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morninglarkspur · 5 months
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Future Trio
Dusknoir was annoying to design bwuh. Was trying to not make his weird collar thing look like fur but it looked bad so I just gave up so now he's a little fluffy. Anyways, here they are, the polycule™! Next one will be Darkrai and Cresselia! Might plop Skuntank in there too? probably should. We'll see if I design anyone else, Wigglytuff's Guild is so many characters that I don't wanna even try them dfjgnsk
Anyways character profiles below the cut!
The info in this is from some point between Amp Plains and Crystal Cave so pre-Dusknoir betrayal o/
Quetzal [Grovyle] Species: Grovyle Gender: Male [he/him] Age: 34
Time Gear Thief
Fully aware that Bear [Albert] has beaten them to the past; is extremely worried about Wren's safety
Recognizes that not killing Uxie was extremely stupid of him but it's too late to go back on that decision
Has fainted at least twice from lack of self care; has started imagining Wren's and Finch's reaction to this to motivate him to do better and it surprisingly works
Has a growing collection of stuff that he thinks Wren and Finch would like; recognizes that he'll probably never get to show Finch any of it but isn't really deterred by this
Trans baby!
His feelings towards Bear is complicated
Albert [Dusknoir] Species: Dusknoir Gender: Male [he/him] Age: 36
Renowned Solo Explorer
Actual name is Owl Bear; Oriole has taken to calling him Owl as a nickname
Future holder of the Relic Fragment
Genuinely cares about Oriole; has known Oriole would need to be killed since finding out he is the Relic Fragment holder of the past
Has been mentally preparing himself for having to return to the future since hearing about Treeshroud Forest's time gear
Has also been bidding goodbye to a bunch of acquaintances and friends he's made in the past, albeit vaguely/cryptically
Dislikes Wren in particular; thinks them a hypocrite and still does
He is not 7' 3" because that's just too tall, anyways we'll blame it on the malnutrition growing up
Finch [Celebi] Species: Celebi Gender: Demi-Girl [she/her/it] Age: 31
Inherited Renegade
Time-related abilities are substantially stunted due to being born post collapse of time
Doesn't remember/know much about their predecessor other than the fact that they went rogue after the collapse of time and died a violent death
Was initially wary of Wren but the two of them hit it off well and became close
Misses Wren and Quetzal immensely but puts on a cheerful facade to try and ignore the loneliness
Post Wren and Grovyle going to the past, she was attacked by a spooky dark figure who she initially mistook for Wren; neck scars are from their clawed hand holding her to the ground
Did you know Celebi are 2' tall? I'm throwing that out because her head would be huge if I made her twice as tall as Wren
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pedgito · 2 months
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𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐘 — one: beginnings | Joel Miller x reader
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chapter summary | You're dead weight, a burden on Joel's shoulders after the death of his daughter and the collapse of the world. But, if there's one person to challenge him, it was you.
author's note | this spurred from jo (@undercoverpena) and i, a conversation over kinks and wanting to explore them in separate chapters but somehow create a cohesive story and here we are. she spun for me and gave me a collection of beautiful kinks to try out. this is going to be BIG one for me, so if you plan on staying along for this ride, i love you so much.
chapter warnings | 18+, early outbreak, age gap (early 20s, mid 30s), canon character de*th, canon typical violence, m*rder tw, morally grey!joel with trust issues, tommy is buffer, use of weapons, weapon training, unjust decision making, reader is such a nuisance to joel, sex as a distraction, joel is so emotionally stunted he can't help it, awkward aftercare
word count —6k
SERIES MASTERLIST, PLAYLIST, AO3
You’ve never seen so much blood.
His shirt was soaked to his neck, expression blank and void as Tommy rounded the truck to open the door—it wasn’t the same one you’ve seen pull into their driveway for years now. It was new, unfamiliar. Joel’s weighed down, his arms straining as he heaves whatever he’s holding up in his arms, finally coming from around the door and into view. Her curls fell first, body limp in Joel’s arm as he held her close–it was Sarah. Little Sarah who you would babysit in high school for extra cash when the Miller brothers had to work a few extra jobs to pay the bills, little Sarah who always had the biggest smile on her face. Not so little anymore, years gone and passed as you graduated and went off to work some dead-end job to stay afloat in hopes that you could attempt to pay a college tuition.
But, that all seemed futile now. 
It was late September when the world ended—Joel’s birthday, you’d know that from the fact Sarah had mentioned it to you that morning as she checked the mail that Joel had forgotten from the day before. A normal day for you, for everyone else. But, for Sarah and many others, it was their last.
The neighborhood was quiet now, the hoard of freshly turned infected heading for the inner city and toward the noise, like one singular hivemind following a predetermined path. 
And your parents—they weren’t even here. They had left for vacation a week prior, spending the next two weeks out of the country, celebrating their anniversary far away from responsibility and the barrage of news from all over the world. But, they would come back to nothing. You couldn’t stay, you couldn’t wait around—it would get you killed; starvation, lack of resources, it would only get you so far. 
The infection was worldwide, incurable—it was the last thing you heard before the satellite on your television cut out, snuffing out any last bit of hope you had left.
In the midst of Joel’s mindless walk to the front door of his home, Tommy glances over his shoulder to survey, likely for more infected. But, he spots you.
His eyes squint slightly, like he’s seeing a vision of you. They widen as he realizes you’re real, you here—you were shaking, arms crossed over your chest and your fingers digging into your biceps as you hid by the shadow of your door.
Tommy knows that look, your eyes go wide but soften as he approaches. 
You can’t say you’ve held a conversation longer than five minutes with either of them, even after living next to them most of your life, but his hands are held up as he approaches and carefully, almost as if you were going to scurry away like a feral cat.
“You alright, honey?” His voice is quiet, a hushed whisper as he comes closer and stops a few inches, peering inside of your house and finding it empty, “Are they—did they—”
He looks over at you wearily and your fingers dig into your skin, peering over his shoulder and staring at the open door, Joel no longer in sight, “They left on a trip and I—I don’t,” You sigh through your nose, closing your eyes to blink away the stinging tears, “They’re dead either way, aren’t they?”
He doesn’t answer, but his hand reaches around to rub at your back and you fall into him easily.
“Sarah–” Tommy tenses up, pulling away slowly to look at you as you peer up at him, noticing the near permanent frown on your face, your expression unchanging as you attempt to process and fail—it wasn’t fair, none of it made sense, “is she dead?”
The sound of something fragile falling and breaking in Joel’s house startles you both, sending you both apart and rushing toward the house without thinking. The idea of being alone now was more fearful than anything else—no survival instinct, no plan or method to stay alive. You’d be dead by next nightfall if you stuck around though, that much you knew.
The sight sends your heart into your stomach. Joel was hunched over Sarah’s lifeless body, his arms sticky with blood—some of it dried and some of it not. There were a few broken picture frames on the floor at Sarah’s feet and you felt your breath catching in your throat, watching as Joel brushed her hair from her face and cried, silently.
“Joel,” Tommy begins, slow and careful, “we’ve gotta figure out a plan.”
“We’re buryin’ her first,” Joel tells him, “not leavin’ her like this.”
Tommy nods in understanding, looking over at you briefly.
“Listen, Joel…”
“She ain’t our problem, Tommy.” He bites harshly, resting Sarah down gently as he rose from his knees, “Kid’s got her own family.”
“Joel,” Tommy stresses, motioning toward you subtly—Joel looks reluctantly and he can see the fear, practically smelling it on you—it’s the last thing he needs right now, “they’re gone—can’t leave her here.”
“We can.”
“We won’t.”
You take a few careful steps back, quiet and timid, away from the brothers.
“Jesus, Joel,” Tommy moves in, blocking his brother’s face from view as you lingered near the open front door, staring out toward the street as you couldn’t bare the sight of Sarah’s body laying a few feet to your right, “she used to babysit Sarah—helped you out in a pinch a hundred times. I understand this—”
“This is my daughter—”
“She’s my niece too, goddammit—don’t try and spin this, Joel.” Tommy rocks on his heels, hands hugging his hips as his shoulders stretch out, broad and wide, “We bury her, we get our shit and we go–I’m not losing you, too. I will drag your ass out of here if I have to.”
There’s a sliver of Joel’s face that comes into view as he peers over Tommy’s shoulder at you, eyes dragging over you carefully before he returns to Tommy, “She’s ain’t worth the trouble.”
He’s completely tossing aside the fact that you were an adult, young but still—you sigh shakily, “I can carry my own weight, you know?”
He’s stoic, a long stretch of silence as Tommy stares him down, lingering and waiting for Joel to come to his senses, but even when he does—it’s forced.
“Then start loading the truck,” Joel tells you, “anything—food, water—”
“Yeah, I got it.” You respond in a pinched tone, trying to stifle your own emotions.
Joel doesn’t argue further, picking up Sarah with a sudden gentleness that returns at the sight of his daughter while Tommy disappears to the attached garage and you linger for a brief moment as Joel admires her, knowing that this was all he had. Knowing that eventually even this memory would fade over time.
His guard softens as he looks at her and you find that was the right time to speak more candidly.
“I’m sorry, Joel,” You tell him, your voice quiet as you approach and he looks at you briefly, acknowledging with a nod as you move beyond him and toward the kitchen, “she’s a sweet kid.”
His voice breaks but barely wavers, a subtle sign of emotion that he was suppressing deep down.
“She was.”
His departure after that is quiet, meeting Tommy at the backdoor as he reentered from the garage with the shovels and blanket in hand, a sorrowful look on his face that furrowed his brow.
They both worked silently in the backyard while you loaded up what you could. Their house was mostly scarce, knowing Joel was probably creeping up on a shopping day that would never come. There’s a few canned goods you manage to scavenge along with a decently untouched pack of water bottles and while you couldn’t brave the other houses in fear that something else might be lingering, you gather what you can from your own. 
By the time you’re closing up the truck bed they’re both walking toward you, a gun tucked away in both of their waistbands and a rifle in Joel’s free hand—his arms were cleaner, albeit still dirty.
He’d changed, rid himself of the bloody clothes and brushed past you silently, his eyes dark and empty. 
Tommy stops at your feet, offering up a knife sheathed in a leather casing that you could attach to your jeans, “Ain’t got another gun, but it’s somethin’.”
You nod slightly and take it from his grip, “Thank you,” You tell him, turning to find Joel waiting with the door open, expecting that you would climb into the middle as there was nowhere for you to go, unless the truck bed seemed like the better option—it didn’t.
It was blind trust, putting your life in the hands of both brothers. 
But, you had no choice. All that mattered was living.
And for Joel, the cost didn’t matter.
It’s jarring, frightening. His emotions are like a light switch—when on, he’s calm and able to hold small talk, but even that was forced and uneasy. But, when your supply dwindles down after a week or so of driving and camping in the deep brush of forest, you find what the light switch is like when it’s off.
It was a stranger, a helpless guy alone and clearly on the verge of death. All of you were on edge, the dwindling September heat still lingered into October and you had blew through your last bottle of water the night before, sweat dampening your clothes as you sifted through the aisles of the convenience store that was bare bones and empty by now but you were hoping, praying—but then you hear it and to Joel, it was prey. 
He yanks your knife from where it’s secured at your waist, so quick you barely even feel the tug as he carefully steps around the corner toward the counter, finding an older gentleman with feeble hands and energy that was dying out by the second. He was starving, dehydrated. But, so were you. And so was Joel.
“Joel, don’t.” You speak from behind him, “There’s another store in town. It’s bigger.”
“Hand it over,” Joel demands, the knife tucked away in his right hand behind his back as he held out his left, beckoning with his fingers as the man stared on, bottom lip trembling in fear as he squeezed at the plastic bottle, “now.”
There’s a moment of hesitation where the man begins to speak, shaking his head, but Joel is on him before he gets the chance, shoving the knife through the center of his throat—quick, quiet, efficient. You sigh deeply, knowing it was already coming. Joel wipes the blood away on the now dead man’s pants and snatches up the water bottle before he’s shoving it into your chest and sliding the knife back into the holster.
“You killed him,” Joel looks at you torsely, eyes half-lidded as he waits for you to continue, “you—you didn’t have to kill him, Joel.”
“You’re welcome,” He answers with finality, “Tommy’s waiting’, let’s go.”
You glance at the dead body with a grimace, the weight of it pulling down as the man slumped to the floor and his blood pooled closer and closer toward you. You step back quickly and follow after Joel who’s already ringing the bells on the door above the entrance.
“That was quick—no trouble?” Tommy asks when you return to the truck, climbing over Joel’s lap as he refuses to move, digging your knee into his thigh out of annoyance.
He takes it in stride, though. Doesn’t even react.
“No,” You lie easily, “Last one, though.”
You’ve learned to not speak on it—Joel’s quick tendencies for anger and bruteness. Hell, most of the time you could just ignore it, like now. Arguing never worked, Joel didn’t care enough.
Besides, you were just a waste of resources. Joel said it so often that it echoed in the back of your mind every time he slashed, stabbed, or gutted someone for something you needed, or wanted.
It started in small glimpses, you or Tommy could say a word, make a noise, and Joel’s brow would pinch together and the scowl on his face would deepen. 
And Tommy was objectively selfless, which bothered Joel more than it should—but given how things were, it made sense. Good karma wasn’t going to do anything for your conscience in a world that was based on self-preservation. In Joel’s mind, it was kill or be killed. And he always killed first. He learned not to take chances, hold out on good faith. It didn’t exist anymore.
And he didn’t just attack on his own behalf—he’s done it for you on a few occasions. You’ve never killed an infected, Joel always got the first hit in. Your knife would be at the ready, shaky in your grip and he would look over at you with dismay, knowing that if you did manage to have a shot you would ultimately miss. So, instead of coaching, he yanks the knife from your grip and plunges it into the skull of the infected. 
He hides his tendencies from Tommy well for a while—you always sensed Joel’s underlying itch for conflict after Sarah’s ultimate death and the few weeks you spend together on the road. You didn’t stay anywhere longer than a couple days, different cities throughout Texas as you made your way upstate. Utah, Boston, Pittsburg. Anywhere but here.
The early mornings in the forest after an uncomfortable sleeping arrangement—no rain meant sleeping in the bed of the truck or setting up camp in the one tent you had to share. But, when it did, the three of you would be forced to hunker down inside the four feet of truck cabin with nowhere to angle yourself but one of the brothers. Joel almost always shrugged you away, so by default, Tommy was the one you always chose. He didn’t seem to mind, thankfully.
Regardless, early mornings usually meant that Tommy would take his time teaching you a few things while Joel slept heavy in the truck, the low rumble of his snore heard as you both paused and Tommy readjusted the position of the knife in your grip.
“If you’re gonna hold it the way you gotta keep the dull side close to your arm,” He tightens your fist around the handle, “that way you ain’t accidentally cutting yourself with your own blade.”
You nod, squeezing down on your grip until it feels comfortable and Tommy leads your hand back toward you before guiding it through and back towards him slowly, “Always aim for the head on infected—right to the brain, kills ‘em instantly.”
You already knew that, but the reiterating is a nice reminder. 
Everything had a weakness.
“People,” Tommy starts hesitantly, “I mean, they’re livin’ and breathin’—if you let them close enough anywhere is gonna hurt them, but try to aim for the neck or the face.”
The stark image of Joel forcing the knife through the center of the man’s throat is heavy on your mind and Tommy pats on your arm as you lower it, but your eyes focus on his waist.
“Can you teach me how to shoot?”
Tommy looks at you wearily—not because he doesn’t trust you, but there’s something there.
“What happens if one of you is in trouble?” You ask him, pressing on the issue. “And I’m the only one who can do anything? I don’t even know how to shoot a gun. I’m not asking for everything, just enough to know. Tommy, come on.”
Tommy sighs, scratching at his slightly grown-out facial hair. It wasn’t nearly as thick as Joel’s, but it was clear you had all been deprived of basic hygiene over the last several weeks.
“Alright,” He relents, but holds up a finger at you, “Just the basics, for now.”
“I mean, Joel’s planning to drop me off at the nearest QZ anyways,” You joke, shoving your knife into the casing at your waist as Tommy pulls the gun out of where it’s tucked into the back of his jeans, “might as well learn as much as I can before then.”
“He won’t,” Tommy assures you, “we’re not abandoning you like that.”
You didn’t agree, but you push the words back down and take the gun that Tommy is offering as he comes to your side, arms coming around your back and around you. He’s positioning your fingers alongside his own and speaking over your shoulder and neither of you hear the car door that opens over your shoulder.
Within seconds the gun is being yanked from your grip and into Joel’s, his fingers dangling through the loop of the trigger and his eyes locked on his brother, “You lost your damn mind?”
Tommy snatches the gun back from his brother, tucking it away into his waistband.
“She’s got just as much reason to learn,” Tommy argues, “—I don’t see you makin’ an effort to teach her anything.”
“It’s not my problem,” Joel says dismissively, “we’re better off just doing the work ourselves. Kid can’t even kill an infected, she’s not gonna save your ass in a gunfight, either.”
The frustration in you boils, simmering over the edge as you push through both of them and toward the truck, closing the door with a slam as their angered voices muffle into the cabin of the truck.
“She’s not our problem, Tommy,” Joel tells him, “the sooner you realize that the better.”
“That why you plan on droppin’ her off on the doorstep of the first QZ we stumble into?”
There’s a long beat of silence before Joel speaks, “I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to,” Tommy answers, his voice laced with smugness that even you could hear, “she’s already got it set in her mind that you will and you know what—don’t blame her, either.”
Eventually, the argument settles. It’s abrupt and both of them sandwich next to you in silence as Tommy follows the path back to the road, his fingers drumming quietly against the steering wheel. But, you can feel the charge of Joel’s frustration as his fingers twist around each other. You tune it out eventually, the silence drowned out by the low hum of a cassette tape that was playing a song you had heard a thousand times by now.
You knew your own weakness was hope and it was dwindling every day.
-
By Denver, you’re all irritable. Eleven hours cramped in a truck on days of very little sleep and small scraps of meals you’ve made stretch for weeks. All the tension, arguing, and frustrations comes to a head when you stumble upon an abandoned cabin on the outskirts of town, close to the mountains and secluded. It was perfect. 
There was a large, brushy forest to hunt and it was right beside a stream. You knew it was better than nothing and that the three of you could make it work for a time—the only problem, it was already occupied.
“Stay in the truck,” Joel orders to you, cocking his gun in his lap before he’s stuffing it back into his jeans and nodding at Tommy to follow. You almost expect him to argue, but he doesn’t. He follows, like a dutiful little brother as they both stalk toward the cabin calmly.
It was one car, clearly hot-wired and stolen alongside its broken windows.
It was clear that whoever was in the cabin wasn’t the original owners either, spotting the pile of dead infected burned to a crisp beside a stack of logs that you assumed were to keep the fire burning inside the house, watching as the black smoke creeped out of the chimney.
The minutes that pass feel like an hour and you begin to wander if they both decided to keep going, abandon you and try their chances down the stretch of highway without you.
You scoot into the driver’s seat and open the door, stepping out carefully as they muddy ground causes you to slip until you regain traction and as you close the door you hear it—a loud crash, a scuffle, and then Tommy’s voice alongside Joel’s.
You run in without thinking, crashing through the slightly open door to find them both with their arms around the neck of two other men, the strangers your eyes set on are already fading. They claw, scramble for air but they’re losing. Joel slams the butt of his gun into the back of the head of the guy he’s holding before they’re both twisting at their necks in unison, the signifying crack louder than the bodies as they hit the ground.
It isn’t shocking as it should be, having seen so many people on the other end of Joel’s violence—but for Tommy, the guilt of you having to witness that is immediate.
