#so even though i wanted to start messaging people i really almost have the urge to cry at the thought of doing so rn | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

neptuneiris · 1 year ago

Text

cardigan (3/3)

I knew you, leavin' like a father, running like water

pairing: modern!aemond × best friend reader!

summary: being in love with your best friend since high school becomes a strong and unavoidable feeling. until it starts to become more difficult when you get to college and the two of you, especially him, meet new people.

word count: 8.8k

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After forcing yourself to forget about Aemond, start having every intention of having fun with your friends no matter what and get a few drinks… you did it.

You managed to have fun and have a really good time with your real friends.

Even though you got your heart broken, you felt really bad and had to endure that ugly sharp pain in your chest along with all that sadness, pain, anger and disappointment…. you drank and forgot about everything to focus on the moment.

You even met new people, all friends of Ryan's.

The next day, in Sara's room at the dorm, you didn't even remember their names or almost half of the things that happened at the party.

Until she reminded you herself and showed you videos of everyone together with those people dancing and having a good time.

Then, remembering what had happened before you decided to have fun, you felt that urge to cry again.

Fortunately Sara didn't ask you about him, it was as if she had forgotten about him and you were thankful for that since you didn't have to talk to her about anything.

However, after Sara does you the favor of taking you home, even though the place doesn't really feel like that anymore, nervous, cautious and not really having the energy and courage to face him, you still open the door of the apartment and enter.

But you get the big surprise that he's not even here.

Incredulous, you think to yourself that he must have stayed with his girlfriend again. And you quickly attend to Vhagar and yourself, wanting to occupy your mind so that you don't seriously cry at that moment.

Did he really completely forgot my birthday?

You didn't even need to know, the answer to the question was pretty clear when you got to the apartment since he didn't show up for the rest of the day either.

And you didn't know if you felt grateful for it since you didn't want to see him or it made you feel worse about the fact that he really had completely forgotten you and your special day.

So the best you could do at that moment, was to take a bath, eat a little and then look for a job again around your area.

You want to keep your mind busy, you don't want to think about him, so you don't rest and you don't take your eyes off your phone until you find a job.

Until you finally find a job at a flower shop near the university as the store's receptionist and where the working hours fit your schedule perfectly. They don't ask for experience either.

That day, even though your head hurts and you still haven't recovered one hundred percent from the previous party, you take pills, get some rest and head to the flower shop.

And the next few days, it's back to living alone in the apartment.

Since you completely ignored Aemond's messages that night, neither you nor he have spoken again, not even a phone call.

You no longer ask him if he will come to eat, what special food he wants in case he does, where he is or where he spent the night.

You don't do it anymore because you no longer want to or care.

You also no longer do his laundry, the little he has here really, and now you simply clean up the mess you make and only buy food for yourself.

He probably has to come to the apartment when you are in class and you are grateful for that, even though you feel more broken inside every day that passes and you see again how he completely forgot your birthday.

He doesn't say anything to you, he doesn't even make the slightest effort, he doesn't see you and doesn't seem to have the intention of doing so any time soon.

Does it hurt? Yes, very much.

But you know you are no one to tell him what he can and can't do, who he can and can't be with.

Just as you don't have to remind him that it was your birthday, nor should you tell him that he forgot all about it.

He knows what he is doing, he makes his own decisions, he is no longer a child,… and neither are you.

That's why despite being very upset, sad and broken, really not wanting to you still force yourself to try to communicate with him.

You've got the job and there's a dorm room available at the residence halls, so now you just want to give him the key to the apartment.

Although nothing would be better than just leaving and nothing else, but you know you can't do that.

After all, he helped you a lot financially by offering you your own space here, basically for free.

But yet when you text and call him a few times as you start packing, he doesn't respond.

He responds very late at night only telling you that he's staying the night with Alys. And when you ask him if you can see each other and talk, he doesn't respond anymore.

Until more days go by and you unsuccessfully, feeling really annoyed with him, you tell yourself that enough is enough.

You ask Ryan to help you transport your things to your new home and you definitely break all ties with Aemond by bringing Vhagar with you as well.

With him pretending you no longer exist, as if he didn't have his best friend living with him, or apparently so it was, so now you also do the exact same thing.

You pretend he no longer exists and just walk away.

And now as you settle into your new home, which is not at all like where you used to live before, you still like it and tell yourself that you will get used to it soon.

It has nothing more than the small square space with your bed, your closet and desk, also a small bathroom.

You only have to buy a small refrigerator now while everything else like laundry is already offered by the residence on the first floor.

You know your room will be a small place for Vhagar but she doesn't seem to mind as she settles into your bed and falls asleep once you start unpacking.

Until the weekend comes and your friends make noise in the group chat saying they want to party on Saturday.

And you, thinking you wouldn't be in the mood, agree to go and have some fun.

It's already been a full week Monday through Saturday morning that you started your new job that you couldn't have liked any better. So you want to get all the stress out.

Most of all you want to get the sadness out of your system because of work, your classes and also because of him.

It's also been a full week since you moved, so not wanting anything to do with him anymore, you head to the one person you know will help you with the matter: Helaena.

Helaena also studies at the same university, she also lives in a dorm room, only that she studies biology.

So once you send her a message asking if the two of you can meet, she gladly accepts and you arrange to meet in her room.

And soon enough she finds herself opening her door to greet you.

"Hi Y/N!" she exclaims happily and wraps you in a soft hug, to which you smile.

"Hello Hel."

"Where have you been? I finally see you."

She asks you as she pulls away from you and looks at you a little confused, without erasing her charming smile.

"You know…" You shrug your shoulders, a little nervous, "I've been very busy with my classes."

And even though that's not the real reason, she still believes you.

"Oh yeah, sure, me too, it's a nightmare. Come on in."

She steps aside so you can come in and you do, immediately feeling nervous because you know you'll have to tell her about everything that happened with her brother.

"Even so, you didn't come to the ball."

Helaena says to you suddenly and you watch her as she closes the door behind her.

"I thought it was weird since you always go to my family's ball."

"Yes…" you say a little uncomfortable, "I… I did…

"But it seemed so weird to me that all of a sudden Aemond took his girlfriend when he said that…..

She stops suddenly, then looks at you with her eyes wide open, now softening her confused face, watching you intently.

"Oh, don't tell me," she murmurs.

And all you do is bite your lips and lower your gaze for a moment in sorrow.

"Don't tell me you didn't go because he took his girlfriend."

You let out a long breath and at that moment, taking advantage of the fact that she has already brought up the subject of him and his girlfriend, you decide to tell her everything that happened.

The ball, how you now live alone in his apartment when it wasn't supposed to be like that, his conversation with Alys, his irresponsibility with Vhagar and finally your birthday.

"Oh I'm going to kill that son of a…

"No, Hel, please."

You ask her, not wanting to talk about him anymore.

"It's all done now. I don't want to cause any more…

"You? Cause anything?" she interrupts you, incredulous, "Y/N, you couldn't cause anything, it's all caused by him and his obsession with that girl."

"She's his girlfriend," you say with pain in your chest, "It makes sense."

"Yeah, but you don't put your best friend down for a relationship, Y/N," she says obviously and with an annoyed tone, "And believe me when I tell you that when I met that girl she didn't give me any good vibes. Mother seemed to some point pleased, but Nyra with her look told me everything, so did Aegon and even my uncle Daemon."

"Really?"

You ask her really interested in it, since apparently you were not the only one who felt that way when you met Alys for the first time.

"Yes, really," she assures you, "They all asked about you, Daeron, Jace and Luke too."

You lower your gaze with a sad expression, since you haven't seen Aemond's little brother or his two nephews who have always been very kind and funny with you.

You are also struck by the fact that Aemond did not tell you that his family had been asking about you at the ball.

Maybe he did it so as not to make you feel bad.

"Aemond didn't even answer them, he didn't even seem to know what to say. He just immediately introduced them to his girlfriend," she says with a pout.

You let out a long breath.

"Well, I still get the idea of how much fun everyone had. I saw your pictures and videos on Instagram."

"I just can't believe he told you at the last minute when you already had everything ready that he was taking his girlfriend," she insists, really annoyed, "And yet after making plans the idiot forgot your birthday?" she inquires.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Hel, that was a little more than a week ago," you say not wanting to give more importance to the matter, "In fact, I came here because I wanted to know if you could do me a favor, now that we are talking about it."

Helaena, still annoyed to hear everything you told her, still nods.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I…

You bite your lips, feeling nervous to tell the sister of your best friend, or ex best friend rather, about the new chapter of your life.

Mostly because after this, Aemond will finally know everything soon enough.

"I've gotten a job in a flower shop and I've also moved into a dorm. Don't worry, I have brought Vhagar with me, now I will take care of her."

You assure her the instant you know she would ask you about Vhagar.

"And even though I didn't want to, I had to try to communicate with Aemond, but he never responded and I never saw him around the apartment, so I just left because I couldn't delay any longer. To this day he doesn't even know anything."

Again Helaena's soft, tender face contorts in anger.

"That fucking son of a….

"So…" you interrupt her, taking the things from your backpack, "Here is the key to the apartment and also this envelope with money to pay him for the troubles."

You look at her with a certain sadness and with the hope in your face that she will take care of this after Helaena sees everything in your hands and again returns her gaze to yours.

"Could you hand it over to him, please?"

And now it is Helaena's turn to look at you sadly and with compassion as she looks at your hurt face and understands what you went through and what you are going through now.

"Oh, Y/N…" she says disappointedly, "I'm so sorry for my stupid brother."

And again she pulls you in a soft and comforting hug that you allow since you really need it, even though you avoid breaking down crying at that moment.

You know Helaena probably won't tell him anything, but you still don't want to cry in the arms of your ex-best friend's sister.

"Don't worry, Hel. And nothing that happened with him will affect our friendship either," you assure her in a sad voice.

"No, of course not," she says instantly, hugging you a little tighter.

After a few more moments like that, they both separate and Helaena takes the key and the envelope with the money.

That money was sent to you monthly by your parents and you decided to give it to him. Now with your job at the flower shop, you can get that money back for your needs.

But for now it feels good to give it to Aemond because despite hearing that horrible conversation between him and his girlfriend, you do it mostly to feel better about yourself.

And after talking a few more moments with Helaena, you both finally say goodbye and you walk through her door.

You both agree that one of these days you could go for a coffee together. And just as you are about to leave, Helaena stops you with her words.

Words that leave you completely still, and then you look at her again with a slight surprise on your face.

"I always believed and hoped that you and Aemond would end up together, you know," she says with a sad little smile, "I know you were best friends, but I always had a feeling, always.

At that moment… how you wished her words would have been true.

How you would have wanted that to happen.

You think with illusion, sadness and disappointment, and then just try to smile even a little in her direction, say goodbye one last time and leave.

Later that night, after crying a little and trying to cheer yourself up by getting ready to go to the party with your friends, you arrive at the frat house and the party starts right then and there.

At first, cautious, you are kept alert by the fact that Aemond could probably be here with his girlfriend or with his friends, or maybe both.

But fortunately for you, there is no silver-haired guy with a black haired girl in the crowd, so you can feel at peace.

Immediately the party games like beer pong and drinking begin.

Until at some point of the party, you realize while talking and having fun with Aileen, that again Ryan's friends have joined the group, three guys exactly.

And as you're all dancing together, having a good time, you're drinking and forgetting about everything, really enjoying yourself, you suddenly find yourself dancing and singing the songs at the top of your lungs with one of Ryan's friends, Cregan Stark.

A tall guy, dark brown hair, with black eyes and features that can't go unnoticed.

Cregan seems to have his eye on you and you have yours on him.

Eventually the two start talking, being close, dancing together, even taking pictures and videos of each other, and then the two sit on one of the sofas and continue talking.

The two very close to each other to the point of almost kissing.

Maybe it was the alcohol, the moment, the party or just that you wanted to have this kind of moments with some guy, because Cregan is really handsome and you really wanted to kiss him.

However, all the guys arrived just at that moment to keep you company and rest a bit after having been dancing for a while.

Cregan didn't seem to mind, you didn't really either, you both just smiled at each other, although he had that little disappointment on his face from the interruption.

It remained as that pending between you and that's why he asked for your number.

The next day, apparently that interaction and closeness between you and Cregan was noticed by everyone, but more so by your friends who squeal and excitedly talk about him and you.

You find out that he's a law student, a year older than you, likes dogs, plays the guitar, and apparently isn't dating anyone.

You didn't want to get your hopes up with him, because you knew that meeting a guy and him suddenly having an interest in you at a party is usually not a long-term interest and is just for the moment.

But the expectation went up the moment he texts you and asks you if you want to have coffee with him on Tuesday morning before you both have your respective classes.

And you respond, or well, your friends respond more excitedly than you, that you accept.

"Girl, the guy is handsome, tall, funny and a really nice guy, what more could you ask for?"

And in that, Aileen is right. However… there is a problem. And that problem has a name: Aemond.

Aemond has ruined every guy for you in many ways, both physically and personality-wise.

And even though he wasn't like that, he really was a very bad friend to you and all his decisions hurt you. That's why agreeing to date Cregan is easy.

You also tell yourself that Aemond doesn't matter anymore. He has a girlfriend, he's living his life apart, and so are you, and you and he are no longer friends.

So once Cregan tells you that he is already waiting for you outside your dorm, you rush out.

Excitedly you take one last look in your mirror, make sure nothing is out of place, also make sure Vhagar is okay and head for the door to leave with your backpack on your shoulder and your phone in hand.

But when you opened the door, you clearly didn't expect to see your ex-best friend about to knock on your door with a totally bewildered, confused, worried and to some extent distressed and desperate look on his face.

"Y/N...

And you are totally paralyzed the moment your name leaves his lips.

At first, you don't understand what he is doing here or how he knew exactly where you were now since you didn't tell Helaena anything about your new home.

In fact, you didn't say anything to anyone he and you know together. However, you do know him.

You know that he just by asking anyone he can find out anything he wants to know, including finding people, simply because he is Aemond Targaryen.

And then you start to panic and you feel very nervous because he's really here.

"W-what are you doing here?" you ask him in a bewildered whisper.

In an instant you tense up and hold tightly to the edge of your door, watching him intently and alertly.

"What am I doing here?" he asks in a totally bewildered voice, "What are you doing here?" he says, now certainly annoyed.

"I-I don't… I don't have time for this, okay?"

You try to walk past him, bearing in mind that Cregan is waiting for you outside and you don't want to keep him waiting any longer.

But you can't stop your heart from beating too fast and you can't stop this agonizing feeling in your gut at the sight of him now after so many weeks.

"Are you serious?"

He stops you by taking your arm in a firm grip, making you stand in front of him again, with the most bewildered, confused and annoyed look you've ever seen on his face.

"I come home calling you, wanting to talk to you, having this stupid idea that you were busy or something, only to find out that Vhagar isn't there, neither are you and neither are your things," he says to you incredulously, "I thought something bad had happened to you Y/N, I was so worried. I started to go crazy because I couldn't even call you or send you messages, nothing was getting through to you."

And at that moment, everything you were feeling, is replaced by hatred and anger for very clear reasons and that he, seeming surprising to you, doesn't see or even realize.

He probably wanted to talk to you about your birthday, but he couldn't call or text you because since you moved out and he had no idea, you decided to block him from everywhere.

But really, even though you feel weak from his unexpected appearance, his words don't make you feel anything but hurt and angry.

"And do you have any fucking idea how it made me feel when I called Helaena and she told me you got a job and moved into a fucking dorm just making everything worse?" he asks you annoyed, "All this without me having a fucking idea, Y/N."

The way he tells you everything, you immediately tell yourself that you won't react the same way even though all that flows through your system is one thing: anger.

So instead of talking to him in annoyance because you don't want to and don't have the time to explain yourself more than necessary, you talk to him calmly in comparison to him.

He is visibly frustrated and looks more bewildered than ever.

"Maybe you would have known… if you had answered my calls or messages, Aemond. Or if you had shown up even once at your apartment."

And you overemphasize your apartment.

"All that was over a week ago, much longer in fact, and you barely care to know about me or Vhagar," you say bitterly.

He shakes his head, looking more distressed and worried than before.

"I-I…" He lets out a long breath, "And what the fuck is this supposed to mean?"

He asks you again in annoyance, clearly after he has no idea what to say to the previous and from his jacket pocket he takes out the money you gave to Helaena for him and also the key to his apartment.

"For your troubles?" he raises the money in annoyance, "And the key for what? Are you really going to stay here definitely?"

"The money is because I didn't give you a single penny to help you financially and the key so you have more privacy with Alys every time you get home and I don't have to be there locked up in my room… stopping you," you explain without much interest, "That's what you wanted, isn't it?" you raise your eyebrows expectantly at him.

But he is speechless, staring at you in surprise, bewilderment and anguish, his whole worried expression speaking for itself.

"Did you…" he pauses in concern, "Did you hear us that night?"

You deliberately ignore his question.

"You wanted me to meet new people and go out more, also give you your privacy…well, I'm doing exactly that. Now leave and don't ever come back."

And without further ado you close the door behind you firmly and walk away from him to head for the stairs and finally leave to meet Cregan.

But because of the circumstances and everything Aemond must be feeling, he doesn't let you go so easily.

"Hey, no, stop," he says in a warning tone and then grabs your arm and immobilizes you as you turn towards him.

"Let go of me."

"Y/N…

"I have to go. Someone is waiting for me."

"Y/N, please…" he calls pleadingly, "You don't have to lie, I-I…" he runs a hand over his frustrated and anguished face, "Was all this for your birthday?"

At his question, you say nothing, just continue to stare at him with the most serious look ever, now just pressing your lips together and waiting for him to let go so you can leave.

"Y/N…" he calls you cautiously and with worry in his eyes, "I know I fucked up, I know that….

"Oh please, Aemond," you exclaim irritated, "I don't need any more of your pity, okay? I really don't care what you have to say, it's all done. I gave you the key back and the money too, didn't I? Now you won't have to pity me anymore and your girlfriend will be pleased to know that I won't interfere with your plans anymore."

He lets out a long breath, more frustrated than before and completely irritated by your words.

"It doesn't matter what you heard that night, Y/N. It doesn't matter what Alys said either," he tells you in desperation.

But you don't care anymore.

"I've done my part, now leave me alone."

Again you try to leave but he again won't let you go.

"Will you stop running away!? I want to talk to you, I want to fix this!" he says in exasperation, "I don't want your key and I certainly don't want your fucking money, I want you back with me!"

And that's when you can't take it any longer and you finally explode in anger at him.

"Now you want me to be with you after always leaving me out of all the plans we made for your girlfriend and leaving me living alone!? Do you really think I even want to see you and be in the same place as you after everything you done!?"

He is about to answer you, but a third voice between you stops him and also the whole discussion between the two of you.

"Y/N?"

Both you and Aemond turn your heads and from the stairs Cregan Stark looks curiously between you and Aemond, almost worried.

You know your screams must have been heard all the way to the first floor considering your room is on the second.

"Is everything all right here?" he asks you softly and attentively, turning to you.

Feeling embarrassed that he might have heard everything, which is most likely, you finally loosen your grip on Aemond and control yourself by telling yourself that it's all over now.

"Yes, everything is fine," you put on your best face, or try to, "Sorry, I was on my way out. I didn't want to keep you waiting too long."

"No, it's fine," he says nonchalantly, "Although I did come to hurry you a little," he confesses with a small, embarrassed smile, "At the coffee shop we're going to, the coffee you like is on promotion, but only until ten o'clock, so I want to get there to buy it for you."

In other circumstances, Cregan's words would have made you feel on the clouds, but because of what was happening before and with Aemond present, his words have no effect on you.

Especially because of Aemond's confused and intimidating look at Cregan, clearly annoyed by the interruption, as well as wanting to know who this guy is and realizing that you really had someone waiting for you.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," you nod in his direction, "He was just leaving too."

You say with a certain bitter and obvious tone turning your head towards Aemond, but without looking at him to which you immediately feel his gaze on you, but you ignore him.

And not wanting to keep Cregan waiting any longer, you head towards him, take him by the arm and lead him along with you towards the stairs, leaving Aemond behind.

After you and Cregan start heading towards the coffe shop, you try to pay attention to everything he tells you, but you can't.

You pretend to listen to him and collaborate a little in his conversation, feeling bad about yourself but you can't help it since all you can think about is Aemond.

And even though Cregan tries to bring up the subject, clearly because it's obvious he heard you were arguing, you quickly evade him.

However, he tells you that he believes he has seen Aemond before and has heard a lot about him. Also of his sister, Helaena.

But overall, this going out or rather date? with Cregan… did not turn out as you expected and as you wanted it to because of Aemond's unexpected visit to your new home.

And once again, you find yourself out of balance because of what happened with him now.

Latch by Disclosure and Sam Smith is heard throughout the house of the most popular party frat house and the one that never disappoints.

At first, you thought about not partying with your friends and Cregan since you weren't in the mood and didn't want to have to deal with a hangover the next day.

However, Cregan is the one who convinces you and now the two of you are dancing along with all your other friends having a good time, singing at the top of your lungs and forgetting about everything.

The whole party is going amazing, you're still not drinking too much, you're having fun with your friends and Cregan most of all.

