#my MC's gonna have her work cut out for her the first time they bang in this book

[the-unconquered-queen]

All those buttons, buckles, and belts... unromanced Aerin taking serious measures to protect his virginity 🙏🏼💯

[abbatoirablaze]

Heaven's Demons, Chapter 13

Word Count:  1.9k

Warnings:  mentions of domestic abuse, threats of violence, angst

“Why are you following me, Butcher?”

“I’m coming to help pick up the food!” he said innocently, “what, I can’t help you out, prospect?  I mean, I didn’t tell you what I wanted.  Were you just gonna guess?”

“What I usually do.”

“And you get it wrong every time.”  

Storm narrowed his eyes at the biker momentarily as the two of them walked side by side to the little café, “you never help me.  Jump scare me, sure…but help-“

“You’re like my little brother,” he shrugged, waving the younger man off, “What kind of big brother would I be if I didn’t do that type of thing every once in a while.”

“Yeah…sure…” he said quietly, putting his skepticism on the back burner long enough to grab the door for him. 

“So how are things going with Sweetie?” Jefferson asked, trying to make some casual conversation with the prospect.

But Storm froze as he looked at Butcher, “w-what?”

“You’re fucking Sweetie now, right?”

Storm felt himself pale, “w-who told you that?”

“Don’t worry man, Fonz is cool with it…he knows you’re banging his ex.”

Storm felt his stomach turn to knots.  He and Sweetie had started sleeping with one another when Gearz softly rejected her and started dating his own ex, Trish, but they were both pretty careful not to tell anyone about the two of them now hooking up, because she didn’t want to get him in trouble, and seemed to think that it may cause some waves.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, man.”

This time Jefferson cocked a brow at the prospect, “don’t lie to me about it, brother.  I’m asking because I’m trying to be nice and show some interest in ya…pretty ballsy to be fuckin her though, I’ll give ya that.”

“Because of Fonz?”

“You’re sponsor is in fucking love with her…”Jefferson scoffed, “you remember him, right?  The guy that stole your little high school sweetheart?”

“Me and Sweetie are a low key kind of thing…she thinks that if she’s fucking around with another club guy so soon it might get me in trouble…but fair is fair…right?  Gearz was a dick to her.”

Jefferson shrugged, seating himself at the table and nervously tapping the seat in front of him, “sit the fuck down.”

Storm only raised a brow, “so kind of you to offer.  So really…why are you taking me out?  You’ve had me bust my ass at your shop before and all of a sudden-“

“Hi, can I get you star-Jefferson…”

Storm’s eyes shot to the sweet voice, and he didn’t miss how Jefferson seemed to light up and get almost sheepish at the woman’s words, “Bunny…”

“Y-you came back…and with a friend.”

“More like a-“

“Yeah!” Jefferson grinned, cutting Storm off, “he belongs to the same MC that Andy and I belong to!  He’s helping me out at my shop, so I decided to treat him to lunch.”

She giggled at the biker, and Storm smirked, seeing Butcher blush as he fiddled with a menu he’d pulled from the centerpiece, “you’ve been here every afternoon for lunch, Jefferson…”

“You’ve got great food…”

“I’m starting to think I should have your lunch ready at the counter for you…”

“I wouldn’t say no to that,” he smiled playfully, “provided the owner of said establishment was waiting there too.”

She only giggled in response, tapping the pen against her notepad. 

“I’ll have a coke and a Turkey club,” Storm smiled, interrupting the moment.  Bunny’s giggles turned into a red blush that broke out across her cheeks and went down her neck as she seemed to be shocked from Jefferson’s eyes, “and he’ll have-“

“A chocolate shake and a bacon cheeseburger…and a slice of the coconut cream pie…”

“Already have me figured out…” Jefferson smiled.  

“I-I noticed that you’ve been working your way down the menu…the next thing after the sodas are the shakes…chocolate is listed first…and you started the burgers yesterday…and you worked through all of the fruit pies yesterday…”

Jefferson blushed, entranced by the young business owner and how she was able to read him like he was an open book.  With her he felt a new type of vulnerability.  And normally, with the position he held in life and in the club, it would have scared him, but with her, it felt so natural.  With a smile, he nodded, “y-yeah…”

“Hey…uh, after I put your order in and after you’ve eaten…I was wondering if I could talk to you…if you had time…”

“You can talk to me all you want, bunny…don’t have to wait for me to eat,” Jefferson offered, pulling out the chair and patting beside himself, “I got all the time in the world for you.”

“I-It’s nothing major…well, maybe…I just…I remembered you saying that you own the butcher shop down the road…and I was wondering about your prices,” she blushed, “my supplier is already falling behind on my orders and-“

“Whatever you need,” he said quickly, cutting her off, “I-if you want…I’m free after I close up shop at seven…I could stop by once I finish cleaning up…I’ll bring the whole little pitch for when I take on new clients.”

“My dinner rush usually ends around eight,” she smiled, “I’ll treat ya to a slice of pie and a coffee while we talk business.”

“You can talk to me about anything you like, bunny!” Jefferson said dreamily.  She smiled and bit her lip, tapping the pen on the notepad once more.

“I’ll hold ya to it, Jefferson!  I’m gonna go put your order in for you and your friend…I’ll be back with your shake in a minute.”

“You can hold anything against me that you like,” he said dreamily as he watched her walk away.  Storm chuckled, watching the dangerous, quiet man become so delicate around her.  He’d seen the man butcher animals and men alike, but around the café owner he seemed to be two stops away from being a horny young teenager around his first crush, “Storm…”

“Yeah, Butcher?”

“Wipe that fucking grin off your face before I cut it off,” he grumbled in a low tone, his smile fading when she went behind the kitchen door.  Storm couldn’t help but chuckle a bit more until he glared at him, “I’m fucking serious, prospect.”

“Man…you’ve got a crush…”

“Shut the hell up, prospect…and enjoy your free lunch…”

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT, LAUREN?”

Lauren looked away from her older brother and ex-boyfriend, clearly embarrassed by their question.  But she shrugged regardless, “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

“Your fucking hips!” Ari growled, feeling the rage building up inside his chest.  He’d held Lauren in high regard, regardless of how he had cheated on her when he was a horny teenager and could never imagine anyone putting their hands on a woman, let alone her.

“Thanks a lot, Lee!” she hissed, glaring at him. 

Andy’s eyes went wide, “Did you fucking know about this?  Did you know about someone doing this to Lauren?”

Lee bit his lip, not daring to look at his best friends.  With a growl, Ari pushed himself towards Lee, grabbing him by the shoulders, “WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM, BODECKER?”

“Back off Ari!” Lee warned.

“Was this Evan?” Andy asked.  Lauren looked away from him, the tears building in her eyes.  His jaw clenched and he huffed, “I’ll fucking kill that son of a bitch.”

Lee fought his way out of Ari’s grasp, only for him to shove Lee, “you fucking let that bastard put his hands on her!”

“I didn-“

“YOU FUCKING COVERED FOR HER!”

“How long?” Andy asked in a dangerous tone.  Lee looked back at Lauren, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze, “I said…how long?”

When neither one of them answered, Andy slammed his hands down hard against his desk.  Lauren jumped, and Andy and Ari instantly felt bad about being so loud with her.  But Andy turned his attention towards Lee, “you fucking tell me, and you tell me right now, Lee…I’m not playing around.  If this asshole has been beating up my little fucking sister and you didn’t step in-“

“Last year,” Lauren admitted through tears as she cut Andy off, “When Lee beat the shit out of Evan…it-he stopped hitting me…Lee told him that if he ever caught him with his hands on me or any marks he’d put him in a grave so quick he wouldn’t kno-“

“Well he fucking hit her….”Andy growled, cutting his little sister off while looking at Lee, “What you gonna do, Bodecker.”

Lee looked to Lauren.  She wouldn’t have to ask him.  He would murder the man that hurt her and bury him so fast no one would be any wiser.  But the look on her face said that wasn’t what she wanted.  

“Lauren…”

“He wasn’t asking her,” Ari growled, his gaze enough to murder, “he was asking you…you said you’d kill the bastard if he put his hands on her…”

“Lee, please d-“

Andy was quick to rush his sister, lifting her blouse up to show her bruised hips to the sheriff, “this is just what we know of Lee…if Lauren hasn’t been telling you about this and it’s been going on since then…how you gonna feel if one day you’re answering a call and it’s her body lifeless on the ground?  Think you can handle seeing her like that, Lee?  Knowing you could have stopped it?”

“Andy stop!” she hissed, breaking away from him.  She backed herself into a corner, staring down Andy, Ari, and Lee.  And Lee’s heart broke for more reasons than one.  He couldn’t picture his world without her, and he felt betrayed that she hadn’t come to him for his protection.  But looking at her now, she looked scared. 

She was a far cry from the confident seeming woman that walked into the bar. 

She looked like all too many battered women that he’d answered calls for.  Too afraid of their spouses until their breathing stopped when one went too far.

Lee bit his lip, his decision resolute in his mind, “Let me see all of it, Lauren.”

“Lee…”

She shivered at the dark undertones of his voice, “I ain’t gonna ask twice…you show me what the asshole did to you…and you try to explain it away…I see it in your eyes you don’t want me to bury him….give me a reason not to…”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Ari all but yelled, looking at Lee, “I know you have a fucking crush on Lauren, but this is fucking sick.  Evan put his hands on her, and you’re telling her that all she has to do is say don’t fucking do it, and the prick lives?  That’s some sick kind of being pussy whipped, even for you!  WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, LEE?”

Lauren paled, hearing the words from Ari’s lips as she processed what he said far quicker than Lee did, “what?”

“What?” Ari yelled, looking back at her.

“L-Lee is in love with me?”

“Oh come on,” Ari scoffed, “Lee’s been sniffing around ya since before I was.  Always being kind an helping you out.  Always so sweet on ya.  Don’t pretend you didn’t know, Lauren…now he’s letting your fucked up fiancé off the hook because you said…Lee’d slit his own throat if it would make you happy and you know it.”

“Lee…”

Lee felt sick as he looked at the shocked expression on Lauren’s face.

Chapter 14

Tag list:  @lohnes16, @elbell20-blog, @stockholmdolly, @terrormonster55, @dontbescaredtosingalong

[writingfandomfeels]

Tadashi Hamada - Drunk Karaoke

A/N: I wrote this yearssssss ago after first falling for Tadashi Hamada and being inspired by this clip of his voice actor Daniel Henney singing on YouTube for a different role. I hope you can listen to the audio and enjoy imagining Tadashi serenading you in this story <3 “No.” Tadashi breathed, staring at his phone. 

“What?” You asked, approaching him. 

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no! This can’t be happening!!!” 

“What is it?” You repeated yourself. 

“I only got 65% on the last assignment! I don’t understand, I worked so hard!!!” He huffed. 

You searched yourself for some way to encourage him. “There’s other assignments right? I’m sure you’ll do better on them. Maybe just check with the professor on what you were getting wrong and see if you can make up for it?” 

“No, not in this class, she’s very strict. Absolutely no makeups, she’s warned us. I could still check why though so at least I’ll know… ” 

“Why don’t you come out with us tonight?” Fred offered, suddenly appearing in the back of the emptying nerd lab. “Yeah, you won’t be able to hear back from that teacher tonight anyways and you got nothing else to do. Have a little fun for a night. Wasabi is DDing” 

You looked to Tadashi, curious his response. Your boyfriend wasn’t much of a bar goer but he did go with his friends on occasion, usually as the designated driver though. 

He sighed. “Yeah, okay, might cheer me up after all this.” 

You crowded around the bar, each taking turns ordering. Except Fred. He took 3 shots and ran off to dance. Wasabi got a diet coke since he's the designated driver and Honey ordered a martini. Everyone looked surprised when Tadashi got ready to order too. 

He shrugged at their expressions. "It's been a long terrible day that I really just want to forget."

"Well if you're in the mood for forgetting..." Gogo paused and ordered some complicated drink then slid it to him. "It's my own little concoction. Strongest stuff I've ever had."

Tadashi eyed it hesitantly.

"I...don't know Gogo," Honey said looking at Tadashi. "You don't have to drink anything if you don't want to." She reminded him.

He shrugged. "Why not. What have I got to lose." He said and began drinking Gogo’s concoction.

"Hey! Look! It's karaoke night!" Wasabi said turning his attention to the stage opposite the bar.

Honey gasped. "Tadashi! You should sing!!"

You looked at him shocked and impressed. "You sing?!!"

He shook his head. "Only in the shower or when I don’t notice I’m doing it. I'm not nearly drunk enough for karaoke."

"Well then! That can be arranged!" You laughed and ordered him a shot.

He chuckled. "I would have never thought you the type to get someone drunk and take advantage of them." He teased.

"What can I say," you shrugged, "I love singers”

"Oh, do you?" He asked watching, interested.

You smiled at him coyly and he quickly took the shot. Not long later, he's making dumb jokes and like a hyper little kid. 

He giggled as he stared at you. 

"What?" You smirk.

"There's two’a you." He giggled more. "This is so awesome. I love having two’a you. But wait which one is the real you ‘cause I don'wanna acciden’ally kiss someone who's not my girlfriend." His eyes grew big as he slurred. "Whoa, yeah, that would be bad....but two of you!!!" He exclaimed excitedly again.

You laughed with Honey and Gogo at him.

"So does that mean you're drunk enough to sing for me now?" You asked.

"Sing?! OHH YEAHHHHH I WAS GONNA SIIIING FOR YOUUU, okay okay just....just wait here...." He said and got up from the bar stool, stumbling a bit. "Just stay here..." He held his hands up, "I'll I'll be right back...okay?"

"Okay, I'll be here." You smiled.

"Okay." He said and started to leave but then ran back to kiss you, catching you off guard, and then ran back to the stage. 

Gogo chuckled at your surprised look. "Yeah, he gets a bit clingy when he's drunk."

"A bit clingy?!" Honey said as if what Gogo said was a terrible exaggeration.

Gogo chuckled again. "Okay, a lot clingy! Once he wouldn't let Honey go to the bathroom alone." 

"He kept saying I was his best friend and not to go but I was like ‘Tadashi I really have to pee! And what about Fred he's your best friend too?’ Thankfully that got him distracted enough to tackle Fred with hugs instead of me." Honey explained. 

You laughed at the story with the girls.

"Next up! Ta-" the MC paused and looked at Tadashi who was just off stage "dude, I can't read your handwriting… what does it say?"

Tadashi just grabbed the mic from him instead.

"Heeeelloooooooooo Sanfransokyooooo! It is I, Tadashi Hamada, here to serenade you.....buuuuuuuut mostly just my girlfriend ‘cause she's a dork waffle and got me drunk so I would sing to her." He slurred. "But it's okay ‘cause she's really cute. Okay! This is a song! Called...ahh....umm....a thing, I dunno......anyways I umm OH! Oh it's starting!!! Everyone it's starting, shhhhh! Wasabi it's starting, look, shhhhh!!!"

You and the group laughed at him and Honey got out her phone to video it. Frankly, you were quite impressed with his talent. 

When he had finished, the whole bar applauded like mad. "Thank you!!!" He shouted and dropped the mic. He picked up his baseball cap that had fallen while he was head banging, then jumped off stage. 

You got up off your barstool to meet him. "You were amazing!!!!" You shouted over the new music playing. You reached your arms out to hug him but he pulled you into a sloppy kiss instead.

"Let's dance." He grinned and pulled you deeper into the crowd. 

Moments later, you bumped into Honey again.

"IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU GUYS EVERYWHERE!!!" She yelled over the music. "YOU GOTTA COME SEE FRED!!!!" She dragged you off behind her and soon you come within view of a mechanical bull that Fred was totally rocking. 

Having a few drinks in yourself, you decide you want to try it too after Fred. Tadashi didn’t realize this at first though, so got upset when he saw you getting on it. 

"WhAdder youuu doing?!!" He scolded. 

You shrugged. "Giving it a try."

"No no no no no!!" He said, running over and trying to carry you away from it. "I don't want you to get hurt!"

"But Fred didn't get hurt." You pointed out.

"But Fred is a idiot so even if he did I woulden’ be too worried. But you’re too pridddyyy t’ fall an’ break your face. Fred can break his face if he wants though." He slurred and pulled at your hand. "C'mon let’s do something else.” The drunken boy looked around the bar for something else to do. 

“LOOK DARTS I LOVE DARTS DON’T YOU LOVE DARTS?!" he said excitedly and pulled the darts from the board then backed up. "I'm sooooooooo good at darts, just watch me," he said, giving you a charming crooked grin and a wink. 

He threw the first dart and it hit the edge of the board. The second hit about 2 inches from the target, and the third....hit your forehead.

"Aaahhhhh!!!" You grabbed at your temple before looking down to see the bright red blood on your hands.

"OH NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" He rushed over to you. "I'm SO sorry Y/N!!!!!" He apologized, looking at the cut and hugging you. "We gotta get Baymax! Baymax!! BAYMAX!!!" he began calling and wandering a little. "OW! BAYMAX! OW! BAYMAX! ACTIVATE!!"

You held your stinging temple and ran after him, grabbing his arm with your non-bloody hand. "Hun, Baymax is at home." You pointed out. 

"Oh" He paused, looking worriedly at the dripping blood. "Well let's go find him then!!!" He said, determinedly scooping you up into his arms and heading to the doors. 

Once outside he wandered up and down the street almost whacking your head on a light post. "Umm..." he hiccupped, "where are we??"

You laughed. "How bout we get Wasabi to drive us instead?"

He nodded, setting you down and going back inside with you to find your friend. 

***

“Aghh, my head…” Tadashi groaned the next morning. 

You rolled over in bed to face him. “Yeah, I know that feeling.” 

He looked at the bandaid plastered to your forehead. “Did I do that?” He moved his hand up to his head, groaning again. “Everything is so hazy.” 

“It’s okay, it wasn’t that bad.” You reassured. 

He turned over to pick up his phone, checking the time to see how late the two of you had slept in. In doing so though he noticed an email notification. 

“Oh my gosh. I can’t believe it.” He breathed. 

“What?” You asked curiously. 

“My professor… she’s actually going to let me make up my grade!” 

“That’s amazing!!!” You cheered. 

He looked at the time again. “Not if I don’t make it to meet her!” 

Tadashi jumped out of bed, instantly regretting the fast movement. 

You cringed as you watched him place a hand to his mouth, willing himself not to vomit. 

Hurriedly he changed out of his pyjamas and into the first clothes he could find. 

“Good luck!” You called after him as he rushed away.

[drabbles-mc]

House Call

Neron “Creeper” Vargas x Reader

Request by my #1 @est1887: Ok here goes for creeper can you make it fluffy lol I love a good love story clearly lol: “Anything, just call me okay” “Call me now it urgent” “Actually I just miss you”

Warnings: language, mentions of blood/injuries, hospitals

Word Count: 4.9k

A/N: Soo this is my first time writing for Creeper and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! I may have gotten a little carried away...hence the 4.9k but this was a really fun one to write haha. Hope you guys enjoy! xo

Taglist: @mayans-sauce @thesandbeneathmytoes @paintballkid711 @tomhardydallasstarsgirl @queenbeered @sillygoose6969 @sesamepancakes @yourwonkywriter @chibsytelford @gemini0410 @multiyfandomgirl40 @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @plentyoffandoms @georgiaaintnopeach @twistnet @garbinge @amandinesblogofstuff @bucky-iss-bae @encounterthepast @everyhowlmarksthedead @rosieposie0624 @mylittlelonelyappreciationtoo 

He winced, letting out an exaggerated groan as you stitched up the cut. You knew it probably hurt, but you also knew him well enough to know that he had been through much worse and wasn’t so dramatic about it. You smiled as you continued his stitches, “Pretending it hurts more than it actually does isn’t going to make me give you stronger painkillers, you know.”

He instantly dropped the act as a smile crossed his face, still looking up at the ceiling for a moment before looking at you, “What if I’m really convincing?”

Your eyes met his for a moment as you arched on eyebrow, “You’re not that good of an actor, Neron.”

He chuckled, and a genuine pang of pain shot through him as he did so he tried to still himself again. You hated how often he seemed to get banged up, but he was at least a good patient. You weren’t positive that he always took the full amount of recovery time, but all of his injuries seemed to heal with minimal issues so you couldn’t complain. His stitches always stayed clean, and he swore that he always did the full run of whatever types of meds you had him on when necessary. For someone who seemed so accident-prone, he took good care of himself.

There was a comfortable familiarity between the two of you. Friends may have been too strong of a word, but whenever he had to come and see you, or the rare occasions that you had to stop by the clubhouse to patch someone up, you always enjoyed talking to him. Even if it was while you were swabbing out and stitching up stab wounds or bullet holes.

You were putting a light bandage over the stitching so it wouldn’t get dirty. The slice went down the inside of his bicep and it wasn’t exactly the shallowest cut. It would take a bit of time to heal but you had no doubts that he would be back to normal sooner rather than later.

“I think,” you lightly traced your finger along his arm, inspecting your work, “you’re good to go.”

“Sending me away already, Doc?”

You smiled, “You’ll have to come back soon anyway so I can keep an eye on your stitches. You’ll be seeing me again in no time.”

“You always take such good care of us,” he was looking down at his bandage.

“That why you keep getting busted up?”

“It is a bonus.”

You laughed and shook your head, “Right. Well, I’m gonna send your prescription out. It’s a low-dose pain killer. Nothing crazy. Only take it if you need it. You know the drill.”

He chuckled, “Something like that.”

You looked at his arm and let out a small sigh, “Alright. Just because I know how you boys are, and that cut isn’t exactly in an optimal location, I’m gonna give you my number so you can get in touch with me if something starts to feel off or the stitches rip,” you scribbled your number down on a piece of scrap paper before handing it to him, “Anything happens, just call me, okay?”

He nodded, carefully folding and tucking the paper into the pocket of his kutte, “Thank you.”

You nodded, saying goodbye to him before walking out of the room to send his prescription to the pharmacy. The other doctors didn’t understand why you always jumped at the chance to treat the guys from the MC, but you did genuinely enjoy their company. They were all good to you, and you weren’t put off by the ink and kuttes like some of your coworkers.

