#she absolutely explained whose daughter she was and where she came from

[literaryavenger]

Broken - part 2

Summary: You reach your breaking point and confront the team.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Warnings: Minimal use of Y/N. Hints to eating disorder. Language. Tony being an insensitive ass. Reader being very dramatic. A lot of yelling. Talk about Bucky's past and Tony's parent's murder. Innocent and broken Bucky. My poor attempts at being funny.

Word Count: 2.6K

Part 1

A/N: reader is absolutely dramatic in this and I love it. I can't say enough that this is my first work (second chapter, but still), I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm trying. Also English is not my first language so pardon me for mistakes, I'm really trying not to be too repetitive in my writing and expand my vocabulary and just generally do better. Hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

After a morning of hanging out with Cassie and Scott, Cassie’s mom, Maggie, came to pick her up.

You chatted for a few minutes while Scott and Cassie gathered her stuff and, after you said your goodbye, they took off. 

"Thanks for inviting me to hang out with you guys, Cassie’s such an amazing kid." you say to Scott with a smile while you get in the elevator to the communal floor for lunch with the whole team.

"No need to thank me. Cassie loves you so much, you’re always welcome to join us." He says back as the elevator dings and you get off.

You smile at him and look around to see most of the team already at the table wrapped up in their own conversations.

You don’t have “assigned” seats, but Tony sits at the head of the table on the only side that has only one seat, while the other side has two.

It’s very important for Tony to have this seat as he thinks of himself as the head of your family, even if he doesn’t want to be the team leader.

The rest of you gather around him, usually next to the same people that you enjoy having conversations with.

Today Vision was sitting on Tony’s left side with Wanda next to him, then Pietro, whose other side was empty so Scott sat there.

On Tony’s right was Peter, then Nat and Clint, you sat on the far end leaving a seat empty between you and Clint on your left, and the two seats on the head of the table on your right, also empty, with Scott in front of you.

There are gonna be a few empty seats because Thor, Loki and Bruce were currently in New Asgard.

After a few minutes of conversation with Scott, which mostly consists on trying to come up with your next prank, Sam, Steve and Bucky join you, Sam sitting between you and Clint, Steve on your right at the head of the table with Bucky between Steve and Scott.

You notice Bucky briefly looking at Tony on the other end of the table before bowing his head and staring at the table without saying anything, while Tony stares daggers at Bucky, stopping as soon as he sees you looking.

You think it's weird, but then again you know Tony and Bucky had problems so you let it go.

"Hi, baby." Sam says to you when he sits down, giving you a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi, Sammy." you say chuckling "how you doing?"

"Very good now." he says, putting his arm around you and making you laugh again. "Where have you been all day, I’ve missed you baby."

"I’ve been staying as far away from you as I could, baby." you say jokingly, to which he makes a pretend hurt face with a big gasp that makes both you and Steve laugh. "I was hanging out with my girls."

"But Nat was training and Wanda was hanging out with Vision." Steve points out, a little confused.

"Yeah, she means Tic tac and his daughter." Sam explains while you, him and Scott laugh.

Steve then join in on your laughter and you keep joking until Wanda uses her powers to put the plates full of food on the table, with some help from Vision.

As the lunch went on you all kind of talk to everybody, joking about stupid things mostly you and Scott have done lately.

You notice Bucky is quietly eating, not joining in in any conversations and keeping his eyes on his food.

Nobody is trying to talk to him either and you're about to when you feel Steve nudging you on the arm with his elbow.

you look at him and see him look from you to your plate a couple times.

You give him a small smile and a nod and you eat a couple of bites of your food before he lets himself concentrate on the conversation once more, but not before exchanging a bit of a worried and knowing look with Wanda, which you chose to ignore because you don't want to have that conversation right now.

You bring your attention back to Bucky "So, Bucky, what did you and Cap do after I left this morning?"

As soon as you ask the question the whole table goes quiet. You look around the room and everyone is looking weirdly from you to Steve to Bucky, which confuses you a lot.

You looked back at Bucky, who is about to answer but, after giving Tony a quick glance, he shuts his mouth, deciding against it.

You look at Tony who is giving Bucky a look that if it could kill, it definitely would.

At this point you're pretty fed up with this unspoken tension and, since nobody is saying anything, you decide to address the issue yourself.

"Okay, enough is enough." you say, getting everybody’s attention on you but keeping yours on Tony and Bucky "Will somebody explain to me what the fuck is going on?"

"Language!"

"Stick a sock in it, Rogers. I’m sick of this. I’ve been patient for three fucking months. I’m done with this. You have been treating me with child gloves and it ends now. First you all just disappear for a mission leaving only me behind, then half of you come back and nobody tells me anything about everyone else and when the rest of the team came back, all of you started acting like nothing even happened, barely acknowledging Steve’s absence unless I asked, and even then you just danced around my questions. Now he’s back with someone new and not only are you all still acting like nothing happened, but all of you are being extremely rude and deliberately ignoring the poor guy!"

You point at Bucky, who turns red at the attention and looks uncomfortable, but you go on. "AND Tony hasn’t stopped looking at him like he wants to murder him where he stands! Now, somebody tell me what the fuck happened then and what has been happening for the last three months."

you look at Tony who looks like he was about to explode, but doesn't say anything.

Bucky looks uncomfortable and like he's trying very hard not to look at you.

Steve looks at you with an apologetic face and you know he's not about to tell you anything.

You look around at everyone else and they all look either shocked at your little outburst or guilty because they know you're right.

Most of them avoid your gaze and the ones that are looking at you are silently asking you to let it go.

After a few minutes of no one saying anything, you lose the last chill you had.

"FINE!" you yell, getting up and slamming your hand on the table, startling almost everybody after the uncomfortable silence you’d been sitting in.

"If you’re gonna insist on treating me like a fucking child, keeping me out of these serious business, trusting a literal child more than me," you said pointing at Peter "then maybe I should start behaving like one. Or no, you know what, better yet, since none of you trust me anyway, I should just quit this fucking team and move out!"

Without giving anyone the chance to answer you storm off towards the stairs, going straight to the smallest training room to try and calm down a little, since it’s the one no one ever uses and no one’s gonna think of looking for you there.

You get on the treadmill and started running, not stopping until you see the light from outside dim and the gym lights turn on.

You turn the machine off and as soon as you stop you feel so dizzy that you almost fall over and have to hold on to the handles of the treadmill just to keep your balance.

After a few minutes you catch your breath, then stumble towards the punching bag and start throwing punches as hard as you can, still so angry that you don't even think about wrapping your hands.

After about half an hour of angry punching your knuckles are bleeding, but you only stop when your head starts spinning and you slip on the floor out of breath while you start seeing black spots.

You feel a hand on your shoulder and when you look up you see Bucky with a very worried look on his face.

He's saying something to you but his voice is so distant you could barely hear him. You look at him confused for a second before feeling yourself slipping away and then everything goes black.

You wake up to confused yelling and your head pounding, and it takes you a second to even realize where you are. You try to sit up but have an IV on your arm that stops you.

You look around the room confused, finding the source of all the noise: Tony is very intently yelling at Bucky who's just looking at his feet, his face covered by his long hair, while Steve is trying very hard to keep Tony away from Bucky while also yelling at him to calm down.

"Let go of me Rogers, it’s HIS fault she’s here!" Tony yells "and it’s your fault he’s here in the first place!"

"Tony, you don’t know what happened, you can’t just accuse Bucky everytime something happens!" Steve yells back, struggling to keep him away from Bucky.

"LOOK AT THEM! THEY’RE BOTH COVERED IN BLOOD AND HE WAS THE ONLY ONE TO SEE HER ALL AFTERNOON, WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?!" At this point you're sick of the screaming and especially of the random accusations against Bucky.

"Can you stop yelling for fuck’s sakes?" you say, even if it comes out lower and weaker than you’d like.

The three men all look at you, a little surprised and worried sick.

"Y/N! Are you ok? What did he do to you?" Tony says, getting angrier with every word, while you're just confused by his accusations.

"What are you talking about, Tony? Nobody did anything to me, I just passed out."

"You don’t have to cover for that murderer, just tell me what really happened!" murderer? What is he talking about?

You can tell he was trying not to yell too much at you since you're not the object of his anger, but his insults and his insinuating that you're lying are making you angry, a feeling that just grows when you see all the guilt and hurt in Bucky’s face at his words, which just breaks your heart.

"You want to know what happened, Stark?" you're the one yelling now "You, the whole team, pissed me off so much that I spent several hours running and hitting a punching bag so hard that I bled and then passed out from exhaustion and probably dehydration. And stop yelling at Bucky, if it wasn’t for him finding me and bringing me here I could’ve died in that gym, so you should be fucking thanking him!" you yell the last part so loudly that you think that's gonna be the end of that, but Tony has more to say.

"THANK HIM?!" he yells, his eyes open wide, almost in shock. "YOU THINK I SHOULD THANK THE MAN THAT MURDERED MY PARENTS?!" He yells so loudly that you're surprised he still had a voice to keep going.

But he did, a little quieter after seeing the shocked look on your face. "You have no idea who he is! Who he truly is… I know you love hearing stories about Steve and him in the 40s, but that’s not who he is now. It’s not who he’s been for the last 70 years!"

You're hanging on his every word, looking at Bucky’s general direction every now and then, scared to meet his eyes and have everything Tony was saying confirmed.

But that wasn’t a problem, since Bucky's back at looking at his feet, like a kid being yelled at by a parent for doing something wrong.

"He’s been under Hydra’s control all this time! He’s been taught how to be invisible, how to disappear and most importantly how to kill, in every way possible. He’s been killing people for decades, living as a ghost story, unstoppable and unbeatable. Three months ago Steve found him and set out to help him, and when half of us didn’t agree with him, we battled against each other. The half of the team that came back later had to spend some time on the Raft while we worked on their release. For Barnes it took longer, and Steve refused to leave his side. They were lucky enough to get them to release this monster, and if it was for me it never would’ve happened. So do not tell me to thank a murderer, a monster that broke my family in 1991 and almost broke it again a few months ago!"

You're shocked.

Not just because of Bucky’s past, but because of what happened three months ago.

Because of what everybody kept from you.

You feel absolutely betrayed by everybody. Everybody except Bucky, funnily enough. You're barely listening to what is being said.

You hear Steve’s "He was being mind controlled" and Tony’s "That’s all an excuse" but your attention is elsewhere.

You're looking at Bucky who is visibly trembling and, when he looks up at Steve for a few seconds because of something he says in his defense, you see his face clearly and it's wet with tears.

It absolutely breaks your heart and you make eye contact for a second before he quickly bows his head again and slowly backs away from the room, almost scared.

The two yelling men don’t even seem to notice the loss of a fourth person in the room and keep on yelling until they just keep repeating the same things, and you're done.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" you yell at the top of your lungs, leaving them instantly silent.

"I don’t care who you think he is. The man you seem to hate so much is absolutely nothing like the man that walked into the tower this morning. The man that’s been so scared to even just talk, that he keeps his head down and doesn’t make a sound unless spoken to. The man that saved my life today. The man that ran out of here is absolutely broken, and it’s 100% your fault!" you end, looking straight into Tony’s eyes.

"Y/N, Bucky’s-" Tony started, but you cut him off.

"Bucky is the only one in this tower to not have lied to me. All of you kept me in the dark on this." You're now looking at Steve. "You’re no better, Rogers. Half of the team, half of my family was in, not just any prison, but the fucking Raft, and none of you told me. Why? Why just me?" you almost whisper the question you’ve been wanting to ask for the last three months, tears flooding your eyes.

"We didn’t want to put that on you..." Steve says.

"We knew how hard it would’ve been for you to choose a side…" Tony adds.

"BULLSHIT!" you yell, startling them. "Do not give me this 'we did this for you' bullshit. You did this for yourselves, because neither of you wanted to see me choose the other one. But you know what? I don’t want to choose either of you. Now you both lost me. So I hope you’re happy, because you brought this on yourselves for lying to me for so long. I’m done!"

You get up, tears streaming down my cheeks, take the IV out of your arm and walk right out of the room while the two men watch you leave, too stunned to say anything.

Part 3

[lastcompact]

>> You don't get it.

>> Shouldn't they have been attacked by now?

>> She'd been waiting for the Truthseekers to attack, ever since she discovered that the Truthseekers were hunting for Keter-aligned souls, meaning you and Sato. And you're definitely at your weakest, having to protect two dozen people and Sato in an incredibly hostile environment.

>> Some of the people under your care mutated spontaneously or proved they were too dumb to live. And it was always you with your girlfriend helping that had to get them out of the predicament.

>> Your left arm is broken and impaled now, having been forced to knock a kid out of the way who you ended up having to execute anyway. The red < Infection > debuff is already part of your status ailments, ticking slowly upwards and now at 12%. You would've cut your arm off if it would've helped things, but it seems it's already bloodborne now.

>> You spoke to Sato about this - if you show signs of turning. Just abandon everyone and run away on her own - but she seems determined to stick by your side.

>> Sappy words were said. Words you couldn't repeat even in the sanctity of your own mind without making you redden a little.

>> In any case, you were at your worst point right now. And you would've expected the Truthseekers to have come by by now. If only to offer to help you in exchange for your cooperation.

>> The fact they haven't is downright strange.

>> ...Unless you or Sato were never the target at all.

>> But that doesn't make sense either. The Vessel clearly refers to Lils herself, and to have a third Keter-aligned soul associated with her is so statistically improbable - 1 in billions - that it was laughable.

>> So it's either you're wrong.

>> ...Or they're wrong.

>> Oh.

>> Kryffin hell.

>> They're wrong.

---

>> Back in the past timeline, you had absorbed the memories of an old retired Templar that had been tortured to death, Samantha Golden. It's where all her near-uncontrollable urges to smoke came from.

>> It became useful when you vigorously interrogated - well, outright tortured - the man who tortured and killed Golden in the first place. Pretending you were Golden back from the then helped the interrogation out quite a bit. In any case, he was from Absolute Radiance, the group that became the Truthseekers in this timeline.

>> The interrogation revealed that, several years prior, the Radiance cult had kidnapped a young girl believed to be of the Keter alignment and then sacrificed her in order to revive their god.

>> Except it didn't work, because the girl wasn't Keter.

>> So clearly whatever method they used to sense soul alignment was flawed.

>> And then there was the Cassiel family. In the past timeline, they were highly active in their lobbying of the government to restrict the Exotics, the name of metahumans at the time. Most of the restrictive laws like registration and GPS chipping were lobbied by them.

>> However, this timeline, they didn't even make a splash.

>> As they were clearly a group determined to make your life miserable, you did some research into them.

>> A big family that worked in the packaging business - and a family whose children consisted solely of sons who were lawyers. You never heard of a daughter at all, though you admittedly didn't check very hard on that front.

>> Anyway, the fact that the Cassiels did almost nothing this timeline - despite all the superheroing and supervillainry carried out by metahumans - had made you extremely suspicious about their motives. Like waiting for a ticking time bomb to explode.

>> You were particularly suspicious of the girl named Aeria Cassiel, who definitely didn't exist in the past. (and the fact that you highly suspect she's you in this Timeline). Given how much she tried to cozy up to Lils and yourself, you were sure that she and her family was up to no good.

>> ...

>> But if Aeria was the girl that ended up being sacrificed in the past timeline.

>> It explains everything.

>> Why the Cassiels have done nothing against the metahuman community.

>> Why the Truthseekers haven't done anything against you here despite being at your weakest.

>> Because they're going after the wrong target right now.

[faithintaiwan]

august 1st - lotus pond, qishan train station

Today was Amy's birthday!! Happy birthday!!

Our first stop was the Lotus Pond where we went to the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas and the Spring and Autumn Pavilion. It was absolutely gorgeous and something I had been looking forward to so I was really happy!

Unfortunately, the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas were closed for construction so we were only able to go through the mouths of the creatures and not up the towers. Then, we walked over to the pavilion where Peter told us about the Sea Goddess who is really popular in Taiwan because of the ocean trip that everyone had to take to immigrate here. This one was fully open and we were able to walk through everything. On the way back from Lotus Pond, some people in our group were stopped by a religious ? group and were given these cute little flower keychains.

After we went to another Mongolian BBQ place to eat lunch! I love a free lunch and it was delicious! I even got to watch more AOT during it so it really was perfect. Then, we headed an hour out to the Qishan Train Station.

Some people took some photos and there was a cute baby battery powered train. We also got these coupons for 30 NTD off so most of us bought matching banana keychains for only 29 NTD!! They're so cute and mine will be staying on my bag for Gainesville.

When we finally ended our program day it was time to celebrate Amy!! Fanny and I got her a birthday cake after going to two bakeries because the first was closed. A group of us celebrated by eating her cake and watching the sunset from the Great Harbor Bridge before going to a bar and dinner. Fanny and I had so much fun despite being exhausted from the long day and I hope she had an amazing birthday!!

Academic Reflection

Both the Pagodas and the Pavilion had images on the walls that depicted Confucius stories. Peter explained that when he was growing up he learned the stories of the good child. The stories are called the Twenty Four Paragons of Filial Piety or the Twenty Four Filial Exemplars and each strive to teach children the lengths to which they should go to honor and follow their parents. Some stories include the son lying down bare chested on ice to melt it in order to bring home fish for his mother or him sacrificing himself to the mosquitoes so his father will not get bit throughout the night. One particularly horrifying one to me is the story of a mother whose teeth fell out so her daughter sacrificed herself and breastfed her… I think we all know the stereotype of the tiger parent in Asian-American culture and now I understand where some of these ideas came from! On the walls of the pagodas and pavilion, I was able to see the ice one specifically and the rest were images of the rest of the stories. On the other wall was an illustration of hell.

Our second stop, the Qishan Train Station was located in a town with many bananas! It was even nicknamed Banana Kingdom according to Taiwan Everything. It used to be a distribution point for bananas and sugarcane which is why the image of bananas is plastered everywhere on billboards and on merch even within the station.

[candy-ac3]

Guys can I just say I’m like a massive beetle juice fan (both musical and the original movie with the musical being the first I ever seen live and I own a beetle juice poster along with a bunch of other stuff) and when I first heard they were making a sequel I was really pumped like “wow probably my all time fav movie is getting a sequel let’s go!” But more stuff came out like how the main character who’s going to be Lydia’s daughter (whose name I’m 99.9% is out I just don’t know yet) was going to be played by that one actress from Wednesday (I’m shit with names and don’t have the energy to look it up) which like okay I guess I mean she was a good actress in that show (in my opinion) so like yeah sure I’m okay with that but then a realization hit me “oh shit they just want to have another Lydia but wanna play it off in universe with someone else” which I’m not saying that’s 100% what they were wanting (as I don’t look at too much behind the scenes stuff for movies before they’re out so they could have explained it and I’m just wrong) and like I’m sorry but at least from what I’ve seen but there’s no charm to it like in the original from the trailers and like I can’t even say the charm is because of nostalgia because I grew up absolutely scared of this movie to the point where my parents would scare me by saying Beetlejuice and I’m totally cool with new movies coming out so it’s not just an “old good bad new” but also the whole Adam and Barbara not being in this movie because in the original it’s stated that they would haunt the house for like 100 years or something and we know damn well it hasn’t been that long so I expect at least some kind of decent explanation! Like from what I know there’s so many ways for this to end up and a lot aren’t good

Granted even with all this shit I’m still going to watch it in theaters but just know if the movie turns out to be bad I’m rebloging and saying “I told you bitches so!”

[a-student-out-of-time]

*Meanwhile, on the fifth floor*

Where the hell could she have gone?

This is absolutely ridiculous. There’s no way she escaped, but she’s so short and skinny...she could hiding anywhere.

Hmm...Well, there’s always her “friends.” Surely they must be desperate to know where Deguchi is, if they don’t already know...

And I know where just Tamon-san usually happens to-

???: Shingetsu-san!

Oh, for God’s sake, what now?

