#ship: i loved you long before i had the guts to let you know ( yelena x trouble )

[druidgroves]

ok here r all the new tags if anyone is. curious :^)

[biggest-stupidhead]

Heyy!!

I dont think there's such think as semen donors in aot cannon?

BUT WHAT IF Captain Levi agrees to be the donor to squad leader (or just cadet) reader in a platonic relationship/eventual romance?

Just cute ackerbabies!

Lmao you’re probably right, no semen donors in canonverse. But I honestly love this idea so much, I feel like it would be hard for Levi to make that romantic connection so I could see him making that choice, and maybe it developing into something more!

Summary: Levi can���t wait any longer to start a family, and you are willing to take that step with him.

Word Count: 1.7K

__

You choked on the small sip of tea that you had taken. Catching the small drops of liquid that had escaped your lips.

“Come again now?” You managed to form words after a moment, Levi seemed uninterested as always, those charcoal grey eyes dull and apathetic.

“You heard me just fine, you know that I hate repeating myself.” He scoffed as he shifted so that his leg was crossed over his opposite knee,

“Yes I heard you but....marriage?” You were shocked to say the least. Levi had never shown any prior interest in any long term relationship with anyone, although the two of you had hooked up a handful of times.

“I don’t see why not. We already share a room, not to mention that we-”

“Okay I get it, just...it’s a big commitment and I’m not sure that I’m-”

“Oh please, what else do we have to look forward to anymore? No more fighting, no more political issues to deal with might as well settle down and...” He trailed off, his gaze cast downwards into his cup of tea, which was probably cold by now. You sighed deeply, placing your cup down gently and leaning back into the sofa that the two of you were seated on. His arm was slung casually across the back of the sofa, his finger tips ghosting over your shoulder.

“I know but Levi...marriage?” you were a bit disappointed. He had said it so casually, as if he was asking you if you wanted to run to the market to grab apples.

“If you don’t want to then just say no.” He snapped, clearly getting frustrated, he rose to his feet and began to march towards his desk. You chased after him, catching his wrist. You knew it was difficult for him to express himself, to put things lightly or being considerate to your feelings.

“It’s not that...I’m just a little caught off guard.” You admitted as you held his wrist gently. He let out a breath that he had seemed to have been holding in, he turned and laced his fingers through yours, his other hand diving into his pant pocket. You waited patiently for him to say something, but he only pulled out a small black box. Your heart skipped a beat, this was more how you had pictured being proposed to. He fell onto his knee and opened the box slowly, revealing a modest silver ring with a small diamond embedded in the ring.

“Oh Levi...” Your fingers were still laced with his as he knelt down, you squeezed his hand affectionately.

“I already bought the damn ring, just say yes.” He grunted, averting his gaze as his thumb glided over your knuckle.

“You have a point there.” You chuckled as you gave him a small nod, which was enough of a yes for him.

__

You were married by the end of the month, a simple court house wedding with Armin and Mikasa as your witnesses. Afterwards you had gone home and eaten dinner as usual. Just another week, except now the sex that you and Levi occasionally had, became a hell of a lot more regular. You had no complaints, or at least that was until you were hunched over the kitchen sink puking your guts out. You had missed your period as well, and it didn’t take a genius to know what that meant. You decided to wait until you were certain to tell anyone this however, seeing how difficult pregnancy could be, and the unlikeliness of carrying to full term seemed high.

So you made sure to go to the doctor twice before telling Levi that you were pregnant. He’d had a very similar reaction that you’d had when he had asked to marry you.

He choked on his tea, his hand flying to his chin to catch the liquid.

“Pregnant?” He repeated, and you nodded, leaning against the table where he was sitting.

“H-How long until...”

“Give or take seven months.” You shrugged, trying to put on a brave face, after seeing how frazzled he was you wanted to make this as casual as the rest of your relationship.

“So...we should probably start cleaning out that spare room and-” You cut him off by kneeling down and placing a chaste kiss to his lips.

“We’ve got plenty of time for that, for now let’s just...enjoy not being responsible for a helpless shitty baby.” You said softly as you slowly sank onto his lap. He hummed his approval, but still seemed rightfully on edge.

