#shoulda said something earlier yeah? anyway...sorry

[jackiebrackettt]

BITB Lab AU Fic (1.3k words)

[this is going to be a tumblr special since i don't plan on doing more with it but i did want to share it anyway! if you like the concept feel free to ask me for more info ^_^ i have alot of backstory surrounding this in mind. alsoo if you would like to write something inspired by it pls reference me/this fic and also tag me! i'd love to see it :] anyway reblogs appreciated as always - fic time]

Rand’s starting to think that no job might be better than a job if the job is this one. Because this job has made him sign several NDAs and has run him through a ridiculous amount of “worst case scenarios” - all increasingly absurd. 

He needs a job, though. Or his parents are going to do something drastic like kick him out for a week. And this is the only place that’ll accept him with absolutely nothing on his resume at thirty three years old. 

“Basically… just don’t be like the last intern, okay?” The scientist in front of him says as they finish up their spiel. 

“What happened to the last intern?” 

“Got too close and now he has to stay here while we monitor his situation.” 

“Oh.”

Maybe no job is better than this one. 

He signs the last NDA anyway. 

His job is essentially to keep an eye on a trio of… aliens? Monsters? One of whom is the intern before him - and contact the scientists and doctors if anything weird happens. 

He’s also there to keep them company, get them things they want - as long as he runs it past a scientist first - and give them shit like food and water. Easy. He could probably even sneak some weed in and pass the time smoking. 

“Just stay here by the entrance.” The scientist instructs. “I’m going to go check on Rolan real quick.” 

They dip into a side door at the end of the hallway and disappear. 

Rand is totally content to not fuck up the first instruction he’s been given. At least until he spots someone staring at him from the window in the first door on the right. 

He’s got long blonde hair, and a pretty face. Kian Stone. 

“‘Sup, dude!” Kian’s voice is muffled. “You must be the new intern!”

After a moment of hesitation, Rand wanders closer. 

“Yeah.” 

Kian sticks his hand out for a handshake, the tips of his fingers pressing against the glass. Rand isn’t sure how he’s expected to respond. 

“I was the last one.” Kian states cheerily. “Name’s Kian Stone. Nice to meet you, man.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Rand echoes. “I’m, uh, Rand.”

The offered handshake turns into a finger pointing at the name tag on his shirt. 

“Tim?”

“Call me Rand.” 

“Fuck yeah, dude, I can dig that.” Kian drops his hand. “Hey, man, do you think you can swing me a guitar? I’m bored as fuck.”

He remembers the brief. It clearly said that he shouldn’t give this guy any instruments. 

“I, uh… don’t think I’m supposed to do that.”

Kian leans in closer to the window and grins wickedly.

“I could make it worth your while.” His voice is low. Rand’s cheeks feel warm. 

“Well, uh, considering what they told me about why you’re in here, I think I’ll have to, like, pass. Sorry, man.”

“Becky’s harmless, dude.” Kian scoffs. “They just hate true love.” 

Rand just shrugs. He’s not really sure he wants to argue. 

“What about… Rolan? That’s the other guy, right?” Kian nods. “What’s he like?”

“Mostly keeps to himself. Real quiet and all that. If you went into his room he’d probably back himself into a corner and freak out about hurting you.” Kian hums, thinking. “That’s what he did with me, at least. Don’t tell the big guys, though. They’re pissed enough at me for the whole Becky thing.”

“Alright, I won’t.” Rand mimes zipping his lips. “Secret’s safe.”

“It’s totally different, though, dude, because, like… Becky is dangerous. Rolan isn’t.”

“Didn’t you say she was harmless earlier?”

“Oh.” Kian blinks. “Did I? Tell that to my mostly melted body over there, dude.”

Kian jerks a thumb behind him. Rand angles to look and immediately wishes he didn’t. He feels sick. 

“Fuck, man!”

Kian laughs. “Shoulda warned you that it’s kinda gnarly, huh?”

Technically, Rand knew that’s what happened to Kian. But reading about it on paper is nothing compared to seeing it in person. 

“They just fucking left that there?“ 

“It’s mine.” 

“I mean… I guess, but… you just want it around?” He takes another cautious look at the mess of flesh in the corner of the room. Another wave of nausea rolls through him. “Isn’t it, like… weird?”

“It’s mine.” Kian repeats. Then he shrugs. “Plus, it’s kinda fun. If I touch it I can feel it both ways.” He waggles his eyebrows, and that grin from earlier is back. “Neat, right?” 

“Gross.” Rand grimaces. “Too much information, man.”

“I’m just messing with you, dude.” Kian laughs. “It hurts like a bitch, actually. I try not to feel it.” 

“Tim!” 

The scientist is walking back down the hallway towards him. They don’t seem upset that he disobeyed his first instruction. Maybe that one was more of a suggestion. 

He looks back to Kian’s eyes fixated on his name badge. 

“You could just tell them you prefer to be called Rand, you know?” Kian says. 

“I’ll do it later.”

He’s not sure why he hasn’t yet. Something about professionalism. But there’s no time to think through that train of thought now.

The scientist stops next to him. Looks at Kian through the glass and sighs. 

“Kian.” 

“They’re still pretty mad at me.” Kian explains to Rand with an unbothered smile on his face. Then he shifts to address the scientist. “So, no guitar?”

“Not yet.” Another sigh. “Later, hopefully.”

“Radical.” Kian presses a book up to the window. “This shit sucks. I’m not a fucking nerd, dude.”

The scientist rolls their eyes. “Graduated practically top of your classes.”

Top of his classes? Shit. They really downgraded with Rand. 

Kian pouts. “Hey, man, don’t say that kinda stuff around the new guy, yeah?”

“Well,” the scientist claps Rand on the shoulder and ushers him away, “you’ve met Kian. Let’s meet the other two.“

“See ya later, dude.” 

Kian holds one hand up in a wave and Rand clumsily waves back, mumbling out his own goodbye. 

Kian’s whole… attitude has thrown him off completely. He figured the other two would be chill - not the guy who literally died about a week back. 

A couple of rooms down is Becky’s. Rand wonders why they’re so spread out. 

She approaches the window when they knock. Her gaze flicks over them with hope before settling into disappointment. 

“Hey, Becky.” The scientist gestures to Rand. “I want you to meet Tim - the new intern.”

Rand waves. She doesn’t even look at him.

“Is Kian okay?” Her voice is soft. “I really didn’t mean to kill him, man.”

“He’s doing better.” 

This conversation is fucking absurd. What a world Rand lives in now. 

“Well, you know how this works - let Tim know if you need anything. We’ll go meet Rolan, now.“

“Sure.” Her eyes catch on his. She looks sad. “Nice meeting you.” 

“You too.” 

Meeting Rolan goes worse than meeting Becky. 

Rolan’s tucked away in a corner, looking like he’s trying to make himself as small as possible. If Rand thought Kian was lying about Rolan, he’d cast all doubts from his mind now. Rolan doesn’t even look up when the scientist knocks on the door. 

“He’s been in a mood ever since the incident with Kian.” The scientist explains. “Hey, Rolan! New guy’s name is Tim.”

Rolan just barely lifts a hand in acknowledgment. 

“Now, don’t be surprised if you see them out of their rooms. I don’t know if you saw, but there’s a door at the back that leads to other rooms. We’re keeping Kian away from them at the moment to monitor his situation, but it all links up back there.”

“Okay.”

“There’s testing most days, but for the most part they just do whatever. And you can, too, as long as you fulfil the job requirements.”

“Sounds good, man.” Oh, yeah, he could definitely smuggle some weed in here. And maybe he’ll try and rope them all into a game of dnd. He’s not exactly sure how it’ll work when they’re so spread out, but he’ll think of something.

[thisselflovecamebacktome]

So I'm stealing this from @tayloralisonswift and you should definitely check out their version, but I'm going to listen to and rank all of Taylor's songs album by album (and then maybe her non album songs at the end).

Some minor changes: I'm going to be doing all of each album in one post (so 11 - 12 posts all up), I will be adding the Beautiful Eyes EP to debut (because truth be told I think it'll be part of debut's vault tracks anyway), I will be starting at debut and going forward in Taylor's discography, and I will be ranking them out of 10 not 13. I'm also making note here that I am ranking the versions I like best. So for example, I hate Girl At Home (Taylor's Version) but love the original, so the original is the one being ranked because that is what I listen to (noting that I own all the CDs so don't @ me about that). Anyway with that in mind, let's get started with debut.

Tim McGraw: Does this song get nostalgia points? Yes, yes it does. It was the first song I listened to given debut had not even come out yet at the time and was the one time I remember really bonding with my maternal grandfather over something (country music). But even outside of that nostalgia, it genuinely is a great song and great business move to have this be her first single. 9/10.

Picture To Burn: I understand the controversy of the changed lyrics, but honestly despite not being straight, they never bugged me and just felt very teenagery 'If you tell everyone I'm undateable, I'll do the same'. Ultimately a bop but one I don't listen to all that much. 7/10.

Teardrops On My Guitar: God have I never felt older than at Eras Melbourne night three when most of the people in my section were giving me weird looks for knowing this song. I swear it used to be one of her most known songs. I do prefer the RED tour version of this song but overall a great song that I feel is one of her most universal. 9/10.

A Place In This World: I know this is (or at least was during Taylor's earlier days, I feel it's less so nowadays) a fan favourite but it just never hit for me, sorry. Like there's nothing wrong with it, but realistically I can't tell you the last time I listened to it and it's never been a song I've been drawn to. 5/10.

Cold As You: The OG track five! I can't call her underrated because I feel a lot of people love her, but it's deserved. By far one of the debut songs I have listened to over time, even if I don't as much anymore. 8/10.

The Outside: So this is one of those songs I feel like I should relate to more because I was an 'unpopular' kid and had a falling out with one 'popular' group. But Imma be real, at my school, all of the 'unpopular' kids formed a big group plus I had friends in other years so yeah... Again another song I couldn't tell you the last time I listened to (despite it being a fan fave at one point) and just really one I'm not fussed on. 4/10.

Tied Together With A Smile: To be honest, I feel very similarly about this as Cold As You. I know it's a fan fave, but it deserves all the praise it gets and has arguably been the debut song that's gotten me through the most so I just love it. I don't listen to it as much nowadays, but it'll probably always have a fond place in my heart. 8/10.

Stay Beautiful: It's a cute song. I like it, but it's not a favourite. 6/10.

Should've Said No: A bop. The live version with "whoa oh, you shoulda said no baby, now everybody knows!" lives rent free in my head as one of my favourite live performances. 7/10.

Mary's Song: My OG stan song. My favourite debut song to this day. Did you all know she wrote this about me and my first partner; she left out the part where I head butted him in between daring him to kiss me and running when he tried though (joking). But yeah from the minute I heard that line, let alone the rest of the song, it was over for 11 year old me who had a crush on her brother's best friend (later becoming my first partner). We're still super close to say the least and are raising a child together, so yeah, the song just means a lot to me and probably always will. 10/10.

Our Song: This is one of those songs I feel everyone else likes more than I do. Like it's fun, it hits sometimes, but it's never been a favourite of mine. 6/10.

I'm Only Me When I'm With You: Another cute bop. Not something I listen to often but a good time when I do. 6.5/10.

Invisible: I feel like this song gets outshone by Teardrops On My Guitar having similar themes and being on the same album, but I still love it dearly. Taylor dedicating it to a fan who has a queer reading of it is still one of my favourite things she's done. I genuinely feel like this is the most underrated track on this album and I hope it gets the love it deserves one day. 8/10.

A Perfectly Good Heart: This is and always has been the song I'm most excited for the rerecording for because god are the vocals the worst part of this song as it stands. It just sounds very grating to me, and while I don't think it ever would have been a favourite of mine, it definitely would have had more of a fighting chance had the vocals been better. 3/10.

Beautiful Eyes: To be honest, I don't remember the last time I listened to this, but I like it now more than I remember liking it before (not a high bar but still). It's nice. 6/10.

I Heart ?: I yearn for the day this is on spotify because I have so many playlists I want to add it to. A bop through and through. 7/10.

Final Score: 109.5/160 - 68.4%

[eclectickss]

Make Me Feel Special (1/2)

Pairing: Milf!Agatha Harkness x fem!reader

Warnings: Mommy issues/kink, sexual implications, major age gap (reader is of age)

Summary: You are angry at your best friend for turning down the opportunity for something that you would give your life for: a mother.

Word Count: 3K?

Link to Part 2

A/N: Not grammar checked at all! A blurb gone big!(still at writers block on PGATW) But requests are open! I’ve never done one before but i’m willing to try. <3

-

-

-

You entered the apartment and placed your keys in the dish and jacket on it’s hook, making your way into the kitchen to place your to-go food in the fridge. Jane sat at the island on the computer you shared, and you smiled.

“Hey, I picked up sandwiches for dinner. Hope that’s cool.”

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Your best friend didn’t look up, but it didn’t really bother you. Well, she was your only friend, but still.

You and Jane had been sharing the apartment for years now, The two of you working a good job to afford it and making a livable income. You had been close since high-school, due to your similar social status, but beyond the two of you, nobody was too good at making friends.

From what she had told you, Jane’s mom wasn’t around much when she was growing up. Jane was a teen pregnancy, and ever since she was born, her mom made no time for her daughter. Agatha, was her name.

Agatha came from a wealthy family, though. Her parents (Jane’s grandparents) wouldn’t allow her to use the family money for her child, much less anything else. She struggled with Jane, and therefore the two of them were ever close.

Agatha’s parents died when Jane was in high-school, so her mom inherited their wealth, but their relationship was past salvageable. At least in Jane’s eyes, it was.

Jane was always telling you about how bad of a mom Agatha was and about how you were lucky that you didn’t have to deal with someone like her. Jane didn’t understand though. You would had given anything to have someone like Agatha. Even if she wasn’t around to much, it was still better than nobody at all.

-

-

-

You were now setting the table for two as you pulled the sandwiches out of the fridge, also finding some strawberries to place at the table. You now were looking through the pantry for chips when you heard a knock at the door and Jane moving around to answer it.

“Mom?!” You heard at the door while you still had your head buried in the pantry. Your eyes widened at the name, never expecting to hear it in your life (in that context, at least). You thought Agatha was out of the picture. “What are you doing here?” You stayed silent as you listened from around the corner.

“Well, I think it’s long overdue that we had a talk, Jane, honey.” She sounded a little more raspy than you were expecting, but that doesn’t say much about someone who used to be an addict.

“We don’t do that, Mom. Anyways, now isn’t a good time.” You heard your friend sigh. The woman was your literal mother... you could at least give her five minutes, you thought.

“I want to start, honey. Please just let me in?”

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“C’mon, kiddo.” She begged, and you felt a little bad for how Jane was acting. You know her mom wasn’t a great person, but she was still her mom.

You never got to have one of those.

“If this is just you on another one of your sobriety stunts...”

“I’m really trying this time, Jane! I know I fucked up, baby, but please.”

“Fine.” Your friend grumbled. You heard increasing footsteps and your heart raced as you were about to meet the source of Jane’s complaints and drama.

You hurried to sit at the kitchen counter before the two women caught you snooping, but your gaze snaps up just in time to see Agatha Harkness walk into the room.

Jane might have always mentioned that her mother was any and all variations of a bitch, but she failed to mention how attractive the woman was. Her messy brown hair sat on top of an old purple cardigan and worn out jeans, followed by a pair of well-used slip-on shoes. The look together was not extremely flattering, but Agatha somehow pulled it together in a way that made your stomach turn. Your eyes raked her down, but you think she caught you when you met her gaze again. She smirked softly.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you had guests!” She says as her own eyes follow your figure, and you wonder if she’s just doing it to mock you or flatter you. She looks back up with a glimmer in her eye, and you decide on the latter option. Your face goes red, but you try and brush her actions off, not wanting to mistake it for anything else.

“Didn’t I say that this was a bad time?” Jane grumbled.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Harkness. My name is YN.” You smiled as you held out your hand.

“Call me Agatha, darling.” She stared into your eyes. “It’s so nice to finally meet one of Jane’s friends.” You panic under her gaze.

“We were just about to sit down for dinner, if you want to join us. We don’t have any food for you, but-“

“Oh, thank you... I was hoping I could talk to Jane in private, though.” She walked over to the table and took a seat.

“Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it to YN, too.” The two of you joined Agatha at the table.

A long moment of awkward silence passsed between the three of you before your guest finally spoke up.

“I want you in my life, Jane. For real this time.”

Nobody says anything, and dishes stop clattering.

“I know I shoulda done this earlier... hell, I shoulda done this when I got claim to my parent’s money, but I want to look after you. I never got the chance to do that when you were young... cause of all the drinking and working... but I can do that now. I’m ready.”

Jane sat with her mouth open and a half eaten sandwich forgotten on her plate.

“No, Mom, you shoulda done this from the moment I was conceived. You don’t get a second chance with me. I’m not giving you a second chance, or a third or a fourth or whatever number you wanna give yourself. You wanna know why? It’s because I already did that. And you let me down every single time.”

Agatha looked a little speechless.

“Fine, then.” She sighed. “I won’t bother you again.” But it hurt you to watch a daughter turn away her mother, when that was an opportunity that you wanted so badly. “Is it alright if I stay the night, though? It’s a long drive back to my place.”

Jane rolled her eyes, knowing that her mother was being dramatic, but didn’t want to put up with any more of her antics. “I better not see you in the morning. YN can get blankets for the couch.”

-

-

-

“Hey, Jane,” You sighed as you entered her room.

“Hey, YN. I’m sorry you had to deal with the shit show that is my mother. I can’t believe she just walked in here and expected me to accept her pathetic invitation.”

“No, it’s ok. She’s not that bad with me.”

“Well she just met you. I just don’t understand why she thought showing up unannounced would magically make me want a mother again. It’s fucked up.” Jane said, but you couldn’t sit there and watch her tear down something that you wish you had.

“Yeah,” you mumbled and rushed out of her room before she could say anything else.

You walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass, then headed over to the sink for some tap water. The cool liquid rushed down your throat as you held down your tears, thankful that nobody was around.

“Hey, Honey,”

Shit. You forgot that Agatha was on the couch.

You turn around to see her meeting your gaze, although her eyes quickly found the way to the rest of your body.

“You doing alright, babygirl?” The nickname made you heat up. She spoke with concern and care; something that Jane chose to ignore, which made you feel bad for Agatha. You wish that Jane wouldn’t take for granted what her mother was trying to offer her.

“Uh... yeah... I guess.” You sigh, hopping up to sit on the counter as you watch the other woman fill her own glass at the sink. “Jane is just... being a little hard right now.” You chose your words carefully, not wanting to lose the trust of your friend but also wanting to gain the trust of another.

“What do you mean?” You realize the situation you have put yourself in.

“It’s just... I didn’t have a mom at all growing up. Or a dad. I had my shitty uncle... until he tossed me into the foster system. I had it real rough... and it still kinda is... but Jane has been helping. That’s why we’re friends at least. She might view me as a charity project, but i’m desperate, I guess.”

“What does all of this have to do with Jane being hard, hon?” She leaned onto the counter across from you.

“She didn’t really have a mom, either... growing up. No offense.”

Agatha shrugged. “I know.”

“But now that she’s given an opportunity to have one, she turns it down... and it makes me jealous. Mad. Angry.” You pause. “I know I’ll never get the chance at a mom, but she has one. And fuck, I would give so much to have that.”

“To have someone like me? A recovering drunk who treated their teen pregnancy like a joke?”Agatha sighed into her hands, but her words meant so much more to you than she may ever know.

“Yeah. To have someone like you. Someone who cares.” At that, she looked up with a new light in her eyes, but you don’t meet her gaze. You don’t want her to see the blush or desire written on your face, so instead, you pull a cigarette out from your jacket pocket.

She watches you as you hop down from the counter to get the lighter out of the junk drawer, paying attention to the way your body moves. You notice how her eyes follow you, but you don’t call her out on it, knowing you would do the same if the roles were reversed.

“You want a hit?” You lift your eyebrow as you raise the smoke to meet her gaze. A glint of humor is caught on her face, and you smirk.

“Sure... why not.” She says as you join her in leaning up against the counter. You bring the cigarette up to your mouth and click the lighter.

“So,” Agatha starts again, both of you a few puffs in. “How did you end up here with Jane?”

“Uhh... we met senior year of high-school. I was fucked up. Shit grades. Wasn’t going to graduate. Drug money to pay off... no job. Jane used your money to pay off my debt. She found me a job. Tutored me. Like I said, I felt like a charity project. But at least I graduated. We both work now and pay for this place together. Maybe it’s not great but we’re both better off than we were a few years ago.”

“Why didn’t she accept anything I tried to give her? Did she tell you?” Agatha was prying, but you didn’t mind.

“You mean after high-school? She didn’t want any help from you. In her words exactly... ‘She wasn’t there for me for the first 18 years of my life, so why should she help out now...’”

“And what do you think about that?”

“I didn’t grow up poor, Agatha. I grew up with nothing. I would have taken any of your offers in a heartbeat, no matter how guilty they made me feel.”

“Good girl.” She nearly whispers, and you turned to face her, but you couldn’t make anything out of the expression written on her face. Your own skin was hot and something was burning in your core, and you didn’t know what to think.

“I’m sorry... what did you just say?” You watched as she put the cigarette out, now giving you her undivided attention.

“So tell me, honey, do you have a boyfriend? I’m assuming a pretty thing like you would have one. Tell me about him.” Part of you wondered where this conversation was going, but the other part assumed that she already knew which direction you leaned in.

“Uhh... not my type.” You stared at her with curiosity.

“So you got a girlfriend, then?” Her new confidence shocked you a little bit.

“Uhh... no.” You tilted your head, and she seemed to pick up on your confusion.

“Good girl.” Your mouth was dry. “You see, mommy doesn’t want you having a girlfriend... no, she wants you all to herself.”

Your eyes widen in shock, but your core aches and cheeks burn. You stare at the woman next to you as a hand slides onto your thigh.

“Oh come on, darling. You said you wanted a mommy, baby. I wanna take care of you. I see the way you look at me. Don’t deny you want me too.” She spins around and pins you to the counter, and you audibly gulp.

“But- Jane.” You whine, already being driven crazy by the proximity of Agatha’s body.

“Jane is kicking me out, baby girl. And you can come live with me. Mommy has a pretty house, honey. I can feed you, clothe you... make you feel good. I can make you feel special.” And God, your soul was ready to leave your body. You wanted this. You could hardly think as her soft lips grazed over the skin on your neck, and a soft moan escaped your throat. Her tongue and teeth pulled at the skin just below your ear, trying to pull a response out of you.

“Mom!” The both of you jumped at the third voice in the room. The two of you turn to Jane in shock. “What the FUCK are you doing!” She rushed over to the two of you, pulling Agatha off of your body. “You can’t just come into my life and try to fuck my friends after someone rejects you!” She pushes her mom back and turns to you.

“Oh my god, YN, are you ok? I cannot believe that she tried to touch you. God, that makes me sick.” She hugged you, but you still couldn’t say anything.

“Jane, honey, you don’t know-“

“Shut up! I can’t even look at you! Get out of my house, mom. I never want to see you again.” Jane’s face turned red with anger.

“Honey-“ Agatha met eyes with you, but you didn’t know what to do.

“Leave! Now.” She seethed and stomped back to the bedroom, expecting Agatha to be gone when she got back.