I’d like a word with you.

As would I!

Oh...wh-what is it?

Well, my first question is why, exactly, you allow students to access everything from insecure medication to hazardous chemicals? Mind explaining why I found phenylacetic acid in one of the labs?

But more to my point, what the hell happened in Class 77-B? My daughter and her classmates were drugged with some kind of aphrodisiac, and things were close to escalating dangerously.

What’s next? Unrestricted access to phenobarbital? Or hydrofluoric acid?

W-Well...

I’ve interviewed plenty of the students in Class 77, and all of them can confirm what exactly happened. How did you even allow anyone access to dangerous psychoactives?

Mind explaining what exactly you’ve been doing running around the school, rather than staying and answering questions?

Are you looking for whatever excuses you can find?

Th-That’s not-

Look here! You two came searching for evidence, but all you’ve pointed out are failings in application! No, we wouldn’t simply allow anyone access to medications or chemicals, not at all!

Come with me and I’ll show you what exactly we intended the goal be.

You mean the goal wasn’t to find someone else to blame?

My apologies, I just got back from an event where I busted someone who also had a lot to hide.

Gotta say, Shingetsu-san, you’re not looking much different from where I’m standing.

Then come with me and allow me to change your mind.

After you.

Lead the way.

*Mai does so, leading Harumi and Daisuke down the hall*

*Mayumi peaks out from a nearby door*

Perfect.

_________________________________________________

Looks like they’ve got her attention. You guys ready?

I feel like there were better ways we could’ve done this.

*Estu is sitting in a trashbag inside a large cardboard box, whose interior is also lined with bubble wrap*

Not with our current situation, I’m afraid.

Now, help me with this.

*Estu sinks into the bag, which Mayumi and Nikei wrap in the bubble wrap and close the box’s sides around*

Seriously, this is crazy.

Estu: It’s fine. We’ve both survived worse.

Yeah, I was in a plane crash once. This is nothing.

...Okay, I actually wanna hear these stories now.

We’ll get to those later. Help me get the box on the windowsill.

[tb-gerschutz]

Five

Word Count: 4,585

Trigger Warning(s): threatening, inter-marital arguing, more recounting of ab*se

Summary: Anaysha and Oberyn attend a meeting and try to work out what will happen next in the fight against Brandeth Sparr.

**********

BRANDETH

I have managed to keep my anger against Anaysha to the point where I didn't have to do anything too homicidal and rash. Do I still hold a flaming torch against her and want her to be executed for her crimes? Sure, but there's no point in bending over backwards to beckon her back to the Iron Islands.

Either I'll make devious threats against her to force her to come back here and face her consequences—the consequences in which her head will be on a silver platter—or I'll wage war against the kingdom she seeks sanctuary in, destroying the land around her and maybe even killing her along the way. Overall, there really isn't any point in going out of my way to drag my stubborn daughter back here. Not when I know that the threat of Oberyn Martell looms behind her.

I was sitting in a giant congregation room where we typically had our military planning sessions before our many conquests and any emergency meetings. My eldest Crodell decided to join me and have a heart-to-heart with me about his cousin's wedding. Perhaps he really enjoyed attending the wedding in Dorne. My wife, who had just entered the room from attending to the ill Brealla, had also joined us to—I assume—also talk about the wedding ceremony in Godsgrace.

"How is Brealla?" I asked in a concerned tone.

She smiled. "She'll be fine. She just came down with a dastardly case of influenza and a high fever while we were away, which caused her to be subjected to bedrest by our handmaidens. They say she'll be back to herself most likely in the morning. Thank God for that."

She sat down at the large table to join me and Crodell, whose stone-faced expression made him emotionless at this moment in time. It reminded me of myself in a way, and not just because he looked almost exactly like me. Then again, all of my sons bore a strong resemblance to me. It's all in the Mullendore-Sparr family lineages. All of the sons looked almost like their father, and all the daughters looked almost like their mother. Well, except for Anaysha, who somehow got the best of both worlds at a perfect balance and bore a strong resemblance to both me and her mother.

"The wedding was absolutely fantastic, wasn't it?" I asked, starting it off.

"It sure was, dear. It was satisfying to see Sabas and Taliya so happy and so in love," Giyana commented.

"Speaking of seeing someone so happy and in love, I could've sworn I saw Anaysha there as well," Crodell spoke.

I turned my head to look deep into his dark eyes. "Really?"

"Yes. And it looked like she was on the arm of one of the princes there," Crodell answered back.

Giyana and I exchanged glances with each other before continuing to look upon Crodell. He, not once, broke from the pressure of people staring at him.

That's my boy, I thought.

"You thought you saw Anaysha?" I asked.

"I'm almost sure I did. And she was getting awfully cozy with Oberyn Martell," Crodell explained.

My brows furrowed. "And you're sure she looked like Anaysha?"

"She fit the description perfectly," Crodell started. "Dark brown eyes, dark brown hair...I think it fits the description."

I glanced over to my wife, who was oddly quiet through all this. "It sure sounds like her, doesn't it?"

"It does, but it doesn't mean anything, Brandeth," she voiced. "It could be anyone."

"Crodell, you have to be absolutely sure that you saw your sister. Otherwise, it will not end up well for you," I warned.

His face didn't break one bit, his eyes remaining completely focused on mine. "I swear on my God-given life, Father, that I saw someone who looked like her on the arm of the crown prince of Dorne. You can count on my word because I cannot lie about what I saw there."

My mind started to debate with itself as if two bitter rivals were waging war against one another. Should I trust my eldest son and take his side once again? Or should I venture away from that and rely on my own opinion?

"It has to be her, Giyana. No other girl in Westeros bears resemblance to her," I commented, "and I'm not sure if she is in a courtship with that Dornish snake or not, but one thing is for sure. I will not rest until I find out, and if the rumors are true, then Anaysha will most definitely die...along with that bastard of a prince."

"You have to be joking," my wife said, trying—to no avail—to calm me. "You wouldn't just kill your own daughter for something that she—"

"Don't you even try to defend her, Giyana!" I exclaimed. "She has to face the consequences of her actions, and you coddling her just tells her that she can do whatever she wants without facing the consequences that she deserves!"

She quickly rose to her feet, aggravated with my seemingly reasonable views. According to her, my views were anything but that. "You brought this upon yourself, and you damn well know it! Had it not been for your selfishness, tensions would not have boiled over to this point. This is your own damn fault, Brandeth, and you know it!"

I was shocked by my wife's reaction. It was a lot more volatile than I expected, and I didn't think she'd erupt like that. I always thought that she was always on my side, given her generally reserved and quiet disposition. Evidently, I was wrong. But I wasn't wrong about going after Anaysha...because I will do whatever it takes to make sure she gets the reckoning that she deserves.

* * * * * *

ANAYSHA

The prince and I managed to arrive back at the capital safely. Thank God for that. I was riddled with anxiety when I caught sight of my father at Sabas's wedding, but thanks to the Dornish crown prince, I felt a feeling of security and comfort. He holds that power, and it certainly worked to my benefit.

"Home at last," he said, breathing and exhaling in the fresh Dornish air.

I stayed silent, knowing that I wasn't at home. Then again, that might be for the best, considering the sour relationship I have with my father.

He and I headed back into the palace, his confidence seemingly soaring higher than one of Daenerys Targaryen's dragons. I, however, remained docile and had a face that carried no emotion whatsoever. I had to keep a strong facade in order to be a threat. If I dared show any kind of emotion, then I won't be as much of a threat to my father as I hoped to be. I had to somehow convince myself that I was a big threat to my father and his empire, and doing this was the only way to sway me.

"Welcome back, Your Highness," one of the Dornish servants said, bowing to both the Red Viper and myself, "and Her Royal Highness."

I smiled and gave the Dornish servant a simple nod. "Thank you. But you don't have to bow for me. You are a person as much as I am, and I don't believe such a nice person like yourself should be forced to be below someone like me."

"I'm just treating foreign royals like yourself with some respect," the servant responded.

"And I admire you for that," I said. "Just keep doing your job and being the person that you are right now, and everything should be fine."

The Dornish servant smiled. "I'll keep that in mind, Your Majesty." He then dashed off immediately to continue fulfilling his servant duties to Dorne's royals, including the Red Viper.

The prince and I continued to stroll through the palace, not knowing what to do next. Our minds were already focused on the events at the wedding, which meant that there was no more room for other thoughts to enter.

"Modesty and kindness...those are good colors on you, princess," the Red Viper said flirtatiously.

I smirked, my cheeks turning as red as a rose. "Well, I have to prove to others that I am not a bad person."

"What makes you say that you're bad?"

"People come to know who my father truly is. They find out that he's a ruthless monster underneath that bulky skin of his and want nothing to do with him. In turn, they decide that they want nothing to do with anyone who has any affiliation with him. I never wanted it to happen, so that's why I'm trying to prove them wrong. That any person of the Mullendore-Sparr family line who has even the slightest connection to Brandeth Sparr isn't necessarily a bad person."

He turned his head to continue walking forward. "I never thought of you as a bad person, if it's any consolation."

I gave him a confused glance. "Really? In all of the time we spent together, you never once thought that I had horrible qualities that I couldn't be redeemed from?"

Once again, we stopped dead in our tracks as we locked eyes in a somewhat intense showdown. I could almost tell that there was tension between us. Amorous tension that was desperate to erupt from both of our souls. Granted, I had that intense feeling of desire for the flirty yet protective and brutal Dornish crown prince, but it didn't seem like the right opportunity to tell him such.

"Of course not! When I locked eyes with you for the first time, I knew—deep down—that you were that special person that would forever be immortalized into my memory. And I'm extremely lucky that now, I have that privilege to call you my beautiful desert flower, and nothing short of that."

I turned my head away from him, looking down and bashfully grinning to myself. He, on the other hand, was giving me the same crooked smile that was forever imprinted into my head. Even though I had much more to discover about the Red Viper, I felt as though I'd known him for my entire life. He made me feel something that I dared not feel with my own family, which proves that he has a special kind of power lorded over me. No one else has—or ever will have— that special power that he possesses, and that is one of the ways that makes him above the rest.

"Your Highness," another Dornish servant called, coming out from a part of the palace that was behind me. "All the members of the congregation are here and filing into the conference chambers as requested."

"Good. See to it that they're treated especially well while Her Royal Majesty and I get changed into more suitable clothing," the Red Viper directed.

"Of course," the servant agreed, walking off hurriedly to fulfill the prince's request immediately.

After changing into a fancy black gown with silver shoulder embellishments, I watched as the Dornish prince, who was clad in another intricately designed gold robe, waltz out of his sleeping quarters and toward the conference chambers. Before he waltzed off, however, the prince turned back to the room and faced me, his impressively muscular body leaning against the doorframe. His arms were crossed firmly as if he was sheltering something.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked.

I looked at him confusedly. "Why would I? I'm not part of this—congregation that you are a contributing member of."

"But you are my lover and deserve to be there alongside with me," he said, gesturing his head toward the conference chambers. "Come. I'm sure they won't mind one bit."

It made me wonder what plan was truly being formulated in the Red Viper's brain. Was this some part of a dastardly plan to stab me in the back? Or did the crown prince of Dorne truly have genuine intentions to involve me in as much of Dorne's culture as possible? At this point in time, I don't know whether or not to trust a man like him, but at least I hold more trust for him than my own father.

But I decided to join the Dornish prince anyway because why the hell not? I might as well get my first taste of a congregation meeting at this age since I was never allowed to sit in on the multiple meetings my father held.

When I walked into the chambers, I was met with several eyes. Some of those eyes I knew somehow, though I never met these people in person. I was nervous about being around complete strangers like all these surrounding the huge square table. Luckily, the Dornish prince comforted me and made me feel less nervous than I already was.

"Princess, welcome to the Westeros War Congregation," he said proudly. "It is a council of fifteen members—all are from different parts of Westeros—who monitor potential threats and intervene if necessary."

"Seems straightforward enough," I nodded.

I took the empty seat next to the prince's right, smoothing out the skirt of my dress and making sure it didn't get caught on the chair's leg. I then exchanged glances with the other members, who looked at me with confused yet unsure expressions. They didn't know who I was, nor did they know why I was there.

"Prince Oberyn, thank you so much for being so gracious to allow Dorne to be the host kingdom for this meeting," one of the members thanked on behalf of everyone.

"It's the least I can do," the prince responded. "I'm sure you're all wondering about the renowned guest that's joining us here today. This is—"

I held up my hand, which almost immediately quieted the Red Viper. "Thank you, but I got this."

I rose to my feet, the palms of my hands flat on the smooth tabletop. Giving all of the council members a serious glance, I started to introduce myself to all of them.

"I am Anaysha Cathelyne Brooke Mullendore Sparr, Grand Princess of the Iron Islands. Daughter of Brandeth Sparr—King of the Iron Islands and Head of House Sparr—and Giyana Mullendore, Queen of the Iron Islands and former princess of The Reach. I am here in Dorne out of my own safety from my abusive and bull-headed father."

After I sat down, one of the kings—Jon Snow, the king of The North—spoke up. "Well, Your Highness, you're in luck because the topic of discussion today is about your father."

"If I may, I welcome Her Royal Majesty here to Dorne with open arms because of the situation she is stuck in. And I believe that her insights that she'll hopefully provide today will allow us to formulate a method to successfully bring down the threat status of King Brandeth Sparr," the Red Viper added.

The other members looked around and simply nodded, agreeing with the prince's proposition.

"As you all are aware, the threat of King Brandeth of the Iron Islands is getting to be dangerous to all of the inhabitants of Westeros. We've been keeping track of the rumors that have been circulating about him, and it seems as though they are true. He's willing to do anything in order to get his own daughter Anaysha here killed for her crimes, which we all are in agreement that they are bullshit," King Jon Snow of the North started. "It's getting so horrible that he's putting forth death threats against his daughter. I have to say, I'm not surprised by it, but I am shocked that someone would do that to their own daughter."

The Dornish crown prince turned to me, giving me a glance as if I was in trouble. "You were getting death threats and didn't tell me?"

"You can't blame me, Your Highness. I didn't catch wind of this news until now," I replied.

"Regardless, we need to take action before these threats get worse and someone like Her Royal Highness here ends up dead," King Bran Stark of the Crownlands stated.

As the other members gave their opinion on what should be done, I couldn't help but intently listen in, while the prince of Dorne did the same. Of course, he showed his confidence like he typically did, while I remained calm, collected, and almost expressionless. When it came time for Gendry Baratheon—the King of the Stormlands—to give his opinion, I was almost bombarded with all the differences everyone had. The difference of opinion that would haunt me for the time being. My bones were being riddled with the most debilitating anxiety, but I was somehow managing to keep it from rising to the surface. But this debilitating feeling was quickly suppressed when the prince of Dorne glanced over to me, somehow breaking through my walls and noticing the anxiety I had being in a room full of strangers.

From underneath the table, his hand moved over to mine. His fingers slowly wanted to intertwine with mine, and after several moments of him running the back of his hand along mine, I finally gave in. I grasped his coarse, calloused hand and allowed him to bring comfort to me. As he let go of my hand, he decided to instead rest his hand on my thigh, resisting the urge to take me to his chambers and have his way with me. I wouldn't mind, but was I ready for it? No. No, I was not. But I certainly wouldn't complain—and I'd whole-heartedly agree—if the prince slung me over his shoulder and had his way with me while we were in private.

"If you don't mind us asking, Anaysha, we were wondering what your father has been known to do. What is he prone to do? We thought that someone who lives within the same walls as him would know about the psychology behind him," Jon Snow said.

I inhaled sharply, feeling the Dornish prince's touch on my skin. "He's been abusive most of my life. Ever since I was, I believe, six, he started with emotional abuse. The name-calling, the hovering...all of it. But it only got worse once I turned fourteen."

"What happened once you turned fourteen?" one of the council members asked.

"He tried to force me into arranged marriages. Arranged marriages that he—and I—knew would not end well. I tried telling him multiple times that I was going to find a suitor myself in a genuine way."

The members looked at me confusedly. "What do you mean by 'a genuine way'?" a council member named Dercin Crane questioned.

"I believe in finding love by yourself. Love should be birthed naturally, not forced upon someone. You're more willing to be in love and have a successful relationship if you fall in love genuinely and not being forced into it. Love isn't for everyone, but it sure is for me. And I'll be damned if I allow my father to force me into a relationship that I don't want to be in."

"Anything else we should know about your father that might help us?" Greysor Tyrell—the King of The Reach—asked.

"He's been known to make empty threats for his own personal gain," I answered. "He'll threaten a kingdom with absolute demolition, trying to get them to give him everything he wants. If they dare to fight back, he invades them and completely wipes them out with his armies and weapons."

Silence befell the council meeting, as all the members looked around, waiting for someone to speak up. I remained silent, reliving the horrible nightmares of my father using his iron fist to raise hell in my life. And even though I was on the verge of tears, I kept my strong facade because I was raised to keep a strong face in the middle of adversity.

If there's one thing that my mother—I won't say my father because I want nothing to do with my father unless I get the opportunity to lay my hands on him—taught me, it's that in order to be a strong and fierce leader, you need to make sacrifices for the sake of your people. In this case, I'm making the sacrifice of shutting off my emotions and being strong in adversity's face. I have to do that in order to ensure not only my safety but those around me, as well...and that includes the crown prince of Dorne.

"And as the Grand Princess of the Iron Islands, I can say, with the utmost confidence, that if nothing is done to neutralize this ongoing threat, then my father will not hesitate to set the entirety of Westeros ablaze with the cruelest hellfire known to man," I stated firmly.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. That is why we're here," the Dornish crown prince said reassuringly.

The prince then turned to the rest of the congregation. "Right now, King Brandeth hasn't taken action or come close to it. At the moment, he's all talk and isn't backing up what he says. I suggest that we remain docile and not engage him unless the kingdom of Dorne is directly threatened."

"You think that's our best bet?" one of the council members questioned.

"I think it is," I answered, looking directly into the Red Viper's eyes and turning back to the congregation. "If we try to pick a fight with my father, then he'll storm our lands with his armies and fight back ten times harder...and it will only end in the things inside our nightmares, if you're curious about what happens afterward."

The council members whispered to one another, talking with each other about what they think should be done. The kings, however, did not talk. Instead, they listened in on what was being said. Had they already made up their minds? One thing's for sure...I already did, and I'm sure the Red Viper has, as well.

"I'd like to call upon the council members to see what you've decided," King Jon Snow said. "Her Royal Highness made a point. If we pick a fight against Brandeth Sparr, he will most definitely fight back ten times harder, and it won't end well. Therefore, I will officially state that we should not engage King Brandeth unless a kingdom gets into the mix of this struggle."

One by one, every council member gave their opinions, all of them seemingly agreeing with King Snow.

"I agree," each one of them would say. Sometimes, they added on their personal thoughts, but it was only a select few who did that.

Then came to me and the Red Viper. We were the only two who had to give our opinions. And even though I felt I already gave my opinion, I felt obligated to give it a confirmed account of it.

"I think we should remain docile unless a kingdom is directly threatened," I said, "so yes. I agree with staying neutral unless threatened."

Without moving his hand off of my thigh, the Red Viper confidently and boldly gave his opinion on the matter. "Keeping true to my kingdom's neutrality, I will stand on the side of remaining militarily docile unless my kingdom or another is directly threatened."

"So we're all in agreement? We're to remain neutral unless Brandeth Sparr directly threatens Dorne or any other kingdom?" Jon asked, giving us all a chance to backtrack on our statements.

Adamant about where I stood, I nodded, while the other council members nodded in agreement.

"Great! Meeting adjourned, everyone," Jon said proudly.

The other council members rose up from their seats, venturing out of the room with the intent on heading back to their respective kingdoms. Kings Greysor Tyrell and Gendry Baratheon walked off out of the room together, possibly talking about what just went down, while the Red Viper and I lingered in the room momentarily, also discussing what went down moments before.

