#so that whenever i have the urge to play around with his kit i can just go into his quest domain

[rubys-domain]

fuck, what if the reason i'm winning my 50/50's is because hoyo doesn't want me to have tighnari

[judebelle]

Can I request Gavi? Xavi is y/n uncle and her and Gavi are a new couple; and they’re still at the shyness stage of dating. So y/n go into the locker room to talk to her uncle and the team is poking at Gavi to go hug or kiss his girlfriend.

perfect - p.g. x reader

a/n : this is so middle school crush coded i love it

cw : nothing this is just fluff lol

wc : 1.1k

pairing : pablo gavi x fem!reader

---

you were sat in the vip section of a barcelona match. since your uncle was the manager, you got to sit up here and knew most of the players personally. some of them probably felt forced to interact with you since your uncle was their boss, but you didn't mind the thought of it.

one particular boy took a special liking to you around a month ago.

you and pablo had started talking more and he ended up asking you to be his girlfriend after a practice you had visited.

you two didn't get to see each other as nearly as you had wanted, partly because of pablo's busy schedule, and partly because you were both still very... awkward around each other.

although not seeing each other often, you two went on a few dates which were.. let's just say interesting.

during your first dinner date, pablo accidentally spilled a bit of water on your lap while trying to show you the missing button on his sleeve. you both ended up laughing it off, but you could tell he was embarrassed.

or when you two would walk together, your hands would occasionally brush against each other, urging some blushes and hesitant smiles.

pablo would fumble with his words whenever he tried to give you a compliment.

"your dress looks um.. you look really.. good, er- beautiful, or pretty, whatever you prefer."

you saw it as a cute innocence. you didn't mind having to wipe water off your skirt if you got to see that pink fluster creep up his cheeks every now and then.

you were shaken out of your thoughts as you heard cheers erupt from around you. joao felix had just scored the opener against antwerp on his debut. you stood up and cheered. you didn't know him too well yet, but him and pablo seemed to be hitting it off on the field.

some time passed, and the score was 3-0, one an own goal, and two from joao. you paid close attention to the game now, waiting for pablo to score. you had a feeling he would, and you didnt want to miss it.

once he actually scored, you couldn't contain your excitement, clapping and cheering for him with genuine enthusiasm. caught up in the moment, pablo shyly pointed towards you in the stands, and his face lit up with a proud smile at the sight of your applause. he sends a heart your way, making yours skip a beat.

pablo's teammates playfully teased him about his new romance, finding it cute to see two young people so smitten with each other.

the whistle blew, signalling the end of the game. you stood from your seat, grabbed your phone and lipgloss, applying as you walked down the stairs. you made your way to the tunnel to talk to your uncle and congratulate the team, specifically a special brown haired boy.

you didn’t see him around, so you waited for a bit, but grew impatient. you walked towards the locker room and pushed a knock against the door. “it’s me!” you called out, like usual.

the boys called out jumbled words, but you could make out your uncle’s “come in”. you pushed open the door to see him talking to the boys in the locker room, all still dressed in their kits. they drank water and listened to him intently.

he was going on about some new playing methods and strategies but also included how he was proud of their win. he sent the joao’s a smile and the locker room erupted in cheers. water was splashed around and they got some pats on the back. you congratulated them with a smile and turned to your uncle.

“congratulations, the team did well, courtesy of you, of course.” you flashed xavi a toothy grin and tucked a piece of hair behind your ear.

he smiled back and ruffled the hair you just fixed, earning a whine from you. “thank you, princesa. means a lot coming from someone like you.” he winked sarcastically before pressing a kiss to your forehead. you smiled softly at the gesture.

“so, i was wondering if-“ your words were cut off by hushed whispers and giggles coming from over xavi’s shoulder. you peered over to see jules poking pablo’s rib. pablo smacked his hand away in embarrassment before pedro made a kissing sound at him.

“stop, stop it!” pablo whisper shouted, a tinge of red creeping up his neck. fermin snuck up behind pablo and whispered to him in his ear before ushering him forward. “go say hi, she’s waitinggg!”

“seriously, can you guys not?!”

“oh come on, go give her a hug, lover boy” alejandro had joined in on the games too, messing pablo’s hair up before nudging pedro. “bro, look at how red his face is!” they both laughed at pablo who looked like steam was about to erupt from his ears.

his lips were caught in a pout, his fists balled up, and he was doing everything in his power not to look your way.

eventually, almost the whole squad had joined in on the teasing, pushing pablo towards you. xavi had moved to the side at this point, a admiring smirk playing on his lips as he watched an embarrassed pablo being shoved towards you.

you stood there awkwardly until you finally met face to face. he gulped nervously.

“hi..” he looked as if he’d just seen a ghost.

“hi?” your eyebrows furrowed at his widened eyes. after a few seconds of silence, you spoke again.

“congratulations, you played well.”

you sent him a soft smile so contagious he caught one too. “really?” it almost sounded as if he didn’t believe your words.

“your, um- your goal was my favourite..” you bit your lip and looked up at pablo through your eyelashes.

he was about to respond until a chant echoed through the room.

“hug! hug! hug! hug! hug!”

you felt the familiar heat rise up from your ears and saw an almost identical reflection on pablo’s face.

an apologetic smile snuck its way onto his face before he whispered out,

“may i?”

you couldn’t help but giggle before you opened your arms, ready for his embrace. your bodies connected and you nuzzled your head into the crook of his neck. you fit together so perfectly. his hands were unsure at first, but slowly secured around your waist, yours wrapped around his neck.

the room erupted in cheers and applause, some shouting out “aww” and “oooh”. you couldn’t help but laugh into pablo’s shoulder.

oh how perfect this felt.

[the-artist-grimm]

Okay, so I have a few questions that don’t line up with each other, but here goes!

What was Anthea’s first reaction to Chemach, Kudaai, and Clauneck?

What were Aym and Baal’s first reaction to rain, snow, or thunder/lightning?

Are there potentially other lambs in your au that don’t live in the Lands of the Old Faith?

Do you have ideas for a Narilamb baby?

What was Anthea’s first reaction to Chemach, Kudaai, and Clauneck? 

Clauneck - Met him during their first proper crusade but had heard about him from Ratau previously. Anthea thinks he’s a mysterious, but intelligent person. They also are very fond of his decorations and after several visits both find that they both share a mutual love of stars. The decorations hanging in the lamb’s room were actually purchased from him, and he often lets Anthea know whenever his cards herald any sort of upcoming starfall so they can watch.  Kudaai - Met him prior to becoming a vessel when they were around 16 or so. Shrumy had been teaching Anthea how to fight at Ratau’s request, and they figured it was time to get the lamb properly fitted for their own weapon. Anthea has a lot of respect towards him and thinks his weapons work is amazing, since their hometown never had a blacksmith. That first meeting saw the lamb’s polite but curious nature able to charm a usually gruff Kudaai. The lamb tends to chat with him about whatever he’s working on on visits now, since they ask more in-depth questions like the pros and cons to different blade styles, metals, ect compared to just asking a vague ‘what are you working on?’  Chemach - Met her during one of their earlier crusades, and is the only one of the three siblings Anthea’s somewhat unsettled by. Chemach’s more erratic behavior leaves the lamb typically on edge, though they try to still be polite. While Anthea is happy to chat with Kudaai or Clauneck whenever they come across them, with Chemach Anthea tends to try to get in and out, that first visit Chemach actually ended up startling Anthea quite a bit upon dropping down from the ceiling.   

What were Aym and Baal’s first reaction to rain, snow, or thunder/lightning? 

❄️ Snow: The twins LOVED seeing it through the crown, and even more-so in person. Think puppies playing in snow for the first time, the twins had woken up prior to Anthea and Narinder and had rushed out in just their nightgowns cause they were so excited. Nari and Anthea woke up shortly after to the sound of shrieking outside and ran out weapons drawn in a panic, only to find the boys chasing each other while trying to shove snow down the others’ collar.  They should’ve urged them inside to change, but it’d been the first time they’d seen the kits spar against one another since their deaths, as post resurrection neither could handle holding a weapon much less their old play fights hand to hand without panicking.   🌧️ Rain: The twins were wary at first since water, but after a while found that the sound rain made was soothing.  ⚡ Thunder/Lightning: Terrified. A pretty bad storm hit only a week after their resurrection while it was Narinder’s night with them, and he had to send Leshy (the only revived bishop at the time. Leshy had been staying at Nari’s house since they’d reconciled mostly), to go fetch the lamb since both twins were too petrified to go out. Anthea arrived to find Narinder trying to calm Aym down from a panic attack and while Baal had gone mute with his claws digging into Nari’s arm to the point of drawing blood from holding it so tight.  It was that combined with already nightly treks over to the others’ place after one of the twins’ woke up from nightmares that led to Narinder and Anthea to just agreeing to alternate the house all four slept at rather than hoping the twins could manage a night with only one of them.

Are there potentially other lambs in your au that don’t live in the Lands of the Old Faith? 

Possibly, though lands beyond that of the Old Faith are largely unexplored/lack any contact. There’s other nations and lands, but they all got their own things going on (I imagine eventually they do make contact, since the Old Faith eventually could be considered just a sort of kingdom after a few centuries). 

Do you have ideas for a Narilamb baby?

