#might cross post this to a03 at some point

[woman-of-balnain]

maybe a smut where the reader is jealous after seeing mary and arthur hanging out, argument sex brrrrr. <<33

Masterlist | A03 Ver. | Part 2

Title: Bold as Love

A/N: Hopefully this is what you wanted anon! I'm used to writing a more soft and affectionate Arthur, but this was definitely a fun change for me. I hope it's okay... I took your request as wanting him more on the dominant side.

Also, I hope it's ok to cross-post this on A03. If not, just send me another anon ask to let me know and I'll delete it.

Warnings: Possessive Reader, Possessive Arthur, Jealous Reader, Arthur and Reader fighting for dominance, arguing, smut, unprotected sex, creampie, NOT proofread, I literally wrote it and posted it, so there might be mistakes.

Word Count: 2,781

Dividers by: cafekitsune + newlips

Your blood boiled when you saw them together. If Miss Grimshaw hadn’t let you come into the city that day, leaving your chores back at camp to get what Arthur had requested from the store, then you wouldn’t have even known. It was only by chance that you even found out, which made it so much worse.

You remembered seeing her come into camp, back when the gang was at Horseshoe Overlook and leaving that letter for Arthur. And of course, he’d gone straight to her, as if no time had passed, as if she hadn’t hurt him all those years ago, as if he wasn’t with you now.

He’d reassured you afterwards, told you what happened and more importantly what didn’t happen, but it had taken a while for him to calm you down. That was what made seeing him with Mary again, outside the Théâtre Râleur, hurt and anger you so much more.

She had her arm linked with his, pressing her body close to your man and laughing coyly at something he’d said. You had watched them coming out of the building, which told you they’d just watched a show together. Dim lighting, seated closely together for a whole show… the possibilities were endless in your mind and just made you feel worse.

Almost as though he sensed angry eyes on him, Arthur turned his head away from Mary, looking around before his gaze met with yours. A look of surprise spread over his features, but there was no guilt. You didn’t really know if that was a good thing or not.

Mary followed his gaze, wondering why his attention had strayed away from her. She looked at you with confusion, even though you’d already met when you took the letter for Arthur from her at the old camp.

“Do you two know each other?” Mary enquired.

Her voice was soft and pleasant. A stark contrast to how you saw her.

“Yeah,” was all Arthur said, eyes still not leaving you.

His blasé answer was the worst one he could have chosen in your mind. He didn’t tell her that you were together, that he was now yours. He didn’t put up any boundaries and it caused your anger to get almost to its breaking point.

“Oh,” she looked at you with faint recognition. “You’re one of those… girls…”

The way she said it made it clear how she saw you. Like some two-bit whore who she viewed with obvious disdain. There was nothing wrong with being a working girl. Abigail had been one before she fell for John. But you weren’t that to Arthur and you wanted to make it very clear to her.

“I’m his girl,” you gestured to Arthur, the venom dripping from your voice.

Mary glanced at him with uncertainty, but he just gave you a strange look, as though you were intruding on a moment you shouldn’t have been. As though your hurt and anger and jealousy were unwarranted somehow.

“I have to take Mary to the station,” he told you, voice deep and gravelly.

It was the tone he had when he was either angry or very, very turned on. You knew it was the former this time though.

“I’ll see you back at camp,” he continued, dismissing you.

You clenched your fists, fingernails digging into the skin of your palms as he began walking away, Mary’s arm still linked with his. He was acting like such a… gentleman with her. You knew a softer, more affectionate and loving side to Arthur in your private moments, but the way he was being with her seemed almost unnatural compared to his true personality.

She turned her head only once as they walked away, still eyeing you with uncertainty before saying something quietly to him. You didn’t hear what she said, but it didn’t matter. You’d seen and heard enough.  

You’d kept to yourself after returning to Shady Belle. Your chores were done in record time and before Miss Grimshaw could find other tasks for you, you’d stormed off to the open area behind the house. Hiding yourself away, you sat behind one of the smaller, empty buildings and tried to sort through your feelings regarding Arthur and seeing him with Mary.

That was where he found you, late in the afternoon, when the sun had almost met the horizon.

“There you are,” he said, his tone the soft lilt you were used to in private moments like this.

“What do you want?” You fumed, unable to hide the anger still bubbling inside you.

“Darlin’, why’re you so angry?” He asked.

You looked up to glare at him before standing so he wasn’t towering over you.

“Are you serious right now, Arthur? I catch you off on a date with her and you ask me why I’m angry?”

“It wasn’t a date,” he insisted.

“Whatever,” you were seething, letting all the pent-up emotions spill forth. “I don’t care what it was. I don’t like it.”

“Mary… she was just askin’ for a favour.”

“To go to the theatre?” You asked incredulously. “I’m not an idiot, Arthur.”

“Sweetheart, it’s like you said. You’re my girl.”

The sweet endearments didn’t feel so sweet right then, so you continued taking your anger out on him.

“No, I’m not yours,” you hissed. “Not anymore. Not after that. You want her so bad? Go have her. But you and me? We’re done.”

Arthur’s gaze darkened but you ignored it, moving to brush past him and head back towards the main house. You didn’t get very far though because he grabbed your arm and held you in place.

You felt Arthur move so that he was right behind you, chest pressed against your back. His arms snaked tightly around your body, keeping you firmly in place.

“Calm down,” he said lowly in your ear.

His own voice was too composed for your liking, like he wasn’t taking you seriously.

“Just let me go,” you struggled against him.

“No,” he kept you held in his arms. “Take it back.”

That angry tone was coming back, the one that always sent shivers down your spine. You tried to resist it, but when he started pressing kisses along your neck, it became harder.

“Cut it out,” you snapped at him.

“Take it back,” he repeated, lips brushing against your skin. “Say you’re mine.”

His teeth nipped at the place where your neck and shoulder met, and you let out an involuntary moan. You could feel the curve of his lips as he smiled against your skin and when his arms loosened a little in their hold around you, it was the perfect chance to free yourself. So that’s exactly what you did.

Turning to face him, you saw him get irritated as well, annoyed that you were still so defiant. You opened your mouth to say something snarky to him, but Arthur didn’t give you a chance. He closed the distance between you, taking hold of your hair and pulling your head back a little, forcing you to look him in the eye.

You glared at him, and he challenged you right back with his own commanding and unwavering stare. When he saw that you weren’t going to give in, Arthur smashed his lips against yours in an angry and domineering kiss.

You struggled a little, still infuriated with him, but his hold on your hair and the other arm he had wrapped around your waist made it impossible to get away. His lips were bruising and dominant against your own, forcing you to submit.

Eventually, you gave up, giving in and opening your mouth a little wider, allowing his tongue to wrestle with yours. You moaned again, unable to deny how much you loved this forceful side of him.

You always got lost in the feel of his lips, the things he could do with his tongue, the firm grip of his hands, the coarse hair on his cheeks and around his lips that tickled and teased your skin… it was all familiar. It was all yours and you weren’t about to have it any other way.

You managed to pull your head back a little, his grip on your hair having loosened at your submission to his kiss. Breaking your mouth away from his, you looked into his eyes, seeing the way his pupils were dilated and his hair was wild and messy from your fingers running through it.

“You say it first,” you demanded breathlessly.

“What?” He asked, like he was in a bit of a daze.

“Say you’re mine,” you insisted, your tone a little more composed this time. “Only mine.”

“You’re beautiful when you’re jealous, darlin’,” he teased, lips curving up into a devilish grin. “All wild and ferocious.”  

“Say it,” you demanded again.

His gaze softened a little, but the dark lust never left his eyes.

“I’m yours,” he promised.

It was enough for you, so you brought your lips back to his, both of your lips fighting for dominance. You gasped into his mouth when you felt him slam you against the wall of the small building you’d previously been sitting by. His hands were everywhere, possessively exploring your body.

“You’re mine too,” he murmured against your lips. “Ain’t you?”

It was spoken like a question, but you knew it wasn’t. He was telling you to admit it, but you weren’t ready to just yet, so you refused to answer, seeking his lips for another kiss instead.

“You’re really pissed off, huh?” He let out a light laugh, pulling back so you couldn’t kiss him again.

You just glared at him once more, feeling like he should know the answer to that. Arthur didn’t seem to mind, his hands reaching down and taking hold of your skirt. The fabric bunched up under his hold, snaking up your legs tantalisingly until the entirety of your lower body was revealed to him.

His gaze darkened even more when he saw that you weren’t wearing anything underneath.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he said, tone more menacing than anything else. “I’ll have you admittin’ it for me soon enough.”

You looked down, seeing the way his erection was straining against his pants and you couldn’t help but to get turned on by the insinuation of his intentions. You could feel the desire spreading through your lower belly, and the way your pussy reacted, already getting wet.

Arthur took hold of one of your hands, bringing it to his clothed cock. You let your instinctual lust take over for a moment, cupping your hand around it and relishing the faint groan that escaped his lips.

If this was how he wanted to play it, you decided to comply. You were quick to get rid of his gun belt before unbuttoning his pants and pushing them down his hips. When his cock sprung free, you saw that it was already fully hard, and it just spurred you on even more.

Your hand wrapped around it, tugging up and down on the velvety skin that covered the steel hardness underneath. His lips sought yours again and he groaned deeply into your mouth as your thumb swiped over the head of his cock.

It wasn’t long before he took control again, though, because he pushed your hands away from him before using one of his to grasp your hip tightly and the other to line him up at your entrance.

Your head fell back onto the wall behind you with a moan as he moved his cock back and forth along your slit, coating it in your wetness.

“Your body can’t lie to me, darlin’,” he groaned out. “You can be angry, but you’re still mine.”

You reached down, taking control by grasping his cock and putting it right where you wanted it. You pushed your hips forward, causing him to enter you and savouring the way his eyes fluttered shut and his mouth fell slightly open at the feel of your tight walls squeezing down on him.

“Yours doesn’t lie either,” you grit out, thrusting up your hips a little.

Both his hands gripped at your waist forcefully, ensuring that he had some hold over how much you could move. Arthur lifted you until your legs wrapped around his own waist and then he began thrusting into you.

“Just… admit it,” he managed to get out, voice rough as he slammed into you.

“No.”

Yet, with each time his cock entered you, it pushed a little deeper and teased that one spot that always brought you undeniable pleasure. If you kept letting him have all of the control, it would be a losing battle for you.

You squeezed down on his cock, milking him and causing him to get lost in the feel of you again.

“Why didn’t you tell her that I’m yours if it means so much to you?”

To your ever-increasing frustration, Arthur just grinned.

“Wanted you to get jealous,” he admitted, one hand moving down to grip your thigh as he continued pounding into your tight pussy. “Because you’re so god damned gorgeous like this.”

“I’m not jealous,” you lied, wanting to goad him. “I’m done. Enjoy this, because it’s the last time.”

His fingers dug into the skin of your thigh possessively at your words and he brought his lips back to your neck, covering your body completely with his. It meant that every sensation you felt was from him. The familiar smell of Arthur wrapped around you and all you could feel was his hands, his lips, his tongue…

“You’re mine, sweetheart,” he insisted again, teeth scraping at the column of your throat. “This pussy is mine and you know it. Just admit it.”

He was clearly frustrated with you too and while it brought you satisfaction, you knew that you wouldn’t last much longer. His long, thick, perfect cock was dominating every aspect of you, eating away at your resolve.

“Apologize then,” you requested of him softly.

He pulled his head back to look at you, his pace never once faltering and the dark desire never leaving his eyes.

“’M sorry,” he admitted instantly.

You knew it was sincere, you could see it in his eyes. He may have liked frustrating you and making you jealous, but you could see in that moment that he realised the hurt you felt too.

“She… doesn’t… mean anything… to me,” he promised, getting the words out between his deep and brutal thrusts. “Not anymore. Not since you.”

“Good,” you replied heatedly, pulling his head closer. “Because you’re mine and I’m yours.”

He was obviously pleased with you finally admitting it and your lips met in another kiss, tongues moving languidly this time, as you savoured the feeling of one another. You could feel the familiar build up within you, knowing that you were close. Bucking your hips slightly, you let him know without words what you needed, and Arthur was quick to oblige.

He knew you like the back of his hand, every aspect, and every desire. So, his hand left its bruising hold on your thigh and moved upwards, caressing and teasing your skin until his fingers finally brushed against your aching clit.

You squeezed down around him again and he broke the kiss, his head falling to your shoulder. His thumb moved perfectly against your sensitive nub, rubbing in circles, and applying just the right amount of pressure.

“God…” you moaned out, now constantly milking his cock inside you as your pussy edged closer and closer to release. “Arthur…”

“That’s my girl,” he murmured against your skin, loving the way you said his name. “Let go, darlin’. I wanna feel you cum around me.”

With two more strokes of his thumb against your clit, along with a teasing nip of his teeth against your shoulder, you came undone around him. Your back arched and your body was overcome with ecstasy.

Your orgasm washed over you blissfully and the vice-like grip paired with the spasming of your pussy sent Arthur over the edge too. You felt his cum fill you up, as well as his cock throbbing deep inside you and it just made your own orgasm intensify.

His lips never seemed to leave your skin through it all, pressing countless soft and loving kisses all over your neck and then up to your jawline and finally on your cheeks. As you both came down from your highs and your frustrations with each other ebbed away, his fingertips stroked along your thighs.

“You’re… incredible…” he breathed out, nuzzling against your cheek affectionately.

You turned your head to capture his lips once more, determined to make sure he never forgot it again.  

--

Part 2

--

[lacontroller1991]

Lead the Way (RJ MacCready x F!Reader)

Main Master List || Misc Master List

Author's Note: Posted on A03 as well. It was really a matter of time before I posted a fanfic for him or Valentine. Am I taking requests for MacCready? "You're damn right!"

Warnings: 18+, Gun Violence, Canon Typical Violence, Language, Like 3 sexual comments, Drinking, Mention of Drug Use (Uh Hancock, nuff said), MacCready being the dumbass that he is

Word Count: 3.1k

==========

The first time MacCready crosses paths with her it’s between buildings in what was formerly Downtown Boston, with him narrowly dodging stray bullets while she takes down raiders left and right. Ducking behind a wall, he tries to take a peek at her face, but it’s obscured by a mask that blends in with the rest of her ammo clad armor. In fact, the only way MacCready can really decipher that the shooter is a female is the smaller, slender frame and the slight protuberance in the chest area.

Normally, MacCready isn’t the one to shy away from a firefight, but from his standpoint, it’s not his barrel, not his monkeys. He also has a kid to provide for and getting himself into trouble for no reason isn’t a great method of survival.

Crouched down on himself, his crystal blue eyes watch the way the unnamed figure easily dodges bullets, taking down raider after raider. He has to admit, for a lone shooter, she sure knows what to do. 

With the gun smoke settling, MacCready moves out from his spot behind the wall, standing 30 paces away from the stranger. 

“You gonna try your luck or you gonna walk away?” Her voice is modulated by the mask and sounds distant while she crouches over the dead bodies, picking random objects from their pockets, causing MacCready to scoff. 

“Why waste your time with sh-junk like that?” The figure stands to her full height, adjusting her bandolier across her chest. Hopping off of the platform, she reaches for her rifle and slings it along her back.

“Maybe next time I get to see you actually fight.” Her comment is sharp off her tongue and it takes MacCready by shock. Nodding to MacCready, she takes her leave, leaving him in his thoughts. Who is she?

MacCready’s legs burn as they race up the ever winding stairs. He needs to get a good vantage point. His target is making their way through the Commonwealth way faster than his lead had originally planned. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

His rifle slings from his shoulders into his hands as he gets a clearing. High enough for a good vantage point, low enough for his target to not escape his scope. He needs the caps more than anything, and his client, well, is paying a hefty sum. Enough to hire some help with Med-Tek.

His fingers fiddle with the setting on his scope, focusing the hairline on the oblivious target, walking in the middle of the road, in broad daylight. MacCready scoffs. “Idiot.” Before his index finger even brushes the trigger, a resounding static crackle echoes off the destroyed buildings and his target falls into a heap on the ground, unmoving. MacCready jerks away from his gun in disbelief. His one chance of caps, gone. Now who’s going to hire him? “MOTHER FU- UGH!” His eye peers through the scope and settles on a hooded figure, dragging his target through a valley. Taking a deep breath, he narrows his eyesight, trying to make out any telltale signs about the second, unwanted party. The only thing he can make out is the all black attire and a mask hanging from the belt. Wait. “That bitch!”

Grumbling as he gets up, MacCready dusts off his pants before grabbing his rifle with a scowl. What is he going to tell his employers? Sorry boss, someone else killed him before I could even get my finger on the trigger. He kicks the ground beneath him, bringing up a plume of dirt and dust as his mood sours by the second. He needed that money. If she starts picking off more of his targets he might just have to take matters into his own hands and get rid of the competition. Can’t have two mercenaries in the Commonwealth.

“I need a drink.”

----------

Magnolia’s singsong voice echoes throughout the repurposed subway station as MacCready downs another round of whiskey. He should be saving what little caps he has, but his mood demands alcohol, even if it’s not the best idea. 

“You better have enough caps to pay up Mac. You know what he will say if you leave your tab open,” Charlie comments, filling up MacCready’s glass while he scowls.

“Yeah yeah,” MacCready dismisses the robot abruptly, swirling the glass in his hand, ignoring the person sitting down next to him.

“Bourbon, neat.”

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. What are you doing in a place like this, lass?” MacCready peeks at the person beside him from the corners of his eyes and nearly chokes on his drink. A woman, a gorgeous woman, sitting next to him. He can’t recall the last time he saw a woman that clean with straight white teeth and washed hair. 

She takes the glass from the Mr. Handy and raises the glass to her mouth, parting her perfect, plump lips. Hell, maybe MacCready drank way more than he should and is imagining things. “Hello to you too, Charlie. It’s been a while.”  MacCready can’t help but to tilt his head as he tries to get a wrap around her voice. Why does it sound so familiar? She takes a sip of the amber liquid and MacCready watches the way her head slightly tips back, accentuating her smooth neck and damn he wants to place his lips on it. Turning fully in his seat, he looks at the bar patron drinking in the sight of her jacket wrapped around her waist, revealing a clean, white tank top that left something to the imagination. His mouth dries in response but she doesn’t make a move to acknowledge him. 

“Well, well, well, look who it is.” A familiar voice to MacCready joins in on the conversation, leaning against the bar on the other side of the stranger. “What are you doing in Goodneighbor sunshine?” The merc watches the woman on his left down the rest of her drink before smiling at the mayor.

Charlie refills her glass while she gets down from her seat, wrapping her arms around the ghoul. “John. So good to see you.” Hancock immediately hugs back, hand creeping lower on her back before giving her butt a small grab much to MacCready’s shock. Sure, Hancock has always been flirtatious, but he doesn’t think that he’s ever seen him openly grope a person outside of sexual situations. The hug lasts for another second or two before they pull away, resuming their positions at the bar while Robert watches, drink in hand forgotten. 

“You didn’t answer my question, doll. What brings you around to these parts? Last I heard, you went out west.”

“I did, ran into some NCR soldiers, blew some shit up, hunted down some people. Was good fun, but I heard some rumors that the Commonwealth has an uptick in jobs, so here I am.” 

Hancock’s black eyes gaze her over, licking his lips while MacCready scoffs. “So here you are. Had any luck?”