"Your Highness," King Snow called out.

The Red Viper and I, who were practically touching shoulders while we tried to walk off, turned back around to face Kings Snow and Stark.

"I admire that bravery of yours. It is absolutely disheartening to watch a daughter be dragged through hell by their own father, and you recounting those nightmares was so brave of you," King Snow commented.

"It takes a lot of guts to be able to tell a group of complete strangers what happened to you," King Stark added, "and we appreciate that. Your insight today definitely tells us what we're dealing with."

I slightly bowed my head to them. "Thank you."

I exchanged a quick glance with the Red Viper, who proudly stood by me and beamed with pride. This was his lover right here. His stubborn yet boldly confident lover.

"If I may, Your Highnesses, I'd like to ask a favor from you both," I said in the gentlest voice possible.

"Anything, Grand Princess," King Stark said back.

"Can you keep an eye on the Iron Islands and my father, and update me on all of the happenings inside of those borders?" I asked calmly. "I just want to ensure the safety of myself and others. That's all."

The kings looked at each other and smiled. "Of course. We'll keep track of him and update you in a week's time," King Snow promised.

"That would be great. Thank you so much," I said, thanking them profusely.

They nodded. "And you let us know if anything happens to change," King Stark said.

"I most certainly will," I promised them, as they walked out of the room and left me there by myself with the Red Viper.

It was so silent that you could hear a speck of dust falling to the ground. The silence between the prince and I was palpable, and I wanted desperately to lighten the mood or at least engage in some form of conversation with him.

"When they were talking with us, I thought they were proposing a potential alliance," he said.

I gave him a demented glance. "Alliance?"

"Imagine it, princess," he said, going into great detail of this idea. "The North, The Crownlands, and Dorne...three of the most powerful nations in Westeros. If someone like your father finds out that Dorne has those two kingdoms in its back pocket, then it will not be threatened for the rest of its existence!"

I had to think about it. Would such powerful kings be willing to align with a generally neutral kingdom?

"Mmm...I'm not so sure, Your Highness," I said hesitantly.

"You can take all the credit for the proposal. I don't care. I just want this to happen and for you to not be threatened anymore," the prince begged. "Only then will you be able to find the quietest peace and part ways with the hell that was caused by your father. And even your father himself if you feel up to it."

He did make a good point. If my father finds out that Dorne has aligned with The North and The Crownlands, he'll be much more reluctant to invade. Sure, he'll probably still make threats toward me and the Red Viper until the day he dies, but he won't invade Dorne if he knows that The North and The Crownlands have their armies ready for immediate battle at any point in time.

"It does sound intriguing," I said. "Fine. I'll consider it and propose the idea to the kings when they give me an update."

The prince gave me that same crooked smile, and we walked out of the room happily, knowing that we were well on our way to make a difference not only to ourselves and Dorne, but to the entire realm of Westeros.

[smiletimeisrunningout]

@matchingmagi​

​ It was somehow concerning that the people from this realm were more baffled at the idea of where she came from than she was about all that ‘technology’ they had around. Disbelief, shock, amusement, especially when the tall man with dark skin and lovely soft eyes had asked permission to check her thoughts, surely the wizard of the group, and had confirmed that she was saying the truth.  There was some kind of emergency out - they wouldn’t let her help, but she figured it made sense, she wasn’t from that world, she may be an hindrance until better informed - so they called for somebody else, who was meant to watch her and help her get acquainted with this place. 

Frankly, the incredibly sweet pudding in a box they had offered her would have been enough to keep her well-behaved and quiet for hours. But examining their strange kitchen was also interesting, they had a magical box to keep food cold, with even more pudding in boxes. Outstanding. 

[alreadyblondenow]

Little cupid

– Jaehyun x female!reader – Single parent au, SMUT, FLUFF – 1,834k – Reader is a bit of a flirt, Jaehyun is a single father, Jaehyun is cold and grumpy at first, his daughter caught you two having sex but had no idea of whats happening because she’s very sleepy, unprotected sex, slow and deep sex ajuju, Jaehyun haven’t had sex since he become a father, making out

Being the maid of honor for your best friend’s wedding made you so excited and all giddy for three months straight, especially when she told you that the best man was very handsome and single. And being the flirty gal that you are, of course, you did your best to make a good impression. Before the wedding procession starts, you tried looking for your assigned partner to try and get to know him and you know... flirt.

“Hi, I’m Y/n. Were supposed to be partners during the wedding procession?” you decided to make the first move.

“I’m with someone else,” he said coldly and turned his back on you. Like he’s not interested in escorting you or even giving you the slightest attention.  

Your best friend was right, he is very handsome. Actually calling him handsome is an understatement but you don’t care anymore if he looked like a god. He was incredibly rude and you don’t want someone like him to ruin such a beautiful day. So just like him, you turned your back and walked away to join the others, only to find someone… unexpected at the corner of the wedding reception.

“Hi there angel, are you lost?” you offered your hand to a little girl who’s wearing a white dress a pretty flower crown. One of the flower girls or perhaps she’s the only flower girl.

“My shoe straps are loose and my daddy is talking with his friends, I don’t want to disturb them. Can you help me?” she asks nicely, pouting cutely and being so irresistible.

“Of course,” you lower yourself and reached for her shoe straps. You made small talk with her while you’re busy with your hands. Asking what she thinks about the wedding and praising her for how nice she looks today. “There, all done. Do you want to be partners for the wedding procession? I can help you with the petals” you offered and she accepted without hesitation. She gave you her basket and gave you a handful of petals.

“You’ve been busy, I’ve been looking all over for you” the familiar voice made you turned around to which gave you a great shock because the cold and grumpy man that you tried flirting with earlier is the father of this nice kid. “Made a friend?” he asks his daughter. Where did the cold and un-interested man go? You only see a warm hearted father whose smile is very handsome.

He then cleared his throat and swallowed his pride and said, “Sorry for what happened earlier. I’m Jaehyun and this is my daughter,”

“Were partners for the procession!” his daughter exclaimed excitedly, smiling so big and giggling as she should be.

“Aaw. Then what about me then?” Jaehyun pouted to his daughter.

“Alright! You three are settled. Since you’re a very cute family, you three can walk together during the procession. Okay? Okay” the wedding coordinator came out of nowhere and left without even letting you or Jaehyun speak and explain that you’re not together, and you’re most definitely not the mother of this lovely girl.

“Daddy what’s a family?” the little girl blurted out. Curious and waiting for his daddy to answer.

“Oh no, we're up next!” you tried changing the topic so Jaehyun won’t have a hard time. You stand on the other side and held the little girl’s hand, Jaehyun did the same and silently thanking you for that little save.  

The day was beautiful because of the beautiful wedding ceremony which made every teared up but you believe that your day became even more beautiful because of Jaehyun and his daughter. It was an unexpected company, and you would rather have this kind of company than flirt with a stranger just so you can score today.

But little did you know, you’re scoring on someone’s heart and you’re winning their hearts fair and square. “I like her” Jaehyun’s daughter whispered near his ear.

“Right? Me too angel, me too” he said and gave his daughter a cute wink when he saw you walking towards them.

After you deliver your speech to your best friend, you looked after Jaehyun’s daughter so he could deliver his speech to his best friend. You didn’t quite expect Jaehyun to be someone so sweet and sentimental and gave the groom a long and heartfelt speech… that his daughter eventually falls asleep in your arms.

When Jaehyun came back, you gave him the ‘sshh’ sign and pointed at the sleeping angel. “Were in trouble, I have to take her home now”

“You sure you don’t want to stay and party? I don’t mind looking after her” you offered your help once again and Jaehyun gave you a handsome smile. His redness was showing and he can’t stop it.

“It's fine you’re not her babysitter and my conscience won't let me do that to you,” he came closer to you so you can hear him better, “I’m sorry for being grumpy earlier,” he smiled once again removed his coat to put it around you and his daughter. What a smooth move, you thought. “Let’s say our goodbyes to our friends then I’ll drive you home”

And while you were saying goodbye to your friends, everyone thought that you and Jaehyun have been seeing each other and you’ve been hiding it all this time.. Which made you laugh but softly because you didn’t want the angel to wake up.

“Let’s take her home first,” you said, “I can take a cab from your house, you can drive me home next time” you said softly and bravely. Looking behind the backseat of Jaehyun’s car to check on the sleeping angel, but really it’s just to avoid Jaehyun’s eyes.

When you arrived safely at their house… you were not judging, but you notice that the place was a mess. And Jaehyun was ashamed and sorry because you had to witness his messy house. “Single parent problems- the cleaning lady isn’t available today so, I’m sorry”

“It’s okay, Jae. No problem,” you whispered and followed him to his daughter’s room. Placing her gently on her bed and Jaehyun then removed her shoes and tucked her in. When she’s all comfortable and snoring, you and Jaehyun made your way out quietly. Which made you both let out a heavy sigh, as a sign of relief because you feel so accomplished that you got her home safe.

“Want to be alone with me before I call a cab?” he whispers and puts strands of hair behind your ear. The man does know how to flirt back.

And because you and Jaehyun did not have the time to enjoy the party, you both made your own in his room with a bottle of wine. Giggling softly while you’re both sitting comfortably in his bed, listening to each other’s random stories and trying to know each other’s personalities through wild guesses. Until Jaehyun became too confident and kissed you without a warning.

It felt good but it made you push him away. “I’m sorry, I should’ve asked first” he said and turned silent. But given that he’s a nice person and he’s naturally warm and confident around you, you feel sorry for doing that to him so you reached for him, cupped his face and returned the kiss. The kiss was sweet, not because of the wine that you’ve both been drinking but because he’s kissing you slowly and whispering sweet things beside your ear that you didn’t know he’s capable of.

“I may be late, but let me just say that you were beautiful the whole day,” he said in between kissing. Smiling through the kiss and caressing your cheek with his hand. Slowly he gained the confidence to touch your body and lift your dress, to which you gave have him the permission and told him he can undress you.

Not long after a few sweet kisses, you’re now naked and fully exposed with Jaehyun in his huge bed. Smiling and giggling softly because he can’t stop kissing your neck. “I haven’t had sex ever since I had her,” he informed you. Hoping that that information did not turn you off. You showed him that you don’t care by wrapping your arms around him, keeping him closer to your body and return the kisses.

Putting an arm in between your bodies so he can reach on your wet slit, he runs his finger up and down your slit before he pumps his cock and lines it to your entrance. Pushing in slowly which made you roll your head back and moan softly and carefully because there’s someone on the other side of the room.

Jaehyun kneads your boobs and sucked your nipples until they’re swollen, kissing your body and making you want him more before he starts thrusting. And when he finally did, slow and deep Jaehyun fucked you that night. Hands on both of your legs, keeping them open for him as he thrusts deeper and watches you loose your mind.

You made him feel young again, you made him feel free again. “Fuck,” he murmured when he felt you clench around him, “Do it again?” he moaned and moaned louder when you gave his request. Bodies to bodies you were so close with each other, feeling your bodies heat up and witness each other’s orgasm build up.  

“Daddy” he giggles and kissed your lips with want.

“Did you just called me daddy?” he asks in a very sexy tone which made you open your eyes.

“That’s not me” you said with big eyes.

And in a matter of seconds, Jaehyun pulled out rolled on his side of the bed. Covering your bodies with his thick duvet and trying so hard to look decent as possible in front of his daughter. “What are you and Y/n doing? Can I sleep here?” she crawled up on the bed and lie in between you and Jaehyun. Hugging her dad first before closing her eyes and continue sleeping again.

Jaehyun mouthed an “I'm sorry” to you and kept his daughter close to him, waiting for her to sleep soundly again.

When she fell asleep again and Jaehyun put her back to her room, you and Jaehyun did not continue fucking and just laugh it all out in the middle of his kitchen so you won't wake her up again. “I’m sorry, I think we were so loud and she’s just… used to absolute silence since it’s been always us only” he pulled you close to him and planted a soft kiss on your forehead. But soon his feathery kisses around your face turned to wet and lustful ones when he reached your lips again. Obviously, he can’t stop himself.  

The night ended after your make out session in the middle of his kitchen, a few praises here and there until he finally called you a cab and watched you leave with a promise that you’ll see him again and finish what you two started in bed.  

[creativeashproductions]

Change of Scenery // Evan Buckley

IN WHICH: Captain Bobby Nash has kept a secret from his friends, his wife and his step children since 2015 when he came to LA. Bobby’s eldest and only surviving child comes to LA to reconcile and make amends all the while she catches the eye of a certain blue eyed firefighter.

Warnings: Swearing, death/familial loss, pregnancy, blood, angst, injuries/medical emergency, and fluff

Words: 8k

A/N: Back at it with another 9-1-1 fic. Hope you enjoy, and I may just have to do another crossover with 9-1-1 and Julie and the Phantoms.

TO BE TAGGED SEND AN INBOX/ASK PLEASE!

Masterlist

There are moments in our lives that define us, whether it can be known as a positive or negative, but the outcome is always the same. A six-letter word that strikes fear and excitement into the souls of humans is change. The fear can be for ourselves or as a result of a child, a sibling, or a parent branching out on their own. Unfortunately, you had gone through a harsh and cruel experience on a cold winter night in the city you grew up in.

A typical Thursday filled with classes at the college you attended in Minnesota on a scholarship, nothing out of the ordinary. The plan had been to drive to your parents’ apartment to catch up with them for the weekend. Saturday morning was already reserved for a girls day with your little sister Brook and your mom. In the afternoon, you’d promised to take your brother Bobby to the ball diamond.

Your bag was packed, the plan to drive straight from class to St. Paul the following day to arrive in the daylight. Your dad struggled with worry when it came to you driving in the dark and especially in winter with icy roads.

“Y/N!” Dottie screeched from the living room of the four-bedroom dormitory. The pretty and curvy brunette had been the first friend you made in college.

Typically Dottie was on the quieter side, so when she screamed, you practically sprinted to the girl.

“Where’s the fire?” You demanded with a smirk at the reference to a topic that was a constant in your family. 

The fire drills your father conducted every four months for an exit plan in case of a fire and general information to save yourselves. He had also trained you to remember fire hazards and how to call dispatch with clear information if that time ever came. It never did and hopefully never would.

“The Lakeview Apartments in St. Paul.” Dottie’s dark brown eyes spoke only of pity and concern. The five foot ten roommate literally caught you as you tumbled into her arms with a loud grief-stricken scream.

You were forever indebted to the brunette for the plans she sacrificed to drive you back to St. Paul. There was absolutely no chance Dottie would allow you to both drive and be alone with no news. The media hadn’t released the names of the 148 deaths the fire relentlessly tore from the land of the living.

“I want to prepare you for what you’ll see. Your mother suffered severe third-degree burns over the majority of her body.” The kind nurse, also one of your friend’s parent, explained as she guided you to the Burn Center in the Regions Hospital, “I don’t want to lie and tell you she’ll be fine. You’re an adult Y/N. You deserve the truth and not be coddled.”

“Is she gonna survive?” You quietly asked, “Has she woken up since she was brought in?”

“The doctor placed her on a high dosage of morphine for the pain. Your father hasn’t left her side.” Lucinda informed you with sympathy written as over her face, The hazel eyes unable to adequately meet yours.

“I’ll check on her, then could you take me to the rooms my siblings are in?” You asked, completely unaware Brook and Bobby had been DOA at the hospital.

Your father hadn’t answered the text messages or the voicemails you had left on his phone—radio silent. You couldn’t be mad when he was with your mom, but a text would have been nice.

“This is where your mother is staying for the unforeseeable future. If you need anything, you can call me.” Lucinda softly replied before turning her heel to head back to the Burn Centre’s front desk.

It was horrific walking into a room with no idea if the occupant who had raised you would survive. The confident, gorgeous mother you had for the past nineteen years was unfamiliar to you, the extensive gauze covering nearly every inch of her body. You almost couldn’t even recognize the man sitting in the chair with his hands wrapped. 

“Dad? What happened?” You questioned the grieving man. The only person left in your family as you would soon come to know.

“Y/N?” Bobby gasped, pushing himself to his feet, staring at his only living child. The guilt ate at him just staring at you with those light brown eyes, “Oh, sweetheart.”

Your dad crossed the room in a few steps. The scent of smoke was still clinging to every part of him, but it was fine. Your dad was okay, minus the wounds on his hands. You’d always been closer with your father than your mother.

“Dad, what happened?” You quietly asked the ashamed firefighter that had to reconcile his feelings on the fire and his career—that struggle ending up pushing you away when he really just wanted you as close as possible.

“The building caught on fire after an ember from a heater lit a blanket on fire,” Bobby informed you with his eyes pinned on his wife. Bobby knew the chances of Marcy surviving were incredibly low, and he had to tell you that.

Bobby only knew the details passed on from a firefighter who pitied the man who’d lost most of his family. 

“Is Mom gonna be okay?” You questioned, and the said injured woman in the bed weakly responded.

“Baby?” Marcy quietly questioned from her absolutely still position on the hospital bed, “Uh, Bobby.”

You left your father’s side to be as close to your mom as possible, with the clear plastic separating you for her safety. Your heart shattered at the sheer exhaustion in her pretty blue eyes. 

“Hi, Mom.” You shakily spoke with one hand lightly pressed against the plastic divider. You didn’t even notice when your dad stepped up too.

“Marcy?” Bobby called out from right beside you, just as torn up, but Bobby carried extra weight on his shoulders, “We’re right here, Marcy. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

The muffled grunt of pain, your mom’s attempt to save you from grief, Marcy let out as she turned her head to look at you. You knew deep in your gut that this was the time place you would see your mom alive. And by the look in her eyes, she knew too.

“The...kids…?” Your mom’s breathing became more erratic as she questioned the man she viewed as her hero. The man she believed had saved her and their youngest children, “Where...are they?”

“The kids are fine.” The way your father said it and the tears led to the knowledge once kept from you.

“No.” You whispered, seeing the total grief written clear on his face. The pain meds and agony kept your mom from knowing the truth.

“They’re safe.”

“I knew you’d come and save us.” Your mom breathed as her eyes started hiding the pretty blue you’d now only see in pictures. In your dreams, until even those faded as father time cruelly pulled you along.

Then your worst nightmare happened. You watched as the woman you looked up to flatlined with the thought of her children safe. You’d always know she’d held on just long enough to find out the state of her children. You could only hope she’d forgive your father for lying to her as she died.

“Mom!” You screamed, fighting the arms of an orderly restraining you. You barely noticed the resistance to your frantic attempts.

One minute you were staring at a team unsuccessfully trying to revive your long-gone mother, then you were in a hotel room. The atmosphere tense and quiet between father and daughter, with the ghost of your dead family to keep you both company. You could hear Brook gagging every time you’d kissed your now ex. You could see Bobby toddling after you years ago.

At least you had your father—a father whose guilt festered until he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“It was my fault.” He murmured, staring at the barely eaten burger that tasted solely just cardboard. He couldn’t bear to look at your face, “I didn’t mean to leave it on.”

Your head snapped to stare at him in disbelief, “What do you mean you didn’t mean to leave it on?”

“I-I went to the roof to sleep after your mom kicked me out. I didn’t have my keys to the apartment I had below ours.” Bobby began spilling the lies he’d told to you about his addictions. Of the apartment, you’d had no clue was even in his possessions.

The pain of losing your family tore into you, “You took my mom away from me. I’ll never get to share my wedding day with her. Shopping for a dress and gossiping about boys. I’ll never be able to wipe Brook’s tears during her first heartbreak.”

Each word broke Bobby more and more.

“You stole my future. You’re selfish, ungrateful and utterly pathetic. You cost so many people so much, all because you sought out your next high.” You spat, glaring at someone you’d never expected to hurt you. You didn’t notice your hands grabbing your possessions nor opening the hotel room door, “You couldn’t even properly try to get clean.”

“Y/N-”

“Get your shit together before you kill anyone else. I never want to see you again.” You sobbed with regret already festering in your body, but pride held you back from apologizing.