The woman in front of you moved silently while you still processed what just happened. When she returned with her belongings, she gave you a note, but headed out without saying a word.

After a few minutes, you finally looked at the piece of paper in hand.

If you ever make up your mind...

1286 Lincoln St NW

(673) 867-5309

-Agatha

-

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-

“YN, are you sure you’re alright? I really never would have expected my mom to touch you or even make you feel uncomfortable. I’m so sorry.” Jane sighed as she sat on the bed.

“I’m fine, J. You don’t have to apologize on her behalf.” You replied, sitting on the chair opposite her.

“I mean what even happened. Why did she do that?”

“Umm... I don’t know. We were just talking and then she started that.”

“What we’re you talking about?”

“Oh, I was just explaining how we met.” You tentatively answered.

“YN you didn’t have to tell her that. I know it’s personal for you, I can’t believe she forced you to talk about it.

“I uhh- actually didn’t mind. I wasn’t forced.”

“Then why would you trust her with something like that? You know how she is.”

“Because...” You thought about your next words carefully. “She cares.” Jane scoffs.

“That must be a different woman we’re talking about, YN. My mom is a selfish bitch who only cares for herself.”

That tipped the iceberg for you.

“You know, Jane? I understand that you and her might never be besties like she wants you to be, but that doesn’t mean you get to fuck her over now that she’s trying.” Your friend looks up at you in shock.

“Well she fucked me over my entire life, so I don’t see why I can’t do the same.”

“Because! Jane! She’s changed! It’s only right that you give her one more shot in your life!”

She took a pause.

“I’m sorry, YN, are you defending my MOM? After everything she’s done to me, and everything i’ve done for you?!”

“Yes. It is sick watching you throw something away that I can only dream of.” You spat angrily.

“Geez, YN. Just- get out of my fucking house. Keep your rent money for the month. Pack your shit and get the hell out of here.” She nearly ran out of the room.

But you weren’t surprised. In fact, you expected this the moment you chose your side.

-

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-

The knocks resonate through the large door attached to the even larger house. Agatha has money.

You thought Jane was over exaggerating a little bit, but now you understood that she wasn’t. You sighed as your cab sped away, and now all you could do was wait.

Agatha opened the door, slightly shocked to see you, but nevertheless happy.

“Hey baby, what is it?”

You took a deep breath, taking in the sight of the woman who stood in front of you.

“I want you to make me feel special, mommy.”

-

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link to part 2

[amor-immortalem]

You’re Important to Me

Warnings: thoughts and ideations of the un-aliving variety

Genre: Angst but it gets a lil fluffy at the end

Pairing: Mammon x oc

Summary: The way the witches and his brothers treat him leaves Mammon feeling replaceable and unimportant. His human takes it upon herself to try and make him feel better after finding out something heartbreaking.

A/N: since I hit 150 followers either last night or the day before, I figured I would do something a little different for tonight’s post and give y’all a little 2 part fic instead of art. I haven’t written in a long time and this is not proofread so please excuse any typos. I’m a little rusty.

Part 2| Part 3| Part 4

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Another day full of studying for upcoming exams at RAD completed and Arella couldn’t be more greatful to finally shut her texts books. Sure, she technically didn’t have to meet the same standards as her demon classmates this time around, but if only one thing could be said about Arella, it was that she was a perfectionist at heart. She’d put in the hard work to get the best possible score- seeing the look of surprise on Satan’s face as she scored better than him would be worth it too, as much as a pipe dream that that would be.

With a soft yawn, Arella pushed away from her desk before grabbing a nightshirt she had stolen borrowed from her boyfriend and stumbled to her bathroom for a quick shower. As she brushed her teeth, she could feel a presence enter her room- well more like she could hear him. Mammon was never all that quiet or stealthy to begin with as much as he’d like to claim otherwise.

Peeking out from the small ensuite, she saw the demon sprawled out on her bed, his face buried in her pillows. Something didn’t feel right. Deciding the shower could wait, Arella made her way across the room to where the bed was located.

“Hey,” She started, gently placing a hand on his back to let him know she was there, “I thought you said you’d be out late with the Witches. Did something happen?”

“Not really….” Mammon starts, his voice muffled by the pillows before he turned to face her. “They got all they could get out of me so they jus’ let me go and I wasn’t havin’ a good time anyway so I jus’ came home….”

Arella frowned at his tone. He sounded upset, depressed almost.

“An’ then the moment I walk in the door, Lucifer’s on my ass ‘bout some stupid fuckin’ bill that came in…. So I got to sit there ‘n listen to him go on an’ on about how I’m such a fuck up and what worthless scum I am, not to mention the rest of my brothers took the first chance they could to hop on the bandwagon and I’m….. I’m just so tired.” At this, Mammon flops over onto his back, throwing an arm over his face.

“Mammon…” Her voice is soft, full of concern as tries unsuccessfully to pull his arm away so she could look him in the eyes.

“Arella, Am I important….?” Mammon asks as he tries -but fails- to hide the way his voice cracks. “Would everyone just be happier if I was….. gone?”

Its that question that shatters her heart to tiny fragments.

“Wha- Of course you are, Love. Why would you say that? I know your brothers take things too far sometimes but they’d be devastated if something happened to you. I would be heartbroken if anything happened to you. We all love you so much, Honey….”

“It doesn’t feel like it,” Mammon barked out a laugh that sounded bitter. “Not with the way they rag on me like they do…. Actually, they’d probly be jumpin’ for joy if I were to off myself- don’t know why I ain’t done it already….”

“Mammon, don’t talk like that. You’re scaring me.”

“Its true though. If I take myself out, then they won’t ever have to deal with the consequences when I fuck up. Won’t have to worry ‘bout me stealin’ their shit to get my hands on some extra grimm.

“Stop it right now, please.”

“It’s not like they’d miss me much anyway. You probly would but let’s face it, ya could do so much better than me anyway... Ya know, I got this pills that I swiped the other day, plannin’ ta sell ‘em an’ all but I think-“

“Mammon, stop!” Arella pressed her hands over his mouth to keep him from finishing his sentence “Please. No more….. No…. More.”

She collapsed down to his chest as violent sobs erupted from her. She had lost someone to suicide before, she couldn’t and wouldn’t go through that again- especially not with the person who was most important to her.

“I’m here for you. I will always be here fir you.,” Arella tightened her hold on the demon beneath her, her body still shuddering with each breath she took in a miserable attempt to compose herself. “So please. Please just don’t do it.”

At her tears, the demon could only react with silence. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when letting his feelings out but it wasn’t a reaction like this.

Maybe part of him was hoping for her to agree with him and let her words feed into his terrible mood, or maybe part of him wanted Arella to scold him for daring to even think about taking his own life but there wasn’t any part of him that wanted her to react with sobs and wails, with her begging him not to go through with it.

Slowly, Mammon brought his arms to wrap around her, holding her tight against his chest. They were quiet for a long while as they just held each other.

“I’m….. I’m sorry….” Mammon was the first to speak, to break the silence that had suddenly become suffocating. “I don’t know what I was talking about….”

Arella didn’t reply right away, choosing instead to hold him just a little tighter a bit long.

“Do you feel better now that you’ve talked about what’s going through your mind?” She lifted her head from its place on his chest to look him in the eyes for the first time that night.

She smiled softly as he nodded, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek. “You’re so important both to your brothers and to me. There’s no one like you in the all of the three realms. If you weren’t here our lives would be so much darker and so much more boring, do you know that?”

“Yeah, I doubt that.”

“No it’s true,” Arella hums, as she pushes his hair back and places a peck to his forehead. “You want to know something else?”

“What?” Mammon arches a brow, “if it’s something cheesy, I’m leaving.”

Arella laughs at that. “I love you more than anything in this life or the next, and, no, you’re staying in here where I can see you.”

“What? C’mon, babe, I won’t do anything stupid, so don’t worry ‘bout me. And the last thing I need is Lucifer gettin’ at me because I spent the night in here when I shoulda been in my room.”

“Then I won’t give you a choice.” She starts matter of factly, “I’m invoking our pact. You’re sleeping in my room tonight where I can keep you close and pamper you all night. Also you’re going to tell me where you’ve hidden those pills you were talking about earlier and if their in one of your safes, you’re going to tell me the combination to it.”

“Arella, I-“ he groaned starting to complain

“No. This is important, Baby. I’m doing this because I care. Not to mention if Lucifer were to somehow find you in possession of those pills….. his rage would be so great that not even I would be able to stand between you two.”

Another moment of silence happened between them as Arella’s orders went into effect. Mammon let out a soft, discontented growl before finally breaking the silence.

“Fiiiiine. They’re in the safe that’s hidden in my pool table. The combination it 0127. Happy?”

“Very.” She replies cheerily. “Now, you’d better get comfortable, sir, because I’m going to remind The Great Mammon just how amazing, how wonderful , how special, and how loved he is.”

“Whatever, you dork, jus’ get off a me so I can move to a better spot.” He huffed as he shifted around under her, trying to hide the faint blush was already threatening to make itself at home of his cheeks.

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Masterlist 2

[not-me-simping-for-blasty]

Wrong Number, Asshole - A Bakugou Katsuki Soulmate AU

All Parts

Part 24:

You groaned, rolling over to grab your dinging phone off the nightstand. 

Rubbing at your eyes, you sat up against your headboard, breathing deeply. As it turns out, a highly emotional day like the one you had yesterday could really tire a person out. It was so tiring in fact that you had collapsed almost the second you fell into bed last night. You had been pretty much dead to the world since. 

Opening your phone, you nearly rolled your eyes at the text waiting for you.

You scoffed. He sure was petulant today, wasn’t he?

He began typing again, but deleted his words.

Now, you were a little nervous. You weren’t being clingy- right? Sure, you really wanted nothing more than to see him again, and sort of felt that maybe you were entitled to that considering he was your soulmate, but maybe the feeling wasn’t mutual?

Who were you kidding, he might have texted you but that didn’t mean he liked you as much as you liked him. This was Bakugou after all, and even if he somehow did, he’d rather chew his own leg off than admit it. 

You read through the texts again, hoping and praying that you didn’t sound too desperate. It was another few minutes before he responded again. With an answer that really did absolutely nothing to quell your fears. 

You blinked owlishly at his reply, before sending him a quick “okay”. 

Bakugou always seemed to know when you were overthinking things- and, on one hand, it was annoying because he never understood that him and his dismissive words were the cause, but, on the other hand, it was nice. To finally feel understood for once. And to finally talk to someone who’s responses, when he tried, were intentionally made so blunt that you couldn’t possibly misunderstand them.

Sighing, you pulled your tired body out of bed and headed for the shower. Apparently your plans, which had originally consisted of being lazy the entire afternoon, were suddenly changing. Not that you were complaining though.

--/--

Stepping out of the cab, you noticed the crowd once again swarming the front of the hospital. The horde of people almost seemed to be moving as one mass, pushing and pulsing against the security guards standing at the entrance. There were a lot of people covered in Dynamite merch and face paint, even little kids dressed up like Bakugou and feigning explosions as they played.

 It seemed that Bakugou’s heroic deed had put him back in the public’s favor and now they all had gathered in a show of support- and while you could appreciate that as a symbol of community, you selfishly sort of wished they’d leave so visiting him would be less of a spectacle. 

You realized suddenly that more of this was definitely going to be in your future; the crowds of screaming people and adoring, over-excited fans. Your soulmate was a pro-hero after all, and quite possibly the loudest man you’d ever met- you should’ve known a quiet life wasn’t going to be an option. 

As it stood now, you had almost no idea how you were going to make it through the massive throng of bodies- and, even if you did somehow push to the front, how you were going to convince the guards to let you through at that point.

“Excuse me!” A young girl suddenly grabbed your arm, tiny fingers clasping around your wrist. “Do you know how to get in! I need to get in!”

You were blindsided, stopped in your tracks and held down by the girl. She was young, but not much younger than you- if you had to guess, she was 17 or 18, with bright eyes and a strong grip that surprised you. This, her, was certainly not what you expected out of today.

“I- why do you need to get in so badly?”

“Bakugou!” She exclaims, eyes glazed over starry and adoring. She thrusts out her other wrist, presenting you with a poorly drawn tattoo. “See? I’m his soulmate!” 

Your stomach drops, and for a second you nearly believe it- but then you snap out of it, and all you can think about is how strange the situation is. She was young, so obviously young, and so clearly charmed by your soulmate’s hero persona. You thought it was a little funny- if she knew Bakugou like you did, you were almost sure she wouldn’t be as delighted with him. 

You weren’t sure how to respond. The immature, prideful part of you wanted to scoff and shake her hands off of you- to tell her just how foolish she looked talking to his actual soulmate. But, then again, you weren’t sure you could say anything about that at all. In all the research you’d done on him, you hadn’t seen a single mention of a soulmate- he never talked about it, never let anyone see even a hint of your name tattooed on him. Maybe he wanted to hide it for the sake of his career? Or, worse, was embarrassed of it?

“H-his soulmate, huh?” You stutter out, unsurely. 

“Yep! So that’s why I need to get in there so bad! To make sure he’s okay!” She rambles. “So, will you help me get in?”

“Y/n! Y/n L/n!” You hear a familiar voice yell, and when you look towards the sound, all you see is a flash of red hair and hands waving emphatically.

Kirishima. Thank god.

“I’ve gotta go.” You shake the girl’s hand off, slightly jostling her with the force.   “I’m so sorry!” 

You hardly recognize the disappointed look in her eyes before your arm is grabbed once again- but this time by a security guard as he leads you to the front. The guard deposits you at the entrance, just a few feet from where Kirishima is waiting for you.

“Sorry about that.” The red-head chuckles nervously, opening the door up for you. “I uh- I woulda said something earlier, but I couldn’t see you to point out for a guard. It’s totally my bad!”

“No, it’s good, you’re good.” You reassure him, following him as he leads you to the stairwell from yesterday. “Thanks for saving me. I was pretty overwhelmed.”

“Yeah. It can get pretty crazy out there- not as crazy as Bakugou, though! You shoulda totally seen him screamin’ and yelling at the window when you walked up. He was super pissed.”

“Sounds like him.” You can’t help but smile. “Doesn’t surprise me at all.” 

“Yeah.” Kirishima nods. “Who was that girl- you know her?”

Your silence and the uneasy expression that rolls across your face must give it away- he almost immediately pales.

“Oh! Yeah- sorry, none of my business, right?” Kirishima turns to face you, stopping at the step above you for a moment and throwing out placating hands. “It’s totally cool, don’t feel obligated or anything, I was just curious! Sorry for prying though, that wasn’t manly of me at all.”

You almost couldn’t believe Kirishima was such close friends with Bakugou- he seemed like the total opposite of your soulmate.

“No! It’s fine- I wasn’t offended or anything. Just,” You paused, looking at you feet as they climbed higher. “She wanted me to help her get in. To Bakugou. Said she was his soulmate.” 

Kirishima turns around again, his feet nearly catching on the step as his mouth drops open. “She said that? To you! That’s insane!”

“Yep.” You nod, slightly breathless and you finally reached the fourth floor. You let out a small chuckle as you continued down the hallway. “She was young though- definitely a fan, so I didn’t say anything. I didn’t really want to crush her dreams in front of all of those people.”

“Man, that’s good. She’d probably be super upset, right? Good job!” He throws you an enthusiastic thumbs up, all shark teeth and bright eyes. “Still though- I shoulda guessed it was somethin’ crazy like that. You looked totally freaked out back there!” 

“Did I really?”

“Mhm,” He nods, finally stopping in front of Bakugou’s door. “I- uh, I better stay out here. He’ll be real mad if I let anyone else through. Especially if you’re in there.” 

“Oh. Yeah. Okay.” You push the handle open, turning back for just a moment. “Nice to see you, though. Thanks again for the save, Kirishima!” 

When you enter the room, you’re surprised to find Bakugou, grumpy and sitting in a chair next to the window. And not in his hospital bed resting- where you’re almost 100% sure he should be. He’s clad in a weird combination of hospital pants and his own sweatshirt- it only serves to make him look even more petulant as he sits with his pinched expression.

“You seemed real buddy-buddy with Shitty Hair.” He grumbles, but there’s a smile beginning to tug at his lips as you near. “You think he’s better than me or some shit?”

“Oh- yeah. Loads. Loads better actually.” You joke, taking the vacant seat next to him. When you turn to look at him, he’s already glaring at you. “Oh calm down, grumpy, I was joking. Box dye and bandanas aren’t really my thing.”

Bakugou laughs. “He’s been pullin’ that shit since high school. Kinda losin’ all hope he’ll ever be cool.”

“Hey- don’t be mean! Maybe he’s just an extra-late bloomer, you never know.” You sigh, fixing him with a serious stare. “Now, though, we should really move onto more pressing matters.”

“Which are?”

“You in one of these chairs, and not in a hospital bed!” You near shrieked. “Which- by the way, I looked it up- four stories is 40 feet! You fell 40 fuckin’ feet and you’re not in a hospital bed, right now!” 

Bakugou just rolls his eyes, fixing his gaze on the window once more. “Stop your freakin’ out already, woman, I’ll be fine. I’m already healed from all the big injuries anyway- so just shut the fuck up about it already.” 

“The big injuries- what about the small ones? Bakugou! 40 feet! Do you know how much that is! I feel like you’re not taking this seriously enough!” 

“Who cares.” He shrugs, settling into his seat with a slight wince. “Didn’t fuckin’ kill me, so who cares.” 

“Me! You idiot! How many times do have to make this clear to you!” 

Bakugou just looks at you, eyes widening as he breath catches. He looks genuinely and plainly shocked- easily the most expressive you’d seen him be aside from rolling in pure anger.

“I already told you, you fuckin’ asshole, that I like you and care about you! So of course I’m happy that you’re not dead, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about the small stuff!” You emphasized, sighing as you run an errant hand through your hair. “And I can see you’re still fucking hurt, so of course I’m going to freak out when you’re not in a hospital bed- like you should be, and you’re not sitting there resting- like you should be! Who the hell even helped you up? Why the fuck would they ev-”

“Shut up already. I get it.” He mumbles, and when you look at him his cheeks are bright red and he’s biting his knuckle. His eyes are alive though- bright and simmering and so very, very red. “I got up myself. Don’t go blamin’ anyone else for it.” 

“God. Of fucking course you did! You know- you make yourself really hard to care for, right?” 

“I know.”

“And it’s just like- I do it anyway, you know! And get shit-all nothing but anxiety and still choose to do it anyway! You’re so fucking frustrating!”

“I know.”

You turn to look at him, but he’s already looking at you, something soft and pleased growing at the edge of his lips. 

“No! Don’t just sit there and start smiling.” You huff, pointing an emphatic finger at his stupid smiling face. “I’m mad at you and you need to go back to bed so don’t just fuckin’ smile at me!” 

“I get it.”

“No, obviously, you dont! Because you’re not getting up! So, c’mon,” You stand from your chair, offering a hand. “Let me help you.”

Bakugou just looks at your hand, glares at it, and stands by himself. You can see the strain plainly on his face- how the action winds him and how it sends pain shooting through his battered body. When you look at his eyes though, all you can see is resolute stubbornness. With great effort, and even greater determination, Bakugou manages to hobble over to the wall, dropping against it. His shoulders hit first, and then he’s rolling all of his weight back onto them.

You were stunned- not that he chose to do it, because of course he chose to, but mostly that he’d succeeded. You’d seen a clip of his fall, it was playing on the news before you’d left your house, and it looked nasty. When he hit the ground, all of his limbs were so mangled and impact alone knocked him out clean. The injuries he still had, broken bones and cracked ribs, at the very least, must’ve still been causing him great pain- and yet he surpassed those with sheer force of will alone. It would’ve impressed you; if seeing him in so much pain didn’t make you so sad.

“That didn’t look comfortable. I really think you need crutches, angry man.” You point to the bed. “Or you could just go lay back down, like you’re supposed to, and we could forget this whole argument.”

“No thanks. Done bein’ fucking fussed over. The only reason I haven’t left yet is because there’s people everywhere.” 

“And because you’re not supposed to, remember?”

“No. It’s good now. Nurse said I could.” He says, groaning when you stare back at him entirely unimpressed. He points to a bundle of papers and medication on the bed. “Look, gave me all the discharge instructions and everything. I’m not fucking lying.”

You walk over, flipping quickly through the packet of instructions. Bakugou wasn’t lying- he really was approved for discharge apparently, albeit under very specific instructions for not over-exerting himself. Which he was obviously doing so great at so far. 

Sighing, you folded the papers and placed them in the bag with all of his medicine. Regardless of what he wanted, you were going to make sure he took care of himself. And that included, taking all of the medication and performing the physical therapy outlined on the papers.

“Alright, then. Guess we’re going, after all.” You clap your hands together in finality, before grabbing the bag of medication. “I still think you need crutches though.”

You look him up and down, eyes zeroing in on the way he was huddled against the wall. All his weight was in his shoulders, and in any other situation, you might’ve thought it was an effortlessly cool pose- but not here. Not in this hospital room with him dressed in weird clinical sweats and a childish expression.

“I’m not getting crutches. Lame as shit.”

“Are you kidding me? Your body is literally beat to hell- who cares about how cool you look right now?”

Bakugou just nods toward the window, and you peer down to see the crowd from earlier still gathered below. It seemed like cameras and reporters had also joined, and they were making a worrying amount of headway to the door, pushing against security impatiently. It looked entirely overwhelming, if you were honest.

“If I leave with crutches,” He starts. “Then I gotta hear about that shit for fuckin’ weeks.”

“Are you serious?” You ask appalled. “You’re obviously injured! What the hell are they even gonna s-“

Bakugou just hits you with a pointed stare, and it stops you in your tracks.

He’s right. Any weakness- even crutches when injured- would read bad for his career. It would shatter the illusion people had of him. Of his infallibility and limitless strength.

“It’ll draw too much fuckin’ attention,” He elaborates, pulling the hood over his head. “No shitty sweatshirt could help me then.”

“Wait, that’s your disguise for sneaking out? A sweatshirt?”

Bakugou just nods, suddenly pulling the hood up and over his head. It flattens his wild hair against his forehead, and you nearly squeal. He looks adorable- although still very much like himself. You weren’t so sure this disguise would cut it, but you were pretty much out of other options. It would have to make do.

“Yeah. Okay. I get it, put the hood back down.” You pause, trying your hardest to think of another solution. “How about a wheelchair?”

Bakugou just looks even more offended- like your last request was a front to his very dignity. Hell, knowing him as you did, you figured it probably was.

“Yeah, fine, I get it, angry man- no wheelchair.” You sigh. “At least let me help you then? I mean, it looks like you need something at least.”

“No. I fuckin’ don’t.” He refuses hotly, shifting his weight agitatedly against the wall. “I’m fine.”

You roll your eyes, you should’ve expected him to be difficult about this. It seemed that appearing weak was his greatest fear; you thought that was a little ironic- that his biggest weakness was weakness itself.

“Seriously- please. You look like you’re about to keel over where you stand, Bakugou!”

“I told you not to fuckin’ call me that, anymore.” He retorts angrily, but you watch him wince when he moves too much. “And I told you, I’m fine. So just shut the hell up about it already.”

You watch him for another moment, taking careful stock of the way he leans back on his shoulders and curls his arms around his sides. You didn’t ask him specifically- but you’re sure now, Bakugou’s at least got broken ribs- among many other broken and sprained things probably.

