#not tagging this with anything because i don’t want to add to the large pile of posts on this

[damn-stark]

Chapter 32 War is over

Chapter 32 of Cherry

A/N: WERE BACK AND CLOSE TO THE END!

Warning- Angst, swearing, fluff, mentions of death, and violence

Takes place during- The final chapters special 2

Pairing- Jean Kirstein x fem!reader

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

*A FEW YEARS BACK. UNDERGROUND*

The sun never came underground, some warm rays played through gaps. The warmth was taunting and never liked to stay or give much attention underground like you imagined it did above ground. And the stars looked like specs.

“What do you think it looks like up there?” Isabel asks as her eyes get lost in the blue sky that peeked over the gap. “I mean besides grass, dirt, trees, and the sky…what do you think it looks like?”

“I imagine a lot of rainbows,” you muse as you hold onto Furlan’s chin as you lay your head on the top of his head. “I read that they exist.”

“Rainbows?” Levi deadpans.

You glance at him and notice his judgmental look so you laugh and rebuttal. “I was just joking.”

Furlan chuckles softly and nudges Levi’s arm, causing the tiny man to sigh and look up at the cloud passing by.

“Maybe there’s a tea shop,” you add seriously this time. “One by a river, and a flower shop across from it, and a bookstore next door owned by a nice old man.”

“Oh! And horses tied up front as the people walk in the shop,” Isabel blurts and adds to one of your many ideas. “There’s tables outside so people can enjoy the sun as they read the newspaper and drink tea. And when it rains everyone stays inside by a fireplace to keep warm!”

You grin and close your eyes to imagine that simple life.

“It all sounds too easy,” Levi murmurs. “It’s all too simple that way.”

You open your eyes to look at him and see that his gaze is still lost in the sky. His eyes look hopeful even if he tries to make you all see the reality as you illusioned yourselves once again.

“Perhaps,” Furlan interjects softly. “But is it nice dreaming of a simple life? We deserve a simple life where we can drink tea by a river, don’t we?”

You smile softly and close your eyes again before you agree softly. “Yes, I agree.”

——

*NOW*

You made a promise, didn’t you? Not so long ago.

Here you are now falling through the sky towards The Beast Titan latched on Eren’s large Titan body.

You made a promise to finish him off if no one else did or could. He put this burden on you, he piled on more stress on an already stressful situation.

You made a promise to him and you have every intention to see it through. But he’s not the only one you want to do this for. You will see this promise through for them, you will fight even if it means to your dying breath for everyone who’s come before you. Every single Scout you grew up with, every single Scout who watched you grow up and treated you like one of them, every Scout you fought with, and every comrade you’ve lost along the way because they’re watching too. Their eyes are on you and everyone who remains.

You will fight, and you will keep your promise for them.

No regrets. No hesitation.

Thus, you dart towards Beast, and swerve the rocks he hurls in your direction to throw you off course.

It’s a pretty easy task since you can’t attack him directly yet, which would be fairly easy if you did; Levi has managed to win every fight against him, but no, you can’t attack him head-on. Not when the rumbling relies on keeping him alive, meaning he’ll do anything to stay alive, or Eren would do anything to keep him alive. So instead you manage to land on one of the Founding Titan’s spines near Beast.

Levi lands below you, and Jean, Connie, Mikasa, and Armin shortly thereafter land on other spiked spines, whilst Pieck transforms into Cart before landing, leaving you to watch as the first attack relies on Reiner.

Nevertheless, when Reiner transforms in midair and tackles Beast, he manages to unlatch him fairly easily, and that resistance to stay alive doesn’t happen. The moment Reiner slams Beast on the bones below, Beast dies. Or at least this empty body does.

Is this why he’s white instead of his former color? Because it’s some decoy?

“Eren,” Armin interjects, making you drift your eyes over to him standing up to face Eren’s head in the distance with a pointed look that gives you chills. “I have another question to ask you, once we drag you out of there. In what way are you free?”

“It's too quiet,” you change the subject as you watch smoke rise off of Beast’s body. “Somethings wrong.”

“Isn’t there always?” Levi remarks before zips down and lands beside Reiner over Beast. You look around for something hidden between all the fucking bones and dust, but there’s nothing but a blue sky and more bones.

It gives you an even more terrible feeling.

Regardless, you latch your grapple beside Levi and land between him and Mikasa, while the other three land on Reiner.

“I guess killing some empty husk isn’t gonna do anything,” Levi says as Beast keeps decaying to nothing.

“As I feared,” Armin adds. “Zeke’s using the same method as the War Hammer Titan to hide himself.”

“You mean we have to find one tiny body in this huge mass of bones?!” Jean remarks loudly. “There ain’t no way! We gotta face up to reality! Armin!”

“I know!” Armin surprises everyone by shouting back. “In one minute, I’m blasting this area away. Work with the Cart Titan to get clear!”

Your eyes widen out of surprise, but you can’t help but feel proud of his quick thinking and his determination. Plus it saves you from explaining a theory that was coming to mind about finding Beast.

“Eren knows this attack could be coming,” Armin adds. “I can’t imagine this’ll kill him! But if I blow these bones apart we might figure out where Eren or Zeke is!”

You nod in comprehension and don’t hesitate to zip away, noticing that Mikasa isn’t close behind. So you glance back and see her still standing before Armin.

“Mikasa!” You call out so you can snap her from the train of thoughts racing in her head.

Said woman’s head lifts before tilting down one last time before she shoots forward and follows after you and everyone else.

You keep your eyes on her even as she follows along just to make sure she doesn’t want to turn back and talk Armin out of his plan. And when you’re sure that she won’t turn back, you turn your head away, but just before you can fully focus on the clearing ahead, you catch a weird thing creeping behind Armin that wasn’t there before.

The smoke that invades the sky is thick, but as you narrow your gaze you make out a Titan that wasn’t here before. Which is not a good sign.

“Armin!” You warn him.

Mikasa snaps her head back and notices the same Titan so she desperately calls out to her childhood friend. “Armin!”

However, neither warning works, the titan is fast and seems to shove its tongue in Armin before yanking him in its mouth and running off in the other direction.

You bring yourself to a stop, and when you look back to where Armin was taken, your fear spikes as you see multiple Titans latched to the bones. Neither which were there before.

“Everyone’s seeing this right?!” You ask for reassurance.

“Yes,” Connie answers shakily as Cart and him land near you.

You draw out a deep breath and nod stiffly. “Good,” you mutter and then blink when you catch one suddenly moving towards you.

“Here they come!” Connie shouts. “Reiner!”

See it was too quiet and easy.

Alas, the Titan lunges at Reiner, but he manages to catch it and throw it aside. However, just when he gets rid of one, more surround him and grab him, making Jean and Mikasa help him out by launching Thunder Spears at the Titans. You expect more to attack, but they remain still.

“What the hell are these guys?” Jean asks what everyone’s thinking.

You study the field and begin to notice that they all don’t resemble some mindless Titan, they all have unique features and bodies just like the Titan users.

“They don’t look like Pure Titans. That’s for sure,” Jean adds.

“What do we do?” Connie queries. “We’ll run out of Thunder Spears! Most importantly is Armin alive?”

“The slightest injury and he would’ve transformed,” you remind him.

“Which means he was captured, without a scratch,” Levi adds for you. “But he was whisked off towards Eren’s ass, with countless Titans blocking our path.”

You scoff and avert your gaze from all the titans surrounding you before you interject. “And it'd be stupid to fight every single one of those Titans. Just as they spawned out of nowhere means they probably don’t have a limit as to how much can come out.”

“Cherry’s right,” Levi adds. “Even in perfect condition, I wouldn’t choose to leap into that mess. So keep cool. Mikasa, don’t charge off. I’ll act as bait and draw the bulk of them away first.”

You gasp and snap your head towards him, you part your lips to argue since he’s in a poor state and only barely gained back some strength. Yet Levi knows you well and affirms his task. “I said I will act as bait. Got that?” He directs at you.

There’s no use arguing so you just agree speechlessly and look away.

“That won’t work, Captain,” Cart argues nevertheless. “I’ve figured out what we’re dealing with. They’re the past generation of the Nine Titans.”

She caught on too. She’s smart, you have to admit. It’s impressive.

“Who knows if their minds are still in there, though,” Cart adds. “I would bet the Founding Titans’ power can resurrect an unlimited number of them, just like y/n was saying. These past Titan soldiers were created only to fight.”

Tsk.

“We’re no match for something like that,” Connie mutters.

You nod stiffly. “Exactly.”

“So we can’t afford to be so easygoing with this,” Cart interjects. “I’m not even friends with Eren, so…” she trails off and then suddenly hops away and begins charging through all the madness ahead.

“Hey!” Jean shouts. “You’re not gonna—Pieck!”

Damn. Crazy girl. Brave, but crazy.

“Aw, hell,” Levi grimaces.

You focus on Cart and see that Titans target her right away as she charges to Eren's nape. And she actually makes it with no damage and manages to drape the explosives on Eren.

“Wait!” Mikasa calls out and desperately begins running forward.

“Mikasa! Don’t!” You call out and get ready to follow her to keep her away.

Alas, just as Pieck seems to come out and gets ready to trigger the explosives, suddenly a trident pierces through Cart’s body.

“Pieck!” You yell out and without hesitation, you aim your grapples ahead and shoot towards her. After all, with Armin currently missing, the explosives around Eren’s nape are your current salvation to destroy his current body and find Zeke and him. Plus, Pieck is still alive, if anyone can save her it’s you.

You may not know her long, you may have just joined sides, and you may have wanted to kill each other not so long ago, but she’s on your side now. She’s your comrade now, and when you can you have to save your friends.

You can’t lose more.

Yet just as you get about halfway to Pieck, the hairs on the back of your neck rise and you quickly think to look down to the left corner. A mere second passes and out from the cloud of smoke jumps out the Jaw Titan, the same one who left gashes on your torso, the same one who took you captive in Marley.

Only now he’s a lifeless pale puppet.

If only you could have met the man that would turn into this Titan before his death. It’s too bad he died before you could join alliances.

Nevertheless, he swings his claws at you, but you quickly parry and spin forward to slice his wrist off. It’s only one, but he jumps away.

You watch him and then feel instantly horrified when you catch another Jaw Titan diving towards Jean with its mouth wide open.

“Jean!” You call out and aim your grapples below to try and move him out of the way even if it means getting in the Titans mouth yourself, but then in a flash, someone gets your boyfriend out of the way. When you look, you notice that it’s Levi who saved him in time.

“Captain!” You hear Jean scream, causing you to instantly land next to them on one of the bones.

“Levi” you mutter breathlessly as you see him on one knee.

“I’m okay,” he brushes you and Jean off. “Hurry, we’re getting Armin back. That’s our only path through this. Otherwise, we’ll all die for nothing!”

Explosions go off behind you, and growls and grunts boom, so you turn and face the disaster of battle playing out.

“I’ll go to the nape,” you let Levi and Jean know. “Pieck already placed the explosives there, I just need to get the trigger and then I’ll save her!”

“There’s too many Titans between here and there!” Jean exclaims.

You face him and nod. “Yes, but I’m fast. Besides, there's no other choice.”

You hold his gaze, and you see his eyes hold concern, and the desire to add more, but you turn and fly out before he can.

However, he was right about the Titans, there’s a lot trying to stop you and you can’t fight them all. You manage to escape the grasp of others and slice through the napes of others. One Titan even tries to dive toward your lower body and bite your legs, and another one reaches your arms with its hands as if they’re trying to pin you down.

Albeit before they can touch you, you let yourself fall without using your grapples or your gas. And when you fall past them, they dive after you, so you aim your Thunder spear and pull back before you shoot one and manage to take them both out.

“Fuck yeah,” you murmur to yourself before you shoot a grapple at the bones above you. You proceed to shoot yourself above the smoke bank you were falling through and get caught off guard when you see Bertholdt emerging as another puppet.

He reaches down and collects Reiner off the spine, Jean tries to help, but Bertholdt then crushes Reiner. And for the first time since he revealed the truth about Marco you feel bad for Reiner.

And to make matters worse, Bertholdt pulls back and then swings his arm out and hurls Reiner down to hit the ground so hard that a powerful wave gets shot out. You know nothing can block you from it, so you quickly land on top of one of the bones and stab your blades in for support, and duck your head.

However, no matter how hard your blades were stabbed inside the cavity, no matter how small you try to ball yourself up, the power of the wave causes you to lose balance and you get thrown back hard enough that you hit the back of your head and roll to the edge of the bone.

You try to quickly recover, but you can just blink and watch the blurry sky until it feels like you’re underground again watching the sky from under the gap in the ground.

“Levi, when are we going to go above ground?”

You remember asking.

“Soon,” he mutters simply.

Now all you want is to go home. To that house again. To that time when everyone was still alive.

But if you go back there, what happens to them? Jean, Mikasa, Connie, and Armin? What then?

You want to be with them. You want to feel the sun on your skin. You want to know happiness again. You want a home above ground. You want to go back to that tree by that river stream. You want that home and you can’t get that home unless you get up.

Get up!

The sky clears again, and a headache grows and feels like it’s thumping on the back of your head, but you ignore it and stab your grapple on the edge of the bone to let yourself roll off the edge, and slowly begin to descend to search for your family.

The cloud of smoke and dust is thick, but as you adjust to what’s around you, besides Titans, you see Connie holding Levi, and…Jean hanging from one of his grapples while he holds onto Reiner. Connie can handle Levi because it seems like Mikasa is distracting the Titans, so you quickly maneuver over there.

Jean is the first to notice you, and when you descend towards him, Reiner finally notices you.

“Take my hand, Jean,” you tell him. “I can…” you pause and glance down at Reiner, and hesitate. “I can pull us all up.”

Jean shakes his head. “You’ll tear your stitches, and your gear—”

“No,” you cut him off. “I can do it, just grab my hand.” You reach over, and he refuses again.

“Grab Reiner’s first, I’ll trust him to hold onto me.”

Your eyes widen, and he shoots you a pointed look. “Do it, please.” He insists.

You let out a deep sigh before you descend further down. Once you’re at Reiner’s level you don’t hesitate to offer him your hand.

Reiner however hesitates.

“Take it,” you insist. “Or I’ll take it for you.”

Reiner scoffs softly and reaches over to grab your hand. Once his hold is secure, Jean lets go and he falls, making you quickly press your trigger to ascend.

“You know,” you exclaim so they can hear you. “There must be a joke here somewhere.” You huff out and just as you get close to the top, you snap your eyes down and see a familiar Titan flying over.

“Isn’t that Falco?!” You point out.

Both guys look down and Jean nods, “that is and people are on there too!”

You sigh with relief, and as you watch them get closer you’re surprised to see Annie with Gabi.

“Hey!” Annie shouts. “Get on!”

When Falco is below you, you, Reiner, and Jean let go and fall on Falco’s back. No one says anything yet, instead you watch as they collect Connie, and Levi bleeding from his mouth and leg.

“What happened?!” You ask Connie as you crawl over and try to cradle Levi, but he pushes your hand away.

“My leg is just broken,” he says.

You snap your eyes up and see the bloody mess that adds to his already new injuries.

“Mikasa!” Annie shouts, making you look up and see Falco approaching Mikasa right in the middle. “You’re kinda in the way! Grab on.”

When you’re under Mikasa, she falls on and grabs on, making you carefully crawl to her. “Are you okay?”

Her grey eyes shift to you and she nods. “Yes, you?”

You hum in agreement even if your head hurts, and see her begin to doubt you, but you look away as Falco maneuvers past Titans trying to attack him before he gets out into the blue sky.

Now to focus on Annie being here and having a hand in saving all of you.

“Listen,” she quickly says as she knows the questions that are coming. “I didn’t think he’d really be able to fly, either. But he actually did it, so what choice did I have but to come? Still, I’m glad I did.”

“Gabi, why did you come here too?” Reiner asks what you had been wondering.

“Because you left us behind, Reiner!” She rebuttals. “I can fight too, you know!”

“Annie!” Reiner exclaims.

“The Azumabito ship sank,” she says, making your eyebrows furrow with worry only because of Mikasa—“It couldn’t withstand Falco’s Titan transformation. Even though we had no definite proof he could fly, Kiyomi agreed to try it.”

“So we have to repay her faith by stopping the rumbling!” Gabi adds for Annie.

“Gabi,” Reiner mutters.

“So where’s Arm—I mean, Pieck?” Annie asks.

Why did she cut herself off like that?

“Armin was captured, and his life is in danger,” Mikasa explains. “The Titan that took him should be back by the tailbone. Annie, we need your help.”

“Your childhood friends are always getting captured, aren't they?”

Well, she was one of the reasons why one of them was one time…

“We’ll get him back. Count on it.”

“What about Pieck?” Gabi asks what Annie failed to ask for again.

“She’s by the skull,” you inform her. “She tried to blow up the nape, but the war hammer Titan was blocking her. And the other titans blocked me from reaching her.”

“Blow it up?” Gabi exclaims.

You nod.

“We’ll launch simultaneous operations,” Levi struggles to say, making you reach over for him to help him, but he swats your hand away.

“Captain!” Connie shouts with concern.

“One group rescues Armin,” Levi continues to say. “We need the Colossal explosion. The other group goes after Eren and attacks the nape. We’ll split into two teams and strike simultaneously. We no longer have the luxury of worrying about Eren. No, we never had it to begin with.”

“Captain,” Mikasa mutters in disbelief. “But—”

“But what?” Connie cuts her off. “Falco being able to fly was a miracle. Without that, we’d already be dead!”

He’s right.

He’s right…yet why are you starting to feel hesitation?

You promised, didn't you? You said you’d see that promise through, so why? Why is it creeping in now out of all times?

“Yeah, and never have accomplished anything,” Jean adds a lot calmer than Connie did.

“Jean,” Mikasa calls out too as she can’t believe that everyone is teaming up to do this impossible task.

“I had a lot list of shit to tell that idiot off about…fuck!” Levi hisses.

You look down and that hesitation becomes stronger to the point that tears well in your eyes.

“I don’t wanna give up on Eren, either!” Connie says. “But the captain can’t fight anymore because of me, and even if he could, we’re up against the Founding Titan! How can we win if we’re still holding back?” He cries, making you begin to feel your breaths get hard as you doubt this task.

But why now, at this moment when so many people you love rely on you? Why?

Why does it have to be Eren? You can’t do it, you can’t go along with killing him. No matter what he’s done.

Please anything else but that…

Why can’t you just go home? Why can’t you be underground with them?

You just want to hide in the dark again until it all passes. You can’t—

“Y/N.”

Eren. Again.

You open your eyes you hadn’t realized you closed and see him standing across from you.

“I can’t do it,” you cry immediately. “Why do you burden me with this? Why?”

Eren’s eyes fall and he shrugs. “Because I trust you. I always have.”

You get up to your feet and narrow your gaze to argue, to yell at him, to beg him to stop. You storm over to push him, to punch him again, but instead, when you reach him you throw your arms around him and continue to cry.

Eren stands there stiffly for a moment but he slowly wraps his arms around you, letting you press him against you tightly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I’m sorry it has to be you. I’m sorry I keep bringing you here. I’m sorry that if it goes wrong it has to rely on you.”

You hold onto him tighter and shake your head. “You can still stay. You can stay. Please…”

“Y/N…”

You pull back and face him with a pleading look, and he sighs before his lips tug to smile.

You look at him like he’s crazy and part your lips to argue, but before you can, suddenly the starry sky begins to turn bright and light blue, and big fluffy clouds replace the stars. Beneath your feet, the sand turns to green grass and where there was only just Eren and you talking, now multiple voices sound behind you. You hear laughter and murmuring. You hear happiness.

When you turn to see what suddenly appeared behind you, you see your comrades, some long gone, and others who recently left. You see the family that you grew up with in a place you once dreamed of like kids dreamt of sweets and toys or the impossible.

You see Miche, Nanaba, and Moblit sitting around a picnic table under the sun, chatting with other comrades. But most importantly you see Hange and Erwin.

“Cherry-girl!” Hange greets excitedly.

You grin and feel more tears stream down your cheeks before you break away from your spot and run over to throw your arms around both Erwin and Hange.

“Hello little bird,” you hear Erwin greet you with a name you haven’t heard in years, so you hug them tighter and stay in their arms for a lingering moment before you step back and face them with a beaming grin.

You want to say so many things, so many good things, but you can’t utter a word, you can just stare with awe until suddenly people surround you and Miche pets your head.

“You’ve grown.”

“Careful or you’ll mess up her hair with your dirty hands,” Nanaba retorts for you.

“I’ve grown or you’ve shrunk living here,” you tease Miche shakily.

Miche chuckles and shakes his head. “Nope, definitely not.”

You laugh softly as you take another look at all their faces, and you feel your doubt is resolved.

What you’re doing, that final step even if it’s not done by you is for them too. For the hearts they sacrificed. This burden Eren has thrown upon you, the secrets he’s making you keep is not just for everyone else, but the people before you. These people you love.

You knew that. You told yourself that before, but it didn’t carry a deeper meaning until now as you stand in the middle of them, and as you hear the others enjoying themselves.

You have to do this for them. Hence you look at them one more time before you interject. “I’ll give my heart even if it’s the last thing I do. I’ll make you all proud.”

Erwin nods. “You already have, y/n,” he says proudly. “All we want from you is to continue on living. Can you do that?”

You nod softly. “I can,” you whimper. “I can.”

A faint smile tugs on Erwin’s lips and before you know it everything vanishes, and the stars and the sand stand proud once more.

“Eren,” you mutter and turn around to face him again with a soft and happy look.

Said man offers you a smile and nods. “I know,” he says. “Goodbye again and for the last time, Y/N Ackerman.”

“Goodbye, Eren Jaeger,” you mirror one last time before you’re returned to reality again without that joy, and with sorrow taking its place, while determination stands proud.

“Mikasa,” you interject as you remember what had been going on. “We have to kill Eren.” You meet her horrified gaze and you frown with pity and grief, but don’t look away so she can understand you’re being serious.”

“Mikasa,” Annie calls out, but to no avail. “Mikasa. Mikasa!” She shouts a third time and grabs her shoulder to pull her back and face her. “You just concentrate on rescuing Armin.”

You drop your gaze and just prepare your gear to drop with the people that will blow the nape.

“You don’t have to think about anything else,” Annie adds softer.

“Okay,” she whispers breathlessly.

“I’ll drop on Eren and blow his nape,” you inform the group. “Who else is coming?”

Mikasa looks at you a bit bewildered, but you ignore it for now.

“I will,” Reiner and Jean volunteer at the same time, making you scoff with amusement and look away before you simply nod and watch as Falco flies over a canyon top where people reside.

And the moment you fly past multiple rounds of gunshot goes off. “People are still trying to kill each other?!” You retort.

“Falco!” Reiner exclaims, causing you to drift your attention to him. “Watch out for projectiles!”

You follow his line of gaze and see multiple War Hammer Titans lined up and drawing back their arrows before they all shoot at Falco at the same time so they can bring him down.

Luckily though, he swerves each one. Which doesn’t come easy for you since you have to hold on as tight as you can while he spins, drifts, and dives to avoid being hit by giant arrows.

Nonetheless, when Falco dives directly towards a War Hammer, you crouch and get ready to jump.

You wait and wait until Falco is close enough that Reiner jumps off his back and transforms as he goes down, whilst Jean and you proceed to jump off and dive down after Reiner.

When the Armored Titan lands, Jean drifts away to hide, while you land on Reiner’s shoulder and face the War Hammer Titans that descend to meet you both.

You don’t focus on anything else, you can’t let yourself focus on anything else or else you’ll drift and probably fail. So you unsheath your blades and bend your knees slightly.

No one attacks at first, they wait, but just as one of the Titans thinks they have the upper hand, you shift around and shoot a grapple at its throat before you shoot towards it. The Titan then lunges and tries to stab Reiner, but Reiner captures its arm, letting you swing around the Titan and cut deep through its nape.

This seems to trigger the other Titans so just as Reiner moves forward to tackle one, you move back and fly around like a flash of lightning and cut through their napes. You actually work well with Reiner, not missing a beat or letting a Titan slip past you. It’s honestly exhilarating, all this speed, the wind, and the relief of seeing the Titans disappear.

But you have to remind yourself of a job you have to do so when you see that Reiner can handle himself and the Titans are busy with him, you finally give a signal. “Now, Jean!”

“You’ll be okay?!” You double-check on Reiner only because it benefits you and your family.

Reiner offers you a stiff nod, letting you follow after Jean.

However, just before you can reach Eren’s nape, Jaw Titans appear out of the smoke, and there’s one you’re familiar with.

“Of course, there’d be even more Titans thrown at us!” Jean complains.

“Wouldn’t be a battle if it wasn’t,” you retort playfully, making Jean glance at you and meet your gaze for a lingering moment before Jaw and you target each other at the same time.

“Long time no see, friend!” You taunt Jaw.

Jaw quickly and without hesitation tries to slash you, but you quickly swerve.

However, the moment you do the another jaw you don’t fail to notice tries to tackle you, but you go low and swing right under them. When you swoop back up you pull one arm back and hurl a thunder spear in between them as they’re turning away to try and find you.

The first explosion goes off and they’re thrown to the side as their faces are shredded to pieces, and the one with dark hair loses an arm. Yet they don’t seem to die, so you fly towards them. The jaw titans notice, and the jaw with lighter hair is the least damaged so it comes at you at a quick speed.

You don’t fall through, when you get close, just as it jumps up to try and get you, you spin swiftly and use your blades to slice through the nape and then run it off the bone's surface.