Until you are catching your breath to continue dancing with Cregan, both of you apart and talking, suddenly your gaze is focused on the entrance of the house and Aemond Targaryen makes an appearance holding Alys' hand with all his friends also entering behind him.

Instantly you want to leave, because you know you don't feel comfortable now with the presence of your ex best friend knowing what happened the last time you saw each other.

And even more so when he notices you standing apart, with that guy from before, the two of you very close and talking, now realizing your presence.

But you pretend not to see him even though your heart starts beating fast when you feel his gaze.

When you stop feeling that he is looking at you, then you see him and still holding hands with Alys both of them go to the kitchen. And that's when you say to yourself: no.

He is not going to ruin this party with your friends. He came here for the sole purpose of having fun, which is the point of the party and so are you.

You decide to leave the feelings behind and continue having fun as before.

You drink some more, resume dancing, singing and playing party games, just forget about him and focus on you, what you are doing and the people around you.

When in the kitchen, while you are pouring more drinks for Cregan and yourself, something happens that you least expected and that causes you a lot of confusion at the same time.

However, somehow you must have known that Aemond would be coming for you.

"Y/N."

He calls out to you and when you look at him, you again meet his gaze a little worried but also hopeful that he might talk to you.

But of course, Alys must be by his side clinging to his right arm, watching you with a certain indifference.

And you, preferring a thousand times to ignore it, unfortunately still do not finish preparing the drinks, so you decide to act indifferent.

"Yes?" you say without even looking at him.

And just with your indifference, which Aemond notices perfectly, only makes him more frustrated, but not wanting to explode again against you, he can only try to relax and start with what he wants to say as calmly as possible so as not to push you away.

"Are you…" he swallows hard, looking at you apologetically and a bit nervously, "Are you enjoying the party?"

However, his question couldn't have been more pathetic for you.

"Yes, very much in fact."

You answer without further ado, putting everything back in its place to finally get out of the way and leave. And that's what you do, you turn around with your drinks in hand and walk away.

But he stops you instantly by standing in front of you.

"Y/N," he calls out to you pleadingly, "Can we go outside and talk, please?"

And you, wanting to take your indifference further, even more with Alys' presence, that's exactly what you do.

"About what?"

"About the other day," he tells you more cautious and attentive than before.

And you frown at him.

"Was there anything else to say?"

He lets out a long sigh.

"Y/N, please…

"There you are!"

Again Cregan's voice interrupts the conversation between the two of you and Cregan, without even noticing Aemond, turns to you with a small smile on his lips.

"I went to the bathroom for two seconds and I had already lost you," he says amused, "You need help?"

He points to the drinks and you nod.

"Yes," you extend one to him, placing a soft smile in his direction, "This one's yours, actually.

"Thank you, my pretty."

And maybe it had been again the interruption of the same boy from the other day, that makes Aemond can't help but feel annoyed.

But maybe it's more from the fact that he tenses up and watches him with a clenched jaw as he hears that word from him towards you.

Pretty.

Both he and you think, but you really couldn't care less as you watch between Cregan and him over the nickname.

And feeling Aemond's burning gaze, Cregan finally seems to notice the presence of Aemond Targaryen himself.

"Oh, hey," he smiles friendly, "Sorry, we've met before, haven't we?"

And Aemond, really annoyed, just bites the inside of his cheek and avoids showing his irritation, as well as the discontent he feels towards the guy.

"Yes," he says without looking at him, with a cutting tone, focusing again on you.

"Yes, sorry again," Cregan tells him again, "It's just that we weren't introduced."

And after Cregan says that, you're sorry but you want to murder him.

Especially since now Cregan is watching you too, already having the smoldering stare of your ex best at you and the guy you're apparently starting to have… something with.

Not to mention the judgmental and irritated look from Alys as well.

And you, having no choice, introduce them to each other.

"Aemond, this is Cregan, my friend," you point to Cregan, "And Cregan, this is Aemond, an old classmate at high school."

And finally you point to Aemond, without looking at him too much.

And again, everything in Aemond contracts and his whole bewildered look is reflected on his face after hearing your words.

Even Alys stirs in her place, watching Aemond intently.

A strange feeling in his chest invades him and all his disappointment, as well as his sadness, is reflected even though he tries not to be.

But the way you said it, your look, your attitude, everything about you makes him feel miserable and makes him recognize that he has definitely lost you.

Especially because after that, you don't waste any more time, you take Cregan by the hand and excuse both of you to go back to your friends, not wanting to be around him anymore.

After the party goes on, Aemond can't enjoy the moment. Even Alys next to him doesn't get his attention, neither do his friends.

All he sees is you, with him, the two of you dancing, laughing and close to each other.

He's certainly never seen you having fun like that before, never in the company of a guy he admits he recognizes; he seems like a really nice guy.

An unpleasant feeling turns his stomach and he feels it in his chest again when you laugh at something he has said, he slips an arm around your shoulders and leaves a kiss on your cheek.

His jaw tenses and he can't take his eye off of you, to some extent starting to annoy Alys by his lack of attention.

And Aemond loses it completely the moment he turns his face towards you, you turn your face towards him and the two of you kiss.

All the friendship that the two of you and Aemond used to have, you and Aemond, passes right in front of him in that moment.

Everything, from the beginning, from high school to college, with both of you moving into the apartment, having movie nights, having breakfast and dinner together, grocery shopping, everything.

As well as all the bad stuff caused by him, which he admits to, like all those nights he left you behind for Alys, the ball and your birthday.

Unable to take it anymore, totally ignoring Alys and everyone, with the hardest look on his face, he leaves the house in an act of desperation and

He moves away from all the people, from Alys, from you, because he can't see you having fun without him, he can't see you with other people, because it was always him.

And knowing that he was the one who caused your friendship to end, he takes a seat on the stairs leading to the house and starts smoking.

But even he doesn't understand himself.

Isn't this what you wanted?

His mind asks him, as confused as he is, who with a bad face and feeling like a complete idiot, continues smoking, thinking that it would be better to go back home.

But without you… it doesn't feel like that anymore.

He stays thinking for a long time, without Alys bothering to look for him, which he is grateful for since he has more time with himself.

While you, still at the party, continue drinking and sharing a kiss or two with Cregan, not really caring that you're among friends and other people.

But the moment with Cregan ends when he tells you that he has to leave, even showing you some messages from his sister asking him to pick her up at a party outside the university.

He asks you if you want him to leave you too, but you prefer to continue having fun for a while longer. You both say goodbye and stay with your friends.

Not long after, however, they all get really drunk. Even Ryan.

So as the four of you leave the house, ordering Uber's and laughing amongst yourselves, that's when Aemond sees you.

Confused, he throws the rest of his cigarette away and stands up from the stairs, watching you intently. And noticing your condition, he actually gets worried.

You can't even stand firmly on your feet.

And all you remember is having a brief conversation or discussion with someone, that someone also talking to Ryan, then you feel yourself being carried, you protest a little, and then all goes dark.

The moment you open your eyes, completely numb and feeling like a mess, the pain in your throat, body and head begins.

You groan under your breath, scrunching up your face and holding a hand to your forehead, feeling as if your head is about to explode in constant sharp pain.

You let out a sigh, closing your eyes and trying to calm yourself down so you can get through the pain easier, but it's impossible.

You drank too much, that's for sure, your body is confirming it. But what you don't know is where you are.

Alarmed, you quickly reopen your eyes and look around you, worrying because you don't remember who you left with last night and whether you came to your room or someone else's.

When your whole face contorts in confusion as you realize that this room is not yours, nor is it Sara's or Aileen's room. In fact, this room you know and you know it very well.

You open your eyes wide and don't understand anything, beginning to get seriously alarmed and worried.

What the fuck am I doing in Aemond's room?

You think to yourself as you force yourself to ignore all the internal pain you are feeling and get out of bed.

You quickly put on your shoes, make sure you have all your things with you and leave the room, hoping he's not here.

But of course he must be, because as you walk out into the hallway, with your things held against your chest, you hear sounds and very low music coming from the kitchen.

And as you slowly, cautiously approach, you see him, preparing breakfast, moving back and forth across the kitchen with his back to you.

Hopeful, you watch the door ahead a few feet away from you, then look cautiously again at Aemond, who fortunately has not noticed your presence.

You think to yourself that you could head for the door without making a sound and leave without him noticing. Being here with him in your old home doesn't please you, especially since you don't understand how you got here last night with him.

But you don't care, all you want to do is leave.

However, before you can try to do anything, he turns to grab something from the counter and sees you.

"Oh, you're awake," he says with a soft tone and a calm look.

At this, you don't say anything, you just watch him, hoping that by your look and your posture he understands that you already want to leave.

But he, at your lack of words, continues trying.

"You must be feeling very bad, you were very drunk last night. Here I have left you a glass of water and a pill, it will help you after you finish breakfast," he points to the bar, effectively pointing to a glass of water and a pill."

You look away from him for a second, wanting to let out a snort, since you definitely don't plan to stay here for breakfast and it's silly of him to think so just because you're here.

"What am I doing here?" you ask him, serious.

And by your tone of voice, Aemond is surprised and also disappointed, since he thought that things between you and him would never be like this again.

But how wrong he was.

Still, with relaxed posture and soft tone, he answers you to keep the peace as much as possible between the two of you and you don't leave, which is what he fears the most.

"You were very drunk last night, and so were all your friends," he explains.

"Ryan was supposed to take me and my friends to my doorm," you tell him seriously.

"Your friend was really drunk too, Y/N," he says in a more serious tone, "He couldn't handle the three of you. And I certainly wasn't going to let you go in that state, you could barely walk.

You press your lips together, thinking about the party and your friends, to again look at the door in front of you.

"Well… thank you, but I didn't need your help," you say curtly, "Not now either."

And without further ado you head for the door, catching Aemond unawares, who quickly reacts and stands in front of you, grabbing your arm.

"Y/N, please wait…

"I need to go.

"Where to?" he asks frustrated, not believing you.

"That doesn't concern you. I don't want to be here," you tell him annoyed, again trying to pass by his side, but he doesn't let you.

"Please," he repeats pleadingly, "Please don't do this anymore. Just stay."

"Let me go and let me pass," you warn him.

"At least just stay for breakfast," he insists desperately, "Let's talk and then I will take you to your dorm, I pro….

"Will you stop!?"

You explode furiously at him, unable to hold back any longer, feeling more headache and pain all over your body, but you don't care because you're tired, you're fed up and because you've had enough.

While he remains completely silent and observes you slightly surprised by your reaction, since he had certainly never seen you like this before.

At least not with him.

"I don't want to be here, I don't want to have breakfast with you, I don't want to talk to you and I don't want to see you!" you exclaim annoyed, "Can't you really see that? Can't you see that you and I are no longer friends? Can't you see that you're hurting me?"

"Y/N…" he says to you in a low tone, with a thread of voice: "Don't say that...

"You shouldn't have brought me here, you shouldn't have even tried to talk to me, because I don't want to talk to you, I want to get away from you and I want you to respect that!"

And without being able to stand it anymore, tears start to run down your cheeks, but you ignore it totally and continue watching Aemond with the most hurt look of all.

"Stop trying to play savior with me Aemond, because I've had enough."

"Playing savior with you?" he repeats in bewilderment, "Y/N, you are my best friend, I don't….

"No, that's not true, I'm not your best friend, I'm nothing!" you blurt out again furious, "A best friend doesn't hurt his best friend, doesn't leave her aside for a relationship, doesn't replace her, doesn't leave her living alone and certainly doesn't forget her fucking birthday, Aemond!"

Then again Aemond is speechless, watching you with his eye wide open, his lips half open, while you start crying in earnest, unable to control yourself.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N," he says to you, in a low, broken-toned whisper.

"No, you're not!" you reproach him, upset, crying, feeling broken, "If you were really sorry, you would have apologized since after my birthday, not until now that weeks have passed," you tell him hurt, "And that hurts, Aemond, it hurts that until now you have realized it, that until now you are looking for me, always treating me as the second option!"

The first tear falls down Aemond's right cheek, looking at you with a hard, but still broken expression.

"I'm so sorry, I really am. I care about you, you know that….

"No, that's not true, you don't, you don't care about me!" you contradict him again, crying.

And finally you are able to pass by his side, leaving him in a state just as broken as you are, while you wipe your tears and try to control yourself, when you can't. You still want much, much more.

There is still much, much more you want to say and you say it as you stop before you touch the door and stare at Aemond with as much sadness, hatred and anger as you can.

"You left me aside for Alys, you included her and took me out of our plans, you left me living alone here with Vhagar, you forgot my fucking bir…

You stop, sobbing and breathing hard, trying to calm yourself down.

"You forgot my fucking birthday for her and her parents while I was waiting for you, believing your stupid promises so that in the end you never showed up and only to remember me weeks later and a real friend doesn't do shit like that to his best friend if he really cared, Aemond!" you tell him crying, "I never was that way with you and believe me that having a boyfriend even so I wouldn't have been."

Then everything, both for him and for you stops, because hearing you crying and seeing you so broken, leaves him completely immobile and as broken as you are by your words.

Words and feelings of yours that he had no idea about.

While you, unable to take it anymore, finally open the apartment door and leave, wanting to get away from here and him, because that's what you want and…. he lets you.

He doesn't go after you, like he would have, because your words, everything about you, has left him completely paralyzed. He had never seen you like that, so destroyed and in tears.

And that he was responsible for those reactions of yours, reactions that he hates to see in you, makes him feel more stupid and guilty than ever.

And at that moment he realizes, that this time he has definitely lost you and in a very bad way. He has lost his best friend because of his own actions.

He feels miserable. More miserable than you.

And after that… nothing was ever the same again, both for him and for you.

You didn't see each other again after what happened in his apartment, you didn't even hear from each other through social media, because you had blocked him from everywhere and that's just felt better.

The two of you continued with your classes and in separate ways, as before, only now he was also aware of it and not only you, now with the difference that the friendship between the two of you no longer exists.

To a certain point you knew that he was still having a relationship with Alys Rivers, while you, you had to realize that starting something with Cregan, something more formal, would not be possible, at least not on your part.

You are still so in love with your best friend and so hurt that you didn't want to start something with Cregan knowing that you didn't feel anything beyond that for him. You didn't want him to be your distraction, because it wasn't right.

Your distraction was something else, something you still don't know what it is but you desperately need. Until two weeks after what happened with Aemond, that distraction showed up.

At the end of another semester of your career, an exchange program was opened for the next semester with destinations to Winterfell, the Iron Islands, Casterly Rock, Highgarden and Dorne.

There were also destinations to Essos, but you decided it would be best to go to Highgarden since with your excellent academic record, you entered the program with all expenses paid.

At the same time that you would go to classes, you would also have your internship with one of the best psychologists by being his assistant and start training yourself with his cases. You would even get paid for it.

The semester lasts six months, six months away from Kings Landing, that being exactly what you need.

So after going through all the necessary processes, you were finally given a departure date to Highgarden to begin a brief but important chapter in your life.

You gave the news to your parents, who were happy for you, wished you much success, and even let Helaena know who texted you to ask how you were doing. You never tried to talk to him.

And after the day arrives, happy and at ease with yourself, you board the plane taking Vhagar with you and hope that this will help you put it all behind you.

While still at Kings Landing University, in one of the coffee shops on campus, Helaena and Aemond Targaryen enjoy a good coffee, both serious, not talking much, just him and Helaena lost in their thoughts.

Helaena let him know the news and honestly, he doesn't know how to feel.

He is happy for you, but knowing that you are gone and will be back in up to six months, with no more friendship between the two of you, makes him feel even more miserable.

"She's in love with you, you know?"

The sweet voice of his sweet sister makes Aemond, in a fatal state, as if he hadn't slept well for days, raise his gaze towards her without really having much expression.

As Helaena shows him with her gaze how terribly honest she is being with him at that moment.

"She didn't tell me anything, but I just know," she explains.

And Aemond again lowers his gaze, running a hand over his chin, letting out a long breath.

"You really fucked up, Aemond. I can't believe you were such an idiot."

"I know," he says in a low, emotionless whisper, "You don't have to say it again, I know."

"So what then?" she says, "Get that brilliant brain of yours working. You can't be the smartest guy in your class and at the same time the biggest idiot with the girl who has always been there for you."

He shakes his head, only feeling worse just talking about you.

"Hel, I don't want to…

"Are you really going to let her go?"

His sister interrupts him with a look more expectant than ever, watching him attentively, while he swallows hard and observes with a serious and sad look Helaena in front of him.

And he doesn't answer because he doesn't want to, but because he doesn't have an answer to that question, mostly because he hadn't thought about it before.

Will I really let her go?

He asks himself, but the truth is… he doesn't know.

Aemond knows it's already too late but he also feels that that's not entirely true. Maybe, just maybe… he has another chance. And his last.

thank you very much for reading and for joining me in this short way, it makes me so happy that you liked cardigan very much, there are more stories for you on the way, wait for them:)

besides, there's still the epilogue, that's when we'll say goodbye to this story for good🥺❣

@letmeloveyouuuu @ohdemimonde @carriellie @jennifer0305 @serving-targaryen-realness @mariaelizabeth21-blog1 @ttkttt @melllinaa @nyenye @hoziersfairy @introverbatim @happinessinthebeing @hnslchw @padfooteyes @riseandreigns4u @shessthunderstoms @strangersunghoon @aemondslefteyeball @1950schick @ammo23 @targaryenmoony

there were many of you that I could not add to the taglist, an apology.

#aemond targaryen #aemond targaryen x reader #aemond targaryen x y/n #aemond targaryen x you #aemond x fem!reader #aemond x oc #aemond targaryen fanfic #aemond x reader #hotd aemond #aemond fanfiction

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achilles-rage · 28 days ago

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thirteen crows: chapter six

summary: your bar regulars come visit you at your house, begging you to let them in. then, you're visited by the masked men again.

word count: 2.6k

previous chapter

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a/n: one again, you can choose who is who during the last part of the story, but i wrote it with the idea that buck is more eager to please, while eddie is sadistic hehe. and i'm so sorry, this was supposed to be longer (the smut was lol) but i sprained my wrist a couple years ago and it never fully healed, so typing is really painful sometimes, and lately it's been really bad. i'll try to make the next chapter longer if my wrist feels better though. enjoy<33

warnings: hints of smut, stalking, slight non-con (but reader likes it??? idk), no use of y/n, fem!reader, plus size!reader, race inclusive!reader

It’s been almost a week since you watched Isaac die in the alleyway. You’ve called in sick to work the entire week; you can hardly even get out of bed. While you hope and pray that you aren’t in danger as long as you play along with this fucked up game, the people around you are dying now.

You went to take the trash out the day after Isaac died, it was late at night, and you almost bumped into a man in the dark back entryway of your building. The next day, he was found dead in his car. Stabbed to death. And you recognized him immediately when you saw the news.

You hadn’t noticed when he turned, thinking for a moment about following you, but choosing against it. But they did. They had been parked outside of your house for most of the day, just making sure their sweet girl was okay, when they saw the man. They knew what they had to do; they couldn’t risk anything happening to you.

In reality, the man had stopped and turned because he thought he forgot his wallet in his girlfriend’s apartment, but then realized it was in his pocket, and turned back around and left the building. They weren’t aware of that, though. Clearly.

They start to get worried for you when you still haven’t left your apartment a week later. They’re almost sure you’re running out of food by now, and all you do is move from your bed, to your couch, and back to bed.

You’re ignoring their messages and calls, too. You didn’t even laugh when you listened to Buck’s voicemail about a fight almost breaking out at the Thirteen Crows on football night. You usually love to hear drama like that.

That’s why, eight days after they killed Isaac, Eddie shows up to your house with a smile and a box of donuts. Something to cheer you up, he says.

“Eddie, you have to go.” He’s only just able to see your face; your body completely behind the door as you open your door just far enough for you to stick your head out. His smile falters; this donut shop is your favourite.

“I heard about Isaac, and Tara says you’ve called in to work every day this week. Figure you could use some company.” he tries to reason, fighting the urge to push the door open and bully his way in. He can’t, though. He knows that.

“Thank you, but you really have to go.” you tell him. You try to be stern, but your voice comes out just above a whisper, and Eddie picks up on the edge in your voice.

You can’t see him being killed too. You’re not sure why these men have attached themselves to you, or how the people around you are managing to piss them off, but you really don’t want to test them. And Eddie has a son, for god’s sake, you can’t risk anything happening to either of them.

“Why? Is everything okay?” he asks, feigning concern as he looks at you with his big brown eyes. You sigh, tears forming in your eyes as you tear your gaze from his and tilt your face to the floor. He’s so kind, and you want nothing more than to have his large arms wrapped around you right now, letting him calm you down, but you know you can’t.

“I don’t want you to die.” is all you say before you close the door abruptly. He hears the lock click, and he listens hard to hear your movements behind the door. When he doesn’t, he pulls out his phone, seeing that you’re still standing with your back pressed to the door, tears streaming down your cheeks and dripping off your chin.

He huffs as he opens the phone app and hits Buck’s contact. He needs him here now. Their poor thing; they’ve scared you too much, and now they have to do something to get you back. To make you believe they can protect you.

He walks down the hall, just enough that you won’t be able to hear him before he explains what’s just happened to Buck, although he’s sure Buck had already heard most of the conversation from the camera.