He walked out of the room while you were sending out his prescription. You only noticed because you could hear all of his friends in the waiting room, instantly starting to crack jokes at his expense when he walked over to them. You smiled, shaking your head slightly—you couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying but you were sure that it was amusing.

Once it was all sent out, you made your way over to Creeper and the few guys from the club who had been there waiting for him to get patched up. They were all smiles when you walked over, and it was impossible to not return the gesture.

“You guys are in charge of making sure that he doesn’t get any new injuries while this one is healing, alright?” you gave them all pointed looks, “And no bikes for him until further notice.”

“They aren’t my parents,” Creeper said with a chuckle and a shake of his head, “I can take care of myself.”

You glanced at the bandage on his arm, “Mhm. I see this,” you laughed as your eyes met his, “Give me a call if anything happens, okay?”

He nodded, “Sure thing, Doc.”

As you walked away, you could hear Angel’s voice, “Give her a call? Alright, ‘mano. Good for you.”

You chuckled quietly as you walked off to see your next patient. There were, but one of your favorite things was the fact that you really got to meet and help so many different kinds of people. Stumbling into the circle of the MC had been completely out of your control, but you were glad that it happened. You just so happened to get assigned the right case in the free clinic a couple years ago and since then, you were essentially on Bishop’s speed dial whenever anything went down. He knew you were good at what you did, and could be discreet about it.

Days came and went, and you hadn’t heard anything from Creeper, or anyone for that matter. You supposed no news was good news, but you were curious to know how your patient was doing. You didn’t have his number, though, he only had yours. So you waited. You waited for a call from him, or a notification from the hospital that he had scheduled his follow-up appointment. Either one would be fine by you.

You were just getting off your shift, walking out to your car when your phone started to ring. You didn’t recognize the number, but you picked up anyway.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Doc,” you recognized his voice immediately.

“Neron,” your tone was cautious as you fished your keys out of your purse, “Why do I get the feeling that this isn’t a good call?”

“Because…it’s not,” he chuckled, “It’s not terrible. I just…did something stupid.”

“Oh did you?” you shook your head as you sat down behind the wheel and threw your purse over into the passenger seat.

“Think I could come in and have you fix me up?”

You sighed, “I’m leaving for the day. Text me your address and I’ll just come to you—you shouldn’t be driving anyway.”

“O-okay,” he fumbled over his words for a moment, “I, I can do that.”

“I’ll see you soon,” you laughed, “Don’t do anything else until I get there.”

You were surprised by how close he lived to the hospital. And, by extension, how close he lived to you. Your house was only about a ten-minute drive away from his, if that. You knew it was a small world, but you didn’t think it was quite that small.

You walked up and knocked on the door, medical bag slung over your shoulder. You’d taken to keeping a decent amount of supplies on-hand once you became the on-call doctor for the club. A few moments later he opened the door, a nervous smile on his face.

“You called?” you offered up with a laugh.

You noticed some of the tension disappear from his body as he nodded, stepping out of the way to let you in. You didn’t know what you had been expecting the inside of his home to look like, but what you were seeing didn’t surprise you. Everything was clean and orderly, but it was sparse. He didn’t strike you as the kind of man who was super into interior design anyway.

You took off your shoes, nudging them off to the side as you followed him to the living room. You noticed that he was keeping his arm pinned to his side, trying to hide whatever damage he’d done. It was amusing to you solely because he was going to have to show you what happened if he wanted you to fix it.

He sat down on the couch and you pulled a chair over from his table so that you could sit in front of him facing him. You looked back and forth between his face and his arm, waiting for him to start offering up some sort of explanation.

“Before you get mad,” he gestured with his good arm, “let me explain.”

“Please do,” you smiled as you started taking things out of your bag.

“I was being good,” he was almost pleading, “I was staying home—no rides, no club shit. Figured that since I’m stuck in the house I might as well get a few things around here taken care of.”

You looked at him, eyebrows raised, “Did any of the things that needed to be taken care of involve any kind of heavy lifting?”

“I didn’t think it was heavy! Not until,” he finally showed you his arm.

A few of his stitches had definitely ripped. It would be a quick and easy fix, but you could tell by the look on his face that he felt like he was about to get in trouble in the principal’s office. You smiled as you carefully undid the bandage and started wiping the dried blood away.

“It could be worse,” you said with a chuckle.

You could see the relief in his body language when he realized that you weren’t frustrated or upset with him. His injury wasn’t at the top of his list of concerns—he knew that you’d be able to fix it. He just didn’t want you to be pissed off at him during or after the process of doing so.

You re-wrapped his arm and reiterated your previous instructions as you did, “No rides, no heavy lifting. You are a one-armed man for the foreseeable future,” you reached into your bag and pulled out a sling, “And just in case you forget I’m gonna strap you down with this,” you laughed as you fitted it onto him.

He shook his head, but smiled, “This isn’t necessary, Doc.”

“Clearly it is,” you laughed as you leaned back in the chair.

A few beats of silence passed before he looked you in the eyes and let a small smirk pass over his face, “Thank you, by the way. I owe you.”

You shook your head as you packed everything back into your bag, “You don’t owe me. I’m happy to help.”

You were putting the chair back in its rightful place when he asked, “I was gonna order pizza if you want to stick around. I know I just made your long day even longer,” he chuckled nervously, “It’s the least I could do.”

You smiled, nodding, “Pizza sounds good.”

The evening was much more comfortable than you thought it might be. It was the longest that you’d spent with any of the guys from the club, especially in a one-on-one setting. Creeper was easy to be around though, and he kept your laughing. You really didn’t even notice the time going by as the two of you lounged on the sofa, television on just for background noise.

“I would love to stay,” you stood up and stretched, “But I don’t get to stay home on bedrest tomorrow,” you laughed.

“Can doctors call in sick?” he asked with a smile.

You nodded, “We can. I try to save my sick hours for hangovers, though.”

He walked you out to your car, and you couldn’t believe how dark it’d gotten. You tossed your bag into your trunk and shut the door with a quiet sigh. Despite how long your day had been, you couldn’t deny that the ending to it all had been worth it. You hadn’t expected to have so much fun, to so badly want to stay a little longer.

“Thanks again for this, Y/N. I owe you.”

You smiled and shook your head, “The only thing you owe me is updates. That way I know your arm is still attached and healing.”

He laughed and nodded, “I can do that.”

You hugged him gently, careful not to press against his injured arm, “Take care of yourself, Neron.”

His smile was soft, “Get home safe.”

Telling him to keep you updated was all it took for him to keep in touch with you. Over the next few days, seeing text messages from him were welcome distractions in the midst of a lot of chaos at work. At some point in the morning, he would always send an update saying that he still had both arms, and that he was still wearing the sling. He would usually include whatever joke the other guys had made at his expense that day, just to reassure you that he was still taking it easy. You’d usually text him back on your lunch break, if you got one, or just when you had a spare moment to breathe for a couple minutes.

Soon it was more than just the once or twice a day check-ins. Slowly but surely the conversations started lasting all throughout the day. You obviously weren’t always able to respond to things right away, but nonetheless the two of you kept the conversation going regardless of what it was about. It was the first time in a long time that you had someone that you could talk to all day and not get bored. It was nice.

You were texting him as you were leaving work late one night, drained and pissed off at a call your supervisor had made. You were glad that you had a couple days off before you had to be back so you could cool off a bit and not say something that you’d regret.

“Free tonight?” you figured the worst that could happen was that he would say that he was busy.

You got his reply as you sat down in the driver’s seat of your car, “Yea. You ok?”

You sighed but smiled as you typed out your response, “Shitty day”

His reply was immediate, “Come over whenever. Not like I’m going anywhere anytime soon lol”

You chuckled, shaking your head. You let him know that you were going to go home to shower and change and then you’d be over. You hadn’t been back to see him in person since you fixed his stitches. And, despite the fact that the two of you had been texting every day, you found yourself missing him a little bit. Even though it had been a rough day, you were glad that you would be able to stop in and see him.

You knocked on his front door, shifting your weight from one foot to the other. Showing up for something that wasn’t medical felt a little strange. You had no idea why there was a hint of nerves coursing through your body, but there was.

He opened the door, a smile spreading across his face, “Hey, come on in,” he stepped aside so you could come inside.

You slipped out of your sneakers and turned around to see Creeper staring at you. There was a smirk tugging at his lips and you felt your face get hot. You tugged at the hem of your tank top, letting out a nervous chuckle, “What?”

He shook his head, “Nothing. Just never seen you outta your scrubs, Doc,” he smiled, “Beer?”

You nodded, “Please.”

You collapsed down onto his couch and he appeared a few moments later with two open beer bottles, handing one to you. You took it happily, taking a long drink from it as he sat down on the couch next to you. He looked over at you, concern flashing across his features for a moment. Before he could ask you anything, you beat him to the punch.

“I know I’m not in my scrubs,” you looked at his arm, “But I’m still your doctor. What happened to the sling?”

He laughed, shaking his head, “I’ve been on my best behavior. No mishaps. I can’t go one night without it?”

You smiled, “Fine. One night,” you paused, can I look at the stitches though?”

He shook his head, “No. You had a long day. You’re not here to be my doctor. Just relax for a bit, will you?”

You rolled your eyes but smiled, “Fine,” you sipped on your beer, “No big club plans on a Saturday?”

“Just following the doctor’s orders.”

You laughed, “Man, she must be a real buzzkill.”

He chuckled, “Yea, but she means well.” You gave him a light shove as you let out a laugh. He smiled, “You this mean to all your patients?”

“Just the ones who make fun of me.”

He finally got you to start venting about what had been going on at work over the past few days, but that day in particular. He didn’t say much, just nodding and encouraging you along. He could see that you just needed to talk about it, to be able to be bitter and complain about it so that you wouldn’t combust from keeping anything inside. Throughout the course of the conversation he’d gotten you each a couple more beers. You took them gladly, just happy that you were able to unwind and have some good company.

As it started to get later, you found yourself not really wanting to leave. It was comfortable at his house, with him. You didn’t quite know what it was about it, but you really had no desire to go home.

He’d put a movie on, and somewhere along the way you found yourself leaning against his good side. You settled against him, soaking up the heat that was emanating from him. He cautiously draped his arm around you, his hand resting lightly on your side. You let out a quiet hum of approval and felt the tension disappear from his body.

You didn’t remember falling asleep, but you woke up to the sound of Creeper snoring. You forced your eyes open, trying to get your bearings a little bit. Your head was rested in his lap, blanket draped over you and his hand still resting on your side. He was leaning back against the couch, head tilted slightly upwards as he slept. You sat up slowly, running your hands over your face.

He felt you stir and started to wake up. You smiled over at him as he wiped the sleep from his eyes, “Sorry I ended up crashing here.”

He chuckled, tiredness still weighing on his voice as he struggled to wake himself up, “No worries. Glad you got some rest.”

You got up and got ready to head home, already feeling like you definitely overstayed your welcome. He wasn’t rushing you out, but he wasn’t going to try to force you to stay, either, assuming that you had other things you had to take care of. He still walked you out to your car despite the fact that it was daylight now. He hug he gave you lingered for just a little bit longer, and you didn’t mind.

“Thank you. Sorry again about the impromptu slumber party,” you laughed.

He smiled, “You don’t gotta apologize.”

You fished your keys out of your purse, “Don’t forget to make an appointment for your stitches soon, alright?”

“Was hoping you’d be willing to make a house call for that.”

You smiled, cheeks getting hot for a moment, “I might be able to swing that. I’ll stop by sometime next week.”

The following week, you were making your way out to your car after your shift. Things were a little calmer at work, and your frustration had decreased drastically. You were digging around for your keys when you felt your phone vibrating in your pocket. You pulled it out, brows furrowing in concern when Bishop’s name flashed across the screen.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Y/N.”

“Hey…everything alright?”

He didn’t sound overly worried, “Yea. Just wanted to ask a favor of you if I could.”

“What’s up?”

“You think you could take Creeper’s stitches out early? Need him on deck for some club stuff. He’s gotta be able to ride.”

You sighed. You know that realistically he’d probably be fine, but you couldn’t pretend that you wouldn’t be worried about whatever it was that was going on. You weren’t going to say no, though. “Yea, I could do that. Was planning on taking them out this weekend anyway.”

“Great. Think you can stop by his place tonight?”

“When do you need him by?”

There was a pause—he didn’t want to answer the question, “Tomorrow.”

“Fuck, Bish. Seriously?”

“I know. I’ll owe you.”

You chuckled, “You sure will. I’ll stop by his place tonight.”

“You’re an angel.”

“Yea, remember that,” you laughed as you hung up the phone. With a sigh, you texted Creeper to let him know that you were on your way to his house as per Bishop’s orders. He probably knew already, but you still felt weird popping by without saying anything first.

He opened the door for you when you got there, a smirk on his face, “Wow. I bet Bishop that you weren’t going to cave on taking them out early.”

“If your arm didn’t seem to be healing so well, I wouldn’t be,” you shook your head slightly as you got ready to take his stitches out, “You’re lucky you’re such a good patient.”

The two of you were quiet as you went to work on his arm. It really wasn’t the worst thing in the world that the stitches were coming out a little ahead of schedule. He’d been careful with his arm, and you really didn’t have any pressing concerns about it. Your worries branched far outside the scope of his latest injury.

“Do I get to ask what’s so important that Bishop needs you to speed up your recovery time?”

He raised his eyebrows slightly, “You really wanna know?”

You sighed, shaking your head, “No. It’s probably better for my sanity if I don’t.”

“You worried?”

You flicked your eyes up to him for a moment, “Usually urgent club business ends with at least one of you guys needing to come and see me to get patched up. Odds aren’t really in your favor.”

He laughed, “I guess you’re right.”

Neither of you said anything more about it. As much as you wanted to stay, and maybe pry a little more into what was going on, you fought the urge. You knew that he probably had last-minute shit to take care of, and it wasn’t your place to get in his way. You slung your bag over your shoulder as you headed back towards the front door of his house. The knot in your stomach wasn’t going to go away until they were all back and safe from handling whatever it was that they were getting into.

After tossing your bag into your car, you turned around and wrapped him in a tight hug. For the first time since he got injured, he was able to properly hug you back. He kept you snug against him for a few moments, and you really didn’t want him to let go.

You finally stepped back, “Please stay safe, alright?”

“Doctor’s orders?” there was a small smile on his face.

You laughed and nodded, “Yes. Doctor’s orders,” you paused, gnawing at the inside of your bottom lip, “Let me know when you’re back?”

He nodded, “I will.”

“Good. Okay,” you stepped in and hugged him again, pressing a light, quick kiss to his cheek before getting in your car, “Stay out of trouble, Neron.”

He smiled, “I’ll do what I can.”

A few days ticked by and you hadn’t heard anything from anyone. Which was perfectly on-brand for the MC, but this time it made you worried. You had debated texting creeper, but you stopped yourself. They were busy, probably wrapped up in dangerous shit. The last thing that he needed was you bothering him. Still, though, you wished that you knew what was going on.

You were pulling something together for a very late dinner at the end of the week. Your shift had gone way longer than it was supposed to. You were too tired to cook, but it was also too late to get anything delivered. So you were pulling random things out of your cabinets in the hopes of putting together something that resembled a meal.

Your phone buzzed once on the counter. You glanced over and saw that you had a notification from Creeper. Instantly you opened the message, “Call me now. It’s urgent”

Your heart dropped into your stomach as you called him. Your hand trembled as you held it up to your ear, waiting to hear the worst when he picked up on the other end of the line.

“Hello?”

“Neron?” you couldn’t hide the worry in your voice, “Are you okay? Where are you guys? Are you all safe?”

“One question at a time,” there was a touch of humor to his voice, and you couldn’t tell if you found it reassuring or frustrating.

“What’s wrong? You said it was urgent,” your heart was pounding inside your chest.

“It is,” he paused, “Kind of. I mean,” you heard him take a deep breath, “Actually, honestly, I just miss you. Been thinkin’ about you all week.”

You let out a laugh, some of the tension disappearing from your body, “I miss you too. So…you’re still in one piece?”

He chuckled, “Yea. Me and everyone else.”

“Where are you?”

“About to head home.”

“Can I come over?” you blurted out.

You could tell he was biting back a laugh as he responded, “Yea. Of course.”

You let out a sigh of relief, “Alright. I’ll see you soon.”

When you pulled in, you saw his bike in the driveway and knew he was already home. You didn’t bother knocking this time, electing to just let yourself in. He was standing in the kitchen, looking in the fridge when you walked in. He turned around, smiling when he saw you. Without giving it a second thought, you all but ran over to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. He laughed, arms snaking around you and squeezing you tight. You shut your eyes, taking a moment to just breathe him in as one of his hands came to rest on the back of your head.

“I really did miss you, you know,” his voice was softer than you were used to. It was the first thing either of you said to each other since you got there.

You smiled against his chest, “I missed you too.”

He pulled away from you a little so he could get a good look at your face. You could see the exhaustion in his features, but you could see the happiness too. His hands stayed rested on your hips as he spoke, “I know I’m technically not your patient anymore,” he cracked a smile, “But if you wanted to keep stopping in to make house calls, I wouldn’t mind.”

You laughed, hands resting on the sides of his neck, fingers lightly tracing over the ink there, “You wouldn’t, huh?”

“I like you,” you could tell by the look on his face that he was choosing his words carefully, “And I like it when you’re here. Feels more like home. Not being able to talk to you for a week…really fucking sucked.”

You smiled, liking his simple honesty, “I agree. And…I like you too.”

He pulled you closer, fingers drumming lightly on your sides, “Can I kiss you?”

Your eyes widened, not expecting that to be the next thing that he said. Despite the shock, you smiled and nodded. The grin that broke out across his face was contagious, but you didn’t have time to really take it in as he cupped your face and pulled you in so your lips crashed against his. You practically melted into him, hands sliding to rest on his chest. His thumb traced along your cheekbone as his lips moved against yours.

You pulled back to catch your breath, and you could feel his chest vibrating with laughter beneath your hands. Your face was hot and you found yourself smiling when he pulled you close and rested his forehead against yours.

“I guess you were right,” you said with a quiet laugh.

“About?”

You chuckled, “About this being urgent,” you smiled and closed your eyes as he pressed a kiss to your forehead, “I’m glad you’re safe.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

You rested your head against his chest and sighed, leaning into him. He wrapped his arms around you, one hand sliding gently up and down your back. His arms felt strong, and they made you feel safe. You didn’t know for sure what was in store for the two of you next, but you were ready for whatever the next adventure was.

[vagabondreamer]

After the Fall (2)

Pairing: Lucifer x Angel! Fem! MC

Word Count: 2k

Series Summary: Angel! Fem! MC is part of an exchange program that sends her to the Devildom for a year.

Chapter Summary: MC attends her first day of classes at RAD! She encounters familiar faces and new ones - some friendlier than others.

CW: Mentions of drugs, Mentions of sexual assault, language, blood

Author's Note: Thank you so much for the support! I love reading your comments!

***

You stepped out of his office, slowly turning back to your normal form. You walked up the stairs, back into your own room. Closing the door behind you, you locked it, and face planted on your bed. You were upset and hurt, maybe even a little afraid; no one had ever insulted you before, and you weren’t prepared to see Lucifer in his demon form. Rolling over, you wiped away the tears that you didn’t even realize were falling.

“Pathetic.” Not sure if you were talking about yourself or him. Closing your eyes, you just hoped to fall asleep but the sound of your door opening caused your eyes to flutter back open.

“MC, Lucifer forgot to give you your DDD this morning,” Mammon said, handing over the phone to you.

“Now I get why they want me to knock,” you muttered to yourself.

“Hey - were you cryin’?” He sits on the bed.

“What?! No!” You look down at your phone, playing with it to avoid eye contact.

“Why are ya eyes red?”

“Uh,” you think of an excuse. “Obviously, getting high.” You smack your own forehead in response - not only were you a liar but a horribly bad one at that. What kind of angel gets high?

Mammon just laughs at your stupid response.

“Okay sure, next time share with me,” he jokes. It makes you feel a little better. “Oh, dinner is gonna be ready soon.”

“I’m not hungry.” In reality, you just didn’t want to see Lucifer.

“You sure? Beel will eat everything. There won’t be a second chance.”

“I’m sure, thanks.” Mammon got up and left your room.

You decided you’d rather shower and go to bed. Tomorrow was Monday, and according to Lucifer, your first day at RAD.

***

Back home, you woke up to the gentle sunrise and songs of angels. Here, you woke up to loud banging at the door.

“MC hurry up, we’re gonna be late!” Mammon’s voice could be heard over the banging.

You groaned in response, and threw the covers off of your body. Quickly, you did your routine and put on your uniform, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Mammon stopped you, and turned you around towards the front door.

“Wait! I haven’t eaten yet!”

“Next time set an alarm, c’mon, we’re gonna be late!”

You were going to starve to death here.

Mammon practically dragged you all the way to school; the other brothers must’ve left a lot earlier. Your first class was history, and you shared it with Mammon and Beel. Barely missing the late bell, you slid into a desk right next to Beel.

“Hey MC.”

“Hey Beel.”

The professor started talking, and that was your cue to shut up. Everyone else was quiet, and your stomach decided it wanted to be heard. A loud growl erupted, and you grabbed your stomach, silently begging for it to be quiet. Beel nudged a protein bar to you.

“Don’t worry, it happens to me all the time.” You smiled and accepted the bar - eating it cheerfully.

Feeling someone stare at you, you turned to see Mammon looking at you curiously. Did you have something on your face? Your eyebrow rose, questioning his look. He just shook his head and turned his attention back to the front - how strange.

The class passed quicker now that you weren’t focused on food. The bell signaled the end of class and you got up, looking at your schedule - potions was your next class. You waved a small goodbye to the two boys and wandered the halls looking for the room; you could’ve asked them for help, but you were a self-sufficient angel, after all. The halls started to get less crowded and the warning bell went off.

“Oh, geez.” You rushed to the end of the hall and luckily found the right room. The only desk open was next to Satan and some guy with whitish silver hair; quickly, you sat down in between them.

“Hey Satan,” you whispered.

“Hey.” You turned to the boy next to you and smiled. His aura felt different than everyone else’s, he wasn’t a demon nor an angel, so he must’ve been the human Lord Diavolo was talking about!