“Nice rematch,” you mutter and land on a bone to catch your breath and try to ignore all the pain just for a second.

You try to catch your breath for a second and hear multiple distant explosions of Titans transforming before a large shadow casts over you.

You look back to see if it was another one of those Jaw twin titans, but you gasp as you recognize Ymir’s Titan.

It’s been so long since you’ve seen her Titan, but it was unique and especially ugly, so it’s not hard to identify. Albeit you have to remind yourself that it’s not her, it’s just a puppet of her Titan.

Plus even if it was her…you still wouldn’t hesitate. You don’t, so you quickly move out of the way and attempt to cut her through her nape, but when you turn to face her, she’s gone.

“Where did you go?” You ask yourself and look back, and just see Pieck transforming. She got out of her predicament and keeps transforming, and Jean?

He hasn’t exploded the nape. Hm.

You should go to him. Help him. Yet where’s Ymir?

You turn and just as you’re about to turn your head; you actually tilt it up and see her coming down at you from above. You try to quickly counter but she manages to tackle you down and tumble on the bones surface

And with all the metal you’re carrying it’s like getting everything embedded in you when you hit the ground.

Luckily though the impact makes Ymir unbalanced so you can slip away.

Rather than turning around to finish this pointless fight against Ymir, you try to find Jean, but you find Pieck first falling towards another Titan trying to capture her. So knowing her life is worth more, knowing that it’s something you must consider, you change directions and manage to capture her.

“I can still fight once my arm heals!” She interjects.

You nod. “I trust that you can,” you assure her. “But you’ve reached your limit! We need to retreat to Reiner’s position!”

However, when you lay your eyes on him he’s on the ground with half his Titan face broken, and a war harmer Titan raising its weapon to get ready to strike him.

“Reiner!” You hear Jean’s voice.

You try to peer back and as soon as you do you see two titans once again trying to attack you.

Yet just before you can get hit, suddenly other Titans tackle those two after you. When you land on a bone's surface you look back and see that the Jaw Titans just helped you.

“What?” You gasp and let go of Pieck.

Jean lands beside you and you have to assure yourself that you saw those same Titans that just tried to kill you, save you too. “Are you seeing this?”

Jean nods as his jaw drops in shock. “Yes.”

“Porco,” you hear Pieck whisper shakily. “Marcel.”

They’re helping you now? How?

You look around and catch that Bertholdt's Titan is now knocking different Titans off Mikasa, Connie, and Annie’s path. You then notice that Ymir’s Titan has also begun to help instead of trying to kill you. So this means you can get to Armin easier now too.

However, everything seems to fall into place, everyone takes advantage of this moment like you’ve trained to do, and as soon as a bullet knocks the Titan that holds Armin down, Mikasa slides open its jaw and it lets go of Armin in midair.

“Armin!” You yell out and get ready to bolt over to catch him since he seems unconscious, but just as your grapples hit the bones in the distance, his body jerks up, and he gets impaled by the Titan's long tongue.

“Armin!” You cry out wanting to go over there, but he impresses you by using his thunder spear and exploding it.

Alas, the Titan still somehow has the strength to try and pull him back, but you fly over there and cut its tongue in half and it lets Armin go.

“Annie!” You yell out as Armin falls down.

Said girl catches him and you swiftly land back on the bones surface to watch what’s happening around you with disbelief

“I’m sorry everyone,” you manage to hear Armin say from Annie’s palm. “But I’m fine now—”

“Annie behind you!”

You look to the side and see more Titans coming at Annie, but in the blink of an eye, more Titans come to your rescue and take out the Titans before Mikasa and Connie can, letting them fly over and land next to you.

“How did this happen?” You ask out loud and only watch as the body of old Titan users help you out so you can save your energy.

“It’s all thanks to Zeke,” Armin answers you.

“To Zeke?” Mikasa questions in shock.

“He awakened our comrades in the paths,” Armin says. “Where there’s no life or death. All Eldians are connected via the Paths. That’s because, most likely, the Founder Ymir is seeking connection. She’s searching for something from us.”

You scrunch your nose and knit your eyebrows together. “That’s creepy,” you mumble and sit down to rub the back of your throbbing head. This is when you notice that the sound of booming footsteps below suddenly go silent, all that you hear is the battles happening around you, and Eren's Titan crawling forward. Thus you move towards the edge and look down and see the wall Titans stopped moving, and the rumbling stopped. So Zeke is dead…

Yet the other titans haven’t stopped moving, and Eren’s nape still needs to get blown up, so you push yourself up and shoot yourself towards Eren's nape, you notice Jean do the same, and since you’re faster you help clear his path of any Titans.

“Go, Jean, I’ve got your back!”

Said man holds your gaze before he continues to zip forward. You follow just below him and take out the Titans that try to stop him with Pieck’s help. And before long he makes it to the nape and you stay behind and watch on top of Pieck in a ready stance.

“You damned suicidal dumbass!” Jean cries out before he presses the trigger, and causes the explosions to go off with loud and destructive booms that knock Eren’s head off and make something long, glowing, and translucent thing come out of him.

“What the hell is that?” You ask as you shield your eyes.

“Who the hell knows!” Pieck yells out.

The long, glowing, and clear thing quickly floats back to him at a quick speed to try and attach itself back to him, or so you’re guessing since it looks desperate.

“It wants to attach itself back to Eren,” you point out and grab a clutch of the Carts' hair. “We have to—”

However, before you can finish what you have to say, Reiner throws himself on it and tries to hold it back as best as he can.

“Reiner!” You hear Jean’s voice in the distance.

You can’t get to care for Reiner, but without him, you have to admit all this would be a little harder.

“Jean, Y/N, Pieck!” Connie shouts. “We’re getting out of here! Armin’s gonna blow all this up!”

“Wait!” Jean yells out as you watch Pieck get out of her Titan while you wait for her so you can help her over to Falco and the others. “Reiner is still down there!”

“The Armored Titan should be able to withstand the Colossal's explosion,” Pieck assures Jean. “Regardless, to pass up this chance would be to trample on Reiner’s resolve.”

You spare Reiner one last glance before you wrap your arm around Pieck and pull her out of her Titan to head to Falco’s back. Jean is hesitant but he follows close behind and lands behind you on Falco.

“Is everyone here?” You ask and double-check that Levi, Connie, Mikasa, Jean, Gabi, and Annie are here.

“Yes,” Mikasa says. “We’re all here!”

You hum and focus on Levi and his broken leg. “Are you—”

“I’m fine,” he cuts you off. “You?”

You nod stiffly. “For now,” you mutter and then look back as the sound of Armin’s explosion hits your ears and overwhelms you before the force of such a powerful thing knocks Falco directly towards the canyon where everyone is.

Can you say that it’s an easy path from there? No.

Everyone is still hurt, and it’s too quiet past this canyon. Plus why would Eren try and convince you to kill him if no one else could? This was too easy. It’s not over.

“Look!” Jean points out. “The bones….does that mean…Eren’s dead?”

You don’t want to sound like the bearer of bad news, so you stay quiet and just move over to help Levi by putting his arm around your shoulder and help him off Falco’s back.

Everyone else gets down and those from Marley reunite with their families, leaving you and your family to watch with disbelief and sorrow over what’s happened.

“I can’t say I don’t have regrets,” Connie says. “What we did was right, wasn’t it? We did stop the rumbling.”

You sigh and tighten your hold around Levi’s hand before you try to assure Connie's doubt. “We did. I can’t say these people would’ve done the same for us, but this is what we have fought for. We…are meant to be here, at this moment. We’re doing the right thing.”

“Armin?” Mikasa interjects.

You look ahead and see his Titan trying to get up.

“Do you see Reiner?” Connie asks.

You walk closer to the edge with Levi still clinging onto you and catch Reiner’s Armored Titan pushing himself out of rubble.

“He’s okay!” Connie shouts.

You can’t help but smile softly until Connie cuts in. “Hey look over there!”

You follow his line of gaze and see that stupid ugly worm trying to crawl down the canyon.

“It’s still alive, even after taking that blast?!”

You groan softly.

“What on earth is it?” Jean asks what you’re wondering.

“Beats me,” Levi says hoarsely. “But I do know we can’t let it live.”

You swallow back nervously and before you know it another explosion goes and you’re proven right that this was too easy, Eren’s new Colossal Titan grows.

“Well,” Jean mutters. “That figures. I didn’t think that’d be enough to kill you.”

“Yeah,” Connie says back. “But what do we do?”

“Kill him,” you remind them. “We have to kill him.”

This is what he wants.

“This is bad!” Gabi points out the obvious. “If the glowing thing and Eren come into contact, the rumbling might start again!”

“Yeah,” you agree. “We gotta kill it.”

“How’re we gonna kill something that survived a blast like that?” Levi asks before he says the obvious. “The one we should target is Eren. You’ve caught on, right?”

“This nightmare won’t end until we take him down,” you finish for him and let out a deep breath as your eyes fill with tears.

But this is it, this is what he wants. This is the end.

You let out a shaky breath and just as you try to get them to get ready and head out, thick smoke begins to filter the air.

“This vapor is coming from the glowing thing,” Gabi says. “Did it die?”

“No,” Connie interjects. “It doesn’t smell like when Titans die.” He then gasps and goes quieter. “Could it be…what if it’s like the stuff that was used on Ragako Village?”

You gasp and feel as if your heart stops because you know what it means for people like Jean and Connie. They…no…

“What?” Mikasa gasps.

“Y/N, Mikasa! Pieck!” Levi exclaims. “Get on Falco! We’re getting out here!”

You know what you have to do, you agreed to do the right thing. You made promises, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t prevent your heart from breaking as you realize that this can bring an end to the man you love.

“Huh?” Pieck wonders out loud. “What are you talking about?”

Levi slips away from you and with sudden adrenaline, he begins to get ready to set off.

“Ackerman’s and Titan wielders are immune, remember?”

You turn to face Jean, and he slowly looks at you with tears in his eyes.

“Jean,” you whisper before you close the gap with a rough kiss. “I love you,” you mewl between his lips.

Jean cups your cheeks and leaves a lingering kiss on your lips before he whispers. “I love you too. I love you.”

“Y/n!” Levi bellows.

You pull back and look into Jean's light brown eyes one more time, you hold his gaze for a lingering moment before Mikasa grabs your arm and pulls you with her towards Falco after he transforms.

It’s good that she does, you would’ve stayed there for a moment longer. You would leave, but it’d hurt even more. So it’s a good thing she pulled you on Falco’s Titan because you made a promise. This is that moment to see it through.

“No!” Pieck cries out. “Dad!”

You keep your gaze down and off Jean to avoid feeling your soul die. You blink and look ahead with a narrowed and determined look. You ignore the sound of them transforming and grip onto the Thunderspear Levi hands you.

You made a promise.

“Cherry and I will knock Eren’s teeth out and Mikasa you have to give the finishing blow,” Levi gives a harsh truth. “And if she doesn’t see that through, Y/N you have to do it.”

You nod stiffly and secure the Thunder spear on your arm.

Pieck jumps down and transforms before landing on that weird worm thing to help Reiner. You proceed to stand up and with tears in your eyes, you focus on Eren.

Mikasa cries out all of a sudden and before you can ask what’s wrong, Levi cuts in harshly. “Mikasa, get it together! We’re the only ones who can kill Eren now!”

Mikasa grips onto her head and Levi keeps yelling at her, you wipe the tears off your face and mentally prepare yourself. You draw in one deep breath and as you exhale Mikasa exclaims with a new sense of determination.

“Everyone help me get there!”

That’s what Levi said, but it’s better that she’s deciding that for herself now. So with sorrow, and with fiery determination, you jump off Falco.

Between Eren and Armin’s blows, Eren breaks the top of some canyon and has the debris get in the way, but you skillfully maneuver through it. And when that moment comes as you get near to Eren, both Levi and you shoot your Thunderspears at Eren’s mouth and make a gap in his mouth, leaving room for Mikasa to go in.

You let her see this final blow through, this finishing blow that brings the end and completes your promise to Eren.

——

She did it.

You did it. You all finally did it. There’s no more trembling ground, there’s no more Titan left standing. The people, and your family who were turned to Titans have turned back to their human selves. It’s over. It’s really over.

But you can’t believe it, you’re relieved and happy that what you’ve fought for, what so many of your friends and comrades fought for has meaning, but after dealing with this chaos for so long it’s hard to stomach that all the suffering is over.

You don’t have to keep fighting, you don’t have to keep fearing that one of the people you love and care about will get eaten by a Titan ever again. You don’t have to worry about walls, or if today will be your last day because of the ravenous Titan. You can breathe…

Breathe…

You take in a deep breath when you make it to the top of that canyon with a beating heart, but you can’t register anything. Actually, everything around you blurs, it’s like you're numb with your disbelief.

You walk until your legs can’t carry you and you fall on your back.

Smoke from this battle still lingers and clouds the view of the sky, but as it drifts away and you can finally see the blue sky above you, that realization that this war is over finally hits you and you can’t help but laugh as you cry.

It’s over. It’s finally over!

You can fall asleep without the fear that you’ll get somehow eaten by a titan, you can live out by the ocean and live without fear that all you’ve built will get crushed by a Titan. You can live for every single soldier who gave their heart for this exact moment.

You did it….it’s over.

“It’s finally over,” you whisper and drag your hand out to reach for the hand of your most cherished friend who’s long gone.

You expect to feel nothing, but when you clasp your hand you feel yourself grab something that’s not dirt or rocks. You clasp your hand and you feel something soft and smooth. It’s not warm, it’s fragile and it feels like smoke, but it also returns that gentle hand embrace. Smoke can’t do that, so you quickly snap your head to the side, and much to your surprise you meet that warm gaze of that cherished friend.

“Marco,” you gasp.

His cheeks are littered with freckles, and his eyes are that same warm brown you knew and found joy in. He’s there, next to you holding your hand.

“Marco,” you cry.

He offers you that goofy smile you missed and more tears stream down your cheeks.

“It’s over,” you whisper. “Marco.”

But he’s not alone, slowly two more people appear on the ground beside him; Furlan and Isabel.

They’re here too. With you. This is their goodbye and their gratitude. This is their support and comfort. This is them.

“It’s over,” you repeat shakily. “We did it. Isn’t it beautiful?” You ask softly and look up to admire the sky.

And the moment you take your eyes away from those you loved, that hand you held is gone, and all of them along with it. But you’re content now knowing that they know that they died for something, for a better tomorrow. You’re happy knowing that they’re with you everywhere you go.

There’s something else you have to do now though. Thus you get up from the ground and begin to search through the crowd of happy and relieved people.

You drag your exhausted body in search of only one person. You saw him get on this canyon so you know he’s here, injured but here. So you search and search frantically.

“Levi?!” You call out. “Levi?!”

You maneuver past a crying group and search between people, and search low.

“Levi—“

“Cherry,” someone calls back, causing you to spin around and find Levi sitting against a rock.

“Levi,” you muse and don’t hesitate to run over to him.

When you reach him you get on your knees and you both immediately throw your arms around each other.

“Levi,” you cry with joy. “We did it. We made them proud.”

“Yeah,” he whispers softly. “We did.”

You smile and snuggle your head against the crook of his neck.

“I love you,” you whisper.

Levi caresses the back of your neck before he catches you by surprise by pressing a kiss on the top of your head.

“I love you too,” he says. “My Cherry.”

You can’t help the tears that flow down your cheeks and dampen his neck.

However, now that you sit here in his arms, not that it’s over you can’t help but think…what now?

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Tagged- @expectoscamander @greenygreenland @that-soft-lesbian-friend @dai-tsukki-desu @usernamehere91 @avocadopoosae @romancried @victor-criss-bish @moo-moo-meadow @stareatceiling @padfootii @ravensleepyeyes @thanosisadilf @dawneee @babyyblueey @leahseclipse @ifimnotabushimnoone @luvelyxp @ameliabs-world @dragon-master-kai

[sleeping-on-cracking-ice]

hello 🧸 i really enjoy reading your alice in borderland writings and just wanted to say that your writing is ✨immaculate✨ hope you keep up the good work!also, i wanted to request something where the reader is this badass/genius at the beach and niragi and chishiya can’t help but be attracted to her and so they try to pursue her both. but even though she acts tough on the outside she does like them back and the rest is up to you if that’s alright~

Thank you so much! That just made my day. 😊 And of course, here you go! 

Two Peculiar Admirers | Shuntaro Chishiya, Suguru Niragi

PART 1 | PART 2

{Alice In Borderland Masterlist}

Character(s): Chishiya, Niragi (Aguni, Kuina, OC)

Summary: You are a new member of The Beach with a harsh attitude and a strong personality. Chishiya and Niragi can’t help but be a little bit lovestruck.

Warnings: a lot of swearing, blood, stalking, violence, threatening

Word Count: 3.5k

*reader is female

Author’s Note: I planned to fit this all into one part but it got a bit too long and I still have more to write. I’m so sorry I left it at a cliffhanger but I promise I’ll upload Part 2 before you know it!

Gifs Credit

It had all begun when Aguni had brought you back to The Beach.

You were a particularly strong woman, both on the inside and the outside. You didn’t hesitate in games to do what needed to be done to survive. And best of all, you were on your own. He thought you would be a perfect little guinea pig to add to the pile back at The Beach to help collect cards.

Aguni had found you at a heart’s game, a game of betrayal. He noticed you at registration, believing that you would be killed off within the first few minutes. But he got a great surprise to see that you gave up other player’s lives without hesitation. At least you knew how to survive in the Borderlands, no friends, no one to betray.

He followed you for a while after the game, trying to find the right moment to grab you and place the black bag over your head. You noticed him following you a few times, so you kept your guard up.

But eventually, he used his strength against you and knocked you out with a few hits to the head. Not enough to hurt you, but enough to make you black out.

He didn’t want to take any chances. After seeing your strength and skills conveyed at the hearts game, he didn’t want to risk becoming injured or even killed by you.

After being brought back, Aguni spoke highly of you in the meeting room, causing Hatter to move you to a higher number than most. You were annoyed if anything, you were doing completely fine by yourself. Why did these people have to drag you into their selfish and chaotic dynamic?

You were rather cold-hearted towards everyone, being upset about becoming a part of all this mess. You felt like a soldier in a meaningless war. You didn’t want to put all your energy into your games just to let one person leave this hell. Everyone seemed blinded by it, didn’t they realize they were believing empty promises?

*************

On one of your first nights at The Beach, you had been sitting at a booth nearby the pool by yourself. You enjoyed watching people acting like drunken idiots, it was entertaining to you. Sipping your drink and laughing at people getting pushed into the water had become one of your favourite pastimes, since there didn’t seem to be much else to do other than drink or dance.

This was when Niragi first approached you.

A sudden arm slung around your shoulders like a snake. You whipped your head around harshly, receiving a fright from the action. A young man with several silver piercings in his face had decided he had the audacity to make himself comfortable right next to you. Well, technically it felt like he was sitting right on top of you he was that close.

You furrowed your eyebrows roughly at him but didn’t move, just staring at him with a surprised look on your face.

“Hey sweetheart, you’re looking awfully lonely,” he began, leaning his face much closer to yours. “Why don’t you come with me? I’m sitting over there with a few of my friends. I would love it if you could join us.”

You could tell this guy had never been rejected before, his ego was so large it oozed off his words like a bad smell. You put a hand against his chest and pushed him away from you. His eyes widened in surprise.

“Look sorry… whatever your name is. You’re being real fucking annoying right now,” you said, being straight forward with him. Although you would be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t appreciate his confidence. But there was a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and this man seemed to be right in between the two.

He sat up and off you with a shocked look on his face. “Are you sure you want to be saying that to me?” he said in an annoyed tone. You watched as he cocked his pierced eyebrow upwards, being interested in how you would answer.

You gave a big sarcastic smile and giggled. “Yeah, you’re nothing special sweetheart. Thanks for ruining my peace and quiet.” You stood up out of your seat and his arm slid off your shoulder. He watched you in shock as you strutted away from the booth, making your way to the bar nearby. You didn’t want to argue with a man who just so obviously wanted to get into your pants. You weren’t going to give into anyone that easy.

Niragi let out a big breath and smirked as he checked you out from the booth. “Hopefully no one saw that.” He said to himself.

No girl had ever rejected him so harshly before. You didn’t know who he was? Did no one tell you?

Your harsh remark to his attempted flirting struck a chord within him. He felt his heartstrings pull tight in his chest. That attitude of yours really hit him.

I mean, who wouldn’t love to play a game of cat and mouse? Because the vibe you were giving off to Niragi gave him the idea that you would love to play a little chase game of emotions with him.

***********

Chishiya’s meeting with you would have been rather bizarre. He met you at a game because you were assigned to the same group as him for one night.

During the drive on the way there, you kept glancing your eyes over to the mysterious figure. He sat quietly in his seat, hood over his head and earbuds in his ears. He wore all white, reminding you of a ghost.

The game was a four of clubs. Pretty easy for someone like you, or so you thought.

It was held in an apartment block that reached twelve levels high. The aim of the game was to find the safe zone to disengage the bomb within the time limit and without being ‘tagged’ by the tagger.

During the first five minutes of the game, you tried your hardest to remain alone, but a young man who didn’t have any idea what he was doing followed you around from registration. He seemed to be a new player, so after a while you decided to tolerate him. He could be used as a shield from the tagger if worse came to worse.

As you made your way around the levels, checking every door and looking around every corner, you heard rapid gunshots every now and then. It made your heart drop every time you heard it just below you or just above you.

At some point you watched as you saw the tagger take aim at someone who was on a different level. You watched as the young man ducked down to avoid being killed, bullet holes shredding into the wall next to him in the process.

You frowned. Why did the tagger attack him so far away? Every victim has been on the same floor as him when he kills them.

Then it hit you: he was trying to protect the door that the young man was attempting to open. That must have been the safe space.

You and the new player that remained with you made your way down a few levels to the door that the tagger had been shooting to. There had to be something there, he wouldn’t aim from that far if he didn’t want that door opened.

As you arrived, the tagger and the young man gone, you were about to open the door before you heard a voice call from further down the balcony.

The mysterious figure from the car was there, strutting along the path like he owned the place. You kept your hand on the door handle and looked at him to see what he had to say.

“Are you sure you want to open that?” he gloated, smiling slightly and stopping just next to you. You looked him up and down. He had a shorter stature than you expected.

“I was planning on it,” you remarked, jiggling the door handle in your grasp. It was unlocked, unlike all the other doors you had tried. This must have been the safe zone.

The figure tucked his hands into the pockets of his white hoodie and raised his eyebrows while scanning the door up and down. “Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that the tagger didn’t just stand in front of it?” he said.

You thought for a second. He had a point, but you didn’t have time to think logically at that moment. The game phone in your pocket beeped and announced that there was only five minutes remaining.

“Look I’ll just open it slowly. But we must hurry because we won’t know how long I could take to disengage the bomb,” you said matter-of-factly.

The man nodded and stood behind you so he could see what was through the door when you opened it. You breathed out heavily and slowly turned the door handle to peep inside.

The room blossomed with light as soon as you opened the door. It seemed normal enough, except there was another door on the other side of the room that led to a lit-up area.

“That must be the safe zone,” you breathed out, relieved. “Must be,” the figure repeated.

A sudden deafening sound filled the air behind you and you both whipped your head around to see the new player that had followed you lying on the ground with several holes in his chest. You felt blood splatter onto your face from the impact, shifting your eyes upwards just to see the tagger at the end of the hallway, quickly storming their way down towards you and the man.

“Shit!” you screamed. “No time to waste!”

You pulled open the door completely, and before Chishiya could even think quick enough, you grabbed him by the back of his hoodie and tugged him inside harshly.

He stumbled from the sudden movement and ended up falling on top of you from the force, managing to kick the door shut with his foot in the process.

You groaned underneath him. “Sorry,” you muttered. “You weren’t moving so I didn’t have a choice.”

He chuckled above you and pushed his arms against the ground to stand himself up and off you. “No worries, I could never be mad at someone for saving my life.”

 *************

You thought that both of those encounters with the strange young men would be your last, but apparently not.

You began being put in the same games as Chishiya more often, eventually forming a bond with him and always teaming up together during games. He introduced you to his friend Kuina, who you became rather close as time went on.

Although you still preferred your time alone greatly, there was always a certain someone who would disturb your peace and quiet.

Niragi would take any opportunity to annoy you, whether it be in the hallways when you’re on your way to bed where he would back you up against a wall and try to make you feel threatened, or whether it be out at the pool when you were by yourself. People would stare at you both as he sat with you and tried to make it seem like to the public that you were together, which was quite embarrassing.

He would never leave you alone, and at some points you began to believe that he was stalking you. He managed to find you everywhere, so it wouldn’t be an outrageous claim.

Chishiya however you found a lot more likeable.

He was subtle, kind of making sly comments about his attraction to you every now and then. You appreciated him trying to hide it more rather than being too open about it like Niragi. It made you more interested in the intelligent and mysterious man.

Chishiya at times though would come across as rather overprotective. That was the only thing you had a problem with, because out of all people he would know that you can handle yourself simply fine.

Sometimes in games together, he would do everything in his power to make sure you stay away from potential death. At times he would drag you around like a ragdoll just so you stay beside him. It became quite annoying, but you dealt with it anyway. You did not want to offend or upset him.

**********

Niragi leant against the hallway wall just outside your bedroom door. He was waiting for you to get changed so he could take you down to the bar and have a few drinks with you. You did not know he was outside though, he kind of just saw you after you arrived back from your game and followed you.

As he fiddled with his rifle to kill time, he heard a small pitter-patter of feet just down the hall from him. He glanced upwards to see none other than Chishiya making his way up the carpet towards him.