“Kiddo, I’m sorry,” He approaches, his hands out in front of him—he was approaching you the same way he had on outbreak day, timid and careful, “you shouldn’t have had to see that.”
You glance at Joel briefly who’s gun drops to the floor behind him as he heaves the dead man up in his arms and drags him out the back door of the cabin, there’s a subtle shake to his head at Tommy’s words that makes your ears ring, drowning out his profuse apologies.
“It’s us or them, right?”
It cuts off his line of speech and his eyebrows raise slightly, “What?”
“Us or them—I’m always going to choose us, for as long as that is. Joel would too.”
Suddenly he realizes that his justifying is naut as Joel rounds the corner and continues to drag the other body out before he’s joining you both in silence as he rubs his hands against his jacket.
“Alright, uh—I want you both to settle in here, try and make it more homey for the time being. I’m gonna drive into town and see what supplies I can scavenge, should be back by nightfall.”
“I’ll come with you,” Joel adds, but Tommy stops him.
“No,” He tells his brother, a quick shake of his head, “stay here with her, get another fire going.”
And for once, Joel listens to his younger brother. His tongue is poking at his cheek as he looks away with a begrudging annoyance as he stalks toward the fireplace.
“Keep an eye on him,” Tommy whispers to you, “alright?”
You nod and smile at the gentle squeeze to your bicep that Tommy offers as he departs.
When he’s gone, the silence is deafening. Joel’s gun was still on the floor, somehow forgotten by the man who never let anything slip past him, always on guard, always ready to attack.
His back is turned when you pick up the gun, the deafening click making his head turn on a swivel.
-
He’s on you in seconds, standing from his crouched position but you were quicker, stuffing the gun behind your back with a faint smile, taking a few steps away.
“Give it to me,” Joel commands, palm extended in waiting.
“Not like you to leave stuff layin’ around,” you comment jestingly, “I think I’ll keep it for a bit.”
He stalks, heavy footsteps against the hardwood floor as you retreat further and further until you’ve ultimately cornered yourself and Joel lunges for it behind your back but you take the opportunity to sweep under his arm and slip from his grip, dangling the gun from the grip of it with two fingers.
“What? You don’t trust me with it?” you taunt, “Think I’m gonna shoot you, don’t you?”
“I’m not askin’ again,” He charges and despite your quick reflex his hand is on your wrist first, the other coming around your neck as he presses you against the back of an old, dusty couch. It creaks under your weight and sends a cloud of dust up with the movement, “drop it.”
“Say it to my face,” you retort behind a strangled tone, feeling the heavy pressure of his thick fingers around your throat, tilting your chin up at his face where he towers over you, “say it and I’ll go—you won’t see me again, hear from me. I won’t be your responsibility anymore.”
Joel shakes your wrist and squeezes and the gun drops, clattering against the floor but he doesn’t let go, not yet.
“You’ll die out there.”
You squint your eyes in disbelief, a soft laugh bubbling from your chest.
“Yeah, I’ve heard you repeat that to Tommy a million times over the last few months.”
You pull at his grip but find that it only tightens, your fingers clawing at the hand around your throat, his fingers tucked under your jaw as it pulls your chin up and up, nearly touching his chest with how close he is to you now, your feet scrambling slightly underneath your for proper footing as you leaned against the couch. 
You speak again, hoping to crawl under his skin and make him uneasy, bothered.
“What? Sudden change of heart?” you ask, “Suddenly I’m worth protecting? Tommy would love to know about the handful of men you’ve killed in my honor, you know?”
Joel’s face twitches at that, his eyes dragging toward the gun on the floor—that was your window.
You force your knees up and into his stomach, shoving him away as he stumbles but the feeling of his arm coming around your abdomen has you squirming, turning and hitting him with weak, balled up fists that didn’t amount to half the strength he encompassed. It was barely a struggle for him.
Eventually you give up, waiting and waiting for him to let you go. His gaze is heavy, almost curious in the way he watches you go through the stages of resistance to acceptance and then finally giving up before your eyes are peering up at him, pressed against him at every point of contact, the cold metal of his belt buckle digging into your stomach.
“You’re stuck with me and I’m sorry,” you tell him out of desperation, “I just want to learn and you could teach—”
It takes you a second to process when his lips press against yours, a biting kiss that is forceful and startling, gasping into his mouth at the action but your body reacts instinctively, arms wrapping around his neck and hands fisting into his hair, the subtle essence of salt and pepper that was only noticeable this close. Joel groans softly, the first true and honest sound that has come from him all evening.
“Irritating,” Joel speaks against your lips, mumbled as he leads you, bumping your legs against the arm of the couch before you’re both tumbling over, “—do you ever fuckin’ shut up?”
He’s coined you vexatious in his own mind, not realizing how impossible he was to be around either—stubborn, impossible. An unmoving force of rigidness, but here he was—pliable to the fingers that slip under his shirt as he settles between your open legs, his own pulling at the button of your jeans.
You don’t need words, knowing that you both have communicated off eye contact at a level that was never spoken about but just worked. It clicked and when he pushed, you gave into the blow.
Silently you work alongside his own hands, pushing your jeans down and off. You kick them to the floor, working at your underwear while he undoes his own jeans, feeling like you were both working against the clock with your heart hammering in your chest. He was eager, impatient—still Joel, but it was a new look. It was the dynamic that, for you, felt like the missing piece.
Weeks of constant bickering and side-eyed glances all boiling down to one break in his mulish personality, this was the resolve.
The warm touch of his palm against your upper thighs pull your attention to him and he breathes out harshly through his nostrils, his jeans shoved down his thighs and his free hand palming himself over his underwear, squeezing at your skin as he offers only one word in acknowledgement. A question.
“Yeah?”
You nod shakily, answering with a soft, “Yes.”
-
There is no build-up, no gentle touching that leads to soft caresses as Joel presses himself inside of you. His hand is gripping the arm of the couch above your head as he grips himself at the base of his cock before he’s pushing in with one solid jerk of his hips, a hurried and desperate movement to bury himself inside of you. Your fingers pull at the hair by his nape and he grunts, head pulling back as he snapped his hips back and pushed into you again, sharp and angered. His jaw was tense, the subtle peek of teeth bared behind his lips
It’s a harsh disjunction; a man you would watch from your window on weekends as he spent mornings chasing Sarah out in the lawn—softer, happier. Her protector.
With reluctance, he’s become your own. Whether he would admit it aloud or not, he knows. But, it isn’t the same—you were extra baggage, a burden, but one he felt chained too. And more importantly, distraction.
You could see his humanity slipping week by week, a dull shell of himself most days. He won’t even look at you now, his eyes squeezed shut as he thrusts into you, your eyes dragging from his face to his cock, your hand traveling down to fist at his shirt, dragging it up his stomach. 
The dark, coarse hair at the base of his cock traveled up his stomach, across his thighs. Big, strong thighs that held your legs apart and the thickness of him ached, stretched you open after months of unintentional celibacy forcing you to grip him tight, wincing with every continuous snap of his hips, feeling a hand come around to cup the back of your head, cradling it as his forehead drops and presses against your own, blocking your line of sight and forcing your eyes closed. Just feel, he’s trying to convey. Don’t think.
And it works, lingering thoughts fading away as pleasure bleeds in. His top lip grazing against the round part of your nose, his hot breath fanning over your mouth as he huffs and you moan against him, a soft and broken noise that only forces his grip to tighten against the back of your head and the other hand at your thigh, finger digging into the flesh so harshly that the ache would linger for days.
You feel the crest creeping up on you but it isn’t enough, slipping your fingers between your body silently, but the fingers around your wrist startle you, dragging you back to the surface and opening your eyes to his, his expression earnest but stoic.
“Don’t,” He shakes his head, “—just close your eyes, I got it.”
You can’t find the energy inside to argue, feeling the hand cradling your head circle around to the crown of your scalp, fingers digging into the hair and pulling taut, forcing your head back and then he’s touching you, two thick fingers circling your clit in time with his harsh, hurried thrusts.
You do close your eyes, feeling the soft tuft of his hair against the side of your face as buries himself there, his movements jerkier as his fingers work quickly, squeezing around him as your fingers dig into his forearm, hips working against his fingers instinctively to search out more and more until you’re tipping over the cliff and free-falling, coming with a soft gasp as he pulls away suddenly, fisting his cock tightly as he came over your stomach, hastily shoving your shirt out of the way as he grunts quietly, his face pinched and completely unreadable when you do finally find the energy to look at him, eyes dragging toward the ceiling as you breathe and try to process what the fuck just happened.
There’s a distant rip of fabric somewhere to the right of you and far away, noticing that Joel’s already redressed when he approaches and wipes gently at the mess of cum dressed across your stomach, shoving your jeans back into your hand in the same movement. 
You look at him oddly, shuffling the jeans and underwear in your grip as you rise, eyes following as he moved around, started building the fire Tommy had told him about a half hour ago and is so glaringly ignoring what had transpired just now—you move quickly, redressing to avoid the judgment if he looked back and you were still staring.
And you notice the itch, the unavoidable twitch in his shoulders as he can’t settle with his movements, occupying himself to keep running on the clear adrenaline high he was on—he’d killed a man and immediately directed his frustration at you and used it as a means to stall, distract, satiate that monster dwelling inside him that always came out around you.
“So, can I leave now?” You ask him, his eyes peeking over his shoulder as he shoved a new pile of wood into the fireplace, “Are we finished?”
“You’re not leaving,” Joel tells you—you weren’t moving, weren’t planning to, but you wanted to see where the conversation would go, whether Joel would admit that he cared more than he let on, his emotions so stunted since Sarah that they came out in bouts of violence and rage, “I’d never hear the end of it.”
You offer a smug chuckle in response, “So, I was right. You don’t want me around.”
Joel turns on his knee, allowing you to see the remnants of flush in his cheeks, his messy hair and his response that rips a hole straight through your chest, “I’m stuck with you because Tommy wants you around.”
It wasn’t a direct answer, but you could read into it enough.
You glance over the back of the couch, wondering if the gun was still laying on the floor where Joel had squeezed it out of your grip, but the click to your right has you turning in an instant, staring down the barrel of Joel’s gun.
“You got a lot to learn,” Your glare is less than impressed as it lands on him, petulant and annoyed, “Don’t ever touch my gun again, alright?”
“Oh,” you respond airily, an impish smile creeping onto your face as you tilted your head slightly, “so—you fucked me as punishment or because of some silly little fantasy you've always had of fucking your neighbors daughter?”
And to your surprise, Joel's response is less angered.
“You could do with a little punishment,” He rises on his knees, pocketing the gun back in his jeans, and smirking at your dumb-founded expression, “—couldn’t you?”
Joel approaches closer, motioning with his fingers for you to stand and without thinking, you follow. His subtle smirk grows wider and he’s reaching for the forgotten knife on the floor, having fallen off your pants in the midst of your hurried undressing.
“I ain’t here to teach—I’m keepin’ us alive. The sooner you learn to shut up and follow, the better,” He reaches for your hand, placing the knife into your open palm, “and you kissed back, so that look on your face, that regret—”
“Who said there was regret?”
Joel’s eyes stick to you, meeting yours fiercely for a moment as you take the knife from him and reattach it to the loop on your jeans. His tongue licks at his bottom lip briefly, watching the subtle grin spread across your face.
Your words were a challenge. 
And for you, that meant game on. 
-
dividers creds: @/saradika-graphics
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eilidh-eternal · 8 months
Text
You make a promise
Part of the Metanoia series | Part 1 | Masterlist |
| SingleDad!Johnny x f!reader | 18+ MDNI | CW mentions of SA, stalking, general PTSD warning for reader and Johnny |
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It happened again.
You knew it would. Know that part of being a woman in this world means living in near constant hyper-vigilance; with an acute awareness of your surroundings.
Should have known better. Should have been more aware. Should have kicked and screamed. Should have fought back.
It’s disappointment that curls around your mind like a serpent and sinks its fangs in deep, floods you with venomous, paralyzing thoughts.
Paralyzed. That’s a good word for it. Pinned against that bookshelf and presently burrowed beneath the blankets in the dark, body curled in on itself with trembling hands tucked tight to your chest. Small. Meek. Trapped in a body that betrays everything you taught it to do. Disappointed that the months of training you endured in the aftermath proved useless when tested outside of a controlled environment and theoretical scenarios.
It happened again–and you let it.
“Bubby?” Isobel is strapped in her car seat, kicking impatient little feet while Johnny works to unfasten the belt across her lap.
“Yes leannan?”
“Why’re the polis here?”
His hands go still, hovering above the buckle, and he turns his head over his shoulder just enough to glimpse the two lids standing on your front stoop. The air in his lungs rushes out of him, chin falling to his breastbone as the panic winding tight in his chest slowly unfurls.
This is home. Isobel is safe. Everyone is safe. This isn’t that day, he reminds himself, but seeing them on your doorstep strikes flint against steeled nerves. The carefully compartmentalized part of his brain that he reserves for work wrestles itself free from its confines and floods his body with adrenaline. Makes the hair on his nape stand on end and the muscles in his jaw tighten until it aches from the tension.
With Isobel extracted from the car, perched on his hip and her book bag slung over the opposite shoulder, he turns to nudge the car door closed, just in time to see your door crack open. Watches the two men present their badges and a folded bundle of paperwork. Gnashes his teeth when he sees, even from the street, wide and fearful eyes that scan everything behind them. Eyes that note his presence and dart away to catalog the next detail. Trodden snow and parked cars. The woman across the street, walking her dog. Surveying your front yard with the same scrutiny he does an engagement zone. 
Isobel squirming in his arms tears his focus away from you, forces him to register the burning sensation at the tip of his nose, the tops of his ears, cold winter air surely biting into her skin just as mercilessly as it does his own.
“I dunno. Let’s get ye inside, aye? Dinnae want to find any missing fingers or toes tonight.” 
To anyone else it would look like he’s taking his time with the ice, treading carefully with the little girl in his arms so as not to send them both crashing down into the snow. Anyone else would see lids next door and mind their own damn business.
Johnny’s never been particularly good at that.
Their presence alone is enough to raise his hackles, to pull the pin from his nerves and toy with letting the hammer fall. Just enough to see if they’re as trained up as the SNP says they are. But all that’s likely to do is scare you more, and he can’t have that. He just found you, just started to get to know you. He’ll be damned if he lets another rash decision chase a pretty thing like you away. 
The thought of it twists and knots in his stomach, plucks at the out-of-tune strings wound through his heart in a weeping facsimile of something he doesn’t dare put a name to. Can’t name because it gives it too much power. Makes it too real.
It’s slow going, pretending to fumble with the keys in the cold. Feigning indifference as he grapples with “—in custody, for now—” and “—press charges?” 
The snow and ice outside is a brilliant, blinding white. Inside, all Johnny can see is red. 
Charges? What on earth happened that she needs to press charges for?
“Bubby, too tight,” Isobel grouses, and he loosens his arm around her with a sigh, lowering her to the ground to help with her jacket and boots. 
“‘M sorry, Bell. Didnae mean to squeeze ye so tight.” Curls bounce around her face as she teeters on one foot, hands on his shoulders to keep her balance.
“It’s okay.” She shifts to her other foot, pulling free of the fleece-lined boots. “Ye’re makin’ a twisty face again,” she observes, and her brows mirror the pinch of his own.
Too damn observant.
“Ah know,” he admits, and his chest heaves with another sigh, reaching up to smooth the crinkles in her forehead with his thumb. “Dinna worry about me and muh twisty face. How ‘bout some hot cocoa? We’ll warm up and then see about supper, hm?” Her face splits into a toothy grin and he softens at the sight. Lets her latch onto his hand and drag him into the kitchen.
“May we come in?”
No.
“Of course.” You take a step back, pulling the door open just wide enough to let the two officers through. Melting snow pools on polished hardwood under their boots, and you quickly herd them towards the carpeted sitting room before the water can warp your floors. You sit opposite of where they do on your sofa, big fluffy robe pulled tight over flannel pants and a pullover.
“He’ll be released on Thursday morning, unless ye’d like to go ahead with the charges for—”
“—No.” Your fingers curl into your palms. “Just the restraining order. I—” Can’t see his face again. Don’t want to be in the same room with him again. “—just the restraining order. Please.”
The shorter of the two nods and produces a pen from his coat, scribbling something in the margins of the papers he holds before sliding them across the coffee table towards you.
“Tha’s the station an’ phone number,” he says, tapping on the notes he made. “We’ll ring ye when he’s released. An’ we’ll ‘ave the protective order in place by tomorrow. He shouldnae be botherin’ ye anymore.”
All you can manage is a nod and a whispered, “Thank you.” They’re kind enough. Most people are.
Until they’re not.
——
It’s dark outside when you hear a knock at your front door, and your hand immediately reaches for your phone, breath forced out of your lungs by the panic squeezing them inside your chest.
There’s a muffled voice. A giggle, followed by shushing and shuffling feet. “Dinnae want to spoil the surprise,” you hear in a familiar lilt.
Johnny?
You draw a relieved breath and wince when your nails press into the marks on your palms, angry crescent moons, and pull yourself up off the couch to peer through the edge of the curtains.
Johnny and Isobel stand, the former holding the latter, on your stoop, small pan of… something, in Isobels gloveless hands.
Bewildered as you are, you shed the blanket from your shoulders, smoothing a hand over your rumpled jumper, and hurry to the door, fretful over Isobels fingers in the frigid air.
The door cracks open, and with it, so do their smiles. 
“Hi, bonnie—”
“—Surprise!” they say at the same time. 
You stand dumbfounded in your doorway, hand braced on the wooden frame, and Isobel holds out what might be something of a cake beneath a mountain of whipped cream towards you.
“It’s a trifle,” she proudly announces. You turn a questioning eye to Johnny.
“Didnae have the fixin’s for a proper cake,” he supplies. “Figured it would be a sort of… olive branch.”
Olive branch? Why would he need—?
Clipped memories from several days ago replay in your head. Coming home. Sitting in the car. Johnny calling after you. Practically running away and slamming the door on him. Shutting him out.
And here he stands, thinking he’s done something worth apologizing over.
“You don’t need- you didn’t… oh, come in out of the cold, will you? No sense in freezing out there.” You push the door open wider, beckoning them in.
“Thought ye’d never ask,” he teases with a wink and shuffles inside, following you to the kitchen with Isobel in tow behind him.
“Here, let’s put that on the table.” Isobel gladly relinquishes the pan and you’re relieved when you feel its warmth seeping into your fingers, a little less worried about both of their lack of proper winter attire. “I’ve never served trifle… would bowls be best?” 
“Aye, ye’ll probably need spoons too. More of a pudding than a cake,” he says as he settles himself in a chair, Isobel quick to clamber up onto his lap.
You’re surprised by your own lack of nerves. The dishes don’t clatter together when you pull them from the cabinet as they have in recent days, and you don’t feel so uneasy with your back to them. Don’t feel the need to look over your shoulder when Isobel thrums her little fingers on the wooden table, or the deep rumble of Johnny’s voice, speaking to her in hushed tones.
You’re safe here. Safe with them.
Johnny’s right about the dessert too. It’s warm, freshly made, and it’s made for a bit of a runny affair, melted whipped cream seeping into custard and some sort of cake on the bottom.
“It’s good. Thank you for, um… Thank you for sharing.” You spoon another bite into your mouth before you can shove your foot in it. Isobel seems to be in another plane of existence entirely, too absorbed with the confection smeared at the corners of her mouth. The same can’t be said about Johnny. He’s focused wholly on you, dessert in front of him a secondary matter. Tertiary, even, with Isobel perched on his knee and his arm looped around her midsection.
The warmth in his eyes has shifted, burns brighter, in a seeking sort of way. Searching for tinder to catch on. More air to billow and blaze. “Can I ask ye somethin’?”