Fine, if he won’t readily accept your help, than you’ll just have to goad him into admitting his own failure.

“Hmm, sure, then step away from the wall then, hot shot.”

He’s quiet, but you watch as his eyebrows pinch and his cheeks redden.

“Why? Stop bein’ fuckin’ weird! I’m just standing for a second, leave me the hell alone, shitty woman.”

You just shake your head. It almost disgusts you how much rolling fondness smothers what should’ve definitely been annoyance.

“So, you’re telling me,” You start, walking a little closer to him. “That if you stepped away from this wall right now- that you wouldn’t immediately fold in half like a lawn chair?”

“No!”

“Okay. So do it then, pop rocks. C’mon. Let’s see.”

“I’m- I’m not just gonna fuckin’ do something just because you goddamn told me too!”

“Not even if it’s a challenge?” You tease, nearing him even more. You’re just a few measly feet away now, staring defiantly up at petulant red eyes. “Because it is- a challenge. I bet you that you can’t do it.”

“Fuck you.” He grits out, but then he’s pushing off his shoulders and standing straight. “See? That’ll teach ya to run your stupid mouth about shit you don’t know dick about.”

“Hmm, good words, Katsuki- expressive, even. We’ll see how long you last.”

He doesn’t say anything, but you can see his jaw clenched down; his shoulder’s strung tightly, the slight twitch in his calves. Katsuki isn’t going to stay upright for much longer.

You move before you even recognize it, sidling up to him and ducking under his arm.

“What are you- Stop! Get the hell away!” He barks harshly, but stands in place, not really doing much other than flushing violently. “It’s- I don’t need your fuckin’ help!”

“No, Katsuki, chill out- stop,” You laugh, rearranging his heavy arm over your shoulder. “If we’re doing this then I’m going to help you!”

“Lemme go! I’ll fuckin’ crush you, I don’t need your help!”

“Okay, yes, fine, maybe you don’t need it, but it would make me feel a whole lot better if you accepted it,” You huff, your hand wrapped tight around his wrist. “And you won’t crush me- I’m a big girl, I promise I’ll be fine. So just stop being stubborn- for me? Please?”

He growls, rolling his eyes to the ceiling- but then he’s shuffling closer to you and shaking his head. If you thought his arm was heavy before, you were sorely mistaken- when Katsuki finally surrenders, the solid weight of all his muscles nearly takes you out. You stumble for a moment before regaining your balance.

“Idiot. Thought you said you could handle it?” Katsuki looks down at you, smirking slightly before once again rolling his eyes. “Now, c’mon, fuckin’ get on with it, sunshine.”

You resist the sudden slight urge to nudge his ribs, or let him collapse to the ground- this was your idea, and you wouldn’t let your child of a soulmate talk you out of helping him.

“So, I was thinking-“ You begin to shuffle with him, slightly breathless. “We sneak out the back. Or something. There’s a crowd outside.”

“Already established that, several times, fuckin’ ages ago, dipshit- and of fuckin’ course there is. It’s me.”

“Oh my god, this is not the time for your ego!” You groan, but still keep a steady pace as you begin, towards the door. “Speaking of, though, one of your fangirls told me somethin’ real interesting on the way in, though.”

“Christ. What?”

“Apparently, she’s your soul mate.” You laugh, shallowly, trying to project a confidence you couldn’t feel. “C’mon, Katsuki, you should’ve told me! Total dick move that I had to find out from her!”

He scoffs, patting your shoulder with the hand strung across it. “You fuckin’ tell her off or somethin’?”

“Nope. I told her that I think you guys would make a really cute couple!”

“Are you fuckin’ serious?”

“No- of course not.” You say stopping in front of the door for a quick break. You suddenly weren’t sure whether you could really do this or not. “I didn’t say much of anything, really, didn’t know if I could.”

“Hah?” He looks down at you funny, red eyes squinting. “Fuck’s that mean?”

“You know, your career? Didn’t wanna say anything just in case.”

“Incase’a what?”

“I- I don’t know,” You stutter, suddenly feeling insecure. You focus your eyes on the tiles beneath your feet so you don’t have to look at his eyes. Eyes that you can feel boring into the side of your head. “Just in case, you know?”

“No. I fuckin’ don’t.” He says, mild irritation coloring his voice from above you. “Stop thinking so goddamn much, I can’t fuckin’ keep up- just tell me what you’re all worked up over.”

“It’s-“ You sigh, ringing your hands together anxiously. “You’re- you’re not embarrassed, right? Because, I know I shouldn’t have done this but I was looking you up again, and I just- I didn’t see anything about you having a soulmate? Anywhere? Ever? Do you just not want people to know or- because that’s totally fine, you know, like I get it, you’ve got this super big career outside of me and I’m totally fine if you just wanna like not say anything to anyone or lik-“

“Idiot. Stop thinking so much.” Bakugou tilts his head towards the ceiling. “I’m not fuckin’ embarrassed of you.”

“T-then why?” You ask hesitantly, while staring at your feet. You’re not sure if it’s the jarring movement as he rearranges his weight or your racing heart, but either way you’re feeling sick. “Actually- you know what, it’s fine, forget I even said anything. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Bakugou doesn’t say anything, just nods and stays silent. Then he looks down at you, at the way you won’t meet his eyes, and he groans.

“Fuckin- fine. God, you always make me say the most embarrassing shit.” He gripes, flushing slightly as you finally look up at him. “It’s not because of any of that stupid shit. It’s- I fuckin’, ugh, I didn’t want somebody else findin’ you or whatever before I did.”

“What? Find me? Who?”

“God, you’re fuckin’ dense.” He scoffs, but when you look up he’s still smiling lazily down at you. “People. Media. Fuckin’ villians probably too.”

“Holy shit.”

“Chill out. I kept fuckin’ quiet so you don’t gotta worry about that now. Besides-“ He turns his head away, cheeks flushing slightly. “I’d blast all those fuckin’ weaklings to hell if they tried anything now. So don’t get all anxious about it or whatever.”

You just look down at your feet, smiling at his words but still feeling unsure nonetheless. You understood- for sure, but that didn’t mean the weight of all these consequences was easy to bear.

“Now can we go? Are we done worryin’ about stupid shit?” He asks lightly, jostling you slightly. “Got more important things to do.” 

You nod, opening the door just to watch Kirishima stumble backwards.

“Oi- shitty hair! What’re you leanin’ against my door like that for?”

“Oh! Hey guys!” He greets cheerfully, before taking stock of the situation. He tilts his head. “You guys leaving?”

“Obviously.” Bakugou scoffs, but then he’s leaning in toward his friend, dropping his other hand heavy on the red-head’s shoulder. “Need ya to distract anyone who walks up here though. Gonna leave the other way and go out the fuckin’ back.” 

“Oh- yeah, okay! Got it, man! You sure you should be leaving though?”

“That’s what I said.” You interrupt, glaring Bakugou into silence as he tries to speak. “But he insisted- and I’ve got all his meds and instructions so I think we’ll be alright. Maybe. If we’re lucky.”

“Don’t just fuckin’ talk about me like I’m not standin’ right here, shitty woman!”

“I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t so difficult all the time!” You retorted. “Now, you can handle it from here, right Kirishima? We really could use your help.”

“Yep! Totally got this! You guys go on ahead, I’ll stand guard right here!” He flashes a bright smile at you, before pointing down the hall. “There’s a staff elevator just down there. You should use that- it’ll probably be way faster. Good luck!” 

You just nod, smiling brightly at him as you pull Bakugou in that direction.

“Oi- not so fuckin’ fast!” He shouts, stumbling slightly.

“Keep your voice down, angry man! Everyone’s gonna know it’s you!”

“How the fuck is my voice gonna give it away?” He says, while simultaneously screaming like a banshee in the middle of an otherwise quiet hallway.

“Like that! So keep it down, good fucking lord.” You grumble, a breath of relief leaving your mouth as you finally near the elevator. You push the button, sighing as the doors open.

Bakugou shuffles away from you, leaning against the back wall and staring moodily at you as you press the button. The elevator surges downward, and after a minute or so the doors began to open again. You shouldered his arm once more looking up to see him pulling the hood of the sweatshirt farther down his face. He looked adorable and you couldn’t keep yourself from staring.

“Oi- fuck you lookin’ at, woman?”

“Nothing.” You laughed. “Now, c’mon, we’ve still got a ways to go.”

Sneaking Bakugou out was no easy affair to begin with, and he certainly didn’t help whatsoever. His frame was just too large and too heavy, and there was no possible way he could be quiet, especially considering his thundering steps, even when he wasn’t screaming. He seemed to attract attention no matter where he was or what he was doing. People were starting to stare as you booked it towards the back exit- you needed to move. And quick.

“Jesus christ,” You huffed, breathless and slightly irritated. You point at his stomach as you pull him along. “I know you’re hurt, but could you at least try and engage those core muscles you so obviously have?”

“You said you’d be fuckin’ fine, sunshine.”

“God, you’re difficult.” You shook your head, rolling your eyes at the sight of his amused little half-smile. “You think this is funny don’t you?”

Bakugou doesn’t say anything, but when you look up at him, there’s still that small smile edging at his lips. He seems to hold it, even through his grunts of obvious pain.

“Wow, of course you do. Immature, angry, loud man.”

“Who says I’m fuckin’ loud?” He asks hotly, pulling his shoulders in as you both shimmy through the, admittedly, small back door. “I’m not fucking loud!”

“God, you’re screaming right now! Do you even hear yourself?” You wince, but feel relieved as you help him hobble to the curb. “How’s a taxi sound, pop rocks?”

“Don’t fuckin’ call me that. I hate it. Don’t do it again.” He grumbles. “But it’s fine- whatever, I don’t care.” 

“Great.”

You raise your hand up, nearly crying in relief when a taxi rolls up to the curb. When you help Bakugou in, and slide in the seat next to him, you’re almost overcome with satisfaction. Sneaking him out was one of the most difficult tasks you thought you’d ever taken on- both physically and mentally, and god, were you glad it was over.

--/--

As it turns out, explosive personalities don’t always lend themselves to explosive environments.

Bakugou’s apartment was clean, tidy, nearly spotless when you helped him walk in. It surprised you, truly, but he didn’t let you sit on that thought for long. He brushed you off, hobbling slowly down a long hallway without a word. It takes a few minutes, but Bakugou enters the room at the end and slams the door shut behind him.

Oh- What exactly were you supposed to do now?

In reality your fingers were itching to open drawers and rifle through cabinets, and just generally snoop but you, of course, knew better. So you instead chose to read through the instruction papers and medications once more- just to busy yourself and maybe see if there was anyway you could help him. Since, apparently, Bakugou was not keen on asking you for assistance himself.

You hear the door open again, and Bakugou comes unsteadily down the hallway, nearly collapsing when he reaches his couch. He’s dressed in new sweats, and he turns to look at you.

“Fuck you doin’ over there?”

“Meds, angry man.” You say, doling out the few necessary pills from a bottle. “Where’s your glasses?”

“You don’t have to fuckin’ do that.”

“What- you’re gonna force yourself to get up again?” You ask him, unimpressed. “You’re hurt, so just please let me help you. At least with this.”

He nods tightly, mouth pressed into a thin line. “Glasses are in the cabinet behind ya.”

You nod, filling a glass of water for him and walking the medication over. Watching as he took it, you weren’t exactly sure what to do now. So you just sort of hovered next to the couch, arms around your stomach anxiously.

“What’re you doing- sit the fuck down already, idiot.” He pats the seat next to him. “Stop being weird. Freaks me the hell out.”

“Yeah. Sorry.” You laughed. “Just didn’t wanna assume- in case you wanted me to leave or something.”

“Wouldn’t have let you in if I wanted you to leave. Dumbass.” He reaches over, flicking your forehead lightly. “Your stupid thoughts are clogging up the air. Stop it.”

“Hey!” You whine, rubbing at your forehead. “Not nice, angry man! I’ll let it go this time, but try it again and I promise you’ll really be hurting.”

“Mhm. I’m sure.”

He settles further into the couch, throwing his head back and closing his eyes. The mid-day sun floods through the window, hitting the column of his throat, and casting him in gold. You think he’s beautiful then. Far more beautiful than anyone else you’d ever known.

“Yeah, sorry.” You breathe out, suddenly a little nervous by your close proximity to him. “Think those’ll probably make you a little sleepy.”

“Fuckin’ stellar.”

“Don’t sound so grumpy- it’s just a nap. And besides, you should probably be taking one anyway.”

“It’s not that.” He peeks an eye open, lazily rolling his head to catch your gaze. “You hungry?”

“No- I’m good. Are you?” You ask suddenly. “I can totally get you something? Or make you something? What do you have here? What do you want?”

“Jesus, sunshine. Slow the fuck down.” He breathes, turning his head back to the ceiling with a small, fond, smile. He sighs sleepily. “I’m good. Just wanted to ask ya.”

“Yeah. Okay.”

He mumbles something, but you don’t quite catch onto it. It’s quiet for a few moments, before his breathing is starting to slow. Your surprised at just how tired he seems to be, but then again, he was taking some pretty strong pain meds. As it stands now, he seemed minutes from falling asleep, and you were worried about the strain he was putting on his neck.

“Hey- you shouldn’t fall asleep like that.” You touch his shoulder lightly, fingers just barely brushing the fabric of his shirt. “Lay down, I’ll get up.”

Bakugou just opens his eyes, only glancing at you for a moment before he closes them again. Then he’s tipping over, a flurry of heavy limbs and awkward weight hitting your lap. When you look down at him, his eyes are squeezed tightly closed and he’s blushing wildly. He kicks his feet up off the floor, and settles in, quickly becoming deadweight across your thighs.

“O-oh.” You say, breathless. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Mhm. Now shut the fuck up, I’m tryin’ to sleep.” 

“Yeah.” 

You’re winded, short of breath and flushing bright red from his actions; but still, you find you absolutely can’t help yourself. So, with shaking breaths, you’re carding fingers through his hair before you can think better of it. 

When you look down at him, Bakugou’s only gone brighter red, but he’s smiling too. He stills, before suddenly peaking one eye open.

“Wake me up for dinner, alright, idiot?”

You nod and then he’s closing his eyes again, chest rising and falling slowly. He’s asleep and dead to the world in just a few minutes, but you can’t stop staring.

You knew you liked him- liked him a lot, as a person, not just a soulmate. You liked his weird brand of humor and his insults and death threats. You liked his masked concern and blunt words, you were even strangely fond of his yelling- but you weren’t prepared for just how much those feelings would amplify when he was so close. He was close, and warm, and breathing under your fingertips and you liked him so much. More than you’d ever liked anything or anyone else in your entire life. 

You were stricken, absolutely smitten, and there was nothing you could do about it. Or even wanted to really. So you just stared, eyes tracking his calm features as you worked careful fingers through his soft hair.

You understood now- why so many of your peers had told you they were jealous. Why they had all sighed dreamily when you told them, before immediately wishing to be you. Having a soulmate was inexplicable completeness and undeniable purpose- it was finality and new beginnings all in one.

You understood now, and you wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

//-//

ee soz this took so long!! no excuses lmao i just stupidly started playin genshin and holy shIT was that bad for my productivity ahahaha

hope u enjoy my lovelies!!!!

[mammonshuman92]

- Watched - Pt.3

(Mammon x GN!MC)

**TW: cussing, stalking, kidnapping, religion, 

Note: C/N (coworker name)

-

“Man, I’m starvin’. What’s takin’ so long anyway?” He grumbled, remembering the whole ‘first name basis’ thing with the delivery driver. 

He was laid on his back across your bed scrolling through social media, impatiently waiting for you to return. His stomach started to growl.

“Maybe I should go check? But, MC said to stay here so no one could see me.” He said to himself, a slight pout on his lips.

He heard a small shuffling noise come from the living room, it sounded like a paper bag crinkling.

Ok, ya got the food, now don’t be tryin’ to chit chat MC, I know how ya are. I’m dyin’ in here!

The bedroom was a straight shot down the hall from the door, making it impossible to sneak a quick peek without fully exposing himself.

He could hear you talking back and forth with...Alex. He huffed to himself remembering your chumminess with the take out guy. Something just seemed weird to him about the whole thing. 

Somethin’ is fishy about him always havin’ MC’s route or whatever. Does nobody else deliver for that place? I bet he’s got a crush on MC or somethin’. 

“I’ll kick his ass.” He said out loud, his own thoughts making him sour.

He listened again, trying to hear what was being said. He couldn’t hear any actual words, but he could hear Alex’s voice. Barely, though.

Wait a minute.. Is he whisperin’? What’s he gotta say to MC that requires whisperin’?! I gotta get outta here.

Mammon was getting himself worked up, assuming this delivery guy was confessing his love to you. He’d nearly convinced himself to march out there and confront the creep. To hell with staying hidden!

Before he could blow his cover, he heard something hit the front door followed by more shuffling movement. He calmed down a bit, thinking the noises he heard were of you getting the food inside and trying to kick the door shut.

He impatiently waited for you to call out, telling him the coast was clear and that he could finally come eat. But, you didn’t.

After a couple minutes passed with no new noise, he grew slightly anxious.

He stood up and started pacing beside the bed, feeling antsy.

C’mon, MC. What’re ya doin’? I’m witherin’ away! Before long I’m gonna shrink up and turn into a Little D or somethin’..

Suddenly, he heard voices again. Well, just the delivery guy’s voice, still a hushed tone. He groaned to himself.

“If he don’t hurry up and go away, I’m gonna eat him instead.” He grumbled quietly to himself.

Something didn’t feel right though. Why was Alex’s voice the only one he heard? It had been at least five minutes since he heard you say something. It’s not like he just missed what you said because you were too quiet for him to hear, or you just chose not to contribute to the guy’s conversation.

You always talk, to basically anyone you come in contact with, never really knowing a stranger. He’s pretty sure you haven’t gone five minutes without talking since he met you. That’s why it seemed so weird to him. 

That alone wasn’t really enough to expose himself though, was it? 

To say you’ve been through a lot lately is an understatement. You’re sleep deprived and your nerves are shot. With everything that’s been going on, it would be more weird if you didn’t act a little different. He didn’t blame you for not being your usual self.

He still couldn’t shake this feeling though.

A sudden, loud noise outside got his attention.

Was that a car door?

He moved quickly, putting his back against the wall, scooting over to the doorway.

“MC? Is he gone?” He whispered.

No answer.

Screw it.

Very slowly, he peeked his head around the corner, careful not to be seen.

“MC?” He whispered again, louder this time. 

Still nothing.

Somethin’ is definitely wrong..

He fully emerged in the doorway, eyes darting around, taking in his surroundings. As he quickly made his way up the hall, he noticed the door standing wide open. He could see that an older model car was parked in front of the house and you were no where in sight.

Hand still on the door knob, he turned around to call out into the house, “MC, where ya at? Ya know ya left the door-”

Before he could finish, the car outside suddenly accelerated, kicking up dirt and rocks as they sped off.

What the..?

“Guess he didn’t like his tip..?” He whispered to himself.

He shut the door and turned around slowly, only taking a couple steps before he came to a stop. He couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling he had.

“Oi, MC! D-don’t ya know you’re supposed to answer when THE Great Mammon calls for ya?” He waited, but the house was still. All he could hear was his heartbeat in his ears.

He walked further into the house, quickly looking around the kitchen before heading back down the hall.

Why ain’t they answerin’.. c-could it..? Nah..

“This ain’t funny ya know..” He called through the house, hoping that you’d somehow slipped past him. 

Again, he was met with bone chilling silence.

Slowly, he started piecing all the little weird things that didn’t make sense together like a puzzle. The silent house and wide open door, abandoned food, the car speeding away.. 

The same delivery guy somehow always having this route...

His heart sank.

No, no, no, no!

He ran from room to room in a panic, desperately calling out to you, begging you to answer him.

This ain’t happenin’.. They gotta be hidin’ or something. Yeah, that’s it!

“MC! Where are ya? Talk to me, please!” He screamed, voice breaking around the hard lump forming in his throat, tears beginning to prick at his eyes.

No, it can’t be.. It can’t be..

With trembling hands, he dug his phone from his pocket, quickly dialing your number.

“C’mon, pick up. Please, please pick up.” He pleaded as he paced the floor.

His stomach dropped when he heard it ringing within the house, quickly following the sound until he found it on the coffee table where you had left it earlier. He stood there unmoving, staring at his picture and contact name with hearts on the screen, tears streaking down his face.

The weight of it all came crashing down like a tsunami, forcing him to his knees. With his face in his hands, he sobbed uncontrollably.

I shoulda listened to my gut when I thought somethin’ was wrong! Why did I wait so long to look for ‘em?! He took MC, he took MC! Dammit!

How did he let this happen? He was right here, right here, and he didn’t sense the danger. He couldn't protect you again, letting you fall right into the hands of the psycho creep who had been relentlessly harassing you, who was planning to do who knows what.

He had to do something. Anything. 

Get the hell up! Ya gotta go find MC NOW! There’s no tellin’ what this creep is gonna try.

He stood up and wiped his face, trying to compose himself as he switched into demon form.

“I can still catch ‘em!” He made a beeline for the door, stopping abruptly as he reached the thresh hold.

“Wait, it’s the middle of the day and this ain’t the Devildom. A demon flyin’ around on a man hunt would be real bad.” He thought aloud.

People would most likely panic and if history proves anything, nothing good ever comes from humans when they panic.

He had to try and think rationally, as hard as it was. He wanted to rush in and save you as quick as he could, but going in blind without a decent plan could get you hurt...or possibly worse.

He switched out of demon form and moved back into the living room, trying to come up with an idea.

Your phone was here so he couldn’t have you tracked by GPS and he didn’t remember much about the car except that it was older. He didn’t even know what the guy looked like since he’d had to hide. All he knew about him was his first name and that he worked at a restaurant. 

“The take out place would for sure have everything about him on file!” He quickly punched in the name of the place into his phone’s search engine, then suddenly paused.

“Wait a minute..I can’t just waltz in there and ask for someone’s personal info. They’d call the cops or somethin’. Damn!”

He was beginning to feel hysterical. He didn’t have much to go on and every idea he came up with was crap. A few ‘ding’ sounds from the coffee table tore him from his thoughts. It was your phone.

Someone named C/N had sent you a couple texts about work and judging by the text log, you talked to them often.

“Man, I hope this C/N knows somethin’ cause I’ve got nothin’ else to go on..” 

Luckily, he remembered the name of the coffee shop, having heard you talk about work often. A quick internet search and he had the directions. He was out the door like a shot.

With his newfound breadcrumb, he was one step closer to finding you.

-

A bell chimed above the door when he entered the shop, alerting the worker behind the counter of his presence.

“Hi, how can I help you?” They greeted him as he walked up to the counter.

“Hey, is there a C/N here by any chance?”

“Oh, uh, yeah just a sec.” They went through a doorway behind the counter, returning moments later with another person in tow.

“Hello..? I’m sorry, do I know you?” They asked, approaching Mammon, visibly confused.

“No, but you know MC, right?” He asked, uninterested in beating around the bush.

“I’m not sure I can answer that.” They said cautiously, visibly tense.

They do know somethin’.

“Here, look.” He said, pulling up the gallery on his phone, showing them multiple pictures of you and MC together.

“Oh, so you’re the boyfriend. MC has told me about you. Uh, anyway, is there something I can help you with? I need to get back to work..”

“Yeah, has MC ever mentioned anythin’ about a guy named Alex before?” He asked.

