#not that I didn't have the money I just couldn't justify getting it. but my datemate saw how excited I was to see it irl

[plushie-lovey]

Today has been very eventful you guys. I sadly did not take any pics tho. But I took Autumn out with me (along with my datemate of course) to a tourist town, which is a 30min drive from where I live, that's famous for having witch stuff and huge for celebrating Halloween. While there we found so many amazing plushies, including some super cute and unusual animals from the brand Miyoni by Aurora, the largest selection of Palm Pals I've ever seen in one place, and a nicknack store half of which I can only describe as Jellycat Valhalla. Yes I came home with some new friends. I adopted a very fluffy rooster, 2 precious red pandas, an axolotl, and a jellycat little dexter dragon

[whorekneecentral]

Sticky Fingers

Sebastian Vettel x Fem!Reader

Warnings: dad!seb, seb referring to himself as daddy, cheesy flirting, oral (m!receiving), the use of daddy in a sexual context, penetrative sex (p in v), breeding kink, hint to pregnancy kink if you squint, creampie, a touch of cum play, finger sucking, mommy kink but in a joking way.

Word Count: 2,112

Author's Note: would it really be me if I didn't start it off with my favourite dilf on the planet?? happy holidays to everyone who celebrates in whatever way you do and to those of you who don't, I hope you have a wonderful winter season!!

merry smutmas series

--

Your husband spends his first Christmas at home since his retirement and he went a little.. a lot over board. 

It had been a long year; Sebastian had been driving you mad as much as it was nice to have him home. A full year of retirement and Seb was making sure this holiday season was the best one yet.

Last year, after he retired, you had practically already gotten everything together for the holidays. Sebastian helped decorate and do activities with your daughter but this year, he was hands on from day one. He insisted you guys get a real tree as well as decorate the whole house from top to bottom. You couldn't count how many times he had you running to the store to pick up something for him and his newest holiday project.

Your daughter was upstairs in her bed, fast asleep with her messy blonde curls all scattered over the pillow when you checked on her. Sebastian had put her to bed while you had gone to take a shower.

Usually, you'd find him in bed by now or in the living room, finally working on the insanely long list of tv shows Charles had recommended to him over the years.

Tonight was different, the house was quiet and you couldn't seem to spot your husband anywhere as you made your way through the house.

A light peeked out from around the corner, the door to the basement slightly ajar and you pulled it open, slowly making your way downstairs.

You can see Sebastian from behind, the man freezes when he hears the creaking of the stairs. "It's just me," you announced, the man visibly relaxed, turning to smile at you.

"What are you doing down here?" You asked, finally making it down the stairs. "So secretive, are you jerking off?" You jokingly asked, Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Don't need to do that when I have you," he raises his eyebrows and it was your turn to roll your eyes.

"Whatever Seb," you laughed, "seriously, what are you doing down here?"

"Trying to wrap this," Sebastian steps to the side, revealing the massive box that was behind him. On the front was a photo of the doll house your daughter wanted.. the ridiculously expensive dollhouse that is. It's not that you two didn't get your daughter what she wanted but she had to earn it. Just because her father is who he is and the fact that he has money, doesn't mean she should get whatever she wants.

You raise her as a normal kid, not some spoiled brat who gets whatever they want.

You huffed, arms folded over your chest as you looked at your husband. "Sebastian, you didn't."

He glances between you and the dollhouse. "What?"

"Do you know how expensive that is?"

"Yeah duh, I bought it babe." He says as if he was stating the obvious, which he was.

He takes a step towards you, grabbing your arms to unfold them, "listen, I know you don't want me to just buy her whatever she wants but it's Christmas and she did really well on her first term report card, remember ?" Sebastian smiles at you, trying to justify his purchase.

You sigh, nodding. You always gave in, both he and his daughter knew as much.

You reach up, holding his face. "You're the best daddy a girl could ask for."

From the moment the words left your mouth, you could see the gears turning in his head. Sebastian's hands grab your ass, squeezing it when he leans in to give you a kiss. "I know I am," he whispers against your lips and you know he did not mean it in the same way you had said it.

Laughing, you lean back in your husband's arms. "Only you can make that dirty."

The man swings you in the direction of your couch, dropping you down on it before getting on top of you. "I'll show you dirty," he says, kissing you once again.

Your legs wrapped around your husband, holding him against you. Seb's lips are all over you, hands slipping between the two of you, pulling on the hem of his t-shirt until he stops to take it off.

"Don't look at me like that," he teases, pushing your shirt up to kiss down your stomach. "Like what?" You breathe, head tipped back into the cushions.

"Like you want to fuck me."

"I'd give you another baby right now, Sebastian."

The man freezes, looking up at you. There's a wicked smile on his face. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," you nod, propping yourself up on your elbows to look down at him. Sebastian moves to between your legs, settling there for a minute as he presses kisses along your bare skin, following the trail from your hip, down your thighs to between them.

Your hand tangles in his blonde curls, giving it a tug and pulling him off of you before he can get to what he really wants. The man's brows furrow, looking at you. "Sweetheart," he huffs, fingers dragging along the bare skin of your thighs.

You give him a shove back with your foot, sitting up. Sebastian watches as you move him to sit and you move from the couch to the floor. Seb reaches for the pillow, dropping in front of you so you'd have some sort of cushioning; he knows even though this was your idea, you'd blame him for sore knees tomorrow.

"You're sure?" He asks, watching as your manicured nails tugs on the strings on his sweats. "Absolutely," you say, your eyes fixed on him as your hands rub up his thighs.

Seb watches as you lick your hand, his head tips back and a soft moan slips out when you wrap your hand around him, moving it up and down slowly.

His eyes don't move from you, watching your every move. His lips parted slightly, as if he was going to say something but he can't bring himself to. You lean forward, a hand wrapped around the base of his cock, the other resting on his thigh. Sebastian groans, teeth sinking into his bottom lip when you wrap your lips around him.

"God-" he breathed, his arm hung over the armrest and his head tipped back into the couch.

His eyes flutter shut when you hollow your cheeks, bobbing your head up and down. You glance up at your husband; eyes shut, his hand reaching down to tangle in your hair - pulling it into a makeshift ponytail.

You move yourself up a bit, lips still around the tip and your hand quickly replaces where your mouth was. Sebastian finally opens his eyes, looking down at you again just as your tongue swirls around the tip.

His hips involuntarily buck upwards, forcing you down on him a little bit more. "Oh fuc- baby, do that- yeah." He's out of breath when he whispers the words.

That was a reaction only you could get out of him.

It was killing him but he forces himself to pull you up off of him, your hand wraps around his cock, moving it slowly. "What?" You asked, your tongue running across your bottom lip - the sight alone makes his cock twitch in your hand; you smile at the reaction.

"I was gonna cum."

"So? I'm not complaining." You tell him, leaning forward to rest your cheek on his thigh. Sebastian reaches down, his knuckles brushing over your cheek - red and flushed.

You looked so beautiful like this.

Sebastian smiles, "I know but.. what if I wanted to try for one more?"

"One more?" You asked, brows furrowed as you looked up at the man. It takes you a moment, your husband's glance was suggestive, as if you were meant to remember something - "Oh!" You giggled, sitting up straight now. "I mean.. yeah."

"So.." he grabs your arm, carefully pulling you up. "C'mere."

Climbing onto your husband's lap, you straddle him and your hand rests on his shoulder to balance yourself. Seb reaches between the two of you, his wrist brushing against your bare cunt when he goes to line himself up with you.

The slightest touch causes you to lean into him; watching him react to you sucking him off was enough to get you worked up.

"All for me?" He looks at you, kissing along your throat.

You hum, teasing him. "Not like I can say it's for your teammate anymore."

Sebastian smiles, his free hand on your hip as you sink down onto him. Your lips parted, his name slipped from between them. As much as he loved to hear you, he didn't want to wake up the sleeping child upstairs - he kissed you, muffling the sweet sounds coming from you.

You liked to be in control up to a certain point, Seb's hands rested on your hips as you bounced on his lap, setting the pace.

After a moment, Seb's hands begin to wander; this man could never settle, not even during sex. His hands move from your hips to the curve of your spine to the back of your neck, holding a firm grip there. You couldn't exactly move, not that you wanted too, but Sebastian forces you down, gently as always, to kiss you. You bite his bottom lip, giving it a gentle pull when he feels you clench around his cock.

"You're - fuck." he moans, making you giggle.

Your hand rests on his jaw, fingers tapping his stubble covered cheek. "I'm what, daddy?"

"You're evil," he mumbles, his hand on your lower back before he flips the two of you. You end up under him, legs wrapped around his hips.

A hand moves to behind his shoulder, your perfectly red nails dig into his pale skin, the marks you left matched the colour of your nails; very festive, you thought to yourself.

Seb's face is buried into the crook of your neck, kissing down to that one spot he knows drives you crazy. "Seb-" you cut yourself off with a moan when you feel his fingers on your clit.

"What was that?" He taunts, watching as your eyes close, back arched, his chest pressed to yours. His lips travel down to your chest, kissing over your tits and as far as he could go. Your nails dig into him once more, Seb feels you clench around him.

"Seb- I'm gonna, fuck-" you mumble and he hums in response, kissing along your jaw.

"Go on, I'm right here baby. C'mon, be good for me." He whispers, he grabs your hand, pulling it to rest on your lower stomach. "Can you feel that, hm? You'd look so pretty with a baby in you - fuck, drove me crazy last time."

You mumble something he doesn't quite catch but from the look on your face, you were going along with everything.

"Please Seb," your lips are on his, begging him for any and everything."

"Please what, sweetheart?" His eyes find yours, "what do you want? You want me to cum in you?"

"Let me make you a daddy again, Seb."

The man groans, your legs tightening around him. "Fuck, okay," he breathes, cheat heaving when you clench around him once more, the tighten knot in your lower stomach comes undone. You find yourself calling his name; the sound and sight of you was something Sebastian never wanted to forget. He finds himself following shortly after you, dropping down on top of you.

Seb moves off of you, pulling out in the process. A soft whimper slipping past your lips at the loss of fullness. He tsks, smiling to himself. His finger drags along your pussy, he watches how you react to his touch, pushing his finger into you to fuck what's slipping back into you.

Before you realize, his hands moved from between your legs to your lips. "Open," he tells you and you do, the man putting his finger between your lips, letting you suck it clean.

He smiles, watching in approval before you let his finger go with a pop. "Good girl," he whispers, holding your jaw when he kisses you.

Seb shifts the two of you, letting you cuddle into his side. His hand rubs along your side, your leg stretched out over his lap.

"You okay?"

"Perfect," you smile, your hand on his chest.

"Well, when we do get up-" he starts but you cut him off, already knowing where he's going. "I'll help you wrap it." You tell him, making him laugh.

"You're the best mommy a girl could ask for," he says and you make a face, laughing. "Doesn't work that way babe."

"Ew, no - I didn't mean like that, you freak."

"Oh shut up," you shook your head, reaching up to kiss your husband.

--

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[multifariousqueer]

Hi! I see your looking for felix requests?

Can you do a felix who is obsessed with a reader who doesnt care for him?

Fsfs babes!!!

Warning: Felix being a stalker, Farleigh being a catty bitch, fluff, I think that's it

“Dude, stop staring," Farleigh says in a huff.

"Don't be ridiculous, Farleigh I'm not staring" Felix defended, despite his tireless efforts, his attempts at convincing others and himself that he wasn't obsessed with your being were in vain as no one believed him, not even himself.

Felix had noticed you from across the quad at Oxford on the first day of school. Your brown eyes glowed as your chest heaved with laughter at your friend's joke. He watched in envy as your full attention was placed on your friend and how he got to bask in your presence. From that moment on, Felix was obsessed with you.

It started out simple enough, Felix joined all of your classes and he would always sit a row behind you so he could watch you and what you were doing; Felix justified this as him wanting to learn more about you(and smell your hair). Whenever you would raise your hand in class, Felix would swoon over how smart you are. He took notice of how you would turn to your guy friend and high-five him whenever you got above a B on a test or quiz and Felix's brows would furrow in jealousy and envy as your guy friend absorbed your attention. Felix began to question what drew you to him so much, was it his money? Felix had plenty of money. Was it his looks? Felix considered himself more handsome than most. So what was it? He didn't know, but he was willing to learn.

Felix started to slip you anonymous gifts and letters to your dorm every week. He bought you anything and everything, from roses to tennis bracelets worth thousands. You once walked into your dorm and saw a diamond necklace and a new iPod on your bed(after ranting to your best friend about needing a new one) with a note that read:

"A very pretty necklace for a very pretty girl ;). Love, your secret admirer"

You squealed and thought that your best friend had gotten it for you. The next day in class, you thanked him profusely only for him to look confused and say:

"uhhh thanks?"

Felix's blood began to boil. He couldn't believe that this Jag was taking credit for a $5,000 necklace and a new iPod that Felix had gone out of his way to buy. It wasn't a huge expense on Felix, he bought it with some money he found in his dorm but it was the principle of the fact that irked his last nerve. From that moment on, he despised your friend and began his plan to win you over.

Felix wasn't stupid, he wanted to keep tabs on you so he had the iPod implanted with a tracker so he could have your documents on his phone. Next, he saw that you were going to the pub so he decided to make his move there and ask you out by buying you a drink. He saw your message to your friend about loving a specific scent on men and he went out and bought it the next day. Felix put on his best outfit and gathered his friends to go to the pub.

You were sitting in a black dress that was a tad bit too short and nursing a cosmopolitan. Felix saw you and his eyes immediately lit up:

"Do I hear wedding bells?" Farleigh teased, holding a cigarette and smirking

"Shut up, Farleigh" Felix said, blushing as he made his way over to you.

He walked up to the bar and asked the bartender for a cosmopolitan on him:

"I'll buy the lady's next one" he said, confidently

"Oh! Thank you but I was just about to head home" you said

"Nonsense, it's only 12 on a Friday," Felix said trying to get you to stay.

"No no, I should get home and study but it was nice speaking to you and Thank you for the drink offer" you said, attempting to excuse yourself but Felix's strong build held you in.

"Oh come now, Y/n. Have fun it's just one drink" he smiled

"How do you know my name?" you asked confused

Felix realized that he had slipped up. He was supposed to ask your name and you were supposed to introduce yourself in a story that he would tell your future children.

"Uhh we're in the same class" he stumbled

"Which class?" you asked

All of them. But Felix couldn't say that because he didn't want to scare you off so he settled with:

"Literature"

"Ohhhh. Hey don't you sit behind me? Oh! You must be Felix" you stood up, suddenly remembering where this suave stranger was from

"Yeah haha. Small world, huh?" he said, relief littering his tone.

"Yeah" you cooed.

"Well I should leave but maybe we could get drinks another time, here's my number," you said giving Felix the number to your new ipod.

"Yeah of course, darling" Felix smirked

"Darling?" you asked, tilting your head a bit smiling

"Yes?" Felix let out a cheeky smile.

[viktoriaashleyyx]

Why do some of us not *hate* Tamlin?

I am pro-tamlin, not pro feylin. I would prefer Tamlin to never have to deal with the NC ever again. If SJM never types his name out again I will be happy.

Tw: light mentions to DV, SA, and Divorce.

Feyre is written in a way that makes it feel like she is intentionally manipulating us against Tamlin to justify her leaving him the way she did, and to put Rhysand up on a pedestal.

The abrupt and sloppy way SJM handled Tamlins' character assassination induced my fight or flight. Let me explain:

My parents divorced when I was 4, and I had to learn, quickly, how to interpret people's true intentions and empathize with where they are coming from vs just blindly listening to someones account of what happened. My father got custody of us and would use the same elements against my mom that Feyre uses against Tamlin. I HAVE to read between the lines or I would fall to the intentional manipulation.

"She left me so she probably cheated" "he trapped me in the house" "she has a new boyfriend so she doesn't care about you anymore" "he hit me [when I was actively TRYING to get him to hit me to sway public opinion of him]"

Everytime Feyre left for the NC, she did so kicking and screaming. Every indication Tamlin could see was that she did NOT want to go with Rhys, until he gets a letter from her saying to not come looking for her that she doesn't want to be with him. Tamlin didn't know she could read or write. Had that been my love I would assume it was a ransom note too, written by someone else. Had she actually spent 1 hr winnowing to Tamlin, tell him face to face, then winnow back (with an escort) he MIGHT have gotten the hint.

A tithe was a weird thing to use to show how cruel Tamlin is, considering how 2/3 of the night court live in constant fear, children's bones are broken for misbehaving, the CoN are trapped there. SJM really showed us that she has no political knowledge what so ever. I barely started ACOFAS and when Feyres talking about the unnatural sum of her money, my first thought is "You don't amass that level of wealth without oppressing someone." Lucien said that Tamlin would be expected to hunt down those not able to pay the tithe, but when we get to Tamlins actual actions he just said "get it together in 3 days or pay double next time". In my initial reading, I interpreted it as another mask (like how Rhysand acts). Tamlin does this due to tradition, he is expected to act a certain way, but *I felt* he had no intention of acting out what he said. It was just a line he was expected to say to send the wraith away without others expecting the same.