You settle your silverware in your bowl and fold your hands in your lap, pulling the inside of your cheek between your teeth when your nails slice into your palms again. “Sure.”
The silence isn’t uncomfortable so much as it is heavy, laden with the weight of his unspoken question as he continues his assessment of you. For a moment, you wonder if maybe it’s you who owes him an apology.
“Havnae seen ye for a few days. Yer car’s nae moved and yer curtain’s been closed. And last week, when ye–” He pauses abruptly, mulling over his next words carefully. “Ye looked like a green recruit, fresh off the field.”
Terrified.
Shell shocked.
“That have anythin’ to do with the fellows who dropped by today?”
Your eyes flick between his, the bowl on the table in front of you, and Isobel–still lost in her own little microcosm. Untainted by the dark things lurking just beyond her understanding. You knew he’d seen them. Knew he might ask about them at some point. What you hadn’t expected was a trojan horse in the form of a trifle. Thought you would have more time to think of something to explain the situation away.
This isn’t something he should be burdened with. Not over you. Not when he has Isobel to look out for.
When you finally meet his eyes again they’re no less dim. Still searching for words buried beneath ash on your tongue.
“I… Yes. It did.” You swallow, shove down the knot working it’s way up from your chest. “I was followed, out at the shops,” you lie. “The man, he wouldn’t leave me alone, so… the shopkeeper called for the polis. He left me alone after that, but they still took a statement.” You glance towards Isobel again. To give yourself reprieve from the intensity of his gaze and to ensure she’s not listening too closely to the conversation being had. “Guess it wasn’t the first time he’d done it. They came by today to… to let me know he’s in custody. Wanted to know if I wanted to press charges.”
He’s quiet, unearthly still on the wooden chair, staring hard at the expression you’re doing your best to keep calm.
“This happen before?” he questions, hand curling into a fist on the table. 
“No,” you lie–again. 
He nods, a near imperceptible tilt of his chin. “Are ye filing?”
You nod in return. No need to go into the specifics. 
His shoulders relax a fraction when he looses a long breath. “No wonder ye wouldnae come near me that day,” he muses aloud. “‘M sure my givin’ ye a fright in yer car didnae help much, either.”
“It’s not your fault,” you interject.
“Maybe so, but…” His eyes drift with his words, searching the patterns of the wood grain for something. “Can I ask ye another question?” When he looks up at you again, you nod. “Promise ye’ll tell me, if anythin’ like that happens again? Dinna like the thought of ye dealin’ with it on yer own, lass.”
“Tell ye what?” Isobel queries, bowl of trifle empty in front of her, but his gaze remains firmly on you, and you don’t think he’s willing to take no for an answer.
“Okay. I promise.”
Next>>>
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©️Eilidh-Eternal.2024 ~ The intellectual property of Eilidh-Eternal is not permitted for reposting, transcription, translation or use with AI technologies.
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vivwritesfics · 8 months
Text
Set The World On Fire
Chapter Two
Lando Norris had been incredibly angry when they met. Incredibly angry, but sweet enough to help her. Turns out he just needed somebody to talk to, somebody to be there for him.
He was easy to fall for, and that put her in a world of danger
Mafia AU
1.7K
Warnings: drinking, drunk driving (nobody gets hurt but I don't condone this)
Series Masterlist
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Lando wasn't in a bad mood when he returned to the club. Actually talking to somebody about his little problem seemed to have helped, even if only slightly.
He sat himself back in his booth and got himself a fresh whisky. He didn't want the dancers, he never did. He surveyed the people coming in and out of his club. The man she'd entered with was still there, trying to chat up his bar maid. He had to back off or Lando was gonna be all over him, throwing him out of his club.
As the night progressed the club emptied out. Thursdays were never a busy night. Normally Lando didn't bother coming on a Thursday, but he needed to get out of the house, to get drunk.
He poured himself another whisky.
Suddenly four men came walking through the door of his club. Lando was stood to attention, recognising them all too well. Fuck, they were here already? That meant he was, too.
Lando watched as Sainz's men milled about his club, staring at his girls. They whistled and threw their money about, some of them ordering drinks at the bar. They spoke in Spanish, Lando not quite able to understand what they were saying.
He had two more whiskies before the club closed. The rowdy group of men were pushed outside, the door locking them out. The staff set on cleaning the place up while Lando had one more whisky and made his way out of his club.
He was very drunk when he drove home. It was dangerous, a wonder he made it home at all. There were no other cars on the road and he was driving a lot slower than he thought he was, which must have helped.
When he made it back to his family estate, there was another car parked out the front. Lando climbed out of his own. He left the car door open as he walked up the steps and pushed open the front door. Somebody would take care of his car for him, probably.
His sister was asleep. Even drunk Lando could tell that. He tried to be quiet as he moved through the house, but he knocked into every piece of furniture, cursing with volume as he did so.
There were voices. They were hushed, like the people didn't want to be heard. Lando tried to follow them, tried to locate the voices. In his sizable house he walked into the wrong room a few times before he stumbled into the kitchen.
There his sister was with a glass of milk. "Hey," he said as he leaned against the door. The room was spinning as he ran his hands through his hair, trying to ease the headache that was already starting, and loosened his tie.
And then he spotted who his sister was talking to. Carlos fucking Sainz. Lando wasn't entirely sure how to react to that. His eyes went wide as he looked at the man that used to be his best friend. "Carlos. You're not meant to be here."
The look his sister was giving him, she looked so disappointed with him. But she usually did when he returned from the club. It was something Lando was used to by now. He didn't care anymore.
The longer Lando stared at Carlos, the more enraged he became. He stumbled into the room, grabbed a hold of his sister and tried to push her behind him. "Stay away from my-" he hiccupped "-sister."
Everything was blurry. Carlos's face was like an out of focus picture as he stared at it. "Lando," his sister said as she grabbed a hold of him and walked him over to the kitchen table. Reluctantly, he sat down in the chair she had pulled out for him and continued to stare at Carlos as she ran to grab him a glass of water.
"Get the fuck out of my kitchen." It was sudden and abrupt, but it was unsurprising. His words were slurred, but Carlos and his sister understood him anyway.
"Lando, be nice," she said as she put the water down and sat beside him.
But Carlos shook his head, his hair bouncing about. "No, he is right," he said. "I should not have come early. I apologise."
Lando didn't care about his apology. He didn't want to hear it, he wanted him out of his house. "You stay. We're having words," he commanded and Carlos obeyed. He stayed sat in his seat, his hands clasped in front of him.
He told his sister to go to bed and she did. She left her glass of milk where it was a disappeared further into the house. Lando didn't look at her when she left. He kept his focus on Carlos.
Even when she was out of the room, Lando knew she was still listening in. On shaky legs he stood and pushed the kitchen door shut, slamming it in front of him.
There he stayed for just a minute. The weight of the gun in his pocket was incredibly light. He could have pulled it out and shot Carlos in the head, nobody had to know. Except his men were here with him. If he turned up dead, there would be an all out war.
But it would have been so easy.
Lando turned and took his seat. He sat and let out a breath, one that stank of whisky. "Why the fuck are you here?" Lando spat at him. He made a gesture with his arms as he spoke, one big enough to knock over his glass of water. "Why the fuck are you here with my sister?"
"You're drunk, Lando."
Of course he was drunk. It didn't take a genius to work that out/ "You're not supposed to be here until tomorrow."
"My father had another business to attend to," Carlos answered quickly.
"Well, why did you come here?"
Carlos stared at him for a moment. This wasn't the Lando he once knew. "We were friends once upon a time," he answered. "Do you remember that, Lando? Do you remember when we were children?"
"Yes Carlos. I remember being a kid. I remember our fathers pointing guns at each other."
Carlos shook his head. "No, I'm talking about when we were boys and we'd spend all day playing together. We'd chase each other around the garden while our fathers did business."
"What's your point?"
"What happened to you, Lando?"
"I grew up."
***
The white card was on the counter that separated her kitchen from her living room. She hadn't called yet, hadn't wanted to seem too desperate. But it wasn't like they had been flirting. He clearly just wanted some company.
In her pyjamas she watched television, a bowl of popcorn in her lap. The date had been atrocious, but the night wasn't all bad.
The club had been sleazy, sure, but she hadn't minded it. The back room was... nice. There had been paperwork on the floor and a full cabinet of booze to the left of the desk. It hadn't looked like a typical back office. But Lando had been nice. He had been lovely, actually.
She looked back at the white card on her counter top. It was too early to call. The club would probably be closed and he certainly wouldn't be there.
She didn't know what was going on in her city, that there was a crime family operating everything. She didn't know about the mafia families that ruled the world, or that she had just met the man set to lead one of them. She didn't know about Hamilton and how he ruled over everything.
Her phone buzzed on the coffee table in front of her.
Where'd you go? Came a text from the man she had left in the club.
He'd only just noticed. It had been several hours, and he'd only just noticed. She didn't respond. She blocked his number and placed her phone down beside her, returning her attention to her movie.
But then she got an idea. If that was Lando's number on the little white card, then she could text him, right. If it was the number for the club, then the text wouldn't go through, and she wouldn't be missing out on anything.
She quickly grabbed the white card from the counter and put the number into her phone. Lando - Strip Club. The contact name made it sound so much more sleazy than it was. He should have been sleazy. He was in his early twenties and he owned a strip club - was there anything sleazier?
Is this Lando from the club? She texted and put her phone down on the coffee table in front of her.
Just a few minutes later it vibrated. Who the fuck is this? Not the friendliest of responses, sure, but it didn't entirely come as a surprise. But at least she knew she had his number and not the number for the club.
That was when she realised she never told him her name. Even if she said it to him, he wouldn't know. It's the girl from the club, the one you called a cab for, she sent.
Those three little dots appeared at the bottom of the screen. Seconds later, a text came though. Let me switch you to my personal phone.
It was another few seconds before another text came through, this time from a different number. Hey club girl, it's Lando, the text said. She saved it to her phone again, under the same contact number.
Club girl has a name, you know she sent back, hoping he'd view it in jest. It's Y/N, btw - i'm Y/N, btw
nice to finally have a face to the name, Lando responded. pretty name for a pretty face
Oh, that had to be flirting, she decided. There was no way to read it as anything but. So, she tried to reply with something equally as flirty, but it ended up just being awkward.
It was a good thing Lando liked awkward.
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turtletaubwrites · 7 months
Text
Sweet Abduction ~ Part 3 ~ End
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I absolutely adored this request, and you can click here for Part 1 and Part 2. I was nervous about trying my hand at some smut with this lovely 16.5 ft (509 cm) tall man, but y'all overwhelmingly voted for a smutty ending, so I did my best. I hope you enjoy this sweet conclusion! 💜🍩
Pairings: Katakuri x Fem!Reader
Word Count: 3781
Ao3 Link
Summary: You and your new husband get to know each other, and what makes the other feel good. Maybe this abduction was a miracle after all.
Rating/Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content, 18+, MDNI, AFAB!Reader, She/Her Pronouns for Reader, Reader-Insert, Fluff, Smut, Light Angst, Grief, (reader's dad has passed and she thinks about him a lot), Arranged Marriage, Forced Marriage, Vaginal Fingering, Blow Jobs, Spit, Comeplay, Size Kink, Human/Monster Romance, He's freaking 16 ft tall, Reader is too sweet for this world
A/N: I love these two so much, they deserve all the sweetness in the world! 🥰
| masterlist | about me | rules | ao3 | ko-fi |
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Every slow, steady step of the man who carried you sent your heart beating faster.
Your husband held you against his massive chest, the moment you were waiting for fast approaching. Your lungs didn’t quite know what to do now that it was so close. 
“Do you have a map? I think I’ll get lost in here on my own.”
Katakuri’s soft chuckle felt so soothing through his warm skin.
“I’ll have one drawn up for you. There’s also some vehicles that you can use to traverse it quickly, and tomorrow the staff will return, so you can always ask for their assistance.”
“Staff,” you chirped, once again feeling out of place.
“Yes. I dismissed them for the evening so that we… I thought we should be alone on our wedding night.”
He couldn’t see your shy smile as you bit your lip, but you were sure he felt the bob of your head as you tapped it against his chest. 
“Here we are,” he announced, opening a door made for someone his size.
“How do I open the door?”
Katakuri apologized, clearing his throat as he set you down. You had never met anyone so calm and polite, and you had no idea why it should make your skin flush the way it does.
Beside the door he’d opened was one your size, and you bit the inside of your lip to hold in laughter. 
It’s like a pet door.
The image of your door, so tiny next to his, reminded you of those little doors for dogs and cats.
It didn’t seem right to make that sort of comment on your wedding night when you didn’t know how he’d react, so you bounced on your toes, trying to think of anything else.
He led you inside an immense suite that hardly seemed different than all the walkways and rooms you’d already passed. 
Except for a corner of the room that had been decorated as an extravagant bedroom for you, your furniture looking adorable amidst all the space. 
“Where’s your bed?”
Reaching to touch his knee as you surveyed the room, the only furniture you saw of his size was a desk and chair. 
“I never lay on my back.”
“Katakuri,” you hissed, poking his leg, “Please tell me we don’t have to keep up the lie in our own bedroom?” 
“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he said softly, kneeling to see you closer, “the staff enter this room occasionally, and I can’t risk it.”
A pout formed on your face from the disappointment, but he only smiled, bringing his finger to his lips as if shushing you.
That finger stretched, and your eyes went wide as the tip of it formed into a key.
He stood against a blank wall and pressed a brick as if it were a button. The wall slid away to reveal a large door, which he unlocked with that mochi key, offering his hand to carry you inside. 
“This secret really is precious to you,” you giggled, listening to the wall slide back into place after he locked you in with him.
“It is.”
Your laughter halted as he set you down on the edge of the bed. 
“Don’t worry,” you promised, gripping the soft blankets as he sat on the floor in front of you. “You’re my family now. I’ll protect your secret.”
“I know,” he said, the trust in his deep voice making you smile.
The small smile on his wide lips brought that fluttery feeling back, and you dangled your feet off the side of the bed. The bed was only a little taller than you were, so hopping onto it yourself would be like jumping a fence.
Falling off of it in the dark would still hurt.
Meeting his crimson eyes, your skin flushed again as you realized how distracted your mind was. How nervous you were. How he sat so patiently, his silence always peaceful instead of awkward. 
“Y/N, we don’t ha–”
“Katakuri, can you–”
“Sorry,” he cleared his throat as you gave a small laugh, “you go first.”
Your voice came out high as you tried not to squirm. 
“Can you kiss me again?”
This time his silence held more than peace. His brows tensed just slightly, looking at you as if he didn’t understand. 
But he came to you. 
One of those strong, warm hands stroked your hair, pressing lightly against your back. As he moved in, you couldn’t believe how a man so sweet could have such sharp and dangerous teeth. 
I know he won’t hurt me. 
The thought made you sigh with contentment, and you pressed your lips against his larger ones, minding the tusk-like fangs on either side. 
“Wait,” you breathed against him before pulling yourself up to kneel on the bed.
Those eyes were even more gorgeous up close, and you smiled at him before tracing your fingers along his jaw. 
The way he’d reacted when you kissed his neck earlier made you want to kiss him more, so you did.
His hand on your back tensed when you laid your lips along his scars, but you whispered ‘wait,’ and he let you keep going. Keep touching and kissing his beautiful face until you heard, and felt, a satisfied hum move through him. 
“This feels good?”
“It does. What feels good for you?”
Shyness hit you again, and you bought time by taking off your shoes and tossing them as far as you could, bringing what seemed to be another rare smile to those wide lips. 
You hoped that smile wouldn’t be rare with you.
“I like when you touch me,” you started, fighting to keep eye contact as the hand at your back moved softly against your hair and shoulders. “I like when you hold me. I like feeling you.”
“Will you tell me if you don’t like something, or want to stop?”
“Of course,” you agreed, grabbing his wrist, “will you keep telling me what you like?”
“Let’s agree to do both,” he said, both of you nodding as he pulled his hand away. 
“If you’re comfortable, Y/N,” he started, his deep eyes pouring over you, “I would love to see you. All of you.”
“Oh.”
Blood rushed to your face, your cheeks, the tips of your ears, but you climbed away from the edge to stand on the bed. 
After a moment of struggle, you couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t think I can take it off myself,” you gasped with laughter, turning to show him the complicated lacing that a team of servants had done up for you.
“May I help,” he chuckled softly, bringing his fingers to your wedding dress when you agreed.
Just those fingers running along your spine, pulling and tugging at your dress, was enough, bringing more delightful chills across your skin.
“Hmm…”
“What,” you asked, voice breathy.
“Would you be opposed to me tearing the lacing open? I don’t believe I can untie this without harming you or the dress.”
“I don’t mind! I didn’t even pick it out,” you laughed.
“I’m sorry–”
“Oh, don’t be sorry, Katakuri. I’m happy we’re here together now,” you turned to smile at his guilt ridden face. “Please get this thing off of me, husband.”
Seeing guilt replaced with satisfaction at your words made you want to keep doing that. Keep making your sweet, frightening partner look happy. 
“Will you trust me?”
You agreed, then followed as he guided you into his hand, leaning over to bare your back to him.
“Please stay still, Y/N.”
A breath held in your body as he brought you close to his face. He never touched your skin, but you felt the laces snap and loosen, and knew he’d cut them with his teeth. 
So sharp. 
He set you on your feet, and you held your dress up as the back fell. Katakuri opened and closed his mouth, and you realized that you could both talk awkwardly through the whole night if one of you didn’t push through.
You let that heavy, decadent fabric fall down your skin, giggling a little as you had to shimmy it down your hips. You hopped out of the circle of fabric, and tried not to cover yourself with your as you stood in lingerie. 
What do I do with my hands?
Katakuri’s eyes were so intense, as if you could feel them on you. Instead of squirming, you surprised yourself, stripping the lingerie until nothing but skin remained.
He took a deep breath, and sighed, tilting his head toward you.
“You are gorgeous, Y/N. I thought so the moment we met.”
“Same to you,” you teased, deciding to sit back down to fight off the urge to hide.
He removed his white boots and vest while you watched. You bit your lip not to laugh at how cute it was that he’d kept his frightening spikes and buckles, and just made everything white. Sitting in front of you again, his smile seemed stronger, as if he was starting to believe it was alright to show it. 
“I would like to make you feel good. Can I try?”
“Yes, please,” you breathed, hands shaking with nerves as Katakuri bunched up the blanket behind you like a pillow. He leaned over you, that soft press of lips against yours before he hovered over your chest, eyes darker now. 
“Please tell me if this is alright,” he checked in, humming quietly as you nodded.
The touch of his breath on your skin was already amazing, breathing over your chest, your stomach, your legs. His hands brought a gasp to your throat, arching your back as he traced fingers all over you, until your skin was tingling.
“That feels so good.”
Your praise was like an invitation, and soon those large fingers were massaging your breasts. He was so so gentle as he teased your nipples, and you heard his soft intake of breath when you cried out. 
Those fingers trailed down to your thighs, spreading them softly.
“Is it al–”
“Please touch me, Katakuri,” you begged, spreading your legs further for him.
All the deep, pleased noises he had let out as you reacted to him made your eyes roll back, and the feather light touch of one of his fingers through your folds was almost overwhelming.
“Y/N…”
His pause brought your eyes to him, and you felt your body clench with need as you watched him lick the taste of you off his finger.
“You’re so wet, so sweet... Is this all for me,” he asked softly, bringing his finger back to slide along all that wetness, finding your clit to circle gently.
His words hit you like a tease, but somehow you knew he was genuinely asking.
“Yes, Katakuri,” you managed to confess while his finger made you twitch. “You make me feel so good. I want you.”
His mouth parted as he watched you writhe for him. You fought to keep your eyes on his, wanting him to see it, to believe it. 