No ideas for drawings yet but Anthea and Narinder do likely have more kids eventually, though it’s not for a long while. Anthea’s mainly hesitant about more children since they fear making Aym and Baal feel as neglected/as pressured to be good examples as they’d felt when their parents had more kids, and Narinder kinda wants to wait till they’re both in the right headspace for it. Like they love children don't get them wrong, but they don't want to jump into things when they got a still young cult, their own remaining issues, and two tweens to watch over. Plus Aym and Baal are like 11 when they’re resurrected and not only still have plenty of years of childhood left, but also have a lot of trauma to work through so they want to make sure they can devote themselves fully to their boys. They do both get their baby fix as cultists start feeling safe enough to start their own families though-there’s a nursery that acts as a daycare while families take their kids back in evenings, so when not busy Anthea or Narinder try to stop by to read with the kids there.

[rougepancake]

Take care.

How they deal with you when you’re on your period (hcs)

Ft. Leonne Abbacchio and Bruno Bucciarati

WARNINGS: Fem!reader. Period cramps, mood swings. Fluffy stuff. These hcs are all over the place btw. There is no order whatsoever-

BRUNO BUCCIARATI

Don’t doubt him, he’s done his research and then some

He knows exactly what to get you when you’re cramping badly, and treats you as if you’re the most fragile thing on earth

Prepares you the BEST herbal teas and plays with your hair while you drink them

Sadly, he doesn’t cave when you beg him for whatever you’re craving, giving you stuff that he knows will tone down your cramps

He definitely gives you massages if you’re tense

I feel like he’s said something along the lines of “we’re in this together” and immediately regretted it afterwards

He makes everything about you for sure

There’s a movie you’ve been wanting to watch? He just bought it on dvd and you’re watching it tonight

You’re hungry? Tell him what you want and he’ll cook it to the best of his abilities

Need a heating pad? If you want, he’ll lay on top of you while you cuddle. If you don’t, you bet your ass he’s got a heating pad on standby

Prepares you nice warm baths and showers and enjoys being able to take care of you like this

Has the fridge stocked with various different fruits and vegetables for you, hand picked to make sure that they’re to your liking

Also has a secret stash of dark chocolate that he bought specifically for when you’re on your period

(he has to move it every month to prevent you from finding it)

Is amazing at comforting you through your mood swings. He’s a real champ for sure

Like if you snap at him, he’ll sit there and take it, because he knows you’ll cave and apologize later. He knows that it’s not your fault that your moody, so therefore he has no need to return your sudden anger

At the start of your relationship, he was definitely much more antsy whenever it came to your cramps and such, but the longer you’re together the more comfortable he gets

He has done all the research he can, and has even gone as far as to ask some of the older women he knows for pointers and such

100% rants to Abbacchio in secret

“I just don’t know what to do! She won’t even let me hold her-“ Bucciarati rambles, his hands waving around madly as he speaks. It’s uncharacteristic for him to be so worked up over something that’s so easily solved.

“Just give her some space.” Abbacchio shrugs and rolls his eyes at his friend. It makes perfect sense, really. You wouldn’t let him touch you, and you seemed moodier than you usually were. You just wanted space. Duh.

“Oh… Yeah. That might work.”

LEONE ABBACCHIO

He has done some research. Like just enough to know what’s healthy for you and what he should do

This guy has a wonderful poker face, because not once have you been able to pick up on the fact that he’s panicking inside

Listen, he loves you, and he’s seriously doing his best here, but damn-

He has to fight back the urge to argue with you for fear that he’ll only upset you further

Like he really, reallyyy wants to piss you off, but he knows better than to do that (plus Bucciarati would never let him hear the end of it-)

While he doesn’t know a whole lot about what to do, he tends to cuddle you until you sleep, or make you whatever you ask for

Sorry but he can’t cook to save his life

Expect slightly burnt food every time he hands you a plate (you love it anyways)

Like Bruno, he’s got a stash of dark chocolate for you, except it’s sitting out in the open and he eats it with you while you’re watching cringy rom coms

I wholeheartedly believe he lets you do his makeup (and vice versa)

Like if you’re feeling up to it, he’ll walk in with his makeup kit and let you go crazy with it

Typically leaves it on until you fall asleep

Whenever he does your makeup, he’s very careful to not upset or hurt you. It’s one of the few times you get to see him so gentle

Has water bottles and heating pads within reach at all times just in case your cramps get worse. He also carries a bottle of Midol in his pocket for extra caution

Refuses to tell you that, however

Had the mindset of “not my womb, not my problem” until he started dating you

The first time you brought it up he died inside. You were suffering and there wasn’t really anything he could do about it. It sucked

Because he has done very basic research, he has no idea what to feed you other than your cravings

I mean yeah he looked up what to give you, but forgot within an hour once he saw how much pain you were actually in

Strictly refuses to ask questions about it and does not want help from anyone.

He gets incredibly flustered when he has to go out and get you pads/tampons. His brain always seems to short circuit on him while he’s in the isle. “What size does she prefer?” “Does she bleed heavily or not?? Fuck I can’t remember-!”

Snaps at anyone who looks at him funny when he buys them

Let’s you do his hair for sure, but WILL NOT go out in public with whatever hairstyle you give him

Braids? Cute, but not in front of Bucciarati

Ponytail? Actually he’s kind of digging it, but he knows he’ll never hear the end of it from the others, so no

Pigtails? You sounded excited about them, but he’d literally rather die than have anyone seen him with his hair like that ❤️

“Can I do your hair?” You ask softly, looking up at him from your spot on the couch. “I think you’d look good with Dutch braids, and I’d like to try it out on you.”

“Fine.” He grabs the hair brush and sits with his back towards you, allowing you full access to his hair. “Just don’t rip it out or whatever.”

“Thanks Leone.” You smile and begin parting his hair. “You’re gonna look amazing when I’m done.”

“I’d better.”

[igotanidea]

So easy: Jason Todd x fem!reader

Summary: 4 times Jason felt the love for y/n and one time he actuallly expressed it.

Warning: kissing, a bit of angsts, swearing

„Y/N….” he groaned in pain stumbling into her apartment.

“Ok, all right, I got it, come here and try not to move”

She knew the drill. He came home, bruised and scared and she was immediately reaching for the first aid kit playing the nurse. At least for as long as it was within her reach, after all she was homebred in this area, not an expert. When something went terribly wrong she never hesitated to call upon the bats to check on him. However, such situations were rare. After all, Jason Todd was the Red Hood.  The fright of the entire Crime Alley. Powerful, fierce, strong and well trained. It took a lot to leave more than a bruise or a little cut. He was simply better.

“How bad is it this time?” she asked making him sit up on her bed, frowning as she removed his helmet and his domino mask meeting his eyes.

“Not at all, just some usual…. Auch! That hurt!” he hissed when Y/N pressed a gauze to his ribs.

“Of course it did. Apparently we have different definition of not bad at all. “

“But….”

“No, not buts, Jace. Just stay quiet.  You know I can only do so much of patching you up.”

“I know and…. Auch!”

“Oh, don’t be a baby. If you can take beating from criminals you can sustain some alcohol on your wounds. Don’t whine.”

“I’m not whining” he flinched a bit “but it’s different. I’m not afraid to be vulnerable with you….” he tried to grab her hands but she wriggled out of his reach, now putting dressing over his chest and arms. Those strong arms that always made her feel so safe whenever he was around

“Mhm. Should I be proud about it?”

“You should” he smirked and his eyes flashed a bit

“Well then, thank you for this distinction, Red Hood” she rolled her eyes “can I remise this honor to the benefit of not having to see you bruised and beaten up? Cause that would be something worth my mental health.”

“Sweetheart……” when she finished her job he finally got a chance to grab her hips and pull her closer towards him, opening his legs a bit so she could stand between them.

“Don’t you dare playing dirty on me.” She warned as his hand traveled up from her hip to waist and he slowly stood up, his eyes never leaving her.

“I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about” he leaned in so that his lips brushed over hers, his breath hot on her skin. Much to her annoyance, her body betrayed her and shook at this gesture.

“No idea, huh? Well then good for you, Red, you need rest after all. So you can stay here, in the bed”  it took all her strength to remove his warm hands from her body, missing the contact instantly “and I will take the couch.”

“You can…..”

“No. No I can’t stay. You need to relax. And by relax I mean rest, Jason. Nothing more. No activity.”

“Can I at least get a kiss to make it better?” he pouted

“I thought it wasn’t bad at all” she laughed but gave in to his pleading “Just that” she bend over him and lovingly kissed the top of his head, ruffling his hair a bit.

“It’s not enough…” he whined

“One more than you needy boy” she smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth, her lips lingering there for a bit longer then needed. “rest” the girl softly caressed his cheek and he obediently closed his eyes.  

“Thank you” he whispered.

“Mhm, that’s a good word, you’re a menace, Jace.”

“But I’m your menace.” he smiled at her and there was nothing but love and admiration in his eyes.

****

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What does it look like?” she groaned kicking and throwing punches at the dummy in the corner “I’m training”

“Why?” he leaned on the doorframe, watching her every move and fighting the urge to correct her posture before she got hurt because of the bad technique

“Why?” she stopped her actions and eyed him carefully “what do you mean why?”