“We can start cleaning the room in few weeks, there’s no rush.” You assured him as you scattered kisses across his sour face.

“I’ll start tomorrow.” Levi hummed as he tilted his head to the side.

__

Turned out that you were both in way over your head. Around 12 weeks into your pregnancy Hange was pressing her stethoscope to your rapidly swelling belly when she froze. Levi tensed when he noticed this, and you frowned.

“What is it?” Levi asked as he gripped the back of the exam table.

“Nothing’s wrong...just-”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing.” Levi scowled as he watched Hange continue to feel around your stomach.

“That’s cause it isn’t nothing, I’m hearing two heart beats.” Hange told you as she stood to her full height.

“Two heart beats?” You felt feint at the news, you had known that twins ran in your family but you had never expected to have them yourself.  

“Yes, it appears that you are having twins” Hange said with a wide smile as she folded up the stethoscope. Your vision blurred, the worry that you had been experiencing prior to the appointment had doubled along with the number of children you were having. 

“No shit.” Levi replied breathily as he held your shoulder firmly. 

“If I were you guys I’d go clean out that room now.” Hange advised as she cleaned up the space that you had been using as a makeshift exam room in her office. 

“I’ll get right on that.” Levi said, shooting you a concerned look as he helped you up onto your feet. 

__

The twins were born premature, the labor itself wasn’t nearly as bad as you had expected. But you realized that it wasn’t that bad because of how small they were. The only reason that they both survived was thanks to the Marleyan medical equipment that had been shipped over courtesy of Zeke and Yelena. You and Levi spent countless hours in the hospital as you awaited for the twins to be discharged. In that window of time you decided on names, it was difficult but you decided on Harrison and Harper. You weren’t surprised to find that they both took after their father, dark bluish grey eyes with a full head of black hair. The one thing they seemed to have gotten from you was your facial structure and your complexion. 

It was a massive relief to bring them home, now instead of staying up until the wee hours in the hospital you could do it in the comfort of your own home. 

One particular evening you were walking laps with Harrison, gently patting his back as you bounced off of your heels as he cried. On your third lap around the entire cottage, you peeked into the nursery to see Levi reclined on the rocker with Harper fast asleep. His eyes were closed, his naked chest rising and falling evenly as he slept. You envied him as you rubbed circles on Harrison’s back once more. His cries slowly died out and you managed to drag yourself to your bed and place Harrison down gently. Using the extra pillows, you managed to make a small barrier between him and yourself as well as the edge of the bed. It wasn’t often that you got to do this, seeing as you usually slept with Levi. But Harrison seemed content with laying in his dad’s spot for the night. His big blue eyes were watching your hair sway over his face as you adjusted the pillows. He cooed and babbled for a few minutes before falling silent, his tiny breaths putting you at ease. 

It couldn’t have been but an hour later when the sound of Harper crying woke you once more. Levi was pacing around the same way that you had been earlier before he finally managed to put her at ease. He returned to your room to see you sitting up, Harrison fast asleep at your side. 

“Care to join us?” You asked, voice gruff with sleep, or rather the lack there of. 

“Would I ever.” Levi groaned as he placed Harper in the pillow barrier with Harrison who was still fast asleep. He managed to squeeze onto the bed, laying on his side like you were as the two of you watched Harper sooth herself into sleep. His gaze left the small baby in favor of studying your features. 

“What would you have done if I had never asked you to marry me?” The question caught you off guard, your fingers were tracing the soft features of your babies. You hummed in thought but the answer was already on the tip of your tongue. 

“I’d have asked you to marry me.” You said with a wry smile and Levi rolled his eyes at your cheesy reply. 

“That’s not what I meant...well not really.” Levi grumbled, you paused again in thought. What would you have done? Certainly no more military work, that chapter was over for you. 

“Maybe I’d open a bakery. My grandmother left me all of her recipes. What would you do?” You asked, finger running along the soft dark locks of hair that were growing from Harrison’s head. 

“I’d open a tea shop.” Levi answered quickly, his own gaze back on the babies, his hand resting on Harper’s stomach, rising and falling with her breathing. 