His jaw loosened just a bit, his eyes growing even darker as he circled that finger around your entrance. 
That finger was at least the width of two of a man your size, and it was so long. He tested you, pressing in softly, smiling at your nod before plunging it inside of you. 
Slowly thrusting, he brought his other hand to your face, rubbing his thumb along your cheek.
“I can’t believe how lucky–”
He cut himself off with a groan as you turned your head to take that large thumb into your mouth. You sucked and bit at him, swirling your tongue around his thumb as you watched those hungry eyes. 
He curled the finger inside you, hitting that sweet spot until you were moaning around his thumb.
“Fuck, Y/N,” he rasped as he drew that thumb out of your mouth, trailing spit down your chin. “I’m going to make you feel so good.”
Katakuri kept his promise, bringing that spit covered thumb to your clit. Already so close, you moaned as he teased another finger, testing, pressing gently until you nodded, now plunging two of those large fingers in to stretch you. 
“Please, please, please.” 
“Are you okay–”
“Yes, please please,” you panted as his fingers started working in you.
“Mm, does my lovely girl want to come? Do it for me, sweetheart. Come for me.”
“Katakuri!”
Your hands fisted into the blanket, back arching as you moaned, screamed for him. For your sweet, scary husband whose fingers stretched and fucked you, curling up again and again, his large thumb rubbing perfectly over and around your clit.
It felt like an explosion, your mind going blank for everything except for raging pleasure, your body thrashing on that huge bed. 
When your awareness came back, you were still twitching from aftershocks as he chuckled, smoothing those hands along your skin again.
“Kata… kuri… that felt amazing.”
“I’m so glad,” he sighed, tracing fingers through your hair. “Do you need anything?”
He helped as you struggled to sit up, your breathing still ragged as you grinned up at him. 
“I want to make you feel good, please.”
“I…”
“Can I try?”
His own breath was heavy after what he’d done to you, and that made you want to give him more. 
You chewed on your lip as he stood, removing those white pants with all their buckles and straps. 
“It’s okay, we don–”
Katakuri started to turn away when he saw your jaw drop, but you coughed, your voice coming out high and breathy.
“Will you lie down with me?”
He climbed into bed, propping up on a pile of pillows the size of couch cushions. 
“Tell me if this is alright,” you whispered as you crawled onto his chest.
Smiling at his nod, you laid against him to kiss his neck as you’d done earlier, enjoying the rush of the chills that ran over his skin. 
“I like that,” he rasped, sighing as you left a trail of kisses along the crook of his neck. You teased a small bite, waiting for his response after he twitched slightly. 
“I like that too, Y/N.”
Feeling his body react to your touch like this was delicious, growing that heat in your core, that desire for him. 
Nibbling his earlobe was a dangerous task, but worth it, as this massive warrior squirmed under your touch. 
“N-No more,” he pleaded, gently moving you away from his ear to sit on his chest.
“Did it feel good?”
“It did,” he admitted after a pause.
You answered by laying kisses and soft touches down his chest. 
He must not get a lot of touch in his lonely life, you thought as you enjoyed his reactions. 
I’m going to change that.
You worshiped his gorgeous body as he’d worshiped yours. Kissing and nibbling down his skin, you traced his muscles and tattoos with your fingers while his breathing and gentle moans were like the sweetest of songs. 
Until you worked your way down, and sat beside the gorgeous, throbbing length of him. 
The fact that he was larger than anyone you’d ever seen wasn’t a surprise. The girth alone was intense, but even though his length was intimidating, you tilted your head at it. 
Maybe it’s possible?
You realized you’d been thinking about it almost scientifically, and looked up at his face, a hint of concern on it. 
“Y/N, I don’t need or expect that, there are ple–”
“I won’t lie, Katakuri, you are very intimidating,” you teased, regretting the choice of words immediately as his face started to fall. You gripped onto his hip to bring his eyes back to you.
“But I would love to try that with you. I think we might be able to. Just maybe not tonight.”
“No,” he agreed, his face soft again as he stroked your hair. “I don’t want to hurt you. I only want you to feel good tonight.
“Well, you’re doing a great job so far,” you laughed, poking his side. 
“So are you, little wife.”
The heat in his voice, along with those words, made your skin flush all over again, somehow feeling shy after everything you’d already done.
“I like when you make this face,” he chuckled, touching your cheek. 
“Stop,” you squirmed, hiding behind your hands. 
“Please, don’t hide that pretty face from me.”
His deep voice vibrated through his body, so you could feel his request through your legs as you sat on him, making you shiver more. But you listened, looking up at your gorgeous husband. 
“Perfect,” he whispered, tracing from your temple to your jaw as your lips parted. 
“Can I,” you choked out, clearing your throat before trying again, “can I make you feel good now?”
Seeing those scarred lips curve around those sharp teeth would probably scare most, but you already loved seeing it. It sent warmth right through you before you brought your attention to that needy length of his. 
He had softened a bit as you talked, but you could see the drip of precum that had trailed down, rolling along thick veins that made you bite your lip. 
It twitched before you touched it, already getting hard as his sharp eyes watched your every move. 
Your fingers reached out to tease, just as you’d done across his body, tracing from the base to the tip, eliciting a little twitch from the crimson haired man beneath you.
Trying not to laugh, you realized you might get bucked off if Katakuri twitched too hard. 
Pushing your thoughts away, you focused on the thick flesh in front of you, and the hungry eyes devouring you. 
You had to taste him. Had to. 
With your tongue flattened against him, you licked along those gorgeous veins, licked up that trail of precum, flicking your tongue across the slit of his tip, before kissing it, tongue swirling as you met his eyes again. 
His wide mouth was open, sharp teeth parted as he breathed heavily, and you saw his large hands fisted in his sheets. 
“Does that fee–”
“Don’t stop,” he begged, his voice strained as you’d pulled your mouth away. “Fuck, Y/N, please don’t stop.”
You answered with your tongue, licking and teasing around him, bringing your hands to his throbbing cock that tasted soo good. 
One hand couldn’t fit around his girth, so you used both to slowly stroke up and down while you wrapped your lips around his tip. 
His head tilted back as he moaned, your new favorite sound.
“Just like that, so good…”
Spit dripped down his length as you gave him as much as you could. The feel of him, the sounds he made, it had your own body twisting, clenching with need. You found yourself moaning and rocking your body back and forth as you touched him. 
“Y/N, is that… Are you dripping on me?”
His husky voice made you pause, until his fingers slid between your thighs. 
“Fuuckk,” he cried out as you moaned, his fingers coming away dripping with slick. 
“You like my cock– fuck… this much, honey?”
“Yes, Katakuri,” you whined, your body feeling desperate as you kept stroking him.
“You’re doing so well, little wife. Grind that sweet pussy right here for me,” he gestured, bringing his fist up beside you. 
With shaky limbs, you sat on the back of his hand, finding the perfect friction for you to grind on while you went back to your task. 
The relief made you moan around him, and you opened wider to take as much of his thick cock into your mouth as you could handle. 
“Fuck, you’re so wet. Sweet mouth feels so good.”
Every delicious word of praise that dripped from those lips was like fuel to the fire in your blood. You rocked against his hand, drenching his skin as your clit got that perfect pressure.
Your eyes rolled back as you felt that thick cock starting to twitch. 
“Wait,” he choked out, his free hand moving to pull himself out of your mouth. 
But you whined, clinging to his cock as you hit your orgasm, grinding on his skin as he started to moan your name. 
The feeling of those veins throbbing and pulsing was incredible. He came spilling into your mouth as your lips were wrapped around his tip. You tried to swallow it all, but it was so much. 
You let it spill down the sides, using it to slide your hands along him a few more times as he let out deep, glorious moans. 
Out of breath, both of you twitched and gasped until you could speak again. 
“You made a mess,” you teased, gesturing to his come as it dripped from your chin to your stomach. 
He let out a surprised laugh, and you gasped as he pulled his hand out from under you. 
“So did you,” he rasped, making your eyes roll back as he licked your wetness off of the back of his hand. 
“How do you feel?”
His gentle words seemed so much more open, less full of worry, and you loved it. 
“I feel amazing, husband.”
“Mm, so do I, little wife.”
You scrunched your nose at the pet name, feeling like you should argue. But you liked it. 
I like him. 
You smiled to yourself as you watched him leave, going to clean up. 
“What’s wrong,” he asked as he returned, that worry back in his voice as he handed you a damp towel. 
“Hm? Oh, I’m sorry!”
Tears had pooled in the corners of your eyes, and you wiped them away with a laugh.
“I’m just happy, Katakuri. It’s crazy how this all happened. But I’m really happy to be here with you now.”
This sweet man’s face softened, making you believe your own words even more. You cleaned yourself off, and let him lift you up as he crawled into bed. 
Katakuri laid on his back for you. He let you lie on his chest, the deep rhythm of his heart pulsing through you, sending your relaxed body to sleep. 
But not before his gentle fingers stroked your hair, trailing down your back as you melted, the memory of your dad’s voice coming to wish you goodnight.
‘Don’t fight miracles, sweetheart. Sometimes good people really do get good things.’
You were right, dad. I won’t be alone anymore.
Katakuri’s deep voice rolled over you, proving it.
“I’m happy too, Y/N. I’m happy you’re my family now.”
You drifted off with his warm skin on yours, and had the sweetest dreams you’d ever had. 
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Likes and reblogs bring me much ✨dopamine✨ thank you so much!
a/n: Thank you for joining me on this super fluffy adventure! It's definitely the sweetest thing I've ever written, and I hope you you enjoyed it! 🍩💖
Tag List: @shewrites02 | @jadeddangel
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her-devils-advocate · 4 months
Text
Home, love, family
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pairings: Levi Ackerman x reader
genre: fluff
summary: It has been some time since the fighting had ended, the world has started to move on and you find yourself doing the same.
You and Levi decide it is time to start taking the next step towards enjoying the future you fought for.
word count: 1,787
ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56315470
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After years spent fighting towards a dream, an ideal world without titans and worry, you now find yourself standing within that once unrealistic future. It didn't come without sacrifice, each tally on your heart continues to weigh it down to this day, but you refuse to stop carrying the souls of your friends. Some part of you likes to believe that while you live on while carrying their memory, they get to experience this new life by your side, wherever they may be.
The world isn't as you had hoped, the price paid seems too high for some, yet you are content to try and put it behind you as much as possible. You fought for too long and lost too much to not make the most of the new world. A sentiment you're glad to share with Levi.
You now stand in awe as you survey the large clearing in the forest, the trees forming a new, more natural wall around you. The ancient bark twists towards the sky and erupts into a sea of green above, you were surprised to see such a gorgeous sight had evaded the rumbling at first, already used to the muddy barren land you and many others had found themselves in.
Your eyes widen when they finally fall on the small, cosy cottage sat proudly within. Flowers surround the building, attracting the attention of the perfectly round bumblebees nearby, happily flittering between each bud without a care in the world. You watch them hover with a small smile, maybe you can finally experience a similar life, having been freed of the bonds of duty. Now free to spend your days working to provide a life for you and Levi, rather than the future of mankind.
You're so distracted by your thoughts that you fail to notice Levi slowly approaching you, taking the time to remove the few bags you had brought from the car.
"And just when I thought we had escaped living behind walls." He mutters as you move to take the bags off him, shooting him a glare as he puts up a small fight despite his cane.
"Oh hush, this is different. We have all the privacy in the world here, a quiet place just for you, me and whoever we allow to visit." You cannot help but grimace, that list of people has grown shockingly short. You shake your head, refusing to let that train of thought continue its rampage through your mind, there are always new bonds to be forged alongside flowers to lay against cold stone memorials.
Noticing your falling mood, Levi steps forward to take the bags back one more, only to place them on the stepping stones leading towards your new home. He then lays his cane on top, before carefully making his way towards you.
Before you can ask him what he's doing, he scoops you up with ease. One hand is securely around your back while the other rests under your knees. The action brings a small squeak out from your lips, the surprise rendering you speechless as you wrap your arms around his neck, staring up at him with wide eyes. He rolls his eyes at your darkening cheeks before walking towards the door, giving it a swift kick all while happily ignoring the offended look you give him in return.
“Hey! We haven’t even officially moved in yet and you’re already being rough with the place.” Your expression downplays your words and you find it hard to keep up the stern tone for long.
“Tch, it’s fine. Do you see any damage? No. Anyways, I’d fix it if there was, it’s not like we don’t have the time for that now.”
You don’t bother to reply, letting the back-and-forth drop before it can grow. Instead, you take the time to study his face, carefully following the jagged scars running along one side of his face. You slowly unwrap one of your hands and bring it to gently stroke along the scar, smiling tenderly as he subtly leans into the action. His eyes are tired, something you are well acquainted with, but recently you have noticed a new light shining within the grey of his eyes, a peace that neither of you had experienced bringing new sensations to your life.
“Time… We have all the time we need now.” You echo his sentiment, watching his eyes soften as he looks down at you with a small smile. You will never get tired of seeing that expression on his face, soaking up the rare sight each time while doing your best to lure it out of him whenever you can. You are momentarily brought back to reality when you feel him shift you in his arms, his face betraying nothing despite the way he continues to favour one of his legs and has swapped to leaning against the wall.
“What are you doing?” You question as your hands come up to straighten out his cravat, the silky material having fallen loose during the long journey you had just taken.
“Carrying you.” His voice is monotone, yet you can feel the mix of exasperation and amusement within his words. You give him a look that shows just how unimpressed you are, you fight off a small grin when he rolls his eyes and continues, “If you didn’t want that answer, you should have been more specific.”
“Okay then, why are you carrying me when last time I checked, I’m not the one with the injured leg?”
At that, he scoffs yet makes no move to release you. Instead, his grip on you tightens and you watch as a small blush dusts his cheeks. He avoids your eyes, instead peering into the half-empty cottage awaiting your arrival. 
“Isn’t it a tradition to carry your partner across the threshold of your new home?” His voice is low and his head is held even lower as he does his best to casually hide his expression from your prying eyes. You can’t fight off your blush, now painting your cheeks with a rosy hue to pair with his.
You open your mouth, only to close it, the words escaping you as you try your best to respond, not wanting to leave him squirming. “That’s usually done after a wedding unless you have something to tell me. You didn’t marry me in the night, did you?”
You keep your words as playful as you can with your heart threatening to jump out of your chest and mix itself up in your sentences, the hope you had pushed down over the chaotic months now deciding to slowly crawl back into the front of your mind. The small huff of amusement he gives in reply doesn’t help to push the hope back into its confinements. 
“Can’t say I did, that’s something I would want you to remember and knowing you, you’d also make us have some shitty party, with a cake and those brats to celebrate it with.” Levi’s voice is gentle as he gets caught up in his imagination and you find yourself staring up at him, eyes wide with adoration.
“We would have the biggest party, I would invite everyone that we know. You’d be so fed up by the end of the night, utterly sick of the attention and ready to leave.” You rest your head against his chest with a small chuckle, feeling his quiet laughter gently rock your body. 
“I can see that a little bit too well. You would insist on dancing with everyone from our squad and I would end up glaring at one of them, probably Connie, for being clumsy and standing on your foot.” You can hear the affection he continues to hold for your old squad laced in his words and find yourself slowly nodding against his chest, your fingers playing with the fabric of his shirt.
“Connie would absolutely be the one to do that, he would panic and then step on my foot. Then he would see your face and panic even more, calling you “Captain Levi” on instinct despite us being retired now,” you slightly lower your voice and speed up your words to mimic the boy’s voice, earning a scoff from Levi. “Then Jean would tease the poor boy, making him get embarrassed while Armin or Mikasa would try to gently de-escalate the pair.”
“And then I would snatch you away in the middle of the commotion and we would sneak out to finally get to spend time together, you complaining the entire time about not saying goodbye.” He finishes your joint daydream with a fond smile and despite the future scenario, you can’t help but notice how similar it sounds to your time in the Scouts. Never having enough time to properly spend together and always having the squad to lead, yet you can’t say you regret it and looking back, you’ve always had a small, albeit very odd, family by your side. 
Before you can speak that thought aloud, his voice catches your attention once more and you can feel his body tense up. “Well, we might have done this thing backwards, having just bought a house together already. But I’m not wasting any more time, not again.”
“Levi?” You can’t help the shake in your voice, his words causing a multitude of emotions to swirl in your chest.
“The only logical next step to take is to marry you.”
A small gasp escapes from your lips as his gaze burns into you, neither of you willing to look away and break the moment. You feel your eyes begin to water as your heart overflows with joy, but you blink them away, instead letting out a small chuckle.
“You make it sound like it’s a battle tactic.”
“From the previous conversation, it might as well be.” Levi counters quickly and you can feel him slowly begin to relax as he walks through the door, carrying you into your new life together and gently placing you back onto your feet. Before you can take a moment to savour everything, to let the whirlwind of emotions calm down and be processed, you hear him click his tongue in annoyance. You turn to face him, watching as he drags a slender finger across the dark wood of the stairs handrail, his eyebrows drawn together in disgust.
“This place is covered in dust, before we do anything, it needs to be cleaned. Stay put, I’ll get the bag.”
You can’t help the load groan as you watch him drift back outside. You take the short break to mentally prepare yourself for a long day of scrubbing the floors side by side with the man you love.
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naffeclipse · 3 months
Text
Ocean Lover
Reader x Mermaid!Sun
Commission Info
This fic is perfect for summer and I'm so grateful to @baby-bloos for commissioning me to write some fluffy mer!Sun with a Y/N who loves swimming! Your mer!Sun design is so pretty and it was a treat to incorporate his aspects into the story.
———
You kick your feet gently and stroke your arms through the water steadily. The ocean laps against you, salty and crystalline. Through the deep aquamarine, you swim from shore and watch the white sandy bottom glimmer with ripples of light dancing across the surface. Just below you, a slick brush of a fin tickles your leg. You snort against the gentle waves touching your cheek before you stop and float, working your hands and feet to keep your head above water. A brush of exhaustion washes over you after a day of treading this beautiful sea but you remain effortlessly afloat.
“I know you’re here, Sunny,” you call out. Your words curl around your smile as you survey the brine you tread. “What game are we playing?”
Chase? Tag? Sharks and minnows? You watch closely, studying the quiet ripples of the waves as they roll upon themselves before spilling over the beach a short distance away—a flash of yellow touches the corner of your vision. You twist, kicking your feet, but a large, slick hand seizes your ankle. You inhale deeply and close your eyes before the creature tugs you down below. 
The world becomes bubbles and cool, silk water surrounding you. Large hands glide along your edges, up your legs, and around your waist, until they cup your cheeks. You hold very still just as a ripple of water speaks to a presence nearing, and just before a wide smile can touch your own, you blow bubbles directly into the merman’s face.
A sharp flick below speaks to the indignation the mer suffers, but in one swift movement, you’re lifted back to the surface. The water cascades down your face and you gasp gently, clearing away what saltwater you can before opening your eyes.
“You’re not playing fair,” Sun chitters at you. He clicks his tongue. His wide white eyes, however, share a hint of mirth while he holds you along the surface.
You laugh gently. Sun tugs you closer and allows you to wrap your legs around his sleek body, clinging to him in the crystalline ocean. Your toes briefly brush against the red frills wrapping around the top of his tail, popping with the beautiful yellow and off-white colors of his body. His tail flicks to gently keep you afloat, a brilliant red fin with dots of white that flare out in a flower-like blossom. He’s so bright and bubbly, and the yellow frills framing his head remind you of the sun. It’s only fitting that that’s his name.
“I think I win,” you titter.
“I caught you,” he recalls with a chiding stroke of his fingers along your shoulder, lingering on your collarbone. “And you broke the rules. I could sink you to the bottom of the sea and keep you all to myself, but I won’t cheat, unlike someone.”