“I mean exactly this. Why?”

“Um, I don’t know” she mocked “maybe because I want to be able to fight? Because I want to know how to protect myself? Because I….”

“What?”

“Because I want to go on patrol with you. One day.”

“No.” his jaw clenched and tone turned harsh at the simple thought of her joining him.

“I wasn’t really asking for permission. “

“Good. Cause you will never get it.”

“Well I couldn’t care less. I can always just follow you around. Or become a vigilante on my own. There are enough trouble makers in Gotham to find one for myself.”

“Don’t you dare.” He hissed taking a few steps towards her, stopping inches apart.

“Is it because I’m a girl?”

“Y/n….” he groaned, but she did not let him say another word

“You let Artemis join you.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it letting her.

“aha! Got you! She never asked for your opinion, did she?”

“It’s different.”

“Why? Because she’s an Amazon? Or because she’s  powerful, beautiful and takes no shit from anyone? Especially from men. Or is it because you two have an affair and you don’t want me to find out about…..

This time he did not let her finish, cutting her off with a kiss. Strong, passionate and heated due to all the emotions inside him, but soon slowing down and turning it into long, soft expression of his love for this unruly girl. With gentle touches and with every move of his lips brushing against hers he was trying to convey everything the words could not.

“This is unfair” she whined when his mouth moved to her neck “Jace….”

“Mhm….” He muttered with zero intention to stop.

“Oh, come on…… you can’t just….fuck…..” she hissed when he bit on her soft spot

“I can’t what?” he smirked knowing and seeing well enough how her body reacted on him.

Oh, that was enough. In any other circumstance she would probably give in to him, after all she always wanted him, but this? He was trying to play her like a toy and make her change her mind.

“Just let go off me Jason.” she wriggled impatiently trying to get free

“Is that what you want?” his hands sneaked under her shirt and if she didn’t stop it now, she would never do it.

“Yes. Yes, fuck Jason, just get back!” she finally yelled taking him by surprise and making him back off.

“Y/N….”

“You do this every fucking time! You treat me like a play toy whenever I’m trying to move out of my comfort zone!”

“Baby….”

“Cut it! Don’t you dare trying to sweet talk me! I know I’m not good enough to join you on patrol! I fucking now that! But how the hell am I supposed to get better if you don’t give me any tips!”

“Can’t you see I’m just trying to keep you safe!?” oh, the anger issues were now in the house

“Oh, here we go again!’ she threw her hands up in frustration “you know what, I won’t fight you. I know it’s what you want. So I’m going out!”

“Where?!”

“I don’t know! And frankly, I don’t care. I might as well ask Dick to train me if you don’t want!”

“You won’t do such thing!” he grabbed her wrist with more force than intended and she winced in the pain “Shit. Fuck. Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…..”

“I know. I know, Jace.” She said, her eyes full of sadness and hurt. “You know, sometimes I wish there were more Jason Todd in this relationship and less Red Hood. But I know. And I think we both need to cool down and …. talk later?”

“All right.”

She just nodded and without another word left the apartment not really sure where to go. But despite everything Jason knew how to take care of her when he picked the phone and dialed the number

“Dickhead? You need to do something for me …….”

***

He was tired.

No. He was exhausted.

It was 3 am and he was just wrapping his patrol up and getting back home. To her. To the only person in the world who saw the good in him even if most of the times he himself could not and lapsed into self-hatred. The only person who could both mock him and soothe him at the same time. The only person who was both harsh and rough, always ready to smack his head for doing something batshit crazy and caring, loving and delicate.

He loved her like crazy.

She was the reason every night he was struggling in the fight to get back to her.

Even if sometimes it felt easier to just give up on everything.

He was not like Dick. The hero. The handsome one. The little ray of sunshine one. He was violent, had a lot of unresolved trauma from the past and tended to push her away to protect her. Fuck, he was getting on her nerves on purpose so she would just leave him for good, but he could never discourage her.

She always stayed.

And the simple thought of getting back to her, taking her into his arms and just holding her for whatever rest of the night was left, safe and soft and warm and peaceful was doing something to him.

In the most quiet way it was possible to not wake her up he climbed up to the flat. And yes, of course he could have just used the door which at this hour would probably catch less attention but old habits die hard. Even for someone who died quite literally. As he removed his shoes, holsters and helmet his eyes were already peeking through the slightly opened bedroom door.

Fuck, she was so beautiful.

Sleeping so peacefully, her breath even and it was quite a change from all the sleepless night he caused her for the last two weeks. She refused to lay down until he was back safe. Which obviously soon started taking toll on her health and he forced her to promise she would not stay up this late. After a lot of convincing she had to give up. It was good to know she actually did keep her word.

Jason sighed deeply and the sound made the girl squirm but she did not wake.

As fast as he could he removed his clothes and sneaked under the blanket next to her, immediately feeling calmness and peace stemming from her presence. Just looking at her and feeling like a freaking creep. He wanted her closer to him, impossibly closer, but at the same time it was never his intention to wake her so he decided to just stick to keeping the distance. She was a light sleeper after all. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists, his hands aching to touch her.

“Jace….” She whispered shifting her positon and moving closer herself.

“Did I wake you?” he whispered back

“You did not.”

“I’m sorry baby…..”

“Are you even listening to me?” she huffed “you did not wake me. And even if you did I wouldn’t be mad about it. I’m mad about something else though.”

“What is it, baby?”

“Could you please tell me what the hell do you think you are doing?” her gaze fixed on his fists

“I…. I wanted to hold you, but was afraid you would wake…” he confessed not able to look her in the eyes

“Idiot” she muttered, grabbing his hands. “Do you know you are an idiot?” wrapping them around her waist and moving even closer to hide her face in his chest. “I need to know you are back safe the second you get here. And believe it or not I can feel you next to me even in my sleep. And I need that. Do you understand me?”

“I do, baby, I do.” He kissed the top of head

“Good. I need you next to me. I need you in my arms. So don’t you ever, ever distance yourself from me.”

Fuck. He loved her so much. He loved how she felt safe with him, how she was falling asleep on him, he loved how she made him feel.  Her soft hands around his torso, her head on his chest, her slowing breath tickling the skin. His heart was just swelling thanks to this girl. He was the luckiest motherfucker in the whole Gotham.

***

“Jason!” her echoed from another room and it only took him a second to bust there reading to fight whatever enemy of Red hood might be attacking. Luckily, there was only his girlfriend sitting in front of the computer, grinning in a smile so wide even Joker would be jealous.

“Is everything all right, babe?”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it. This is not happening!”

“Honey, you are not making any sense now.”

“That’s because I’m feeling a lot of contradictory things right now” she turned to look at him, her eyes glistening, her face lighted up and happy in a way he never saw her before. That was new experience and if he could he would just stay in this moment forever. However, it was not given when she jumped from the chair and pulled him toward the PC. “come on, look at this” she pointed at an e-mail on the screen. Please, tell me you see it too. Tell me I did not imagine this. Please, tell me it’s real…..” she crossed her fingers and closed her eyes as he started reading out loud.

Dear Miss Y/L/N,

It is our greatest pleasure to inform you, we have reviewed the draft of the story you send to us.

“You send them your book?” he asked tearing the gaze away from the computer to care

“I did, I did…. Now just keep reading.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I did not want to test my luck. Now, just go on…..”

Regardless of the fact that there are some typos and a lot of punctuation mistakes….

Yeah, right, she was never good with that

 We would like to publish your book. Please, fill in the attached form and get back in touch with us as soon as possible. We would like to discuss the matters of printing numbers and your salary.

With best regards….

“J.A. Black!” she screamed the name of the sender “J.A.Black, Jace! Black Publishing is going to publish my book!!” she lunged at him and he was more than happy to embrace her.

“I’m so proud of you, baby” he kissed her temple repeatedly “you worked so hard for this, you definitely deserve it.”

“You think?” she pulled away from him, her voice now serious, her eyes scanning his face “you really think so? After all they mentioned my bad punctuation and typos. Maybe I;m not good enough for Black? What if this is a joke to humiliate me?”

“Y/N.” Jason grabbed her shoulders gently “baby, please, look at me” she listened meeting his orbs and shutting up “calm down. Stop spinning, all right? It’s not a joke. It’s not a mistake. You are talented and hard-working and really, really good with words. I would know, I’ve read enough in my life.”

“Can’t really argue with that” her beautiful smile showing again

“You know I’m your number one fan, right? And believe me, everyone who would get hands on your work will love it too.”

“You know what? I don’t even care anymore. It’s enough to satisfy my number one fan.”

“Really?” he crossed his arms over chest and smirked “I’m gonna wait until it comes out in a couple weeks. I wonder if you would claim the same then.”

A month later, the book saw the light of the day and Y/N had to do some PR actions like meeting with the readers and hundreds of fans, because Jason was right in that part. She became popular pretty fast and soon people started asking about part 2 of the story. And now she was scared. She was never good with people and public speaking and that was exactly why she choose to hide behind the screen and just write. It would be helpful if Jace could come with her at least to one of this meeting but because of his red-hooding it was impossible and since she knew that she would never ask him to. So she dealt with it.