“Yep, took care of a bounty earlier today. If bounties like that keep coming in, I might make the Commonwealth my home.” Mac’s blood freezes as it all sets in. She’s a bounty hunter. She’s the one he saw taking out the raiders. She’s the one who caused him to lose his job. She stole his kill. He can’t believe this! He oughta draw out his gun and blow a hole in her head. The sound of glass shattering brings the whole bar into silence, drawing MacCready out of his rage only to look around for the source of the shattered glass.

“What’s wrong with you Mac? That was a perfectly good glass!” Hancock chastises, grabbing a towel from behind the bar and moving towards the merc. It wasn’t until Hancock put the towel on his hand that he noticed that he was the one who shattered the glass and was bleeding. 

Charlie’s motors whir in annoyance as he brings out a broom and dustpan, sweeping up the shards off the floor but all Mac can see is the woman right in front of him, confusion written on her face. “That’s going onto your tab!”

“What was that about Mac?”

“You stole my kill.” He points an accusing finger in her face as her eyes narrow. 

“I didn’t steal shit. There was a bounty. Game is game."

“No. I was paid to take him out and you stole that from me.” She scoffs as Hancock backs away, eyeing the two people.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been slow. Maybe then you would have your pile of caps, merc.”

“Woah woah, I don’t need more blood spilt in my bar. Why don’t you two take this outside.” MacCready rolls his eyes as the rest of the bar watches on in anticipation. Why should he have to leave because of some stupid girl. 

Scoffing, he slams some caps onto the table. “Whatever. Good luck trying to get the next one.” With not another word said, he leaves the bar, hellbent on beating the stranger at her own game. 

----------

He doesn’t know who or why she continuously gets bounty after bounty, but it’s well past the point of him being nice. He’s 0 for 7 and if he doesn’t get one soon he might actually kill her in cold blood. It doesn’t help either that anytime he sees her all he can think about is slamming her against a wall and shoving his dick in her mouth to wipe that smirk off of her fuc-freaking perfect face. 

“Face it Blamco, you’re just too slow. You’re not as good as me,” she comments from beside him at the bar, glass of bourbon in her hand as he scowls.

“Oh wow, you came up with another name. Good for you.” This is how it’s been. Trying to beat each other to a bounty, her eventually winning, him coming to the Third Rail, her following and gloating, him drinking, her teasing him, him scowling more before eventually leaving. Then it repeats.

“Have you ever thought that maybe this isn’t the line of work for you? Maybe you should do something simple, like farming.” Ok, now he’s livid.

“Why don’t you just shut the hell up and leave me the hell alone.” It comes out more soft and depressing than he was hoping for. He was wanting it to sound angry, to be intimidating, but the softening of her facial features tells him that it had the opposite effect.

“Damn MacCready. What’s got you down in the dump? I’m just teasing you.” She places a tender hand on his upper bicep and he can’t deny how nice the contact felt, but he shoves it off, standing up and towering over her.

“I’m sick of you and your stupid teasing. You don’t know how much I need those caps. You’re so selfish, taking all those bounties. Maybe leave some for other people. Why don’t you go back out west where you belong. And God, you’re so annoying. I don’t know whether I should shoot you in the mouth or kiss you just so you would shut the hell up!” She closes her mouth, brows bunched together in thought. MacCready scoffs, downing his watered down whiskey. “What. Don’t you have anything to say now?” 

“You’re such a fucking dick Robert. You don’t know shit.” She sets a bag down on the counter and he can tell it’s full of caps. He watches as she turns to Charlie who hovers ever so slightly, eagerly listening in on the conversation. “When he isn’t throwing a temper tantrum, give him the package.”

“Sure thing Miss (Name).”

“Oh and put his bill on mine. It’s covered.”

“Will do ma’am.” She doesn’t spare him another glance before grabbing her stuff and setting off, leaving the pile of caps on the counter.

“Is she actually just leaving that?”

“She left it for you, wanker. Honestly, your behavior as of late is unsavory. No wonder why you have had no clients.” He floats away for a second before retrieving a box and setting it down in front of the former gunner. “Now are you going to grow up or am I going to have to leave this with me until you fix yourself.” Mac’s curiosity of what lies in the box automatically shifts his mood to tolerable. Removing the lid of the box, his breath catches in his throat. Inside the brown box lies a red syringe with the words “Med Tek: Prevent” printed in white.

“Is this what I think it is?” His heart races as he picks up the syringe. This can’t be it. Can it?

“Miss (Name) went there the other day with Mr. Hancock. Took out the whole subunit of ghouls to bring you this. I do hope you reconsider your abrasive words.” How the hell was he supposed to know that she went to Med Tek to get this cure? How the hell was he supposed to know that she knew he was looking for this?

“Who told her about Duncan?”

“I imagine the same person who went with her.” Hancock. He should’ve known. Grabbing the syringe and the pile of caps, he races up the stairs and out of the building, running right into one of the people he wanted to see.

“Slow your roll MacCready. What’s got ants in your pants?” Hancock’s cool tone questions him as MacCready pockets the syringe, his hands itching in nerves.

“I want to kick your ass so hard, but first, why the hell would you tell her about Duncan, let alone Duncan’s disease? You know damn well that that is none of her business! I trusted you to keep that between us, not to tell some random ass stranger who just happens to be good with a gun. Second, where the hell did she go? I need to give her a piece of my mind.” MacCready makes a move to brush past Hancock, but Hancock is physically stronger and stops the young man in his tracks.

“One, she asked why you needed the caps so bad since you were being a bad sport about a kill and I had one too many hits of jet. Two, good luck finding her. You can be a dick when you’re drinking and pissed off.”

“I had every-”

“Every right to, yeah yeah, but still. She has a heart of gold and maybe if you didn’t have a fire lit up your ass, you would’ve known that.” MacCready calms down in Hancock’s grip, letting the ghoul loosen his hands. “I don’t know where she went, but I bet she doesn’t want to be found. Sunshine is one of those people who if you seriously piss off or hurt, they like to lick their wounds in private.”

“Why would she care what I said? She doesn’t like me.”

“I forget how naive you are, kid. A girl like that doesn’t just hang around people to hang around people. She obviously digs you. Gives her some… competition.” Robert scoffs.  

“As if she needs any, she’s too damn good on her own.” Hancock shrugs, wrapping an arm around his friend’s shoulders, walking him over to Daisy’s shop.

“If you manage to find her, let her know how you feel.”

“I don’t-”

“Mac, yes you do. You like the competition too, and you know it. Now get this cure to Duncan.” Hancock slaps him on the back forcing MacCready forward, hand in pocket.

“Hey Daisy.”

“Hello RJ, whatcha got for me today?”

“I got the cure.”

----------

It took MacCready a solid month to track her down. Whenever he would get to where she was, she was already gone. Despite wanting to give up and get back to work, he couldn’t drop the nagging feeling in the back of his mind. If anything, he wanted to thank her for getting the cure for his son, but he can’t deny how lonely the past month has been without her presence. 

The gates to Diamond City stand tall in front of him as his stomach tangles in knots. She should be here, he thinks to himself, hoping Hancock’s information is correct. What is he even going to do once he finds her? What is he going to say?

Nodding to the guard, he walks through the entrance to the baseball stadium where the city rests before him. “Well, now or never.” Taking a deep breath, he inhales the smell of Takahashi’s ramen and it makes his mouth water. “What’s a few more minutes?” Sitting down at the makeshift bar, MacCready absentmindedly sticks his hand in his pocket and runs his calloused fingers over the pile of caps. Once she had left and he had delivered the cure to Daisy, Mac counted the caps in the pouch she had left on the bar and couldn’t believe that she would leave that much. It was around 800 caps, which was practically the amount he could’ve gotten had she not collected the bounties before him. “What’s up Taka? Set me up with some of your shima… uh… whatever they’re called.”

“Nan-ni shimasho-ka?”

“Yeah, yeah! That’s the stuff.”

“Nan-ni shimasho-ka?”

“You’re damn right I’ll take two servings!” The robot sets the noodles down in front of him as he lets out a groan. Maybe he’s more hungry than he thought. Digging into the noodles, the real purpose he came to Diamond City slips his mind. Until it’s right across from him, oblivious to his eyes. Slurping down the last bit of noodles, MacCready wipes his mouth with the back of his hand before setting a few caps down, quickly hopping off the stool and rushing towards her. 

Skidding to a halt, he stops a few feet behind her, his blue eyes piercing her back. “Took you long enough to find me Macaroni. Are you always going to stand behind me?” That’s it. MacCready huffs out in frustration, taking large steps towards her as she turns around, a soft smile on her gorgeous face. “Still getting upset over nicknames?”

“Just shut the hell up.” He takes her face between his hands and brings his lips down to hers, the force of the kiss causing her to stumble back, dragging him with her. Needing air, MacCready pulls away, a string of saliva connecting them to each other as he rests his forehead against hers as they catch their breaths, ignoring the way people are looking at them. “Got anything to say now?”

“Kiss me again you idiot.” He doesn’t hesitate as his arms snake around her waist, holding her close to his body while her arms wrap around his neck, fingers tugging at the ends of his hair. “Why don’t we go somewhere more private?”

MacCready chuckles, his hand moving lower and lower on her back before resting on the swell of her butt. “Lead the way.”

[aquaquadrant]

Heyooo, I've been enjoying Hels to Pay, so much. And I wanted to say two things, first, I was drinking my coffee while reading part IV (II), and I was reading the tags and I choked on my coffee when I read "voluntary decapitation". I was coughing and being like "what in the world??" Before I realized, oh wait, it's probably for the collar.

The other thing was that, for a brief moment when Scar shot Bravo - before I remembered that we have seen his Hel's counterpart so that's not the case- I actually wondered whether or not he was the same as Tango, a Hel's that ended up swapping their other self. Just older and more content and confident in the life he ended in, without as much guilt. I get of course that he was just defending Tango, and I LOVE that about him, but it was still an intriguing thought and I had to share.

I had your fic saved in a corner to read eventually, only having kept it aside for a while due to it being on tumblr and not AO3 and it wasn't a format I was used to, but suffice to say it sucked me in and I binged it. It's amazing, both you and lunarcrown have done incredible work with fleshing out this world. The concept, the characters and how it all unfolds is incredibly beautiful and intriguing. Looking forward for whatever you may bring down the line.

y’know there are quite a few things i didn’t even know how i was gonna tag in this series LMAO cuz like, yeah it gets pretty brutal but it’s in the fictional universe of minecraft where death isn’t permanent so that kinda lessens it? in any case, i’m glad u got a kick out of that HA

secret hels!scar would be pretty cool! but nah, that was just scar dipping into his rare serious-and-dark side, the one he masks by pretending to be a pleasant and slightly bumbling goofball. love that shit.

and i do think i’ll get the series cross-posted to A03 eventually, the formatting just takes some time (i might like italics a little too much) and i’d rather focus on finishing the main series first. i held out for so long bc i didn’t want my writing scraped by bots for AI (cuz A03 is a target of that) but at this rate i don’t think there’s any point. every website seems determined to scrape the internet dry to feed its own AI so i might as well keep writing for those who actually appreciate it, and would rather support real authors than use chatGPT or character AIs. glad u found the series regardless, and i hope u enjoy what’s to come 💃

[dpr-stay]

Mandated Reporter Pt.3 | Y.T

All Might | Yagi Toshinori X Reader

Here's pt3, almost six months after i posted it on a03... man i rlly gotta finish the next chapter

WC: ~2.3K (next one will be longer i romise)

Warnings: nighteye jumpscare, i haven't watched up to him (only S3 like 3 years ago) so he may be mischaracterised. which holds what is to come in good stead right? oh yeah i lost power halfway through and deleted half of it so that was fun.

Sir Nighteye requested that your boss leave her office so that he could talk to you and she complied, not holding back her curious gaze as she surveyed you.

Unfortunately, you’d already exhausted your quick escapes for the day, so you remained stock still as your boss filed past you, out the door. Leaving you alone, in an office, with a side-kick of one of your suspected soulmates.

He breathed out for a second, as though trying to clear his mind before he looked at you again. You didn’t really want to make eye-contact, a bit fearful about what he was going to say, so you averted your gaze. He cleared his throat.

“I’m here, looking for you, on account of one of my good friends.” Oh god, you thought, he’s definitely talking about All Might. But that made no sense, how could All Might even know who you were without ever having seen you or heard your words to him? How would he have known your name?

Unless, pro-heros had some sort of secret soulmate technology not released to the public. It made sense, that pro-heros could have a machine to maybe find their soulmates, if only to make sure they were safe even if they hadn’t met yet. But wouldn’t that kind of ruin the magic or the allure of soulmates in general?

Hey, wasn’t All Might not even supposed to have a soulmate? “Despite what you,” he paused to tilt his head at you, looking at you over his glasses, “or your boss may think, I’m not here on behalf of All Might.” Sir Nighteye’s words snapped you out of your train of thoughts, your eyes finding his again as you focused back on what he was actually saying. He quickly blinked.

“I’m here for my friend, Yagi Toshinori.” You didn’t recognise the name. He was able to gauge that through the tilt of your head. He cleared his throat again and adjusted in his seat before looking back at you. “He’s the man who you ran into this morning.” He said, voice a little snarky. Your eyes widened, your jaw slightly dropping open. The man you ran into, your other potential soulmate, was also apparently familiar with Mr Nighteye, close enough that Nighteye would come to your work. 

A sinking feeling emerged in your gut. If Sir Nighteye was close enough to both All Might and the man from earlier, could it mean that they might know each other? Would that also mean that Toshinori (not scrawny guy, as you had dubbed him) and All Might would be soulmates? Was it even possible?

Nothing made sense anymore, most of what you thought you knew about soulmates was falling to pieces around you. A headache appeared in the forefront of your brain and you groaned. There were too many things to consider.

But no, Toshinori had clearly said “You’re my Soulmate.” Well, less clear because he was stuttering, but you got the point. He didn’t say it like “You’re my soulmate?”, he sounded sure. Which was scary, but also meant that Toshinori and All Might, if they knew each other, weren’t soulmates.

Suddenly, you snapped back to the present, remembering the man in front of you. You gave him a look, hoping to convey your confusion. How did he know your name? How did he know where you worked? Did the scrawny potential soulmate send someone after you when you ran away?

Nighteye harrumphed, and you realised you said that last part out loud, heat rushing to your cheeks.

“Toshinori did not send me after you.” He said with an air of finality, finally speaking after watching you internally monologue, crossing his arms over his chest. “In fact, he does not know I’m here now and he hasn’t told me about this morning, yet.” He tacked on the ‘yet’ after a pause. Your eyes squinted at his words.

“So, how do you know what hap-”

“My quirk,” He began in the middle of your sentences, and you immediately fell silent, prepared to roll your eyes at what you assumed to be his bragging, “allows me to see into the future.” You simply nodded and he sighed, seeming to be annoyed at something.

“When I make eye-contact with people, I am able to see their future.” You nodded again, before his words truly set in. Your eyes snapped to look at his, and the tension in his shoulders released. 

“You understand now.” He stated plainly. You weren’t entirely sure you did. He seemed to catch onto that.

“I saw you in Toshinori’s future.” He seemed to get a bit flustered here, averting his eyes and raising a hand to cover his mouth. “You two were very… close.” He let the implications hang. You spluttered for a second, letting him adjust his glasses, the lenses of which seemed to flash as he pushed them up his nose.

Your thoughts rung through your head, quieting some questions while amplifying the others. This Nighteye guy seemed convinced that Toshinori was your soulmate. That left the question of All Might, what had Nighteye seen about All Might. He’d said earlier something about you thinking he was here for All Might, does that mean that he knew that All Might could be one of your soulmates? Maybe he was here to convince you away from All Might?

Perhaps All Might and Toshinori already knew each other and were soulmates, but acknowledged that it was too dangerous so Nighteye was being sent in to try and cut out All Might from your mind as a potential option. Your mind went blank for a second, the words “All Might” racing through your head as you kept repeating them.

It kind of sounded like a soap opera or a bad conspiracy theory, that you will admit, but you were already struggling to comprehend the events of the past 24 hours, let alone what was in store for you. And anyway, wasn’t All Might not supposed to have a soulmate?

“W-why are you here?” You eventually stammered out and Sir Nighteye paused for a second.

“Well, I saw myself here.” He said simply before looking down for a second and continuing quietly, as though talking to himself. “It’s typical of Toshi not to tell me, he has a bad habit of keeping his worries to himself.”

You logged that, storing information about Toshinori or Toshi. Really, Toshi was quite a cute nickname. You’d use it in the future. Your heart stuttered in your chest as you registered that thought. God, you were already thinking about the future with this guy. You really had to clear up one thing though, what were you gonna do about All Might?

“What about… the other thing?” You raised quietly, watching as he appraised you. He paused.

“What ‘other thing’?” He asked and you considered that, raising an eyebrow.

“Y’know… The other thing.” You kinda moved your hands to try and gesticulate your point. His eyes followed your hands but his expression remained unaware. After a few seconds you tried again.

“The other…” You coughed here, trying to ease the blow. “The other… man?” You almost said it like a question, watching as Sir Nighteye reeled back in his seat.

“What other man? Are you already dating someone?” He asked, and you remained puzzled before realising he asked a question and shaking your head. At your answer he looked confused. “You’re not dating anyone, so why ask about another man?” He seemed almost bewildered. So obviously, he didn’t know about All Might. Which raised a whole lot more questions but you weren’t able to voice them before he continued.

“And a question I have is, why run away from Toshinori? Sometimes he can look a bit disheveled but he’s a good man.” Nighteye seemed to be getting a bit defensive about his friend, and you couldn’t blame him to be honest.

If one of your friends' soulmates had seen them and then ran away, you’d also be a bit offended on their behalf.

You watched the man who seemed incredibly intimidating five minutes ago begin to get frustrated at your supposed lack of warmth towards Toshinori. The way he was describing him seemed like he hung the stars in the sky, and you began to feel a bit bad, though you were wondering apprehensively what Toshinori had done to endear such a man to him so immensely.

“It’s just-” You begun, cutting him off midway like he’d done to you previously. He turned to you, a slightly haughty look on his face. The words were hard to get out, preparing yourself for all sorts of reactions to your words.

“It’s just… he’s kinda not my soulmate?” Nighteye looked shocked, which you could tell was a slightly uncommon expression from the way his face seemed to contort in pain.

“He’s not your soulmate? What do you mean?” He demanded and you winced.

“Well, someone else already said my words. I think I said his, you probably wouldn’t be here if I didn’t, but he didn’t say mine.” At this point you kind of expected him to close up and start talking about the three soulmate problem, about how All Might was too risky to have soulmates, and that you and Toshinori would just have to accept each other.

But he didn’t. He just kind of… seemed sad. Or disappointed. You weren’t sure why he looked so sad for something that didn’t really involve him. He obviously cared for Toshinori and wanted him to be happy, but he seemed truly disheartened.

“You’ve already met your soulmate?” He asked, tone sort of cold. You nodded.

“Who?” He asked sharply and you took a breath in. Should you answer? It felt weird to but it would be worse not to. You whispered your answer.

“All Might.” His head stuttered. It would be imperceptible if you hadn’t already been looking at him. For a second, it looked like he was about to laugh. That threw you for a loop, because how did his emotions change so quickly?