Upon your return to your dorm with Dottie by your side, you immediately began the process to enter an exchange program. Within a month, your feet entered Sydney Airport. You didn’t return to America for several years.

You took a job as a casual lifeguard on Bondi Beach, met Lucas in a meet-cute situation at the grocery store. You graduated college and found a job as a paramedic as you began becoming a flight paramedic. In 2020 Lucas and you discovered you’d be bringing in a little baby into the world.

Learning about your little Cashew growing safe in your womb fanned the flame of desire to reconcile. Ultimately the pride kept pushing the urge to apologize for the cruel words you told your father further away. You naively believed you had all the time in the world.  

Remember the six-letter scary word? If losing your mom, siblings, and father was a devastating blow, losing Lucas was nearly tied. Your little Cashew lost their father before they even got to meet him. That was push enough to pack up your home and fly back to America with your father’s new address as soon as you could.

In the fallout of the apartment fire, your father relocated from Minnesota to Los Angeles. 

Los Angeles, 2020

As soon as you’d found the nicest but cheapest hotel to stay in until you found a place, you walked the streets of LA. The first order of business of approaching your father at his workplace as you had no personal address. Residing still in Minnesota, Deputy Chief Evans had only given you the address of Bobby’s work.

You could only hope Bobby wouldn’t turn you away. That he was willing to bridge the gap, you’d widened over the years. That he could forgive the silence to each email, he sent when you changed numbers.

“We should go out to dinner.” The female voice was what brought you back to the present time. The woman was beautiful with her buzzed head and clear skin.

Right by her side was a dark-haired male of Asian ethnicity with a bag thrown over his shoulder, “If you’re paying, you bet I’ll be there.”

The two continued to converse in their own world until the man had to literally dodge you when they finally noticed you.

“Does Chief Bobby Nash work here?” You inquired, having no desire to enter small talk when the baby was sitting on your bladder again. You nearly retched when the man stared down at your swollen midsection, shocked, “It’s not his baby.”

Hen caught the evident disgust on your face, “He’s in his office. I’ll guide you there…”

“Y/N.” You supplied the firefighter. Hen smiled in response, “And your name is…”

“Henrietta Wilson, but you can call me Hen. That was Howard Han. He goes by Chimney, and I’ve been sworn to secrecy on the name.” Hen chuckled in her steps to the closed door of the fire chief. Hen swiftly knocked on the door to give Bobby a heads up.

“Come in!” Bobby called from his pile of paperwork he had pushed and waited to work on. It had slipped as the date came closer. Your twenty-seventh birthday, the seventh one since he last saw you.

“Cap, a woman is asking for you,” Hen told her friend and boss. It’s a good thing you didn’t choose to surprise your father because Hen was shorted, and your bump made manoeuvring around tricky.

“What can I do…” Bobby trailed off when he saw the girl waiting to talk to him. The pen in his hand dropped to the table in shock.

Hen glanced between the two equally taken aback individuals, “Am I missing something here?”

“Hey, dad.” You whispered to the man who’d been dreaming of this moment since the minute you left. He’d searched for you at your previous college and nearly made a missing person report.

“Dad?” Hen couldn’t pick her jaw up from the floor if she even wanted to because this was juicy information. Sure, Bobby had caved into telling his team, his family that he’d lost his wife and two children in a fire.

He rarely talked about his life before the 118, but he’d never mentioned having a surviving daughter. Not in the handful of times he’d talked about the tragedy, nor did he have any objects or photos of you. 

“You’re really here?” Bobby lightly chuckled with a twinkle in his eye. Hen had only seen a handful of times. All of them had Athena in the scene, “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” You beamed, stepping closer to the man you’d missed dearly, “I’m so sorry for the way I left. What I said was cruel and untrue. You aren’t selfish, and I can’t blame you for something you couldn’t control.”

Bobby grinned. He’d stepped around his desk only to halt when he took in an undeniable development—the baby bump you carried.

“Is-”

“I’m pregnant. Six months along with a baby girl.” You laughed to the apparent disbelief in your father’s light brown eyes. His gaze continued to shift between the bump and your e/c eyes.

“Wow. Sorry, this is...wow.” 

“She’s one of the reasons I wanted to come back. To fix our relationship because I want her to know her grandpa. You’re the only grandparent Poppy will know.” Bobby was quick to tug you into his arms as soon as the first tear dropped down your cheek.

There was so much you wanted to tell your father, but that overwhelming grief rose higher. You’d left Australia where Lucas laid in a plot in a cemetery. You left the friends you’d found in the city. Left the lifeguard job you’d come to love.

“Where are you and your partner staying?”

“He...uh...Lucas passed away recently.”

The arms holding you tightened in response to your confession, “Oh sweetheart.”

“I didn’t know where else to go. I can’t stay in the home we bought. Not the place he died when I couldn’t save him.”

“I don’t know what happened, but it wasn’-”

“Don’t coddle me. I was...am a paramedic. A flight paramedic, to be specific, so I know that my hesitation could be the reason he died.”

Your career took the father by complete and utter surprise because you’d always planned on a different job. Before the fire that claimed so many lives, you’d never entertained a career in the emergency field.

“We have a lot to catch up on. First, you need to know that I’ll always love your mother no matter what, but you need to know. I met someone when I first moved here, and we were friends at first. She divorced her husband. We started dating...sweetheart, I remarried.”

A wave of emotions flared in your chest, from betrayal to sadness and ultimately happiness. Having lost your first love, you understood and knew if love came around for you, you wouldn’t ignore it. Lucas wouldn’t want that.

“I can’t wait to meet her.”

Re-entering into Bobby’s new life was a difficult adjustment for everyone included. Tension had risen between Athena and Bobby for a brief period. Athena hadn’t even been aware of your existence, but she could fault Bobby. Athena had even told her first husband about her late fiance Emmett when they were still together.

It was difficult for you with the new addition of two step-siblings in the same birth order as Brook and Bobby had been. The Grant siblings had welcomed you into the family without any reservations.

“Did you ever get to fly the chopper?” Harry asked as he scrubbed the dirty dish from the Sunday family dinner. 

It was the first dinner that had no awkward tension since you arrived back in the country. Athena had taken a bit to warm up, but it was nothing personal. She’d actually been the one to find you you’d been staying at a hotel. Mama Athena did not like her pregnant step-daughter living at a hotel. She’d actually stormed your room with Hen and Karen as back up to pack your room and leave for the Grant-Nash house.

“No. I had to help keep the patients alive. If I’m telling the truth...sometimes I didn’t even notice I was in the air.” You whispered to your stepbrother. He was just invested in your career as he had been when Bobby first entered their lives.

“That is so cool!” Harry enthused with soap suds splashing your thin knitted sweater. Harry’s mouth formed an ‘o’ when you flicked water onto his face in retaliation.

“Do you know Bondi Beach in Australia?” You inquired the youth with the chore of dishes completed.

“Yeah! There’s a tv show called Bondi Rescue! I watch the clips on YouTube!” Harry exclaimed, hot on your heels to the couch. Out of May and Harry, he followed you around with questions about your life in Australia.

“I was a casual lifeguard. I’m not featured on that show, but I would get called in when a lifeguard was needed. It paired well with my job as a flight paramedic.” You half-smiled, remembering the Bondi lifeguards who had welcomed you into the family. You became one of them when they started pranking you.

“Did you ever see a shark-”

“Harry, go brush your teeth. Leave Y/N alone.” Athena informed her youngest from the open patio doors. Your father, Athena and May had been outside as soon as the table had been cleared.

“But-”

“Harry,” Athena warned the youngest Grant. Harry didn’t attempt to argue with his stern mother; all he did was hug you quickly. You watched the young boy disappear into the hallway.

“He reminds you of your little brother?” Athena questioned. In your time of reminiscing, the older woman had settled in Harry’s previous position.

“A little.” You whispered, “Thank you for welcoming me into the family. For making my dad happy.”

“You know I may have some baby clothes put away if you’d like to use them?” Athena offered with that smile that made you feel at home. Athena was far different from your late mother, with her presence commanding respect and intelligence. Your mom was similar, but I suppose it could be described as a softer touch.

“Anyway, saving a penny is appreciated. I have a question for you also.” You hesitantly started with a bundle of nerves deep in your belly. Athena turned to give you her full attention.

“Well? Out with it.” Athena pushed, but she had a slight feeling of what you were about to ask her.

“My mom was one the strongest women I know. It hurts that my baby won’t get to experience her love and guidance, and you can say no. We’ve only known each other a short time, but would you consider...maybe being a grandma to my baby?”

Giddy was the feeling Athena developed along with the laughing smile that only came from happiness. The woman could only nod her head in response to your hesitant question. To Athena’s knowledge but not yours, Bobby was softly smiling, watching his formerly estranged daughter getting along with your stepmom.

“Oh!” You gasped as your baby kicked hard enough for her foot imprint to be seen through your knitted sweater. 

Bobby was by your side in concern the second he heard your startled sound, but Athena wasn’t that concerned. Athena remembered having the same reaction.

“Are you okay?” Bobby frantically questioned. He faltered when the woman shared a belly-deep laugh at the sheer fear written in the seasoned firefighter’s eyes.

“Poppy was kicking.” You chuckled as your father’s shoulders dropped in relief, “Here.”

Your nimble fingers clasped around your father’s wrist to bring his palm to the spot Poppy was kicking. A certain lightness flooded your entire body, being capable of sharing this experience with Bobby. Watching tears well up in the grandpa to be’s brown eyes.

“Whoa.” Bobby breathlessly spoke as Poppy kicked against his palm. The feeling building in his was exhilarating with the small amount of grief mixed in, “I remember when your mom was pregnant with you. We didn’t know if we were having a girl or boy, but she was adamant you would be a kickboxer. So active.”

Athena watched as the relationship between father and daughter started healing directly in front of her eyes. The Sergeant was about to give you two some privacy when you caught her hand in your free one.

“Here.” You informed the older woman shifting to place her hand where your father’s hand had previously been. Your e/c eyes sought the wonder-filled different shades of brown eyes the couple had.

“You should get some sleep,” Athena spoke, staring at her hand resting on your bump. Her dark chocolate brown rising to find your gaze, “You won’t be getting a lot once she arrives.”

Bobby and Athena watched as you turned the corner to the spare room Athena’s parents used when they visited. For the time being, you’ve moved into the room, and the Grant-Nash house hoped you would stay. May had always wanted a sister, and Harry loved all the stories you told about Australia.

“You know, at some point, you’ll have to talk to her.”

“I just was-’

“-without anyone else being the buffer. Bobby, both your lives is evidence enough that some things are too trivial to stress over.” Athena pinned her stern gaze on her husband. The same husband is actively trying to avoid her penetrating gaze.

“What I did-’

“Is in the past, Bobby. You have a second chance with that wonderful woman in that bedroom and our grandchild. Now, are you sure that having the party at the firehouse is okay?”

A hand supported the base of your back where an ache tended to stay for most of the day. That ache wasn’t the worst symptom of your pregnancy. You had heartburn constantly that tied with unfortunate constipation that had thankfully lessened. Your purse always had a cardigan for the hot flashes as well.

“Perfect! May has my car, and Bobby needed that.” Athena beamed from the open bay of the 118. One of the firefighters, Eddie, if you recalled, snagged your purse and the specific ingredient for a recipe.

“You could have borrowed Bobby’s-”

“His vehicle is in the shop Buck.” Athena interrupted the only member of the 118 you had let to officially meet.

Now there were two suspects of the sudden shortness of breath you started experiencing. It could be Poppy in the limited space in your body or the handsome firefighter. Buck had to be hands down none of the most attractive men you’d ever encountered. His dark blonde hair had minimal height, but the soft waves made your fingers itch to feel it. His ocean blue eyes crinkled at the corners with mirth.

“Ah, so you’re flesh and blood of Cap?” Buck questioned from in front of you. His blue eyes centred solely on you, with half a mind thanking himself that he could navigate the station blindfolded in the dark.

“For the last twenty-seven years, I have been.” You retorted, stopping at the edge of the stairs to the apparatus. Your keen sense of smell catching one of your favourite meals your father had dug up from the recipes he hadn’t used in years.

A zing of electricity trailed off your arm when a calloused palm met yours. Your e/c eyes followed the path of tan skin until it reached the shirt sleeve of Buck’s t-shirt. The shirt emblazoned on the chest with the department’s insignia. The man in the casual uniform guided you safely up the stairs with his hand on your back.

The pressure of Buck’s hand on your aching back muscle nearly brought what would be an embarrassing moan from your lips. Thankfully a gasp of surprise fell out instead at the banner hanging with other decorations.

“What?” You choked, cupping your hands to your face. Pure unadulterated shock and affection flooded every inch of you.

The entire 118 squad intermixed with their loved ones surrounded the open area with grins. On a table behind everyone was many wrapped gifts. But the cake was the most impressive.

A large rectangular cake in the realistic shape of a fire engine parked in front of a fire hydrant with a fondant hose going to the truck. On top of the fire truck was the turnout boots next to the matching helmet, the 118 proudly on it. You adored the turnout coat draping off the top to hang off the side.

“If you look at the helmet, it says Poppy.” Buck enthused, guiding you even closer to catch the immaculate cake, “It has to be the best cake we’ve gotten from them.”

“Hey, my rebar head cake was phenomenal!” Chimney called with a belying grin on his face. His hand encased by a brunette woman about his height with her heels on.

“It’s a long story.” Buck offered as soon as you gave him a weird questioning look, “Let me introduce you to everyone!”

For the next five minutes, you spend it by meeting the family of 118, including Eddie’s completely adorable son. Christopher was happy to sit next to you as soon as Harry had found you. Slowly the others came closer to hear the stories.

“What’re the most common injuries on the beach?” Denny, Hen and Karen’s ten-year-old son questioned.

“Bluebottle Jellyfish stings. On one day, we had hundreds of people come to the tower for stings, and the treatment for the minor ones is stingose spray and ice.”

“My question is how a girl from Minnesota is a lifeguard in Australia. Especially on Sydney’s most dangerous beach.” Chimney inserted, waving his bottle of pop at you, his eyes kept moving towards the wine Maddie brought.

Unfortunately, the 118 wouldn’t be celebrating with the wine until their shifts ended in a few short hours. It was a damn miracle they hadn’t been called out yet.

“This former Minnesotan spent summers at my best friend’s parents’ place in Cali as a lifeguard. Also, Bondi is not the most dangerous beach in Sydney. That’s Tamarama.” You pointed towards the man who raised his hands in surrender.

“Have you ever seen a dead body?” Harry asked, bringing a sobering silence in the question’s wake.

Your body language changed as soon as he asked, “Unfortunately, I’ve seen death as a paramedic and as a lifeguard.”

“You’re a paramedic? I thought you were just a lifeguard?” Buck asked, interested in the new information. Buck could feel his Captain’s eyes on the back of his head; he was sure Bobby could smell the attraction on Buck.

“Casual lifeguard. Called when needed as a backup.” You turned your e/c eyes towards the arguably youngest member of the 118.

“How many dead-”

“Harry.” Athena warned her son from continuing a topic that killed the ease and happiness you’d shown previously, “Why don’t we stop talking about-”

“Too many, Harry.” You interrupted your stepmom with a gentle smile towards the woman, “It’s not just drowning that claims lives but also the cliffs surrounding the beaches. Lifeguards patrol more than the beaches and water. Lifeguards respond to medical emergencies, mostly spinal until the paramedics arrive.”

“Oh-”

“I had a fellow lifeguard leave the job because of the suicides we deal with.”

“...who wants cake?” Karen used the quiet interlude of the much too serious topic for a group of kids barely in the double digits of ages. All referenced children followed Hen’s life to the beautiful baked creation.

“Sorry for getting dark there.”

“We all know the dark side of the jobs we chose to do. You sound like you miss Australia. Are you going to return there?” Eddie questioned with one eye pinned on his son, consuming more sugar than he wished.

Eddie’s question did raise self-doubt, but you knew that ultimately living in Australia was no longer a viable option. 

“There’s nothing there for me.”

Eddie, Buck and your father understood that mentality to a ‘t’ with family complications keeping them away. Your father for obvious reasons, whereas Eddie and Buck each had a living family with opinions only they saw right.

“You’re always welcome here. Especially when you bring that little cutie to the firehouse.” Maddie cooed towards your baby bump. The 911 dispatcher had asked many questions about your pregnancy.

 Maddie was the type of person who could make a stranger feel like they had known for their entire lives.

“Here.”

A plate of the cake was thrust in front of your face courtesy of Maddie’s brother Buck. It is quite literally the perfect size you could ask for. In his other hand, he had a new bottle of water waiting for you to grab.

“Thank you, Buck.” Your shock must have shown in your voice when his cheeks flushed.

“This whole party is a celebration for you, so you shouldn’t have to get up...unless you want to!” Buck rushed to respond, getting more flustered with the amused look of his older sister on him, “You’re already doing something absolutely amazing, so you should get to rela-”

“Buck!” You laughed, ending the older man’s rambling thoughts. The entire party attendees had started watching Buck’s failed smooth attempt.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Buck mutely nodded in response, “No prob-”

The bell was the one to interrupt him instead. The on-duty firefighters rushed down from the upper levels to the lockers. The swift suiting up impressed you as it was like you blinked, and the bay was empty.

“Should be the last call before they get off shift.” Maddie, still occupied with the cake she was eating, “That wine looks so good!”

Your attention snapped from the vacant spots the 118 vehicles parked to the woman ploughing down on the cake. Sure it was good, but not that good. Maybe you could tell as a pregnant woman, or perhaps you just caught some of the symptoms you felt.

“How far along are you?”

Maddie froze, “What are you talk-”

“You’re pregnant, right?”

“Don’t tell anyone. Chim and I found out recently, but we want to wait on telling people. Once the first trimester is over, everyone can know.” Maddie pleaded with two hands cupped under her chin in a prayer position. The pretty brunette using the puppy dog eyes on the new friend she’d made.

“You should tell Buck-”

“We will once we enter the safe zone. So tell me about your baby’s father.” Maddie swiftly changed the subject, unaware of the ache developing in your midsection.

“Lucas Gowan.” You mussed, recalling the freckled half Australian half Scots man with the thick red locks.

“Ooh, is he still in Australia?”

“Technically, he is. I met him at the grocery store near the university campus. I’d transferred to escape my grief. It was purely an attraction at first sight before developing into love at first sight. We convocated and moved into a cosy little place. We’d only just found out about the baby when Lucas passed away.”

As you told Maddie, your hand had moved to cradle the only remaining piece of Lucas. 

“His death was unexpected and sudden. He’d taken a run the morning of our scan to find out baby Gowan’s gender. He fell off the side of the cliff. I was told he died instantly. The investigator believes his shoelace untied, and he stepped on it. Fell right off the side.”

“I’m so sorry.” Maddie breathed, leaning closer to hold your hands in her own, “He’d be so proud of you. For returning to the states. Do you keep in contact with his family?”

“He was an only child. Parents died in a car accident when he was ten years old. He was in foster care until he aged out of the system. Poppy is named after his mom.”

Maddie instinctively knew talking about Lucas was, “You know you get along pretty well with Buck... I’ve never seen him so flustered.”

“Maddie, I can tell you are a very intelligent woman, but you’re wrong here. Why would a guy like Buck be interested in a pregnant woman with a reconciling relationship with her father and his Captain while grieving her baby’s dad?”

Maddie tilted her head to the side, “Because I know my brother. He’s only ever had that look when I first moved to LA. Back when Abby was still important to him.”

“We’ll just have to agree to disagree.”

Maddie’s mouth opened to speak, but you were saved by the bell when Athena called you over for pictures. Then her attempts got thwarted once more when the 118 returned to the house perfectly synced to the end of shift.

“Driving here was the last time until the baby’s here. You’ve got precious cargo-”

“I’m seven months pregnant; I can still drive. There’s no law saying I can’t-”

Never argue with Athena Grant-Nash, “It may not be illegal, but I won’t endanger my daughter or my granddaughter.”