“You must be MC.” He stated rather than questioned.

“Yeah, and you’re Solomon?” He nodded in response. “How did you get picked for the program?”

“I assume it’s because I’m the greatest sorcerer alive.” Oh, he’s cocky.

“Really?”

“More like the shadiest sorcerer,” Satan chimed in.

“Oh, you two know each other?” You ask.

“Hardly, he has a pact with Asmo and is always summoning him away.”

“Awh, Satan, if you want to see me so badly all you have to do is ask,” Solomon teases.

“I would never form a pact with you.”

“Never say never.”

“You three back there, after school detention!” The professor announces. You had been so engrossed in the conversation, you completely forgot you were in the middle of lecture.

***

The last class of the day was coming to a close. Thankfully you shared it with Simeon and Luke. You didn’t want to get in trouble again, so you kept the conversation to a minimum.

“Luke, how are you enjoying the Devildom?”

“I’m not! It’s unbelievable that we have to go to class with a bunch of demons!” You smiled sympathetically. He had a good point, you all were surrounded by demons - and it went against everything you had been taught. But, you decided to lighten the mood.

“Yeah I understand, but some of them aren’t too bad!” You recall how kind Beel and Asmo have been - even Mammon, who kept doing his own thing, wasn’t that bad.

“That’s right, you just have to keep an open mind,” Simeon added. Luke crossed his arms and just kept quiet. The final bell went off, meaning class was over. You were happy to be going home, but suddenly remembered you received detention with Satan and Solomon. Your shoulders immediately slumped over.

“You alright, MC?” Simeon asked.

“Yes, I just have to go talk to my potions professor.” You didn’t tell him the complete truth, maybe it was because you didn’t want him to be disappointed in you, or for him to report back to Michael - yeah, it was definitely the latter.

Waving goodbye to Simeon and Luke, you walk back to potions class. The professor is sitting at his desk awaiting your arrival. You sit at the seat directly in front of him, and look around, no one else is in the classroom.

“Where’s Satan and Solomon?”

“They both had valid excuses for not being here.”

“Wait, what -”

“You’ll sit there silently for an hour. Any noise and I will add thirty minutes.” His tone is cold and uncaring. You couldn’t believe those two ditched you! Crossing your arms, you held back any remarks or unwanted noises and waited the hour out. After about thirty minutes the professor let out a sigh and started packing his things. You took this as a sign he was letting you out early for good behavior.

“Oh, hah, my mistake. I have to go, but you still have about thirty minutes. You’ll be a good little angel and wait it out right?” He was most definitely mocking you. You just nodded your head in agreement, and he left. You waited about five minutes to make sure he was gone before you grabbed your bag and went out to the hall. It was empty. You headed towards the front doors, but felt a tap on your shoulder before you could make it outside. Turning around, you see three unfamiliar boys.

“Can I help you?” You ask unsure of their intentions.

“Actually, I think you can,” the tallest boy says. “We’re part of a club, and our equipment just won’t work.” The other boys nod their heads.

“Oh, I don’t know anything about technology.”

“Do you think you could look at it? We’ve all tried, and we really need to get our activities started.” They seemed sincere enough, but you were still hesitant - they were demons. But, what if they really needed help? And you deny them because of their species? That would be wrong on so many levels.

“Okay, yeah, where is it?”

“In our club room, come on!” They lead you to a classroom, there’s no one else in there, but you do see a camera on a desk.

“So, is this what’s broken?” You turn around to see that the three boys had transformed into their demon forms. You back away slowly. “What’s going on?”

“Awh, come on, sweetheart. Everything’s going to be just fine.” The tall boy comes closer, entrapping you between him and a wall. “We just need a video.”

“V-Video?” One of the other boys picks up the camera and points it towards you. Your body is frozen in place. Why weren’t you transforming? Tears pricked your eyes.

“Can you blame us? We’ve never seen an angel before.” His fingers slowly caress your face; you notice his sharp claws. “So, beautiful.”

“Please stop,” you say with authority, but it’s met with deaf ears.

“Hold her down,” he tells the third boy. You're pushed further against the wall, your wrists held over your head.

“No!” You cried out as you squirm trying to get free. The tall boy goes to rip your shirt open, but one of your hands slips free, you punch him square in the jaw.

“You bitch,” he shouts as he slaps your face. His claws dug into your left cheek, leaving three deep cuts. You fall onto the ground and try to crawl away.

“Pathetic,” the boys laughed. The boy kicks you in the side, it sends you flying into some desks; a sharp pain erupts in your ribs. He grabs your hair and makes you look up at him. “Sweetheart, I’m going to get what I want; how badly you get hurt is up to you.”

Your face is stained with tears and blood, and your body is aching. These boys were lower level demons, and yet they had asserted dominance over you like it was nothing. Why did Michael never train you in combat? Why were you being so useless? As if God himself heard your prayers, a familiar face passes by the door. You muster up all your might and call out his name.

“Lucifer!”

The boy holding your head up immediately let go and straightened up. His blood must’ve chilled at the sound of that name.

“Shit!” He walked to the door and looked out the small window - no one. He opened it, and as if he appeared out of nowhere, he was face to face with Lucifer. You made eye contact with him, but you looked away - ashamed at how you were found. Without hesitation, Lucifer grabbed the boy’s head and rammed it into the door - knocking him out. The other two immediately began begging for mercy, but found none. Lucifer didn’t break a sweat as he kicked their asses, pushing them to the brink of death. He grabbed the camera off the floor and removed the SD card, crushing it in his fist.

Calmly, he walked over to you - you were still crouched on the floor, paralyzed with fear. Gently, he scooped you in his arms and carried you home.

The walk to the house was silent; minus, your sniffling. He didn’t speak a word, and that worried you. He walked up the steps, and into the house, carrying you directly to his room and into his bathroom. Setting you on the countertop, he dug through the cabinets and pulled out a first aid kit. He cleaned and dressed up your wounds to his best ability - your face would be harder to cover so he disinfected it and left it alone. Lucifer finally gazed into your eyes; his stare was so intense it was hard to gaze back without looking away.

“MC. Are you okay?” You pondered on his words. No, no you were not okay.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I would never lie.” Tears spilled out of your eyes, it stung your face.

“MC...I need to believe you’ll be okay.” He went to wipe away some tears but you flinched. His hand retracted instantly. “I have to report this to Lord Diavolo.”

“Lord Diavolo? So, that’s why you’re asking if I’m okay?” You scoffed. “I’m perfectly fine.” Pushing him away, you jump off the countertop and head out of his room.

“Wait, MC.”

“What now, Lucifer?” You were exhausted and just wanted to be in the safety of your blankets.

“Why didn’t you transform?”

[just--another--daydreamer]

When did that happen?

Katsuki Bakugo x male reader

» Fandom: My hero academia » Genre: Angst & Fluff » Requested (by @phantomspryth​): I have an idea for a Bakugo x Male reader. The Mc had medium/long hair that Bakugo(or really anyone) likes to play with. Then the mc comes to school one day with a buzz cut. The rest is up to you » Warnings: spiralling thoughts, swearing » Words: 1.1k » Author's Note: I’m not sure about this one, I’m sorry... I tried to keep the description of the hair as neutral as possible to make this more inclusive, I hope it worked? Also I don’t know how to come up with titles, I apologize

Writing suggestions are open :)

You can find a link to my Masterlist in my bio

Bakugo was not one for much physical affection. When he felt like it, he held your hand, on extremely rare occasions he hugged you. Being on the receiving end of physical affection was a little easier for him, though he would never in a million years admit that. Whenever you kissed his cheek, he had a hard time to hide his blush and even when it was only the two of you in the room, he tried to hide it.

However, a while into your relationship, Bakugo discovered something new: he liked playing with your hair. He enjoyed watching a movie with you in his dorm, your head on his chest and him playing with your hair. Occasional pecks on your forehead. It was calming, he loved it. Thus, it did not take long until this became a regular thing. It only happened behind closed doors, when nobody was watching, but even then, Katsuki was still a little embarrassed, making sure you would not see his rosy cheeks. But you knew that he was blushing, you knew that he enjoyed it. When your head was resting on his chest, you could tell how happy he was by the way his heart jumped, you could tell how your time alone calmed him down.

Katsuki was not the only one who loved your hair, though. In a ranking similar to the dorm ranking your class did some time ago, everyone decided that you did, in fact, have the best hair. After the ranking, when some people wanted to touch your hair, they were blown away by your boyfriend’s explosions.

Everything was going well until one fateful Saturday, when you left the 1-A Alliance early and went to get a new haircut. Cutting your hair did not have any deep meaning besides wanting to try out something new. And if you ended up not liking it, it would grow back eventually. It was an idea you had had for a long time but kind of forgot to tell anyone.

So, when you came back during lunch time, your classmates were shocked to say the least.

“What the hell?” You could hear your boyfriend’s voice even before you had fully stepped through the 1-A Alliance’s front door. “I’m glad to see you too, Kacchan,” you greeted him. “Stop right there,” he continued yelling. “What the hell happened to your hair?! When did that happen?!” His yelling and raging attracted some other students who were bored and wanted to see the drama. “Welcome back, Y/N!” Yaoyorozu smiled and waved. “There’s still some lunch left if you’d like. Also, nice haircut!”

Bakugo looked at her and then at the other students. “What the hell are you staring at, mind your own business!” The other students complied, not wanting to mess with Bakugo right now, and moved on with what they were doing. Some rolled their eyes at his screaming but made sure he did not see it. It did not take long until only you and your boyfriend were standing in front of the entrance, with Katsuki still staring at you with his eyes wide.

“Do you-” you started as you avoided eye contact. “-do you not like it?” Bakugo did not give you an answer to that. “Your lunch is gonna get cold,” was all he said. And it was all you needed to guess his thoughts.

It hurt more than you expected. Being around Bakugo, being friends or, like you, boyfriends with him meant being told hurtful things by him. He threatened to kill the people around him, called them names, told them how superior he was to them. He also was not the best at expressing his emotions and talking about his feelings. But what he said – or did not say – hurt you. He hurt you for the first time in a while and it felt awful.

It was like a stinging right where your heart was. Your eyes burned and you lowered your gaze to not let anyone see your eyes watering, but nobody was around anymore. Even Bakugo had turned his back to you to return to the couches, where some of your classmates had gathered.

You ended up not eating lunch and instead went straight to you room to try and distract yourself with schoolwork. It was not the best distraction, though. You kept checking your watch to see if it were time for bed yet, so you could sleep and forget about the pain in your chest for a while.

Hoping for Bakugo to realize he hurt you felt a little pointless. The best way to get him to apologize or anything in that direction was to confront him about it, but you did not really feel like doing that even though that was probably the best way to handle things. Talking was the key in every relationship, after all. But the longer you thought about all this, the more pointless it felt. Your thoughts spiralled down and down and down, until eventually, all you wanted to do was bang your forehead against the table to get your mind to stop.

An aggressive knock on your dorm’s door pulled you out of your thoughts. “Come in,” you said meekly, already knowing who it was. Bakugo opened the door and slammed it shut behind him. You winced at the sound. Your boyfriend walked into your room without a word and sat down on your bed, arms crossed in front of his chest.

An uncomfortable silence formed, both of you seemingly at a loss of words, wanting the other one to start the conversation.

“And?” You finally asked. It was a surprise to you that he came to talk, even though it was clearly hard for him. Bakugo huffed. “You know,” he started in his usually grumpy tone. “I reconsidered my words.” Struggling for words, Bakugo gritted his teeth. “And I realized that I may have- argh, this is hard!” “Katsuki, I-” “Shut up and let me apologize, dammit!” He flinched a little at his own words, and his expression as well as his tone softened after this. “I’m sorry. And I do like your new haircut.” That was more than you had ever expected to hear from Bakugo in terms of apologies. “Apology accepted.” “Thank god!” He opened his arms as to tell you to come into a hug while he let himself fall onto your bed. “Now come here, dammit.”

It did not take long until you laid your head on his chest, listening to your boyfriend’s heartbeat as it calmed down. Bakugo’s fingers were once again busy with your hair, which came as a little surprise. “You know what,” he said after a moment as he planted a kiss on your forehead, “this is very nice, too.”

[jokertrap-ran]

(光与夜之恋 Light and Night) Charlie’s 6✩ Inspiration: Midsummer’s Gilt [仲夏鎏金] Date Translation (END 4: Listen)

“Why do you have your eyes closed again? Sleepy? Go ahead and take a nap then. Remember to dream of me.”

*Light and Night Master-list | Charlie’s Personal Masterlist *Spoiler free: Translations will remain under cut *Join the Light & Night Discord (＾▽＾)~ ♪ *6✩ Inspirations have 6 Endings!! *Charlie’s tag will be #For Night, For Paradox

✥ Choice: Listen [倾听] ❖ASMR

What should I do? How should we spend the rest of the time?

⊹ Ask him if there's anything he wants to do ⊹

Thinking about it now, I still feel like it'll be better if I let Charlie decide what he wants to do instead of following my plan.

MC: Hey, let me ask you something. Do you have anywhere you want to go? Or… anything you want to do?

Charlie: Oh? You're prepared to fulfil a wish of mine for me?

MC: I guess so? I mean, heaven is big, earth is big, and the birthday star’s is the biggest.

MC: Oh. Anything but marriage!!

Charlie: You’re setting restrictions on my only birthday wish in a year? How cruel of you.

MC: Not like I can help it. Who told you to be the most vicious queen of all time, hm?

Charlie helplessly shakes his head, lowering his eyes in thought before looking back up at me.

Charlie: What I want to do today is very simple.

MC: ...Which is?

I don’t know if I was just imagining it, but I suddenly felt like I just saw a sliver of mischief flash across his eyes.

Charlie: Come with me.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

I followed him back to the farmhouse and out into the yard. Charlie immediately settled himself on the deck chair.

I watched him suspiciously, not understanding him at all.

Charlie: Come here. Let’s lie down together for a while.

MC: This is the one thing you want to do the most today…?

Charlie: That's right.

Charlie: I’ve been dragged and pushed around for the entire day. I just want to have a good moment’s rest with my fiancée.

The deck chair wasn’t exactly small, but it’d be a slight squeeze to fit two people on it.

I was dubious about it for a while.

Charlie: Hmm, looks like being the birthday boy doesn’t help at all, huh.

He sighed, watching me. I stood rooted to my spot. It was rare enough that I got to look down at him, but the look he was giving me was a little like a kicked puppy...

Never mind. Heaven is big, earth is big, and the birthday star’s is the biggest.

Mentally reciting the phrase again, I closed my eyes and laid down next to him.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Charlie: And here I thought that you wouldn't agree to it.

Charlie: Why are you closing your eyes for? Am I that ugly?

Charlie: A handsome face is right beside you, and you're not even going to admire it?

Charlie: Are you really not going to look at me?

Charlie: Not bad. You "woke" in a timely manner. If you hadn't done so, then I'd have…

Charlie: What CAN I do? Have you never heard of the fairytale called "Sleeping Beauty"?

Charlie: You moved over to give me more space? How rare of you to be so considerate towards me.

Charlie: What? You get mad when I speak and feel uncomfy when I don't.

Charlie: *Sighs*...Never mind, my dear fiancée can only be coddled by me after all.

Charlie: What do you want me to talk about? My mood?

Charlie: Much better than I thought it'd be.

Charlie: Are you uncomfortable?

Charlie: Then come over here a little more…

Charlie: I know I said "a little", but you've only moved just a mere millimetre, haven't you?

Charlie: Any further and you'll-

Charlie: Alright, stop moving.

Charlie: Move any more and I'll just have to fall off with you in tow.

Charlie: I won't move, but you can't go making me loosen my grip on you either.

Charlie: Why do you have your eyes closed again? Sleepy?

Charlie: Go ahead and take a nap then. Remember to dream of me.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

After dinner, the night gradually grew darker.

Having changed into my pyjamas, I was just about to close the windows when I suddenly heard a commotion coming from outside.

It sounded like a lot of people were gathered in one place, chattering along with the joyful cries of children.

MC: What’s going on!?

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Curious, I crossed the yard and walked out of the back door. I was immediately dumbfounded the instant I opened the door.

The originally empty plain had somehow accommodated a helicopter from somewhere. Charlie was standing by the helicopter’s door with his head bowed as he adjusted his shirt collar.

There were many villagers from around the area beside him. The old, the young, the boys, the girls; some of them taking photos, some of them discussing within their midst.

Little Boy: Big bro, do you really mean what you said earlier?

Charlie: But of course; I never lie.

Little Girl: Wow! I’m gonna get dad to bring me to a good spot right now!

Little Boy: Wait a minute, me too!

A couple of kids fussed about wanting to get to higher ground, to which Charlie only smiled at. The sides of his mouth curled upwards as he let out a soft snort, an inconcealable look of pride on his face.

Suddenly, I can’t help but have a very bad feeling about this new turn of events. I subconsciously turned to flee.

Charlie: I haven’t even gone looking for you yet, and here you are.

Charlie: Looks like we truly have an affinity with each other.

A big hand lands on my shoulder, making me unwittingly turn around only to face his triumphant expression.

MC: And what are you trying to pull again? What’s with this helicopter here?

Charlie: I’m going to take you for a spin.

MC: ……

MC: I’m going to bed. Good night.

I turned to leave again, but the same hand landed on my shoulder once more, this time backed with an irrefutable strength as he dragged me up into the helicopter.

Ten minutes later.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Chuf, chuf, chuf.

The sound of the helicopter’s propeller reverberated in my ears. I’d eventually given up struggling against him; and now, I sat next to him blankly, decked in pyjamas and slippers.

Charlie: Why so quiet? Are you scared of heights?

MC: Har, har, very funny. Just think of it as me being sleepy.

Charlie: Then, you’d do well to wake up; because what’s coming up next is something worth remembering for a lifetime.

MC: …What?

Charlie: I did give my birthday some serious thought.

Charlie: While it’s true that I don’t like attending birthday banquets, it is not in line with my personality to spend my birthday in such a low-key, simplistic, manner.

MC: ……

Charlie: Plus, my fiancée worked so hard to prepare so many surprises for me. So, I have to give her a gift in return, won’t you say?

He’d only just said that when a loud bang sounded from outside the window.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

I saw fireworks blooming behind him, suddenly lighting up the night sky, as well as the hand that Charlie had started to reach out towards me.

My eyes widened in surprise. I’d totally forgotten that reactions were a thing. And that was how Charlie had pulled me over to admire the scenery outside the window together.

And that was how the gorgeous fireworks bloomed seemingly near, yet far. It was almost as if one could simply reach out and touch them.

The boundless night sky was skin to a long and endless river, while the fireworks resembled the starry sky, reflected on the surface of the river. We were seated atop a small boat, free to move and traverse this galaxy as we so wished.

I couldn’t help but raise my hand, pressing it against the glass window and fixing my eyes firmly to the fireworks blooming outside.

Charlie: What? So moved that you could cry?

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

Charlie’s voice snapped me out of my reverie. I glanced at the handkerchief that held out before me and turned away with a huff.

MC: Thanks, but I’m not that easily moved.

MC: And these fireworks… It’s really beautiful, but please don’t do such overly exaggerated things in the future.

Charlie: So you’re already contemplating how to celebrate my future birthdays?

MC: I’m not…

My eyes dilated in rage, yet the flicker of flames died out the moment I raised my head.

Reflected within those twin violet orbs of his were the flashing lights of the fireworks… and two little reflections of me.

MC: Let’s leave the stuff next year… to next year.

Charlie: Don’t worry, you can have it every year.

The fireworks outside the window continued. Looking at the magnificent splendour outside, I suddenly remembered that I didn’t exactly wish him a “happy birthday” yet.

MC: Charlie.

Charlie: Hm?

MC: Happy birthday.

Charlie: Thank you.

This might actually be the first time that he has ever seriously thanked me for anything before.

My heart squeezed, immediately starting to race soon after. There was no longer any way to hide it.

MC: And there’s something else I want to tell you…

MC: Actually, I wouldn’t have known that it was your birthday today if you didn’t mistakenly think that I was making “longevity noodles”.

MC: I only agreed to go on a trip with you because I didn’t want to owe you any favours.

MC: And… I only decided to come here to this rural countryside to spite you because I knew that you’d be uncomfortable with it.

MC: And I didn’t prepare anything in advance as your birthday gift either…

I paused, not knowing how to continue. However, it was Charlie who carried on with the conversation, much to my surprise.

Charlie: So?

MC: So… Aren’t you angry?

MC: I clearly lied to you, in a way.

Charlie: My fiancée has been pondering hard and busying about like a busy bee today to celebrate my birthday.

Charlie: I don’t think there’s anything to be mad about.

I was stunned. For a moment, I didn’t quite know how to reply to him. All I registered was the soft thud of my heart as it skipped a beat.

MC: …I really don’t understand you sometimes.

Charlie: Then, I suppose you’ll have to put in more effort to understand me. After all, I can already understand you like the back of my hand.

Charlie: You can just tell me if you need help. I’ll get someone to collate my information and send it to you in a file.

MC: No need!

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

I softly snorted, turning around to continue admiring the fireworks outside the window.

Even though I knew clearer than anyone else, deep down in my heart, that fireworks were nought but merely a fleeting moment of brilliance…

I still can’t help but hope…

To hope that everything would be etched into stone, preserved forever and evermore.

⊹ ˚✩ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ∘◦ ✥ ◦∘ ━━━━━━━━━━━ ✩˚ ⊹

✥ Choose another Ending:

END 1 | Choice: Do Nothing [都不做]  

END 2 + 3 | Choice: Approach [亲近] ⊹Touch⊹

END 4 | Choice: Listen [倾听] ❖ASMR

END 5 + 6 | Choice: Heart-throb [心动] ✩Light & Night★

❖☆————— ⊹ For Night, For Paradox⊹ —————★❖

Previous Part: Prologue

[noladyme]

La Cuervo - Chapter 11

She is used to the biker-life, having grown into a woman in the familiar embrace of SAMCRO. A bad decision and a gun-shot later, she gets whisked off to Santo Padre, and put under the protection of another club. What is supposed to be a short stint in the Mayan headquarters just north of the border to Mexico, turns into something more; when la quervo begins to develop feelings for el angel - and he seems to return them in kind...

