her tongue. 

Vira was truly impressed by how well Miles did with managing to not fall from the trees and keep his eyes fixed on her tail. It all seemed natural to him, moving swift and graceful as he always seemed to. She always found herself comparing him to the great predator palulukan, graceful, strong, and deadly. Perhaps she could convince the Anurai clan to teach him how to ride one, it is what their rite of passage was instead of claiming in Ikran.  She had a good relationship with them, it was not unfathomable that she could persuade them. In her mind's eye she could practically see the large Na’vi male astride the equally large carnivore in full na’vi dress with a spear in hand. 

As they ran, they came across a large gap in their path that made Vira skid skillfully to a stop, Miles so close he nearly bumped into her. She could feel the heat of his closeness behind her, his body barely brushing against her. The feel of pants brushing gently against her bare legs, if she leaned her head back surely it would undoubtedly rest upon his chest. 

She felt him take a step back but not before she was nearly positive he took a deep inhale. Was he scenting the air, for her? The pink Na’vi pushed the thought away, he was just filling his lungs, they had been moving quickly for some time, attempting to catch his breath.

Her orange eyes measured the great divide between the branches of the great trees, obvious that it was far too large to jump but there were many vines in between they could swing from to get across, not an easy task to master. She looked down and saw the large leaves below that would catch them if they fell and bring them safely to the forest floor. 

Without warning, Vira quickly flew across the divide, swinging skillfully from vine to vine, ending up on the other side in a pink blur. He had not cared for her instruction the last time so she decided to let Miles figure it out for himself. 

She watched Miles from the branch across the split. She watched him take a deep breath and run and jump into the vines, he held strong and true amongst them but his movements were too slow and unsure from vine to vine. Each one swayed precariously, his arms while large and strong lost more and more strength. One needed to be quick and sure on the vines. 

Vira watched him slowly skid down a vine, the horror on his face as he tried to use his legs to stop from falling as gravity worked against him, she heard him let out a yell as he fell and smacked face first into a leaf. 

The future Tsahìk of the Tayrangi Clan let out a loud laugh. For the first time, she thought Miles did something that was not graceful.

Vira jumped down from the branch she stood on and let the large leaves of the jungle gently guide her down as she softened her limbs, bringing her to him in the rainforest lower level. He was laying on his back staring up towards the branches he’d just been in, breathing heavy. 

“Are you hurt?” 

From that fall he might have been swore but she was sure he would have no serious injury. 

“No darlin’, I could hear you howling like a damn prolemuris up in the damn trees so just my pride. ” grunting as he stood, he turned to show his backside to her “and my pants.” 

His whole backside was soiled with mud and sap all the way from kuru to his bottom. A large hole was exposed from his tail down, showing his under clothes. He’d either gotten stuck on something or it was simply a mix of overwear and then the friction on the vines. Vira changed twengs frequently to help prevent overworking of the cloth. 

Vira couldn’t help herself, she covered her mouth to try and hide it but seeing the large blue Na’vi such a mess, she let out small squeaks trying to coverup. Normally he was so sure and dexterous in all he did, seeing him so out of his element made tears prick at the corner of her eyes. 

Miles looked down at her, she felt the scrutiny in his eyes. She could see the flecks of gold in his yellow eyes at first she thought him mad but he just let out a small sigh of defeat. “It's alright let it out, Tiny. Laugh it up.” 

He gave into a little laugh too, even though his pride was bruised. 

“I don’t think I can fix” gesturing to his pants between small snickers. 

“Guess it's time for you to make me some skivvies.” 

—

Quaritch hated to admit, he really did but Vira had been right about his clothing being noisy. He felt ridiculous having his ass out in the jungle but on the other hand he felt like deadly silence as he moved swiftly through the trees, raining death from above with his bow to unsuspecting Hexapede, his prey of choice. He even managed to say the prayers over the bodies when he made a kill that Vira taught him without his voice dripping in sarcasm or rolling his eyes. Vira had yet to proclaim any of his conquests yet to be what she deem a clean kill, she said she still didn't feel he meant the words and would repeat the prayer after him so earnestly it tugged at something deep in his chest. 

While he did not believe in the tree god, no matter how often she tried to demonstrate the miracles or give him proof. The pink Na’vis faith was palpable, something pure, something to be admired. A devotion he’d never seen before and couldn’t fully comprehend.  Miles did admit there was something strange in the woods, something about it all. He did feel believe in what Grace Augisitbe had said about life being connected, he'd believe that since they'd drank the nectar in the woods but a diety? He could not stand all the circle of life. tree hugging crap. It was too much, a step too far for him.

Miles had been wearing the traditional Na’vi clothing for well over a week, he still marked the days but he’d have to count the marks to have any idea how long he’s been there. Maybe 20 or 25 days if he had to throw a number off the top of his head. Vira had added a new etching of him shooting the bow from a branch. The days in the jungle seemed to blur together and he found he didn’t hate it. Just like he didn’t hate the loincloth, or Tweng as Vira called them. She’d used his shirt and pants as the base materials of the ones he wore, each mostly the soft green of his shirt with a single thick strip threaded through the hide ties down the center of camo. It was a nice touch.

Vira has apologized to him for the size of the loincloth, the tweng, she’d said it was a bit smaller than she would have liked to make but he was rather large, even for a Blue. She’d explained in a more eloquent manner that her people, the Tayrangi, tended to cover their asses a little more than the clan Sully had joined but he found himself not minding and feeling more adjusted to the clothing. Each clan had different clothing customs, some wore intricate beadwork, others made clear armors, some made entire outfits just of leaves and flowers. While Quaritch had never been one to care about clothing as a human, always choosing functionality over any kind of fashion, learning the social customs around them for the different clans was at least mildly interesting. 

When he first started wearing the tweng he had continued to wear his belt and gun holster but felt it left him unbalanced when he made his way through the trees, which is exactly what Vira had told him the first time he’d put it on. He’d worn it a few more days just to spite her but but ultimately Miles had since abandoned the RDA standard issue holster and weapons days ago, leaving them somewhere back at their tree camp. 

He’d come to value Vira’s opinion, it was hard for him not to get annoyed and be gruff towards her at times with how often she proved him wrong but he reminded himself this forest moon was her home. She’d had a lifetime of living this way. He’d only been living this way for a few weeks. Qauritch was used to being the one barking orders and teaching new recruits, he scarcely remembered being a Boot himself it was so long ago. 

The recombinant Na'vi had come to appreciate her as a teacher, overall she was patient even when he got frustrated. She’d get a little pissy if he messed up too many times on his Na’vi, saying he knew better. Most of the time she was right,  he did know better and was just screwing up to push her buttons. More days than not she spoke to him in Na'vi now, he could understand her but did not always come up with a reply in the alien language and reverted to English. Her English was more than sufficient to understand what he said and parroted most of his phrases back to him in Na'vi. There were things he knew he'd never stop saying in English, they got lost in translation like the Recom Na'vi's pet names for his pink na'vi teacher, swears, and phrases. He couldn’t help himself.

To his surprise, Vira actually enjoyed some of his more colorful language in English and adopted saying them in his native tongue rather than her own.

They were hunting hexapede today and explored the jungle through the upper branches. Miles felt as though he was starting to know this part of the jungle just as well as Hellsgate or Bridgehead city, maybe even better. In the short time they’d been staying here, he and Vira had found common hunting grounds that he knew like the back of his hand. His movement through the branches was better every day. Miles felt himself getting stronger and moving with more ease, all of it becoming second nature and natural. He still needed to master swinging on the vines but he’d improved a hell of a lot since he fell and ripped his pants. 

From behind he watched as Vira’s little lithe body moved instinctively through the branches as though she was part Prolemeris. It never failed to impress him really how easily she moved from running to jumping to swinging on the vines in fluid movements. Miles closed the distance behind the small pink form he’d playfully tug on her tail. It’d become a game they often played when he walked behind her.

Vira turned to playfully hiss at him and slapped his hands away from her tail, shushing him playfully before speeding up to avoid him being able to tug at it again, as they hit all their normally hunting spots.  When they saw no Hexapede from the branches they took to the ground to look for tracks. 

Miles was surprised when Vira ushered him ahead of her letting him take the lead, choosing to follow behind him like a silent pink shadow. Even if he couldn't see her, he could smell her scent with his sensitive Na’vi nose, that syrupy scent that was just her. Even though they bathed before a hunt he could still always smell her natural odor underneath those slightly perfumy, lavender-like herbs. With each passing day Qauritch felt he became more and more aware of the cloying odor. Sometimes Miles found himself sniffing the air, seeking the scent. He wondered how between her overwhelming smell and the pink coloring she didn't get gobbled up by something. 

Miles remembers thinking before he could track her by scent anywhere within 100 clicks with his new and improved sense of Na'vi smell but he was starting to be damn near sure he’d be able to find her anywhere on Pandora.  That smell was forever ingrained into his senses.

Sometimes he swore he sought out her scent.

They padded quietly on the lush jungle floor, he knelt to observe the freshness of the tracks when a savage yowl filled the silence of the jungle. Miles turned around to face Vira, his ears swiveled, straining to discern where the sound came from and what it was. 

“Nantang”  Vira whispered, her orange eyes lighting up as a second strangled howl echoed through the forest. Why she was so excited to see a Viperwolf he couldn't fathom. He reflexively touched the side of his face which was now absent scars he’d gotten from one of his very first day on pandora.

“Za’u”  Come. She beckoned quietly, now laying on her stomach and started doing an army-style crawl on knees and elbows, keeping her small body low to the ground through the brush and towards the animal's pained cries.

Miles shrugged and slung his bow over his shoulder and joined her in crawling through the underbelly of the jungle, the back of his mind told him this was foolish and dangerous. This was not Kansas, this was Pandora.

“Are you sure you want to go in that direction?" He couldn't help but question her judgment. "Of that thing? They're meaner than a two-headed snake.”

She whipped her pink face around, cheeks slightly puffed out in annoyance white curls flailing as she held a finger to her lips to silence him. She moved her head in a gesture that he took for him to move closer. Miles dragged himself forward so their shoulders touched as they both laid belly down in the grass. 

Vira extended a petite pink finger towards an opening in the brush. Quaritch narrowed his yellows and saw that she was pointing towards a pair of Viperwolves, a larger male standing protectively over the smaller female that lay on the ground, letting out mournful, agonizing howls.

Miles understood immediately why Vira’s orange eyes lit up like fireworks to go get a closer look at the creature. The bitch was whelping, that's what those long, mournful cries had been for. He glanced between the Viperwolf pair and Vira, he saw the large male lean down over her every so often to give his bitch supportive licks on her muzzle as she let out her howls pierce through the jungle with quickening succession. Of course Vira had wanted to see the puppies, some things didn’t change even across species Miles mused to himself. She laid beside him clasping her hands together, whispering as gently as the rustle of the wind a little prayer in Na’vi repetitively. 

“Oh great mother, please let our sisters' labor come quick and safe. Let her and her mate have many healthy pups.”

They came quickly just like she prayed for alright, before he knew it Miles had lost count of how many pups there were but he figured at least five or six. They were a lot less threatening than their parents with their bright pink ears, yet to darken as they grew and matured. 

Vira and Miles sat in silence as they watched mom and dad lick each one clean of afterbirth and a few of the pups playfully nipped at each other's long ears. Quairtch couldn’t deny they were pretty cute. His yellow eyes looked over to Vira, she rested her pink cheek against her hand, a wistful look on her face as she stared at the infant Viperwolves. 

“Gotta admit, they’re pretty cute” he half whispered half drawled but he wasn’t looking at the pups anymore, he was looking at Vira. “For being little shits.” 

He ever so slightly stuck his tongue at her. 

That pulled her from her dreamy gazing and she lightly batted at his shoulder, not wanting to attract the attention of the proud parents.

 “You're the shit.” she whispered back to him with a big smile on her face. 

Miles let out a quiet laugh at his foul language rubbing off on the pink Na’vi. He clutched his chest over his heart in mock pain.

“You wound me, princess, here I thought we were sweet on me.” 

Her face flushed and she gave him a playful shove but didn't say anything, starting to creep backward from the pair of Viperwolves and their little brood back towards the game trail. 

Miles sat there for a moment, was he really flirting with the little pink Na’vi? 

He then gave a small sniff to the air out of instinct as she backed slowly away from him.

Not for the first time Miles thought to himself, what the hell was he doing? 

--

Last Chapter - Next Chapter

Master List

[hhughes]

♯ 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐂𝐎◞ 𝑴𝑩¹³

✰ 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 ⤫ leclerc!sister x mat barzal

✰ 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 ⤫ in which the paddock’s favourite sister arrives at the Monaco GP with a new guest

✰ 𝐜𝐰 ⤫ none.

✰ 𝐚/𝐧 ⤫ ngl. . . this is very self indulgent 🤷‍♀️ but I hope you enjoy anyway <3

f1wags

f1wags: our favourite girl has returned to the paddock; and this time it’s with a guest! Y/N leclerc shows up to the monaco track with who I presume to be her bf, and sits down for lunch with her brothers. the first time we’ve seen the entire leclerc family together in a while since Y/N has been in New York for work.