Feyre and Tamlin were not right for eachother because they were not eachothers mates. People can exist fine separately, and be incredibly toxic together. From page 1 we see Feyres inherent inability to empathize with anyone, she has it bad, she has to hunt, therefore her sisters don't do anything. But she also can't cook, so who was preparing the meat she brought home? It gave me "housework isn't real work" vibes. Feyre also doesn't communicate very well, which would explain why a literal mind reader was able to help her better than Tamlin was. I saw Tamlin trying but not being able to help her because he couldn't read her mind.

Feyre didn't want to be trapped in a manor for a few hours while she was displaying manic behavior, but she condoned her sisters be trapped in the HOW for 6 weeks immediately after losing their lives. She condones the treatment of the people in Hewn city and supports the literal Jim Crow laws placed against them in Velaris when all they wanted was to leave. She condones and supports trapping Nesta in HoW after the war just to force Cassain on her so Feyre can play matchmaker.

Feyre is an inherently self centered sociopath. She can read minds and still can't develop a shred of empathy.

Just leave Tamlin alone. Damn.

[stormz369]

☕💖 Can I Get Your Number? ☕💖 Ch 6

Jason Todd x (f)Chubby!Reader

written with a female reader in mind, first person pov, no use of Y/N, will probably get NSFW later, let me know if there's anything else I should tag this with!

warnings: tense conversation ahead, reader character has more loyalty than sense

word count: 1.8k

Chapter Selection

“Umm, why is Bruce Wayne requesting a table in your section?”

My head snapped up from the silverware I was rolling to meet Edna's eyes. “... Me?”

“Yeah, you! What's going on?” She leaned in conspiratorially; “you're not in any kind of trouble, are you?”

I laughed a bit awkwardly. “Not that I know of.”

“Hm… well, he's at table 6, so …” she waved me off.

I grabbed a pen and rushed over. Bruce Wayne was an imposing man up close. He looked a lot like Jason actually, and I had to remind myself that Jay was adopted. He followed me with his eyes as I approached; an intimidating, emotionless stare.

Before I could open my mouth, he spoke my name. Not a question, a matter of fact, as if we'd met before. “... Um … yes, sir. That’s me. … Can I get you started with anything?”

“Just a coffee please. And when you have a minute, get one for yourself and join me.”

I nodded slowly and went to tell the shift manager that I needed a quick break. The diner was practically empty at this time of night, so he gave me minimal shit for it, and I took the coffees back to the table. Mr. Wayne gestured for me to take a seat across from him.

 “… I'm sorry we're meeting this way, but it became … necessary.”

“... Necessary, sir?”

“Please, call me Bruce. … Um, yes; it seems my children have been a bit … overzealous in protecting their brother, and you are owed an apology.”

I blinked repeatedly. “... S- sorry?”

He sighed softly. “I believe you met Dick and Tim?” I nodded. “Dick informed me that you've been dating Jason, and … last night I discovered that Tim has taken it upon himself to run a background check on you.”

I blinked slowly. “Oh … Well, I guess that makes sense. Your family is well known, it's logical to want to know exactly who's getting close to you.”

Bruce stared at me, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly as I awkwardly sipped my coffee. “... You aren't upset?”

“I mean, it's definitely weird to hear, but I can't say I'm surprised. When I realized who I was talking to it did seem probable that something like this would eventually happen. … Anything interesting in the report?”

“... All pretty standard stuff. … It said you dropped out of college, may I ask why?”

I shrugged. “Life got in the way, and I didn't know for sure what I wanted to study. Couldn't justify the expense anymore if I didn't have a clear trajectory.”

“The Wayne Foundation has a higher education fund, I'm sure you would qualify for a scholarship.”

“That's kind of you, but once again - unsure what path to pursue. That money would be better spent on people who do know what they want from school.”

He observed me for a moment. “... Interesting. … Well, nevertheless; on behalf of my boys, I'd like to offer you our sincerest apologies. They know they've crossed the line, and have been reprimanded accordingly.”

“I … thank you, I guess? But I don't think I'm the one who needs the apology.”

“No? Your privacy was invaded.”

I shrugged. “They haven't bothered me since introducing me to Jay, which I already forgave them for because … well, it gave me Jay. But from what I've heard they've been doing more than the usual amount of protective-sibling stuff towards him, and he's getting frustrated about it. Seems like he's the one who'd want to know they're going to stop.”

Bruce nodded once, seeming to be deep in thought. “... Jason-”

“Wants to know what exactly you're doing here, Bruce.” I nearly jumped out of my skin. I hadn’t seen or heard him approach, but Jason was suddenly looming over the table, glowering at the man across from me.

“Jesus! … Jason, what the hell?” I cautiously reached for his hand, hoping to calm him down a bit.

His demeanor shifted entirely when he turned to face me. The sharp anger in his face slipped away as our eyes met, and the faintest hint of a smile slid across his lips. He gently stroked my knuckles with his thumb, turning fully toward me.

“Hey Doll~”Jason leaned over me, gently cupping my cheek with the tips of his fingers. “How’s my favorite girl?”

I blushed bright red, unable to stop the grin that spread across my face. No one had ever been so openly affectionate with me in public before, and while we had made some progress in the casual touching department, this was the first time he'd touched my face. I could feel Bruce's eyes on us, but mine were transfixed by the look on Jason's face. There was something in his eyes I'd never seen before; he looked focused and determined, but for the life of me I couldn't guess what he was determined about.

“I … I'm good. … What are you doing here?”

“Just taking out some trash, darling.” He smirked a bit.

“Jason, really, I wish you would calm down.” Bruce's sharp stare was trained firmly on the back of Jason's head. “Dick said you've been dating this nice girl for months, so I wanted to meet her. If you aren't going to tell me these things yourself, and you clearly aren't going to bring her by the manor, you can't be surprised when I eventually take matters into my own hands.”

“Don’t you know better than to harass pretty girls at work, Bruce? Someone should have taught you better.” 

The atmosphere had been tense in the first place, but now it was frigid. I gently squeezed Jason's hand, frowning. “Honey, that was uncalled for. He's not harassing me, he just came to apologize for your brothers.”

Jason growled a bit; “They have mouths, they can apologize for themselves.”

I sighed softly, gently cupping his hand on my cheek. “Jay, … why don't you take a seat at that table,” I pointed to one a little bit away; “and when my shift is over we'll go home.”

He frowned; “no, I'm staying right here.”

“Jason, you're going to get me fired if you keep bothering the customers, which is exactly what Bruce is right now.”

“You don't need this job, I'll-”

“I'm gonna stop you right there. This is not 50 Shades of Gotham, you are not my sugar daddy, and we are not married. You are not going to be paying my rent any time soon. If you want to watch over me you can take a seat. Otherwise I can give you my keys and you can wait for me at my place, or you can find somewhere else to be for now and I'll call you when I get off.”

A look of annoyance flashed across his face, and for a moment the green flecks in his eyes seemed more prominent than usual. “... If he says or does anything you don't like…”

“You'll be my knight in shining … denim. I know~” I turned my head a bit to kiss his palm. “Go on, now~ I'll come over as soon as I can.”

Slowly, he stepped back, letting his hand drop to his side. Glaring at Bruce the whole way, he took a seat at a nearby table, and Edna went over to take his order. Bruce looked me over, a curious expression on his face.

“... That was … interesting.” He mused, sipping his coffee.

“I’m sure he didn't mean what he said. He gets a bit defensive when Dick and Tim bother him about us too, but once he's had a minute to process he always realizes they're just trying to be brotherly … in a weird, slightly overbearing way.”

“Oh, that was all par for the course. No, what's interesting is how readily he backed down. It usually takes him hours to calm down enough to be rational when he's upset with one of us. …”

I clenched my jaw. Jason hadn't told me much about his family, but I knew they had a tense relationship, and I felt like I was starting to see why. “... It probably helps that I'm not treating him like he's being irrational. I don't know the full story, but I do know that something in his life taught him that you showing up here is a threat of some kind. A threat he felt he had to come here to protect me from. And while I'm sure that’s not what you mean by it, I also know that telling him he's wrong won't solve anything. He doesn't trust based on words, he trusts based on actions. I don't know what actions of yours have taught him this about you, but here we are. So if playing the protective boyfriend role helps him to feel safe, I'm not going to belittle him for that. And if you are, then I don't think we have anything else to say to each other… Sir.”

Bruce watched me through my whole rant, a detached look on his face almost like he was gathering evidence. It would be unsettling if I wasn't already seething inside. After a moment he smiled softly, finishing his coffee.

“... I'm glad he found you.”

“... You're … glad?” I blinked slowly. After all I just said, I hadn't expected to hear that…

“Yes. I think you'll be good for him… I do hope you'll consider coming to the manor for dinner one of these days; I know the boys met you briefly, but the others are curious as well. Particularly since Damian spoke so highly of you.”

“... He did?”

Bruce nodded. “... In his way. He said you strike a fair bargain.”

“I see … Well, meeting everyone will depend mostly on Jason. I'm not opposed, but I'm also not going to push him. You shouldn't either.”

“... Damian was right.” Bruce smiled a little, sliding a business card across the table to me. “Please do call if I can do anything for you, or for Jason. He … he doesn't reach out to us very often, even when he probably should. … I worry.”

I took the card, nodding slowly. This was definitely the weirdest interaction I'd ever had in my entire life. “... Alright. I'll do that.”

Bruce dropped far more money on the table than was necessary for two coffees -for a moment I wondered if he even knew how much two coffees cost- and made his way to the door. In the next instant, Jason was crouching next to the table beside me.

“Babe?” He frowned, looking at the card in my hand. “… He gave you his personal line. … What did he say?”

“... Apparently Damian likes me?”

He chuckled a bit breathlessly. “... Of course the demon child likes you… what else?”

I stood, pocketing the card. “... My shift is over in an hour. Do you want to wait for me? We'll talk after.”

He groaned softly; “you’re really gonna make me wait?”

“We'll get those doughnuts you like on the way home.” I gently squeezed his hand. He sighed softly, but smiled, lifting my hand to his lips.

“You’re torturing me, Doll…”

Next ->

Divider by: @saradika 

Taglist (open):

@jawdropforkpop @krys0210 @snowy-violet @superthoughts @wordsfromshona @mystic60 @iwannabealocalcryptid @morstuavitamea-a

(if you are in the taglist and are not getting notifications, please let me know - some of the tags keep looking different from the others and I'm not sure if it's affecting anything ... 🤔)

[meanbossart]

ASK COMPILATION: LORE, CHARACTERIZATION, AND THE ONE IN WHICH I RUIN A BUNCH OF PEOPLE'S FUN

As usual, this is far from all of the asks in my inbox but I'm trying to catch up 😩thank you everyone for your patience!

For the record, if your ask isn't being answered, that most likely means one of three things:

I am saving it as a possible art prompt.

I sincerely don't have a very interesting or good reply for it yet!

It's a question I have been asked multiple times/the answer is in my pinned post.

Glad you like them!!

As much as I don't limit what I draw to canonical events, vampirism is so antithetical to DU drow's character journey that I couldn't really envision it, to be honest, but who knows! Maybe I'll cook up some Ascended Astarion scenario someday that is kind of a role-reversal of the Bhaalist DU Drow AU I have going on in tandem to the story.

I'll be honest, this is one of the rare times where I'm really not sure which aspect of DU drow's weirdness this is in reference to. Do you know something I don't? 😅

His masochism is very... Classic, I guess? He's in it for the pain and for the emotional connection, and the process of being pierced wouldn't cut it whatsoever, it's too subtle. The body modifications he has are an incidental result of it, but they were never really the goal.

Also having stuff dangling off his face or body would just irritate him, he specifically only does rings because all other types of jewellery get in the way too much. Pre-tadpole Bhaalist drow obviously wore them by the ton, but only as a symbol of status and because he had a permanent new-money complex🤷 so yeah not a piercing-type of character at all, sorry!

He's smooth from the eyelashes-down and profoundly weirded out by body hair LOL

I don't personally think that whatever Astarion had for a home before would bear my resemblance to it after 200 years - having probably gone through several owners, remodeled, if not completely lost to the destruction of the end-game. I do HC that he used to visit it whenever he could as an enthralled spawn to read his mail, but he stopped after his father passed.

THANK YOU, I THINK? I can't say that isn't a passionate description at least!

I'm honestly surprised that this comes up as often as it does LOL but it's just an stylistic choice on my end!

The latter - for sure. He figured that them dying at each other's hands at the end was a given and took that assumption entirely for granted (and I'm sure daydreamed about it often while Gortash went on and on about political strategy during their dinner meetings.)

;))) way ahead of you and by "way ahead" I mean "eventually and whenever I can figure out when to do it alongside the other 30 ideas I am currently juggling" (but I really do want to make a little comic out of it!)

He used them! Not immediately, but he grew to trust the guardian after some initial suspicion and happily gobbled up those squirmy little things alongside Astarion. Because I made his character on a whim and without any planned backstory, I didn't really put any thought into his Guardian's appearance either, so she's just a human woman with a Joan of Arc look going on who's of no significance to him or his past.

But DU drow did trust her, again not immediately but eventually. It was honestly a big kick in the gut to him when the Emperor revealed himself and it definitely set their relationship up to fail from the get-go.

This is also why he didn't ascend to the next stage of Ilithid power, he just stomped the thing dead right on the spot LOL

LMAO I think Gortash is too proud to chase a tail he can't catch like that

He was probably very overwhelmed by the sudden realization that OH, THIS IS ALL HAPPENING BECAUSE OF ME which naturally didn't come across whatsoever to anyone present since he immediately bottled it up and tucked it away out of sight. However, as the story progressed and DU drow helped his friends get out of their respective pickles he was probably able to justify it to himself as it having been for the greater good - since it led to Astarion being freed from his master and Shadowheart to defying the Sharrans.

As for all of the rest of the ensued destruction and death that resulted from it? Well you can't make an omelette without cracking some eggs, or whatever is the wizard version of that saying. He has essentially turned the entire situation into a net-positive in his mind and sleeps great at night because of it.

[cuteselle]

𖹭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲.

𝓢 — enha hyung line surprising you

hyung line 𖹭 fem reader , fluff , crying in heeseungs , riki in sunghoons , not proofread — 1.04k words

LEE HEESEUNG 𖹭 you had been eyeing the beautiful, limited edition vinyl record of your favorite artist for months, but you couldn't justify spending the money on it. your boyfriend, heeseung knew how much it meant to you, and he had been planning a surprise for a while.

you had just came home from work, slipping off your shoes and putting them to the side before dropping your keys on the counter. footsteps approaching as you made eye contact with heeseung. "hi my love, how was work?" he wasted no time to pull you into his arms, causing you to almost fall. "mm, it was good. went by smoothly so i didn't have to worry about anything." you looked up at him, tilting your head as he had this mischievous smile on his face.

"what'd you do.." you assumed something happened, heeseung, seemed to be offended by that. raising his hands with furrowed brows "woah hey! i didn't do anything, bad. at least, stay here okay?" he kissed your forehead, and you nodded. standing still.

heeseung eventually came back with a box perfectly wrapped in a silk pink bow. you at first, were a little worried. though you unwrapped it, your heart racing with anticipation. opening the box, you couldn't believe your eyes – it was the vinyl record you had been dreaming of.

tears of joy and gratitude filled your eyes as you looked up at heeseung. "how did you know?" you asked, your voice trembling with emotion. heeseung just smiled and wiped a tear from your cheek, whispering, "i pay attention to the things that make you happy. i wanted to show you how much i love you, and how much your happiness means to me."

SIM JAEYUN 𖹭 jake had been planning a special surprise for your one-year anniversary. he knew how much you loved the idea of a romantic getaway, but you never had the chance to go on one due to your busy schedules.

on the day of your anniversary, jake handed you a small envelope with a mysterious smile. inside, you found two plane tickets to the beautiful beach destination you had always dreamed of visiting. "i know how much you've wanted to go there, and you've been talking my ear off about it." he nervously stuffed his hands in his pockets, slightly smiling.

"i asked your manager to let you get the week off. so you're all mine, love." he wrapped his arms around your waist, his thumbs rubbing your hips in circles. your heart swelled with gratitude and love as you hugged jake tightly. "i can't believe you did this," you whispered, looking back to the tickets.

"i wanted to make this anniversary unforgettable for you. i love you, and i want to create beautiful memories together that we can cherish forever."

PARK JONGSEONG 𖹭 you and your boyfriend jay had been talking about getting a pet for a while. you both loved animals and wanted to have a furry friend to share your life with. one saturday morning, jay asked you to get ready for a surprise outing, his eyes twinkling with excitement.

jay drove you to the local animal shelter, and as soon as you walked in, you knew what his surprise was. he had arranged for the two of you to adopt a puppy. "you're lying, right?" you questioned, all he did was shake his head as a response. a smile curling on your lips as you ran over to the dog section. your heart melted as you looked at the adorable puppies, and together, you saw a fluffy little shiba inu.

"isn't that one so cute?! can we get it, please?" you crouched down, looking at the baby through the glass pane that sadly seperated you two. "that is why we're here, c'mon, i'll go ask." he quickly made his way to speak to a worker, who gladly brought out the puppy who seemed to be more energetic now that he was free.

you sat on the floor playing and petting the dog as jay finalized the papers and payments, "baby, he's all yours now. you ready to go?" your eyes lit up, and jay swore he fell in love all over again. you picked up the puppy, ignoring everything around you as your only focus was the new furry friend.