TW: violence, blood, drug use, alcohol, smut, fluff, angst

In the spirit of "The Crown Princess of Charming", this is a story about O.C. Nina and Angel Reyes. It is obviously non-canon, as characters who have passed on on Mayans M.C. are present in it, and others have been excluded completely. Nina is written as a cis-female, but I have tried to keep her race and looks as ambigous as possible. Should you find any of this story offensive, please let me know.

Nina was seated at the table in Felipe’s small kitchen, having been brought there by EZ a few hours earlier. The sun was setting outside, and she was looking at the orange sky, becoming red, and then dark blue.

“You haven’t touched your food…”.

“Huh?”. She was deep in thought, and almost knocked her glass of lemonade over, when Felipe spoke. Managing to stop it from falling, she took a sip. “Sorry”.

Felipe got up, and walked over to the fridge, grabbing a can of beer. He opened it, and set it down in front of her.

“Looks like you need this”, he smiled. Nina took a welcome sip of the beer, and smiled at Felipe.

“Thanks…”.

She went back to poking at her food. It smelled delicious, and she forced herself to take a bite.

“EZ wouldn’t tell me what’s going on, but I’m guessing it’s not good”, Felipe said. Nina tentatively met his eyes. “Are you in trouble?”.

“I’m… I don’t know”, she replied.

“Pregnant?”.

Nina’s eyes widened.

“What? Fuck no!”. She took a big gulp of the beer. “Sorry…”, she added, embarrassed at using profanities in front of the man.

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked”, Felipe said, looking down at his hands.

There was a long moment of silence.

“You seem almost disappointed at my answer”, Nina muttered. Felipe blew out a short laugh.

“Maybe it would get my son to settle down… And you’re not the worst choice of nuera…”.

“I don’t think we’re quite there yet”, Nina replied. Felipe shrugged.

“I don’t know… I saw how Angel looked at you yesterday. He cares about you”.

“Yeah…”, Nina breathed. She knew Angel cared; but she knew how the life was. His club came first, and she was quite sure that same club was getting ready to ship her back home to Charming.

EZ stepped into the kitchen with his phone in hand.

“They finished at the table. Angel’s on his way”. Felipe got up to get a plate from one of the cabinets; obviously aware of the state of the fridge in his eldest son’s house. EZ placed a gentle hand on Nina’s shoulder. “Are you ok?”.

“I guess I don’t know yet”, she said. “Do you think they’ll make me leave?”, she added, almost in a whisper.

EZ didn’t reply, seemingly unsure what to answer. He sighed, and went to grab a beer for himself.

Unable to stomach even a bite more of the food, Nina pushed away her plate.

“Do you mind if I smoke?”, she asked Felipe.

“Yeah, he doesn’t…”, EZ began, but stopped when Felipe placed an ashtray in front of her.

“Go ahead”, the elder Reyes said with a soft smile. EZ looked confusedly between the two, but ultimately shook his head, and settled in a chair.

Nina took deep draws of her cigarette, and stared straight ahead of her. If the Mayans wanted her gone, she still had a home in Charming; but as it was, the thought of leaving was extremely painful. Whatever Angel and she had, was something real and beyond what she’d felt for any other person. She didn’t want to go, but at the same time the thought of Angel backing the MC in the decision made her think it might be for the best.

She wiped away a stray tear, and Felipe handed her a napkin.

“Like I said, I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I think it requires something stronger than beer”, he said, and moved into the living room.

“Oh no. Pap is bringing out the mezcal”, EZ said.

“Why oh no?”, Nina asked.

“If you thought the Ferris wheel story was bad…”. EZ looked terrified. Nina finally let a smile reach her lips.

“Can’t wait”, she said.

A short while later, they were on their third shot of mezcal and laughing, when Angel walked into the kitchen. He took one look at Nina’s cigarette and the liquor, and frowned in confusion.

“Is this a party?”, he asked. Felipe got up and gave his son a half hug.

“Let me get your plate”, he said.

“Sorry, pap. We gotta go”, Angel replied. The mezcal had gone a bit to Nina’s head, and she scowled at the biker.

“Sit your ass down and eat your father’s cooking. Taking me back to Charming can wait 20 minutes”, she grumbled.

Angel looked at her confusedly, and took the plate Felipe handed him, before pulling up a chair to the small table. EZ poured him a shot.

Felipe sat down again.

“Where was I…? Oh, right. So, we’d let Angel be in charge of filling the piñata for EZ’s birthday, but he’d gone into the wrong section of the drug-store…”. Angel groaned.

“Nah… Not this, pap. Please…”, he pleaded.

“You think I want to hear this story again?”, EZ said. Felipe waved their objections away with a dismissive gesture, and continued.

“He picked the most colorfully wrapped things he could find, and filled it before Marisol and I could see what he’d gotten. I got this, pap; he insisted… Come the party, Ezekiel is banging away at the poor piñata, and breaks it open…”. He halted to laugh to himself for a moment. “And a shower of condoms rains over him”. Nina had to hold her belly from laughing.

“I thought it was candy!”, Angel exclaimed.

“Sure you did”, EZ said disbelievingly.

“I was 12…”, Angel said. Felipe chuckled at his sons bantering.

Angel downed his shot, and began shoveling food into his mouth, while Felipe and EZ went to do the dishes. Felipe resolutely declined Nina’s help, and poured her another drink to keep her seated.

While the eldest and the youngest Reyes got on with getting the kitchen back in order, Angel finished his meal; his eyes on Nina the whole time. She did her best to avoid meeting his gaze, once again feeling the pain of their impending goodbye. He handed his plate to EZ, and got up; reaching out his hand to her.

“Let’s go…”, he said. She took it, and sighed deeply.

Felipe wiped his hands, and came over to her, pulling her in to a tight hug.

“Take care, mija”, he said, and kissed her cheek. He patted Angel’s shoulder, and Angel nodded at EZ, before he led Nina out of the house, towards his bike in the driveway.

“I just need my stuff at your place”, she rasped.

“Why?”, Angel asked.

“Because I’m not going back north without my shit”, she hissed.

Angel frowned at her, once again sporting the deep furrow between his eyebrows.

“Nina…”.

She let out a flustered groan and stomped over to the bike.

“Let’s go!”, she said. When Angel didn’t move, she walked back towards him, and pulled at his cut. “Take me the fuck back to SAMCRO. Let’s get this over with!”.

“You’re drunk, cuervo”, he sighed.

“Yeah… So?”, Nina said.

“Ma’, the only place you’re going is home to sleep it off”, Angel said calmly.

“Yeah, like I said. Take me back to Charming”.

“No. Back home to mine”. Nina tilted her head confusedly. He grabbed her arm and led her over to the bike. “Can you ride?”.

“Yeah…?”, she muttered. “But…”.

“Not here”. He grabbed her helmet from EZ’s bike, and put it on her head, snapping it shut under her chin, before getting on the bike. Nina simply stood, open mouthed and wide-eyed. “Come on! Jesus… Look, I’m not taking you back north; but we do have something we need to talk about. When you’re sober”.

Nina clambered on behind him, and Angel drove them off into the night.

---

The smell of coffee woke her up. She opened her eyes and saw Angel setting down a mug on the bedside table, next to a glass of water and a bottle of Advil. He was topless and sweating, and it looked like he’d been working out. Turning her head, she found she was right in thinking so, when she saw that his barbells had been moved around.

“How’s the head, cuervo?”, he muttered, and sat down on the edge of the bed. He pushed a lock of hair out of her face, and stroked her cheek.

“Fine…”, she lied. Angel took two pills from the bottle, and held them out to her.

“Here…”. Nina frowned and shook her head. Angel scowled at her, and straddled her waist; sitting over her hips. He picked up the glass, and held the pills to her lips. “Open… Don’t make me hold your nose, little miss lightweight”. Nina sighed, and held out her tongue to accept the pills, before taking the glass, and chugging it.

“Happy?”, she grunted.

Angel took the glass, set it back on the table, and kissed her forehead.

“Good girl. Now are you gonna tell me what that was about last night?”.

Nina shifted underneath him.

“Are you going to get off me? Maybe put on a shirt?”.

“Nah. It’s easier to talk to you like this. It makes you less smart”, Angel grinned, and flexed his pectorals.

“Yeah. Your sexy body makes me stupid…”, Nina scoffed, and pushed at his chest; trying her best not to show how stupid she was in fact feeling. “I gotta pee”.

Angel got off her, and let her get out of the bed. She walked into the bathroom without looking at him.

While she was washing her hands, she noticed Angel had set up her toothbrush next to his own. An overwhelming sensation of warm joy and ice-cold embarrassment washed over her. She picked up the toothbrush, and stormed out of the bathroom; straight into the arms of Angel, who’d been waiting for her by the door. She threw her arms around his neck, and buried her face in his chest.

“I’m sorry”, she whispered.

“For what?”, he chuckled.

“For being an idiot… and drunk… and throwing up in the bushes before we made it inside last night”.

Angel laughed, his chest rumbling against her ear.

“Yeah, that was a different kind of fertilizer than I usually use”.

Nina tilted her face to look at him.

“I thought you were… that the club would vote to send me away”. Angel grinned and stroked her temple.

“You think I’d let them do that? Fuck no. You’re mine, and you belong here”. Nina smiled, and went to kiss him, when Angel pulled back, grabbed the hand she was holding the toothbrush in, and held it in front of her. “Your breath stinks, ma’. Use this, and then I’ll kiss you all you want”.

She almost ran into the bathroom, and thoroughly brushed her teeth, before putting the toothbrush back next to Angel’s. Once back in the bedroom, Angel smilingly pulled her into his arms, and kissed her greedily. They were all tongues and groping hands, when suddenly he pulled back, and looked somber.

“We need to talk”, he said. Nina sighed.

“I have a feeling I‘m gonna need that coffee now”.

Angel put on a beater, grabbed her mug for her, and led her into the living room to sit on the couch.

“There’s a snitch in the clubhouse…”, he began.

In spite of not being surprised, Nina let out an exasperated sigh.

“Do you know who it is?”, she asked. Angel nodded.

“We think it’s Daniella. You saw how she was all over Sala at the party. She was there when they were talking about the inhaler, and EZ told Bish that she saw you use it in the trailer. Then Creeper had Camille in there…”.

“So it was my fault…”, Nina croaked. Angel grabbed her hand.

“No, Nina. That’s not on you”. He kissed her knuckles. “But we need to find out how deep in with them she is. What she’s been telling them. You know I can't tell you too much about club business; but... this isn't the first time Palo has made moves on our territory”.

“She only just met them that night…”, Nina began.

“Did she though? What about that stuff in the alley? That’s what brought the Vatos to San Pad”.

“She wasn’t there, Angel…”.

“No, but someone might have told her. This isn’t a big town, word travels…”, he said. “And why are you defending her? That bitch is…”.

“Someone you used to sleep with”, Nina said. Angel looked down and didn’t reply. “You did, and you don’t have to pretend you didn’t… Look, I don’t like her, but…”.

“You’re gonna like her even less in a minute”, Angel cut her off.

Nina took a deep sip of her coffee, and lit a cigarette.

“Tell me”.

Angel got on his feet, and began pacing the floor.

“This wasn’t my idea, you gotta know that, querida”.

Nina was growing more and more anxious.

“Just… talk”, she demanded.

Angel sighed.

“We gotta split up…���.

Nina shook her head, and blinked in confusion.

“We… what?”, she snarled. “One second you’re telling me you’re not letting me go. The next…”.

“It’s not for real, though. Just like an act”, Angel said. “I need to let Daniella think we’re done”.

Nina scoffed, and stubbed her cigarette angrily.

“With your dick”, she growled, and got up to stand. Angel looked almost desperate, trying to explain himself.

“No, I just gotta let her think I want to hang with her again. Spend some time with her; get her to talk. We need to know how much she’s been sharing with the Vatos…”.

“Fuck that! I’m not gonna sit in this house, while you let her rub her infected cunt all over the back of your bike!”.

Angel cleared his throat, and looked away; seemingly very uncomfortable at meeting her eyes.

“You won’t be here… You gotta go back to the trailer”. It felt like a, explosion in Nina’s head, and white, hot rage spread through her body. “You need to go back on lockdown, so the club can protect you. And, so it looks like we’re really over”.

Nina stormed into the bedroom, trying to get away from him.

“Shove it up your ass, Angel!”, she roared. She picked up a pillow from the bed and threw it at him as he stood in the doorway. “You want me to stay at that clubhouse and watch you two… hang? Fuck you!”.

Not thinking, she kicked at a barbell. A burning, blunt pain spread through her toes, and she instantly fell to the floor; holding her foot. Angel rushed over to look at the damage.

“Querida…”.

“Don’t!”, Nina hissed, tears streaming from her eyes. “Don’t fucking queridame… Fuck that hurt…”.

Angel sighed, and scooped her into his arms, to place her on the bed; before leaving the room. He came back a moment later, with a bag of frozen peas covered in a dishtowel. She tried to push it away, but he manhandled her hands away, and put the pack on her foot. He checked her toes.

“You didn’t break anything…”, he muttered.

Nina watched him gently put the pillow she’d thrown at him under her foot, to elevate it.

“I hate you right now”, she croaked. He met her eyes with a sad expression.

“I know… I might even deserve it”, he said. “Maybe I could have said or done something; come up with a better plan… But I’m not that smart. This was the only plan that made sense when we were at the table. I don’t know how else to get Daniella to talk”.

“Whose idea was it?”, Nina sniveled. He frowned slightly.

“I don’t think…”.

“Was it Bishop?”. Angel’s silence confirmed her suspicion. “Shit… Of course, it was. And here I thought he was beginning to like me”.

Angel gently began moving her toes back and forth. It tickled a bit, but Nina didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her smile.

“He does… This is for you as well”, he said. Nina scoffed and shook her head. “We need to find out if the Vatos are coming for you, and maybe…”. He didn’t finish his sentence.

“Maybe, what?”, Nina said. He looked at her reluctantly.

“Maybe, if I keep her happy, she’ll lose interest in hurting you, and she won’t tell them who you are”.

Nina scoffed, and drew her lips back in a sneer.

“Maybe you should just take me back to Charming. Keep me out of sight”, she said.

“We have to make her think we don’t know we’ve been made, by hiding you away”, Angel said.

He scooted closer to her, and lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles.

“I hate this as much as you do. I don’t want you sleeping anywhere else than next to me… This…”. He pointed between them. “This is right. I don’t want no one else”.

Nina let him put his forehead against hers.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Angel…”, she said.

Angel pulled back and stared deep into her eyes; and seemed to make a decision.

“Te amo, cuervo… I know it’s still early, but I fucking do”. Nina gasped, and parted her lips to speak, but couldn’t find the words. “You don’t gotta say anything. But I needed you to know that”.

She wanted to reply, but couldn’t find the words to describe what she felt about him in that moment. She was hurt, and so very angry; but her heart also fluttered at his words.

In the end she sighed, and closed her eyes.

“When are you gonna…”. She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“Tonight…”, Angel said. “I just gotta make a call. Get her to the clubhouse”. Nina nodded.

“Do it… Just, please go into the kitchen. I don’t wanna hear it”. He nodded shortly, and left the room.

She went to pack her bag. The house wasn’t so big that she couldn’t hear Angel on the phone; and she clenched her fists as she listened to him speak.

“Hey, baby… Yeah, I know… Look, I was thinking you could come by the clubhouse tonight. We could catch up… Nah, that’s over… I’m telling her tonight…”. He laughed a little. The sound made Nina want to break something, but she stayed quiet. “You looked hot yesterday… Yes, really. Fuck, Dani; you got me all worked up, when you… Yeah, ok. See you then”.

He moved back through the living room, and Nina pretended to ignore him as he entered the bedroom. She had to wipe away a tear, when Angel handed her her toothbrush.

“I’m sorry”, he muttered. Without another word, he pressed his lips against hers. Knowing she would probably regret it, she didn’t reciprocate the kiss; she simply didn’t have it in her.

They drove back to the clubhouse, Nina holding on to him harder than necessary. Angel didn’t once complain.

---

As plans went, Nina knew that Bishop’s was probably the best for their situation. That didn’t change the fact that she felt the urge to slap him across his face when she saw him on the porch of the clubhouse. He looked grave, but didn’t speak.

Angel squeezed her hand after she got off his bike, but she avoided being pulled into his arms; just turned her back to him, and walked back to the trailer.

She picked the .38 out of her bag, and sat for a long time on the cot; just holding it in her hand and looking at it. She was drained emotionally and physically, and so very tired. After a while, she put it down on the table, put her inhaler next to it, and laid down; falling into an almost comatose sleep.

It was dark outside, when a gentle hand shook her awake. EZ was standing over her with a solemn expression.

“Bishop told me to… Daniella is arriving in a few”.

Nina nodded, and sat up. She rubbed her eyes, and blew out a deep breath.

“Do you know what we have to do?”, she asked. EZ nodded.

“Angel filled me in. He’s not happy about it… There’s a dent in the table at his seat in templo, from where he stuck his knife in it”. A smile ghosted his face. Nina shrugged, and got up to stand. “This is going to suck, but if you need to talk to someone…”, EZ said.

“I know… Thank you”. She tried, and failed, to smile at him; then left the trailer, to get dumped by the man who claimed her loved her.

Angel was seated by the bar, drinking a beer with Gilly. He met her eyes for a short moment, but looked down at his drink quickly. The rest of the charter was spread throughout the room, chatting to hangarounds and each other; and doing their best to avoid eye-contact with her. Only Bishop came up to her as she entered.

“Nina, I know this is…”.

“Don’t… talk to me right now”, Nina said, trying to keep her voice even. “I can’t promise I won’t attack you with a broken beer bottle if you do”.

“That fair”, Bishop said. “But when you’re ready, I’ll be here to let you slap me around… I’d prefer without the broken beer bottle”.

Nina nodded shortly, and went behind the bar. She picked up a rag, and began wiping down the counter.

A few moments later, Coco came through the back door, and nodded at Angel. Nina watched as his face fell, and he met her eyes. His were pained, probably reflecting her own; and it was all she could do to keep from throwing herself into his arms.

Nina blew out a deep breath, as the door opened, and Daniella walked in. Angel’s face immediately grew indifferent.

“Sorry, I got other plans, ma’”, he said to Nina. He turned around and looked at Daniella. “And here they are now. How are you doing, baby?”. He smirked, and went over to hug the blonde tightly. Daniella gave Nina a smug smile over Angel’s shoulder.

Nina couldn’t help but gasp at the sight.

“Angel…”, she croaked. Angel led Daniella over to the bar, and looked at Nina like she was a complete stranger.

“Yeah, we’re gonna need a… screwdriver, right?”, he said.

“With ice”, Daniella gloated. Angel chuckled, and brushed his lips against her ear.

“You’re bad…”.

Bile rose in Nina’s throat, and she couldn’t contain it anymore. She dropped the rag, and ran out the door; only making it down from the porch and over to a trashcan, before she threw up. Even when she had nothing left in her stomach, she gagged, and it felt like the muscles in her belly tried to push out her very intestines.

EZ came running out after her, and held back her hair. He rubbed circles on her back to try to get her to calm down.

“It’s ok… It’s just an act, Nina… You’ll be ok”, he whispered. The sound of laughter from inside made Nina retch one last time, before she fell to her knees. EZ crouched down next to her, and pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry…”.

Nina was heaving for breath, and was finding it hard to get any oxygen into her lungs.

“Inhaler… trailer”, she rasped.

EZ got her to her feet, and dragged her with him to the trailer. Once inside, she took a hit from her inhaler, and collapsed on the cot.

“Can I get you anything?”, EZ asked.

Nina looked up at him, and began sobbing. He sat down next to her, and pulled her into his arms; just holding her close and stroking her hair.

The last few months, years even – everything that had brought her up to this point – rushed through her head, as if what she’d just witnessed turned on a faucet of memories that had shaped her. It was overwhelming.

… Throwing up behind a dumpster, when a pair of white sneakers comes in to view. “Are you ok, darlin’?”…

… Picked up at school by the coolest guy in town, and speeding down bumpy roads; laughing and squealing in glee…

… Crying in a smelly cell, before being let out, and enveloped in Jackson’s arms. The scent of leather, cigarettes and mint chewing-gum. “You’re better than this, Nina"…

… Walking in to the clubhouse with his hands covering her eyes. “Surprise!”. Filip kissing her cheek, and handing her a lit cigarette. “Congrats on not being knocked up, luv’”. Tig nabbing the smoke from her lips. “She’s got asthma, you idiot. Get her a pack of condoms instead”…

… “You’re not my fucking dad, Jax!”. “No, but I am your brother. Dropping out is a shit idea”…

… “Hi. I’m Juice". He’s almost too cute to handle. Jackson grabs the collar of his cut, and starts dragging him away. “No". “But Jax…”. “Just no"…

… Holding Jackson tightly, as he crumbles in her arms. “He's so tiny, Nina… I don’t think he’s gonna make it”. She strokes his hair, and forces him to look at her. “Abel is your kid, Jax. If anyone can survive something like this, it's him”…

… Holding Thomas for the first time, hours after his birth. “Your daddy loves you. He’s gonna be out real soon”…

… “Thank you for being there for Tara, while I was inside”. “It’s what family does. You taught me that”…

… “This is how it has to be… I have to give my boys a shot at a life away from this”. “You can’t do this to them. To me!”. He kisses her forehead, and holds her close as she sobs, before pressing a leatherbound journal into her hands. “Give this to them when they’re old enough. I love you, little sister. So much. You gotta live for me; be happy”…

… His cut on the casket. No more tears to cry. Filip’s arm around her, unable to tell who is supporting who…

… Too much alcohol. Too many cigarettes. Too many makeout-sessions in dark corners of parties, before a strong hand belonging to Happy, Tig, Filip, or someone else pulls the guy away; and makes her get on the back of a bike. “We promised we’d take care of you, ‘luv”…

… Wendy’s excited voice over the phone. “Abel got an A on his book-report”…

… Stumbling out of the car, Gael at her heels. “You gotta follow through now”. “I don’t want to”. His ice-cold smile, as he presses her against the wall, and lets his hands wander up and down her body. It’s too much. She can’t push him away; he’s too strong. “What would Teller say, if he knew I was about to fuck his little sister?”. Her shaking hand as she manages to pull out the gun, and he takes a step back. “You’re not gonna shot me”. He rushes forward, and she pulls the trigger. It’s like a red cloud behind his head, and she gasps, dropping the gun on the ground…

… “Nina?”. Footsteps running down the alley. Filip looks down at her disheveled state, and then at the dead body on the ground; and his face drops. “She’s here”. “Shit, muffin. What happened?”. “Chibs, do you know who that is?”. “Not now, Hap’. Let’s just get her out of here. Get the gun”. One of them scoops her into their arms, she’s to rattled to notice who…

… A long ass ride south. A pair of dark and intense eyes. Butterflies in her stomach as he removes his hands from the handlebars. His warm and devouring kiss. “I want you to trust me”. Wanting and needing him. Him wanting and needing her. This is real. “Te amo, cuervo”…

Her breathing calmed, and she managed to pull out of EZ’s grasp.