Not even ten minutes later, Buck is walking into your building with food from your favourite takeout place. They both walk back to your door together, waiting impatiently for you to let them in.

When Buck sees your tired face, riddled with sorrow, it’s hard for him to fight the urge to barge into your apartment and wrap his arms around you, but he restrains himself. He knows you have to let them in willingly.

“Please.” is all you say when you look between them, and they give you sheepish smiles.

“You’re not gonna get rid of us, sweetheart. We know you need someone. Please let us in.” Buck says, and Eddie’s brows raise just slightly, proud of the sincerity in his voice.

You hesitate as you look between them, their eyes big and hopeful. You know you shouldn’t; you’re half sure that they’re already on the masked men’s hit list already just by being here. But you feel like you’re going fucking insane. You want nothing more than to be close to someone right now, so after a few moments, you sigh and open the door further.

They’re quick to move past you and into your apartment before you change your mind. They make themselves right at home in your kitchen, getting the food they brought ready, while you sit back down on your couch, too exhausted to follow them.

They sit the food in front of you when they come back in, then sandwich you between them on the couch. Their bodies are pressed up beside yours, but you hardly care right now, you’re just glad that someone is here. Finally.

“Now, you’re gonna eat, and then you’re gonna tell us why you think we’ll die because we’re here.” Eddie tells you sternly, although there’s a hint of softness in his voice that you cling to.

You look down at the food and sigh. You don’t remember the last time you’ve eaten, so you take the food that Eddie holds out for you, feeling a little awkward as they watch you eat.

Buck picks up on your expression and grabs the remote to your tv, turning it on and letting the noise drown out the silence of your apartment. With one quick look to Eddie, both of them turn to watch the tv while you finish eating, continuing to steal glances at you every now and then.

When you’re finally finished, Buck takes your empty plate from you and sets it on your coffee table, then both men angle their bodies to face you once again.

You look straight ahead of you as they wait for you to start speaking, and then you let out a sob, closing your eyes as you lurch forward, holding your head in your hands.

They’re both quick to comfort you. Buck puts an arm around your shoulders and shushes you quietly, while Eddie’s hand goes to your thigh, rubbing a thumb across the skin not covered by your sleep shorts.

After ten or so minutes, you finally inhale a shaky breath, whispering a quick “okay” as you straighten up.

“Everyone around me is dying.” you say, unsure of what else you even can say. They furrow their brows in feigned confusion, both keeping their hands on you as they urge you to continue speaking.

“I just- I don’t want anything to happen to you. You shouldn’t be here.” They shake their heads adamantly, and Eddie is the first to speak.

“Hey, nothing is gonna happen to us. We can take care of ourselves.” he says sternly, and you turn to look up at him, chewing on your lip nervously.

The rest of the story is on the tip of your tongue; threatening to spill now that your friends, your very large, very handsome friends, are beside you. You don’t though. You know the masked men will find out somehow.

“That’s what Isaac said. And look at him now.” you speak in a quiet voice. Tears are forming in your eyes again as you think of the sight of him, bloody and gasping in the alleyway, and nothing for you to do for him.

“We’re not Isaac. Nothing is going to happen to you. That’s a promise.” Buck says, and you want to believe him so bad. Your mind is so jumbled that you don’t realize the “what the fuck?” look Eddie gives Buck. You know that they can’t really promise that, but you can’t help but believe Buck’s words. You’re sure it’s just because you’re desperate for his words to be true, but either way, you can’t help but let out a big breath, feeling your shoulders deflate slightly.

“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you.” Both men raise a brow at your words. They both feel you’re about to tell them about everything, and they’re not sure if that’s good or bad.

“If people around you are dying, why aren’t you worried about yourself?” Eddie asks, a slight edge in his voice that flies right over your head.

You shake your head as you think about everything that’s happened to you the past couple weeks. Why couldn’t they have just killed you; gotten it over with, you think.

“I don’t know. I just- I don’t want to lose anyone else.” You whisper the last sentence, crossing your arms over your torso in a desperate attempt to calm your racing heart. Both men smirk at each other for a split second before their eyes are back on you. Their good girl; they knew you’d listen to them.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re gonna help you through this, alright?” Buck speaks, and you nod slowly. You look up at him with the smallest hint of a smile, and he lets out a breath, elated to finally see that pretty smile he’s been so desperate to see for the last eight days.

“Yeah, who’s gonna kill us? We’re firefighters, and we wouldn’t go down easy.” Eddie tries to joke, and your smile widens. Buck almost moans at the sound of your soft laugh, a grin breaking onto his face as he makes eye contact with Eddie over your head. They’ve won.

You finally go back to work for your next shift two days later, a small smile on your face as you greet Tara. She explains the new people your boss has hired as you begin to work, and you almost feel normal for an hour or two as she tells you that the new guy is an absolute idiot, and the girl is super nice. You’re excited to meet them, although you’re sure the man will make you want to punch him, but you hope that he’s at least nice.

You’re extremely happy when your regulars walk into the bar. It means that they haven’t been brutally murdered by two masked men, and you feel yourself becoming a little less anxious. Maybe the masked men have found a new target, you think, because the killings haven’t stopped, but the man that the police had found yesterday wasn’t anyone you knew.

Both men walk you home at the end of the night, vowing that they’ll protect you and themselves the whole way, and you let them. You know that if the masked men want to kill them, they’ll kill them regardless of if you let them walk you home, so you quickly agree to them coming with you.

It’s still dark when you wake up from a deep sleep, a hand clasped over your mouth and the familiar feeling of a cold blade at your neck. You stare up at the masks with wide eyes, trying to blink away the darkness as they shush your soft whimpers in low tones.

“Hey, sweet girl. You miss us?” one purrs, both of them tilting their heads to the side as they take in your fearful expression.

“It’s okay, honey. You’ve been so good for us; haven’t told a soul, have you?” the smaller one speaks, and you nod quickly. They hear your muffled “no, no” under the firm hand over your mouth, and chuckle darkly.

“And nothing’s going to happen to you, sweet girl. As long as you don’t say a word to anyone about us. You got that, baby?” the larger one says, and you nod quickly when the knife is removed from your neck.

You try not to think about the pool between your legs as they stare down your body. You know you shouldn’t feel this way about these men; they’ve killed two people you knew, and countless others, but you can’t stop staring at their broad shoulders and muscular arms.

With one swift motion, the smaller man hands the knife to the other man and then yanks your panties down your legs, the smirk evident in his voice when he speaks.

“You like being our little toy, don’t you, sweet girl? You’re fucking soaked.” You hesitate, and when the larger man takes his hand off your mouth and leans down to inhale the scent of your skin, you nod once.

“Yes. yes.” you whimper, closing your eyes and shivering as the smaller man’s glove-covered fingers ghost up your inner thigh.

“Then, you know the drill, baby.” is the last thing you hear before your eyes are covered by what you’re sure is the same blindfold they used last time.

They do the exact same thing as the last time they broke into your apartment; one man playing with your tits while the other licks and nips at your dripping cunt.

You realize almost immediately, though, that the way they touch you is extremely different. While the man whose mouth attached itself to your clit last time was desperate and eager, the other laps at your cunt in a way that’s almost sadistic. His teeth ghost over your clit before he bites lightly, and if it wasn’t for the knife firmly placed between the valley of your breasts, you’re sure you’d be screaming and writhing away from him.

Similarly, the man whose mouth and hand are attached to your sensitive breasts seems to be relishing in your pleasure. As you fight back whimpers and moans, all you can hear is the man’s voice continuously asking “you like that, sweet girl? You want more?”

When they finally leave, you’re once again left in complete darkness. Your legs are weak, and you can still feel the cold remnants of spit around your nipples, which is now making you shiver as it dries in the cool air.

As you drift off to sleep, all you can think about is how fucking good they just made you feel, and why they haven’t made you do anything for them. You want to believe their words; you want to believe that they won’t continue killing if you continue with their arrangement, so you find yourself doing so as your eyes flutter shut.

You can’t help but think that this arrangement isn’t half bad. You feel extremely guilty as the miniscule thought trumps the stampede of fearful ones in your mind, but you can’t help it. If all they want is this, you sort of don’t mind giving it to them, even if it makes your heart race and your hands shake in fear.

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justagalwhowrites · 1 year ago

Text

New in Town - Ch. 4: First Cookout

Sarah invites you to Joel's place to celebrate the last night she's in town. A continuation of New in Town chapters 1-3 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Best Friend's Dad!Joel Miller x Female Reader

CW: Smut. Because obviously smut. It's these two, they fuck. No use of Y/N. Age gap (reader is 35 Joel is 47, not a focus of the fic). Minors DNI, 18+ only

Length: 5.8k

AO3 | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

“And this is going to be your desk,” you smiled, excited but keeping your voice down. Sarah made a quiet squeal back at you. “See, I can see you from my desk so you can make faces at me while I’m dealing with the boring accounts people. I’m manifesting it, I swear I am.”

“I’m seriously about to make a fucking moodboard if it’ll help,” she sat on the desk, her legs dangling over the edge. “I miss Austin. I didn’t think I’d miss it this much but I really do. Seattle was way more fun when you were there, now all I do is try to convince myself that my job is totally worth the 500 days of rain we get every year.”

You laughed.

“Something tells me it’s not quite that many.”

“Feels like that many,” she rolled her eyes. “Now please. I need BBQ.”

You shook your head and laughed before heading to the elevators to go to lunch with your best friend.

Joel had texted you a warning with his usual good morning text that day.

“Good morning, Beautiful,” he wrote. “Really miss feeling you right before I fall asleep. Please tell me you’re not busy tomorrow night. Heads up, expect Sarah to drop in on you today. I have to be at a site for a few hours and she mentioned stopping by your office. She’ll probably invite you to the cookout we’re having tonight - up to you if you want to come.”

You frowned when you read it. “Up to you if you want to come.” What the fuck did that mean?

“Miss feeling you too,” you added a heart emoji. “Only plans I have for tomorrow night involve you ripping my clothes off.”

You rapped your nails against your phone, waiting to see if he’d text back before you started getting ready for the day but he didn’t. You sighed. He probably had to be on site early and couldn’t use his phone.

“Goddammit,” you muttered, putting your face in your pillow and groaning. How were you supposed to navigate this?

Did Joel want you to come but was trying to keep the pressure off? Did he not want you anywhere near him when Sarah was in town?

Yes, he’d spent a fair bit of time fucking your brains out over the past few weeks but, in reality, he wasn’t anything to you. He was a guy you’d gone out with once, he wasn’t your boyfriend, he didn’t have to invite you over for anything let alone something that might make him feel uncomfortable because you were friends with his kid. Even though, to you, he felt like so much more than some guy you were fucking. So, so much more.

And also your best friend’s dad.

Because fate was a cruel, cruel thing.

You checked your phone every few minutes as you got ready for work but the messages sat on delivered. You sighed and resisted the urge to text again and just kept checking your phone every few minutes in your office, too.

“Wouldn’t argue with some help in the clothing removal department,” he wrote. “I’m going to want you naked fast. Requesting something with easy access so I can get inside you ASAP.”

You smiled and shook your head a little.

“Still warm enough for a sundress,” you sent a winky face emoji with that and briefly considered going to the bathroom to take a selfie that involved an unprofessional amount of cleavage.

“Jesus Christ,” he sent back. “Pull me in a restroom wearing one of those and we’re not stopping at you humping my leg.”

“Counting on it,” you wrote, smiling a little wider before deciding to just bite the bullet. “Did you want me to go tonight? If Sarah asks?”

“What’s go you smiling so big?”

You almost jumped out of your skin when you saw Sarah leaning against the doorframe to your office.

“Good lord, girl, we gotta put a bell on you,” you smiled anyway, being sure to lock your phone before getting up to hug her. “What are you doing here?”

“My dad had some client issue so I figure I’d come visit my bestie,” she gave you a squeeze before stepping back from you. “Plus I’m dying to see where I’m going to commute to every day once they finally let me come here.”

Sarah picked the restaurant, a BBQ place that wasn’t far from your office and only offered wooden picnic tables sitting under a rusted metal awning for seating.

“Oh this is going to be good shit,” you said, taking a deep breath, the smell of smoked meat heavy on the air. “I can tell.”

“Knew you’d love this place,” she smiled. “Kind of surprised my dad hasn’t taken you here already, actually.”

You froze for half a second before regaining your composure.

“We’ve only gone out the one time since the first time we met up,” you shrugged. “Can’t exactly show me the entire city in that time.”

The two of you got in line, the place starting to get crowded now that it was pushing noon.

“I know,” she rolled her eyes. “I just really thought you guys would hit it off I guess.”

Well you’d definitely done that.

“Does it really bother you that I’m not hitting the town with your dad more?” You asked, teasing.

“Kind of, actually,” she laughed. “You know those stupid TV episodes they do where the cast of one show goes on another show?”

“The crossover ones?” You frowned.”

“Right,” she nodded. The line moved and the two of you stepped forward. “This was like… my real life crossover episode and it just kinda flopped. Like my two favorite characters finally were in the same place and just didn’t have the chemistry for good TV.”

Yeah, chemistry? Not your issue with Joel.

“I’ll be sure to lodge your complaint with the writers,” you said dryly. “Tell them to get their shit together.”

You talked Sarah into ordering the meats you didn’t so you could try at least a bite of everything and you were almost uncomfortably full when you dropped your final wet napkin on the butcher paper covered tray in front of you.

“Oh, hey, meant to ask you before,” she said, polishing off her Dr. Pepper. “Did you have any plans tonight? My dad caved and is grilling out. My Uncle Tommy is coming over, his wife Maria, a few neighbors who have known me since I was in diapers and who can tell you every embarrassing thing I’ve ever done…”

“I don’t think they can tell me about the time you got drunk at karaoke night and tried to take the mic from that guy who was making an ass of himself,” you smirked.

Sarah groaned, throwing her head back and laughing.

“Oh my God, I forgot about that!”

You laughed, too, and took a second to check your phone to see if Joel had gotten back to you.

He had.

“Love for you to come,” he wrote. “Just going to be hell keeping my hands to myself all night. But would rather do that than not see you.”

You smiled a little and put your phone down.

“Yeah, I’ll come,” you said. “Just tell me what I can bring.”

You were almost giddy by the time you got home. It’s not like you’d seen Joel every day since you’d met him but the option always felt like it was there. You’d only texted a bit since the phone sex Sunday and it felt like it had been eons since you’d gotten to touch him. You wondered if it would be weird if you gave him a hug when Sarah was there. You could get away with a hug, right?

You pulled out a few outfit options, trying to find something that would make Joel want to check you out but not look like you were trying to get him to check you out. You pulled the shirts out and hung them on your floor length mirror so they were next to each other when you got an idea.

You stripped out of your work clothes and changed into your favorite matching bra and panty set, standing in front of the mirror with the shirts still hanging on it, arranging yourself so you could see your body between the clothes. You took a picture.

“Which shirt for tonight?” You typed, sending the picture to Joel.

He responded while you were jumping into your jeans, the denim tight on your thighs and hips.

“You’re cruel, you know that right?” He wrote. “I vote green. Feel like you’ll cause less trouble in the green.”

The green was a little tamer, you supposed. The v-neck wasn’t quite as low, the eyelet lace softer and almost girlish. You smiled a little.

“You’re right,” you wrote back. “Black it is.”

Black was a wrap top, with a deeper v-neck, something that would highlight your curves even more. And give Joel easy access.

“You’re a menace,” he texted.

“I know :)”

You got dressed and stopped by HEB on your way over, picking up a dozen bottles of Shiner. You’d had to consciously toe the line of trying without trying too hard and you stomach was in knots as you walked up to his front door. What if your hair or your makeup or your shoes or the tightness of your jeans screamed “I’m fucking the man who lives in this house”?

But you took a deep breath and rang the doorbell anyway. It didn’t take long for it Sarah to rip it open with a squeal, pulling you inside.

“I’m so glad you came!” She said, jumping a little as she pulled away from you. “This is going to be so much fun, I promise. See, we’re going to do shit like this all the time when I move down here. We gotta manifest it, girl, I’m telling you. It’s even more fun when it’s summer and people want to swim because getting drunk in a pool that’s not open to every other idiot in your apartment complex is seriously the best pass time.”

“I can only imagine,” you smiled. “And, I brought beer!”

You held up the six packs just as Joel went rushing past, on his way to the kitchen. But he doubled back and stopped, a slow smile spreading across his face as he looked you up and down from over Sarah’s shoulder. You smirked just a little and he shook his head slightly, smiling.

“Good to see you,” he said, stepping around Sarah for a somewhat awkward hug. He lowered his voice, his lips next to your ear, speaking so softly you could barely hear him. “Menace.”

He stepped back and you smiled wider.

“Good to see you, too.”

Joel took the beers from your hands and his eyes lingered a little too long on your chest - not that you were arguing.

“Come on,” Sarah slipped her hand into yours. “I want you to meet everybody!”

She tugged you along behind her to the backyard, you giving Joel an apologetic smirk over your shoulder, people standing in little clusters around the pool. You spotted Joel’s brother immediately, the resemblance hard to miss. He was standing next to a beautiful woman with braids half way down her back, his arm around her waist. You smiled a little. You remembered dropping Sarah off at the airport when she flew down the year before for her uncle’s wedding.

“Have fun!” You said, putting her duffle bag on her shoulder as your car sat with the emergency flashers on in the loading zone.

“Yeah, this is going to be a disaster,” she said. “There’s no way they’re making it down the aisle. I haven’t met Maria but it’s Tommy. He’s jumped from woman to woman since before I was born, the day he settles down is the day hell freezes over.”

When you picked her up again three days later, she had a different story.

“So did they actually get hitched?” You asked as she flopped heavily into the passenger seat.

“Holy shit, they did. She is the only woman on the planet who could actually get him to settle down,” she said. “And by some miracle, she wanted to. No accounting for taste with some people…”

You laughed and headed to your favorite bar to hear all about it. You hadn’t really expected to ever really meet him except maybe in passing at Sarah’s wedding one day. Now you were meeting him in your - boyfriend’s? Fuck buddy’s? Who knows what’s? - backyard.

“Tommy, Maria!” Sarah called as the two of you worked your way around the pool. “Got someone for you to meet, she’s new in town and in desperate need of social contacts.”

She made the introductions and Tommy laughed when he heard your name.

“The infamous best friend,” he smiled, pulling you in for a hug. “She as bad an influence on you as she was on me?”

“Oh shut up,” she rolled her eyes.

“She talked me into grand larceny once,” Tommy said, pointing accusingly at Sarah with the beer bottle in his hand.

“Did she now?” You asked, brows raised.

“Oh yes,” he nodded, smiling cheekily. “She was seven and Joel said she couldn’t have all her Halloween candy on Halloween…”

“A crime, really,” she smiled, grabbing Tommy’s beer and taking a drink before giving it back.

“And she was so cute, these big eyes and her little princess costume and her hair going in about a million different directions…”

“Yeah, Dad hadn’t figured out how to handle that yet,” she laughed a little.

“I caved,” Tommy said. “I put up a valiant fight…”

“You said yes immediately!” Sarah scoffed. “I barely even had to pout…”

“She was a monster,” Tommy cut her off. “I was at her mercy, I swear!”

“And then what happened?” Joel asked, joining your little circle with two beers in hand. He wordlessly pressed one into your palm. You smiled a little at him and he brushed his hand down your spine on his way to putting it in his back pocket. “C’mon, you two partners in crime, finish that story. What happened?”

“Nothing that bad,” Tommy waved him off.

“Yeah, it was fine,” Sarah said. “No lasting damage…”

“For you two maybe,” Joel laughed. “I was the one who was up until 3 in the morning washing all her bedding and scrubbin’ the wall of her room because she projectile vomited three pounds of candy like she was starring in the damn Exorcist.”

You laughed as Sarah and Tommy both tried to downplay it and Maria just lovingly patted her husband’s shoulder, rolling her eyes. While everyone was distracted, you snuck a look at Joel. Just a second to actually look at his face as he laughed and smiled with his family. It was a little unfair, how good looking he was. Somehow both rugged and soft, handsome and beautiful and you had to resist the urge to reach up and twist your fingers in his slightly unruly curls. You looked back at Sarah before anyone said anything and took a sip of beer.

Sarah got sidetracked talking with Tommy and you took advantage of it, leaning in to whisper in Joel’s ear.

“You’re really hot,” you said quietly. “Also, I got you a present, it’s in my purse.”

“Oh really?” He raised his eyebrows, a devious look on his face.

You rolled your eyes.

“Not that exciting,” you said.

“What are you two conspiring about?” Maria asked and you almost flinched as Tommy and Sarah turned their attention to you.

“Just how to get this one to stop meddlin’,” Joel said smoothly, nodding to his daughter.

“I do not meddle,” she replied. “I just nudge people in the right direction. Because I’m smarter than them.”

You got along well with Joel’s brother and sister-in-law. Tommy seemed more like a big brother to Sarah than an uncle, which made sense when they talked about her childhood years. Tommy was six years younger than Joel, just 16 when Sarah came into the world. So while he adored his niece, he wasn’t exactly mature enough to be a parent-like figure. It sounded like he’d helped his brother out a lot but had been more of a friend to Sarah than anything else.