PARK SUNGHOON 𖹭 you and your boyfriend step out of your apartment, well- more like sunghoon begged you to come outside. as you close the door, you make eye contact with ni-ki who appears from around the corner with a mischievous grin on his face. "hey, you two! check out what i've been working on," he says, gesturing towards a car parked nearby.

your eyes are immediately drawn to a beautiful pink car, its vibrant color shining under the sunlight. as you approach the car, you notice that it has a custom wrap, which ni-ki proudly points out that he made himself. "i helped sunghoon pick out the perfect gift for you, and i just had to add make sure it was special to you." he explains, clearly pleased with his handiwork.

sunghoon wraps his arm around your shoulder, the car keys dangling from his finger. "it's all yours, love. i wanted to surprise you with something special, and ni-ki's amazing wrapping skills made it even more perfect." you looked at the car, even seeing your name on the side.

"okay if this is a prank you have ten seconds to fess up." you turned to both of him, ni-ki looking so disappointed. "you really think i'd spend a year custom wrapping a car for you and making sure it was all pink?" he crossed his arms with a pout, "jeez yn, way to go.."

you could only laugh, bringing in the both of them for a hug. "okay, i love it! you both are the best." you gave them both a kiss on the cheek which ni-ki wiped off in disgust. "eww, i don't know what you do behind the scenes."

© copyrighted by cuteselle, do not repost, ask to translate. reposts and comments appreciated !

[levis-poison-is-my-medicine]

Shattered

(The Tea Lovers Pt. 3)

A Levi x reader fanfic (Flufftober 2024)

Crossposted from AO3

You being a clutz and scaring the shit out of Levi.

tags: fluff and humor, silly and sweet, tea-obsessed fem!reader with their head in the clouds (word count: 1.1k)

(Part one) / (Part two) / (Levi x reader Masterlist)

"Follow me", Levi demanded. He had suddenly appeared in front of you.

"That depends", you said. "Will there be tea?"

"Of course", he scoffed. "What do you take me for?"

Next thing you knew, you were in his office, sitting across from him at his desk which was laden with cups of steaming tea and tiny plates filled with biscuits.

"Wow, you went all out. What's the occasion?", you asked excitedly and snatched one of the biscuits off the plate closest to him.

"I need to talk to you."

"Then shoot", you said, warming your hands on the cup in front of you. It smelled heavenly.

"First of all, I need to apologize to you."

You looked up in astonishment. Levi, apologizing? This was unheard of.

"I gave it some thought, and I realized I was wrong. If it's about tea, the end justifies the means. So I shouldn't have made such a fuss about the drawings."

"Soo you're saying it's okay for me to keep on selling them as long as it's about raising money for tea-related stuff? Do you really mean that?", you asked warily, searching his face for any signs of sarcasm, but finding none.

"Yes", he said, nodding solemnly.

"Yay! I knew a reasonable man such as yourself would come to your senses eventually!", you exclaimed happily. "This is going to make everything so much easier."

You took a sip of your tea, and your eyes widened. It was the best thing you ever tasted.

"This is absolutely delicious! Divine! Out of this world! Where did you get this?"

"South Maria."

A strange feeling crept up inside of you at his words, but you couldn't quite place it.

"Right, they do grow the best tea in the world." It made sense. Didn't it?

"Take me with you next time? Please?", you asked him, putting on your best pleading eyes and pouty lips. Levi didn't answer, his eyes on the desk in front of him.

"There is something I need to tell you."

A faint ringing pierced through the silence.

"You hear that?", you asked.

"Hear what, exactly?", he said, eyes narrowed.

The sound grew steadily louder, filling you with dread.

"Oh no", you whispered in terror as you recognized it. "Don't do this to me. Just a little bit longer, please…"

But the noise knew no mercy, ripping you from your dream with cruel inevitability. You groaned. It had been too good to be true, after all.

"Ugh. Shut up", you mumbled and dangled out a sleepy hand from the edge of the bed.

Patting down the surface of your nightstand to try and turn off the alarm, you knocked several things to the floor, until there was a sudden crashing noise. You instantly jolted awake, knowing exactly what had happened.

"Noo", you howled as you stared at the remains of your once fancy teapot in horror.

"What have I done?", you sobbed as you crouched down next to your bed, cradling the pieces in your arms and of course cutting yourself in the process.

"I should've never put you there. I'm so sorry…"

You stumbled out of your room like this, still in your jammies.

"I will get you the help you need. He'll know what to do", you whispered to the shards as you made your way through the halls and up the stairs, paying no heed to any startled scouts you passed.

His office door came into view, but you didn't stop, kicking it open without hesitation.

"I told you a thousand times to knock before y–" His angry words died in this throat when he saw you standing before him, crying, your shirt and hands all covered in blood.

"Help me", you said in a forlorn voice.

Levi was by your side in an instant.

"What happened? Who did this to you?", he demanded, trying to get a better look at your wounds.

"Careful, you're hurting it", you said in a warning tone, pulling your hands away.

"It?", he asked, confused.

"My teapot. One of my favorites", you said. They were all your favorites. It didn’t matter now. "I accidentally broke it. You have to help me." You looked at him with big, pitiful eyes.

"You’ve got to be fucking kidding me", Levi said through his teeth, knowing full well that you were dead serious.

"Put it down on the table over there. I’ll take a look at it later."

"But–", you tried to protest.

"No buts. You’re bleeding, do you even know that?"

You looked down at your hands.

"Oh", you said. Of course you hadn't realized.

"Tch. You are such an airhead", Levi said, but there was no edge to it. He watched as you carefully placed the shards on the table.

"Come here", he said, dressing materials already in hand.

You padded over to him with small, rueful steps.

"Sit down." He gestured to the chair by his desk. "Give me your hands."

You obediently stretched them out towards him. He disinfected them, making you wince in pain.

"Should have been more careful. Idiot", he murmured, his voice soft.

"I know", you said miserably and looked up at him with eyes still puffy from the tears, your hair a sleepy mess on your head.

"Do you think it will be alright?"

He sighed in exasperation.

"I'll see what I can do. It won't be the same again, though."

"I know", you said, sniffling, as Levi began to wrap bandages around the cuts on your hands and arms. "Thank you."

His hands were warm on your skin, practiced fingers holding your hand softly in place, adjusting it this way or that way to get the perfect angle for the dressing. The light touch made you shiver, a pleasantly tingling sensation which ran from your head down your spine all the way to your toes. You relaxed into it, fighting to keep your eyes open as you felt yourself getting sleepy again.

When his hands were suddenly gone, you almost whined in protest.

"There, all done", he said. "Now get out. I have work to do."

You squinted up at him as he leaned against his desk with his arms crossed, an unreadable expression on his face, his fingers tapping his arm in an irritated manner.

"Fine", you grumbled, reluctantly getting up from your comfortable seat. As you plodded to the door, you couldn't help but let out a big yawn. "Definitely a two pot type of morning…", you mumbled, then you were gone.

Levi sighed, already knowing his day would be wasted. He would be sitting here all day, cursing to himself, gluing the damn thing back together. All to see you smile again.

Soo this was the third part of The Tea Lovers Series! It was a bit on the shorter side but I hope you enjoyed it :) More will be coming soon!

Click here for Part 4

Tag list: @thechaoticarchivist, @mmm-alhaitham, @nironasaran, @leviiheichou

[doroooooooo]

The way characters behave at the Kakuzu and Hidan arc (idk if that's the proper way to say it) just shows how many of them is a hypocrite. If they catched a random ninja instead of Shikamaru going like "I want to take revenge, to bury alive an immortal, and kill a guy who never had a minute of comfort in his 91 years if living" THE WAY they would stop them.

But we'll, since it was their precious friend, of course it's justified!

Kakuzu was betrayed horribly by his own village. He didn't have his kinjutsu when he was sent to fight Hashirama. He didn't care about money yet - meaning he accepted the mission out of loyalty, just to be punished for failing to do what motherfucking Madara Uchiha and the rest of the shinobi world also couldn't.

And Hidan is literally a confused kid. He has no concept of how normal people function. He grew up seeing "neighbor kill neighbor", so he thought that was normal. He says peaceful shinobis don't exist, because they would chose fight over death. HE IS LITERALLY A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A NEURODIVERGENT PERSON GETTING EASILY BRAINWASHED BY A CULT.

They are BOTH easily redeemable characters, compared to Gaara, or freaking Orochimaru. Mind you, Orochimaru never regretted what he did, never even stopped, he just found a new thing to work on.

Also Asuma's death was NOT personal. Hidan had no reason to attack before they did, and Kakuzu wasn't even there when it started. Asuma died because he started a fight he couldn't win.

So yes, Naruto could have easily talk no jutsu-d his way out of this one.

And don't even get me started on Kakashi's little speech when Kakuzu died. Darling. It's NOT your space to give a speech, when the only thing that saved you was someone literally backstabbing your enemy. We all know how that fight would've ended if Naruto didn't show up.

My freaking overthinking roman empire is the way Hidan still cared about Kakuzu, despite them not getting along. Bless his soul that yelling when Kakuzu got hit. Also the way Hidan behaves at the beginning of the fight.

So yeah, little rant. In a way I find it awesome writing tho. Showing even generally good hearted characters to be a hypocrite when the victim was someone they knew, and turn completely OOC.

Or at least I would, but there we got Obito who Naruto had no problem with.

[beansmack2021]

She's Yours Now

Teen!Reader x Platonic!Hazbin Hotel Characaters

Summary: Someone decides who gets to go to Heaven and who is sent to Hell. But, who would send a sixteen year old to Hell? Especially one who seems so... quiet.

TW: Mentions of abuse, mentions of death in childbirth, justified murder, blood, violence

“You little bitch! You ruined my fucking life, and now you want my money? My food? Get a fucking job, you ungrateful piece of shit, and buy it yourself!”

“Please, I'm hungry. I just wanted a sandwich. I won't even use the mayonnaise.” Y/N begged and pleaded, but she knew she wouldn't get anywhere with her father.

He was drunk more often than not, and he was totally unreasonable when he'd gotten a few beers in his system.

Y/N decided she'd just go to the kitchen later, when he was asleep, and sneak a sandwich or some crackers. She'd also toss his cigarettes in the toilet bowl. He'd probably know it was her, but it'd be funny to watch him fish around in the toilet water for the pack. It'd be worth the yelling.

She'd started to smirk a bit, still enjoying the idea of making him look like an idiot, when she was suddenly struck with intense, sharp pain. She raised her hand to her temple, gasping as she took in the crimson that stained her fingers. Her ear was ringing, and she saw the amber colored glass that littered the carpet.

He'd hit her before, sure, but he'd never smashed a bottle over her head before. She didn't have much time to try and make an escape to her room before he grabbed her by the collar and yanked her up. He wasn't much taller than her, so her feet barely left the floor, but that didn't stop her panicked frenzy.

She punched him, clawed at his arms, and tried to bite him. He spit in her face and dropped her on the floor like a sack of potatoes. She gasped as she landed. She'd tried to catch herself and instead felt a bone in her wrist crack. The broken glass in the carpet dug into her palms and legs. Blood started to seep through her jeans and into the rug. She knew better than to scream. It'd only get her into worse trouble.

Her father reached across the table, grabbed another empty bottle from the table, and launched it at Y/N. She closed her eyes, trying to use her arms to shield herself. The glass smashed painfully against her bare skin. She cried out and immediately regretted it. Her cries prompted him to start getting more physical. He pulled her hair so that she was forced to look up at him as he kicked her ribs. Bam, bam, bam! The room was spinning. She heard one sickening crack and then another. She didn't know what to do. She was scared. Every part of her wanted to scream. She was sure her neighbors would hear her. She couldn't force it out of her throat, though. He knelt down next to her, yanking her chin up toward him, and grumbled in her face. “What did we learn?” He growled. He'd say that any time he thought she'd learned a “valuable lesson”. She felt around the carpet, wincing whenever another microshard of glass dug its way into her palm. She finally felt the neck of the bottle and grabbed it. “That you're a fucking asshole.” She stabbed him in his thick neck, and he clutched his throat as he bled out. He fell over, nearly collapsing on top of her, and gasped his final breath a few minutes later. Y/N was dying. She could feel it. She'd call for someone, but there'd be no point. She'd lost a lot of blood from the gash across her head, and her broken ribs had probably punctured her lungs. At least she'd gone out with a fight. She prayed that she wouldn't end up in the same place that he did. She closed her eyes, whispered an apology to her mother, who'd died giving birth to her, and asked whoever would listen that she'd see her mom on the other side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was really, really quiet. Normally, this would be absolutely wonderful. Normal doesn't exist in Hell. Quiet meant something was going to happen. Charlie didn't like to admit it, but sometimes, even she knew it wasn't going to be a “happy day in Hell”. She tried to relax as Vaggie massaged her scalp, but as soon as she'd finally calmed down enough to actually enjoy her girlfriend's hands in her hair, her phone started ringing. She picked it up, took a glance at the caller ID, and smiled to herself. She and her father had finally started to reconnect, so check-ins over the phone had become more and more frequent. Maybe that's what she'd been in anticipation of. She'd finally be able to relax. She heaved a sigh of relief and answered Lucifer's call. “Hey, Da-” “Charlie. We've got an emergency.” He cut her off, and she was instantly thrown off by how serious he sounded. “What's wrong? Is it Heaven? Did they make the extermination date even sooner?” Charlie started to panic, her blood running cold at the idea that she had even less time than she believed to rally the troops to defend her kingdom.

“No, Char. It's nothing like that. It's serious, though. There's a new arrival.” She was confused, now. New people arrive in Hell every day. If her father felt he needed to call her and let her know personally, there was a chance that the sinner could pose a serious threat. “She's young, Charlie. Really young. She…” He faltered. He sounded emotional. “She needs you. She needs the hotel. She doesn't belong here. Please, take care of her.”

Charlie was quiet. Her father wanted her to take in a sinner, but it sounded like he didn't feel she was a sinner at all. He was concerned, that much she could tell. She just didn't know what the girl could've done to end up in Hell of all places if she was so young and innocent. She decided, with finality, that everyone needed a safe space. “Alright, Dad. Where can we find her?”

[wonnieluvr]

bells

pairing -> xander hawthorne x fem!reader

summary -> you buy xander a charm bracelet for your anniversary. now you can’t help the smile on your face when you hear those bells.

warnings -> you may die of cuteness, a little bit of financial um brokeness? mentioned 😭

a/n -> my first xander fic omg i love him so so so much :((( this sort of went off the rails but i think its still cute! (i'm nervous writing xander idk if i got his character right ahhhh)

in your defence, you hadn't realised when you'd bought the bracelet just how loud it was.

xander was a hard person to buy presents for. not because you didn't know him, you knew everything there was to know about him, he was your boyfriend after all, there was no one else you wanted to remember the little details about. it was more so that, well.. he was rich.

he had all that he could possibly ask for- material wise anyways- and it never took long for him to get his hands on anything. admittedly, you knew that it didn't always come from money (something you had heard about stolen car pieces) but it sure helped if anyone ever came looking for their belongings. you hadn't approved of that method but what could you do now? the current problem was something a little different..

you had taken avery shopping, in desperate need of the perfect present for your boyfriend. it was your 1 year anniversary and you had been stressing yourself out. it had to be the best present ever.

but when you had seen the bracelet.. oh god, he had to have it. you had your heart set on it, it was absolutely perfect for him. avery had tried to dissuade you when you had seen the price tag (you hadn't let her even offer to pay despite her recently acquired riches), suggesting you could find something else just as good for xander. but you couldn't tear your eyes away from bracelet. what absolutely sold you, however, was the accompanying charms, ready to be added year after year. your eyes were glued to the one of little robot and one of a heart, already imagining it on his wrist.

"i have to get it, ave" she had frowned, concerned, as you stayed pressed to the glass, staring longingly at the present. you were trying to convince yourself more than her, she knew that, you were fighting against yourself (and your bank account probably), trying to justify the purchase.

"its perfect" avery didn't know about that but she took your word for it, internally debating for herself if it was the best option.

"just get it, y/n/n" she finally sighed, shaking her head as your eyes lit up. "if you think it's worth it, get it"

and so you had, robot charms and all. and how glad you were you did.

he had even teared up when you beamed at him, so wide and looking as happy as you had ever felt. you were so sweet to him, he had sniffled, flushing and looking away as he asked you to put it on for him. he was never one to lose his confidence but you made the words escape him, he couldn't think straight when you stared at him like that, like he was your whole world.

not only had xander loved it- as you knew he would- he wore it everywhere. he never took it off, not that you knew of.

not even when the teasing started.

the teasing, you grinned at the thought. jameson had been the first to notice. every single time your boyfriend entered the room, jameson had smirked, chuckling and loudly exclaiming "y/n! your cat's here!"

you hadn't understood at first, sharing a confused look with xander as his tall form flopped beside you on the couch. it had taken you precisely two more comments to realise. he was ringing. you could hear him from rooms away, his entrance announced before he even made it into sight.

xander was an expressive person, he often used his hand when he talked, something you loved as he was so passionate and happy to share things with you. you had loved his rants before but you loved them even more now.

grayson had been the one to raise an eyebrow this time. you had been coming down to eat dinner when he had asked where xander was. before you could answer, you heard it. the ringing. it was high pitched and cute, sounding exactly like the bells on a cat's collar, alerting you of their presence immediately. seconds later, xander had bounded around the corner, a smile on his face. grayson had offered you an amused look as you both turned to each other, wide eyed.