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user15: family reunion🥺

user19: my royal family of Monaco fr

user77: I’m so happy to see them all together again. I just know Charles missed her so much🥲

user66: I read an article that said Y/N came straight from the airport so this is the first interaction they’ve had in months!

f1wags: he hugged her for a good ten minutes before he let anyone else get a chance

user51: um- are we gonna skip over the bf part??

user16: how do we know it’s her bf tho…

f1wags: they were very affectionate since the moment they got out of the together. the car that arrived from the airport, so assume he’s american and flew with her. they also kissed and it looked like he was meeting her family (charles, arthur, lozenzo, pascal) I mean we won’t know 100% until she confirms it but it sure looks like they’re together. . .

user77: nooo… my wife is taken 😔

user11: I really wanna know who her bf is tho cause I’m sorry but he’s fineeeee

user62: I expected nothing less from a leclerc sibling. they always bag the prettiest people

lando.jpg

liked by charlesleclerc, ynleclerc, matbarzal and others.

lando.jpg: boat day with the bestie(s?) 🛥️

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user23: DID HE JUST—

user65: HE DID😭😭

user21: did lando just hard launch Y/N’s relationship?

user57: yep. tagged the guy and everything💀

user66: he’s such a little menace

user22: I’m not complaining I’ve been trying to figure out who it is for days🙏 thank you lando

ynleclerc: oh lando🫤

landonorris: don’t “oh lando” me, you didn’t say it was a secret????

ynleclerc: what do you think the words NOT PUBLIC means??

landonorris: the lad had his hands ALL over you in the paddock, it was gonna be public news by the end of the weekend… at least this way it came from a reliable source🤷‍♂️

user62: don’t let the fact that Y/N is dating some hot hockey player from New York distract you from the fact that the besties are reunited!!! I’ve been missing this duo so much

user90: and they’re causing chaos as usual🥲

ynleclerc

liked by charlesleclerc, matbarzal, and others.

ynleclerc: since we were little, I’ve always been your biggest supporter and that will never change charlie. watching you achieve a dream you’ve worked your whole life to achieve is something so magical and all I could ever wish for you as a sibling. congratulations C! I love you endlessly❤️💌

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user13: “watching you achieve a dream you’ve worked your whole life to achieve is something so magical and all I could ever wish for you as a sibling” UM— EXCUSE ME WHILE I GO SOB😭😭

charlesleclerc: I couldn’t possibly do any of this without your love and support. my lucky charm, always. je t'aime❤️❤️❤️

ynleclerc: ❤️

user76: he finally did it😭🙏

user66: these are so beautiful… did you take them?? @.ynleclerc

ynleclerc: I did! I’ve never been so grateful that I carry my camera with me EVERYWHERE. I feel so honoured that I got to capture this entire weekend. I’ll cherish it forever😚

matbarzal

liked by charlesleclerc, jackhughes, and others.

matbarzal: starting the off-season right ❤️

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noahdobson: just casually posts a picture with charles leclerc and lando norris 🧍‍♂️

matbarzal: I’ll still remember you when I’m famous😘

user72: what. the. fuck.

user77: all of us rn cause this is the wildest crossover I could ever imagine between F1 and hockey😭

user11: they’re both so hot it’s kind of unfair

ynleclerc: ❤️

matbarzal: je t'aime❤️

user55: I wonder if she made fun of Mat’s awful canadian french 😭😭

mattymarts: you expect us to believe you did laundry? I don’t think you even know how

charlesleclerc: I won. guess you’re gonna have to come to every race now 🤷‍♂️

matbarzal: should’ve never told you about superstitions 😔you don’t need them, that win was all you bro😉

charlesleclerc: miss you guys already. gonna have to come to a hockey game next season

matbarzal: you should! we’d be honoured to have you

user77: did someone say bromance??

user19: someone check on beau

ynleclerc

liked by charlesleclerc, matbarzal, and others.

ynleclerc: monaco❤️

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matbarzal: red is definitely your colour baby❤️🥵

scuderiaferrari: we agree😌🏎️

charlesleclerc: thanks for coming sis❤️

arthurleclerc: miss you already🥺❤️

sydneymartin: so iconic😍

ynleclerc: says the ms. iconic herself 🥰

user21: UM— Mat looks so good OMFG

user72: she definitely dressed him

user62: YN please keep the Mat content coming🙏

user14: if I was YN leclerc all my life problems would be solved

ynleclerc: If I had your lashes all my problems would be solved. you’re stunning 😚

user16: you know those couples that just make sense? they’re definitely one of those

user88: can’t wait to see her at games and stuff

[sscoutregimentss]

i know we as a collective society believe in gamer! eren supremacy. and yes, this is a good take. however, may i introduce to you: normie/fuckboy/jock eren with gamer/nerd gf. thoughts under the cut (safe for work, pg-13, also slight snk spoilers for season 3 and up!)

see, eren isnt necessarily a fuckboy. in fact, hes very loyal! he doesnt really think that way about any girls or guys except you. but hes popular romantically and had a reputation for sleeping around before he met you (not that theres anything wrong with that but ya know word travels fast across campus). plus, cmon the dude is in a frat, super hot and has a tongue piercing. he cant blame anyone for thinking he is a fuckboy bc he exudes the energy.

you are kind of the complete opposite. you dont really enjoy parties and you keep to yourself. you're a total wreck when it comes to flirting and your kinda oblivious to whenever people like you. you dont have many friends and are a bigger fan of 2d people than 3d.

either way eren finds you so so so cute. he first approached you at one of his frat parties. your roommates convinced you to come after she said that someone (read: connie) had a dance dance revolution mat, but you kinda just stuck around in a corner staring at your cup once you lost them. he looks you up and down-- your outfit was pretty cute, a short plaid orange pleated skirt, dress shirt, orange cardigan and black beret laying neatly upon your head. and your face... he couldn't help himself but try to talk to you. you were really anxious because wahhh scary sports guy you dont know but he was kinda instantly comforting? in a way? and he was freaking pretty. he looked like a final fantasy character--long haired characters were your type. the rest was kind of history.

a lot of people are shocked when they find out your dating bc you two are so different (some people are surprise eren “dates” at all) but no one dares question your relationship when they see how much eren dotes on you. he has so many polaroids of you in his wallet-- from the many arcade dates you bring him on where you decimate him at almost every game, you awkwardly posing in the hentai section of bookstores, or just candids of you being intensely focused on a puzzle in a game. whenever you guys go out to eat and somethings wrong with your meal, he'll send it back (in a polite way, of course, but hes still assertive.) or if you buy like a figurine and its misisng something hes marching up to the cashier stand for you. he always has an arm around your waist or is holding is hand in yours. sometimes you just cling onto his arm and rest your head on it (hes comfy!!!!! and you are always tired) your both pretty clingy, but you get kinda awkward when you two are around people you know so he just kinda subtly holds you as to not make a scene. its nice. hes comfy.

youve got dual monitors, a pc you made yourself, rgb keyboard, the whole nine yards. all your consoles are up to date and you keep a handheld system on you at all times. you spend most your weekends watching anime and movies and tv shows and your shelves are piled high with books and comic books. eren literally does not understand any of it. when you told him you built your pc he goes "you made all those microchippy things? youre soooo smart babe". when you talk about some of your weirder or more complicated animes he nods along but honestly he gets so lost ("so like, lemme get this straight, the kids dad's wife ate his mom?" "yeah but like she was turned into a titan so she didn't realllllly know it was the dads wife, but like she literally walks past this titan shifter so i think she knew." "thats crazy.") and he will never understand the point of otome games when hes literally right there. he actually has a really bad habit of getting jealous of characters you have a crush on but you just find it funny. sometimes he gets an ego boost when they look like him because even if they look like him he is actually real so they can suck it.

hes rlly supportive tho. erens a rlly passionate person and he loves you a lot so he pours a lot of passion into what you do. if you are into esports/fps games hes cheers you on all the time and does all the raging for you ("BABE THAT GUY IS STREAM SNIPING! HES STREAM SNIPING YOU HEY ASSHOLE STOP CHEATING OFF MY GIRLFRIEND" "eren he cant stream snipe me because i dont stream" "oh i thought that just meant cheating"/"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL HER?" "eren its okay i can just report him" "NO NO LET ME AT HIM IF HE WANTS TO CALL YOU A BITCH I CAN CALL HIM MUCH WORSE" "um guys im gonna mute my mic for a second if you need me text chat") if youre into cozy games he likes to watch you play and gives you ideas on where to put things. like in minecraft he makes you put a second bed for him even though he doesnt play and he helps you name all your pets. you get a little less intense with cozy games so you sit on his lap and he lets his hair down puts his head on your shoulder and points at where you should place stuff. he still rages though? this is eren jaeger we are talking about. ("aw, she wont move to my island." "WHAT? who does that little ugly squirrel think she is? you think youre too good for MY y/n's island? i'll shave your unibrow off. then we'll see what island will want you" "leave hazel alone! shes cute!"/"dude that hamster guy with the glasses looks like armin" "graham? what? armin doesnt even wear glasses" "no no look at it more" "oh shit youre right") rpgs/otome games are kinda a wild card with how he acts. if its an otome game and the character looks like him he is more into helping you out because it reaffirms to him that you find him good looking but otherwise he is just sulking and calling them annoying ("princess y/n... i know im just a servant, but i want to be with you forever!" "pft. get a load of this guy. clingy much?" "its romantic! youre jealous.")

one of his favorite things to do with you is cuddle and watch anime. usually he lies his face on your thighs or chest while watching and you play with his hair or he holds you in his chest and you play with one of his hands while the other goes behind his head. he grew up on some of the classics like naruto sailor moon one piece pokemon and dbz but he never got super into it until he started dating you. you put him on to soooo many good shows (cartoons, anime, and live action) hes both a crier and he is a get-angrier(?). he gets mad on characters behalfs and you have to pause the show so he can rant about how annoying someone is or he feels so bad for someone so he has to take a minute because hes tearing up. he likes slice of life anime because the friendships <3 theyre so wholesome and they remind him of him armin and mikasa but he also likes shounen because it is entertaining to watch fights. he gets really into them actually. he also has this really bad habit of whenever there is a character with no parents or a dead mom he goes "oh same" or "welcome to the club buddy" under his breath. when theres a cute couple in an anime you both like guys get matching keychains of them unless one of them dies because he thinks its bad luck. his favorite animes are haikyuu, your lie in april and code geass.

you are equally supportive of erens volleyball career. you know all the rules because sports anime and you actually find yourself really liking it in 3d as well (it is lacking in bromance and screaming but you let it slide). you go to all his games and he always texts you before his practices. has a habit of kissing you before games and one day after he kisses you go "gg ez win" as a JOKE but then they like decimate their long time rival marley university and get into nationals (is that a thing for volleyball idk sports) so hes convinced its because you did your "gamer magic". now every time after getting his good luck kiss he interlocks your pinkies and you go "gg ez win" and he goes “yes.” because to this day he doesnt know what it means (he thinks googling it is like breaking the magic)

okay im gonna stop while im ahead BECAUSE I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS ALL DAY I MIGHT JUST GO AHEAD AND WRITE SOME ONESHOTS....

[stuckybarton]

Sucker For Pain i

SUMMARY: You were new to the team, but what everyone didn't know was you weren't so new to the God of Mischief. CHARACTERS: Loki Laufeyson x Ex!Reader [Ex to Lovers again?] WARNINGS: Profanities. Suggestive Themes. Slight Angst and horrible self-image. Grammar Mistakes. English not being my first language. [Not Beta’d tho] WORDS: 2,956 CHAPTERS: [1/3] A/N; Life happened and yeah, didn’t have much time to write. Not my best work for this mini-series, but I’m fighting through for this. Hope you guys enjoy~

PART TWO | PART THREE

MASTERLIST || Join the Taglist

"Agent Y/N Y/L/N." You introduced yourself the first moment you were escorted into the compound by Director Nick Fury. Multiple sets of faces both new and old had come to greet you. For a moment you wouldn't even believe that this is was the new life you would find yourself to be a part of from now on.

Years in the job for SHIELD before disappearing off the grid to get as much information about HYDRA, everyone had thought you had betrayed them and you had accepted that they would think so lowly of you after all the near-deaths you had to endure on the job. Even with the mission becoming more of a death wish, you had accepted the role Nick had given you all those years ago and now you were rewarded, immensely. A spot on the Avengers as part of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

The familiar face of Nat was the first to greet you with a hug. A fiercely tight one, it had been so long since you've seen a friend. Then your eyes fell towards the rest of the team; Bucky Barnes, who you had a few close encounters with during your time with HYDRA. You had witness everything they had done to him and stood on trail to clean his name. Steve Rogers, who, with Sharon Carter, had assisted in guarding Steve while SHIELD was still under HYDRA's control. But among the familiar faces, one stood out the most.

Loki Laufeyson.

To many, the man was a snake, a God that had once brought death and destruction in New York. But to you, he was different, this was the man that you had spent your lonely nights with while under the guise of a traitor. It had once just been a physically thing between the two of you, neither wanting to know about each other's lives. You knew he was a God, a man that had wronged the world, but he had never known about you, the woman that had painted yourself as a traitor for the better of the world. The one that had been called every name on the book for the sake of making sure you did your part right.

Then it got serious between the two of you. Admission of love was told between both of your lips. But it was dangerous for you two to be together especially when you were already told by Fury that you can come back to the surface. You didn't know what side he was on, and you did not have the heart to make him choose if the time would come.

So you two parted. A month ago. The pain still throbbing you like an unattended bullet hole right through your heart. It was still so painful to look at him and not remember him crumbling on his knees begging you to stay. The first sob that escaped his lips and forever haunted your dreams. A never-ending loop in the back of your head as your demons screamed at you for breaking an already broken man.

"I for one am happy you're finally here. Another woman to add to an already Man's Man world in the compound." Nat teased glancing towards the other individuals that had come to know the new face. "With introductions out of the way, you've got a lot of explaining to do for the past few years."

You could only smile at your friend. You did have so much to explain to her, things had been murky between you and Clint, but after everything, Nat had refused to believe you would betray them, betray her, and it was finally a relief to be able to return back home, seeing the people that mean the most to you.

"Tell me about it." You muttered allowing Nat to quickly pull your away from the crowd, but it missed your eyes how he was still looking. Ice blue eyes a contract to the burning gaze he had towards you.

Forget about him. Forget about him. You were here for a new opportunity. No him. Never him.

For the next few weeks, everyone had grown to accept you in your new role as part of the Avengers. You kept up with Steve, Bucky, and Sam during their runs. Sam more than happy to finally have someone that had the same pace as him, but only for you to laugh and out run him just to get a reaction out of the high flier. Tony and Bruce had also found a kinship in you, having provided them enough information about HYDRA's experiments and location made most of their missions easier. Then there was Nat and Clint, your confidant in this new life. Every single moment that was not dedicated to a mission was spent with them; may it be movie night or a simple get together outside the compound, often times bringing Wanda and Vision along just to mess with you and call you a 5th wheel of the group.

But among number of members on the team, everyone had noticed you constantly avoided one Thor Odinson and one Loki Laufeyson. The only real time you would even dare talk to either of the brothers would be during training--other than that, you tried your best to avoid them, Loki most especially. Every single moment that would force the two of you to be in the same room, Loki had a glare while you tried your best to avoid his gaze.