You bite back your smile before nodding. Blowing bubbles and breaking rules. You did much the same when you first encountered him in the beautiful waters. You love the ocean.
Now you find your love has grown tenfold.
“I’ll be good,” you promise solemnly, and he narrows your eyes at your cheeky innocence. “Really! Please, let’s keep playing. Let’s swim out to the deep!”
“You’ve been swimming all day, goldfish,” he reminds. He softly boops your nose, causing it to wrinkle. “You need a break.”
When you pout, he promptly kisses your pursed lips. You want to make a face, to resist, but a smile cracks through your defense and he laughs a hearty, echoing sound that spells your defeat.
“Fine,” you grumble and lay your cheek against his shoulder. He lies gently on his back and cradles you on his chest. The waves and the flick of his tail guide you back to the white sand shore.
It almost breaks your heart to leave the depths where your feet can endlessly kick and all around you is pure blue, but Sun doesn’t leave you. While you find purchase on the sand, he sinks his claws into the ground and drags himself upshore until the water is only the slightest brush against his tailfins. You fall back beside him. 
Without a word, he leans onto his side while the striking array of red frills around his throat lie flat and lifeless in the dry air, and opens his arms. Slick with sea salt, hair dripping wet, you enter his embrace. Your legs hardly stretch farther than the midpoint of his tail which deepens into a rich red at the very end. 
The bright sunshine makes quick work of your ocean-soaked skin and begins to dry you and your swimsuit off. Tucked under Sun’s chin, he begins to hum softly. His fingertips trail down the top of your spine and drift over your legs. You tuck one leg on his side, allowing him to reach the curve of your knee then fall back down to the top of your feet. 
“Thank you for swimming me to shore,” you whisper and press a kiss to his slick collarbone.
“Of course,” he clicks his tongue and looks down at you. “How could I let you swim by yourself?”
You think of reminding him that you have swam plenty by yourself, but you don’t enjoy those days nearly as much as when Sun appeared with a flick of his red fins and his bright, cheery face. You close your eyes and feel your wrinkled fingertips begin to recover from your salty ordeal.
Idly, you gaze up at him. A grin gently tugs on the corner of your lips while he watches you, his eyes wide and impossibly aware of how close you lie to his heart.
You love the ocean, but you love Sun more. Both touch you, washing up your legs and holding you gently in a warm, secure embrace.
You’re grateful to have so much of what you love close.
“Can I kiss you properly?” you ask, slightly breathless, as if you've been underwater for far too long. 
His gentle smile widens.
His answer is to softly meet your lips and hold you, cradling the back of your head while his sweet-salty lips remind you why you can’t resist the ocean.
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tatsumessy · 1 year
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Hidden feeling - {Itoshi Sae}
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“So Itoshi, there’s just one more question I’d like to ask that almost everyone here has been waiting for.” The interviewer cleared her throat and placed the notecards down on her lap fully turning her attention to Sae. You were sitting in his dressing room watching the interview live off the tv silently praying that your boyfriend of five years wouldn’t cuss this woman out. He’s been waiting for this interview to finish ever since it started and you could tell from his face that he was getting aggravated.
“Well it’s about your ‘relationship’ with y/n.” You flinched and started clenching your hands together. “Why the quotations? It’s not a ‘relationship’ likes it’s make believe or something. My girlfriend of five years. What about her?” He quickly rebelled not letting her finish, a tang of guilt shot through your chest but you chose to ignore it. “We did a survey last week comparing your type along with who we think you’d be with. Or how do I put it, someone everyone thinks you should be with. You said you and y/n have been dating for five years, you must not like her enough to want to marry her…” she leaned forward showing off her breast while casually caressing his arm.
As you watched their little interaction the little pang in your chest got worse and your hand was starting to bleed from how hard your nails were digging into your palm. This wasn’t anything new, Sae would always go to these interviews and the interviewer would always sneak in these questions and doubts about your relationship while also sneaking in rude and insulting comments about you. There’s nothing for you to do about it, you just sit there and take it because at the end of the day Sae always chooses you.
“Miss…” “hmm?” You responded keeping your gaze on the tv just watching them two. “You’re bleeding, he’s going to kill me if you got hurt under my watch.” Sae’s assistant said running over and opening your hands to see the damage, tears brimmed in her eyes as she scrambled to grab bandages. “Thank you.” You said watching her finish the wrapping and at the same exact moment everyone gasped at the tv at something that was said. “What happened?” You asked sitting forward, “she just called you a broke background slut whose only with Itoshi for his money.” Pausing for a moment you looked down at your hand then back up at everyone with a gentle smile on your face.
“It’s okay guys…if her comments aren’t hurting me then they shouldn’t be hurting you. She’s not even talking about you so don’t let it faze you.” You finished with a smile, after a second all of your flinched hearing the door open aggressively and Sae walked in ripping off all the wires and microphones from his body. “Let’s go, we’re leaving.” He said throwing the stuff on the seat next to you and grabbing your hand to help you stand up. “What happened to your hands?” He paused, “nothing just some small cuts.” He sighed and pulled you out the studio and towards the car. He helped you get in then closed the door once you were comfortable.
The ride home was silent, and the rest of the night was even more quieter. After the interview you were supposed to go on a date but obviously that didn’t happen because of how upset Sae was and you didn’t mind. He always ends up making it up to you, but that wasn’t the reason you were laying in bed right now wide awake. Sae had his back turned to you and he was fast asleep while you laid there with your eyes glossed over. You were about to start sobbing crying all because of what that lady said today, knowing sae had to get up early in the morning you quietly removed yourself from the bed and went into the living room to calm yourself down.
There’s no reason you should be crying over a couple of comments, it’s not like she physical put her hands on you. But she was bold enough to basically grope Sae on live tv in front of the whole world. Leaning your head back against the couch you closed your eyes feeling your warm tears slide down your cheeks and fall onto your shoulders. After a few minutes of being left alone with your thoughts Sae’s voice broke you out of your trance. “Y/n ?” Your eyes flew open and you jumped leaning forward while wiping your face, thank goodness the lights were still off and he could t see how red and puffy your eyes were.
“Why aren’t you sleeping? You know we have to get up early in the morning.” He stayed standing behind the couch staring at your dark silhouette, “you’re right. I’m coming, let me get some water and then I’ll meet you in the ro-om.” Silently cursing yourself for your voice cracking, you stood up and starting walking towards the kitchen but Sae’s grip on your wrist stopped you. He reached over and flipped the light switch to get a better look at you, “what’s wrong?” He still had the same neutral expression but you could tell in his voice that he was worried.
He didn’t like seeing you cry, out of the five years you two had been dating he’s only seen you cry once and that was when your father died. So to see you trying to hide away from him to cry kind of hurts his pride, it’s like you don’t trust him enough to confide in him. “Nothing, I just had something in my eye.” You said trying to laugh it off while idly rubbing your eye, he rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is it about what she said? About the marriage thing?” You cocked your head to the side in confusion.
“I was gonna propose last night after the interview but she pissed me off so much that I didn’t want to have you deal with my attitude during our date.” A small blush formed on his cheek as he confessed his plans to you, “Sae it’s not about a proposal. I don’t care if we don’t get married for another twenty years. I love you enough to wait…I just needed a moment.” “From?” He asked moving pieces of your messy hair from your face. “I don’t know, what she said really got to me, and it’s like…if she thinks that and will openly flirt and touch you knowing I’m watching then so does everyone else in the world. They don’t see me as your girlfriend, so what if one day you don’t see me as it either anymore yourself?”
A tear slid down your cheek and you quickly wiped it away hiding your sadness with a gentle smile. “Just forget I said anything.” He stared at you with that unimpressed neutral expression and it just made you feel little under his gaze. “Princesa, you are my entire world and I wouldn’t have been the man I am today without your help. Do you understand that my love? I love you.” He said caressing the sides of your cheeks with his thumbs, “sae I told you it’s fine. You don’t have to tell me you love me.” He pulled away slightly looking a little offended.
“Why are you saying that like I don’t love you?” “I- it’s just that you never say it so I never want to assume how you feel about me.” You said looking down at the ground not wanting to make eye contact with him. You couldn’t stop yourself, the words just came out. The two of you stayed silent for a while until he broke the silence, “go to bed. we can talk in the morning.” Opening your mouth to say something you quickly realized that Sae didn’t want to talk, your hand interlaced with his and you held him back from walking further.
“I didn’t mean anything rude by what I said. You have a hard time expressing your feelings and I understand that, I would never pin that against you. With everything going on with your career I want to be a supportive girlfriend so I don’t or shouldn’t have time to be crying over mean comments…but when I do, I just don’t want to bother you because it doesn’t mean anything. All they do is talk and at the end of the day I’m grateful to be in the position I’m in with your right now. I love you Sae and I know you love me.” You said smiling with several tears falling from your closed eyes.
A heartbeat of a moment passed and before you knew it Sae had his lips in yours and he was engulfing your whole embrace. He didn’t think you could do anything to make him fall in love with you more but you did. “Don’t ever cry by yourself again. We can’t get married if you don’t even trust me enough to share your burdens with me.” He kissed the top of your head gently smiling at the nod of approval from you then bent down slightly to pick you up and carry you back to the bedroom.
“Now really, let’s go to sleep. We have to get up in three hours to catch this flight.” You nodded and cuddled up against his figure.
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fuckyeahgoodomens · 10 months
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Update for November from the upcoming Good Omens Graphic Novel! :) ❤
Apparently I’m a demon and I lied: we won’t be doing more frequent updates, split between information and reveals. We had heard feedback that the updates were too long; then last month, we heard even more feedback that people liked the comprehensive updates after our last one, so instead of promising a particular amount, we will mostly stick to monthly, but play it by ear if anything special comes along…
We did say we’d be back with some exciting things: we’ve already shared with you Rachael Stott’s beautiful alt cover featuring Crowley and Aziraphale, but here is Bookshop Blaze, the print included in Loot Box #1 (Serpent Tier+). Isn’t she a beauty?
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What we’re also hearing, every time Aziraphale is illustrated alongside ducks is, “More ducks”, so meet the duckling enamel pin (Demon Tier+). Any angelic duck names welcomed.
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As for the mystery packs, we promised more pins and more pins you shall have. These mystery packs are add ons, and these five are just a sampling of what is to come. To keep track of the enamel pins, you can visit goodomenshq.com.
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We’ve had sample pins showing up and while most that we have in person we’re yet to reveal, here is the fearsome hellhound Dog in all his glory:
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Some eagle-eyed fans spotted another pin cameo: Sir Terry Pratchett pins appeared at Neil Gaiman and Rob Wilkins’ event at the British Library, which celebrated the Worlds of Terry Pratchett, just in time for the 40th anniversary of Discworld. You can watch that event here. 
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PledgeManager
Onto more logistical updates, while PledgeManager is closer to being ready, we will now be launching this in March. We’re working on some additional versions of items based on your suggestions, ensuring everything is locked in for shipping everywhere, dotting the is, crossing the ts. This is a busy time of year for everyone, and so it seems best for all, rather than to rush the process, we instead give everyone a decent bit of notice with a much firmer date, and hit 2024 with some gusto.
On that note, as a reminder, PledgeManager is where we will process shipping addresses and payment, so don’t worry about not supplying addresses yet, or indeed moving in between now and the graphic novel's release. There’s still plenty of time before this is needed.
Cameos
We are working through cameo admin at the moment. Note that Archangel Tier backers have their survey with a deadline of 30 November, the higher level cameos should expect to hear more in December. If you have purchased a cameo and have any questions, please drop us a message.
Staying up to date
As always, you can hear more about Good Omens more widely at Good Omens HQ and sign up to our mailing list for news and more.
p.s. We’ve had some Crowley artwork, let’s end with some Aziraphale.
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867 notes · View notes
jayflrt · 10 months
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𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐒 49. #STARBUCKS_FIRST_WIN
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IN A MATTER OF HOURS, YOUR COWORKER PIZZA PARTY HAD TURNED INTO A FULL-ON GATHERING. 
Not only had Heeseung and his group joined you, but the employees from Peet’s had dropped by, too. Soon, Chan and Renjun’s apartment was packed with everyone sitting in a circle and scarfing down the boxes of pizza. You thought it would just be Chaewon and Aeri coming over, but you knew things were getting serious once Jungkook, who Chaewon told you was notorious for never doing anything that required energy, showed face.
Obviously, no one expected the number of heads to double, so the pizza ran out soon after Heeseung arrived. Sunghoon took the liberty of exercising his Papa John’s employee privilege to pick up more pizza. It was even better than the pizza you all previously bought, and it was plenty for everyone to enjoy.
“Is this, like, a Starbucks-finally-burned-down party?” Wonbin asked before Aeri sharply jabbed him in the side. “Sorry, I meant an oh-no-Starbucks-burned-down party.”
“That wasn’t any better, Wonbin,” Aeri deadpanned. 
“We got our customer connection score report today,” Chan answered, finishing chewing the last of his pizza before continuing, “and we got the highest score in the district. We’ve never gotten a score over thirty before, and today our score was in the eighties.”
“Maybe they felt bad for you,” Jungkook suggested.
“Shut up.”
Heeseung turned to you, wide-eyed and breaking into a grin. “You guys got best in the district?”
“Yeah—number one! I was gonna text you about it.” Although you two were sitting next to each other, shoulder-to-shoulder, you still slid your hand into his. “We were almost tied with Starbucks in second place, so your survey really helped us.”
He squeezed your hand. “Totally worth the mermaid cosplay.”
Renjun raised his voice to say, “Riki, you should give us a speech, since you've been losing your mind over our customer connection score.” 
Minjeong, who was sitting between Jake and Aeri, let out a snicker. “Yeah, you’re the one who almost failed trigonometry over Starbucks.”
“I didn’t fail, for your information! I got a passing score,” Riki said with a huff.
Sunoo leaned back on his hands. “Yeah, a D.”
“And D’s get degrees, Sunoo,” Riki fired back before standing up. He raised up his glass of water, clearing his throat. “I was but a mere child when I first joined Starbucks. I didn’t know much about the world around me or the tribulations I’d face in my journey to becoming the best Starbucks in this district. However, today, I’ve become a man.”
(Sunghoon rubbed the back of his neck. “This kid makes me feel like I smoked a pack whenever he opens his mouth.”)
Riki continued, “I wanna thank Chan for always looking after me and being, like, my second father, even when I pissed him off every single shift, or when I used his credit card to buy LED lights, or when I made a weed frappuccino past closing hours, or when I forged his signature to get out of class, or—”
“You forged what?” Chan interjected, distraught.
“Anyway, moving on.” Riki waved off the store manager’s concerns and said, “I also wanna thank Jay for always being on my side, even when the odds were against me. And Renjun, I wanna thank you for always giving me credit when it’s due. Sunoo, you’re the best shift lead I could’ve asked for, even though I’d probably throw you under the bus for your job. Minjeong, I think you’re insane, but I appreciate that you strike fear in our hearts when necessary.” 
At that, Minjeong gave Riki a high-five, which was a little too forceful and left the kid’s hand stinging. 
Riki’s eyes then met yours and he softened his gaze. “Y/N, we all had our doubts about you when you joined, but you’re totally part of the Starbucks family now. I just really wanna thank you especially for letting me cover your shift so that I could get a bonus.”
Your smile dropped. “Man, fuck you.”
“I’m just here for the pizza,” Anton admitted, “but that was sweet… I think.”
Jay seemed to be wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. You were surprised that his eyes actually seemed to be glistening.
"That was a beautiful speech, Riki," he praised the high schooler.
“Thank you, Jay. I’ll miss you guys when I go to Harvard,” Riki finished.
“Your ass is not going to Harvard,” Jake said flatly.
The rest of the night was spent eating, talking, and watching the Harry Potter movies together. While some of the boys went outside for a smoke sesh, you and the girls discussed plans to get an apartment together for the next year. Since you lived alone, you figured it was about time you experienced living with your friends. Chaewon shared a Pinterest board with everyone to start pinning interior decoration inspiration. You and Minjeong were completely useless in that area of expertise, so you offered to help with picking out more practical things, such as kitchen and bathroom essentials.
You already knew that Heeseung was going to continue living with Sunghoon for the next year, but you were content with that. You weren’t sure you were exactly ready to move in with your boyfriend or anything, so you thought it was best that you two lived separately for the next year. The student apartments were close, anyway. 
When your boyfriend returned, his eyes slightly glossed over, you tugged on his sleeve to get his attention. He leaned down so that his ears were by your lips. 
“Ask them if they wanna watch the Mario movie,” you whispered.
He shot you a wary look, whispering back, “No! They’re gonna make fun of me. You ask them.”
“No, they’re gonna make fun of me, too.”
“Well”—his lips curled up in a smile—“guess we’ll just have to watch it on our own, then.”
After a while, everyone started to disperse, except for Jungkook, who decided to crash on the couch. It was nearly midnight, anyway, and Riki’s mother had called him about twenty times to get home soon. He was strangely at ease while everyone else was anxious for him.
Chaewon and Aeri left first, claiming that they had to go to bed early because they both had 8 a.m. classes. Wonbin and Sunghoon were discussing going to a party that one of their friends was hosting, and Jungwon and Sunoo immediately shot down the idea when they were asked to tag along
Sunghoon held his phone up to show everyone a Snapchat story of a guy in a Barney costume double-fisting two beers. “Bro, Vernon’s at the party.”
“We’re going home,” Jungwon insisted. 
“C’mon, it’s just for a few hours. We’ll bring you guys back home safe—or, like, we’ll try to. No guarantees. If your safety's compromised, blame Jake or something.”
“Hell no,” Sunoo deadpanned. “I have a paper to finish.”
“Also,” Jungwon added on, pointing an accusing finger at Sunghoon, “I don’t trust you.”
“The fuck? I’m trustworthy.” He turned to you and asked, “Y/N, you think I’m trustworthy, right?”
“No,” you replied immediately. “In fact, I was gonna tell Jungwon and Sunoo to save themselves.”
“Yeah, I can’t get spiked today, dude,” Jungwon said. “I have a fluids test tomorrow.”
After saying your goodbyes to Sunoo and Jungwon, who took a while to figure out where they parked their car, you turned your attention back to Sunghoon and Wonbin. Beomgyu walked up to your group after being occupied with talking to Jisung and Anton for a while. 
“Let’s just go for an hour or something,” Wonbin told Sunghoon. “Are Jake and Beomgyu coming?”
“I’ll join,” Beomgyu said. “I think Jake’s being dragged somewhere by Minjeong, though. Heeseung, are you coming?”
Heeseung started, “No, I—”
“Oh!” Sunghoon bursted out, grabbing his two friends by the shoulders and tugging them away. He turned on his heel quickly, muttering something along the lines of, “Let’s just leave them alone.”
You raised a brow. “What’s his deal?”
You were just able to catch Heeseung’s expression under the dim lamplight, noting how he shied away at your question and averted his gaze. You swore the tips of his ears went scarlet, although you weren’t able to properly discern whether your mind was playing tricks on you or not. 
“Uh, he’s probably just zooted,” your boyfriend said offhandedly. He shot you a glance once you two started walking in the direction of his apartment. “Are you cold?” Before you could answer him, though, Heeseung was already taking off his sweater to hand it to you.
You giggled. “Thanks.” After a few moments, you bit your lip and told him, “Hey, so, about the survey, I thought you should know—”
“—that Minjeong sent me the link?” he finished for you, a grin growing on his face. You stared at him, nonplussed. “Don’t worry, I already knew. When I showed Jake the text, he recognized her number immediately. I figured you guys were just being nice.”