"what was that?" xander frowned, a cheeky pout that never stuck long around you. "oh! are you conspiring against me? how dare you?!" he finished his dramatic cry with a poke to your ribs, beginning to tickle you. you laughed loudly, surprised and quickly pulling your arms down to cover your stomach from his onslaught.

"stop!" you cried out, grinning. "xander" you whined, stepping away from him and quickly moving to take a seat. he merely smiled after you, following diligently. your attention was caught again by the ringing on his wrist as he pulled out the chair beside you.

you tried to bite down the amused smile on your lips, not wanting him to notice in case he hated it (not that he ever would). xander had eyed you a moment longer, pondering and his gaze intense as he tried to work you out. he had given up when everyone begun eating, quickly becoming more interested in the food in front of him that whatever mischief you may have been up to.

there was always time to interrogate you later. and he had, just not until your own comments started.

you had been waiting for him to realise, it never usually took him long to work out what you were talking about. like jameson had, you begun to call out to him when he rounded the corner. he could no longer surprise you in hallways and scare you around corners, you could hear him coming.

for a few days he had only pouted and claimed you had some sort of sudden superpowered sense. you had laughed, in disbelief that he still hadn't realised. had he really not heard how loud the charms on his wrist were? you found it hard to believe with all of his genius that he couldn't work it out.

"here, kitty kitty" you called, wandering the hallways in search of your boyfriend. he had raised an eyebrow at the nickname at first but quickly got used to it.

he tended to disappear sometimes in the vast house. finding him was all part of the fun. when you did find him, it was in his room. you felt a little silly for not thinking of there first but it wasn't often he was in here when he could be anywhere else.

he froze as you opened the door, already suspicious.

"xander?" you cautiously eyed him, stepping into the room. you both watched each other for a moment, in a stalemate before your eyes drifted to his hands. he was in the middle of hiding a box, looking much like the one you had gifted him a few weeks ago. "what are you doing? is that-?"

he straightened up immediately, slightly embarrassed at being caught, he was usually good at distractions but there was not much he could do now that he had been caught. he held the box behind his back, mouth opening to come up with something to draw away your attention but you knew him.

"don't you dare distract me right now" you held up a finger in warning, eyes narrowing playfully. "why do you have a bracelet box?"

you paused, mind running wild with thoughts, one sticking out painfully. it jabbed at your chest and you lost all teasing in an instant, expression dropping.

"do you.. are you-" you begun, throat tightening.

he caught on almost as quickly as the thought came to you. "no!"

he jumped, closing the distance in quick strides. his hands came up to hold your upper arms, forcing you to look at him. you could feel the box press into your skin, hear the faint jingle of the bracelet. "it's for you" he held it out to you, hesitant.

your gaze was drawn to his wrist where your gift rested, unmoving since you had given it to him. you heart filled with warmth again, shining eyes meeting his.

"for me?" you whispered quietly, hands taking the box from him and gently lifting the lid to find a bracelet, once almost identical to one adorning his skin. he chewed on his lip, a grin threatening to spread across his lips in excitement.

"do you like it?" despite how sure of himself he was, you could always hear the underlying uncertainty, the worry you may not approve. you could feel tears slightly welling up, blinking harshly to hold them back as you took note of the scone charm.

"to remind you of me" he clarified, beginning to ramble the longer you took to say something. he was nervous. "i suppose i could have gotten you a better charm, i should have gotten one to suit you. but you mean as much to me as scones! not to compare you to food, but you know what i mean! i love you more than scones. you're so pretty and sometimes i just don't know what to say-"

"xander" you couldn't help the tears in your eyes this time. you loved him so much. "thank you" you whispered softly, nothing could take away the smile on your face right now.

"i love it. i love you" you held out your hand to let him put it on for you. when he had done the clasp up, you took his hand in yours, shaking them to hear the matching ringing. "two cats" you offhandedly joked, still basking in your glee.

his eyes widened, shaking your intertwined hands again. "cat collars"

"you actually didn't get that?" your own eyes widened, staring at him in shock. you both stared at each for a moment longer before dissolving into giggles.

[scrtagnthamster]

Season 5 Lena

I've seen people say before that Lena should just get over her hurt feelings about the identity reveal and that she wasn't owed Kara's secret.

Please remember this isn't about who was right or wrong or even blame, I'm only trying to explain a possible reason Lena made Non Nocere. Not excusing it. Not blaming anyone. Just what did Lena's thought process look like? How did we reach the conclusion we are given.

I didn't view Non Nocere as her being angry that Kara was Supergirl and that there was a secret. I see her being angry for how she was treated. Supergirl treated her differently than Kara Danvers did. Kara Danvers said she would always be there for Lena. Supergirl had Lena's boyfriend spy on her.

Supergirl said Lena couldn't be trusted to do the right thing because of her family. Kara said Lena's family didn't define her. Well who is telling the truth? It's this back and forth, what do you really feel, that caused Lena to make Non Nocere. So no one else would have to go through this. Everyone would know where they stand with anyone.

Was it the right thing to do? I don't know, it's morally gray, does the end justify the means?

Should they have just talked? Yes. Why didn't they? Remember where Lena grew up, the Luthor's didn't provide the environment where discussing feelings was safe. Talking about feelings was shameful even. If someone wronged you, your response should be was to revenge. Lena posted a girl's diary in school and Lilian said she'd never been prouder.

As an adult she should know better. We learn this stuff as kids, but it takes hard work to get away from and people will stumble on the way as they learn. We aren't perfect.

Also an important thing to remember: It's fictional. It's a TV show and the writer's job is to make an interesting story and draw people in. To make money. Talking about the issue would have fixed the problem in, say, 3 episodes. But having a character stumble and make bad choices, well you can milk a whole season out of that.

Not ever thing is a person A is right and B is wrong or A is wrong and B is right. Both have flaws. Both can be wrong. Both can be right. One person maybe wrong on some stuff but right on other stuff. Life is complicated and messy.

[devouringdevoutly]

Dolus Dulcissimus [G!P]

Summary: She and Bada may not meet eye to eye but their nether regions surely did meet more than that.

Note: No proper backstory for this one because I just really wanted to write smut. Is this my version of your parents selling you off to One Direction in 2015? Maybe. Again, this is a work of fiction and does not reflect real life situations and relationships. Cross posted on ao3. CW: Arranged/Forced Marriage, Obsession, Possessive Behavior, Possibly Unrequited Love, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Hate Sex, Smut, Futanari, G!P/Girl Penis, Belly Bulge, Breeding, Creampie, Unprotected Sex, Light Angst, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Lemon, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat Pairing: Audrey/Bada Language: English Words: 2,678

If someone were to ask Audrey two years ago of what she would've accomplished by now, she would've naively replied with being a professional dancer.

A dancer that almost everyone looked at with respect, fear, and awe as she executed moves that only she could do. 

And sure, it was something she had accomplished within those two years but it also came with a price. 

A price named Bada Lee.

Audrey never saw herself settling down at such a young age, much less getting married to someone like Bada. A renown dancer with impressive skills of her own and Audrey did respect her then prospective wife-to-be. But she was immediately met with the cold hard truth of how overbearing the older woman was behind closed doors, only to find out that it was too late to back out by then. Her family had already promised her to Bada's and she could only desperately try to ruin her image in her now wife's eyes. 

Audrey didn't understand why she had to marry in the first place, why should she marry first in order to secure their legacy and her inheritance? It was such a barbaric custom to even adhere to in the modern world. She was never the prim and proper type of the bunch, always breaking rules and a few Chinas here and there as a child. She was a naughty child that couldn't be kept away from the calls of trouble and was always up to something in their family's compound. Sure, her family had come from money but it wasn't that much to secure in the first place. They lived comfortably enough to pursue their own dreams and build a family without having to marry someone of a higher status to secure their wealth. 

When she was first introduced to Bada, she then clearly understood why her family wanted to marry her off so suddenly. Bada came from a family of more than enough wealth that she could practically buy Audrey if she wanted to. But still… to find out that her family was almost entirely indebted to Bada's, was a different kind of betrayal. 

They had led Audrey to believe that she could afford to pursue her dreams without any restraints only to be met with the unforeseen debts of their businesses. To be able to pursue her dream and the rest of her cousins', her grandparents chose her to be their sacrificial lamb. Justifying it by reasoning that Audrey was the one closest in age and as Bada was also the youngest of her family it was only fitting that Audrey was to be married off to her. 

And so, the then twenty one year old could only agree upon the proposal the first time they had met.

She didn't want to burden her family nor herself. And if using Bada was her way to achieve her dreams then so be it.

But she didn't know that it would've cost her freedom then.

Audrey was then harshly pulled out of her thoughts as quickly as it engulfed her in its depths earlier. 

Bada was saying something to her, she could hear the anguish in Bada's voice yet she couldn't form a coherent thought to even understand the older woman's words with her fucked out state of mind. It was too much, she was practically enclosed with Bada's body hovering her, Bada's sex induced musky scent ravaging her nose, her wrists pinned against the mattress as Bada eagerly fucked her aching cunt. It was just all too much for her already overwhelmed senses. 

Maybe it was a mistake to have abruptly kissed the older woman in an attempt to shut her up as they were in the middle of an argument an hour ago. But the devil on her shoulder had whispered into her ear… of how plump and dry Bada's lips were that she just wanted to wet and kiss them until they bleed. 

"I love you..." Bada confesses in between thrusts. It was at an odd timing but the ache within her was worse than a dull knife sawing back and forth. The perdued gash in her heart now gaping and bleeding excessively once again, it was getting hard to keep at bay. Felt like she just might die in her arms and in between her goddess's legs with how overwhelmed she was with their situation.

"And you… you love me." The older of the two says with so much conviction, that Audrey might just start believing it herself. 

"This is what you want, Audrey. I want this… and you want this too, right?" Bada asks in a tone that's akin to pleading this time. She didn't care if she sounded desperate for the younger woman's admittance. Not when she was mercilessly ramming into that tight sopping pussy of hers.

"Nghhh… Fuck… A-ah… I don't…" Audrey tries to defy Bada's words in between her moans but her scorned wife's relentless thrusts were hindering her to speak coherently. And so all she could do was helplessly pant and moan, basically writhing under Bada's doing. Her face contorted in a way that only a woman who had reached heaven and the above could be able to do so. 

And perhaps Bada did just bring her the heaven that she so desperately sought after in the arms of others that isn't her wife's. And the realization only left a bitter taste in her pretty mouth. She didn't want this, she didn't want Bada in her bed fucking her so ruthlessly; they slept in different rooms for a reason. But her stupid cunt had a mind of its own and said otherwise. She could feel herself getting wetter by the second and each thrust making her want to claw Bada's back even more if the older woman’s hands just weren't restricting her to do so.

Maybe Bada's grandmother was right after all. The old woman, the current matriarch of the Lee clan, had read her deceivingly angelic face so easily. It was a simple glance but she had read her with frightening accuracy when they had met during the first day of her and Bada's formal engagement. The old woman had said it to her almost accusingly, she felt like she was a witch about to be hung then. Unable to deflect the stones of accusations that were thrown at her and she was forced to face right then and there. Maybe she was in fact a capricious girl that only stubbornly pursued the things she couldn't have, solely because she knew that it was an act of defiance against fate itself. 

"You don't what?" Bada asks in between her impetuous thrusts, her hips had a mind of its own at this point.

"You don't love me Audrey? Is that what you're saying? But you sure do love clenching on this cock though?" Bada taunts her wife, clearly trying to be a menace. Purposely trying to get under the skin of the woman under her who was basically devouring her hardened cock. And sure as she was, Audrey clenched tightly around her belittling divulgence. Bada doesn't want to hear anymore of the younger's rejection for her affinity towards her. She had been nothing but caring and nice towards her during their three month engagement and two years of one sided marriage. And for once she wanted to be truly selfish and show Audrey what she was truly made out of—greed, lust, and an insatiable hunger for her wife.

She then lets go of Audrey's now lightly bruised wrists and lifted Audrey's back a bit, supporting her upper body as she fucked into her relentlessly while making sure that Audrey sees how her own cunt feasted on Bada's impressively girthy cock. Her bodily fluids slicked up Bada's veiny rod with how much she was producing. The cock fucking her stupidly in question, was now slathered with a cream like white sticky fluid that was eventually formed with every hurried thrust that the older woman made. Her perky breasts littered with hickeys, jouncing with every wave of Bada's unabating plunge inside of her warm engulfing heat. 

It should be a disgusting scene to even lay her eyes upon but she indulges the site as her wife's cock vividly bulges against the skin of her belly. Bada's cock has basically impaled her, her feet hilted onto the mattress and making sure she propelled her throbbing cock into Audrey's now loose cunt sucking her in without fail. She was practically kissing Audrey's womb with her tip and Audrey could only whine and moan out of euphoria.

She and Bada may not meet eye to eye but their nether regions surely did meet more than that.

Was it truly selfish of her if she wanted to inflict the same pain Audrey had caused her for once? Was it truly cruel of her if she wanted to feel the tight heat of her cunt and savor her warm embrace for a moment at least? Bada thinks to herself as she continues fuck Audrey dumb. 

Bada didn't want to succumb into the angst of it all but she couldn't help it. She couldn't make Audrey fall for her no matter how hard she tried. Was she lacking? Did she do something wrong? Does Audrey hold a grudge against her for her unknown wrongdoing?  

She wanted to yearn for her for far longer, she wanted to take her time, she wanted Audrey to fall for her on her own terms, but all that she had planned were simply thrown out of the window as soon as Audrey's tight wet cunt swallowed her wholly without any resistance earlier. As they had done it sporadically, whenever Audrey drunkenly wanted to release some tension off her tiny body after a long day of dancing. It was never for Bada's taking, it was always Audrey's and Bada happily pleased her like a dog with a bone. 

Truthfully, Bada wanted to kill herself whenever she saw Audrey be happy with another's company that isn't her's. She wanted the ground to devour her whole, whenever Audrey spared another lad or lass with her infectious laughter and smile. She wanted to rip them off the soil that they so confidently stood at, with any makeshift tool for violence she could hold onto at that moment. No one deserved Audrey's sickeningly sweet smile, melodious laughter, nor even her mere mesmerizing gaze. Not even Bada who was her own wife.

She knew that their arrangement wasn't a savory one, it never was but did Audrey really hate her that much? 

She wanted this to be a punishment of some sort. A warning even. Of how she was capable of being as callous and cruel as Audrey was… but it felt like she was the one getting played instead. 

The sound of their skins stridently slapping against each other, and the younger woman's wanton moans and whines just felt more like a sound of victory to her. 

And it made her face the debauched truth, that she still would be on her knees even if the curly haired beauty in front of her did not like her in one bit. She was a slave to her and her desires, a mere porcelain doll to show off to whoever visits them that is. Just like what she had claimed the older woman to be on the first night of their marriage.

And she wholeheartedly accepted it this time. That she was Audrey's marionette and that she'll gladly be manipulated by her time and time again. A simple glance, a simple touch, a simple word of acknowledgement, a simple invitation to her bed, and everything that Audrey had to offer to her even if it was to make her drink her spit,  blood, and cum… Bada made sure that she was at Audrey's beck and call. Audrey held her strings and she gladly danced along with every motion the younger woman did, it was a silent tango of their own. One that she only knew about.

Bada's movements became hard and hurried, slowly losing the rhythm that she had managed to attain a few moments ago. Desperately trying to reach her climax to the point that it made Audrey reach hers, her eyes almost rolling to the back of her beautiful head and her arms flaccidly hanging on Bada's neck as she did. 

Soon enough, Audrey was met with a warm fluid nearly filling her insides full. Bada came so much that she swears she could physically feel her belly be distended. Courtesy of Bada's cock brutishly fucking her insides to habituate her with the profuse amount of seed she had lodged inside of Audrey's canal. Essentially marking her as hers not just from the outside with her graphically bruised and hickeyed skin that one would think a hyena attacked her, but on the inside as well. The younger woman could only instinctively lock her leg around Bada's hips, keeping her wife's cum from dripping entirely onto the already dampened sheets of her coquettishly furnished pink bed. 

She wanted to forget it all, shame and embarrassment permeated throughout her whole body but Bada was the type to not let her evade her so easily. She had expected for them to not even last a few months with her harsh treatment towards the older woman. Yet, here they were, two years into a marriage she never fully agreed upon on, even in its earlier stages of their arrangement. 

Their marriage was a testament to Bada's unyielding desire and devotion to her. And she could only hope that the fire in Bada's heart would soon wane out but to her dismay, it had not. At least not in the two years and three months they've been forcibly paired together.

Audrey could only aimlessly look at the woman on top of her as exhaustion dawns at her. Bada had always held this sort of insanity in the gleam of her eyes. Perhaps it was the sharp look of her already fox-like eyes, her eyebrows furrowed, and jaw clenched harshly whenever she was staring at her too intently. Almost threatening to consume Audrey whole if she could. Her piercing gaze sent off alarming signals, but it was honestly more of a chill that crept up and sent a shiver down to the spine of whomever it was Audrey was talking to. 