There were only one meeting left and after that she was hoping to get back into her kind-of peaceful life. Just her, the Gotham vigilante and a bunch of criminals ready to attack, kidnap or kill her. And it might be about to turn even worse now that she was popular, but both her and Jason were pushing the thought away, deciding to just celebrate the moment for as long as they could.

Y/n was in the middle of the conversation when Jason imperceptibly sneaked into the audience, shielding himself from her view and just observing how she was doing.

She was glowing.

To say the least.

All of her excitement, all of her beauty showing off. And she was wearing almost no makeup. The way she was talking about the literature, the book, her ideas and inspirations. The shy girl he knew was completely gone, instead he was looking at confident and astonishing young woman sharing her passion. Her cheeks were lightly flushed, her lips parted, her eyes sparkling. It was like he fell in love with her all over again and there was nothing more he wanted than to steal her away from the guy reporter, get her back to the apartment and just have her all to herself. Nothing explicit, just having her. And he just couldn’t wait.

“It seems like we have another question coming from the audience” the reported said and motioned for someone on the side of the room to pass the microphone to the person who was willing to ask.

Y/N’s eyes searched through the crowd, as she squinted, her eyes adjusting to the darkness in the auditorium being contrast to the ablazed main floor. When her gaze rest on a familiar face she could not stop the smile on her face. He came.

“I got a question for Y/N. How about we ditch this theatrics and get back home? I got some better ideas how to use the time….”

Jason fucking Todd was a pain in the ass when he wanted to. But he also knew she would forgive him for that. After all, he only got eyes for her.

***

“Y/N? Baby, what happened?”

“Nothing. Please, go away.”

She was laying on the bed, back to the door so he could not see her face. However, judging by her muffled voice and a bit panting breath he could tell she was probably crying.

“Come on, sweetie. Don’t do this. Don’t push me away.”

“I don’t really want you to see me this way.” She muttered turning to the other side when he circled the bed to face her.

“Oh, come on” he grabbed her hip and with zero effort made her  face him “you know you can tell me anything.”

“I don’t want to be a burden. Besides, you don’t really like when I get like this….”

“What?” he was dumbfounded “I don’t like when….. God, y/n” he run his fingers through his hair “did I ever give you an impression like I don’t care how you feel? Tell me” he lifted her chin lightly and their eyes met “did I?”

“No.”

“Well that’s a relief” he smiled “now, make space for me and tell me what’s the problem. I bet either Jason or Red can solve this. Do I need to hurt someone or do you just need a hug?”

“I…. I don’t really know…” she covered her hands with the sleeves of her sweater, her hair a mess and it all made her look so small, fragile and innocent. Once again, Jason felt his heart swelling. If someone, anyone, caused his baby any pain, he was not only going to hurt them, but eliminate them. “I don’t even know how to start. I feel so pathetic. You are ….you know” she waved her hand around since the rule to not mention Jason’s alter ego name in the house was forever actual “you’ve been through so much worse shit than me, it feels like I have no right to complain.”

“You’re right. I've been through a hell lot of shit. But from what I know, you’ve been through it with me. Always there even at my lowest. So don’t feel like your feelings are not important. Let me be there for you in the way you were for me.”

“It’s hard to say how I feel.”

“Don’t think about it. Just say it.” he held her hands, his thumbs circling soothing patterns on her palms.

“I think I’m broken. I feel like I push you too much and I’m a challenge to you. I feel like…. It’s hard to be with me.”

He just stared at her, eyes wide open. Was what she was saying real? Did she even hear the words coming out of her mouth? Maybe he was hearing something else? Was he high or drunk or was it a dream, or rather nightmare? Was his baby, his love, his sunshine, his only source of happiness and the most adorable person on the planet, shit, in the entire universe confessing to feeling like a liability?

“Jace?” she sobbed. Oh, apparently while he was spacing out, she was still talking and now was awaiting his reaction

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand a single word coming out of your mouth.”

“I said…..”

“No, no, I heard you, I just don’t understand it. You feel like you weight me down? Y/N……” his voice broke.

“Am I not? Come on. You are…. You know. You have a lot going on. And as if that wasn’t enough you worry about me, about my safety, my health. I’m a threat to your well-being, Jace. What if you get distracted on the field because of me? What if you get hurt because I’m pathetic piece of shit and anyone can hurt me and you would want to take revenge? And we both know you would. I’m a burden. Besides, I can be cold, I am stubborn, workaholic, tend to withdraw and manipulate people and always have to do things my own way. My sense of humor is wicked, I act like a child sometimes and I can be messy. How does that not push you away?”

“Babe…. I can’t believe it. We’ve been together for….” He hesitated looking at the calendar on the wall and then at the watch “5 years, 2 months, 23 days and 3 hours…..”

“You remember it so precisely?” she frowned

“How can I not? But after all this time you still have doubts about yourself? If anything, I am a burden in this relationship, not you. Y/N, babe, I love you.”

“I love you too, but….”

 “And all the things you mentioned?” he shook his head in disapproval and wrapped his arms around her pulling her towards his chest “You’re missing the most important thing about yourself.”

“That I’m hateable?”

“That you are just so easy to love……” he kissed the top of her head, holding her tighter when she held her breath upon hearing those words.

And for the first time in a while, he knew, that at this exact moment she was the one who was melting in the love he had for her not the other way round. That it was finally him who gave her the affection and attention she so desperately needed.

@pinksirensong

@somest1

[tetsunabouquet]

Can you write a headacanons of Carstairs Fam? Where they have one more child beside Mina and Kit? 🤍

-Considering Mina as kidnapped when she was young, I imagine Jem would be even more vigilant when they have their third child. -Which is also why shortly after their third child as born, they adopted a puppy of a big breed so it could grow up into their guard dog. -Their guard dog acts like the dorky side-kick to Irene whenever Ty is coming over. It was very amusing to watch Irene teach their dog some basic hunting skills with an expression that seemed to say, 'Just how stupid are you?' -Kit remains protective older brother towards the two. Precisely because his father failed him, Kit's fearful of all things that could go wrong and just wants them to grow up happy. -Their third child is obviously yet another nod to the people they lost. They decided that it would be named Henry if it were a boy, and Charlotte if it were a girl because they really were like parents to Will, Tessa and Jem. -Both Kit and Jem have allowed Mina to do their hair and paint their nails, with Tessa just watching on incredibly amused. If there is one perk about the advancement of beauty products and hair accesoires in the modern era, its certainly this if you ask Tessa. She made plenty of pictures to ensure she remembers these moments forever. -Tessa became quite the photo-taker. Because her first family already died of old age, she knows the heartbreak what's going to await her once they died of old age, so she tries very hard to enjoy the moments whilst they last and prepare herself for once Jem and the kids are gone. -With Kit being a Herondale, he ended up being recruited for his school's soccer team even though he doesn't really cares for the sport. He honestly sees it as a way to have more time to socialize and learn how to be more like a British teenager. Somewhere, a certain Ashdown boy is incredibly jealous, but Kit remains unaware. -Kit always plays soccer with the Lightwood-Bane boys whenever they're coming over. -Mina as an older sister and middle child would generally be the one to explain what Kit, Tessa and Jem think whenever they try to tiptoe around their fears temming from their various traumas in a language the little one can understand. She really takes after Tessa's mature and wise nature and understands why they can sometimes act overprotective or seem to fear things like interacting with the Fair folk. -Because Mina was so young, she doesn't remember being kidnapped and has no reaction outside for the strange urge to start crying when someone brings it up. Kit is very grateful that she doesn't remember it. -Speaking of memories, something Kit would frankly like to forget are the lyrics to Baby Shark. He had to sing it so often to Mina and the baby, that he can sing the entire song even years later. He really hopes Jem was right that all children's songs blurr together through the sands of time. -Whilst Kit and their youngest isn't too musically inclined, Jem was happy to take notice that Mina enjoyed listening to the violin, and learnt her to play when she was old enough. -The Herongraystairs family have attended many a violin performance at the local music theater showcases where young talent would perform. One time, Jem could have sworn he saw the fleeting ghost of Will watching Mina's performance from the back of the theater. -Obviously that wasn't the only time where Will's spirit has been spying on the Herongraystairs family, as he watches over them all the time.

[honorary-knight-of-favonius]

Kinktober Itto -Day Fourteen-

Tags for the day: Breeding and restraints

Summary: Breeding season for Kitsune is the a very bad time for the meathead Oni but at least he had guidance this time around.

For the past week my husband has been constantly teasing my tail which has been driving me crazy for multiple reasons. Not only was my tail insanely sensitive but it was Kitsune breeding season and it was already hard to keep my urges under wrap but Itto was making unbelievably harder. 

“I-Itto.” I whimpered, as Itto was busy cuddling my tail after a busy day. 

“Yeah?” He asked, “Am I hurting you?” 

“N-no, just sensitive.” I say playing off how horny I was. Despite Itto’s appearance he was a daycare worker and oftentimes was tired when he came home. So he has gathered the habit of burying his face into my tail and I have a very strong dislike of revealing my mating season to anyone. Including my goofy oni. 

“Kit, your tail is twitching again.” I swiftly snatched my tail away and booked it to the bathroom and locked myself in the room. Whenever my tail begins to twitch it means I’ve been stimulated so much that my other kitsune parts make an appearance they don’t normally do. I tried to calm myself but my senses were heightened and I could smell my oni through the door. 