“I have to get to my OB/GYN appointment tomorrow. You and Dad each have a long shift during my scheduled appointment. Harry is both too young to drive and in school. May has a shift at dispatch. There’s literally no one available to take me.”

Bobby watched as two of the most important women in his life argued over something as trivial as driving. Harry shook at listening to someone fighting against his mother; she could be terrifying.

“I can take her.”

Everyone in the fir house turned to the voice who’d offered suddenly and found the sheepish form of a tall firefighter. Eddie’s eyebrows raised at his best friend.

“I don’t work tomorrow. I’ve got no plans. Albert’s got some date with a girl at her place.”

“I couldn’t put you out.”

“You need a ride, and I’ll be bored, so why not take my new friend to her baby doctor.”

“Baby doctor?” Hen parroted to her wife in astonishment towards her coworker and close friend. Both the women found the blatant flirting from Buck to the soon to be mother.

“She’ll take you up on the offer. She’s staying in our guest room. Come early for breakfast before you go. We’ll be having waffles.”

Buck found any excuse to visit the Grant-Nash home with the motive to hang out with you ever since the baby shower. From delivering baked goods from your favourite bakery to insisting on driving you to appointments. Didn’t matter if Athena or Bobby could take you; Buck was adamant he drove you.

The friendship was easy going and very natural, like a ball glove still moulded perfectly to your hand. The hangouts in your home evolved to weekly visits to restaurants with guidelines to the current event happening worldwide. 

Ultimately it even led to a test date.

“You look breathtaking.” Buck breathlessly informed you once he’d gently pushed your chair closer to the table.

“Thank you.” You kindly responded despite thinking the complete opposite to the charming man sitting across from you.

Athena and May had helped you get ready for the date with calming words on how going on a date so far into the pregnancy was okay. Then, your father had tentatively inserted himself with sage advice on re-entering the dating scene.

“I thought we could grab some ice cream after,” Buck spoke up as soon as the waiter had taken your drink order. Buck had decided to refrain from alcohol and went with glasses of lemonade and water.

“You shouldn’t say that. I’ll just want ice cream.” You snickered, caressing the taut belly you’d grown to love. In fact, the firm push of a heel announced Poppy’s agreement with ice cream as dessert.

“How is Poppy?”

“The doc says she’s right on track. Healthy all around and in the position, she’s supposed to be at this stage.” Buck adored the affectionate smile that always appeared when the topic of your pregnancy was brought up.

“That’s amazing! Bobby gushes about you and Poppy. The fridge has an entire door dedicated to sonograms of Poppy. Even a few from that maternity shoot Hen and Maddie surprised you with.”

A few weeks had passed since the baby shower the 118 had surprised you with. Maddie had announced her pregnancy to the joy of the chosen family she had. Bobby had put together a crib he had painted. Michael, Athena’s ex-husband, had started making plans for adding on to the house for a room for the baby.

Despite informing the architect, you planned on moving out when you had saved enough, he’d made a sound argument. Athena would want a place for the baby to stay when you visited, or the woman demanded to babysit.

Now you found yourself in a National forest not far from Los Angeles, posing in front of nature. A surprise photoshoot Hen and Karen had organized with Karen’s brother Trey. Maddie and Athena had been the ones who drove you.

“Hold the teddy bear on your bump,” Trey informed you from behind his professional and intimidating camera. The photographer praised you in the rapid movement to listen to his offer.

“Hey! Maddie! You should take a few photos. I need a pee break.” You didn’t wait for Maddie to respond in your rush to the somewhat rustic bathroom hut.

By the time you returned, Maddie was taking a couple pictures. Then you took some with Athena to have on the nursery walls and for Bobby to have a photo for his desk.

“Now one with all three of you.”

Present

“So a daredevil.” You stated unsurprised that the firefighter had a history of recklessness. You don’t go into firefighting without a taste for danger.

“The bruises and blood fit better than the awful bleached hair during my time in Peru.” Buck laughed, recalling the questionable choice in his fashion pre-firefighting. Sometimes he missed the people he encountered in his period of self-discovery.

“You didn’t wear puka sh-”

“I did. Bleached hair, puka shells and Hawaiian shirts were my staples during my bartending years. I fit in with the aesthetic of the bar I tended.”

“Buck!” You nearly gasped at his raw honesty. Buck didn’t hold back any answers to your questions, but you each strayed from the topic of family.

Talking about the tragic family history wasn’t a good idea on the first time regardless of the time you’d known each other.

“You’re telling me-” Buck halted as soon as he caught the flash of discomfort flicker over your beautiful features, “Are you okay?”

“She shifted. Been sitting on my blad-” You cut yourself off with a hiss of pain. Buck’s eyes widened at the pain taking over your features, “Oh, that hurt.”

Buck went straight into work mode, “Have you been in pain for long?”

“No. A few cramps here and there today, but my doctor said it was nothing to worry about.” You informed the experienced first responder resting level to your knees.

Buck didn’t want to say it, but he was sure that you’d gone into early labour. There was no indication your water had broken, but he kept over the last hour together. Every once in a while, you shifted or pressed a hand to your bump.

“Has your water broken?”

You shook your head, “No, but...oh... that’s not a cramp.”

With that statement out, you clenched your fingers tight on the edge of the table as pain rippled in your belly. A contraction that stole your breath momentarily. In your contraction, Buck had dialled 911. Buck recalled that sometimes a woman’s water doesn't break until right before the birth.

“We’re not getting that ice cream, are we?” You snorted upon being lifted onto the gurney. How fortunate or unfortunate you were to have the 118 right there.

Hen had taken a position at your feet to check on your lower body while Chimney took your vital signs. You honestly didn’t like the look Hen and Chimney shared with Buck.

“What is it?”

“We’re gonna need to deliver here.” Hen sighed, giving you the facts that terrified you. When you envisioned having the baby, it was in a medical centre. Not in a restaurant.

“My office is large and away from the crowd if you want. I can show you the way.” Sophie, the restaurant manager, offered already starting to lead the way. Sophie would never know how thankful you felt for being able to have privacy.

“Okay, Y/N, is it okay if I check how dilated you -.” Hen breathed with her hand, gently disappearing until the thin blanket Chimney procured from the stocked ambulance, “Y/N when I saw I want you to do that.”

Hen didn’t need to check your dilation when she could see the baby’s head already.

“I’m right here.” Buck cooed in your ear. He had held your hand as his coworkers did their jobs around you.

“This isn’t the way I envisioned you seeing my pu-”

“Push.” Hen urged, cutting off your almost vulgar language, but it eased the tension in the small restaurant office. You couldn’t even see Buck’s flustered reaction as you bore down with the contraction, “Good! Take a breath.”

“You’re a strong woman. It never ceases to amaze me the strength women have.” Buck spoke, keeping your e/c eyes on his blue ones. His hand raised to push a strand of your sweaty hair off your temple.

“Once more push!” Hen called out just in time with the last contraction. The feeling of the pressure between your legs popping was moan inducing.

Poppy was silent. Your entire body froze, yearning for the sweet sound of crying instead of the eerie silence. The world stood still as Chimney worked on your baby girl.

“Pulse is strong,” Chimney announced, keeping his attention on the task of clearing Poppy’s throat and nose. And that sweet sound of crying commenced, “Congratulations Y/N, you have a beautiful baby girl. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

Your father beat the ambulance to the nearest ER in pure anticipation at meeting his granddaughter Poppy Nash Gowan. He barely noticed as Buck stuck to your side like glue. Bobby waited outside the door as you got checked over in the room.

“Quite the first date.” You mused towards Buck, who hovered in awe over the life form you had carried for nine months. You’d been pregnant for three quarters of an entire year to his fascination. 

“All my meaningful relationships started with a medical emergency.” Buck finally looked up at you. He’d kept Poppy company in the bassinet while you delivered the afterbirth upon entering the hospital.

“Seriously?”

“Had a tracheostomy on Valentine’s Day with Abby, an earthquake with Ali and a newscaster in a crashed helicopter.” Buck listed off. He hadn’t even noticed scooping the newborn into his arms until he’d sat in the chair by your bed, “Why not add a sudden labour and delivery.”

“He would have liked you.”

The sentence came out of absolutely nowhere. Almost like something had ripped it out of your vocal cords. At the look of confusion, you elaborated.

“Lucas. He would have liked you. I think if it is possible, he might have pushed me into meeting you. I’ll still need to take it slow, but I’d like to give this a shot.”

That was all Buck needed to lean in closer to kiss you—the first of many kisses.

Some might disagree on how quick your relationship with Buck developed, but they didn’t know yours at all. It was natural with the firefighter who stepped into the role of father figure for a growing Poppy. By the time Poppy was one, you’d moved into a house not far from your father’s place with Buck. By the time Poppy was three, a pretty ring had sat on your finger. By five, the young girl had a baby brother. 

“Your parents spoil Poppy.”

“You say that like you didn’t crawl into her crib during her afternoon naps.” You deadpanned towards your husband. Buck had the nerve to sheepishly grin, “You give in each time she says ‘pwetty pwease’ for a cookie.”

“It’s a crime to make her sad!” Buck defended himself, but a grin of amusement threatened his act, “Besides, you crack each time too!”

“Mhm. Just wait until Theo can talk.” You pressed a kiss to the sleeping infant strapped into the baby carrier. Theodore Robert Buckley could fall asleep in a thunderstorm if he was in Buck’s arms.

“Oh! Maddie wants to have Poppy over for a play date. Madster’s been begging for her cousin to have a sleepover.”

Maddie and Chimney’s daughter was only a few months younger than your daughter, but the two were thick as thieves. Buck had referred to the Han daughter as Madster with how similar her mannerisms were to her mother.

“Think they’d take the rascal?”

“Is this code for you wanting to have another?” Buck questioned with a twinkle of mischief in his blue eyes. The same blue Theo had inherited along with a birthmark like Buck’s on his bicep.

“I-” You choked, blinking furiously, “Evan, I pushed Theo out of my body barely three months ago!”

Buck inconspicuously winked in response with the sudden scream of excitement coming from Poppy. The rambunctious five-year-old ploughed into Buck’s legs full force. Falling into the practised ease, you’d unstrapped Theo from Buck’s chest and promptly had his tiny body stolen into his grandpa’s arms.

“There’s my boy.” Bobby cooed to the sleep drunk tiny infant. The little baby is crowded by his Gram Athena and Aunt May, “Gonna have to get you a Minnesota Wilds jersey.”

“Hell no. That boy is LA born and bred. He’ll be wearing a Kings jersey like the civilized.” Michael announced with the sudden arrival of Theo and Poppy’s Uncle Harry.

“Mommy? When are we going to Stralia?” Poppy inquired from right beside your leg. Her tiny handheld is the giant one of her dad.

“In a few weeks. Are you excited to see the mommy’s old friends again?”

“Hm. Can we see Dada?”

Buck may be Poppy’s father, but he’d never let Poppy go without knowing she had two fathers in all. Her first one waiting to meet here decades from the time she was born and solely referenced Lucas as Dada. Buck was grateful for the man who brought Poppy into existence; the little green-eyed tot Buck could never regret. Unlike Buck’s parents keeping his older brother’s existence a secret, the firefighter refused to follow in their footsteps. He’d continue to shower the late Lucas in gratitude and respect. He refused to make the same mistakes as Phillip and Margaret Buckley.

“Of course. C’mon Poppy, time to say goodbye.” Buck guided the little girl to the extended family showering her little brother with love. The little girl was quickly swung into Bobby’s arms, and Athena cooing at your infant son.

Changes. The six-letter word doesn’t have to be terrifying. It can be breathtaking, memorable and beautiful to experience. 

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[anistrange]

MEDUSA AND THE SEA

An analysis lightly inspired by @coloricioso and @diioonysus

I'm gonna be honest with you, If you have preference for Ovid's version of Medusa and how to modern sensibilities this can be interpreted as a powerful message of the female rage, the clearly biased patriarchal behaviors that are still practiced in more subtle ways even within progressive countries; Go for it, it's a story that it might relate to you and may have hit some fibers in your heart. (Reception Studies, a concept that I'll always be in favor)

With that being said, it's important to notice that when it comes to the subject of Medusa as a whole, it seems like many people tend to forget very important aspects not only of her character, but the way how she interacted with the greeks, Not only as an apotropaic symbol (Which I'll write later in another post) but often as the dangers of the sea, and I'll explain this in very detail.

Medusa and her relationship with the sea

It's no surprise that apart from sky and earth gods, sea deities were very respected, feared and venerated among Romans, Egyptians, Greeks and Phoenicians, and yes, that includes Medusa.

It's also not a secret that before Ovid (fukin 800 years of difference), Medusa was a sea goddess who slept consensually with the monarch of the ocean Poseidon (Which by standards of Ancient Greece, that was pretty impressive tbh) However, it's important to notice how her background it's a key element to understand how this relationship came to be.

Hesiod clearly states that Medusa is the daughter of the Sea Titans (Phorkys the father, Keto the mother) whose offspring were clearly allegories of the sea dangers and creatures unbeknownst to man; Ladon, Ekhidna, Skylla, the Graeae and a plethora of siblings whose Medusa can relate, they were the bad boys of the area, cute Oceanids and Nereids were the benevolant part of the sea, but Phorkys and Keto's kids were the type of guy you would never cross any eye contact (heh, pun)

Medusa's bond with the sea is very defined and Poseidon clearly saw in her the epitome of wilderness that he likes, a wilderness described in scarying mortals to their very core, petrifying them like rocks his nature is complemented by hers; Sea, Mystery, Terror, the perfect match; You'll see this in every sea related-myth, Odysseus and the Sirens, Jonah and the Whale, Ran and her net.

No wonder why Amphitrite (the Queen of the Sea) is not eager to hunt her or punishing her kids unlike Hera, because she's an important part of the reign, And a fair headcanon of mine, She has no time to deal with bullshit like that, she has kids to take care and ruling the seas while Poseidon is just vibing back and forth.

And no wonder why Medusa even with her head only, she still keeps the bond with her home very close, note this with Perseus and Andromeda. Where do you think the monster that was going to accept Andromeda's sacrifice came from?? THE SEA and Perseus could defy the power of the sea if not with the very symbol that represents this same wilderness. Which it can be an interesting layer when it comes to apotropaic symbols again. But this is for another post.

Greeks did have some degree of fear and respect to this vast mass of water that extended from Egypt to Morocco, sure, for them it was the most effective route to trade goods, ideas and people, however The chances of being shipwrecked were absolutely high, either by storms, reefs that could run your ship aground, dangerous animals and sharpest rocks that could kill you at the slightest contact.

It's no surprise that in an attempt to cope with the hardships of such an unpredictable force of nature they decided to assign divine background, Poseidon is the storm in the middle of nowhere, Medusa and her sisters are the reefs or creatures that could petrify you to death, the Sirens were old ships destroyed at the rocky cliffs waiting for the next oblivious sailor.

To this very day, the fear and respect for a grandiose mass of water is still ingrained in our minds, the fear of being castaway, The curiosity to knowing how many mysterious creatures roam at the bottom of the ocean, of the lives of people where the sea is their last resting place.

So for those who still want to give Ovid a fair shot for making something groundbreaking, again, fair enough, but I'll keep saying that you're only seeing one aspect of hers while the other part is still unexplored and it makes a huge disservice on how she's very degraded to a simple victim -> cursed -> killed dare I ever say "trope"; Take this more as an encouragement to expand and analyse more of her character if you want to have an extended and more complet interpretation of Medusa, Anyone having an opinion on this are free to speak and I'll hear you.

[roscgcld]

RYOMEN SUKUNA || we will meet again

anime: jujutsu kaisen

characters: ryomen sukuna

pronouns: she/her

proof read: N/A

"Promise me...that one day, we will meet again."

Back in the day, when Jujutsu Sorcerers were at their prime, lived a Cursed Spirit who goes by the name Sukuna. Once a human Sorcerer himself, he had somehow managed to create himself into the Jujutsu world's most feared Cursed Spirit. He was dubbed 'the King of Curses' and rained terror over the human and jujutsu world; with super natural powers and a sadistic personality to match the title. Everyone who has crossed him shook in absolute fear.

That was, of course, before he met a particular princess.

She was a beautiful woman; the daughter of one of the then king’s favourite concubines. Born with the alluring beauty of her mother, and a heart of gold, it was hard to ignore her presence when she walked into a room. 

She was brought up in the palace, where she was given the title as princess; but she will never sit on the throne of the kingdom her father rules over. As only the King’s wife is allowed to bear the heir that will sit on the throne. She didn’t mind, she had never desired such power to begin with. Even if she was going to be married off to one of the many foreign princes asking for her hand in marriage, she didn’t care about titles. 

Since she was never destined to sit on the throne, her father had given her quite the freedom to do as she pleases. With all her free time, she tends to use it connect to the people of her kingdom; helping the needy during their time of need, always purchasing things from the local vendors and merchants that have travelled long and far. She is beloved by the people, and shines a light on the royal family that makes them more human instead of the godly image that is projected onto the royal family.

Anyone who meets her would fall in love for her - and apparently not even Cursed Spirits were the exception.

The princess have always love spending her time out in nature - horse back riding with a few of the guards in training, swimming in the river that her brothers love to hunt by, learning about the different plants and herbs from the doctors that go out foraging for medical herbs. So it came to the surprise to no one when Sukuna stumbled onto the princess by accident on the riverbed.

Sukuna had not expected to see any human about as he goes about his walk deep in the woods. It was one of those rare moments to himself where he does not necessarily have anything he needed to do on hand, and also the few rare moments where he does not have a mob of sorcerers up his ass. He was just enjoying the sounds of nature and the soft wind blowing against his kimono when he heard what sounded like a human's laughter coming from the river near by. At first he was curious, since no human usually ventures this deeply into the woods. At the same time, he had wanted to ignore it, since humans are just a pain in the ass to deal with even if they can't see you. However, there was something so alluring about that soft giggle that had him wanting to see just who this annoying brat was. So, without even him realising what was happening, his feet quietly walked towards the river and before he knew it, he had pushed the last branch aside to peek over at the river bed curiously. Sitting before him on a flat rock by the river was a woman with flowing hair, her small feet dipped into the running water below as her hands reached forward to play with a few of the fishes that swam by. The pink fabric of her furisode laid behind her like a pink halo, showcasing the intricate sakura trees and flowers that were sown into the fabric. The aura around her was relaxed and peaceful, and somehow just seeing her brings him a sense of peace. As if she could sense his stare, the woman suddenly pauses before she turns to look over her shoulder curiously; bright and seemingly glowing eyes meeting his red ones head on. Sukusa felt the world around him come to a stop as the eyes of the princess before him trapped him on the spot, causing him to loose all train of thought from before. "Oh - were you wanting to sit here too?"

"Huh?"

The casual way she just asked him that question definitely threw him off. The woman actually just lets out a soft laugh at his dry answer. "It's alright - we can share the space if you don't mind." She commented, a teasing tone taking over her voice as she patted the free spot beside her. "I promise I don't bite."

If she had known just who this man was, she might actually understand how ironic her sentence was. But Sukuna decided not to comment on it as he quietly makes his way towards her, sitting down at the spot beside the princess whose eyes had already returned to the river before her. "The water feels extra nice today. And there is more fishes then usual." She conversed with the man casually, causing Sukuna to wonder if she is pretending to be as dense as she is right now. "How are you so calm right now? I mean, do you see a 10ft tall human with four arms every day or what? Your reaction is sort of dull." 

The princess pauses in thought as she thinks, looking far too relaxed by his side. "I have always been able to see...odd things." She started off with a soft hum, glancing over at the man beside her with a soft smile. "I have asked people around me before, and after realising that I am the only one who can see them, I decided to ignore them." She admitted, running her dry hand through her hair softly. "But if I am being honest, this is the first time one has actually ever spoken to me."