You liked watching her and Joel with their friends and family, the easy familiarity of it all, the comfort of having history with people. It was something that was missing from your life.

Sure, you liked your life. You liked it quite a bit, actually. You had a job you enjoyed that paid you good money, you’d lived in some interesting places - Seattle, three years in New York City, an internship in Chicago, even Washington D.C. for a bit - and you could do just about whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. That was the beauty of not having anything to tie you down. The cost just meant not having roots and, sometimes, that hurt.

Joel disappeared inside at one point and, after taking quick stock of the backyard to make sure no one else was inside with him, you followed. You slipped into the entry and grabbed your purse, pulling out the bag of Fire Sour Patch Kids you’d seen in the candy aisle on your way to grab beer when you stopped at the store earlier that day.

Joel was in the kitchen cutting vegetables for burger toppings and you climbed on the counter next to the cutting board. He looked up at you out of the corner of his eye, trying to hide his smile while he shook his head.

“Meant what I said about you bein’ a menace,” he said, his eyes on the knife. “You’re torture. Beautiful torture but torture.”

“We aim to please,” you smiled, holding out the candy. He frowned for a second, drying his hands on his jeans, before he laughed and took the bag. “Warned you it wasn’t exciting…”

“This is great, Beautiful,” he leaned in and kissed you lightly, like it was an automatic thing, as though you did this in his kitchen all the time. “Been wantin’ to try these and then I never buy the damn things….”

“I’ll help you eat them if they suck,” you smiled. “And you can help me eat them if they don’t.”

He smiled again and moved in front of you, nudging your legs apart so he was standing between your thighs and he leaned in and kissed you - really kissed you. His tongue dipped into your mouth, his hands sliding up your legs to your waist as he tugged you closer. You draped your arms over his shoulders and pressed yourself against him and savored his touch. Fuck, you’d missed this. It had only been a few days but it felt like an eternity of him being out of reach and it was almost reassuring to feel the way his hands fit against your body even after some time apart.

“Fuck, you’re trouble,” he was breathless when he pulled away from you, his hands still on your body. “Just couldn’t wear the green, could ya?”

“And miss out on this?” You teased, running your fingers through his hair. “Never.”

Sarah sat between the two of you at dinner, the best spot for you and Joel to be in when you thought about it. Next to you was too much temptation, you’d end up touching each other and then not be able to help yourselves and that was bad.

Across wasn’t great, either, as you’d discovered at dinner the other night. If you could just check each other out the whole night, that wasn’t the safe way to go. Not to mention the opportunities for playing footsie under the table.

No no, you needed a better way to keep your hands to yourselves and Sarah was a great barrier for that - both literally and metaphorically - and you managed to get through the meal without any big slip ups. Something you were pretty damn proud of, if you did say so yourself.

You excused yourself to the bathroom as things were in that easy after dinner conversation stage of the evening, everyone pleasantly full and a little drunk, Sarah laughing with a neighbor from down the street whose name you’d forgotten. But when you opened the bathroom door to head back outside, Joel was there, pushing you back into the room and closing the door behind him.

“Joel!” You hissed, his hands on your waist.

“You really can’t expect me to wait when you show up lookin’ this damn good,” he growled, boosting you up so you were perched on the edge of the sink. “Everyone’s too busy to even notice we’re gone…”

His mouth found your neck and your chest as he untied your top, his tongue and teeth ranging over your skin and you couldn’t help but moan at his attention, your body already feeling warm and wanting. Joel stepped back from you a he fully opened your shirt, revealing your body to him as though it were some wondrous thing, moaning as he did.

“Fuck Beautiful,” his hands trailed up your exposed skin to cup your breasts through your bra. “Ain’t fair how one person can look this damn good…”

“Had to pull you away from the grill somehow,” you smiled, tugging him back against you and kissing him. He kissed you back, getting more and more desperate as he did. He pulled your breasts free of their cups so he could suck at them and hold them in his large hands, moaning into you. Your hands ran down his body to find his cock hard in his jeans, feeling him through the fabric, desperately wishing you could just rip all his clothes off and get him inside you.

“Think you can come from just your clit?” He asked, breathless, as he licked and sucked your neck.

“Yes,” you moaned. “Think you can come from just my hand?”

“It’d take less than that,” he panted as he opened your jeans and slid his hand inside as best he could, his finger finding your clit quickly. He ghosted over it with his finger, making you squirm and moan. “Fuck, Beautiful, you close already?”

“Maybe,” you panted as he pressed a little harder against the sensitive nub. You reached down to pull out his cock to start jerking him off but he caught your hand. You whined a little.

“Not yet,” he kissed back up to your mouth, holding his lips a fraction of an inch away from yours. “Lemme take care of you…”

He kissed you then, his tongue slipping into you as his finger pressed into your clit. You groaned and rocked your hips on him and you felt him smile against your lips. He started rubbing you in slow, aching circles, adding a little pressure every time around, matching his kiss to the pace of his fingers. You moaned desperately against him and he picked up his pace, working you over until you were gasping into his mouth while you came from his fingers.

“Fuck,” you panted as Joel slipped his hand from your pants. “How are you so goddamn good at that?”

“You’re so pretty when you come it’s easy to remember what does it,” he replied, stepping back from you. You slid off the sink but, instead of fixing your bra and closing your shirt, you dropped to your knees and started unzipping his fly. “Baby…”

“I can be quick,” you said, looking up at him through your eyelashes as you freed his cock. You never really got used to hot big he was - thick, heavy, long. But you’d be fine choking on him if it meant making him come.

You started by licking his head and he let out a shuddering little moan and you smiled a little, lapping at the dripping pre-come at his slit like he was your favorite flavor of ice cream. Which, he kind of was. Heady and masculine and Joel, knowing that he was dripping because of you made you want him even more.

Instead of taking the more gradual route, you took him into your mouth and throat all at once, having to swallow around the head of him as he pushed past your gag reflex. His hand flew to your head, fingers twisting in your hair and sinking into the thin layer of flesh over your skull.

“Oh fuck,” he panted. “Oh my fucking god…..”

You sucked him and moaned, the vibration of your vocal chords working the tip of him as it was lodged in your throat. You pressed your tongue against the thick vein that ran along the underside of him before you started pulling back, his grip on your head relaxing just enough to let you do it. You worked is cock up and down, sucking and licking and taking him into your mouth until you started to cough. He panted and moaned as you worked him until, eventually, he was clinging to the sink to stay upright.

“Fuck, please Baby, I need to come,” he groaned. You smiled as much as you could when your mouth was full of his thick cock. “Lemme… can I…”

You looked up at him, eyes wide, as you slid down him so he was buried in your mouth to the root and you hummed your approval. His hands immediately flew to your head and he started fucking into your mouth. You took it, swallowing past your gag reflex with each deep stroke. He didn’t last long, just a few pumps, before he was spilling into you, moaning quietly as he did. You swallowed it all, his cock so deep in your throat you could barely even taste him as he pumped his come into you.

“Fuck,” he all but collapsed against the sink and you carefully slid his cock from your mouth and got up, wiping your mouth on the back of your wrist. You adjusted your bra and tied your shirt again.

“Worth it?” You teased.

“Jesus Christ woman,” he groaned. “You’re gonna kill me.”

You smiled and kissed his cheek before you went to leave the bathroom but he grabbed your arm, pulling you back against him to kiss you deep and long. You tried to hide your surprise. Other guys you’d been with weren’t huge on kissing you after you went down on them. Joel didn’t seem to mind. But then, Joel just wasn’t like other men. You smiled as you pulled back from him and he laughed a little.

“What?” You frowned.

“We made a mess of your makeup,” he jerked his head toward the mirror, tucking his cock back in his pants as you checked your reflection. Your lipstick had smeared and you laughed a little, too.

“Good thing I have more in my bag,” you said, grabbing a sheet of toilet paper and cleaning up what you could. “See you back out there?”

“Once I remember how to walk again,” he teased.

It was sheer luck that Maria came in to use the bathroom as you adjusted your lipstick in the entryway mirror and not a few minutes earlier and you popped a breath mint so you could think about something besides the fact that the last thing in your mouth had been Joel’s cock when you talked with Sarah.

You left only about an hour later, giving Sarah a long hug as she walked you to your car.

“I’ll be back again soon for Thanksgiving,” she smiled, squeezing you tight. “Just manifest with me!”

“I’m manifesting so hard I might break something,” you smiled back, trying to ignore the knot of guilt in your stomach about hiding something so big from her.

“And seriously,” she said, stepping back from you. “If you need a friend before I get down here…”

“Call the whole Miller clan,” you smiled. “I got it.”

“Good,” she said. “We’ll just make a Miller out of you yet.”

You tried to ignore how your heart skipped a beat at the thought of that.

“Sounds good to me.”

Joel came straight to your place after dropping Sarah off at the airport the next night. You answered the door in a sundress - as promised - expecting to go to dinner.

Which, in hindsight, was foolish.

“Fuck,” you said, looking Joel up and down. He had flowers. He was in a plain, dark t-shirt that was tight around his biceps, his jeans hanging just right on his hips.

“What?” He frowned.

“Just get in here and let me fuck you,” you said, grabbing his shirt and pulling him into your apartment.

The flowers were quickly abandoned on the breakfast bar in your kitchen as you kissed him, tugging his shirt off and casting it aside before you dragged him to the bedroom.

“We gotta eat at some point tonight, Baby,” he said between kisses as you shoved him down on the bed.

“That’s fine,” you panted, stepping out of your panties and casting them aside. “We can do this twice.”

“Fuck, you’re fucking perfect,” he said, lifting his hips so he could slide his pants down a little and sitting so his back was against your headboard. He started working his cock, already hard in the palm of his hand. You straddled him, the skirt of your dress hiding your dripping pussy and his leaking cock from view. He kept one hand on his cock but the other went to your hips as you lowered yourself toward him until your pussy brushed his thick head. “Oh shit, fuck Beautiful, I need… Fuck, need inside you, I need to be inside you…”

“I know,” you breathed before sinking onto his cock with a shaking moan. His other hand flew to your waist, too, pulling you down on him so his whole length was sheathed within you. You panted for breath as your body adjusted to the intrusion. “I need you, too.”

“Fuck,” his head fell back against the headboard. “Fuck, you feel so fucking good every time, s’like I belong in this pussy, like your pussy was made to take this cock.”

“Made to ride this cock,” you moaned, starting to rise and fall over him with a satisfied groan. Joel somehow hit all the right angles inside you, the thickness of his shaft stretching you deliciously, his head finding the sensitive place deep inside you and pressing against it, making your pussy start to tighten around him.

“Oh shit,” his grip on you got firmer, his fingers sinking into the soft flesh of you. “Want you to come on this cock, Beautiful. Want you to use me to get yourself off, fuck, Baby, make yourself come on my cock…”

You buried your face in his neck and breathed in his deep, clean, masculine scent and started riding him harder, adjusting your hips so your clit was leaving an obscene, messy streak of your slick up and down his bare stomach. You licked and sucked at his neck as you rode him, fucking down on him hard and fast and grinding your clit against him. As your body tightened, you sat up straighter, pressing your forehead to his own so you could see his face, the liquid heat in you centering around where he was inside you until you came with a desperate moan around him.

“There we go,” he almost sounded like he was in pain he was so desperate. “Fuck, you come so fuckin’ pretty Baby, so goddamn pretty. Feel so good, coming on my cock, better than anything else, fuck Beautiful, I can’t…”

Joel took control of your hips then, pumping you up and down his shaft and you tried to help as best you could as you rode out your orgasm. His hips fucked up into you hard and fast until he was emptying himself into you, moaning as he did.

You collapsed on top of him, panting for breath and he went from holding your hips to wrapping his arms around you, holding you close to him. You stayed like that for a few minutes, your breaths synchronizing as you both came back down from our highs.

“So,” you said, breathing not quite back to normal yet. “Dinner?”

He laughed.

“Dinner.”

When you fell asleep in Joel’s arms that night, all naked and entwined with him, you were starting to think that you could get used to this. That you wanted to do this all the time, every day. Do all of life’s stupid little things with him, go grocery shopping with him and pay the water bill with him and deal with traffic jams with him.

You just weren’t sure how to talk about that yet.

But that was OK. You were getting there, you could tell.

When Joel kissed you goodbye in the morning, he brushed your hair back from your forehead so he could kiss you there too.

“Leaving already?” You mumbled.

“‘Fraid so,” he said softly. “Need to get an early start at the job site. Can I see you tonight?”

You just hummed in response. He frowned.

“That’s a yes, I hope,” he said. You nodded and you opened your eyes just enough to see him smile broadly. “I’ll text you. Have a good day, Baby.”

“You too,” you mumbled into your pillow.

When you got up an hour later, there was a sticky note on your coffee maker, telling you to check your fridge. Inside was an iced latte from the coffee shop down the street and you smiled so big it was hard to do your makeup as you got ready to go.

You were still on cloud nine when you were getting ready to take a client to lunch that afternoon, doing a last check of your makeup when you got a call from the reception desk downstairs.

“Someone’s here for you,” the receptionist sounded skeptical. “I’m not letting him back without you.”

“No problem,” you laughed. “We’re going off site for lunch, tell him I’ll be down in a minute.”

You went to the lobby, looking for someone who at least vaguely resembled the headshot from your client’s website when you did a double take.

The man sitting on the couch in reception smiled when he saw you and your heart sank into your stomach as he headed for you.

“Hey Angel,” he smiled.

You couldn’t smile back.

“Shit.”

Next Chapter

#fanfic #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #smut fic #new in town #joel miller x oc

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exorcqism · 10 months ago

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❛ INFINITY — 無限大

choso x f!reader ﾉ MDNI

𑂻𑂴 summary. ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𓂃ㅤ you and choso go on a “date” and choso opens up about his family

𑂻𑂴 tags. ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𓂃ㅤ choso (non-curse), mid 90s AU, nsfw, female anatomy, stoner!choso, mentions of going broke, possible sexual content, canon/modern lore mixes, etc.

𑂻𑂴 a/n. ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𓂃ㅤ i almost forgot about this story BUT IM HERE. reblog to support meeee and enjoy :D (lmk if you wanna be tagged in the next part)

𑂻𑂴 misc. ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ𓂃ㅤ masterlist ,, AO3 — dark mode recommended. WC — 2.35K — part four

@sad-darksoul @aiyaaayei @a1-ic3 @exinqiu

“you wanna…hang out? like, right now?” you heard choso say hesitantly over the phone. it was around ten at night and you weren’t busy. you didn’t have anything better to do. plus, you wanted to go out a bit more since you were a bit of a homebody.

“yeah, why not?” you beamed over the phone. “it’ll be fun and i don’t have nothing else to do. plus, we need to hang out more before it gets too cold…winter is around the corner.”

“oh..um, yeah sure. you’re right.” choso answered. though, he was in the clear for the evening since yuji would be spending the night with his friends for a sleepover, the male was still skeptical about somethings.

what if there’s an emergency? what if something happened to his little brother? anything could’ve happened while he was away, not supervising.

you grin excitedly, starting to list multiple places you could go. it took some quick process of elimination just to choose the park. it was simple and it seemed like choso really wanted to go for some reason, so you agreed.

once you got off the phone, you navigate to your messages app and send him a text, ‘oh i forgot to say that if you wanna bring food or something you can.’

now you had to play the waiting game. it was always you waiting longer than five minutes or less than a minute for choso to text back.

well this time you didn’t have to wait. your phone makes a sound shortly after you sent that message. you take a glance down to see that choso loved your message.

‘helping my brother pack. i might be a little late.’

you smiled at the text and urged him to take his time. you thought it was sweet how heavily choso cared for yuji. nothing never went unnoticed around him. he was like a big brother and a mother in one.

you began to put on your clothes and grab whatever you needed before you would finally leave out of the house and make your way towards the park.

the night sky was so clear and perfect. you could see all the stars just from where you were standing. that’s when you started to wonder if choso liked stargazing. how would he feel about that?

you were quickly reminded that choso may not have time for stuff like that since he seemed like a busy man. you could also tell he was the type that wasn’t very exposed to current day activities trending amongst other people.

it’s like he’s trapped in his own bubble.

“hold your hand out,” choso said before lifting yuji’s hand to clip his nails. “now, i’ll be going out somewhere tonight, so i won’t be at home while you’re with your friends…but if you need me, please call me, okay?”

“i know, big brother,” yuji smiled up at his elder brother. choso’s cheeks turned a rosy color before smiling back. “but where are you going? you never leave the house this late unless you picked up work.”

“you’re right but tonight is different…i’m gonna meet our brothers, spend some time outside the house…i shouldn’t be rotting in here all the time anyway.”

choso put the boy down once he finished clipping yuji’s nails and ruffled his hair. he would fold some clothes and place them down into the bag neatly.

“don’t let anybody touch your stuff and break it, okay? you’re allowed to share but make sure they’re being careful. you know money is hard around here and i can barely afford some of this stuff for you.” choso mumbled. his soft expression seemed to turn into a slight frown.

yuji nodded but he couldn’t help but notice his brother’s expression. “are you mad, big brother?”

the dark haired male blinked quickly and shook his head. “no, no. i’m not mad…life is just really hard and i need to probably find a second job.”

working as a bartender is okay for him, he didn’t mind it. but when it came to needing more money to upkeep the house and to satisfy both their wants and needs, he would need a second job.

“then we won’t be able to hang out together,” yuji frowned. it was already hard for choso to make time for his little brother but now it would be even harder.

“i know, itadori…i know. but i’ll make it up to you as best as i can. i promise i’ll never forget about it, okay?” choso held his pinky finger out to yuji. “you trust me?”

“i trust you,” yuji grinned.

“good.” choso smiled as he retracted his hand away from the boy. “now hurry and go grab your coat and your shoes. let’s go, we don’t wanna be late.”

yuji nodded and grabbed his coat from the closet by the front door and put on his favorite red boots before hurrying out of the door, waiting for choso to follow behind him.

after choso drove yuji to the other side of town, choso would make a stop at the corner store and bought another pack of cigarettes and some snacks that you both would like.

it took a little bit of time to make up his mind because he was a bit picky about what he ate but he’d eventually figure it out before heading to the park, finally meeting up with you.

“hey,” choso called her name breathlessly as he jogged over to the spot where you were sitting at. the park was empty, perfect for just the two of you to relax and talk and do whatever came to mind. “i’m so sorry i took so long. i drove thirty minutes from my place, to the other side of town for yuji then back, i’m sorry.”

you noticed his apologetic tone and you nod your head no, smiling at him. “don’t worry about it. like i told you, you didn’t have to rush to get here. i wasn’t going anywhere.”

the two of you finally get comfortable on the grass, eating the snacks you both brought and the drinks. choso noticed you opening a can of beer from the six pack brought with you. the male lifted an eyebrow.

“i thought you didn’t drink..” he said softly. you nod, taking a sip of your beer before sucking your teeth.

“i don’t but it’s nice for the occasion, you know?” you reach down and hand one to choso, offering it to him. the male was about to say no but he considered your next words.

“come on, just one can won’t hurt you. you gotta loosen up a little bit. you’re a busy guy that barely gives himself a break. tonight’s your night, cho.”

the male would light a cigarette and put it between his lips before humming. you were definitely right. choso never gave himself a break. he was always moving. hesitantly, he’d take the can from you and open it, listening to the sound as it hissed open.

you giggled when you saw choso’s face contort to an expression of disgust the second he took a sip of the beer.

“you like this?” he asked.

“i don’t like it either but after a while it’ll taste better.” you reassured. there’s a silence between the two of you as you both sat there, taking in your environment.

trees blowing gently in the quiet wind of the night. lampposts casting dim lights and weak shadows, and the occasional chirping of crickets hiding in the soil somewhere.

choso wasn’t a man of many words so the silence was tolerable but then a thought came to your head. while choso smoked his cigarette and you ate your snacks, you turned to him.

“why’d you wanna come to the park so bad?” you asked.

“it’s from a recurring dream i have. every time i have that dream, i see my brothers here. i just wanted to….i don’t even know. i just wanted to know that this place wasn’t just a figment of my imagination, i guess.”

“do you know what happens in the dream?”

“it all goes by so fast…it’s not that i don’t remember what happens, i just hate talking about it sometimes. i’m sorry.”

“it’s fine, you don’t have to apologize,” you scooted a bit closer to him. “hey, let’s talk about something else. to lighten the mood, y’know?”

“oh..yeah, good idea.” choso nodded slowly, taking a drag from his cigarette. you had an idea already on what to talk about and you were obviously eager. anyone could just tell by the look on your face.

“have you ever stargazed before?” you began.

“uh…no. i mean- i look at stars but…i don’t do it like that. it’s- i don’t know.” he trails off, looking embarrassed and shy when he realized that he’s stumbled over his words a bunch.

“here, lay down.” you would lie down and choso just looked at you as if what you were doing was the oddest thing on earth. you waved your hand, gesturing him to do the same.

finally, choso would lay down, his eyes lighting up at the blanket of stars covering the sky. the stars were beautiful and bright that night. he could see some of them lining up, creating shapes—constellations.

“i love stars. they’re just so pretty.” you comment, “they look so close but they’re just so far…too bad some of them are dead.”