“I know you told me you didn’t like me seeing you as a. . .full kitsune. . .but even if I see you like that I’ll still love you.” I tried to focus on my own scent, “In fact. . .I’d really like to see you in you full form, I’ve actually wanted to for some time now which I know isn’t something you're comfortable with yet but I’d still-” I couldn’t control my urges anymore, I opened the door and practically pounced on Itto nuzzling into his body. 

“H-hey~ That tickles!” He laughed, I licked his neck every so often as my tail continued to twitch. Until I got hot enough to finally bite the oni’s collar bone, “Shit! No biting!” The oni quickly grabbed me by the back of the neck much like my mother did when I caused her trouble. 

“Kit, I thought we agreed on not biting the-” I whimpered and continued to try and nuzzle back up to the Oni and I think he was trying to understand why I wasn’t listening. He eventually pulled out his phone and called the infamous puppy bodyguard. By now I had stopped listening to the Oni entirely trying to instead get back in his good graces as my mind ran wild. But from what I could hear Gorou had said something shocking which gave me the chance to wiggle away from the oni and into a room his scent was apparent, aka, our bedroom. 

I nuzzled into this intoxicating scent as he was shouting until he hung up and I scurried under the bed with his pillow. 

“Kit? I know you’re in here- Kit did you take my pillow!” The oni hurried to the bed and smiled, “Aww, you took my pillow.” 

The oni was so close to me and I grabbed his foot swirling my body around him as I shoved my head into his hair but the Oni once again took a hold of me and hurried towards the guest room where the pink Kitsune and Pup had helped me set up for this mating season. 

They tried to chain me to the bed but I dug my claws into his arm as I repeatedly tried to bite him but rather than flinching in pain he looked at me with disappointment and sadness which made me settle down and stop fighting the man. When Itto had successfully chained me to the bed he got into bed next to me. 

“I know I can’t help the aches here since you’ve instructed Gorou to tell me that but I can stay by you so you're not crying in pain.” the Oni placed a hand by my face and I nuzzled in. Though Itto fell asleep peacefully all I wanted was to feel the Oni in me. I began to whimper, stirring the man awake. 

“Are you alright?” I continued to whimper and whine the Oni was about to undo my restaurants when he sighed and shook his head, “Wait a second.” 

The oni rushed out of the room with his phone and I could only guess he was calling Miko. I listened in, 

“I’m really sorry for calling so late Miko but Gorou said you could give me more information on-” 

“Kitsune Mating season? I thought Miko’s request was strange,” That wasn’t Miko that was Ei, her mate, “Apologies Itto, however Miko is exceedingly tired but if assistance is required I don’t mind doing so, Miko told me everything to say in response to any questions you may have.” 

“Well. . .Y/n is doing the whimpering and whining-” 

“Y/n? Ah, I see. You’re Y/n’s mate, well tell me the situation.” I growled. 

“U-um, well Gorou told me that Miko, y/n and him had prepared the guest bedroom for this event and so she’s-” Itto began only for Ei to cut him off. 

“I see she still doesn’t allow mating to occur. If she’s chained to a bed and whining it is simply because she wants free of her restraints, once she is out she’ll hurry towards the person she’s marked.” 

“Marked?” Itto asked. 

“Have you ever experienced a Kitsune’s mating season? Y’know what nevermind, Kitsune’s bite or rather mark the person they deem as their mate. Being marked means the kitsune in question will hunt you, they will only be trained on their mate. You may wait an entire give or take a month for the mating season to end or simply tend to the needs of the kitsune. I prefer the latter.” Ei explained. 

“A-and what if the kitsune doesn’t want to be. . .tended to?” Itto asked. 

“Many Kitsune’s avoid choosing a mate due to this event, but in Y/n’s case it is because the last time she tried to mate with someone she almost cost her mate’s life. But from what I’ve heard and seen you're a durable man that can handle her. . .quirks.” Ei hesitated at the end. 

“What quirks?” Itto asked. 

“Truthfully Oni, it is not my place to say, what I can say is watch her claws and teeth, mainly her claws. And make sure to keep an eye on her expression. Y/n is known to fight her natural urges, if she looks pained you must stop your actions and comfort her. She is fighting because she believes she will kill you.” 

“Alright anything else?” Itto asked. 

Ei sighed I could hear her smile through the phone, “Y/n believes you are her fated mate given to her by the fates. Please do as told and heed to my warnings.” 

Itto hummed and ended the call and came back into the room and came close to the bed as he planted one kiss on my cheek, “I know if I keep you in these restraints when I do this you'll be beyond upset with me.  So I am going to take them off, I’m sorry for not listening to your orders.” 

Itto untied me and I swirled around kissing him while pinning him to the bed and changing who had the chains on them. I ripped off all of our clothes and without warning nor foreplay I simply sat on husband’s cock and yipped happily as I used him over, and over, and over again. I lost count after the fifth orgasm I had. I got annoyed as the Oni wasn’t even close to cumming himself. I dug my nails into his skin. I began fighting once the smell of blood flooded my senses and I shook my head only for Itto to manage to free himself and comfort me as he was instructed to. 

“I’m alright, no need to stop. I may be a meatheaded man but I enjoy pain, remember that time I took control and begged you to leave nail marks on my back? I’m just fine Kit.” I nuzzled into the oni and began bouncing on his cock as I was led by Itto. he took my tail into one of his hands caressing it as if twitched. I was basically drooling. 

‘Fuck! Fuck! I want this meathead’s kits! I want them, I want them! God Itto please, please, please, just fucking breed me! Fill my entire womb with your cum! Please, please let me have your kits!’ I thought as tears fell from my eyes. Itto could hear me crying and he stopped everything looking at me.

“Kit? Would you like to stop?” I sniffled, crying harder. Itto tried to pull me off of him but I put a hand on my stomach. 

‘Please listen to my cries for you to just breed me! Please!’ I thought. 

“Y/n. . .I-if I breed you who knows just how many kids we’ll get. B-besides we’ve never even spoken about kids or if we want to-” I shut up the Oni with a kiss as I whined and begged him with simply my eyes. Itto sighed and hugged me, “they’ll be loud and noisy like me. We may even have to deal with a kid like you who doesn’t tell anyone their problems.” I giggled and nuzzled the oni. Thankfully Itto took that as a good sign and began to actually breed me, I felt much better as load after load of Itto filled my womb to the brim until I was cum drunk in which Itto decided it was best to stop for the night. In the morning I couldn’t move as my body was sore but thankfully I didn’t have to as Itto had made me food and took excellent aftercare of me. 

“When the little one’s come I hope they’re like you.” I say, snuggling into my goofy oni. 

“What a meathead?” 

“No. . .caring.” He kissed me on the forehead and continued brushing out my hair and tail with such gentle care. 

Taglist:

@stygianoir @yunadxd

[demonlamb666]

‘Kay, so I got this idea from Austin and Ally, my FAVE shows of all time, my childhood lol. So how would yanderes TodoBakuDeku (poly) react to the reader having a friend who’s a singer like Austin and they both spend time with each other coming up with songs, and singing together. Reader can be a songwriter, and I hope this wasn’t too confusing

Singer reader has a friend who they write songs with (yandere TodoBakuDeku)

Warnings: yandere themes, mentions of stalking, jealousy, possessive behaviour, clingy behaviour, mentions of violence, mentions of death, guilt tripping, manipulation, delusional behaviour.

•They might have found out about you being a singer song writer through Izuku’s stalking or you mentioned it when they were getting to know you. They all react positively, even though Bakugo is a little shy about admitting how beautiful he thinks your voice is. They love the songs you wrote, or at least they do until you start gushing about how amazing and talented your friend who you wrote them with is. Bakugo is already silently fuming. Shoto is sad and trying to resist the urge to bury his face in the crook of you neck and hug you and Izuku is worrying about all the different ways this guy could be manipulating his poor bunny.

•You have a possessive boi and two clingy boi’s who all desperately crave time with you. Luckily for your friend they are all pro hero’s and none of them are very comfortable with the idea of killing someone, especially if it’s someone you care about, and who doesn’t pose a threat to you. But they all definitively decide they don’t like this guy and will try to get you to spend less time with him. Shoto will just cling to you and not let go, Izuku will tear up and guilt trip you and Bakugo will straight up make up “important” things you have to do to distract you. They probably won’t try to completely remove him from your life unless something changes (more about this later.)

•Bakugo is possessive over you even a little bit with his own boyfriends so when he finds out there’s some extra who takes up a bunch of your time he’s pissed. Whenever he sees the guy he’ll hold you by the waist and scowls at the guy every time he gets a little to friendly. He’s like a possessive guard dog and almost growls if your friend tries to hug you goodbye or make physical contact with you. Bakugo is less expressive about how much he loves your music and voice, he can be a little embarrassed and his cheeks will burn if you ask him if he likes your song or dedicate a song to him. Most of the time he just listens to you sing without saying anything but if you don’t sing around him for a while he will start to really miss it and demand you sing something. If you play an instrument then Katsuki will get a high quality one, he might even get a drum kit for himself and see what he remembers from the lessons he took as a kid and join you.