"Well, I'm not the everyday curses." He said with a slightly proud tune in his voice, to which the princess beside him looks up at the taller man with interest. "Every day curses are small things, I am basically what people in my world call a Special Grade Curse." He continued, and for some reason, when he saw how her eyes were staring up at in him awe, he looked away with a light blush on his face. He doesn't even know what was about her that drags out these human-like emotions from him - he had never felt like this ever before.

"Special Grade Curse?" She echoes back with curiosity, to which the man beside her just nods softly as he leans back to rest on the free arms, the other two crossed across his chest. Suddenly she turned to face him, her eyes shining so brightly with excitement that it caused Sukuna to squint a little. "Can you explain just what you are to me a little more?"

One question was all it took to have Sukuna falling, and if he was being honest - he actually didn’t mind spending so much time on this little human. From sharing stolen nights in her bedroom in the royal palace, to sneaking out to just go to the riverbed where the met for the first time; they even spent time just wandering about his domain. It was actually during these small explorations of the world around them that created a special bond between the two.

For her, he was her escape from the restrictive and repetitive routine of royal life. For him, she was his utopia, a person he can turn to whenever he feels like just killing everyone around him. Soon though, these emotions sprouted into something deeper and more personal. It was jarring at first, falling for a human - but he knows that she was worth it all.

He remembers the way her eyes shone brightly with a constant look of innocence in them, yet she is mature and realistic enough to know that not everything is sunshine and rainbows. He remembers the way she carries herself, her warm and loving smile, how content he felt whenever she wrapped her arms around him. He loves the feeing of her soft hair that tumbles around her face in soft waves, how it feels like silk whenever he runs his fingers through them. How with just one glance, she can fill the void in his heart that he didn't know existed.

Yet they were never set to happy ending to begin with.

It was during just what started off like a normal day when the town the princess was in was suddenly invaded by a rival kingdom’s army. Their goal was to conquer and take over the kingdom with any means necessarily; meaning that the royal family had to go.

Uraume had entered his hideout, panting with wide eyes as they told Sukuna of the town now plunging into chaos. Within seconds the Cursed Spirit was up and sprinting towards the royal palace, great fear and anger gripping him from within. Entering through the destroyed doors of the grand palace, he ignored the screams of anguish of the others around him as he ran straight towards one of the buildings - the building where the royal sleeping chambers were located.

When he finally found her room, he felt like his heart was ripped out of his chest at the sight before him.

The once beautifully crafted shoji doors with panels decorated in a beautiful forest scene now laid in tatters, the furniture inside looking as if though a huge scuffle had happened. Rushing deeper into the room, he felt his heart sank to its stomach when he saw the splatters of blood leading towards the small room where the princess would sleep in.

Entering the back room, his red eyes scanned over the many splatters of blood about the room, the red handprints of the princess smeared across the ornate walls whilst the body of the princess laid on her futon; the sheets now soaked in blood. "No, no, no.." Sukuna managed out in horror as he quickly made his way to his lover's side, pulling her bloodied body into his arms immediately. "Flower, open your eyes. Please.."

Slowly her eyelids begin to move, and Sukuna felt his heart break when he saw how her now dull and tired eyes shifted to look up at him, taking a moment to truly process just who he was. "I'm so sorry..." Sukuna mumbles out through a small voice as he pulls her closer, trying his hardest to press his hands against the gashing wound on her abdomen. Since the wound was inflicted by a non-sorcerer, there was no trace of cursed magic on her; meaning that there was no way he can save her to begin with. "I-If only I had known..."

"Shh...it's okay.." The princess whispered out in a soft but pained tone, her bloody hand reaching up to cup his tattoo cheek ever so softly. The familiar touch brought another wave of emotion through Sukuna as he tries to blink back his tears, pulling her closer to his chest as he shifted his posture so she was sitting in his lap. He barely even acknowledge his own kimono that was slowly being soaked in blood. "Y-You didn't know this was going to happen...no one did...don't blame yourself..."

With watery red eyes Sukuna marvelled at how even though she was on death's doorstep, she still tried to put on a smile for his sake. "I'm so sorry..." Sukuna manages through a pained tone, tears now sliding down his face in thick streams whilst the woman just gave him a loving smile, resting her head on his shoulder. "Don't be.." She mumbles softly, forcing the man to look down at her as she gave him the same smile that had him falling for her from the beginning. "You know that...it takes more than this to get rid of me.."

The teasing words caused Sukuna to let out a soft and pained laugh, remembering the times where he would tell her how annoying she was whenever she would cling onto him and tease him relentlessly. He would trade anything to go back to those moments once more. "Brat.." He manages through his silent sobs, to which the woman just lets out a soft laugh as her fingers slowly traced along his features. For a few moments it was just silence, but the next time she spoke, Sukuna knew that the end was coming.

"Promise me...that one day, we will meet again."

"I promise, my love." Sukuna mumbles back quietly, resting his forehead against hers when he noticed how much effort it takes for her to blink. "No matter how long it takes, I will wait for you." He told her firmly as he presses a loving kiss on her forehead. "No matter how long it takes.." She echoes quietly, to which Sukuna just press a loving kiss on her head just as he felt her soft hand slowly slide down his chest, falling limply on her side.

For a moment Sukuna just held her against him, quietly crying into her hair. His entire world was in his arms, and just like that she was taken away from him. From that sadness came anger, and he soon found himself with the deep desire to crush whoever took her away from him.

Thus started the true rein of terror under the King of Curses, his anger fueling him to chase for bigger goals. Whilst he strive to rid of this world of dirty humans who took his flower away from her, he kept the vow that they promised one another - that they will wait for the other no matter how long it takes.

Because he had promised you so, and he’d do anything to keep that promise.

© roscgcld — all rights reserved to me, rose, the author and creator of these works. do not repost/translate/claim my work as yours on any platform

[nightowlfandom]

Billy Loomis and Stu Macher x Reader- 27 (Part 3/Finale)

Read Part 1 | Read Part 2 

CHECKOUT MY MASTERLIST HERE!

Alright you weenies, here’s the last part of 27....

I realized I’ve also made an error, I forgot that they already killed her other boyfriend, so let’s say the ex they killed in the previous chapter was a different ex.

leggo

...

Today was the day and you were excited.

Vengeance, the cherry on top, the final piece of this damned puzzle. You had snapped. You were completely bloodthirsty now and you WISHED someone would try to stop you. You had come a long way. A VERY long way. It was safe to say both Billy and Stu rubbed off on you a tremendous amount and you were absolutely fucking ready!

It didn’t help that you had two killers hyping you up to all hell. From Billy whispering how many hours were left in the day to Stu commenting about how hot he’d think it would be to have sex in a pool of blood.

When it came time to leave, the boys offered to walk you home.

“So who you gonna get first?” Billy held your hand as Stu stood your opposite side with an arm around your shoulder. 

“Definitely the old man.” you declared. “I want to watch the life leave his eyes. He’s the reason behind all this.”

“How so?” Stu asked.

“He’s convinced I’m not really his child, he’s been trying to get me out of that house since I turned 12...” the guys noticed your significant mood change. “Nevermind that.” you shook your head. “My mom can fuck off with the rest of them, her and her can-do-no-wrong, perfect home bullshit.” you seethed. “I’ll explain while everything’s going down.”

...

“I’m home...if anyone gives a shit.” you grumbled the last part. You walked in to see your mother and father along with Hannah’s mother and father. They were all sitting at the table. Hannah’s mom and dad were bawling their yes out while your parents comforted them.

“Y/N...I’m glad your here.” you father spoke up. “We were talking about funeral arrangements.”

“For the daughter you wish you had instead of me? Not interested.” you rolled your eyes. “If you need me, I’ll be doing homework. Parentals, friends. Friends parentals.” you shortly introduced Billy and Stu to your folks. 

“Nice to meet you.” Billy managed to express. Stu put on a fake smile and waved. 

“Keep your door open so we can hear you!”

“Why would I close the door? You guys would just kick it open anyways.” you grunted. 

You had no reason to be cordial with your family anymore, just because they wanted to put on a show for your guests, you’d give them a damn show.

“Y/N don’t talk to your mother like that.”

“Then I’ll talk to Hannah’s family.” you turned to the two mortified adults.

You could see Billy and Stu out of the corner of your eyes, both looking like they were about to burst out laughing.

“Y/N we have nothing against you.” Hannah’s mom wept. “We knew Hannah could be a bit much.”

“Hannah was much? Oh No Mrs. Doyle. Your husband screwing around with your teenage secretary was much.” you crossed your arms. “Your daughter was a fucking nightmare and I’m glad no one has to put up with her shit anymore.”

You wanted to see just how far you could take this before your parents exploded. 

“Y/N L/N!” Your father rose from his seat, ready to storm over.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Stu was first to stand in front of you. “Mr. L/N with all due respect, I’d advise you against that.”

“And just who do you think you are?” 

“The man whose about to be responsible for your funeral if you take another step.” Billy stood next to Stu, the both of them making a human wall, separating you from them. “Geez Y/N you weren’t kidding.”

“You should see our security camera footage.” you scoffed. 

“Well this has been a lovely chat but we really must be going.” Mrs. Doyle stood to her feet. 

“Oh nononono~” Billy sang with conviction. “Sit your asses down...let’s play a little game.” (I know Saw hadn’t been made yet, just go with it.)

...

Watching back the camera footage hurt a lot more than you thought it would. You couldn’t imagine how everyone else was feeling. Both of Hannah’s parents were tied up with blindfolds over their eyes. Stu had knocked out your dad and tied him to the table while Billy handled your mom, duct-taping her hands and wrists to a chair...

“Look at that. An innocent little girl...” Billy shook his head as he listed to your parents berate you to your face. You blocked everything out while you watched. How Hannah and her would smile in your face all the while being your biggest tormentors. How you couldn’t tell your mother or father because they never believed you the first ten times you tried. 

It was all crashing down on you now.

There was an eerie silence as your crying voice filled your own ears. You were used to crying yourself to sleep by that time. All of this happening a little before you met the boys.

“Y/N, whatever you have to tell us, we don’t have to involve them.” your mother sobbed.

“Mommy....you’re crying.” your voice broke as you opened your mouth to speak for the first time in a couple of hours. “But what about when I was crying?....What about when I was in the hospital scared for my life? What about when you guys were threatening to ship me across country....” much like you did with Hannah, you kicked the chair sending your mother falling back.

“And you.” you turned towards your dad. “I know you don’t believe I’m your biological daughter...and guess what...I hope I’m not either.” you growled, staring down at the now cowering man. “You are pathetic...both of you.” you turned back towards the TV screen. A video of you in your bedroom (since your parents didn’t believe in privacy) was playing. You were on the phone with your friend Kyla.

“No, no I know Ky.” you laughed. You had a much different laugh than you do now. “...I don’t know, it’s hard to trust cute faces like theirs.”

Your eyes widened as you listened to what you were saying. Before you could go to turn it off, Stu had taken you in a hug. “Oh no princess, don’t be rude...let the video play!”

“Do I like them?....Maybe...okay totally!” you watched yourself squeal as you threw the pillow you were hugging across the room. “Kyla I wish you were here to see them THEY ARE SO-” you covered your mouth to stop from shouting too loud. “They are so cute and so hot and they wanna be seen with me!...of all people! No I’m not gonna make a move on them.”

“Awww Y/N has a crushy wushy on us!” Stu gushed. “We love you too baby!” Stu abruptly kissed you, right there. You almost forgot Billy was standing there. 

“Woah...” you almost lost balance. 

“Young lady! How dare you-” You father tried to said.

“Oh shut up!” Stu took it upon himself to finish the job. 

(OKAY SHEILD YOUR EYES NOW)

Stu wrapped a hand around your dad’s neck and applied pressure, so much to the point where his face went blue within a mere 5 seconds. Stu laughed maniacally, only seeming to tighten his grip while Billy continued to antagonize your mother, laughing in her face while she watched the horror happen with her husband.

“Y/N...why?” your dad choked as he struggled.

“Why not...and while we’re here.” you shrugged. “I killed Hannah.”

“WHAT?”

You almost forgot Hannah’s parents were in the room, listening to everything go down.

“Oh yeah.” you shrugged. “Bitch had it coming...the better question is what should I do to you two.” you crossed your arms as you thought.

...(Time skip)

“Pretty isn’t it.” You gazed up at the stars. 

“Not as pretty as you.” Billy flirted, using his sleep to wipe your face. As you all sat on the front steps of your porch, ambulances and cop cars lined up the street for many blocked.

“I agree.” Stu wrapped an arm around you waist. “Be honest, how do you feel?”

“I feel free.” you replied, letting out a large sigh. The cops had just finished questioning you. Your story was clear. Your dad lunged at your mom first and Hannah’s parents saw too much...then he accidently tripped and hung himself. Perfect crime. Billy and Stu were walking by when they heard your cries for help and they hopped in.

As to how you three managed to escape unscathed, they got you out of there in time just as he was hanging himself. As for the tapes playing on the T.V...they were watching old videos to find something to ground you for. (Something they usually did anyways.)

“Good.”

“I just don’t know where I’m gonna live now. My aunt lives the next city over and that’s a long drive.”

“Hm...just gonna have to live with us now!” Stu shrugged, we’ll all be like a married couple!

“All...as in-”

“Yes, the three of us.” Billy grabbed your attention. “Lucky you, eh?” He pecked your lips when the officers wasn’t looking just as Stu planted a smooch on the back of your head.

“Young lady.” the officer walked up to you three. “You’re lucky to have escaped them, that psychopath stabbed your mother 27 times...who does that?!”

You paused before you gave your answer. “I guess he was just fed up, officer.” 

Stu tried hard to contain his laughter while Billy coughed into his hand, you all knowingly shared a look.

Yes...fed up indeed.

(So...I guess this slasher stuff might be a regular thing...I kinda like it)

[embyrinitalics]

I'd love to know more about your writing process if you're willing to talk about it! From the initial idea to brainstorming and planning to how you structure your stories to actually putting words down -- I'm always curious to know what the process is like for writers whose work I enjoy ^^

Meep! 😱 What an incredibly cool ask! I am willing to talk about it, but spoilers it will probably be embarrassing and uninspiring and a total mess and with THAT disclaimer out of the way let's goooo!

So right out front I will say I don't feel like I have much of a "process." I am very unstructured, never use outlines, and rarely know where a story is going when I start out other than a vague direction. I definitely discover as I write, which works super great for me in short form stories (like the ones I spit out for Whumptober), but very very poorly with long fiction. Which explains the 4 1/2 year long Calamitous debacle.

My ideas often spawn out of something shallow (omg wouldn't it be hot if Link was a Dragon? OMG what if he was blind!!! OMGGG WHAT IF HE WAS A HOT MANIPULATIVE POE??!), but ultimately those scenarios are just playgrounds for exploring character stories. Getting to know my characters in those environments is priority #1. Cuz if I don't know who they are and what kind of baggage they're toting around, I won't know how best to torment them, amirite?

Sometimes as I'm discovering who they are, the characters will end up driving the plot hard to unexpected places. The Defiance set from Prius Dementat comes to mind immediately. When I started that piece, I did not know that Zelda was actually the Daughter of Hylia, whose birth prompted the rampage of an imperial war machine that devastated Link's childhood and country. But as I got to know him—who he was, where he came from, how he viewed the world—it seemed like the obvious way to make his life infinitely more difficult.

Character always comes before plot for me (chronologically, but also just insofar as what I'm personally interested in), and as a result my plots tend to be predictable and lack depth. But I think (hope?) that because I'm so laser-focused on the characters and how they interact with the world, that even if it is uncomplicated, it is at least believable. I want them to feel like real people having real reactions. I want them to be intelligent enough to keep up with the reader (or have good reason not to), but also imperfect and emotionally flawed enough to make mistakes. I want their conversations to fit their voice and reflect motivation, and not just be an excuse for exposition or to move the plot along.

My actual "method" involves a lot of rolling around in bed early in the morning (I get my best ideas when I'm groggy LOL), going for walks in the woods, listening to just the right song on repeat, jotting down lines and ideas in notebooks and then misplacing them, and staring at my laptop screen in the dark waiting for inspiration. Interruptions are the absolute worst; I definitely work off the unconscious association of words and mental images and ideas that happens when I'm "in the zone," so having a comfortable room where I can close the door and pop my headphones in is great for the creative juices.

One thing I do A LOT of that I kind of assumed other writers do too but maybe not? Is I'll have a scene in my head, but if I try to actually write it out I'll get caught up in word choice and pacing and it'll all start to escape me before I can get it down, so I end up smashing an inelegant paragraph together as a note to myself. Here's one such paragraph in my The Wolf King doc:

(And when he finally tears away, eyes dark and wild and chest heaving, he says, “Pack your things,” and he pushes off the wall to leave her. “You’re going home.” OOHHHHHHHHHHHH lol And she goes back into the shed because she does NOT have the energy to chase after him and then just faceplants in the blankets and cries a little bit. When she goes back inside they’re already packing up her stuff, and Paya is like WHAT DID YOU DO and Zelda’s like when am I supposed to leave and she’s like “Tomorrow morning.” Link is predictably missing all day, and she ends up sneaking into his room and Paya sees her and she’s like “I have to talk to him,” and then Paya’s all “If I get in trouble, I’m blaming you,” and helps her get in.)

lol yup so that's how it starts in my brain... I'm not entirely sure how it ends up legible. But I have literally pages and pages of story written in that mishmash, so. That's a thing.

I don't know if... ANY of this is what you were looking for 😂 But hopefully you found this ramble amusing, if nothing else. As you can see I'm disorganized and really struggle to complete things, but while I'm sure there's a way for me to write that would end up being more productive, I have a feeling it would be a lot less fun, so I've stopped looking for it.

Thanks so much for the ask! 🥰✨

[criticallyacclaimedstranger]

Fic: What We Don't Know Can't Hurt Us

Fandom: Triple Frontier

Pairing: Frankie Morales x Librarian!Reader (cishet female) meet-cute

Warnings: No warnings really, some language and mention of masturbation and sex. Reader doesn't like kids. Yearning. Frankie is a TOTAL DILF SWEETHEART. Sad ending.

Summary: Reader is a librarian who has to temp at the kids' section desk from time to time which is a pain because she doesn't like kids. And who is a regular if not a very hot, scruffy-looking dad with the very polite and mild-mannered daughter? Sparks fly but some things maybe aren't meant to be.

Words: 5,155

a/n: Just to be clear, this one doesn't end well. I just wanted to write something sad, I guess.

Oh, shit, there he is again. The Hot Dad.

You straighten a little in your chair and once again curse the fact that you’re working in the children’s section at the library: the only desk that isn’t adjustable. You prefer to do your service desk duties standing up, not only for ergonomic reasons but because you hate how patrons look down on you – literally – when you’re seated by the desk. Also, you tend to slouch and it’s not an attractive look. And at the kids’ section, you’re all supposed to work on the same level as the little tykes. And you’re not particularly keen on those.

You are, however, keen on hot dads. God knows you only get them once in a blue moon and if they show up, it’s usually in tow of a whole clan of children and a wife. But this dad has been in once before when you’ve had desk duty and you saw him stop at the shelf for picture books about divorce and pick out a few. You also heard him tell his little girl that she shouldn’t bring the books she chose to her mom’s. Divorcee, so fantasizing was even more allowed – although he probably had a girlfriend. Guys like that always do.

“You don’t want to lose them, sweetie,” he had explained patiently to his daughter. “You can keep them in your room at my place but if you take them to your mom’s there’s a risk you lose them and that means I have to pay for them. You see, we’re only borrowing these books, that’s what you do in a library.”

You had smiled an inwards smile when listening to him. There was nothing you loved more than parents who actually seemed to understand that all the material in the library was free at one simple condition: return it in time, in the same condition as you borrowed it. A lot of people did not seem to grasp this and made a huge deal when they failed to meet these conditions and were faced with late fees or even had to compensate for lost books. But when parents who knew how to use a library include their offspring, explain how it all works for them, well, that’s how you foster a new generation of good library patrons.