Both exchanged confused looks, until Niragi’s mouth pulled up into a smirk and he ran his pierced tongue over his bottom lip slowly like a snake.

“What’s a blondy like you doing here?” he chuckled, pushing himself off the wall and slinging his rifle over his shoulder in its usual position.

Chishiya raised his eyebrows, conveying his usual confident expression on his face. “I could ask you the same thing,” he retorted, walking further towards Niragi.

Niragi chuckled deeply then spoke. “I’m waiting for someone.”

“Really? Giving them a fright before their execution. That’s quite low Niragi even for you.” Chishiya’s smile never left his face.

Niragi threw his head back and cackled. “No actually, quite the opposite really. I’m waiting to take her down to the pool.”

Chishiya widened his eyes in shock. “Her? Hm. I never took you as the romantic type,” he teased.

“I’m not. I’m more of the ‘follow you around until you pay attention to me’ type,” Niragi admitted. Chishiya let out a small laugh at his comment.

“Seems more like you.”

Chishiya walked further towards Niragi who remained close to your door. He watched in confusion as Chishiya reached his hand out towards the door handle to open it, but before he could, Niragi whipped his hand quickly over it to stop him.

“What are you doing?” Niragi said in a tense voice, so contrasting to the somewhat light-hearted one he had just a moment ago.

Chishiya pulled his hand back slowly and looked up into Niragi’s darkened eyes. “Going into this room? What else would I be doing?”

“But this is Y/N’s room,” Niragi argued, standing in front of the door so Chishiya couldn’t get inside.

Chishiya raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? So? I need to talk to her.”

Niragi leaned down closer to him with a frown painted on his face. “About what?”

Chishiya rolled his eyes. “None of your business you creep. Why are you standing in front of Y/N’s room like a guard dog anyway?”

“She’s the one I’m taking down to the bar.”

Chishiya’s heart dropped. There’s no way you’ve been with Niragi, you weren’t dumb enough to become involved with the psychotic militants.

“Wait no. She told me that she was going to spend some time with me and Kuina after the games.”

Silence filled the air between them. Neither of them knew what to say, but the rising tension between them became stronger each second.

“Does she know you’re here?” Chishiya asked out of the blue.

“Does she know you’re here?” Niragi fired back, avoiding his question.

Another awkward silence before Niragi spoke. “Look, you better not get involved with her more than you already have. She’s mine so you stay away from her,” he threatened Chishiya, walking towards him causing the shorter man to take a step back.

“Oh, you want me to stay away? You are standing outside her bedroom door with a rifle over your shoulder. Do you really think she’ll learn to like you?”

“At least she can trust me, you fucking manipulative snake.”

“She’d probably be terrified you’d put several bullets through her Niragi. Why don’t you think logically and leave her alone? It would save her the suffering of having to deal with you!”

“What? So, you can gaslight your way into her trust? At least I am straight forward Chishiya, you’d do nothing but lie and use her for your own personal gain like the fucking selfish brat you are!”

“No, at least I wouldn’t view her as nothing but a toy to play with. You know she doesn’t like you, so why the fuck do you keep trying?”

“Shut up!”

“No, I won’t! I am not going to let you weasel your way into her life and put her on display like some trophy to show off to everyone! Just leave her the fuck alone and stop following her around! It’s really fucking pathetic of you!”

Chishiya suddenly flew back into the wall behind him, creating a large bang that echoed down the halls. Niragi had kicked him square in the chest backwards. He let out a satisfied laugh.

“Look at you! You can’t even defend yourself! What makes you think that you could keep me away from Y/N?!”

Chishiya sat up from his position on the floor and let out a loud groan. His spine was screaming in pain, making him stumble before finally standing on his two feet.

Niragi didn’t even give him time to breath before he punched him across the jaw, making his head whip sideways and fall back against the wall. Niragi gripped one hand in his blonde hair roughly while another clutched the collar of his hoodie.

Chishiya yelped in pain, not being able to fight back. He didn’t bring any weapons to help himself, he did not expect to be in this situation when he left his room to come to yours.

Niragi leaned close to his face which was scrunched up in pain. “I dare you to try and keep me away. Because nothing comes between me and what I want, no matter what it is.” He spat harshly in his face, narrowly missing Chishiya’s eye.

He let loose of Chishiya’s white hair, causing him to fall to the carpeted ground. “I guess I’ll meet up with her another time, when there aren’t any rats around to trip on,” Niragi chuckled and turned to make his way down the hall towards the staircase at the end.

‘What wonderful timing Y/N would have if she came out just now,’ Chishiya thought to himself.

As if he had predicted the future, you busted out of your room harshly, almost tripping in the process. You locked eyes with Chishiya, who had blood pouring out his nose while seated against the wall opposite your door.

“Oh my god! Chishiya! The fuck happened to you?!” you exclaimed, rushing over and kneeling in front of him.  “I heard a loud bang outside and came out to see what it was. Was someone else here?”

Chishiya grabbed the hand that you offered to him to help him up. He groaned as you lifted him to a standing position, only for him to fall forwards onto you from sudden nausea that hit him. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders to keep him upright while he placed his chin on your collarbone.

“Just forget about it. I’m okay, just a little scratched up,” he tried to deflect your question. “I had a really rough game and I tripped over just then. Smacking my nose on the ground didn’t help much.” He was surprised with himself about how quick he covered up what happened. He felt quite embarrassed being beaten up by someone as dumb as Niragi, so he didn’t want to tell you.

You laughed a little bit, the happy sound warming Chishiya’s heart. “You’re such an idiot. How do you manage to survive all these games while being so clumsy?”

Chishiya smiled. The fact that you cared about him outweighed the throbbing pain of his developing bruise on his jaw. He brought a hand up to his nose and wiped along it, soaking up the small bit of blood in his sleeve.

“You still want to go see Kuina?” he asked you, pulling away from you and looking you in the eyes.

“Yeah of course!” you exclaimed excitedly. “I was thinking we go down to the pool for a while. We can sit in a corner somewhere and chat,” you suggested.

Chishiya nodded and held out his hand. “Shall we then?” he said teasingly.

You laughed and began walking while leaving him hanging. “Maybe one day I’ll hold your hand, but not today.”

Chishiya chuckled and jogged to catch up with you. As you walked side by side, he secretly hoped that Niragi wouldn’t be down at the pool, preparing to start trouble the moment he sees Chishiya with you.

Unfortunately, his luck wasn’t on his side that night.

[space-mermaid-writing]

House Arrest [Reader X Loki] Chapter 3

Summary: You are Clint’s 'little' sister and actually a trained Shield agent. But you gave that up a few years ago and became a Chef, because you wanted a normal live. Then one day Natasha shows up at your door and takes you to the Avenger Tower for a while for security reasons.

Tags: Reader is an former Shield Agent, chef!reader, Reader Barton, 2012 Avenger vibes, everything is still alright, Slice of Life, Avengers Family, Loki has a good heart, still the god of mischief, Slow Burn, mention of food and cooking

Read it on AO3

Chapter 3: Nighttime pancakes

The next few days you got to know everything a little better: The tower, the Avengers - as far as they were present and showed themselves - and the rest of the staff that you ran into from time to time. You also discovered that the tower had its own training halls. Actually this was just logical given the team that lives here. Often when you were out and about in the building, you got the faint feeling of being watched. It was a little disturbing, but you dismissed it by saying that the environment was still new to you. Also, you had learned that JARVIS had access to all the public rooms and most of them were probably video monitored too. You weren’t sure about your own quarters yet, but you were also not sure if you wanted to know the answer.

Unfortunately the nights are very long, because you sleep very badly here. Despite the short time, you miss walking outside, through the streets, and besides, you are used to a rather strict daily routine. Sure, it's nice to switch off for a few days and not have to do anything. A little vacation, so to speak. But you're someone who soon gets bored with that. You chose a profession that requires you to spend hours running around the kitchen, preparing dishes and finishing orders for a reason after all. The price of your now lazy life is that you toss and turn in your bed at night without really being tired. Maybe there are some additional worries that keep you awake. For example, the Hydra question that was still unresolved.

This night you turn from side to side again, sighing, and at some point take a look at the digital alarm clock. Its digits glowing a light red in the darkness. It's three in the morning. Or night. Depending on how you see it. After a few more unsuccessful tries to sleep, you give up and decide to roam the halls a bit. Just walking around and stretching your legs. Outside, it's quiet. Only the soft whirring of some working machines can be heard. The corridors are discreetly lit, so you have no trouble finding your way, which leads you into the large lobby. It’s actually the first time since your arrival that you find it completely empty. Still, you have the familiar feeling that you are not alone. Jarvis probably never sleeps.

Out of habit, you end up in the kitchen and take a bored look into the fridge. Nothing in there appeals to you, but you're not really hungry either. Not even for a little snack. Still, you feel like cooking. Maybe pancakes. You could eat them for breakfast later. Without thinking too long about it, you get a bowl from the cupboard and tie an apron around yourself, which you have obligatory lying here by now. Flour, milk and eggs are quickly mixed and a few other ingredients are added for flavor. You put some butter in a pan on the stove. When it became liquid, you start to fry the first pancake and gradually got more and more, so that you quickly have a respectable pile together. Quietly, you hum to yourself.

"It's been a long time since anyone has been here at this hour”, you suddenly hear an unfamiliar voice behind you. Surprised, you whirl around, holding a knife that had been lying next to the stove. A dark-haired man in a green shirt is standing by the kitchen island, watching your actions curiously. When he sees the knife, he raises both hands to calm you down. On each of his arms you notice a narrow silver hoop with a red dot flashing. You hadn't heard a door, and you're not sure how long he's been standing there. "What’s your deal? Can’t sleep?", you ask him. "Just like you apparently." You raise an eyebrow and set the knife aside as the pancakes demand your attention. "You're Loki, aren't you?" It's more of a statement than a question, and the man nods. "And you're the archer's sister", he respond, which makes you in turn nod. "I‘m Y/N, pleasure to meet you." "You don't often hear that as a prisoner", he says amused, but still keeps eye on you, waiting for your reaction. "Heard about it. I guess we're sitting in the same boat." "Oh, really?" "Well, I probably won't be tasered right away if I try to leave the building." "Probably?", Loki follows up. "Yeah, I'm not entirely sure about that."

You talk for a while until you hear the elevator ping quietly in the lobby. But you're not paying attention right now, as you're busy scraping the last bit of dough out of the bowl and then turning off the stove. "Would you like some?" you ask Loki, turning to him only to find that he has disappeared. Taken aback, you turn your attention to the room next door, where you hear muffled voices. Then the door opens. "THAT'S what I call a nice welcome," Clint grins, looking at the stack of pancakes. "Brother dear", you greet him equally pleased and surprised at his unexpected appearing. Smiling, you walk up to him and hug him. Along with him, Steve Rogers, whom you've also already seen on the news as Captain America, came in. He seems a little confused at first, but after you fill him in on who you are, he welcomes you as well.

"What are you doing here?" your brother then asks you. "You can see that. I'm making breakfast for you." "No, I mean, what are you doing here?" He specifies the question with a gesture that included all the surroundings as well as the Tower. "Oh..." It's clearly too middle of the night for you to be that precise. In a few words, you explain your situation. Clint has some encouraging words for you, but can understand that you are not enthusiastic. "At least we can get more on each other's nerves again. Why don't you start right now and join us while we eat?", he laugh, putting his arm around your shoulder in a brotherly fashion as he pushes you toward the stove. You have to laugh, too. "You mean while you eat my breakfast." "Exactly." You go get two plates from the cupboard and serve the men each a good stack of pancakes with maple syrup. They thank you and the group of you make yourselves comfortable at the kitchen island. "Where and how do you guys usually eat here?", you ask in the meantime. "We each order our own food. Probably have a flat rate with all the suppliers in the neighborhood," Clint explains. Steves' gaze is on you questioningly. "Don't you want some pancakes, too?" "In the middle of the night? No thanks, I'm not hungry." "Then why did you made them, if you don't mind me asking?" "I knew you'd come and could use something in your stomach", you reply with a serious expression, to which Steve shoots first you and then your brother a scrutinizing look. He’d seen enough weird shit while working with the Avengers to take such a statement quite seriously. And he wonders whether you, unlike Hawkeye, have superpowers. But only until you can no longer stifle the broad grin, because his facial expression is just too funny.

Before you can say anything, though, Clint interjects. "As siblings, we've just developed some sort of telepathic ability." You nod in agreement. "Exactly. That's how I always know when he's going to say something stupid and deserve a head butt." "To be honest, I never heard him talk about you before”, Steve admits. "See”, you wink, "It‘s working out just fine." You laugh, and while they continue to eat, Clint tells you about the mission they just came from.

Afterwards, you put another stack of pancakes on a plate to take it with you back to the lobby. "Hungry now, are you?", your brother asks you, clearly tired after the long journey and at this late hour. Just as the super soldier. "Maybe”, you answer shortly and wish them both a good night. The greeting comes back double and you head into the large lobby with the elevators. "Jarvis?" "Yes, Miss Barton?" "Where is Loki's apartment?", you ask the computer. "You are not exactly authorized to receive this information." "I just want to get him something to eat."

You raise the plate in your hands a little higher and apparently your answer is analyzed, because for a few seconds there is silence. But then you get the information you want and are directed to the door you are looking for. It was on another floor and at the end of a long corridor.

You knock, but at first there is no response. So you try again. "Come on, my prince, I know you're not asleep and it's rude to leave a lady at a locked door." You hear an amused sound from the other side and shortly after the door is opened. With his arms crossed, Loki stands before you. "It's also rude to disturb a prince in the middle of the night, M’Lady", he replies. "Rude would be to refuse a dinner from a lady. Especially when she personally hands it to you", you add, giving him the plate. It's impossible for you to tell if he's amused or annoyed as he looks from you to the pancakes in his hand. "I never said I wanted any“, he states. "But you didn't say you didn't want them, either. Just give them a try. I'm pretty good at cooking." With that, you turn to go. "Good night, dear prince," you wish him, but without turning around. So you miss the grin on Loki's face as he closes the door.

[waywardimpalawriter]

Laundry Day (Bucky Barnes x Plus Size Female Reader)

Laundry Day

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Plus Size Female Reader

Bucky Bingo Square: Domestic AU

Characters: Bucky Barnes,

Setting: two months from the ending of “Hey Bartender”, set in the Marvel universe but canon diverged the snap never happened.

Rating: M (Mature), +18 only please

Warnings: cursing, mature themes, angst, longing/yearning, idiots pining for one another,

Word count: 3,002

Summary: Sunday’s the dreaded laundry day when there’s not a stitch of clothing to wear except the man your currently crushing on, soft Henley shirt.

Notes: Bingo Square fill and written for the lovey @autumnleaves1991-blog​ and Write Wednesday prompt.

Tag list: @buckybingo​

You’ve heard it many time, how cool you own a bar. Can drink whenever you want. Let me drink for free. Last thought getting a snort from your lips while looking through the laundry pile. The main reason owning you a business sucked you never get a day off to do normal shit like the fucking laundry that seems to pile up before you know what’s happened. Wondering if like rabbits it multiples while mating.

Huffing out a resigned sigh, tossing the last article of dirty clothing back into the basket thankful you wouldn’t need to schlep the bags to a local laundromat. Instead could get a little light cleaning done while the built in laundry room, a big thank you too granddad for putting the room in, did at least part of the work.

“Fucking hate laundry day,” low growl leaving your lips and tugging on the only clean clothes left.

Hefting the plastic basket on to your generous hip, grabbing the towel off the bedroom doorknob to add and heading towards the small room just off the bathroom to the left. Dropping the basket down you go back out to put on some music. Grabbing up your cell phone happy to have brought large capacity storage so your whole collection could fit. Setting all of Lady Gaga’s music on shuffle ‘Monster’ flowing through the small speakers positioned around your living room in specific areas for optimal sound quality. Wide hips swaying to the beat black Henley brushing the tops of your thick thighs incased in shorts, knee high socks keeping the rest of your legs warm and helping you slide across the oak wood floors. Not caring what you look like at the moment, expecting no one to show up on an early Sunday morning.

Bright smile slides over your lips the song changing to ‘Born this way’ belting out the words thankful and not for the first time you don’t have neighbors. Owning the whole building does come with certain perks. Meaning it didn’t matter how loud you got no one would call the cops on you for excessive noise or lousy singing. With those thoughts in mind you head back to start sorting clothes getting a load going, grabbing the swiffers dust clothes, mop and bucket on your way out.

Leaving the last two by the kitchen island, spinning back body moving to the beat of the music. Picking up bits of trash making you frown for a moment, knowing you weren’t that messy but shrugging off the thought tossing the trash. Starting to dance around, straightening lamps, running the dust cloth over the expanse of hard wood furniture and nick knacks from your childhood. Getting into the rhythm, beat caressing your body, tingling your senses making you move in ways you wouldn’t show another living soul only these four walls.

Finishing up the living room, you stand back to catch a breath admiring your handing work when ‘Shallow’ starts to play. Bradly Cooper’s smooth tenor caressing your ears a soft sigh leaving your lips. Your body starts to move to the melody, slow and sensuous, arms wrapping around your tummy as you sway. Twirling as Lady Gaga’s voice takes over, stepping around the couch that faces towards the tv positioned in the middle of a brick wall. Bursting out to sing the chorus, you keep swaying picking the tempo up. Draping your body backwards over the couch careful not to knock a lamp off the side table. Grabbing up a remote to use as a makeshift microphone, singing your heart out to no one but the empty room or so you think.

Raising back up slowly to spin away still belting out the lyrics breathlessly, wide smile on your face happiness thumping through your veins. Feeling freer than you have in a long time all thanks to a song that comes to an end with loud clapping ringing through your apartment. Making you scream out and throw the remote towards the source of the nose. Squeak existing your breathless lips that hang open staring at Bucky Barnes’s imposing figure filling the doorway of your apartment.

Catching the black plastic wrapped remote in his flesh hand before it landed against his chest, smirk sliding over those oh so kissable lips. Not that you haven’t dreamt of at least a couple nights a week. “Fucking hell Barnes how long have you been standing there?” Quickly moving towards your phone to cut the music.

Turning to take in his rumpled appearance. Chestnut hair tucked back into a messy ponytail few wisps hanging out to frame his face. Sculpted by the finest artists all angles and edges begging for your lips to caress. That’s graced with shadows of a sleepless night of tossing and turning in a to soft bed and a floor too cold for comfort. Sold wall of muscle that is his shoulders and chest covered in a wrinkled green Henley top button open to bare just a hint of collarbone. You try not to lick dry lips at the peek of skin wanting to bury your nose in the hollow of his throat and nibble to see what sounds you could drag from those sinful lips. Snapping back to the present when he begins to speak before your wondering eyes could take in the bottom half of his fackable body. They lock with his for a moment longer than proper catching the dark circles and weariness he tries to hide behind that boyish smile.  

“Long enough,” clearing his throat to push down the arousal building up. In truth he tried knocking first, pounding followed with a couple of shouts of your name to accompany. Hearing the music spilling from behind the close door Bucky pulled the key you gave him last month out to let himself in.

Unprepared for the sight his eyes would land upon after pushing the old hard oak door open. Music hitting him square in the ears, not unpleasant a tune but a touch loud. However, that’s not what caught his eyes, no it’s the way you moved around the apartment to the melody. Body swaying, rolling and bending in ways that had him gritting his teeth to keep from stepping forward and pulling your soft body against his strong chest. Wanting to fill the spot of invisible partner, dipping you in his arms, wrapping them around your thick waist. Teasing the column of your throat with his lips after bending you backwards over his arm.

You’re a fucking temptation to his body and damnation to his heart and soul. One Bucky Barnes would gladly partake of if he didn’t feel so tainted, hands coated in invisible blood, mind splintered with nightmares of memories and lies. He wouldn’t saddle you with him as a burden. He’d push those feelings back bury them, accepting the friendship you offer and a shelter from a world he’s yet to fully grow accustom too.

Hands on your wide hips, scowl contorting your beautiful features, “I didn’t give you that key so you could barge in whenever you like Bucky.”

“I brought breakfast,” pointing towards the little white bags on the small wooden table by the door. Giving you the saddest puppy eyes he could which only makes you huff and roll your own.

Shaking your head, “You think you’re cute don’t ya Barnes?” Trying to infuse a touch of anger into your tone but it comes out more playful teasing than growling menace.

“Of course doll, you wouldn’t have me any other way,” wiggling his brow, scooping up the bags to follow you into the kitchen. Kicking something over he looks down teasing smirk slides over his lips before giving way to a playfully sheepish look, “Guess I finally kicked the bucket huh?”

Trying to hold back the laughter but it comes out on a snort that has a deep gruff laugh issuing from Bucky which in turn makes you giggle harder. Holding your stomach as it aches from the mirth lighting your features. Taking notice of the fact years have disappeared from the weariness he normally carries. Eyes sparkling in early morning sunlight shining in from the kitchen window. His beautiful steals your breath for a moment as you calm down, turning to start the Keurig, reaching for the pods of coffee you keep just for Bucky.

“Incorrigible Barnes, sit ya ass down while I make coffee,” couple of short giggles break free with another shake of your head.

Placing the bags down before dropping into his usual seat, “Two…”

“Spoonfuls of sugar no cream or milk I remember along with the dark roast that’s your favorite,” shooting him a smile. Grabbing your cell, changing the music to shuffle your whole library, turning the volume down so its more background noise than actually listening. “What brings you by this morning? Besides taking ten years off my life of course.”  

Snorting at your quip with trying to hide that he’s smitten by the fact you’ve memorized how he likes his coffee. “Hadn’t seen you in a week doll, thought I’d drop in with breakfast and see if you need help with anything down in the bar.”

Taking a few moments to actually looking over your plush frame. Big mistake because he notices how those shorts mold to your wide hips and thick thighs begging for attention. Knee high socks shouldn’t look so damn sexy but on you he’s shifting in his seat to take pressure off the erection building in his jeans. Eyes dancing to take in your upper half damn near choking on his own spit at seeing you wear his Henley. Stretched out with age and use from his days in hiding and a little thicker in build. The way it stretched over your lush breasts cupping the generous globes outlined for his eyes to devour. Flowing against your tummy he wouldn’t object to laying his head on while cuddling into your body. Wanting to place kisses and nibbles on the skin hidden from his widening cerulean eyes. Shocking him back to reality with you placing a steaming mug of coffee in front of him.

Palm going to his forehead, “Really doll, what exactly are you feeling for?” Glancing up to search your turned down face. Catching the soft scent of Egyptian musk, mixed with clean linen and something sweet added that he’s sure belongs solely to you.

“Seeing if you have a fever, you checked out on me there for a few moments Barnes,” gently pressing the pads of your fingers into his neck, counting a pulse and sending goosebumps to skitter across his body.

Taking the hand from his body, the urge to pull you into his lap strong with your warmth radiating into his. “I’m fine sweetheart honest just lost in thought of this beautiful dame I know.”

“Lucky woman,” slowly pulling your hand back tramping down on the hurt flashing through your body. Heading back to start your own coffee, “Make yourself at home as usual,” shaking your head watching Bucky toe off his biker boots and prop his mismatched sock feet into the closest chair. Rolling your eyes, “Way to comfortable,” exasperated quip leaving your mouth as you head back and change laundry over.

“What’s with the get up anyway?” Not wanting to shout, Bucky followed to lean against the door jam of the all to small room. Coffee mug hovering near his lips thankful for not taking a sip when you bent over to add cloths to the dry.

Plush ass on display for his eyes to map, flesh hand tightening around ceramic mug while vibranium plates whirl with a clinched fist at his side. Tempting isn’t even a word he’d use to describe the torture your presenting him with. Quickly averting his eyes to the ceiling, but not before catching the peek of silken looking skin his shirt bares while sliding up. Searching now for something to distract himself. Before he did a very stupid thing like pull you into his arms and see if you fit against him like he’s imagined one too many times. Burying his face in your neck and tease the tender skin with three days worth of beard wanting to see if you’re sensitive and ticklish.  

Brought back from those sexual thoughts when you speak, words tossed over your shoulder, “It’s all I had to wear, everything else needed washing. Price I pay for owning and running my own bar,” shrugging you bend to pick up the next load swearing you hear a groan from the man behind you. Yet when you turn he just gives you a smile that seems to make his cerulean eyes dance.

“Ah that explains why you’re wearing my shirt though not how you got it,” against better judgement, Bucky reaches out to tug the hem. Baring a briefest hint of cleavage to his desire darken eyes, with all three buttons open. He swallows harshly taking a bigger sip of his hot coffee than meaning to but the slight burning mouth pain distracts him from those thoughts that could get him into trouble. “I’m not complaining doll just curious if you’re stealing my clothes when you come over to my place.”

Snorting, “It’s not your shirt Barnes, your clothes wouldn’t fit my wide ass,” placing a hand on his shoulder to push him out the doorway. “If anything it’s from a pervious boyfriend and just stretched out.” Though you can’t help but glance down at the shirt racking your brain to remember who left it behind. Till you remember not having a boyfriend for the last couple of years and even then you didn’t let them keep stuff at your apartment. Only Bucky, who has his own key and drops by when he needs a break from the Compound and Avenging. Eyes widen in shock at the realization that in fact this shirt belongs to Bucky and must’ve got put in with your laundry one of the last times he stayed the night after a bad mission.