Please, please, please

“Alex..Alex..” They repeated, tapping a finger on their chin as they thought it over. “They did, actually. We went to the movies about two months ago, and ran into a guy they knew. It was their usual deliver guy I think? Said his name was Alex. He gave me the creeps.” They explained.

“Why is that?”

Yes! We’re gettin’ somewhere.

“He just seemed..I don’t know, off? And when I met him, I actually remembered seeing him a few days earlier on my way to work. There was another A.T.A. protest and I saw him in the group demonstrators. He denied being there when I brought it up, saying it had to be his doppelganger or something, but I know it was him. When we ran into him at the movies he said he had just got off work, and he was wearing the exact same shirt and hat as the day of the protest.” They informed him.

“Wait, A.T.A.? What’s that?” He asked curiously.

“Anti-Treaty Association. They’re exactly what the name suggests. Everyone involved in the exchange program is public knowledge. Names, pictures, updates on how the program was going, etc. All easily found on any search engine. If he is part of the A.T.A., why would he be friendly with MC? There’s no way he didn’t know who they were.” They said.

This Alex guy is definitely the stalker. I bet if I dig into this A.T.A. I can find him..

“Alright. Thanks for your help.” He said as he turned to leave, C/N took a few steps after him.

“Hey, uh, is MC okay? I know they haven’t been themselves lately, but uh, you coming here and asking all these questions kinda scares me..” They admitted, fear for their friend written on their face.

“MC is uh, goin’ through some stuff. I’m gonna put an end to it though.” His voice was rough, angry. His face however, was full of desperation and sadness.

Mammon thanked C/N again for their information and left the coffee shop on a new mission. He uncovered another piece of the puzzle, new information that could lead him to you.

No one knew exactly what this guy was capable of, but he had the most important piece of Mammon's existence with him. There wasn’t anything he wasn’t willing to do, in any realm, to bring you back safely. He would breach the Celestial Gates without thinking twice if it would bring you back to him.

He was going to show them exactly why he's the second strongest of the seven rulers of the underworld.

I’m comin’ MC. I will find ya, I promise.

-

“Get out.”

The scorching heat inside the trunk made you nauseous, and severely thirsty. You felt weak and disoriented, unable to move much. You weren’t sure how long you had been stuck in there before you finally felt the car come to a stop. The lid opened, blazing sunshine poured inside the dark space, making your eyes water and squint reflexively.

“I said, get out!” He screamed.

He wrapped his hand around your wrist hard and yanked you from the trunk, letting you drop to the ground. You were much to weak to try and brace yourself so you fell pretty hard, getting small scrapes and dirt on your elbows and forearms.

You tried to open your eyes to try and get an idea of where he had taken you, but before they could adjust to the blinding sunlight, he tied something around your eyes.

“Can’t have you trying to escape.” He said to himself, as he finished tying up your hands. The restraints were very tight, already starting to hurt your wrists.

“I’m not going to.” You said weakly, your words making him laugh.

“Well, at least your a smart demon slut. Somewhat, anyway.”

Honestly, you weren’t planning to escape. If the opportunity presented itself, you would make a run for it, but you weren’t actively looking for an escape route. However, you had no intention of giving this creep what he wanted, or giving up without one hell of a fight.

Pulling you by the restraint around your wrists, he began to drag you across the ground. He let go of you a minute or so later. He didn’t drag you very far, ending up in some kind of building judging by the change in temperature and the rough feeling of concrete beneath you. It felt a little cooler in here as if you were out of direct sunlight, but the air was still fairly hot and sticky.

You did your best to pay attention to the things around you. The sounds, smells, what little you could feel. Outside you could hear cows in the distance and some kind of humming noise. It was definitely hot, but more like that humid feeling before it storms. You could also smell it too, the incoming rain. That warm earthy smell.

You could hear Alex nearby messing with something metal, there was also the sound of running water somewhere close.

I can’t believe Alex was actually the stalker this entire time... Explains how pictures taken of me from outside my house though.. I wonder what he plans to do..

You promptly chased away those thoughts in order to keep yourself calm, replacing them with thoughts of him, the time you’d spent together along with all the memories that came with it.

How soft and fluffy his hair felt when ran your fingers through it. The way he smelled; not the Devilish No.5, although you did love it, it’s smell closely related to the famous human world version, but his smell. Crisp and clean like fresh laundry or new clothes, slightly smoky like leather because of his favorite jacket and small undertones of warm cinnamon and vanilla.

The always groaned about your selection for movie night but was the first one to get really into it. Having a concert while cooking when you had kitchen duty together, getting in trouble for talking and laughing in class and later being scolded by Lucifer for it. How he always used to complain how bad humans smell, only to find out he started buying your brand of body wash for himself and would also try to casually smell his hoodie after you’d worn it.

The thought of never seeing him again, never experiencing anymore memories like these or the chance to make new ones, kept haunting you. A hard lump was forming in your throat, tears beginning to prick your eyes.

“Aw, what’s the matter darlin’? The abomination you chose as a lover isn’t rushing in to save you like Prince Charming? Imagine that.” He spat. 

You ignored his sarcastic comments, wanting answers of you own, “Why are you doing this?” You could hear him walking toward you, his footsteps getting louder as he approached. The sound stopped abruptly, then he crouched down next to your head.

“I told you, you need to be cleansed.” His tone was very matter-of-fact.

He grabbed your wrist restraint again and drug you another ten feet or so. Easily picking you up and hoisting you into the air until the rope around your wrists caught on something. He let go, your full weight coming down on your restraint. You were suspended in the air, feet barely skimming the floor. 

He checked your ropes to make sure it was still secure with the added weight and gravity, then he removed your blindfold. The sudden change causing you to blink several times.

Your previous assumptions had been right, you appeared to be in a warehouse that had been abandoned for quite some time. Most of the windows were broken, big vines and other foliage creeping into the building. The rusted remnants of machinery scattered around the large, open room. You looked above you to see that you were hanging from a large hook that was suspended by thick chain from a metal beam up above. Far to your left you could see what looked like a large pool or even one of those big basins you usually use to water cattle, with a hose draped over the side. There’s the source of the running water you heard.  

Wait...a stock tank with water, ’cleansed’...is he going to..baptize me?

“Cleansed? That’s been mentioned quite a bit in the dozens of letters I’ve been getting. Well, you would know, huh? Since you’re the one behind it all. What I don’t understand is why?” 

It came off as more sarcastic than you intended, but you didn’t really care. You had been terrified for weeks about the stalker. What would they do when they finally got to you? You haven’t truly felt alone in over a month, as if someone was always hiding in the shadows watching, waiting. Your anxiety has been through the roof and you’re in a nearly constant state of paranoia and fear. 

But, now that he was in front of you, you didn’t feel scared. You wanted answers.

“Because they don’t belong with our kind. Uniting our realms is blasphemy and will throw the human world into chaos.”

‘Don’t belong with our kind’..? Whoa, what the hell..

“Blasphemy? But, the Celestial Realm is on board with it. The angels in the exchange progr-” He cut you off before you could finish, his sudden booming voice echoed through the spacious warehouse, startling you.

He stood with his back to you, facing a long metal table that looked as if it used to be a conveyor or some other piece that once belonged to one of the old machines inside the long forgotten building.

“The exchange program was a joke! Those devils just needed a good cover to get their claws on our realm so they could take it over! Using their dirty tricks and magic to bring corruption and pollute us with sin.” He stared you down like a mad man while he yelled.

This was so bizarre, he sounded insane. Like, one of those people that wore tin foil hats. This version of Alex, the real one, was scary. You would’ve never guessed in a million years that this guy was the same one that you talked about the weather and current events with a few times a week.

“None of that is even remotely true! They just want to bring peace among the realms, to prove that they are not what all the harmful, hateful rhetoric claims they are. So we can all just co-exist! That was the entire point of the exchange program! To learn about the Devildom; it’s people and culture.” You fought back.

His face twisted up in disgust, visibly becoming more and more agitated every time you spoke. He stalked closer, stopping maybe six feet in front of you, staring at you intently.

“That kind of thinking is exactly why you need to be cleansed. You’re a human, or has being a demon whore and becoming the embodiment of sin made you forget that? You are nothing but a weak, powerless human to them. A pawn in their bigger plan, collateral damage if things went wrong.” 

You never cared what assumptions people made or the rumors they started regarding your stay in the Devildom. However, when the very demons you loved and cared about became the subject of people’s whispering, you were willing to fight with no intentions of backing down.

You, out of everyone, who had to live in the House of Lamentation for a year, escaped death from a couple of the brothers, helped them mend familial bonds, and held pacts with all of them, should know better than anyone, exactly who they are.

“You don’t know anything about them!” You yelled lurching forward as you filled with anger, lightly swinging back and forth where you were suspended, the thick chains above you clanking, “The things they’ve been through, they things they’ve seen. The sacrifices they had to make..” You heart ached for them. What happened during the Great Celestial War, their fall.. They’ve been through a great deal and they, along with the rest of the Devildom, are undeserving of such prejudiced hatred. 

“Being demons doesn’t automatically mean they are bad people, just like being human doesn’t make you good.” You stared him down, lacing venom in your words. He squinted his eyes at you, unhappy with your implications. “That fact was thoroughly proven during my time there. Some of kindest people I have ever met, as well as the people I love and cherish the most, are demons.”

You would forever stand behind the program, your now second home, and all the friends and loved ones you made along the way. No matter what this psycho could come up with, you would not be swayed. You knew them for who they are, all Alex knew was hatred.

He scoffed at your words, walking toward you as he shook his head in disgust, eyes boring into yours. He stopped just inches in front of your face. You held onto your resolve, staring back at him intently, not letting him see that you were completely terrified. It’s what he wanted; to feel superior and pass judgement on those he deemed unworthy.

You weren’t going to give him the satisfaction though; to feed his ego, his delusions. You refused to bow to fear, instead giving it all you had to make sure that if this was how it would end for you, you would fight against his prejudice and hatred until your final moments.

“We will start with the normal cleansing.” He backed away from you, confirming your suspicions as he gestured to the stock tank. “Although I think your soul might be too far gone for it to be completely effective.” He smiled wickedly as he turned around, going back to the table he’d been at earlier and picked up the same knife he’d held to you when he kidnapped you. The only other weapons you could see on the table were a baton and a taser. There was also a thick book you could only assume was a bible and a large jar of water. The most concerning however, was the gas can, thick work gloves, and what looked a lot like a body bag.

“This may call for a more extensive purification.” 

PART FOUR COMING SOON!

[plaidbooks]

I’m Okay

A/N: This was a concept I’ve had in my head for a little. I just...I really wanted a fluffy Carisi piece. Though, this is definitely more angst with a happy ending. I don’t know what it is about Carisi, but I always seem to write him into angsty things (though, I also just seem to write mostly angst with happy endings idk man).

Tags: domestic violence mention, rape mention, car crashes, blood mention

Words: 2k

You stood next to Carisi and Olivia as you all listened in on the interview Rollins and Fin were conducting on the latest scumbag you and Carisi had dragged in, Trevor Oaks. His wife—who you were hoping would be his soon ex—came in earlier in the day, crying, hand on her quickly blackening eye. Her husband had a temper, one that came out soon after the wedding. But now, he had crossed the line, taking his aggression out on her instead of just the wall or a vase. Though, it wasn’t until Amy Oaks had sat down with Lieutenant Benson that she realized with horror that this wasn’t the first time; that when he would get angry and force her to the bedroom, that even if she was his wife, that it was still rape.

You scrunched your nose up in disgust as Fin and Rollins grilled Trevor, trying to bring out that violent side of him that you all knew existed. But the man simply smirked, asking for his lawyer. Obviously frustrated, the detectives got up and left the interview room.

“He’ll make bail in no time,” Olivia muttered to the glass, glaring at the bastard. It was true; he was a trust-fund baby, riding on the millions made by his father.

“Want us to sit on Amy at the hotel?” Carisi asked. You and your partner were already charged with moving her from the precinct, where she was hidden in Liv’s office, to the hotel, well away from her husband until his trial. You really didn’t mind Carisi volunteering you both to watch her, either; in the months you’ve been working together, you had developed a crush on him. Spending more time stuck in a small, confined car, telling stories about your families, past cases from past departments, and embarrassing snippets of your childhoods was one of your favorite things to do. Something about the way Carisi’s bright blue eyes crinkled when he laughed at something you said warmed your whole being.

“Just for tonight; unis can take over in the morning,” Olivia replied, giving a small smile of thanks before dissolving back into the tired, professional demeanor she always carried at work.

You nodded and headed to your desk, grabbing your coat and things, Carisi right behind you.

“Hey, sorry for volunteering ya for this,” he said, but the smirk he had showed that he wasn’t really sorry. He knew you didn’t mind, not really—the job, the victims always came first. It’s one of the reasons you two worked so well together.

“Yeah, yeah. You can make it up to me by buying the first round of coffee,” you joked, grinning right back at him. He grabbed his jacket and keys, then followed you to Liv’s office. Making sure the coast was clear, you and Carisi were on either side of Amy Oaks as you led her from Liv’s office to Carisi’s squad car, tucking her behind the driver’s seat. You climbed in the front seat, and Carisi took the wheel. The sun was already setting in the city, casting the sky into beautiful pinks and oranges.

The hotel that Amy was assigned to was across the city, and the rush hour traffic from the end of the workday meant that the sky was dark before you made it halfway to the hotel.

“So, Trevor won’t be able to find me tonight?” Amy asked in a small voice, a sob threatening to break from her throat.

You turned in your seat to give her a reassuring smile. “He’s in jail for the night; the bail office is closed. Besides, Detective Carisi and I will be stationed right outside your room, just in case. You’re in good hands.”

She nodded slowly, relaxing her shoulders slightly. You turned back around, eyes catching Carisi’s as he chanced a glance over at you, a smile tugging the corner of his lips. Then his eyes were back on the road, and he readjusted his grip on the steering wheel.

“Ya know, [Y/N], there’s somethin’ I wanted to talk to ya about…” he started, trailing off. His voice sounded a little nervous, and you cocked your head, brow furrowed.

“What’s on your mind, Carisi—” you were cut off by an impact slamming into the side of the car, the loud, grinding sound of metal on metal filling the space around you. You felt the seatbelt tighten painfully against your chest, your head whipping to the side before everything went dark.

 ******************************

Carisi felt the impact on the passenger side, felt himself lose control of his car. It skidded down the street before it finally came to a stop, the horrible sound of metal scraping still fresh in his ears. He had his eyes squeezed shut, his hands death-gripping the wheel as instincts took over and he just held on. It took him a few moments to realize that the car had stopped. Suddenly fearing another impact, Carisi ripped his eyes open, trying to take in the scene in front of him, gauging what the hell was happening. The windshield was gone, in fragments on the hood and in his lap. Slowly, he unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door, staggering out of the seat. He looked to the SUV that had hit him, but the driver was long gone; the driver’s door was wide open. In the distance, he could hear sirens already.

Remembering his job, Carisi stumbled to the door behind his own, throwing it open. Amy was dazed, blood leaking from her temple and a split lip, but she was very much alive.

“What—what happened?” she mumbled, not quite lucid. She probably had a concussion, Carisi thought grimly, frowning. He pulled the pocket square from his jacket and put it in her hand. He then took her hand and guided it to where the blood was leaking from her head. Carisi vaguely noticed that the side of his own face felt sticky, but he could deal with that later.

“Hey, [Y/N], you okay?” he asked, looking at your still-seated form in the front seat. You didn’t respond and his stomach dropped. “[Y/N]?” He leaned over Amy’s body, careful not to touch her in case she was more injured than she seemed and rested a hand on your shoulder. He shook you gently, but still there was no response, your head lolling to the side. Carisi could feel his hands starting to shake as he pulled back out of the car, hurrying around to your side of the car on wobbly legs. But the SUV had made contact directly with your door, denting the metal inward. He knew it was futile but that didn’t stop him from gripping the twisted handle and pulling on it with all his might. Panic gripped him, making bile rise in his throat as he flung himself on the hood of the car, avoiding the sharp points of metal as best he could. He reached through the missing windshield, checking to see if you had a pulse, unable to even consider the fact that you may not. He let out a strangled sob as he found a faint heartbeat there, your breathing coming in rasps.

It took everything in him to not pull you out of the wreckage, to wait for the ambulance to get there. But he waited on the hood of the car until the paramedics dragged him away, sitting him on the back of an ambulance, checking the cut on his temple, the smaller cuts on his face from the glass. He had a mild concussion but was wholly unharmed. Amy was much the same; minor cuts and bruises, a concussion, and a transportation to the hospital to make sure there was nothing internally damaged. Rollins had been the first officer on the scene, but Carisi asked her to ride with Amy—he may have failed to protect her, but that didn’t mean SVU couldn’t pick up his slack.

So, he sat in silence as he watched the paramedics attempted to dislodge you from the driver’s side of the car. But the metal had pinned your legs, making it impossible to pull you from the wreckage. That’s when the jaws of life made an appearance, and they began cutting their way through the door. Carisi felt the hot trails his tears made down his cheeks as they left his eyes, but he couldn’t stop them, didn’t even try. He just clutched the shock blanket that the paramedics draped over him tighter. This was all his fault, anyways; he should’ve seen the SUV coming, should’ve been paying more attention. Guilt ripped through him as he watched with morbid fascination as the paramedics slowly made their way to you. It seemed like they were going so slow; he was starting to think that there was a chance you might not make it, that you may bleed out, that you may—

“Carisi, what happened?” Olivia’s voice cut through his thoughts. He jumped, not noticing his Lieutenant’s presence.

“I-I’m sorry, Lieu. I didn’t…the SUV came outta nowhere…I shoulda—”

“It’s not your fault, Carisi.” She took a deep breath, surveying the scene. Her eyes froze on the paramedics cutting through the door, but from this angle, she couldn’t make out who was in the front seat. “Where’s Amy Oaks? And [Y/L/N]?”

Carisi let out a shuddering breath. “Amy’s in the hospital���Rollins is with her. She’s shaken up but fine. [Y/N] is—is…” he trailed off, looking back at the wreckage. Olivia gave him one last look, patted his arm, then rushed over to the car. The paramedics had finally made it through the door and cut the seatbelt away from your limp body. Fresh tears spilled over Carisi’s face as he watched them gently, carefully, lift your lifeless body out of the passenger’s seat and onto a gurney, before loading you into an ambulance and driving away.

Olivia talked with some of the remaining paramedics before she rushed back over to Carisi. “Lieu, is she—is she…?”

“She’s alive Carisi; let’s go,” Liv ordered. He didn’t need to be told twice; he was up and following Olivia on weak legs to her car. She flipped on her lights and sped after the ambulance.

 *********************************

Carisi felt like a spirit walking the halls of the hospital. At first, he was in the waiting room lobby; you were in surgery when you had first arrived. You got a punctured lung from the car accident, not to mention all the various cuts and bruises. You were actually very lucky that that was all you walked away with. But still, Carisi didn’t think of it was lucky. You would’ve been luckier if he didn’t open his stupid mouth, if he didn’t offer to watch Amy Oaks that night—he ignored the fact that you both would’ve still given her a ride to the hotel.

After sitting idly for about 30 minutes, his Catholic guilt was eating him alive. So, instead of spending another moment alone with his thoughts, he went in search of a cathedral in the hospital, if they had one in this specific hospital. Turned out that they did have one; ground floor and tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the doctors, nurses, orderlies, patients, and families that roamed the halls.

Carisi had found the cathedral quickly enough and spent an hour in there, reciting every prayer he could remember to help you through this, to keep you alive. And to assuage at least some of his guilt. But it did little to help there. Instead, it was more of a private place to let some more tears shed, tears that he didn’t want to explain to his Lieutenant. He was pretty sure that she had written it off as simple guilt, and she was partly right. But only partly. The truth was that Carisi didn’t want to lose you; from the moment you had walked into the squad room, he had been 100% completely smitten by you. And now, he had put you in the hospital.

He made his way back to the waiting room lobby and plopped down next to Olivia, who have his knee a reassuring squeeze. “She’s going to be fine, Carisi,” she muttered. He simply nodded, willing himself to not start sobbing again.

He lost track of time before the doctor came out and announced that you would be fine, that you would make a full recovery. Carisi released a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

 ******************************

Your eyes fluttered as you slowly opened them. You noticed instantly that you were in a hospital room; the white walls and sheets catching your eyes, the soft lighting showing that it was late in the evening, the soft hum of machinery filling the silence of the room. But there was another noise, too. Looking around you found the source quickly. Next to your bed was a visitor’s chair, Detective Carisi sitting in it, his top half bent over your bed. His head was nestled by your knees, one arm under his cheek, his other hand laying next to yours, his fingers barely brushing your skin. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly ajar with a thin line of drool in the corner of his mouth. The sound you had heard was his soft snores. Your heart melted at the sight, even if your stomach clenched at the numerous cuts on his face and arms, and the redness around his eyes. As much as you wanted to let him sleep, you knew that his back must be killing him from this position, and he was probably worried half to death.

“Sonny,” you called softly, lightly touching his hand with yours. His eyes flew open and he groaned as he sat up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Are you okay, Sonny?” you asked, smiling at his half-asleep look, his eyes still bleary. You noticed the bandage on his temple, but it was white, so the bleeding was stopped.

He blinked a couple times. “Me? Of course, I’m okay. Are you okay?” He rubbed at his eyes, trying to see straight.

You took mental stock of your body; you had a dull pain in your chest and a small headache, but mostly you just felt the drowsiness of the medication you were surely on. You thought back to what happened; the car ride to the hotel, making sure Amy Oaks was alright, the car crash— “Yeah…I’m fine. Amy?”

“She’s fine; Rollins and Fin are watching her,” he paused, brow furrowed, unable to meet your eyes. “[Y/N], I am so, so sorry about this. I shoulda—”

“Carisi,” you cut him off, raising your hand to stop him. “Unless you’re about to tell me that you intentionally got hit by that other car, then I don’t want to hear it.”

“But—”

“No buts,” your eyes softened as he finally looked at you. He looked so…sad, defeated. “Sonny, it’s not your fault. It’s called a car accident for a reason.”

He nodded. “I know, it’s just…I almost—” his voice started to break, tears in his eyes, making them brighter blue, “I almost lost you.”

Tears were now forming in your eyes, and you reached for his hand. He took yours, laying them on the bed, fingers interlacing. “I’m right here, Sonny. I’m okay. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I—I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you today. [Y/N], I love you—I love you so much, and seeing the paramedics taking you out of the car—” his voice hitched and the tears really started to fall now.

Your heart fluttered in your chest. “I—I love you, too, Sonny. Come here.” You scooted over on the bed, as much as you could. He furrowed his brow and cocked his head. “Come here,” you said again, pulling the hand you were still holding.

He smiled softly before he carefully climbed into the bed next to you. You curled up next to him, burying your face in his chest and breathing in his familiar scent. Carisi wrapped his arms gently around you, pulling you protectively against him, placing soft kisses on the top of your head. He whispered how much he loved you until you fell asleep in his embrace.

[ficforce]

Running Scared Part 2

Y/N sat on the raised platform that lead out to the very small garden of her home and her fingertips tapped nervously on the edge of the small table; Konro suggested they head out there to talk. She had pulled out the zabuton for them to sit on and he made her stay out in the warm, night air whilst he made tea in her kitchen. She could hear the voices of her friends and neighbours drifting over from the streets, sounds of games being played and a few friendly arguments over who was buying the next round of drinks - she was almost certain she heard Hinata and Hikage’s giggles from the other side of her fence.