Everyone noticed, everyone didn't seem to worry too much. It comes with having a former-villain part of the team. They thought you would eventually get used to the God's presence just as much as they did.

"You ever gonna tell me what's going on between you and Loki?" Nat inquired avoiding your punch.

What you hated the most about sparring with Nat was her capability of multitasking. Talking and snooping about someone else's business while also kicking their ass in the process--this was the predicament you were in right in this very moment.

"Nothing is going on." You muttered landing back first on the mat after being thrown like a rag doll by Nat. Eyes looking at the ceiling, you wondered if it was a good idea to actually come clean to her about her past with the God of Mischief. "I know what he's done to New York and I think you can't blame me for taking precaution when it comes to him."

Nat now comes hovering on top of you, the narrowed eyes and gentle smirk was all you needed to know--she knew it was bullshit. But when she had stopped pushing you for more information, it was enough for you to just change the subject.

"They found Dominic?" You inquired. One of the first big missions that everyone was focusing on was one of the leading Scientist for HYDRA. With the exposure of HYDRA to the world, some of them had moved away and found themselves in much shadier company, much to everyone's radar now spiking.

Dominic Wagner was, in part, partially responsible for the Winter Soldier program in the modern era. One of the pioneers in moving the project into a much younger sets of test subjects. You lost contact with the man as soon as your got back into the surface, but it had also meant a target was on your back when they found out you were a double agent.

"He's in Russia. Wasting away all the funding for the program with parties" Nat points out. "Still a better way to spend the money that abducting kids everywhere."

You nodded, memories of files upon files for the prospects still haunted you to this day.

"When are you taking him out?" You inquired. In your time with the SHIELD, the red in both of your ledger had made you two a hot commodity if the situation present itself as shoot to kill. Neither of you would hesitate. You knew you would now, after everything, but if it means one less bad people in this earth, you would swallow your new morals.

"Fury wants him alive." She pointed out finally standing back up to her own two feet, leaving you on your back, staring at the ceiling in deep thought. "I know as much as you do, we want him dead for everything he has done, but we need him alive so we can get the others."

You nodded, this was one of the few things you had to get used to as part of the team. Death was best solution in SHIELD--at least in your team, not here. As long as you were part of Steve's team, you would need to choose whether or not killing would be the best option. Hope that you weren't so blessed to be given in your time under.

"I get a first shot when we don''t have any use of him anymore." You muttered finally standing back up with Nat's help. Steps faltering at the sight of the God of Mischief, training with the likes of Peter Parker, Sam Wilson, and Bucky Barnes. A weird mix up, but wasn't hard to understand why.

"Why don't you shoot your shots with him for now." Nat teased, finally making you break from staring at the plain black shirt and green sweatshort-clad Loki Laufeyson. "If we try to ignore the death count during his attack, he is sort-of your type in men." Nat wiggled her brows. quick to avoid you as you attempted to swat her in the ass, eyes now turned away from God and his training partners.

"By type, you mean psychotic with possible Daddy-issue? Then you might just be right." You snort.

"I'm offended you think of me as such, Darling"

Jerking your head to the owner of the voice, how the hell did he sneak up behind you without you noticing. You glanced at Nat in panic and like the traitor that she was, made a terrible excuse of being needed in Bruce's lab. Now being left in the man's presence, you could all but remember the last time you had been this close to the man.

Heartbreaks.

Words that you didn't mean.

Words that he didn't mean.

It still hurt you, and you were sure it hurts him just as much, if not more now, finally realizing why there had been a need for a breakup between the two of them all those weeks ago.

"Here I thought I would have someone to trust. You mortals continue to disappoint me." He hissed.

Your eyes glanced at the other training trio, noticing all three of them were in their own little world to even noticed what was going on between the two of them.

"Tell me, Darling..." He whispered, head leaning towards the shell of your ears. The familiar shiver run through your skin as just his voice. Memories of the very things his silver tongue had whispered had you flustered and breathless, more than from your earlier training with Nat. "Was it satisfying to play with a God?"

Before you could even mutter a word, his constantly gentle hand now covered your jaw, emitting a squeak from your lips and stopping you from saying a word. He was never this forceful, nor did he do anything that would hurt you. Was this the true nature of the man you had finally thought you have been the best part of you. To have loved a man that everyone was right to stay away from?

"Or is it shame finally coming to you, to be ever involved with someone like me?"

You tried to pry his hand away from you, but he was too strong--stronger than you could ever think of being.

"Or is this you taking your opportunity to move from one bed to another? Who will it be this time, Y/N? My oaf of a brother or will it be Soldier out of time? Who will you whore this time?"

And you finally snapped. With a resounding slap, all three individuals had heard your attack on the man and Loki finally releasing his hold on your jaws. A chuckle escaped his lips and only brought the first line of tears to fall from your eyes. You never wanted to believe him to be a monster, but here he was, proving her wrong.

"I am in doubt of the foundation of our relationship for the past years, Y/N. I am the God of Mischief and Lies and the only mortal I had ever truly opened to had done this to me. Lied to me for such a long time, lied about the entirety of our relationship."

"You will never understand."

"Oh no," he chuckled darkly, eyes glaring straight into your own. "I understand well enough to know, you would never love someone like me and I deserve every lie and heartache I am enduring because of everything I have ever done in my past."

Before you could defend yourself and the genuinity of your relationship with the God, he had made his excuse. Leaving you to ponder of the true damage of your breakup with Loki, and the aftermath it had now held for the both of you. He was right, you had lied, and either way, their relationship will fall apart because of those lies.

He was the God of Mischief and Lies.

Yet, he did not expect for this biggest lie to break him the most. The separation had been painful, he had always hoped for a better life with you. Then a month passed since your breakup, he sees you, it hits him like a sharp knife to the chest all over again. He experience the pain of a stab to the chest, but it would never compare to the pain of seeing you in this very compound with the truth of your life that you refused to ever open to him.

This was karma coming to haunt him it seems.

It had been well over a week now since the first time he had actually confronted you about everything. It wasn't how he planned for things to go through. He never wanted to hurt you, but he was a monster after all. A monster that his own father had told his people to avoid. A bedtime story to scare mischievous kids into submission.

He had always thought after everything he had to endure, had to do, had to escape, he could finally live a peaceful life. A life to finally start anew. A life where he could finally change for the best. A mortal woman had made him make those ideas come into reality, you had always became the reason why he would never have his redemption in life.

A bitter idea with no possible resolution.

How could he have ever believed that anyone would ever love someone like him? After everything he had ever done, he was never allowed to be loved. You had proved that somehow.

'Mr. Laufeyson, you are needed for a meeting with the team'

Breaking from his little bubble. He sighed finally returning back to reality, into the little comforts the library could give him. The week had been gruelling for him, three individual witnessed the altercation between himself and you. It had spread like wildfire, but thanking the Gods that no one was able to listen to the conversation.

He had to endure most of the questioning. In everyone's eyes, he was, after all, still under everyone's constant scrutiny. A man that no one could trust. But he refused to say a single word knowing you did the same thing. It was better to keep your mouth shut instead of letting people know exactly what had happened. Somehow that brought a smile on his face. He might not share a future with you, but might as well make the most out of making your life a living hell, as much you did it to him.

Shutting the book he was barely even reading, he placed the book back into the shelf before walking his way towards the meeting room.

He could easily teleport, but he preferred to enjoy his moments of peace without his oaf of a brother breathing down his neck or Stark constantly testing his patience with his quips. It also gave him a moment to school his features, he knew well enough about the mission to know you would also be in attendance. Be more invested in this mission than anyone else.

It was a few things he was relearning about you now that you were out in the open as everyone claims you to be. You were a free spirited being that could meld with anyone you were in the area with. He had watched you throw relentless jabs at Tony during your first few days that had the man surprisingly raise a white flag. But the most dangerous thing he had to learn was the familial relationship you had with one Natasha Romanoff and Clint Burton, two people that he kept his distance with the most.

"Professor Snape has finally graced us with his presence."

Loki has learned since joining the team to choose his battle when it comes to Tony. This was one of those moment. Finding a vacant chair besides his brother, he had taken his seat. A big mistake on his part as he finds from across the table, you sat. In between a glaring Romanoff and Barton.

Wearing a smirk, just to get on the two super spies' nerve, he turned his attention right back into the meeting. He begins formulating a few little schemes to not only get on the two's nerved, but most especially yours.

[isletakebarzal]

I Hope I Never Lose You | 1 | Mat Barzal

a/n: my first mat barzal fic. my first fic since......... sh*wn m*nd*s. Here is the first installment of a new elementary school au. pLz leave feedback it has been so long since i've written and I am so ✨insecure✨

summary: you teach kindergarten and Mat Barzal is a P.E. Coach at Cornelia Street Elementary School. i don't know just give me validation plz

warnings: literally didn't even read it over. just copy-paste-post. mutual pining idiots to lovers?? some jealousy and angst???

WC: 5.6K

***

I. “then on a Wednesday in a cafe[teria], I watched it begin again”

You take a deep breath as you inspect your appearance in the teacher’s lounge bathroom at Cornelia Street Elementary. Your kindergarteners will be arriving at your classroom in nearly twenty minutes, so you wanted to get one final look in before starting the school day.

“Who’s the guy?” your friend and co-teacher, Molly, startles you as her figure appears behind you in the mirror.

“What do you mean?” You shake your head, sticking your hands under the sink for the automatic faucet to turn on.

Molly laughs, walking up next to you and leaning up against the counter, “You’re dressing up for someone! You never wore high heels until recently, and you check yourself in the mirror like 6 times a day. Who is it?”

You roll your eyes, pulling paper towels out of the dispenser and wiping your hands dry. “Sniff too much elmer’s glue again, Molly?”

You leave the restroom and lounge with Molly trailing closely behind. Turning into your classroom, you stop in the doorway when you find someone standing in the middle of your classroom, causing Molly to bump into your back.

“There you are!” Mat exclaims when he notices you and Molly enter the room. “I’ve been waiting here for, like, 10 minutes. Why do girls take so long in the bathroom together?”

You let out a nervous laugh. Molly stands at your side, glancing from Mat to you and back to Mat. You can tell she’s connecting the dots as the left corner of her smirk.

“Where else would we gossip about you?” Molly teases, snapping your attention away from Mat. You elbow her in her side, whispering her name scoldingly.

Mat rolls his eyes playfully, “Aww, Molls. Writing our initials in a heart on the bathroom wall again?”

You freeze at his comeback. Is he flirting with Molly? You try your best to remain calm. He’s Mat Barzal, he flirts with everyone.

“What are you doing in here anyway, Barzy?” Molly asks as she further enters the room, setting her briefcase on the desk and leaning up against it. She eyes you, as you haven’t taken one step further into the room. “Don’t you have a PE class to teach?”

Mat stiffens at the question, looking from Molly to you. He fumbles to start his response, “I, uh--” he looks to his immediate left and right, searching for an answer. “I needed a pen.”

Molly barks out a laugh, “a pen?” She turns to you, raising her eyebrows with a pointed look. “Did you hear that, Y/n? He needs a pen.”

You don’t respond to Molly, your body moving on autopilot towards your desk. “Here, I have a pen you can borrow!” You grab the first pen you get your hands on from the container on your desk and hold it out to him, trying your best to keep your hand steady.

Mat’s cheeks grow a rosy tint that matches your own. With a smile he takes the pen, finally looking it over. “Are you sure you won’t miss this one?” The smirk returns to his lips.

You furrow your brows, looking down to the pen he’s holding. It’s a purple glitter pen--your favorite pen. You shrug your shoulders, playing it off as no big deal, “Yeah, no worries. Keep it as long as you need.”

You spare a glance at Molly across the room, and you can tell she’s trying her very hardest not to laugh. The daggers you shoot at her with your eyes fail to get her to control her face.

“Thanks, Y/n, I appreciate it,” he says sweetly, giving you his million-dollar smile that makes all the lunch ladies swoon. “I’ll see you at Lunch Duty?”

You nod enthusiastically, “Totally. See you then.”

Mat stalls for a few seconds, shifting back and forth on his two feet before lifting the pen in another silent thank you. You try not to blush as you give a small wave goodbye, and he leaves the room.

Molly finally blows, erupting into laughter. You turn your attention towards her, a confused expression on your face. “What?”

“I guess that answers my question!” Molly exclaims, wiping an escape tear of laughter from her cheek.

You shake your head, placing your hands on your hips, “What question?”

“Which guy you’re dressing up for,” Molly explains as if it’s clear as day. “Seems to me like you’ve both got it bad.”

You blush again--probably for the 50th time in the last 10 minutes. “That’s it,” you huff. “No more glue for you.”

**

When 12:30 rolls around, Molly takes your class of kindergarteners to the Music Room while you head to the cafeteria for Lunch Duty. There’s nothing glamorous about watching elementary schoolers struggle to open their zebra cakes and milk cartons, but, for some reason, it’s your favorite time of day.

“Miss Y/n!” A voice cheerily calls out to you as you enter the cafeteria, and your gaze instantly lands on the source. That voice could pull you out of a coma. You could pick out that voice in a filled stadium of a Nickelback concert.

Mat waves at you from across the room, pulling out the chair next to him as if to tell you to come sit. You smile and wave back, making your way to him with your lunchbag in hand. It’s your Wednesday ritual to have lunch together, since it’s the only day of the week you are scheduled for Lunch Duty at the same time.

You sit gracefully in the chair next to Mat and set your bag on the table. Mat instantly reaches for it, spinning it one way then another as he searches for the zipper. You grab the lunch bag from his hands and pull it back to your side of the table.

“Excuse you!” You exclaim, playfully.

“Come on, Y/n, I’ve been waiting a week for this!” Mat whines, no better than one of your kindergarteners.

You peek into your bag making sure you have his treat, “Okay, okay.” You reach into the bag and close your fist around the circular fruit that you made sure to pack in your lunch--just like you do every Wednesday.

Mat shoves his hand in the big pocket of his backpack, then looks at you with an eager smile. “Ready? 1...2…” You both bring your hands out of your bags on 3, holding out the respective items for each other.

In the palm of your hand is a Cutie brand clementine, sticker already peeled off. You never really understood why Mat loves these so much, or why he never just buys them for himself, but you’ve been swapping lunch treats since the beginning of the school year.