“Y-your soulmate is All Might?” He asked again, as if to check that his ears hadn’t deceived him and you nodded unwillingly. This was All Might’s side-kick after all, everything you said to him would go back to All Might. He might think that you were crazy, especially since y’know All Might wasn’t supposed to have a soulmate. Maybe some crazed fan, who isn’t able to put up with not having their celebrity crush as their soulmate. You hoped he didn’t because that probably put a damper on your chances with the man.

“W-well,” You hadn’t know him for long, but you could ascertain that him stuttering was quite out of character. “I suppose that does explain some things.” He seemed to be going back into his mind, and reanalysing of what he had seen of you and Toshinori. He mumbled to himself for a few seconds, variations of “but…” and “was I wrong?” coming from him quietly.

You began to feel slightly unnerved, a bit taken aback how easily he was accepting your words, so you interjected his mumbling.

“H-hey, shouldn’t you already know this? Aren’t you supposed to have seen the future?” After you spoke he glared at you blankly.

“I’m not able to know everything. I just get to see some of the events.” He spoke reservedly, as though he was trying to hold back his ire and failing.

“So…” You trailed off. “Kinda like a weather forecast.” It went quiet for a second before he let out a chuckle. One singular chuckle. The sarcasm made the situation almost unbearable. You cringed.

After he registered that he let out a chuckle, he seemed to go through something. His facial expression changed rapidly, almost like before but with more despair etched into it. He seemed resigned when he spoke again.

“I believe I have to go.” You jolted in shock. Just like that? He stood up from where he sat at your bosses desk, wiping off invisible dust from his pants. You just watched him.

You felt a strange sense of disquiet letting him walk out the door, as though you should be asking more questions or as if there was something he wasn’t telling you. It nagged at you even as Sir Nighteye walked past you out the door. You turned from where you were standing near the doorway, having remained on your feet for the entirety of that unusual interaction, watching him walk away, one of his hands reaching up to rub at his mouth.

He paused before he reached the lift at the end of the corridor, flipping around to make eye-contact with you. You dropped your gaze, a bit embarrassed at being caught staring. When you shot a look up, he was still staring at you. You waved awkwardly, barely moving your hand away from your body, as the lift opened. He just let out one more imperceptible huff of what you assumed was laughter at your expense before his eyes furrowed, looking to the floor, as the doors closed on him.

You stood still in the doorway of your bosses office, completely and utterly confused at what the hell had just happened. The list of words you could use to describe your befuddlement was quickly getting smaller and smaller every time something weird happened to you, and you were apprehensive about when you’d run out of adjectives.

You were quite shocked that he just stood up and left, no niceties or even saying goodbye. Just up and walking out the door. It seemed to fit him though, from what you had parsed of his personality. You hoped that, despite the fact they were friends, Yagi Toshinori might be a little more lax.

You realised, as you were walking back to your cubicle, mind in the clouds and ignoring the hawk-eyed stares watching you, that you had not asked Sir Nighteye to not tell Toshinori about All Might.

pebis, whatevre will happen next?!?!?!?

[lonewolflupe]

20 Fic Writer Questions

Thank you for tagging me, @eternal-transcience and @returnofthepineapple (I loved reading your answers)! ❤️

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

27 (since I joined AO3 in June 2024)!

2. What's your A03 word count?

136,634

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

For All One's Worth (TBB Echo x reader) - 23 kudos

Echo Of Your Mind (TBB Echo x reader) - 22 kudos

The Cavalry Has Arrived (TBB POV) - 20 kudos

Battle Scars (TBB Echo POV) - 19 kudos

On Vanilla And Caramel (Fox x reader) - 17 kudos

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably my longfic A Lupe Of Faith, but that's still unfinished (taking a midseason-break at a pretty angsty point in the story tho). For finished pieces, I think Before I Fall (Fives).

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd like to think Signs Of Affection (Fives x reader NSFW) haha

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't received any, thank the Maker!

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Yes I do! It's pretty mild, because I'm still trying to get comfortable with writing it. I'd love to explore it more further tho!

10. Do you write cross overs? What's the craziest one you've written?

No I don't, not really my thing.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No I haven't!

I did write a cracky holomail that is part of @aknightreaderr's Fives State Of Mind universe (and I'm planning on some more Fox-screaming-into-the-cracky-void for that same universe).

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Lupe (OC) x Fives sorry not sorry

Otherwise.. I absolutely love Foxiyo, Codywan and Blyla!

15. What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever wilI?

I still intend on finishing all my current WIPs, haha

I have two multi-chapter fics I'm working on, one with a new OC, one with Reader. But I won't start posting them until I've finished some more chapters (I should work on those again, where did the time go)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Uhm.. I'm not really sure? I think I'm pretty okay with writing fluff and hurt/comfort. I'm still a starting writer so I'd leave this question open to my readers haha

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Writing in English (which isn't my first language)! I think I'm managing, but I feel like I can't express myself fully (I wish my English vocabulary was wider). It feels like I get repetitive sometimes, using the same words over and over again. (Thesaurus and the Cambridge Dictionary are livesavers and I always have them around whilst writing)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

"Ik hoop oprecht dat je een grap maakt als je zegt dat je een dialoog in mijn bitterballen-taal wil," Lupe said with a straight face, as she jabbed a stick into a cheese cube. She devoured the soft, luscious Gouda, before continuing with her mouth still full: "Laten we het bij kaas houden."

I'm just kidding here. I'm not super fond of my own language (Dutch), so I actually prefer writing in English (even when I'm restricted with it). I do use some Mando'a words from time to time, and I might have used some Huttese slang. But I don't master those languages enough to write whole sentences in it, so English it is.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The Clone Wars / The Bad Batch! (This is my first time writing fanfic)

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

I hold my longfic A Lupe Of Faith very dear, but A Buir's Burden (Alpha-17 + Cadet Rex + Cadet Cody) is definitely one of my favourites (along a few I mentioned at question 4).

---

NPT: @aknightreaderr @eclec-tech @kotemf @ladylucksrogue @kybercrystals94 and whoever else has AO3 and wants to join this!

[starbeltconstellation]

Sooo, I’m posting this here, because the nice reader that left a comment on one of my meta posts for my Anakin x OC SW Fic seems to have sadly deleted it before I could respond. And I sadly cannot remember the tumblr username to send them a message that way. ☹️💔

It might not be automatic, since my life is kinda overwhelming right now, but I’ll always respond to every ask and message I receive! 💕💕💕 So you all never have to worry that I’m ignoring you or anything like that.

Sooo, if you’re still out there waiting for the next chapter of “Rewrite the Stars” little commenter—I will still leave you my answer to your message here! ❤️😊

You mentioned the current heartbreaking world events of what’s happening in Gaza to the Palestinian people, and how you have in a way come to relate that with my themes in my fic on the Jedi genocide and how a lot of SW citizens in universe/also the SW fandom have a frankly disgusting tendency to blame the Jedi for their own genocide (sadly, The Acolyte has recently had a line that basically outright says this, and it has all but guaranteed that I will now never watch that show that clearly believes everything cynical about life that SW is supposed to go against).

Now, while I have not outright SAID that in my author’s notes on A03 or Wattpad (I was honestly unsure if the comparison might come off as offensive to others. Some people like to see their experiences reflected in art/media, while others might see it as offensive that you’d compare their pain to a fictional universe), I suppose I can admit it here, since you have pointed it out yourself—yes, the thought of what’s happening in Gaza did indeed cross my mind when I think about the Jedi being blamed for their own genocide, and then when I compare that to the disgusting way the Palestinian people have been blamed by a certain section of the world for the genocide currently happening to them (ex: tHeY vOteD fOr HaMaS! 🤪🤪😒💔).

While I didn’t PLAN it to directly reference the Gaza situation—it DID occur to me of the similarities when I was writing my fic. It was honestly just one more thing that makes me so passionate about never quitting this fic and one day finishing it. 💔 I hope that one day, when this fic is finished, it will help change readers’s minds about this frankly cruel mindset in blaming a culture for something, just because you don’t understand them or their pain or why they came to be where they are or make the certain decisions they’ve made.

Thanks so much again for the comment on my tumblr post, dear reader I can’t remember the tumblr username of! 😭❤️ I hope this answer is satisfactory, and that you come back to my tumblr and see it. 💕💕

Still chipping away at the next chapter! 😭✊ It’s coming along… slowly, but surely. 😖 It’s probably gonna be over 45,000 words. 😭🤦‍♀️

I’m fr NEVER writing a chapter this long again. 🫠😖

Hope you all are doing well! ❤️❤️

-

To any new readers that stumble across this and are curious enough to check out my fic:

Tags:

@ensomniaa

@heartfairy

@fangirlteallie

@lemons-2-limes

@shoniwake

[acaciusbride]

Unconditionally: Joel Miller x OC (Part 4/10)

Summary: Lucy loves Joel Miller unconditionally. A cross country trip to escort an immune, bad mouthed teenager to safety might just prove it.

CWs: canon typical violence / unsafe sex / age gap / language / spoilers (if anyone cares) / canon divergence / mentions of attempted sexual assault / themes of previous suicidal tendencies

Note: this work is intended for adult audiences only. It is not strictly canon compliant, and was originally posted to A03 when I first ventured into the fandom.

Chapter Index: 1 / 2 / 3

- Three Months Later -

The snow was several inches deep on the ground; the further west they went, the colder it got. Some well-chosen supplies kept them warm enough, but it wasn’t an easy journey.

“We’re lost.” Ellie had proclaimed just that morning, before they had stolen their way into the cabin, before Joel had asked for directions from the old woman there at gunpoint.

When the old man had confirmed their location, warned them off going west, they’d left the way they came. Ellie was the only one undeterred, helping herself to a freshly snared rabbit from the doorpost on their way out.

“Put that back.” Joel had said, only half heartedly. Lucy had said nothing until he had stopped, leaned on the fence, looked for all the world like he was about to lose his composure.

“Hey! Joel! Joel! You good? You better be good, because if you drop dead, I’m fucked.”

As far as bedside manner for panic attacks went, Ellie wasn’t the best. Lucy didn’t suppose the girl had even realised what was happening. She was only slightly more attuned to it.

It had been a hard three months since losing their friends back in Kansas City. Although Joel was trying to keep it together… Lucy could see him slipping.

Trauma could only layer itself so much before it caused breaks in one’s psyche, and Joel? He was at breaking point, and she knew it. There wasn’t much she could do, beyond keep a close eye on him. Even then, it didn’t feel like it was enough. Would it ever be enough?

“There’s the river of death,” Ellie yawned, “doesn’t look so scary to me.”

“Yeah, well. We’ll see. There’s a bunch of caves along the riverside. We’ll make camp there tonight, cross in the morning.” Joel was getting cold and tired, his temper flaring; it wasn’t Ellie’s fault that it was cold, wasn’t her fault they were out here to begin with, but he couldn’t help being short with her.

He didn’t speak much as he and Lucy gathered firewood, set a small fire going in their chosen cave.

“Bet you’re glad we have that rabbit now.” Ellie offered, once said rabbit had been skinned and was cooking over the fire.

“Better than nothing.” Lucy agreed, “although you shouldn’t make a habit of stealing from decent people. It’s rude.”

“They had plenty of food.” Ellie shrugged, “meanwhile we had barely anything. So. We needed it more. It’s not stealing if we need it more.”

Lucy opened her mouth to argue, but just sighed and shook her head. It was hard to argue with that sort of logic. Even harder to argue when the logic came with fresh game to eat.

“Do you really think they can make a vaccine?” Ellie asked, once they had eaten.

Joel looked up, bemused.

“Bit late to start questioning it, don’t you think?”

“Well I mean… how does it even work? Because I’ve tried it and it didn’t.”

Lucy knew immediately what Ellie was referring to; recalling their conversation three months ago about Ellie trying to help Sam when he had been infected.

“What do you mean, you’ve tried it?” Joel raised an eyebrow.

“I knew Sam was infected… and I cut my hand. Rubbed blood on his bite mark. I thought it would save him, but… it didn’t.” Ellie was almost matter of fact in how she spoke about it now, a far cry from the guilt and grief that had threatened to tear her apart when it had been more recent.

Joel sighed, shook his head.

“I don’t think it works that way, Ellie. But if Marlene thinks they can make a cure somehow… I’m inclined to believe her.”

A long silence followed, punctuated only by the crackling of the fire.

“So say we get where we’re going, we find your brother, they make a vaccine from my blood… then what do we do?” Ellie asked, leaning back against a rock.

“We? Who said there’s a we?” Joel raised an eyebrow at her.

Lucy kicked him in the shin. He ignored her.

“Okay, fine. What do you do. You can do anything.”

Lucy could see the slight hurt in the girl’s voice and expression; she loved Joel to death, but she wanted to kick him again.

“I dunno. Find an old farmhouse maybe. A ranch.”

“With what?” Ellie recovered her usual demeanour. Lucy had to admire that about the kid, the way she just… bounced back.

“Uh, sheep, maybe?”

“So just you, Lucy, and a bunch of sheep? Romantic.” Ellie snorted.

Joel frowned. “Yeah? What about you?”

She shrugged. “Only place to go is up, right? If I could do anything. I’d wanna go to space. But anyway. Am I taking first watch? Or second?”

Joel stretched, crossed his arms.

“Neither. You’re gonna get some damn sleep, and I’ll take both. You can dream of sheep ranches on the moon or something.”

Ellie snorted again. “Right.”

She didn’t argue with him, though. Just settled herself down to sleep. They still had a long way to go, and, supposedly, a river of death to cross.

——

Joel’s eyes opened, slowly, one at a time. The cold ground was pressed against his cheek. Fuck. What time was it?

He jolted upright, only to find Lucy and Ellie armed and standing in the mouth of the cave.

“I woke up early. You were passed out, so. I took second watch.” Ellie shrugged, “I did everything you’ve told me and shown me. And besides, Lucy was with me.”

“You should have woken me up.” Annoyance crossed his face. Not so much at the girl for making herself useful, but annoyance and frustration at himself for falling asleep. How could he have let his guard down so much? With both Ellie and Lucy there? He was supposed to be protecting them, for fucks sake.

“Yeah, well. We managed.” Ellie frowned, handed him back his rifle. “If you don’t want me to be useful? Don’t fall asleep next time.”

It was with a somewhat cold and frosty distance between them that the trio set off for the morning, crossing the river and making their way further west, until they came across what looked like an old dam, powered and all.

“That thing has power?” Ellie stared at the structure, impressed.

“Yeah. Don’t ask me how it works though. Fuck if I know.” Joel’s mood had cooled down substantially since the morning, but he was still prickly.

“Could’ve just made something up. I’d have believed you, you know.” Ellie crossed her arms then turned to Lucy, “I don’t suppose you know how those work?”

“El, I was barely older than you are now when the world went to shit. I don’t know that stuff.” Lucy laughed, “I was more interested in learning pharmaceuticals and shit, anyway.”

“Because you were a nerd, or because you wanted to get high?” Ellie asked, amused.

Lucy grinned. “A little of both.”

Her pre outbreak interest in pharmaceutical studies had helped her survive in the QZ, though. And it had led her to Joel, so. She would always be grateful. Always believe it was worth it.

They walked a little further, until Ellie broke the silence again.

“Hey, Joel? You don’t suppose this is the river of death, right?”

That hadn’t quite occurred to either of the adults, right until that moment.

“Could be… c’mon, this way.” Joel started to lead both girl and woman up the embankment, away from the dam, when the sound of thundering hooves accosted their ears.

All too fast, the trio found themselves surrounded. Each of the newcomers was armed, on horseback, with a weapon pointed at them. Slowly, the trio raised their hands in the universal gesture of surrender.

“We’re just passing through.” Joel called out, “We don’t want any trouble.”

“How about shut the fuck up, and drop your gun. You and the girl.” The man with the biggest gun demanded, nodding between Joel and Lucy, who had been visibly and openly carrying weapons.

Slowly, they dropped their weapons, stepped a few feet apart, hands still raised.

“Y’all infected? Last chance to tell me, cause this here?” The man whistled, and another stepped forward, unchaining an enormous dog, “he can smell infection, and if you’re bit? He’ll rip you apart.”

“We’re not infected!” Lucy called, but it didn’t matter. The dog approached Joel first, sniffed him, then Lucy herself.

“Not infected.” Joel confirmed.

The man wasn’t impressed.

“Check the girl, too.”

Joel froze. Ellie registered as infected with the FEDRA scanners. If the dog picked up something wrong about her scent… what could he do? Frozen here ten feet away with a dozen guns pointed at him? He’d be shot down before he could even reach her.

He could hear his own heart pounding in his chest, in his ears, and then… laughter???

Slowly he turned, hands still raised, to find Ellie on the ground, petting the dog as it licked her face.

Unamused, the man whistled; the dog retreated.

“Cool, y’all have bought yourselves about a minute. What the hell are you doing out this way?”

Joel frowned. “I’m looking for my brother, Tommy.”

Another of the riders moved forward, a black woman with long braids, half her face obscured by a rag.

“What’s your name?”

There was a moment’s hesitation before he answered.

“Joel. This is Ellie, and Lucy.”

The woman nodded, then:

“Get them horses.” Before she turned back to Joel, “I think we might be able to help you.”

——

The walls of the Jackson settlement were impressive. Lucy was honestly surprised to see such a sturdy looking man made structure that wasn’t the looming walls of a QZ. It was nice to feel the familiarity of a horse trotting beneath her, the heat of Joel’s body as she wrapped her arms around his waist and peered over his shoulder at the walls.

Ellie had her own horse; she’d desperately wanted to ride alone, for the experience of it, and neither Joel nor Lucy could deny her the small request. The enormous gates opened to them, and the group slowly rode through what appeared to be the Main Street.

Lucy took in the sights as they went: houses, a pub, a school, what looked like a multi-faith house of worship, a general store…

“This is so much better than the QZ…” Ellie called out over the snow and wind. Lucy had to agree. The place had an almost… homely… feel to it. What Bill and Frank’s town might have been, if they’d allowed more people in to settle.

The group brought their horses to a stop just before some scaffolding; Lucy felt Joel freeze, followed his gaze.

She had never, of course, met Joel’s brother before, but she had seen a photograph. Even without a picture, she was certain the man she was looking at had to be Joel’s brother. There was a strong familial resemblance, although, privately, she thought Joel had gotten the better looks of the pair.

“Tommy!” Joel called out, and the man on the scaffolding froze, turned in the direction of the shout. Stared for a moment, then began to descend from his perch.

Joel slid from the horse’s back, broke into a run to meet his brother halfway and crush him in a hug.

“Christ, I thought you were dead.” His voice was strangled, choked with a relief he didn’t even realise he felt.

“What the fuck are you doing out here?” Tommy asked, seemingly surprised to see them; he WAS surprised to see them. He simply couldn’t believe Joel would come all this way, just for him.

“Came to rescue your dumb ass,” Joel admitted, and Tommy sighed.

“Christ… come on. Let’s get you and your friends something to eat.”

He and the woman who had brought them in - Maria - led the trip to what looked like a large community diner, letting them settle in and waiting for them to have food in front of them before they spoke again.

“You must have come a long way.”

“From Boston. We went through KC, it was a shitshow.” Ellie shovelled her food in around speaking, glaring at a girl about her age who was looking at her. “What?”

“Most of the children here aren’t accustomed to seeing children like you,” Maria explained, “they don’t dress or speak the way you do.”

“Yeah, well. They’ve had it fucking easy then, haven’t they?” Ellie said, tone somewhere between defensive and aggressive.