Konro set the teapot down and poured for them both, “I can’t remember the last time we had tea out here, your tree got pretty tall… it’s almost as tall as Waka.”

“Which is still not that tall,” Konro looked at her and grinned, one of their past times had been picking on Benimaru. Y/N watched him as he looked over the dimly lit space, the lanterns all around town had brightened up everything but the stars were still perfectly visible, much more so than in the Cities. She hadn’t realised he wasn’t in uniform; his hair was pulled back as usual but the yukata seemed almost new, it was simple in a dark, navy colour that matched his eyes and at the shoulder seams, she noticed silver crosses providing a little decoration. They reminded her of the tattoos that encircled his biceps.

He didn’t seem to be as heavily bandaged as usual and somehow it made him look a little softer. Not that that made any sense to her but that’s what Y/N thought, “You’re missing the festival because of me…” He couldn’t tell her he wasn’t going in an attempt to make her feel better, he was dressed up for it and she also guessed he would have spent it with the twins, “I’m okay now, Konro. I would have spent the evening out here or by the window anyway.”

“I’m not that bad a company… besides,” he fixed her with a gentle but firm stare, “You agreed to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me.” He had only wanted to come out tonight in hopes of seeing her, it wasn’t quite the scenario he had envisioned though.

Y/N picked up her cup as a distraction and took a deep breath before exhaling slowly, “Okay…”

x - -

“Y/N!” The woman’s head turned toward the closed hatch as she heard Benimaru’s voice - shortly followed by the distinct sound of Konro smacking the back of the younger man’s head. She laughed as Benimaru complained and opened up the hatch to see her two favourite Hikeshi, “‘bout time. I’m starving.” He took the bento she offered him and settled himself in the shade her doorstep provided.

Konro looked about ready to hit him again.

“Would you like some tea, Konro?” Her question brought the disapproving glare away from Benimaru and Konro’s expression softened for her as he nodded, he thanked her when she gave him a bento and he leaned on the counter to eat it, “I had to close earlier than usual today.” Y/N spoke a little louder as she prepared the drinks, “I sold out completely - though I made sure to save you two some food. I’m getting popular!”

The man swallowed a mouthful of rice before replying, “That’s great, Y/N. And you haven’t had any more trouble with those brats?”

“Not since you made one of them piss their pants,” she handed him a cup and Konro nudged Benimaru with his foot to get his attention, Y/N heard a muffled thanks from around whatever he was chewing on and smiled. “You didn’t have to go out of your way for me…”

He shrugged and took the cup she offered him, “Its all part of the job.”

“No, it’s not.” Benimaru’s voice piped up from the doorstep - followed by a small ‘ow’ as Konro kicked him.

“Yes. It is.” Maybe he had taken it a little further than usual but he didn’t appreciate the wannabe gang trying to extort money from Y/N’s business… or anyone else. The Hikeshi were supposed to keep the peace and stop it from becoming as lawless as the Empire seemed to think it already was. “If I didn’t scare the hell out of them they’d only come back, might makes right.” It was as simple as that; the strongest ran Asakusa. Konro was just glad that the Hikeshi were on the side of the people rather than a gang of thugs out for themselves.

Watching him eat for a moment longer, admiring his broad shoulders and the way the muscles in his arms moved when he lifted food to his mouth - a mouth she had thought about kissing…

Y/N felt her face heat up and quickly set about cleaning up the kitchen and putting away the supplies she had bought a little earlier. Konro had a way of looking intimidating whilst, at the same time, being the gentlest man she knew. His presence never failed to put butterflies in her stomach and make her giddy as a schoolgirl with her first crush.

She didn’t seem to notice Konro stealing glances at her as she kept herself busy, occasionally she would almost catch him but managed to play it off, smiling to himself as he thought it was cute that she could be so shy… He just hoped it was because she liked him too. “Y/N… you wanna go to that new bar with me tonight?”

“What?” Benimaru looked at him with an almost glare, he put his empty cup down by his side and crossed his arms, “You coulda asked me.”

Y/N returned to the counter, leaning over it just enough to see him at the side of her home, “Maybe he’ll ask when you’re twenty-one.” She tossed him one of the salted snacks he said he liked and grinned as he caught it with ease, “I know you can get hold of sake but good luck getting it in an actual bar, short stuff.”

“I’m taller than you… probably.”

The woman turned her head to look at Konro, her eyes widening as she realised their faces weren’t that far apart with them both leaning on the counter, the serious edge to her voice faltered a little, “D-don’t even think about sneaking him in.”

Konro chuckled into his tea; she could be quite motherly when it came to Benimaru. Placing the empty cup on the counter he leaned in just a little more and his hand moved to cover hers on the counter, “I was asking you.” It was fun watching her flounder at his obvious attempt at asking her on a date, he could almost feel the heat radiating off her cheeks and her shy smile only made him want to lean in the last few inches to steal a kiss.

“I… yeah, that sounds good…”

“I’ll pick you up at s-” the sound of someone screaming cut through his words and as the three of them looked in the direction it had come from a plume of black smoke rose into the sky. “Infernal…” Konro stood back up straight and then another plume appeared, followed by a third and fourth in quick succession before the alarm began to ring from the watchtower. “Y/N, go inside and don’t leave unless a Hikeshi says otherwise.”

Y/N nodded quickly and watched as the two men ran toward the centre of town. Closing the hatch and locking it tightly she stood still with her hands fisted in her apron - something wasn’t right… Surely that many people hadn’t combusted all at once?

A chill trickled down her spine as her fingers started to feel cold, letting go of her apron and shaking them out she ran to her room to grab an overnight bag in case she needed a temporary home in the guardhouse. It wouldn’t be the first time Benimaru wrecked her house.

And then she waited as it began to get unnaturally dark; the feeling of dread her only company.

It was hard to tell how quickly or slowly time was ticking by as she heard explosions from outside, often followed by screams and then there was what sounded like dozens of feet running past her house. A loud bang on her door made her drop her bag, “We’re evacuating to the river!” whoever it was yelling through her door was gone just as quick but she heard them yell the same at the next house and then the one after that. Y/N opened her door, stumbling back as heat washed over her face and the smoke assaulted her nose and mouth, through slightly watering eyes she saw that the sky was masked out by smoke, ash and flames as Asakusa burned violently. Crowds of people were running past her and she did her best to stay at the edge of it and not become affected by the mass hysteria.

This wasn’t normally how evacuations went, this wasn’t well organised and there was none of the usual bravado that Asakusa’s residents showed - they were terrified.

Red and orange flames jumped from house to house as if chasing them, and perhaps it was the panic but Y/N thought she saw the figure of a person in the flames. The thought flew from her mind as she felt someone push into her and sent her onto her hands and knees in the dirt. A knee knocked into her cheek and someone else stepped on her ankle, it was all she could do to turn herself into a ball to protect herself from being trampled. The crowd soon overtook her and Y/N bit down a pained sob as she tried to stand, hobbling forward a few steps forward before freezing solid - the turn at the end of the street, where all those people had run, had become an inferno.

Screams and yells that had been panicked morphed into ones of agony.

The woman couldn’t even draw in a breath as she watched burning people stagger and fall back into view. Some were infernalised, whilst most were burning alive; Men, women and even the children. The smell of burning hair, and flesh, and clothes ravished her senses and made her gag. Her inability to move, the fear paralysing her, made it possible for the burning crowd to stagger or crawl back towards her; it wasn’t until someone grabbed her injured ankle that she had the sense to runaway.

x - -

Konro’s hand went to the back of his neck and he couldn’t speak - or rather, he didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t known what she had seen or gone through, he hadn’t even known she’d gotten hurt or trampled or burned or anything. All he had known in the first few days after the fire was that she was cooking for anyone who needed feeding and that she came to the guardhouse a few times. “I’m sorry… I shoulda checked on you.” During her description of what had happened he had reached for her hand after she had started to cry, he gave it a small squeeze as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

“You were so heavily sedated you barely knew which way was up… idiot.” His sudden guilt made her want to hit him because there hadn’t been anything he could do but at the same time, it was sweet of him. “I… I heard you and Beni through the wall that night.” His head tilted a little and she continued, “I locked myself inside the house and huddled up as far away from the door as I could and I heard you telling him he was at his limit and then it got really quiet and this… this horrible feeling came over me.”

Konro grit his teeth, he remembered what came next and he hadn’t known she was in the house - he could have killed her. He had taken out the houses around him and somehow left hers standing. Maybe he did it unconsciously? It was her home and her business, it was important to her so it was also important to him. “That was just before I put Beni out of commission. I didn’t want him burning himself out and ending up…” he gestured vaguely to himself, “Like me.”

“It sounded like a hell of a fight, the whole house shook and I really thought it was going to come down on top of me. I remember getting my first panic attack and passing out after I heard what must have been your Akatsuki rip up the ground,” Y/N felt his hand move onto of hers and when she looked up he was staring at the table with his head bowed, it wasn’t hard to tell he was berating himself and Y/N took her hand from his so that she could move to sit beside him. Leaning into his arms a little she took his hand in both hers, “What’s wrong?”

She was warm against his side, the weight on him wasn’t enough to bother his damaged skin too much and even if it did he wouldn’t want her to move. It was nothing short of a miracle to him that she wanted to be this close, especially after everything he had put her through, “I knew I’d frightened you…” Konro felt his voice crack a little and cleared his throat before continuing, still unable to meet her eyes, “It just wasn’t the same between us again and I couldn’t figure out why you were so uncomfortable near me… It was only today that I realised you live opposite the mess I made and now I find out you were in my… you were in range for the shockwave to have brought your house down on top of you - I could have killed you, Y/N!”

“That’s not it at all!” Without thinking, she grabbed his face with both her hands and turned his head to look at her, silently pleading for him to listen and actually believe what she was saying, “You nearly died, Konro, you gave all you had to fight for our Town! I’m not scared of you, I’ve never been afraid of you, Konro… I just…” She needed to tell him or she really would lose him, “I can hardly leave the house anymore, I was scared you’d ask me out and I’d have to say no and then you’d never speak to me again!”

He felt her hands beginning to tremble and caught them in his, bringing them down to her lap. Y/N looked down at their hands and then back at his face where he was gazing at her the way he used to; like she was something special and adored. She had expected pity but found none.

The Lieutenant reached out to stroke her cheek with the backs of his fingers, “I wish I had asked you sooner, so that you didn’t have to keep running away. I guess I was scared too; worried you might say no.” The man pulled away from her and with a ghost of a smile on his lips he opened up the pouch tied to his belt, “We don’t have to go out to have fun, I could come here and if you want to stay at the guardhouse then I’ll walk with you the entire way. I only took tonight off because I hoped I would meet you and give you this…”

He held out a kanzashi. It was a single round petalled flower on a hairpin, he hoped it was still her favourite colour and Konro watched her expression nervously, “I’m not great at making these but it’s the best one I could manage because they’re kinda fiddly.” When she didn’t react or say anything he started to doubt himself and was tempted to put the small gift back, “It’s a dumb tradition… making a kanzashi for the girl you want to take to the festival.”

“Konro… I…” Y/N’s face felt hot and she gripped the hand he had left on her lap, “I can’t go out there, I want to take it, I want to spend time with you again.” Tears pricked her eyes again and she looked down, “I can’t go out there, Konro! I’m sorry, I’m sor-” Her whole body fell forward as she was pulled to him, Konro hugged her to his chest and stroked her back; it was so similar to when he had calmed her down earlier.

“We don’t have to go out,” he slid the kanzashi into her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, “A man only goes to a festival for three things; Pretty women, sake and fireworks.” Almost as if he had timed it a whistle sounded up into the stars and burst into colour, “I have two out of three.” Feeling her turn her head so that she could watch the fireworks, Konro felt his heart flutter when her arms wrapped his middle.

Y/N sucked in her bottom lip, thinking as she watched the sky blossoming every colour imaginable, “You know, if you stay a little longer… I can find some sake.”

“I’ll stay for as long as you’ll have me, Y/N.”

[cycat4077]

Lessons

Summary: You have a little heart-to-heart with a student you're tutoring. Sonny may or may not be eavesdropping. (Set Summer 2016) Pairing: Sonny x Reader Warnings: Basically just fluff! Words: 1808 AO3: here

Part 10 of the Changes verse - but it can be read as a one-shot too.

A/N: If this is your first time seeing this series, the reader is a teacher but is in between jobs. Money is tight, you and Sonny are coming out of a big fight and now the squad officially knows about yours and Sonny's relationship. This is just a little fluff filler fic to move things along :)

"The Lean Bean". It's the logo embroidered on the pocket of the uniform you're folding. It's also the place where you've been taking shifts as a way to offset some living costs. The new school year, and a dependable paycheck, is still well over a month away. Sonny had told you not to worry about finding extra work, but the idea of living together without paying for anything didn't sit right with you - especially in such an expensive city.

Reaching into the laundry basket, you pull out a pair of dryer-warmed socks and routinely fold them in two. A clunk at the front door makes you gaze over your shoulder from your spot on the couch. Finally, Sonny is home. You greet each other affectionately, Sonny placing a kiss to your forehead.

"How was your day?" you ask, grabbing another pair of socks to fold.

"Long," he replies but you can tell from his voice that there's something more. You look at him expectantly, offering a gentle smile.

"I, uh," he hesitates, moving around the couch to take a seat. "I spoke to the squad about us today."

Sonny's eyes are apologetic; the fight of a few nights ago is still fresh in your minds. You let him know it's all right by placing a hand atop his knee.

Reassured, he continues. "They're happy for me - for us – ‘n they've noticed that I'm happier too. Actually, before I left tonight Lieu pulled me aside. She said that I have more patience with the vics ‘n that I'm more tolerant when interrogating perps. Doll, I know that I couldn't do any of that if it wasn’t for you."

"That's excellent news, Sonny!" you express, flattered by the compliment as well. "You really are a great detective."

Sonny beams for a moment before his face falls. "Also, 'n I hope you're not mad, but I took the opportunity to talk to Lieu about what happened between us…about me keepin’ you a secret from ‘em."

You feel a twinge of panic in your gut at the thought of Olivia being privy to details of your relationship troubles. That initial feeling subsides however as Sonny elaborates.

"It's just...she knows what it's like ta try ‘n balance life ‘n this job, and - "

But you cut him off before he can finish his sentence. "You don't have to explain, Sonny," you empathize. "It's good to talk things out with someone who understands."

Sonny's warm hand finds yours and he interlace your fingers. "Yeah," he agrees. "She was really sympathetic about it, too. She told me it's normal to feel scared but that it is better to be honest." His mouth curves into a lopsided grin. "Typical Lieu," he shakes his head. "Oh, ‘n I kinda told her about our situation ‘n how you were outta work until the fall - Again, I shoulda asked ya before I went there, but she was really supportive of us. In fact, she gave me the numba of a mom at Noah's daycare who's lookin' for a tutor for her daughter. Apparently she's headed inta middle school ‘n is really strugglin'."

It's a lot to take in but you assure Sonny that you're not upset with him. You appreciate his honesty. Relieved, Sonny wraps you in a hug and tells you again how lucky he is to have you.

As for the tutoring. Well, it's hard to say no. The extra cash will certainly help pay some of the bills that have increased since you moved in.

-x-

Madison is a pretty guarded girl. On the brink of being a teenager, she wants nothing to do with being tutored and everything to do with all else. Her mother dropped her off in a hurry, needing to shuttle her other two children to various extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, this left little time for introductions or for inquiries regarding the areas she particularly needed help in.

You try to be as welcoming as possible, asking her questions about her school work and attempting to understand her learning needs. The girl, however, couldn't be bothered. So, instead of blindly waltzing into curriculum review, you decide to have a little heart-to-heart.

"Madison," you speak, leaning back in your chair. "Do you know why you're here; why your mom asked me to tutor you?"

The girl refuses to meet your gaze. "Well, yeah,” she crosses her arms on your kitchen table. “Mom wants me to be tutored and stuff." There’s definitely attitude behind that tone.

You swallow your annoyance and choose your words wisely. "In simple terms, yes. But I think you know that it’s not for your mom's benefit. It's for you, so that you can start the year off prepared."

"Yeah, whatever,” she rolls her eyes with a huff. “No matter what, it's never gonna be enough anyway."

"Hey!" you defend gently. "Don't say that! My attitude is that if you know in your heart that you tried your very best, that's all you can do."

Madison studies you through the bangs that hover over her green eyes. For a moment you swear you can see the words getting through, but then she shrugs. "If I get good grades, mom promised to buy me a new iPhone."

How do you put a positive spin on this? How do you connect with this girl? "That's awesome!" you encourage. "You know, in college I was failing calculus." The girl raises her dark brows in shock. Maybe we're getting somewhere. "Yeah, I felt really dumb in that class and I just didn’t understand anything when it came to tests. Needless to say, I was panicking big time when finals rolled around. So, my dad made me a deal. We lived upstate and he absolutely hated the thought of driving in New York City, but he said that if I could pull off a 90% in the course, he would drive me here to see a Broadway show."

Now Madison is listening intently, curiosity etched across her young face.

"Both he and I thought it would be impossible, but low and behold, I hunkered down," you exaggerate a look of concentration and tuck your arms close to your body, "and studied my butt off! I passed with a 93!"

The girl's mouth drops open. "What show did you see?"

You smile fondly at the memory. "None," Madison shoots you a bewildered look, "but we did end up doing other fun stuff. I still like to tease my dad about it though and I guess I should be the one taking him since I live here now."

Madison's features soften and she allows a small chuckle.

"The point is," you say, trying to refocus the girl, "that you'd be surprised what you can do when you put your mind to it!"

You offer her an encouraging smile but Madison's quickly fades as she glances away. "It's...it's just really hard," she admits. "Mom's always so busy with my brother and sister which…kinda sucks sometimes."

Your eyebrows pinch together sympathetically. What can you say to her to let her know that it’s okay? Then your mind flickers to Sonny. "I know it's gonna be hard for me to relate to you on this one since I have no siblings, but my boyfriend comes from a big family. He has three sisters and he tells me that they used to fight like cats and dogs growing up." You can see Madison nod knowingly. "But you know what? Those squabbles really don't matter now. They love each other and they'd do anything for one another." A doting smile spreads across your face, "I'm actually kind of jealous of that. And with you, I bet that you must feel a lot of pressure to look out for your brother and sister, huh?" Madison shrugs sheepishly.

"That's a lot of responsibility, but at the same time, your siblings will appreciate you for it. They may not show you or tell you - they'll still be the same pains in the butt, however once you're all grown up, they will understand how much you've been there for them along the way. Whether you realize it or not, they look up to you. So, the greatest thing you can do for them is be the best version of yourself. By trying your best and working hard, they will learn to do that too - from you." You smile warmly at her and she returns the gesture.

It's not long after that Madison begins opening up. She explains what classes she has trouble with and how she feels about learning it. The information is invaluable and you take notes to plan out future sessions.

Madison's mother arrives a few minutes late to pick her up, but the girl flashes you a friendly smile as she leaves. You hope that you've given her more self-confidence and a little motivation to put forth her best efforts.

After you close the door behind them, Sonny pops around the corner and places a hand on the small of your back. He whispers softly into your ear. "You're amazin’, sweetheart." His breath causes a shiver to trickle down your spine.

"What? Why?" you question as Sonny slips his arms around the front of your waist.

Resting his chin on your shoulder, he continues. "The way you were talkin’ to Madison earlier. You've got so much compassion ‘n understandin’."

The warmth of his words radiates throughout your body. You lean your head against his, reaching up to touch the apple pendant hanging around your neck.

"Sorry for eaves droppin' but I heard my name 'n everythin' you were sayin' was just too sweet to turn away. You're definitely in the right profession. Your students are lucky to have you."

You turn around in his arms, slipping yours around his middle. "Thank you, Sonny," you murmur before placing a soft kiss to his nose. "That means a lot."

Sonny's eyes crinkle affectionately at the corners. "N' for what it's worth, you're gonna make an amazin' mom someday too. Watchin' you with her, it was all I could think about."

Your stomach somersaults. You do want kids one day and you can't imagine having them with anyone other than Sonny. "Yeah?" you smirk. "I want that for us one day too. The way you are with children melts my heart."

Sonny's features brighten. "Ya think I'd make a good dad?"

"Absolutely!" You poke his chest gently, right overtop his heart, "you got a lotta love in here, Carisi and someday our children will be the luckiest wee munchkins in the world getting to experience the love that I receive everyday."

Overwhelmed with elation, Sonny lifts you off your feet and into a giant bear hug; a silent declaration that you make him the happiest man in the world.

---

Fun facts:

- IDK if "The Lean Bean" is a real place or not, but it's a pretty accurate description of our favorite detective ;) - The story about the reader's calculus experience is a true story! Except, I'm Canadian so the drive is a little bit further :P

I hope you enjoyed this one! Thanks for reading :3

(Feedback is loved)

Part 11 here!

[cake-writes]

Compromise (Part Five)

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Story Warnings: Mom!Reader, Dad!Bucky, Ex-Relationship, Co-Parenting Drama, Angst, Fluff, Separation Anxiety

Summary: You didn’t want to trust him again, because every time you did, Bucky broke your heart just a little more. Deep down, though, you wanted to get along with him. You wanted to be amicable. You wanted your daughter to know her father. You’d always wanted that. It just required a compromise.

Part Four / Master List / Spotify Playlist

The next hour or so went by in a blink.

Bucky finished up the dishes while you and Winnie watched another episode of her show. Now that you actually had a chance to sit down and watch it with her, you understood why she liked it so much. The main character was a queen, and a little female empowerment went a long, long way at her age.

And, well, at any age, really.

Still, you couldn’t help but sneak glances at Bucky every now and then after he joined the two of you on the sofa. Some small part of you liked knowing that he was there. It was stupid, sure, but harmless – as long as Winnie didn’t see, and she was far too absorbed in her show to notice an earthquake, even, let alone something so subtle.

Her father, on the other hand, was far more perceptive. After about the fourth or fifth time you looked over at him on the sly (or so you thought), he finally asked, “What?”

There wasn’t malice in his tone, but amusement. 

His sudden question startled you anyway.

With Winnie situated right in between the two of you and his arm resting on the back of the couch behind her, you thanked whatever deity there was for the extra space.

“Nothing, I just…” You started fidgeting with the hem of your blouse, turning back to the TV out of embarrassment. “This is kind of nice.”  

Bucky let out a quiet hum of approval, followed by a soft, “Yeah.”

And it was. It was comfortable.

Too comfortable.

You checked your watch, then, a distraction from your ridiculous thoughts – which was when you realized that you should probably get moving if you were going to go buy a car today. That was the whole reason you were here, after all. Not to spend time with him.

Even though you were kind of enjoying it.

“It’s already after 11,” you told him. “We should probably get going.”

“Oh, yeah.” There it was again; you’d caught him off guard. “Yeah, we should.”

As you pulled yourself to your feet, you turned off the TV and instantly received a half-frown, half-pout from your little girl in response. “Sorry, baby. We’ve got places to be.”

“Is Daddy coming?” Winnie asked, giving you the perfect pair of puppy dog eyes.

Now that was something she’d gotten from her father.

“He sure is!” you replied with a smile. “Won’t that be fun? All three of us going somewhere?”