“these stars have been dead for a long time, they’re just now reflecting back to us.” choso chimed in lowly. you sighed.

“don’t you wish you could just be a star in the sky? not having to worry about anything or anyone in the universe, just yourself?”

“i’m not sure if i wanna turn into a star just yet,” choso said. “it sounds like death to me…but if i could run away and live somewhere secluded from society, i’d do it. me and yuji.”

“do you think anybody would miss you?” you frown a little, your expression a bit serious. choso shrugged.

“i have no friends...and if i did, they all died or they’re just people i don’t speak to anymore. i’m that lonely.” he sighed. “i don’t need other people anyway. it doesn’t bother me.”

choso looked at you and automatically felt embarrassed again. he ran his fingers through his medium length hair and shook his head.

“sorry. i overshare a lot.”

“you apologize a lot…it’s not really anything wrong with it, i just noticed that.” you say. “is that just…how you are? if you don’t mind me asking..”

“it’s just how i am, so—never mind. my dad was just so hard on me, i was always apologizing for something and he just kinda turned me into a sorry mess.”

the sudden mention of his father made him frown and he sighed. “i’m glad i don’t live with him…but i would probably stay there just for some money. he’s the typical salaryman with a son that’s broke…or at least, almost broke.”

“does the job you work at not pay enough?” you shifted your body so you were facing choso instead of the sky.

“it helps me get me and my brother some food that would last us a while and probably a shirt. not any of that luxury stuff. the only time i get that kind of stuff is when it’s given to me.”

“okay, that, i think is an exaggeration…every time i see you two, you’re dressed nicely and when we facetime, your house looks nice and clean,” you say. your hand slowly moved towards his but you hesitate to keep going.

“yeah, i guess it is. my job pays pretty well…i guess i’m just paranoid about it not being enough.” choso took a drag of his cigarette. when he felt your hand on his, he’d look down at it then back at you. instead of leaving your hand where it was, he’d take your hand into his.

the two of you were feeling a buzz from the beers you were drinking and the world seemed to be moving in slow motion. choso saw the soft smile on your face as you looked into his soft, tired eyes. you saw how his dark hair covered a lot of his face as he laid on the ground beside you.

“you know, i think you’re a really nice guy,” you blurt out. you weren’t even aware of what you were saying yourself. “i really like you.”

“i….” choso’s breath hitched, “uh…i like you too. i’ve liked you for a long time—since we met.” the male could feel his ears getting hot and the tip of his nose was a pinkish color from the cold, mixed with his blushing.

there was a tingly feeling on his face as his cheeks began to warm with excitement and embarrassment. the cut underneath his bandage was starting to bleed again.

“take this off,” you whispered, slowly removing the bloody bandage, revealing the red cut across his nose that’s usually black. you would take a napkin from your bag and once again, clean the blood from his face.

choso was obviously embarrassed. this was the second time you saw his cut but he didn’t really like others seeing it. the male used his hoodie to cover his nose.

“uh…thank you..for uh—for cleaning it.” he mumbled. you smiled at him and pulled the collar of his hoodie down from over his face before kissing him. your lips locked with each others and you both seemed to be in a deep state of excitement and euphoria.

choso never kissed a girl before. he wasn’t sure what was happening or what he was supposed to do but he tried his best to follow your lead anyway.

when you pulled away, you could see the surprise on choso’s face. his face was flushed from being so inebriated just as you were.

you both fell silent. the only noise that existed was your own breathing and the nature around you. choso was sure he wouldn’t remember much of this tomorrow and neither would you…but deep down, he found it hard to believe.

lowkey this took so long to write,, i’m tired 😭 i’m glad you guys like this. i made something happen so…now its time to get ready to wrap it up. also sorry if there’s any mistakes lol

#𝐄𝐗𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐈𝐀𝐍’𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𖦹゛#jujutsu kaisen #anime #jjk #choso kamo #jujutsu kaisen choso #jjk x reader #jjk choso #choso x black!reader #choso x reader

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piedpiperart · 1 year ago

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Phantom of Gotham 11

Chapter 10

After lunch, the four boys parted ways and Danny found himself in his room. He checked his Tucker Approved phone for the four hundredth time since arriving in Gotham to find a spam of messages. Situating himself on his bed he clicked the messages open to read. All of them were from Tucker, in what looked like an info dump of updates on Amity.

Danny frowned, not really liking what he reads. According to Tucker, his parents really were working with the GIW and Jazz had scoped out that they had already started inventing some questionable things. One was a tracking device of sorts, which sent a shiver down Danny’s spine at the implications of that. They were fairly certain that Danny was still safe in Gotham for the time being, given they didn’t think the range of it would go as far as Gotham from Amity.

Tucker reported that while everyone else in Amity was still going about business as normal, Valarie, Sam, Tuker, and Jazz had picked up slack on ghost hunting. There were not a lot of ghosts coming to Amity, especially now that Phantom was MIA, so there wasn’t a lot of work to be done. Mostly, it took more effort to keep the Fentons distracted.

On a sidenote, Sam had a run in with Vlad because of her millionaire parents, and concluded that the old man had something planned. None of them could figure out what, but they seemed to be more worried about the GIW and the Fentons to think about Vlad’s friutloopy plans. Either way, Sam and Valarie were keeping an eye out. Speaking of Valarie, apparently she joined the team because she was worried about Danny going missing. Tucker and Sam had given her the barest amount of information and in turn got her to help them wrangle the ghosts in Phantom’s absence. He was quick to reassure Danny that Val didn’t know about him being a halfa, but Danny trusted Tucker with his life. Even if Tucker had told her, he knew it would have been for a good reason.

Sighing, he typed out an acknowledgement and signed off, hoping they were doing okay without him. His core pulsed anxiously at his feelings for his friends and sister. It felt wrong to have them deal with all of this without him. Danny couldn’t help but feel responsible for dragging them into this mess. But, he couldn’t help the overwhelming feelings of pride and affection that his friends were so capable at handling this. That they cared about him.

Danny laid on his bed for a while before getting bored. He couldn’t fall asleep, so he figured he might as well find someone to bother. His core thrived on being around people, and protecting them. Out of everyone in the manor, Danny figured someone might have some free time, or needed some cheering up from being stuck inside all day. Though, looking out the window he could tell the blizzard had died down. All that was left were the heaps of snow and icy trails. It looked pretty, the thought absently. Maybe he could help Alfred with something. The elderly man was probably not enjoying the cold.

Fighting the urge to smother the old man in blankets, he turned the corner and almost bumped into the manor’s smallest resident. “Oh- Damian, hey, want to play in the snow?” Danny asked,”Looks like the blizzard stopped.”

Damian wrinkled his nose, glancing out the window. “I do not require a babysitter, Folson. Playing in the snow is for children.”

“I dunno, we could have a snowball fight?” Danny offered. “You could bring your dog. Tim said you had a dog, right? Dogs love snow. Probably.”

“Fine,”Damian sighed. “Titus has been upset at being cooped up in the manor, and I am under the impression that you will freeze out there without proper supervision.”

“Awesome!” Danny exclaimed, bouncing on his toes.”Lets go, I wanna meet Titus.”

“You won’t be going out in that,”Damian scowled at Danny’s t-shirt and socks. “Follow me, you can use Drake’s winter gear.”

Danny and his core were too excited to play in the snow to complain about having to put on warmer clothes. Not that they’d really help against the cold, since he’d be fine no matter what, but if it made Damian feel better he’d do it.

---------------------------

Damian sighed exasperatedly. After Danny cajoled him and Titus into going out into the snow-filled backyard of the manor, Danny and Titus had not stopped jumping and running through the snow. The smaller teen watched from his position as Danny raced Titus through the snow, only they had to trudge through what was probably a good foot and a half of snow so it wasn’t very fast. Damian scowled that Danny and Titus had gotten along so well. Usually Titus took a bit longer for strangers to warm up to.

Suddenly, the two miscreants raced towards Damian as he looked on with mild annoyance, until about ten feet in front of Damian Danny had dove into the snow in front of him. Pushing down amusement, Damian took a step forwards, realizing that Danny had in fact doven under the snow to confuse Titus. The greyhound was nosing around where Danny had disappeared, and Damian was about to call him over when a voice rang out behind him.

“You gonna join us?” Damian hid a jolt of surprise that Danny had not only snuck up on him, but also apparently traveled ten feet under the snow to behind Damian without him noticing. He whirled around to face the other boy who had snow clinging to his clothes and hair despite Damian’s efforts to get him into Tim’s winter gear. His eyes wandered from Titus to Danny before he elected to ignore it.

Danny’s eyes sparkled with mischief, and Damian gave him a look. “Join you in what?” Damian asked sarcastically,”You two have just been running around in the snow for the past ten minutes.”

Danny nodded,”True. I think I just missed my dog a lot. Titus reminds me of him, and we used to go running around the park a lot. But we can make a snowman if you want?”

Damian perked up at the mention of animals. “You have a dog? Who is taking care of him while you are here?”

“Ah, he’s not really my dog?” Danny said sheepishly, running a hand behind his neck. “He’s kind of a stray dog that likes to stick around sometimes. I play with him when I can but couldn’t keep him, you know?”

Damian nodded sagely. “I understand. It took me a while to convince Father to adopt TItus. What kind of dog?”

“I have no idea,” Danny smiled, reminiscing about his kind of big and small friend. He continued talking, but started packing the snow around him into a pile.”But his name is Cujo and he’s super sweet, but not very obedient. He looks kind of like a bulldog? I’m not really sure, but I think you’d like him.”

“I’m sure we’d get along,”Damian agreed. He definitely got along with animals more than people. Part of him was glad Danny had a dog, because that meant the teen understood a bit of where Damian was coming from. “Now can we go back inside now?”

“What? No way, we’ve only been out here for like five minutes,”Danny complained, flopping into the snow, despite the disapproving look on Damian’s face. “Besides, I just got started on my snow-batman.”

Damian scowled at the lump of snow in between them. “If you’re trying to make Batman, you’ll need more snow. He is taller than that.”

“It would be faster if you helped me,”Danny pouted, reminding Damian of Grayson,”You know Batman better than I do.”

“Fine,”Damian relented, despite the cold irritating his exposed skin. He knelt down to pack the snow in better, and before he knew it, they were making a life-sized Batman snowman.

“He’s perfect,” Danny said smugly, hands on his hips. Looking over the snowman that towered over the two of them, Damian could admit he felt a bit of pride at how they managed to make a snowman that perfectly encapsulated the dark knight.

“How are you not cold?” Damian scowled, looking to Danny’s uncovered fingers. He’d taken his gloves off to make the bat ears because they needed a ‘delicate touch’, and hadn’t put them back on. Even Titus had retreated back into the house for warmth. “Do you have some anti-cold meta-human ability?”

“Um,”Danny started, caught off guard. He shifted in the snow, debating food a moment while Damian stared at him with narrowed eyes. Damian wasn’t exactly trying to pry, but he wanted to know if his siblings’ theories were correct, or if Danny would be a threat. Granted, Damian thought it was difficult to view the boy as a threat after watching him fail at making snow-bat-man’s ears twenty eight times. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Damian raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. They kept eye contact before Danny slumped in defeat, looking a little bit wary.

“Okay, I’m not really a meta, but I can like, create ice and snow and stuff,”Danny said, looking back up to the mansion as if someone were watching them. Damian however, knew along with the rest of his siblings that Danny had some type of meta abilities, but was preening internally at being the first one trusted with the secret. Danny lifted his hand, and Damian watched as a few snowflakes forms to circle the air before floating to the ground “So the cold doesn’t bother me, and I’ve never lost a snowball fight. But I can’t do anything big, and I didn’t cause the blizzard, so please don’t tell anyone?”

Damian wrinkled his nose. “I would not betray your secret. However, I doubt ice powers are your only abilities.”

Danny bit his lower lip, and Damian was about to say that he didn’t need to say what they were even if he was curious, when Danny smirked. “I may have cheated at arm wrestling.”

Caught off guard by his answer, Damian huffed out a laugh. He cleared his throat, continuing with,”Super strength then? What about speed or healing?”

“Nah, not speed but I think I heal a little bit faster than normal,”Danny said, starting on another snowman. Damian guessed it might be Robin, and deduced that it would be embarrassing to have only a Batman and Robin snow sculpture out in the lawn where everyone could see it.

“Despite your abilities, I highly doubt you’d be able to win at a snowball fight against me,”Damian redirected. He kicked at the newly formed pile of snow when Danny wasn’t looking just to ensure it’s doom.

Danny’s eyes lit up, and his hesitant smile turned bright. “Oh, you’re on!”

If Damian and Danny were smiling like idiots as they pelted eachother with snowballs and hid behind snow fortresses, then no one knew but them and the cameras Alfred would review later and then show to Bruce. Both adults would ignore how Danny seemed to create snow-sculptures in minutes.

Hours later, Alfred came outside to fetch the two boys, only to come across an entire snow-army of replicas of the Bat family, as well as a few other heroes. On either side of the yard were two different versions of a castle, with little piles of snowballs on each side of the fortress. Alfred raised a brow at having spotted Damian first as he threw a snowball to hit the small snow Robin at a perfect angle to topple the entire thing. From the other snow-barricade castle, Alfred heard a noise of distress.

“How could you Damian?!” Danny cried out at his fallen brethren.

“He is an abomination and deserved death,”Damian called back, only for Danny to appear out of the barricade with a snowball in each hand.

“I’ll avenge you Snobin!” Danny exclaimed, using his snowballs to hit what Alfred thought was a snow-Titus on Damian’s side.

“Sn- don’t call it that!” Damian demanded,”How dare you kill snow-Titus?!”

“There’s like four Snitus’s over there! He sacrificed himself for the greater good,”Danny called.

“You are not allowed to give my Snow-Titus names!” Damain yelled back, throwing more snowballs to topple Danny’s army.

“Not Snow-wing too!”Danny cried, and Alfred decided to intervene before all the snow people met their end.

“Boys! Won’t you come inside to warm up before dinner?” Alfred called, mustache twitching in amusement as both boys halted what they were doing to stare at Alfred, only for a snowball to smack Danny in the face while he was distracted.

“Coming!” Damian called, running gracefully up to the manor. Danny on the other hand, squawked in protest and stumbled after the younger teen.

As they both passed the butler, he couldn’t help but hope Danny would become a permanent member of the family if he got along with Damian so quickly.

Chapter 12

#phantom of gotham #dcxdp #dpxdc #Danny Phantom #danny fenton

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yandere-fics · 10 months ago

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(I put Eliza after Miriel because she's also a future leader of her area but let me know if you think I should have placed her somewhere else in the order. Nora is excluded because if her darling did not explicitly agree to date her then she would be content being close friends and just sabotaging anyone else her darling tries to date. Sawyer is also excluded because her scenario would be too similar to Nikki's except Sawyer would be a bit more amused by it and a bit more playful than Nikki.)

♡ How They Act With A Darling Who Doesn't Know They're Dating ♡

♡ It's very easy to not know you are dating Miriel or even that you're mates with her. Sure a supernatural randomly approaching you in the city should be a sign but there are alot of people in the city not even aware that elves have soulmates, you likely wouldn't know that unless you worked with elves and most in the city work closer to the outskirts to be with nature or work at the diplomat building on Miriel's team. And Miriel is a meanish boss, her employees rarely have time to chat and have fun with the others in the building so it would be hard to get close enough to one to get that information, meaning Miriel is the only one who could tell you that and she... forgot. ♡

♡ She just thinks you're shy which is why you're not showing affection towards her and so while she is very sad about this, she's happy as long as she knows deep down you really do love her because you spend all your time with her and even moved in with her and while she is sad you sleep in a seperate bedroom, at least she can sneak in at night and hold you. You do relax in her hold which means you must really love her at least slightly, though she always makes sure to leave before you wake up so you don't get embarrassed from shyness. ♡

♡ Despite how affectionate she is, she never actually lets you know where the both of you stand because she would have assumed it would be obvious based on the courting rituals she performs with you like making sure you smell exactly like her and growling at anyone who comes too close on your "dates", not to mention the dead bear she left on your doorstep once hoping you would make a coat out of it. (You didn't, you called pest control to take it away though they did advise you it was likely a gift and whoever sent it would be mad, you still made them get rid of it.) She thought you got the message because she licked all over your face every chance she could and she marked you the first day you met though you just thought she was fighting the urge to actually eat you and that the biting happened when she slipped for a moment and almost devoured you. ♡

♡ She does realize later she never actually said anything and while she is pretty sure you should know already, she remembers receiving advice from her elders before she left for training, warning her that having a human for a mate was extremely challenging, and then she starts to wonder if this exact scenario is what they were warning her for. So what does she do? State directly you are dating? Don't be silly, there's no need to do that when she can just bite out the throat of someone who asks you out in front of you just to make it clear where you stand with her! ♡

♡ When Kassien is being patient with you she doesn't make it obvious to you that the both of you are dating and she would prefer it to stay that way, she doesn't want you to realize, she wants to firmly slot herself in that place before she asks you out and makes it clear you're dating. She can't let you catch on until there's no way you'll say no when she asks you out. Of course any normal person would have realized this a long time ago but she does love how clueless you are, it makes it easy to spoil and treat you like her mate even before she's finally claimed that position. ♡

♡ Once her patience runs out however it's a much different story. She was all good just treating you like her mate and waiting for you to want to start dating her but you continue to not notice her advances. You might be a bit dumb but it's okay, she's just going to have to get that much more aggressive so you become aware the both of you are in fact dating. Though she also didn't tell you still so you probably still are left unaware because she is in fact a dumbass. ♡

♡ Nikki unlike some of the others on this list makes it clear from day one what your position in her life is which means that you have to be willfully ignorant or very naive to not know. She like "You're my future wife." and you're like "So like for tax purposes right?" At this point she's going to have to shove her tongue down your throat for you to realize and even then you might not realize. Nikki is just very confused by you not realizing, is this a human thing? Eventually she just comes to terms with the fact you want never realize the two of you are a couple and that's fine with her as long as she still gets to do all the stuff with you and you don't flirt with anyone else. ♡

♡ She may get out some literal children's books to explain to you what dating is if you're still not getting it. She's just very annoyed when you introduce her to people as your roommate and she says "Mate." to correct you but you're just like, "I know, that's what I just said." She is gritting her teeth so hard, eventually she does manage to get it through your head by leaving hickies all over you but she was rather annoyed that things had to be so much work when it could have just been simple. ♡

♡ You're trapped in her apartment so it is a bit weird that you don't recognize you're dating her and that she wants you as her girlfriend but she never explicitly says so and while she demands love and affection at every turn, she never said dating so you could just assume she's treating you more like you're her captive that she kisses and cuddles with. It's not like you're talking to anyone so you never felt like you should ask her to define the relationship either, it just is what it is. ♡

♡ She's very angry to discover you don't think of her as your girlfriend and you haven't this whole time but unlike the others she realizes she never did define the relationship so you're just confused and love her too, finally a yandere's delusionality is partially correct! She actually takes the steps to remedy this issue by taking your hands gently, as gentle as she can when she's so anxious, and declare you two are officially dating though this small label doesn't really change anything but she's glad you now realize this! ♡

#yandere oc #yandere lesbian #yandere x reader #yandere x y/n #yandere asks #yandere scenarios #my oc mirial #my oc kassien #my oc eliza #my oc runa #my oc nikolai

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broodwolf221 · 5 months ago

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my message to new/returning fans

as da4 approaches and the fandom changes, gaining both new and returning users, i want to state very clearly:

share your thoughts! it doesn't have to be "original" to be valuable! no more than it needs to conform to current fanon! you don't need to read everyone else's theories in order to state your own

I'm familiar with that pressure and how much it can dampen the urge to share, to actually engage with the broader fandom. even though i was there at the start of dai's fandom, i fell out of it for years and came back recently, and there was a definite undercurrent of pressure to a) conform to the theories already stated, especially by big name fans, and b) to only ever post a truly original theory

the former inherently limits fandom and treats it more like an academic field that one needs to be familiar with before stating anything; the latter is fundamentally ridiculous, since we're all engaging with the same source material and have the ability to perceive foreshadowing and explore what it means. the first person to perceive and write about a bit of foreshadowing has no more fundamental "right" to that perspective than the hundredth

it can also be hard to wade through the tags of a fandom that's been out for a decade+, especially if you like a character or ship that gets a lot of hate. that's exhausting and no one is obligated to do that research

you're not too late to the fandom to have theories, to post meta, or to express your feelings. those of us currently in the fandom would do well to remember that new people will be joining us and they likely won't even know the bloggers who have already posted meta, so seeing someone ask if xyz has ever been considered should be treated as a valid question. seeing someone say they've never seen ppl talking about xyz should be viewed as an invitation to (gently!) point to some people who have talked about it. "oh, if you're into this idea, you might like [username's] meta"

i think it's valuable to draw attention to the fact that a long-established fandom has been getting new blood throughout the whole time it's been here, and will be getting considerably more new blood soon, and that it might be worth adapting to that early. because regardless of any established fan's preferences, we are going to be getting new fans unfamiliar with established theories/fanon. and no one should be beholden to fanon anyway

but all this is to also say - new fandom members? i see you. I'm here for you. if you want to know what's been said, you can ask me and i will direct you as best i can; if you want to come up with stuff on your own, i support that. i will never come onto your posts to "disprove" your theory or to claim it's unoriginal

also, know that when you see vent posts where people are feeling annoyed about fans or complaining about them, they are almost certainly talking about fans who are engaging in discourse, are argumentative, or are otherwise being kinda shitty. i know - from personal experience! - how easy it is to take a vague vent post personally, especially when the kind of behavior they're actually annoyed by isn't clarified, but it's unlikely to be directed at fans who are engaging with curiosity and excitement. being new to a fandom is intimidating and as someone who's trying to be respectful, it can be so easy to internalize messages from people's venting, but fr, it's rarely about new fans and their conclusions. that said, if those posts bother you… unfollow! or block! blocking is not a mean or cruel action

find your niche, curate your experience, and you will definitely find people who support you. I've really enjoyed my time here and met many people i care about and respect, but it was a bit of an uphill struggle early on and i know a message like this from an established voice in fandom would have helped ease my own concerns coming into this space

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heliads · 2 years ago

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Dear Elena

It is hard to keep track of anything when your entire life has been shattered into pieces. You're meant to be writing letters to your best friend, who happens to be in a coma at the moment, but you keep getting sidetracked by the one man who won't leave your thoughts.

masterlist

It is a beautiful morning, the sun is out, and all you can think about is the people you’ve lost. Last summer, you had more friends around than you do right now. Some of them are gone forever, some have moved on and moved out of town, and others are not within your grasp anymore. The endless loss blends together into one dense cacophony of regret, enough to keep you indoors even despite the lovely day outside.