You were sitting at the lunch table that was angled perpendicular to the student tables in the cafeteria. It was your first Lunch Duty of the year, so you made sure to get in the cafeteria before any of the students came in.

Now that you and Molly were co-teaching this year, you wouldn’t be on Lunch Duty together like you were last year. You didn’t think you should be nervous, being that it’s just Lunch Duty and you already had a year of teaching under your belt, but still, not having the comfort of your best friend around you made you a little more on edge.

No one told you who was going to be on duty with you, so when the new gym P.E. coach, Mat Barzal, strolled into the cafeteria, you stiffened in your seat. You noticed him a bit last year, but it was your first year with your own class of students, and you wanted to focus on being a good teacher rather than good-looking coaches. Mat was new to the school, too, but he seemed to be quick to make friends, talking to anyone around him. Like, anyone.

Like, even a first grader with a hockey AND a superhero obsession that wanted to know which NHL team each superhero would play for. You had eavesdropped on his answers while you were standing near them in the hallway.

(You remember this, because you had to hold yourself back from interjecting when he told the student that Superman would play for the Islanders. He would obviously be a Ranger.)

When he walked into the cafeteria that day, he strolled over to you and sat right down in the chair next to yours, jumping into conversation. You were munching on carrots when you realized that he had yet to pull out any food for lunch.

“Are you hungry?” you blurted out, interrupting whatever thought he was rambling on about while you were...you wouldn’t say staring...more like analyzing.

He deadpanned, “Yeah, but I’ve got some snacks back in the gym. I’m just going to eat them later.”

You shook your head, finding his answer unacceptable. “Here,” you said, looking into your lunch bag for anything to give him. “Do you like clementines?”

A smile spread on Mat’s face, “My mom used to buy them for me and my sister when we were kids. I haven’t had one in forever.”

You handed the fruit to him before he could protest. He accepted it graciously. “I’m Mat, by the way.”

“Y/n,” you told him.

The next week, you made sure to pack a clementine in your bag just in case he didn’t have a lunch again. You tried to hide the disappointment when you walked towards the table and saw that he didn’t actually forget this time.

That is, until you noticed the silver wrapper of a Fruit Roll-Up on the table in front of the empty chair.

“I wasn’t sure what flavor you liked, or if you even like these, but, like, everyone likes these,” Mat explained and you couldn’t hide your blush.

After sitting down next to him, you reached into your bag and pulled out the clementine, sliding it across the tabletop to him. Week after week, this unspoken trade agreement continued, neither one of you having forgotten yet.

You take the Fruit Roll-Up from his hand as he swipes the clementine and starts peeling.

“Oh, it’s the tongue-tattoo one!” You cheer, unrolling the fruit leather from the plastic film. Mat nods enthusiastically, but doesn’t speak, his mouth already full with slices of clementine.

You tear the fruit roll up in half and hold the half with the skull “tattoo” to him.

“No, Y/n, this is our trade. It’s yours,” he pushes your hand back, but you roll your eyes.

“I don’t need the whole roll, and the skull would suit you better,” you persuade him. “Just take it.”

With a smile, Mat takes the half and holds it to the light to find the skull printed in food dye. You hold up your half to tilt the crown “tattoo” to the right angle.

“Okay, ready?” You ask, and Mat nods. “One...two…”

On three, you press the sugary roll to your tongues and hold for a few seconds, making sure it’s long enough for the dye to transfer. You and Mat have done this enough times to know that the sweet spot is around 7 seconds.

Now facing each other in your chairs, you each stick out your tongues to show the other your tattoos. Mat lets out a loud laugh, and can’t help but mirror his reaction. You love this with Mat--getting to goof around with someone and finally laughing again.

Your last relationship ended nearly a year ago, and it left you devastated. You had dated Ryan all through college, and you thought he was going to propose after graduation. Little did you know, he had been applying to medical schools in London, rather than where you were in Seattle. He was never planning forever with you like you were with him.

Needless to say, it’s made you hesitant to start dating again. You don’t trust your instincts with reading people and you definitely don’t trust men.

“Here,” Mat hands his half back to you.

You squish your nose up at him, “Ew, your spit is all over it!”

Mat rolls his eyes playfully and holds the rollup even closer to your face, making you laugh. You try to bat his hand away, but he catches your hand with his free one instead.

“Oh please, it’s just a little slobber. Same as kissing!” He jokes, but the way he’s holding your hand and so easily talking about kissing makes you tense up. You feel like you’re 16 again, developing your very first school-girl crush with the way he’s stirring up dormant butterflies.

You look away, hoping to conceal your now very rosy cheeks, and Mat, thankfully, pretends not to notice. “Fine, mine now,” he shoves the whole rollup in his mouth, and your laughter breaks up the tension in your chest. You fall into easy conversation filled with laughter and banter, and it’s like the room full of rambunctious elementary schoolers doesn’t even exist.

**

II. “don’t you worry your pretty little mind, people throw [kickballs] at things that shine”

“Life just makes love look hard, Y/n,” Molly tells you. You came into school this morning looking down bad, and Molly was quick to figure out the root of the issue.

You saw Ryan last night. With a girl. Wearing a ring on her finger. You knew exactly what ring it was too, as his grandmother had showed it to you at Christmas one year and explained that it would be Ryan’s to give to the one he wanted to spend forever with. At the time you could’ve bet your life that his “one” was you.

You mope in your desk chair, “I know. It took him less than a year to meet someone new, fall in love, and commit. Love isn’t hard, but maybe I’m just hard to love.”

Molly gives you a sad look and opens her mouth to respond, but she is cut off by your classroom door opening. Your already glum face contorts into a sour expression when you see who has entered your classroom.

Alexa.

You spare a glance at Molly, who is already glaring at the 4th grade teacher. You try to hold back the chuckle that is bubbling in your throat. Alexa started working at Cornelia Street Elementary at the same time as you and Molly, but unlike you and your co-teacher, you were not fast friends.

Maybe it was her snarky attitude, or the way she told you and Molly to your faces that “kindergarten teachers are glorified babysitters” on the first day you met her. Either way, you and Molly were not fans.

“Hello, ladies!” Alexa screeches in a high-pitched voice.

Molly deadpans, “Whatever you want, the answer is no.”

Alexa’s nose scrunches in distaste, “I don’t want anything, Molls. I’m here to see if you both have signed up for the teacher-student kickball game next Friday.”

Molly winces at the use of her nickname, “Yes, Alexa. If you had just looked at the sign-up Google Sheet, you would’ve seen that both mine and Y/n’s names were already on the list.”

Alexa shrugs, brushing off Molly’s aggressive tone, “Well, good. I hear that Coach Barzal and Coach Beau will be team captains this year.”

Your body has a visceral reaction to hearing ‘Coach Barzal’, like your ears are rejecting the sound of her witch voice speaking his name. Molly flips her gaze in your direction, giving a smirk.

“Yes, Mat told Y/n the other day that he is going to be a team captain,” Molly lies between her teeth. He never told you that, but if there’s one thing Molly knows, it’s how to get under Alexa’s skin.

And she does. Alexa’s face pinches before clearing her throat, “It’s a shame none of us can have him, isn’t it?”

You and Molly mirror each other with confused expressions. “What do you mean?” you question.

“I mean, section 34.12B in the School Handbook,” Alexa replies as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Molly rolls her eyes, “And what is section 34.12B in the School Handbook?”

Alexa’s lips curl smugly, “Section 34 is the Teacher Code of Conduct, silly. And rule 12B clearly states that teachers working in the same school are not allowed to intermingle romantically or, well, otherwise. Any infraction will result in one of the teachers being immediately transferred to another school in the county.”

Your stomach drops, and Molly looks at you with a sorrowful expression.

“Didn’t either of you read the handbook when you started?” Alexa asks condescendingly. In truth, neither you nor Molly read that brick of a handbook. If you remember correctly, you think you ended up using it as a doorstop in your old classroom last year. No clue what happened to it after that.

“Of course we read it,” Molly, again, lies. “We’re just not psycho enough to have it memorized.”

Alexa glares at Molly. “I didn’t memorize it. I just recently refreshed my memory after talking to Coach Barzal the other day. He had asked me to get drinks with him, so I wanted to see what the policy was on dating colleagues.”

You whip your head to Molly, a confused expression on your face. Molly takes your reaction in stride and stands from her seat at her desk.

“This has been so fun, Alexa,” Molly walks towards the 4th grade teacher at the classroom door, who takes the hint and starts backing up. “But we have to prepare for a day of babysitting, so if you don’t mind…”

Molly backs Alexa out of the doorway and shuts the door in her face. She leans back on the door to find you sitting with a sad puppy look on your face.

“I’m sure she was bullshitting like she always does,” Molly tells you.

You sigh and slump into your chair. An airy chuckle escapes Molly’s lips and you flick your eyes to her face, wondering what could possibly be funny.

“What? Why are you laughing?”

Molly shakes her head, muffling more laughs.

“Come on, spit it out.”

“It’s nothing,” Molly starts, a smile growing on her lips. “I just fucking knew it.”

You furrow your brows, “Knew what?”

“Knew you had a thing for Coach Barzal.”

**

You really don’t want to play kickball, if you’re being honest. You always hated gym class growing up, because you weren’t necessarily skilled in hand-eye coordination. The only reason you signed up for this student-teacher kickball game for the upper grades was for Molly. And...someone else.

Mat and his co-coach, Tito, are standing in the middle of the gym giving instructions to the 4th and 5th grade classes. The rules are simple: kick, run, and no cheap shots. You’re not sure if 4th graders were capable of taking cheap shots, but you realize that this rule might not be directed at them. If you’ve learned anything over the last year or so of teaching, it’s that adults are just really big Big Kids.

Once they finish explaining to the students and teachers how the game will work, Mat announces that it’s time to pick teams. The students are counted off by twos for their teams to make sure no kid feels like they’re being picked last--especially by the teacher--but the teachers are to be specifically chosen by the captains.

Tito, the captain of the A team, scans the crowd of teachers for his first pick. “Mr. Kessler,” Tito picks the 3rd grade teacher first. It’s a great first pick, since David Kessler apparently played sports in college.

Mat looks at the group like he’s searching for someone, and his eyes land on you. The right corner of his lips pulls up into a smirk. Your palms start sweating--either due to the nerves of feeling like you’re back in grade school again, or from the way he is looking at you.

“Mr. Peterson,” Mat’s gaze leaves yours as he picks the 5th grade parapro. Again, you don’t think it’s a bad idea to start setting up the team with the best players before moving on to, well, you.

The two coaches go back and forth until all of the seemingly more athletic teachers are assigned teams. When it’s time for Tito to pick again, his eyes land directly on you. You look to your left, then to your right, then behind you, just to make sure he wasn’t looking through you to someone else. But no one else looked like they were paying enough attention to be the one he was focusing on.

A smirk draws up Tito’s lips as he looks at Mat. Mat rolls his eyes and pushes his shoulder, making Tito teeter a bit. “Just pick, man,” Mat urges, and Tito looks back at you.

“Molly,” Tito chooses, and you release a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

Molly lets out an airy laugh and nudges you with her elbow, “Damn, they’re splitting us up.”

You roll your eyes, but on the inside your stomach flutters at the thought of being chosen by Mat. He glances your way every so often that you think it might be coming, but you try to keep your cool.

“Umm,” Mat starts, like he’s about to think out loud. “I’ll pick…” Mat’s eyes scan the group and he stops on you for a brief moment, but passes you over. “Alexa.”

Your heart drops into your ass.

You look to Molly, hoping that her usual cool and collected demeanor will level you, but she’s speaking lowly to Tito with furrowed brows.

“Y/n, you’re on my team,” Tito calls out next. You make your way towards the rest of the A team, and, despite the voice in your head screaming ‘don’t look at him, don’t look at him’...you look at Mat, gauging his reaction.

He looks completely unbothered. A smile is even gracing his face. It’s not like you thought he was necessarily interested in you, but, fuck, you at least thought he liked you better than Alexa. And now you’re wondering if there was any truth to her comments in your classroom last week.

Once the teams are sorted out, the captains flip a coin to decide who will kick first. Tito calls heads while the coin is in the air, and sure enough the coin lands on heads. Tito calls a huddle while Mat gets his team organized into positions.

“Alright team, listen up,” he starts, clapping his hands once. “We need a strong offensive start.”

The students jump around excitedly as Tito lines them up along the gym wall behind the designated “home plate”. He orders the team with one teacher kicking after every few students.

Molly is in the front of the line with Thomas, an eager 4th grader ready to play. He walks to the plate, backs up a few steps, and waits for Mat to pitch the ball. Mat winds up before releasing the ball in a (relatively) straight line to Thomas.

Thomas runs up to the ball, going for the kick, and….he misses. Tito jogs up to him, squatting to his level. “It’s okay, bud, let’s try again. You can do it, just keep your eye on the ball.”

The little boy nods and steps back up to the plate. Tito nods at Mat who winds up and rolls the ball once more. A little more cautiously this time, Thomas runs for the ball. He swings back his left foot and propels it forward, making contact with the ball and sending it soaring towards Mat.

Mat lets the ball drop in front of him, fumbling around to pick it up while Thomas runs to first base. Once he’s about halfway there, Mat tosses the ball to one of the fifth graders who is guarding the base. Thomas, unsurprisingly, is safe.

A few more students and teachers take turns kicking the ball, and before you know it, there are two students and Molly on base with two outs on the board. You were hoping that you would be able to linger in the back of the line long enough to avoid taking a turn, but Tito calls you up to the plate.

“Okay, Miss Y/n, bring ‘em home!” Tito encourages, and you roll your eyes at him.

“Doubtful,” you respond. Walking up to the plate, you make eye contact with Mat, waiting for him to roll you the ball. He takes a deep breath and raises his eyebrows to you.

“Ready?” He calls out.

You shake your head, “No, but do I have a choice?”

Mat laughs. ‘You got this!” he tells you, and winds up to roll the ball. Maybe he does it on purpose, but when he rolls the ball, it veers off to the left.

“Come on, Barzy, give her something she can work with!” Tito chirps, as Mat jogs to grab the ball from one of the students that picked it up.

Instead of returning to his makeshift pitcher’s mound, Mat strides towards you, catching you off guard.