Deep in thought, you miss the low growl leave his throat at the mention of other men or the way he frowns when you insult yourself. “You have a gorgeous ass doll stop putting yourself down,” gently grabbing your upper arm to spin you around and face him. “And yes that is my shirt, there’s a stain,” swallowing hard but still brushes his fingers over the darken slightly yellow patch between your breasts. “Right here, it’s dripped mustard from a Coney dog about three weeks back remember. We went to Coney Island since you never went, sharing the cotton candy and almost getting sick,” soft chuckle leaving his parted lips. “You’re laughter at the corny shows, riding the Ferris wheel, I almost felt normal for once,” vibranium hand dropping back to his side, he heads to the table and plops down into his previous seat. Cursing his actions, head cradled in his hands hiding from his behavior and you. Wanting the earth to swallow him whole for his stupidity in voicing those words instead of keeping them bottled up. For touching you without asking permission, but God does he want a repeat and this time not let go.  

Frozen by his words, heart aching for how he still feels, the searing touch of those cool metal fingers, but most of all by the realization he remembered a day you hold dear to your heart. Eyes close for a moment to gather your thoughts, taking a deep breath and heading for your cooling coffee. “What’d you bring for breakfast?” distracting them both of you from the elephant in the room.  

Head popping up so quickly your sure he’s cracked his neck, half smile tugging at his lips, but not reaching his eyes, “Your favorites of course.” Reaching for the bags to pull out a small assortment of breakfast pastries.

“Trying to fatten me up Barnes?” You jest though back peddle at the scowl Bucky sends you. “Okay, okay I won’t do that again,” hands up in surrender but under your breath, “till your gone.”

Caught in mid sip, “You do know I have superior hearing right?”

“Your point Superman?” Bringing your mug with to sit down on Bucky’s left.

“I heard what you muttered,” grabbing the cream cheese kolache and taking a health bite while keeping eye contact with you.

Shrugging, “Then I’ll keep those thoughts to myself from now on,” picking out your favorite pastry to nibble on. “Oh and don’t worry I’ll get your shirt back to you once the rest of my clothes finish. I’m sorry it’s so stretched out.”

“One of these days doll,” muttering the rest to himself. Thoughts running through his mind on how much he’d like to bend you over his lap or better yet spread out for him to taste. Till you understood the beauty held in your countenance, the sway of your wide hips and plush body. Learning just what you do to his body and heat. But he knew those imagines held a deeper sway than you’d let anyone else see. Ones needing more than searing touches and intimate kisses but true actions to show you the truth.

Confident on the outside but tormented by dark thoughts and self doubts. That revelation skitters across Bucky’s mind like hot iron dunked into cool water, shocking his system to how similar though different as well, in ways he didn’t want to examine not yet. Registering the last comment Bucky looks up at you, tracing the features of your face, how your body looks in his shirt with golden sunlight bathing you in a warm halo. Speaking the words before his brain can shut them off, “Keep the shirt doll it looks so much better on you and by the way you didn’t stretch it out I did.” Flashing you his patent smirk before taking another drink of lukewarm coffee. Never so thankful for laundry day, stretched out shirts and the beauty sitting next to him.

[writings-of-a-british-fangirl]

A Lesson In Touch [Din Djarin x Reader]

Title: A Lesson In Touch Summary: You want nothing more to say your feelings for Din out loud, but words don't come to you or Din easy... Maybe you can express your love in another way. Warnings: A little bit of angst and description of injury, but that's about it Request: N/A

A/N: This is the third and final instalment of "a lesson in" series! ((unless i get inspired to write another part)) Let me know if you have any requests for Din in general!!

A/N 2: Here is a list of people that said they wanted to be tagged for this fic! Hope you like it

@elphabaforpresidentofgallifrey @the-fae-child @zoleea-exultant @captainwanderlust78​ @ihavemyownissuess​

PART 1: A Lesson In Mando’a PART 2: A Lesson In Tradition PART 3: A Lesson In Touch

Din Djarin~A Lesson In Touch

Din hadn't quite mastered the art of subtlety when it came to you. He was very thankful for his beskar, specifically his helmet, otherwise he was sure you would've noticed his outright staring. In no way was he trying to make you feel uncomfortable or offend you, but he just felt mesmerised by you in a way that no other being in the galaxy had. Well, apart from his little green son. But, this... This was something different.

        You were something different.

        Ever since you had bought that necklace, the way he felt about you had only intensified. It was scaring him in ways he didn't even want to confront. Thoughts of a relationship, of a family with you began to stir within him. It wasn't realistic- definitely just a day dream. Kriff, he hadn't even been in a romantic relationship before: how was he ever going to treat you right? Sure, he'd dabbled in a few flings here and there... Some he was less than proud of. Although he'd never broken his Creed, he had certainly bent the rules a handful of times; in his defence, he was young, and stupid... And, touch starved. In truth: he probably still was.

        It had been a long while since anyone had touched him with any other intent than to kill him. He was used to the roughness of touch that came with combat: the way his fists hit another, and he was in turn hit, but your soft lingering touches were enough to distract him for the whole day.

        He began to crave them: any excuse to be close to you.

        If only the Mandalorian knew that he wasn't being as subtle as he thought. Even with the helmet disguising his eyes, you could feel his vision on you. At first, you felt self conscious under his gaze. You interpreted it as him glaring at you: maybe you had done something wrong with the kid? Or maybe you had offended him, and he just wasn't saying anything? But, slowly, you got better at reading his body language. It was tough at first, as Din revealed very little personal information about himself. Coupled this with the fact he was usually clad head to toe in beskar armour, you made slow progress. However, over time, you began to pick up on little cues. Soft, small hints that he wasn't glaring... He was looking at you: you'd caught him staring.  

        You were going to confront him about it, initially; maybe even make a light joke of it. You had quickly gone off of that idea. Soon, you decided you liked the Mandalorians eyes on you; you even let yourself believe that he might only have eyes for you.

        And soon, just as he craved you, you wanted more than just his eyes on you.

~~~

The universe had a fucking funny way of answering your inner desires. When you said, you had wanted to feel him, feel his skin on your own, when you had said you wanted to feel his touch, this wasn't what you meant. Kriff. This was getting bad. Din was bleeding badly.

        What had initially meant to be a pretty simple bounty had turned into a rather difficult one. The location Din was sent initially was inaccurate, and then when he arrived at the actual, correct location, it was a trap. His target had friends, and it soon became an ambush. The Mandalorian was still capable of taking them down, but they put up a pretty good fight, and before knocking out all of them, one had managed to stab Din in his side.

        Which lead you to now.

        Din was in your arms. He had stumbled into the Razor Crest, clutching his side with one arm and dragging the quarry with the other. You'd almost lost control in that moment, but you knew you had to stay calm for him. You rushed up to him, and quickly aided him in throwing the bounty into carbonite. Then, you made quick work of laying him down on your make shift medical bench, and asking him where the pain was coming from. Your eyes were wide with panic: he could probably tell. You were terrible at hiding emotions when it came to him, and you'd never exactly done this before. Sure, you'd patched yourself up more times than you can count: but someone else? Someone you cared about? Now that was something else entirely.

        "Din," you cooed gently, trying not to make his pain worse, "I'm going to need to remove some of your armour. Is that okay? Is... Is that breaking your Creed?"

        "I- No," Din huffed out, trying to be kind to you despite his situation.

        "Okay, good... Good... I need you to lay as still as you can okay. I'm just going to..."

        You don't know why you start narrating what you're doing. Maybe you thought it would put him at ease if he knew what was going on. Maybe it was making things worse.

        Gently, you peeled away his armour from his torso, and observed the large cut down his side. You pressed your hand against him, and Din winced in pain. Your hand retracted quickly, and you ran to the first aid kit kept in the Crest. You opened the bag, and began searching around for the bacta patch and disinfectant that you needed. Your heart was beating really quickly, and you could feel Din's pulse getting weaker. His breathing shallowed. You steadied your shaking hands as you brought the disinfectant up to his wound.

        "Din," you murmur, "Are you still with me? Din... I'm sorry this is going to hurt."

        You saw his head nod slowly, and you began cleaning the wound as carefully as you can. He winced in pain and his hand shot up; he grabbed out to you, and his hand was wrapped around your upper arm before you knew what was happening. Despite the situation, his touch (even through his glove) surprised you. Your heart rate began to increase, and your face felt hot.

        "I'm nearly done now," you promise him, "I'm just putting on the bacta patch and then you can rest."

        "T-Thank you, cyar'ika," Din replied, his grip on your arm faltering before letting go.

        You took his hand and squeezed it gently. Din was weak now but at least his wound has been tended to and he wasn't losing anymore blood. It was only now that the worst of it was over, that you took note of the blood across the ship. This would be one hell of a clean up. First, you washed your hands, and then you gently removed the remainders of Din's armour, save his helmet (of course). You unbuttoned his tunic and swapped it out for one that wasn't covered in blood- and one that didn't have a large hole in it. You like to think that he'd appreciate it.

        With the ship finally cleaned, and Din safe, you crawled into your cot beside the child. Your eyes felt heavy as you held the child close to you: you took one last look at your Mandalorian, before finally falling asleep.

~~~

Din Djarin woke up startled. His hand went to his side, at first, and then across his chest, before ending up resting on his helmet. His eyes scanned the room before settling upon you. His eyes softened; in your arms lay his little womp rat. He was safe, and so were you. Din sighed, relieved that you were both still okay.

        His eyes cast down to the pile of armour beside him: you must've removed it after he'd passed out. He recognised that he was now wearing a new black shirt, and that his old, bloodied one was nowhere to be found. His mind didn't have time to wonder where you'd put it, as the sound of him moving off of the make shift medical bench had caused you to begin to awaken. Your eye sight was blurry for a second, before focusing in on Din. He was up.

        He was up!

        "Din! You're awake!" you exclaim, shaking off any sleepy feeling that still remained.

        "Are you alright?" Din asks, stepping towards you.

        "Am I alright?" you repeat back to him, now also finding your feet, "You get stabbed, come home bloody to me -barely standing I might add- and you ask me if I'm okay?"

        Din shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

        "Never mind me: how are you feeling?"

        "I'm... I'm okay. Better now, thanks to you," Din reassured, reaching over to take the child from you now that he had woken up from his nap.

        "Well, I have been told I have an excellent bed side manor," you tease.

        "Oh yeah?" Din plays along.

        "Really! If it wasn't for this whole bounty hunting gig, I definitely would've been a nurse," you assure confidently; although truthfully at this point in time, you have no interest in taking care of anyone else besides your small found family.

        "You would've made an excellent nurse," Din chuckles.

        It warms your heart: hearing him laugh.

        "I thought you were going to pass out quicker than me at certain points, though," Din continues, "But I'm not dead so you must've done something right."

        "Hey now, Mandalorian: in my defence, I was not expecting you to come back covered in blood and barely conscious. Forgive me if I was a little rusty."

        You hadn't realised how close the two of you had become until now. His body was so close that you could almost feel the heat coming from his body. Or maybe it was yours. You weren't honestly sure at this point, but it was making your face heat up. You shyly looked away from his gaze. Seeing him like this almost felt unnatural. You were so use to him fully covered in armour, that seeing him without all the beskar felt like you were seeing him naked. Despite this, you enjoyed seeing him like this: he felt more human to you now. If he was feeling vulnerable at all, he didn't show it. If you didn't know any better, you'd almost say he enjoyed this new layer of vulnerability because it meant he could feel closer... Closer to you.

        "You're forgiven," he murmurs, his voice low, "Am I forgiven, cyar'ika?"

        "Hm..." you hesitate, teasing him for a second, "I will have to think about that-"

        "-Mesh'la, please," he pretends to beg you, smiling under his helmet; Din's eyes remain on you, almost transfixed as you pretend to ponder the status of his forgiveness.

       "Only if you tell me what m- me- mesh'la means," you whisper in a hushed tone, "Or agree to teach me Mando'a. I have to know what you are saying about me."

       "Only good things," Din replies in the same quiet tone, "Beautiful."

       "Beautiful," you repeat back to him, your heart swelling, "Din you are... Me- mesh'la too."

       You expect him to reply: correct your pronunciation, or joke back with you but the Mandalorian has gone silent. Not an uncomfortable wooden silence. No, it was a warm silence. It felt right, and after a second, you adjusted to the new quietness. You imagine neither of you have had a moment like this in a long time. The silences you were use to only echoed with your hollowness, reflecting your loneliness. But this: this felt right.

       Gently, Din leaned his head on your own. Due to the presence of his helmet, he was careful not to be too forceful, but you soon accepted the gesture, and kept your forehead on his.

       A keldabe kiss.

       That's what you would come to know that as. Although it originally started as slang for a headbutt, it soon became a sign of affection among Mandalorians. Affectionate moments with the Creed felt few and far between, so this was a way around that. And, it was one you quiet enjoyed. Even if you couldn't always touch your Mandalorian in the ways you wanted to, in these moments it didn't seem to matter. Despite the Creed, despite everything, there was no true barrier that could separate you and Din Djarin.

       Your foreheads stay together for a moment longer, before separating. You look up at him, and you know -even without words, even without touch- he is yours, and your are his.

[mischiefmanaged71]

Turning Tables (3/8) - Joaquin Torres x Reader

Summary: Y/N and Joaquin work together to track down the Flag Smashers, but yet again, she is the middle woman between Bucky and Sam as they butt heads. 

Author’s Note: Continuation of the story into Episode Two of TFATWS. Love the banter between Sam and Bucky, especially when Walker turns up and they team up to direct all of their anger at him. Joaquin is my man, my soft boi. I need more of him in the next two episodes, otherwise, I’m going to be a wreck for a while. Let me know in the comments if you’d like to be tagged! There will definitely be two more parts…who knows, maybe I’ll add more or individual one-shots!

Warnings: anxiety, the smallest drop of fluff

Pairing: Joaquin Torres x fem! Reader

You leaned back in your chair, feet crossed in front as Joaquin read through documents at his desk. Following up on leads was the top priority right now with the rise in communications of the revolutionaries’ known as the Flag Smashers. 

Word Count: 2.4K

Joaquin stood by his word and incorporated Sam and Y/N in the investigation. They had been at the Airbase for a total of 3 hours and 49 minutes, reading through documents and following up leads using the database resources. 

You rest your hands on your stomach as you shut your eyes for a moment. The bags under your eyes had become more noticeable in the past couple days, what with sleepless nights and long hours. All of which led you to grow closer to the coffee machine in your small apartment.

The nightmares had grown worse in the past week, haunting more than the occasional dream. Sometimes it was just the darkness that irked you, which you’d usually resolve with a bit of light. More recently, they formed into horrific events where you couldn’t save Sam or Bucky. The worst instance was last night���s terror.

This time, Joaquin showed up instead. 

Instead of the usual guilt that strung you up, an aching sorrow and horror overwhelmed you as you lost control. 

The fire was everywhere.

It burned until nothing was left.

Until the last edge of life was gone.

Even as you grasped for the tip of control to stop it, the flames extended further and further.

You couldn’t stop them,

And that terrified you.

It had its grip on your throat, ever-so-slowly compressing your windpipe as you clawed for the surface.

“Y/N?”

You inhaled sharply, opening your eyes to Joaquin’s concerned gaze as he leaned across the desk.

“You alright? You dozed off there.”

You nodded your head, slacking your jaw to recognise your feet touching the ground, the cabinets along the walls and lastly, the man sitting behind the desk.

His concerned gaze is glued to your widened eyes which scan the room, almost as if you weren’t completely aware.

“Yeah...I haven’t been getting much sleep is all.”

Joaquin nodded, returning to the words on the document,

“I’ve noticed. You’ve been a bit jittery the past couple days.”

“And...that’ll be the caffeine.”, you trailed, as you stood and stretched your limbs out.

“Don’t say what I think you’re going to say.”

Joaquin glanced up from the desk, shaking his head as a smirk grew on his face. The bruise under his left eye had slowly been healing from the past mission, along with a large cut along his forehead.

“I wasn’t gonna say anything.”

“Oh really? Then what’s the face for?”

“What face?”, he laughed and stared at you incredulously.

You leaned your hands against the back of the chair as pointed at him,

“That face that says I’m judging you.”

“This is not a judgemental face. This is the face of someone who is concerned about you.”

You’re quiet, allowing Joaquin to continue as you grip the back of the chair. Averting your eyes to the floor, your stomach plummets. Thumps palpate in your chest as your blood seems to pump harder.

“Are you okay?”, he asked.

You gulped down your anxiety, making eye contact with Joaquin so as to convince him and yourself as you spoke.

“...Yeah. I’m fine.”, you nodded your head and smile with the lack of enthusiasm that brings his attention to it. Joaquin cocks his head to the side, trying to see deeper into your mind.

“Y/N-”

The door bursts open as another uniformed soldier leans in the doorway.

“Lieutenant, I’ve got an update waiting for you, Sir.”

Joaquin stood from his seat, nodding his head at the officer.

“Alright, thanks, you can hand it over.”

The soldier nods his head, leaving the folder on the desk before shutting the door. You huff out a sigh at the tension and silence filling the office. Joaquin gathered up the remaining papers on the desk into neat piles, tidying the space.

“Look, it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m electing not to sleep and I’m getting more work done.”

“You can’t live like this, Y/N, you’re gonna run yourself into the ground.”

“Yeah well right now, I’d rather not face those fears. Got bigger fish to fry right now.”, you purse your lips and nodded towards the folder.

You exit the office, wandering the first level of the base offices. Your arms press against the railing as you drop your head and listen to the bustling of people and machinery echo across the base. Slumped over the railing, you concentrate on counting your breaths as you hear Joaquin’s feet stomp closer to you.

Joaquin leans next to you on the border as you refuse to move, knowing that your façade of calm will chip as soon as you look at him.

“Y/N, if somethings bothering you, you should tell me. I know you feel that keeping it to yourself is better than admitting it but trust me, it’s a lot worse.”, he leaned down to meet your gaze as a stoic blank expression overcame you.

Your throat tightens and clench your jaw to suppress the sob building in your chest. 

You’ve always been alone with your thoughts, threatening to crack under the constant pressure behind your skull. The Avengers had been an unconventional setting but you created close relationships with a few of them. Some you lost along the way because of uncontrollable things but you wonder. 

You wonder if maybe something was wrong with you.

If it was your fault why they always left.

Why no one stuck around for long.

Tears glimmer, threatening to fall but you exhale a long breath out, turning to him. You twiddle your fingers, jaw clenched as you choke out the words in a whisper.

“...okay.”

Joaquin’s posture straightened as you stepped away from the railing and nodded your head in agreement.

“I’ll try. For you, Flyboy.”

He hummed and a small smile grew on his face at the nickname. 

“That’s all I ask.”

Looking over his shoulder, you recognise a familiar face. 

“Hey, Wilson.” you called over Joaquin’s shoulder, causing Sam’s eyes to flicker between the two of you.

“Hey, Y/L/N. I see you guys are spending extra time together…”, Sam implied with a smirk.

Y/N rolled her eyes at Sam’s implications, nudging his arm.

“It’s about time he kept me in the loop.”

He recognises the dark circles under your eyes and how tired you look but elects to ignore it. 

“You alright?”, Sam asks.

You look up at Joaquin as his lips twitch upwards in a small encouraging smile. His hand slides across the railing, hovering next to yours as you reply.

“I’m right where I need to be.”

You trail off as you notice Sam’s stiff posture and tension as he glides his hands into his pockets.

“How are you?”

After the huge declaration of America’s new ‘Captain America’, you were infuriated with the SHAM. Walker had done nothing to deserve that shield. 

It was Sam that Steve chose. 

It was Sam that deserved the shield.

You can only imagine how upset he is feeling. 

Sam almost shrugs, tilting his head as he doesn’t know how to express all of his feelings about the situation.

You all glance towards a screen as a poster of John Walker holding up Steve’s shield is shown.

“Seems like a good guy. You met him?”, Joaquin asks.

“No.”, Sam replied.

“Thanks for doing this on such short notice.”

“Yeah. No sweat. I’m just finishing up the checklist. You’ll be all good to go once you land in Munich.”

“I’ll be in the air with Joaquin so you can keep us updated…”

You trail off because your attention phases to Bucky Barnes’ entrance. With the fury in his step, you can practically visualise the daggers Bucky is sending towards Sam as you descend the stairs.

“Shouldn’t have given up the shield.”

“Good to see you too, Buck.”

“This is wrong.”, Bucky interjects.

Bucky follows Sam, cutting him off to interrogate. 

“Hey, hey, look, I’m working, all right? So all this outrage is gonna have to wait.”

Bucky narrows his eyes,

“You didn’t know that was gonna happen?”

Sam is aghast, “No, of course I didn’t know that was gonna happen. You think it didn’t break my heart to see them march him out there and call him the new Captain America?”

“Steve didn’t want this.”

“Oh, my God. What do you want me to do? Call America and tell ’em I changed my mind? Huh?”

Joaquin rests a hand on your shoulder, bringing your attention back to him,

“I’m gonna go ahead and set up before we leave.”

You nod, acknowledging him, gripping his hand,

“I’ll be right there.”, sending him a reassuring smile.

You watch as Sam and Bucky tussle in an argument over the shield and then the mission.

You find yourself striding up to them as Sam stomps off alone towards the plane.

“Hey stranger.”

Bucky turns around and his eyes light up in recognition. He flicks over your tired eyes and sombre expression.

“Sam didn’t know this would happen.”

“Well, he shouldn’t have given it up in the first place. It doesn’t belong there.”

“Bucky… I know how much that shield means to you... But you have to understand that Sam did what he thought was the right thing. We have to accept that. It’s what Steve wanted.”

“This is not what Steve would have wanted, Y/N.”

Bucky is fuming at the thought of the man parading as Captain America.

“I know, I know, Bucky. But we gotta work together to solve this one.”

“Just like always.”

He hummed, looking at the plane.

“Fine, but it doesn’t change the fact I’m mad at him.”

You sigh but agree because you know your boys are stubborn.

*****

You sit up on a crate as the plane flies below the drop-off zone for Sam and Bucky. You were sitting this one out to surveil with Joaquin from above.

“One minute to drop off, Sam.”

You watch Joaquin as he assesses the distance below and the time on his watch. The cuts and scrapes on his face have mostly healed but the blue and purple bruising under his eye remains. 

“So what’s our plan?”, Bucky asks Sam who ignores him as he positions his com in his ear.

“Great. So no plan.”

Bucky shakes his head in annoyance, sitting back down in his seat.

“Thirty seconds!”, Joaquin yells, looking out into the open air.

“I’m reconsidering sending those two out there alone.”

You glance anxiously between Sam and Bucky as the tension in the plane stirs.

“But they’re not alone, because they’re going together.”, Joaquin points out.

“That’s the part I’m worried about.”

You smile unconvincingly at Joaquin as you listen to the men bicker.

“Enjoy your ride, Buck.”

Bucky rejects Sam’s use of the nickname,

“No, you can’t call me that.”

“Why not? That’s what Steve called you.”

You roll your eyes at the childish banter between the two. You were considering the amount of logic and coordination between the two of them but then again, you were too tired to get on board for this mission.

“Steve knew me longer, and Steve had a plan.”

“Why couldn’t Steve be here?”, you whisper sarcastically.

“Fifteen seconds to drop.”

“I have a plan.”, Sam defends.

“Really? What is it?”

Sam ignores Bucky, jumping from the plane. Joaquin peeks his head out in amusement as Sam ignites his suit and flies off. He still wears that look of amaze on his face since the first time he saw the suit.

“Great. Where’s the chute?”, Bucky asked, looking around.

“We’re at 200 feet. It’s too low for a chute.”

“I don’t need it anyway.”

Joaquin perked an eyebrow, glancing at Bucky from the side, 

“You sure about that?”

“No! I know that look Bucky and I swear-”

“Yeah.”, Bucky sighs, yelling as he drops from the plane.

You and Joaquin both stare out into the open air as Bucky plummets into a tree, slowing his descent.

“What. An. Idiot.”, you exclaim from beside Joaquin.

“That looks like it hurts too.”

Pulling your sleeves down, you shiver and pull back from the open door to return to your seat. 

“He’ll be fine. I think.”

Joaquin slides the door shut as its seals with a hiss. 

You retract back into yourself as your thoughts return in the quiet.

Luckily, Joaquin is there to push them back.

“Hey, join me upstairs? I’ve gotta track activities for Sam from up here.”, he waits for your answer.

“Sure.”

He steps aside to let you walk up the steps first, sliding behind you as you reach the second floor. His hand ghosts over you back, guiding you across to the computers.

You flirt around the screens, leaning your hands against the metal frame. Joaquin’s hand roams around different radars and dials as he reads them. You watch from your spot as he concentrates, although, his eyes float up to check on you, every so often. You’ll pretend not to notice the suppressed smirk that threatens to rise on his face at your stare. 

You push that brewing anxiety aside but not without strain. Not without a little help from that pure and inviting calm that Joaquin brings.

***

TAGS:

@asoftie4bucky @remmysbounty @cjsinkythoughts @bubblegum28universe  @farfromjustordinary  @hocusbowie @alainabooks143 @marvelnerd18 @samscaptain @alexlynn16 @dontstahpmemeow @plllover86 @petewentzfrommcr80  @literallyjustfanfiction @captainbarness @parkjammys @the-and-sign-anon @nialeesato 

[ifmywishescametrue]

Hi!!! First of all, I am like🥺 such a fan of everything you write! And so I saw that you’re taking prompts and thought I’d try my luck. So, if you’re inspired of course, maybe you would do “I’m not leaving” or “I’m glad you’re here” (or literally any prompt from that list bc they’re all just🥺🥺) for Steve/Tony? Oh, and as a fellow Swiftie, I hope you’re ready for the Fearless re-release tomorrow !!!🤯 bc I’m looking forward to crying my way through this weekend🥲🥰🥺💖💞

hi!!! thank you so much, and I’m so sorry this took so long! but i also managed to put both prompts into it so hopefully that makes up for it lol. also the fearless re-recordings are so insanely good and the vault songs are god tier!!