Instead, you’re curled up on one corner of a sofa in the Salvatore house, passing off your suffering as an excuse to write to yet another one of the friends you’re missing. Elena Gilbert is not to blame for her absence in your life; she certainly wants nothing to do with her seemingly eternal coma, but your journal entries to her have started spiraling into irritation as the weeks go by without her waking up.

Case in point, your latest attempt at a happy message to your friend if/when she ever wakes up:

Dear Elena,

Shit has been fucked.

A voice sounds from over your shoulder, just as dry and sarcastic as ever.

“Y/N, you’re supposed to be uplifting with these things. Last time I checked, ‘uplifting’ didn’t involve nearly so many bad words.”

You fight the urge to roll your eyes, but it’s a losing battle. “And last time I checked, these journals were for Elena, not you, Damon. Quit reading over my shoulder.”

Damon Salvatore, for of course it is he, spreads his hands in another display of his usual casual bravado. “Maybe you shouldn’t be writing them in my house if you don’t want me looking. Consider me curious, that’s all. I want to know if you’re adequately portraying my great deeds of heroism that I’ve been doing all the time since Elena closed her eyes.”

You take a moment to ponder that, then scrawl in one more line beneath the aforementioned expletives:

Also, your boyfriend is annoying me to death. Again.

Damon swats you on the shoulder. “Rude. Don’t you have anything nice to write other than complaints or depressed musings?”

You laugh bitterly, but the sound only turns more troubled as it trails off into silence. “Not really. Nothing’s going well at the moment. Every time I think I can count on someone, they leave or let me down.”

Damon blows out a low breath. “Tell me about it. I mean, it’s not like Mystic Falls is always a powerhouse of fun and playtime, but I think I even caught Caroline moping around when she thought I wasn’t looking.”

You hug your knees tighter to your chest. “It just all feels pointless. We fix a problem and two more take its place. You think you know someone and you’re wrong about them every time.”

Damon gives you a look, finally serious for once in his extended life. “This is about Enzo, isn’t it?”

You glance away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He chuckles. “Of course you don’t.” A beat goes by, and he speaks again, almost an afterthought. “It’s not love, by the way.”

You frown up at him. “What?”

“Why Enzo is on Lily’s side. It’s not love, it’s duty. She turned him. That does stuff to your sense of obligation. He’s helping her because he thinks that’s what he should do. He doesn’t love her. Or, not like that, at least.”

You shake your head. “He doesn’t love her like what?”

When Damon remains infuriatingly silent, you press him again for information. “Wait, Damon, like what?”

He doesn’t answer you, though, just disappears, leaving you only with the fluttering of your notebook pages for company. You groan, muttering silent curses about over dramatic vampires never saying what they mean, then toss your notebook to the side. Damon’s right, you’re never going to get this entry done properly if you’re still in your head about everything to do with one certain Enzo St. John.

After all, how could you? Enzo is Enzo, for better or for worse, and nothing about him has made sense since the day you met. You were there when Enzo was trying to kill Damon, when he did time on the Other Side, even when he was helping the rest of you try to free Damon and Bonnie from the prison world. He’s been your enemy at times, your friend at others, but above all, he has lingered around your thoughts far more than you would care to mention.

Dear Elena,

Do you remember when you first told me you were falling for Damon? How I told you that you were crazy for loving someone who had tried to kill us at one point? I think I might have to join you in that camp. I’m not crushing on Damon, don’t worry about that, but someone else. Someone pretty similar to Damon, actually. Guess that’s why they’re such good friends.

You never counted on falling in love with Enzo. Love is difficult in Mystic Falls– there are always a thousand different things going wrong, enough to tear you from what you’re certain is a happily-ever-after just when you’ve finally allowed yourself to have hope. You had just decided that you were going to use your head and not fall in love at all if you could help it, and then he showed up and just like that, you knew you were done for.

It’s not like you could have done anything else. Enzo flirted with you constantly while he was trying to kill you. He made jokes when you were facing each other off. He sought you out first when he escaped the Other Side, said something about how the worst part of it by far was not being able to talk to you.

He made you promises you knew he couldn’t keep, and then he joined Lily Salvatore and now it’s like he’s gone from you forever. Technically, he’s still out there, but he’s not yours anymore. If he ever was, that is. Suddenly, you’re not sure of anything the way you once were.

Dear Elena,

Why do boys have to be so insanely difficult?

Your moping clearly isn’t doing anything for you, so you give up and head outside. Most of your remaining friends have taken to camping out in the Salvatore estate at some point or other during the day. It makes it easier to find everyone when a new startling discovery descends upon you all, but it also makes you feel trapped, a bird in a cage who longs to spread her wings.

There is, however, a very good reason why you should stay inside longer, and that reason appears when you’ve hardly taken three steps into the center of town. You were headed for the Mystic Grill, but you do an abrupt 180 on the sidewalk and start heading back towards the residential areas when you spot a dark-haired figure that’s all too familiar to you. You don’t think he saw you, so you might be able to get away if you hurry.

Or maybe not. There’s a shout after you, it makes you flinch. “I missed you, you know.”

A gust of wind rustles the leaves on the branches nearby, and you don’t have to turn around to know that Enzo has just appeared behind you, taking advantage of his vampire speed to cross the street in less than a second.

“Yeah, well,” you say, still not trying to make eye contact with him, “maybe you shouldn’t have joined Lily and her Heretics, then. If you miss me, why aren’t we on the same side?”

“We weren’t on the same side at the start,” Enzo muses, keeping time with you even as you try to walk away, “that didn’t bother you then, now, did it?”

“That was different,” you argue.

“Was it?” He asks. “I was trying to kill you then. I’m not anymore.”

“And how do I know that?” You ask, finally standing still long enough to look him directly in the eyes. It’s been a while since you saw him face to face, you almost forgot how deeply he looks at you, like you’re the only person in this world worth seeing.

Enzo sighs, raises his hand to scuff through his hair but stops himself just in time. It’s been a while since he cut it short and started gelling it smooth, but sometimes you think he forgets that it isn’t the unruly almost-shoulder height it had once been. Enzo has spent enough time in various stages of captivity and death and rebirth that sometimes the lines start to blur. Even for seemingly insignificant things like hair.

You like it better now, actually. You’re certain you’ve told him that at least once, and if you haven’t, he’s probably picked up on it from the way your eyes lingered on him when he first got the cut.

“You know because you trust me,” Enzo starts, and holds up a hand when it looks like you’re going to cut him off. “And yes, you can say all you want about how you won’t trust me since I’m with the Heretics but maybe— maybe I don’t want that anymore.”

Your brow furrows. “Why not?”

He lifts a shoulder. “I’m not sure, honestly. I thought it would feel better. She promised me that we’d be like a little family or something, but the lot of them have been together so long that I just feel like an intruder.”

“Then why haven’t you left yet?” You dare to ask.

“I’m waiting for the right moment,” he answers you, “Lily’s control over her little monsters is slipping. At some point it’ll be easy for me to steal away and just never come back. I don’t want her sort of life anymore. I want something that feels right.”

“Like what?” You breathe.

“Like you,” Enzo says without a second’s hesitation, “it’s always been you, Y/N, you know that. I liked you from the very start. I had hoped that spending more time with Lily wouldn’t hurt us, but I was wrong. I just want you. Not her, not her bizarre idea of a family. You.”

You exhale slowly. “I’ve been waiting to hear that for a very long time, you know that?”

Enzo cracks a grin at last. You missed that smile more than anything, more than it hurt to admit you needed him. “My apologies, love. I’ll try to be better at spilling my heart out in the future.”

He’s joking, though, and his smile only grows when you start to laugh. It is easy, being with him, and although you never really thought about why that was before, you’re glad to know that you’ll have plenty of time to ponder it now, especially with Enzo by your side.

Dear Elena,

I think, for once, that things actually might turn out alright.

tvd tag list: @thatfangirl42

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royaltysuite · 11 months ago

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The Tales Of Lady Baccara and The Straw Hat Pirates

Chapter One: The First Encounter

Summary: After the events of the liberation of Drumm Kingdom, Y/n reveals herself to the Straw Hats as Chopper’s older sister. However, the reunion is short-lived as she is now interrogated by Luffy and his Straw Hat crew.

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“So, did ya miss me, Chopper?” Y/n asked, holding back the urge to wrap her arms around her little sibling. “Y/n, is that really you?!” Chopper shouted in disbelief. The sight of it was a bit hilarious to the surrounding people in the room. “Of course it’s me. I’ve just been hidden in your shadow the entire time and made sure that you were safe and happy. Even when you were living with the crazy lunatic, Dr.Kureha.” “Wow, that’s amazing…” chimed in Nami’s voice from the background. “Oh, I’m so rude. Sorry for intruding upon your ship. My name is Y/n Baccara, a wolf-woman from the depths of the woods in Drumm Kingdom. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. If it hasn’t already been clear from what Chopper said, I am his sister.” Y/n explained.

“But, you’re not a deer though? So how could you possibly be siblings?” The swordsman spoke as he made his way around Y/n. “It’s quite simple, you see. He’s my found family. I was once alone and abandoned by my people. They believed that embracing their wolf self was the way nature intended for us, but I was against it. I didn’t want to be seen as a monster to the humans I saved, but they didn’t care. So, they left me to die in an abandoned quarry after a hunt. It was almost a full week until Chopper found me and took me to Dr.Kureha’s. Since then, we formed a bond as siblings even if we weren’t together physically.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet! Chopper, why didn’t you tell us this? Also, stop staring at her like she’s a freak, idiot mosshead!” Nami pointed out. “It never came to mind. All I know is that I’m glad you were always by my side, big sis…” “I’ll always be there, Chopper, no matter what…”

The moment was enough to dispel any form of suspicion from the crew, They then went on to explain to Y/n the plans to bring Vivi back to Alabasta Kingdom in order to stop the war that’s bound to happen between the Royal Army and the Rebel Army. “That is devastating to hear, Vivi. If you would like, I could help by contacting this Pell you speak of. He has the ability to shift into an eagle, right?” “Yes, that’s right. But, could you reach him from such a long distance?” “Not exactly, I’d have to be within a wide enough vicinity around him without drawing suspicion from other citizens. After all, he could take me as a part of the rebel army.”

“That is true, but other than that?” Usopp inquired, very wary of the plan. “I could possess him and plant any message you’d like me to leave.” Y/n answered calmly, as if it was a normal situation. “POSSESS?!!” Everyone shouted. “That’s so cool! Can you possess me, too?!” Luffy bellowed loudly with excitement before being smacked upside the head by Sanji. “It doesn’t work that way. I can only possess animals, not humans, ya silly goose.” Y/n chuckled, booping Luffy on the nose with a small smile. The action made his face tinge a light red before he went back to laughing. “Anyways, guys, the plan when we reach Alabasta - find and stop the REAL culprit behind this civil war before Alabasta crumbles to nothing. Alright?!” Nami yelled, the sound of the rest of the crew’s cheers echoed loudly into the night as the Going Merry sailed through the night.

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

The next few days on the sea were full of excitement. I never thought that being around other people would start to heal, especially after reuniting with Chopper. All the time that I spent with Chopper in his mind, I could feel the never-ending anxiety that he had. All the fear of being rejected by outsiders that didn’t understand him. It all hit me like a harsh wave and I wanted nothing more than to just leap out of his mind and comfort him. But, I knew that it was going to be an important step in him becoming more confident in himself.

“Sis, is everything okay? I was calling for you, but you seemed distracted.” “Oh, Tony, I didn’t see ya there. What’s going on?” I replied, shaking myself out of my daze. “I was trying to let you know that we’re approaching Alabasta now and we’re going to a city called Nanohana to restock on supplies. Did you want to come along?” “Sure, sounds interesting. Hmm, maybe they’ll have some smoked fruits…” I mumbled as we made our way off the ship towards the rest of the crew.

As we made plans to grab only essential supplies while in Nanohana, things quickly took a turn as Luffy had run off. “Luffy, wait!” I hollered, quickly making chase behind him. Soon enough, I caught up to him and saw him sitting at a bar next to an open space in the wall. “Luffy, why didn’t you wait for us?” I sighed, trying to catch my breath before sitting next to him. “I’m hungry. Hey, old man, gimme food. Gimme, gimme, gimme food.” He chanted, clearly food being the only thing on his mind. “Sorry if he disturbed anything, if we could get one of everything on your menu along with some smoked fruit on the side please.” I told the barman, who was still in shock at the scene in front of him.

It was quite hilarious to see just how simple-minded Luffy was sometimes. “Adorable…” I whispered to myself as I rested my arm on top of the bar counter. Once the food hit the counter in front of Luffy, he immediately began inhaling almost everything in sight. The sight was something out of the ordinary to the bystanders in the bar. As Luffy kept eating, the sound of moving rubble had my ears perking up in alert. I slid off of my seat and took a couple of steps to the side to stand in front of the giant hole in the wall.

The pile of rubble began to move and out popped a large man in a puffer coat. He then stood to his feet and shook off the dust before turning around. Both him and I made eye contact with one another then he began stomping in my directions. “Just who is this guy?” I muttered, tilting my head in confusion. As he got closer and closer to where Luffy was sitting, I stepped to the side. It seemed like he had some unfinished business with Luffy who continued devouring food. Puffer coat guy halted in his steps and he addressed Luffy, who blatantly ignored him until the guy shouted loudly in his face. Luffy took a pause in his meal as the dots began to connect in his head and he recognized the guy.

“Oh crap, it’s Smoker…” Luffy gulped, a nervous sweat drop beading up on his forehead. Luffy then grabbed up the rest of the food and shoved in his mouth. He then grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me out into the street. The action startled me and I stumbled a bit before catching my footing. “Uhh, Luffy, why are we running away?” I shouted, trying to figure out what was going on. “Is he an enemy or something?” “I guess you could uh… say that.” The answer made me deadpan a little, but it didn’t matter. Right now, we need to get out of here quickly before the Marines catch wind of us being here.

#x reader #royaltysuite #one piece zoro #one piece luffy #one piece nami #one piece chopper #one piece #one piece x chubby reader #one piece robin #one piece sanji #one piece x reader

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bell-of-indecision · 11 months ago

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✨I ranked all the indian stuff I watched in 2023✨

For context, this July I finally gave in to my decade-old urge and dove head first into indian culture. It's been nothing short of phenomenal. The more people I meet, the more foods I try, the more music I listen to, the more Hindi I learn, the more I fall in love with India.

Although I became more of a TV serial person, eventually, I gave in to the movies as well.

So here's everything I watched, ranked from worst to best.

(I'm sorry in advance)

10. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

This movie is useless, I'm so sorry. Somehow, it fooled me into thinking Naina was the main character, then the whole thing became about Bunny and I was so confused, who was I supposed to care about anyway? Can't complain though, Naina is a boring and uncharismatic cliché, I couldn't care less about her, had she disappeared midway into the story, I would've been thankful. Avi, Bunny, and Aditi, on the other hand, are loveable characters that deserved to be in a better movie — especially Aditi, I liked her so much. Too bad the movie seems to be about absolutely nothing. There was a message, I think, but it felt so shallow it didn't even matter to me, there was no actual relevance, no lesson, no impact, nothing. Maybe I'm stupid, but this movie is a drag. And the soundtrack SUCKS, Ilahi is the only good song in it.

2.8/10

9. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2

The very first Bollywood movie I've ever watched. I wanted to like it so bad, it makes me sad that I didn't. Is it a comedy? A horror story? A dramatic murder mystery? Somehow, it's all of these and none at the same time, it can't decide on a tone to save its life, not even the humor can decide on what exactly it wants to be (most of it is just bad). The main couple has negative chemistry, their romance is so bland it's almost funny. Ruhan carries the whole movie on his back and is the only character with enough charisma to make me care, I honestly love this guy. His scene where he pretends to be possessed is incredible, and Tabu as Anjulika was great too. The plot twist was really nice, possibly the only good thing about the whole story, but then the movie ends so abruptly and on such a heavy note that it almost made me sick when the upbeat theme song started playing immediately after. This movie could not read the room, everything about it throws me off.

4/10

8. Jab We Met

Aditya is a dream, Geet is kind of a nightmare. I have nothing against characters that are lively, optimistic, and cheery, but they have to be bearable, she was just way too much for me. I loved Aditya's character development, it was fun and endearing to watch. The movie itself is not bad, just overrated. Nagada Nagada slaps though.

6/10

7. War

I wanted to love this movie just as much as it wanted to have a good twist. We both failed. Underestimating the audience's intelligence is one thing, but toying with us and making us feel like fools for the sake of a “big reveal” is something else. And no, it wasn't worth it. It wanted to be surprising, but it was just frustrating, shocking for all the wrong reasons. The action was fire though, no complaints there, and I loved the relationship dynamic between Kabir and Khalid, I would watch 11 seasons of those two going on missions with their team and fighting together, their chemistry is so good, I enjoyed every second of their scenes.

6.4/10

6. Arjun: The Warrior Prince

As a Mahabharat fan, I had hopes, but that's on me. Loved the way the story was presented to the audience, simple but brilliant. Shaheer Sheikh's Brihannala altered my brain chemistry, and I was elated to see her again. The animation was gorgeous, that goes without saying. I just hated how it ended right before the war, right where Arjun has some of his best moments, and hated even more how they practically erased Krishna from the story. At least they made him dark skinned this time.

6.7/10

5. My Name is Khan

Had this been based on a true story, I would've been the biggest fan of this movie to ever exist, I am a sucker for movies based on real life stories. Still, despite the disappointment of finding out this whole thing — as good as it was — was fictional, I see it as a touching, lovely, honest, and relevant story that kept me interested and broadened my horizons. Say whatever you want about allistic actors playing autistic characters, Shah Rukh Khan sold the heck out of this character and I bought it like the big neurodivergent fool that I am. I see a neurodivergent character onscreen, I am immediately on-board and loving them despite all their scripted flaws because “they're just like me fr”. "Marry me", indeed.

7/10

4. Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani

Is it innovative and groundbreaking? No, but it is so much fun. It's deep and honest enough, charismatic and funny enough, it's just good entertainment with a good message. I expected nothing to be honest, either way, the story just kept getting better? The dynamics kept getting deeper and more complex? Wait a minute, this was actually good! I went in for the soundtrack — I'm obssessed with Dhindhora Baje Re — but I stayed for everything else. I laughed out loud many times, I shed some tears, I rooted, man, this movie made me feel actual things! What a lovely surprise.

7.9/10

3. The Railway Men

I went into it with such high hopes. Some of them were met, but part of me was left unsatisfied. As I said before, real stories are my favorite, but the way this show was presented feels too much like fiction. Good fiction, but still. And I know it’s not fiction. I am aware that many creative liberties were taken, and I'm not against them, at all, but the thing is: I could see them, I knew they were there. When I watched HBO’s Chernobyl, I was fully convinced that everything that was presented in the show was reality, exactly how it had happened, and I doubted nothing. I was shocked when they revealed that Ulana Khomyuk was a character created to represent many scientists that were involved in the incident. I had eaten her up, and I still can't believe she wasn't a real person. The Railway Men feels like the opposite of this, most of it feels like a creative liberty, very little reads as a real event, a real interaction, or a real person. I doubted a lot of what I saw, and had to do some research to fully understand what exactly had been real. But like I said, it was still good. I found myself caring deeply for each and every character, no matter how minor, I deeply empathized with their pain, rooted for them, cried with them, cried for them. It's heartbreaking, gut wrenching, revolting, yet it still manages to be inspiring. Why I never learned about Bhopal before watching this show is beyond me, but at any rate, I will be recommending this show to everyone I know.