“What are you doing, Mat?”

“You looked nervous,” he says. “Thought you could use a better pep talk than Beauvis over there.”

“It’s...elementary school kickball,” you say with a laugh.

Mat rolls his eyes, “This is a very serious game, Y/n. There’s a lot at stake.”

The smirk that forms on his lips sends a ripple down your spine. “Like what? A pizza party?” you joke.

Mat pushes your shoulder playfully, and a shout erupts from the sidelines. You both look to where Tito is standing with his arms raised in question. “Quit messing with my teammate, Barzal!” Tito yells.

Mat waves him off. “Keep your eye on the ball, and I’ll roll it slowly. Kick with the inside of your foot to get more distance, and, for the love of God, take off those dumb sandals.”

You look down at the strappy sandals on your feet. “What? They’re cute and comfortable!“

Mat rests a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. “Cute until you break an ankle. Just trust me and do it, Miss Y/n!”

You roll your eyes and kick your shoes off to the side while Mat backs up to the middle of the gym. You step up to the plate again and Mat winds up his pitch. The ball rolls in a straight line towards you, and you take his advice by kicking the ball from the inside of your foot. It’s a hard kick, too, so the ball soars over towards second base.

“RUN!” Tito yells from the sidelines, urging everyone on base to get moving. The student that was on 3rd base waddles home, scoring a run for your team, while the fielders scramble to get the ball.

There are some mishaps in passing the ball between the 4th and 5th graders in the field, so Molly is able to run home as well as you round first base. You look to Mat to find that he’s yelling at you to run to second, despite being on your opposing team, which coincides with the screams from Tito behind you. Now you're really thankful you took off those sandals.

You take off from first base towards second base, when out of the corner of your eye, you see Alexa grab the ball straight out of a 4th grader’s hands. She winds her arm back and throws the ball right at you, probably as hard as she can by the sting of contact on your left arm.

“Out!” Alexa yells as you slow your pace to a stop. “That’s three!”

The teams start shuffling as they switch from field to kicking and vice versa. You stay in your place, figuring you’ll just linger in the “outfield” anyway, while Molly comes up to you.

“That bitch is a dirty player,” Molly spits, turning to glance at Alexa. “Did you see how she just ripped the ball from a kid? Geez.”

“It’s just the game,” you brush it off, not wanting to seem fazed by how she so obviously was out to get you. You don’t realize Mat walks up to you and Molly until you feel a hand rest on the small of your back.

“Are you okay?” Mat asks, moving his hand to gently brush the red spot on your arm where the ball hit you.

You try not to blush at the contact as you nod and wave him off, “Yeah, yeah, I’m good.”

“Tough play, but it was a great kick,” Mat tries to be encouraging. “Who knew Lex could hustle like that.”

You wince at the nickname and look at Molly, who is sporting a scowl.

“Lex could’ve knocked a kid unconscious if she had missed,” Molly retorts, and Mat clears his throat awkwardly and removes his arm.

He shrugs his shoulders, “Yeah, I guess she could’ve.” There’s a brief pause and you hear Tito in the background positioning his students on the field. “So, Y/n--”

“Mat--I mean, Coach Barzal!” Alexa’s voice rings through the gym, interrupting Mat. “Come over here!”

“I think you should get back to your team, Mat,” you tell him. “Wouldn’t want to keep your star player waiting.”

He frowns at you, but nods, “Yeah, guess so.”

You didn’t mean to sound jealous--you really have no right to be. You weren’t even sure why you were so affected by the idea of Mat and Alexa. It’s not like there is a Mat and Y/n.

Well, maybe you do know why. You watch as Mat jogs over to his team, giving each kid a high five and circling them up for a pep talk. You can hear their laughs and cheers at his words of encouragement, and you smile involuntarily. He is so good with the kids and he really cares about them--you can tell that he puts his heart into what he does.

“Ready, team?” Tito’s voice breaks you out of your thoughts. The rest of your team cheers in response and Tito starts the next inning.

The rest of the game flies by with excitement. You all only make it a few more innings before it’s time for the kickball game to end and everyone to finish out their Friday school day. Tito was overjoyed, to put it lightly, when his A Team won the game, and you could tell he was already taunting Mat with it. Mat, though extremely competitive throughout the game, was a good sport about it in front of his B Team.

Since your and Molly’s class would still be in their Music Class for another 10 minutes or so, you two stayed back in the gym while the 4th and 5th grade teachers got their students together.

“Well, ladies, it was a good game,” Tito says to you and Molly, giving you both high fives. “Sorry you got blitzed, Y/n.”

You let out a laugh, “Thanks Beau, but it wasn’t that bad, was it?”

Tito rubs his hand on the back of his neck, “I don’t know. Alexa went for blood with that hit.”

Molly scoffs, “Alexa is going to taste blood next time she pulls something like that.” You bump Molly with your hip, giving her a pointed look, but Tito just laughs at her comment and falls into conversation with Molly.

You eye the way Molly reacts to making Tito laugh, a wave of something resembling pride or satisfaction washing over her. You haven’t seen her look...giddy like this until watching her talk to Tito. Interesting, you think.

After a few minutes, you decide it’s time to pick up your kids from the Music Room, and you tell Molly she can just catch up with you in the classroom in a bit. You make sure to give her a suggestive smirk, glancing back and forth from her to Tito without him picking up on it. She rolls her eyes and waves her hand at you, gesturing to you to exit.

As you’re walking out of the gym, though, Mat calls out to you, jogging towards you before you can leave.

“Y/n! Wait up a second!”

You turn towards him as he slows down in front of you. “What’s up?”

“Um, where are you headed off to?” He asks, almost like he is stalling.

You furrow your brows, but respond, “Gotta pick up our class from Music.”

Mat nods, “Oh, yeah, for sure. Shouldn’t Molls be with you?”

You glance back at your friend, where she is laughing and twirling a strand of her hair while talking to the young coach. “Nah, I can handle it this time. She’s...preoccupied.”

Mat follows your gaze and lets out a snort, “Tito is so hopeless. He’s been gone for her for so long now.”

“Oh yeah?” You question, thinking maybe this could be a chance to set Molly up with a nice guy. If there’s one thing you’ve learned about Molly, it’s that she usually has terrible taste in men. “How do you know? Has he said something?”

Mat shakes his head, “No, but he doesn’t have to. I mean, guys are so much easier to read than girls. Like, if a guy is interested in a girl? You’ll definitely be able to tell.”

You have to keep your shoulders from slumping. You think back to all the times you’ve interacted with Mat, and you can’t recall one instance of Mat acting the way Tito is with Molly right now.

“Yeah,” you sigh, looking back at the pair. “I guess you’re right.”

**

OKKKKKKK SOOOOOOOOOOO TELL ME WHAT U THINK HELLO PLZ FEED ME BACK FEEDBACK LOOP FEED ME WHAT DO WE THINK?????????????????????????????????????

[yourlocalfictionalenthusiast]

IN LIFE, IN DEATH...

PART NINE

:Masterlist:

Warnings: swearing

A/N: It’s Unsaid Emily time, folks. Also sorry this took me forever to post, I’ve been sick. Feedback is always appreciated! <3

"This is fine."

You rambled quietly as you paced up and down Hollywood Boulevard.

The familiar sounds of the cars on the road and the conversations of people walking by calmed you down a little, but you were still dizzy trying to keep up with your own feet. 

Alex, who was watching you carefully from a bus bench cleared his throat, making you stop in your tracks. "Was what I think was happening in there actually happening?"

"Yes." You said immediately. "No. Maybe? I don't know."

Alex stared at you for a minute before sighing deeply and pinching the bridge of his nose. "(Y/n), I mean this in the most loving way possible, but you need to get your shit together."

"What?" You sputtered. Alex was usually so sympathetic and understanding when it came to giving you advice, but as he took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, you prepared yourself for one of his 'big brother' lectures.

"I'm sorry, but you've been so disgustingly in love with each other your whole lives. Except you were the only one who realized it. Then that summer you guys were practically glued to each other, I thought that he finally figured it out too. I was just about to give Reg his twenty bucks..."

You shifted your weight as you thought back to that day at the beach, when you had stood there in the sand and let yourself think about what it would be like if Luke liked you back.

"But then he started ignoring you and being an idiot." Alex continued. "At first I thought that maybe he was just coming up with a way to tell you, but then it just never ended. It killed me to see how much it was hurting you, and I was all set to lock him in his guitar case."

You laughed a little at that and Alex smiled. “But judging by tonight, I think he realizes it now too.”

After spending so much time thinking Luke didn’t feel the same way, it was a reflex to try to deny it or come up with some excuse. But you realized that you really couldn’t anymore. You groaned loudly and plopped down on the bench.

“This isn’t fair.” You said. “I mean, I finally have an idea of what’s happening in his head just in time for us to die.. again.”

“That’s why you need to talk about it!’ Alex insisted. “Before anything else, you guys were best friends who told each other everything. Do you really want to cross over or whatever without telling him how you feel?”

Of course you didn’t. But you also didn't see the point of telling him if you were just going to disappear forever. What if you were misreading everything? Or what if you can’t figure out a way to play at the Orpheum and…?

You quickly pushed the thought out of your mind. You weren’t ready to think about any of that. With another groan, you leaned over onto Alex’s shoulder. “Al?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we’ll ever stop having boy problems?”

Alex laughed and you couldn’t help but join in. You wanted to pause this moment in time and just stay here with your best friend, far away from all your problems. But then there was a bright light and suddenly Willie was standing on the sidewalk in front of you.

“Alex, can we talk?”

You sat up straight and looked between the two of them, raising your eyebrows at Alex in a silent question. He nodded and you gave him a reassuring smile before poofing away.

 -

You wandered around the city for a while before heading back to the garage, frowning when you found it empty.

You knew that Reggie was probably inside with Ray or Carlos but Luke was usually always here at this time of the day. You looked over to the table to see Luke’s songbook sitting open and you frowned in confusion. Luke had been extra secretive with his songs since Julie read them at practice, so it was weird for it to be out in the open for anyone to see.

As you went to close it, you saw that it was turned to ‘Unsaid Emily’. You ran your finger over the words, your heart flipping as you looked at his little notes and scribbles in the margins. It looked like the edges of the paper were blotted with tears.

You now figured that he was at his parent’s and your heart ached for him. It was obvious from the way he disappeared to their house every moment he could that he wanted to reconnect with them but you didn’t know it was this bad. Waves of guilt washed over you. You knew he wasn’t mad at you, but you still felt a little guilty about pushing so hard about Bobby when all Luke wanted was for his parents to be proud of him.

You got an idea and gently ripped out the page, knowing that there was a finalized version in your journal that Luke could have. But you knew that his parents having the version with his own handwriting and little notes as he workshopped it would be a lot more meaningful.

You folded it up and placed it in your pocket before poofing out of the garage and into the school hallway. You made a beeline for Julie's locker, getting there just in time to see Nick walking away with a blush and a triumphant smile.

Before you could even say a word, Julie put her phone to her ear and opened her mouth to scold you for showing up at her school again but she couldn't stop smiling long enough to get the words out.

"So, what did I miss?" You teased, making Julie roll her eyes.

"Nick might've just asked me out." She shrugged, trying to seem casual. "And I might've said yes."

You cheered and folded your arms. "I told you so."

"Shut up." Julie laughed and shoved her hand through the air next to your shoulder. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Your smile faded a little, having forgotten about your plan for a moment. You cleared your throat and carefully unfolded the paper to show Julie.

“I need your help.”

-

You and Julie walked side by side up the Patterson’s driveway.

You rubbed the page between your fingers and it seemed to get heavier in your hands with every step. You had been so sure that this plan would work but now you were actually here, you felt like this might be a bad idea.

You and Luke just got back to being friends again. Maybe even something more now after last night. The last thing you wanted to do was mess any of that up.

But you knew how much he missed his family. Even if he never said it out loud, you knew that he regretted leaving them more than anything.

Julie seemed to sense your thoughts and smiled at you reassuringly as you reached the porch. You handed Julie the paper as went to ring the doorbell. But before she could, Luke phased in front of the door.

“What are you guys doing here?” He asked, his eyes finding yours immediately.

Julie stepped forward a little. “I just, I wanted to know more about you guys so I asked (Y/n) to bring me here this time.”

“This time?” Luke repeated.

“We might’ve stopped by on your birthday.” She admitted.

“So you guys have been spying on me?” He scoffed at her. “After all your talks about boundaries?”

“This was my idea, Luke.” You explained, making him look over at you again. “I asked Julie to help because I’m worried about you.”

Luke’s jaw clenched slightly. “You don’t have to be.”

“Of course I do.” You said. “I understand. I know what it’s like to not be able to reach someone you love.”

Luke blinked rapidly, tears starting to brim in his eyes as he stared at you. He knew you were talking about your parents and Cece. But a little part of you meant him too, and how he had felt like a stranger to you for the better part of a year. “I wouldn’t even know what I’d say to her even if she could hear me.”

You pulled the song out of your pocket and smoothed out the paper before holding it out for him to see. “Maybe start with this.”

Luke instantly recognized it and there was a moment of heavy silence as he scanned the paper with his eyes before he slowly nodded. You handed it to Julie and pressed the doorbell, moving aside so she could stand on the welcome mat.

Luke fell back into the space next to you, watching the door with anticipation. A minute passed before it creaked open and Mitch stuck his head out. He greeted Julie and she introduced herself before clearing her throat.

“I believe you had a son named Luke?”

A look of pain crossed Mitch’s face but he nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

“Your son’s band used to play in my family’s garage.” She said as she stroked the song between her fingers. “I came across this song that he wrote and I figured you might be interested.”

“Yes, of course.” Mitch opened the door and invited her in. You and Luke followed behind her closely. You looked all around the living room, smiling when your eyes fell on a picture that was propped up on a small table. It was taken on the day you both started high school. You were squishing Luke’s cheeks with your hand as he protested, although there was a bright smile on his face.

It warmed your heart to know that Emily had kept that picture after all this time. You looked back at Luke to see him already looking at you with an almost wistful look on his face.

Julie glanced at the picture before asking Mitch, “Do you have any other children?”

Mitch shook his head and the room got quiet for a second before Emily came in. “Did I hear the doorbell?”