“Why don’t we just say fuck it and do it?” You asked, not sure if you were serious or if it was the lack of sleep talking. 

“There was that space for lease last time we went into town...” Levi offered thoughtfully. 

“Yeah, we could fix it up and open a cafe.” You said excitedly as you leaned over the sleeping babies in hopes of coaxing a kiss from Levi. He nodded in agreement before leaning over and planting a kiss to your lips. 

“We’ll talk about it in the morning. Go to sleep.” Levi sighed as he stretched out on his side, and closing his eyes. You smiled and mirrored him, your hand resting on Harrison’s stomach now as well, your fingertips brushing his. 

You knew that you’d made the right choice. Marrying Levi was the best decision that you’d made in a long time. It may not look like the typical love story, but you knew that it was real, realer than most relationships. And you wouldn’t want to have it with anyone else. 

[druidgroves]

the trouble with trouble

fandom: shepherds of haven, property of @shepherds-of-haven summary: Briony relays the events of this conversation with Trouble to Yelena because they’re besties. For all of Yelena’s directness, the idea of voicing her romantic feelings is proving to be pretty difficult. notes: they’re both idiots and i adore them.

Yelena listened to Briony recount her recent conversation with Trouble. She didn’t say a word the entire time, which kind of unnerved Briony. She simply listened from the seat of her desk, only moving to steeple her fingers together and press them to her mouth, eyebrows furrowed. When the strongwoman concluded, she looked at her friend, waiting for some sort of answer or reaction.

Yelena sighed.

“So you see my problem.”

Briony flopped back on Yelena’s bed where she had been sitting, running a hand down her face, “If that conversation frustrated me, I can only imagine how you feel, Lena.”

“I just–” The mage stood up, the aggravation within proving too much as she started pacing around her room. “I can’t–He–”

“Take your time,” Briony said. Yelena clenched her hands before throwing them up in the air and groaning, flopping down on the bed next to Briony.

“I’m in love with an idiot,” the mage finally relented, covering her face with her hands.

“At least you know he likes you?” Briony offered, trying to be helpful.

“Then why does he keep insisting we’re just friends?” Yelena asked, peeking at the other woman through her fingers.

“He confused me quite a bit with the whole thing, but I think he knows there’s something between the two of you, he just doesn’t know how to act on it because you’re ‘such good friends,’” Briony said. “You might have to make the first move here, Lena.”

Yelena took her hands away from her face, looking at Briony like she was mad.

“And say something stupid to screw it all up? Absolutely not.”

Briony looked back at her, sitting up on the bed to give her an incredulous look, “You cannot seriously be telling me that you, of all people, are incapable of being straightforward with your intentions.”

“I thought I had been up until now!” Yelena said, shooting up defensively.

“What exactly have you said to him?”

Yelena bit the inside of her cheek. “Well, I mean, I haven’t–I haven’t really said anything…I mean, there was that first time he took me to that tavern, the barkeep asked if we were friends or friends and I said we were getting there, but…I thought I was being pretty obvious, at least physically! I’ve practically sat in his lap during breakfast before, we’ve shared drinks and hells, we’ve even kissed each other on the cheek, I–”

Briony cut her off with a raise of her hand, “You do realize this is Trouble we’re talking about, right? At this point, the only way he’s going to realize you like him back is if you paint it on the walls of the compound.”

“He’d probably think it was a vandal.”

“Honestly, yeah, probably.”

Yelena sighed, bringing her legs up to hug to her chest. Briony put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“This is so stupid. I…I’ve never felt like this for someone before. It all feels so…juvenile,” Yelena said, deflating a little. “I don’t wanna mess anything up.”

She felt like a kid again, talking about childish crushes that only went as far as Zori and her giggling and running away when they were near. She’d never had any sort of serious relationship. She was a traveler, a wanderer, only going where her caravan jobs took her, so any relations she had were always kept to short trysts with other caravan guards. The possibility of anything long term just hadn’t been in the cards until now and that scared her. There was the probability, no matter how small, that she had been completely misreading Trouble the entire time and if she said anything it would become awkward between them. The anxious thought was enough to eat her alive.