Before her pretty mouth could even say anything else. Bada's lips had already been pressed against hers, capturing her in another shape, way, and form. Audrey slumps even further with Bada's lips consuming her, always failing to get away from the older woman's captivity. If Bada truly had her way, then she wouldn't be too surprised if she just decides to hold her hostage one day. Have her tied and restricted to her bed, only to be let out whenever she sees fit. To be bred to the point that Audrey is physically unable to close her legs and clench her cunt, only for it to be left quivering and gaping in thin air. That… she silently fears one day and only hardens her resolve to never fall for the older woman's vulnerability to her.

But Audrey no longer defies when her wife slips her tongue in between her soft slobbered lips. Audrey was too tired to fight back and to assert her dominance in between their ragged breaths. And so she lets Bada take her this time as she sloppily fucks the copious amount of cum she had spilled inside of Audrey's cunt over and over again. Audrey could only feel a mix of her and Bada's cum run down in between her ass, down to the pink floral sheets of her already soiled bed. 

When all is said and done then they will talk but for now… Audrey lays helplessly limp on her bed as Bada greedily seizes hold of her body and mind.  Her wife chanting praises of some sort, almost like a requiem to her now spent and marked body reeking nothing but of sex. 

[unicorn-gallerexy]

Howdy, I totally mean to post more and didn't do any of that but then i got stuck with this idea and getting it out so here ya go, i want it out my face. There will be part 2, but i need a break bc this too so long and is longer than i wanted it. Only mildly proofread, rada rada, yknow the drill

Word count: 12.7K (i managed to hit the end of like 3 keep notes, i ain't ever done that)

CW: (technical) Homewrecker!Atsumu x Wife! Reader, smut, (kinda/justified) cheating, manipulation and mild threats (not from Atsumu), open marriage (you weren't vibing with it), trash treatment from husband, Long af, Atsumu being mad bc wtf is up with your husband?

One for Another

When your husband asked his question, excited just after coming home, you thought you couldn't hear. Or maybe it was that you didn't understand?

Either way, you asked him to repeat himself.

"I want to open our relationship. It sounds like a good idea, yeah?" He smiles, like there's nothing wrong with his sudden asking, and the look you give him is blank before it obviously reads upset.

"Why?" You steady your voice a lot easier than you steady your mind. You were hurt, this was so out of the blue. Yes, he had voiced a bit of an issue with your extra few pounds, or how you didn't dress up more often, or how you didn't have as much sex anymore (which was more his fault but he blamed you and the weight you put on) but you were working in it. You started working out in your own home because he was insistent that other people, like his coworkers, could see you let yourself go. You worked on being consistent with skincare and wearing more clothes that flattered you. You were actually looking quite a bit better than you had before. At least you and your friends thought so...

"Because it's a great idea?" He says it so easy as if you should be understanding. Seeing as you don't look pleased, his smile drops and he heaves a sigh so heavy at the thought of explaining himself. "Look you and i haven't... Been on the same page for a while. You and I just aren't matching up right now, so i figured it would be good to open the relationship so we can fill in those gaps."

"What gaps? I've been working on myself for damn near two months now, solely because you asked. What am i not doing for you?"

"Jesus Christ, this isn't about you. It's about us being happy, and im not happy. Im also not just trying to leave you high and dry but im sure you're not happy either." He says the part about you not being happy as if it doesn't matter to him. His emphasis was on him not being happy, and the part of not leaving you sounded more like a chore than a willful choice.

He swept you off your feet and promised a life a comfort. He was working on a promotion, he complimented you regularly and the sex wasn't bad at all. You fell for his charm easy, and he seemingly fell for you just as hard. After a few years, he asked you to marry him and made it known you could depend on him completely. Your job was basically down the drain by the time the wedding happened due to higher positions deciding the right way didn't make them enough money fast enough. He said you could trust him to take care of you, that he'd keep you happy and comfy, that he didn't mind a housewife for a while. You let yourself fall into that role, it wasn't hard. The house he bought was sizeable but not too big, the chore list was never too long and you did indeed live comfortably.

Over time, through his several promotions to an executive seat, you moved into bigger and better, all while he coaxed you into being his lovely little housewife and homemaker. Anytime you talked of going back, he'd mention how the job market wasn't the best, reports of customers abusing staff locally, rumors he "heard" here or there about owners and managers of places you were looking into, and always mentioning how you complained of every job you had. How you hated working, but how you were basically just taking care of yourself and he was taking care of you by working and giving you a card of his he didn't need to keep track of.

This was more temporary than you thought it was.

In the last two promotions, he had been given an assistant that always seemed a little too close for comfort. If you ever brought it up, he'd only mention how he married you and how she worked for him, so he couldn't be cheating on you. He blamed your insecurities and said you were forcing your own self doubt on him, and how that wasn't fair. At first the responses seemed loving, in their own way, before they turned angry. He'd shout about you being insecure, how you were trying to accuse him of things you had no proof of. He'd leave the house and even when he came back, he rarely ever apologized. He'd simply place more money onto the card and talk to you as he normally would. He pretended to care with a kiss on the forehead and half holding you in bed every so often.

That didn't stop him from pointing out your mounting flaws over time. It didn't stop him from refusing any sort of advances you made, day off or not. Didn't stop him not inviting you to company events as he had in the past and instead saying he was going with *her instead because "family isn't invited this time around" as if there weren't pictures posted later of his coworkers with their wives who you know don't work for the company at the same event.

You would've left a long time ago, really. But he wasn't wrong in saying you were insecure. Or that he'd leave you high and dry. He managed to manipulate you into not having a job for years, which doesn't look the greatest when applying for new ones, which created your dependency on him for financial reasons but he also had preyed on the parts of yourself you couldn't stand, made you feel like he and he alone loved you, like no one else would or could love you. You defended his words when your friends brought up concern by citing that he was right, as no one had really come up to you to flirt or asked you out prior to him so there wasn't really much competition for you. And, at the time, he at least liked you.

All for it to be thrown back in your face now. The waves of realization hit like you're in a losing boxing match. You feel your eyes burn but refuse to let any tears fall. He, unfortunate as it may be, can still read you at least a little. He comes and wraps his arms around you in a hug that makes you feel slimy, but you don't pull away as there's no where else to go really. "Listen baby, this isn't just a good thing for me. It's a good decision for both of us. I'm not giving you what you want, you aren't giving me what i want, don't you think it's better to find those things in other people and still have each other to come home to? At least give it a shot." He insists. It's obvious to you now, he doesn't care about you finding someone, only about him being allowed to do as he wants without being called a name that fits.

Part of you want to ask, but you figure you won't get answers if you do. You feel backed into a corner with no real way to lash out. So, you give a reluctant and strained yes, giving in to your defeat in hopes it hurts a little less. He kiss the back of your head and quickly slips away from you, grabbing his keys and saying something about being back later before slipping out of the door. You hear it lock, you hear the car start and drive off, and looking at the time on the clock in the stove behind you, it now reads 7:38pm. You could swear he turned his head to look at it when he was behind you.

The weekend comes in shortly after, he says he's going on a trip and you don't bother to ask where to or when he'll be back. You're already distant and its only been a few days, not that he cares at all. He packs and leaves in a hurry, only sending a text of "I love you" about an hour later. You've yet to tell anyone, feeling overwhelmed with shame and stupidity at not seeing any signs earlier on to avoid this. Or maybe because you feel ashamed that you couldn't keep your husband satisfied? That he was seduced by someone you'd consider younger and prettier than you'll ever be. You're not that old, nor are you bad looking but that's not how you see it. Your eyes only seem to find more and more inadequacies each time you look into a mirror. From the bags darkening under your eyes to your hair becoming more tangled with your lack of care, from the flaring breakouts across your face from stress and ditching your routine to the weight you worked off coming back with friends because you wallow on the couch and dropped your workout routine.

What was the point?

You had nothing else to work towards. Sure you barely looked different from before him, and if you got back into all of it, you'd look basically the same as you did then, maybe a bit better, but what would be the point? No one wanted you before he did, he literally had no competition for your affection or attention. The only thing that's changed that you can't undo is the passing of time. Sure, in the grand scheme of things you really weren't that much older than you were then but, if no one wanted you then, who would want you now?

You couldn't give an answer, and thus your brain concluded with: no one.

You eventually wind up inviting friends over about 2 weeks into his trip and, not having heard from you for longer, they jump at the chance to see you. When they arrive, and you answer the door, disheveled in sweats, they can see that you're not holding up well and the sweet smiles and loud hi's drop. Being asked what's wrong sets off the water works, not having cried in or out of his presence made the dam behind your eyes too full, and concerned friendly voices opened the gates. You step aside to let them in and they immediately hug you, telling you to calm down enough to at least tell them what's wrong but the sobs are violent, shaking your body completely and taking the strength from your legs. They guide you to the couch, sit at your sides and tell you to cry it out, seeing as every time you try and speak, it's unintelligible.

When you manage to calm yourself enough in your friends arms, you don't lift your gaze from the floor, explaining why you haven't answered calls or texts and why you just spent a literal hour crying into them. To say their furious is an understatement. They shout question after question, most at how he could do this and feel nothing. You cry into your hands, and that's when they calm down, starting to throw suggestions, the first being divorce. You remind them of how he basically holds all your financials, your place to live, and a solid position in his company. Your friends sigh as they realize that leaving, at least now, isn't a real option. After a moment of quiet thinking, and soft sniffles, your first best friend grabs you by both shoulders with a smile. "Open relationship, right? That means you can also do what you want. We can get you back on track with all your routines and go out, take you with us on singles night!" She's beaming even if you don't look the most into the idea, your other best friend seeming to voice your thoughts for you.

"As if he'll actually let her have another relationship outside of him with no repercussions. Be real, May. He'd flip his shit because he just wanted to go out and fuck anything that breathes without being called a cheater" May pouts, having already thought of that in a more minor capacity.

"I figured that, Kura. We don't have to tell him shit. He's not even being that discreet about it, with the 2 of us helping her out, he'll never know." She leans to speak over your shoulder to Kura before looking back at you with soft, loving, hopeful eyes that you feel you haven't experienced in a while. "Maybe we can actually find you a real man who'll treat you right and wont do this shit. You don't deserve to just wallow here by your self." Her hands cup your face as she awaits an answer and you shake your head in her hands.

"No one wanted me before, May. Who's gonna want me now? I'm older and-"

"Still hot, at least when you're not distressed." Kura says from behind you, smiling with some sort of support for the plan. You shake your head as May keeps hold of you.

"Okay but everything is here, workout equipment and-"

"We'll take you to the gym with us! Kura has been wanting to get in there for a while but she keeps bailing on me. I'll take you two with me and then we're all obligated to go. We'll go on spa days, I'll call you so you don't have to acknowledge him while you do your routine here. Trust me, thought out much more than you think." May beams, Kura chiming in about possibly just moving rooms so you have space if you haven't already. Both paw at you and basically beg, saying it'll at least be good just to get out for a little while every day even if you aren't man hunting. You tear up again, and when asked why, you say you thought they'd me mad at you, tell you i told you so or something because you didn't listen when they spoke up. You're given the warmest embrace you've had in a minute as they tell you it's not your fault, it's his. He preyed on you, just to throw you away for nothing substantial. You cry, and say ok, agreeing to go with them and along with their plan, causing them both so squeal with joy before May goes to bolt upstairs.

"Where are you going?" You sniffle, caught in Kura's arms as you look up the stairs.

"To run you a proper bath. We're having an at home spa night now. You need it." She scrunches her nose in the way that makes you laugh and knowing you still have some happiness makes them happy.

The night goes on as they wish, both helping wash your hair and your face, saying you need a break as they pamper you and do their best to drive away the sadness in your heart, or at least distract from it. They help you move things into another room, opting to watch terrible B and latter alphabet movies, doing your face routines together and eating proper food since you've seen gorging on junk food for a while now. They opt to stay over for a few days when you tell them your husband wont be home for another 3 weeks. Both girls help you clean up, do laundry, and essentially reset your home to brinf back a real sense of normalcy. May sits and picks out a couple gym appropriate outfits, laying them on top of the dresser, before they leave you a couple days before your husband is supposed to be back. They kiss your forehead, hug you tight and tell you the day of a group gym trip so you look forward to it. Kura notes she wont back out if you don't, putting a sense of responsibility on you to ensure you don't bail last minute.

When your husband comes back, he finds you lounging about in the other room, only to ask a question you truly dreaded hearing. "Hey, I can still have the bedroom to myself for a bit right?" Behind the doorway, at his side you can see another shadow in the sunlight that bathes the house and a feminine giggle from behind him. You simply wave him off, a half hearted mumble sending him on his way to the bedroom, girl in tow. You hear the door shut, lock clicking into place as you curl into yourself and text your friends. They send you texts to just forget about it as much as possible, you telling them it's hard when you can hear them through the walls and know he feels no sense of remorse.

That was what killed you most, the fact he was doing it all and seemed to feel nothing for you. No remorse, no guilt or shame, not even the tiniest bit of pity even if it would piss you off. You realized quick he didn't feel anything negative about it, but that didn't mean it didn't suck to have such a blatant display of what you could only feel was disrespect. Then again, you're surprised it didn't happen earlier.

Your affluent living situation meant a very nice, expensive gym wasn't too far away. May and Kura didn't live in the expensive part of the city but they had good jobs and kept up with the monthly payment plan that even you and your more frugal upbringing balked at when you got the sign up paper at the desk. Once paying the overcharged fee and getting your membership card, May lead you and Kura around to show you the facilities the gym had to offer and blabbed about the famous and influential people she's seen in passing from actors to local businessmen to athletes. Kura and you keep up as she taps your arm for your attention. "I'm kinda starting to regret coming with May." She whispered, no malice behind as you nod and hum in agreement.

You feel exposed even if your fully clothed. The sports bra and crop you normally wear to workout at home suddenly feeling to short to be worn outside (even if you've done so a million times) and the yoga shorts holding your ass nicely feeling all too tight to be worn in public. You can't help the shy stance you keep as May guides you past a the sauna, pool, and cryo rooms towards the side of the building, keeping one arm wrapped around yourself and the other down at your side. Kura is dressed in similar pants, but her top is a loose cotton shirt you wish you'd gone for instead. May, being the one used to being here, is in a good sports bra and yoga shorts due to the weather. Once her tour is over, she guides you into the large workout room, complete with just about any and every machine you'd need for every part of your body. You wanna vomit.

You know you left to get away from your currently shitty home life but now you actually kinda regret coming. May turns with a big smile that falls quick when she takes note of yours and Kura's faces. She keeps hopeful, taking you both by the hands over to the treadmills that face out of the window. "We can start here so that you two can get a bit more comfy, yea?" You both nod and hop on, the 3 of you starting at the same pace and making mild small talk.

After you and Kura seem to loosen up, noted by you finally dropping your arm from around yourself, May takes the opportunity to switch it up and get you guys through some stretches. From there, it's basically downhill. May is fit, not annoying about it and it shows. She puts you and Kura to your limits and genuinely encourages you the entire time in such a way that's hard to be mad at. You're at it for hours until the final stretch for your cool down when she beams "And we're done! That was fun, wasn't it?"

"I regret.. My decision." Kura pants.

"Fun isn't what id give it but i mean..." You trail off with a weak wave of your hand on the floor next to Kura as May hops up to drag you both down the hall and to the sauna. When you both express dismay over the sound of sitting in a hot, moist room on a hot day after being worked to near death, May assures you that you'll just both feel so much better after and if you're so inclined, she'll take you to the actual pool for a bit after. You and Kura grimace at the thought of being more openly exposed than you already are at one another as you follow May and say you'll both pass on that part today.

Out of clothes, wrapped in towels, May hands off your clothing to one do the workers before noting to you as they leave that they're gonna wash them. You and Kura share a surprised look at her as she pushes you both into the (thankfully) empty sauna. She does everything to set it up and soon enough the room is hot and steamy, her eyes fixing to continuously check on you two as you close your eyes and drop your head to relax in the warm, wet heat. "So how long can we be expected to be alone in here?" Kura asks, scooting to put just a bit more distance between you two which you're thankful for.

"With how long we've worked out, not too much longer. But we don't have to leave or anything like that. We can basically stay in here for as long as we want, though it is recommended to leave at some point to prevent overheating." She sighs.

"With how much we have to pay for a monthly membership, we better be able to stay in here for as long as we want." You complain, Kura letting out a small laugh as she lays her head against the wall. She and May look at you, your head still down and eyes still closed.

"Black card for your thoughts, lovely?" Kura mutters, you shake your head before answering.

"Just thinking about home, unfortunately. Thinkin about how i let it get here honestly." Kura pushes your arm and you look at your friends, both sets of eyes stern but full of care as they note him and whatever he's doing isn't worth any more of tour head space. Kura throwing the idea to take him for what he's useful for and buy everyone lunch after, naming off pricy places your younger self could only dream of going. You laugh at her, especially as may joins in with the new ultra luxury bakery that just opened up and is known to be pure Instagram fodder and not actually good baked goods. Just as you near snort with laughter at their suggestions, about to cut in with something cheaper and actually good, the door opens and causes you three to scoot a bit closer to one another in a corner and 4 actually fairly familiar faces trail in, shortly followed by a duo that you can tell aren't with the prior 4. Your husband's work and you being his previous arm candy piece at work events let you passionately shake hands with plenty of elites, faces recognizable to you easy. The 4 who are making conversation amongst themselves are athletes, specifically the (debatably) most popular members of the team. Koutarou Bokuto, Shoyo Hinata, Kiyoomi Sakusa, and Atsumu Miya.