Lucy nudged her, but it was Joel who spoke to chastise her. The almost familial, parental unity between the trio surprised Tommy, but he tried not to show it. Who was this mystery girl? This woman? Whoever they were, they seemed to have some sort of impact over his brother.

“Ellie, remember your manners.” He turned to Maria, “we’re grateful for your hospitality, ma’am. Truly. But I wonder if we might have a moment for… just family.”

Tommy shifted, uncomfortable, as he linked fingers with Maria.

“Joel, Maria is family.”

There was an awkward, incredibly uncomfortable pause, before Ellie broke the silence once more.

“Huh. Congrats.” It was her turn to nudge Joel. “Say congrats, Joel.”

He rolled his eyes. “Congrats.”

There was bite to it, as though he felt anything but. Lucy stepped on his foot beneath the table. Tommy watched the trio’s silent interactions with mild interest, unsure of what to make of the sharp tongued teenager and the quiet, dark haired woman who had shown up with his brother.

He was used to Joel being a loner, not letting anyone close whatsoever. But it was clear there was some sort of relationship between him and Lucy, and as for the girl? He wasn’t certain.

He had no further insight by the time they concluded their tour, either, only that the girl had grown up in the QZ and was delighted to see another horse, especially a young one. The woman - Lucy - barely spoke, though she and Joel seemed to communicate without speaking; it didn’t escape his notice that they kept their fingers linked, as though anchoring one another to the present. He wondered whether that was for her benefit, or for Joel’s. He was inclined to suspect the latter.

“We’ve got an empty house you can stay in.” He offered finally.

“A great idea. Across the road from us.” Maria nodded, “how about I take Ellie and Lucy to get settled in while you two catch up?”

Ellie looked to Joel, who just nodded.

“Go on ahead. Lucy will look after you.”

That was curious, too, to Tommy; to see his brother reassure both the girl and the woman, the way his brother’s dark eyes didn’t leave their retreating figures. The way the woman had pressed a soft kiss to his brother’s cheek before they left.

“Come on. Let’s go have a drink.”

——

It was nice to take a shower again. Ellie went first, then Lucy. Whilst the latter was in the shower, Ellie dressed, dried her hair, and examined the menstrual cup that Maria had left for her.

“Weird.” She muttered, poking it into shape and out of shape again. “As if people use these…”

Saying that, she hadn’t ruled it out; it would go into her backpack, along with the little instruction book that had come with it. She suspected there was one in the small pile of clothes for Lucy, too. As much as she would die of shame, at least if she needed to, she could ask the older woman for advice. She was still looking at it when she heard footsteps.

“You good out here?” Lucy came out of the bathroom at last, dressed in fresh clothes, her dark hair damp and pulled off her face with a claw clip.

“Yeah. Just. The fuck is this?” Ellie held up the cup.

Lucy, to her credit, didn’t look abashed at all.

“That’s a diva cup. They were popular, before the outbreak. Easier than a tampon. You can leave them in longer, see, without risking toxic shock.”

“Oh. They look uncomfortable.”

“They’re not my preference,” Lucy shrugged, “but it’ll be handy to have if we run out of tampons and stuff.”

She did, indeed, have one too in her stash of supplies left by Maria.

Both woman and girl packed the supplies into their backpacks. Even if it wasn’t a preferred method of sanitary product, it was better than nothing, and the thought that counted.

“Maria left us a note. She’s across the street. Should we go over and say hello?” Ellie asked.

Lucy sighed, then nodded.

“I suppose we’d better. I’d much rather know that Joel is alright, but… he should be allowed time to catch up with his brother, so. It’s probably the polite thing to do, to go and see our host.”

Ellie smirked as they headed down the stairs.

“You two have only gotten worse, I swear to god.”

“What do you mean?” Lucy asked, amused, as they left the house and crossed the street.

“You guys worry if the other isn’t within eyesight.”

“Yeah; well. That’s what happens when you care, I guess.” Lucy knocked on the door. There was no response.

Ellie shrugged, then pushed the door open.

“Hello? Maria? Are you home?”

Lucy closed the door behind them; they stepped into the warm living room. A fireplace was lit, warming the house nicely. Above it was a chalkboard, with two names and dates written on it. Kevin and Sarah.

Ellie looked as though she were about to ask a question, but then, footsteps.

“Ellie! Lucy! There you are. Sorry I was late, I just traded for this.” Maria held out a deep purple coat to Ellie. “Try this on.”

Ellie took the coat, put it on.

“This is… so fucking purple.”

“Eggplant.” Maria agreed, “does it fit?”

“Yeah… it does actually. Thanks.” Ellie shrugged the coat off again, glanced to Lucy, who nodded encouragement.

“I’m guessing you’re not her mother.” Maria hazarded as she looked between them. Lucy was curvier where Ellie was all gangly; the only resemblance between them was dark hair.

“I’m not.” Lucy confirmed, “just a guardian.”

“And I’m guessing you haven’t been cutting her hair, either?”

“Can’t say I’ve had the time.”

“Let me get my scissors.”

“Fuck no!” Ellie enthused.

Maria shook her head, amused rather than offended. “Just a trim. The ends only, I promise.”

“Fine.”

It was an odd situation, Lucy perched on the kitchen bench while Ellie sat on a chair, Maria trimming her hair.

They made idle conversation for a short while before Ellie spoke again.

“I’m sorry about your kids.”

“Kids? Just one. Only Kevin. Sarah was Joel’s daughter.”

“Oh.”

The women exchanged a look; clearly, Ellie hadn’t known about Sarah, and for good reason. Lucy had never mentioned her in front of Ellie, and neither had Joel. It just hadn’t seemed relevant.

“I’m guessing there’s a lot you don’t know about Joel.” Maria’s tone was cautious, “maybe both of you.”

Ellie couldn’t see Maria’s expression, but she could see the flare in Lucy’s eyes that the latter tried to hide by looking at the ground.

“What, like he used to kill people? We know.” Ellie crossed her arms. “He doesn’t do that anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter whether he does or doesn’t anymore. What matters is what he did, and whether that’s the sort of environment that’s appropriate for someone your age…” Maria’s tone was calm, but there was an edge to it.

It was very, very clear that she didn’t approve of her husband’s older brother.

“Joel’s a good man.” Lucy said, her voice deadly soft; Maria might mistake it for being soft spoken and polite. Ellie knew better, knew it was her maternal guardian trying to keep her temper under wraps.

“He’s killed people.” Maria repeated, gently.

“So has Tommy. Are you worried about him being an appropriate role model?” Ellie fired back.

“That’s not the point.”

Ellie gave an unmistakably derisive snort. Maria sighed.

“I’m just saying, Ellie. The only people who can betray you are the people you trust. Be very, very careful who you give your trust to. Especially men like Joel.”

“If it weren’t for men like Joel, I would have been dead a year ago.” Lucy snapped, “he saved my life. I was carrying cargo across the QZ when a man twice my size attacked me. I don’t know if he was just going to rob me, or rape me. Probably both. But Joel came looking for me. Joel killed him for putting his hands on me. Men like Joel exist to protect those they care about. Maybe that’s not the sort of man you trust, but that’s you. That’s not us.”

Maria frowned, held her hands up in a gesture of apologetic surrender.

“I didn’t mean to offend you. Either of you. I can see you both care very deeply for him. I know it isn’t my business, I just… have concerns, and I wouldn’t have been comfortable not voicing them.”

“Your heart’s in the right place, but it’s still not your business.” Ellie stood up, brushed the cut hair from her shoulders. “Thanks for the haircut.”

“Don’t get too upset. Grab your coats.”

“Why? Where are we going, exactly?” Lucy frowned at the other woman.

Maria gave her a small smile.

“To see a movie.”

———

Joel frowned as he wrapped another layer of duct tape around his ruined boot. He was still stinging from his argument with his brother.

Some of the words Tommy had had for him had bite, and he didn’t like it. Didn’t like the truths he had been confronted with.

The tape wasn’t going to hold the boots together at all, but he wasn’t about to ask for help. He just wanted to get supplies together and get the fuck out of dodge.

“Thought I might find you here.”

He looked up to find himself face to face with his brother, the latter holding out a new pair of boots.

“Here. You won’t get far in those old things. Gonna let me off the hook?” There was a faint plea in Tommy’s voice. He had been harsh, sure, but he didn’t want there to be any bad blood or enmity between the brothers.

“The trip to Colorado.” Joel began, pulling on his new boots, “is it a suicide trip?”

Tommy shook his head. “No. No, people have gone and come back. It’s not the most pleasant journey, but it’s doable.”

Joel laced his boots, didn’t look at his brother, as he said:

“She’s immune. Ellie, I mean. She got bit months and months ago, and she never got sick. Marlene asked us to take her to the Fireflies. Reckons they can make a vaccine.”

Tommy stared at him, then sat down opposite.

“You’re telling me this now, why?”

“Because I need you to take her.”

“If you’re asking this of me, you’re gonna start talking. And I mean from the fucking beginning.” Tommy pulled his upturned crate seat closer to his elder brother, gaze sharp and expectant.

“Like I said. Marlene asked us to take her out of the QZ. Shit went bad. Tess got bit, asked me to take her. It was her fucking dying wish, what could I do?”

“You’ve made it this far. Why ask me to take her now?”

“Because I’m fucking losing it. She saved my life. In KC. Shot a kid because I’m too goddamn old and deaf and didn’t hear him coming. Five fucking years ago I’d have ripped him apart. I watched a man kill his brother to save her, and I just froze. I couldn’t move. And today, with that goddamn dog… I thought for sure it would smell something on her, and attack her, and I couldn’t do a goddamn thing.”

The emotion in his voice was overpowering, all his fear, all his old trauma, resurfacing and boiling over; he wasn’t the sort of man who cried easily, but he was crying now.

“I’m just gonna get her killed. You need to take her. Please. You take her and I won’t ever ask anything of you. Ever again.”

Tommy sighed; it was impossibly difficult to watch his brother become this emotional, this upset and scared for someone. The last time Joel had cared about someone like this…

“What about Lucy?”

“She makes her own damn decisions, fuck knows why she wants to be stuck with me, but I can’t protect her, either…”

“She loves you. That much is goddamn obvious, big brother. Listen. Listen to me.” Tommy leaned across, so that he was certain Joel could hear him. “I’ll take Ellie out at dawn. I’ll get her there safe, alright? But I mean it. I don’t wanna hear another goddamn request from you, ever again. You keep your damn word, and I’ll do this for you.”

Joel exhaled, trying to calm his racing pulse.

“Alright. Alright, thank you.”

The brothers sat for a few moments, giving him time to compose himself. Lucy would have called what he had just experienced a panic attack, and he was almost glad she hadn’t been around to see him in such a weakened state.

“You’re that way. Go left, left, then right.” Tommy directed him, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah. Be seeing you.”

The brothers shook hands, then parted ways, Joel heading through the snow towards the house.

——

The lights were on when he walked up to the front door; he found Lucy in the living room, reading.

“Ellie’s upstairs. She doesn’t seem very happy, but she won’t talk to me. Maybe you can try?” Lucy closed her book, gazed at him; it was the sort of gaze where she was trying to work out if he was alright. Could she tell he had been crying? If she could, she didn’t push the subject.

“Right. I needed to talk to her anyway. I’ll go on up.”

He headed up the stairs, leaving her behind, to the room Ellie had claimed. He knocked. No answer. He knocked again before he pushed open the door.

Ellie was sitting in the window seat, reading what looked to be an old diary.

“Is this really what girls my age used to worry about? Boys? Music? What shirt went with what skirt? It’s bizarre.”

There was something off about her tone, an edge to it.

“Listen, Ellie, I -“

“What are you even doing here?” Ellie demanded, snapping the book shut, “if you’re gonna ditch me then just fucking do it. Don’t fuck around.”

Joel sighed, understanding.

“How much did you hear?”

“Enough. Enough about sending me off with your brother.” Ellie got to her feet. “Do you just not give a shit about me? After everything we’ve been through?”

“Of course I do. Of course I do. That’s why-“

“I’m not her, Joel.” Ellie snapped; he almost recoiled at her words.

“What?” It was a warning, giving her a chance to end the discussion. She plowed ahead instead.

“Maria told me about Sarah.”

“Ellie… don’t. Don’t even fucking go there.” It was a fine, fine line that she was treading, and she knew it, but she was fourteen years old, and she was angry, and he was the only goddamn father she had ever had, and now he wanted to leave her too?

“Joel, I’m sorry about your daughter. Really I am, but I’ve lost people too.”

“You have no idea what loss is.” His tone was cold.

“No? Everyone I’ve ever cared about has either left me or died.” She stepped forward again, “everyone except fucking you. And now you want to leave me too.” She shoved him, hard enough for him to stumble back.

He steadied himself. Glowered at her.

“You’re right. You’re not my daughter. And I sure as hell aren’t your dad. Come dawn, we’re going our separate ways, and that’s that.”

He turned from her, stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.

He met Lucy halfway down the stairs. Her expression was mutinous. He supposed they hadn’t been particularly quiet: both he and Ellie had been yelling, and Lucy didn’t have substantial hearing loss, unlike him.

“You’re just going to let her go?” She demanded as they descended the stairs.

Joel flopped himself down onto the couch, still furious.

“Tommy can take better care of her than I can.”

“Tommy doesn’t have me. We are a goddamn team, Joel.” Lucy knelt before him, seized his hands in her smaller ones. “I know you’re hurting, Joel. And I don’t pretend I know what you’re going through because I don’t. But what I do know is, like it or not, that girl loves you. She depends on you. And I KNOW you care about her. And we BOTH know if we send her out there… if we don’t see this through… you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

Joel brought their linked hands up to his head, rested his forehead against their joined fingers, eyes closed. As she spoke, he was thinking, his mind assaulted with memories of his daughter. Sarah at Christmas. Sarah as a baby. Sarah laughing and teasing him. Sarah the morning of the outbreak.

She was gone. Gone forever. And if he didn’t show up for her… Ellie would be, too.

“I can’t do this again.” He admitted softly.

“I know.” Lucy agreed, “I know what it is to fear losing someone you love. I can’t imagine how it is for you, having already lived it. But I’m with you. Every step of the way. We just have to be brave.”

He looked up, at the woman knelt before him.

“You have to promise me. Promise me you’ll help me protect her.”

Lucy kissed his knuckles, the hands that had once beaten her attacker to death, the hands that held her so gently.

“With all that I am.” She promised him, “I will help you protect her. From now until she no longer needs us to.”

Joel nodded, relaxed a little at the feeling of her fingers stroking his.

“Alright.” He said finally. “Okay. Then let’s get to work. We’ll head out at dawn. Give her a choice.”

“She’ll choose you, Joel. She’ll always choose you. And so will I.” Lucy assured him, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

He sighed, fatigue overtaking him all of a sudden.

“Hell if I deserve that loyalty, darling.”

“It doesn’t matter if you do or don’t.” Lucy said softly, “what matters is we’ve judged that you do.”

“Can’t argue with your logic.”

“That’s why you love me.” She offered. He managed a faint smile.

“One of many reasons.”

She returned his smile.

“Get some rest. I’ll wake you when it’s time to go.”

He was too tired to argue with her, their journey and his declining mental health had exhausted him. If she said she would stay awake, he trusted her; and so, he let himself drift into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of both his girls and his Lucy, in a world where they could all be safe, together.

[igsy-blog]

Hi! How are you? It's been a weird year an a half for sure...its had me revisiting my fav stories and it made me wonder if you were planning to cross post That I May Slay Wild Beasts to AO3?

I haven't decided about cross posting it to A03, yet. I'm concerned about the future of FF.net, so I probably will at some point, but it is a laborious process. Right now, I'm working on finding time to finish that story. After that, I'll want to give it some space, take a hard look at where it can use improvements, and at that time might start posting it to A03.

[the-final-sif]

I wish you would write a fic... "Class 1-A knew Izuku had obsessive and somewhat stalkerish tendencies (see his room covered in AM merch). What they didn't expect was the even more extreme behaviour he had when it came to Katsuki. Notebooks, pictures, clothing, newspaper clippings, merch from Katsuki's modeling days, everything. Katsuki had expressed his distaste of Izuku following him around, saying he's always right there. But they failed to take into account how he can't express properly."

Okay, so this is only 50% what you asked for, but fuck it, my brain took this places. Todobaku / one-sided bakudeku w/references to stalking/obsession below.

Izuku was nice. That was a given. He was a sweet kid, he was always apologizing, always trying to help other people. But even Shouto could admit that Izuku could be a bit overbearing at times.

Still, he’d never understood why Katsuki took such issue with the other boy. Izuku was so nice to him, so positive, so sweet. He cared so much about Katsuki, and all Katsuki seemed to do was get mad at him for it. Shouto assumed Katsuki was just an asshole and moved on, and then-

And then he started spending more time with Izuku.

It was little things at first. Izuku’s All-Might collection was a bit weird, but Shouto was hardly one to talk about weird. When Shouto first looked over Izuku’s photos he’d brought with him from home, he might’ve noted in his head that Katsuki was in all of them, but that wasn’t that weird. The only thing that struck him as a bit odd at the time was that Izuku had one photo on his desk that was only of Katsuki, a photo of him when was maybe 6 or so, fast asleep. The photo was cute though, so Shouto didn’t think that much of it.

Remedial courses came and went, and Shouto found himself growing closer to Katsuki. Really, the other wasn’t so bad. It was a bit odd, but Shouto found he was nicer when Izuku wasn’t around. Calmer. More willing to go along with things. Odd.

One day he asked the blond outright what his problem with Izuku was. Katsuki growled a response at him, a bit of a rant, but one particular part of it all caught Shouto’s attention.

“Fucking stalker-”

Hm. At the time, Shouto didn’t give the insult that much weight, but it still stuck in the back of his mind.

Izuku asked about Katsuki sometimes, after they’d finished their extra courses for the day. He always asked how Shouto’s day had been first, polite as ever. But sometimes he’d asked after how Katsuki did. There was a interested light to his eyes when he did so, even if he kept his posture causal while he worked on homework. Shouto got more hesitant to answer the question. It was all harmless information, but some part of it felt weird. So he let his answers get shorter, less descriptive. Izuku would press for more sometimes, but he always backed off when Shouto rebuffed him a second time, and then everything went back to normal.

The notebooks took him longer to discover.

He’d been looking for Izuku’s notes from math class. His friend had given him permission and told him where to look in the room, but Shouto had gotten a bit turned around. The bin under Izuku’s bed had seemed like any other.

Only it wasn’t.

It had what looked like… fashion magazines? Mostly kid’s fashion. Again, not that weird. There were newspapers too though. And the notebooks. Each one carefully labeled with “Kacchan” and a number on the spine. The handwriting got better the higher up in the numbers.

Shouto knew he shouldn’t look any further, it was a violation of his friend’s trust, but- But he was pretty sure the existence of these was a violation of something else of Katsuki’s. So he picked one up and peeked inside, just enough to confirm what he’d suspected was inside. All of it was notes on Katsuki, sketches, incidents, thoughts. All in Izuku’s handwriting. Shouto took a second to look through a few of the magazines, at the marked pages. Photos of Katsuki. He must’ved modeled when he was younger. The newspaper articles were all about him too.

He didn’t know what to do about any of this, so Shouto tucked all of it back into the bin and put the bin back under the bed, just as he’d found it. It didn’t take long for him to find the math notes after that, but Shouto didn’t feel like studying now.