“I just really, really like him, Briony,” she said after a moment of silence. “He’s funny and kind and passionate and thoughtful. When he looks at me sometimes I feel like I’m floating. Watching him shoot a target a mile away is honestly incredible, not to mention attractive as hell. He’s been one of the few people to stand up to anyone spewing anti-Diminished nonsense at me, went as far as getting in a tavern brawl because of it, which, admittedly, was also kind of attractive. Not to mention the way he looks after he’s done training–”

“Okay, okay, I get the picture,” Briony said with a small laugh. “You’re both crazy for each other but don’t have the guts to tell each other. I hate to break it to you, but eventually one of you is going to have to make a move, or the entire compound is going to become exhausted by the both of you.”

“I know, I know,” Yelena sighed, pulling at the ends of her raven black hair. “It’s all so nerve-wracking. I don’t want to make things different between us by saying anything, but I might explode if I don’t.”

She reached over to throw her arms over Briony, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Thanks for telling me about what he said, even if it was confusing and a bit frustrating for you,” Yelena laughed.

“I couldn’t not tell you,” Briony grinned as she let go. “At the very least I needed to tell someone or I’d go insane. You can do me a favor by bucking up and telling him you want to be more than friends so that I don’t have to listen to either of you lament the other.”

Yelena rolled her eyes, elbowing Briony in the arm with a smile.

“You’ll be the first person to know if I do,” she laughed.

[druidgroves]

healing hands

Summary: Trouble comes to Yelena’s door late at night.

Notes: ok i’ve finally finished what i think is a rite of passage for all trouble-mancers: having your mc heal him after he got in a fight <3 he belongs to @shepherds-of-haven but yelena is mine :) enjoy !

The soft sounds of the city of Haven drifted in through Yelena’s window as she prepared to settle down for the night. She hardly ever went to sleep at a decent time, but she did her best to make a relaxing atmosphere just in case sleep decided to come early; incense gave the room a bit of a lavender-scented haze, as well as the pipe of slow burning charch the mage had between her lips. Her bed was piled in old quilts and pillows she’d bought from the markets in Ashtown, the only light in the room being the grouping of candles she had on her desk, and she had even finally washed her favourite sleep clothes the other day for maximum coziness.

Currently, she sat on her bed with her sketchbook in her lap, and with a yawn, thought she might actually fall asleep before two in the morning.

That was, until a soft knock came from her door.

Yelena sighed, tossing her sketchbook onto her pillow and wiping the charcoal dust on her hands onto her pants before getting up. The knock didn’t sound too urgent, so it obviously wasn’t Blade or Tallys coming to her with sudden news. Sometimes she and Briony would hang out after hours in her room, though the strongwoman was out on a mission, so it couldn’t have been her. Maybe Caine was having trouble sleeping again? Or Chase leaving another note updating her on his progress?

Despite how frequently her usual thoughts turned to him, she didn’t expect Trouble to be outside her door, his face a canvas of black and blue and blood down the front of his shirt, a guilty smile on his lips. Yelena’s eyes went wide.

“Trouble! What in the name of the gods happened to you?!” she hissed, pulling away the pipe still between her teeth. The look on her face must not have been pleasant the way the gunslinger shrunk a little under it, despite having a full six inches on her in height.

Trouble held up his gloved hands–there were a few smatterings of blood across the knuckles, Yelena noticed–in an attempt to calm her down. This only enraged her more.

“Gods, Trouble–”

“Can you at least let me explain first?! You’re going to wake the whole compound!” Despite trying his best to whisper so as not to wake anyone, his voice came out more in a particularly loud stage-whisper. A door handle a few rooms down started to jiggle and at that, Yelena pulled the man inside by his shirt collar in a flurry, closing the door behind him.

Yelena turned on him as soon as she felt the lock latch.

“Explain yourself,” she demanded, putting the charch pipe back to her mouth before crossing her arms.

Trouble bit his lip, only to hiss in pain and stop due to the split in it. He had spent most of the walk here running his tongue along his teeth, making sure every one of them was still in his mouth and not loose.