“I need to be alone right now”, she croaked. The prospect nodded.

“Bishop said you need to stay on the lot”, he said.

“I know. I won’t go anywhere. I just need… quiet”.

EZ got up and went for the door.

“Breakfast tomorrow?”. She wiped her eyes, and nodded. He smiled sadly, and left the trailer; closing the door behind him.

Nina dug through her bag, and pulled out the journal. She hadn’t opened it since the night of her fight with Angel in the cage. Opening the page of her favorite and at the same time most hated paragraph, she sat back with her legs folded under her.

“I know you’ll face pain, suffering, hard choices; but you can’t let the weight of it choke the joy out of your life. No matter what, you have to find the things that love you. Run to them…

There’s an old saying. That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I don’t believe that. I think the things that try to kill you make you angry and sad. Strength comes from the good things… your family, your friends, the satisfaction of hard work. Those are the things that will keep you whole. Those are the things to hold on to when you’re broken…”.

He’d been in such pain, and at the same time so optimistic. He’d trusted her with these words; maybe even meant them as much for her, as he had for his boys. It felt like everything she’d done since the moment of his death, had been like a big fuck you to his legacy. She felt ashamed and heartbroken.

“I’m sorry, Jax…”, she whispered.

Laying back on the cot, clutching the journal in her arms, she made a decision. She had to follow through with this plan Bishop had laid out.

They were going to get the truth about Palo’s plans. Both her families would be safe. Angel loved her.

Those were the things she was going to hold on to.

---

[thearcana-junkie]

Hi there! May I request a headcanon for main 6 dating MC that is covered with scars? They have scars everywhere! Legs, arms, cheats, stomach, head, face and even b-! Funniest part is that they got them by purest accidents! (Crashed into the tree? Scar! Fell from the stairs? Scar! Cut themselves thinking about something while cuttings carrot? Scar!)

You most certainly can my friend!! I can sufficiently say I’ve exspirenced this first hand (Except instead of scars its bruises.) I shall also put my own spin on it by adding Clumsiness and a high pain tolerance to the list.A-Also OOPS muriels turned into a small fluff Drabble.

SLIGHT NSFW!!!

MC Who Gets Scars Easy

—Nadia—

Granted at first Nadia didn’t notice it much. After all you both hadn’t been dating long so she had no reason to look over your body that much.

However, when she and you DO eventually get to the part in the relationship where your doing the naked tango, its only when she’s worshipping your body that she takes note of where ever scar is as well as any other marks you may have. She intends to map out you whole body for her to remember.

Gradually she starts noticing more and more scars showing up when she’s worshipping your body like a lustful goddess she is.

At first she just figured she missed a few the first few times around. Maybe the new position let her see more of them on your arms or legs or what have you.

But she puts her foot down when she notices a big bruise on your thighs, she broke down and asked you. (Purely because she refused to let you keep seeing ANYONE who gave such a dark bruise.)

Of course the way you got it was pure accident. You were restocking shelves behind the counter while standing on a chair so you could reach the top shelf. You lost your balence for a moment and bumped your thigh in an awkward way on the counter.

Nadia didn’t believe you thought.

Not until she witnessed it happen before her.

That morning you and her got a little frisky before heading out for the day. That evening at dinner she saw you bump your hip into the corner of the table and even later that evening while she was making up for he teasing that morning she noticed the dark bruise on your hip.

Not gonna lie she thought of putting baby protector guards on the corners of things. She didn’t though in fear you’d be embarrassed.

Now when she whorships you and she finds a new scar or bruise she asks for a quick story, teasingly chastises you for being clumsy, and kisses the marks affectionately.

—Julian—

Julain’s.... Well he’s Julian. He’s a big lanky, all legs, rowdy man.

It goes without saying that he’s probably pretty clumsy as well, he just either doesn’t know it happened or doesn’t care. (Pretty sure he gets turned on when he accidentally gets hurt so it works.)

SO! What happens when you put two clumsy babies together? You have one falling over and the other one clumsily trying to catch them before falling on top of them.

The man likes to pick you up and carry you around as a dramatic show of affection (Or to carry you to the bedroom) all of which has gotten your head smacked into doorways before.

Bruises and scars is just something that happens in your relationship with him. Granted at first he’d go all mother hen if he accidentally dropped you and he’d feel horrible if you got a bruise or scar from it. But as time goes on with you two being together you’ve both learned to roll with it and make up stupid stories to tell the other about how you got certain bruises or scars knowing they probably already know how you got it.

He still mother hens over you and will apoligize profusely if he bangs your head on the headboard of the bed when he tries to be sexy and toss you, but you’ll both laugh it off.

Body. Worship. Is. Key! He will gently smother ever mark on your body with kisses.

—Asra—

Asra is the opposite of clumsy, in fact you’ve hardly ever seen him fall or get hurt by accident.

He usually tries to steer you away from something if he see’s you about to get hurt.

Already knows about you getting scars easily, in fact you did before you were resurrected.

He likes to sit down and have you tell him how you stupidly got the newest bruise or scar.

“Your just a magnet for accidents sweetheart... I guess I’ll have to be your doctor~”

Totally gets off on the fact he can play doctor for you. He’ll hype it of by saying you need imminent medical attention to a certain scar and just start kissing his way over your body.

He does try to make it so you don’t bump into TOO many things in the shop by cleaning the place and not having to much furniture in one place.

—Muriel—

Muriel didn’t notice at first, not until you came by with a new dark bruise on your arm with a scar in the middle of it. He didn’t say anything about it figuring maybe you just did something dangerous and got hurt— but you were here and fine so clearly you could handle yourself.

Then the next time you came over, the bruise-scar was almost healed but now you had scars all over your legs and knees. He had to admit that now he was getting worried. His mind quickly went to the worst. Someone was clearly hurting you.

You noticed that Muriel had been acting odd all day, to be honest you’d forgotten about the mark’s you’d gotten from falling off the horse while riding with Nadia. But something really stuck out when he kept making up reason for you to stay and help him, normally you didn’t stay all day with him.

“...Inanna needs a bath, do you wanna help?” “...Black berries are in season, do you wanna stay to pick some for Asra and your friends?” “....Do you want to stay for dinner...?”

You took a chance and Drew the line we he mumbled something about you being able to stay the night since it wa so late. Sure it could have been Muriel gradually having you stay for dinner to sneakily have you stay for the night by having you do chores with him all day, but that just didn’t seem like him. You asked him what was up.

“....The marks on your legs.... And the bruise on your arm... Are you okay?” Muriel cracked easily and told you what he was worried about, not before blabbering out quickly how he knew you were safe with Asra and that he wasn’t suspicious of that, he just wanted to make sure you were safe from everybody else.

The thought warmed your heart.

—Portia—

Portias like a cat. She may be short and stout but because she’s closer to the ground she doesn’t ever fall (Or so she says)

Portias probably the cause of 99% of your marks, not on purpose of course. She gets you both into impossiable situations.

“Hey lets go sledding!” Face first into a tree. “Let’s play ball with some of these kids!” Scraped knees. “I found this amazing romantic place through these bushes!” Thorn cuts all over.

Portia also gets small cuts and scrapes easily but she just calls it life and moves on.

“If by the end of the day you don’t have sticks in your hair, dirt on your face, and scrapes on your knees. Are you really living?”

At the end of the day she does of course bandage you up with kids bandaids and peroxide giving herself the title “Your little Nurse”

—Lucio—

Lucio likes you. Your personality, your goals, your quirks, and good, your bads, and obviously your body. He thinks your the most perfect thing in the whole world, its everything he can do not to touch you at the beginning of your relationship.

So of course Lucio noticed right off the bat that you got bruises and scars easily, it just made you look that much tougher.

He never mentioned it because in fact he himself has a very big scar he’s self conscious about.

Once you guys get into the make out part of your relationship, he’s deffinately more tentative as to where he puts his hands but you just take it for him being gentle. He is! He’s gentle because he wants to show you all the affection in the world but also because when he has you pressed into a closet and holding your leg up by your thigh so he can lean in closer to you he’s also trying to make sure he doesn’t touch the dark bruise on your thigh that he KNOWS must be sore.

When it does eventually escalate one evening in his bedroom you can deffinately tell somethings up with him. He’s his normal tentative self but every time he grips onto your thigh with his flesh hand so hard his nails leave little crescents he quietly curses himself for being to rough.

He also REFUSES to touch you with his metal clawed hand making it that much more awkward and hard for him to get positioned right.

It’s not until you say this one specific phrase that he knows you can see through him like glass and it causes him to just M E L T and give up on trying to keep from leaving any more marks.

“Lucio, Darling. I’m not glass.”

[judediangelo75]

Claws To Wings

Welcome one and all~

I did say I was going to be working on the Talith lore, so here’s another installment of that. So I did some tweaking to the storyline that Jam City had. So the first Valentine’s Day happened in 4th year instead of 5th (because you can unlock I think both Valentine’s Day TLSQs in the same year and it didn’t make too much sense to me). 

Plus there are future true events that happen in 6th year, if you’re already familiar with the Without You/The Man Behind the Necklace series than you already know. During that time, Judith and Talbott are together and have been for quite some time. But before that, they have been pining after each other for years. 

In my first story, “The Scent of Love to the Heart of a Loner Poet”, Talbott is coming to realizing how deep his feelings were for Judith (whose been crushing on him since 3rd year). Between then and now, those feelings have grown and they’ve been dancing around each other. 

There’s gonna be some details here that are definitely gonna be new (because it’s part of a super old character reference I created for her when I first started posting about HPHM content here).

Anyway, enough rambling. On with the story! Enjoy! 💛

MC friend: David Willows ( @that-scouse-wizard )

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

Talbott stood before his mirror, readjusting his tie for probably the fifth time.

He was trying to soothe his nerves. Why you may ask?

Because of the Ball.

The Valentine’s Day Ball.

In his right mind, he would avoid such social gatherings like the plague. But it’s fair to say he hasn’t been much of his right mind ever since he met her.

Judith Harris.

A Hufflepuff witch with pale gold eyes and a heart of gold to match.

He met her alongside her best friend, David Willows, early third year. When they came to him seeking help on becoming Animagi. He was quick to shut both of them down. While David glared and protested, Judith eased the bullheaded Hufflepuff and gave him a shy sad expression along with an apology for disturbing him.

At the time, he wasn’t sure why he suddenly changed his mind to help the two. But as he got older, he did realize it was because of her.

Something about Judith was familiar. And…

He didn’t like the sad look into those bright eyes…

After the two achieved their forms and helped him find his feather necklace, Judith and Talbott became closer. Even to the point where he followed her out to the cemetery and learned about her dead father, Kendrick, on the anniversary of his death.

That’s when he learned that she was a part of his past. 

That single day of his childhood where he made a friend. And developed a bond on a girl who he thought was unique with her long pretty locs and Caribbean accent.

With it being their 5th year, Talbott has gone on two dates with her. Their very first date out by the Black Lake and last year on Valentine’s Day when he learned that he has deeper feelings for her outside of a friendship.

He can still remember the sweet blush on her face after he shyly gave her a kiss on the cheek after gifting her with a heart statue.

Giving her a physical representation of his heart.

He fiddled with the ring she gifted him that day. He always remembers seeing it on a black chain around her neck on occasion. Judith was a person who cares about sentimental value so it’s very likely she gifted him something that has a level importance to her. But he was so stunned when she slipped it onto his finger, and that it fitted perfectly, while announcing that it was her Valentine’s Day gift to him that he forgot to ask…

Maybe today he will. After all, after the Ball, he had a special surprise for her.

Of course, there had to be some last minute changes when he realized a certain Slytherin witch ALSO planned on using the Library and two fairies also got into a squabble. He had at least a day to make the arrangement work and the “Most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts” actually might of done him a favor.

It would be nice to revisit where their tale began.

Talbott sighed, looking over his appearance once more before turning on his heel and leaving his room.

‘I hope she likes what I planned. She’s the only who deserves to see this side of me,’ he thought as he made his way to the Great Hall.

——————

“C’mon Little Tigress! We’re gonna be late,” David huffed, knocking insistently on his best mate’s door.

“I look ridiculous! I’m not going anymore!” Came the stubborn reply from the other side. David rolled his eyes at Judith’s behavior.

They’ve been busting their asses to save the Valentine’s Day Ball from a lonely Madam Pince by using a pining Mr. Filch. However, due to all the planning and finally asking out Merula and Talbott (after Judith finally got over her initial shyness), they didn’t have time to style an outfit for themselves. So they went to the resident Style Wizard for help. 

David’s pick was easy.

Judith however… not so much.

It was fair to say that Judith was more than disgruntled as she looked in the reflection for the suit Andre put together.

“You lost your damn mind Egwu if you think I’m going to the Ball like this. I look like a mom in her mid-30s looking to speak to your manager to file a complaint.”

David was on the floor in tears when he saw the offended look on the Ravenclaw wizard’s face. To be fair, the suit plus the pixie cut that Andre magically put together wasn’t doing his best mate any favors.

However, she didn’t step out to show the dress to them. She tried it on, switch back into her normal clothes, and left without much of another word.

Now David was curious to what could be wrong with Andre’s design for her to believe she looked “ridiculous”.

“C’mon Judith. What’s wrong with it? Surely it can’t be as bad as that suit Andre design,” David coaxed.

“…It’s… a lot…” David wasn’t sure what to make of that and they’re gonna be late if Judith kept this up.

“Judith, it’s either you open the door willingly to show me what you’re talking about or I break into your room to see for myself. We don’t have time for this right now,” David huffed. He didn’t want to late with for his dance with Merula.

Silence ensued and David was half considering going through with his threat when the tell tale sound of the door unlocking hit his eyes. David turned the knob and walked in.

He paused when he took in the sight of his little friend.

Judith was wearing a short black dress decorated with pink and red roses. A small slit can be found on her right leg. White 3-inch open toe heels were on her feet. Her usual ear accessories and earrings were present. A familiar dark red lipstick, dark eyeshadow, and black eyeliner made an appearance on her face. Her hair was out from its normal twists, curls and coils tumbling down her back and a bang swept over her right eye.

“David,” Judith mumbled awkwardly as her friend stared at her. That seemed to have broke the spell on the wizard as he shook his head to recollect himself.

“Well I’ll be damned… you look far from ridiculous, Judith. You look beautiful,” David said with a smile. Judith blushed and rubbed the back of her neck.

“You sure? It’s kind of revealing, don’t you think,” she asked. David cocked his head to the side, rescanning the girl from head to toe.

He could see her point, but it wasn’t as bad she probably thought it was.

The dress fitted her like glove, revealing the curves she was developing as a young woman. While the dress did show quite a bit of skin, it was still respectable.

“No, not really. To Bill and Orion, possibly but they’re big brothers who naturally want to keep every perverted wizard away from you. Hell, I may end up breaking someone’s teeth in if they think they can disrespect you like that. But you look beautiful Little Tigress, don’t think otherwise. Talbott would definitely agree with me,” David stated, watching his fellow Hufflepuff blushed at the name of the boy she’s been crushing on since third year.

David has been watching the two dance around each other since Judith admitted that she fancied the Ravenclaw wizard in the Charms classroom when practicing the Memory Charm. He was waiting for the two to finally get together already.

“If you’re done worrying, we still have a Ball to get to,” David said with a raised brow.

“But-EEP!” David already saw the protest in her eyes was quick to walk across the room and throw Judith over his shoulder. He only resorted to such measures when she was be difficult, and she was definitely being difficult.

“C’mon Little Tigress, your bird boy is waiting for you,” he said as he made his way out of her room. Judith spluttered over her words, mainly out of embarrassment at both what he said and the unnecessary position David has put her in.

“DAVID! Put me down, you brute! I’m in a dress for Merlin’s sake,” she protested loudly, wriggling in David’s unforgiving grip.

‘Damn demon lineage...’ she thought with a grimace.

“I'm well aware, we can clean you up when we're there with a spell, I not missing my chance to dance with Merula,” David said breezily. Judith gave up, allowing herself to be carried off like a sack of potatoes.

“Bloody sap... stupid dance,” she grumbled under her breath. David chuckled at her disgruntled mood.

“You’ll thank me for it by the end of the night, trust me,” he said. Judith pouted.

‘Assuming I don’t hide in a dark corner somewhere first...’

“Do that and I'm casting Lumos Maxima so there's nowhere for you to hide,” David said suddenly, nearly scaring the girl half to death. Judith mentally slapped her forehead out of exasperation. 

She should know better not to think aloud around David, seeing how they’re both Legilmens.

Damn it...

“Fine,” she huffed. Luckily for her, they finally arrived near the entrance of the Great Hall. David finally set her down, and casting a spell that made her look presentable again.

David offered his arm to her.

“Shall we, Little Tigress?” Judith felt her cheeks heating up at the thought of the person waiting on her inside the Great Hall before letting out a sigh. She took her best mate’s arm.

“I guess we shall...”

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

Talbott was chatting alongside with Merula, twirling a red rose between his hands when he heard a whistle. Both turned to make out the figures of their dates not too far from them.

David separated himself from his fellow Hufflepuff to walk up to the two. David gave Talbott a smirk and nodded over in Judith’s direction before stealing Merula away.

Talbott only raised a brow at the Hufflepuff wizard’s behavior before walking up to his date for the night. As he stood in front of her, any words that he was going to say to her, died at the tip of his tongue.

Talbott stared at his date, heart racing with a blush on the high points of his cheekbones as he looked at her from her curls to her high heeled shoes. The silence was starting to unnerve the Hufflepuff witch as her long time love interest stared at her without saying anything.

“Y-you clean up quite nicely, Talbott,” she blurted. She mentally smack herself immediately afterwards.

‘When did I become this awkward, goodness…’

However, seem to have done the trick and snapped Talbott back to reality.

“S-sorry, little bird. I-I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I-It’s just that…” Talbott shook his head, trying to focus.

“It’s just that,” Judith echoed slowly, biting her bottom lip. She was worried that David might’ve been wrong and she looked like a fool in front of the boy she had feelings for.

Talbott stepped closer to her, tilting her head up by her chin so she could look at him. He offered a shy smile.

“You look beautiful, Judith. More lovely and temperate than a summer’s day,” He said softly, placing the rose he had behind her left ear. Judith blushed as she felt her heart race at his barely there touch.

“I-I… thank you, Talbott…” The Ravenclaw wizard smiled at the shy response. Behind them the instruments started seemed to be warming up to play the first song.

“May I have this dance,” Talbott asked, mock bowing to the girl. Judith giggled behind a red manicured hand.

“You may…” Taking her hand Talbott led Judith close to the center of the dance floor, with David and Merula standing not too far from them. The fairies that were lighting up the room swirled around the students, leaving them in awe at the magical moment. In the midst of this, David gave his friend a wink, who in turned returned it with an unimpressed glare. Judith returned her attention back to her date once she felt him take one of her hands

“I’m not usually one who likes public displays, but… I quite like this one… almost as much as I like you,” Talbott quietly admitted as he looked into pale gold eyes.

‘Is it possibly to pass out from blushing so much? Because I think I’m close…’ Judith thought as she ducked her head with a smile. Talbott was being so sweet and kind to her, she wanted to be wrapped up in his arms and dance the night away.

Judith looked back up at him with a teasing grin.

“I hope you like dancing too, because it’s our time to shine…”

————————

Talbott was smiling at the laughing girl in his arms as he spun her around. The two have been in their own little bubble ever since the dance started.

Their shy exteriors melted away leaving behind something much warmer and intimate. Anyone with eyes can see that they were clearly smitten with each other. Which were plenty watching them on occasion.

Red eyes darted around the Great Hall, finding the person he was looking for. He gave the Headmaster a subtle nod which he returned with a knowing smile. Talbott stepped back from Judith to clear his throat with a smile.

“All this dancing is making me thirsty, I think I’m gonna get a refreshment,” he said. Judith smiled at him, making his heart stutter in a lovestruck sigh.

“A refreshment sounds great, actually! I’ll go with you-” 

“N-no need! I-I’ll get one for you! Just...  stay right there,” Talbott stuttered before taking off. Judith’s brows furrowed in confused as she watch Talbott disappear in the darkness.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she saw the cheery smile of David.

“Cheers, Little Tigress! I see that I was right about you enjoying yourself,” he said with a grin. Judith glared and punched his arm.

“Cheeky bastard,” she growled. David laughed good naturedly while rubbing his arm.

“I’m surprised you’re not with Synde. Seeing how eager you were to get here and be with her,” she retorted. David shrugged.

“Mer said she going to get refreshments for the both of us. She actually suggest I go find you to see how your night was so far,” David replied. Gold eyes narrow out of suspicion.

“That’s a little odd. Talbott just let to do the same thing...”

“Was it? I found it very typical  of Miss Synde and Mr. Winger,” a third voice said. David and Judith turned to see the amused face of their Headmaster.

The pair chatted with Professor Dumbledore for a while when Judith noticed something was amiss.

“It’s bit awhile since Merula and Talbott went to get refreshments. Surely it can’t take that long,” Judith pondered out loud. Dumbledore smiled.

“Clever eye, Miss Harris. That’s because they’re no longer here and they personally asked me to distract you,” he chuckled. David and Judith glanced at each other before looking back up at Dumbledore.

“Professor,” David asked warily. Dumbledore chuckled.