Luke instantly tensed behind you, unconsciously taking a step back. You reached out and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before letting so just as fast. But before it could even fall back to your side, Luke wrapped it back around his.

You held onto him a little tighter than necessary, keeping him as close to you as possible because you couldn't even imagine how hard this moment was for him. Emily gave Julie a warm smile as she tucked herself into Mitch’s side.

“Julie lives in the place where Luke and the band used to rehearse.” He clarified. “She was just telling me that she found a song he wrote.”

“It’s about a girl named Emily.” Julie said as she looked down at the paper.

Emily gasped a little as she stepped forward slowly. “I’m Emily.”

“Then I think your son wrote this song for you.” Julie handed the song over and then stepped back slightly, giving them space to read it. The air became charged with emotion as they began crying, the paper shaking in Emily’s hands.

You knew the basics of what happened that night, but as you stood there, it was like a movie reel started playing and you could almost see Luke storming out, ignoring his mom calling out for him and running away until he got to the studio.

You remembered holding him in your arms later that night as he cried tears of frustration, sadness, and worry and before you knew it, you were doing it again. You dropped his hand and wrapped your arms around him and he immediately buried his head into your shoulder, sniffling quietly.

“Thank you.” You heard Emily say tearfully and you pulled away just enough to see her pressing the paper tightly against her chest.

Julie gave her a watery smile, wiping away tears of her own as she continued talking to them. Just as Emily laughed, Luke disappeared from your arms and you heard the sharp pop of him phasing away.

You looked at the spot where he was just standing and a part of you wanted to follow but you knew that he probably needed space. You followed Julie out the door and you walked beside each other in comfortable silence, each of you processing everything that just happened.

“Thank you for helping.” You said.

“Of course.” Julie smiled.

“So, when’s the date?” You teased as you wiggled your eyebrows.

“Remember what I said about shutting up?” She rolled her eyes but there was a bright smile on her face.

-

It was just after sunset when you got back to the house.

You couldn't remember the last time you had laughed as hard as you did when you were with Julie. It was still new to you, having a friend like her. You connected on so many levels and it only added to the guilt of keeping the secret about the stamps from her. 

Just as you reached the walkway up to the front door, Julie nodded her head towards the porch where Luke was leaning against the railing. She mouthed ‘go’ before walking through the garden gate that led to the studio.

As soon as she was gone, you hopped up the stairs and cleared your throat. “I’m sorry. I know I overstepped and-”

“No, I just had to leave.” Luke stepped forward. “That was…I mean, how do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You just always know what I need.” He said. “I never really had any regrets other than running out on them. I’ve been wanting to do something about it but I didn’t know how.”

You smiled. “You would’ve done the same for me.”

“Still,” Luke insisted. There was that look again. The same one that he gave you on stage, the one you saw last night just before Alex came in. The one he gave you the night he ran away. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” You almost whispered, only now realizing how close you had gotten. Luke was only a few feet in front of you, and he looked almost nervous. Just as he stopped in front of you, a jolt flashed across his chest, sending him backward into a pillar.

He groaned and you winced in sympathy as you raced up to him. “Are you okay?”

Luke nodded, but he looked a lot paler than usual. “We’re running out of time.”

Just then, Julie came storming up the walkway, her fists clenched at her sides. She didn’t even bother looking at either of you as she marched up the stairs and disappeared behind the door.

“I’m guessing Alex and Reg told her.” You said and looked back at Luke to see him rubbing the sore spot on his chest. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

Even before you walked through the doors, you could feel the cloud of sadness, guilt, and regret hanging in the air. You couldn’t imagine how Julie was feeling right now. She had just gotten back into music again after losing her mom and now she was losing more important people and her band all at once.

You walked Luke over to the couch and plopped on the ground next to the coffee table, watching absentmindedly as Alex tried to balance his drumsticks on his nose. Then trying not to laugh when Julie came storming in and he fell to the floor.

“I think you broke Alex.” Reggie said.

The scowl on Julie’s face didn’t falter, and she looked pointedly at each of you. 

“Do you guys want to cross over or what?” She asked, her arms crossed as you all stayed quiet. “Get it together!”

“They’re never going to let us play the Orpheum.” Luke said. “We’re nobody.”

“Our video is going viral, that counts for something!” Julie insisted. “This isn’t over. We were brought together for a reason, to help each other.”

You found yourself nodding along with what she was saying, her enthusiasm eating away at the feeling of hopelessness you’d been carrying around. You could tell by the slight smile on Reggie and Luke’s faces that they felt the same way.

“Yeah, but like Luke said, people don’t just play the Orpheum because they want to.” Alex said.

“People don’t.” She agreed, a hint of a smirk on her face. “But ghosts do.”

-

December 1994

It was a rainy night in L.A.

The flashes of lightning and occasional roar of thunder echoed through the garage so loudly that any hope you had of focusing on studying was long gone.

You sighed and shoved your textbooks into your bag before leaning back on the couch and staring at the ceiling. The stress of studying had started to give you a headache but you felt a little more relaxed as you stared at white Christmas lights hung across the loft's railing. 

There was a loud bang on the side of the building and for a second, you thought it was just another clap of thunder. But then the garage doors swung open.

You were frozen in fear for a moment before you made out Luke’s figure in the dim light. He didn’t seem to see you as he stormed in and threw his backpack on the ground, making its contents spill out. It wasn’t until you cleared your throat that he spun around with wide eyes.

“Hey.” You said. “What are you doing here so late?”

Luke's eyes held yours for a minute before he slowly crossed the room and climbed onto the couch next to you. He wiggled around until he was comfortable on his stomach with his head in your lap and his arms tucked under his chest.

“Rough day?” You asked, resisting the urge to laugh as he let out a deep breath and sank further into you. You could feel his pulse racing and his breath was uneven, like he just ran all the way from home.

You felt your stress from before disappear completely as you stared down at him. Ever since you realized your feelings for him, it was hard to not overthink these kinds of moments.

Before you could stop yourself, you reached a hand down and brushed his messy, slightly damp hair away from his forehead.

His breath hitched and you mentally cursed yourself.

It was no secret that Luke was a touchy person. Ever since you were kids, he had a habit of making people his personal pillow or just absentmindedly grabbing people’s hands and shoulders. But maybe this was a step too far.

Before you could pull away, Luke nuzzled his head back into your hand until you got the hint and softly ran your fingers through his hair. The sinking feeling in your stomach turned into butterflies and you cleared your throat.

“Seriously, you okay?” You whispered.

Luke being this quiet worried you. Normally he would be rambling on about a new song or complaining about school. But now he just seemed deflated.

You gripped his arm with your free hand, muttering a soft ‘hey’ until he finally turned over. His green eyes flickered open and you saw that they were bright red, along with his nose.

“Oh, Lu.” Your heart sank. “What happened?”

Luke shook his head, tucking the side of his face into your hand.

“You feel warm.” You said as felt his forehead with your other hand. “Luke, please tell me what happened?” 

You knew that if he wanted to tell you, he would, and you shouldn't push him. But you had only seen Luke cry a handful of times in your life, and it always broke your heart.

It felt like hours before he finally spoke, his voice rough and heavy. “I ran away.”

“You-?” 

A dozen emotions hit you all at once. The first being disbelief, then anger, then sympathy. Of course, you knew how much his parents not supporting his dream was killing him, and he had mentioned running away before. But you never thought he would actually go through with it.

“What happened?” You asked quietly.

“I failed another test.” Luke said as he sat up, his voice getting a little louder and tears returning to his eyes as he ranted. “I just spaced on studying and she freaked out, threatened to make me quit again or sell my guitar and I just kinda lost it. I tried, (Y/n), I just-”

“Okay, hey, it’s okay.” You ran your hand through his hair again in an attempt to calm him down. You would freak out about how very obvious you were acting later but he clearly had a fever and looked like he was about to start crying again. “You need to get some rest. We’ll figure everything out tomorrow, I promise.”

“Stay here with me?” He asked and your heart felt like it was going to beat out of your chest but you nodded.

“Yeah, of course.” You went to get up and get a sleeping bag from the loft so he could take the couch but his hand gripped yours. He let go a second later as he leaned back, propping himself up against the armrest and gesturing for you to lay down next to him.

You knew that your face must’ve been bright red but you carefully climbed into the space between his body and the back of the couch. You slung your arm around his torso and rested your head against his chest.

After a few minutes, Luke started snoring quietly. You stared up at him, trying to resist the urge to pinch yourself. It wasn’t the first time you and Luke had cuddled, not by a long shot. There were countless sleepovers when you were kids and even during movie nights as you got older. 

But this was different. 

Any other night, you probably wouldn’t be able to sleep with all the thoughts racing around in your brain about what all of this meant. But between the soft glow of the lights, the sound of the rain hitting the roof and Luke’s steady heartbeat beneath you, you felt yourself drifting off.

-

In Life, In Death Taglist:

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[stardustedangel]

You’re Scared of That?

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pairing || steve rogers x fem!reader

word count || 2.1k

summary || you’ve always been perceived as fearless and independent by anyone who’s ever laid their eyes on you. little do they know that the littlest things can scare you.

warnings || cursing, fluff

author’s note || i really liked writing this so i hope you like reading it <3 ; do not repost my work

*gif does not belong to me*

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You’d always been an independent, strong person. Sure also maybe a little impulsive and going into things head first, but strong nevertheless. You never needed help from anyone and if you did? Well, you sure as hell weren’t asking for it. You wouldn’t even allow her boyfriend Steve to help you with anything. You’d rather figure it out for yourself and revel in the satisfaction of that.

A lot of people on the team admire that about you. How you could always solve any problem whether big or small. And they also admired how nothing seemed to make you cower in fear. You were their strong, fearless teammate. Well, that was until a special training day.

It was six in the morning when you woke up to the blaring of your alarm. You quickly shut it off and reached over to Steve’s side of the bed with your eyes closed. They peeled open when all you could feel was a cold space. That made you groan slightly. You hated waking up so early for training, but at least it was slightly more bearable when the first thing you would wake up to was a kiss from your love.

You figured he was in the compound’s kitchen, maybe getting in a quick breakfast before training started. You got out of bed taking a shower before putting on your gym clothes. You sluggishly made your way into the kitchen seeing Steve in there leaning against the counter with a hot cup of joe.

His back was facing you so you approached, rather ungracefully if I might add, and wrapped your arms around his waist, nuzzling your cheek into his back. You heard him set this mug down and rub his hands over your arms.

“Good morning, gorgeous. Did you sleep well?”

“I did, but I would’ve woken up better if you were there,” you pouted, though he couldn’t see, and kissed his shoulder blade.

Steve released himself from your grasp which made you jut your lip out more, but he quickly captured your lips with his. He pulled you against him and you wrapped your arms around his neck returning the kiss. It was when you lightly moaned into his mouth when you were interrupted. You and Steve both turned towards the sound of Bucky and Sam gagging.

Sam strolled into the kitchen with Bucky following behind. You heard Steve sigh as he returned to lean against the counter. He grabbed you until your back was resting against his chest. You crossed your arms annoyed and narrowed your eyes at the two.

Sam finished pouring coffee and turned towards the both of you. “Why don’t you guys find a room and stop sinning in the common space,” he dramatically motioned around him.

Steve rolled his eyes and tightened his grip around you. “Get a girlfriend and keep that same attitude.”

“Yeah,” Bucky dragged out, “we all know that won’t happen to Sam,” he teased with a smug grin. You and Steve laughed as Sam gave you all a blank stare.

“Ha ha ha,” Sam laughed dramatically before hitting Bucky upside his head to which Bucky responded with a scowl.

Sam quickly downed the rest of his coffee and clapped his hands together, “You all ready to get training going?”

You scoffed with a playful smile on your face, “We start in twenty minutes, or are you so eager to get your ass kicked?”

“Oh. So you think you can kick my ass? Mine? Okay, let’s head down there and settle this on the mat,” Sam spread his arms out in a challenging stance and a wide grin.

Bucky and Steve stood just watching the both of you with small grins on their faces, very amused at the interaction between the two. You removed yourself from Steve’s arms and opted to hold his hand in you. You started to make your way to the training room with a skip in your step.

“Follow me, boys, you’re about to watch me make a grown man cry.”

It was just the four of you heading down to the training room today seeing as everyone else was on a mission. You wish that there were more people here so that they could fully see you kick Sam’s ass with that smug grin on your face. Man, do you wish everyone could have been here today.

You let go of Steve’s hand and started to stretch a little with your eyes narrowed at Sam’s. Sam tried to return your stare with the same intensity, though it was slightly more playful than yours. You bring your thumb up to your neck and move it from right to left.

“Are you aiming to kill me,” Sam exclaimed. In response, you meekly shrugged your shoulders and returned to stretching.

While you were stretching Bucky and Sam were talking and you assumed Steve was behind you doing god knows what. You then felt fingers graze the skin of your waist that was left exposed in your gym attire. The fingers slightly ticked you and you giggled trying to get away from them to no avail.

“Steve,” you exclaimed with giggles clouding your speech, “let me go! I need to look big and bad so I can beat Sam,” you squirmed in his grip.

“Sorry, doll. I can’t keep my hand off of you,” he spun you around to bring your body against his.

“I thought we established no PDA in the common space. This is a common space,” Bucky deadpanned and Sam gagged.

You mocked both of them with a stupid look on your face and walked towards the map to start a sparring match with Sam.

“Good luck, doll. You won’t need it though,” Steve spoke before smacking your ass as you walked away. You looked back at him, ignoring the other two boys, and winked.

Now, who do you think the two other boys have their bets on? You. Steve isn’t just sure you’ll win cause you’re his girlfriend and Bucky isn’t just sure because you're his best pal’s girl, but also for the simple fact that you’re good at sparring. One of the best on the team, even. You were quick, smooth, and didn’t hesitate at all.

“You ready Wilson,” you asked as you shook your limbs out and rolled your neck releasing some tension.

“The real question is are you,” he retorted with a smirk. You shook your head back at him and readied your fists. Man..you were so ready to fuck Sam up. All in good fun of course.

You both started with some playful, loose jabs at each other. Trying to amp one another up even more than you already were. Bucky and Steve stood outside of the mat with smirks on their faces excited for what was to come. Steve always loved watching you fight. Your usual lighthearted exterior was replaced with a colder look and the way that your body moved made Steve’s head spin. He could never get enough of seeing you like this.