The other 2 are businessmen that you've seen at damn near every single even you went to with your husband, higher ups from a company his worked with. They were always hitting you in the worst way so your nose unconsciously crinkles before you turn to Kura and May. You aren't too surprised, May did say plenty of the wealthy who live close by here and even some who don't come to this gym just because of how nice and/or exclusive it is. You hope somewhere inside yourself that the duo doesn't notice you at all, as that would help the first day back to a workout routine all the better.

Of course, you cant ever have what you want. The universe curses you by making one of the idiot duo loudly recognize your left shoulder tattoo of a chubby kitten playing with stars from various franchises, like animal crossing fragments and Rosalina's stars from Mario games. "Oh shit! I remember that dumb little tattoo! Y/n, how have you been babe?" He says. You roll your eyes hard enough to hurt as you feel every pair of eyes in this small room land on you. You force a smile and turn your head, giving a strained hi and fine. He and his friend start to bombard you with questions at your minor acknowledgement. Your husband, what he's been up to and things like that. You answer most, half with lies as Kura leans over your back and tells them to call him if they've got "such a hard on for him" instead of harassing you.

Kura has taken on most of your lost bite while you work to get it back, and you find yourself plenty thankful for it. You don't miss the small snorts of laughter from the other side of sauna and neither do the duo on the other side of you. Not liking to feel any sort of embarrassment, and somehow deciding that the wife of their business colleague is their prime target, the second one opens his mouth with venom. "You know Y/n, i have friends who work with your husband. We haven't seen you at any of the company get togethers anymore, yknow? But we have seen him with this real pretty dame on his arm. You make him get a replacement so you don't have to be there or what?" They way you stiffen is visible and your brain short circuts on what to do next for a half second. Both have this smug smile on their face as everyone looks wide eyed at the two, and they look at you.

You stand, eyes lifting from the ground where you had planted them during talking to them initially. "The fact you two are so mad because you cant even get escorts to sleep with you, much less me when im married so you go around saying shit like that is honestly pathetic." Your hand slaps the one who opened his mouth before you can rethink it, turning on your heels to leave at you hear not just your friends but the other men in the room giving them quite the reprimanding as you float your way to where you can pick up your freshly washed clothes. You must've been in there for longer than you thought, as they're set out with your membership card on top to show ownership. You're quick to change as you hear voices outside looking for you. You step out and toss the towel into the bin they have out for them and your friends rush to your side and try to comfort you but you simply tell them to get dressed so you can go and eat.

They're dressed in a flash and following you out the front door, you never noticing the sets of eyes that manage to trail your form as you storm out with your friends hot on your ass, wiping your eyes. Once in the car, there's a beat of silence as they seem to try and find what would be the rihht thing to say after that. What do they say? Your tears don't wait, a uncontrolled sob escaping you before your hand covers your mouth to hold back the rest of the noise as you cry. He's so brazen about it, of course other people notice but the last thing you wanted was to be confronted with it anywhere else. You're hugged from two directions, hands rubbing your back and arms to soothe you as May says she wont blame you for bailing after that. You shake your head, taking deep breaths to calm yourself and taking the tissue Kura passes you from her bag to wipe your eyes and blow your nose before you close your eyes. Clearing your throat, you croak. "I'm still going to do it... I'm not gonna let this stop me... Even if it sucks..." Kura pats you on the back, saying she'll still be with you and May clapping at you not letting it throw you down without a fight.

You get to pick lunch. A nice sit down hot pot spot that's having a slow day, so they wave the typical time limit they have and sit you three in a cozy booth. You loose track of time, your friends being efficient in distracting your mind from the day's sour turn, laughing and eating to replenish some energy. You three can see the door, and have made a game of betting (without money of course) on if the groups and couples who come in have ever actually been to a hot pot place or if they came in because they think it's "exotic". It's a dumb little game that results in fun banter. Lo and behold, the bell advice the door dings again and in walk... The same 4 athletes who basically saw you getting outted as being cheated on. The MSBY black jackles, with the rest of the team in tow. The owner working the register guides them to the large booth in the opposite corner from you and your friends, who ask if you wanna go after seeing the 4 familiar faces. You shake your head, saying you're having fun and betting that the extra shy, probable assistant, hasn't been to hot pot before as you slip a leafy green veggie in your mouth. You're friends smile and agree with you're bet, and you let your night continue.

The three of you fall easy back into yourselves as the waiter comes to top up your broth for the 3rd time, never noticing the pair of eyes that seem to linger along your form here and there. You don't even notice how the same eyes trail you once again as you leave out with your friends, looking considerably happier than when you left the gym. He knows he shouldn't be looking so hard, but he just cant seem to understand. Why would a man who married you not want you or not want to show you off?

You keep to your word and go back three days later, muscles sore the day after from how hard May worked you both but you return nonetheless to join her again as she says you'll both get used to it and she'll keep the routine the same for a while to help speed up that process. She beams at both of your forlorned faces as she makes you both get down on the floor for your stretches.

She keeps to her word, and you get back into your prior habits as your friends remind you that self care shouldn't be tied to the scumbag you live with as they have now deemed him. Your days with them are your highlights, whether it's just lunch and the gym or if they come over to insult your husband in the guest room you've moved into. Your gym trips are a bit better for your mental health tho, having made a couple of friends through May's bubbly personal skills and being away from your husband's revolving door of women. You tend to avoid anyone who has more consistent contact with your husband or his job to avoid any more incidents like your first day and that seems to do you well, though you've of course run into several big names that have worked with his company or him once or twice. You don't mind those, especially since some are constant faces anytime you go to be whipped into shape by May.

Some of the more consistent faces you see are those of Athletes, specifically coming across the MSBY team again and again. The 4 who initially witnessed your sauna incident either didn't remember it or simply never seemed to show they did, none giving you any odd looks or pitied glances any time your eyes seemed to catch theirs in passing. You were always the first to turn away, never catching on to the way one of them seemed to stare. At least not at first. The more often you came, the more you saw them and vice versa. The more you saw them, the more he could stare. The more he could stare, the more you seemed to catch him and while he would avert his gaze elsewhere or focus of the weight in his hands, he'd still eventually find a way to stare at you again all whilst taking pride in the way you seemed to fluster under his gaze. That man was Atsumu Miya.

Of course, his blatant "eye fucking" as Sakusa would call it didn't go unnoticed by the others, Bokuto and Hinata scolding him for essentially hitting on a married woman. When away from other who knew nothing about the information they had heard in the sauna, Atsumu defends himself. "He's cheatin on 'er anyways and i haven't even said anything. Why can't i look?" The others always reply that it's not the point.

"They might be trying to work it out?" Hinata mutters, making all of them turn their nose and Atsumu respond with a "Fuckin hope not." The boys were raised on better teachings so, even if they were reprimanding their friend for his borderline inappropriate behavior, they still don't like the idea of some poor, pretty girl "working things out" with a man that obviously doesn't care about her. Atsumu's typical defense doesn't hold up for long though. As time passes, the more he sees you, the more he tries to find ways to talk to you. From bringing you and your friends water to engage in small talk under the guise of being kind before he's called back to managing to catch you and your friends as you're about to leave some other amenity after making sure he worked out for just a bit longer, saying it was to not slack close to a game, to be sure he caught you at the tail end of your swim or sauna sit. Atsumu continues to argue that there's nothing wrong with making small talk or incidentally running into someone in a shared public space.

"You don't even know what incidentally means, homewrecker." Sakusa shoots, Atsumu having an aghast expression at the word. Though, with more time and the tiny tidbits of info he learns about you personally, the more the insult seems to not matter. You're a nice convo partner, and he's just being nice, right?

Of course, you have other obligations to attend to aside from the gym. You know he still expects you to clean the house, that damn bedroom you can't find it in yourself to even look at much less sleep in anymore included, and make him (and guests he brings) food. You'd refuse if he didn't opt for the coercive method of throwing the fact you don't have a job right now in your face, guests there or not. You just go with it at this point to avoid talking to him, moving away or giving minimal acknowledgement when he tries to soothe you with empty hugs and worthless words. So the supermarket is your other safe haven. No hard work, no husband or women he's fucking, no real stress aside from not finding something you're craving. Crossing into the refrigerated section causes a shiver, eyes scanning over price tags you've never gotten used to looking at. As you reach out for a pack of chicken with a decent tag, a stronger hand brushes in front of your to cross in the other direction. Looking up reveals a familiar blonde headed athlete who seems to beam at seeing you, as if he didn't see you a couple aisles ago.

"Hey, been a couple days. How ya been?" He asks, taking his hand away and gesturing for you to grab your thing first.

"Been alright, resting up before my May drags us back. You?" Conversation comes easy, he's noticed you're kinda quiet so he takes the lead in asking questions and talking about his own things. He's careful, even subconsciously, about asking certain questions as to not put you in a sour mood. You ask him the occasional question as he seems to follow you around, noting he doesn't have anything else to do except his own personal grocery trip, like about his games and team. He has no issue answering, giving the occasional jab at them and joking with you to make you giggle behind your hand as you both float around the store until you both have to check out. When he realizes that the window is closing on the most in depth conversation he's ever had with you, he spings an invitation as you both exit the store. "Umm... Hey, do you maybe wanna come over to mine later? To keep talking? I think you're actually pretty interesting." He says quickly, trying to make sure you don't think what he feels you are.

You smile, laughing softly. "Your reputation is starting to sound a bit more true. You always invite girls over to 'talk' after you grocery shop with them?" He smiles and shakes his head, free hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"Nah, just you." He flirts, and liking the feel of the missing male attention, you agree. He comes and tells you where his place is, and upon looking at it typed out, you realize that it's actually not far from where you and him live. Like, just a bit farther, just almost out of sight due to the curve, down the long street that your house sits at. You can walk to his house. When you tell him as much, he laughs. "Small world, huh? I'll leave the door open then." He shoots you a wink before heading on his way to his car ad you do yours.

When you get home, you don't speak to your husband. This is now normal. You simply put away the groceries you bought save for what you cook after. Once you've rushed through making a meal you have no real intentions of eating, you simply shoot him an "I'm heading out." Before slipping out of the door and taking a slow, leisurely stroll down to Atsumu's place. It takes about 20 minutes at that pace, and once in front of the door, you get butterflies. That old familiar flutter in the base of your tummy makes you hesitate to knock but you're a big girl, so you reach your hand up to give a few solid pounds to the heavy door. His place is nice, you've seen every house in the neighborhood at least once but you never really knew who lived in them. You were already housewife status before you moved here so you rarely came outside or interacted with any neighbors except next door and directly across the street.

The door opens with the slightly sticky sound of the seal meant to keep the outside out, and in the way of your view into the luxury home stands a broad chest. Your eyes get stuck for a half second before they trail up to his face, bright smile already splayed across his face. "Well howdy neighbor." You've heard him speak so the accent wasn't low on you but there sure are some words that really bring it out. You bow your head with your greeting and he turns himself to the side to let you in. "What took so long? I was waitin for ya." He asks jokingly, and you smile as you tell him about having to cook before you left because if you didn't do it, who would? He hears how lighthearted you make it sound, and he swallows the frown before it gets to appear on his face. You're keeping your head high to cope and it makes him wanna gag as his eyes trail up you, seeing no real flaw as to why some man wouldn't wanna be with you. He thinks you're real pretty, gorgeous even. You're also smart, funny and pretty quick witted when your head's not in the clouds. He knows it's a little odd to feel so strongly for the situation of a woman you just met, but his mama taught him so much better than that so when confronted with shit like this, it's hard to fathom. Even more so when the subject of it is right in front of him, oh so beautiful with your-

"Atsumu? Earth to pro athlete, need you back down here, big guy. Atsumu?" Shit. He had zoned out looking at you as you spoke so when he shakes his head and politely asks you to repeat the last thing you said, he feels awful. You seen a little too used to it as you shrug it off, which he feels makes it worse, and ask again. "I said: Did you have a plan when you invited me over or were you just gonna go with the flow and see what happens?" You stand with your hands behind your back so to not touch anything, and he struggles with his mind wandering as he motions for you to sit down and quickly jogs into his kitchen.

"I mean, we had a pretty nice time talking at the grocery store so i figured we could just pick up where we left off." He calls before coming to set a glass of lemonade down in front of you on the coffee table. "And if you stay long enough, i wouldn't mind you joining me for dinner?" It comes out like a question, you've been here for all of 2 minutes max and he's already inviting you to stay longer. He's so eager in a way you cant help but giggle and agree. You watch as he sits on the other side of the couch before starting to engage you in some bit of conversation from before. What you pick up on is that he constantly tries to get you to talk more and he pays actual attention to what you say. Anytime you quiet down out of habit, he asks you another question. The conversation hops from life experiences, to vacations, to upbringings. Anything to get you to talk to him more, anything to learn as much as possible about you, anything to make you smile and giggle like he's getting so enamored with.

He can't keep convincing himself that he's just being nice.

Not as he moves just a bit closer every time he sits back down from refilling your drinks. Not as he keeps trailing his eyes up and down your form when you laugh hard enough to close your eyes. Not when he has to fend off the mild shutter that slides up his back at certain words you say. Not as he continues to mentally say you're basically in the right if you were to do something outside of your marriage, and how he'd offer himself up in a heartbeat despite the guilt he'd been raised to have. Maybe if he finds out just a bit more about your garbage life partner, he can get rid of all the guilt he has. So he asks as you sip at the wine he offered up along with dinner, citing he's not as good as his brother in the kitchen but he does know a bit.

"Hey, i understand if it's still kinda touchy and you really don't have to answer if you don't wanna but, im just having a hard time wrapping my head 'round it." He starts, and your stomach turns as you know what he's gonna ask. But you sigh and down the rest of the glass, feeling It's better to get it out there now rather than feel like you're manipulating the situation later. The feeling of being wanted for a bit was nice while it lasted though. You set the glass down next to your empty plate and turn to face him, questioning when he went from the other side of the couch to only a couple inches away, motioning for him to continue. He ponders on how to say it without seeming insensitive before he sighs and just blurts it out. "Why the hell is your husband cheating on you? I genuinely can't understand." He stops himself before he goes on a tangent about how pretty you are or how nice you are or how he'd treat you plenty better.

You feel your eyes burn. You thought you'd be over it by now but maybe you had just pushed the thoughts away, far enough that it was basically outta sight, outta mind. You blink quickly to get rid of the tears and once Astumu catches the glossy look, he shakes his head. He opens his mouth to tell you to forget about him asking but you out your hand up to stop him. He fears you might just up and walk out, looking like a kicked puppy along with you as you take a deep breath to compose yourself. You open your eyes and put your hand down, speaking before he can. "He wanted an open relationship, so he's not actually cheating on me." Saying it feels gross, and if you took your eyes off the floor you'd see Atsumu with a face that agrees. Not because of the open relationship thing, because of how you phrased it.

"So you didn't want the open relationship?" He asks for clarification and though you and Atsumu don't know each other as well as you know your best friends, he's a comfortable presence that feels empathetic to you in a way, despite feeling like he's pitying you too but that's just your mind talking there. You shake your head, dropping it into your hands to rub away the tension that's building your temples.

"He sprung it on me out of no where, said i wasn't making him happy anymore. Saying i had 'let myself go' and whatnot. I was working on it, really. Working out at home, keeping up self care routines, trying to initiate even though that isn't normal for me. He just... Didn't want me anymore." You're quiet as you talk, a small sniffle in the middle of your statement tugs hard at his heart. Well now he can't possibly feel bad. He asks you about the dudes at the sauna the first time he saw you and lets you explain that they work with with your husband under a different company. "They've probably seen him with his pretty little coworker who he's been sleeping with. By the sound of it, they aren't the most discreet about it so it's just embarrassing for me. They're the types to get pissy when turned down. He rolls his eyes hard enough to hurt, feeling like his brain is throbbing in his skull over how dumb it sounds. Your husband, he colleagues, whatever whore he's screwing that most likely knew who you were and that the idiot was married. It gives the most sour ass milk taste to him.

"And what about you? Since he forced it, wouldn't it be good to get out and see someone?" He asks softly, particularly because he's yet to see you truly conversing with another man in the time he's been talking to you. He's also never heard you talk about anyone else, not that it would truly be any of his business but it just intrigues him. You simply shake your head again though.

"He's... He's the only man over ever been with. We met when i was young, got engaged and married pretty quick but i wasn't the prettiest thing in the group so he had no real competition. When that happened i kinda just stayed inside and didn't bother even after starting the working out thing with May again. I mean, if no one wanted me then, why would they now and I've just gotten older?" Your insecurities have shown before but Astumu's about to start asking some real serious questions about how your husband treats you if you think so low of yourself.

"So why not leave? I mean it's obvious he doesn't care 'bout ya, and you don't seem like the type to stick around for shit like this." He admits its a bit assumptive but he can read people pretty well, and he'd bet on this assumption for sure.