“Mr. Willows, you can head to the library. Miss Harris... while Mr. Winger wasn’t explicit with the location for you to go to, he did say ‘Remember our first date’ as a clue. Enjoy the rest of your storybook fairytale night, you two. You deserve it,” Professor Dumbledore informed the pair with a knowing smile. 

Judith blushed walking out of the Great Hall with David. The two said their goodbyes as Judith made her way outside. Transforming into her Black Sparrowhawk, she couldn’t help but wonder what Talbott had planned at the Black Lake...

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

Judith landed on the shore and transformed back, only to be surprised to find who was waiting for her.

“Lily,” she asked as the little fairy flew around her, buzzing out of excitement. 

What was her little friend doing all the way out here?

The magical creature took ahold of her hand, tugging her to the Boat house. 

“Okay, okay, I’m coming. Just slow down, I am wearing heels after all,” she laughed gently. Judith followed the excited fairy inside only to freeze at the door way.

Standing inside was Talbott. The place looked to have been cleaned out. Numerous fairies including her own lit up the Boathouse in a soft glow. Rose petals scattered the floor, along with some candles. A large heart made up of different colored roses was hung up behind the Ravenclaw wizard. A small table with some chairs of some of the food and drinks form the Ball sat in a corner. Somewhere in the background, there was soft music playing as well.

Talbott walked up to the stunned Hufflepuff witch and took her hand.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, little bird,” he spoke softly. Judith shook her head out of disbelief. 

“W-what is all this, Talbott,” she asked. The young man bit his lip.

“I-I... I may have been planning this while I was at the Owlery... I wanted to surprise you. While I did originally plan to do this in the Library, someone else had the same idea... So I’d figured the Black Lake was the next best thing. I did have some help putting this together,” Talbott admitted.

Lily buzzed, as if she was giggling at the two. Judith rose a brow at her Fairy’s cheeky behavior before chuckling.

“I just thought that... after everything you’ve done for Hogwarts, for me, you deserved a storybook romance,” Talbott said. Judith rescanned the room before offering a smile.

“I had no idea that you could be such a romantic, Talbott. But clearly you are.” Talbott blushed, scratching the back of his neck.

“I guess all that poetry paid off...”

--------

The pair sat and ate, chatting in between. Talbott giving going as far to feed Judith a bit of a cupcake. He ended blushing when he felt her lips touch his fingers tips as she let out a pleased moan. 

Currently they were slow dancing in the middle of the room, listening to the music softly playing in the background.

“This is really amazing, Talbott,” Judith spoke up, daring to look up at red eyes that reminded her of rubies.

“You’re the amazing one, Judith. I was simply following my heart,” Talbott replied, squeezing her closer. That foreign yet familiar scent that clung onto the Hufflepuff filled his nose.

“O-Oh stop it. I am not,” Judith insisted with a nervous laugh. Having Talbott so close to her was causing her heart to beat faster than normal. Talbott stopped dancing in favor of holding her hands. His gaze was unwavering.

“I mean it, little bird. You made this Valentine’s Day  perfect for everyone, even Flich and Pince... And especially for me,” Talbott confessed. Pearly whites flashed at him.

“All I wanted was a magical Valentine’s Day with my date,” Judith started, glancing down for a quick moment to gather herself before looking back up at Talbott through her lashes.

“...And... And I’m so happy that date is you...” And she was. Truly. 

Talbott was the picture perfect gentleman. And the fact he went through great lengths to make Valentine’s Day memorable for her reminded her of happier times from her childhood. Except now it was with someone who likes her for her. 

She hasn’t felt this special in years...

Talbott urged his heart to calm down as he reached for his wand.

“I feel the same way, Judith. And I... made something for you...” Stepping back, Talbott casted a spell, causing a book to appear. Judith blinked out of surprise at the book that hovered between them. Carefully reaching for it, she opened it to a random page somewhere in the beginning.

“...The loner poet listened to the Howler professed the words he wasn’t aware that lived in his heart. Speaking of a deep longing for a girl with otherworldly pale gold eyes. To never leave him because when he looks into her unique irises, he can see future. A future where he would wake up to them every morning. A future where he would look at child with the same eyes as her. A future that would lead to forever together.

He felt his heart stall in his chest, itching to cast a spell to light the Howler ablaze to prevent its words being heard by unwanted ears. It was then he smelled her before he heard her.

A hint of sea breeze that made him feel like he was standing so close the never-ending ocean. Chocolate that reminded him of her skin tone. A variety of fainter sweet scents, most he couldn’t name but the one he could pick out was honey.

Her melodious low voice sung to his eardrums:

“Hey, what did your Valentine Howler say?” He swiftly turned to find pale gold eyes curiously looking up at him. He could feel his heart speed up when he connected the dots.

It was her.

She was the one his heart longed for.

Everything that has transpired that day and this revelation became too much for the loner poet to take. He was quick to deny that his Howler hasn’t said anything, using the opportunity their teacher has created to leave the classroom. 

He needed time. Time to think of what to do next...”

Judith was so engrossed in words written on the page that she didn’t realize that Talbott was now standing behind her.

“It’s not finished, more so of a... work in progress for an ongoing story...” Judith jumped a little when she felt his breath ghost over her visible ear.

“This is about you,” she whispered, releasing the book to float again. She turned to find Talbott staring down at her with half lid eyes.

“It’s about you and me, little bird,” he whispered, cupping one of her cheeks. Judith closed her eyes, leaning into his warm touch. 

There was a shift in the air and she nervous but secretly excited to where this could lead...

Talbott withdrew for a moment forcing Judith to open her eyes again. She notice a heart shaped key necklace in his hand.

“What’s that,” she asked quietly.

“This is the key that unlocks the book. I made it be this way so you can wear it like a necklace. So our story would always be with you,” Talbott answered, carefully placing the it around her neck. A full body shiver raked Judith’s body when she felt the tips of his finger ghost over the sensitive skin.

“I... I never had someone put this much effort for me. To bare your feelings like this, Talbott... I... I don’t know what to say,” Judith confessed quietly. She could barely hear her own voice over the roar of blood rushing to her face combined with the sound of her heartbeat pounding against her eardrums.

Talbott caressed her cheek again.

“I don’t expect an answer from you right away little bird. I’m more than happy to do this for you. You’re the only one who deserves to see this side of me...” Talbott leaned closer aiming to place a kiss on her cheek. Much like he did last year.

What Judith did next surprised both of them. 

Turning her head ever so slightly, she caught Talbott’s lips with her own. This stunned the pair, both remaining motionlessly for a few moments. Just as the Ravenclaw wizard was about to pull back, Judith held him there by his tie, pressing against him. Her painted lips moved against his unresponsive ones slowly, testing the waters and his resolve.

After a moment of deliberation, Talbott gave in and returned the unexpected kiss. With one hand cupping her face, its twin finding refuge on her lower back, pushing her closer still. Judith released his tie in favor of wrapping her arms around his neck, melting in his embrace. Both of them were placed under a cloudy haze as their lips continued to move against one another.

The pair broke apart for air, foreheads resting against one another. Talbott silently licked his lips, picking up the taste of vanilla.

‘She tastes just as sweet as she looks. Good Gods help me...’ came the helpless thought as he found himself at the end of Judith’s sultry stare. 

‘What are you doing to me, Talbott? Why do I feel this way towards you...’

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Talbott,” Judith whispered, placing a soft kiss against the corner of his lips. Talbott shivered at the sound of her voice, which has dipped down an octave. Her accent came out, loud and clear. His hands, which has migrated to her waist, squeezed down on the curve for a few seconds.

He could listen to her speak to him like this for hours...

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Judith... Thank you for being my valentine...” Judith let out soft chuckle, pulling him in for another kiss.

In the midst of this an involuntary thought passed through her mind. One which would shatter the Hufflepuff witch later on.

‘I love you, Talbott...’

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

Some time has passed since the Valentine’s Day Ball. Judith more or less went back to her life as per usual. 

With occasional outing with Talbott when classes and working for Rakepick became too much for her.

It was late at night and she was at the shore of the Black Lake, practicing her spellwork. She always wanted to remain sharp on her skills and it was a way for her to prepare for the upcoming O.W.L.S., which was approaching fast.

She decided to practice the Patronus Charm, seeing how she hasn’t casted it in awhile.

“Expecto Patronum!”

What came out of the tip of her wand shocked her.

Instead of her usual Siberian Tiger was a-

“G-Golden E-Eagle?!” Her eyes watched as the avian predator flew above her before disappearing. 

She shocked her head, not believing what she just saw.

Over and over again, she casted the spell, waiting to see her beloved tiger. Only to watch the animal that came out soar its wings above her.

Her legs gave out from beneath her. 

“No, no, no! How can this be happening?! Patronuses don’t change,” she panicked. A vague memory came resurfaced in her mind.

“Though I have heard of Patronuses changing forms after falling in love...” Judith’s eyes widen.

That voice belonged to Tonks when they were dealing with the Dementor threat from last year.

Another memory surfaced, however, much older...

“Gift this ring to the one your heart desires above all others. It will only fit and accept that one person, anyone else, it’ll reject and return to you...” Tears ran down her cheeks. When she realized what memory it was.

“Gran-Gran...” came the broken whisper. Her grandmother gifted her a magical blue and silver ring before she died. The same ring she gave to Talbott just a year prior. She didn’t remember her dear grandmother’s words when she gave it to him. 

Now that she thought about it, the ring never returned to her. And it was on Talbott’s left ring finger the night of the Ball.

Even as she kissed him, those three words that haunted her since childhood has crossed her flowery dazed mind.

She couldn’t do anything but face the truth. To speak the words that haunted her in form of a Boggart from third year.

“I love Talbott Winger...”

And she was secretly terrified.

Because she knew if he were to confess the same, she was done for.

Her heart would be his. 

And risk breaking if he were to ever leave...

[cafedanslanuit]

Day 3 of Mystic Messenger Week 2020 @mysmeweek2020​: Firsts.

pairing; Zen x MC

summary; “The first time she threatened to leave me, I felt like I was dying.”

.❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 .❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 .❀。• *₊°。 ❀°。 .❀。• *₊°。

The first time she threatened to leave me, I felt like I was dying.

I came home from rehearsal, exhaustion mixed with a bad headache that was begging for me to drown it with one of the cans of beers that were waiting for me in the fridge. But as soon as I opened the door, I was received by the image on my girlfriend, eyes red and puffy, sitting on the couch with a suitcase in front of her. She turned her head to me as soon as I entered the room and sniffled, cleaning her face with the sleeve of her sweater.

“Zen, I’m leaving,” she said, her voice hoarse but determined. I felt a sting in my forehead, the pain becoming worse with her words.

“Leaving?”

“I can’t stay with you anymore,” she explained, looking down at her hands. “I’m gonna be at Jaehee’s”

“What do you mean you can’t stay?” Her words and not making any sense. I felt as if she were talking in any other language but our own. Hadn’t she been the one to prepare breakfast that same morning?

“You’ve become obsessed with work, Hyun. I know it’s important to you, but these past few months I’ve been trying endlessly to help you lose stress and relax, but you don’t even want to spare a few minutes on me,” she mumbled with a tint of sadness in her voice. “And I know I’m not your top priority, hell, I shouldn’t be but… I should still be a priority. If I’m not… then you need to figure out by yourself if you still want to be with me,” she shrugged.

“You’re breaking up with me?” I asked, incredulous.

She set her eyes on mine for a second before looking down at her shoes.

“I just need some time away” she muttered, her hands turning into fists. I huffed, annoyed, and walked to the kitchen, passing by her side. I took a can of beer from the fridge and then leaned on the frame that separated the living room for the kitchen. The sound of the can as I opened it filled the silence between us both.

“Time to think” I repeated in a low voice and then scoffed. MC let out a tired sighed and grabbed her suitcase, heading towards the door. The pain in my head turned into a barely manageable hell, now accompanied by my heart clenching at the image of her walking away. Had I really messed up so badly she couldn’t stay anymore? I tried to go over the many times she said she had tried to reach out to me, and they slowly came to my mind. Fuck. I had been using breakfast as an example of normality when I suddenly realized I hadn’t even sat with her to eat, but rather grabbed an apple and went straight to work, wanting to practice my lines for the role I had been given a couple of months ago. Raw desperation formed a lump on my throat, and I took another sip of the beer to feel I could breathe.

"Bet you can't leave me"

MC turned on her heel almost immediately, her expression filled with confusion and heavy offence. I put the beer on the shelf by the door and took a deep breath.

“I bet you can’t leave me” I repeated, standing my ground.

“What are you saying?” she asked in a whisper.

"I bet I can make you fall in love with me once more"

MC sighed and put a strand of her hair behind her ear. "That had nothing to do with this, Hyun, I'm..."

“Just… listen, okay? I know I fucked up. I won’t even try to deny it. This role…”

“It was more important than us” she countered.

“No. But it’s about a guy who is abused by his parents, so then escapes home. Lives on the streets, starts selling drugs and basically, his whole life goes down the drain just for him to have a final soliloquy about how fucked up the world is and finish himself off. So I tried to get inside his mind to understand his character better, only to realize I used to be that guy. And that his life was the life I should have had”

“Hyun, what...?”

“That maybe, people are just lying when they talk about me having talent,” I interrupted her. “That maybe my place was back at the motorcycle gang. That maybe I don’t deserve this life, that maybe I don’t even deserve you”

MC’s expression softened, but the worry on her eyes only made me revisit more episodes of my past life I had worked for years to bury in the back on my mind. I shook my head, a sharp pang on my right temple making me wince.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. I was thankful she didn’t approach me. Somehow, she knew that physical space between us was the only thing letting me open up about this.

“Because I was afraid it was true. I had this… voice, like a persistent thought, that if you realized this too, you would also realize I didn’t belong by your side,” I confessed. She let out a long sigh and passed her hand over her hair, messing up her bangs.

“We’ve been together for three years now, Hyun. You know you can talk to me about anything. You used to do that, we would always talk about these things that scared us”

“I guess this one really fucked me up.” I bit my lip, a loud ringing tone filling my ears. “Babe,” I breathed out, the smell of alcohol on my own breath making me sick to my stomach. “Trust me on this. Just… stay here. We don’t even have to be a couple anymore if you don’t want to. But trust me when I say I can make you fall in love with me once more. I won’t be your boyfriend if you don’t want me to. For as long as you want. Right now, I just want to be someone who really, really wants you to trust him again”

“Hyun, I trust you and I love you, that’s not the issue here,” she shook her head.

“I know the role it’s not an excuse. It’s a cheap move and I won’t be that guy. I take responsibility for how I acted. I should have… I should have been braver and talked this with you before. But... I still think you should stay. Give me a chance to fix this, babe,” I pleaded. “I know I can do it”.

MC crossed her arms in front of her chest. How I hated I had put that doubtful expression on her face after she had chosen me from the start. When she first had come to my house when I injured myself; her smile and the care in her actions made my heart explode in such a little time. And I had repaid her with doubt and uncertainty.

“Why would you want me to stay here if I decide we won’t be together for a while?” she asked, a small shrug on her shoulders. I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.

“Because I'm enamoured with anything and everything you do, MC,” I answered, a small still playing on my lips. “I've been in the wrong, yes, but God... I've never loved anyone the way I love you. And I know I’ve done a terrible job these last few months to show you this, but it is true. I think I love you even more than I love myself.”

“Don't love anyone more than you,” she muttered. There was a ghost of a smile on her lips that gave me hope. I took the remaining steps that were keeping me away from her.

“I know,” I said, tilting my head to the side. “But I think you leaving tonight is a lose-lose situation”

MC rolled her eyes and shook her head softly, her smile now a little wider. When I stopped in front of her, she set her eyes back on me and I could tell how much she was weighing in her options in her mind. I put my hand on her cheek and she instantly leaned on it, making me smile. How I loved the fact our bodies responded to one another even if our minds were a mess. I bent down slightly, reaching her face, my eyes never leaving hers.

"Bet you can't leave me" I whispered against her lips, smelling a trace of mint on the breath emanating from her parted lips. "Bet you still love me" I dared her.

MC pressed her lips against mine with a whimper, and circled her arms around my neck, pulling my body closer to hers. I immediately set my hands on the small of her back, the inviting warmth of her body making me know that was the home I never wanted to leave. MC’s lips moved against mine with an uncharacteristic force, as if she were driven by something she couldn’t control.

There was no way I was letting her go. I couldn’t give up on that woman. I kissed her deeply, my heart fluttering at the soft moan that left her lips as I licked her bottom lip. One of her hands sank into my hair, fingers slightly pulling on it as she tried to bring me even closer. How I wished there was a way I could melt my body in hers, that kiss only reassuring my thoughts that when two souls loved each other, their bodies always seemed to get on their way.

She finally pulled away, panting for air. Her cheeks were burning, making her look even more beautiful than she already was. She finally set her heels on the floor and took her arms down, but her right hand quickly grabbed mine, holding it unusually tight. MC bit her lower lip and took a deep breath, her eyebrows furrowed in determination.

“I’m pregnant”

The pain on my head quickly disappeared as I felt like a bucket of ice water was poured over me. My heart beat up even faster than before, my gaze going back and forth between her apparently lean stomach and her big eyes. All the noise around me stopped, along with my surroundings. There was only her, only MC standing in front of me, her body still trying to regulate her breathing. Before I could notice, a tear fell from my eyes, followed by a second and a third.

My legs gave up as I sank on my knees, my eyes set on my girlfriend’s clothed stomach. Experimentally, I touched it with two of my fingers, afraid it was too good to be true and would be over before I fully understood the miracle in front of my eyes.

“It’s been six weeks, you won’t feel a thing,” she explained. “It still doesn’t show and--”

Her words were cut off as I hugged her waist, burying my face on her stomach. I felt my whole body shaking uncontrollably, an almost gravitational pull from her body keeping me close to our creation now growing inside of her.

“Please don’t leave. Please don’t take them away for me, please,” I begged, grabbing fistfuls of her sweater as a lame attempt to stop her.

“Hyun, no,” her relieved chuckle rang on my ears like a church choir, her smile resembling the one of an angel as I looked up at her. “I’m not leaving. I wanted to, at least for a while so you could come back to your senses but… I honestly wouldn’t have kissed you if I had decided to leave today. If I hadn’t thought you truly realized where you went wrong,” she explained, threading her fingers on the loose strands of my hair.

“I’ll be better. For both of you. I swear I’ll be the best man you’ve ever met,” I promised, feeling the tears forming in my eyes again.

“I know you will, Hyun. I know you can do anything when you set your mind to it. After all, that’s why I chose you” she grinned, a soft laugh escaping her lips.

The first time she threatened to leave me, I felt I was born again.

It was also the last time she ever talked about walking away.

[breanime]

“It’s okay, you can cry” and “it’s alright, I’ve got you” dialogue for Johnny Coco Cruz please you’re wonderful and perfect

TW: marital/domestic physical abuse, cops, violence, racial slur (this thing kind of took a turn...) 

Read with caution!

Chucky was waiting for Coco when he pulled up to the clubhouse. Coco knew the strange, wooden-handed man was waiting for him, because Chucky was doing that thing where he walked in a line with his hands clutched to his chest.

That was his ‘about to tell Johnny Coco Cruz some bad news’ walk.

“Your pet seems agitated,” Angel commented, getting off of his bike and putting his helmet on the handlebars, “You run out of his Kibbles ‘N Bits?”

“Hey, Chucky,” Coco said, approaching him with caution and ignoring Angel, “What’s going on, man? Everything okay?”

“There has been an unfortunate and unforeseen incident that you will find most unpleasant…” Chucky began.

“Jesus Christ,” Gilly grumbled, “speak English, man.”

“Y/N is here,” Chucky amended, “and she’s been… well…” He wrung his hands, the wood clicking together. “She’s waiting for you in the office.”

Coco patted Chucky on the shoulder, walking past him and heading towards the office. Things between the two of you were… strained, to say the least. Years ago, Coco had thought that the two of you would be together forever. He wasn’t quite sure if he believed in soulmates, but he knew for damn sure that he believed in you. You had been the only person he told about Letty before he want in, and you’d been the only one outside of the MC and his Mom who visited him in prison—and to be fair, his mother only visited to curse him out and demand money. Coco had been in love with you, but he’d been afraid of you, too. Afraid to be vulnerable, afraid that he’d never be enough for you, afraid that you deserved better than him… So when he got out, he ended things. It had been a difficult breakup, but you’d both agreed to stay friends, and as the years went by, Coco had convinced himself that he’d made the right choice. You married a local cop last year, and distanced yourself from Coco and the club. He was… happy for you. Glad that you had someone to provide for you and someone to love you since he couldn’t. Which was why he was surprised and confused to hear that you wanted to see him.

Coco knocked on the door to the office before opening it. “Y/N?” He asked, shutting it behind him. “You in here?” He heard a shuffling noise and watched as you came around the counter. His heart stopped.

You had a black eye and a cut lip. Your arms were wrapped around yourself, and Coco wondered if there were more bruises hidden under your clothes. “Hey.”

He ran over to you, both hands going to your face, hating that this was the first time he’d touched you in years. “Who did this to you?” He asked, voice low. His hands were shaking.

You took a breath. “My husband,” you answered, “He… I…” You breathed in and out, trying to steady yourself. “Can we sit?”

Coco pulled over a chair for you, and he knelt in front of you, settled between your knees with one hand on your knee and the other on your swollen cheek. Your leg—the one Coco wasn’t touching—was bouncing like crazy. “It’s alright,” he said, sounding much calmer than he felt, “I’ve got you. Tell me what happened, ruca.” 

“He found the divorce papers I’ve been hiding,” you said, eyes hollow, “I’ve been trying to file for divorce in secret for the past five months. I’ve had to drive out of town to meet with a lawyer,” you looked up at Coco then, “he knows everyone here, there’s no one… I can’t…” You closed your eyes, and Coco knew you were trying to keep yourself from crying. You used to do that when you were upset back in the day. “…He’s never hit me before,” you explained, “He’s thrown things, pushed me around a little, but this is…” You reached out and grabbed Coco’s hand—you’d always been a tactile person, needing to touch and feel if you were emotional. He squeezed your hand, letting you know that he was there, he was with you. “I’m so afraid, Coco, all the time. I never know what’s going to set him off or what kind of mood he’s going to be in, and… I can’t live like this.”