As hard as he tried to pretend he hadn’t seen anything, it was hard not to. He found himself paying more attention to Katsuki and Izuku’s interactions. How often Izuku stepped closer when Katsuki told him to back off. Before he’d considered it a kind move on Izuku’s part, trying to reach out anyways, despite Katsuki’s hostile personality. Now… Now-

“Izuku, Katsuki already said he didn’t want to partner with you on the project.”

Oh. All eyes in the room were on him now, shocked by his statement. It was something small, a class project that Izuku had wanted to partner up with Katsuki for. Katsuki said no, and Izuku kept pushing, and everyone rolled their eyes, knowing Katsuki would give in soon enough. That’s just what the two of them did. The same old song and dance. 

Shouto couldn’t stand aside though, not when he saw how Katsuki’s shoulders hunched in defensively. Not when he saw how Izuku’s eyes had that edge to them. Analytical, and dangerous.

He’d had lectures on stalkers when he was younger. His father had wanted him to be prepared for that aspect of being a hero.

“They always seem nice. If they weren’t good at coming across as nice, then they’d never get close enough to stalk someone in the first place.“

Those words rung in his ears and drove him forwards, speaking up for the very first time.

Green eyes were wide, shocked and betrayed. Red eyes were wide too, but it was hard to read what emotion was in them. Everyone was watching him, even Aizawa-sensei was no longer feigning sleep. Right. He needed to say something else now, to redirect the situation.

“Why don’t you partner with Tsu-chan? She doesn’t have anyone yet, and I heard her discussing a similar idea to yours.”

That seemed to restart the room, Tsuyu agreed easily enough and came up to sweep Izuku to the side. Kirishima was more than happy to partner with Katsuki instead. The class moved on, dismissing it as Shouto being tired of listening to the two of them argue.

Aizawa-sensei was still watching him, but Shouto pretended he didn’t notice.

After class, Shouto took an extra minute to gather up his stuff. The rest of the class had already left, everyone but one person, who Shouto didn’t even notice until he looked up and saw the blond looking at him, same odd expression in his eyes. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Katsuki jerked his gaze away, grabbing his bag and heading for the door. He paused just before he reached it.

“Thanks.”

The word was quiet, gruff, but sincere.

Katsuki had never thanked him for anything before.

“He should’ve listened when you said no.”

That got him another one of those looks. Which he didn’t understand, but which he thought wasn’t exactly a bad thing. Katsuki’s voice was even quieter when he replied, and dare Shouto say it, vulnerable?

“He never does.”

And then Katsuki was pushing out door. Gone, leaving Shouto to his thoughts.

Shouto started spending more time with Katsuki after that. A little less time with Izuku, it was a gradual shift. He found himself stepping between the two of them more and more often. Partnering himself with Katsuki when he could, to stop Izuku from doing it first. Always being the first to back Katsuki up when he said no. Always being the first to listen and respect that no.

Green eyes went from shocked to harboring an anger in them that almost scared him. Almost.

It wasn’t something he did with the intention of growing closer to Katsuki. But it was an interesting side effect. The more he got to know the other. The more he helped the other push back on Izuku, the more relaxed around him the other became.

Katsuki started cooking around other people more, and without Shouto asking, he’d often find that Katsuki had made extra for him, sometimes for him and the rest of the so called ‘bakusquad’, but almost always for him.

When there were weekends he didn’t want to go home, because he just couldn’t take the emotional mess that was his house, he found an invitation from Katsuki waiting on his phone. Extra training together. Not optional. His family always accepted the excuse, and Shouto did always train during those weekends, but it was a relaxed sort of training. Shouto would even call it hanging out, if it was with anyone else.

Green eyes started watching Shouto more often. He could feel them on him when he sat next to Katsuki in the common room, having lured him out there with Kirishima for a group movie night, and somehow ended up pressed right beside the other boy. Shouto ignored them as best he could. Until he wasn’t given a choice.

“I’m worried about you Shouto, you’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Kacchan, and you almost seem like you’re avoiding me. Did he- did he say something about me?” Izuku’s eyes were watery. A few months ago, Shouto would’ve dropped everything to comfort him, to promise that he would never speak to Katuski again if it would make Izuku happy.

Today, he held his ground. They were out in the hallway, Shouto had just been coming over to study with Izuku, the first time in a long while.

“No, we’ve just been getting along better since our remedial courses. You were right, he’s really not so bad once you get to know him. I actually like spending time with him, more than I thought I would. It’s nothing to worry about.”

He didn’t miss the flash through those green eyes. Jealousy? Maybe.

“Oh, you like him.”

What was that supposed to mean. Shouto’s brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of it, but Izuku spoke up again, before he could question the other.

“I mean, you’ve got a crush on him. You want to date him.”

Shouto opened his mouth to deny it, and then snapped it closed again. Fuck. Did... did he have a crush on Katsuki? He couldn’t deny the idea of dating the other was appealing. But that wasn’t why he was spending time with Katsuki.

“Oh, Shouto.” Izuku’s voice was soft, filled with pity. The other teenager took a step forward, offering him a sad, sad smile. “It’s okay. It happens. But Kacchan doesn’t like you like that. And, it’d probably be such a bad idea anyways. I mean- I know about how things are with your father. You’d know better than to choice someone that reminded you of him.”

Jealousy hadn’t been quite the right word for the look in Izuku’s eyes. It was possessiveness. Shouto knew that look all too well. He wondered why it took him this long to see it. He took a step back.

“You’re right. I do.”

And with that, he turned his back on Izuku, making his way up the stairs to his friend’s room.

Katsuki answered when he knocked on the door, annoyance quickly fading when he saw who was standing there.

“What is it?”

With an awkward grin, Shouto gestured to his English textbook.

“Any chance you could help me with the essay due Monday? I can’t get my verb tenses right.”

Red eyes rolled, but he was let in without much more than some grouchy muttering, and when Katsuki sat on the bed, Shouto didn’t miss how he sat down right next to Shouto, shoulder’s brushing and legs touching.

He worked up the courage to ask Katsuki about the bin one night, when the two of them were walking back from a workout.

“Do you know he has, I mean, about the notebooks?”

Katsuki sighed. It was long suffered, and his eyes looked so tired.

“Yeah.”

They didn’t need to say anymore. Shouto got it now.

Shouto couldn’t recall quite how it happened, but the two of them had been studying together, and somehow he found his lips an inch from Katsuki’s. Eyes locked, legs crossed over each other’s. It’d be so easy. A part of his mind screamed that he should just go for it, but green eyes flashed in his mind, and he hesitated.

“May I?” He asked, his voice breathy and low.

“Fuck yes.” Came the response, and Shouto surged forward to seal the deal.

That night they talked. They kept it a secret for about a week, while they figured things out. Izuku knew. Shouto didn’t know how, but he could feel the heat of those green eyes well before Katsuki gruffly let his squad in on his new boyfriend.

Shouto didn’t care though. He didn’t care about the envy in those green eyes, or about the trouble he knew was going to come. What he cared about was Kirishima’s bright congratulations, followed by the rest of Katsuki’s friend’s support. The little smile Katsuki got, even though he tried to hide it. The blush on his boyfriend’s cheek’s as Shouto reached over to gently brush his hand, asking  silently for permission that was granted when Katsuki’s hand turned to wrap around him. That was all that mattered to him.

[bro-ken-spoon]

Fic Time!

Hello fellow Marble Hornets enjoyers, I have been posting a fic a day on A03 for the Sicktember event, which you can find the link to here! However! I am most proud of the first one in that series, so I thought I'd go ahead and post that on here for more clout because I crave those sweet, sweet interactions. Anyways! I'm gonna put it here under the cut, but prompt number one was "Do you know how to take care of a sick person?" so if that sounds fun and you like Jam, you might like this one! If you do, feel free to message me here and let me know! Thanks!

“I’m just going to go over there for the night,” Tim was saying as he filled a duffle bag with clothes and an assortment of toiletries. He ignored Brian’s pointed look at him and continued to focus all of his energy on the task at hand.

“Do you really think that’s necessary?” Brian asked, standing in the doorway to Tim’s room and watching him with a bemused smile. He stuck his hands in his pockets. 

“Alex said he was going to help out but he’s probably out doing all that director-y stuff he does, I can’t reach him. Someone needs to be there just in case…I mean, you’re gonna be a doctor, right? Would you leave a flu patient alone overnight? It’s just the rational thing to do!” Tim argued. He was right, but he also knew what Brian was getting at. 

“And I, the medical student, would not be the obvious choice to help out because….?” Brian asked, that teasing smile still on his face. Tim scowled at him. 

“You have to be up early. I can stay as late as I need.” Tim said, zipping up the bag. He pushed past Brian, headed for the front door, but Brian side-stepped in front of him before he could make it out. 

“Tim. Do you know how to take care of a sick person?” He asked. Tim scowled again, but Brian didn’t waver.

“Of course I do. I mean, I can figure it out. It can’t be that hard.” Tim tried again to push past Brian, but the latter could be very stubborn when he needed to be. The most infuriating part was that his friendly demeanor hadn’t wavered. He still seemed to genuinely want to help Tim, even if that help was unwanted and about something Tim very much did not need to deal with. 

“Aren’t you going to bring anything? Canned soup, a thermometer, some over the counter medication…?” Brian trailed off, gesturing into Tim’s kitchen, where he’d neglected to even look in his haste. 

“I was just going to use his. Wouldn’t that be the best idea for like, cross-contamination or whatever?” Tim asked. Brian laughed.

“Dude. It’s Jay Merrick . Guaranteed, he hasn’t got any of that. He might have some ramen, maybe. ” Brian said. Tim shrugged. He couldn’t argue with that one. “Here, I’ll help you pack some up. Where do you keep your grocery bags?” 

Tim pointed to a drawer in the kitchen, getting one out while Brian rummaged through his other cabinets, occasionally pulling out certain items and setting them on the counter. Tim started bagging them. 

“I’m just worried about him. That’s all.” Tim said after a moment. Brian’s amusement changed into something closer to understanding. 

“I know. But he’s going to be okay. If you ask me, you should be more worried about why your boyfriend didn’t get a flu shot this year.”

“He’s not my-” Tim started, then sighed deeply.

“I know, but you want him to be.” Brian pointed out, “Look, I’m not going to rush you, buddy. I don’t know what you’ve been through, I just know it wasn’t good. But I also have eyes, and I can see that you two care a lot for each other. And as much as I’m making fun of you right now, I think it’s sweet.” 

Tim ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. He supposed Brian was right. If this was what having a normal life was, well…he did want it. Brian picked up the grocery bags and handed them to Tim, who pulled the loops through his arm.

“So, go over there and show him you care. And if you get confused on how to do that, you got my number.” 

“Thanks,” Tim said, walking to the door. Before he left through it, he turned back, “Seriously, thanks.” 

“Anytime. But I’m staying in your house and stealing your food as payment,” Brian said, plopping himself down on the couch.

“Seems fair,” Tim said. He made his way to the car, ready to face whatever awaited him at Jay’s apartment.

[polaroid15]

Febuwhump Day 14 - Can't go home

Read on A03

Summary: NWH spoilers! Peter sustains his first major injury on patrol post-NWH. But even though they're gone, his family is there to help him.

----

Peter falls through his apartment window, soaked to the bone with rain water and blood.

For a moment, he lays on his side as the storm enters with him. He blinks lazily, his brain made of fog and everything else radiating with a deep, exhausting pain. His apartment is cold and dark. Lonely. There’s a complete absence of May’s perfume. Her heartbeat.

It’s all buried six feet underground.

He knows he needs to get up. He knows if he doesn’t, he might die. But he can’t find it within himself to move. He blinks and struggles to breathe, focusing on a clump of dust he must’ve swept underneath his bed.

“Peter.”

The voice comes from a memory. So distant, it would be impossible for it to be real.

“Pete. Get up. You’re letting in the storm.”

Tears join the blood, rain, and grime on his face. He lifts his head an inch, wincing at the pain it sparks, and it’s just enough to see a familiar pair of loafers.

“Ben?” Peter whispers. And it is. His Uncle is standing just a step out of Peter’s reach, smiling at him in a way that bleeds concern. A rush of emotions run through him like one of the flashes of lightning outside his window. Love. Loss. Hope. He considers magic, but he rejects the notion with cold realization.

He’s dying. That’s all.

“Pete,” Ben repeats. “Get up. Close the window. Your landlord won’t thank you for water damage, you know.”

“Okay.” The two simple syllables are torture. His voice is nearly gone. Perhaps with some help from the beyond, Peter heaves himself to his feet. He stares at Ben for a moment, remembering the lines on his face and the color of his eyes as tears continue to run down his cheeks. “I miss you,” Peter tells him.

“I know. Me too.”

Peter nods once, grief overpowering his pain long enough for him to turn around and slide the window shut. When he turns around, Ben is gone.

May stands in his place.

“Let’s get you to the bathroom, alright baby?”

Her image sends Peter to his knees, a sob ripping from his throat and carrying through his empty apartment. In his mind’s eye, she’s whole. She’s wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt, her hair draped over one shoulder and her glasses barely hanging onto the bridge of her nose.

He can’t smell her perfume.

“Peter,” May says. “I know it’s hard. But you need to stand. You need to get to the bathroom. You keep a first-aid kit underneath the sink, remember?”

“I- I remember.”

“Stand up, baby.”

Peter does, though his knees wobble. He can hardly see her through the mist in his eyes. “I’m so sorry,” he says through a sob. “I’m so sorry about what happened to you.”

“I’m not,” May says kindly. She extends her hand out toward him, and though Peter knows he won’t be able to touch her, he follows her across the floor. “I would do it all again in a heartbeat. You’ve been so brave, Peter. And so strong. Ben and I are very proud of you.”

“May…”

“Save your strength. You need your first-aid kit, okay? You need to stitch up the wound on your side.”

They’re at the bathroom door. Peter lays a bloody hand against its frame to keep himself steady. May is so close, he should be able to see his own reflection in her glasses. But he can’t.

“I love you, May.”

“And I love you. Always.”

He takes a deep breath and stumbles into the bathroom. He doesn’t need to turn around to know May has left him. He knows she’s gone. So he drops to his knees and pulls his first-aid kit onto his lap, his hands shaking as he unclicks the lid and removes his suture kit.

Beside him, there’s a low whistle. “Wow, kiddo. Where’d you get that? The dollar store?”

For the third time that night, Peter’s breath leaves him. He turns his head and Tony is sitting close beside him, his legs stretched out and his arms crossed loosely against his chest. He’s wearing a graphic tee under a suit coat and jeans.

“Mr. Stark?” At this point, Peter can hardly speak. His grief is closing up his throat, making it ache and burn. He sacrifices a hand to wipe away his tears and chokes on a stuttering breath.

“Remember those breathing exercises I taught you, kid. You need a calm hand to stitch up that nasty cut on your side.”

“I’m sorry,” Peter says. “If I had been stronger against Thanos. Maybe- maybe you’d…”

“Shh, kiddo. I know you’re in pain in more ways than one. But I want you to understand that nothing that happened to me was your fault. In fact, you made my life a lot better. Though don’t tell anyone I said that,” he says with a wink.

“I’m scared, Tony,” Peter whispers. He refuses to blink. To disrupt the illusion. “I’m all alone.”

“Of course you’re not alone, Peter. I’m right here, aren’t I? Now, do you think you can thread that needle?”

“Y-yeah.” Peter dares to look away long enough to do as Tony says, though he’s hyper aware of the man’s figure in his peripheral vision. When it’s done, he follows Tony’s hushed directions as he sews his skin back together. It’s a painful, gory mess, but the experience is dulled at its edges by the love in his heart.

“Knew you could do it, buddy.”

Peter relaxes against the wall. The needle slips from his fingers, his head spinning.

“Mr. Stark?”

“I’m still here.”

Peter doesn’t think he has any tears left to cry, but he feels them drip off his nose nonetheless. He throws his hand limply to the side, where he imagines Tony’s might be. He closes his eyes and bites his lip to keep it from wobbling. “I never told you this when you were alive; but I love you a lot, Mr. Stark.”

“I love you too. I’m sorry I had to leave so soon.”

“It’s okay,” Peter rasps, the pain in his side ebbing with his awareness. “Will you stay here with me?”

“Always, kiddo. I never left. None of us have.”

“Th-thank you.”

And though it hurts like hell, Peter closes his eyes. He knows Tony won’t be there when he wakes up. Or Ben. Or May.

Not visibly, at least.

“We love you, Peter,” Tony says, and Peter can almost feel the man’s hand in his hair.

They may be dead, but they haven’t forgotten him.

And for tonight, for this moment, it’s enough.

[artemiseamoon]

Midnight storm

Week 27 @writer-wednesday

Preview of full one shot | coming to A03 soon

An: Intro & part of a larger universe called Black Gold. I’ve been working on this in bits, over the summer. It’s also an excuse to have a bunch of my favs in a modern western sort of scifi au. Check back (this post) for the a03 link. This has been in my drafts for a while, this weeks prompt is perfect to share a bit of it today.

Warnings: gun use, western style shooting, a dead man, mention of blood

“Guess this makes you Sherrif now?”

Kneeling down on one knee, Kitt gives Jeff’s dead body one hard shove. Swiping the star off his vest, she wipes the blood off on his sleeve and stands up.

Jeff Holding is dead. Deader than dead. A shot clear through the heart. Still, the venamous hate pumping through her veins doesn’t subside.

“You got your revenge Kitt, we ridin’ out or what?”

Again, she ignores her companion's voice. The gathered crowd remains, waiting, watching, wondering what she’s going to do next.

“Yeah, I got my revenge.” Kitt holds up the blood streaked star, examining it in the hot afternoon sun.

“This town is a wasteland, what good would it do to stay?”

“It’s been lawless since I was a girl, that aint change. I only came back for this,” she kicks Jeff’s leg hard, “my father tried to fix this place, and look what it got him.”

“Hence my argument we should leave.”

“And go where?” Kitt glances over her shoulder at May, “we’ve been all over. Horses are tired, we haven’t had a good rest in weeks…” Kitt breaks eye contact and looks around at the staring faces.

She was born in this town, raised here, lived here until she ran away after her parents were killed. No, she didnt want to be a sherrif, and Kitt herself was far from honorable and pure hearted. But, taking the job momentarily might be okay. At least, until she found someone else better to do it.

Holstering her colt, she addresses the crowd, “any challengers?”

The crowd continues to chatter among themselves, but no one steps up.

Mays eyes jump to the ray of sunlight reflecting off Kitt’s colt, it’s an elaborate thing, etched with a gold handle, Kitt’s signature weapon. “Kitt - “

“May,” Kitt turns to her friend and lowers her voice, “I know what I’m doing. Besides, if that trouble we got in comes lookin’ for us here, I’m the law. Puts the power in our hands.”

May sighs, then lets it go. Kitt has a point. And it would be nice to be local for a little while, even if it meant in this shitty town.

Kitt pins the star to her vest. Though her head is lowered, May knows her next words are directed at her.

“First things first, we gonna get that station into shape and fix up that bordello. No more bottom of the barrel. If we want to make money and pull in those prospectors and lonely buisness men, we need quality women.”

May nods and walks in step with her as they head to sheriff office. Some of the crowd continues to watch, as the rest disperse.

They stop infront of the bordello. Kitt eyes the sign. The owner, a weathered man, comes out.

“I take it you the new sheriff.”