Tony has a vision in his mind for the day he graduates from college. It’s been there since he was just a kid and the furthest ahead he could imagine for himself was that day. At the time it seemed like a hundred years away, and it carried an allure of freedom that was nearly unfathomable back then. 

He always thought Ana and Jarvis would be there, sitting next to his mom. Howard came and went from the vision, because sometimes Tony would dream that it would be the day he was finally proud of him and sometimes he would be out of Tony’s life completely by then. When Steve comes into his life in middle school, new to California from Brooklyn, he gets added to that vision, too. 

The reality ends up disappointing. 

It’s been a few months since Jarvis passed, a couple of years since his parents died, and even longer since Ana’s death, but it hurts a little more today. All of the empty seats make Tony’s chest ache. Steve’s absence makes it even worse, even if he understands it. It’s not the first time the army made him miss something big, and Tony knows it won’t be the last. At least he’d been apologetic on the phone. A little sad, even, which made Tony feel worse for it. 

After the ceremony ends, Rhodey slings his arm around his shoulder and Pepper walks on his other side. 

“Just once I wish they’d pick someone actually good to speak at these things,” Rhodey complains. “That was so cheesy.”

“You mean you aren’t excited for the first day of the rest of our lives?” Pepper teases. 

Tony laughs, “I thought the real low point was that joke he tried to make in the middle. Not too inspiring to imply that our degrees are essentially useless.”

“No, I love knowing that I’ve wasted the last four years.”

Rhodey hums, “Also wish he was a little more wrong about that.”

Rhodey’s family starts to call his name, waving enthusiastically from where the large group of them is huddled together. Pepper’s parents stand with them, looking so clearly like the odd ones out that it makes Tony grin. 

“I see your families are getting along just fine,” Tony says, watching Pepper’s mom bounce one of Rhodey’s cousins in her arms. 

“They’ve joined forces to nag us to death about getting married,” Pepper sighs, but there’s a fond smile on her face that betrays her. 

“Trying to get you to set a date?”

Rhodey grins, “Trying to get me to propose, actually.”

“You proposed last month,” Tony frowns and looks down at her left hand, which is surprisingly bare. “I didn’t hallucinate that, did I?”

Pepper pulls her necklace out from where it was hidden beneath her collar. The ring sits on a delicate silver chain, diamond glittering in the sunlight for just a moment before she tucks it away again. She puts her index finger to her lips to tell him to keep it quiet, and Tony laughs. 

“What did your innocent families do to deserve this?”

“There are no innocents in our families,” Rhodey says seriously. “We’re just buying ourselves some time until nagging me into proposing turns into everybody trying to plan our wedding for us.”

“My mother has terrible taste,” Pepper adds.

Waving from their families has turned into walking their way, and Tony gets sucked into the fold along with the two of them. He means to slip away after a few minutes, but no one lets that happen. Rhodey’s mom hugs him tightly and tells him he needs to eat more, followed immediately by how proud she is, and his cheeks turn pink under her attention. Somehow she wrangles him into joining them for the celebration dinner, but he can’t say that he minds much when he’s sitting with all of them. The laughter and stories take his mind off the melancholy feeling that’s been following him around lately, and it isn’t until he’s back in his quiet apartment much later in the day that he thinks about it again. 

His hand twists into the chain around his neck, dog tags clinking together. They’re the first ones Steve got, back when he was newly enlisted after high school, and the letters are worn down beneath Tony’s thumb as he traces the shape of Steve’s name. He remembers that first time Steve put them around his neck and told him to keep them safe while he was gone. It was a promise to come back, and on the worst nights they’re both a comfort and a curse. 

Leaning back against the closed door, he looks at the messy room in front of him. Finals week left him with little time for anything other than studying, and that coupled with his existing propensity for disorder, it looks a bit like a smaller tornado crossed through the apartment. Mugs stained with brown rings on the inside litter the coffee table, accompanied by pages of notes, pens, and uncapped highlighters. The blanket has fallen into a crumpled pile on the floor, and Tony is contemplating if he has the will to clean it all up when there’s a knock right behind his head. 

He assumes it’s Rhodey and Pepper, here to decompress after finally untangling themselves from their families, and he turns around to open the door with a light-hearted remark already on his lips. Whatever it was leaves his mind immediately at what he finds instead.

“Hey, baby,” Steve smiles. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

Tony means to say something in return, but all that he actually manages is a choked out sob. He doesn’t fully realize he’s crying until Steve’s hands are on his cheeks to brush away the tears. 

“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” Steve murmurs, and Tony clutches at every part of him that he can reach. He grips the rough fabric of the fatigues, clings to his arms and shoulders and back, and he can’t possibly get close enough. 

“You’re here,” Tony whispers when he eventually finds his breath again. “You’re here, you’re actually here.”

Steve’s hand strokes through his hair, and his other hand is holding on to Tony just as tight as Tony is holding on to him. “I’m here, baby.”

He isn’t sure how long they stand there like that, swaying slightly as they hang on to each other, but it must be quite a long while before he can let go again. Even then, though, he doesn’t let Steve go very far. They fall onto the couch in one tangled mess of limbs. Tony puts his chin on Steve’s chest to look at him, and Steve looks back with a soft smile that almost makes him want to cry again. There’s a small, faded scratch on Steve’s cheek that wasn’t there before, and Tony reaches out to trace it with the tip of his finger. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” Tony says quietly, like if he speaks any louder, the lovely little bubble they’re in will break. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be here earlier,” Steve says again. “I really tried, but -”

Tony interrupts him with a shake of his head, “It’s okay. You’re here now.”

“I’ll be here for a while, I promise.”

Tony smiles, but there’s a dull, familiar ache in his chest at the thought that it will eventually come to end anyway. “How long do I have you for?”

Instead of answering, Steve shuffles a bit beneath him, hand worming its way into his pocket. He pulls out a folded paper and hands it to Tony, expression unreadable. Tony sits up a little to read it, and by the time he’s finished reading every single line to make sure it’s real, his hand is shaking. 

“You - you’re - discharged?” Tony stammers out. “You’re done?”

Steve nods, grin slowly forming as he watches Tony process it. “Was sort of hoping that might make up for missing the ceremony this morning.”

Tony laughs, light and carefree in a way that he hasn’t felt in four years. He kisses Steve with everything he has, paper crinkling between them, and between one kiss and the next, Steve reassures, “I’m not leaving, sweetheart. Never leaving again.”

[nev3rfound]

things couples do : b.b

bucky comes to visit you after a mission to help you decorate your apartment for christmas, only to discover the job has already been completed. (1.6k) 

masterlist / permanent taglist 

(everything on my blog is my own writing. if it is shared on another page or website without being credited, it has not been approved to be shared by me. all rights reserved. - thank you to everyone who helped regarding the wattpad situation, you’re all amazing)

“Do you think the compound will be done when we get back?” Sam questions, looking over to Tony who simply rolls his eyes as he checks his watch.

“It’s the second of December, Wilson.” Tony states. “If Pepper hasn’t sorted the decorations out then somethings clearly wrong.”

Chuckling under his breath, Steve averts his attention to Bucky who remains lost in his own thoughts. “Are you helping Y/n decorate?” Steve asks quietly, watching as Bucky lifts his head up, snapping himself from the cries of those who were lost during the mission.

Quickly, his thoughts are replaced by the faint sound of your laughter, of him holding you close in his arms as you watch a movie (despite Bucky asking twenty questions a minute) and making him feel safe.

“I’m not sure,” Bucky responds. “I, I think so?” Uncertainty laces Bucky’s tone as Steve simply nods.

It was going to be your first Christmas together, and the rules seemed a little less than clear for an Avenger who was over one hundred years old and one of Pepper’s assistants who lived in her own apartment- a civilian if you will.

“Oh, you have to, Barnes.” Sam pipes up, eavesdropping on the pair's conversation and ignores the blatant glare from Bucky. “It’s a thing all couples do, brings you closer together and get in the holiday spirit.”

“He’s right, as much as I hate to admit it.” Tony adds as he rises to his feet, heading towards the pilot to check how much longer he’d be trapped with the trio.

“You do practically live there already,” Steve shrugs a shoulder, making a fair point. “so I guess you could always help her decorate.”

Bucky nods along, still unsure. “I don’t even know if she’s got a tree or anything.” Bucky sighs to himself, wondering what he’s about to get himself into.

“It’ll be fun, you can listen to Christmas songs, dance around her apartment, kiss under the mistletoe if you’re able to replicate human emotions, cyborg.” Sam jokes, this time catching Steve giving him a knowing look. “I’m just saying, it’s something most couples do together, you’re at hers more than the compound.”

The thought lingers on Bucky’s mind as they begin to descend back toward the compound. He knows he’s home earlier than anticipated, having told you he would be gone for at least two weeks, yet here he is, a week early.

Once debriefed, Bucky gathers his things and heads straight for the lift, knowing nothing is stopping him now from being with you.

“Buck,” Steve calls out as Bucky taps his foot as he watches the elevator rise from the ground floor.

Trying not to get caught in the streams of tinsel dangling from the ceiling, Steve approaches his friend as they both wait for the metal doors to open.

“It’s fine, Steve, I’m fine.” Bucky reasons. “I’m going to see my best girl.”

The comment doesn’t go amiss by the captain as a smile forms on his face, having wondered if his oldest friend would ever find happiness again.

“Let me know how it goes, and send her my love.” Steve pats Bucky’s shoulder as he turns around, heading back to his room as the metal doors open, allowing Bucky to have a moment alone as he gathers his thoughts in earnest to see you.

*

Standing outside of your apartment, Bucky fiddles with the keys in his grip as he turns the door handle, hearing the reassuring sound of the locks sliding out of place.

As he opens the front door, Bucky gently places his bags down and locks the door behind himself.

Usually, you would stir or pause whatever you might be doing at the sound of the door closing, yet you’re nowhere to be found.

“Y/n?” Bucky calls out your name as he places his keys in the hallway as he steps forward, the faint sound of music playing in your living room.

Turning the corner, Bucky pauses as he leans against the doorway of your living room; covered in Christmas decorations including a large tree glowing with lights and baubles.

It’s a sight that Bucky didn’t anticipate walking in to, and as he steps in he admires your handiwork.

Behind him, Bucky can hear the sound of you stirring and quickly turns on his heels. “Baby?” Trying to hold back his laugh, Bucky kneels down in front of the armchair you’re in, well, stuck in for better words.

Your lap is coated in tinsel and a Santa hat you had been wearing now rests above your head instead. Yet, despite it, Bucky can’t help but love you even more.

Reaching out, Bucky removes the tinsel from your lap and you begin to wake up.

“Bucky?” You tiredly mumble as your eyes start to open as the sight of your boyfriend greets you.

“Hey, doll.” Bucky smiles as you begin to sit upright as a yawn escapes your lips.

“What day is it? I swear I just closed my eyes.” Confusion spreads across your expression as Bucky reaches for your hands, taking them in his.

“I’m home early, the mission was completed in less time than we had all anticipated.” Bucky explains, but as you focus on the small smile lining his lips you can see that pain lingering in his eyes.

Lifting your hand up, you rest it against his cheek, cradling into it as a sigh leaves his lips. “Do you wanna talk about it?” You mutter, even if it’s just the two of you.

Bucky shakes his head in response as he shuffles closer, resting his head on your lap as you run your fingers through his hair, listening as he hums contently. “There wasn’t a need for casualties, but these people, god, they were just in the wrong place.” Bucky explains quietly, seeing the looks of terror crossing their expressions whenever he blinks.

"I’m so sorry, Bucky.” You comment, pausing as you rest your stretch your arm out, resting your hand on his shoulder where flesh meets metal.

He can feel a small movement, the circles rubbing from his scar to the connection of his metal arm. “I just wish I had been faster, that someone saw them sooner.” Bucky mutters coldly, trying his best to remove himself from the situation and focus on the soft lighting and warmth you radiate.

“It’s not your fault, James.” You remind him as he shuffles in your embrace, looking up at you. “What?” You ask as he quirks an eyebrow to you.

“You called me James.” He states. “You never call me James.”

Bucky watches as your lips part, but words fail to follow momentarily. "I just, sometimes it slips out." You admit shyly. "And I think you needed a distraction too," You bite your lower lip, wondering if you crossed a line as Bucky simply looks up at you with a blank expression.

The moment is short lived as Bucky smiles up at you, that loving glint crossing his gaze. "I appreciate that, doll. I really do." Bucky chuckles as he rises to his feet, resting his hands on his hips as he looks around your living room. "See you've been busy whilst I was gone, huh?"

"Well, I needed a distraction myself." You admit, standing up behind him as you wrap your arms around his waist. "Do you like it?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Bucky can see the empty boxes piled up that you would've gotten out on your own without a helping hand. He can see the precision of every ornament on your shelves and mantlepiece, wondering what stories hide behind each decoration he'll learn another day.

"Yeah, it's nice." Bucky mutters, but as your arms slide away from his waist, he mentally swears knowing that it wasn't quite the answer you're looking for.

"Nice?" You mimic his response as you stand beside him.

"I just, I thought it was something we could've done together, like a normal couple." Bucky reasons as he looks away from you. "That's stupid, forget I said it." He quickly adds, but you tugging his arm captures his attention.

A light laugh escapes your lips as you look up at him. "Bucky, I had no idea you would've liked to decorate with me." You cover your mouth with your other hand. "I'm sorry, baby. I just wanted it done so when you came back it was festive and we could just spend quality time together."

"I can't be mad at that suggestion." A smirk crosses Bucky's lips as he brings you into his embrace, trying to ignore you rolling your eyes as you look up at him.

"Oh, I forgot!" You exclaim, pulling away from his arms as you rush over to the pile of boxes. "It's in here somewhere," You mumble under your breath before revealing a golden star. "I, I couldn't reach the top of the tree, wanna help me put it on?" You hold the star in your fingertips.

"I'd love to, doll." Bucky walks over to your tree, meeting you there as he takes a hold of your waist, holstering you up with ease as you place the star on the top of the tree, the last of the decorations.

Lowering you down, you lean against Bucky as you appreciate your handiwork. "Would you look at that, beautiful isn't it?" You sigh happily as you admire your tree whilst Bucky admires you.

"Truly is, Y/n." Bucky mutters, turning you around as he leans down to kiss you softly.

"Merry Christmas, baby."  Muttering into his lips, you smile as you pull away afterwards, swaying in your living room as Christmas songs play faintly in the background; just as Bucky envisioned.

t a g l i s t (thank you for the support!) link in my bio and at the top of this piece to add yourself☺️(if your user isn’t tagged, it’s because nothing comes up sorry!)

@biss-stuff​ @psychicforest​  @lourightm​ @mywinterwolf​   @justsomedreaming​ @stanlux17 @smokeandnailz​ @supermoonchildbroski @xrosegoldwolfx​ @courtneychicken​ @marvelsangels​ @supraveng​ @tommy-lee-81​ @smilexcaptainx​  @fandom-princess-forevermore​ @sarge-barnes-sir​ @pleasantlysecretdream​  @decaffeinated--fangirl​ @howdyherron @kirby-boo @florencxs​  @eldahae​ @handmesomecoffee @hi-my-name-is-riley​  @dev1lbella @thanossexual​ @alissaginger @sambucky8​ @notbrooklynsblog​

[highqueenofelfhame]

An: I’ll add tags later, i just wanted to get this posted because I’m like pretty happy with it, it’s alright. So i hope you guys enjoy! I’ll also attach links and stuff later, I’m posting this from my iPad and i just am too lazy for the tagging process. Me wants to sleep. This is part of the Disney au! Shoutout to @tangledraysofsunshine and @punkassbookjockey26 for the help on this one! This is mostly fluff (i know, how wild) but don’t worry i’m working on some angst for you soon. Fafs update soon too! I’ve already started on it and I’m going to keep working on it as the week goes. Thankfully it’s an easy chapter for me to write bc i have plenty of OG stuff to pull from. Okay, anyway! Enjoy!!

With every second that ticked by, it was getting harder and harder not to rummage through his belongings like she lived there. Even worse was that Rowan was sneaking glances at her with a smirk on his lips like he knew she wanted to. It made her scowl, a frown line appearing between her eyebrows as she glared into his back.

“I’m making you dinner, and you’re still finding a reason to be unhappy with me?” He asked her, putting down the spatula and turning to lean against his counter. The man looked criminally good in an ivory cable-knit sweater and dark jeans, an outfit combination that Aelin had never seen him in before. Thinking back on it, she was positive that when he wasn’t in a costume at work, she had only ever seen him in jeans and a t-shirt. There was also the single flannel he’d worn on Halloween, but all of that was simply incomparable to how he looked now.

“You said dinner would be ready ages ago.”

“I said it would be ready in half an hour when you got here, which was twenty minutes ago. I still have ten minutes before you get to hound me about lying.”

“Maybe if you’d prepared an appetizer…” she teased, hoping with every cell in her body that he knew she was kidding. When Rowan had said he wanted to cook her dinner, she’d been floored. The only meal that she could successfully make was breakfast, and the options were limited. Additionally, she couldn’t remember the last time a romantic interest had cooked for her at all. Probably Sam several years earlier, and it had been so bad they’d relented and settled on drive-thru burgers instead.

Rowan’s eyes narrowed at her, and she knew she’d missed the mark with her joke. The date had been going well so far; not much could have been ruined. He’d kissed her hello once, or four times, then told her to make herself at home. Rowan even had a beautiful arrangement of kingsflame at the table in the dining area. Their banter had ensued as it always did, casual teasing comments. Until she went too far. Obviously.

He turned his back, and Aelin tensed, moving across the kitchen to get to him. Just before she touched him, he turned back around, eyes widening almost comically when his elbow nearly hit her temple. Without her boots, her footsteps had been near-silent on his hardwood floors.

“I’m sorry,” he chuckled, fingers brushing her temple where his sweater had grazed her face. “Hi.”

“Hi.” With their dinner sizzling in the background, she was sure that he could hardly hear the soft whisper of her voice. That didn’t seem to matter because Rowan leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, short and sweet and leaving her wanting more. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Rowan’s brows knit together, green eyes tracing over every feature of her face before settling to meet her gaze.

“Being… me? Teasing? I don’t know. This is a date, and you’re so nice to be making dinner, and I shouldn’t be--”

“Aelin,” he laughed. “You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t busting my balls for something. I don’t think we would be us.” At the mention of them as an item, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth to ward off the embarrassingly large grin that was threatening to take over her face.

“That doesn’t mean I can be rude,” she grumbled, earning another smile from the man in front of her.

“You aren’t.” Rowan turned away from her for a brief moment. When he faced her again he held half of a cookie in his hand. “You just get hangry.”

She stared at the small offering in his hand before accepting it with a smile. Not only was he making her dinner, but it seemed he had also baked her double chocolate chip cookies. It made her heart squeeze in an almost painful way, but she took the cookie and nibbled on the corner. Whatever recipe he had used was perfect. It only made the rumbling in her belly worse, but she was determined to finish it without chocolate smeared all over her mouth.

“I’m almost done with dinner. Go snoop. I know you’re dying to.” Aelin wrinkled her nose, and Rowan was quick to kiss the tip of it, despite her failed attempt to swerve. Not that she wanted him to miss, really. Aelin wanted to beg him to kiss her until she was physically sick and couldn’t stand to feel his mouth on her body ever again.

The apartment was simple. It had one bedroom and an open living and kitchen area. Rowan had a small table that could seat four between the two rooms. It was sparsely decorated but had a few personal touches here and there that provided a glimpse into Rowan’s life. She walked around the living room, noting the pile of books stacked neatly next to the TV contained some of her favorites. She hadn’t pegged Rowan as an avid reader, but she realized that despite working with the man for the past two years, there was still so much she didn’t know about him.

And she realized, more than anything, that she wanted to know everything.

Furthermore, she’d been right about the books stacked on the coffee table. They were travel books, some of them with tabs and post-it notes sticking out of the sides. With a sly glance to the kitchen, she perched on the edge of the couch and pulled the biggest of them with the most annotations toward her, flipping through the pages to see what all he had bookmarked.

One of the first pages was a map marking all the parks and their major attractions. It seemed Rowan had a key for himself, little stars, triangles and squares marking various locations.

“The stars are my favorite places I’ve been,” Rowan said, pulling her gaze from pages of mountains and canyons and over to his green eyes.

“Is this what you do when you aren’t working?” Aelin closed the books and restacked them neatly on the table. Rowan was carrying two plates of stir-fry over to the table. In a few steps she joined him, sliding into the seat beside his.

“When I can, yes.” She was so hungry that she merely nodded, taking a too-large bite of food and meaning at the taste. Rowan’s eyebrow quirked while he took a bite of his own, and to avoid speaking with a mouthful she gave him a thumbs up.

“So good,” she reiterated after she swallowed, clearing her throat.

“I’m glad you like it. I was worried you wouldn’t.”

“It’s food. I like food. And you baked cookies,” Aelin reminded him, popping another bite in her mouth. The tickle she seemed to be developing in her throat worsened, forcing her to clear her throat again after she swallowed. Actually, the tickle was becoming an insatiable itch that she tried to chase away with water. She had no luck. “Is your um— is your throat itchy?”

“No…?” Aelin tugged on the collar of her shirt, nodding her head instead of responding. Rowan leaned over to brush his fingers along her cheek, worry settling in the wrinkle between his eyebrows. “Are you allergic to anything?”

“Gods, my mouth is itchy,” she mumbled, mostly to herself, while she downed the rest of her water so quickly a drop slipped down the side of her chin.

“Aelin. What are you allergic to?”

“I’m not allergic to anything,” she insisted, despite the way her tongue felt undeniably too big for her mouth. Rowan had already left the table, though, disappearing through a door off the living room and coming back with a small white bottle. His phone was also now in his hand and the numbers his thumb was pressing looked a lot like 9-1-1 from her vantage point.

“Take these,” he said softly, holding two pills to her lips that she opened her mouth for and downed with Rowan’s full glass of water.

“That’s dramatic.” She nodded at his phone. “I can breathe fine. My mouth is just itchy. And my tongue is a little too big.” To prove a point, she stuck her tongue out. Rowan’s eyes were saucers and he was ready to hit the call button.

“Your tongue is twice the size it usually is!”

“Did you do this on purpose? Is this getting me back for the syrup?” Aelin was kidding. Half-kidding, maybe, but kidding all the same. When she spoke, drool dribbled down her chin that she wiped at with the collar of her shirt. The whimper that sounded in the back of her throat wasn’t voluntary. It was their first date and she managed to drool on herself in front of him. Aelin Galathynius was the epitome of cool.

“This is not getting you back for the syrup.” Rowan’s voice was sharp, if still soft around the edges while he watched her carefully. His thumb was still dancing over the call button, but Aelin refused to be carted out of his apartment on a stretcher. She took his phone, locked it, and held it hostage in her lap while he fussed and mumbled about how big her tongue was. “What are you allergic to?”

“I didn’t know I was allergic to anything,” she swore again, grabbing his water for another long drink.

It went on like this for several minutes: Rowan listing the ingredients for the stir-fry that she may not have had before, or maybe she’d not had it in such a long time she forgot she had a mild allergy to it. MSG, soy, celery, sesame, carrots, on and on. He ran through everything twice before Aelin asked him to please stop, she had no idea and listing them over and over wasn’t going to spark a memory or knowledge she didn’t have.

The signature frown he wore most of the time was all the more prominent the droopier her eyes got; the effects of Benadryl were hitting her harder than she cared to admit, but her throat wasn’t as itchy and her tongue was feeling closer to normal. Rowan held both of her hands and guided her to his bedroom. Aelin wanted to make a joke about how this wasn’t what she’d had in mind, but she was too sleepy to find the words.

Rowan undressed her, pulling her jeans off before guiding her to sit on the edge of the bed. The duvet was softer, fluffier than she’d anticipated him to sleep on, and she wanted to burrow down into it as he replaced her shirt with one of his own. When he pulled back the blanket, she crawled under and didn’t settle until he laid down with her. His sweater was soft beneath her cheek and she felt like she was cuddling with him on a cloud. Gods, his bed was so comfortable she wanted to sleep in it forever.

“I’m sorry for ruining our date,” she mumbled, tilting her head back to look at him beneath heavy lashes and heavier lids.

“I’m sorry for accidentally almost killing you.” Despite the way his lips were turned down, there was amusement hidden in his words. Aelin smiled and tilted her head back enough for him to take the hint: she wanted to be kissed. A half smile spread across his lips and he kissed her gently, fingers brushing loose strands of her hair behind her ear.

“This isn’t how I imagined our date ending,” she grumbled, ducking her face down into his sweater. Rowan chuckled and Aelin knew that it wasn’t what he had in mind, either. “I thought I would end up in your bed but not to sleep. I mean, maybe after you fucked me senseless, but I didn’t think we would be skipping that part altogether.”

“I didn’t think I would make something that had flare up an obscure allergy you didn’t know you had, either. So I guess we’re both surprised.” Aelin snorted, sitting up enough to tug on the side of his sweater. Rowan took the hint, sitting up to pull the sweater and his shirt over his head. While in the process of undressing, he stood and pulled his jeans off, too, tossing them over the back of a desk chair in the corner of the room. Aelin swallowed, eyes dipping over the expanse of golden skin he’d exposed.