“I understand,” he nodded, “You deserve better.”

“When he saw the papers, he just went crazy…” You blinked rapidly, biting at your fat lip. “I thought he was going to kill me. He said…” Your leg was bouncing again. “He said he was going to kill me. He said I belonged to him, and that no one else would ever want me. He said he knew every judge in the county and that I’d never get away from him. I—”

“—Hey,” Coco leaned forward, his dark eyes staring into your wet ones, “None of that’s true. Okay? He’s never gonna hurt you again, I promise.” Coco watched you nod, your eyes so sad. You were holding back, he could tell. “It’s okay, you can cry,” he encouraged softly, “You’re safe with me.”

That was all he needed to say. You broke down, and Coco stood up and wrapped his arms around you, letting you cry into his chest. As he held you, he ran his hand up and down your back, letting you know that he was with you. He’d always he with you. And as you sobbed, shaking in his grasp, Coco felt his heart break, and then reform in fire. Cop or no cop—he was dead. Coco would make sure that he’d never hurt you or any other person again, because he was going to put him in the dirt—permanently.

Later, Coco tucked you into his bed, kissing you on the forehead. You were exhausted, and he pressed the ice pack to your face, covering your closed eye. “Get some rest,” he said, straightening up and looking down at you, “Chucky is right outside if you need anything.”

“Where are you going?” You asked. Coco didn’t answer. “Coco…”

“He’s not getting away with this,” Coco said back, shaking his head, “I can’t just walk away from this—from you.” He looked away, hating himself in that moment. “I never should have walked away in the first place.”

“Coco,” you sat up, holding the ice pack to your eye, “We both agreed on that; it wasn’t just you.”

“I was afraid,” he admitted, the shame clear in his voice, “And I pushed you away when I should have…” He shook his head. “I was a fucking coward. But this…” He reached out and put a hand on your chin, lifting your face so that he could see you better. “…This never should have happened. You’re safe now,” he promised, “The MC isn’t gonna let anything happen to you, but your husband? He has to pay.”

“He’s a cop, Coco,” you reminded him, “He has connections and allies and—”

“None of that shit is gonna protect him from me,” Coco said, kissing your forehead again, “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

Coco sat on his bike, shrouded in darkness, across the street from your house. He watched, cigarette in his mouth and sniper eyes unblinking, as your husband pulled into the garage in his squad car—an obvious power move. He watched him go in the house, watched lights get turned on, and Coco wondered if he was looking for you, or if he even cared. His phone rang, and he answered it without looking. “Bueno?”

“Franky said he requested the next week off,” EZ reported, “Apparently he’s going on vacation. Convenient, right?”

“Good work, Prospect,” Coco stood up, one hand on his bike, “Meet me here with the kit in an hour.”

“The kit?”

“Shovel, bleach, ropes, garbage bags—c’mon man, the kit,” Coco listed off, “Have I taught you nothing?”

“Right, right,” he heard shuffling on the other end, “Okay, I’ll be there in an hour.”

Coco hung up, pocketing his phone, and walked to the front door. He didn’t want to catch him off guard—he wanted him to see his face, wanted him to know that Johnny Cruz had his life in his hands. He knocked hard, fist banging on the door, and he heard cursing on the other side of the door.

Your husband—the bastard—flung the door open. His eyes widened for a second before he smirked. “Coco Cruz,” he chuckled, “I should’ve known. Did she call you? Have you spirit her away to one of your club’s little whorehouses so she could hide?” He laughed. “She should know by now there’s no way she can hide from me.”

Coco punched him.

He fell back, knocking over a lamp and a side table on his way down.

Coco stepped into the house, kicking the door shut behind him. He grabbed him by the collar and punched him over and over and over again, the image of your blackened eye and tears fresh in his mind. Your husband, the pussy, clawed at his face, but Coco didn’t let up. “You like hitting women, eh?” He asked, punching the other man straight in the nose. He felt the bone shift under his fist. “You like hurting her? Like making her feel scared and alone?” Coco plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and pressed the burning end to the man’s eye, making him howl in pain. “You feel like a fuckin’ man, pig? You feel powerful?”

The cop kicked Coco off of him, and Coco was pushed on his ass. Coco got up quickly, whipping out his gun and pointing it down at the weak, bleeding man cowering before him.

“I’m a cop!” He shouted, voice coming out gurgled from all the blood in his mouth. “You won’t get away with this, the entire force will be on your ass—they’re gonna crush your little bitch club! And she’s gonna come back to me! She’s mine!”

“Nah man,” Coco replied, “She ain’t coming back.” He cocked the gun. “And neither are you. Cops get killed all the time, guey. And you’re takin’ a vacation, it’ll be weeks before anyone knows you’re even gone.”

Coco watched his eyes go wide as he realized the severity of the situation. “You—I can just go away,” he stammered, “I can just pack a bag and leave.”

“Yeah?” Coco played along. “And what about Y/N? You gonna leave her alone?”

He nodded. “If that’s what she wants—”

“—You fucking busted her lip and gave her a black eye, no shit that’s what she wants,” Coco shot back, “She wants a divorce and for you to leave her alone.”

“I will,” he promised, “She can stay with the MC or come back here, I know she’s still in town—”

“She is,” Coco confirmed, “she’s in my bed right now.” He watched the other man’s eye (the one not burnt to hell) widen, and he almost laughed. Almost. He took a few steps closer until he was standing right over him, and Coco pressed the gun into the man’s forehead. “I was thinking of making you sign the divorce papers before I kill you,” he said coolly, “But now I realize that would just make her a suspect. Instead, I’m gonna make her a poor widow with the added benefit of your pension and life insurance payout. Your fucking brothers in blue are gonna trip over themselves makin’ sure she’s taken care of and safe, and the MC is gonna guarantee no one bothers her.” His eyes narrowed as he glared at the other man, disgust and hatred filling his heart. “And the day before your funeral,” he went on, “while everyone is preparing to dress up and kiss your dead ass, a report is gonna come out about you bein’ dirty—with receipts and all—and your good name is gonna die with you.” Coco promised him. “The MC has connections, too.”

“You’re gonna do all this for her? You think she’s worth it? You think it’s gonna make her come back to you? She’s mine,” he leaned forward, heedless of the gun to his temple, “And no dirty ‘Spic biker with a record is gonna take her from me—”

Coco shot then, letting the warm blood wash over him. He watched your husband’s body fall to the floor, watched the blood seep into the carpet. He sat on the couch, blood still on his face, and waited for EZ. While he waited, he memorized parts of the house, seeing bits of you in small details in the décor. He also noticed the bruises on your husband’s knuckles.

Coco didn’t say much when EZ came, just helped the Prospect gather up the body and clean up the scene. They hid the body in the desert in a construction site. That had been EZ’s idea, the site was owned by one of Galindo’s main competitors, and they’d take a huge hit when a cop’s body was discovered on their property, while Galindo (and Emily) would reap the benefits.

Later that night, Coco laid in bed with you in his arms, assuring you that everything would be alright. He felt the same fears from years ago creep up into him—that he wasn’t good enough, that he wouldn’t be able to provide for you, that he couldn’t love you the way you deserved—but this time, when he felt those fears swirling up inside of him, he looked down at your face, and knew that there was no where else he’d rather be.

Your relationship was slow, you had to put on airs of being a concerned wife after your husband’s vacation was over; filing a missing persons report and making a public plea for information, and Coco had to pretend to just be a curious citizen. Once the body was discovered, though, and you were cleared of any wrongdoing by some very sympathetic cops, you were able to be seen in public together—as friends. Coco wasn’t crazy about that arrangement, but he still got to be with you at the MC, and at night, so he reminded himself to be patient. Once the leaked receipts were released, however, and the whole of Santa Padre saw that your husband had been dirty, well… People were more than glad to see you out and about with Coco—because even though he was a criminal, he was an honest one. Even the cops would give tight lipped nods to the two of you when they saw you out together, and Coco fucking loved that.

Of course—he loved you more.

As time went on, and Coco became more and more secure in his relationship with you, women started showing up at the MC. Sometimes they’d come for a place to hide out on their way out of town, others, they came asking for help or protection from an abusive spouse, but every time—no matter the circumstances, the MC helped. You would stay with the women and kids, giving them words of encouragement and using your newly earned law degree to make sure they were protected and supported by the law, while Coco and the guys… dealt with the husbands. Very rarely did they actually have to resort to violence—most of the times they just had to intimidate him, and that would be enough—but Bishop did allow Coco to leave a calling card, of sorts, to let everyone out there know that the MC was watching, and would happily intervene when it came to issues like this, a thing that the community saw, recognized, and understood quickly. If a woman suddenly divorced her husband or broke up with her boyfriend, people in the community didn’t have to ask what happened. If they were curious, all they had to do was look at the man in that woman’s life…

…if he had a cigarette burn on his face, then they knew he’s gotten what he deserved, and more importantly—

—so did she.

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

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think of this one, cause I kind of went off on a tangent here.... Also--do you guys think I should link these longer “drabbles” to my character masterlist or nah?

Everything Taglist: @encounterthepast @jigsawlover10 @gollyderek  @charlylama @realduckvader @teacuplotus @whovianayesha  @lexxierave @loveintheroyalfamily  @fanfictionrecommendations-com  @maxslime-blog @songforhema @lucielandss @themadhatter92  @christinawxxx @anabella-baby @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme @luminex3 @ashkuuuu @luckysstrikes @carlaangel86 @floralpeaceofmind @dylanobrusso @iaintnofurry  @ymariejp @its-my-little-dumpster-fire @mrsjaxtellerfan @holamor @drinix @rhabakoli @stories-you-wont-hear @king4thesirens @leahnicole1219 @evanlys19  @binbons-is-theloml @aikeia @bitch-imma-head-out

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】 Tears of Themis: Xia Yan’s Personal Story 3-11 Translation

Translation Masterlist | Xia Yan Masterlist | Video

Translated Chapter 3: 3-1 / 3-2 / 3-3 / 3-4 / 3-6 / 3-7 / 3-8 / 3-10 / 3-11 / 3-12 / 3-14

See below cut!

--

Little Alley

Xia Yan walked into that alley.

Xia Yan: I’m here. You can let Tian Xin go.

Meng Qishan whistled.

Meng Qishan: You finally came out, Sphinx.

Xia Yan: Wrong. I’m called Xia Yan, a detective.

Meng Qishan: No problem, no problem. I get it. No one’s willing to be truthful as soon as they step up.

Meng Qishan: Gotta properly “greet” them first.

As he spoke, he tapped the steel pipe in his hand.

Xia Yan: Oh?

With a beckon of Meng Qishan’s hand, he led the group into rushing at Xia Yan—

Xia Yan carelessly avoided the steel pipe striking down at his head with a flash of his body, then immediately made his move!

Bang bang bang – bang!

Within a few seconds, everyone had been knocked down onto the ground by Xia Yan. He used plastic zip-ties to bind the hands of those people behind their backs, after which he reached out and pulled Tian Xin up from the ground. He then turned his head around and nodded towards me. Only then did I run over to him.

MC: Tian Xin, you alright?

Tian Xin: Ahem ahem… I’m good.

There was a patch of pale purple on his face, and his clothes were also dirty. Xia Yan did a cursory inspection of Tian Xin’s wounds.

Xia Yan: They look like they’re all just skin-deep wounds, but it’s best if you go to the hospital for a checkup after.

Tian Xin: Many thanks. That, you two…?

Xia Yan: We’ll answer your questions later. First, we have to ask Meng Qishan about what he wants to do.

After he finished, Xia Yan looked towards Meng Qishan, knocked on the ground and still breathing hard.

Meng Qishan: Tch! Just gonna get shut up for a few days in jail. I’m not scared.

Tian Xin hesitated for a moment, then explained to Xia Yan quietly.

Tian Xin: Before, Feifei and I called the police, but Meng Qishan was very stubborn…

Xia Yan smiled. He lifted his hand, stopping Tian Xin’s words.

Xia Yan: Meng Qishan, you said earlier that, more than speculation, you’ve always preferred rougher methods.

Xia Yan: Actually, I’m sometimes like that too.

Xia Yan: Right, you also said that there’s no monitoring in this place, and the police won’t be able to find evidence, right?

As he spoke, he pulled at Meng Qishan’s shoulder, dragging him into a corner 10 metres in front of us. Tian Xin faced me hesitantly, and I sent a comforting smile at him.

Meng Qishan: Aaarghh--!

Tian Xin: That…

MC: Urgent matters require power to deal with it, and extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

After several miserable shouts in different tones, Meng Qishan was thrown out. Right after, Xia Yan strode out relaxedly from the corner.

Xia Yan: Now, we can chat nicely.

INTERROGATION START

Monitoring Tian Xin

Xia Yan: At the old school building, I’m very certain that no one was following us. You… must have hacked into Tian Xin’s phone, right?

MC: (If he monitored Tian Xin’s phone, he could use the phone’s receiver and microphone. Thus, they would have been able to hear Xia Yan’s and Tian Xin’s conversation at the old school building.)

Xia Yan: When did it start?

Meng Qishan: Two months ago.

Meng Qishan: Two months ago, I received an email, asking if I wanted to get revenge on Sphinx. At the beginning, I thought that it was someone trying to get info out of me. After all, lots of people suspected that my resignation from the detective profession was because of Sphinx.

Meng Qishan: But he spoke of Sphinx’s operation style, so I confirmed that he was like me – a victim of Sphinx.

MC: A term like “victim” coming out of your mouth really changes its meaning.

Xia Yan: Who sent the email?

Meng Qishan: I don’t know who he is. He called himself “Oedipus”.

Oedipus was exactly the person who solved Sphinx’s riddle in the myth. Then did the sender of the email want to hint with this that he definitely would defeat Sphinx?

Relation with Sphinx

Xia Yan: What’s your relation with Sphinx? Why do you want to find him?

Meng Qishan: Since you know about Sphinx, you must have heard of Sphinx’s riddles, right? He sent me riddles before, and I lost. He had me resign from the detective profession. I couldn’t resign myself to that, so I wanted to get revenue on him.

MC: Why did Sphinx send you riddles, and have you resign from the detective profession?

Meng Qishan: I don’t know. You both can search online. No one knows who Sphinx will seek out and challenge…

Xia Yan: It must have to do with your divorce case commission from before, right?

Meng Qishan’s complexion shifted instantly.

Xia Yan: That major loss of yours that time – does it have to do with Sphinx?

Meng Qishan: …

Meng Qishan sunk into silence for a moment, then ferociously spat out.

Meng Qishan: That’s right! It’s exactly because of him that I lost face like that!

As soon as this sentence left his mouth, Meng Qishan started to talk straightforwardly, as if he might as well.

Meng Qishan: At the beginning, when that woman said in court that the man was her male cousin, I thought that my luck was just bad. But not two days after, I received Sphinx’s message. He said that if I wanted to know what happened with everything, then I had to solve his riddle, so I went to solve his riddle.

Meng Qishan: Only at the end did I realize that all of this was his setup!

Meng Qishan: He even threatened me, saying that if I didn’t resign from the detective profession, he would make it even harder for me to keep going on after this!

Meng Qishan: Sphinx…

MC: (So that’s how it was. “Your every move is being watched by me.” This really is a “kill a person by killing their heart” method – no wonder the detectives he defeated all resigned from the profession and buried this matter.)

Crime Plan

Xia Yan: What was your plan with Oedipus?

Meng Qishan: There have been people who’ve imitated Sphinx online before, but Sphinx paid them all no mind, so I asked him how to find that guy. Oedipus said that we just needed to reuse our old methods, and Sphinx would investigate. This time we’d take the initiative and guarantee that we could catch that guy.

Meng Qishan: He had me use that case that Sphinx messed up by following that executive’s wife and harassing her family. He said that he already was monitoring all the phones in that woman’s family.

Meng Qishan: As long as a family member got in touch with Sphinx, we could follow the trail of clues and yank him out.

Xia Yan: …

Meng Qishan: I worked according to plan for two weeks. Though the woman and her family were all very panicked, Sphinx never appeared. Plus, based on the results of monitoring them, they have no relation to Sphinx. When Sphinx helped them before, he never showed his face during the whole process, and he didn’t leave a single method of contact. They also didn’t know how to get in touch with Sphinx.

Meng Qishan: I originally thought that there was no point, but I accidentally noticed Tian Xin’s plan.

MC: Tian Xin’s plan?

Meng Qishan laughed coldly.

Meng Qishan: Haha, that “ɸ” or whatever, and those videos, were all made up by him. He wanted to use livestreams to catch Sphinx’s attention, to have him notice that I was starting to mess with them again and help that woman’s family.

Meng Qishan: Even if Sphinx didn’t notice, he could pretend that there were more people receiving Sphinx’s challenges… making it look like Sphinx was still active, which might scare me and make me restrain myself because of this.

Meng Qishan: Since he was going to be so proactive, I had to beat him at his own game.

Bar Expenditures

Xia Yan: You spent a lot at the bar just now. Where did this money come from?

Meng Qishan: You’re even concerned about where my money comes from?

Xia Yan: …

Xia Yan expressionlessly performed a “warning” on Meng Qishan’s shoulder.

Meng Qishan: Aaarrghh--! It was Oedipus, it was Oedipus who gave it to me!

Xia Yan: How much did he give?

Meng Qishan stated a number, basically the annual income of a typical person.

MC: (They were so liberal with their money, so the reason why Oedipus wants to find Sphinx must not be simple…)

Other Partners

Xia Yan: You went to the Nautilus Bar today for business transactions. After, you deliberately went on a roundabout course to lead Tian Xin out. You set this up intentionally because you knew that Tian Xin would follow you today, right?

Meng Qishan: You’ve seen things through pretty clearly.

Meng Qishan looked askance towards Tian Xin.

Meng Qishan: With his bit of unskilled efforts, of course we noticed it early on. Although, I wanted to use him as he fished Sphinx out, so I intentionally let it slip to him.

Xia Yan: After leaving Nautilus Bar, was it your or Oedipus’s idea to deliberately go in circles?

Meng Qishan: It was his idea. I originally wanted to track you both and find you. Didn’t think that you would be pretty good at hiding.

Xia Yan: Aside from “Oedipus”, do you have any other partners?

Meng Qishan: I don’t know. Oedipus and I have only chatted and kept in touch through email and online. We’ve never met. I don’t know if he’s male or female, or a single person or a group of people.

Xia Yan: Open your inbox.

Complying with his words, Meng Qishan opened his email inbox. Xia Yan inspected the email address and tried to do a reverse search.

Xia Yan: He used a lot of jumping boards. There’s no way to track his IP.

MC: Has “Oedipus” reached out to other detectives who have been defeated by Sphinx, like you?

Meng Qishan: Don’t know. Probably.

Xia Yan: Make it clear.

Meng Qishan: Tch… [laughs]

Meng Qishan: I kept operating in accordance with Oedipus’s plan, but Sphinx never appeared. So I asked, is this method alright? Is it reliable? Back then, he divulged one sentence, saying that lots of people were working at the same time, so we’d definitely find Sphinx.

Xia Yan and I looked at each other, seeing the worry in each others’ eyes.

INTERROGATION END

 After interrogating Meng Qishan, we called the police. After the police found out about the details of the case, they immediately planned to bring away the things in Tian Xin’s house as evidence. Thus, after receiving Tian Xin’s agreement, we decided to go to Tian Xin’s house first to inspect it.

Tian Xin: Big bro Xia, you don’t plan to wait for the police to deal with it?

Xia Yan: That’s not the case. It’s just that there are so many cases that the police have to deal with. With the amount of attention they can split towards this, I might as well do it. 

Xia Yan: Plus, they know very little about Sphinx. If they really are going to investigate, I feel like doing it myself would be faster instead.

Tian Xin: So amazing…

Tian Xin: It would be great if I could be as amazing as big bro Xia.

Tian Xin’s tone carried a bit of bitterness and disappointment. Xia Yan and I shared a look.

MC: Tian Xin, you’re also very great. You must have done your best to think up of this method because your friend’s family unfortunately encountered Meng Qishan’s harassing.

Xia Yan: Yeah, it’s thanks to your efforts that Meng Qishan has been caught by the police now.

Tian Xin: Thank you, although… you two don’t need to comfort me. Though I’ve just started university, I’m still an adult. I’m very clear on how capable I am.

Tian Xin: Half a year ago, Feifei’s big sister was framed by that guy, Meng Qishan. I also wanted to help, but I couldn’t do anything at all. After I saw Sphinx act, I really wanted to be like him. Only then did I open a livestreaming account - but in the end, when Meng Qishan started his tricks again, I couldn’t do anything again. I could only try my best to get in touch with Sphinx.

MC: Tian Xin…

He shrugged his shoulders, huffing out like he was indifferent.

Tian Xin: But in the end, I was completely deceived without even realizing it… It’s whatever that I got myself into it, but I almost implicated Sphinx. If big bro Xia didn’t rush here in time…

He reached up and scratched his hair, blocking his face.

Tian Xin: It would be great if I could be as amazing as Sphinx and you, big bro Xia.

He mumbled this sentence again.

Xia Yan: Me, I’ve dreamed of being a hero and a knight ever since I was small, wanting to appear coolly and knock down the bad guys when there’s a crisis.

Xia Yan: But after, I slowly realized that heroes aren’t always cool and impressive. They often are extremely wretched. But no matter how wretched they are, they still must protect those who they want to protect.

Xia Yan: Maybe you feel like you look terrible right now, but I feel like it’s extremely cool in how you did your utmost to protect others!

MC: From a female’s perspective, I’d also like to show my approval! You knew that your videos weren’t well-made and people would hate on them online, but you still persevered in making them to protect your friend. Tian Xin, you really are extremely cool!

MC: Plus, take it slow. In the future, you can become even stronger and more reliable.

Tian Xin froze for a bit. Then, he lifted his hand to prop up his glasses. The reflection of the lenses covered his line of sight.

Tian Xin: That’s true!