8.1/10

2. Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva

I will defend this movie's honor, I don't even care. I loved it so much that I made my mom watch it with me the next day, and she loved it. The dialogue is cringy, yes, unbearably so, some lines make my skin crawl. But COME ON, the plot is great, the concept is creative, the visual effects are wonderful, the soundtrack is divine —Mohan is dreamy— hear me out, I was hooked, on board, immersed, you name it. This movie made me feel so excited, I felt like a 7-year-old watching a super hero movie and wanting to have cool powers just like those, I honestly can't remember the last time a movie made me feel this energetic. Do I understand why Shiva and Isha were so deeply in love despite having met each other a week ago? No, but I was still rooting for them. Do I understand why sometimes people yell out the Astra’s powers in order to activate them like the Power Rangers? No, neither do I vibe with it, but do you think it mattered? The next moments were so freaking cool that I completely forgot what I wanted to complain about. (Oh, and Saurav Gurjar was in it! I gasped so loud when I saw him on screen, and playing a villain no less!) I was genuinely sad when it ended, I would've watched three more hours of that, despite the terribly written lines. I will fight for this movie and forgive every bad line of dialogue if it kills me.

8.7/10

1. Mahabharat (2013)

In case you haven't noticed, I am absolutely obssessed with Mahabharat. Initially, I’d decided to face the 267 episodes of this show because watching stuff in your target language is a good way to learn (also, that Krishna guy was very easy on the eyes, looking at him a bit more surely wouldn't hurt). It took me a few episodes to really get into the story, but once I did, oh boy, I was so hooked on the plot I even forgot about the language (although I did learn some words from it). The thing about this show, other than the freaking superb plot and phenomenal cast, are the characters. They all made me feel something. And that's the thing with characters, I believe, they don't necessarily have to be good or bad, morally speaking, they have to be well-written and entertaining, they have to make you feel things, positive or negative. Shakuni, a villain, was freaking great because of how good he was at being bad. And the good guys, like the Pandavas, weren't just good, that'd be boring, they were also charismatic, unique, funny, inspiring, and sometimes morally grey, which made them even more interesting, even more human. Watching them get in conflict with their morals when things got dark was insane. Even when they messed up —I'm looking at you Dharmraj— I still wanted to see them win. They felt like family, I watched them grow, I felt so close to them that their struggles and victories felt like my own. “My boys”, I call them. Mahabharat is my Roman Empire, man, I could talk about this show for HOURS. Anyway, this became my favorite show of all time and I'm so glad I didn't let the number of episodes scare me away. (And yes, I am still very much in love with Saurabh Raaj’s Krishna, he is probably one of my favorite characters ever, my heart raced when I first saw him and it still does to this day, BYE)

9/10

Oh, this ended up being a Top 10. Nice.

I both thank you and applaud you for reaching the end of this ramble that is ultimately just a result of my obsession with making lists and ranking literally everything. And also my admiration for indian culture.

I would've included Porus and Chandragupta Maurya but I'm not yet finished watching them, but I thought I should say: I am liking them a lot.

What do you people think I should watch next year? Recommendations are welcome!

✨🇮🇳 ✨

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pixelmensupremacy · 2 years ago

Note

I never run so fast just to read something and DAMN―

AMAZING WRITING ABPUT JOEL??? YES PLEASE.

I really hope I am not asking so much I just love him so fockin much can you maybe do Platonic headcanon with him and Teen! Y/n who was Sarah's friend? Okay, let me explain.

Spoiler alert! Before everything became a mess , Sarah and Joel had a neighbor , Y/n who was one year older than her and lived by her self but no one really know about that. They meet in high school and almost instantly became friends. After 2 months of spending time together - Sarah invited her to a sleepover , she wanted to introduce Y/n to her dad which made Y/n beyond nervous.

Y/n is pretty much shy and quite person and only becames more friendly and gentle with people she is comfortable with. But when it was Joel's birthday - Y/n made a letter that thanked him for letting Y/n be friends with Sarah and be in their live in general and a drawing of him and Sarah together.

I am very sorry if this is really damn long but GODDAMN I WANT TO HUG AND CUDDLE WITH THIS SO BAD

Amazing work tho. You described his character so really well:D

A/N: Low key started writing this on my birthday also I'm sorry it took that long😭😭😭

Warnings: Platonic!reader x Joel, reader is quite nervous, fluffy fluff

Having known Sarah for quite some time one would expect you would have met her dad

Well, that wasn't exactly the case

Despite going to the same school and living in the same neighborhood, you haven't really got to introduce yourself to her dad- Joel

And quite frankly, for the guy looked a tad bit intimidating to you at first glance

Which was secretly the reason why you would avoid visiting Sarah's place and instead invite her to yours in the comfort of your home

Being her curious self Sarah couldn't stop questioning you why you avoid going to her house until she realizes you are bit nervous about meeting her dad

She won't stop teasing you to a harmless extend of course until she convinces you to join her for a sleep over

Though the occasion for the party didn't quite help you loosen up

It was her dad's birthday

The more you thought about it the more you worried

And suddenly you found yourself nervously stomping around your bedroom at some ungodly hour of the night, trying to think of a suitable gift for the man you knew little to nothing about

Yet what was even worse was that time was wearing thin

His birthday was on Friday and a Thursday night wasn't the ideal amount of time to think of a present

Yet you managed

As you nervously talked around your room, you caught a glimpse of your school supplies

And the idea struck you

A drawing of both Joel and Sarah

Gift so simple yet so meaningful

Before you knew it was way past midnight as you looked at your creation with a smile of satisfaction on your face

Once the school day was over you would make your way to the Millers, your heart beating fast and your stomach clenched in a ball

Hesitantly you would knock on their door and all the short while you waited you would contemplate if it was too late to turn back

It was

The door opened revealing the smiling Sarah, peeking behind her father

Joel would warmly greet and welcome you in

Once inside you would bashfully hand him his present

He will be surprised, not expecting the gesture

Yet the contents of the small envelope had him speechless

Inside was a letter with a short but meaningful message, one of gratitude and appreciation, though within the letter was a smaller piece of paper- a drawing

After rereading the heartwarming letter, Joel gently caressed the colorful paper, a gentle smile curled the corners of his lips

"Thanks, kiddo!" He will respond, ruffling your hair as went in the kitchen and urged you and Sarah to following to have dinner

Only after hours of laughter and delicious take away did you notice your drawing in a central place on the fridge, held by a magnet

Having known Sarah for quite some time one would expect you would have met her dad

Well, that wasn't exactly the case

Despite going to the same school and living in the same neighborhood, you haven't really got to introduce yourself to her dad- Joel

And quite frankly, for the guy looked a tad bit intimidating to you at first glance

Which was secretly the reason why you would avoid visiting Sarah's place and instead invite her to yours in the comfort of your home

Being her curious self Sarah couldn't stop questioning you why you avoid going to her house until she realizes you are bit nervous about meeting her dad

She won't stop teasing you to a harmless extend of course until she convinces you to join her for a sleep over

Though the occasion for the party didn't quite help you loosen up

It was her dad's birthday

The more you thought about it the more you worried

And suddenly you found yourself nervously stomping around your bedroom at some ungodly hour of the night, trying to think of a suitable gift for the man you knew little to nothing about

Yet what was even worse was that time was wearing thin

His birthday was on Friday and a Thursday night wasn't the ideal amount of time to think of a present

Yet you managed

As you nervously talked around your room, you caught a glimpse of your school supplies

And the idea struck you

A drawing of both Joel and Sarah

Gift so simple yet so meaningful

Before you knew it was way past midnight as you looked at your creation with a smile of satisfaction on your face

Once the school day was over you would make your way to the Millers, your heart beating fast and your stomach clenched in a ball

Hesitantly you would knock on their door and all the short while you waited you would contemplate if it was too late to turn back

It was

The door opened revealing the smiling Sarah, peeking behind her father

Joel would warmly greet and welcome you in

Once inside you would bashfully hand him his present

He will be surprised, not expecting the gesture

Yet the contents of the small envelope had him speechless

Inside was a letter with a short but meaningful message, one of gratitude and appreciation, though within the letter was a smaller piece of paper- a drawing

After rereading the heartwarming letter, Joel gently caressed the colorful paper, a gentle smile curled the corners of his lips

"Thanks, kiddo!" He will respond, ruffling your hair as went in the kitchen and urged you and Sarah to following to have dinner

Only after hours of laughter and delicious take away did you notice your drawing in a central place on the fridge, held by a magnet

#tlou #tlous fanfic #tlou imagine #tlou x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x y/n

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space-apples · 2 years ago

Text

ive done it again folks! made angst about when i laughed the hardest.

(@hopepetal )

“I’m cursed, Zera, you can’t—”

“I can.” Zera’s eyes turned purple, and Space never thought he’d be scared of them until this very moment. It was for a split second; Space’s fear dissipated as soon as it came, but it was long enough for Zera to notice.

Zera always saw everything, after all.

“I thought you said you’d do anything to survive,” he said, taking a small breath to calm themself down. Their tone was bitter, but Space didn’t care.

“I would, but why would I—” He lowered his voice, as if They wouldn’t be able to hear this conversation. They would. They always would. He mirrored Zera with his own sharp words. “Why would I want you to put yourself in danger, Zera? I— Honestly, I’m fucking fine with being red, and, you know, I’m feeling way less dizzy now.”

“You think you can lie to me, Space? Of all people— I literallycan see. Everything. It’s sickening.”

“I erm… hope you feel better soon.”

“Space.”

“What—? it was getting too serious for me,” he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Last session I couldn’t crack one joke cause my head was too busy cracking itself open—”

“Space.”

“Zera.”

“It’s getting serious because I need you to take this seriously.”

“I am. I- I do,” he murmured, bringing themselves to talk how they would normally; loud, with a tint of fear, light enough to go unnoticed by almost everyone. “You know that just because they’re heartless monsters doesn’t mean you are.”

“…I know.”

“Do you?” At Zera’s silence, he switched gears, trying his best to keep them as safe as possible, even though he knew it was a lost cause. “I really, really, don’t want you to do this for me. They’re going to be angry, and— it doesn’t go well when they’re angry. For you and for me.”

They didn’t respond once again. Instead, they closed their eyes, and Space knew what was coming. Zera was too stubborn to back off, anyway.

He felt the life coming back with the warmth that started sprouting in his chest. It felt like a breath of fresh air, like he’d been stuck underwater and finally got pushed to the surface.

Red Life symptoms can consist of homicidal ideation, urges, and actions towards oneself and others. Is often sadistic and reckless. Their self preservation all depends on the individual, but most of the time, it becomes much smaller. Affiliations with such people is a cautionary tale at best.

Space wasn’t red anymore, thanks to Zera, but he couldn’t bring himself up to look at the admin.

“Thank you, Watcher Zera.” Xiara. “Say hi to Jay for me.”

He didn’t hear a response, nor did he notice the full body flinch of his friend. Space finally turned around, only to find that he was now alone in the caves.

“Open the door, open the door, open the door now.” Space’s breath was shaky, his body racked with terror. He was so close to death, and there was a husk right behind him, there was a husk right behind him, there was a husk right behind him.

The bottom cobblestone block broke, and he ran inside, crashing into the rest of the sillies confused and concerned faces.

“Want some enrichment?” Elle said, offering some in the form of bamboo. Her eyes sparkled concern, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to.

Space took the bamboo, smiling softly before hearing the groans of desert zombies and the rattling bones of skeletons.

“The husks, they’re— they—“ Space took a breath. “—killed me before.”

“It’s true,” Wilm whispered, as if they all didn’t see the death message on their comn. “I was there.”

Space was given cooked rabbit, he didn’t know from who (Brandy had slaughtered so many rabbits, it was probably them), but now they all were out of food.

Unfortunately Elle’s enrichment bamboo could not keep them fed.

This was stupid. Space was stupid. It was just a husk, he’ll be fine to just kill some stupid rabbits. It was fine. There was no reason to be scared of anything.

A husk appeared out of nowhere. He screamed, agony filling his chest the same way Zera had given him life before. The cruel irony of yet again being killed by the same undead creature, but this time he didn’t have the excuse of a migraine, was sick.

Zera had given Space a gift. But as everyone should know, throwing something into the void was wasteful. Space wasn’t just space, he was Empty Space, quite similar to the void. Cursed to forever take, cursed to forever lose.

Space knew that to the Watcher’s above that it was entertaining, and he could hear their laughter echoing in his ears.

#me when space is super inconsistent as a character #i finally know who he is tho dw it should get easier to understand now #even he doesn’t know who he is LMAO #spaceapples writes #5llsmp #5llsmp fanfic #5ll space #the sillies of the sand #5ll zera #watcher zera

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dvggered · 8 months ago

Text

Happy Birthday Jackie!!

@insanislupus

Rebekah peeks over Gordon's shoulder as he pulls the shortcake she had compelled him to make from the oven. Judgmental as she is, she knows she would completely ruin this recipe if attempted so she's best as an observer in this scenario. The original finds a nice countertop and hops onto it to watch. “Don't forget my special garnish Ramsay,” she calls out, knowing he won't because he's compelled.

In a short time, there is a beautiful strawberry shortcake dish before her just calling Jackie's name. It's not quite ready just yet though. Her eyes flick up to stare at him deadpan and impatient. He gets the message clearly and grabs one of the beautiful knives from his collection and wordlessly runs the sharp blade down his forearm causing a steady stream of blood to drizzle across the whipped cream covered dessert like a work of art. It’s perfect. Rebekah wraps it in a cute little box covered in anatomically correct hearts and adds a beautiful blood-red rose to finish the look.

With all her little gifts in place, she impatiently waits for Nik and Jackie to get home. The moment their feet cross the threshold Rebekah is beside them, linking arms with Jackie excitedly. “Sorry Nik, the birthday girl is mine now. You can possibly have her back in a few hours but no promises.” She smirks at him and then Jackie looking to the other girl for permission to steal her away just in case she wants to stay with him for whatever reason. The moment Jackie begins to nod and her lips part to say something, the original is pulling Jackie away not even bothering to wait for Niklaus to respond.

Their first stop is the bar of course. Rebekah compelled quite a few people specifically for this night, including a really hot and tasty bartender (she had checked, quality control). He had two bourbons already waiting as soon as they walked into the room and Rebekah grabbed both glasses, handing Jackie one. “To the most incredible best friend and sister. You deserve the world but sadly I do seem to have my limitations surprisingly so this will do.” Rebekah winks at the hybrid and they clink glasses in a toast.

Four more glasses down and the two girls are starting to feel the buzz set in. Rebekah excitedly pulls Jackie from the couch they were settling into. She’s almost vibrating with the excitement to give Jackie her birthday gifts. “Up up! Let's go!! You have to see your birthday gifts now that drinks are started! I can't wait any longer!”. Jackie smirks up at Rebekah “Okay okay, jeez bex, you're worse than a chihuahua when you get excited.” The hybrid is at Bekah's side in a blur and Rebekah is grinning ear to ear.

Rebekah guides them to a forgotten room tucked into the compound. She places her hands over the hybrid's eyes “No peeking!” she blurts and pushes them through the door, switching on the lights and letting the room shine in all its glory. Rebekah pulls her hands from Jackie's eyes and gives the hybrid a moment to register what the room is meant to be. It doesn't take long before Jackie is turning to Rebekah with a huge grin “Bekah, did you make a room for my heart collection?!” Rebekah fully returns the hybrid's grin nodding excitedly. “Yes, I did!! Let me give you a little tour! Then we have a special little birthday dessert.”

They go through each little compartment of the room Rebekah had custom created (by compulsion of course). Everything is also spelled by a witch to ensure the hearts stored are kept viable if desired. There's a little experimentation desk with all sorts of examination equipment just in case Jackie felt the urge to explore a little deeper. As well as 2 full walls of individual boxes for each heart to be stored into. Her previous heart fridge gifted from Nik is also blended into the decor just in case she still wants it for sentimental reasons. The last tour stop is to a special corner made just for Jackie's dog baby, so she can rest if Jackie is in here for a while.

“Bex, this is insane.” Jackie actually seems in awe for a few minutes and Bekah absolutely revels in it. “I'm so glad you like it! Now for dessert, let's go!” She pours herself and the hybrid an overfilled glass of wine from the cart she had put next to the room. Just in case Jackie needs a buzz in the future, she is fully stocked with all her favorite drinks.

When they get to the kitchen the cake box is still perfectly presented on the kitchen island waiting for its owner. As well as four poor, hot souls who crossed Rebekah’s path during this planning process. They were all compelled and would be finishing out this party with them tonight much to Rebekah’s delight as she had already run quality control and knew that the brunette in particular was delicious and even seemed to enjoy her bite. Too bad her heart was likely to end up in one of those shiny new boxes by morning. Maybe Jackie would let Bekah have a little fun with her first as a thank you.

The original promptly guides Jackie over to the box waiting for them and hops up on the counter again. “It's all yours love, however, I'd love it if you shared a bite because damn can Gordon make a cake. Jackie pulls the box open and finds the blood-drizzled strawberry shortcake waiting and beautiful. “Damn bex, this looks so good.” Jackie walks over to grab 2 forks and gives one to Bekah. They eat basically the whole thing while discussing stealing Randy Fenoli from ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ for a gown collection. Gordon had worked out so well they might as well see who else they can kidnap next.

Jackie finishes off her last bite of cake and downs the rest of the champagne they had paired with it. The moment the fork hits the plate Rebekah pops off the counter. “Okay, truly the last surprise. These lovely four will be joining us for the rest of the night, possibly even joining your collection if you want. If possible though I'd love more time with this one” Rebekah wraps her arm around the cute girl she was dying to get another taste of and smirks at Jackie. Jackie's wicked little grin meets Rebekah's and it's very clear they will be spending the rest of the night throwing their own little blood soaked party.

#───❁ Jackie ♡ insanislupus ❁───#long post #its late but its full of love

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howaboutcastiel · 2 years ago

Text

How Much I Missed You

Summary: It’s date night! Marc and Layla go on their first date… well, their second first date. The evening is full of surprises for the both of them. (5) FWMS Masterlist.

Word count: 5.3k

Warnings: there’s sort of smut at the end, but it’s pretty vague and un-steamy. Also, there’s brief and non-detailed talk about human trafficking. An allusion to triggers and panic attacks is in there, too.

Marc’s heart may as well have been beating out of his chest.

Why was he so nervous? He had been on at least a hundred dates with Layla, not to mention spent years living with her. He had fumbled a thousand pick up lines, hissed heavy curses in a thousand arguments, and stuttered his way through a thousand apologies. And thousands upon thousands of times, Layla had smiled, shaken her head, and forgiven him. In spite of Marc stumbling his way through every adventure he had ever had with Layla, she had always endured and accepted.

So why couldn’t he stop his hands from shaking? Why couldn’t he stop the chill that ran from his heart to his palms, all but numbing his fingertips as he tried to button his shirt? Why couldn’t Marc shake the feeling that this night would somehow go horribly wrong?

There hadn’t been much planning at all for tonight. Layla had texted him a few hours ago asking if he was free, and he had responded that he was. Then she had told him she would be at his door at 6, and that he should not worry about dressing up. Other than that, there was no information Marc had to go on about what she wanted for tonight. Did she want to have the date here, in Steven’s flat? Should he put on some tea or find a nice movie to play? Was she going to drag him halfway across the city to her own apartment? If so, why didn’t she just tell him to meet her there? Marc didn’t much like not being the one in control. It set him on edge, even if it was just a date night. Even if he trusted Layla with his life.

Steven tried to talk him down a bit. This time, he insisted on leaving the body to Marc for the night. “You can’t just keep handing it over to me when you get overwhelmed. You need to talk to her.”

“I know,” he all but whined. Marc wasn’t proud of the way he crumbled and retreated every time she looked at him. He wanted to be genuine with her. He wanted to feel safe enough to be himself around her.

But he had never been himself around anyone, really.

“Listen, just remember what we talked about, alright? Start with the little things, things that people would say on a first date. Start with the stuff that’s important, but not all the heavy things.”

“I don’t know how to make small talk, Steven.” Marc fiddled with the button of his shirt some more. He could barely contain his nervousness as the clock crept closer and closer to Layla’s arrival time.

Steven urged him to breathe. “Don’t think of it as small talk. You make it sound like something you have to force. She wants to get to know you, Marc. She wants you to share yourself with her. Just think of it as sharing yourself.”

Marc’s chest only tightened at that. He had spent the last months doing exactly the opposite, burying himself so deep in solitude that he was almost convinced that he himself didn’t know Marc Spector. He had trained himself for years to hide away, to be quiet, to be invisible. To go with the flow of things and to not rock the boat--and to not dare ever ask where it was going. Marc had gotten this far with Layla by fulfilling one simple purpose: pleasing her. In his mind, though, that meant making things easy on her. By lying, by hiding, by letting her make assumptions about him that he’d never try to correct. He couldn’t grasp the message that both Layla and Steven had been trying to drill into him since they had agreed to start over--

He couldn’t make her happy through quiet conformity.

Marc had never had the opportunity to know true, unconditional love. He didn’t understand that Layla’s expectations of him were just for him to be himself. He wouldn’t have to walk on eggshells around her. He wouldn’t have to be a different person based on the mood she was in when she came home after work. He wouldn’t have to keep his pain hidden, or carefully orchestrate the image of himself that was most palatable to her. Marc needed to allow himself to be unguarded around her. Her happiness, then, lay in the understanding that Marc felt safe around her. That he trusted her. That she was deserving of every single part of himself that he could possibly think to give her.