“Yeah, I am, and I’m taking over this place.” She pats her pocket.

“I aint sellin.”

“Yeah, you are. I want that sign taken down too.” She wraps her arm around May’s shoulders. “Miss May’s Cathouse, what ya think.”

“Sounds good on the ears.”

“I think so too.”

The man grumbles and crosses his arms. “I said, i aint selling!”

In the blink of an eye, May unholders her twin peacemakers. The old man stumbles back toward the door. “You heard her, now walk.”

…

Oh it feels good to let this one free from drafts! Remember likes are nice, reblogs are better and actually help circulate work on tumblr. They are in the sane place you press likes. 💕 stay tuned for the a03 posting date!

More writer Wednesday

[sukunahz]

i.  been away .

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞: what would you do? / a03

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: your old friend, eren yeager had been gone for almost an entire year and you and your friends have all but moved on with life. in fact you have barely given him a second thought -- but when he returns, he's not the same passionate frat-boy you once knew; he's a stranger now.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 3.6k words

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 ����𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: smut, oral, fingering, eren is kinda’ mean, mentions of alcohol, intoxication and drugs. based on the absolute banger been away by brent faiyaz. i posted this on a03 two months ago and i swear every week my writing changes and when i look back i’m ashamed. i swear the chapters get better 😩

You were barely paying attention to the conversation around you, you were idly fiddling with your completely empty cup since Sasha and Connie had been arguing about the same thing for the past 20 minutes. You knew it was because they had both been tiptoeing around something; they were keeping something from you. What did you expect from the two people closest to you, but you weren't a sensitive, little baby bird? In fact, you had forced yourself to not shed tears over a night that was so insignificant that there was no point for these two to continue on with this desperate charade. “He’s back. Isn’t he?” You stated bluntly, your words were viciously slicing at their conversation. They both remained silent; their clear discomfort was painted vividly onto their expressions as they exchanged worried glances between each other. Eren had been gone for so long that he had faded from you and your friends’ lives completely, he was so easily displaced from your thoughts in such a short amount of time and you had felt the least bit of guilt for it. Time marches on, not even Eren would be able to bend time to his will. Your friends had adjusted to life without their friend, but you could sense the discomfort in celebrating Connie’s birthday in his absence.

“Apparently.” Sasha replied, her gaze darted towards the door as if his return was some impending doom, like a devastating natural disaster that would upset the balance of everything. You wanted to be confused as to why they were hiding this from you, but you knew full well that with the way he disappeared – you would be counting down the days till he returned. Sasha and Connie knew that you were now a minefield and one misstep by anyone would illicit a violently ruinous reaction from you.

“He’s not the same.” Connie added, interrupting your train of thought. “You know how he left… he's -- he's not the same guy.” There was a silence after that, you had lost the energy to keep fighting them about Eren. You could see the disillusion drain into Connie’s face, you weren’t the only one who Eren left, in fact – it was everyone in this room that he had left behind. Those two were inseparable a year ago and now it seemed like Connie could barely string together a sincere sentence about Eren. You couldn’t keep recounting your history with them, a history that was so minuscule that you had no right to expect anything from him -- right? You forced the two to return to their idle conversations, doing anything to drag the conversation away from someone that you had tried so hard to put behind you. There was load music droning through the common area accompanied by smoke from Jean’s vape that was dancing wistfully near the window.

You heard a pause in the atmosphere in the room, there was a break in the cluttered chatter of the house. There he was, speak of the devil -- Eren had finally returned after an entire year, surrounded by a group of people who carried the same troubled and unsettling demeanour as him. You had to force every muscle in your body not to respond to him, since all he did was glance languidly your way before he joined a group of people in the other corner of the room. You felt nimble fingers press a comforting touch upon your thighs as she was still engrossed in her conversation with Connie. “Don’t.” Sasha whispered to you; her gaze was still straight ahead. You scoffed at her warning; she knew you all too well, just how easily you were able to get tangled into Eren’s web.

“I won’t.”

You weren’t over Eren because there was nothing to get over, you had no feelings for him, and not a single thing would change just how much of a brazen jackass he was. The timing of your pep-talk with yourself couldn’t have been better since Eren and his friends found themselves occupying the vacant furniture around Connie, Sasha and yourself. It had been a while since you had even been able to soak in his presence, but you could tell there was a different air to him, he seemed indifferent now, his lids drooping low and he barely paid any attention to the conversations around him. You could hear Armin’s attempts to draw Eren out from his shell, his repeated calls to invite him to participate in the conversations but all Eren could do is brush him off or reply with a simple mumble. How did he manage to be so magnetic; he was surrounded by friends and yet he was completely withdrawn and isolated?

“Hey—” Zeke called out to you, his words were already slurring, and the smell of beer was swimming around the air around him. He was just as rugged as his younger brother and you could tell that he was a part of Eren’s recent downward spiral. Despite bearing the same haunted resemblance as his younger brother, Zeke’s blonde hair is tidy and taken care of in contrast to his unruly facial hair. You could tell that Zeke bears no regard for taming his beard or his alcohol intake, you could also tell that just like Eren, he probably didn't care about much at this point. Lost in your observations, you realised you must have been staring too long as Zeke’s gaze met your own. “You know he almost used up his one phone call at the station on you!” He wrapped his arm drunkenly around Eren’s shoulder. Station? You thought to yourself, did that idiot get himself arrested? You glanced quickly towards Eren and you could see the shame and irritation across his demeanour. He had barely even said a word since he arrived, yet he already looked drained and exhausted.  

“Why would he waste a call on me?” You muttered with a roll of your eyes. Your short temper was also about to blow. Why does everyone connect you two together, you were friends before he left and nothing more? No amount of history between you two would change anything, not even one alcohol-fuelled mistake. Eren didn’t owe you anything and he didn’t fail to hammer that notion into you when he left.  

“Eren, you might wanna’ take care of your wasted brother before he embarrasses you anymore.” Sasha jested with a tilt of her head, a futile attempt to diffuse the situation. With that, you decide that it would actually be you who embarrassed themselves if you stayed any longer.

“I’m gunna’ get a drink.” You whispered to Sasha before forcing a reassuring smile across your features in order to ensure that she doesn’t follow you. You weren’t in the mood to talk about Eren or whatever the fuck he’s been up to in his long absence. A better person would be concerned for him but all you could do was feel irritation, you heeded Sasha’s warning, you’ve been living your life – dealing with your own baggage and Eren doesn’t get to just return out of nowhere and take the reins of your life again. You pushed yourself onto your feet towards a familiar friend in the hallway.

“Not joining the welcome wagon?” You teased; a conceited sneer etched upon your features as you can see the displeased expression on your friend. You were provoking the obvious bad blood between the two, it was rather petty of you to seek him out for the sole reason of loathing Eren together, but who better to understand than Jean

“My bad, I better hop in the line and give that asshole a proper welcome!” Jean quipped back, his tone was overly dramatic and topped off with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. “I’m actually getting out of here; Connie’s got some weird black pepper flavoured vape that I’ve been dared to try – wanna’ come?”

“Yeah – I’ll join you in a sec’, let my grab my jumper first.” You replied, accepting any invitation that would lead you as far away from the impending disaster that lurks outside the hallways. As Jean made his way downstairs, you entered your room before the comfortable silence was interrupted by an all too familiar voice. The voice was deep and steady, but you noticed it lost its notable flare, the usual effervescence had lifted from him, all that remained was something dark and troubled. You couldn’t recognise who the man standing before you was. He had stray, brunette locks falling on his forehead while the rest of his hair was hastily tied into a bun. His broad physique was framed by an almost entirely black wardrobe with the exception of his large gold key necklace that sat perfectly upon his chest.

“What’s wrong with you?” He dimly asked, he crossed his arms as he pressed his weight against the wall. He had an air of disappointment surrounding him, as if he couldn’t believe that you wouldn’t want to be in his presence, he couldn't believe that you didn't press further on the comment that Zeke made earlier.

“What’s wrong with me?” You challenged him, was he so self-entitled that he thought he could guilt you from walking away from a conversation that you did not want to be a part of. You didn’t want to know what changed Eren and you didn’t care what it was that pulled him away.

“Wanna’ tell me why you’re so pissed?” His expression, or lack of expression didn't change. As your temper rose, Eren’s voice and demeanour stayed the same. Despite his words showing a genuine interest, his voice and mannerisms displayed nothing but a disregard for absolutely anything going on around him. This wasn’t the Eren that you knew, the man that you had known had life and zest spilling from his expressive eyes, he cared about the smallest things around him despite being just as haunted as you were. In fact, it was Eren who was able to keep you from falling into a dangerous spiral, but it looks like he wasn’t able to save himself.  

“Fuck off, Eren. Maybe if you could take a hint, you’d realise that you’re the one pissing me off.” The words came carelessly fumbling out from your mouth -- at this point you knew you were overreacting; you could tell he had gone through something, but he owed you much more than he was giving you and you relished the thought of humbling him.

Eren didn't respond to your rant, instead, he drew in a long, sharp breath of air before he stepped towards you. Your chest rose and fell, almost out of breath from your last sentence as you stumbled backwards from his advances, your back crashing against the wall behind you. His arm extended to reach out for the wall behind you as his face creeps in closer towards you. “You and your short temper.” He mumbled to you while you soak in his scent. At least there was something familiar about him, this same scent that you were once tangled in. It’s embarrassing just how easily he’s able to bend you to his will. Just like that you were under his spell again, itching to give him a proper welcome back even though you know he doesn't deserve it. But he was so close and tempting, covered with a new and mysterious aura, maybe it was your distaste and resentment for him that fuelled your next move.

Your hands tugged at the ends of his shirt to pull him closer to you as you connected your lips with his. It was a long and messy kiss when he slipped his tongue inside yours. Eren's movements were hungry, as if he had been starving for days and this was his first taste of food. You could see his features were radiating with passion, the colour from his eyes seeping back in. His movements were so robust compared with the apathetic display he had put on earlier. Just for a second, you could see the person you once knew before. Your arms travelled from the bottom of his shirt to wrap around his neck and Eren slips his arms around your upper thighs, inviting you to wrap your legs around his waist. He didn't break his lips away from you but instead he sends a wet trail of reckless kisses along your neck before he lowers you onto the desk nearby, your legs still wrapped around his body. You were ashamed that you wanted more, didn’t you promise yourself that you wouldn’t let him come back and take over your life again, you put him in the past the second he chose to walk away.

“We shouldn’t do this.” You mumbled; Sasha’s prior warning seemed to have fallen upon deaf ears. There was a room outside full of your friends and one stray noise could end it all for the both of you. Despite your weak attempts to convince yourself that you could walk away from this encounter, your body seemed to have a mind of its own and was telling him the exact opposite. Eren’s lips trailed lower and lower from your neck, to your chest and falling all the way to your thighs. Almost every inch of your skin was covered in his wet trails. Your neck and back arched as soft moans spilled from your unruly lips.

“Tell me to stop then.” He breathes, you peered down on him as his hands rest on your thighs while he was on his knees. You remained silent; however, your hands travel to his hair as an invitation for him to continue on. Eren inches closer and closer towards your centre, his fingers pushing the thin fabric guarding your core to the side. His tongue draws intricate and wet lines across your slit as you emit a loud moan at the sudden sensation. You could feel a forceful wave of euphoria rush through your spine while he keeps a tight hold on your thighs to stop you from squirming. He was assiduous with his ministrations and he didn't remove his tongue when he introduced his fingers to your wet centre, teasing your entrance to get a reaction out of you. You inhaled sharply at the newly added sensation, his tongue and fingers massaging your clit effortlessly.

“Ere—”

“Just shut up…” Eren interrupted, as he pushed two of his fingers into you, dangerously close to being knuckle deep inside you. As if your calls of his name were distracting him from his intricate work. His familiar cockiness has returned, the jovial frat-boy that you once knew was zealously tasting you. His ministrations contained a heightened bravado now and you were finally starting to recognise who the man before you was.

“You’re tighter than I remember.” He observed, his fingers were frozen inside you as his piercing eyes were connected to yours, you knew that he was about to have you wrapped around his finger again.

“Maybe I’m just not as turned on as you think I am?” You challenged, forcing yourself not to bite down on your lip in front of him. With your remark, he quickly pulled his index and middle finger out of your pussy. The movement was so abrupt, and it left you craving all the more from him, just when he was pushing you to arrive to your peak, you came crumbling back down. A punishment for your quip at his sexual prowess.

“Oh really? Why don’t I show you just how wet you are then?” The devilish smirk spread across his lips was almost maniacal, a gesture of his sudden surge of confidence. He wrapped his already wet fingers around your own and lead them towards your now notably, wet pussy. Your fingers lingered there, unsure of what to do as you refused to make eye contact with Eren.

“See for yourself, since I apparently am not up to the task.” You still stalled for a moment, heat racing towards your cheeks, despite you baring your entire body to him, were you so shameless that you would pleasure yourself right in front of him?

“Go on — touch yourself.” This time, Eren’s tone was posed as a dominant command than it was a request. Just when you had thought you had the upper hand; it took just one minute for him to have you at his beck and call again. You hesitantly began to rub around your slit, shame soaked into your thoughts as you realised that you are just as wet as Eren stated.

Quiet moans fell from your lips as Eren smugly watched you have a taste of your own medicine, it was bittersweet since despite the pleasure you were giving to yourself, all you were doing was proving Eren right. Once your high started increasing, he softly wrapped his fingers around yours to stop you from what you were doing before he rammed two fingers inside you abruptly, eliciting a high-pitched yelp from you. His other hand was still wrapped around yours, pinning your arm to the desk to stop you from squirming. “Jealous, are we?” You provoked him; your eyebrow raised to match your goading sentiment.

His pace begun slow as he pulled in and out of you in long and detailed movements, he knew exactly how to build you back up as you responded to his movements with moans and your back arched up against the wall, your arms still pinned down by his free hand. “God, stop playing around.” You called out in frustration, he was playing with you and you knew that he was keeping you just below your boiling point.

“I thought you weren’t turned on?” He questioned; his fingers were moving just slow enough within you. You sat there silent, breaking your eye contact with him and refusing to fuel his ego anymore. However, Eren can see the way your body responds to him. “You want it that badly? Then beg for it.” He removed his fingers from you hastily as he rose from his kneeling position, so his face and body were hovering over you. He was just high enough that the tip of the key hanging off his change was resting comfortably on your chest. Your fingers reached out for the collars on his shirt as you carelessly pulled him even closer to you, your lips angled towards his ear.

“I’m begging you… Don’t you want a taste of me?” You successfully coaxed Eren into returning to your core, however, it was not his fingers that revisited you but his tongue. Your game of cat and mouse continued on as his tongue explored every single crevice of your pussy, his hands were keeping your thighs spread apart and pinned to the desk. Your back arched higher and higher as you quickly approached your climax, your fingers were tangling themselves into Eren’s hair and your chest rising and falling as you were getting ready to cum. Eren’s tongue was hitting all the right spots, it was as if he could read your body like the back of his hand, someone with barely any experience with your body could still bend and twist it to his will. Your body finally released the cluster of sexual tension that Eren had so diligently built up with within you. As you fell back against the desk, Eren rose from his position again, standing up this time as the pad of his thumb narcissistically grazed the bottom of his lip, cleaning up the excess remains of your orgasm.

“You’re right, I did want a taste.” He buttoned the bottom of his shirt back up and ran his hand smoothly through his hair, a futile attempt at cleaning himself up. You knew he was about to walk out, and you should have known better than to try to stop him, you loathed him at that moment and yet your body and perhaps even your heart was yearning for him.

“Eren.” You sat up quickly and reached out for his arm. He stopped in his tracks, not a word left his lips just his wide, emerald gaze staring at yours. “I think you should fuck me—” Before you’re able to provide any explanation his lips had crashed onto yours, yet he remained standing, his arms were cupping your upper neck as you are pulled up to meet his height. You responded instantly; your arms wrapped around his torso as your tongue eagerly crashed against his own.

His lips met your neck, and you knew he was about to plant a blue and purple reminder of this very moment. Despite Eren’s greedy reaction to your kiss, you could sense his hesitation in his movements, and you’ve experienced this before, he’s going to walk away – again. “I can’t…” He whispered into the crook of your neck, halting for a moment before he pressed one final kiss above your now growing bruise before he straightened himself up and walked out of the door. He didn’t even give you one final glance before leaving you alone on your desk and once again you could see all the colour drain from him as he exits. He was about to return to the same brooding and apathetic person he had become. It was embarrassing that you thought one hate-infused tryst in your room would change that, you were never able to change Eren.

You had barely adjusted to the change in pace, one second ago he was tasting every inch of you and the next he was leaving you dazed and confused on your desk. How quickly the loneliness crept into you, why did you need him around you so badly? Hadn’t you just sworn to yourself that you would resist him, you wouldn’t make the same mistakes that you did before? You forced yourself not to delve into the dark mystery that was Eren’s year away, but you know he wasn’t relaxing and getting back in touch with his brother, he had lost himself, getting himself arrested and God knows what else – but for some reason he’s back now?

[millennial-star-gazer]

A Fire Dragon, His Princess and The Not-So-Terrible Party Aftermath: Chapter:5

A Fire Dragon, His Princess and The Not-So-Terrible Party Aftermath

Nalu week 2020 Prompts: Voice, Flirt, Charm & Smile(All implied)

Genres: Romance, Humor, New Adult Fanfiction

Pairing: Nalu/Endlu (Natsu x Lucy & E.n.d. Natsu x Lucy)

Rating: M for language, steamy and mature/adult sexual content (all consensual) in these and future chapters. Reader Discretion is advised.(You've been warned!)

Summary: God knows it was all fun and games at an outdoor guild party until a drinking contest results in a not-so-great time for a certain celestial wizard much to the dismay of a protective dragon slayer and company. Even worse is Lucy's hangover with some kind of mild flu and busted ankle to boot . At least a doting Natsu is more-than-willing to provide his mate plenty of TLC. One of my entries for Nalu week 2020 and part of the Nalu-centric anthology series The Dragon Demon and His Celestial Princess anthology series (slight au/ canon divergent).

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Chapter: 5: Of All The Over-Protective Loved Ones And Nonsensical Health Remedies

A/N: Hey folks, it's your girl back with another installment of AFHCPATNSTPA! Apologies for the delay! My beta and I have been somewhat busy on and off for different reasons which will be explained further in the bottom author's note. Anyways, Chapter 5 is finally posted for your reading pleasure with plenty of Nalu fluff, Gray and Natsu rival-related hijinks and humor to go around! Many thanks and a special shoutout to the awesome @mannyegb for helping me edit and further develop this chapter yet again! Seriously, words can't express how grateful I am for this dude's contributions or how invaluable they are ! Make sure to hit him up on Tumblr and Discord. Now without further ado, here's the chapter-enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairytail which instead belongs to the one and only Hiro-sensei instead!

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Legend

Italics: Fantasy, flashback & literary/ song quotes

Bold: First Person Thoughts

Bolded Italics: empathized word

Bolded Italics: outside of main story): A/N

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"Friends are the family you choose".

(NIN/Ithilinin: Elven Rogue)

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"Seriously Natsu? Again?! "

Lucy's exasperated voice echoed through the stairwell of the couple's duplex after returning home from a trip to the local physician's appointment and some errands. Can't believe we're having this conversation again. Little did the other nearby tenants and neighbors know that this wasn't the first time that the two disagreed over his sometimes -overprotective nature instincts or the level of " safety precautions" for the sake of his mate's well being.