[onefourjisung]

Levanter (Stray Kids Bang Chan)

Prompt: Reader has been Bang Chan's friend since they started training together, but its time for them to part ways as they both chase their dreams in different paths. (fem reader, idol-trainee au)

Warnings: A teeny bit of angst

Word count: 1,662

You and Bang Chan have known each other since you were both in your early teens. You both along with BamBam started training at JYP Entertainment around the same time, leaving your previous life behind in your home countries to pursue your childhood dreams. The first time you met Bang Chan and BamBam, the three of you hit it off straight away. Not many trainees started as young as you three did, so you both stuck to each others' sides because no one understood you as much as each other.

Time rolled by, BamBam became the first one out of you to debut with GOT7, at only 16. You and Bang Chan were one of the first people to congratulate him, despite of the somber mood that came from knowing that from that point on he will be too busy to hang out with you as much as he used to. After BamBam's debut, you and Bang Chan became even closer. You both protected each other like guard dogs in fear of the inevitable.

2016, four years after you started training, JYP put you in a trainee line up preparing for a debut survival show called Sixteen. To say you were excited was an understatement, you practiced harder, stayed in the studio for longer, even sometimes forgetting to eat and rest. And when you expectedly broke down, Bang Chan was ready by your side, picking up your pieces with sweet hugs and motivational words until you were ready to stand back up again.

However, only a week before the show started shooting, you accidentally broke your ankle in the middle of a dance practice. This unfortunately led to you being cut off from the trainee line up and was replaced by the youngest trainee, Natty.

Understandably, you were way more than upset. And again, Bang Chan was beside you like always. The moment he heard of what happened, he dropped all things and was ready to console and take care of his best friend.

Debut opportunities came and went for you, you auditioned for Produce101 with Somi but you didn't even make it to the 101 trainees line up while your younger friend ended up as the center of the debuted group. You wanted to join Produce48 but your agency was against it so there was not much you can do.

And then one day, JYP announced a new untitled survival show you were chosen to participate in along with the other trainees. The end goal was to decide which group will debut between the male trainees and the female trainees. The night after the survival proposal announcement, you and Bang Chan went to get dinner together. A sentence he said stuck to you to this day, "friendships are friendships and work is work, right? Lets do our best, (y/n). And I hope luck is with the both of us."

Luck decided to only be on one of your side. And that's Chan's. As all of the trainees stepped down the showcase's stage, Bang Chan caught up to you in silence.

You smiled at your friend. "Congratulations, Chan, I mean it."

"Thank you." He returned the smile with a slight sigh, "(y/n), I-"

"Friendships are friendships and work is work, remember? I'll see you on the other side, the debuted idols' side." You patted his back with a light chuckle before catching up to your the other female trainees.

You missed Bang Chan's teary gaze as his eyes followed your figure until you disappeared from his sight.

Never wanted anything as much as you.

Never crossed my mind that I could ever lose.

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

You watched as the screen of your phone turned black for a split second before Stray Kids' logo appeared on it along with the writing "This stream has ended, waiting for replay."

You pressed your home button and opened KakaoTalk before choosing Bang Chan's contact name.

y/n: are u busy?

🍞chris: nope, about to head back to the dorm

🍞chris: whats up?

y/n: wait up

y/n: im coming to your studio

y/n: i need to talk to you about something

🍞 chris: uh,, okay?

🍞 chris: should i be scared?

[✓Read]

You timidly knocked on the door on Chan's studio before letting yourself in, closing the door behind you. Chan smiled at your arrival, putting down his phone.

"Hey, (y/n)!" He greeted cheerfully as he put his ukulele back in to it's case.

"Hi, Chan." You smiled. "I watched your VLive, might wanna work on your ukulele a bit more," you joked.

His laugh boomed across the small studio. "I know, I know. My little brother would be ashamed if he saw that."

"Oh yeah, definitely," you smiled teasingly, "he texted me, said he's about to disown you from the family."

"Hey!" He mocked offence. "Excuse you, I'm the one who brings food to Berry's table."

You chuckled. "Yea, yea, suit yourself Mr. Best-Leader,"

Bang Chan put down his ukulele as he finally gave you his full attention. "So, did you come here only to mock my ukulele playing skills or is there something else you wanna talk about?"

You sighed as your smile flattered in to a sad one. "Yeah, about that,"

"Is everything okay, (y/n)?" Chan tilted his head slightly in concern to your sudden change of mood.

"Sort of, but not really." You said truthfully.

"What is it?"

There was a few seconds of silence before you responded. "I'm leaving, Chan."

Surprise and disbelief was written all over his face when he let out a whisper, "wh- what?"

You nervously ran a hand through your hair. "I- I'm leaving JYP-"

"But why?" Chan cut you off.

"It's been almost 10 years, Chan. I have been a trainee for almost ten years and theres still no signs of me debuting soon," you made eye contact with the shocked boy in front of you.

"That's not true!" He argued.

"Yeah?" You chuckled bitterly. "I stayed because I thought at least they would consider debuting me with ITZY, but they didn't even bat an eye because apparently I 'don't fit the concept'. The younger kids are already debuting, the future groups are just gonna be younger and younger-"

"You can debut as a solo artist?" He cut you off once again.

"And how big is the chance for me to be a solo artist, huh?" You bit back. "Chan, I got an offer in another agency, a really promising one at that. It might not be as big as JYPE but it'll do."

Bang Chan could do nothing other than stare at you, drowning in his own thoughts.

"I'm tired of being hung by a thread like this, Chan. It was not an easy decision for me either but I've made up my mind." You softly said, letting your head down as you switched your focus to the carpeted floor.

Bang Chan finally snapped out of his train of thoughts as he raised from his seat before quickly hugging you tighter than he ever had.

"Okay," he sighed. "I understand where you're coming from. I guess- I don't know, it's just so sudden,"

"I'm sorry," you returned the hug. "I just wanted to tell you personally before you leave for your world tour,"

Chan pulled away from the hug and brought one of his hand to your face, making you look at him. "I'll see you on the other side, yeah?" He smiled softly.

You nodded. "The debuted idols' side."

Oh, this is the end of the road

Oh, I'm holding out for a new hope

'Cause it's the darkest of all before the dawn

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

"And the award for Rookie of The Year goes to-"

The seconds ticked slowly as the MC opened the envelope. You and your members' clammy hands taut together tightly as you silently prayed for the best outcome.

"EXACT! Congratulations!!"

Your mouth fell agape, in the corner of your eyes you saw some of your members sprung up from their chairs in joy. The loud screams of your fans filled the stadium when the member beside you tugged on your hand slightly.

"(y/n), let's go," she beamed at you, gesturing to the stage with a nod of her head.

You recollected yourself before fixing your skirt as you walked towards the stage, thunderous claps and cheers ringing in your ears.

The MC passed the golden trophy on to your teammates and you stepped up to the mic. You began your thank you speech on the behalf of your group as the leader. You thanked your members, family and friends, the agency, and also your fans. However, you couldn't help but choke up in the middle of your speech, wrapping it up with a final group greeting with a couple of tears slipping past your eyelashes.

You let a few more tears fall when you slipped off backstage. You and your members were taking pictures with the trophy when a bunch of familiar faces turned the corner in to the hallway you were in.

"(y/n) noona!" Jisung let out a happy shrill when his eyes found yours.

"Hi, Jisung," you chuckled at your old friend's antics as the rest of Stray Kids stepped in to sight, preparing for their upcoming performance.

After both your group and Stray Kids formally greeted each other, you slipped past the other's attention as Bang Chan pulled you aside.

"I haven't gotten the chance of saying this to you personally so, congratulations on your debut, (y/n)." Bang Chan smiled at you. "And the award too, of course."

"Thank you, Chan." You replied. "Thank you for always sticking by my side, couldn't have done it without you,"

"No, no, no." He shook his head cutely. "This was all you, take some credit,"

You giggled. "Right,"

"I'm proud of you." Bang Chan hugged you as he whispered softly, "we finally meet on the other side after all, huh?"

And now that I left it all behind me

I'm flying high, I'm flying high

[bobasheebaby]

Fallen Snow- Cordonian Ruby prologue

Pairing: Liam x MC; Olivia Nevrakis; Bastien Lykel

Word count: 1,558

Warnings: character death, car crash, blood, gore, surgical procedure done by non medical personnel

Summary: While trying to safely get the queen to the hospital the worst happens.

A/N: a conversation with a friend who does not play choices put this idea in my head. It’s gonna be a rough ride, not sure how bad. Originally the first chapter was going to jump to 21 years later, after a conversation with @sirbeepsalot it was decided to do a few check ins before we see the heir fully grown. Thank you so much for all your graping and help. I love you boo!

Series warnings: character death, blood, surgical procedures done by non medical personnel, may go NSFW in the future. May contain gun violence, knife violence, threats, not sure how dark this will go. By requesting to be tagged you acknowledge you are at least 18 years of age.

Let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist.

Disclaimer: I only own my OC’s, the rest I’m borrowing from PB.

Deep and falling snow is particularly used to represent hardships or death.

“Get us out of here, Bastien! Now!” Carolyn’s order turned to a pained scream. How did he find us?! They were careful, cautious. They had sent decoy cars so she could arrive safely at the hospital to give birth. They stayed in Lythikos because it would be expected for them to be at the palace or Valtoria.

Yet he found them.  

Bastien pulled off onto a smaller less used road, in hopes to shake their pursuers. Hopefully that will be enough to keep them safe. He suspected a spy inside the Kingsguard; however he thought he’d sniffed them out. There must have been two! He hit the gas as the queen’s screams became louder and closer together. They were his priority and he wouldn’t fail another queen. He glanced up in the rearview mirror his stomach dropped as headlights shone back at him. “Hold on, Your Majesties!”

“What? What’s going on?” Carolyn questioned panicked.

Liam squeezed her hand tightly as he looked out the back window. Rage coursed through him. Bradshaw refused to take no for an answer, and now he was endangering the lives of his wife and child. “He’s going to ram us.”

Liam glanced between the car behind them preparing to run them off the road and his wife, her face screwed up in pain and her hands clenched into tight fists.

I can’t let anything happen to them, Bastien thought as he pressed the gas pedal nearly into the floor.

Liam undid his belt. “It’s going to be okay, Carolyn, I won’t let anything happen to either of you.” He slid across the seat, protectively curling his body around his wife’s, protecting both her and their unborn child.

“Brace for impact, I can’t shake him.” Bastien shouted from the front, anger nearly cutting through his calm demeanor. His job had always been to protect, and there was nothing he could do to protect them in that moment.

“I love you and I’ve got you.” Liam whispered to his wife.

The sickening sound of metal on metal, a high pitched scream and breaking glass melded together to form a terrible ear-shattering symphony.

--

Bastien lifted his head from the steering wheel, the front end crumpled against a large tree. He unbuckled his seatbelt and quickly scanned the area, his blood running cold as his steely eyes fell on his king suspended from the windshield, glass impaling his chest. I failed him, I’m sorry Eleanor. He looked out the back, briefly feeling relief that the driver who was chasing them was at least momentarily incapacitated. Please let the queen and the heir be unharmed.

He climbed over the seat into the back, careful not to bump the king’s prone form. He worked to keep his face devoid of emotion as he eyed the young queen clutching her throat, blood coating her hands and trickling down her arms. I’ve failed them both. “Everything is going to be fine Your Majesty.”

“Liam?” Carolyn gasped.

“He’s going to be fine. You both will.” His heart clenched with the words. The lie is kinder than the truth.

“Y—you need to save the baby. Save her.”

“I’m going to save both of you.” He retrieved his pocket knife as he watched the color fade from her normally sun kissed complexion. If only the glass hadn’t slit her throat.

Carolyn reached out, her blood soaked hand grasping Bastien’s hand. “D—don't … let …” she struggled over her words.

“Shhh, Your Majesty, save your strength.”

“No.” Her fading sapphire eyes imploring him. “Her … her … name is R—Ruby …” Tears streamed down her pale cheeks and her hand shook. “Keep … keep … her safe …” Her words came slower as she fought to get them out until they stopped.

Bastien briefly shut his eyes, a silent apology for what he would have to do. He carefully lifted her shirt and pushed her skirt down, exposing her round abdomen as the last breath passed her lips. I’ll protect her with my life.

He placed the tip of his knife into her skin, saying a silent prayer as he carefully cut across her stomach. Please let the baby make it. I can’t fail in my final promise to her.

He finished the cut, fingers curling around the tear in her skin as he pulled the flesh apart widening the opening. Be alive. Be alive, he silently chanted as he pulled each of her organs from the cavity to expose her uterus. Shallow, don’t cut the baby. He carefully sliced along her uterus.

All his years of service, all his training never prepared him for this. He’d aided in delivery before but not to this level.

He held his breath as he spread open her uterus, the walls falling to the side like a rose in bloom. Be alive. He carefully reached in grasping the baby and pulled her from her mother's womb her body glistening red like her namesake, delivering her from ashes, into a quiet hope. Be alive.

He let out the breath as the baby let out a loud cry. Thank you Lord.

Have to clamp and cut the cord. His eyes scanned the wreckage finally falling on the queen's golden locks. Forgive me, he thought as he pulled a bobby-pin from her hair before carefully sliding it onto the cord. He folded the cord in half over the blade of his knife, slicing it through in one motion.

He held the baby to his chest as he searched the car for something to wrap her in. His eyes fell on Liam’s discarded winter jacket. He laid it down before gently placing the baby in it, wrapping it tightly around her small form. He pulled her back to his chest, pulling his jacket around her, his eyes checking the car behind them. He’s still out. He pushed the door open, flinching at the loud metallic creak it made.

He stepped onto the freshly fallen snow, the newborn heir tucked to his chest. Let’s get to safety little one.

--

Bastien breathed a sigh of relief as Lythikos Keep came into view. The treck from the wreckage had taken longer than he wanted as the snow picked up. The only saving grace of the storm was that his tracks would be covered, buying him time to get them both to safety.

We’re safe now Ruby. His fingers wrapped around the ornate door knocker, bringing it down against the solid oak door with a thundering bang. He grimaced at the sight of the fallen queen’s blood dried on his hands.

It was necessary. You promised to save the heir, Cordonia’s future.

The door fell open, revealing the sleepy majordomo Ingrid. Her mouth fell open as she took in the disheveled head guard to the king. Years of training instantly kicking in at the sight of the bloodied guard. “Come in. I’ll retrieve the duchess.”

“Thank you. I will also require something to clean up and keep the child warm.” Bastien said lifting the sleeping infant from his chest.

“Oh, my,” Ingrid gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “I’ll see what I can find.” She secured the door before ushering Bastien into the parlor and rushing off.

--

Olivia blew into the parlor like a winter storm, she froze as she took in the Bastien’s blood soaked hands and coat. Her eyes fell to the infant cradled in his arms, her heart clenched as she became overcome with the feeling of sorrow. “Liam? Carolyn?”

Bastien sadly shook his head.

“Bradshaw?”

“His men ran us off the road.”

She nodded her understanding. “Let me see the baby.”

“Her name is Ruby.” He passed Olivia the sleeping infant still wrapped in her father’s coat. “C— Her Majesty named her before she succumbed to her injuries.” Even in the wake of her death he was unable to say her name. “I have to get her out of the country … I promised I would protect her.”

“Of course. We must protect the heir. I can help you both escape.”

His steely eyes met her emerald. “With the heir missing and her parents dead, Bradshaw will be coming for you next. Anton’s mission may have been unsuccessful, but he exposed to the rest of our enemies the order of succession.”

Her gaze narrowed; she never was one to cower. She glanced down at the only hope for Cordonia’s future. Bradshaw made it clear he wanted Cordonia’s money and that he would get it by alliance or force. She wasn’t ready to die; she wanted to live to see Ruby reclaim her rightful place as Cordonia’s queen. “I’ll be going with you. She will be safer with both of us looking after her.” She turned away unwilling to allow him to see the flash of emotion on her face.

She never thought she’d see the day when a Nevrakis would leave willingly and allow another power to take over her country. I’ll do Cordonia more good from afar than dead. It cut her to leave her people to the rule of a tyrant.

“I will have the jet readied. I’ll be sure to inform the flight crew that we will need items for a newborn.” Her eyes glanced out the storm brewing outside.

Your queen shall return, in time.

Feedback fuels me, please like, comment reblog or send an ask. Feel free to scream, I promise I can take it.

Masterlist can be found in my bio.

Perma and Bastien tag: @speedyoperarascalparty @liamxs-world @annekebbphotography @hopefulmoonobject @itsstillnotwhatyouthink @ao719 @blackwidow2721 @stopforamoment @akrenich @gardeningourmet @daniv2278 @bella-ca @gibbles82 @choiceslife @blackcoffee85 @sirbeepsalot​ @mrskamilxh @dcbbw @alicars @desireepow-1986 @mfackenthal @bhavf​ @indiacater​ @drakesensworld​ @kingliam2019​ @walkerswhiskeygirl​ @ladyangel70​ @jovialyouthmusic​ @edgiestwinter​ @rainbowsinthestorm​ @janezillow​ @sleepwalkingelite​ @texaskitten30​ @traeumerinwitzhelden​ @bbrandy2002​ @jared2612​ @blackcatkita​ @darley1101​ @innerpostmentality​ @lolablackwrites​ @endlessflame​ @fullbeaumonty​ @hhiggs​ @itsalliepg​ @smalltalk88​ @littlegreenmoo​ @mynameiskaylabella​ @bobbersb @imma-winchester-addict​ @loveellamae​

[purple-cat-demon]

Bittersweet

Pairing: Gavin x Hazel (my MC)

Genre: hurt/comfort, happy ending (sfw)

Word count: 1067

To say his body hurt was a gross understatement. Gavin had curled in on himself while clutching his sides as soon as he laid down. Hazel was still at work when he got home from his mission.

A mission that was supposed to be a simple recon but quickly turned into an ambush that left a few members of the STF in serious to critical conditions, himself included. That was two days ago, and he still felt like his body was on fire. The ambush was so intense that he had to use the full extent of his EVOL powers, causing him to blackout towards the end of the fight. Eli managed to get him and the other hurt agents out before any of them were outright killed. He was recovering in the medic ward for two days, and it took a great deal of convincing the doctors to let him go that morning. He winced at the pain and clutched his sides tighter. He would try to sleep it off since the painkillers he was given didn’t really do anything to alleviate the pain.

A couple of hours later, Hazel came home; feeling a little worn out herself. Upon noticing Gavin’s backpack by the couch, her mood improved greatly and she made her way to their bedroom. The happiness was short lived when she saw her husband curled up in a tight ball, whimpering in pain. His breaths were short, his eyes screwed shut in pain. She gently got on the bed and laid next to him, reaching out to caress his face. He didn’t stir at first, but as she continued caressing him, he finally cracked an eye open. Concern plastered on her face, she had never seen him in this much pain before. He had come home beaten up before, sure, but this time she couldn’t see what was causing the pain; it was all internal from what it seemed.

“What happened, my love?”

Gavin twisted a bit, lightly groaning in the process. 

“I...overused...my EVOL. It was supposed to be… recon only…, we got ambushed…” he managed to say in just above a whisper. Tears gathered at the corners of Hazel’s eyes. This was one of the things she’d fear every time he left to go on these missions. She sidled closer to him and pulled his head to her chest. There she gently stroked his hair and neck until his breathing steadied and evened out. He had fallen asleep in her arms; his safe harbor.

When he finally opened his eyes and found that his wife was no longer by his side, he grew concerned. That is, until he heard rustling in the kitchen. Though he felt much better, he still had some pain as he got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen.

Hazel was making some lunch for them, sandwich fixings were strewn about the countertop. She had just put down the knife from cutting the tomatoes when Gavin came up behind her and put his arms around her. She was startled a bit.

“Are you feeling better,” she inquired. A nod into her left shoulder was the answer.

“My love, are you—-“

“I was so scared…” he interjected. “I didn’t know what was happening to me just before I blacked out, it felt like my body was being torn apart. I was scared that I wasn’t going to see you again,” he was choking back tears in his voice.

Hazel immediately turned around and caught his face in her hands, the look of absolute worry apparent in her eyes. She really didn’t know what to say to her frightened husband, so instead she wrapped her arms around him and held him close. She could not even begin to imagine the pain he felt. He trembled a little in her embrace. 

“Why didn’t the STF have better intel on this mission,” she finally asked the question that had been on her mind. 

“The info was solid but we fear our position was leaked by a spy,” he explained, “the higher-ups are currently looking into it.”

“My love, these missions lately have left you either horribly banged up or thoroughly exhausted. I think you’d be better off at Loveland Police.”

“Quit the STF? Easier said than done,” he scoffed at her idea.

“Well, tell them I’m pregnant.”

Gavin just stared blankly at his wife. He thought about it for a moment and then responded.

“That might work, but we’d have to prove that you are pregnant.”

With that, Hazel strode past him to the dining room table. She handed her husband an oversized packet. Confused, Gavin took it and opened it. His legs nearly gave out when he read the test results for a confirmed pregnancy. 

“I wanted to tell you as soon as you came back home but you were in so much pain, I couldn’t bring myself to tell you the news.”

Gavin stared wide-eyed at his wife, he kept opening his mouth to say something but the words vanished on his lips. Instead he sat the packet down, threw his arms around Hazel and lifted her into the air, twirling around the living room. He very quickly regretted this action as pain shot throughout his body. He sat her down abruptly, apologizing in the process.

“How far along are you,” he managed to croak out. His eyes widened suddenly.

“Oh shit! I didn’t hurt the baby by picking you up did I?!” Panic strewn across his face, Hazel just laughed.

“Honey, the baby is only like this big” she held up her index finger and thumb with about a half inch space in between. 

“And in answer to your previous question, I’m about a month along.”

Relieved, Gavin threw his arms around her once again.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here, but I take it you’re happy?”

Gavin’s embraced tightened a little.

“Of course I’m happy, why wouldn’t I be?”

He placed a kiss on the top of her head, while she nuzzled against his chest.

“First thing Monday morning, I’ll go talk it over with STF about a leave of absence. If they won’t at least grant that, then I’ll consider quitting.”

She looked up and met with a warm amber gaze.

“Do what you need to do, my love,” she placed a kiss on his lips.

A new chapter in their lives had just begun.

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

Okay, I don't know if I'll continue this because I don't know the first thing about being pregnant. I don't have kids and I don't plan on having kids so this fic may just be a stand alone~ sorry y'all.