This dad did just that. And he was very careful with the books, prompting his daughter to be the same. Every book she pulled out of the stacks, he helped her put back in the right place. That’s practically marriage material right there and it was enough to make you weak at the knees, to be honest. After almost ten years working in a public library, you were disillusioned about people in general and their intelligence in particular. Sure, you liked your job enough to not cry in the mornings when you had to leave bed, and you did enjoy the work itself (mostly), but… having to deal with people was exhausting. Having to deal with little people even more so, and the worst was having to deal with adult people who had little people with them. Parents.

Hence your absolute obsession with Hot Dad who was soft-spoken, really good with his kid, understood to appreciate the library and its services, nodded his hello to you when passing by the desk, didn’t make a mess, clearly read to his kid regularly and encouraged her to read for herself. You just didn’t get to see people like that so often, and it triggered your interest. You allowed yourself to daydream about him.

Francisco Morales. You remember his name from his last visit, when he and the kid came up to the desk with their haul. You always encouraged patrons to use the self-service check-out (the less you had to do deal with them, the better), but for this guy you were more than willing to go the extra service mile, even with the kid staring at your every move from across the desk as you registered all the loans. You silently gave her plus points for not trying to “help” like some kids did, and for the quiet but clear Thank you she gave you without prompting from her father.

You’re busying yourself with the returns, loading them onto a cart, when you hear a soft, deep voice go Excuse me behind your back. You twirl around and see Morales, pulling his baseball cap off his head to reveal curls that would make any hair model cry of envy.

“Sorry to bother you,” he offers. Take me now, you think to yourself but instead, you give him your brightest customer service smile, the one you rarely give patrons.

“No worries, how can I help?”

“We’re looking for picture books about farm animals. You don’t happen to have those separated? I noticed you have some subject areas separated.” He gestures back towards the picture book stacks where his daughter is quietly perusing.

“We don’t, but I think we have some Julia Donaldsons available, let me come and have a look.”

You don’t always offer. With most patrons, you’d tell them to look under D for Donaldson and then smile sweetly and ask them if they’re okay to do it themselves. You can’t do everything for everyone, that way they’ll never learn. But for Francisco Morales and his well-behaved little girl, you’re absolutely willing to make an exception.

There are some Donaldsons that the girl, whose name you learn is Sofia, eagerly accepts when you present her with them.

“I love fawm animals,” she sighs happily as she browses the first one. “Do you?”

“Who doesn’t love animals?” You make the effort to small talk although communicating with kids usually makes you awkward.

“What’s youw favowite? Mine is bunny. And howses. And lambs.”

“Goats! I love goats, they’re so cute and sweet and playful.” You almost add something about goats being the devil’s favorite animal as well but manage to stop yourself in time.

“Is there something else you want to ask the librarian?” Morales asks his daughter. “If not, I’m sure she has a lot of work to do, and we shouldn’t keep her any longer.”

“I’m here to help,” you shrug and give him a little smile: not a polite, impersonal one that you’d give a patron, but a more intimate one. A flirty smile. “You just need to ask.”

The smile he gives you back is warm and grateful, and you realize that he doesn’t have different facial expressions for different people. He doesn’t work in customer service because if he did, he’d know the difference. Not that you ever thought he worked in retail or anything like that, well, maybe a hardware store, but no. He just doesn’t seem like the type. The way he moves his body suggests something a lot more physical.

Oh, you’d like to get physical with him, alright…

All the sucky library-themed pick-up lines flash through your head. Can I check you out as an overnight loan? Can I insert my private collection into your empty stacks? My reference desk or yours? Am I being too loud, well, you’ll just have to shush me with your lips. You’re like an overdue library book because you have fine written all over you.

Worst part is, if Hot Dad Morales tried any of these on you, you’d probably forgive him and go for it. Maybe. You’re really not that simple, but a girl can dream, right?

The kid thanks you and you return to the relative safety of the desk and the mundane task of alphabetizing returns. You need to calm the fuck down and act professional. Daydreaming is fine but you’re barely toeing the line.

God, you need to get laid. As if that’s something that one can remedy just by walking into a store and ordering a medium dick with a side of hands and tongue.

📚📚📚

The next time you see Francisco and Sofia Morales, you’re taking your lunch break in the small park outside the library. It’s a sunny day and you didn’t fancy sitting in the breakroom with your salad, listening to colleagues talking about who cares what. So you took your lunch box, fork, and water bottle, and went to sit on the park bench the furthest away from the swing set and sandbox. The weather is nice and you enjoy yourself and your break from the library’s chat service. You never know what you’re gonna get when you work the chat: a stupid question about opening hours which anyone could google the answer to, or something more complicated like requests for books with partial or no titles, rarities, or subject areas that you don’t know much about. That’s when you get to use your whole competence and really dig deep, think outside the box, solve problems. You love it but it’s challenging at times, and takes a lot of energy. Your outdoor break is welcome.

“Hi!”

You hadn’t noticed the girl walking up to you and the greeting startles you.

“Oh, hi.”

“We’we wetuwning the animal books,” Sofia informs you seriously. You have to smile.

“Good job. You want more of those or something else this time?”

“Mowe. Will you help me find some?”

“I’m not working the desk at the children’s section today but my colleague there will absolutely help you. Just ask her.”

Now you see Morales walking towards you from the swing set, carrying the large, flowery canvas tote that says “book bag” he always brings to the library.

“Hello,” he nods with that warm smile that he definitely gives everyone. “Sofia, don’t disturb the lady on her break. I’m sure she wants some peace and quiet before she has to go back to work.”

Jesus fucking Christ. How does this man just know shit like this?

“I’m sowwy,” Sofia immediately offers. “I wanted to say hello.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay,” you allow, although technically, he’s not wrong. “I’m almost done. It was nice to see you. I hope you have a good visit to the library.”

“Thank you!” She skips along and Morales chuckles as he takes off his baseball cap and scratches his head, swipes his long locks out of his forehead, then puts the hat back on.

“You’re her favorite, you know,” he tells you. When you raise your eyebrow, not comprehending, he hurries to elaborate. “Of the librarians. She says you’re the best.”

“Thank you, but whatever for?” You know you do a good enough job at your usual position and that your regulars appreciate you, but you are also very aware of not being at your finest in the kids’ section.

“You have to ask her,” Morales grins as he looks out for his kid, who has returned to the swing set and is pumping her legs on the swing, brows knitted in concentration. “But she’s very taken with you. I think it’s because you’re very calm and focused with her.”

Calm and focused??? You almost laugh out loud. That’s everything you’re not when you’re at the kids’ desk.

“Thanks,” you manage, because you have to say something.

“She’s also really interested in your tattoos and I definitely think she wants to get her nose pierced now,” Morales goes on. “I told her that we don’t comment on people’s appearance, but just a heads up, she might ask you about those.”

Ah, the unpredictability of children.

“I appreciate it.” You really do. You don’t mind talking about your tattoos or the septum ring you have but if a kid suddenly asks about it, you’d rather be prepared.

“Anyway, sorry to intrude on your lunch.”

“No worries,” you reassure him. “You can… sit down for a while if you want to? I have ten minutes left.”

Your heart beats faster at your proposal. It’s not exactly appropriate but you just want to enjoy his company for a moment. And discreetly sniff him because he smells so fucking good, woodsy and smokey but with a hint of… vanilla? You’re terrible at recognizing smells but it reminds you of some aroma reeds you had a couple of years ago that smelled like a wood cabin with vanilla sugar spilled on the floor. You loved it but like everything you love, it was discontinued.

Morales looks over at his daughter before nodding, the book bag slipping down from his shoulder as he places it next to the bench.

“If you’re sure?”

“Wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t.”

He likes your straightforward answer, you can tell from how his eyes crinkle a little and how relaxed his body language is when he sits down.

“I’m Frankie, by the way,” he says, like he just remembered that introductions are a normal part of human interaction. He extends his right hand to you and as you accept it and tell him your name, you can’t help but marvel at how huge his hand is. Big, warm, slightly damp but not in a weird way.

“Nice to meet you, Frankie.” Frankie. Francisco Morales is Frankie. It suits him better than Francisco, to be honest.

“And that’s Sofia.” He points to the girl who seems content swinging by herself. You realize you’re expected to say something nice about her to the proud dad.

“She seems sweet.”

“Yeah, she’s awesome. And she loves coming to the library, it’s all she talks about when I have her.” He clears his throat and adds: “Her mother and I got divorced quite recently. I only get her five days every other week.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Shit, it’s divorce and custody talk from the start. You have no idea how to respond to that.

“That’s life,” he shrugs, “but I figured that going to the library every time I get her could be a good routine to ground her. And then we have books that we can read together for her entire stay.”

It’s definitely a good routine as far as you can tell.

“When I was between nine and thirteen years old, my dad would take me to the local library every Monday evening,” you tell him, smiling at the memory. “My dad never opened a book in his life but he patiently read the auto and tech magazines while I collected half the kids’ section with me. When I went to tell him that I was done, he always pretended to object to the amounts, but then he’d help me carry it all to the car.”

As you tell him this, you’re looking at him, no, staring at the patchy, grey-splashed beard he’s sporting. It’s the most fascinating thing you’ve ever seen. What’s the story there, why doesn’t it grow evenly? Is this a thing? You don’t have enough experience in the field of facial hair. Is it genetic? Is it always like this?

He keeps looking at his daughter as he listens to you with a small smile on his face, clearly enjoying your little anecdote.

“That’s lovely,” he says, turning his attention back to you when you’re finished. “Dads and daughters, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

You pick up your phone to check the time. Shit. You have to return to the chat.

“I gotta go. Lunch break’s over.”

You collect your things and stand up, brushing off your skirt. Frankie stands up as well and picks up the book bag.

“I’ll see you in there?”

“I’m not a the desk today.”

“Oh.” He seems disappointed, his eyes flickering from you to the ground. “That’s too bad.”

“And the kids' section isn't my primary department.”

“The bad news just keep on coming, don't they,” he jokes as the two of you start to walk towards the entrance. Sofia jumps from the swing and comes running.

“She's not at the desk today, daddy,” she tells Frankie precociously.

“I know, mija. We'll have to ask someone else about the animal books, okay?”

Sofia doesn't seem too happy with this solution but nods. You take your leave before she has the opportunity to ask about your body modifications, and disappear through a door marked “Staff Only”.

📚📚📚

The following weeks you seem to see Frankie everywhere. You run into him at the supermarket and get drafted into advicing him on what cereal to buy for his kid. “Something healthy, but good so she'll actually eat it.” How the hell should I know? you want to scoff, but you're simping for him enough to help him choose something you'd never in a thousand years touch yourself. You see him in town one afternoon when you're running errands and he suggests you grab a coffee - holy hell, in your book that's a fucking date - but you decline as kindly as you can, citing a busy schedule when in fact you're mostly just scared out of your mind. The daydream is becoming a little too real and you're absolutely not ready for that, especially not because of the kid. If it wasn't for Sofia, you could have dared the leap, but dating a guy relatively fresh out of a marriage, and with a kid to boot? No, that's asking for trouble and you don't want trouble.

One afternoon at the kids' desk, you once again get to help Sofia find books, this time on sharks.

“She went from farm animals to sharks in one week,” Frankie confides in you when the girl is sitting quietly in a reading nook, carefully studying every page and occasionally widening her eyes at what you suspect is pictures of shark teeth. “It's sharks this and sharks that. She asks if there are sharks in every body of water she sees, from the pond in the park to the ditch outside my parents' house.”

“Have her watch Jaws and she will never want to think about sharks ever again,” you suggest, earning a laugh although the idea was probably a little bit on the morbid side.

“Maybe, but that would probably scar her for life. I actually want her to learn how to swim.”

“Then best not.”

You pick up a couple of books someone else left behind on a table and make a gesture that says I have to re-shelve these, come with and Frankie follows you to the right shelf.

“You know, she talks about you as her friend at the library.”

Now, some people would find that adorable but you don't. You're not friends with this kid, you're in a position where you could possibly influence her keenness to literature and literacy but you will always risk critique from her guardians. Being a children's librarian is like a hybrid between being in customer service, and being a teacher. You get to form young malleable minds but you are always subjected to criticism, even when you've done nothing wrong. Kids are patrons, like adults, and to have them see you as friends is only going to complicate things.

“That's nice,” you reply carefully, not really sure what else to say. It's so hard to talk to parents sometimes, one wrong words and you're basically Satan, you can't know because you don't have kids yourself, how dare you not worship the ground my offspring just vomited all over?

“You're definitely her favorite librarian.”

That you can take. You have a couple of adult patrons who come in regularly and prefer to get their reading recommendations from you. They always have time to discuss literature and they bring you a box of chocolates for Christmas.

“Well, she's easy to help. She always knows what she wants and she's polite. And quite easy to please,” you smile, meaning every word. You don't mention that the only time you like kids is when they're like Sofia is right now: reading quietly in a corner, handling the books with care.

“You're my favorite librarian as well,” Frankie adds, and now that sweet smile he's always wearing when you see him is shy. There's definitely a red tinge on his cheekbones as well and it makes you want to lean forward and kiss him on his goddamn mouth with that goddamn full lower lip that he sometimes sucks into his mouth or fucking licks...

“How many librarians do you know?” you ask and manage to sound easy-going, or at least you think so. The laugh Frankie produces is low and rolling and it makes your stomach coil in on itself. Fuck him and that deep voice he rode in on!

“Got me there. It's basically you and Mrs Wilkerson, the school librarian who scared the shit out of me when I was in elementary school. She made sure I didn't step foot in a library until, well, now.”

“Oh, I so wanted to be a librarian like that when I was a kid!” You grin at Frankie's horrified expression. “No, no, hear me out! I always had this idea that those librarians led these super rich, fulfilling lives as night-time vigilantes or that they were actually millionaires who spent their free time floating around in pools with fancy drinks in hand.”

“Were you... a normal child, besides these illusions?” Frankie teases you and before you can stop yourself, you're slapping his arm playfully. Like a girlfriend would. Or someone more intimate than a Favorite Librarian, at any rate.

“I'll have you know that the voices in my head are saying that we had a very normal and healthy childhood,” you reply with as much dignity as you can muster, while desperately wishing for the phone to ring or another patron to ask for your help. But no, the ones present seem to be managing on their own - except for one mom who seemed to have overheard your joke because she is now staring at you with hesitation in her eyes.

It's Sofia who comes to your rescue with her request of being taken to the bathroom. By the time she and Frankie are done there, your colleague has come to relieve you of your duties at the children's section.

📚📚📚

You knew of course that it was coming. You may not be that experienced in the terms of dating and relationships but you weren't stupid and you had some experience: Frankie was going to ask you out. It had to happen. Technically, it had already happened that afternoon in town when he asked you out for coffee. He maybe didn't see it as a date, but you certainly did.

It happened when you had just started your shift in the children's section and it was a fucking mess. A class of kindergarteners had just left and the teachers hadn't bothered to keep them in check, so there were not only books on every available surface, they were also put in the wrong way and in the wrong places. Your colleague who you were relieving stayed behind to help you, feeling too bad to leave it all to you.

That's when Daddy and Daughter Morales showed up. You weren't really happy about the existence of kids in the first place but made an effort for Sofia, who brought you a drawing she had made in preschool that day. It featured some figures in green, slightly reminiscent of animals and one human but you wouldn't be able to tell. Luckily, Frankie explained it to you.

“She's waited all day to give you this drawing of you with goats.”

“Wow,” you manage. “Thank you, Sofia, this was so kind of you.”

The girl is beaming with pride. “Will you put it on the wall?”

“Super probably!”

“I can see you're busy,” Frankie notes and ushers Sofia along. “We won't distract you. Come on, honey, let her do her job now and maybe you'll get to talk to her later.”

You nod your thanks and focus on cleaning up the entire department before you colleague leaves and Frankie and Sofia come to the desk to borrow this week' picks. Sofia seems uncharacteristically giddy.

“Do you want to come with us to the awbowetum?” she asks with a wide, expectant smile. Fuck shit ass hell.

“We're going on Saturday,” Frankie fills in, “and we were both hoping you'd want to join?”

Saturday. Thank goodness.

“Sorry, I work on Saturday,” you say, trying to sound rueful. It's true and you're relieved about not having to lie. “But thanks, it's sweet of you to ask.”

Sofia is clearly disappointed and so is Frankie, but he masks it better.

“Some other time, yeah?”

If it were only him, you'd tell him it wasn't a good idea. But you can't say that with the kid right in front of you. You may not like kids but that doesn't mean you want to scar them for life.

“Yeah, maybe.”

You loan them the books and as they leave, Sofia waves happily at you and Frankie shoots you one last smile that makes you press your thighs together in your seat.

Come Saturday, you're by your usual desk in the section for adult fiction and you almost fall off your chair when you see Frankie come up the stairs and straight up to the desk.

“Hi.” He's had a haircut and a shave and looks different. Still good, but very different. The dark locks of his hair are more tamed. The mustache is still there but you miss the patchy beard.

“Um, hi? Where's Sofia?”

“In the car, with a friend. We're going to the arboretum.”

“Right. I hope you have a good time, the arboretum's lovely.” You still don't understand what he's doing here and he seems to have some difficulty in telling you. Moving his weight from one foot to the other, he scratches his neck and looks down - why does he have to be so freaking cute? - before looking up at you.

“About that... I wanted to apologize. I wasn't sure it was a good idea to ask you to come with, but Sofia was so persistent. She likes you so much. I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I'm sorry.”

“That's alright,” you brush it off because there's not really anything else you can say. “Don't think about it, just go have a good day.”

“I also wanted to ask if you wanted to go grab a drink with me. Just me. Maybe next week when Sofia's at her mother's.”

Fuck, there it is. His hopeful face makes you hate yourself for the answer you have to give.

“I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Frankie,” you begin carefully. “I'm really flattered, but you're... recently divorced with a kid. That's a lot of baggage and things could get complicated. I don't want to get caught up in that.”

You've practiced this speech at home but it still breaks your fucking heart because Frankie is so good-looking, kind, funny, and sweet. You would've asked him out yourself already if it wasn't for the baggage. Fuck, you masturbate to the thought of him, for crying out loud! You imagine what it would be like to be with him, to make dinner together and watch movies and go to bed and wake up in each other's arms. You think about sex with him a lot. You make an effort with your appearance those days you know he'll show up at the library, you don't even mind the kids' section that much anymore because you get to talk to him.

You are fucking in love with him, or at least the idea of him because you don't know much about him, only that he used to be a pilot in the special forces but now he trains new pilots, he has best friends who are like uncles to Sofia (and who have been asking about this mystery librarian she always keeps talking about), he likes cooking and loves baking with his daughter, he hates working out but knows he should take better care of himself, hell, you even know what brand of milk he buys.

He's clearly disappointed but keeps a brave face, one that you can see right through because he wears his heart on his sleeve.

“I understand that,” he says quietly, mildly. “I'm sorry, I hope I didn't embarrass you.”

Jesus fucking Christ can this man not???

“No, don't worry. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the answer you wanted. It's just... not a good time.”

Shit. You shouldn't have said that. Now he might think it could be a better time later.

Frankie nods and smiles sadly. “Yeah, you're probably right.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.”

He clears his throat and nods. “I better be going. You have a good weekend now.”

“You too.”

He shoots you one final smile before he turns around and leaves. As you watch him go down the stairs to the exit level, you just want to call his name, do your run through the airport and hurry after him, throw yourself into his arms, kiss him, Jesus, imagine that somewhere there's someone who'll get to kiss him some day, tell him that you made a huge mistake and you want to go out with him, you want to have drinks with him and dinner and breakfast and lunch for the rest of your lives because nothing would make you happier than making him happy. You want to be the reason his eyes crinkle and his cheek displays that little dimple that makes you lose your train of thought every time you see it.