“Yeah!” she exclaimed, beaming.

“Okay, princess, go get your things,” Bucky instructed, and she was off – sprinting to her room for the second time to get her belongings. This time, however, you had a better feeling about it.

Maybe this could work.

Of course, when it was just you and Bucky like this, you got nervous. He was still seated on the sofa, looking up at you with those soft baby blues like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Instead, you held the eye contact for a second longer than necessary, before you stammered out a quick, “Be right back,” and disappeared down the hallway.

For the second time that day, you shut yourself in the bathroom as a means of escape.

Staring blankly at your reflection, you frowned at your appearance. Your skin wasn’t blotchy anymore, at least, but your makeup was definitely smudged from crying earlier and you cursed yourself for not bringing something to touch it up.

Then again, why did you care? This was Bucky.

But you knew deep down that you only cared because it was him.

So you took a few deep breaths, salvaged what you could of your makeup, and then flushed the toilet: another means of keeping up appearances.

You were in the process of strapping Winnie into her car seat when you caught a glimpse of Steve through the rear window. He must have just returned from a mission, judging by his uniform. 

While you couldn’t hear what he was saying to Bucky, it seemed serious – probably mission-related, or something else you weren’t privy to. Not that it mattered, because as soon as you approached, the tone of the conversation changed entirely.

“Oh, hey!” Steve said with a bright smile, pulling you in for a hug. “Long time, no see.”

God, he was just as heavy as Bucky. Good to see that hadn’t changed.

You gave him a quick squeeze around the waist and then took a step back. “Yeah, it’s been way too long, hasn’t it? How have you been?”

He offered you a shrug. “Fighting bad guys, you know, the usual. What about you?”

You snorted. Yeah, that sounded about right. “Still making coffee for those bad guys you’re always fighting.”

Once upon a time, Steve had busted one of them right outside your coffee shop in Manhattan. Judging by the laugh your joke earned you, he definitely seemed to remember.

“Hey, Steve,” you spoke thoughtfully, “You got a couple minutes? Winnie would love to see you before we go.”

“Yeah?” Steve’s eyes lit up, and you didn’t miss the way he glanced at Bucky, almost like he was asking for permission. Bucky just rolled his eyes and shoved him toward your car.

Over the last two years, Steve had seen Winnie even less than Natasha had, and it was a damn shame because he was her godfather. You knew he cared about her, probably just as much as Natasha, but he’d always kept his distance after you ended things with his best friend. Even though you invited him around every now and then, he always said no; only came by with Natasha, and only sometimes. You always got the impression that he didn’t want to step on any toes.

“Oh wow, you’re so big now!” came Steve’s excited voice from the back seat. Somehow, he’d managed to contort his large body to fit in the small space, and you couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

“Uncle Stevie, you’re all spangly!”

“It’s my job to be spangly,” Steve told her pointedly, and then he started to talk about his mission – little bits and pieces, all good, non-violent things. She’d always liked his stories. 

It was nice to see her so happy like this, chatting animatedly with Steve just like she’d done with Natasha, and you knew she’d love to see the rest of the team, too.

“We’ll have to come around more often,” you found yourself saying, not really considering the implications of it – that you’d have to have a good co-parenting relationship first.

“You know you can come by anytime you want, right?”

Well, no, you didn’t, and Bucky’s suggestion caught you by surprise. You met his eyes for a moment, worrying your bottom lip in between your teeth as you considered it. No, it just didn’t seem right to come to the compound unannounced, for a multitude of reasons – particularly if he wasn’t here to greet you. When you opened your mouth to refuse, however, he just shook his head.

“Doesn’t matter if I’m on a mission, doll. It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” you asked, brows furrowing. “That would be kind of…”

Awkward. Intrusive. Spiteful, even.

“Weird,” you finished lamely.

“Why?”

“Because they’re your friends.”

Bucky scoffed. “Hardly. Steve wanted to see you just as much as I did. Shoulda heard him.”

Your heart immediately skipped a beat, and you ventured hesitantly, “You wanted to see me?”

Bucky didn’t seem to realize what he’d said until you pointed it out, and he quickly looked away, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Even you were able to notice the way his ears turned red. “Well, yeah. ‘course I did.”

What the hell did that mean?

Steve, of course, chose that opportune moment to say his goodbyes to your daughter, and you lost your chance to ask. Not that you had the courage to, anyway.

“I’ve gotta type up some reports,” Steve said, jogging back to the two of you. “Don’t be a stranger, okay? You’re welcome here anytime. Buck’s already sorted it out.”

“Thanks,” you responded unsurely. “See you later?”

Steve nodded, and then he clapped Bucky on the shoulder – the very same Bucky who shot him an irritated look, which Steve promptly ignored in favour of waving goodbye and making his way up the steps.

You grew a little wary at Bucky’s sudden change in demeanour. “What did he mean, you’ve already sorted it out?”

Bucky sighed exasperatedly.

“I had a swipe card made for you,” he explained, clearly annoyed, running a hand through his hair. “For the gate. If… If you want it. You don’t have to take it, I just thought—”

“Okay,” you accepted with a shrug.  

He just stared at you.

“It makes sense for me to have one, right?” Good thing you could think fast on your feet, because otherwise you would have seemed way too eager. “Especially if Winnie’s gonna be here. Right?”

“Right,” he said slowly. “Yeah.”

God, you were an idiot.

Bucky pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and cracked it open; and as he thumbed through it in search of the swipe card, you caught a glimpse of a photo: one of you and Winnie on her first birthday, glittery pink party hats on your heads.

The very same birthday he’d missed.

The very last straw before you left.

“Here,” he said, then, holding out a plain white card to you – plastic, the same size and shape of a credit card. “Just swipe it over the black sensor by the intercom.”

You swallowed thickly and accepted the card with a shaky, “Thanks.”

When your fingertips brushed against his, you nearly dropped the stupid thing – nearly jumped out of your own skin.

Bucky studied your face for a moment, and then, predictably, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

You pushed your feelings aside and shoved the card into your purse.

“Nothing,” you lied, walking around to the driver’s side of your car. “Come on.”

He’d probably only kept that photo because it had Winnie in it. Of course, you’d given him plenty more, so you still weren’t sure why he’d decided to put that particular one in his wallet.

It didn’t matter.

“Okay, but at least let me be a gentleman,” he teased, coming around to your side of the car.

When he opened the car door for you, you gave him what you hoped was a grateful smile before you settled into the weathered, sun-faded seat, thoughts racing just as much as your heartbeat.

Part Six

[2nerd4this]

Fluffy prompt: Cathy getting sick and not wanting to admit it bc she knows everyone is stressed and she doesn't want to make it worse. But Catalina like forces her to submit to being looked after (or possibly tricks her into accepting care.) OR Cathy just suddenly feeling really clingy to Lina but trying to suppress it bc she doesn't want to be annoying. Lina though ofc notices this and makes a special point of keeping Cathy close to her bc she can tell she needs it rn.

Heyyy, these were such both good ideas that I decided to combine them. This one’s fairly long, for my standards anyway, and it's completely unedited because it was my coping mechanism for the last few days, so... I hope it’s still alright, or at least makes sense. Thanks for the prompt!

It was foolish- Cathy knows- to assume that she could avoid the virus that was moving through the Queen’s house like a... well- a virus. 

Even the Ladies, who the Queens had started to cut off contact with after the first few cases in an attempt to keep them healthy, were not immune, and Maria, who was adamant that she wouldn’t get it, was currently confined to her bedroom by the others.

But for some reason, Cathy thought she would be fine. It had gotten to the others fairly quickly, and Jane, the last to get it, was almost back to full health. 

Imagine her annoyance, then, when she awoke this morning with a splitting headache and a sore throat, exactly what she had been dreading for weeks.

Groaning, she rolled over and pulled the blankets up over her head. This was the most inconvenient time to be sick. Tonight was supposed to be the first time all six Queens were healthy enough to perform together, and their poor alternates were in desperate need of a break. 

She would just have to suck it up, then. Not only were the others excited and ready to perform all together (finally), they were all also exhausted from taking care of themselves and others for a straight month. Jane, to no fault of her own, had been rendered completely incapable of anything more than walking to the bathroom for a straight week- both because of the illness and the anxiety that accompanied it. That meant that the other five Queens had been spending every waking moment taking care of her or running errands, something that Jane usually took care of.

No- Cathy would be fine. A cold shower, a couple of pills, a warm breakfast. That would be enough, at least to tide her over until after the show. Once she got up and moving, she would be good to go.

.

So that was a lie.

It was almost time to leave for the show and Cathy hadn’t left her room in hours, curled up under the blankets, sweating and shivering and wishing she could just sleep. But each tick of the clock reminded her that she couldn’t- she shouldn’t. Her family needed her.

So when six rolled around, Cathy managed to get herself vertical and presentable, just in time for Anne to yell upstairs that they were leaving in five minutes and that she ‘better get your butt to the car soon or else Kitty’s gonna make you sit in the middle!”

Technically, she couldn’t safely take medicine again for another hour, but if she took some now, she would be able to have one more right before she went on stage. 

It was worth it.

.

When they arrived at the theater, the headache had not lessened as she had hoped. In fact, it had gotten worse. She hadn’t even thought that was possible.

Cathy tried her best to push through, but with warm-up first, she knew there was no way she could disguise her pain much longer.

“Whoa, Cath,” Jane caught her arm as she swayed and stumbled onto the stage, “You alright, love?”

“Yeah, yeah, just tired.” Cathy nodded assuredly. Jane didn’t look convinced, but Joan had already started and she couldn’t do anything but nod and pat her arm gently.

The sixth Queen positioned herself behind the others, against the wall, so they wouldn’t notice as she winced with every loud chord and shivered against the non-existent cold. 

And when warm-up came to a merciful end, she knew it was only the beginning.

Back in her changing room, it was just as loud.

Jane was celebrating her return to the show with an Insta Live, and Kitty was blasting music and singing along at the top of her lungs. 

Cathy did her makeup and hair as quickly as humanly possible, before throwing on her costume haphazardly and escaping the cramped room.

The brief respite the hallway brought caused her to sigh loudly in relief, and when she rounded the corner into the usually deserted stairwell, she slid to the floor immediately, putting her head between her knees and rubbing her temple, closing in on herself to try and stop shaking.

She wasn’t sure how long she stayed there- time became odd against the pain. At least pass the one-hour call, and she was barely able to make a mental note to keep an ear out for half-hour.

That, clearly, wasn’t going to happen, because it wasn’t until she felt the physical presence of a body next to her did she realize that she wasn’t alone. 

Before she could stop herself, her head shot up, causing her to shut her eyes in pain and groan. 

“Oh, mija,” Catalina’s sympathetic voice echoed loudly in her brain, even though she was probably whispering, and Cathy let out a pathetic whimper.

“Shhh”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Lina whispered, much quieter this time, and Cathy pried her eyes opened and peered up at the older woman. “Oh, honey, you look awful.”

“Wow, thanks,” Cathy quipped, albeit half-heartedly, then immediately regretted it when Lina laughed. “Too loud.”

“Sorry, sorry. Baby- mija... why didn’t you say something?”

“I’m fine, I- I took medicine earlier. I have to do the show- tonight at least. Give the girls a break.”

“You still want to perform?” Catalina asked incredulously, then immediately lowered her tone as her goddaughter winced. “Sorry, mija, I’ll be quiet now, I promise. But- querida, I’m taking you home.”

“No!” Cathy exclaimed, now ignoring the pain. “It’s alright, I’ll be fine, please.”

“Not a chance.” Catalina shook her head, wrapping an arm around the girl to start rubbing soft circles on her back. Cathy sank into the touch immediately. “There’s an alternate on stand-by here, as you... already know, of course, but I can text her right now, alright?”

Cathy whined pathetically, already shifting into her godmother’s warmth. “But madrina, I can-”

“No. That’s final. Don’t argue with me on this, Catherine. It’s a lost cause.”

The use of Cathy’s full name banished any remaining fight she had in her, and she nodded minutely, finally sinking fully against Catalina. The older woman nodded sagely, smirking softly. 

“Good girl. Give me just a second so I can text her and we can go, alright?”

She got no response, but she wasn’t expecting one anyway. Cathy’s eyes were already starting to shut again. 

.

Sure enough, not even ten minutes later, they were both in Catalina’s car, Cathy’s legs pulled up against her tightly as she shivered slightly from the breeze. The other Queens had understood immediately and reassured her, through text of course, and the alternate had been more than willing to step up. She had been kind of expecting it anyway. 

“Alright, mija, just twenty minutes and then we’ll be home. You can try to sleep if you want.”

Cathy just hummed in return, but that was enough answer for Catalina, who smiled and turned the ignition, then quickly turned the heat up.

The ride home was uneventful, though Cathy didn’t fall asleep. Catalina tried her best to follow all traffic laws, but every time her goddaughter shifted and groaned, her heart clenched and she sped up, just a little.

As such, they arrived back home in a little under fifteen minutes. 

“Cathy, querida, we’re here.”

Catalina rounded the car and helped the girl out of the car, supporting almost all of her body weight. 

She had to admit, she was a little glad that the others had been so sick as well, or else she would be driving Cathy to the hospital right now, based on how miserable she looked. 

“Did you eat dinner? Lunch?”

Cathy simply shook her head, allowing Catalina to lead her inside and straight to the kitchen, deposting her on the nearest stool. Immediately, she started rummaging through the fridge and pulling out assorted food. Because of the recent craziness, they didn’t have much that wouldn’t take an hour to prepare, but she got what they had and set it on the counter in front of Cathy.

“Here you go, mija.”

“I’m not hungry,” Cathy muttered, placing her elbows on the table and putting her head in her hands.

“You have to eat something, querida.” Catalina walked around the counter to rub her goddaughter's back gently, pushing a lock of stray hair behind her hear. “Please, mija. I understand, I do, but you’ll feel better if you eat.”

There was a long pause as Cathy groaned and rubbed her hands over her eyes before she sighed and lowered her head all the way down onto the table. Catalina hummed sympathetically.

“ ‘m sorry, madrina.”

Catalina paused her ministrations momentarily, regarding her goddaughter carefully, then sighed. “What for, mija?”

“Dunno. I shoulda- shoulda said something. Or worked harder to stay healthy, I dunno, I just-” Cathy raised her head a little, turning to peer up at Catalina through hooded eyes, “I’m sorry.”

“Oh querida,” Catalina slid onto the stool next to the girl and pulled her upper body into her arms. “Don’t be. But, yeah, next time- tell me. Please?”

“Mhmm.”

“Good girl,” Catalina chuckled, resting her chin on the younger woman’s head. “Now. Are you sure you don’t want to try and eat?”

“I just want to sleep.”

“Alright,” Catalina conceded, “but afterwards....”

“Sure,” Cathy sighed, and Catalina supposed it was more from the exhaustion than actual agreement. Nevertheless, she smiled.

“Perfect.”

Catalina glanced at the food on the counter, then shook her head. It could survive a few hours out of the fridge. 

“Alright, up we get, mija. My room or yours?”

“Mmmm” Cathy nodded and stumbled to her feet, to little success, as Catalina reached out to steady her.

“Mine it is,” Catalina chuckled. “It’s closer.”

They made it upstairs without incident, and Cathy was quickly tucked away under the covers, sweaty hair matted to the pillow. Catalina flicked the lights off and shut the window, then turned back to her goddaughter.

“I can stay, if you want.”

“Mmm” Cathy hummed, pulling the covers tighter around her. Catalina smirked.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Sweet dreams, mija.”

To no one’s surprise, Catherine slept through the night, the virus counteracting her atrocious sleeping habits.

In fact, no one but Catalina saw Cathy again until lunch the next day.

“Cathy!” Anne exclaimed when the woman came down the stairs. 

Immediately, Catalina shushed her. 

“Sorry,” she whispered, covering her mouth.

“You would think you would have figure that out by now, Anne,” Kitty joked in a whisper. Anne simply shrugged, then patted the chair next to her. Cathy blinked at the second Queen slowly, pausing in the middle of the dining room and glancing over at Catalina.

“Cathy?” Anna questioned softly, tilting her head. “What’s up?”

“Oh, uh, nothing. Sorry.” Cathy shook her head, rushing over to sit next to Anne. “I’m just tired.”

The others continued to watch her oddly, and Cathy shrunk back into her seat, but Jane soon came to her rescue.

“Food’s ready, girls.”

And everything returned to normal.

.

Except it really wasn’t. 

After lunch, Anne suggested a movie. While they all reassured Cathy that they would understand, they really would, if she wanted to go back upstairs, she simply shook her head and sat in the armchair against the wall, as far from the others as she could get. 

And honestly, the others wouldn’t have thought anything of it, as Cathy seemed to be feeling much better, even laughing along to some of the jokes in the film, except for the fact that she had remained sitting straight up and stiff in the chair for the last hour and a half. 

“Cathy?” Jane asked after the movie, pulling the girl aside as the six scattered. “Are you alright?”

“What? Oh- oh, yeah. I mean,” she chuckled softly, shifting her weight awkwardly. “I have a headache, but it’s fine.”

“Alright...” Jane said, but she didn’t look convinced. “But if you need something- I’m here.” The third Queen reached out to rub the other woman’s arm, but Cathy shied away immediately. Jane pulled back and quickly apologized. “Sorry. How about you go upstairs and take a nap, alright?”

“I’m fine, Jane,” Cathy muttered, a little harsh. “I can take care of myself.”

“Alright.” Jane raised her hands in surrender, stepping back and leaving Cathy a clear path to the stairwell. Cathy glanced between her and it nervously, then slipped past and disappeared up the steps.

Unfortunately for Cathy, her path from the first staircase to the second was blocked. By the one person she didn’t want to see.

“Querida?” Catalina looked up from her basket of laundry to see the distressed look on her goddaughter’s face, and immediately shifted so she was blocking her escape upstairs. “Catherine, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Cathy-” Catalina sighed, setting the basket down and reaching forward to grab the sixth Queen’s arm. Cathy tensed and stepped back, but Catalina held firm. A few moments passed before Cathy sank into the touch. “Querida, how about you come back to my room and take a nap?”

“No, no. I- I was going to go up to my room and rest.” Cathy stepped back, pulling out of her grasp. Catalina sighed.

“Are you sure? I could use the company.”

Cathy paused, shifting her weight from foot to foot, then glanced from Catalina to the laundry basket.

“Laundry can wait.”

“....are you sure?”

“Of course, mija. Come on.”

Catalina led Cathy back to her room, leaving the basket where she sat it down, and straight to the bed. Cathy crawled under the covers and sunk into the pillows, but glanced up in surprise when Catalina followed, sitting up against the headboard and pulling the other side of the blanket up to her waist. 

“Madrina?”

“Is it alright if I sit here to read?”

Cathy eyed her godmother suspiciously for a moment, then dropped her head back onto the pillow.

“I know what you’re doing.”

“What?” Catalina glanced down, head tilting in confusion, but her smirk was obvious. “I’m not doing anything.”

Cathy blinked up at her for a few more seconds, before smiling softly and relaxing back into the mattress. She then scooted closer to her godmother and rested her head on the woman’s leg, allowing her to wrap an arm around her back and rub gently. 

“I get it, mija,” Catalina whispered after a minute or so of silence. “But you don’t have to be worried about that sort of thing with me, alright? I’ll always be here for you.” The older woman leaned down to press a soft kiss to Cathy’s curl-covered forehead and said nothing when the girl in question was clearly blushing darkly. “Go to sleep, querida.”

.

Hours later, when Anne knocked on the door announcing supper, Catalina helped Cathy untangle herself from the covers and led her to the door. 

“You sure you don’t mind?”

“Never, mi hija. Even if you were perfectly healthy, I’d understand. If I need space to myself, I’ll tell you, but if I don’t... just assume it’s alright.”

Cathy nodded in understanding, then followed her godmother to the table, sitting down next to her and trying her best to avoid notice as she scooted the chair closer and closer to the older woman. 

And if the others noticed- now or when she didn’t leave Catalina’s side at all that night or when she fell asleep on her lap during the movie they were watching or when Catalina stayed home from the show the next day to or when Cathy slept in her room every night for three days straight- they certainly didn’t say a word. 

[apparentlynotreallyfinnish]

Experiments - Part 6

If you want to read the earlier parts, the easiest way is to head to Ao3.

Experiments on Ao3

---

Rhett would’ve lied if he said he wasn’t worried when he drove into work on Monday. They hadn’t spoken since Saturday evening. It was entirely possible that Link would want to act like nothing had happened. Rhett wasn’t exactly sure what he would do if that was Link’s wish. Honor it? Possibly. That would be the right thing to do. 

But he had to try at least. Because after last night’s investigation, Rhett had barely had any sleep. He’d spent half of the night tossing and turning and the other half barely sleeping, waking up sweaty and breathless, chasing the dreams where Link had been naked against him.

Rhett grabbed his uneaten breakfast sandwich from the passenger seat before walking briskly through the building. He stopped at their office door, hand hovering in the air, trying to psyche himself up for a grumpy or—in the worst case—cold Link.

“Morning,” he announced, as he walked in. Link jerked at the false perkiness in Rhett’s voice and his brows furrowed a bit. Rhett cringed internally. What the hell was that?! 

“Morning…?” Link replied, looking slightly confused. 

He was sitting on the couch, laptop in his lap, but as soon as Rhett stepped further inside, he closed it with a determined click and patted the cushion beside him. “Wanna come and sit with me for a bit?” 

He didn’t sound mad or standoffish or in any way out of the ordinary. He just sounded like Link. But as he waited for Rhett to answer, his bottom lip got sucked between his teeth and worry flashed across his face. Rhett was still trying to acclimate to this unexpected version of him when he rushed to continue.

“You don’t have to! You can sit somewhere else if y—”

“Sorry,” Rhett muttered, finally getting his legs to move. He set his backpack down and sat on the couch, leaving a few inches of space between them. Link gave him a small smile and tucked his hands between his knees.

“No, I’m sorry,” Link said, staring at his legs.

“About?” Rhett asked, turning to look at him. Link glanced at him but his gaze quickly returned back to his knees. 

“I shoulda stayed. On Saturday. You obviously needed to talk and I just…” Link sighed and got back to worrying his lip. 

“Hey, it’s not a big deal. I get it. It was… an uncomfortable situation for you,” Rhett said, reaching towards Link to pat him on the shoulder. Link flinched and Rhett’s stomach sank before his hand did. He doesn’t want me to touch him. 

“No, not uncomfortable!” Link said quickly, seemingly sensing Rhett’s mood shift. His hand landed on Rhett’s thigh and squeezed lightly. “I was— I just needed a moment. To process.”

Rhett nodded, trying very hard to ignore Link’s fingers inches away from his cock. “And?”

“And… what?” Link asked slowly, staring at his own hand—or was he staring at Rhett’s crotch? 

“You processed. What do you think now?”

“Oh!” Link’s head whipped up and there was a faint blush on his cheeks. “Umm… I don’t know?” he said, eyes searching for an answer from the wall in front of them. “It was…”

“Awkward?” Rhett offered with a small smile. Link shrugged. 

“A little bit. At first. But… oh man, I’m definitely bi. Like no question about that,” Link said with a sheepish smile. His deepening blush made Rhett’s cheeks puff up. A knot he hadn’t known was inside him loosened at Link’s words.

“So it was good? Experiment successful?” 