“God, okay, just–just listen, alright?” he started. “I swear it wasn’t a bar fight this time, I promise.”

“Then what was it? Who did–” Yelena gestured to his face with the pipe, “–that to you?”

If Trouble didn’t know any better, he swore he could hear the undercurrent of concern and a little bit of protective rage under her words.

“I was on the way back from the bar this time. A few streets away from the compound I heard a scream in an alleyway and, well, you know me–I couldn’t just keep walking,” he said. For a moment, Yelena’s anger seemed to falter, her shoulders relaxing and her expression softening. Of course she knew he couldn’t walk away from someone in peril. Of course.

“So I go to check it out, right?” he continued, pacing the length of her room now. “I come up on two men built like brick walls cornering a lady with her dress all torn and–”

Yelena held up a hand for him to stop. She didn’t need to know much more to realize this wasn’t just another scrap.

“Did you get her back home safely?” she asked, blowing a bit of smoke out of the corner of her mouth.

Trouble nodded, perhaps a bit too roughly the way it made the headache forming in his temples flare. A beat of silence passed before she spoke again.

“Did you fuck ‘em up?”

Trouble grinned and gave a slower nod.

“Good. You’re forgiven,” Yelena said, the corner of her mouth quirked slightly. “But…why did you come to me? Surely there’s someone awake in the compound’s infirmary.”

“Welllll…” Trouble drew out, a hand going to rub the back of his neck, “The head healer told me that he was done ‘expending resources’ to heal my dumbass–whatever that means–and not to show up if I’m not dying or don’t have mission-related injuries.”

“Can he do that? You’re Vice-Commander.”

He shrugged and paused his pacing to look at her, “True, but…you tend to have a gentler hand when it comes to healing anyways.”

His eyes flicked down to her hands. Even now before bed, she had on a few bracelets and rings and the dark paint on her fingernails was chipped almost to nothing. If he had his way, Trouble would never want any other hands patching him up.

With that thought, he gave a short cough before looking back up at her.

“So what do you say? I’ll owe you one,” he said with a wink.

Yelena rolled her eyes fondly and nodded towards her bed, “Sit down.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The bed sunk under his weight as he sat, careful not to sit on her discarded sketchbook as he did. Unexpectedly, she climbed up on the bed next to him, sitting on her knees. She softly took his chin with her finger and turned his head to face her. Now, the two were no strangers to physical affection–when they were together, it was rare that Trouble’s arm wasn’t over her shoulder or her arm wasn’t linked with his. But now, in the quiet of her room, on her bed with the fading sounds of the city coming in through the window, the simple act of her finger guiding his chin was enough to make his face heat. It felt…intimate.

“Put this over there for me, will you?” she asked, holding out her pipe to him. He caught a whiff of raspberry as he took it from her and placed it on the desk.

“Why do you use a pipe anyhow?” he asked as her hands began to glow softly. He could feel the bruises being pulled from his face as she worked.

Her eyebrows knit together as she slowly ghosted her hands along his jaw, watching as a particularly dark bruise began to disappear, “Well, for one, I don’t have to keep buying sticks of it, it’s cheaper that way. For two, I just think it looks fancy, but if you tell anyone–”

“My lips are sealed, Lena.”

She grinned, “And for three, it’s the way I always saw my–”

She stopped herself again, pretending like she was concentrating on a particularly nasty spot on his cheek. When she spoke again, it was quieter.

“Just the way I saw my father do it, I suppose,” she said. There was a beat before she continued, “Sorry, didn’t mean to bring the mood down.”

“No such thing when you’re around,” he told her in a breath. The way Trouble looked at her made her heart clench, all understanding and with unrestrained fondness.

In an attempt to change the topic, Yelena focused on the cut on his temple by leaning in, “Other than your lip, this is the only cut. Where’d all the blood on your shirt come from?”

“S’not my blood,” Trouble answered simply. “Caught one of the fuckers in the nose.”

“Should have known.”

She waved her hand over one last bruise before going down to mend the split in his lower lip. Her hands had been hovering over his skin the entire time, but before she could stop herself, her thumb pressed down and healed the cut as she dragged it along his lip. She could hear Trouble’s breath hitch as she slowly moved her hand to trace along his jaw one last time before pulling away.