But it's not for you. People with kids need to prioritize their kids and you know that you can't be anyone's number two. You don't want to get caught up in custody disputes, you don't want to be "your father's new slut", you don't want to be anyone's stepmom. You don't want to have to spend five days a week in the same house as a five-year-old. Being in a relationship is difficult enough as it is and if you can make choices that avoid some of the problems, you're going to make them, no matter how much it hurts.

And it hurts. A lot. But so much in life hurts and you've made it through before.

He must already be out the door, probably in the car. Does he say something about this to his daughter and friend? Is it a female friend? No, it must be one of his army buddies, probably one of the brothers.

You pull up Frankie's profile in the library database and see his phone number. You could call him anytime. Or send a text. Keep talking to him, flirting.

Shit. It's a bad idea.

A patron approaches the desk and you force yourself to look mild and service-minded.

“Hi, do you have Hate To Want You by someone called... Ray, I think?”

“Please hold a moment, I'll check.” You stifle the sigh that threatens to escape you and hope that the day will be busy so you won't have time to think about Francisco Morales again.

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚! 𝐀𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐳: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮

Disclaimer: In no way am I condoning, encouraging, justifying, nor promoting mafia behavior or lifestyle. This is all a work of fiction and not meant to represent real life scenarios.

「𝐾𝑖𝑚 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑗𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑔」

You groaned as the doorbell rang incessantly. You weren't in the mood or spirits to talk to anyone. Getting up, you thought it'd be best to just tell whoever it was to leave you alone. But you couldn't do that when you saw who it was at the door.

"Hongjoong...?" You asked in disbelief.

"Hey Y/N..." He replied, nervously, tugging at the sleeves of his oversized sweater.

You certainly weren't expecting to see him there, at your house, especially not after your guys' breakup 1 week ago. It still hurt you and not wanting to cry in front of him, you began to close the door.

"Wait! Don't Y/N! I need to talk to you!" Hongjoong exclaimed as his hands tried to keep you from locking him out.

"Well I don't! I don't want to talk to or even see you Kim Hongjoong!"

Your efforts weren't enough as he pushed himself inside your house.

"Get out Hongjoong!" You demanded, though the tremor in your voice probably didn't sound too convincing.

"Not until you hear what I have to say." Hongjoong begged.

"I think I heard what I needed to hear last time, I don't need you to repeat yourself Hongjoong. I don't need you!" You shouted as tears finally poured down your face.

Hongjoong immediately pulled you close to hug you, but you kept trying to shove him off.

"No! Don't touch me! I don't want to see you! I don't need you in my life! And I don't need you repeating that this relationship would get nowhere! I don't need someone who isn't going to commit or take things seriously after so many years and expect me to be fine with it! I don't deserve that!" You cried.

"You're right Y/N. You're absolutely right. You don't deserve that, you deserve that at all. You deserve someone whose going to take care of you, protect you at all costs and love them indefinitely....."

Hongjoong sighed.

"And I was a fucking idiot for not stepping up to do that sooner for you..."

Your hands covered your mouth in shock as he got down on one knee and pulled out a velvet red box from his pants.

"This isn't at all how I wanted to ask you this....but I was desperate and I wanted you back in my life........not as my girlfriend..."

He looked up at you with adoring eyes.

"But as my wife..."

He opened the box to reveal a huge diamond ring with a rose gold band.

"So L/N Y/N.....would you marry me?"

「𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑆𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑔ℎ𝑤𝑎」

You felt utterly humiliated and self conscious. You knew for a long time that Seonghwa's parents never liked you, but now they seemed determined to get rid of you.

Your face fell the moment a pretty looking girl came up and greeted Seonghwa, and she obviously had a big effect on him, given how he straightened up when he saw her. You tilted your head trying to think who was she, when the question was answered by none other than Seonghwa's mom:

"That's my son's former fiancee." She said behind you, the malice in her voice more than visibly to you.

Your heart dropped at her words, getting worried and anxious the more they interacted together.

"Such a beautiful, elegant, refined and classy lady......all the things you'll never be." She sneered at you before walking away.

You bit your tongue, trying to contain the rage inside of you, refusing to sink to the witch's level and retaliate in any way. You simply swallowed the lump in your throat and decided to walk out of the house, and out of Seonghwa's life if you needed to.

Unbeknownst to you, Seonghwa had actually heard everything and was less than pleased when his mom came over to him and his ex. Before she could even say anything, he bursted out:

"Let that be the last time I hear you disrespect my girlfriend that way mother. I think I've put up a enough of your bullshit, but this..."

He didn't hesitate to gesture to the incredulous looking girl next to him.

"This is the last straw."

Seonghwa began walking away, refusing to stay there any longer. He'd much rather go look for you, he knew you were probably feeling bad at this moment and needed him.

"Park Seonghwa! You walk out that door and choose that low life, we will disown you and never see you again!"

Seonghwa stopped at his mother's threat. Chuckling, he turned around.

"You know mom......I can live without a lot of things....

But Y/N isn't one of them. "

「𝐽𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑌𝑢𝑛ℎ𝑜」

Yunho ran out of his car, not caring to actually turn it off. He bursted through the front door.

"Y/N?! Y/N?!"

He frantically called out for you and panicked when he didn't hear a response from you. He began running through every part of his house, looking in every room and corner, searching for any sign of you. He couldn't even find any sign that you had come home.

"No no no!" He exclaimed in fear and frustration.

He quickly took out his phone and called Hongjoong.

"What's up-?"

"I think they took Y/N!" Yunho immediately said.

"Yunho...are you sure?" Hongjoong asked from the other line.

"I'm sure of it! She's not home and I don't think she made it here! Hongjoong what if the threats they sent me came true?! What if they took her away from me?" Yunho couldn't contain his feelings anymore as he began sobbing, falling to the floor in defeat.

Hongjoong stayed silent on the other line, letting Yunho compose himself before asking:

"Yunho is Y/N really that important to you?"

"Yes! She's the most important person in my life! You don't understand Hongjoong!!...."

Yunho sniffled loudly before confessing:

"I love her and I can't live without her..."

Yunho broke down once again, internally kicking himself for not taking better care of you, for not putting up better security to ensure your safety. He felt like dying until he heard a warm and familiar voice say from his phone:

"I love you too Yunho."

Yunho nearly ended the call when he dropped the phone at the sound of your voice.

"Baby?" He asked.

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier Yunho. I asked her to come over because I wanted her to know what's been going on with our rival gang." Hongjoong explained.

Yunho let out a sigh of relief and wiped his face with the sleeves of his sweater.

"So you're ok and not hurt?"

Yunho could practically hear you smiling when you said:

"I'm ok Yunho. And don't worry. I'll be home soon. Wait for me."

「𝐾𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑌𝑒𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑔」

Yeosang tossed and turned on his king sized bed, unable to sleep. He grabbed one of the many pillows next to him and wrapped his arms and legs around it, but it didn't feel right. It was cold and somehow couldn't adjust properly to his body.

Groaning he just threw it across the room and slumped on the bed, looking at the ceiling. He was startled by 3 loud knocks on his door.

"Yo! Can you either stop making so much noise or else I'm going to knock you out until our trip is finished. Thank you!" He heard Jongho's tired voice exclaim.

Yeosang sighed. Ever since he left the airport that morning along with the others because they had a mission to carry out, he had been anxious. This was the furthest and about to become the longest time he'd been away from home....

Away from you...

It was only the first night and he already had trouble sleeping. He had gotten so used to having you next to him, cuddled up next to you, inhaling your calming scent as he fell asleep to the sound of your breathing. It was like he needed it or else he'd go insane. If he couldn't have that, he at least needed to hear your voice.

Pushing his luck, he opened up his phone and tried to video call you. His free hand began fidgeting, as he remembered you probably wouldn't pick up since it was late and you were probably asleep too. His heart skipped a beat when your face popped up on the screen.

"Yeosang?" You asked tiredly.

"Uh..... hi baby. Did I wake you?" He asked, feeling guilty for disturbing you.

You yawned softly. "It's fine. What's wrong baby?"

Yeosang blushed at the pet name and at the thought of telling you why he called you.

"I.....couldn't sleep...." He admitted shyly.

"Oh? Why's that love?" You raised an eyebrow.

Yeosang smiled shyly before saying:

"You're not here.......and I wanted to see you....hear you..."

He leaned in closer to the camera, his fingers grazing the screen, wanting to touch you.

"I miss you.."

「𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑖 𝑆𝑎𝑛」

San strolled somberly through the park, not really paying attention where he was going. Finding an empty bench, he sat down on it and looked at the ground, reflecting on what happened a few days prior:

"You're...what?" He asked, his eyes widening when you told him the news. He began chuckling awkwardly.

"Please tell me your joking."

You held up the pregnancy, 2 lines clearly indicating that it was positive. San nearly fell back when he saw it.

"H-how in the world..?" He couldn't even finish his sentence.

"You really want a biology lesson right now?" You raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know that's not what I meant!" His tone suddenly got loud, frightening you a little.

"We were careful! You were on the pill and I used condoms! What the hell went wrong?!" He demanded.

"You know that doesn't always work! And instead of yelling at me can't you try to be more supportive of the fact I'm carrying your child Choi San!?" You lashed out at him.

San looked away from you in shame, too scared of the situation. He grabbed his coat and left you there with only an apology that broke your heart.

San was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a little squeal. Lifting his head up, he watched as a young couple played with their daughter. The image brought a smile to his face, and then he was filled with dread and remorse for just leaving you like that.

"Choi San you fucking coward." He said as he got up and ran to your house, hoping it wasn't too late to set things right with you.

When you opened the door, you were startled to see him and even more startled when he engulfed you in a hug.

"I'm extremely sorry for leaving you like that Y/N. I was scared and truthfully, I still am."

Pulling back, he looked straight in your eyes to say the following words:

"But I love you and I'm not going to let you go through this alone. I'm going to be here for you...and our child."

「𝑆𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖」

"Hold still."

You repeated that for what seemed like the 25th time in less than 4 minutes.

"It stings!" Mingi complained when you wiped the cotton pad filled with sanitizing solution on his wound again.

"If you stop moving, we'll get over this faster and it'll hurt less." You reminded him.

Mingi shut his eyes tight and muffled a cry when you rubbed his wound. You rolled your eyes at him as you finished by bandaging him up.

"Seriously, you're such a big baby at times." You told him as you began dressing him in a shirt.

"Oh yeah? Can a big baby take a stab to the chest? No? Thought so." He stated proudly.

You only sighed as you began buttoning up his shirt.

"I only wished you'd be more careful. Sometimes I'm afraid of you getting really hurt...."

Mingi could sense your nervousness and fear of one day losing him. Cupping your cheeks, he smushed your face together and cooed at you softly.

"You don't have to worry about me baby. Hardly anything happens to me aside from little scrapes like these." He assured you.

You snorted. "Yeah. Scrapes that I always end up cleaning and taking care of. Seriously, what would you do if you didn't have me? You can't live without me."

Mingi was going to reply something sarcastically to your teasing, but instead he just let out a gasp and held a hand to his chest.

"What?" You were startled by his action, thinking his wound opened up or started hurting.

Mingi blinked at you before saying:

"You're right....I really can't live without you.."

Without warning, he tackled you onto the bed and wrapped his long limbs around you, rendering you unable to escape him.

"Cause I love you too much to let you go." He winked at you and pressed kisses all over your face.

"Mingi! You dork! Let me go!" You cried out half-heartedly, loving how playful he'd get.

"Nope! I'm never gonna let you go!" He giggled at you as he tightened his embrace on you.

「𝐽𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑊𝑜𝑜𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔」

You said good night to your date, allowing him to kiss you softly on the lips. It wasn't particularly bad, but you felt no sparks at all, although you pushed those thoughts away, believing that it was only because it was your first kiss together. You walked to the front of your apartment, and began to take out your key when a figure rounded the corner and stepped up next to you.

"Did you have fun on your little date?"

You knew that voice all too well, even if you were born again, you'd still recognize it.

"I did actually Wooyoung." You turned around, your arms crossing over your chest. You couldn't help the smug smirk on your face as you continued:

"He was a perfect gentleman and very well behaved thank you."

Wooyoung scoffed. "Boring old sack if you ask me."

"What the fuck do you want Wooyoung?" You were tired of him and just wanted him gone.

"You know exactly what I want Y/N..."

Pressing his body close to yours, he let one of his hands tuck a piece of hair behind your ear.

"I want you.....I want us again."

You let out a dry laugh at that.

"How funny. If I recall correctly, it was you the one who wanted to end us. The one who didn't want to commit to a relationship, the one who wanted to continue living a wild life and just walk out of whatever we had."

Wooyoung looked away momentarily when you spoke out the harsh truth.

"Well guess what? I moved on and I found someone else to be happy with. I don't need you and you certainly don't need me."

You turned to walk inside your house, but Wooyoung spun you around and pinned you to the wall.

"That's where you're wrong Y/N! I do need you! I can't live without you!"

Not being able to help it, he gripped your chin and kissed you roughly. You didn't even try to push him away, deep down you knew you wanted it too. His kiss definitely sent sparks down your body and you craved it more when he pulled away.

Wooyoung smirked when he saw your expression.

"And I'm willing to bet you can't live without me either..."

「𝐶ℎ𝑜𝑖 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑔ℎ𝑜」

Jongho stared at the documents in front of him. All he had to do was pick up the pen next to him, sign away and then he would be free. Free from this arranged marriage set up by both of your parents that threw you both together for years now. Both of you could finally live your lives the way you wanted to......

"So why can't I just do it?"

Jongho didn't need to think too much about it, he knew exactly why he was refusing to sign the papers.

"Jongho? Anytime now." You reminded him, tapping on the dotted line at the bottom of the page.

Jongho hesitantly picked up the pen next to him, sighing sadly. His hand began to tremble as he placed the ballpoint right on the line..... but he couldn't do it.

"Fuck this."

Jongho threw the pen to the side and grabbed the stack of papers, easily ripping them to shreds and discarding them in the nearest trash bin.

"Jongho? What are you doing?" You exclaimed in shock of his actions.

"I can't do this Y/N." He admitted.

"You don't have to be scared anymore Jongho. I told you, our parents won't care-"

"No Y/N! You don't understand! I can't end our marriage because I don't want to!"

You looked at him in shock when he said that. Walking up to you, Jongho held your hands.

"From the beginning......despite not wanting any of this....you were always so sweet and caring towards me, and you were always there when I needed you, even if at times I pushed you away.."

Your eyes welled up with tears when he began talking.

"I'm not ready to let you go.......I can't let you go."

He looked into your eyes before admitting:

"Y/N, I love you. I truly and wholeheartedly fell in love with you...... and I don't think I could live the rest of my life without you in it...so please...

Can you please stay with me?"

Gifs not mine, credit goes to their respective owners

[epona610]

A Comparison of OUAT Redemption Stories

So I was DMing with someone about a different show entirely, and I brought up OUAT because I loved/hated this show so much and it’s largely based on redemption stories. I was going to briefly explain why I find Hook’s arc so compelling (though not without its flaws, of course) and Regina’s so lacking, but it turns out that I still cannot write briefly about this subject. So I’m posting this here because this is what my blog was originally about, and I find I still feel very much the same way even after a few years have passed. I want to preface this by saying I haven’t rewatched the show since it went off the air, and I certainly could’ve forgotten some things. And I’m obviously biased in that I loathe the character of Regina so much, although here I’m trying to explain exactly why I can’t stand her.

Hook and Regina were both motivated by revenge for the deaths of their first loves. Rumple murdered his ex-wife and Hook’s current lover/partner/co-captain, Milah, so Hook set out to kill Rumple himself, the Dark One, who is one of (if not the) most powerful beings in their world. Hook caused a lot of harm to innocent people as collateral damage, but eventually he gave up on the idea of revenge and basically peacefully coexisted with the guy who had murdered his first love and chopped off his hand. Regina’s mother was the one to kill her first love, but did she go after her? No, she went after the ten-year-old child (Snow) whom her mother had manipulated into telling about her first love (by playing on Snow’s feelings for her dead mother, whom Regina’s mother had murdered). Regina was going after an innocent person from the beginning because she was afraid of her mother. 

Then there’s the scale of the harm done. Regina: literally slaughtered at least two whole villages, sent countless children to be literally eaten by a cannibal, cursed an entire population by permanently altering their minds, has murdered so many people and taken so many hearts she lost track of whose was whose, illegally adopted a child whom she knowingly raised in a town where no one else grew or aged and then gaslit him when he caught on, murdered her father in order to cast the curse. Hook: was a pirate so he has killed people (we learn that his rings come from murder victims, whose names and circumstances he remembers) killed his own father (who had sold him into child slavery) thereby orphaning his little brother, killed David’s father, backhanded Belle across the face once, shot her so she’d cross the town line and lose her memories, sort of turned Baelfire over to Peter Pan (but only after Bae refused to let Hook hide him so I never got why he felt guilty over that honestly). No indiscriminate mass murder that we know of. 

And of course there’s the remorse or utter lack thereof. Regina is constantly defending her actions. I’ll use her own words to illustrate. She at one point says to Snow: “To be fair, I was threatening you. Everyone else just became collateral damage.” And then later we get this infuriating exchange:

Regina: Need I remind you I dedicated years to knocking you down? But nothing could stop you. 

Snow: You took my kingdom, cast your curse, I lost my daughter for 28 years.

Regina: And then you found her. 

Clearly no remorse or recognition for the fact that she stole Emma’s entire childhood from her and her parents. And the classic, said as she was escaping a tree that attacks people’s regret: “I did cast a curse that devastated an entire population. I have tortured and murdered. I’ve done some terrible things. I should be overflowing with regret, but I’m not.” 

I feel that I should add that she ends that last statement with “because it got me my son”. And that sounds lovely, but that means that she doesn’t regret the harm she’s done since getting him (continuing to enslave and sexually abuse her victims, murdering Graham, attempting to murder the entire town so Henry would have nobody else to love) or even more notably, the harm she’s done to Henry (raising him in a psychologically unhealthy environment, cursing him in an attempt to curse his mother, gaslighting him, attempting to murder his entire family, altering his memories, etc.) Regina says time and again that she “gave up on revenge” against Snow, but as far as I can tell, she only decided she was satisfied because she’d succeeded in irreparably harming Snow. She took away her chance to raise her daughter, who ended up being raised in an abusive foster system and felt obligated to give up her own child. 

And then I compare that to Hook’s apologizing and making things right with people he’s hurt, like Ursula, his younger brother Liam, and David. And then he and Belle become close friends and eventually they have this conversation:

Belle: I’m sorry, I can’t stay here. If Rumple finds you harboring me...

Hook: His wrath will be an added bonus.

Belle: I don’t understand. Why would you risk your life for me?

Hook: Long ago, I... I tried to kill you in the queen’s castle once. I failed. But along the way, I did something I can live with no longer. I laid a hand on you. And there’s the matter of my shooting you at the town line.

Belle: Yeah, well. You’ve changed since all that.  

Hook: Maybe. I have a long road to travel before I can be someone I can be proud of. Despite the forgiveness of others, I must forgive myself, and I’m not there yet.

So yeah, that’s a summary of why I find Hook’s redemption arc to be (somewhat) believable and satisfying and Regina’s to be... basically nonexistent. The show tells us she’s a hero and a good person now, but she never apologizes or shows remorse. She makes it abundantly clear that she’s doing good only in the hopes of getting happiness for herself, which she absolutely feels entitled to even though she’s taken it from so many others (the amount of times she complained about not getting what she wants despite occasionally doing the right thing is incredible). She still even has a bunch of hearts whose owners she apparently forgot! There’s no indication that guilt weighs on her at all, or that she even feels any guilt. I can’t buy a “redemption” from someone who never shows remorse or accepts responsibility.

Note: these quotations weren’t taken from memory, nor did I go back and watch the episodes. They came from the OUAT transcripts found here.