Rhett needed Link to say it. He needed confirmation that it hadn’t just been him that had experienced something spectacular that night. 

Link was staring at him, eyes heavy-lidded and lips slightly parted. Was he thinking about that night? Was he thinking about Rhett’s cock inside his mouth? Rhett’s stomach tightened and he chased away the memories before they could flood his mind and incapacitate him. 

“Yeah,” Link finally sighed. “It was really, really good.”

Shit, okay. This is good. There’s a chance. Rhett’s leg started to bounce against the floor. Ask him!

“So, um…”

“Yeah?” Link said eagerly, leaning towards him almost imperceptibly.

“Did you talk to Christy?” 

“I did. Did you talk to Jessie?”

“Yup.”

They glanced at each other and as if caught, turned away at the same time. The color of Rhett’s cheeks was slowly starting to match Link’s.

“Link…” 

Rhett had planned on what he wanted to say. He’d even practiced it a few times in front of the mirror last night, garnering delighted laughter and a tight hug from his wife. 

If you need to explore this side of yourself more, I’m willing to help you. 

That was the gist of it at least. Now the words were gone, erased from Rhett’s mind by Link’s words and his hand, still resting on Rhett’s leg. So, instead of his rehearsed, fairly neutral speech he said: 

“Do you want me to fuck you?”

Link’s eyes widened and his hand slipped away. 

“I mean—!” Rhett hurried to add but realized there wasn’t anything else to say. That was it. It might have come out a bit crude, but it was what he’d wanted to ask. 

Link stared at him, jaw slack for a moment more, but then a smile ripped across his face. He doubled over and laughter filled the room. 

“What?” Rhett snapped, his face hot and his armpits sweaty. Link just kept laughing. Rhett got up, stomped to his desk and sat down with a huff.

“Oh, gosh. Oh, no,” Link croaked, still folded over himself, wiping away the tears. “Don’t be mad. I didn’t— I’m not laughing at you.”

“Uh-huh. Seems plausible,” Rhett muttered and scowled at him.

“Well, okay, I kinda am. But! No, wait. It’s only because I had this whole speech…”

Rhett perked up at the last word. 

“…where I was gonna ask you if you were willing to do another experiment with me and I had all these things I was going to say. And then you—” Link paused to gasp for air. “You come along with can I fuck you?”

“I didn’t—!” Rhett shot up and turned towards Link, ready to go to war over semantics, but Link just waved his hand placatingly.

“You know what I mean.” He took another deep breath, finally getting his laughter under control. 

“Yeah, Rhett,” he said, softer now. “I want you to fuck me.”

Rhett froze. A wave of heat rushed through his body and settled between his legs. Link was still sitting, looking up at him with tear-glistened eyes and a smile so vulnerable Rhett’s knees almost buckled.

“For real?” he whispered. Link got up, wiped his palms onto his jeans and walked up to him. Rhett watched, wide-eyed and bewildered when Link got on one knee in front of him. Rhett’s hand was snatched and pressed between two slightly clammy palms.

“Rhett James McLaughlin,” Link started voice trembling with emotion, staring up at Rhett. 

The inside of Rhett’s head turned into a wind tunnel. He couldn’t form even the simplest of thoughts. 

But then a playful, little smirk appeared on Link’s face and he continued. “Will you pop my cherry?”

Rhett snorted. Link’s face lit up with the widest of smiles and he poked out his tongue and winked at Rhett. Rhett pulled his hand away and punched him on the shoulder.

“Get up, you dweeb,” Rhett muttered, laughter bubbling up in his chest. “We have an episode to film.”

————

“You know what’s funny?”

“What?” Rhett asked, staring at his laptop, engrossed in an email he’d just received.

“I expected it to be bad. That it would taste weird.”

“What would?” Rhett asked absentmindedly. He was barely listening.

“You.”

It was like mental whiplash; Rhett’s mind dislodged itself and clicked back into place, purging all other thoughts from his brain. He stared at Link with raised eyebrows and a mouth turned into an almost perfect circle. Link was blushing fiercely, but there was a playful twinkle in his eyes. He was doing this on purpose; he was trying to get a reaction out of Rhett. 

“Oh,” was all Rhett managed to get out. Link rubbed his neck—which was the same deep shade of red as his face—and continued:

“But you tasted freaking amazing. Like… I think I could get addicted to it.”

What Rhett heard was “I could get addicted to you”. 

God, I want that, he thought, suddenly aching all over. I’d leave this Earth as the happiest man in existence if you did that to me again and again…

He didn’t say his thought out loud, though. Instead, he coughed, plastered a teasing smirk on his face and said: “Is that so?” He leaned back on the couch, spreading his legs just enough for Link to notice and lifted his hands behind his head. Two can play at this game. 

Link’s eyes widened and he quickly turned to look back at his laptop. The blush in his cheeks grew angry-red and blotchy.

“I mean, ha! Not really. I was just... surprised,” Link mumbled and started tapping on his keyboard with such force that Rhett was worried about it breaking. 

“Anyway, forget I said anything. Back to work,” Link said and threw a quick, imploring glance at Rhett. 

But Rhett couldn’t get back to work. Honestly, the last nine days had been difficult on that front. After Link’s “proposal” they hadn’t talked about the sleepover other than to figure out when it could happen. Rhett had been silently glad that the following weekend had already been booked for both of them. He hadn’t wanted to seem too eager to get into Link’s pants. And due to some other weekend plans later in the month, the Saturday two weeks after their first experiment was chosen, more out of necessity than want. The plan had been quickly approved by their wives and the date was set.  

That had been the easy bit. The hard part was spending two weeks in the same space as the man he was scheduled to fuck. 

Concentrating on work was a bit difficult when Rhett’s mind was either filled with the memory of Link’s mouth on him or with the fantasies of his mouth on Link—not to mention other parts of his body that very enthusiastically wanted to be both on and in Link. So, Rhett spent his time watching him. 

Like right now. He watched that slender neck slowly turning from red to pink, watched the tight curve of his lips move as he mumbled words under his breath, watched his delicate fingers sweeping across the keyboard. For nine long days, Rhett had been a good boy. And nine days was apparently one day too long. 

The need in him was like a beast rising from hibernation. It roared to life, setting Rhett’s insides on fire and turning off the filter in his brain that separated work and… the other things.

“You know…” he started, straightening his arm on the back of the couch, effectively wrapping it around Link’s shoulders. Link glanced at him with an arched brow.

“It’s a bit unfair I didn’t get to keep my promise.”

“Promise?” Link asked, voice hoarse before swallowing visibly.

“That I’d return the favor. That I’d suck you off.”

Link’s eyes unfocused and Rhett watched his pupils dilate. He moved his hand so that his fingers brushed softly against Link’s shoulder. Link shivered, twisted away from the touch and shot up from the couch.

“That’s not— You don’t…” he stammered, chest rising and falling quickly. He was tugging on the hem of his t-shirt as if that could hide the unmistakable bulge in his pants.

Hmm. That didn’t take much… Rhett licked his lips as his own cock started to awaken. He didn’t do it on purpose, but to Link, it probably seemed like he did. Link’s gaze flitted to his lips. He took a step back and scowled at Rhett.

“We’re at work,” he hissed, looking more than scandalized. Rhett shrugged.

“It’s late. There’s barely anyone else in the office. Also, the door locks…”

“Rhett,” Link whined and grabbed a fistful of his own hair, glancing at the door that was ajar and then back at Rhett. He looked torn and Rhett hated himself a little because it just made him harder. 

He got up from the couch and walked to Link, crowding him, moving them both towards the door. Link’s back slammed against it, clicking it closed behind him. He was staring up at Rhett, hands shakily pressed on his chest. A small whimper fell from his lips when Rhett bent down and nosed under Link’s ear, smelling his sweet, manly scent and breathing in his warmth. The full-body shivers his closeness drew from Link almost made him moan.

“You wanna lock that door?” he murmured into Link’s ear, lips brushing against the shell of it. 

“What about—?” Link gasped with a shaky voice. “W—we… Don’t you think we should talk with—?”

“Jessie is fine with this. Christy is fine with this. They literally suggested that we spend a night together.”

“But…”

“If you want me to stop, I will,” Rhett said and stepped back, giving Link literal room to think. “But if you want me to go on…” Rhett nodded towards the lock.   

Link’s hand moved torturously slowly to fumble for the lock. The sound of it clicking to place made Rhett’s cock jump excitedly, and he rushed forwards to press his lips onto Link’s flushed skin right below his ear. Rhett wedged his thigh between Link’s legs and Link’s body met him greedily, rutting his erection against Rhett’s leg. 

A soft touch of Link’s palm against Rhett’s neck almost sent him tumbling towards Link’s parted lips but he was thwarted by Link pushing him away again.

“Rhett,” Link said, paused to swallow, still clearly at least somewhat unsure. “You don’t have to do this. I know I kinda tricked you into making that promise. I wasn’t serious. I didn’t think you’d actually—”

Rhett’s hand slipped between them, taking the place of his thigh, and palmed Link’s hardness through his jeans. Link’s voice fell away and his eyes flitted closed. Rhett did his best to wrap around Link’s shaft through the fabric.

God, he’s a big boy… 

Rhett took a deep breath and paused to listen to his body’s reaction. Even though touching Link had been basically the only thing in his mind for the last week and a change, he still expected some level of resistance. A minor freak out. Some part of his mind or body saying ‘no, this is not for us’. But there was nothing. Just the roaring need to fill his mouth with Link. To taste him. To make him lose his mind a little bit, like he’d done to Rhett. 

“A-aa-aah,” Link moaned shakily as Rhett continued to work his cock through his pants.

“You think I’d do this if I didn’t want to?” Rhett asked, huffing out a low chuckle. 

“But you’re not—”

“Into guys?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s just call this an experiment,” Rhett said and got down on his knees.

[meowdymista]

An Interestin’ Fella in the Swamp

Word Count: 1454

Warnings: Swearing, mention of rape

Notes: I feel like there’s more to Bill than we see in the game, and this is to fix that

Masterlist

***

Finally. Bill was wondering when he would show his face in camp again. Taking a swig from the beer bottle, he watches Arthur dismount out the corner of his eye. He’s fussing over his horse, feeding it sugar cubes from the palm of his hand as he pats the thick sturdy neck.

“How can a man - a real man, ah mean - truly express his passion wi’ such delicate creatures?” Mac had slurred one night. Bill remembers the heat of the whisky in his cheeks as he drank in the gleam of red in the Scot’s stubble. “Ah’ve never understood the appeal.”

“Me neither,” he had replied, surprised by his own sincerity. “Them boys gettin’ distracted… it’s unprofessional. There ain’t time for love in this game. All you can hope for is one good fuck, y’know? When it takes me, I want to be able to lose myself in it. I want to fucking fuck, for fuck’s sake! Not worryin’ about messin’ her hair, or whether or not she’s gonna slap me afterwards.”

Mac had looked up at him then with heavy lidded eyes. “Ye ever fucked a man, Williamson?”

Tossing his bottle aside, Bill strolls up to the campfire where Arthur is helping himself to a bowl of stew. The only other man in camp with a temper like his own (besides Micah, of course) - he doesn’t understand how he’s never put it together before.  Women have always looked so small - so comically fragile - besides his thick build and broad shoulders. 

“Bill,” he greets with a nod.

Bill suppresses a smirk. Better practice my name, cowpoke, ‘cause I’ll have you screaming it tonight. He shakes himself mentally. No, he tells himself. Keep to the facts.

“I met an interesting fella in the swamp,” he says coyly, “Real interestin’.”

“Did you?”

Mac had known plenty of interesting fellas - years of discreet probing had paid off with connections to previous finds. The more Bill had tested the waters, the better he learned how to maneuver through them, and with Mac he had been able to spin a web of various “interesting fellas” across various states. Of course the web wasn’t made to spread this far west, but an introduction with that Alden in Rhodes proved fruitful. With a couple of helpful hints, Bill had found himself out in the Bayou, accepting the dinner offered by a fella called Sonny.

“Ain’t this a fine place? An interesting place, the best of places. Is it land, or is it water? Can’t make up its mind, no siree… I can’t make up my mind about things neither.”

“Sure! He seemed to know all about you!”

Arthur doesn’t react. His skills of discreet probing have been gathering dust since that first night with Mac, but he’s already started the ball rolling. He can’t walk away.

“I mean -” He clears his throat. “-all about you.”

“Get outta HERE.”

He chuckles quietly, holding his hands up in mock surrender, ready with his smooth speech about how men gotta do what they gotta do, but a second look at the man is a punch to the gut. His eyes are cold grey steel - and the look is all too familiar.

He hasn’t seen such venom in months except in the wake of Micah’s taunts. It is barely bridled fury - the last warning before the bull is released from the pen to wreak havoc. They were the eyes of man scorned - a hetero on the defence.

Bill drops his arms to his sides and walks away. He braces himself, but no hit lands. He’s grateful for that at least... but also disappointed. A fist fight was his favourite way to get the blood pumping, especially when it was to decide who would dominate. Fellers around here were too submissive.

“I’m peculiar. Folks always say so.”

Well, interesting fellas always were peculiar in some way. “Queer”. Didn’t that mean strange?

“You wanna- you wanna play with Sonny? I like playin’.”

He risks a look back over his shoulder. The tin bowl lies face down, it’s contents splattered over the grass. Arthur is nowhere to be seen.

“I’ve always wanted a friend like you… and I can tell you want a friend like me... ain’t that so?”

Taking up guard duty, he keeps a cigarette between his teeth until dusk. When Javier turns up to take over, he can’t help but ask - “Hey, you seen Arthur?”

“Why? What shit you started now?”

“Who said I started shit?” he snaps.

“Tilly said he didn’t look too happy when she saw him earlier. Karen said he almost sent Mary-Beth flying he marched off so fast.”

“Why’s that my fault?”

“They said he was fine ‘til he spoke with you.”

“What hae ye said tae Mac, Williamson?” Davey grabbed him by the lapels and shook him. “Ye talkin’ shite aboot us?”

“What are you talkin’ about?” he growled, shoving the younger brother off him.

“Th’ two o’ ye hae bin actin’ weird ever since ye got back fae scoutin’ New Austin! Dunnae lie!” The infamous vein was popping in his neck. Other members of the gang stopped their chores to see who picked the latest fight with the honey badger brothers - and not for the first time, found Bill on the receiving end.

“I don’t know what you mean.” His heart fluttered nervously in his chest as he caught the eyes of onlookers. He couldn’t lose this gang - the tribe of Van der Linde’s meant more to him than his life ever had. He could live with the taunts of being slow and dimwitted, but not this. Not something so fresh and vulnerable as the truth. “Davey,” he added quietly. “I would never talk shit about neither you Callender boys. Anything I have to say, I’ll say to your faces-”

“What secret are you sharin’ then, Williamson? Cuz we never keep anythin’ fae t’other.”

After digging around camp, he finally finds Arthur resting on the shore, twitching the fishing rod and cursing the lack of bites. Suddenly, he picks up a large stone and lobs it into the water, his throw too dull to skip it as it plops under the surface with a large splash.

“Ar-Arthur?”

His head snaps around, blue eyes still blazing as he scoffs. “Bill.”

“Arthur, I’m- I’m real sorry.”

“What for now?” he grunts, reeling in the line impatiently.

“About Sonny. The feller in the swamp?"

“You know a momma gator eats her babies? My momma never ate no baby…  Your momma ever ate a baby?”

“He was…" Bill forces a laugh, trying to reduce the tension in his shoulders, before sighing heavily. "I'm sorry. It was none of my business. I didn't expect you to… to take it like you did. An' for that I'm real sorry."

"How else was I s'posed to take it?"

"Shit, Morgan, I don't know!"

"Just how the hell you meet that creep anyway?" he demands, turning to face him as he puts his rod away.

"Same way as you! I was just passin' by-"

"Same way as me?" He scoffs again, spitting over his shoulder. "Yer a damn liar, Williamson. How'd you meet him? Really?"

"What? I can't speak to strangers now?"

Arthur's eyes flash. "If you met him the same way I did, you'd have a lump the size of an egg under your hat."

He doesn't know what to say to that. The sad, embarrassed shake of his head tells him there wasn't a reply worth making. "I'm sorry, Arthur. I didn't know that he'd- I thought that you'd- that it was-"

"I know what you thought." He sighs heavily, turning to watch the sun set under the water. "At least I'm alive, I s'pose. Better'n bein' found by you.”

“I’m gonna go back, teach him a lesson for messin’ with yer when you didn’t- well. When you wasn’t-”

“I already fed him to the gators,” states Arthur, his mouth twisting like the words taste sour on his tongue. “I… I can’t say I regret it. Maybe I was too hasty-”

“He was a strange one, Morgan. No one will miss him.”

“Yeah, well, it also didn’t feel enough.” The glint in his eye is simmering now. Not an infuriated bull but a snake sizing up its victim - and then he takes a deep breath. “I shoulda taken him up to the Skinners, but they’d’ve recruited the bastard most likely...”

“I ain’t gonna say nothin’ to no one. ‘Bout all this?” Arthur nods in agreement. “An’... I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about… y’know.”

“I know. I know, Bill.” A weight lifts off his chest as the blond pats his shoulder on his way past. “Ain’t nobody’s business but ours. Stay safe, Williamson.”

[queerbutstillhere]

since you said prompts were open,I know Im cheesy and its a cliche but timkon "oh no we got mistaken for a couple and there's only one bed" or just them being dumb and confessing i love getting together fics

(I take your prompt, and raise you both + Jason being Jason)

"I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Okay, I'll get us some takeout and then come back and help you bandage yourself."

"Sounds good."

Tim watched Conner Kent turn around and walk right back out the door of the apartment they had gotten off of Jason. After they had, unsurprisingly, done some dumbshit, they needed a place to lay low, and bandage Tim up. Not exactly hiding from Bruce, but they didn't want to go back to the manor anyway. So Tim had called his big brother up, and Jason had grumbled about a million complaints and then gave them an address and a pin code. The apartment clearly hadn't been used in months, but it would serve their purposes.

Tim carefully stripped from his Red Robin gear, pulling off the armor pieces and wincing in pain the whole time. He routed around the fully stocked bathroom and found towels and soaps, and then got into the shower, nearly screaming as cold water dumped onto his injured body. He adjusted it to be about luke warm so he wouldn't freeze to death or scald his sensitive, damaged skin. Once he had carefully scrubbed his hair and body, he got out, drying off, pulling his pants back on as he had no other options at the moment. He left the rest of the armor on the floor and grabbed the first aid kit.

He opened the bathroom door and could smell Chinese instantly, which meant Kon was back.

"Kon, where you at?"

"Tim. Come here."

Tim followed the voice into the bedroom, or what he assumed was the bedroom, he hadn't gone in there yet. Conner was standing just past the doorway, arms crossed.

"What?"

"Next time you call Jason, maybe make it clear that we do actually need two beds."

Tim sighed, staring at the queen sized bed.

"I'll take the couch-"

"Like hell you will, mister let me get thrown out a window into a dumpster. Shut your dumb mouth and go sit down so I can bandage you up."

Tim glared up at his best friend but spun sharply in his heel, marching over to the sofa and plopping down onto it. His body screamed in agony. Conner came over and crouched in front of him, slowly and gently beginning to bandage him up, warm large hands careful every time they touched him. Tim watched as Conner worked intently, his tongue poking out the corner of his mouth. Oh the things he'd like that tongue to do-

Wait. Don't think about that, not now, he'll be able to tell-

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tim said, keeping his tone even.

"Okay..."

Curse his superhearing.

After Conner bandaged him up, they got their Chinese and sat on the sofa, watching the really crappy old TV that had a line of static through the middle of it.

"Did Jason say why he has this safehouse?"

"Just said it was a backup."

"Still don't know where he actually lives?"

"Oh, I do, there's just a unspoken code not to go there."

Conner chuckled, looking over with a mouth full of fried rice and General TSO.

"Well, I'm gonna take a shower," Conner said, standing and stretching.

Tim watched the lines of his muscles through his tight suit. Then he ripped his eyes back to the tv.

"Okay."

If Conner thought he was acting weird(he did), he didn't say anything, just walked away. A few minutes later, Tim heard the water running. He stood, collecting the trash and throwing it away. Then he took his stiff body into the bedroom, finding sheets and blankets for the bed and slowly making it up. Then he found pillows in the closet and threw those on too.

"Hey, Kon!"

"Yeah, Tim?"

"I found some clothes, you wanna see if any of them fit you?"

"Hell yeah."

Tim was routing around in a drawer when he sensed Conner behind him, he didn't turn around, just grabbed some sweats and a shirt. And then he turned around and his eyes met Kon's bare chest.

"Thanks, Tim."

The clothes were snatched from him and Conner stepped back, easily pulling on the sweatpants, which, if anything, were a little long. The shirt was pretty snug, so he immediately ditched it. Tim just turned back around, finding another, smaller pair of sweatpants, and a smaller shirt that knew would still be too big on him. He stiffly pulled off his uniform pants, back to Conner, despite the fact that he could feel the Kryptonian's eyes on him. They hung off his hips, and he had to tie the drawstring tightly just to prevent them from falling off. The shirt hung off his shoulder and just had to much extra material, but he'd accept it, since he got too cold sleeping without a shirt.

"You gonna actually go to sleep?" Kon asked, watching him from the doorway with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah. I don't have anything I can work on to keep me up. So I guess I'll try."

Conner nodded.

"Okay. Good night, Tim."

"Conner we both know you're not fitting on the sofa, get back here."

The man stopped just out the doorway, then turned, eyebrows raised.

"Tim?"

"Come on, you big lump, I won't kill you if we share the bed. We used to do it when we were younger."

"Yeah, keyword, younger. Which means when I was smaller."

Tim ignored him, walking over and getting in bed, pulling the surprisingly soft sheets up to his chest.

"Conner."

There was a small sigh, and then Kon flicked off the light before walking over, carefully getting in next to him, laying on his side.

"Night."

"Night."

Sleep did not come for Timothy Drake for quite a while, he was too busy thinking about how Conner. So what if he had feelings for his best friend? It was pretty normal and wasn't gonna kill him or anything. Even if it felt like it was tearing out his heart every time he saw Conner flirting with someone else.

When he did wake up, there were strong arms wrapped around him. He didn't question it at first, just pressed back into the warm firm body behind him, letting his eyes stay closed. He had even started drifting to sleep when he realized something. His eyes popped back open and he looked down at the arms, one hand was shoved up under his shirt, finger splayed against his ribs. The other was under his head, and he was mostly using it as a pillow, rather then the actual pillow. Slowly, he shifted his head, looking behind him. Sure enough, Conner was who was holding him, breath lightly stirring Tim's hair as he slept.

Tim took a few deep breaths. This was fine. It was fine. This happened in their sleep, so it's not like it was a conscious decision. It was fine. After nearly ten minutes, he felt Conner start stirring, and then with a sigh, he pushed forwards, nose going into Tim's hair at the same time that he pulled Tim tight against his chest. Tim was literally unable to move, he groaned in pain as Conner pressed in on his injured body, and immediately the pressure stopped, Conner going stiff.

"Tim?" He asked softly, sounding concerned.

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just don't squeeze me like a teddy bear, Kent."

"Sorry!"

Conner didn't move his hands. Tim sighed lightly, pulling a hand up to rub his eyes.

"You were having a nightmare, by the way, and when I held you, you calmed down, and then I guess I just fell asleep. . ."