“I’m sorry, I—”
“No, no,” he interrupted, shaking his head. “Why’re you apologizing? That was, like, the nicest thing they’ve done for me.” He wrapped an arm around your shoulder. “You really turned my life around there. I would’ve probably just been permanently banned from Starbucks by now if it weren’t for you.”
Your cheeks went hot. It was true that you and Heeseung growing closer definitely changed his relationship with the employees, but you could say the same for him, too. You were admittedly reserved before you met Heeseung, and dating him opened your world up to so many new people. You wouldn’t have had all these new friends if it weren’t for him.
“You’ve done so much for me, too,” you told him. “I’ve never been able to just spontaneously hang out with so many friends before. I never even approached people before, and now I’m gonna room with Minjeong, Chaewon, and Aeri.”
He smiled down at you. “They like you ‘cause you’re fun to be around. Give yourself some more credit.” When you two reached the door of his apartment, Heeseung stopped in his tracks instead of opening the door. You noticed the flush of pink dusting his cheeks when he mumbled, “By the way, I sort of got you a surprise for your Starbucks thing.”
“Really?” You beamed up at him. “Hee, it’s really not that big of a deal for you. You didn’t have to get me something over that.”
“No, it is a big deal,” he insisted. “If it’s something big for you, then it’s big for me, okay? So, close your eyes.”
“Okay.” You placed your hands over your eyes, and your chest felt hot when Heeseung moved his arm to place his hand over your hands from behind, too. Your back was against his chest, and you could almost make out how fast his heart was beating. After you heard the sound of the door being unlocked, Heeseung took small steps forward to get you to walk inside. “Ow. You stepped on my heel.”
“My bad. Step on my feet.”
You did as he said and proceeded to laugh as Heeseung awkwardly walked you further into his apartment after shutting the door behind him. You leaned back against his chest and stumbled a little once he had you step off of his feet. 
“Okay, stay right there,” he instructed, “and keep your eyes closed!”
You swayed back and forth as you waited for him to return. He didn’t take very long, but you were brimming with anticipation. You stilled once you realized he was right in front of you again. You were just about to remove your hands when Heeseung stopped you again.
“Don’t!” he warned, and then asked, “Remember when I stole that baby goat for you?”
Your smile was quickly replaced with a disapproving frown. “Lee Heeseung, do not tell me you still have the baby goat.”
“No!” he exclaimed. “I miss him every day, though. But… I remembered you said something about how it would be nice if we raised a pet together one day, and I know we’re not living together yet or anything, but I thought it’d be nice to share… something…” He trailed off, clearly flustered. “Er, so—yeah, you can open your eyes now.”
You removed your hands and a gasp fell from your lips almost immediately.
Nestled in Heeseung’s palms was the cutest baby kitten you had ever seen. You cooed as you reached over to stroke its plush, white fur. The mewl that came from the kitten nearly had you falling to your knees from how adorable it was.
“He’s a Ragdoll,” he told you. “I thought we could parent him together.”
Heeseung let you hold the kitten in your hands, and you held him close to your chest and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. 
“I could seriously kiss you right now,” you breathed out. 
“Don’t kiss me yet.” He grinned. “I have something else for you.”
You could’ve died of happiness on the spot. Your boyfriend really was completely unfair. How could he spoil you this much and expect you not to combust?
Heeseung dug into his pockets for a moment before pulling out a silver key. You were confused as he took the kitten back from you and placed the key in your hands. After you weighed it in your palm and inspected it for a moment, the dots started connecting in your head. You could almost feel the tears threatening to well up in your eyes.
“That’s our spare key to the apartment. It’s all yours,” he said. “I talked to Sunghoon about it, obviously, and he was totally chill with you having a key to our place. You can come by whenever you want, and you don’t need to wait for me to get out of class if you wanna come over and see our cat.”
“Heeseung,” you murmured, “I don’t know what to say.”
He seemed to visibly panic. “It’s totally cool if you don’t want it. I wasn’t sure if I was moving too fast with that or not, uh… Sunghoon and I just keep it under the doormat if we accidentally get locked out, so it’s really not—”
“I love you,” you breathed out.
His eyes grew wide. 
He quickly became a stuttering mess, scrambling to fit words together into a sentence, but nothing was coming out coherently. You almost wanted to laugh because his distress was so cute, but you decided to show him how you felt instead.
The words died on his lips as soon as you wrapped your arms around Heeseung’s neck and kissed his disquiet away. And this time, it felt like you were able to pour your entire heart into that one kiss because there was something that stirred deep within your heart as your lips moved against Heeseung’s soft ones. 
You never thought one person could move your heart like this, never thought someone could make you feel like you were made of magic, but Heeseung managed to wriggle his way into your heart so effortlessly. One of his hands moved to hold the back of your neck, deepening the kiss slowly—at your own pace. 
When you two finally pulled away after what felt like forever, Heeseung didn’t pull away from you. His nose nudged yours, then grazed your cheek, peppering several more chaste kisses to your lips before you were a giggling and blushing mess. 
Your boyfriend grinned. “I love you, too, Y/N.”
It was then when your kitten mewled from where it was resting on Heeseung’s free hand, seemingly wanting attention. You stared at it for a moment before realization dawned across your face.
“Yoshi!” you exclaimed. “We should name him Yoshi.”
He gasped. “I wanted to name him something Mario-themed! But I thought Mario or Luigi sounded stupid.” He snorted and held the Ragdoll properly again, using his knuckle to gently stroke his head. “Yoshi sounds perfect.”
You giggled. “Yoshi should watch the Mario movie with us. It’s only tradition.”
“I’ll get the popcorn ready.” 
He saluted and handed you the remote so that you could pull up the movie. You took the kitten in your hands and curled up on the couch, placing Yoshi on your lap. When your boyfriend returned, he wrapped an arm around you and started the movie, petting the kitten every now and then. 
And after your umpteenth rewatch, you were definitely going to brag about your new kitten to all your friends; you were going to start looking into applying for apartments for you, Minjeong, Chaewon, and Aeri to move into; and, most importantly, you were going to tell Heeseung you loved him over and over again until there were no doubts in his mind about your feelings for him. 
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It was around three in the morning when Park Sunghoon stumbled to the front door of his apartment. He, Wonbin, and Beomgyu somehow ended up getting crossed to the point of nearly blacking out at the party. Thankfully, though, after sitting on the curb of a sidewalk for thirty minutes and having Beomgyu forcing Gatorade down his throat, Sunghoon seemed to sober up enough to walk back home.
Beomgyu insisted on walking him back after they dropped off Wonbin (who hardly remembered his own name at the moment), but Sunghoon was determined to brave the journey back home. 
He patted down his pockets and realized he only had his phone and wallet. No keys. He must’ve left them at home since he was out with Heeseung earlier in the night. 
But no worries. Sunghoon and Heeseung always kept a spare key under the doormat in case of emergencies like these. Sure, he and his housemate often got themselves into crazy situations from time to time, but the smartest decision they had ever made was keeping their extra key ready. 
However, when Sunghoon flipped the corner of the doormat up, there was nothing there. He paused and lifted up the doormat completely, but absolutely nothing was underneath. 
Fuck, he remembered, that motherfucker gave Y/N the stupid spare key.
He honestly couldn’t blame Heeseung because he agreed to letting Y/N have the key, but now he couldn’t get in the house. Couldn’t Heeseung give her the key at a normal hour, like tomorrow afternoon? This situation was fucked.
Sunghoon groaned and dialed Beomgyu’s number. After a few rings, his friend picked up.
He asked, “Weed Guy Beomgyu, can I crash at your place?”
“Use the doormat key,” was his friend’s curt response. 
“Heeseung gave it to Y/N.”
A couple seconds of silence rolled by before Beomgyu answered, “Fine. I’ll pick you up in a few.”
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SUMMARY ▸ in which you work at the starbucks where heeseung is a regular at (and considered a public enemy). also he only goes when he’s stoned off his ass.
AUTHOR'S NOTE ▸ thank you for supporting a stoner's guide to starbucks all this time !! :') it has been a JOURNEY and i feel so so bittersweet about it ending but i very much appreciate all the love and support you guys have shown this smau <3 i am also very much content with this ending and i hope you guys enjoy it as well 🥰 the next chapter will be the epilogue and then i'll post some uncuts !! #LIGHTONEUPFORHEESEUNG
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No X in Brazil? No problem, Brazilians say.
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When a Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered the suspension of the social media platform X in Latin America’s largest country, Shirley Sampaio wasn’t bothered. She preferred Instagram anyway.
“If they took that away, or WhatsApp, it would hurt,” the 56-year-old jewelry saleswoman said. “But people don’t use X.”
This nation of 215 million was an early and enthusiastic adopter of Twitter, the platform now known as X, once commanding its largest international market. More than 40 million Brazilians — nearly one-fifth of the population — routinely took to the network to engage in heated discussions on politics or gossip over the latest episode of Big Brother Brasil. It was credited with mobilizing massive and wide-ranging protests in 2013. Then helping to propel former president Jair Bolsonaro’s riseto power.
Since then, X’s clout in Brazil has shrunk considerably. At last count, the social media network had an estimated 22 million Brazilian users. Surveys showed Brazilians were far more likely to use WhatsApp or Instagram — even the Chinese video-sharing appKwai — than X. In2022, only 3 percent of Brazilians cited the social network as their preferred location to consume political news, thearea in which Twitter was once strongest, according to a survey by the Institute for Democracy and Democratization of Communication.
Under the stewardship of tech billionaire Elon Musk, the losses have deepened. Musk bought the platform in 2022, reinstated banned users, changed content moderation standards and re-christened it X: a global public square, he says, for all people and views.
But apparently fewer Brazilians. Since his takeover, more than 2 million have fled the network.
Last week’s imbroglio has made even more apparent the network’s growing weakness here. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, one of the world’s most aggressive prosecutors against misinformation, ordered X to block accounts that Moraes said were threatening democracy. The judge requested that Musk name a representative in Brazil to carry out judicial orders.
Musk refused, Moraes suspended X — and Brazilians shrugged.
Continue reading.
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thebubblesareevil · 2 years
Text
Family grows, it evolves…
Part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
There was a new exhibit on Ancient Greece at the museum, and as the resident expert Diana was given free range of the exhibit. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, normally the League doesn’t find a clone of one of its founding members and spend a, frankly, ridiculous amount of time deciding how to proceed.
Diana sighed as she looked at the large room filled with artifacts needing to be catalogued before display. She lamented not having the same speed as the flash for but a moment before getting to work. It was 5:00, if she wanted to get any sleep tonight, she needed to get to work.
She steadily made her way through stacks of paperwork, working with the efficiency that was drilled into her since birth. It had been hours since she began her work, and though she tired, she resolved to head home to get changed for the next day. It wasn’t until she made her way from the basement that she realized something was off. Doris was sitting at reception, though she should have left at 8:00, the sun was still high in the sky, not yet ready to make its decent.
“Calling it an early night, Diana?” Doris asked “Big day tomorrow! Finally setting up the new exhibit. I can’t wait to take the kids, they’re so excited to see it.” She said with a wide smile. Diana surveyed the desk, catching a glance the clock. There in bold numbers and as 7:00pm, she smiled as she replied.
“I finished things up sooner than planned, so I thought I’d head out for the night. I need to get dinner started before my guest arrives.” Doris’ face nearly split in two.
“A guest, is he handsome, oh how could you hold out on me Diana!?” She said excitedly “I need all the details!” Diana laughed.
“Nothing like that, my Grandfather decided to pop in for a surprise visit. I haven’t seen him in quite some time, so it’s a lovely surprise.” Doris nodded along.
“You’re a good grandkid. I miss my grandparents everyday, you never know how much time you’ve got.” She said with a sigh. “Have a good night!”
“All the time in the world.” She said to herself, checking her watch and grinning. It read 4:30 am, she yawned as she left, making her way back to her apartment.
Everything thing was silent when she arrived, though that was to be expected at this point. She wade her way to the kitchen passing by the figure on the couch.
“Would you like some tea? Do you drink at all?” She inquired.
“I am perfectly capable, though I rarely indulge.” He replied in a monotone voice, if she had been anyone else she like would not have caught the edge of sadness clinging to his voice. Diana set the kettle on the stove and made her way over to the couch.
“Something troubles you, something big enough to approach me after all these years.” Clockwork smiled “You’re much sharper than your father ever was” the smile dropped.
“You are aware of the multiverse.” He said, Diana nodded. “As the Master of time, I bear witness to each world, each time line. There exists a world where humans built a bridge to the Infinite Realms, creating a being both born and killed by the infinite.” Diana gave him her upmost attention. “Sometime ago I was tasked with the elimination of this creature, this child, to prevent the tragedy he would bring upon that world.” He smiled “I was never one to listen to orders though, and instead I set the boy on a path that would bring about great change… it had unexpected side effects.”
“What kind of side effects?” Diana asked, worried.
“He began to cling to me, seeking me out for advice. I even found him asleep in my clock tower more than once. I have admittedly come to see him as my grandson.” Clockwork have a soft smile “He reminded me so much of you when we first met.” He sighed “I am here to ask a favor, young Danny is approaching a crossroads. There are two possible paths his timeline might take, one where he lives of the rest of his years moving between living in dead, his truth hidden from those who wish him harm. However there is another path, one I fear is becoming more and more likely than the last.” Diana had never seen her grandfather look so old, his entire form shifting to match his tone.
“What is it? What is going to happen?” Clockwork looked at her with sad, tired eyes.
“He will be betrayed, from this betrayal he will suffer such agony that the Realms themselves will retaliate. Then he will sleep eternal, bound to the infinite. His world destroyed.” Diana gasped. She placed a hand over his,
“What do you need me to do?” She asked firmly.
“Should the worst come about, I intend to steal him away from that world. Cutting off its connection to the realms permanently. However he is a being of both life and death, he cannot neglect his human half. What I ask of you is this, that you allow this boy to stay here, with you. There is no one else I would trust with such a task.” Diana hesitated.
She was a warrior, trained for battle from birth. She knew nothing of caring for a child. She thought her grandfather intended for her assist him in battle but this…. She looked at her grandfather, his sad eyes resigned, as though he expected her to refuse.
“Very well, on one condition.”
“Anything my dear.” She smiled.
“You must visit more, when last we met I told you I needed time. You gave me that, now I ask once more for time, time spent together.” She nearly jumped as his form shifted to that of a child.
“Nothing would please me more.”
“And grandfather? Should the worst not pass, I would still like to meet tho cousin of mine.” Clockwork froze, before he practically melted.
“Of course.” His form shifted once more to that of a young adult. Diana smiled pulling her grandfather into a hug.
“Thank you.” He whispered and he was gone. The kettle screamed. Diana got ready for a long nights rest.
—————————
A week passed before she heard anything from her grandfather. It was to the night before the opening of her new exhibit and she expected everything to go as planned. Just as she was picking out what she was going to wear to the gala, the sound of cars outside her window stopped.
“What do you think? Red or black?” She asked as she turned around holding the two dresses. Her grandfather stood tall, a stern look on his face. Diana set down the dresses. “It happened, didn’t it?” Clockwork nodded. Making his way towards the living room he stopped by the couch. There, asleep on her couch was a young teen, not much older than some of her teammates protégés. He had pitch black hair and pale skin, with lightning scars crawling up his neck. He chest did not move.
“He’s not breathing!” She turned to her grandfather, but he appeared unbothered. He smiled, watching the boy sleep.
“As I said before, he is a being of both life and death, sometime pieces of one form bleed into the other.” He turned to Diana, “He needs his rest, as for your first question, the blue dress will suit you much better on this occasion.” Diana gave him a soft smile.
“Come, I shall make us some tea while you tell me more about my cousin.” Clockwork nodded, taking a moment to readjust the blanket around the teen, before heading to the kitchen.
——————-
When Danny woke, to the sound of people talking he had a horrid migraine. He did his best to ignore the pain as he tried to remember where he was. The last thing he remembered was a dream of his parents yelling and the GIW knocking down their door. He slowly sat up, looking around the room, every wall was covered in pictures. Danny slowly stood and made his way over to the pictures. They all took place over varied times, ranging from, at the earliest, the 1920s all the way to the 2000s. All of the featured the same woman, she remained unchanged even as those around her grew old.
He listen to the voices, one familiar, one not, as he made his way towards the source of the noise. When he opened the door he was greeted by the familiar face of Clockwork. Next to him was the woman from the photos just as unchanged.
“Good afternoon Danny, did you rest well?” Danny did his best to disguise his flinch at the sound, grinning at the old ghost.
“Just fine thanks, what….what exactly happened? Where are we?” Confusion dripping from his voice.
Clockwork looked Danny in the eye, what he said next nearly broke him.
“I’m so sorry, Danny.”
Danny’s legs almost gave out under him. “It happened didn’t it? They tried to turn me in, to the GIW. That wasn’t a dream.” The ancient stayed silent, Danny's eyes went wide. "Is Jazz okay!? She... she was upstairs... if they hurt her!" Clockwork stopped him.
"Your sister is fine, they were only there for you." Danny took a deep breath, trying to process everything.
"So what comes next? Where are we?" Clockwork looked at him with a deep sadness.
"We are in a world separate from your own, connected by the Infinite Realms. I saw the possibility of what was to come and made arrangements. Due to the crimes of your world against you, the Observants and myself decided the best course of action would be to remove you from your world, and cut the living off from the Infinite Realms entirely." Danny looked down, resigned to knowledge of what they planned to do to him. "As you know, as a half-ghost you must tend to both sides of your being." Clockwork turned to the woman, "Danny, this is my granddaughter, Princess Diana of Themascyra. She has agreed to have you stay here, with her." Danny frowned.
"Your granddaughter? But she's...uhh" he paused, not sure how to continue. Diana laughed.
"Alive? Yes, I do believe I am. I'm assuming my grandfather has neglected to explain his past life" Danny nodded "How much do you know of the stories Ancient Greece?"
"More than most I think, there are a lot of constellations named after the myths. That and it's hard to visit Pandora and NOT get an hour lecture on Greece" Diana's eyes went wide.
"You know Lady Pandora? How wonderful, I grew up hearing stories of her bravery!” She smiled “That being said, that will make things a bit easier. My mother is Hippolyta, her desire to have a daughter was so great that she molded me from sand, Zeus, king of the gods, used his power to give me life.” Danny blinked once, then twice.
“So…you’re a Demi-god? I don’t understand how that makes you Clockworks granddaughter.” Diana smiled. “I mean, I know Clockwork probably used to be Chronos, Jazz and I had a whole debate about that, but what does that have to do with Zeus?” Diana smiled patiently.
“Danny, Chronos is the primordial god of time, yes?” Danny nodded “Okay, well he is also the primordial form of Kronos, the father of Zeus, my father.” Danny froze, looking over to Clockwork who merely nodded, as though Danny’s brain was currently trying to shut down. After a moment the dots finally seemed to click.
“YOU ATE YOUR KIDS?!?!”
Clockwork sighed, Diana laughed, Danny had a mental breakdown.
It took close to five minutes for Clockwork to fully explain as Diana grinned in the background drinking her tea. Once he calmed down, Clockwork finished continued expaining.
"As for your ghostly half, I will be providing plenty of ectoplasm for you to eat as well as bringing you to the Infinite realms each week until you learn to create portals of your own." Danny nodded.
"What about school? Or hell, anything really. I don't exist in this world, how exactly do I go about doing anything?" Clockwork smiled.
"I called on the power of the ghost writer for any legal documents and I personally filed them in the proper time period to ensure you have what you need. I have given those to Diana" she nodded "as well as giving her legal custody of you. As far as the law is concerned you are her recently orphaned cousin. Son of her estranged Uncle Haiden and Aunt Penelope, who tragically died a few days ago." Clockwork smiled, rising from his seat.