Her eyes caught on a scar on his lower abdomen, zeroed-in on the trail of hair that disappeared into his briefs. It dawned on her then that she hadn’t seen him completely naked. At work, they saw each other in various stages of undress while changing costumes, but the only time they’d had sex had been a quickie in Lorcan’s bathroom. They’d both been mostly clothed for that. She was making it a goal to see him entirely naked in the next twenty-four hours, because he looked so good like this it was unfair.

“Maybe I’ll feel better when I wake up,” she said, breathlessly. Rowan grinned, a dimple appearing in his cheek that she didn’t see often enough.

“I’m counting on it.”

[alonelysimp]

Genshin Band Au

Characters: Yanfei, Xinyan, Barbara, Y/N (reader)

WC: 1975

Warnings: No beta we die like hilichurls

Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, No Ships, Headcanons, Bulleted

Spotify Playlist: Pov: you're in a band with Xinyan Yanfei and Barbara

《 𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓸𝓬𝓴, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓸 𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓵 》

Once when you were having lunch with Xinyan and Xiangling, Xinyan said something along the lines of “wouldn’t it be cool if i had a band?” and you, of course, jokingly said “if you started a band, then I wanna be the first member to join” and that’s basically how it started

You offered Xiangling if she'd like to join as well but she declined. As tempting as a life like that sounds, she’s set on her dream to be a chef. “I’d rather be your biggest fan!”

Not really knowing where to go at this point, you suggested posting a notice to the bulletin board beside the long-unused alchemy table and the one beside the adventurer’s guild typically reserved for commissions, but Katheryne gave you permission to put it up.

Xinyan had already begun to have the beginnings of a fanbase at this point, but it wasn’t really much of a surprise you hadn’t heard anything in a few days. You had even gone so far as to ask the traveler to keep an eye out.

Thankfully, the traveler was more successful than the both of you, bringing back a letter from both the top legal advisor in Liyue and the Idol and Deconess of Mondstadt. When you asked them how or why they put in so much effort, they just smiled and waved you off. The only payment they wanted were some small shiny rocks you had laying around as paperweights that you got from a hilichurl. Odd, but you insisted they accepted mora as well.

And so, on the agreed date mentioned in both of the letters, courtesy of the traveler setting up, you sat around a table at Wamin with a few assorted dishes of Jueyun Chili Chicken and Crab Roe Tofu. By the end, you were able to convince both of them to join. It was a bit.. really hard in the beginning, with Barbara and Yanfei having jobs. Barbara living in Mond didn’t help much either, but after some work it became manageable. You agree to meet every week at Pop’s Teas, one of the vendors at the stone gate. It would only take half an hour-ish each way.

“What should we call it?” You ask, languidly setting down your tea. Xinyan looks at you, still hunched over a few sheets of paper with her head propped up on her hand. “The band,” you clarify. Barbara hums from across the table, pressing a finger to her lip.

“I have a few ideas.” Xinyan pulls a blank sheet from the pile and scribbles BAND NAMES at the top. “Let’s brainstorm them while we’re all here.” One by one, you begin to throw out ideas.

Firelytical

Rockin Resistance

Wildfires

Illuminated Flames

Inferno

Sudden Freedom

She taps the pen to her lip, thinking of other names to suggest.

“These seem a bit.. fire-centric, even for a pyro-based band,” you comment. Yanfei nods, still deep in thought.

“Oh that’s a good idea, y/n.” You glance over, seeing Xinyan write down “Pyrocentric” on the list.

“Maybe it’d be best if we came up with ideas and shared them next week?” You nod at Barbara’s suggestion.

“I’ll keep a notepad with me in the office…” Xinyan tosses the pencil back on the table, watching Yanfei pull out what you assume to be the notebook and flip to a page, moving on to the next topic of discussion. “Costumes,” she says as her lips twist into a slight frown.

“Oh! I have some ideas for that,” you pull a sketchbook out of your bag, showing them your ideas. “I’m not very good at drawing but.. I wanted to keep some bits of your normal clothing too, I hope it’s not too much.”

“Y/n these look so amazing!” Barbara smiles, moving one to get a better look.

“Aw these are so awesome!” Xinyan slides over the one for her, grinning. Yanfei nods, looking over hers. “I could totally make these.” Her eyes sparkle with interest, radiating in the sunlight. “Oh,” she looks back up at you. “If you don’t mind, that is.” You wave her away, giggling under your breath.

“If Barbra and Yanfei don’t have any adjustments to make, I’d love to see my designs come to life!” You sip your tea, which has long gone cold by now. Barbara turns the paper around, pointing at the skirt on the page. “What if we add another one under it? If we make it a different colour, it’ll pop more.” You nod, pulling out a sheet and writing it down.

“Oh, oh y/n what if we added something here too?” Yanfei points to a slightly emptier spot on the hip. “Like an uhm…” she trails off.

“What if we put something like this from Xinyan’s?” You put your finger on a braided cord. “Like a belt, I guess?”

“Oh yeah yeah and I could put my vision on it–” she unconsciously reaches to touch the pyro vision at her side.

“Y/n?” Barbara sets aside her tea, as if she just found out the hard way that it’s cold. You hum, the pencil in your hand tapping against the page as you note details for Yanfei’s costume. “Thank you for working so hard on this!”

A few other names had come up during the week; BXY, Fiery Vale, and such, but you settled on Fervent Apricity. An odd name, but it’s meaning was able to win everyone over; the intense heat of the sun in the midst of winter. It fit the band well, you thought. Perhaps one day you should be able to live up to the name.

After a few months of dragging Yanfei away from her work to teach her the bass, which she picked up scarily fast (perhaps it's an illuminated beast thing?), you were able to arrange something with the millenith to not crash your debut concert. Yanfei suggested she just continued practicing for a while before she performed with it though.

You agreed that since there were only four of you, it wouldn’t be too much to have all of you as vocalists. Barabra lead vocals and choreography, Xinyan with lead guitar and harsh vocals, Yanfei rapping and eventually bass guitar, and you playing drums.

Tonight was the night. The night that Fervent Apricity would set foot on the stage for the first time. To be completely honest, you were a nervous wreck. Ignoring your worries didn’t make them go away, much to your annoyance.

Xiangling set up a food cart nearby, though she got distracted listening more than she cooked.

You sat in front of the drums, only moments left before you started. This was it. You’ve practiced so many times, it’ll be a breeze. Xinyan counted down, the strums from her guitar filling the summer night air as the concert began.

You would’ve felt bad being this loud so late at night, but by the time you had finished, you attracted not only a good portion of the residents in the harbor, but the wholehearted support of the largest fleet that docks in Liyue. The Crux and her crew! You recognize a lot of people from Xinyan’s previous concerts, loyal fans you assume she’s gained, and a good few handfuls of new faces. Travelers, probably.

You played into the night, without a care in the world for who may be listening. It lasted almost half an hour longer than one of Xinyan’s normal concerts. If you had to put the experience into one word, it was freeing. You were alive. The feeling was… incredible. But, as the adrenaline wore off, you came to realize how undeniably tired you were.

And so, that breathtaking performance marked the day that you would start your, Fervent Apricity’s, journey of becoming one of the most popular bands in Teyvat

For the week after, you had been working out the details of the next large concert. Xinyan carried on with her nightly performances, you caught word of Barbara still performing in Mond, although slightly less than usual, and you had been exchanging ideas with Yanfei. Despite her job and work schedule, she proves to be a great help, almost overwhelmingly so. After the second day, it felt more like her setting it up and running it by you instead of the other way around. Not that you could really complain, just a little less work for you.

After a few months of performing regularly in Liyue Harbor, Barbara suggested that you come to Mond. It’d be a new experience, since you had never really traveled outside of Liyue, but you were concerned it might affect Barbara’s reputation. She insisted. Playing with the band is something she’s proud of and the message your music brings is something she supports.

Was it running away? Finding a new audience that would love your music just as much as you did? No, just the opposite. It was finding a new audience, one that was just as foreign to it, and lighting it up one spark at a time.

You started working out the time with Yanfei and Barbara to fit their schedules and Xinyan started picking out songs she thought would be more… well accepted by the northern people and bouncing some ideas off you. The instruments weren’t much, so you were able to transport it easily. Barbara said to come to the plaza at the top of all the stairs a few days prior.

Xinyan had to tell the sentries you were here to perform with Barbara, to which they let you through with no further difficulties. People stared, and whether it was a good or bad thing, it was almost.. empowering? You met with Barbara and the other sisters, introducing yourselves as the other members of Fervent Apricity.

They were a bit weary of you, a ragtag group of musicians with a vaguely red and black colour scheme with Barbara, who had run off shortly after you arrived to change into her costume.

By the time she had returned, the makeshift stage had already been set up and a crowd began to form. It appears Barbara was quite popular here. You could tell they were a bit cautious though. Perhaps it’s because it’s pretty clear that your music was different from what Barbara usually played. All the better to prove how amazing rock could be.

There was but a few minutes left before you were scheduled to start. All the fireproofing needed was complete; you were ready to light up the city of freedom.

It was just like one of your normal concerts, a handful of songs you had played many times before. The crowd was a bit taken aback by Xinyan’s screaming, you had to hold in a laugh. You made a note to after, bring it up to her to get the crowd more fired up before choosing one that… intense. No matter how many times you performed, it was always just as lively as the first time.

Having mentioned your thought to Xinyan after the show, Yanfei came up to the both of you. She said she wanted to play her instrument in the next concert. Xinyan replied that if she wanted to then that’s a-okay but she shouldn’t feel pressured into it before she was ready

You overheard the “Barbara fan club,” as Barbara had mentioned earlier, crowding her and asking so many questions, it made you want to kick their asses to Inazuma.

“Barbara-sama, are you joining them permanently?”

“Barbara-sama, will you still be performing on your own?”

“Barbara-sama, how long have you been with them?”

“Barbara-sama, is this why you don’t let me join you to the stone gate?”

After a bit of rescuing and creep-yelling-at, Xinyan made a final announcement, mentioning the band’s name and the upcoming concert dates in Liyue.

Oh, how quickly time passes

ohmygod THANK YOU SM FOR 200- SHAWTYS ILYSM- ugh I might actually take this blog seriously soon..

Fervent Apricity Masterlist [ X ]

[scrumptiouslittlesimp]

you know what i want 😸

Yes, yes I know what you want, you thirsty mofo-

•~~~•

word count: 1.3k words

Pairing: Albedo x female reader

warning: I don’t think there are any

Summary: when Albedo came back, there was nothing he could draw. Until he saw the prettiest scene, you.

note: brain is rotting by the time I ended this fic so I don’t think the ending is that good so just be prepared.

After finishing his research in Dragonspine he decided to visit Mondstat to visit you and Klee. You and Klee were ecstatic, after not seeing your precious best friend for so long it felt like your light was coming back to you when you heard that he was visiting.

Waiting for him in front of the gates of Mondstat, you and Klee were already waiting for him, sitting on the stairs in front of the adventurers guild. “Albedo!,” / “big brother!” both of you screeched in unison as you see the tiny shadow of Albedo. He wasn’t even past the gate yet but you and Klee ran out and tackled him to the ground, disturbing all of Timmie’s pigeons.

Klee clung onto Albedo’s leg as you jumped behind him and wrapped your legs on his waist, circling your arms around his neck. “We missed you!” you both screamed in unison. Albedo chuckles and pets Klee’s head, “I miss you guys too,”

He carries you and Klee to the Knights Of Favonious Headquarters. You nuzzle your face into his hair, breathing in his scent. You don’t see it but he has a smirk on his face, happy that the two people he cared for the most had missed him.

Entering the Knights Of Favonious Headquarters all three of you send a smile to the two guards stationed outside of the headquarters. They sweatdrop at the position you three were at but recognizing The Chief Alchemist, the daughter of the famous adventurer Alice and the assistant of Headmaster Jean, they let the trio in.

Entering Jean’s office you let go of Albedo and so does Klee. You kneeled down, having the need to since you were in front of your boss. Albedo bows and Klee climbs you back, thinking you were kneeling down so that she can get on your back.

“Ah Albedo, I see you have returned,” Headmaster Jean smiles as she looks up from her pile of paperwork, “how long do you plan on staying?” You and Klee frown, right, he was only here for a while and would soon leave again. You occasionally sent letters but they just weren’t enough.

“As long as these two let me, headmaster Jean,” and with that, you stand up from your kneeling position, Klee quickly wrapping her short arms around your neck so as to not fall down. “Really!” you exclaimed, a bright smile coming on your face. He nods and ruffles your hair as the smile on your face becomes even larger.

Headmaster Jean smiles, watching the interaction. “Alright, you should relax for a while, bring y/n and Klee with you as well, I presume you guys would want some time together?” and she looks down to continue her paperwork. You and Albedo bow and head out of the office.

“Big brother! Since we can be with you the whole day, can we go to Windrise! I have a cool treasure to show you!” Klee says as she jumps off your back, now jumping up and down in excitement. “Is it another bomb?” Albedo asks with a raised eyebrow.

Klee pretends she doesn’t hear anything and grabs your hands and drags you out of the safety of the walls of Mondstat and towards Windrise. Stopping at the bottom of the large old tree, Albedo sits down, "why don't you find the treasure and bring it here Klee? I know how you always forget where you put your treasure so why don't you go find it with y/n, I'm a little tired from travelling so I want to rest a bit," Klee nods excitedly, quickly grasping your hand in hers and dragging to to where she thinks the treasure is.

Grabbing out his sketchbook, he looks around to find something to sketch to find nothing he finds interesting. His eyes roam around and they stop when they see something that made them open a little wider than normal.

You were running after Klee, presumably playing tag. A huge grin was present on your face and the sun was shining directly on your face, making you raise your hand to shade your eyes from the bright rays. Sweat was running down your forehead as you continued to chase Klee around. He captured the scene in his head, quickly sketching it out on his sketchbook before even a tiny detail of the memory fades.

As he adds the final details to the sketch, Klee and you finally come over to him, you were drenched in sweat with your hands on your knees, panting, while Klee was still jumping up and down from excitement. “Big brother! I found the treasure! And me and big sister played tag too!”

Albedo puts his sketchbook down, looking up to see a giant red ball that had flower patterns messily drawn on it. He grabs it, analyzing it. He smells it, smelling a combination of multiple flowers. He forgets that the drawing he drew of you was still on view for everyone to see.

Klee, being the innocent, oblivious child she is, grabs it and shows it to you, “Look! Big brother drew big sister!” she says, displaying the drawing he made of you. Albedo hearing what Klee said, quickly whips his head up from the flower themed bomb and to the two figures in front of him.

He panics and accidentally drops the bomb, accidentally activating it. Flowers spray everywhere as you and Albedo make eye contact. There was a slight blush on your face. Albedo usually never draws anyone, it was weird that he suddenly drew you. He only drew things he either found interesting or beautiful.

Time seems like it’s passing slowly as the flowers rain down and you and Albedo look at each other. One with eyes of confusion and the other with eyes of panic. “Big brother, why did you activate it! I wanted it to be a surprise!” Klee’s loud whine brings both of you back from your trances.

Albedo looks at Klee, kneeling to the level of the small child. “I’m sorry Klee, why don’t we make a new one? I’ll wait here with big sister, you already know where the pretty flowers are right?” Klee nods, going on her way to get a new batch of flowers.

“So, do you find me interesting or beautiful? Which one is it,” speaking in a teasing manner, trying to defuse the tension. With that statement Albedo’s cheeks turn a bright color of crimson. “Both,” he mumbles out. Not expecting that answer, your eyes widen a little.

“Hey you know what, being friends with you is kinda boring,” you said, looking at him with an awkward smile. His heart drops and you could see it in his face. Quickly waving your hands in front of your face you continued your sentence, “I-I mean, wanna date me?” you fidget with your fingers, never thinking that you would ask your best friend that question.

“W-well we’ve been friends for who knows how long now, maybe we could pick it up a notch? And maybe because i’m kinda in love with you hehe” you said, but mumbling the last part quietly. Albedo stays quiet for a little bit, making you more nervous.

Instead of using words, he crouches down in front of you, “Klee has been gone for a while, we should check on her,” he says, looking away from you, but you can see from the tips of his ear that he’s blushing. A smile pops onto your face, knowing Albedo, this was his way of saying yes.

Climbing onto his back, you wrapped your arms on his neck a little tighter then you did earlier, smiling as you did so. Leaning your head to sit on his shoulder, you give him a little kiss on the cheek, smiling as you did so.

His arms carrying your legs tighten. Albedo never thought about getting into a relationship, thinking his life should just be dedicated to research, but hey, maybe this wasn’t that bad.

[sm-baby]

Hearts Basket

Yeah I said before that I was gonna write concepts instead of drawing them, because I will have a mental break down trying to make a comic that big. I am writing fanfiction, I am reaching peak 13 yr old girl rn mom would be so proud..

I barely edited this, but I needed to get an idea out of my head or I will actually shrivel up like spaghetti

This is horrible and I love it. I do not take criticism, I will eat ur lungs and cry

💕🤍~~~~~ 【Ok here we go】 ~~~~~🤍💕

It was noon outside the regular spruce cabin. One close enough to have very few steps towards the village, but not close enough to be part of it. Alex and Steve had made themselves known there. They've been considered heroes time and time again and were likely the villagers' favorite people.

They were not home that particular day, though. Instead, they left their house-sitting to their dearest, eldritch, friend.

Of course, the two of them went on a date today of all days. It was Hearts day for Pete's sake... The three of them personally have never heard of it. They learned it from the villagers. It was a day in which they spend it with a romantic interest, or friends, or family, or whatever. Herobrine wasn't one to care. He was just happy that he got to spend the day by himself now that the house was empty.

Hero was sat at a floor table in his room. Setting up a kit of tools that included shears varying in different sizes. And on the table? A healthy bush. Ready to be stripped off its leaves to make a much more majestic shape. Or at least, a shape that our friend felt like making.

Hero picked up the hobby as he found it relaxing whenever he did it. He first found this out when he was angry and ravaged an entire forest from its twigs and leaves. Of course, the Ex-God learned to use the hobby in a much more calm matter, but sometimes he finds himself caught in the snipping that he ends up shaving the whole bush.

This does not stop him from leaf genocide every once in a while.

Just when he was ready to snip off a couple of leaves, he heard a knock at the door. A rather brash and frantic one, but he knew it wasn't a panicky one. He knew very well what those sound like. It still threw him off guard, however. He did not want a visitor today when he'd much rather spend it on his own. He groaned, putting down his shears and hands onto the table.

"Aleeeex, Steeeve! Doooor!" Hero yelled. The visitor knocked once again, caused him to call out to the two blockheads once more. Although, the lack of response had him remembering what day it was today. Perhaps the sweet silence of the house made him lose track of...everything, for a few minutes.The knock comes back once more. He groaned and stood up from the warm position of his chabudai.

"What! What do you want!" he exclaimed as soon as he opened the door.

"Oh!" She hummed. "You must be the infamous Hero in the village!"

What stood in front of him was a Villager. Rather lady-like and is much short compared to a Villager's average height. He was a little surprised. He didn't expect such...loud... knocks to come from such a. Person.

He noticed that she had a rather large basket around her arm. It was filled with gift bags and, as he'd assume, chocolates. He was impressed. He knew that Alex and Steve were loved but that was just getting ridiculous.

"I-- came to deliver you these."

"Nah, you got the wrong person." Hero rubbed his eyes "Steve is out on an adventure today. Both he and Alex are. i'm just his weird brother."

She took a moment to respond and tilted her head. "I know."

The cryptid paused mid-eye rub. He hasn't fully processed what she had said. But he knew it was out of the ordinary. He put his hand down and looked back at her.

"Wh..." he gave her a look, eyes squinted. Puzzled. "Say that again?".

"I know? As I said, You are the infamous Hero in the village, aren't you?" The villager chuckled, confused. "The village pitched in, and a lot of us decided to-- well... we noticed that you were sort of having trouble so we wanted to show you support. And.." She pulled the basket from her arm and presented it to him.

"You- I- let me get this straight. Some of these," he pointed "are for me."

"No, No, No. You misunderstood! All of these are for you."

By the name of Notch, if Herobrine wasn't confused then, he must be now! His little cryptid brain is barely processing the information in his head. He was not expecting anything to happen today.

The Lady villager noticed the look on his face, she backed up a little. She looked almost concerned.

"Oh god. is this overwhelming you?"

"YEAH, A LITTLE BIT!" he exhaled, almost like he was holding his breath until she asked. His voice was frantic. But not in a bad way. He sounded confused. Almost flushed. But confused! He doesn't know how to handle such a weird situation!

"Are these--- do you want these back?? Do I have to pay for them???"

"Hell no! You don't owe us a single ingot!" The Lady reassured. "These gifts are for you and you alone. Whatever you choose to do with them is your decision." Although his face still looked terrified, she can tell that it was just at least a little bit calmer. She thinks. it was kind of hard to read someone with no eyes.

The villager turned to leave but quickly stopped in her tracks. "Oh! Sorry I was too busy collecting these that I forgot to put in my own! Let me just.." She slipped out a box from under her sleeve and added it at the top of the pile. "Well, well, then..! I'll see you around! hopefully these will make do" She turned and started walking off. Waving in a less than graceful manner. "Have a lovely heart's day!" He didn't know how to react. He just blinked and watched The Villager walk off. Once she was far enough he went back in and closed the door.

"H...Alright. Thanks. I--Appreciate it. Tell the others that I'm grateful or something. I don't know, make me sound not stupid."

"I'll try my best, good sir."

The villager passed it on to him. It was pleasantly light, but he found himself getting a little more flushed now that he has it in his hands. He can't help but stare at it.

Looking down at the basket, he leaned his back on the spruce. Hand on his head, where does he even begin to process all of this weird show of support. A lot of it was a bunch of gifts. Either letters, chocolates, and simple presents. Attached were name tags of people he hadn't known, so as he'd assume they must be names of the villagers who sent them. He felt his face scrunch up, absolutely disgusted about the fact that he could feel himself getting flustered. Gross.

He turned to the box on top of the pile. It was that lady villager's gift which she'd forgotten to add on. He tilted his head and squinted his eyes. It was presumably a box of chocolates. Attached was a little letter with a name tag on the side.

"Shermy."

[wyn-n-tonic]

Golden, Like Daylight -- Part VIII

Word Count: 1,304 Warnings: PTSD. I don't think anything else needs a warning? Message me if I'm wrong though, I'll fix it. Author's Note: Thanks for your patience in getting this chapter out! Last week was difficult and then I had friends come over for the weekend (FRIENDS! AMAZING!). I'm not super proud of this but I'm also proud of this. We're getting to the end of this series and I'm just really... in fucking awe at all the nice things that have been said to me about this. Like, I'm genuinely over the moon and losing my mind every time somebody says something nice to me. Thank you so much for reading!

MASTERLIST | PART: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX

He slaps the passport against Pope’s forehead, starting a long held tradition between the two and he knows this will be the last time as he slowly says, “Nos vemos.”

See you.

The flatness he gives the words lets Santiago Garcia know, as he takes his friend and brother in, if he sees this man again, it will be through exchanged nods at functions for the others.

Santiago steps forward and Frankie embraces him but it’s wrong. It’s all wrong for who they are to each other. Who they were. It’s wooden, the weight of this mission—this mess—adding a new kind of density to the pain he carries. Frankie’s out for the count. For good.

“Cuídate,” he whispers into his friend’s ear.

Take care of yourself.

And he walks away, heading home where he belongs. A place he shouldn’t have left in the first place. Out of all the regrets Santiago has, dragging that man to Colombia might just be one of his biggest.

Leah was right, Santiago is never the one picking up the pieces. —————

He has to knock.

She disabled the doorbell the day they moved in, placing a small sign where delivers and visitors could easily read:

A combat veteran lives here, please knock gently.

She didn’t want any loud, sudden noises to trigger panic attacks. Wanted him to be comfortable in his home.

He didn’t tell her it would be today, wasn’t sure when he’d be able to get a flight out so he didn’t want to get her hopes up. But it had all worked out and he hadn’t had time to call and he doesn’t have his keys.

He didn’t take any identifying information with him. No phone. No keys. No wallet. Just the black tags that now sit heavy against his chest. He slipped them on mid-flight and walked back into the country with them to a quiet, welcome home, soldier from the customs agent. He didn’t even notice as he stamped the little blue book that the name stamped into the metal was completely different.

Frankie scratches his smooth face and stares down at the near bare feet standing firm on the wood of his front porch.

He made it.

He packed light back into the States, dumping his clothes and boots in the trash. All he has now is eight thousand in cash, a couple gifts for the girls and the fake passport he’ll be running through the shredder tonight. He picked up the flip flops at a vendor where he bought some of the shit to stuff with the cash.

Another steadying breath drags through his lungs and he looks around his silent neighborhood, the one Leah insisted on because of its proximity to the base. Illegal to set off fireworks this close to government property.

She shot down every house he found in any other part of the city and he didn’t even know why until the Fourth of July when his back bristled in anxiety waiting for the attacks to take his mind for the night.

Tears well up in his eyes as he finally brings his hand down on the sturdy wood.

She loves me so much more than I deserve. —————

“You stole my goddamn shirt, Francisco Morales,” she mumbles sleepily into his chest.

They haven’t left the couch all night, both his girls with their faces firmly planted into his chest. Their fitful sleep eased by the peace of his beating heart against their ears.

“I brought it back,” he laughs, smoothing her hair back, “but I won’t take it again, baby, I promise.”