Sure, it had been explained to him, but Marc still couldn’t understand it. Because how could anyone see him for what he truly was and still want to stay?

“God, Steven,” Marc almost-choked out. “She’s gonna be here any second.”

“Yes, she is, and it’s gonna be fine. You’re gonna be fine.” Steven was prepared to retreat backward, to give Marc and Layla some privacy for tonight, if he could only get Marc to calm down. “She already wants you, Marc. You’re already married. All you have to do now is show her the life that she’s already signed up for.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Fuck.” Marc froze at the noise.

Steven gave one last reassurance. “You got this, bud. I know you do. Have a nice night.”

“Steven—”

It took everything Marc had not to panic right then. He tried to remember the times where he had found it easy to be around Layla. Even if it was built on a string of lies, their marriage had been one of true love. At least, that’s what it felt like at the time. Marc prayed that the spark was still there, somewhere.

He opened the door to find Layla leaning against the wall opposite him. She was wearing a yellow sundress, one that she’d had since before they were married, and her hair was tied back in a half-up style. Layla’s makeup was done in a simple, sleek style complete with gold shimmering eyeshadow and black winged liner. Marc couldn’t help but notice the similarity to her avatar suit.

She looked stunning.

“Hi,” he stuttered out. Marc’s nervousness was painted plainly on his face.

“Hey, baby,” she replied, smiling.

Baby?

Maybe this wasn’t going to be as hard as he thought. Some of the coldness in his spine subsided at the greeting. He took a deep, long breath, trying to preserve the warmth. Layla eyed him patiently.

“Are you ready to go?” She asked as the silence lingered. He gave a small nod before furrowing his brows.

“Where are we going?” He shut the door behind him. Marc held his arm out, signaling for Layla to latch onto it. She did so, and he led her to the elevator.

“Somewhere new,” Layla replied. There was a cheeky smile on her face, though it was reserved. “If that’s alright with you.”

“I’ll go anywhere with you,” he blurted. It was off-the-cuff, and Marc’s face flooded with heat when he realized he’d said it. That was very unlike him, wasn’t it? Maybe Steven had really gotten in his head about this whole ‘sharing is caring’ thing. He backtracked. “It’s fine with me.”

“Perfect.”

They didn’t talk much as Layla led him out the door of the complex to her motorbike in the parking deck. Marc didn’t much like the bike—too much noise, too much wind in his face—but he had gotten used to it over time, so he didn’t think twice about clicking his helmet on and pressing his chest into Layla’s back.

His body was flush against hers.

Maybe he should have thought twice about that.

Marc’s body and mind flooded with emotions he couldn’t describe. He was conflicted. He longed for Layla’s touch, and his body graciously accepted the muscle memory of being nestled behind her, arms delicately laced around her stomach and face resting on her shoulder. He felt like he should be holding himself away—he didn’t deserve to be touching her like that, did he? He pulled his head back a bit, hovering behind her a few inches as she started the motor.

“It’s not a long ride, I swear.” Layla pulled out of the parking spot, the movement forcing Marc forward against her. Every muscle in his body was tense. The last time he’d hugged her, it had been a short-lived reunion after he had cheated death. Before that, the last time he held her…

…well, he couldn’t exactly remember, but it had been a while. The vibration of the bike helped Marc sink deeper into her back, curbing the spring in his muscles from getting so intense that he couldn’t breathe. For whatever it was worth, Layla was true to her word. The ride was over nearly as quickly as it had started, maybe ten minutes tops.

Layla parked her bike in the garage beside the aquarium.

“This is where you wanted to go?” Marc asked. He’d never been to an aquarium before, but he had seen them on television plenty. He didn’t much like tourist attractions anyway, and that’s what aquariums were in his mind. Places for sightseeing, places to take children to explore. Places with far too many people and an overpriced gift shop. He had never had an interest in coming to one.

“I thought we could try it,” Layla explained. He hesitated beside the bike and she placed her hand on the small of his back to urge him forward. “Come on, they don’t stay open very late. I want to make sure we get to see it all.”

They started walking toward the door, and Marc thought back to Steven’s advice. Start with the little things, things you would say on a first date.

“I’ve never been to one,” he muttered, staring at the giant blue letters on the front of the building. The exterior was painted with cartoons of sea life—goldfish, lobsters, turtles, octopuses. An illustration of a great white shark winked at them as they entered the doors.

“Never?”

“Not once,” he admitted. “I don’t really know anything about fish.”

She chuckled. “You’re in for a treat then, I guess.”

Layla paid for their tickets at the front desk. Marc followed her along the pathway painted on the floor and, as they rounded the corner of the entryway, Marc’s attention turned to the giant tanks lining the walls of the first room. He didn’t know water could look like this. Sure, Steven’s fish tank was a sight to behold now that it was decorated, but this was something else entirely.

The creatures swimming along his vision almost looked too beautiful to be real. They were colorful, vivid even, and they moved through the water with a grace and elegance he thought impossible of marine life. The movies had never done justice to these animals.

Marc didn’t say anything, but Layla noticed quickly how his face lit up like a forest fire. His pace slowed and she gently laced her hand into his as his eyes followed a moon jellyfish.

“They’re beautiful,” she praised. She glanced down to the species guide, pressing her lips into a lopsided smile. “It’s kinda funny, isn’t it?”

“Hmm?” He turned to look at her, admittedly distracted, and she gestured to the plaque in front of him.

“A moon jelly.”

Marc’s laugh was soft, but humorless. He felt the urge to say something that seemed like an admittance of guilt, even though it couldn’t have been remotely that. “I don’t even like the moon that much.”

“Is that right?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

He felt himself blushing. “Not like I hate it or anything. Just—I prefer the sun. I really like the sunset.”

“How romantic,” she gleamed. He rolled his eyes and blushed even deeper. “But I honestly wouldn’t blame you if you hated the moon by now. I can’t even look at it anymore without thinking of him.”

Him. Khonshu. Marc didn’t need any reminding about that bastard.

“It’s not like he owns the thing. There’s probably dozens of gods that have powers that control the moon.” He tore his eyes away from the tank, focusing instead on Layla’s face. She seemed more than pleased to be listening to him. “I don’t think I could ever really hate it. Not when it looks like that.”

Layla’s eyes lifted in surprise. “I have to agree with you there.”

They moved along the exhibits, Layla spending much more time reading plaques than him. Marc didn’t really care what kind of fish they were or what part of the world they were taken from. He just wanted to watch them swim. They were peaceful—blissfully unaware of the constant stares of onlookers day after day. At least, he hoped they were at peace. They didn’t seem too bothered by the stream of visitors.

For the most part, the two of them continued to share little tidbits. Mostly light things, but other things, too. Any time their life together came up, it was hard to steer clear of the heavy shit. Still, they tried.

“You know the whole reason Steven found out about me is because I accidentally killed his fish?”

“You did not,” Layla gasped. She giggled as he nodded his head in shame. “I don’t know if I’m allowed to laugh at that.”

“You can laugh, just maybe not in front of Steven.” Marc cracked a smile. “But yeah, I took the body for a few days and shipped off to Austria. I didn’t even think about feeding Gus.”

“Gus?” She smirked.

“I didn’t name him.”

Layla couldn’t suppress her grin. It was playful, joyful even, but her curiosity was genuine. “So—wait, how did that make him find out about you?”

“Well, I tried to buy a replacement fish so that he wouldn’t notice.”

Layla’s laugh erupted from her chest as if she couldn’t hold it back. Marc’s tone was defensive, but he was laughing, too. “I didn’t want him to be sad! He was already gonna be upset that he missed his date—”

Marc had the sudden feeling that he’d said something that he should not have.

“He had a date?” Layla’s smile faltered a bit, but she didn’t look hurt. Not in a jealous way, at least.

“Well, he would have had one, I guess. He didn’t make it there though… on account of us being in the Alps.” Marc shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Layla’s face dropped a little more.

“D’you think he would want to go on some dates? I mean, he must have been lonely if he was looking…”

“He doesn’t,” Marc piped. It didn’t seem forced, but it did sound urgent. He stuttered over his words. “He isn’t—he’s not interested in—”

“Not interested in what?” Layla persisted, and Marc bit his lip. She tried to decipher what that could mean. “Is Steven… not interested in women?”

Marc’s face scrunched at that. Could she not understand? Had Steven not kissed her in the desert? Had she forgotten? Was she really going to make Marc say it? He squeezed his eyes shut.

“He’s only interested in one.”

That appeared to clear things up. Layla’s mouth fell open slightly, and she nodded in quiet understanding. Marc deflected before the moment could sink further. “I bought another fish, but it didn’t look enough like Gus. See, Steven’s goldfish only had one fin, but the pet store didn’t have any one-finned fish…”

She hesitated to follow his story. “So, Steven thought his fish had suddenly grown back its fin?”

“I guess, yeah. He figured out pretty soon that someone had swapped them.” Marc tilted his head toward the ground. The whole thing sounded so foolish in hindsight.

There was no humor in her voice this time. “Why didn’t you just leave the dead one in the tank? He wouldn’t have thought anything weird about his goldfish dying. Fish die all the time.”

“I just didn’t want that to be another thing I’d ruined for him.”

Layla didn’t press any further. They were nearing the last exhibit now, which was fitting considering how late it was getting. The aquarium would be closing soon anyway. The final corridor was an immersive exhibit, where the tank surrounded the guests on all sides, arching over their heads for a few meters before the room exited into the gift shop. Marc stared at the entrance to the corridor, lagging behind Layla as she walked underneath. When she noticed that he was no longer beside her, she turned to face him with a perplexed expression.

Marc was a former marine, for God’s sake. After all of this time, he shouldn’t have been bothered by a fish tank. It was an exhibit meant for children, something a normal person wouldn’t give a second thought. It should have been mesmerizing. It should have felt exciting to be immersed in the imagery.

It didn’t feel like that.

He was good at gritting his teeth and powering through. Hell, he wouldn’t have gotten nearly this far if he hadn’t learned quick how to do that. The night was going so well, though. He hadn’t expected something like this to happen, not this late into the evening. It was such a small thing, how could he have known it would bother him?

“You coming?” A tinge of impatience rang in Layla’s voice. He walked forward, keeping his eyes on the ground in front of him. “You’re missing the best part. Look up.”

Marc hated the visceral, automatic response he gave to her.

“I can’t.”

Layla El-Faouly wasn’t dumb by any metric. She could see that something was wrong with him. But she also wasn’t cruel, so she didn’t press. Marc flinched as she placed a hand on his shoulder, guiding him quickly and quietly to the end of the exhibit.

For the first time, she took to heart what Steven had told her upon her return to London. ‘Marc’s been through a lot. Much more than he’s told you.’ She wondered how many things like that she had missed before. How many small hesitations had she failed to understand were something more?

When they stopped walking again, Marc raised his head to find that they were now in the gift shop. He took measured breaths, hoping that Layla wouldn’t make a big deal of his…well, whatever had just happened to him. Just as he suspected, everything inside the shop was overpriced and shittily made. He moved toward the exit, but spotted Layla down the aisle beside him looking at a rack of very odd looking plushies.

“Do you like what you see?” He muttered, which caused her head to jerk toward his voice. Layla shook her head absently, her fingers fumbling with a tag on a little pink stuffy. She moved beyond the rack. Her eyes lingered just a moment too long on the animal that Marc admittedly couldn’t identify.

Layla moved swiftly through the rest of the shelves, picking through shirts and hats and figurines, and even a few pop-up books. She carried a bit of nervousness in her frame, which confused Marc quite a bit. He had never seen her be nervous in front of him. Scared, maybe, or jumpy after a mission. Never nervous though. He stalked forward to the display she had lingered on. Marc’s hand jumped to the price tag.

Stuffed axolotl: £35.00.

He jerked the toy off of the rack, positioning it behind his back. Layla drifted further to the edge of the store and Marc approached the register.

“Will that be all for you, sir?” Asked the cashier. He pressed his lips into a polite smile.

“It will. Can you put it in a gift bag?”

She nodded, and he handed her the money to pay. Marc turned around to see that Layla was on the last rack, picking through a bored display of keychains. The cashier cleared her throat and he thanked her before grabbing his bag from the counter.

“You ready to head out?” Layla called to him. “I’m getting hungry.”

“Come visit us again soon,” the cashier piped. Marc and Layla made their way outside, where the sun had set and darkened the sky and the surrounding streets. They were halfway to the parking deck before Layla noticed the bag in his hand.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, well…” he fumbled. He hadn’t planned to give it to her until they were back at his place. “I just noticed you looking at it. I thought maybe you thought it was too expensive or something.”

He passed the bag to her, and she reached her hand in to pull out the stuffed animal. Layla hummed surprisedly at the gift. “Marc! You bought this for me?”

“Yeah. Thought you might like it—”

She jumped into his arms with more fervor than she’d had all night. Marc nearly lost his footing at the impact, awkwardly pulling his hands up to reciprocate while shuffling on his feet. Layla held him tightly enough to steal his breath, her muscles sprung and shaking.

“Habibi, I love it.”

Marc whined and practically melted into her skin. They stayed like that for a few moments, each remembering what it was like to embrace the other. Their bodies just seemed to fit together so well, and the warmth was addictive in the cold, dark London streets. Layla was the first to pull away, mostly due to the growling in her belly.

“Thank you,” she muttered, locking their hands and heading again toward the parking deck. “Let’s get some food.”

“Take out?” Marc offered, glad that the dim lighting hid the red of his cheeks. He didn’t want the night to be over quite yet.

“Sure. My place or yours?”

“Steven just redecorated,” he explained.

“Okay. Yours then.” She handed Marc’s helmet to him, along with the gift bag for him to hold onto. “I want to see what it’s like without all the sand.”

“It’s definitely an improvement.”

They practically scarfed down their dinner the second they made it to the flat. Layla wasn’t kidding about being hungry, and Marc realized as he took his first bite that he hadn’t eaten anything since Steven had given him the body at breakfast. Marc allowed her to pick a playlist before steaming it over a speaker on the coffee table. The longer they sat together on Steven’s old, tattered couch, the more it felt like old times for both of them.

“About my trip tomorrow,” Layla began. Marc turned his attention to her face, away from the sleeve of her dress he was fumbling with. “It’s a mission for Taweret. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

Marc’s body lit up with an odd feeling. Worry, maybe, for her safety? Or was it something else? “You’re doing missions for Taweret? I thought that was just temporary.”

“So did I,” she explained. “But this mission, this target… I don’t know. I can’t walk away from it.”

“What is it?”

“It’s kind of hard to explain. I need you not to freak out.”

Marc’s heart jumped. “Why would I freak out?”

“There’s nothing to be worried about,” she claimed.

“Layla, what is she asking you to do?”

Layla sighed and cupped his hand in her face. Her eyes pleaded again with him to please not freak out. “There’s a trafficking ring—”

“A what!?”

A trafficking ring. Ambiguous language, for sure, but Marc could quickly put the pieces of the puzzle together. Taweret was the goddess of women and children. Vulnerable people. That likely meant it wasn’t drugs or contraband they were smuggling—

It was people.

“You don’t have to worry about me, Marc! Taweret will protect me, okay? You know how this works.” Layla held Marc’s face in her hands like he’d fall if she wasn’t bearing the weight. He grabbed her wrists, restraining himself from clamping down with all his strength.

He whimpered at the thought of it. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I can take care of myself. I promise.”

There it was again. The very thing that had driven a wedge so deeply in their relationship that it had almost crumbled to nothing. Marc wanted to argue with her. He wanted to insist on keeping her safe, because all he had ever wanted was to keep her safe. It wasn’t about what he wanted, though. That was the entire point. That was where he fell short the first time. He hadn’t asked what Layla had wanted.

“And you want to do this mission?” Marc worded his question carefully. He wanted to make sure he was hearing it right. “You want to go fight this human trafficking ring? You want to live in servitude to Taweret and her cause?”

“It’s not servitude, Marc. I want to do this because it’s the right thing to do. I want to help Taweret because I believe in her, and she’d never make me do something I didn’t want to. I’ve got this, I swear.”

Marc nodded. He pulled Layla’s arms down from his face and clasped his hands into hers. She squeezed his palms, her soft eyes staring a hole straight through him. He swallowed hard.

“I’ll miss you.”

Her face lifted, an affirming smile spreading across her cheeks before disappearing again. The only sound in the room was the music that Layla had picked. It was barely loud enough to be heard, allowing for Marc to hear how her breath hitched. Her hands slacked in his own.

Layla moved on top of him in a quick, smooth motion. She pressed her lips sweetly to his and cupped her arm to the back of his neck, pressing him back into the couch. Marc’s body struggled to keep up with the movement. It took him a moment to respond, finally bringing his hand up to the small of her back and parting his lips while she moved against him.

The progression was slow and hesitant. Marc made sure that his movements were gentle, and Layla made sure hers were more about closeness than lust. They spent hours on the couch, so many that Layla’s phone had run out of battery and stopped playing music. That didn’t make any difference to them, though. As far as Marc was concerned, a tornado could come through the room and he wouldn’t dare move from his spot.

He explored every inch of her body, both over and under her dress. Marc savored the feeling of her, cursing his past self for taking her all for granted. Why hadn’t he taken the time to worship her thighs? Why hadn’t he made a mission of kissing every inch of her belly? Where was his brain when Marc managed to marry the most gorgeous woman on earth, because it couldn’t have been in his head. Not the way he had treated her before. Marc couldn’t remember her skin being this soft before. He must not have taken the time to catalog the texture.

“I’ll miss you too,” Layla hummed. Her hand was locked in the mop of his curls, his tongue exploring her chest. She had missed his touch, too, though she would argue that it had always been ethereal. Marc had always, always put her needs before his. He’d always taken the time to make sure she was tended to. Now, though, he somehow seemed even more attentive. She writhed underneath him, absolutely delirious from the weight of his body on top of her.

When they woke the next morning, Layla had stolen all the covers on Marc’s bed. He didn’t mind, admittedly having slept much too soundly to notice. He slipped out of bed, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and putting the kettle on to boil. Unless something had drastically changed since he left, he knew that she liked her tea strong and sweet.

He smiled to himself when he heard the bathroom door creak open and the shower begin to run. Marc opted to make her a plate of breakfast as well, hoping he was correct about how she liked her eggs. He hadn’t cooked for her in a while, mostly because he didn’t cook much at all. Marc Spector would be damned, though, if he didn’t take care of her now. Especially after a night like the one they’d just had. Breakfast was the absolute least he could do. He pondered about buying her a castle.

“I’m surprised that your hair has gotten so long,” she said as she emerged from the bathroom. Layla was wearing his Led Zeppelin t-shirt, the fabric barely covering her ass. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep and her neck was heavily painted with hickies. Marc tried not to stare at them.

“Steven likes it this way,” he responded. Marc had worn his hair short from the time he had entered the marines until Steven had returned from his dormant state inside their mind. He often wore it past the length of the buzz-cut that the military required, but it had never been long enough to fall into his field of vision.

“You made breakfast,” Layla observed.

“And tea,” he added. He put a plate and mug in front of her.

She smiled. “Thank you.”

Marc took a sip of his own tea, trying to hide how much he was struggling to form a response. Layla started to eat. She paused when the quiet scraping of forks and tapping of mugs had gone on too long.

“Marc?” Her voice was hesitant. He looked up from his plate slowly.

“Hmm?”

“You don’t like water much, do you?” His food almost caught in his throat. She bit the inside of her cheek, pondering if the question was too prying, too soon.

“It’s nothing,” he dismissed.

She stopped herself from rolling her eyes. It clearly wasn’t nothing. “I should have asked before taking you to the aquarium.”

“No, no, I liked it.” Marc shook his head, assuring her with gentle, wide eyes. “It was perfect. Really. It was beautiful.”

His words hung in the air. She wasn’t buying it.

“I just don’t—I don’t know. It’s stupid.”

Her hand darted to his, wrapping around his fingers and pressing down on the table. “It’s not stupid, Marc. But you don’t have to tell me.”

This was what he had been wary of. Opening up to her, just as he had opened himself up to Steven before. He didn’t like doing it the first time, and that was under duress anyway. Marc wasn’t sure if he could do it again. Not like this. Not so soon. Not on his own. He couldn’t lie to her, either, though.

“I just don’t like going under. I told you, it’s stupid.”

Layla’s watch beeped at her, signaling that it was nearing time to leave for the airport. She choked down the last pieces of egg and chugged her now-lukewarm tea. She switched quickly back into her dress from the previous night, looking back over the studio to make sure she had everything she’d brought with her. The gift bag from the aquarium balanced on the knuckle of her pinky.

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to call next,” she murmured to him. Layla pressed a kiss to his cheek on the way out the door. “But text me?”

“I will,” he promised.

“Tell Steven the same, alright. And Marc…”

Electricity danced on his skin where her lips had been. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for telling me. Next time, we’ll go somewhere drier.”

She winked as she shut the door, and Marc couldn’t wipe the dumb smile off of his face.

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ALSO Happy Birthday Tora!!!

#moon boys #moon knight #fire within my soul #layla el faouly #marc spector #masterlist #steven grant #marclayla

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