"I'm afraid I have over stayed my welcome, I think it's best I take my leave and allow the two of you time to acquaint yourselves better." Danny stopped Clockwork, giving him a hug he whispered.
"Thank you." Clockwork gently carded his fingers through his hair before stepping back.
"If either of you need anything, just ask." and he was gone. Suddenly there was an influx of noise coming from outside, just enough to tell them that the world outside was moving once more.
Danny stood awkwardly by the chair their grandfather was occupying.
"You know, I don't bite." Diana said, trying to break the ice.
"I do." Danny replied on reflex, before covering his mouth. He looked at Diana, she looked back before they both burst out in peals of laughter.
"This is so weird, what even is my life?" Diana wiped a tear from her eye.
"Well, considering one of my teammates dresses up as a bat and beats up criminals, while another talks to fish, I think it's safe to say neither of our lives can be considered normal." Danny broke out in another fit of laughter.
"No shit?" he asked. Diana lifted a single brow at the term.
"No shit."
"What kind of team are you on exactly? Extreme cosplaying? Underwater battle royale?" Diana smirked.
"How about we get you some food and I tell you all about it?"
Danny smiled "Sounds like a plan."
@a-salty-sal@impulsiveasshole@meira-3919@alcorbearson@cute6troll@samgirl98@skulld3mort-1fan@addie-lover-of-stories@amercurio@chronicallyonline-fandomwh0r3 @heirxofxtime @gin2212 @thegatorsgoose@wanderer-of-worlds@terzatheunderscorerima@bright-shade@satanicrutialspecialist@mur-ururu@birdie-24-05@ascetic-orange@cyber-geist@thatrandomsarahchick
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jjkamochoso · 5 months
Text
Pretty as a Picture
Fluff
Levi Ackerman x gn!reader
When you’re exploring Marley with Levi and co., you find yourself enthralled with some new technology…
Warnings: slight cussing
When you and the others left for Marley, you had no idea what you were getting yourselves into. You were terrified that the outside world was going to be a vision of disaster and leave your high expectations completely unmet. However, when the boat began to dock at the port and you got a glimpse of the bustling city, you practically had stars in your eyes.
“Hange! This is so exciting! Look at all the new developments!” you gushed, taking in the foreign sights. They agreed wholeheartedly, rambling about certain things they had read about over the years that were going to be investigated today. Levi wanted to roll his eyes at your over the top excitement, but he had to admit he was very curious about life in Marley as well. As the boat started letting people off, you nervously ran your fingers over your outfit, desperately trying to straighten out the high quality fabric of your disguise.
“Are you trying to impress these people or something? Stop fussing. You look fine,” Levi said, leading the way off the boat without giving you a second glance. You looked at Hange, who just shrugged their shoulders and ran after Levi. You and the Survey Corps captain were in the newer stages of a relationship. You had known him for years, rising up the ranks together, and had shared a close bond for most of that time. Not too long ago, you both realized your relationship held the element of attraction for one another and after an awkward confession from the both of you, your deep companionship turned into a budding romance. It was all new territory for both parties, neither of you having much experience in the dating department, and the two of you were trying to figure out the right balance between your old selves and new title as lovers. You tried not to worry too much; Levi didn’t seem the type to break up with someone. If he chose to be with you in a romantic way after being your friend for so long, you’d most likely be together long after your bodies were consumed by the soil of your shared grave.
You hurried off the boat, your party waiting for you with anxiousness to get the trip started. On solid ground once more, Levi took his usual spot next to you. You smiled internally at the gesture. This relationship would have no hand holding (for the foreseeable future), but his closeness, akin to a guard dog, was better than that. Out of the corner of your eye came a flash and both of your heads whipped around to see what it was.
“Hange!” You pointed to the area from which it came, “What is that?”
“That’s a camera! It makes photographs like the one we saw in Eren’s basement,” they explained.
“So cool,” you breathed out. “What I wouldn’t give to have one.”
You suddenly found yourself being dragged over to the camera, Levi having an iron grip on the extra fabric of your sleeve.
“My partner wants one photograph, please,” he told the man working the contraption.
The man laughed a little, clearly figuring out you weren’t from the area. “One photograph, huh? That’s quite alright.” He turned to address you. “You can sit right here and pose.”
You nodded, slightly nervous but trembling with excitement as Levi handed the man the money.
“I’m going to count to three and when the flash is over, you’ll be good to go.”
You weren’t quite sure exactly what to do with your body as the man started his count but when you saw Levi watching you intently, you relaxed and broke out into the biggest smile. The flash went off and you were told to wait a few minutes for the photograph to be ready.
“Oh! Sir? May I please have one more? I would like one of my boyfriend,” you said, looking at Levi expectantly.
His eyes went wide, shaking his head. “No way. Your memory isn’t that shitty to where you’ll need one of these to remember what I look like, is it?”
You gave him the biggest puppy eyes and poutiest face you could muster. “Please, Levi? For me?”
He sighed, giving the cameraman more money. “Fine. But you have to be in it with me, brat.”
You cheered when he stood next to you, you on the seat once more, and you could tell he was nervous.
“Just relax and look at the circle in front of you. You don’t have to smile or anything if you don’t want, just think of a positive memory or place. That way it’ll look natural.”
As the man did his countdown, Levi frantically tried his best to look comfortable and right before the flash went off, he knew exactly what to do.
During your wait for the photos you heard commotion from the group about “ice cream” so of course you bounded over, Levi trailing behind you. When you got your hands on the treat, you took a big bite of it which was a huge mistake.
“It’s so cold! My teeth! Ouch!” you exclaimed, your mouth open as you tried to fan it out. Levi watched you complain to the teens that they didn’t give you a fair warning that it was freezing, a small smile on his face.
“Tch, give me that. You’re going to drop it,” he said, taking the cone from you. Learning from you the wrong way to eat it, he snuck a taste using just the tip of his tongue. It was cold, sweet, and a total waste of money—but if you liked it, he would gladly bring home the entire cart and the recipe. With plans to meet back up with everybody after you got your photographs, you and Levi headed over to the cameraman.
“That was very kind of you to let me get those taken,” you told him. “And I love that you did one with me. That means a lot, you know.”
“It’s no problem,” he muttered, eyeing every passerby so that they didn’t get any ideas of messing with you. His time in the Underground made it so that he hated being in large groups of people, crooks and crime always lurking about in those environments. He certainly didn’t want you to be swept up in any of it either, so his senses had been on high alert the entire trip. Thankfully that was the case or else right now you’d be splayed on the ground, grievously injured. Not from a criminal, but from some machine called a “car.” You two had to cross the street to get back to the cameraman but in your haste, you had forgotten there were technological advances you weren’t used to roaming around the city. You stepped off the sidewalk, chatting about something called a “balloon,” when a car came careening down the road, going much too fast for a busy pedestrian area. Levi had noticed it in the nick of time, grabbing you by your waist and pulling you out of harm’s way. He couldn’t even find it within himself to yell at the driver, too concerned for your well being.
“Are you okay?” he asked, hurriedly looking you over for injuries.
“Yeah, I’m fine, but,” you pointed sadly to the ground where your ice cream lost its life, “my ice cream isn’t.”
That earned a Levi eye roll. “Forget the food. If you keep up this carelessness, the photograph is the only thing I’ll have left of you after this trip.”
You sighed since he was right, as always. “I’m sorry.”
“Just pay attention. I’d hate for you to survive everything we’ve been through just to get taken out by some horse wannabe.”
You burst out laughing, Levi unintentionally lifting the mood. He never thought of himself as an overly funny guy but the way he had you gasping for breath after a hard hitting sarcastic remark would’ve made anyone certain he was a comedian.
The man with the camera handed you the finished products and you excitedly examined your solo one.
“Levi! Look! It’s my face!” You shoved the photograph toward him and he looked it over.
“It is, isn’t it?” he said, his voice laced with a hint of amusement and wonder. He tucked it into his hat for safekeeping (and he kept it on his person every day after that so you were always together; it had miraculously survived the blast from Zeke). When you saw the photograph of the both of you, you were at a loss for words.
“We look so… pretty. Happy. Normal.”
Levi caught a glance and hummed in agreement. He was ecstatic that his actions translated well through the camera.
Before the flash had gone off, he had put his hand on your shoulder.
“What?” you had asked him, turning away from the camera to look at him, thinking he had a question. Instead, you were greeted with steel blue eyes that were gazing lovingly at you, while Levi’s lips were curled into a soft smile. He was the epitome of handsome and you had practically melted, lovesickness etched all over your features and the camera flashed, capturing it forever.
“I’m keeping this one since you have the other one,” you said, tucking it in your chest pocket. “Me and my shitty memory want to make sure we remember this forever.”
You nudged Levi in a teasing manner and he just shook his head. Finding your way back to Hange, you felt a sense of peace wash over you that you didn’t think would be possible in foreign lands, and that was all thanks to Levi. Even if you didn’t always express your love in the most conventional ways, he proved his loyalty and trust in you time and time again. You hoped your photographs would be preserved and serve as proof that the so called island devils weren’t evil after all—they were people, too. People who could laugh and smile.
People who could love.
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lovelybarnes · 2 years
Text
Truth- B. Barnes
Pairings: bucky barnes x reader Warnings: truth serum, ooc (its so hard keeping bucky and a truth serum in the same fic?) About: truth serum, request. (ph1+df31) Forgive for mistakes. why do i kind of hate this now
“Where’s this thing supposed to be again?”
Not missing a beat, you continue to survey the wide lab table in front of you, deft fingers careful when they tilt small vials at an angle so you can squint at the contents. “Things. Where are these things supposed to be.”
“Things, then,” Sam mutters, a fragile clinking noise following.
“Be careful,” you chirp, cocking your head at a thick tube with thick, dark liquid. You hold it up to the light, finally able to read the contents. “Whoa.”
“What?” 
“Did you know Hydra made hair nutrients, essentially? This is, like, the evil solution to baldness.”
“You’re kidding,” Sam crows, stepping closer to examine what you’re holding.
“High amounts of minoxidil, some weird fungus, and something that sounds like finasteride on steroids. Also, probably steroids.”
“Bet they could make a fortune on it.”
“If it works in a way approved by the FDA. Like I said, evil solution.” You grimace and set it back on the desk. “Did you find anything yet?”
“No. There’s slime and weird little liquids everywhere but no big-ass, weirdly-shaped tube marked deadly,” Sam grumbles, nose wrinkling as he catches sight of a limp plant. “Do you think that’s a normal dead plant? Or something freaky and poisonous?”
“Probably the latter,” you hum. “And I really, really doubt Hydra would be so stupid as to have the most cliched image of a toxin representing their mysterious poison.” You pause at a large, bumpy glass. “This one is pretty weird,” you say contrastingly, carefully picking it up with two gloved fingers. “Von innen brennt,” you read.
“What does that mean?” Sam asks.
“Burn from within.” You inhale sharply, and tuck it into your chemical storage container. “I really don’t think we should be leaving this in here,” you reason.
“I don’t think we should be leaving anything in here,” Sam adds, pointing to another bottle. “Weltschmerz,” he recites. “What’s that?”
“It’s… it’s apathy. There’s no good translation but it literally means ‘world pain,’” you frown as you grab it, too, twisting it in your fingers. “Bruce and I are going to have a field day.” You tuck it inside the container and purse your lips. “In a morose way.”
Sam shoots you a quick look. “Right.”
You bring your index to your ear and connect to Bucky’s channel. “Hey, how’re you doing?”
“I fuckin’ hate Hydra.”
“Yeah, it’s not great over here, either. We still have that huge lab to check over; are you done with yours?”
“Yeah, I’ll meet you there.”
You confirm, scanning the room once more and sighing softly. “Be careful, okay?”
“I am.”
“Then continue,” you quip, narrowing your eyes at a fat bottle with a tiny opening, translucent candy red sticky inside of it. You poke it to teeter so you can see the label, seeing something unintelligible but missing the necessary ideogram. “We’re not even sure what this stuff is yet.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out the moment you see it,” Bucky comforts. Your face heats up, lips pulled to one side as you avoid Sam’s raised eyebrow.
“Right,” you mumble, straightening up. “Uh, we should probably head over there now.”
“Right,” Sam parrots, long and curved with a smile.
You shoot him a look over your shoulder as you walk out, disconnecting from Bucky before responding. “Shut up.”
“I’m not doing anything!” he argues, hands up in surrender. He follows you out chuckling.
“You know exactly what you’re doing,” you murmur, shooting him a final glare as you turn a corner into another dull hall. Grimly, you observe the doors you pass them, perking up when you hear familiar muted footsteps ahead.
Bucky catches your eye, lips turning up a little at the sight of you. You catch his pupils flicker down your figure once you’re closer, snagging on a darkened spot right above your right knee.
“I spilled some water,” you explain, fingers dipping unconsciously to brush against the purported area. “No harm done.”
He moves and the ruby tucked in the crevice of his thumbnail catches your eye. Like an instinct, you reach for his hand, a frown pulling on your lips as you observe the small gash on his thumb. 
“Hangnail,” he responds to your silent question, rubbing small circles into the side of your palm. “M’okay.” 
You’re pleased to affirm so, bumping his shoulder gently after you sneak a glance at Sam. “Okay. How’re you doing, hangnail aside?” 
His eyes constellate among your features and he manages some sort of comfort in his expression. “Bored.”
“Great.” Your voice is soft and pleased. He agrees.
You fall silent once again when the intended lab comes into view, Bucky’s large frame stepping half in front of you to prevent you from getting to it first. He pushes the door open before you can, left hand hovering above his weapon as he scans a room already cleared before letting you in, the same fingers that reached for a gun now grazing the small of your back.
Sam raises an eyebrow but remains silent, watching Bucky’s eyes follow you as you head toward the other side of the room to look through a multitude of vials. They don’t waver even after you spare him a reassuring glance crinkled with a tiny smile.
Quietly, he walks over to Bucky, who’s definitely aware of the movement but startles when he leans in close and taps his shoulder. “Strange man-made horror to find,” he reminds. “You can stare later.”
Bucky squares his jaw, metal fingers moving to graze uselessly along the glasses. “I’m aware, Sam.”
“Uh huh.”
It’s nearly silent then, tinged by brittle clinking and quick glances so heavy they seem loud.
Bucky is tired. Sam is tired. Most importantly, you’re tired—and it makes someone like Bucky a little careless.
He’s very sure he won’t be the one who finds the culprit matching Bruce’s description, which means he isn’t as careful as he should be when he ducks his head and inhales something so pungent it’s startling. He flinches back, making the steel shelf teeter. Both his hands shoot out to steady it, flesh fingers bending close to an undulating liquid that spills little bubbles onto his skin, burning sharply into the broken crevices of his nails.
What follows is worse. Clandestinely, a smudged window closes around his brain. It’s subtle and awful, like his mind processes become blurry and slow while outwardly remaining consistent. He keeps himself from stumbling but is sure his eyes round dismally, blinking owlishly as he struggles to catch up with himself.
It all happens in the quick span of a second before he opens his eyes and everything seems normal again, although something tugs thinly from the back of his mind. Super-soldier sanity, he guesses. He looks down at the cause and sees a match, vial open and a dizzyingly clear liquid stationary inside. A red symbol stamps the label, unnamed.
“I think I have something,” he says, cringing at how far away he sounds. Just when he feels the prickling of doubt, everything clicks into agonizingly perfect place. “This might be it.” Unthinkingly, he curves a finger around the neck of the bottle and holds it up.
“Whoa, there,” Sam warns.
You’re next to him fast, taking it away carefully.
“It was open when I found it,” Bucky supplies.
You nod at him distractedly, producing a lid from your pocket to close the beaker and observe it, thankfully protected fingers twisting it around in the light. 
“It matches the description,” he adds.
“Yes,” you mumble distractedly, half in response to him and half in thought. “This is it,” you lower it into your transfer box and grin up earnestly at him when you close it, “good job, Bucky.” It’s very sweet.
“Thank you,” he murmurs. “S’what is it?”
“I’m not that smart,” you laugh.
Bucky disagrees.
“It’s probably not too dangerous. Not airborne, at least, since it was uncapped like that.” you contemplate a little more, looking back up at Bucky. Your pupils set in a way more calculating. “How close did you get to this? Did you inhale it?”
“No. I don’t think so. I smelled something, but it wasn’t that.” Bucky juts a finger behind him. “Maybe the rotted plant. Probably.” 
“Okay.” You say it rounded, edged with lightly veiled concern. “Tell me if you feel weird at all, okay?”
“Of course.”
Sam comes up from behind you, annoyed. “Okay. Are we done here? Can y’all flirt on the jet? I’m hungry.”
“You get so bitter when you’re jealous,” you bite, shooting Bucky a final, doubtful glance before tugging on his hand to leave.
“Am I so transparent,” Sam deadpans.
Bucky contemplates his strange state as he trudges back to the jet, taking quick notice of how dry his mouth has become, his tongue voluble. What he’s hazed with reminds him of oak bar tables and smoke, drunk confidence summery in his chest. He feels fine, he’s sixty-three percent sure. He thinks.
He’s in front of the jet before he can process the journey over, trying to shake away what feels like a creasing tug to his cling film mind. Your eyes are on him, and it looks like it’s not the first time, lashes kissing anxiously. Sam clambers inside, and you wait for Bucky right next to the doors.
“Are you okay?”
“Tired,” he tells you.
You’re about to respond when Sam shouts for you to hurry. Bucky scowls in his general direction, although it dissolves at your amusement.
“It’s okay, c’mon.” You guide him inside, seemingly unbothered as he follows you around like a puppy. “Do you want to take a nap on the way back?”
“Can I sleep on you?” he asks too rawly. You startle subtly with it, but recover quickly, a pale beam on your features.
“Yeah.” You smile at him, entirely saccharine. “Let me just get everything into the containment units.”
He sits in the seat next to your usual spot and stares after you as you walk away, appreciating the concentrated point of your expression as you fiddle with the storage settings.
“Maybe if you stop staring at her and actually talk to her, you might have a chance,” Sam cuts in, slumping next to him.
“I do talk to her,” Bucky argues. “I talk to her all the time. It’s just… she’s pretty.”
Sam struggles for a response for a second. “Oh-kay.”
“Do you really think I’d have a chance?” Bucky finds himself saying, unsure where his mouth has gotten permission to voice his thoughts. He clutches the suddenly few tendrils of control and tries his best to filter his thoughts. It’s too bad he can’t take things back.
Sam gapes. “What?”
“Nothing,” Bucky forces through his teeth, feeling like he wants to puke. Unexpectedly, words feel so much easier to spill out than silence.
Lovely warmth touches his knees. He doesn’t need to look up to know it’s you, your presence something deftly familiar.
Up close, you’re even more captivating when he finally meets your gaze. He holds back from reaching for you, digging his fingernails into his palm to restrain them from curling around your wrist. He wants you closer.
Your sweet features furrow, sparkly eyes catching on his heated forehead and dilated pupils. “Bucky, are you okay?”
“Can I touch you?” he asks, a little desperate from gating the inclination.
“What?”
“He’s acting weirder than usual,” Sam provides.
“Bucky, sweetheart,” unauthorized, he softens at the nickname, “did you inhale anything? Do you feel okay?”
“Some of it got on me. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. It got on your skin?” You pull on gloves. “Show me where?”
He raises his right hand for you to examine, inhaling sharply when you take notice of the small gash on his thumb again.
“Okay,” you breathe, slowly and then assured. You grab his hand. He blinks. “Come on.” You say, tugging him to the sink and spraying water up to his elbow. “It might’ve entered your bloodstream, we have to wash it out. Sam, call the team, get Bruce working on exactly what it is.” You push Bucky into an isolation unit. “Probably not contagious, probably not deadly,” you mutter to yourself. “We found it nearly half an hour ago. More severe signs would have started by now.”