The atmosphere then shifted to something more serious. You started to hit harder and your moves became more agile. You were gracefully dodging the majority of Sam’s hits and the ones you didn’t have only grazed you. You had always been very quick and swift so Sam was having a little trouble keeping up with you. You were landing hit after hit, almost wasting time and wondering when you wanted to end Sam’s suffering.

“C’mon, doll. Don’t hurt Sam’s ego too much,” Bucky laughed.

“Shut up,” Sam calls out with a winded breath, “Your girl is fucking evil, Steve.”

Steve sighed lovingly while gazing at you, “My girl indeed.”

In the back of your mind you were shaking your head and laughing at the boys’ antics, but right now? You were deciding to cut Sam some slack. You put your left hand behind his neck and swept your feet underneath his, effectively knocking him off the ground. You then quickly maneuvered behind him and put him in a chokehold. Bucky and Steve gasped at home quickly. You took him down and the situation was so funny you started to laugh.

“Say, uncle, bitch. You can't stay like this forever,” you laughed with an evil grin on your face.

“Y/N, I will get out of this and then you will fear me.”

You laughed off his statement. “I fear nothing Sammy.”

You kept your strong grip on Sam’s neck and turned your head to the right a little, preparing to get comfortable until Sam decided to give up. You noticed something on the mat and once you registered what I was your heart started to race and your grip on Sam loosened completely.

“A spider!” You exclaimed jumping up from the mat and dramatically running behind Steve.

Steve’s eyes followed your movements and looked at you in total and utter confusion. He didn’t even know how to help since he didn’t know what happened. None of them did really. Steve looked at Bucky who was sharing the same look and they both gazed down at Sam while the mat. It wasn’t until Sam pointed at the spider on the mat that the realization dawned on them. Steve’s gaze went back to you and he was genuinely surprised that something like this scared you.

“You’re scared of that? Wow,” Sam scoffed, rubbing his neck and standing back up, “Didn’t you call me a pussy for not wanting to watch Annabelle.” Steve glared back at Sam with a look effectively shutting him up.

“Pal, he has a point. And we’ve never seen her like this,” Bucky said with a boyish grin and nodded his head towards you.

They really had never seen you this scared or even scared at all. Sometimes you felt worried about missions or felt really stressed when Steve was hurt, but those were things they understood. This one was not. You were obsessively running your hands all over yourself, feeling like something was crawling all over you. Your heart was still beating erratically and you didn’t know what to do.

Steve approached you and grabbed your hands, getting you to stop. You looked up and your eyes were glassy with stress and fear. Steve pulled you into him and stroked your back.

“Sweetheart, it’s just a small spider. You’re fine,” Steve tried reassuring you. Small chuckles left his mouth because he couldn’t hold them back.

“It was huge! Did we not see the same thing,” you asked, “and stop laughing!”

“It was small as hell, doll,” Bucky chuckled.

You looked at him from behind Steve and flipped him off with a shaky hand. You pulled yourself out of Steve’s arms and started pushing him towards the mat.

“Get rid of it so I won’t die,” you said bluntly with small sniffles.

“Y/N,” Sam paused and shook his head with a grin, “you’ve got to be kidding.”

“Do I look like I’m kidding, Sam? Stevie please,” you pleaded with a pout.

Laughs left Steve’s mouth and his stomach started to hurt. He couldn’t believe this situation. You were actually scared of something. His strong, fearless girlfriend was scared of spiders.

And not only that, but you finally asked him for help with something. That in itself had his chest swell with pride. Steve’s laughs died down and he wiped at the small tears that were filling his eyes.

“Alright baby, I’ll get rid of it now.”

Once the spider was fully disposed of, you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and wrap yourself around Steve.

“Thank you. You’re my hero,” you mumbled into his chest. You felt the vibrations of his laugh on your cheek.

You both didn’t even get a minute of peace before Sam spoke up. “Welp,” he paused till you were looking at him, “you’re a fucking loser. I won the match and you know what’s even more rewarding?”

Bucky answered for him as he pointed to the security cameras in the gym with a smirk, “This was all caught on camera, so everyone will know about this.”

“We’ll skip the rest of training today so sweet Y/N can rest,” Sam winked teasingly.

They both left the gym with a pep in their step, laughing at the defeated look on your face. You heard down the hall Sam yell out “winner” and after that silence fell into the gym. You rested your chin on Steve’s chest to look up at him and noticed the remnants of a smile on his face.

“I’m going to be embarrassed till the end of time,” you groaned, tightening your grip on Steve.

“It’s okay sweetheart,” he kissed your forehead and looked down at you with a small, teasing smile, “you look cute when you’re embarrassed.”

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taglist || @cloudystevie @donutloverxo @kyrarose16

(send me an ask if you want to be added <3)

[side-shawty]

Burn XIII (Stark!Reader)

XIII: More

Fandom: Marvel (MCU)

Type: series

Prompt/Summary: Love is everything.

Pairing(s): Peter Parker x Stark!reader, Tony Stark x daughter!reader

Requested? YES

I’ve been inactive for soooooo long that I understand if no one cares about it anymore BUT after a lot of writers block and some mental fragility I am BACK! And i will f i n i s h this series. Much love to you all <3

-Duckie

PREVIOUS CHAPTER

•

The ceiling was white.

Just like it was when you always woke up, white and cold with buzzing fluorescents. These were different though, they were dim not at all blinding.

Your guard was up immediately when you heard the beeping of machines nearby. You looked around and saw yourself hooked up to several monitors. An increasingly rapid beeping made it clear that one of them was a heart monitor.

The walls around you were all white. The outline of a door was visible on the left wall and you quickly began to remove all the wires and tubes from yourself frantically.

You had to leave. They couldn’t keep you here any longer. The just ... couldn’t.

When you finally freed yourself from the machinery you swung your legs over the side of the bed and saw your body covered in bandages big and small and fading bruises covered the visible skin.

You reached up and tentatively felt the bandage around your neck. You were praying that you had done enough damage that they couldn’t put that horrible device in again.

You shifted your weight so that you could hop off the bed, vaguely registering how soft it seemed.

“I wouldn’t do that,” spoke a voice overhead.

You almost wept, “FRIDAY?” You asked sitting back on the bed.

“Welcome home Miss Y/N,” she spoke reassuringly.

Suddenly heavy with relief you settled your elbows onto your knees and held your face in your hands.

“Oh my god. It was real,” you whispered to yourself, believing your escape had only been a dream.

You were stunned into silence and could hardly breathe properly.

“Would you like me to call Mr. Stark?” FRIDAY prompted.

“Please,” you responded, unable to say much more as tears began to wet your cheeks and bandaged palms.

It felt like only a few seconds until the white door slid open and your father, mother, and sister all sprinted in and right towards you.

You chanced getting off the bed to stand only to realize that your legs were extremely weak. If it had not been for your father scooping you into his arms, you would have fallen face-first onto the ground.

Pepper and Morgan were quick to also wrap their arms around you and you could only sob in the arms of your family as they began to cry along with you.

After what felt like forever you finally released each other. Your mother forced you to lie back down and they all sat with you. Tony to the left, Pepper on the right, and Morgan in your lap, her back against your chest clutching her Otto the octopus.

You waved your mother off when she attempted to tell Morgan that sitting on you could hurt. You missed having your little sister in your arms like this, besides she was beginning to nod off.

You finished the glass of water your Dad had given you and he took it, putting it on the white bedside table.

“What happened? How long was I…” You trailed off.

All of their expressions seemed to darken at the questions.

“After the gala,” Tony began, “that android that took you just vanished into thin air. We all searched for you but there was nothing. Your tracker all but died and you were in there for…” he paused like the next words would inflict physical pain, “for three more than weeks. And you’ve been unconscious for nine days.”

You didn’t speak as you processed the information. All you could do was squeeze a sleeping Morgan and Otto closer to your chest. You realized you were squeezing too hard when the girl shifted uncomfortably and forced yourself to relax as she slept.

It was all coming back to you in pieces, the experiments, that room, and—

“Where’s Harley?” You asked abruptly and Pepper gave you your answer.

“He’s safe. He was only unconscious for about a day and a half when you got back. He’s been recovering from malnutrition and minor injuries but he’ll be alright.”

You let out a relieved sigh at that.

“What about everyone else?”

“See I told you she’d be like this,” Tony said a bit exasperated to Pepper.

“I know, this one might be on me.”

“Oh, it’s definitely on you.”

You rolled your eyes, but the action strained them a bit, “What are you talking about?”

“You always ask about everyone else when you’re the one who needs the attention right now,” Tony said, and reached for your hand to hold it in his own, “It’s okay to be a little selfish at times like this.”

You nodded, knowing he would take no other response.

“But to answer your question everyone else is completely fine, we even got some information from that base. Some of which we will seriously talk about later,” Tony told you sternly.

You nodded again before recollecting something else, “What about Peter? He got shot,” you paused, “because of me.”

“We all know that boy would take a million bullets if it meant saving you,” Pepper said jokingly and you cracked the smallest of smiles.

“I’d do the same for him,” you said looking down at Otto and Morgan, playing with a loose multicolored thread.

“We know and we also know he’s anxious to see you. Everyone is actually but we told him he could be next,” Tony said.

“He’s here?” You asked.

“He hasn’t left.”

“Wait where is here?”

“The compound, had your white room revamped into a temporary recovery space,” Tony said and began gathering Morgan into his arms.

You were about to speak again when he added, “And to answer your next question it’s about 1 AM”

You smiled, “Thanks, Dad.”

“Of course.”

“We have to get this one to bed and I know Peter is probably anxiously waiting outside right now,” Pepper said beginning to stand, she walked up to you and placed a loving kiss on your forehead. Tony followed suit.

“We love you Firefly,” She told you.

“So much,” your father added and you could feel the tears attempting to well again.

“I love you guys too, thank you so much for not giving up on me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Tony said and the three of them bid you goodnight before exiting.

Before the door could even close Peter was in the room but he hesitated at the door. Almost jumping as it shut behind him.

He looked like a kicked puppy with messy hair and in sweatpants and a t-shirt with a terrible science pun. You held your arms out to him.

“Peter,” you spoke.

That was all it took for him to be at you in an instant and as soon as you were in the warmth of his embrace the tears you were holding back came rolling down your cheeks at full force. It wasn’t long before Peter was crying with you.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N/N,” Peter sobbed into your shoulder.

You shushed him lovingly, “It’s okay Pete, I’m okay.”

He pulled away from your shoulder as he sat as close as possible to you, holding your hands gingerly and kissing them.

“I should have protected you.”

You shook your head as you started into his red-rimmed eyes.

“No, this is not your fault. This is no one’s fault, okay?” You said and he nodded, you couldn’t be sure if he believed you or not.

“Oh god, I was so scared I would lose you, all that time. We never stopped looking, we did everything —“

“I know Pete, and I love you all for it,” You took your hands out of his in favor of holding his face.

“I just hate seeing you like this,” he said and turned his head to place a quick kiss onto your palm.

“These little cuts and bruises? I would still kick your ass on the training mat,” you told him and his light laughter ignited your own.

“I missed you so much,” he said.

“I missed you too, every day. You were one of the reasons I fought, I could never just leave you.”

There was a moment of comfortable silence before Peter spoke up again.

“I love you,” he said, looking deep into your dark eyes.

The lump in your throat made it impossible for you to respond so you did the next best thing. You took the hands on his face and moved them so your arms wrapped around his neck. You brought him to you slowly.

One of his hands cupped your cheek while the other rested on the small of your back.

The feeling of his lips finally connecting with your own was ethereal. You never thought you’d feel this again. So you let yourself get lost in it.

Something that started out sweet and innocent quickly became dangerously erotic, with dancing tongues and soon to be bruised lips. As he pulled you impossibly close to his chest you tangled your fingers into his hair.

You were sitting on his lap before you knew it, he was holding onto you as if you’d disappear if he let go for even a second. When you tugged his hair slightly he all but moaned into your mouth.

Pulling back you were both breathing heavy and you rested your foreheads against each other, smiling.

“So I guess it’s safe to say you love me back,” he teased.

“Without a doubt in my mind,” you said pulling him back in for another soft kiss.

•

NEXT CHAPTER

[bibliophilea]

Just a Flesh Wound - Ch. 2

Sorry for the wait on this chapter! I’m not sure when I’ll get to the next chapter, but I do intend to phinish this phic!

For @littlebadger.

ao3 | ffn

1 >2< 3 4 5 6

Danny's not doing so well.

It took Tucker, Sam, and Danny four hours to catch those cat-snake-ghost things — tassel-whatsits, he'll have to ask Sam what they're called later — and everything would have been fine if Valerie hadn't butted in, screaming about vengeance and death and whatnot.

Now, three hours later, Danny still hasn't managed to shake Valerie off his tail, and Tucker knows he must be tiring. None of them have gotten a break in seven hours, and it'll only take one slip up before Danny's got a hole in him they can't patch up, or Valerie takes him to her secret lair to do who knows what, or turns him over to Vlad, or—

Don't think about that.

"Remind me again why I can't just shoot at her, Tucker?" Sam growls. She's got Danny and Valerie in her scope, but her finger is very pointedly not on the trigger of the ecto-bazooka.

Tucker lists off his fingers. "One, because you might hit Danny. You're good, but not that good. Two, because you might hit Valerie, and Danny wouldn't like that. Three, because you'll blow our cover, which could blow his secret identity, and who knows how she'll react to that. Four, because—"

Sam sighs in frustration. "Alright, alright, I get it, Tuck."

"Hey, you asked." He raises an eyebrow.

"I know. It's just—" she growls. "I hate that we can't do anything! We can't even direct him to safety because she keeps getting in the way! She's going to hurt him if we can't get her off his tail or distract her or something!"

Sam throws her hands in the air, then flinches as one of Valerie's shots goes wide, hitting the parking garage across the street behind them. Dust kicks up from the impact, and it rumbles ominously. She's lucky that building's condemned, Tucker thinks, and the road workers are on break — otherwise she might hurt someone when it collapses—

Wait.