"He married me when i was young and kinda took over most things. Pre and post me leaving my job and agreeing to be his fulltime housewife. I kinda can't... At least not right now." You admit. Atsumu has genuinely never wanted the throttle a man so badly. He's basically holding you hostage so he cant look bad but is forcing decisions on you whether you like them or not so he can do as he wants. Yea, he definitely doesn't feel bad anymore.

"I want you." It's a simple statement but it has you whipping your head to look at him and the serious face he has that somehow also looks like he's bored almost.

"What?"

"You asked who'd want you since time has passed and stuff, right? Me. I do." Your eyes widen as he continues. "I think you're fuckin' gorgeous to be honest. Inside and out. You're funny and sweet when you're comfortable, you've got a good heart and 's all bundled up in this lovely, lovely body o' yers." He starts to smile mid way through his declaration as he notices your dace get more and more flustered. His accent seems to get just a bit thicker as he talks faster towards the end, enthusiasm radiating from him as he closes that tiny 2 inch gap between you two on the couch so your thighs touch. You're shocked honestly. It felt like he liked you but your self doubt said it was just pity, but you also felt there was nothing wrong with being a bit delusional and taking what you could get from a nice man giving you attention. You stutter, trying to get something out about how you feel but he hold up his hands and leans back a bit, never scooting away from you though. "If ya don't feel that way about me, i understand even if it hurts a little. But I would love to show you how a proper man should be treating someone as beautiful as you." He's laying it on thick but you feel he's being honest about your ability to back out if you want.

You still can't manage to figure out the words you want to say to him. You don't really think you'd know where to start, being the way he didn't seem judgmental towards you or the fact he apparently had actual, genuine interest in you. So you hug him instead. He's surprised for a moment but quickly hugs you back, finding that you're so much softer, warmer than he expected this close. He nose catches whiffs of your soap and shampoo, you even smell gorgeous. And your husband didn't want this? Fucking idiot. You pull back after a while, just enough to look him in the eyes. "Thank you, but... You don't..." You start how you want, but you cant seem to find the correct way to finish. Atsumu understands from the way you avert your eyes, flustered and shy in a way he finds all too cute on you. He puts his hand under your chin to gently redirect your gaze back to his, confident smirk still splayed across his face. It's a reassuring look really, one that says he really does want to do what he said.

"If you don't want to, that's fine. I understand, but don't think that i don't want to. Because i really fucking do." His voice is low due to his proximity, leaning his forehead against yours as he searches for any sign of you pulling away or rejecting his advances. It's like a little game behind your eyes plays out before you opt to say fuck it and close the small gap between your mouths. He reciprocates immediately, moving his hand from your chin to the back of your head as your hand begin to wind themselves in his soft blonde locks. The kiss goes on for what makes your lungs feel like eternity, but your brain feel like mere seconds. When the burn in your chest is too much, you pull back and take a deep breath, letting the oxygen take your brain through thoughts of this really being a good idea. Your eyes scan Atsumu, from the lidded gaze to the slightly swollen lips to the heaving chest and from what your eyes take in, your brain says it's a great idea. I mean, if he's willing to give you what you're missing, why deny yourself?

He stands up and holds out his hand to you, letting you take it as you ask about where he's leading you to. "Well i did say i'd be proper bout it, right? Can't take you on the couch first time around, that comes later." You note how confidently he said later, as if he's assured a next time. And while normally you'd say that was a bit presumptuous of a man, you couldn't help but think of the kiss you shared and allow him to have his confidence. He smiles when you don't deny him too. He leads you to a room that's cleaner than what you'd expect from an athlete if you're honest. The room smells of lingering cologne and linen air freshner as he closes his door. He comes behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and placing his face into the crook of your neck to kiss and nip at the skin as you tilt tour head to give him more space. You giggle as he kisses at certain spots, whimpering when he finds that particular spot that has you slightly buckling in his grasp.

His hands play with the hem of your shirt and pants, gently tugging as he sucks and bites at the spot that has you depending on him more to help you stand. "You can still back out now, (y/n). I really don't-" you wind up snaking your hand back into his hair, turning your head to bring his mouth to yours.

"I want to, Atsumu. Please, lemme have this." The way you whine has his eyes rolling in a good way this time, gently pushing you to his bed before he opts for turning you toward him and tossing you on it. His grip firm as he halfheartedly flung you onto the soft sheets as if you weighed nothing and without a single complaint either. He's quick to crawl over you and place his lips back on yours, tongue slipping in before you can fight him on it. You don't fight with him too much for dominance, more so to just be playful. He takes it, sliding his hands higher under your shirt than before to touch your skin as you fingers dig into his shoulder. He takes time to pull away every so often to ask if he can remove some piece of clothing from you, seeming as if he truly couldn't get enough of you. First your shirt, then pants, then his own. He barely detached his body from yours as he stripped you or himself, wanting nothing more than the feel of your soft, pretty skin on his. When he inevitably did have to pull himself up onto his knees to take off your bra, he couldn't help but take in the sight in front of him.

You're underneath him, as he's wanted for a bit now, neck only slightly marked up from before, lips swollen and a little of the mixed saliva from him keeping your mouths together making Its way down your cheek from the corner of your mouth. Your chest is heaving from him giving you minimal time to breathe between kisses, and to top it off you're basically half naked, the pretty body he's seen clad in various workout clothes finally exposed properly for his eyes to drink in. His staring to you on the other hand, has you feeling self conscious. You take a breath and start to move to shield your body from him, crossing your legs and bringing one of your arms over your chest to hide. He quickly stops you, whining at you, gently smacking your hands and thighs to get you to move them. He settles himself properly between your thighs and moves to pin your hands above your head with one hand. "Don't hide, beautiful. 'M only staring cause i think you're pretty." He smiles at the flustered look that comes back across your face and trails his free hand over the too of your bra. "I can take the rest of it off, right?" He asks, eyes still glues to your chest.

You hum and nod, so he wastes no time before reaching under you to unhook the only thing keeping your chest from his mouth. He almost drools at the sight of them when he moves his other hand from your wrists to toss the garment to the floor. There's quiet fuck that slips from him as his eyes catch on your tits the same way yours did earlier, and under such admiration you can't really tell when, if ever, your husband looked at any part of you with such genuine hunger. If feels nice to be looked at like this, so you try not to let your hands fall from where they rest above your head. His hands smooth down your sides, gripping every so often at the soft flush under his fingers til he gets to the hem of your panties, pulling and letting them snap against your hip as you yelp. He's tempted to rip them in all honesty but decides against it, simply sliding them down and off you to the floor as his eyes rake up and down you to figure out where to start.

His hands reach for your chest, kneading your tits and watching how responsive you are to him tweaking and thumbing over your nipples. He takes in every tiny whimper and breathess noise you make before taking your left nipple into his mouth and moaning at the taste of your skin. Your hands come down then, rethreading through his hair and unconsciously pushing him just a bit more into your chest. They're more sensitive than he thought, and you seem to love the way he flicks the hardened bud with his tongue before he takes a teasing bite and pulls it with his teeth just a little. He's not one to show favoritism in the bedroom, so he swaps to lavish the other with the same attention, biting just a bit harder to get you to make more noise for him. It all has him rutting his still clothed cock against your center, the wetness quickly seeping through the thin fabric and driving him to take his open mouthed kisses down your torso, leaving marks here and there to show his pathing until he's kissing the top of your mound. You tug his hair and he lets his drunken gaze float up to yours, mouth still kissing around between your thighs.

"You... Don't have to, if you don't wanna... Just so you don't feel obligated or something..." His brows furrow as his mouth sticks to one spot just above your clit as he takes in what you just said. His foggy brain has a moment of realization when he sees that you aren't just flustered, but embarrassed. He sits up a bit more as you gulp and raises his eyebrow at you.

"Did that fuckwit tell you he didn't like eating pussy?" He asks so bluntly it makes you curl up a bit as you avert your gaze, hands stroking his head still.

"He said it wasn't his favorite part but he did it because it was expected so I'm just- ah!! Fuck!" You're abruptly cut off as Atsumu opts to dive head first to your center, tossing your legs over his shoulders and running his tongue from your hole to your clit before sucking it into his mouth. Atsumu eats pussy for his own enjoyment, for fun. Your husband had you at home all the time and didn't constantly want his face between your lovely thighs? He didn't want the warm soft earmuffs and the, to Atsumu, gentle pressure of you squeezing his head with them? Because to Sumu, this feels like heaven. The muffled squeals as he slides his tongue from lapping at your clit to fucking your slippery hole and nudging his nose against your clit to keep the cute little button stimulated have him rutting into his mattress. You're overwhelming his senses and he's in love with it, it's a contender for being his favorite part of it in competition with how you taste. One taste and he's actively trying to devour you, as if he hadn't eaten dinner maybe an hour or so ago.

His hands grip onto your plush thighs and encourage you to clamp them even harder than you are now around his head as you whine and keen under him. Your fingers tug at his hair as you halfway guide his mouth where you want him, also grinding your cunt against his face and breathlessly moaning everytime he hums in pleasure against you. He opens his eyes when he feels one of your hands leave his head and lets them trail up you see your head tossed into his pillows and the hand you freed from his locks grasping at your chest, kneading your breasts as he did earlier and he can't help the way he basically growls into you. "Atsumu~ mmphf! Fuck, Sumu!" Oh god if he wasn't determined to get you to cum from the dumb shit you told him earlier, he was now.

He keeps his grip on your thighs, sluring and lapping feverishly at your pretty pussy, making sounds you'd truly be embarrassed of if you could find yourself thinking straight. He lets you use his face, lets you tug and pull his hair in a way that would be damn near painful, if he could think straight either to, to let you throw yourself off that cliff. He's only focusing on the moans clawing their way from your throat, getting higher and higher in pitch until you feel like you're about to crush his skull between your thighs. You call his name over and over, louder and louder until you go rigid and squeal as he helps himself to your sweet release, guiding you through wave after wave of pleasure.

Once you begin to paw and push at his head, he pulls himself up to look down at you with a wolfish smile and drunken gaze. His chin and lips shine in the daylight that floods through his bedroom window, the subtle warmth that still enraptures you keeps you from being as embarrassed about the sight. He moves his hand to swipe your juices from his chin before placing those same fingers into his mouth and humming at the taste. "You're husband has absolutely no taste, does he?" You giggle and move to sit up, a hand reaching to trail down his abdomen to the hem of his boxers but are stopped short by him pushing you back down and crawling to blanket you with his body. He kisses you deeply, sharing the taste still on his tongue with you and swallowing the little whimpers you give.

"Are you not gonna let me reciprocate that?" You ask when he finally parts, moving to trail his mouth down your neck and shoulder as he shakes his head.

"Uh uh, at least not this time. Next time." He assures, and you laugh softly in his ear at his confident insistence on this not being a 1 time thing. It makes you giddy, a man desiring you in a way that seemed so fairytale lately even tho you were supposed to be happily married. He nips at your shoulder and hums when you don't respond. "You'll let there be a next time, right darlin'?" He mumbles against your shoulder. You nod, dreamily humming as you turn to kiss his temple. At your agreement, he grinds himself against you, letting your slick completely soak through his underwear as you both moan into each other's skin. You grab hold of his shoulders as he keeps going, his grunts heavy on your neck as he tries to keep from going overboard. He does sit up, chuckling breathlessly as you whine at the loss of his heat.

He quickly slides off his boxers and when your eyes meet again, or rather when he looks at your face, the smile that crosses his face is smug. Your eyes were glued to between his legs, your lower lip caught between your teeth. He was bigger than your husband, longer and thicker though you'd say they were similar heights. Impressive sure was one way to describe it, the tip pink and glossed over with his arousal that began to run down his length. He trails his fingers from his abs to wrap around his dick, giving it slow stokes which catches your attention. You let your eyes follow up from his dick, soaking in the way the muscles under the skin of his tummy ripple and quiver, taking in how his chest rises and falls with his labored breaths. From his chest, you look to his face, catching how his eyes are intently glued to you as he seems to fight the urge to fist himself faster. Your grip on your lip becomes bruising, the wet plaps of his hand around himself causing you to twitch and pant.

He smiles as he stops, bringing his wet hand to your mouth with a slightly raised brow, a tiny gasp escaping him as you eagerly take his hand in yours and run your tongue over his palm and between his fingers. It sets him off, as he's quickly over you again, freshly licked hand guiding his hardness to your weeping center and mouth on yours with the full intent to make it hard to breathe. He lets his cock slide through your folds, swallowing your moans every time his tip rubs your swollen clit. "You ready, sweetheart?" He slurs against your mouth. You nod, clasping your hands together at the back of his neck, desperate mutters of "Please, Sumu..." spurring him on as he slides his way into you. He was happy at how easy it was; despite how tight you were, your pussy was wet enough give give him little resistance. He only pulled away from the heated kiss to watch your eyes roll into the back of head and listen at the drawn out noise you gave him.

When he feels you hike your leg over his hip and push him into you, he almost giggles at your eagerness. He moves his hands to the sides of your head, starting a steady rut into you before both of you whine at the feeling not being enough. "Please, Astumu.. Gimme more~" you ask so sweetly, how can he deny you? His hips begin to snap into yours, drawing out pretty high pitched moans and grunts from both of you. He moves his face to mark your throat and shoulder as he pumps into you, hands moving to grab your hips to prevent you from scooting up the bed as he starts to thrust faster and faster. He keeps his moth on your throat, grunting at the feel of your sounds on his lips and your nails digging into his shoulders as you wrap your other leg around his waist.

"Feel .. s'good baby. Y'er grippin me soooo fuckin tight- shit!" He curses into your neck, mindless babbles being all he receives in return. The smile on his face never seems to leave, even as he sits up to sit back on his haunches and starts using your hips to bring your velvety pussy onto him, your ass propped up just a bit by his thighs underneath. The angle has you keening, arching your back and grasping at his wrists as a way to ground yourself as he pistons into you again and again. The sticky wet squelch between you drags Atsumu's eyes down to where you both connect, rolling and threatening to close as the sight of his pelvis all glossy, pretty white ring encircling his base and shaft completely coated. The feel of your walls convulsing and clentching as your hips buck against his in a futile effort to keep up with his brutal pace is mind numbing, dragging almost whiny moans from his chest as his hands garb onto any bit of you they can and please.

When he does manage to tear his eyes away from your swollen cunt sucking him in, he lets his gaze lick up your body. From your tummy that he can see bulge with every pump in, to your tits that bounce so nicely, to your pretty face and the adorable fucked out expression that's plastered across it. He genuinely thinks you're so pretty, he can't wrap any part of his mushy brain around how someone could have you and not want to worship you all the damn time. You deserve so much. And he's damn sure gonna give it to you. "Y'er- so- fuck-in pretty!" Every syllable is punctuated with a harsh kiss to your cervix, just bordering on painful but still adding to the pleasure that has your eyes glued to the back of your skull. Your whines and moans are broken as they hit his ears, one large hand moving from your hip to your front, letting his thumb rub your clit and his other four fingers press above where his cock hits inside.

You shudder under his hands, twitching as you let out a weak warning of your impending orgasm. Though teary eyes, you see him nod. "C'mon darlin, cum nice an' hard f'me." He grunts, leaning up onto his knees just a bit more for leverage to throw you over.

And he does.

Your eyes clamp shut as you basically scream, his name tumbling out again and again as he fucks you through it. He's honestly a bit disappointed in the fact you didn't squirt, but there's always next time, right? He does fall over the edge after you do, your gorgeous climax having a domino effect on him as he grunts out your name like a mantra until he can't. The after shocks of yours guiding him through his own overwhelming haze of pleasure, and he finds himself drooling slightly by the time he comes back to earth. His body collapses next to yours after he pulls out and watches your cunt twitch and clench, letting his cum seep out and admiring it as it follows the curve of your ass onto his bed. He pulls you to him and you let him, snuggling into his chest.

He lays there for a bit, basking in the afterglow with you before getting up to get a wet towel to clean you up with as a bath runs. "Oh, you don't have to-" The stare he gives cuts you off as he wipes down your lower half, eyes narrowed at what you saying that now implies about how you were treated at home.

"I just fucked your pretty little brains out, sweetheart. I am not only obligated to clean you up and take care of you, but i want to. As any real man should." He emphasizes what shouldn't need to be said as he finishes wiping you down and goes back into his bathroom to finish up your bath. He carries you, despite protest, and sets you in as he says he's going to change his sheets. "Do... Do you maybe wanna stay over?" He's suddenly bashful, and it makes you wonder if the man who just made you cum harder than you have in years just a moment ago and this sweet, shy, country boy who can't seem to find your eyes is the same man. You nod, saying you'd like that. He finds your eyes then, dopey smile out in full as he hops off to clean his room.

He comes back just when you're clean and about to fall asleep, calling for you as he helps you out and dries you off, admiring your sleepy form as he slides a clean tshirt over your head. He guides you out this time, you smacking his hands when he tries to pick you up, his bed now dressed in a pretty deep grey color as he lets you lay down and get comfy. He's about to walk into the bathroom when your phone rings from the floor, you sucking your teeth at the ringtone. He rummages through your pants to find it again and frowns at it being the man neither of you wanna hear from. He does not the lack of guilt he feels about what happened tho. He hands it to your grabby hand and listens from the bathroom as you answer.