•Shoto wants to be around you constantly and feels so happy when he’s around you and his boyfriends so he is very reluctant to let you go. He can get a little clingy when you’re around your friend and will be holding your hand and trying to subtly pull you away from him. He will literally get in between you two if you try to hug the guy and will literally drag you away from him if he starts getting too friendly. Shoto is honestly fascinated with whatever you like doing and it’s the same with music. He loves listening to you singing and always sticks to your side incase you start humming or singing. His all time favourite thing is when you let him lay his head on your lap and sing to him while you stroke his hair, it never fails to make him tired and he’ll sleep like a baby. (Sleepy Shoto is the cutest thing.) He really wants to be able to join in the things you do so if you play an instrument he wants to play one too. Even if he doesn’t play an instrument he doesn’t need a big part, he can just play one note on the triangle at the very end of the song and he will give the most adorable smile.

•Izuku actually hates dislikes your friend the most because he’s delusional and thinks everyone who isn’t him or his boyfriends are trying to take advantage of your kind and trusting nature (you can literally be the most paranoid person in the world and he will still think you’re naive.) He can be simultaneously passive aggressive to your friend while being affectionate to you. He says seemingly innocent things to your friend that prod at his insecurities, Izuku will keep doing it until they get the message and leave if you don’t stop him. Your friend probably won’t get the chance to be physically affectionate with you because when that guy is around Izuku will wrap his arms around you and whisper affectionate words in your ear. He doesn’t trust your friend at all and believes he’s trying to take you away from your soulmates. Izuku adores your singing and the songs you write and is the most obvious with how much he enjoys it, he’s also the most likely to ask you to sing for him (and does…constantly.) It increases his delusional side, if you ever sing a love song or sweet song he’ll take it as a sign you love them and will happily gush to his boyfriends about how cute you are and how much you love them. Same goes for if you sing something sad except he’ll think they haven’t been giving you enough attention and coddle you. If you play an instrument Izuku will be determined to learn one as well, he’ll practise like crazy and will honestly get really good so you might want him to play with you. He might decide to play the same instrument as you and ask you to teach him. If you compliment him about music he will be on cloud nine.

•TodoBakuDeku are not a super violent trio so your friend should be safe and they can deal with him being a part of your life because he makes you happy. But every yandere does have a breaking point. They only really decide to completely stop you from seeing him if he tries to take you away from them somehow, it could be be that he has romantic feelings for you and wants to confess, or he tries to break you up. Izuku always distrusted your friend and thought he would try to manipulate you so he encourages his boyfriends that this friend is bad for you. They will try to seperate you both more naturally before starting to threaten the guy. If nothing works they might get more violent. It has to be really bad for them to decide to “take care of him permanently.”

•Having a darling who sings or writes songs is a positive for all of them and they will all enjoy being able to hear you and will support you doing what you love. None of them like your friend but as long as you don’t spend to much time with them they can all handle their jealousy (even if they don’t want to) and will just be extra needy afterwards. They all honestly think your voice is the most beautiful thing, whether you’re just talking or singing they can’t imagine not being able to hear it everyday.

[coexiising]

Midnight Love - Anakin Skywalker

REQUEST ◆ can i request a little something where anakin comes back from a long mission after there were rumors that he was dead, so the reader is super relieved and impatiently waiting to be alone with him? basically fluff where she could take care of his wounds and maybe some passionate sex

WARNING(S) ◆ smut, piv sex, mentions of death, cursing

WORDS ◆ 3.1k

NOTE ◆ im sick but i got the sudden urge to finish this request so!! thank you for requesting!!

If someone was to ask you what love was a year ago, you would insist that you had no idea and tell them to ask someone else. But in the coming months, even in the throws of Civil War raging throughout the entire Galaxy left and right — You had found love. And maybe it wasn’t perfect and not like the fairytales that you used to read when you were a young child but it was yours, and that was all that mattered in the long run. You were in love and so happy.

But right now, all you were was nervous. You had been for almost a week since hearing the news that a rather intense battle had broken out in the Outer Rim, where Anakin Skywalker, the man you were in love with, had been stationed for almost a month now. You were scared and wracked with anxiety of the possibility of something happening to him. You stayed up late at night and tried to calm yourself down, but it was to no use. There was no way of contacting him during the middle of a mission and the only thing you could slightly rely on was the news, which sometimes wasn’t entirely factual.

And then the rumors started.

You weren’t one to rely on the news of gossip or others, though this talk had been spoken about within a rather influential group of politicians, about how The Hero With No Fear was dead. You didn’t want to believe it, it couldn’t be true. Anakin, your Anakin, couldn’t be dead. So you vowed from that day forward that you would only think of him as alive, not going to engage in any conversation until you were sure of his true outcome.

And another rumor spread that the 501st was coming back to Coruscant and again, you tried to ignore it, trying not to get your hopes up on false promises. Still though, you checked your comms where Anakin always contacted you when he was within range, and checked, and checked, and checked until it was becoming somewhat of an addiction. There was no call.

It is now marked two months since you’ve seen Anakin, the days dragging long and boring and the nights cold and lonely. You missed him so much that it was hard to breathe, feeling as though another half of you had been thrown into the wind never to be seen again. He had a job in the Republic and you understood that completely, but it didn’t stop you from wishing that things were different, that you could be together with him without anything pulling you away from one another or that you could just be with him in public in a romantic way rather than platonic.

Your feet took you across the Jedi Temple building, tasked with giving some papers to Senator Padmé Amidala who was briefing with the Council about security in the Senate. The sun shined through the tall windows as you walked, illuminating the pathway and red carpets. You made your way up the steps and that’s when you stopped dead in your tracks.

You weren’t sure if you were making things up in your mind, if you missed Anakin so much that your mind was playing tricks on you. But at the end of the hall you could swear that was Anakin, walking with . . . That was Ahsoka. So that had to be —

“Anakin,” You spoke out loud, low like a whisper to yourself. It was Anakin, standing at the other end of the hall. You felt your balance go out for a moment and you were almost sent toppling down the stairs until you caught yourself. Your heart rate picked up and it took everything in you not to run up into his arms, knowing that you were all being watched in the Temple and there was no way to have alone time with him no matter how much you wanted to.

You walked at a faster pace now, coming within range of his eyesight and Anakin’s features immediately softened upon looking at you, a small smile making its way onto his face that you reciprocated, hoping to not gain the attention from his Padawan learner. When finally, finally you were only a foot in front of him, you felt at ease again. Anakin was alright, he didn’t die or get gravely injured like the news always made things out to be. He was here and although you could see cuts and bruises on his face that have seemingly gotten uncared for yet, you were more relieved than you had ever felt in your life. It had been too long without him, you supposed, too long without his touch or his love.

Ahsoka was the first to speak up. “Hi, Y/N, what’re you doing here?” Her tone was happy, which led you to believe that whatever they did in the Outer Rim turned out successful. You loved Ahsoka, but right now you wished that it was just you and Anakin.

“Just getting Senator Amidala some papers, Ahsoka, how was your mission?” You asked, eyes darting from her to Anakin, who looked at you with soft, longing eyes.

“It was . . . Stressful. But Master Skywalker led the whole 501st by himself!” Ahsoka exclaimed, giving her Master a grin. You couldn’t help but smile, thinking about the fearless leader and how passionate he was about helping the Republic. How he was yours, all yours and he loved you just as much, if not more, than you did him.

A few more words were exchanged before Anakin said, “Why don’t you go get some rest, Ahsoka. You deserve it.” It seemed as though Ahsoka didn’t need to be told twice, the girl saying a quick goodbye and walking off in the other direction. Now it was you and Anakin in the hallway, looking into each other's eyes as if you were both having a silent conversation between one another without any movement. You weren’t sure what to say, actions spoke louder than words anyways and all you wanted was to be near him, be in his arms so that the fist of anxiety clenching your heart was finally gone.

He had a small smile on his face that made your heart warm, one that you reciprocated and looked around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. In the Temple you were never really sure how far your talking would go, if others could hear the whispers spoken between you two from other hallways. There was no one there, thankfully.

“I’m sorry I-”

“When will-”

You two spoke at the same time, making a laugh erupt from the both of you. You took a moment to admire him, thinking about how much you missed the little things about him like his laugh. “You go first,” You told him.

Anakin nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was coming back. I wanted to make it somewhat of a surprise but then you were here and . . .” He trailed off. You shook your head and flashed a smile, signalling that all was fine. You found it endearing that he was planning on surprising you, it seemed as though you were on his mind the whole time as much as he was on yours.

“It’s okay,” You said. “When will you be able to stop by my apartment?” That is where you usually stayed when he was on Coruscant and he could get away, since it was way easier having Anakin sneak out of the Temple there instead of him sneaking you into the Temple. You had to admit that now that you knew he was here, your anxiousness got worse, wanting him all to yourself as quickly as possible.

“I still have to report to the Council. Then I’m all yours. An hour?”

“It’s a date.”

~

The waiting was excruciating even though it was only an hour. It was almost as if waiting for an extra sixty minutes was worse than the extended time you had just been away from him. Perhaps it was because you knew that he was here, alive and well, and wanted to see you just as badly as you wanted to see him. You tried passing the time looking through the holonet, and then deciding to take a quick shower to wash off anything from today.