And he means it. The only reason he took it to begin with is because she wears it as often as he does, her smell wrapped up in his and he brought it for comfort. But the rain and the saltwater of the sea wiped that scent away and he’s not doing this shit again.

“Because you’re not going anywhere again, right?” There’s a slight panic to the words, no matter how slowly they roll out.

He pulls her closer, “never, mi alma.”

“Good,” she looks up and he breaks all over again at her bloodshot, tired eyes, glassy and searching. Her pain meeting his but unspoken in favor of quiet reunion, his heart breaks because it wasn’t just him almost losing everything on a risky at best plan and he never even stopped to consider it was her everything too.

He saw it when she opened the door and instead of crumbling inwards with their daughter resting against her chest, she opened her arms and let him crumble instead. It was there when she excused herself to the bathroom and when she came back, falling apart in stolen moments of peace and quiet.

“I won’t do this again,” he says, the pad of this thumb sliding across the curve of her cheekbone; skin already raw with tear stains where they’ve run like rivers around her. She breaks into him then, arms tight around his still sore body as she buries her head into his broad chest. He instinctively moves to running his hand through her hair—his large hands turning her to jelly with each brush against her scalp—before he speaks again, adding reassurance to his words.

“And if I didn’t think you’d love it so much, I’d never even want to go back to St. John's.” He stresses that last bit, because it was the least stressful part of it all and still stabbed at him. Pulled at him. Reminded him that he was away. That he did this to his family.

“If you don’t want to be there,” she hiccups, “then I’ll never love it.”

And she means it. —————

Frankie cuts the last box open to begin sorting through the goods shipped home. The system follows that Frankie unloads the boxes, Benny separates the goods and Will counts the money. It’s worked flawlessly over the weekend as everything is accounted for, including the stacks that bought their way back into the country.

“How do we go about this shit anyway?” It's the question that’s been on Frankie’s mind from the jump, hoping he doesn’t find himself in another goddamn mess to maneuver away from.

“We can’t deposi—“

“No shit, William, so what do we do?”

He doesn’t need more crimes on top of all the ones he’s already committed. Money laundering on top of murder. Doesn’t even know where to start and a hundred thousand is hardly something to open a carwash about. He feels a stress settling in as he realizes he didn’t fully think this through.

“Just be smart about it,” comes the younger Miller’s voice, “keep it in the house, use it for groceries and other errands. Anything small that can be paid for cash, pay for it in cash. It adds up so your bank isn’t hit with constant fees, you can use that for the big shit. If you get in a pinch, deposit a couple hundred but never more than that. If you do need more, give cash to a friend and have them transfer it to your account.”

Benny looks up and finds the stunned faces of his brothers, “what? I dated a chick who was really into that Dave Ramsey guy.”

Frankie just continues to look at him in confusion, not expecting any of this information to come from Benny of all people and it seems Will wasn’t either because he follows it up with,

“Who the fuck is Dave Ramsey?”

“You know,” Benny continues to separate the goods into piles to be donated, “he’s that guy who talks about the money, I think that's the best way to go about it. We can’t exactly Breaking Bad this.”

“You're not smart enough to Breaking Bad this,” Frankie tells him.

“Nope,” he smiles, “I'm smarter.”

TAG LIST: @justanotherblonde23​​ | @notcookiebelle​​ | @greeneyedblondie44​​ | @icanbeyourjedi​​ | @princess76179​​ | @knivesareout​​ | @phoenixpascal​​ | @lexi-b-writes​​ | @empress-palpat1ne​​ | @mouthymandalorianalso​​ | @starlightmornings​​ | @soyelfuegoquearde​​ | @darnitdraco​​​ | @hyperfixatingmenever

[delaber]

Blurred Lines

Rafael Casal x Reader

Pairing: Rafael Casal x Reader

Note: Thanks for the prompts! This was fun! Smut prompts can be found here. Feel free to send me more. Angst prompts can be found on my masterlist.

Words: 6.4K

Warnings: A bit of blood and a lot of smut (my buzzwords, apparently)

Tagging: @exrthangel @theatrenerd86​ @lonelydance​ @ohsoverykeri​ @summerofsnowflakes​ @ramp-it-up​ @alexander-hamilhoe​ @honeysucklechocolatedrippin​ @riiyy​ @mysearchforgratification​ @janthony-stan

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Rafa had truly done it this time. He had truly fucked up. Stepped in a pile of shit. Screwed the pooch. Whatever you wanted to call it. All because of a woman in his life who he had never truly appreciated before.

You.

He had always prided himself on his ability to stay cool, calm, and collected when it came to women, but suddenly you had shown up and it had changed everything. Well, he had known you since high school, so you hadn't suddenly shown up per se, but suddenly you had shown up almost naked! Gulp. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before. He had always known that you were fine, but it had still taken him almost ten years to realise that you were indeed very, very, very fine!

You had been alluring all summer but for some reason, today was extra torturous: the skimpy little bathing suit tight against your body, how it hugged your tits so he could see your hard nipples through the wet fabric as you emerged from the pool. How it rested against the wonderful shape of your ass. Your skin all wet and slippery. How easy it'd be to just wrap his arms around you and carry you to one of the bedrooms in Diggs' new house. How he could easily make you moan his name repeatedly while he did wonders to your tight little body. Fuck.

Since the day he'd met you, Rafa had always found you insanely cute and funny so naturally he had turned up the charm whenever you were around. You had picked up on it quite fast, had challenged him, and within the first few weeks of your friendship, it had become a continuous game between you; who could flirt the most? Who could make the other person squirm in their own skin? It had always been in good fun and it had never lead to anything apart from whispered sentences late at night and sporadic drunk kisses in the dark. But never more. He had made sure of that.

Of course Rafa had spent some of his teenage years wondering what it would be like to delve into you - but seeing this side to you - seeing you all grown-up and sexy like this just hit differently. He had had a hard time all summer trying to stay as far away from you as possible to not fuck up. Not because he thought he couldn't convince you to spend the night with him, but because he wasn't really sure of the repercussions of sleeping with one of his best friends. At first, he had thought that he just needed to get it out of his system and he had experienced some wonderful sessions of self-relief while imagining you doing all kinds of stuff to him, but after almost three months of lonely nights with the image of your body glued to the back of his eyelids, he realised that he was indeed royally fucked.

From a distance, Rafa watched you neatly lie down your pool towel on a sun bed, in the process flashing your perfect shapes for him. He was well aware that he had been staring at you for quite some time now, but he was wearing his sunglasses and they had been known to conceal a wandering eye or two in the past so he felt safe looking at you from the other end of Diggs' yard. And concealment was of the utmost crucial importance because right now he absolutely could not look away from you: your well-shaped bottom was strutting in the air almost as if inviting him to touch it. He imagined you looking over you shoulder with heavy-hooded eyelids calling him over while touching yourself. He would walk over to you, yank your bathing suit aside, and spread your legs apart for him on the flimsy sun bed. He would delve into you from behind and caress your throat with his lips while you moaned with imminent pleasure. You would—

He suddenly realised how creepy he was being; luring at fine women from a distance?! Pull yourself together, Casal!

With a small shuffle, he tore his gaze away from you and poured himself the drink that he had been meaning to mix before you had stolen away his attention. Vodka Redbull. A horrible drink, really, but he needed the pick-me-up to get over last night's hangover. Sunglasses and advil weren't really doing the trick today.

"She's extra fine this summer isn't she?" Rafa heard his best friend comment beside him.

"Who?" Rafa said quietly as if he had no idea who Diggs was talking about.

Diggs shot Rafa an unimpressed look, "bro, I know you think you're subtle about it, but I've caught you slipping all summer."

Rafa knew his cover was blown. He had never been able to hide anything from his best friend. With a sigh, he mumbled "Has it really been that obvious?"

"I'm not sure if anybody else has noticed but I sure have," Diggs snickered, "you are so smitten!"

"Fuck off bro, I'm not smitten. I could've bagged her ages ago if I wanted to."

"So you wouldn't mind if I walked up to her and made a move?" Diggs arched an eyebrow.

"No," Rafa said, the lie thick in his throat, "- or of course I would mind. It would wound my prospects of ever getting to live out this dirty little fantasy I have in my head, wouldn't it?" he chuckled as he tried to save his obvious lie.

"Oh my, I don't think I've seen you this desperate since... well - ever," Diggs laughed, "and I know she's into you too. Has been for ages. Go turn up the charm for fuck's sake!"

Rafa shot his friend a sideways glance, "we've known her since forever."

"So?"

"A compelling counter-point," Rafa rolled his eyes with a small smirk, "you almost have me convinced."

"Shut up man," Diggs laughed before he continued, "I mean, you've never cared about awkward mornings before. Why do you suddenly care about it with her?"

"She's a good friend," Rafa said quietly.

"Okay, I know what you're thinking; that the absolute worst case scenario is that you guys will never talk to each other again - which, might I add, is highly unlikely!" he quickly added when he saw that Rafa was about to interject. Diggs continued, "you have the same group of friends. You see each other all the time. It simply won't happen. So in my opinion, the worst case scenario is not that you will never talk to each other again, it will in fact be a few months of awkwardness before things bounce back. Who cares? You haven't talked all summer because you're having a hard time keeping it in your pants. You can go on and have a few months of awkwardness afterwards too if it turns out to be weird between you."

"You really think that?" Rafa eyed his best friend for any sign of doubt.

"I'm sure of it," Diggs said resolutely, "you need to give it a shot before someone else comes along and snatches her before your eyes. I know you like her more than what you're telling me."

Rafa had to give it to Diggs; this time, he actually did make a compelling point. "Yeah alright," he groaned before he made a quick decision; he downed the horrible vodka Redbull, mixed two tequila sunrises - your favourite drink, he knew that - and walked over to you with as much swagger as he could muster.

He stopped in front of the tanning bed you were occupying, and immediately attracted your attention as he was shadowing the sun.

"Rafa?" you said and squinted up at him. You had to conceal a small gulp. He looked particularly dreamy today. "Hi..."

Rafa felt his throat run a bit dry, "Hey... I brought you a drink. Tequila sunrise."

"Yeah, uh, thanks..." you eyed him suspiciously as he handed you the tequila sunrise and when he didn't leave afterwards you added, "uhm - would you like to sit down?"

Rafa nodded eagerly and you moved your feet to the side to make room for him on the sun bed next to your body. He sat down close to your knees and had a large sip of his drink, hoping that it would cure some of the dryness he suddenly felt in his throat.

You eyed him intently. It was weird having him up close again. Especially because his absence and weird behaviour had been annoying you all summer. He had been acting totally out of character; he had been almost distant and cold as he had practically ignored you. "What can I do for you, Rafa?" you asked him with a hesitant smile, trying to sound calm. You couldn't reveal how frustrated his absence had made you. He couldn't know that you had been pining after him for years.

Rafa's mind went into overload; oh, what couldn't you do for him? He wanted to let you know that he was one word of approval away from throwing you over his shoulder so he could carry you to Diggs' bedroom. He wanted to do all the things that he had dreamt of for the last couple of months. He wanted you on your knees in front of him. He wanted to tangle his fingers in your hair while your mouth was wrapped around him. He wanted you to send him innocent looks while you let your tongue run over him.

He cleared his throat and shuffled around a bit trying to hide the fact that his slacks had grown a bit tighter. "Uh - I don't need you to do a thing," he said with a secretive smile, "how are you?"

"I'm good," you answered him slowly, still not really sure why he had suddenly approached you. "How about you?"

"I'm perfect," Rafa nodded, "Did you have an alright summer?"

You sent him a surprised smile. He was asking about your summer now? This friendliness he was suddenly portraying seemed to come out of nowhere. "An alright summer, yeah," you leaned back in the sun bed as you realised that you'd have to let Rafa's weird behaviour go. If he had finally worked out whatever had made him act strange since June, it was a good thing for the both of you. It meant that you could have your friend back. You could have your flirting back - and my god, how you had missed being on the receiving end of his excessive flirting!

"Glad to hear it," he smiled at you while running his fingers through his blonde hair.

"You've grown out your hair," you stated with a nod.

"Yeah," Rafa smiled and tugged on one of his long locks, "Diggs kept telling me that I looked 35 with the short hair and the beard, so I figured it'd be best to let it get a bit longer again."

"You look nice," you smiled at him, "I've always liked this hairstyle on you."

Rafa felt an eruption of colour in his chest when he heard your compliment. Relax, Casal, she's just flirting as usual. "Yeah, thanks," he said and looked at his feet to conceal the goofy smile that was slowly creeping onto his lips, "It's really great to see you. I feel like we haven't talked in forever," he muttered quietly.

You had already forgiven him for his weird behaviour but you were still determined to find out why you hadn't talked in forever. You let your gaze pierce through him, "I'm actually quite glad that you approached me," you eyed him. Now seemed just as good a time as any to bring it up, "I've been wanting to talk to you."

"Yeah?" He looked up at you with a twinkle in his eye, "About what?"

You looked around on the other sun beds. Maybe he wasn't too keen on discussing private matters in front of the rest of the gang. "It's a bit crowded out here," you said with a smile, "wanna go inside?"

Rafa nodded eagerly and stood up from the sun bed, pulling you to your feet. "Ladies first," he mumbled and let you walk a few feet in front of him.

"When did you become so gallant?" you laughed at him.

When I realised that you are, in fact, more than averagely well-turned, Rafa thought to himself. He had thought it through; walking a few feet behind you would allow him to look at your well-proportionate body parts swaying in the sunlight without fear of getting caught by you. He was mildly disgusted with himself but pushed the thought away before he followed you inside like an obedient pet, his eyes glued to your tanned legs.

You led Rafa to the secluded kitchen away from the pool area. Alone at last, you turned around and leaned up against the kitchen counter, looking at the handsome man in front of you.

He was having a hard time concentrating on your face as the shift in temperature from the sun outside to the air-conditioned kitchen had made your nipples rock hard. He could see them through the thin fabric of your red bathing suit, and all he wanted to do was to slip his hands under there and massage your tits with his warm hands. He wanted to pull down the straps to reveal your beautiful build to him. He wanted to take your breasts in his mouth and circle your nipples with his tongue until you were begging him to take you to a room with a bed.

"Are you alright?" you asked him when he seemed a little distant.

"Yeah, I'm good," Rafa smirked at the mental image of you on all four in front of him, "what's up?"

"I'm gonna be straight with you. I hope that's okay."

"Of course," Rafa gave himself a mental shake and promised himself that he would concentrate on your words and not your body. This seemed important to you.

"Have you been angry with me?" You looked at him with piercing eyes.

The question took Rafa aback, "What? Why would I have been angry with you?"

"No clue," you shrugged, "but you've been weirdly dismissive all summer and you've kept your distance to me, so I've been wondering if I've done something to upset you."

"No, everything's in perfect order. You've been perfectly fine," he said with a small smirk.

"So we're okay? You and me?"

"Of course," he nodded, "more than okay."

"Good, I'm glad to hear you say that."

There was a small awkward pause between you where neither of you knew what to do or say. Rafa tried desperately not to look at your round tits right in front of him, so he directed his attention to the wine cooler behind you in an attempt to look occupied. It gave him an idea however: "Hey, did Diggs ever give you a tour of the house?" he asked you, eyes glued to a bottle of nice champagne in the cooler.

"Not yet," you smiled, "he promised me one later."

"Yeah, same," Rafa mumbled, opened the cooler, and pulled out the champagne bottle, "how about we show ourselves around?" he said and wriggled his eyebrows, "sprinkle it up with a little champagne, you know?" he winked at you.

"Now who could say no to that?" you laughed and watched Rafa pop the champagne and pour you a glass.

"Cheers," Rafa held out his glass and you gladly clinked it.

He emptied his entire glass in one fast gulp, "this is some fancy shit," he said quietly while examining the bottle.

"Should we even be drinking this?"

Rafa directed his attention towards you with a small laugh, "well it's open now isn't it? I'm sure Diggs won't mind. Bottoms up before we continue our tour. I'll get you a refill."

You smiled to yourself; Rafa's nonchalant and cavalier attitude was exactly what had attracted you to him in the first place. You did as he said, gulped down the golden liquid, and was soon standing with another full glass in hand. "Where to first?" you asked after you'd had a sip of the second glass.

"Upstairs?" Rafa asked with a shrug, grabbing both his glass and the bottle with his left hand. He put his right hand on the small of your back, and directed you towards the staircase. He noticed a small smile creep onto your lips at the skin-against-skin contact. You were both back to your usual flirting and his plan was in action. Shake, rattle, and roll.

He let you climb the stairs in front of him and it didn't take him long before he was completely hypnotised by the swaying ass in front of him. The nice curve. The way the red fabric clung nicely to your buttocks every time you took a step forwards. The tantalising sway. And he couldn't even touch you. It was pure torture, he told himself as he gulped down his second glass of champagne while following you up the stairs. He clearly needed it.

"Refill?" he asked you as you'd reached the top.

"So soon?" you arched an eyebrow at him but emptied your glass, ready for your third refill.

"I'm thirsty," Rafa smirked and could already feel his hangover disappear as it was replaced with him getting tipsy. "Rules of champagne-tours are that you need to empty your glass before you enter a room."

"Okay, you're clearly more updated on the rules than I am so I believe you," you laughed at him and took a look around the first floor, "left or right?" you asked.

"Let's try left," Rafa said and followed you to a small room, "Wait! Before you enter you need to empty your glass."

"Again? Are you trying to get me drunk?" you arched an eyebrow at him.

"Hey, I don't make the rules," he sent you an innocent look before he emptied his third glass.

You sent him a suspicious look but ended up following suit and emptied your glass before you let him refill it a fourth time. You could feel yourself getting more and more tipsy. And Rafa looked cuter and cuter.

"After you," he said and opened the door to the small room in front of you.

"Okay, this is an office or something of the sort," you laughed after you'd entered, "this is boring."

"Very boring," Rafa groaned as he took in the desk, the computer, and the three filing cabinets standing along one of the walls. "Let's move along shall we?" he whipped around and hit his head against a cabinet on the wall with a loud bang.

He heard you gasp behind him before he felt the sharp pain on his cheekbone followed by something wet running down the side of his face. He turned around, facing you, the blood running steadily down his cheek.

"Are you okay?" you said in a concerned voice before it turned to laughter.

"Hey, why are you laughing?" Rafa chuckled at the sight of you as he touched the warm blood running down his face

"I'm so sorry!" you continued laughing, "but you should see the look on your face right now. You look so wronged!"

"It was an assassination attempt!" he smiled, "did you bring me in here to neutralise me?" he emptied his fourth glass of champagne to soothe the sharp pain.

"Yes," you said all seriously, "I work for the Israeli government and I've been sent to America to take out whiney boys who steal champagne from their best friends. And as revenge, I let them bleed."

"Would a Mossad agent such as yourself happen know how to clean a wound?" He asked with a playful smile, "because I think I might need a small band-aid. This shit will not stop bleeding."

"Lucky for you, I'm specialised in treating wounded animals in Siberia. Come," you took his hand and pulled him towards a bathroom you'd noticed as you'd passed it in the hallway.

Rafa liked being tugged around by you: your small hand in his felt absolutely right. He wondered what it would feel like with your fingers wrapped around his erection and he felt his cock do a small twitch in his boxers at the mental image of you rubbing him off. ...Okay he really needed to pull himself together.

Desperate to think of something else he looked around the bathroom. "Indoor hot tub!" he exclaimed as you let go of his hand and went to the small cabinet under the sink.

"Only eighties kids get this excited over a hot tub inside," you laughed at his excited kid-like face and pulled out a band aid and some rubbing alcohol, "sit down on the edge so I can clean the wound."

"Yes ma'am," Rafa said and looked at you as you concentrated on reading the instructions on the bottle of rubbing alcohol. You looked damned cute with your nose all scrunched up.

You found a cotton pad in the cabinet as well and sat down next to him, "okay," you looked him in the eye, "this is gonna sting but try to sit still."

"Okay," he said quietly and waited with anticipation for your hands to touch his skin - even if it was a place as non-sexy as the skin below his eye where he had cut himself by being embarrassing. He took whatever he could get.

You carefully draped the cotton pad across the cut he had on his cheekbone and felt yourself blush as he closed his eyes and hissed involuntarily. You wanted to rip his clothes off.

He felt your small fingers ghost over his skin as you cleaned the wound. He tried to fight it, but couldn't hold back the visible shiver that went through his body.

"Aw, Casal, am I giving you goosebumps?" you laughed softly as you cleaned his cheek.

"Yeah," he smiled goofily at you and felt the champagne talk some courage into him, "it's either the cold from the rubbing alcohol or your bathing suit. Not sure which."

"My bathing suit?" you laughed at him.

Rafa chuckled softly, "yeah, it's a nice colour," he mumbled, "this red looks amazing on you."

"So you're saying that the colour of my bathing suit is sending shivers down your spine?"

"Yeah..." he said in an obvious lie.

"The colour... and not the cut?" you asked looking into his eyes, wriggling your chest in front of him. You had always loved the rare times where you could make Rafa - the always calm and collected womaniser - uncomfortable. This seemed like one of those times.

"Uh - the - uh - the bathing suit isn't too shabby either," Rafa chuckled slightly as he let his eyes run over your wriggling chest. You would definitely be the death of him.

"You like my bathing suit?" you said quietly as you too felt the champagne rush to your head.

This time, Rafa didn't answer you but just nodded and gulped visibly. He looked as if he was having a hard time keeping his hands to himself and it was turning you the fuck on. For years, you had wanted Rafa to actually do something about his relentless flirting. "I have to admit; I bought it with you in mind," you sent him a small shrug as if it was nothing.

His smile grew wide, "yeah? Did you dress up like this just for me?"

"I wanted you to notice me," you said with a small smile.

"Well it worked," he said quietly and ran his eyes over your chest.

"Good," you chuckled and turned your face away from his. In the past, he had had several chances to act and he hadn't. It was stupid of you to believe that he wanted more than just a bit of casual flirting - even if it did feel like years of flirting had been leading to this moment.

Glad to have something that could divert your attention away from the very fuckable guy in front of you, you picked up the band aid that was lying in your lap, took it out of its packaging and carefully put in over the cut on Rafa's cheek bone. Your eyes were glued to the cut for a couple of seconds, allowing Rafa to gaze into your eyes.

It's now or never, he thought to himself and reacted before he could hold himself back; he reached out his hand and put it just below your chin, leaned forwards and planted a brief, soft kiss on your lips. You had kissed before but this one somehow felt different. His kisses had always been short and sweet - he had practically perfected pulling away from you before losing all control - but today was extra hard. He couldn't believe himself... Ten years of holding himself back and a fucking bathing suit had him feeling like a teenager again. Calm the fuck down, Casal.

"Thanks for taking care of me," he hummed against your lips and retracted his face from yours.

You let out a small whimper at the lack of contact but came to your senses soon enough. "A pleasure," you smiled up at him and slightly cleared your throat, "we should continue our tour."

Rafa nodded and emptied the rest of the champagne bottle in each of your glasses. He quickly poured it down his throat. "House rules," he shrugged when you sent him a bemused smile.

You followed suit, bottomed up and put down your glass next to the kitchen sink. You gave Rafa's arm a slight tug and urged him to follow you to the next room on the tour.

Rafa gladly - and slightly dizzy - followed you out of the bathroom and into the next room on the tour; Diggs' bedroom apparently. It seemed almost scripted.

"Master bedroom," you exclaimed when you saw the king sized bed in the middle of the room. You looked over at Rafa who was swaying a little, "are you okay?" you laughed.

"I'm a bit dizzy," Rafa joined in laughing, "not sure if it's the assassination attempt or the amount of champagne I've had."

"Probably a little bit of both," you smiled and put a hand on his arm to help him steady a little, "do you need to lie down for a minute?"

"Yeah, I think I better," he let out a small laugh and threw himself down on the bed.

You quickly followed suit, and positioned yourself on the bed next to him, "is the room spinning or is it just me?" you laughed.

"Oh it's definitely spinning," Rafa chuckled and reached out to touch your hand, "ah, much better," he said as he recalled the feeling in his abdomen when you had kissed only minutes earlier. He wanted to kiss you again. He couldn't hold himself back.

"I agree," you said softly and looked over at him, "how's your boo-boo?" you let out a small laugh.

"Still stings," he shot you a small smile and remembered Diggs words. He had to snatch you up before someone else did. What he did now seemed to be crucial to how your interactions would be shaped in the future. So he decided to just go for it, "you know... my mom used to kiss the pain away."

"You want me to kiss it off you?" You laughed.

"It might help," he said and brushed his fingers against your skin as his hand moved further up your arm.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" you laughed.

"Yeah, maybe," Rafa said and felt how the champagne made him daring and truthful, "you've been driving me insane all summer."

"I have?" you chuckled, slightly surprised, "is that why you've stayed away from me?"

"Yeah, I've been having a hard time keeping my hands to myself..." he chuckled innocently.

You decided to act on how cute you'd always found Rafa, leaned closer to him and repeated the short and sweet kiss you'd shared in the bathroom a couple of minutes earlier.

When you retracted your lips from his, Rafa moved his head forwards and continued the soft kiss, this time with a bit more power to it.

This was definitely new, you thought to yourself as you moved your lips in time with Rafa's.

He popped himself up on one elbow and kissed you so sensually that you physically felt the wetness between your legs. So his tongue could do more than spit out silvered words? Rafa had game! His soft tongue was slowly caressing yours while he let his hand run over your upper body. You felt the goosebumps emerge on your skin as he ran his fingers over your ribcage.

Rafa broke the kiss and sent you a smirk, "look who's sending who shivers now," he snickered.