“All done,” she said breathlessly. She was still leaning towards him, her nose maybe three inches from his own. This close, she could make out the different depths of blue in his eyes, the ring of gold around his pupil. Her eyes flicked down to his lips one last time before she turned away.

“I–Thanks, Lena. You’re…you’re a good friend.”

“No problem, not at all,” she said, not even looking at him. “I’m glad you came to me.”

He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

“Glad I came to you, too. I should probably, ah, get to my own room now,” he said, then made to stand up from the bed.

Yelena put her hand over his, making him stop when she squeezed back. Taking his hand in her own, she pulled him back down to eye level. Her eyes, a bright orange like the fire she commanded, bored into his as she told him, “I get that you have a difficult time standing aside when someone else needs help, but just be more careful, please. I…care about you. A lot.”

He didn’t even have time to respond before she pulled him closer and pressed her lips on his formerly bruised cheek. He could feel it heat up under her touch in an instant.

“I, uh, yeah. Yeah, I’ll be more careful,” he nodded, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. “I care about you, too. We’re friends.”

Why did that word feel so strange in his mouth this time?

The way her expression, full of concern and some deeper emotion he couldn’t identify, fell at his words, he knew something was wrong.

“Does it have to be just friends?” Yelena asked softly, orange eyes just as intense and glowing as before.

Trouble’s brows dipped together, his heart rate picking up, “What?”

In a move that Yelena would later describe as “really fucking worth it”, she stood up suddenly from the bed and yanked the man down by his collar to put her lips to his. Trouble made a noise of surprise and nearly pulled away, only to find that doing so would probably make him regret everything. After a second, his hands made their way to rest gently, hesitantly on her hips as he returned her kiss with just as much passion. When she finally pulled away he attempted to follow, still craving her touch.

They stood there in the still flickering candle light, breathing and reveling in the moment before Trouble cracked a grin.

“‘Just friends?’” he asked, “What, did you want me to call you my best friend?”

Yelena laughed, pressing her face into his chest, “If that didn’t get my intentions across like I intended, I think I give up.”

Trouble put his finger on her chin, lifting it up to look at her. Even in the half-light, he could see that her cheeks were red.

“Don’t worry, I got exactly what you mean,” he said, going back in for another kiss.

[druidgroves]

some people were memeing in the shoh discord with the updated incorrect quotes generator & so obvs i had to shove yelena & trouble in there. might post more later but i felt these ones pretty much encapsulated their whole thing.

part 2

[druidgroves]

🎃 for yelena peas!

🎃 + an oc for their halloween costume

elvira !!! she'd go all out for it lmao

+ alt gomez & morticia couples costume for her & trouble <3

[druidgroves]

ok here are the rest

part 1

[druidgroves]

thinkin abt trouble trying to get a nice gift for yelena & after asking for some advice from their friends, he settles on getting her a nice necklace bc he knows she likes jewelry. it’s not super expensive but he chose it with care & is probably a little nervous she won’t like it but when he gives it to her, her face lights up & she puts it on immediately. she’s like. Over The Moon about it & then later on tells trouble that it’s the only Real piece of jewelry she owns besides her shepherd’s medallion & he’s just ??? “you’re literally covered in necklaces, bracelets, & rings from head to toe” & that’s when yelena tells him that it’s all just fake costume jewelry that never lasts. her new necklace will be the only thing out of them all that won’t tarnish or break after a week & now she has to wear it forever.

[druidgroves]

my new hobby is stumbling across tiktoks with intense yelena & trouble energy

[druidgroves]

this tiktok is yelena @ trouble i will not be taking further questions

[druidgroves]

the funniest thing i can imagine tho after reading this little thing between briony & trouble talking about his crush on the MC is the fact that briony is yelena’s bestie (mostly bc i think it’s very funny to have the bright pink strongwoman befriend yelena, local scrawny goth mage) so she’d report this conversation back to her & yelena would just throw her arms up like “I KNOW. DO YOU SEE MY PROBLEM HERE”