Opening your drawer and putting on the last of your outfit, some black lounge sweatpants, you heard a knock on the front door of your apartment and your heart practically leapt out of your chest. You needed to remember to give Anakin a key sometime soon, knowing that this wasn’t going to be the last time he came over and he almost practically lived here whenever he was on Coruscant. You walked and opened the door, being met with Anakin’s smiling face and big, strong arms wrapping around your frame, walking both of you backwards as his foot kicked the door behind him closed.

You leaned into his touch, memorizing all that you could from this moment for later. His soft, plush curly hair brushing against your cheek, the smell of fresh breeze and some type of floral scent that was most likely his body wash. It was so inherently Anakin and you were surrounded by it, you loved it. You loved him.

“I missed you so much,” He spoke first, pulling away to make eye contact. His blue eyes looked down at you and you couldn’t help but lean up and press a small kiss to his lips, the smile on your face growing wider as you pulled away. Your eyes scanned his face, taking note of a few cuts and bruises that littered it, almost causing you to frown.

Your hand came up and brushed against one, it seemed freshly afflicted. You weren’t exactly sure what the mission he had gone through was about, he would most likely tell you later when both of you got settled. “I missed you too, Ani,” You said. “Do you want me to look at this cut?” It wasn’t as though you were a medic by any means, but basic first aid wasn’t that hard and all you really needed to do was clean it and any others he let you look at.

He didn’t respond with words, only nodding and allowing you to grab his hand and lead him to the bedroom. Your kit was in the bathroom connected to it, quickly grabbing the small white box and sitting down on the bed next to him, getting to work.

“What happened while you were away?” You asked, making conversation as you got the materials out of the box. “These cuts look recent.”

Anakin shrugged his large shoulders, a usual response when you asked about his injuries whenever he came home. This wasn’t new behavior, he always seemed like he was as tough as nails, but it didn’t take much to see that he was tired and glad to be home. The home that was your arms.

As usual, the two of you exchanged some small talk while you tended to his wounds, rubbing the cloth with the antiseptic and covering up the ones along his arms that needed bandages. Bacta worked best for the bruises, covering them up with the oil that would have them healed in as fast as a day or two. Once everything had been looked at, you put the materials back into the box and placed it on the nightstand next to your bed, reaching over to Anakin to wrap your arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. He came to lay down and pulled you close to him, both of you sitting in the silence for a moment.

“There were so many rumors that you had gotten into too much trouble on your mission. Some people were even saying that you were dead,” You muttered, a small, tiny bit of concern lacing your words. Anakin could feel your worry through the Force and in response, held you even tighter against him. “I didn’t want to believe them, but then you were gone longer than normal and I don’t know. . . I just get so scared sometimes with your line of work.”

Anakin sighed. “There was a setback in the mission and we needed to take caution so that we wouldn’t lose many people. But it’s alright, I’m here with you now. You know that I’ll always come back to you.”

“I know, Ani.”

You turned to face him, the covers shifting comfortably under you. You pressed your lips against his again, relishing in the feeling of having him back all to yourself. You wished that you could keep him here forever, in your large apartment away from the judgement of society: The Senate that expected you to stay away from scandal, and the Jedi Order that prevented Anakin from having any attachment whatsoever. It was a hard world out there, but you were grateful that you were with Anakin through it, you couldn’t imagine being with another person.

Sensing a bit of urgency in your kisses to get as much of him as you possibly could, Anakin responded with the same passion, his hand coming up to stroke your cheek and the gloved one coming to push himself on top of you. Your legs wrapped around his waist and trapped him against you while the two of you kissed. Your hands reached for his hair and tugged, spurring him forward and biting your bottom lip with a groan.

He detached his lips from your own and instead began kissing along your jawline, stopping for a second to inhale the scent of yours that he missed more than anything. And then he started again, kissing all the way down your neck and deciding to leave a tiny mark on a part of your collarbone that would be somewhat easier to conceal. It was rare that he did leave the marks this high up, but in this urgency he couldn’t seem to control himself all that much. You wined out, pushing your hips forward and meeting his own.

“You have no idea how much I missed you,” He muttered in between kisses against your neck, hand moving down and coming to the edge of your work blouse, working to get it off of you as fast as he could but stopping for a moment to make sure that you wanted to go farther. You fervently nodded, helping him in taking your shirt off and throwing it down onto the ground near your bed. Quickly, you did the same thing with his shirt, untucking it from his pants and the moment it was off you ran your hands along his torso, marveling in the fine edges of his body. “All I could think was coming back to you and now that I’m finally here I’m blown away by how beautiful you are.” His words made you blush, as well as send a shock downward towards your core.

You needed him, you simply couldn’t wait anymore. You had waited for too long and you weren’t in the business of stopping any time soon and it was clear that he felt the same way. While you were waiting for him to come home, it wasn’t too apparent how much you truly missed him because after a while you found some other ways to occupy yourself. But now that he was here, all those feelings of want were coming back to you and you couldn’t help but start to speed up the process.

“Anakin, please, I need you now. I can’t wait anymore,” You whispered to him, loving the way that his lips felt while they kissed every single inch of your chest. You wanted to slow down and at the same time wanted to speed up, it was an odd feeling. But there would be more moments for the both of you to take it slow, now you just wanted to satiate the feeling that was growing rapidly in your core. He laughed at this, coming to meet your eyes with his own as they had a hint of teasing behind them. You gave him a small smile, but your eyes were glossed over with a type of lust and wanting that you were sure he could tell that you were serious.

In a matter of mere seconds, both of your pants and undergarments were off and he was getting into a more comfortable position on top of you, and you were spreading your legs open and just waiting for him. Anakin took one look down between your legs and muttered some type of curse in Huttese that you couldn’t understand and before you spoke to ask, he was pushing into you.

It felt like bliss.

The moment you adjusted to him and your walls relaxed, he began moving, slowly out and then plunging back into you with intensity. He continued that motion a few times, each making you moan out his name and flying your hands back into his hair, tugging on the golden, curled locks. You moaned out and it was louder than you were expecting, but it seemed to be exactly what he wanted to hear because he started going faster. You could hear the wet sloshing between the two of you and it only made you closer to that peak and the fire within you was almost raging.

Anakin kept kissing your neck until he went up and started kissing your lips. It was a sloppy kiss, all of his concentration was bent on making you feel good but you appreciated it, since you could feel all the love that he was giving you. You matched his pace, lifting up your hips to meet his when they came down and he hit at an even more deeper angle, both of you gasping into one another's mouths.

“Anakin, I’m going to-”

“Me too.”

Your orgasm snuck up on you and placed itself right onto your core, and with one more thrust you felt yourself release and your eyes rolled back into your head. For a moment it felt like you weren’t on Coruscant and you had flown up into the sky, that was how good it felt to be with him again. When you came back to reality, with a roll of your hips, Anakin was right behind you, releasing inside of you. Both of you stirred and he laid down on top of you, breathing heavily to try and catch his breath. Your hands rubbed up and down his back, fingers tracing inconsistent patterns along his skin.

A few more moments passed by and Anakin rose his head up, pressing a small kiss to your nose that made you smile. He also smiled, nuzzling into your neck.

“The second I catch my breath, we should go again.”

It was good to be back.

[sevendeadlymorons]

Demon Boys Find Out MC has Depression

TW: Mentions of depression, worthlessness

———————————————————

Lucifer

Notices they’ve been acting differently

Hasn’t came down to eat in a while and has noticed they’ve just been staring at the floor or lying down staring at the ceiling a lot lately

Doesn’t want to bring it up immediately so leaves it and waits for them to bring it up with him

Decides to finally bring it up after he finds them silently crying in their room

Sits down on their bed and pulls them towards him into a hug where they continue to cry into his chest

Rubs their shoulder to comfort them and informs them everything is going to be ok

After they’ve calmed down, he asks them what’s been wrong lately

MC tells him they’ve got depression but it’s just a bad week for them and they’ll be ok soon

Desperately tries to convince him they’re fine but Lucifer knows they’re not

From then on, Lucifer does his best to make sure MC is at their happiest and if they’re having another off day, he’ll make sure to be right there by their side, comforting them and giving words of encouragement

Mammon

Noticed MC hasn’t been very talkative lately and is eating very little and often just stares off into space, ignoring everything around them

Foolish human, not taking care of themself

Marches straight into MCs room but accidentally walks in on them crying

Panic sets in and the little speech he’d prepared in his head had long disappeared

Rushes straight to their side and grips their shoulders, pulling them into a hug

Let’s MC cry onto their shoulder and gently rubs their back to calm them

Asks them what’s wrong before they even got a chance to calm themself down

Explains to him that they’re depressed and has just been feeling down lately

Mammon doesn’t understand what his human could be so upset about, so asks why

MC tries their best to explain how they feel and how worthless they feel on the daily and how they feel like they don’t belong here

He’s shocked to hear this from them as they’re normally very happy on the outside

Grabs MC into another tight hug and tells them everything will be ok and that he’d always be there to look out for them. After all, he’s their first.