"Hello?... What does it matter what im doing?... I'm not at home, your dinner is in the oven. Is that not everything?... What you do in that house, in that bed is none of my business. I don't wanna hear about it either, not like i sleep there..... I have an attitude because you're bothering me... That's not even fair, what for?!... Sure, whatever. Move it i guess.... No, im not. Can i go now?" He hears you sigh and groan, but you seem to be off the phone, so he quickly hops in the shower before coming to cuddle with you in bed. The evening sun has set, the sky it's deep inky black through the window as he flicks on the tv to something neither of you pay attention to. He wraps you tight on his embrace and kisses your head, asking what your legal partner wanted. "He wants to use the guest room I'm staying in to house his little tramp because she's having 'family issues, don't be such a bitch. She's going through a hard time.'" You grown and half flail like you're having a tantrum, pressing your face into his chest. He grips even tighter, his blood boiling. That man has 0 respect and it shows so much.

"You can bring whatever things you don't want him to touch here." He offers, and you turn your sad, puppy like eyes to him. Even in the dark, under the mild light of his tv, he can see how glassy they are. It hurts his heart. "You can come by whenever you want, too. I'll never turn you away." You open your mouth, voice raspy with tears as you tell him of not wanting to intrude or be a burden but he stops you with a kiss. "Im not him. You will never be a burden to me. I mean it. Whatever or whenever, you always have a sizable place here." The tears fall but you smile at his sweetness, sharing kisses and sniffly thank you's with him. He pulls you on top of him, letting your head lay on his chest as he soothes his hands over your back, telling you to get some well deserved sleep. He thankfully doesn't miss your mutters of how much you like him already and how thankful you are before you're out cold. He places another kiss to your head, smiling as his own eyes close from his own exhaustion. Be it from fucking you like that or from being angry at your paper-only lover, he doesn't know or even care right now. He knows he'll have to explain himself to someone at some point, but that's a task for future Astumu.

Besides, he's just doing what his mama taught him was right, right?

Comments, likes, and reblogs are appreciated! Hope you guys enjoyed! ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

[green-eyedfirework]

Dick sighed as he dragged himself up the stairs, eyes dry and gritty.  He hadn't slept properly all week and he finally, finally had a weekend off.  All he wanted to do was sink into bed.

There were several downsides to not being a corrupt ass-kisser in the Bludhaven PD, and one of those was that his captain hated him.  He was pretty sure Redhorn would love if he expired of exhaustion, but Dick wasn't going to give the bastard the satisfaction.  He joined the police to do good, not take money and look the other way, and he wasn't going to let anyone bully him out.

Unfortunately for Redhorn, Dick was also damn good at his job, and overbooking his schedule was about the only thing the man could retaliate with.

It took him three tries to get the key in the lock--he was tired enough that his vision had started to go hazy, and every second he stayed slumped against the door increased his chances of falling asleep on his doormat--and he yawned jaw-creakingly wide as he stumbled inside.

Bed.  He was so close to sleep.  He didn't care if it was eight in the morning, that was what blackout curtains were for.  He was just musing on whether he should choke down a microwave meal so he wouldn't wake up feeling like his stomach was trying to digest himself when he saw the guy with the gun.

Dick, three steps into his living room, froze.

The guy with the gun smiled.  Before Dick could reach for his own gun, or drop to the ground, or let his sleep-deprived instincts catch up to the danger of the situation, his exhaustion-addled senses noticed the second guy with the gun.  And the third.  And the fourth, though this guy didn't have a gun pointed at Dick, he was just casually poking around Dick's bookshelf like breaking into a cop's home to examine his interior decorating was something he did on a casual Tuesday.

Was it even still Tuesday?

"Detective Grayson," the silver-haired asshole examining the pictures on his bookshelf said, not even turning to look at him.  "Can I trust you not try anything stupid, or do you need to be disarmed?"

Dick's fingers twitched to his gun, but he didn't think he could unholster it and fire before the other three did, not with his current level of exhaustion.  He mentally mourned the loss of his planned sleep.  "Depends on why you broke in here," Dick said evenly.  There was no cover between him and the door, so he couldn't even head out that way.

"If I meant to kill you, Detective Grayson, you'd be dead," the man said, finally turning around.  "Come in and have a seat."  One ice blue eye glittered dangerously.  "Get comfortable.  You look like you've had a long day at work."

Dick's heartbeat was pounding in his ears, everything abruptly clearer with the sudden surge of adrenaline.  He did as he was told, crossing the room slowly and sitting stiffly on the sofa, never moving his gaze from the tall, broad, one-eyed man smirking at him.

"You have a lovely family," the man motioned to the pictures.  "They seem very happy."

Dick resisted the urge to curl his hands into fists.  "Is that a threat?" he asked as evenly as he could.

"A threat?" the man looked amused.  "You're certainly very paranoid, Detective Grayson."

"One of the biggest mob bosses on the East Coast is holding me at gunpoint in my own apartment," Dick said tersely, "I think it's justified."

Slade Wilson shrugged, as if to say can't argue with that.  He turned back to the pictures, as though he was studying them, and Dick went tenser.

Bruce was rich, he reminded himself.  They had security.  Tim was resourceful, Jason was destruction on two legs, and Dick pitied the poor fool that tried to kidnap Cassandra or Damian.  They would be fine.

"No," Slade said finally, "it isn't a threat.  Merely an observation.  Family is important, isn't it?"

Dick forced his racing heart to slow down.  "What are you doing here, Wilson?" he said, just shy of a growl.  "Cut it with the cryptic bullshit."

Slade arched an eyebrow, but Dick didn't take it back.  He was already being held at gunpoint in his own home, he wasn't sure his situation could get much worse.

"I came here," the mob boss said, "because I have a case for you--"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No," Dick repeated, keeping Slade's gaze even when he felt like flinching back at the dark scowl on his face.  "My loyalty isn't for sale, Wilson.  I'm not going to take your money, and I'm not going to be your lackey."

Instead of being met with a bullet to the head, Dick was met with, shockingly, a smile.

"I'm not asking you to do anything other than your job, Detective Grayson," Slade said, retrieving an envelope from his side pocket and tossing it onto the coffee table in front of Dick.  "There's been a kidnapping--"

"Go to the station and file a missing persons report," Dick said evenly, not picking up the envelope.

"Unfortunately, circumstances require discretion," Slade said, expression darkening again.

"And half the department is in your pocket," Dick argued.  He’d found that out the hard way when he’d been forced to watch as Grant Wilson strolled out of the interrogation room with a smirk.  "Why did you decide to come to me?"

Slade was silent for a stretching moment, and then he sighed.  "There's a traitor in my organization," he said plainly.  "I don't know who it is, and unfortunately, that means there's very few people I can trust.  In the absence of those whose loyalties may have been shifted," Slade pushed the envelope closer to him, "I decided to find a cop that was loyal to his job."

Dick kept Slade's intense gaze for a moment longer before reaching for the envelope.  "I'm not going to do your dirty work," Dick reiterated, pulling out the papers inside.  "If this person hasn't been kidnapped and doesn't want to be found, I'm not--" his words trailed off into empty air when he saw the photos.

A young girl, not yet a teenager, scowled at him in the first picture, hair the same color as the man she was sulking next to.  The second, third, and fourth pictures showed the same girl, but tied up and gagged, her surroundings dark, looking up with wide, bright eyes at the camera.

"My daughter has been missing for five days.  They've increased the ransom demand twice."  Slade's expression is a mask of fury, but Dick can hear the desperation in his voice.  "They're hurting her."  Dick withdrew more papers, all the evidence that Slade had apparently collected.  "I don't know who was involved, and I'm not going to risk my daughter's life on it.  Can you find her or not?"

Dick looked again at the first person.  'Dad & Rose' had been scrawled on the back of it, and despite the sulking of the preteen, Dick could see her leaning into her father's side.  "Yes," Dick said quietly.

"Great," Slade said.  "You have twenty-four hours before the ransom drop."  Wait, what?  "And if anything happens to her, Grayson," Slade's expression was colder than ice, "I will ensure you share her fate.  Do you understand?"

Dick swallowed and nodded.

~#~

Twenty-four hours.

The first thing Dick did once all the criminals were out of his apartment was set a timer.  The second thing was to scarf down a microwave meal as he glanced through the evidence and wrote down preliminary thoughts.  The third thing was to take a nap, because Dick was going to get nowhere on fumes.

Eight hours later, Dick felt marginally more human.  Unfortunately, he was also a third down on his time limit, and most of his previous notes were utter gibberish.

Dick took a deep breath, put aside the indirect and direct threats of a mob boss that had broken into his home and held him at gunpoint--Dick was moving after this--and thought about this logically.

Rose Wilson had been kidnapped five days ago.  The fact that she hadn't been found already meant that the mob's resources couldn't find her.  Slade said that he hadn't contacted anyone in the police department, so police resources hadn't been exhausted.  However, if Dick treated this like any other missing persons case, he ran the risk of tipping the kidnappers off and getting a bullet in the head.

Dick checked the time.  Fifteen and a half hours left.

Maybe--maybe he was looking at this the wrong way.  Slade had mentioned several offhand things--if they were all connected, that would give Dick a starting place.

So.  Assume there was a traitor in the Wilson Family.  Assume that they were working with corrupt cops.  Assume that they had used police resources to snatch Rose Wilson.

Dick needed to get to the precinct.

He made it all the way to his building entrance before halting in the street.  There was an expensive black car parked--illegally--right in front of him.  One tinted window rolled down, and Dick met Grant Wilson's unamused expression.

"Get in," the other man ordered.

Dick wanted to point out that he didn't work for the younger Wilson, but getting into a shootout on a busy street seemed like a spectacularly bad idea.  Plus, the clock was ticking.

"Where are you headed?" Grant asked, voice terse.

"Precinct," Dick responded warily, but all Grant did was nod and pull into traffic.  "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think, asshole?" Grant gave him a dirty look.  "You spent nine hours in your apartment.  Did you find Rose?"

Dick decided not to tell him that he'd been asleep.  "Your father told me I had twenty-four hours until the ransom drop," Dick pointed out.

Grant jerked the car to a hard stop and turned to glare at him, eyes burning.  "That's my baby sister that's missing, you fucking pig, so you're going to get one thing straight," he hissed, not noticing or not caring that Dick's hand had immediately gone to his gun.  "If there is so much as a single hair missing from her head, I'm going to make personally sure that you regret it for the rest of your miserable and agonizing life, do. you. understand?"

Dick met his vitriol with artificial calm.  "Was that supposed to incentivize me to work with you?"

Grant growled, actually growled, and Dick remembered that antagonizing the guy rumored to have a hair-trigger temper was not the smartest of plans.

"Look," he interrupted before Grant could speak, "I said I'd help, and I swear, I will do my best to find your sister.  Which means going to the precinct to follow up on my lead, unless you think that being threatened is a better use of my time."

Grant's glare didn't diminish, but he did start the car again.  Dick sat there in silence and wondered how the fuck he was supposed to explain this to anyone.  Sorry, Internal Affairs, I was briefly held hostage by the Mob, but instead of reporting it, I investigated one of their cases and continued working with them.  Redhorn would have a field day if he learned about this.

"So what's your lead?" Grant asked tersely.

Dick decided not to point out that they were going fifteen miles above the speed limit and answered the question.  "I'm going to check if any of the cops have been investigating you guys recently.  If you're worried about a traitor, I thought it was a good place to start."

Grant didn't seem to think so, between the mutters of "Jesus, did Dad tell you everything?" and "it took you nine hours to come up with that, genius?" but he dropped Dick off a street away from the precinct.

"Fifteen hours," he reminded Dick with a glower as Dick slipped out.

The precinct was marginally more tolerable.  Dick made up an excuse that he needed to check something for a case, and it looked like most people bought it.  Redhorn, of course, continued scowling at him from his office, but Dick ducked quickly into the records room, where it didn't take much to sweet-talk the sign-out list from the records keeper.

It turned out that there were a lot of people in here looking up records for cases Dick was pretty sure they weren't working on.  But checking the sign-out list for the last month, there was only one who'd checked the Wilson Family open cases.

"Well, I always knew you were a bastard," Dick murmured, staring at Redhorn's name.

[brucewaynehater101]

I hc Damian sees dick as more of a father then Bruce, my reasoning is that when Bruce was dead, dick was there for him and Damian already mourned that father and accepted dick as his dad.

and since in my brain Bruce causes most of the issues between the brothers, in a au where Bruce wasn’t rescued all the bats are happy and friendly to each other, dick is the older brother who’s basically their dad, Jason who’s very caring yet also insists he’s not (he has anger issues as well), Tim who can’t seem to fully grasp how much everyone cares for him but it’s getting better, and Damian who actually acts his age and not like a 20 year old man with murder problems (he still has murder issues but dicks made him realize that’s wrong)

There was probably quite a bit of an adjustment period in the beginning. When siblings are faced with a change in dynamics so that they need to rely upon each other instead of being pitted against one another, there tend to be big blowups and fights until they get the hang of things.

In this AU, it would be a bit hard to wrangle all the batkids into getting along. Does Tim never find that portrait that starts his search? Did Bruce actually die? Does Alfred find the portrait first and burn it so his family can finally be free (very ooc, but a cool concept)?

Tim finding out Bruce is alive is like a match near gasoline for him. He destroys all of his current relationships (justified or not) to save his dad.

There's also the grief aspect. The Battle of the Cowl could be seen as just the kids trying to find footing with the changes and the grief of loosing their dad.

It doesn't matter how much of a bastard Bruce is in this AU, the kids will still grieve his loss. If he was just unredeemable, they wouldn't have hung on so much. It doesn't matter how much Bruce hits them, verbally abuses them, manipulates, or abandons them when he turns around and acts like a good dad. He has good moments. That's the confusing and complicated aspect of it.

Bruce is the type of man to remember a fact his kids mentioned once off-handedly and distracted. He'd remember when they mentioned a childhood toy they loved but could never find again. He would spend months tracking down that company and hiring them to make they toy again if they didn't have any on hand. There's so much time, effort, and money he would put into such a notion, and he wouldn't make a big deal about it. The kid would probably just find it in their room one day and know it was Bruce.

Then he would turn around and try to convince the kid that all of their friends are out to get them and they can't trust anyone.

This AU would be hard to manage because only Dick is at the stage where he would be willing to give up on his dad. With the fallout of Robin, Dick moved on from unconditional love and belief in Bruce. He went to anger and hurt. He slowly healed those pains, but they were changed. Dick couldn't go back to how they were, but ultimately still loved his dad. Jason's death shattered their relationship. Even after Tim interfered, Dick would never be able to forgive Bruce for that. In the comics, he confronted Bruce about not being told about Jason's death. Bruce's response? He screamed at Dick, hit him, told him he shoulf have never had a partner, told Dick that he would've fired Jason in a few years like he did Dick, and then told Dick to hand his keys to the Manor to Alfred on his way out.

Bruce and Dick can go to therapy for years to work on their relationship, but Dick will never trust Bruce with his siblings again. He can trust the man on a battlefield, but he can't trust him at home.

Dick's love to Bruce, I hc, would turn to apathy, longing, and bitterness intermingled with spurts of reluctant fondness.

Jason, on the other hand, is pissed at Bruce, but he has too much passion to just let him go. It's a transition stage from love to anger to indifference. Through his reactions and actions during the Battle of the Cowl, it's obvious he still cares about Bruce somewhat. The opposite of love isn't hate. It's indifference. If he didn't somewhat care about Bruce, his death wouldn't impact him so much. I personally feel that the incident with Penguin and Gotham Wars is where Jason starts to become indifferent instead. To hate Bruce is to want to change him. It's to want him to be better because you know he can be. To be indifferent to him (outside of horrible actions the man commits) is to know he won't change. It's to give up on him.

Jason still remembers getting ice cream on patrol, sharing popcorn on the couch, reassuring promises of protection, and the laughter he could startle out of his dad. His anger and aggression against Bruce is because he believes that his dad could kill the Joker. He had believed that Bruce would have. Regardless on whether it was the right thing to do or whether a younger version would have wanted that, Jason had faith in Bruce. He ultimately considers his father to be a good guy. Perhaps someone that hurts Jason, but still a good guy.

Dick doesn't regard his father as such. He knows better.

The other kids are still at the love stage, where they rely on Batman and Bruce to be decent and a hero.

Tim may have complicated feelings about Bruce being his dad (how credible that is especially given their history), but he trusts Bruce to make the right decisions. That gospel has been shaken a few times, but it still holds.

Damian is still a child. Capable, kind, fierce, and strong, but still a child.

Cass was given the mission of the Bat by Bruce. He has shown her love and kindness others have not. She can see what he feels and intends to do even as he hurts others. He does not kill.

Barbara has Dick's back before she has Bruce's. Barbara is independent. She does not have the confidence in Bruce that the others do.

I hope Duke is enjoying his time with his parents free from bat drama.

Anyways, I do think the Bats would be better off if Tim hadn't found proof of Bruce's continued existence (it is not his fault that Bruce returned to do horrible shit. He is not to blame). Without it, there might not have been as big of a fallout between Tim and everyone else. There would have been lots of drama and fights between the remaining Bats, but they would eventually settle into a healthier unit.

If anyone wants more about any of this, feel free to send me another ask with what parts you'd like elaborated.