"Or something," Tucker mutters, before grabbing his binoculars and searching the sky for Danny and Valerie. He catches sight of them as Valerie shoots again, this one barely missing Danny and hitting the condemned parking garage again. It kicks up dust and debris, clouding his vision before Danny darts away again.

"What did you say, Tuck?" Sam asks.

"Or something! I've got an or something!" Tucker exclaims, dropping the binoculars so they hang from his neck. He fiddles with the Fenton phone in his ear, switching it from listen to talk and listen.

"Danny, we need to collapse the building."

"What?!" Two different voices ring out — Sam's beside him, and Danny's in his ear.

"Dudes, just trust me! We collapse the building, kick up a ton of dust you can hide in—"

"Then you can transform and stay invisible while we point Valerie away from you — Tucker, you're a genius!" Sam declares.

"But guys there's — there's people in there and — ah! Shit! — we can't just—"

"Dude, chill. It's the parking garage on the corner. The building's condemned. Just fly low so Valerie shoots at the base. We'll help take it down!" Tucker turns to Sam. "You ready to use that bazooka?"

Sam's grin is feral. "I thought you'd never ask!"

Danny doesn't speak, but he dives down to street level, goading Valerie into following him behind the condemned building with a stuck out tongue. Tucker runs along the street, Sam close behind, taking a good look at the condemned parking garage for the first time. There are no glass windows save for the four corners that hold the stairs and elevators. Most of those windows are gone, now — destroyed by ghosts or by ghost hunters or by kids looking to throw rocks at something that would break without consequence. It doesn't matter now — the building itself is half collapsed, huge chunks of concrete taken out of it as if from an explosion, leaving the broken steel rods within bare. What remains could collapse at any moment, and no one save the dead dares tread there.

He's glad the building is half-collapsed already — it makes finding the main supports keeping the rest of it up that much easier. He's so glad he took that engineering class.

"See that pillar over there?" Tucker asks, pointing into the collapsed side of the parking garage. "Take that one out first."

"On it," Sam says, readying the ecto-bazooka. With careful aim, she fires. The green-tinted ammo sails through the air, exploding against the pillar with a blast louder than a firework. The parking garage rumbles, and some of the lower floors cave inwards. As the greenish smoke clears, they see that half the concrete on the support is gone, the support itself bent inwards.

Sam's grin widens, and Tucker feels himself grinning with her. After hours of fruitless brainstorming, they can finally help Danny escape Valerie's rage!

Together, they destroy more supports, Tucker guesstimating which ones would help the building cave inwards, Sam expertly taking them out one by one. Tucker hears Danny's taunts and Valerie's screams of rage in his ears, and the sounds of impact and rumbles of the parking garage when Valerie's shots hit the building. Dust begins to fill the air. And the parking garage slowly, surely, begins to topple inwards.

Tucker has never seen a building collapse before. Not in person. He expected the dust and the noise, but he never expected there to be so much of it. He turns away as the dust comes billowing towards them — rips the Fenton phone from his ear as it emits a burst of feedback from the collapsing building and curls over himself — feels Sam yank him behind a concrete barrier and they huddle together, unable to see anything beyond the dust or hear anything beyond their less than controlled demolition—

"—can't hide forever, ghost!"

Tucker doesn't know how long it's been —two minutes? Five? Ten? — when he hears Valerie's voice over the buzzing in his ears. That's not good. Valerie should be gone by now. Danny can disappear and fly as a human, but not for long, especially after seven hours of non-stop fighting. He stands up from behind the concrete barrier, and sees Sam do the same out of the corner of his eye.

"He went that way!" Sam shouts and points.

"Inviso-Bill stole my PDA!" Tucker shouts.

Valerie pauses in the air, turning to look at them. "What?"

"Ph— Inviso-Bill stole Tucker's PDA!" Sam shouts.

"He went that way!" Tucker shouts and points.

Valerie shakes her head, growling in frustration, and points at Sam. "You. Uh, citizen. Just tell me where he went."

Sam nods, covering Tucker's mouth. Tucker resists the urge to lick her hand. "He went that way." She points down the street. "Towards the beach."

Tucker pulls Sam's hand away from his mouth.

"And he stole my PDA! My poor Jessica!" He throws his face into his hands, lamenting the loss of his PDA. He remembers when Technus stole and took over his poor PDA, and he sniffles a little. Every good lie has a kernel of truth, he's learned. And it's more important than ever that he sells this lie.

"Ugh, whatever, Fo— uh, citizen, who I definitely don't know. Um. Thanks for the tip." And then Valerie flies away, down the street at first, but steadily rising until she clears the rooftops. She then changes her bearing, disappearing behind the library.

"Man, I thought she'd never leave."

Tucker and Sam jump. They look down to see Danny sitting between them, slumped against the concrete barrier. He looks wiped. His eyes are closed, head lolling against the barrier. One leg is bent, foot resting against the curb. The other is outstretched, slightly elevated onto the sidewalk. His hair, skin, and clothes are stained gray with dust — if it weren't for the sweat beading down his face, Tucker would say he looks like a ghost. Not an Amity Park ghost — rather, a ghost from one of the movies. Quiet. Unmoving. Dead.

Then Danny opens his eyes. Piercing blue reflects the sky above, before turning to Tucker and Sam. He smiles lightly, and then raises his arms. "Help me up?"

Tucker and Sam grab his arms, heaving him up to a standing position. He sways for a moment — then the leg that was outstretched buckles, and he leans hard into Tucker with a grunt.

"Woah, dude, take it easy," Tucker says, adjusting himself so he can take on Danny's weight.

"I'm fine, Tuck. It's just—" he hisses as he gingerly places his foot on the ground, leaning further into Tucker. "Just a flesh wound."

Tucker sighs. "I know, man. But we still gotta check it out." He takes a careful step with Danny onto the sidewalk. "Sam, any luck getting a ride?"

Sam nods, typing into her phone. "I'm texting Mahira — she might ask questions, but more importantly, she won't tell mom and dad."

"Cool." Tucker's about to say something else when a soft snore snuffs against his ear. He looks down to see Danny, leaning his full weight against Tucker, eyes closed and nose snoring in his ear. Tucker smirks softly, rolling his eyes, then adjusts the way he's holding Danny, scooping his friend up bridal style. Danny would never let him carry him like this were he awake. Asleep as he is, he snuggles into Tucker's sweater, pressing his cheek to Tucker's chest. Tucker's smirk softens into a smile.

When did Danny get so light?

He walks slowly, taking his time, letting Sam walk ahead of him as he stares down at his best friend. He's still covered in dust, his hair matted with it. Bruises have begun to form on his arms and face, and are peeking out from beneath his shirt. Between the tassel-whatsits and Valerie, today has done a number on him; and it's barely noon. Despite this, his face is more peaceful than Tucker's seen in a long time. Free of tension around his eyes, free of the constant frown that normally burdens his face. Danny deserves this, Tucker thinks.

Click!

Tucker looks up to see Sam holding up her camera, a smirk on her face.

"Hey!" Tucker shouts, but then stops himself when Danny stirs.

"Shush, you," Sam sings out, turning back around. "You don't want to wake him up!"

"No fair!" Tucker whines, only just loud enough for Sam to hear. Sam chuckles and smiles back at Tucker, then runs ahead to the corner where the SUV is waiting. That must be Mahira.

Tucker picks up the pace, but only just, careful not to wake Danny. He lets Sam answer Mahira's questions; he figures Sam'll fill him in on her excuses later.

He looks down again at Danny, and can't help the small smile as Danny snores against him.

Sleep well, buddy.

[wild-aloof-rebel]

amazingly, we ended 2020 with triple the number of words of fic in this fandom that we had at the end of 2019. thank you to everyone who contributed to that and to all the readers who motivate fic writers to keep publishing!!

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1 - 3k words

Getting Out There by Januarium (rated G) Twenty-nine minutes after the agreed start time for the date, Patrick is aimlessly scrolling twitter—because isn’t it better to be annoyed at strangers instead of the woman who stood you up?—when a voice says, “Excuse me, are you Patrick Brewer?” [...]

grand gesture... by startswithhope (rated T) It had been David’s idea to host this little pre-holiday get together for their vendors and after Heather had offered up her farm for the venue, Patrick had been shooed out of the planning altogether. But of course, everything is perfect.

in the path of a possibility... by startswithhope (rated T) Sometimes you just have to ask the boy you like to dance and maybe he'll say yes.

Last Christmas by HolmesApothecary (rated T) Three Christmas Walks

On our way back home by upbeat (rated G) During their week-long separation, David gets drunk at a bar one night and calls Patrick for a ride home.

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3 - 5k words

finding you at christmas by dinnfameron (rated G) Patrick helps out at his parents' Christmas tree lot in the city every year. One night, a lost kid and a handsome stranger come along needing his help.

I Put A Spell On You by houdini74 (rated G) David is a witch who spends his days baking cupcakes and uses his magic to to help people find happiness until his life is turned upside down by the arrival of a very cute and very unhappy Patrick Brewer.

Mind if I Move in Closer? by JustWaiting23 (rated T) David and Patrick get hit by a spell from a well-meaning stranger, now David can only be warm when touching Patrick. Will this be the final push they need to admit their feelings to each other?

you’re here (where you should be) by singsongsung *Alexis/Ted* (rated M) Alexis takes a holiday trip to the Galapagos Islands.

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5 - 10k words

along for the ride by the_hodag (rated T) Unraveling someone else's grief can be complicated when they refuse to engage in anything more than idle road trip banter.

Drink a toast to innocence, Drink a toast to now by DesignatedGrape (rated T) David and Patrick meet one Christmas Eve in Toronto, and run into each other again three years later.

Hurt for the Holidays by missgeevious (rated T) David and Patrick meet by accident on Christmas Eve.

Pining For You by High-Seas-Swan (rated T) A new Christmas Tree stand arrives across from Rose Apothecary, and with it, pine needles. Everywhere. It's driving David crazy. As is the cute-but-rude lumberjack running the lot.

traveled down a road and back again by sonlali *Rachel-centric* (rated G) Five Christmases throughout Rachel's past that she spent with Patrick, plus one she spends together with Alexis at Patrick and David's cottage.

Where Every Stay Feels Like Home by MoreHuman (rated G) The Brewer family holiday wishlist: 1. Surprises 2. Escape rooms 3. Surprise escape rooms The Rose family holiday wishlist: 1. Getting the hell out of here

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10k+ words

All I Want, aka O Christmas Trope by Januarium (rated E) A festive fake dating!AU.

The Big Chill by swat117 (rated T) David Rose learns to thaw while being chilled. ❄️ A modern-day Ice Age AU. ❄️

A Cardamom Christmas by Lisamc21 (rated T) David is stressed about work and decides to check out the nearby Christmas market. He expects to find lunch and maybe a Christmas gift or two. He doesn't expect to meet a charming baker who dishes teasing quips as much as sweet treats. David returns to the market each day to get another taste of Patrick the baker.

Every Breath That Comes Before [series] by nameless_bliss (rated T & E) [Three fics where David thinks about Patrick eventually leaving him]

Good Winter by Distractivate (rated M) Patrick spends a week in January at his parents' fishing cabin, sorting through memories and trying to figure out if enough of his past remains to rebuild relationships with his family and Rachel, while not losing who he's become with David. David, of course, helps. A story about making peace with all the versions of yourself, inspired by Bon Iver's album For Emma, Forever Ago.

happy golden days of yore by blueink3 (rated E) “What are you doing here?” Patrick blinks beneath the toque shoved onto his head, steadily dripping melting snow from his coat onto the mat they once purchased together. “Um… it’s my weekend.” [...]

 A Holiday Escape by Lisamc21 (rated E) David needs to escape the stress of NYC and can't stomach another Rose family Christmas party, so he books an AirBNB for two weeks in Schitt's Creek. The town his family visited when he was a kid. The one true family vacation they'd had. He plans to spend two weeks drinking wine and soaking in a jacuzzi tub, but the cute guy renting the AirBNB derailed his relaxing plans.

If you’re looking for an ass to kiss by grapehyasynth (rated T) Everything's the same, except Patrick is already in town - and he's the mayor.

i’m your moonlight, you’re my star by doingthemost & singsongsung *Alexis/Twyla* (rated M) Twyla and Alexis spend the holidays together.

It’s My (Christmas) Party and I’ll Panic if I Want To by DelilahMcMuffin (rated T) It’s Christmas Eve and David wants nothing more than to spend the evening in Patrick’s room at Ray’s engaging in the kinds of activities that will get them on Santa’s Naughty List. But his dad has decided that he wants to throw a last minute Christmas party. And to top it all off, Patrick’s parents have shown up unexpectedly to surprise their son for the holidays. Oh, and in case that wasn’t enough, David discovers that Patrick has been keeping a pretty big secret. [...]

Just to Hold the Hands I Love by DesignatedGrape (rated T) As David peered out the window at the snow-covered neighborhood, his gaze landed on his own front lawn, which he shared with the townhouse next door. Oh. Oh, no. Sitting in the middle of the small yard, facing the street, was an honest-to-god snowman, complete with stick arms, red scarf, and plaid trapper hat, and holding some sort of sign. David rolled his eyes. His neighbor thought he was so funny.

Meet me out at the end of my rope by yourbuttervoicedbeau (rated E) What if more than one bombshell was dropped the day of Patrick's birthday — one they couldn't come back from?

Termites of Endearment by unfolded73 & vivianblakesunrisebay (rated E) After discovering the cottage has to be fumigated for termites, David and Patrick suffer a stressful day and an onslaught of memories when they have to spend the night at the motel.

there it is, beating away by blueink3 (rated T) David and Patrick befriend a single mom and her son. Well, Patrick does. David is still feeling things out.

Your Guide to Winter Trail Etiquette by middyblue (rated E) It’s not exactly a promising beginning to his New Year’s Eve ski trip weekend when David drops his bags on the couch of their little rented condo and Alexis’s new boyfriend, who’s wearing an ugly Christmas sweater almost a week after Christmas and crashing David’s plans, says in confusion, “Wait, but where’s Patrick going to sleep?” A story about things ending and things beginning, even if they come from somewhere unexpected.

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and finally, just in case you missed it and are interested, i put together a list of some of my fave fics of 2020 and a little recap of my own fics from the year. happy new year and happy reading, friends!! 💗