"Shut up," you groaned and leaned forwards, softly recapturing his lips.

He hummed against you as you slowly moved your lips across his. His thumbs were brushing against the sensitive skin just below your boobs, but he didn't touch you anywhere that wasn't considered safe. He wanted you to approve of it before he delved into you.

You understood his careful actions and wriggled around a bit to get him to touch you properly.

"Are you sure?" he whispered against your lips, "you've had quite a bit to drink and I've been trying to seduce you."

"Just be happy it worked," you smiled against him, "I've been wanting this too..."

Rafa's smile grew wide, "really?" he laughed

"Yes. Now shut up and kiss me."

He inched his lips closer to yours and captured them once more. His tongue caressed yours slowly and sensually while his hand squeezed your thigh tightly. A small moan escaped your lips when your fingers tugged on his long strands of hair.

Rafa pulled you on top of him so you were straddling his waist.

You let out a small smirk when you felt his erection underneath you, "you're already hard."

"I've been hard all summer," he groaned as his lips found your throat, "you've been driving me insane in all your little sundresses. You have no idea how hard it's been to hold myself back."

"You don't have to hold yourself back with me," you whispered and looked into his green eyes while you moved your hips suggestively on top of him.

"From now on, I have no intentions of doing so," he groaned at the friction, his hands moving to the straps of your bathing suit. Slowly, he pulled them over your arms, making sure to kiss your clavicles in the meantime. He pulled down the red bathing suit and revealed your small round tits topped with small perky nipples for him. Exactly as he had imagined. He took one of your nipples in his mouth, while showing the other love by cupping your breast lovingly. You let out a sharp moan when you felt his tongue circle your areola.

Rafa's erection grew considerably and when you danced your fingers down his chest, and he decided to do something about it. He threw you down on the bed next to him and forcefully ripped off the bottom half of your bathing suit, leaving you completely naked on the bed. He took a step back and admired your finally naked body before him, your wet pussy glistening in the sunlight. He palmed himself through his slacks and let out a groan at the sight of you writhing on the bed, looking up at him with lust in your eyes. Your small hand was running along the length of your glistening slit and he had never been more jealous of a couple of fingers.

"Take of your clothes," you panted as you spread your legs apart.

Rafa quickly shuffled out of his shirt and slacks but kept his boxers on.

"Last chance to back out," he said as he leaned over you and trailed his hand down your body. You let out a small moan as his lips found yours, his fingers hovering above your waistline. "If you keep making those sounds I'm not going to be able to stop myself," he groaned in between kisses.

"Who says I want you to stop?" You let out yet another moan as his tongue found yours again.

"Good," he smirked against you. His fingers found your heated centre and you let out a raspy breath when his fingers dipped inside your sensitive folds. "Fuck you're so wet for me," he growled as he easily found your tight opening and pushed a couple of fingers inside you. You were moaning excessively and pushing yourself against his playful fingers as the was toying with you.

"Fuck, you look so good with my fingers inside you," he growled, "tell me how much you've wanted this!"

"So bad," you panted and looked up into his darkened eyes, "I've been wanting you to fuck me for years."

"Yeah?" He felt himself getting even more excited and he moved his fingers faster in an out if you, "have you been thinking about me when you're alone at night?"

"Yes," you whispered.

"Tell me about what you've been fantasising about."

You pushed his fingers out of you and sat up straight on the bed, sending him a lustful look. "I've been thinking about your big, heavy cock," you said as you pulled off his boxers, revealing his erection to you. You took him in your hand and ran your tongue over his wet head. Rafa shot back his head with a small groan, but kept the eye contact.

"What else?" He panted as he watched you pop his head in your mouth.

"This," you said, "my lips around you. Your fingers inside me."

"How can I deny you that?" He stroked your cheek, "lie down."

You did as he told and watched Rafa climb onto the bed on his knees. He positioned himself close to your face and ran his hand down your abdomen, his fingers easily finding their way to your pussy. You reached up and grabbed him by the root, positioning yourself so you could wrap your lips around him while his fingers worked their way inside you.

You bopped your mouth up and down his length a few times, releasing his head with a small pop before starting over.

"Oh fuck," he groaned as he bucked his hips closer to your face, "fuck you look amazing."

You let your tongue swirl around him while your hand pumped up and down him a few times. He shot back his head with a groan, "fuck I'm not going to last long," he panted.

You pulled your face away from him and said, "are you going to cum down my throat?" Before your lips resumed their positions around him.

"Yes," he panted, "are you going to take it all for me?"

You nodded and pulled him down your throat.

"Oh fuck," he panted and pushed his hair out of his eyes, "fuck you're working me like a pro."

You tightened your lips' grip around him and swirled your tongue around his head that had started leaking down your throat.

"Oh shit," he groaned and caressed the side of your face, "fuck you look so sexy with your lips around my cock. Fuck I'm so close!"

You pulled him as far down your throat as you could and reached up to cup his balls.

Rafa's breathing was hushed and shallow and he had his eyes closed. His fingers were still fidgeting with your clit but his movements were sporadic and lazy as he couldn't concentrate on much else apart from the tight wetness around him. With your tongue swirling around his head, your left hand cupping his balls, and your right hand working its way up and down his shaft, he gave out three loud grunts before he started shaking above you, warm cum shooting down your throat. He grunted a few times with his eyes closed before he came to his senses, pulled his fingers out of you and licked them only to have them resume their positions on your core.

"Oh god," you moaned as his fingers curled inside you, "oh fuck Rafa."

"Turn around for me," he whispered.

Quickly, you turned around and were sitting on all four in front of him.

"Ass up," he said and gave you a hard spank before he ran his hand over you.

With a pant, you buried your face in the mattress, "are you going to fuck me now?"

"I can't do that now," he groaned and positioned his face behind you, "it's your fault. You and your amazing lips," he said and caressed your ass with his hands for a couple of seconds, "say my name," he groaned as ran his tongue over you.

"Rafa!" You moaned when you felt his tongue.

"No. My name," he gave out a muffled demand.

"Rafael," you panted and he pushed his fingers inside you as a reward.

"Yeah, that's right," he said darkly and felt you tighten around his fingers, "fuck you're driving me insane. You're so good for me. Have you been wanting this for a long time?"

"Uh-huh," you panted in response.

"Show me," he panted before he started moving his tongue and fingers faster against you.

"Oh fuck! Rafa! Rafael!" You moaned loudly as you felt all your nerve-endings tightening between your legs. Rafa's tongue was moving sloppily over you as you cried out with your release, the grip around his fingers pulsating and tightening significantly.

Rafa was enjoying the sight before him - although a little disappointed that your tight gripping was wasted on something as boring as his fingers.

When you had panted and moaned out his name, he pulled his fingers out of you and let you plump down on the mattress.

You were still panting when you looked up at him with a huge grin, "why have we never done this before?"

"Because we're very stupid," Rafa chuckled and plumped down next to you, "that was amazing!"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Next time, I'm not letting you corrupt me to cum down your throat," he groaned and gave your breasts a kiss, "next time, I'm going to fuck you so hard."

"We're gonna do it again?" You arched a bemused eyebrow at him.

"Of course. Call me selfish but I don't ever want anyone else to touch you."

[fanfic-me-up]

Unwithering | Bakugou Katsuki x Reader (1)

Part Two

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x fem!reader

Prompt: Flower shop AU, “I think I’m in love with you.”

Warnings: Mild Swearing. Flowery language (pun intended 😉... I’ll show myself out)

Word Count: 2,250

Taglist: Reply to this post if you want to be added for future chapters!

A/N: This is for @bnhabookclub​ event going on! Thank you for giving new writers in the fandom, like me, a place to promote their work. Shout out to @smolmilkyways​ for letting me use this beautiful piece of fanart above! Go check them out! Also, thanks @gallickingun​ for letting me tag you in my first fic. You gave me some pretty solid advice that pushed me to get this out here. This was originally a one-shot, but of course it turned into a multi-chap, so stay tuned for more! 

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Your fists gripped the hem of your dress. The sunflowers on it reminded you of him; a burning sun at the center of your universe. The boy in front of you crinkled his forehead at your statement; as if the love you spent years building up the courage to confess was no more than a pebble - insignificant - that he could kick to the side without a second thought.

Midoriya gave you a slight thumbs up from the back, but the rest of the boys cackled with no remorse. 

“You hear that, Bakugou? She looovvveesss you!”

“Freaky flower girl and Bakugou sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G”

“Awww is she gonna cry?”

The lump in your throat was difficult to swallow, but you refused to prove them right. It would only add fuel to the fire threatening to burn the seed planted in your heart.

He stepped toward you. The scent of burnt sugar filled your lungs; like fresh apples picked from your mother’s garden, dipped in melted caramel. You heard it’s a side effect from his quirk, but it was the first time you were close enough to experience it for yourself. 

You willed your eyes to find his. The soft breeze blowing past provided a cooling relief to the intense heat felt in your cheeks. When your eyes locked, a spark flashed within his own. You couldn’t catch it in time, but your heart stuttered in response.

 Any chance of a flower blooming died the next moment.

“I’ll never love a weak girl like you.”

A year passed before you saw Katsuki Bakugou again.

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

“Here’s your pickup order, Tanaka-san, I’m sure your wife will love them!” 

You ring up the older gentleman who’s been a regular at your mother’s flower shop for years. His wife loves the smell of scented geranium, a sweet apricot that never fails to remind her of the orchards back home. He’s convinced your flowers are the reason she’s still here; the true medicine to her illness.

You always deny this statement, shaking your head with a playful giggle, but the compliment warms you. It’s nice to hear people cared about your flowers.

“She loves only the ones made by you, dearest.”

He winks as his shaking hands grab the large bouquet. You smile and turn your hand, palm up, towards Tanaka whose eyes never fail to widen in awe at your quirk in action. A small stem sprouts from the center of your palm, growing taller by the second. You hone in on the bright yellow dot on the center of each petal. A wash of white forms around each dot, acting as a transition for the violet that envelops the rest of the petals.

Each petal opens up one by one to reveal a golden bud. 

You hand the flower to Tanaka.

“On the house,” you wink back. 

“Oh very nice, very nice, indeed,” he bows in thanks, “What is the meaning of this one?”

“Irises give hope. In Chinese tradition, it is referred to as ‘the purple butterfly’ because its petals flutter like butterflies.” 

The breeze from outside trails in at the perfect time and the petals flutter about.

“Very pretty,” Tanaka remarks, “I’ll be sure to let the misses know about this one!”

He thanks you one more time before walking out with a newfound spring in his step; the lone flower nestled in the pocket of his worn out janitor uniform. 

You’ve been working at Paradise Blooms for the past three years after your parents separated, and your mom needed the extra hand more than ever. It was difficult balancing school and work, especially when you were busy prepping for U.A. exams last year, but you could never say no to your mom. She’s been the constant in your life since day one.

The back door to the supply room squeaks.

“A little help here?” 

All you see is the top of your mom’s head, adorned with a multi-colored flower crown. Her face is covered by the high pile of crates she’s trying not to drop. You rush to catch the top crate before it tumbles.

“Phew. That was a close one. Thanks, honey!” 

She bends down to take the supplies out, arranging the items on the counters around the shop. She weaves through the aisles - it looks more like a garden than an actual shop, in your opinion, but you think it gives the place character. She stops at the row of potted flowers sitting on the far right of the shop, soaking in the sunlight cast through the window. It’s the new collection your mom got in time for the 2020 Garden Glow Event. Every year, flower shops all over the city participated in an annual gardening event to educate the public on gardening techniques with fun activities for the children. Your mom spent hours on the phone dealing with difficult vendors to get this specific collection for the event. Water sprinkles out from her palm as she takes the time to water each and every flower.

Since there’s no customers at the moment, you grab the broom from the storeroom and set to sweeping around the shop. It’s not long before your mom’s watering routine is interrupted by her phone ringing.

“Hello?” You continue sweeping, gently humming along to the tune playing through the speakers, but your voice catches when you hear, “Mitsuki! Hi! How are you?” 

Mitsuki? Your mom couldn’t possibly be talking to Mitsuki... Bakugou? 

Your knuckles turn white from squeezing the life out of the poor broom as you wait for confirmation. 

“I think I’m in love with you.”

The memories you tried so hard to forget come flooding all at once.

“I’ll never love a weak girl like you.”

You’re snapped out of the memory.

“Yes, bring him in! Great! See you in a few, bye.” 

Your mother returns to watering the flowers like nothing happened - like that single phone call didn’t just turn your world upside down, after you spent the last year flipping it right side up.

“Who was that?” 

You’re afraid of the answer. 

You promised yourself you moved on from Katsuki Bakugou. It proved to be easier said than done. Even if you both went to separate high schools and most of your days were spent either studying or working; at night is when your thoughts strayed. You wondered what he was up to… was he passing all his classes? You’d giggle at the absurdity of Katsuki not being number one. Was he still bullying Midoriya? Did you ever cross his mind?

Was he happy?

Because more than anything, you wished him happiness - even if that happiness was not with you. Was that weakness? Was wishing for someone’s happiness, who could care less about you, considered weakness? 

“Hm?” Your mom turns to you, “Oh! That was Mitsuki Bakugou. Her son, Katsuki - I believe you went to school with him? Well, he needs a part-time job to help pay for tuition. Can you believe he got into U.A.? Mitsuki must be so proud of him.”

“I figured you’d be happy,” she continues, " I know you’ve been struggling with balancing school and work, so I thought having another person around would help lighten the load a little bit. Besides, I owed Mitsuki a favor.”

Your mother blushes at the last part.

Favor? What favor?

But that’s the last thing on your mind when you suddenly feel the need to pass out.

Katsuki… is… working… here? 

“Honey, are you okay? You look a little pale.”

“I - I’m not sure I can…” you trail off. Your mom didn’t know about your confession to Katsuki. When you came home in tears that day, with your dress all wrinkled, you told her it was because kids were bullying you for trying and failing to get into U.A. 

It was the half-truth. 

“Y/N, did something happen between you and Katsuki? I can call Mitsuki back right now if you don’t feel comfortable with him around.” 

It was as easy as breathing or using your quirk, second nature, all you had to do was utter a two letter word and your mom would immediately have Mitsuki on the line, apologizing for the inconvenience, but making sure to recommend a few places in the area who were hiring. A simple “no” and your world would become right side up again, the boy you loved long forgotten during the day and only remembered at night when there’s nothing to consume your mind, but him. 

Taking the easy way called out to you, beckoning you to relinquish your strength, and give in. But if you couldn’t face one boy, then maybe Katsuki was right. Maybe you were weak. 

“I’m fine, mom, I can work with him,” you say.

Pounding footsteps against the pavement outside cut your mom off from her next words.

“OI! LET ME GO, OLD WOMAN, I’LL KILL YOU!” 

“CALL ME THAT ONE MORE TIME AND SEE WHERE IT GETS YOU!” 

Your breath hitches at the sound. You haven’t heard that voice in over a year; it’s gotten deeper, raspier in tone. You take a few breaths in and out to calm yourself so you don’t melt into the floor at first glance.

The door swings open - the “We’re Open” sign rattles dangerously against the glass -  and in barges Mitsuki Bakugou, dragging her son by the ear.

Katsuki struggles to get out of his mother’s grasp, his arms stretch toward the door, but Mitsuki pulls him all the way inside.

“I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAINING, WOMAN!”

“AND NOW YOU’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF GETTING A JOB!”

“I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT!”

“YOU’LL MAKE TIME!”

Katsuki growls. His palms curving into themselves like he’s trying to reign in his quirk from exploding Paradise Blooms where it stands.

You and your mom look at each other, unsure how to inject yourselves in the rather awkward exchange. Truthfully, you’re not surprised by the interaction; you’ve seen Katsuki and his family at school events in the past. The Bakugous had an… interesting family dynamic. 

Mitsuki notices the both of you watching and immediately releases Katsuki. She smiles and greets your mom with a hug as if the previous interaction never happened.

“Y/Mom’s/N, it’s great to see you! How’s the event planning coming along?”

Your mom and Mitsuki engage in small talk for a couple minutes leaving you to sneak a quick glance over at Katsuki leaning against the door. He’s looking out the window with a scowl on his face. He crosses his arms to stop himself from fisting his palms, a sign you picked up on when he’s itching to get on the field and obliterate. 

You find yourself thinking how beautiful and destructive at the same time.

Once Mitsuki and your mom finish catching up, she directs her attention towards you. 

“And you must be Y/N?  Your mother has told me so much about you!”

You catch the flash of recognition in Katsuki’s eyes, but you’re wrapped in a hug before you can think. The hug is a bit awkward with the counter digging into your side, but the warmth radiating off Mitsuki makes you feel at home. She lets go of you and turns around to where Katsuki is still standing by the door, ready to leave the first chance he gets.

“And this is my son, Katsuki,” she beckons him over, but when he doesn’t move she barks, “Don’t be rude! Get over here and introduce yourself.” 

Katsuki grumbles under his breath, but trudges over. 

“Sup.”

Mitsuki growls and slaps Katsuki over the head, “Oi! Where are your manners!?” 

She glances apologetically, “I’m sorry. He’s… a bit much to handle. I really appreciate you agreeing to hire him. He’s had trouble in the past with defying authority.”

Katsuki scowls at the ground when Mitsuki pats his head affectionately this time. 

“But he’s a good kid at heart, a little rough around the edges, but overall a good kid. I hope you’re able to see that and work with him.” 

She bows; her hand on Katsuki’s head nudges him to do the same. His nose twitches, but he listens this time.

Your mother is an empathetic person, able to walk all paths of life and notice the beauty in each one. It wasn’t like her to turn someone down in need. 

Your mom smiles, “I’m happy to work with Katsuki. What about you, Y/N?”

She’s giving you a way out for the last time. 

Mitsuki looks at you, hope in her eyes.

Doubt laid out its hand for you to take; to lead you away from the pain that still ate away at you everyday. The teasing. The pointing. The rejection from U.A. and from Katsuki. Working with him would force you to face the pain head on.

“I’ll never love a weak girl like you.”

You lock eyes with Katsuki for the first time since that day many moons ago; he’s awaiting your answer, a twinge of hope laced in his eyes overshadowed by a grimace. 

You wonder if you now hold the fuel to the fire threatening to burn the tiny seed of hope he’s trying so hard to bury.

For better or for worse, you were also a person who found beauty in all paths of life.

“Welcome aboard,” you say.

[hela-avenger]

To the Stars Who Listen- Part 5

Author: hela-avenger

Word Count: 1507

Summary: When Loki desires to never fall in love, he casts a spell to prevent such a thing from happening. Except, well, in the matters of love and magic, you never know the result it may have in the end. Loki x Reader

A/N: Thanks for all the love everyone! I’m happy you’re liking my fic! Tags are open! (Send me an ask/message/response.)

TTSWL Masterlist

The moment Steve lands at the facility, Loki practically runs inside. It was as if he expected to be dragged back to the tower if he hesitated for even a moment. You watch him and he seemed pleased enough in what he encountered. You turn away when Steve finds you still lingering in the back. He takes your bag from your hand and motions you to walk with him.

“You ok?”

“Yeah,” you sigh out. “It just feels weird to be back to square one, you know? I worked so hard to get where I am and now I have to go back to training wheels. It’s not really fair.”

Steve offers you a sympathetic smile.

“You’ll be back with us before you know it,” he assures you. “And if Loki is to be trusted, which I’ll admit is a hard thing for me to do, you’ll come out of this stronger than ever.”

“I was already strong before,” you sigh. “I was doing fine. Sure, I didn’t have some super soldier serum or a powerful suit, but I was fighting alongside you so that speaks for itself.”

“Y/N…”

“Steve just…” you whisper in resignation. “I was happy being normal and now… now, I’m not. I haven’t really gotten a chance to wrap my head around that everything has completely changed.”

“I understand,” Steve breathes out. “Things just happen in life, Y/N. They may be good, most times it’s bad, and it’s up to us to figure out how to deal with it. I know you have it in you to make the best out of this situation.”  

Steve stops at the door of your room and hands you your bag back. Your hand lingers on his as the request comes swiftly into your mind.

“Can I ask you for a favor?”

Steve nods, “Anything.”

“I’m going to try my best to gain control of this power but if I can’t, then I want it out of me.”

“That could kill you.”

“Sacrifices have to be made for the greater good,” you tell him. “You out of everyone should know. You did the same thing years ago.”

“And you know what that cost me.”

Indeed you did. He had told you about it some time ago. Trusted you with this information he kept close.

Steve had lost his comrades, the love of his life, and skipped 70 years into the future and though you wouldn’t have the same repercussions he had, you found the conclusion albeit still alarming.

“If I hurt someone, Steve… If I end up on the wrong side of things where I become the enemy… I don’t know if I could live with myself if I could have prevented it to begin with.”

Steve hesitates but he must see the deep desperation in your eyes.

“I’ll look into it,” Steve sighs. “And if that day comes… Just know, I’ll find another way to save you. I don’t care what it takes.”

You knew Steve to be stubborn so you allowed him this small victory. You release your hand from his and take your bag. Steve is quick to pull you into a hug and you allow yourself the small comfort.

“The next time I see you better be on a good note,” Steve chuckles into your ear. “I know you can beat this, Y/N. Don’t give up before it even starts.”

You nod and force yourself to let him go. He offers you one last encouraging smile before finally turning and walking away.

Your quiet solemn moment is disrupted by a dark chuckle that appears suddenly in front of you.

“That was agonizing to watch,” Loki mutters. “I think our innocent Captain was expecting a kiss out of it.”

“We’re just friends,” you respond glaring at the God that leaned against the door frame of his room which conveniently resided right in front of yours.

“Are you sure?” Loki grins. “I don’t think you’re being completely honest at this moment.”

“And I think you’re spinning lies out of nowhere so you can incite drama because you find yourself bored.”

Loki doesn’t respond and you knew you had him. You turn away and open the door of your room. You don’t bother to turn the light on as you throw your bag inside. You make up your mind you’ll unpack and settle in later.

“Come on,” you call out to Loki. “Let me introduce you to everyone.”  

A highlight at being moved to the large and expansive Avengers Facility that laid out of the city is the people who resided there. You can’t help but laugh when you step into the dining room to find a Welcome Home banner hung up with Wanda and Vision at the head of a filled table. Bucky and Sam were there too but the serious scowl on their faces made it seem like they were unhappy with your arrival.

“You didn’t have to do all of that,” you tell Wanda as you hug her. “It hasn’t been that long since I’ve stayed here.”

“It’s been long enough,” Wanda states.

“Welcome home Agent Y/N,” Vision nods at you.

“Hello again, Viz.”

“We all heard about what happened,” Wanda speaks up. “Are you ok?”

“Not really,” you shrug. “But I will be once I get myself under control.”

Wanda squeezes your arm and you turn towards Bucky and Sam who haven’t moved to greet you. They remain rooted in place as they glared at your travel partner who remains in the outskirts of the room.

“Hey, stop that,” you nudge them. “He’s not a threat.”

“That’s not what Steve said,” Bucky mutters. “He said we needed to pay extra attention to him.”

“Yeah, emphasis on extra,” Sam adds.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean it literally,” you argue.

“Better safe than sorry,” Sam responds.

You roll your eyes at them and turn to Loki instead.

“Loki, this is the rest of the team,” you introduce him vaguely. “Team, this is Loki.”

Wanda’s the only one to offer a small wave while everyone else remained silent. You understood why Vision was hesitant to step forward. Loki had once wielded the mind stone that was currently resting on his forehead. As for Bucky and Sam, they were just being overprotective by Steve’s warning.

“Alright, great start,” you mumble as you nod Loki forward. “Let’s just sit. They’ll get over the whole security threat thing once they realize you’re not going to do anything.”

“And what if I do step out of line?” Loki asks with a slight grin.

The question doesn’t go unheard as Bucky and Sam are quick to straighten up while Wanda lets out a heavy sigh. You set your plate down and turn towards the mischievous God.

“Bucky there,” you point out. “Has a metal arm and a variation of the super soldier serum running through his body. He’s also a very notorious assassin but we don’t talk about it.”

You then point towards Sam.

“Now Sam here, you might think he’s nothing special and in a way he isn’t…”

“Hey!”

You shoot Sam a pointed glare and he shuts up enough to allow you to continue.

“As I was saying, Sam may not be a super soldier, but he can sure fight like one and you won’t want to face him with his Falcon suit on. You won’t stand a chance if he catches you in the air.”

Loki takes in the information you offered and makes note of it. He knows better than to create enemies without knowing who they are and the threat they may impose on him.

“Now Wanda is a sweetheart,” you continue earning a smile from her. “But she can kick ass if she needs to and between you and me, I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side. She got her powers through the mind stone which allows her to do a lot of cool stuff. Telekinesis, telepathy, force fields, mental manipulation… The list goes on and on.”

You take a deep breath and then turn to Vision who’s still joining them on the table though he doesn’t need to eat dinner.

“Now Vision is the youngest of us all if you can believe it,” you tell Loki. “I still don’t understand the science of how he was made but basically he’s an android with a conscience. A robot with a heart of gold. Plus, he’s the self-appointed guardian of the mind stone and we all saw him wield Mjolnir though Thor refuses to admit it.”

Loki now realizes why his brother had been so easily convinced to allow him out of his sight. With this band of trainee heroes, Loki would be well supervised and beaten if he stepped out of line.

“Now that the introductions are out of the way, let’s eat.”

You eagerly begin to pile food on your plate passing the courses around. Everyone follows your lead easing into an amicable conversation. Loki simply sat back and drank the wine offered as he suddenly found himself with appetite lost. 

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