“It was a level three at worst,” Bucky says, but stays willingly, watching you. “It’s probably one or two. I feel fine, just… uninhibited. Reminds me of getting drunk back then.”
You shake your head, confused, edging on frantic. “Drunk?”
“It hurts to not tell you things.”
“It hurts?” You’ve never felt more helpless, only able to repeat his symptoms in an attempt to inspire some helpful memory from your research.
“More than usual.”
“Bruce says isolation!” Sam calls. “I quote: ‘There’s probably no need, but better safe than sorry.’”
“She knows!” Bucky shouts, eyes on you.
“He sounds fine. Just as annoying,” Sam chatters away to Bruce, and Bucky tunes him out, concentrating on the concerned lines of your face.
“Sam’s worried,” he thinks out loud. “So are you.”
“I am. You’re sweating, Buck.” You examine his face, fingertips bumping into the panel.
“Don’t worry,” he tries to soothe, his own fingers thumping against the separation barrier when he attempts to touch you. “If anything, this is a little bit of a relief. I don’t need Thor.”
You snort lightly. “You’re insane.”
“A little. Not stable, definitely,” he admits.
You hum lowly, biting your bottom lip, pupils quickly inspecting his features. Before Bucky can comment on it, you voice your thoughts. “Okay. I’m gonna test out a theory. I’ll ask you some questions and you just have to answer. Is that okay with you?”
“Yes,” he answers, then, unnecessarily: “I don’t think it would be if it were anyone else.”
You graciously ignore it, only ducking your chin. “What’s your full name?”
“James Buchanan Barnes. But Steve’s right, that sounds a little snotty, doesn’t it? What do you think?”
You laugh. “I like your name. When were you born?”
“March tenth, nineteen-seventeen.” He frowns. “Damn. Just when I was reeling you in with the name thing.”
“Where do you live?” you ask, ignoring his comment.
He prattles off the address to his apartment. “Also you.”
“Me? I’m not…”
“You are,” he interrupts, glancing up at you anxiously. There’s so much he wants to tell you on the tip of his tongue, so much he doesn’t want to be forced to. Not right now. Not like this.
You catch his meaning and move on, eyes thinning accusatorily. “Are you the one who broke my mug?” 
“Yes, I knocked it off the table. But it was Sam’s fault, he pushed me into it.”
“I knew it,” you mutter bitterly, leaning back, limbs less tense. “I’m pretty sure we’re dealing with truth serum.”
“That’s not too bad. Considering the options,” Bucky says. “It makes sense. I feel… I want to tell you everything.”
“Effective.” 
“Thank you for not asking anything too invasive,” he says.
“I wouldn’t,” you respond.
“This shouldn’t be affecting me,” he continues. “The serum stops the effects. They must have made it stronger.”
You pause. “What?” Then, remembering his situation. “Nothing. Never mind. Do you have any pets?”
“A cat. You know Alpine, she loves you. But I know you like dogs.”
You tilt your head, wanting to ask further, but you stop yourself. “I do like dogs.”
“That’s why I’m getting you a dog for your birthday.”
You beam in surprise. “You are? Wait—”
“I keep looking but I can’t find the right one. I was thinking maybe it’d be better for you to come along, but I was supposed to think about that for a little longer.”
“Sam!” you call. “I feel like I shouldn’t be hearing this,” you confess to him, wringing your fingers in wait for the neutral party.
“No, you’re not supposed to know that.”
“I’m sorry. It’s weird it’s affecting you so much, it must be made for enhanced.”
“You figured it out?” Sam asks. 
“Truth serum, I’m pretty sure. Really strong truth serum, from the looks of it.”
“You have to leave,” Sam says immediately.
“What?” you ask, confused for what seems like the millionth time. “No. I want to stay with him.” Your face twists in concern again.
“I want her to stay with me, too,” Bucky adds.
“No, you don’t,” Sam commands. “Who knows… what you might say in front of—” he points at you, enunciating your name with an italic and a gesture. “You should leave,” he turns to you.
“You’re going to take advantage of me,” Bucky accuses.
“Have you been lying to me?” Sam questions. “I am only interested in confirming. Like: did you or did you not break Redwing two months ago—”
“Sam!” you interrupt.
“Come on. Do you know how much food has disappeared? Water bottles dented?”
“I told you that wasn’t me,” Bucky grumbles, leaning against the wall.
“That’s true. That’s what you told me, but what’s true and what you said can be—”
You glare at him. “Stop it.”
He hmphs. “Fine. I’ll settle. He owes me thirty bucks.”
“Whatever. Go make sure everything’s okay up front, I have to give Bucky some meds. Friday, did you activate isolation protocol?” She affirms as you open the door to Bucky’s unit. It’s cold when you step inside, but when you reach Bucky, he’s burning. “Bucky, how are you feeling?”
“Fine.” He looks up at you, pupils dark and blown. He can’t stop his hand when it lands on you, but you don’t seem to mind, leaning in close enough to his face for him to catch the little details of your face. He clears his throat. “Now I’m a little hot.”
You wipe hair from his sticky forehead, taking a small napkin from your pocket to wipe sweat from his brow. “I can see that. Friday, can you lower the temperature in here?”
“You’re gonna get cold.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“I always worry about you. You can’t ask me to do that.”
You stare down at him worriedly, thumb rubbing gently at his temple. There’s a hiss nearby, and three pills in a little cup stand on the table. You grab them and hand them to Bucky.
“Take these.” You point to the pale tablets, three in a single container. “They’re a precaution and the blue one,” you pinch it to show it to him, “should make this pass a little quicker.”
He takes the blue one first.
“Five minutes ago, we didn’t know what it was,” Bucky says. “You’re amazing.”
“Friday’s amazing. All I do is hand things to you.”
“You’re amazing.” 
You chuckle, observing his eyes. Purely clinical. “Okay. You are, too.”
Bucky bites his lip. “You don’t believe me.”
“I do.”
“You don’t. You’re amusing me.”
You look genuinely offended. “Absolutely not.”
Bucky cracks a smile. “You have a tell.”
“Bucky Barnes.”
“It’s in your lips. You purse them a little. Like even you can’t believe yourself.”
You pinch his lips closed with your index and thumb. He stares up at you with wide, blazing eyes.
“I won’t complain,” he says, muffled.
“You should! Don’t be so nice to me, Barnes.”
“I like it better when you call me Bucky.”
“Really? Everyone on the team calls you Barnes.”
“I said you, not the team.”
You let go of him, eyes sorry. Your thumb bends, the bone tracing along his bottom lip. You’re so close. He wants to echo his realization so badly.
“You’re so close.”
“I’m sorry.” You move to take a step back.
“No,” he protests, reaching for you again.
“What?” You laugh.
“I’m in love with you.”
The very first thing he feels is great, overwhelming relief. Like something had been interfering with his breathing and his feeling and his being and it was removed.
And then came the panic, thickened with fear of the consequences of his honesty and very thinly edged with something nicer.
You haven’t moved since he admitted it, pretty features contorted in neutral shock. He wants to know you so well, he can tell if it’s good or bad.
“I didn’t mean to say that.” He gulps, wanting very badly to let go of you but unable to do so. “Does that blue pill make it a lot worse before it gets better?”
You stare at him.
“Say something, please. I didn’t mean to say that. I don’t want to—I never wanted to tell you that.”
“Why?” you ask finally. Your brows are knitted, the edges of your features dipped in pain.
“Because I’m in love with you.”
You don’t say anything, but your lips part, the sorrowful border of your features softening. “I… I really want to kiss you right now.”
Bucky freezes. “What?”
Your face heats, pupils flickering away from him. You clear your throat. “But you’re in a vulnerable position right now and I don’t want to take advantage of that. I want you to tell me because you chose to.”
“You’re saying…”
“Yeah.”
Bucky really wants to kiss you too. “Why?”
“Because I think you deserve honesty.”
Bucky really, really wants to kiss you. He cracks an unfiltered smile, although it’s not entirely because of the serum. “Damn.”
“What?” you ask uneasily.
“I’m really fuckin’ lucky.’
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Text
𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐒𝐓𝐘𝐋𝐄
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summary: after a quick stop by mostro lounge, you decide you can't leave octavinelle's students to their dreadful costume fate
pairing: jade leech x fashion savvy! reader
warnings: fluff/crack, a little suggestive at the end; just a small drabble to celebrate me getting jade's halloween ssr that appeared in my drafts before i knew what's going on
twisted wonderland masterlist
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“And now, pray tell, what is this supposed to be?”
“We’re mummies,” Floyd eagerly grinned back at you when you entered Mostro Lounge. “Pretty neat, ain’t it, shrimpy?”
“I guessed as much from the form you submitted to the Halloween management committee.” You surveyed the warzone of torn white fabric the lounge had become and then zeroed in on the octotrio’s ‘costumes’, wondering in which world a mummy looked like a plucked chicken. “My actual question was, why do you look like toddlers who rolled around in a bunch of toilet paper?”
“Come again?” Azul tried to hide his shocked expression behind his hand as he adjusted his wired glasses.
“You’re well aware that mummies have a body shape too, right?” Walking up to Jade, you started inspecting the damage and what part of this fiasco was still savable, bunching fabric between your fingers and pulling at white clothing shreds. “Under different circumstances I’d be rather impressed that you managed to erase someone’s figure altogether but, with the festival in mind, I can’t let this pass. I can’t believe you put my boyfriend in this, Azul.”
“It’s truly tragic, pearl, isn’t it?” Jade played along, sighing tiredly as he raised one hand to cup your cheek. When your face was pressed into his chest, his palm cradling the back of your head, he threw a wicked grin Azul’s way. “To think that after all these years of knowing and supporting each other, you’d make us wear this when we’re expecting visitors from far and wide… I don’t want to linger on the thought.”
“Oh please, would you both quit being so dramatic?” Octavinelle’s housewarden rolled his eyes and massaged his temple before his shoulders sacked. “Alright fine, maybe the costumes weren’t our best work yet. Let’s hear your proposal then, Prefect.”
You hummed in contemplation as you studied the outfits again. “We can keep the striped shirts and the pants but we need decidedly more belts, a whole lot of them. And, if you know what’s good for you, then you'd better have untangled yourselves from the toilet paper looking crap by the time I’m back.”
“Wait, where are you going?” Azul asked as you were already halfway out of the dorm.
“I’m going to save Mostro Lounge!”
Upon your return, you were delighted to see the guys had followed your advice/ command and were waiting for you in only the long shirts and black trousers. When Jade saw you coming in, carrying a bunch of boxes filled with clothes and accessories, he quickly took them from you and set them down on the table next to them. 
“Thank you,” you smiled up at him, to which your boyfriend pressed a quick kiss to your temple. His brother did not hide the gagging noise he made. “Okay, let’s get to work. Halloween’s already drawing close and we’ll still have to make adjustments to the costumes for sure. 
“Here,” you said, digging through the cardboard boxes until you found the black shirts you’d been searching for. “Put these on. They should be roughly the right size.”
Turning around to let them change, you searched for the accessories you’d deemed the show-stealers. Brushing over leather, you hooked your fingers into the metal ring of a harness to hold it up. You really owed Pomefiore for this one.
“Oya, shrimpy, watcha have there?” Floyd’s amused lilt told you that he was pretty aware of what exactly it was. “You wanna catch yourself a fish? Or an eel, hmm?”
“I have to say, it is a pretty daring approach to a Halloween school costume,” Jade chimed in, one hand resting on his chin in contemplation but nonetheless smiling. “Not that I am opposed to it, of course.”
“Prefect, is this really necessary?” Azul shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking at you but not quite into your eyes. “I mean I understand refining our apparel but this…”
“Azul, I’m making you marketable right now,” you said earnestly and with that, his azure eyes finally snapped to you. “Do you know how much potential profit is tied to this one little accessory? C’mon, try it on. You can still decide not to wear it afterwards. For now, just go with the flow.”
One by one, you helped them secure the straps around their torso, having Jade hold Floyd still enough to get it on him. You could see Azul fidgeting from the corner of your eye as you put the finishing touches on Jade’s harness, slipping two fingers underneath the straps to make sure it wasn’t too tight.
“Okay, let’s get the shirts back on, add some more belts, cut up the fabric and get this show on the road. I can basically see people banging down your doors already. I hope you can seat that many guests.” The last sentences were more so directed at Azul, in an effort for him to just let you do your thing. “I don’t have any sort of hat prepared because I frankly didn’t expect to save a dorm’s costume today but I’ll see what I can do.”
“My my, that does pose the question of where we’d be without you,” Jade chuckled affectionately. 
“Out of business on Halloween, apparently,” you sighed theatrically. “Well then, chop chop guys, I want to see the entire thing.”
After they all pulled their striped shirts back on, you added more belts around their hips and waist to give the outfit more shape but didn’t tug the shirts in to mimic a mummy’s peeled off bandages. All in all, it wasn’t the most elaborate costume but it did the trick and if you could put some finishing touches on it throughout the week, you were confident the lounge would attract a fair share of customers. 
“Alright, that’s it. You can go around and do some work or whatever just to get a feel for the clothes. Remember, you’ll have to wear them for the entirety of the festival, so I want to remove anything that might be uncomfortable beforehand. And Floyd, don’t drag those white sleeves through the dirt, got it? They should stay the colour they are now.” You sent the eel a warning glare and he held his hand up in defence, although the grin he didn’t bother to hide before he vanished to the Seven know where wasn’t reassuring. 
Azul had apparently already slinked back into his office, leaving you standing alone in the lounge with your boyfriend, giving you ample time to admire your work again. Seeing Jade in something like this was certainly something you’d been very curious about, with good right as you learnt now; the black shirt highlighting his muscle and the leather holding your attention were leading your thoughts down a very different direction. Something he must have caught on to somehow.
“Do you like what you see, pearl?” He teased, his grin showing off his sharp teeth as he studied you with mischievous interest. Maybe it was your imagination but in the dimly lit lounge, his left eye seemed to glow. “I cannot help but wonder why you’d extend your gracious assistance to us without wanting anything in return, not that I am not grateful of course. 
“Perhaps you merely wanted to seize your chance to put me into something like this?” He gestured towards the harness secured around his chest, his attentive gaze not flitting from your face for even a second. “You know you need only ask if you have any more… fantasies of this nature.”
“I— It’s nothing like that! You make me sound like some pervert,” you protested, although, to your embarrassment, he wasn’t completely wrong. But, seriously, who would pass up a situation like this? “Anyway, don’t you have anything to do? You’re usually busy around the clock.”
“Oh, I have something very important to do,” he grinned down at you, taking a step closer to you, to the point you had to take one back, until he could crowd you against the bar. Now that he had you right where he wanted you, his hands smoothed down the sides of your body until he could place his hands on the back of your thighs to effortlessly lift you onto the counter. It happened so fast, you let out a surprised yelp and braced yourself against his chest, to which he merely chuckled. 
“And what would that work entail?” You questioned as you ran your fingers along the straps of the harness spanning his broad chest. Looking up you saw his attention already on you.
“Under normal circumstances it would require me to get out of these clothes. But, per your request, that is currently not possible.” Leaning into your personal space, his lips brushed over the delicate skin of your pulse point, his breath fanning over the base of your neck as he lowered his voice to a whispered husk. “I am fairly certain though, the same restrictions do not apply for your clothes, my precious pearl. I can definitely work with that.”
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xrag-dollx · 30 days
Text
Early Celebration
Kit Walker x fem!reader
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Summary: You and Kit visited the market to get some groceries for the upcoming week. You both left the house for just about an hour...without the kids. Perhaps a bad mistake?
Warnings: just pure fluff 🥹
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You and Kit were driving back from the grocery store, the car full of bags filled with the essentials you needed for the upcoming week. It had only been an hour since you both left the house. Although Kit had suggested taking the kids, but you insisted they’d be fine. Thomas and Julia were responsible enough, after all.
As Kit pulled into the driveway of your cozy home, he couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled in his stomach. It wasn’t uncommon—he was still adjusting to a life free from fear, one where he didn’t have to constantly look over his shoulder. You had noticed it too and reached over to give his hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Honey, it's gonna be fine... they're old enough to leave them alone just for an hour"
You spoke, your smile contributed Kit a relieving feeling.
You took the bags of groceries to carry them inside. You opened the front door, however, that unease became something else entirely.
“Thomas? Julia?” you called out, stepping inside. A weird smell was greeting you before you saw the mess. Flour dusted the floors like snow, eggshells crunched underfoot, and a strange mix of ingredients—sugar, butter, and something that looked suspiciously like ketchup—were smeared across the kitchen counter. The scene was pretty chaotic, to say the least.
Kit followed behind you with arms full of bags, his eyes widened with surprise. The pristine kitchen you had left an hour ago now had similarities to a war zone. The source of the mess quickly made itself known as two small heads popped up from behind the counter. Thomas, with flour streaked through his hair, and Julia, holding a whisk that dripped with a lumpy mixture, stared up at their parents with wide, innocent eyes.
“What in the world...happened here?” you asked, your voice calm but with a distinct edge that every mother seemed to master.
Julia, the elder of the two, bravely stepped forward. “It’s Daddy’s birthday!” she declared with a proud smile. “So we made him a cake!”
Kit blinked, taken aback. He thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Sweetheart, my birthday isn’t until—”
“But we wanted to surprise you, Daddy!” Thomas interrupted, his voice high-pitched with excitement. “We did it all by ourselves!”
You exchanged a look with Kit, your expression caught somewhere between amusement and exasperation. You took a deep breath, your stern motherly gaze was softening as you knelt down to Julia’s level. “I see you’ve been working very hard,” you said, brushing some flour off Julia’s cheek. “But next time, maybe wait for Mommy and Daddy to help, okay?”
Julia’s face fell slightly, but she nodded, her eyes still hopeful. “We just wanted to make you happy, Daddy.”
Kit’s heart melted at the sight of his children, their faces full of love, excitement (and flour) despite the disaster they had just created. He couldn’t help but laugh, pulling both of them into a warm hug. “I am happy, Jules. You two are the best surprise I could ever ask for.”
You smiled, the tension in your shoulders was easing. You stood up, surveying the mess again, as you turned back to Kit with a resigned sigh. “Well, I suppose we should start cleaning this up.” you spoke, your gaze switched between Julia and Thomas.
Kit shook his head, still holding Thomas and Julia close. “Not yet,” he said, a mischievous grin was spreading across his face. “It looks like we’ve got a birthday to celebrate.”
The kids beamed up at him, their earlier worries forgotten as Kit grabbed a party hat from a drawer—a relic from a past celebration—and placed it on his head. “How about we pretend it’s my birthday today?” he suggested. “And then we can all enjoy this…cake!.”
Julia’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Really,” Kit confirmed. “But first, let’s finish what you started.”
With a renewed sense of purpose, you as a family worked together, cleaning up the mess while you took charge of salvaging the leftovers of the cake batter. It wasn’t perfect—far from it, actually, but the effort mattered more than the outcome.
A short while later, you sat around the kitchen table, the world’s most lopsided cake sitting proudly in the center. It was slightly burnt around the edges and had a strange pinkish hue from the mystery ingredients the kids had thrown in, but to Kit, it was the most beautiful cake he’d ever seen.
As you sang “Happy Birthday,” Julia and Thomas’ voices louder than anything else, Kit looked around the table, with all the people he liked to spend his time with the most...the mess, the laughter, the love that filled the room—he felt a profound sense of gratitude.
For the first time in a long while, he felt like he could breathe freely, knowing that no matter what came their way, they would face it together, one flour-dusted step at a time.
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Tags: @fear-is-truth @am3ricanh0rrorwh0re @trueangel420 @evanpeterspeter @lacucarachapisser @evanpeterswifeyyy
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