Tim nodded, showing he understood. He could tell Conner was concerned.

"Okay. We should get dressed and go see what havoc Bats has waiting for us," Tim mumbled.

"We just woke up, Tim. I need like a solid ten minutes just to fully wake up."

"Baby."

"Workaholic."

Tim sighed, just letting his eyes close and his head stay on Conner's arm. He could almost hear his smile. He wished he could mask how hard his heart was beating. After five minutes, he pulled away from Conner and stretch, sitting up after. He lifted the shirt, looking down at his bruised torso to see if his bandages stayed in place. Then he froze as he felt fingers on his spine. They gently ran up, all the way to his neck, then back down to his hips, tugging the material of the shirt slightly as they went.

"Conner?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"I don't really know."

Tim turned to look at Conner, who was now laying on his back, his arm extended to Tim. The super smiled lazily.

"Hey."

"Hi. Wait-"

Conner sat up, grabbing Tim's face lightly, and without warning, pressed their lips together. Tim squeaked in surprise, a hand coming up to Conners wrist, but he didn't pull away. He didn't want to. He just leaned forwards into Conner, letting him take the lead and softly kiss him. After a minute, Conner pulled away, smirking lightly.

"I knew it."

"What?"

"I may not be a Bat, but I can tell when someone is pining, Tim."

Tim huffed, pushing at his chest.

"Then you shoulda done something about it earlier," he grumbled, throwing off the blankets and getting out of bed.

"Tim!"

Conner followed him, snagging his hand and gently pulling him around.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"Are you annoyed?"

"No."

"Tim."

He sighed, crossing his arms. "I just don't want this to be like all the other people I know you've dated. This isn't just a fling, Conner, okay? It can't be."

"Okay. Not a fling, I promise."

Tim narrowed his eyes. Conner sighed, putting his hands on Tim's shoulders.

"Tim I've wanted to date you since before I knew I even liked guys, okay?"

"Oh."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

Conner smiled, ducking his head down to kiss Tim again, just once this time, lightly.

"That's even better then I thought it'd be," he hummed out.

Tim gave a small laugh and hit his chest.

"Dumbass!"

[writingithink]

Keeping In Mind Pairing: Ten x Rose Rated: T Wordcount: 2,359 Summary: The Doctor finally looks into Rose's telepathy (a bit). Notes: Life got busy, but finally Day 6 of @timepetalsweek ! I used the picture prompt and the word prompt 'wolves'.

For the first time, I'm going to say that if you haven't ready any of the other ones you might not enjoy this one as much. I don't think you'd necessarily be lost or anything, but yeah.

So many innumerable thank yous to @hey-there-juliet for betaing <3

All mistakes are mine.

I own nothing.

READ IT ON AO3 -> copy/paste link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25539580

“I think it’s that way,” Rose pointed, laughing as the Doctor tried to stand on his tiptoes to see over the crowds of people and ended up knocking his forehead on her chin.

“You know, the parade’s over. Don’t you want to stand on your own now?”

“No. I had to use my favor for this, so I’m gonna make the most of it, ta.”

He rolled his eyes, even as he smiled up at her. It really wasn’t that bad, she didn’t weigh much at all as far as he was concerned. If they ever had to do this the other way around, his wife would likely be shocked at how dense he was despite his skinny body. So he began to slowly weave through the groups of families that still hadn’t dispersed despite the late hour and the park closing. Just because giving her a piggyback ride was physically easy didn’t mean it wasn’t awkward to navigate.

I can get down if you really want.

“No, no, you’re right. It’s your favor. Blimey, I don’t know what I’d use mine for. Suppose I’ll just save it, I’m sure it will come to me.”

“Mmm shoulda put an expiration date on ‘em. That way I wouldn’t be blindsided whenever you do figure out what you want.”

“Were you planning to forget?” he asked, pausing to look around again. He could sense the TARDIS nearby, he just couldn’t see.

“No,” she chuckled, “but knowing you, it’ll be, like, ten years from now and you’ll be like ‘ Rose, remember how you owe me a favor’ and then ask me to do something completely barmy.”

The Doctor grimaced. “Don’t. Don’t do impressions. It’s not- no.”

But he did love the idea of her being with him ten years from now. She kissed the top of his head, their bond buzzing with pleasant emotions (and a hint of irritation, but he’d known that was coming the moment he questioned her character work - but really, she could settle for being good at most things, no one’s good at everything).

“Aha!” He finally locked eyes on their time ship and sped up, Rose gripping him tighter.

When they reached the door he paused and bent over so that his bondmate could unlock and open it, as his arms were still busy holding her up. Once inside, he kicked the door closed and paused once they got to the console.

“Down now?”

“Nope.”

“But how’m I supposed to fly the TARDIS?”

“Where are you trying to go now? I’m knackered. We landed at Epcot before it even opened and have been riding rides all day.”

“Nowhere, really. Just not here. Maybe orbit around a nice nebula.” The Doctor tried to shrug, but it was hard to accomplish with Rose on his back.

“Then it can wait. Let’s go to the galley, have a cuppa,” she suggested, and he wondered if he’d have to hold her the whole time she made tea.

Yup, came her mental response.

This can’t possibly be that fun for you, he insisted, despite the contradictory information the bond was giving him.

“C’mon, it’s a new experience,” his wife insisted, and she wasn’t wrong but it definitely wasn’t a new experience he would have ever put on a list of things to try.

With a sigh, the Doctor walked them around the console and to the main corridor, but he wasn’t paying nearly as much attention as he should have been as he turned down the hall and ended up bashing her head on one of the coral struts.

“Ow!!”

“I’m so sorry! So, so sorry!!”

He could feel how much that hurt over their connection. Still didn’t know how to turn off that part. It was so unconscious that telepathic barriers didn’t really do anything.

“Ohhh I think it’s bleeding,” she groaned.

“Sorry, sorry! We’ll have it fixed up in a jiffy, don’t you worry,” he promised, making a left instead of a right to get to the infirmary.

After kicking open the doors, the Doctor sat Rose onto the cot. “We’ll just press pause on the piggyback ride, yeah?”

“Mmm, I don’t really feel like it anymore,” she grumbled as he pulled the sonic out of his jacket pocket. Honestly, they probably didn’t need to be in here for this, but it was where the good antiseptic wipes were for after he healed her head wound.

“Sorry,” he whispered, parting her hair around the teeny tiny cut and sonicking it closed before doing a quick scan to make sure he hadn’t given her a concussion - he hadn’t.

“Stop sayin’ sorry, it was just an accident,” Rose huffed, and he was beginning to feel her headache through the bond.

And he almost apologized for apologizing, but thankfully caught himself.

It wasn’t until he turned around to find the antiseptic and some paracetamol that the Doctor noticed all of the various scanners and other equipment lined up on the counter. He’d done that weeks ago in a fit of productivity while Rose had been sleeping, and since then had completely forgotten about it. Well, not completely . But he had been putting it off. They’d been putting it off.

“We don’t have to wait until we’re done with our honeymoon if you don’t wanna,” Rose said, picking up on his frustrated guilt.

He sighed, getting back on track and opening the cupboard, hoping that the TARDIS hadn’t rearranged things again - thankfully she hadn’t. In fact she was being quite helpful today, wipes and pain reliever right at the front.

“It’s not exactly romantic,” he countered. “We’ve only just finished trip number four, and we already took a break to do wedding planning with your mum.”

“Well, at the rate we’re goin’, this honeymoon could last months yet. Don’t think I didn’t catch ya pondering about cabins this morning. Which I do approve of, by the way. I’ve always wanted to try skiing.” She gave him his favorite tongue-in-teeth grin.

“Awwwww that was going to be a surprise,” the Doctor pouted as he handed her the capsule before setting about cleaning her scalp and hair.

“You weren’t tryin’ very hard to keep it a secret,” his wife pointed out.

“I thought you weren’t really awake yet. Your thoughts were all … cotton candy-like.”

“What?”

“I don’t know, that’s the closest thing I could think of,” he defended. “Telepathy isn’t easy to describe! Especially not in English.”

Like the way her mental laughter gave his whole body a pleasant tingly bubbly-ness.

“Anyway, we’re here now so we might as well do your scans,” Rose said, changing the subject. “And I think you owe me two more favors now.”

“What? Why?”

“‘Cause, even though it was an accident you did mess up my piggyback ride.”

“But how does that equal two favors?” he asked, confused.

She looked up, momentarily dislodging his hand. “Because you love me?”

His bondmate was quite devious, and no amount of big, innocent eyes were going to change his mind. Unfortunately, she was right.

“ Fine,” he sighed, wondering when exactly she had wrapped him around her finger. The Doctor had a sneaking suspicion that it was earlier than he’d ever want to admit. He tipped her head back so that he could finish up. “Two favors for you, but you can’t use them to get out of my future-favor. Aaaaand, all done.” He gave her head a kiss and then moved back to the counter to get started on the scans.

“So, how’s this gonna work?” Rose asked.

“Should be easy. You can just stay where you are. This is a six-dimensional comprehensive deep scanner. Used to have an eight-dimensional one, but I seem to have misplaced it. Actually, I may have traded it. Hard to remember.”

He set up it’s tripod, calibrating the sight before dragging the cords over to the infirmary monitor.

“And this,” he continued, holding up a teal tablet about the size of a small laptop, “is a telepathic assessment device. Used to classify telepathy grades, basic ability test. It hooks up to you with these.” The Doctor picked up a handful of wireless electrodes.

“Wait, I’m gonna have to take a test?”

Distress echoed across the bond.

“Kind of. Sort of. It’s not like it’s something you need to study for.” This didn’t seem to reassure her. “We could skip this one?”

“No, no, it’s fine. I just don’t like takin’ tests,” Rose mumbled, crossing her arms and looking down.

The Doctor walked over, abandoning the equipment on a nearby cart before taking a seat next to her on the cot and wrapping an arm around her. “It’s really not that kind of test. It’s still medical, like a reflex test or a concussion test, you know, where they ask you the date and who’s prime minister. Just a basic check. And I’m certain you’ll do brilliantly. You’re such a strong presence in my mind, and since you have such a limited experience with telepathy I don’t think you can appreciate how exceptional that is. But really, I’m sure that I can still get a good picture of what’s going on if we didn’t do this one.”

“No, no, we can do it,” she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. “‘M sure you’re right. Just me being silly.”

“It’s not. Silly, that is.” He kissed her temple, both savoring the way their bond buzzed at the contact. “You’re sure?”

“Yup. I’m sure. What else do we need to do?”

“If we’re being thorough? A full medical. But I don’t feel like being that thorough right now. The TARDIS base scans should be fine.”

“TARDIS base scans?”

“Ah, right, have I never mentioned?” The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, mussing his hair. “Everyday, however many times we enter the TARDIS or whenever there’s a significant, unexpected change in our vitals, she scans us. To make sure we’re healthy. So, me too, not just you. If she thinks you might be getting sick, she adjusts the environment, adds different medicines into the air.”

“Into the air?” Her jaw dropped.

“I’ve very advanced technology on this ship, haven’t you noticed?” He raised an eyebrow, smirking just a little (and got a swat for his trouble).

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Rose decided, straightening up.

And so they got on with it. Really, it didn’t take very long - she finished up the telepathic assessment in under 20 minutes. During which the Doctor tried and failed to compile her TARDIS scans. He put on his specs and glared at the screens, thinking unflattering things to his time ship.

“Ugh, I don’t think that helped my headache,” his bondmate complained, setting down the tablet.

“Oh. I didn’t really think of that. Could you come over here? I need your hand.”

“What for?” she asked, coming up behind where he was sitting next to the monitors and draping her body over her back.

“She won’t let me look at your scans without your permission.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “Well, that’s polite. Where’s my hand go?”

“Right in here,” he said, pointing at a white iridescent box. “And no, it’s not polite. I’m your doctor!”

“Mmm, yeah, you are,” Rose agreed, licking the shell of his ear before obediently sticking her hand into the reader.

All of the doctor-ly things he had previously been thinking about fled his mind, followed by telepathic laughter and a few very suggestive images.

Minx, he mentally chastised.

Mmm, but all yours.

“So!” he shouted (on accident), “I’ll just set your 6d scans and assessment to configure. And the TARDIS has finished graphing your daily scans with a focus on your telepathic centers. Want to know the results, or …?”

“Yeah, tell ‘em to me,” she whispered into his ear, and how did she do this?

I thought you had a headache?

She didn’t bother responding to that, instead taking a seat in his lap. The Doctor had to crane his neck in order to look at the computer screens. It was very hard to focus with his wife massaging his shoulders. But he eventually managed, eyes widening and mouth falling open as he read the readout.

It was pretty much what he’d suspected, but still. It’s one thing to theorize and another to see the evidence right in front of him.

“What? What is it?”

Rose stopped teasing him, looking back and forth between him and the monitors of Circular Gallifreyan.

“Bad Wolf.”

“Wait, what?”

He finally pulled his eyes away from the screens and focused on his bondmate, who was beginning to panic.

“It’s nothing bad,” the Doctor was quick to reassure her. “You’re fine. Perfectly healthy. It’s just, when you and the TARDIS merged, you had to connect telepathically. Humans, you’ve got loads of possibilities in your DNA that you never evolved to use. Telepathy is one of those things, the markers are already there. So what the TARDIS did was activate them, which allowed you two to properly communicate. Remove the Vortex, though, and the knowledge of how to use the telepathy disappears. But if you look at the progression from then to now, there’s been steady improvement. You’re stretching the muscles, so to speak.”

“And that’s … it’s fine?”

“Perfectly fine,” he repeated, hugging her tightly. “None of it’s normal, but I can’t say I’ve ever liked normal. And you know what?”

“What?”

“I can’t be certain, but assuming your trends hold, you’ll quickly become a stronger telepath than I am. Provided you have lessons.”

“Like more telepathy lessons than usual?” She frowned. “We have those all the time.”

“Not necessarily more often. More varied, though. Ohhh, I’m going to have to do even more reading. And I’ve not even started. I should really get on that.”

“Yeah, but not right now.” Rose stood and then began playing with his tie.

“Oh, definitely not right now. I was, you know, speaking in general, relative terms.”

The Doctor slid to the edge of his chair and went to take his glasses off.

Leave ‘em, his wife projected.

And he was quite delighted to wait to do all of this research until after she inevitably fell asleep.

[mammonshuman92]

- Sapphire -

(Mammon x MC)

| part two | part three |

NOTE: F!MC

It’s here, in the endless sapphire pools, that I could get lost swimming, forever. The sheer power that they hold over me is otherworldly, and to be honest, quite unfair.

“MC! Are you listening?” Satan was looking at you with slight irritation, closing his book. The two of you have been studying for an upcoming test in the common room since you got home from RAD.

You jumped a little, abruptly interrupted from your daydream.

“Hmm? Oh, sorry. I guess I zoned out.” You replied sheepishly. You sat up in your chair, looking at your textbooks trying to regain some kind of memory of what you and Satan had been studying, but it was no use. As of late, there was only ever one thing on your mind. Well, one demon anyway.

“It appears that your mind is elsewhere. Maybe we should take a break and pick it back up after dinner?” he suggested.

You checked the time on your D.D.D., and jumped up from where you sat. Satan looked at you, shocked by your sudden rash behavior.

“Oh, umm.. I can’t tonight, I have a....thing. Tomorrow though?” You rushed around gathering your books and notes into a disorderly pile. Satan looked at you suspiciously. What has gotten into her? He thought.

“Alright. Are you actually going to be present? More than just physically, I mean.”

“Yes, yes. I’m really sorry. Thanks!” You yelled over your shoulder as you ran from the room.

As you rounded the corner of the hallway, you ran right smack into something, sending you and all your books and papers flying. 

Great.

“Oof!” 

That thing you smacked into? Yeah, that was Mammon. You both landed on your butts with a *thud*

“What the Hell are ya runnin’ for?!” He griped, confused as to what had just happened. When he noticed who had run into him and his attitude changed. “MC? What are ya doin'?”

“I’m sorry, Mammon! I didn’t mean to run into you, I’m just in a hurry.” You quickly explained, trying to gather all your papers, again. He grabbed the small bit of papers near him and handed them to you.

“In a hurry for what?” he asked curiously, cocking his head to the side a little.

Shit! He can’t know where I’m going! I need to make an excuse and fast!

“Oh, umm.. I, uh, I-I’m going shopping with Asmo! Yeah.” That should work. He ususally follows you everywhere, especially shopping but once it comes to shopping with you and Asmo? Yeah, he’d rather sit that one out. Although, I’m sure he’ll complain that you’re not hanging out with him anyway.

You quickly grabbed the last bit of papers and took off toward your room without another word to Mammon.

“It’s movie night, ya know?!” He called after you.

“I’m sorry! I’ll make it up to you, I promise!” You yelled hastily, before quickly shutting your door.

“Hmph. Guess I’ll just do movie night by myself then” He pouted, sticking out his bottom lip a little like a small child.

As he turned to go to his room, something caught his eye. 

A piece of paper the two of you had missed. He picked it up and looked it over. 

It’s for sure MC’s handwriting. Is it song lyrics or somethin’?

He shrugged and shoved it into his pocket.

--

“I don’t have time to change, so my RAD uniform will just have to do. I just need to grab my bag, then I can go. Ugh! I’m gonna be late!” You said aloud while darting around your room.

I’m pretty nervous. I’ve never read any of the stuff I write in front of anyone, much less a crowd or people. Maybe I won’t choke since none of the brothers will be there. Could you imagine reading what you wrote in front of HIM?

*Shiver.* No thanks. Pretty sure I would spontaneously combust.

You grab your things and hurriedly rush out of your room. Hopefully I get out of here without being seen. I’m not sure how many lies I can come up with.

As you made your way down the staircase, someone came through the front door.. Dammit! It’s Asmo.

After a quick discussion, you were able to slip away from him.

Checking your D.D.D. for the time, you quickened your pace. “If I hurry I can make it there before the first reading.”

--

Mammon laid sprawled out on the couch in the common room, scrolling through Devilgram. He sighed heavily. “I’m so bored.”

He heard someone talking just outside the doorway.

Is that Asmo?

He went to investigate only to find Asmo walking down the hall with an arm full of shopping bags.

“You guys are back already?” Mammon questioned him. 

“Pardon?” Asmo asked, visibly confused.

“You and MC only left like an hour ago and you’re already back? Are ya sick?”

“Mammon what are going on about? I left to go shopping right after school.”

Huh? She ...lied?

“MC told me she was goin’ shopping with ya and left in a hurry earlier. If she ain’t with you, where’d she go?”

“Maybe she has a date.” Asmo shrugged and headed toward his room. Mammon stood there motionless and shocked like he’d been slapped in the face.

A date? The thought clawed it’s way around his brain. He felt a pang in his chest.

He’s always with her. To and from RAD, after school, through dinner, and until bed. Always together. They’re best friends.

So how did she manage to meet some other demon without him noticing? He started to get antsy and decided to go look for evidence in her room.

He looked everywhere. All over her desk and dresser, he couldn’t find a single shred of information on this mystery demon. Feeling defeated, he flopped across her bed with a groan.

Am I not good enough? I mean, she already spends all her time with me, what’s she need someone else for?

Thoughts of MC being with someone romantically ...intimately, started flooding his mind. He tried to shake it, but they just kept coming. The pain in his chest got worse.

He’s always been fond of her. In the beginning, when she was still new, he acted like it was such a burden to watch over her, but he secretly enjoyed it. There was just something about her. As hard as he tried to fight it, he found himself developing a sweet spot for the human. She’s always so nice and sticks up for him when it comes to his brothers. She always seems happy to see him and is down for whatever crazy money making schemes he can come up with. Before she got here, it had been a long time since he had felt this happy. He’s pretty sure he’s never laughed so much in his entire existence than when he’s with her.

As much as he tries to convince himself that he doesn’t care about the human, he doesn’t want to go back to life without her. Truth is, he cares about her. A lot.

All the thinking was starting to depress him.

He decided to get up and go to his own room and sulk for the rest of the night. Maybe he could stop by Lucifer’s study and sneak off with a bottle of Demonus. 

As he made his way to the door, he noticed something. The little calendar on your desk had a date circled in red. He picked it up to get a closer look. The date circled was today.

“Coffee shop, 6pm”

Boom. Re-con was successful! He found out where your date was!

He put the calendar back on your desk and checked the time. Crap! It’s almost 7.

He bolted from the room. If he had any chance of seeing what kind of punk lesser demon you were on a date with, he needed to hurry.

--

“This has to be it. She only goes to one coffee shop.” Mammon whispered to himself as he tried to peak inside the front window of the establishment. He couldn’t see you anywhere from where he was and decided to go inside and sit at a table in the very back. Maybe she won’t notice me. He thought. 

He scanned the room, but still couldn’t see you anywhere. Maybe she went to the bathroom?

As he kept scanning the room, the lights started to dim and everyone focused their attention to a small stage with a lone microphone at the back of the shop.

Huh?

A light shined on the stage and a man stepped up to the microphone.

“Thank you all for coming, we have a great turn out tonight. Without any further adieu, let’s get open mic night started!” The crowd applauded and the man walked off stage.

"Open mic night? I didn’t know she liked this kinda stuff.” Mammon said quietly to himself.

Maybe that’s why she’s on a date. He probably noticed all the stuff I didn’t. Mammon sat back in his chair, arms crossed across his chest, pouting. She’d never wanna be with an idiot like me anyway.

--

A couple people read poems, one girl sang, and a few people played instruments. Still no sign of MC.

Maybe she does know a different coffee shop. He started to fidget in his seat, mentally kicking himself. You shoulda told her, ya idiot!

How could he though? He is one of the seven rulers of the underworld. How is he supposed to tell a human that she makes his life so much better? That your laugh is like music and his favorite smell is that of your shampoo? That when you fall asleep next to him on the couch on movie night it’s the best night of his week? 

“Our final act of the night is new to the stage and a little nervous, so go easy on her.” said the emcee. The audience started to applaud as the man walked off stage.

Mammon scooted his chair out and stood to leave. She obviously wasn’t here and he needed a drink.

He was making his way to the door, when he heard it. 

That voice. MC?

He turned to see you standing on the stage, spotlight shining on you. He listened as you spoke.

Is that ...a poem? The words sounded very familiar, like he had heard them very recently. Then it clicked. 

He fished the piece of paper out of his pocket. The poem you were reciting on stage was the same thing written on the paper he found in the hallway.

She wrote this?

He looked up at where you stood on the stage. You hadn’t noticed him so he made his way back to his seat. As he watched you, he started paying attention to the words you were saying. You spoke so softly.

“It’s here, in the endless sapphire pools, that I could get lost swimming, forever. 

Gold flecks, warm like sunshine, adorn the precious gems he dare call an iris.

The sheer power that they hold over me is otherworldly, and to be honest, quite unfair.”

So there really is someone. He thought. There was a stinging feeling in his chest. You don’t talk like that unless love is involved.

“Warm skin, the color of caramel, electricity felt in the slightest of touches.

Hair born of the winter, soft as the Heavens from where it once reigned.

Completely enamored by this creature, I would also happily fall from grace.”

Hair born of winter? Fall from grace? Tan skin?

Wait. That sounds like..

Realization hit him like a truck.

“..It’s about me..” He whispered, barely audible even to himself.

His chest felt like it was going to explode. His stomach so full of butterflies he felt nauseous.

He couldn’t believe it..

| part two |