Bloody Hell ...

"I'm not a porcelain doll, y' know!" The wizard grumbled, arms crossing over her chest. "I mean, really!"

"Mhmmm." Nastu merely hummed in response with a lazy smirk illuminating those sage eyes much to her chagrin.

"Are you even listening to me right now?"

"Course I am , beautiful" came his reply without missing a beat. "But damn." Difficult to miss the hint of a flirtatious purr in the fire wizard's voice or how his eyes swept over his mates form in apprecation that sent her pulse jumping into a frenzy . "Do you know what seeing ya' all flustered like this does to me? I mean you're even more adorable, gorgeous, and irresistible than you already are right now. Kissable too."

"Well, th-thank you" Lucy mumbled, heat rising and pooling in her cheeks. God knows how she couldn't but be a little subconscious over the effect of his natural charms despite being irritated. "But I don't think no's really a good time for flirting."

"Aw who says?" Natsu challenged with a throaty chuckle. Agree to disagree, princess ." Notto mention the gleam of mirth dancing in his eyes or the languidly smooth empathis on one of her beloved nicknames that he knew turned her knees to jellow .

Cocky bastard..

And damn were those supple hands currently settled on the curve of the summoner 's waist distracting in all the best possible ways.

"This couldn't be a more perfect time for flirting…"

One of the dragon slayer's hands was reaching to drag the blonde's locks through his fingertips. and Holy Hell did that blush deepen all thanks to that shit-eating of his and the way he continued to play with her hair .

Fuck ... there he goes again.

"Don't you think,Luce?" He finished, twirling, and tucking a stray tendril behind her ear as if to puncture his point further.

Damn it...

God damn did all those calculated ministrations kickstart the flustered girls heart into overdrive .

Again. So hard to focus right now. He 's that good…

As if that soft gasp tha wasn't t slipped out of her mouth wan't already enough. And pretty clear that noise undetected by Natsu if the way his sage eyes were glittering like coals was any indication.

"Someone' s flustered" His words came out as infuriatingly goading and yet velvety at the same time. " But I know you're into this as much as I am…. and you're falling prey to my charms." Natsu let his thumb lightly graze along the contour of her cheek. "Oh yeah. I can tell. Your heart's racing and everything." Now the fire dragon slayer wizard's forehead was mere inches from Lucy's. All that was needed for for her heart rate to skyrocket for the third time just as he so brazenly pointed out.

"Nastu..." the blonde started only for the words to die in her throat when her breath hitched from Natsu 's lips brushing against hers.

Shit...

"Are...you…trying…to…distract...me?" Was what she finally managed to force out, desperate longing seeping into her breathy tone.

"Me? Never." Natsu denied, the soft vibrations of his smoky timbre against her lips sending a tingle rippling across all those nerves. "Just having a little fun, is all."

"You are?"

"And I succeeded!"

Wait...what!?

Nastu was pulling back ever so slightly from Lucy without so much as a warning. God did that unwelcome disruption not fly so well with the mage who moaned in protest.

That pompous little...

"So that entailed luring your your mate in?" She eventually objected with a sour glare at her pompous -ass-of boyfriend." And then leaving her hanging? Pretty sure that classifies as some kind of entrapment! Just how much of a shameless flirt can you be?!"

"Opps.. guess you're not a happy camper right now," Natsu snickered, flashing her an awfully impish grin as if he were caught red-handed like a delinquent high school student drinking in class. "I mean I'm definitely a 'shameless flirt 'when it comes to you but I'm not going to leave you out to dry like some emotionally or romantically dead-beat loser. Knew exactly what I was doing and can't get over how cute my girl is when she's all flustered. No need to worry though." He gave a sly-yet-rougish wink that nearly left the summoner 'a heart stuttering.

Not that I'm going to tell him that.

"I promise to deliver on that promise of plenty of kisses and affection that we both crave so much. You'll see!"

"I... you ... y-you're such an ass!" Lucy stammered, entire face flushing an deeper shade of crimson. "Did you even hear what I said about... God damn it!"

"You mean about you not being made out porcelain?" Natsu was quick to supply, automatically clueing in. "Yes Luce, I did." His voice was all business now but more patient than cross. "And you're definitely right but that busted ankle of yours might as well be with how fragile it is right now. That's what having a sprained ankle means. A finger pointed down at Lucy 's sandal -clad foot with a tensure bandage .

"And why I need to carry ya'. Either way, you wanna get upstairs, right?"

"Well gee thank you for stating the obvious and what everyone already knows about sprained ankles." Lucy huffed, rolling her eyes. "And of course, I wanna get up upstairs but why is carrying me all the way up and down even necessary? You already gave me a piggyback to the clinic for God's sake! Not to mention pushing me around on a god damn platform cart while we were shopping for medicine and other supplies at the pharmacy without letting me set foot on the ground even once!

"Both were necessary to keep you from falling again." Natsu reasoned, still not budging on the matter; even when in the process of methodically removing the key holder's shoes. "Plus, I love having ya' in my arms and that cart had lots of room for you to comfortably stretch out on. Pretty practical if you ask me."

"More like total overkill!" Lucy tossed back, vein ticking above her eye. "Anyway, I might not be as fast, but can still definitely make my way up and down the stairs with a walking assist! Can't you just let me try at least?!"

"No can do, sweetheart," Natsu rebutted with a shake of his head. Good lord it was astounding how this extremely persistent man was able to unwittingly shoot down all of her ambitions for any kind of semi-independent mobility. and yet be so damn patient and even-tempered at the same time. "Can't risk you missing a step and taking another tumble down these stairs."

"Ugh...Oh My God- you're unbelievable!" Lucy couldn't help but yell; throwing her hands up in ggravation. which was met with an infuriating laugh of amusement from a certain pyro .

"The most unbelievable of them all.! Now quit complainin' relax and enjoy the ride up to our apartment!"

"Natsuuuu!"

Such a debate became a common occurrence in the Dragneel-Heartfilia household over the week with neither Natsu or visiting friends— Celestial spirits included- letting Lucy out of their sight or use stairs by herself. The extremely disgruntled mage would often gripe about her "stupid over-protective boyfriend and friends" even though ;despite secretly melting from being in the dragonslayer's arms all the time along with the rest of his "TLC." Not so much with Ezra, however, who'd often insist on personally escorting Lucy up and down the stairs herself ;when it wasn't by Natsu, Happy or anyone else.

My God is that woman overly cautious! It's beyond irritating!

Other than that, one minor pet peeve, Lucy supposed she couldn't really complain too much. Not when she was blessed with spending quality time with the love of her life and phomoneal comrades/friends who were all more than willing to keep her company. Well, okay save for that one time involving a nonsensical squabble about ailment remedies between Natsu and Gray one day.

"I'm telling you— these will help Lucy feel better!" Natsu insisted, dumping a paper bag of what could be described as god-awful-Scotch-covered-eye-sores-with-strings-attached on the counter. "See?" A hand patted the side of the misshapen bundle of items.

Uh...

Lucy meanwhile, couldn't help but steal a furtive glance of disbelief from her coral-haired soulmate; who was currently sniffing the unsightly abominations with an particularly intense focus for some inexplicable reason.

"The hell are ya' doing , charcoal-brains?!" Gray demanded, voice coming out in a mixture of incomprehension and disdain. "And what even are those things?"

"Inspecting these babies for germs," Natsu replied with an eye roll as if the answer was the most obvious in the world. "Duh! What else would I be doing'? Can't have em' infecting Lucy. And they're a supposed to be a special kind of talisman for health and good luck. Even an ice overrated snowcone like you should know that. Basically Scotch-taped covered piles of leaves and Vic patches wrapped in tissue paper. If I hang these around the apartment, then they should do wonders for Luce's health."

"You know by gradually sucking the virus toxins from her body until she's better," he tacked on with an 'exuberant grin. "Or so I heard from Nab, Maco, and Wakaba. Dudes bought entire boxes full for 20 jewel a piece from a pop-up vendor of some merchant in the market. The lady swears by them and everything. Either way, aren't they awesome?! Right, Luce? His head turned towards Lucy. "Bet you'll be better in no time!"

"I ...uh... " The blonde sputtered, still too bewildered for words." I don't…."

"Oh Good God," Erza muttered, smacking a palm against her forehead. "Of all the—-Natsu, I highly doubt those would be effective in treating Lucy's illness."

"Huh? Why wouldn't they be?"

"Well..."

"Oh jeez...How can anyone be this dense?"

Gray was shooting out of his seat at the table with an exasperated noise. "Step aside fire boy, I'll find Lucy something. Her fridge should have some suitable ingredients." A hand pulled opened the door of the fridge before rummaging around inside much to Lucy's confusion Course why a random assortment of food in the form of onions and ginger Along with some lemons were being cleared out was anyone's guess.

"Onions, lemons and ginger" The ice wizard announced, sounding tremendously pleased with himself. "Should be just what the doctor ordered for Lucy. I'm gonna chop these up and boil em' with some cinnamon in a tea for her."

Wha? Is he for real?!

"Wait….I'm sorry you want me to drink what now?"

Lucy 's brain short circuited with an owlish blink at the same time that some revolted noises could be heard from the rest of Team Natsu. More specifically Salamander 's gagging and Erza nearly vomiting in her mouth.

"Well at least Lucy gets it" Gray voiced aloud to no one in particular with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "Now to find a knife and boil some water for the tea."

"Yo, you out of your mind, ice-dick?" Natsu demanded, more than a tad incredulous. "It's pretty obvious she doesn't want what you're selling and can't say I blame her." His eyes narrowed in revulsion with a flash of exposed canines poking through his lips. "That kind of 'tea 'sounds disgusting."

Just for Natsu's striking emerald eyes to immediately soften when landing on Lucy.

"Don't worry Luce," He soothed, his voice lifting to a sympathetic coo. "I'll protect ya' from that big meanie and his stupid ".

" Uh Yeah, please do," Lucy beseeched, words trembling slightly. Honest to God that the astral almost shuddered at the prospect of such a horrendous-tasting tea invading her tastebuds. "I don't even want a sip of that stuff."

"And Why would any sane person expect you to? Not me or Ezra. Can't say the same about droopy eyes here." Natsu tossed a pointed glare at Gray which was readily met with a raised middle finger. "You really that hell bent on brewing whatever nasty crap you call tea, buddy? Then be our guest and drink it yourself. But keep it away from Lucy and out of the kitchen. We don't need that shit stinking up the place."

"Tch— shows what you know" came Gray's disparaging scoff by way of a reply. "Pretty sure you wouldn't know a proper health remedy was if it hit you in the face."

Uh-oh ...

Gray's words really seemed to touch a nerve judging by Natsu's offended growl.

"The hell is that supposed to mean, stripper?" He sniped, vein throbbing in his forehead " What? Are ya really looking' to piss me off or somethin'?"

"Yeah, just maybe I am!" Gray countered with salty heat and matching his rival glare for glare. "You want to cry about it? And you heard what I said. God ... no wonder Lucy's still sick what with your clueless ass and all failing to take care of her.."

"You take that back asshole!" Natsu seethed, foaming rabidly at the mouth. Or rather smoke circumventing from his nose and mouth what with him being a fire dragon demon and "literal hothead "and all.

"Make Me—ow!"

The rest of whatever Gray was trying to say was cut off by a flying "talisman" that just struck him point blank in the face.

"Hey!" He snapped, grudgingly rubbing his temple with a hand." The hell was that for, ya damned fire hazard?!"

"What do ya think, dumbass ?" Natsu flung back without missing a beat. "You got some nerve….insultin 'a dragon's pride like that!"

"Yeah? So what?"

"Seriously?! You pretty much implied I don't know how to take care of my own mate!"

"Yes and?"

Uh-oh...

"And it was a total dick move, dingus! That's what! Where's your sense of common decency!?"

"Wasted on incompetent dipshits like you, apparently!"

"What was that, frosty?!"

"You heard me "

"That's it you, walking freezer burn! Them's fighting words!"

"Oh yeah? Bring it flame-bitch!"

"Take this!"

Oh god ….

The next thing anyone knew were that that the bickering rivals were launchimg projectiles—aka "Talismans" at each other much to her dismay.

No...

"No fighting in our kitchen!" Lucy squeaked; cadence raised to a higher pitch. " You could really break something! So stop!" The afflicted girl couldn't help but watch with alarmed eyes when her desperate pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears. Something always gets completely wrecked or destroyed when these two butt heads over anything!

Seriously, who could forget all the destruction those two left in their wake or millions of jewel racked in subsequent, property damage during their last scuffle? Like say the accidental beheading and subsequent toppling of that statue which also happened in Hargeon's beloved town founder for instance? Not to mention the scorched garden of the mayor's prized purple and white orchids. Not Lucy, that's for sure.

I really don't want them breaking anything….

Erza meanwhile. was practically frothing at the mouth from all that pent-up rage in a very-if-not-entirely-proverbial sense of the word.

"Good God—those two!" The re-equip mage ranted, vein pulsing right above her brow. "Always butting heads over one asinine matter or another! The hell is wrong with them anyways? Either way, enough is enough! I really should... no probably best not... Oh screw it!"

Erza was on the other wizards in a flash, banging their heads together with an audible crack. And good lord who could miss the stunned noises of pain that simultaneously cirumented their throats.

"OW!" Natsu and Gray whimpered in unison. "That really hurt ,Erza!"

"Yeah!?" Erza barked . "Well maybe you two dolts should've thought of that before you started acting juvenile and making a mess! I mean take you for instance, Gray! Disrespecting a dragonslayer's pride was a garbage move just as Natsu pointed out! Haven't both Master and UR taught you more sense than that? Oh, and let's not forget you doubting Natsu 's ability to effectively tend to care for Lucy despite doing more than a standup job so far for the most part! No wonder he's offended!"

"Hey, it's not my fault if the dude can't take a joke," Gray grumbled, defensive resentment leaking into his tone. "Or that he has a ridiculously overinflated and fragile ego."

"Neither helpful or okay, Gray!"

"Yeah, so there dickwad!" Natsu cut in with his tongue shooting out for good measure. "See?"

"Oh yeah... you really..."

"Oh no you don't!" Erza whirled on Natsu who shrank under the heat of her glare with another whimper. "And yes, I'm talking about you Natsu Ignatius Dragneel! Don't think for a minute that you're getting out of this scott- free!""

Oh shit ... Erza just used Natsu's full name…. She must mean business.

"What? Me, really?" Nastu spluttered, hands still raised in defense as if fend the intimating scarlet woman off. "What did I even do anyway?"

"Hmm, what did you do?" Erza questioned, rolling her eyes. Oh, and her words were just laced/ dripping/ trickling/ with just the right amount of pointed sarcasm. "Care to take a wild guess? How about those godawful abominations you call talismans for one? Look at them! Anyone can tell these are a sham! I mean really, Natsu! The hell were you thinking?! Normally, you're much better at sussing out onpossible scams and cons. How could you let yourself be duped out of your hard -earned money like that?"

"Aw- come on!" Natsu bleated "Didn't mean to, honest! All I wanted was to help Luce recover more quickly and honestly thought these things would help. That's all! I won't buy any more—swear to God! Just please don't bust my balls, Erza! I need those!

"Calm down. I'm not going to do that. It's easy to tell your intentions were pure regardless which is most important."

"Really? Thank you, you kind, merciful, woman!"

"Yes, yes,.. that's all fine and good," Erza chuckled in amusement with a light shake of her head as a response .

"Now about those talismans. They are a problem. " Erza's voice fell into a more sober tone with a hand cupping her chin in thought. "Word on the street is that Fiore is being targeted by a fraudulent band of thieves and con artists. Popping up in various towns and cities with those "vendors", posing as legitimate shop keepers and merchants —that sort of thing. and from what I've heard , these people are trying pass off bogus goods as authentic souvenirs."

"So, ya think there's some kind of link between those and what I bought?" Natsu quickly caught on matter-of-factly. "As in all that crappy stuff you mentioned ?"

"Yes, precisely that. I'm sure we can all agree that how poor unassuming customers are being ripped off by those criminals just isn't right. Something must be done."

"Okay—like what?"

"Helping folks of Magnolia getting their money back for one —yours included. And there's also the matter of filing a report with the magic reinforcement unit and other authorities . They'd want to be informed of the culprits' criminal activity ASAP. In fact, why don't the two of us go now?"

"What? Ya' mean that you actually want us to leave right now?!"

Natsu visibly balked at Erza's suggestion as if being ordered to watch Ichyia perform a strip tease in nothing but a pair of - sparkly -Leather, assless chaps.

"I.. don't…"

"Yes, I figured that would be the most efficient course of option" Erza reasoned, lifting a questioning brow at his response. "Why? Is there a problem?"

"Uh yeah..., a big one!" Natsu protested with a vigorous nod. " Going now would mean leaving Luce's side" His whole tone shifted into a whine. "Especially when she's still not feeling 100% or if it means being without her in my arms for too long. And right now, looking after Lucy and being able to spend time with her is what's most important. Not to mention what I want the most! Please… just let me take good care of my mate and queen and hold her! That too much ask?"

"No, and your feelings are understandable. That in mind, it would still be unethical to turn a blind eye to petty crimes at the expense of innocent civilians."

"Yeah, of course. But it's just…."

Sheesh… Natsu's being a bit of a drama king right now. I mean I love the guy and its always great having him around for the most part despite the fact that he sometimes gets on nerves. Completely normal for all couples even ones like us but that's besides the point. Anyways, he's being super sweet and everything but there's no need for him to blow a gasket when they would only be gone for a couple hours at most. Plus Erza's right about putting a stop to those jerks and getting those other people compensated. and it's not like I won't be okay without them or by myself a for little bit...

"Hey guys," Lucy finally spoke up after a few minutes, drawing their focus of everyone's eyes back on her. "Not that your efforts and spending time with me aren't appreciated, but pretty sure I'll be fine on my own for a little while if you want to report those people and get your money back." No real heat to her words though.

"Hmm... don't think that's a good idea, "sweetheart." Came Natsu's reply, his timbre pitched soft; though she didn't miss the pleading note in his words. "You're still not in the best shape right now. Like Mavis knows I don't really feel comfortable leaving you alone to fend for yourself right now, y' know? I mean what if ya' end up barfin' with your head over a toilet bowl or falling again?"

Not really that much of an nasty shock to say the least especially seeing how the couple were practically inseparable ever since that hazardous incident at the party.

"Don't be too surprised if Natsu's refuses to leave your side." Levy's kind voice from a recent lacrima video call echoed inside Lucy's head "or even let out of his sight-or sense range for that matter. You remember learning about how dragon slayers, demon's and hybrids are essentially hardwired to be extremely protective and territorial of their bonded, right? Well those already -fierce instincts are get an even bigger boost during certain times... like say when they're in heat . Not to mention when their soulmates are sick, injured or both in your case. In any case, Natsu's no exception especially with how you're one of the people he's been most protective of even before you two were officially an item node as we all know. Anyways, be prepared for him wanting to remain extra close to you and special attention. Think plenty of affection and physical contact like snuggling, kisses, doting on you —things like that which is always a bonus. And pretty sure he is going to hoard you. I mean the dude going isn't gonna take kindly to anyone he feels is trying to steal/snatch you away from him. Gajeels the same way. It's not so bad though."

Levy was right. Not that I'm complaining...

"We really should get going Natsu," Erza chimed in after a few minutes. The sooner these matters are sorted out the better. Either way, it shouldn't take us too long-a few hours tops."

"Yeah, I know..." Natsu replied , an unmistakable flicker of reluctance in his eyes. "But…I still don't want to leave Lucy right now…." Sage fully connected with honey-brown as a hand was reaching to gently caress Lucy's cheek. And Mavis knows she couldn't help but naturally lean into the warmth of his touch or the content smile forming on her lips.

"Pretty sure I made my reasons clear anyway."

"Yes, but…"

"Hey bro," Gray piped in —not unkindly this time."I can easily hold the fort down and keep Lucy company while you guys are out."

"Wow…Really?"

Natsu instantly seemed to perk up.

"Yeah, I'd be more than happy to. Plus, we can summon one of her spirits and Happy to help for a fun but chill time. That way, you can trust that your girl is in capable hands and won't be bored."

"Good point!" Natsu rhapsodized, bumping his fist with Gray's. "Thanks, bro!"

"Yes, I agree" Ezra concurred, an approving smile crossing her lips. "That's very gracious and cordial of you. Way to be a great friend."

"That's what I'm here for and my pleasure, Natsu."

"Guess you're not so bad after all"

"Course' not. I am pretty awesome, after all."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes... So, what about it, Luce?" Natsu went on to inquire, far more chipper now. " You gonna to be okay with Gray and some of the others taking over for a bit while Erza and me are out ?"

"Yeah Lucy, what he said," Gray followed up with a cordial smile of his own. . "You and me can kick it and chill for a little while. Maybe even break into the candy stash and watch movies with everyone."

"Sure!" Lucy chirped, heart leaping in excitement from the prospect of a low-key but fun kickback with splendid company. "And Natsu and Erza can, join when they get back from their errands, right?"

"Yup! Now here," Natsu instructed, pushing a glass of water on the table towards her." "Drink some more of your water. Anyways, Erza and I can bring back some goodies from the local bakery after too,. You good with that ,Erza?" He tossed a hopeful glance the armour- clad wizard's way.

"Sure—sounds good to me!" Erza jumped on board, eyes lighting up with delight. A trip to the bakery would be most excellent. All those delicious confections, yummy treats like gourmet cupcakes and strawberry shortcake. Ooooooh." The scarlet woman's hands clapped together in giddy enthusiasm.. "I can practically taste it now —so divine!"

"Yeah but think about lava- brains though" Gray quipped without missing a beat. "What are the odds he'll devour whatever he doesn't give or share with Lucy?"

"Ohhhh valid point" Erza echoed, lips pulling up into / a smirk. I wouldn't put it past him to cleanin out half of the bakery's front counter. Now why don't we get a friendly little wager started? Is 20 jewel acceptable?"

"Sure. I'm game."

"Ooh... why not make it ...30?" Lucy joined in with a light giggle. "I mean what's to say he won't clean out most of the shops and the other desert shops in town?"

"Hey! Not cool!" Natsu objected, though such sour words were belied by the glimmer of mirth in his shamrock eyes. "Makin' bets about whether or not I'll stockpile deserts and shit! I mean talk about takin' cheap shots at your leader! I am Salamander of Fairytail, damn it! Alpha drake of the dragon nest, and a Mighty and fierce dragonslayer -demon hybrid! I deserve your respect and praise!"

"Oh?" Erza spurred him on, clearly entertained by the salamander's theatrics. " Is that a fact?"

"Damn right it is!"

"And you, Luce!" Natsu bemoaned with extra melodramatic flair. "Even my own precious soulmate is betting against me and egging' the other two on?" Impossible not to notice how Natsu's hand clapped over the heart in a display of feigned offence. "How you' wound me, woman!"

"Opps," Lucy uttered, a teasing lilt to her words. "My bad. Are they really that wrong though?"

"Ooh, you got me there!" Natsu jibed s, lips breaking into a cheek into a cheeky grin agrin that set Lucy 's heart all pit-patter. "Touché and shit."

"Just as I suspected."

"Yeah, I figured!" Natsu laughed, mussing her hair with one hand. "Anyway, how about Erza and me pick up some dumplings on the way home? Maybe a Party pack with plenty for everyone to share? We can get some other things for dinner too— Our treat!"

"Ooh yes please!" Lucy crowed, mouth practically watering from the zesty-flavored-packed dumplings from one of many Magnolia's local fusion joints. "Can some be fried? And be filled with beef? Maybe tandoori chicken and cheese too? And could I have 3 or 4?"

"Yeah, sure." Natsu agreed, goodnaturedly as always. "Whatever you want. You really must be cravin that stuff today, huh?" And God she couldn't help how her heart stuttered at the way her grin morphed into a another kind of smile entirely; More subtle, tremendously fond, even. "Normally I'm the one askin' for all this different kind of food. Good to know that you have great taste and that I'm rubbing off on you more and more each day though."

" Uh, yeah… thanks. Though you don't think it's a bit much?" Lucy questioned, now glancing up at her boyfriend with a smidge of tentativeness. She couldn't help but second-guess her request especially seeing how it was partially driven by voracious craving for carbs. "Cuz I'm wondering if that many dumplings is a tad too many now."

Maybe something healthier would be better...

"What? Are you kidding?" Natsu refuted, bursting into stunned laughter . "Of course it isn't. Why would it be?"

"Well, when you put it that way" Lucy resounded in agreement, the corner of her lips twitching into a sheepish grin over how silly I'm being. "Guess I was overthinking it just a little."

"See?" The dragonslayer pointed out, punctuated by a light tap on the tip of the blonde's nose with his finger. "Now you're getting it! And hey, look at it this way! Whatever my princess and queen wants, she gets."

"Well, who am I argue to with that? Anyways, you guys heading out now?"

"Yeah," Natsu sighed, a touch of reluctance seeping back into his gravelly timbre. "Guess we oughtaa . Really don't like the idea of leaving your side though there are some things to take care of. And besides the sooner we leave, the sooner I can get back to you."

How the summoner's heart gave a little thump at those touching words that reached her ears!

"What you're saying is definitely true" Lucy breathed, finding herself adrift in those arresting eyes of his. Onyx with flecks of jade that always seemed to shine in just the right angle of sunlight on bright days. And did she mention the sensation of Natsu's fingertips brushing her cheek, the tucking a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear? How it all sent sparks racing through her nerves! "And I can't wait for you to get home so that I can be in your arms again too."

"Mhmm yeah" Natsu hummed in agreement., stroking along the side of her temple now. "I'm definitely looking forward to all that too. Also cuddling with ya' on the couch of course. Should be great! Anyway, make sure to take it easy and stay hydrated, okay? And don't forget Erza and I are one just one call away if you need anything."

"Okay, Thanks Natsu."

"Anytime," he rumbled with that same affectionate smile that always melted her heart . "See you soon, Luce." Lips pressed a light kiss atop the celestial mage's crown with a hand palming the side of her head. God such a rush cozy seeping through her bones and warming her soul to the core.

I truly love him and that'll never change..

"Yeah, likewise.. Hurry back, okay?."

" You know I will."

"That I do".

______________________________________

Fic Tag Squad: @thenaluarchive @fuck-yeah-nalu @kuroshironekoserver @nalubookclub

  @magnolia9805 @lucielhyung @caandlle @rougescribe

@cobblepottantrum @lovelyluce@dark0angel13 @sovay-says

@soprana-snap @phoneboxfairy @phoenix-before-the-flame @acidrain1698 @mautrino@goddesofimortality @narutoyaoifan @nalufever @bmarvels @doginshoe @thecelestialchick @dreamerandcrazy @nalunatic @keyvan-firedrake @bitch-stole-mah-nutella @brightvelvet @mercurius-orion @allie-and-her-fandoms @animezing-fandoms @petri808 @lemonade-of-gods @tigreost @sony-mink65 @mercurius-orion@lunarsystemsworld @lunacross777 @yukimcffblog @sugarpolis @precenna @mwub @shootingstarssel @superfreakerz @mannyegb

______________________________________

A/N: All right that's Chapter: 5 ,folks! Apologies for the delay again! As stated previously, both my beta and I have been busy for different reasons related to differing schedules, life circumstances, responsibilities, appointments, hobbies and a somewhat more active social life among other things (with increasing vaccination rates unless everything goes south again). Not that this has necessarily prevented me from writing or working on my wips but there's also been days where I haven't been feeling well, a case of writers block or there simply just not being enough hours in a day to accomplish everything I want for whichever reason lol. In any case, this chapter is posted now and I'm trying to get back into working on writing projects more often. So that's that at least.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Once again, please don't hesitate to drop a comment/review and share. Check out the rest of my writing and stay tuned for new projects along with updates to my other WIPS too! ((Corresponding links are above in this post, bio and navigation bar if reading this on tumblr. Also in my FF and A03 profiles.) All right. that's all I have to say for now. Thanks to all my friends, mutals, followers and readings for their ongoing show of support over the years. You all rock! Take care until next time! Bye!

[cg29]

Fanfiction 21 Q&A Tag Game.

Answer the 21 questions then tag anyone who’s fics you’d like to know more about.

1. What fandoms have you written for?

Apart from 1 fic all of mine are Thunderbirds.

2. How many works do you have on AO3 &/or FFNet?

I’ve 21 on A03 & 22 on FFNet. The extra fic that’s not currently on A03 is a short I wrote many years ago set in the OZ universe. Plus - 47+ mini fics in my Pic & Mix collection.

3. What are your top 3 fics by kudos on A03 &/or Favs on FFNet?

A03 Kudos:

93 - Virgil Drabbles.

79 - Pick & Mix.

70 - Gone.

FFNet Favs:

50 - Gone.

22 - Virgil Drabbles.

21 - Pick & Mix.

4. Which 3 fics have the least kudos & Favs?

A03:

6 Kudos - Birthday Wish.

7 Kudos- Moving on. Episode TAG Flame Out.

8 Kudos- Scayo. Episode TAG HyperSpeed / Bring on the Fluff

FFNet: only including TAG fics.

1 Fav - Bring on the Fluff.

2 Fav- The Games.

3 Fav - The retribution of Scott Tracy.

5. Which Fic has the most comments and which has the least?

A03 Comment Threads:

Gone, 72.

Scayo Episode TAG for Hyperspeed, 0 comments.

FFNet: Only inc TAG.

Gone, 347.

Scayo Episode TAG for Hyperspeed, 2.

6. Which complete fic do you wish had gotten more attention?

Moving on, episode TAG Flame Out. A fic explanation for Grandma Tracy’s 8 episode absence until her hysterical return in Flame Out.

7. Have you written any crossovers?

I’ve started 1 (only put 1 chapter up so far) a cross between Thunderbirds and Hunger Games.

8. What is the craziest fic you’ve written?

The retribution of Scott Tracy. I wrote the short crack fic while high on pain meds, and it shows! 😂

9. What’s the fic you’ve written with the saddest ending?

Definitely White Light: I was actually in a fairly good mood when it popped in to my head, but it was one of those that demanded I write it down. Finished it in one day, and personally (even though I cry whenever I read it) I think it’s one of the better shorts I’ve written.

10. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Considering how much angst it contains probably Gone.

11. What is your smuttiest fic?

The night of Anderbad, it’s set after the original series episode of the perils of Penelope and features some Virgil/Penny hotness.

12. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yes, all were anonymously sent and are usually deleted and forgotten about. The two that have stuck in my mind were for The Tracy Family - apparently saying that I accepted prompts for future chapters meant I was stealing other peoples ideas and I was a rubbish writer who couldn’t come up with my own content. The other was for Bad Day, and they sent a homophobic rant because I wrote Virgil and Brains in a relationship.

13. What is the nicest comment you’ve received?

I love all my comments. I did receive a private message once on FFNet (which I kept until FFNet decided to delete it) saying that I was their favourite writer and they had read Gone multiple times. ☺️ I can’t remember who it was but the message helped me through so many ‘I’m crap at this’ moments and inspired me to write many more TAG fics.

14. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware.

15. How many fics do you have marked as incomplete?

I have 8 in total, also around 10 WIPS that I’ve only shared bits of on here. 😅

16. Which of the WIPS will most likely be finished first?

It will most likely be Reflections as I have the final 2 chapters planned out and a some in 1st draft stage.

17. Which WIP are you looking forward to finishing?

Avalanche. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge for this fic and personally think it’s one of my better multi-chapter stories. No idea when it will be complete. I was a little bit stumped with the next few chapters. I do know how it ends though.

18. Is there a WIP that you’re considering abandoning?

All the posted WIPS that I’ve put up should hopefully get completed at some point. I’m currently expecting The Games and Virgil Drabbles to be the last ones to be marked complete. However, there are a couple of fics I’ve only shared early chapters/snippets for on Tumblr which may unfortunately go no further - if I decide to leave them, then I might post as they are in my Pick & Mix collection or on their own.

19. Which complete fic would you consider rewriting?

I won’t rewrite it but I had considered Tracy Family. There are some bits I’ve cringed at when reading again, foreshadowing ideas I had after posting . I also had an idea for a part 2 but it would only work if I rewrote parts of it.

20. Which complete fic is your favourite?

Bad Day. This was a self-indulgent fic which included one of my favourite tropes, (repeating days) contained a heap of Virgil suffering lows and highs and although I’m no longer into the OBannon/John pairing some of my other favourite pairings are included.

21. What’s your total published word count?

According to A03 it’s 246722 😮

Tagging: @burningcowboyhoagietaco @gumnut-logic @janetm74 @psychoseal @womble1 and anyone else who’d like to join in.

[captainlilyuniverseworld]

Hell and Back

A/N: So I wound up writing a little follow-up to Son of B**** and figured I'd post it here. I've also linked the first part it's, and as I might turn it into an actual thing, you can read it on AO3 as well!

I'm always taking requests, so feel free to drop me a line if you!

Son of A B****

A03

Hell and Back

“Easy, careful. Watch your step.”

Sam stopped and looked at Dean.

“What? What is it? Is something wrong?” Dean asked.

“Dean, I’m pregnant, not helpless,” Sam answered. “Would you relax? Aren’t I supposed to be the one who’s overly cautious and worried?”

“You’re carrying precious cargo,” Dean replied as he placed his hand over Sam’s swollen abdomen.

“I’ve fought werewolves, vampires, wendigo’s, and a dragon; I can carry our baby and carry my own suitcase to the car,” Sam pointed out. “Relax, Dean.”

The alpha huffed but stepped back a few inches, which Sam figured was the best he was gonna get, and Sam held onto their porch railing as he walked down from the porch and over to the Impala.

After the initial shock of Sam’s pregnancy had worn off, they both decided to wait until Sam was past the first trimester before telling anyone. Even when they'd fight, Dean had always been protective of Sam, but the pregnancy had made Dean even more protective on top of smug. It also made him a bit of a worrywart.

Sam couldn’t do anything without Dean hovering nearby, which don’t get him wrong. It was sweet, but it passed the point of being sweet a month and a half ago and was bordering on annoying. Which is why as soon as Sam passed the first-trimester hump, he brought up the idea of telling their friends.

Dean had jumped at the chance, and a few days later, they were packing up to drive to Bobby’s.

“You sure you don’t wanna fly? It’ll be a long drive,” Dean said as he put Sam’s bag in the trunk.

“It’s a day, day and a half drive max,” Sam replied. “Besides, you’re terrified of flying.”

“I know, but-”

“Dean, I love you, but if I ever have to fly with you, it’ll be too soon. Twice was more than enough for me,” Sam interrupted gently. “Besides, I’ll be more than comfortable in the Impala sitting next to you listening to your horrible and still not updated taste in music.”

“Please, you love it just as much as I do,” Dean smiled as he closed the trunk. “Let me go make sure the place is all locked up.”

“That’s not gonna get any easier,” Sam huffed a bit as he got in the Impala and shifted around to get more comfortable.

“Almost forgot the cooler,” Dean said as he got in the car. He put it in the back seat before getting behind the wheel.

“Bobby?” Dean called as he and Sam walked into the house. “Maybe he’s out in the garage.”

“I’m gonna go use the bathroom,” Sam told him.

“Told you that slushie was gonna go right through you,” Dean called after him. “I’ll go find Bobby.”

He shut the front door and cut through the kitchen to go to the backyard.

“What’s going on back here?” Dean asked when he found Bobby in the garage. He crossed his arms over his chest when he saw the older Alpha sanding down what looked like a crib.

“Balls,” Bobby swore when he saw Dean. “Thought you were gonna call when you were close.”

“I was, but Sam wanted to stop for slushies,” Dean answered. “Did you make that?” He walked over to look at the crib.

“Had some free time,” Bobby shrugged. “Supposed to be a surprise, though.”

“Yeah…” Dean straightened up and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “About that…how good are you at acting surprised?”

“You still haven’t told Sam you blabbed, did you?” Bobby shook his head. “Idjit.”

“In my defense, I was excited,” Dean told him. “Just, can you please act surprised?”

“You boys are gonna be the death of me,” Bobby shook his head.

They went back into the house and found Sam in the kitchen. He was on the phone with what sounded like another hunter and hung up a few minutes later. Sam took one look at Dean and narrowed his eyes.

“You told Bobby?” he asked.

“What? No,” Dean scoffed. “It was supposed to be a surprise; why would I...yeah, I told Bobby. How’d you know?”

Sam held up a book that had been lying on the kitchen table. Safe Baby Handling Tips.

“We agreed we were gonna tell people together,” Sam said.

“I’ll go put your things upstairs,” Bobby said as he walked out of the kitchen. He gave Dean an ‘I told you so idjit’ look as he left.

“I’m sorry,” Dean said as he walked over to Sam.

“When did you tell him?” Sam asked.

“Almost a week after we found out,” Dean answered. He took Sam’s hand in his. “I didn’t mean to do it, Sam, I swear. We were just talking about a case that Jody was working on up in Delaware. We started talking about us being civilians and if we missed it, and then I said no because I had more important things to think about. He asked what that was, and I told him that making sure our child gets to grow up with a normal childhood is a lot more important than hunting down some monster. It just slipped out, Sam; I didn’t intend for it to happen.”

“...You really think they’ll have a normal life?” Sam asked.

It took Dean a moment to realize that Sam was asking him a serious question, and he wasn't being sarcastic.

"Of course I do because we're gonna give it to them," Dean told him.

He reached up and cupped Sam’s cheek, stroking it with his thumb, and placed his other over Sam’s own.

“You sound so sure of that,” Sam looked down at their hands over the swell of his stomach.

“Because I am sure,” Dean said matter of factly. “If we can fight off hordes of monsters, we can raise a baby. We already know how to function on as little sleep as possible.”

“I guess we do have that part covered,” Sam chuckled a little.

“You and me? We got this,” Dean squeezed his hand. “We are Winchester’s, after all.”

“How do you always manage to stay so optimistic?” Sam asked.

“Not optimistic if it’s the truth,” Dean answered. “Now come on, I had Bobby pick up some of that rabbit food you like. I’ll make up some veggie and chicken skewers for dinner.”

“You two idjits makeup yet?” Bobby called from the hall.

“We made up,” Sam called back. “No more telling people about the baby without me, okay? I want some of the credit, too; I’m doing all the heavy lifting after all.”

“No more telling people without you,” Dean nodded. “Now go put your feet up and let me get dinner started.”

“You mean it, right? You and me?” Sam asked.

“To hell and back,” Dean promised.