Makes sure MC is always smiling after that day, and Mammon makes sure they know their worth by telling them every day from them on

Levi

Levi is no stranger to depression so spots the signs pretty early on

Doesn’t exactly have the confidence to ask them about it though, so instead, he invites MC to play with him or watch this new anime he found recently to try cheering them up

When MC knocked on his door, he answered it and was met with a visibly faked smile, that much was clear to see

MC was obviously not focused after Levi turned to them and they were looking at their fingers, twiddling them every so often

Levi finally decided it was time to bring it up and straight up asked MC if something was bothering them

MCs voice was completely monotone as they bleakly stated they were depressed and it just wasn’t a good week for them

Levi thought it over in his head what to say or do, and in the end, he scooted over to MC and wrapped his arms around them, gently rubbing their back as their body went limp in his grasp

He told them everything would be alright and he feels the same way sometimes

Reminds them he’s there and they’re never alone

Offers to put on a funny anime for them to watch together or let them borrow any manga he owns that may cheer them up

After that day, Levi spends a lot more time with MC, sometimes just coming in unannounced with arms full of chocolates or anime

Doesn’t like seeing MC sad and actually really doesn’t like being without them by their side

Will support eachother in their own ways

Satan

Satan’s no idiot, he knows somethings up

MC had stopped coming to dinner and they missed a few classes too and last week, when he’d invited them over to come read, he noticed they just stared at the words, and didn’t even flick a single page

Decided not to say anything though as he thought it really wasn’t his place to, but watched over them carefully

Eventually brought it up when he noticed MC had completely stopped coming to class now a days

He knocked on MCs door the next day to ask them about it, but when they didn’t answer, he decided to let himself in

When he saw MC lying on their bed staring at the ceiling he decided to come sit down on the bed next to them

MC slowly got up, eyes blotchy and red from obvious crying

Satan noticed this and held them tight, rubbing their back softly, giving them words of support

Places his hand on theirs and gently rubs it, asking them what’s been up lately

MC tells him that they have depression and this just happens sometimes

Satan of course knew how they felt, as he read it in a book once

Strokes their hair and pulls them towards him, telling them he’s there for them, always, and if they needed to talk, he advises them come to him

Is very visibly protective over MC from then on

Spends more time with them, making sure they’re smiling and enjoying themself

Always reminds them how much they mean to him

Asmo

Knew straight away something was going on

Noticed very often their hair is never brushed and they seem to be losing a bit of weight too

That really won’t do

Walks to MCs room carrying a full set of nail varnish, face masks, perfume and all sorts of makeup tools to help cheer them up and making them look their best again

Decides not to knock, they probably won’t mind!

Takes one look at MC in a ball on the bed and Asmo is running to their side and cradling them in his arms, completely disregarding the box he came in with

Brushes their hair with his fingers and shushes them, telling them it’ll be alright

Cups their face in his hands and asks them what’s been going on lately and why they aren’t taking care of their skin

They tell him they’ve been feeling depressed lately and just hasn’t been feeling like themself the past few days

Asmo, like Mammon, doesn’t understand why they’re so unhappy, so asks why they feel that way

MC tells him they feel worthless and replaceable and Asmo just listens while they let out all their feelings

He assures them that that’s not true and he loves them dearly

Gets up off the bed to grab the kit he came in with and offered to cheer MC up and hopefully make them feel a bit better about themself

Now Asmo regularly checks up on them, giving them words of support, encouragement and love and even happily does MCs nails if they ask

Beel

Didn’t really notice much at first

Started to worry when they stopped coming to meal times

Decided to stop them in the corridor and ask them if they could talk in his room

Sat them down on his bed and asked them if they’re feeling alright

When they started to break down, he held MC tightly and rocked them gently for a while until they calmed down

When they told him they were depressed, Beel had to ask what they meant, as he didn’t quite understand

After explaining, Beel knew exactly what to do, as Belphie had showed signs when he lost Lilith

He rushed down to the kitchen and grabbed MC’s favourite comfort foods and drinks

Sat with them for as long as they needed eating as little or as much as MC wanted

After that, Beel became their personal body guard and councillor

Whenever MC wanted someone to talk to, Beel would step up to the be the demon to help

Very very protective from then on

Constantly checking if they’re eating enough and taking care of themself

Gives massive bear hugs if MC looks even slightly sad, and refuses to let go until he sees them smile

Belphie

Didn’t exactly notice straight away as he’s asleep more than 80% of the time

Began to see the issue when MC never left their room and was sleeping almost more than him

Didn’t really think it was their place to pry but he hated seeing them so down and with them being in their room so much, it meant he never had his nap buddy around

He was another demon who wasn’t exactly a stranger to depression so thought it would be about time to step in

So walked into their room one day unannounced, picked them up, flung them over their shoulder and put them in the attic bed

Cuddles up to them, wrapping his arms around their waist and asks them what’s been bothering them so much

When he feels their body shake and sees wet tear drops dampen his pillow, he squeezes them tightly, rubbing his face into their neck and lightly stroking their hair

Let’s them cry it out for a while until they’re ready to talk

Urges them to tell him so he can know how to help them when they’re feeling like this

When MC tells him they’re depressed and just feel this way sometimes, he contemplated what to say to cheer them up

Continues to just hold them in his arms and tell them it’ll pass soon and gives them little compliments and encouraging words every now and again

From then on, he’s sorta just clung to MC

Sleeping? They’re right there next to him. Eating? Right there next to him. Classes? Sat right next to him

Likes to take as many naps as possible with them as he believe a good cuddle solves everything

A/N: if anyone ever needs someone to talk to about life, or how they’re feeling, my DMs are always open. As someone who struggles with bad mental health, I will understand. This is a no judgment zone. You are amazing and whoever you are, even if we haven’t met, I love you and your life is worth it :)

[fleursowl]

James & Sirius friendship drabble

this is for @gaeilgelupin because it’s her BIRTHDAY GO WISH HAN A HAPPY BIRTHDAY RN!! han i love u millions u r the james to my sirius <3

never saw one without the other, did you? you’d have thought they were brothers

it was the fourth week into the summer holidays, and James had yet to hear from Sirius

now, if you asked James, he would say he was a pretty relaxed person. prone to fits of excitement, sure, but all in all? a calm, cool, collected guy. (not everyone agreed with this)

however, his calmness had a breaking point. and that breaking point was neither him, nor remus or pete, having heard even a whisper from sirius all summer- even their two-way mirrors had been silent since sirius had arrived at grimmauld place

neither remus nor peter had heard from him either, which was particularly bugging james as no matter how bad sirius’ summers had been previously, sirius always managed to write to remus at least once

after not being able to stand james’ constant fretting any longer, euphemia had invited remus to stay midway through the summer, hoping the mild-mannered boy would be a calming influence on him

this did not have the desired effect however, as james now had a person to bounce his fretting off, and after a week into remus’ stay euphemia was beginning to feel like pulling her hair out

however, this all rose to a climax one warm august evening, where euphemia and fleamont had stayed up late playing gobstones in the living room with james and remus in an attempt to distract them from their worries

james was in the middle of doing a victory lap around the room, crowing his victory, when two bodies stumbled out of the fireplace in a pile of soot and ash and- what was that smell?

all members of the potter house jumped back in surprise, wands drawn and at the ready, only to find it was regulus clutching what looked like sirius’ body to his chest, his eyes wide and imploring

“i can’t stay, i have to go back. you have to help him- don’t ever let him come back.” he urged, depositing sirius’ body onto the carpet, and with that, he turned back and stepped into the fireplace, shouting “grimmauld place!” before disappearing in roar of flames

the firelight gave effie a chance to momentarily glimpse sirius’ face and she let out a noise james had never heard from her before, falling to her knees beside sirius on the carpet and pulling his head to rest in her lap

“fleamont, please contact dumbledore immediately. james, go get my emergency aid kit.” she commanded, her voice shaking but firm as she waved her wand over sirius’ body, her eyes intent on his twitching body

james and remus stared at sirius, lifeless in effie’s arms, and a sob escaped remus’ throat, a hand clasping over his mouth as he collapsed next to effie, desperate hands frantically trying to find something to do to help

in the meantime, james had run to get the emergency kit and passed it to his mother with shaking hands, watching her heal scar after vicious scar on sirius’ body, tapping her wand against his chest and nearly sobbing in relief when breath rushed back to sirius’ body, causing him to wake up in a rush, immediately sitting up and letting out a cry of pain, his head landing again in effie’s lap

“where’s… regulus?” he croaked out, reaching out a hand as though he thought regulus would take it. instead james stepped over, grasping sirius’ hand in his like it was a lifeline

“he’s gone back, sirius. are you…” words choked james’ throat as he surveyed the broken body of his best friend, his brother, and he turned to remus in the hope that he would be able to say something, but remus was already clutching sirius’ hand, tears pouring down his cheeks and clearly beyond speaking

after a few more minutes of tense silence, the only noise being sirius’ occasional groan or whimper of pain, james finally forced the emotions back out of his throat and managed to articulate again. “is he going to- is he going to be alright?” he stammered to his mother, and she paused momentarily in her healing of sirius to run a soothing hand through his hair

“he’s going to be just fine, he’ll just need a while to recover. is the spare bedroom tidy?” effie reassured, and james closed his eyes and thanked whoever was listening that he’d been blessed with her as a mother. “it’s tidy, but i’d rather stay with him. can’t he stay in my room with me and remus?”

euphemia potter looked up from her healing of sirius into the wide, watery eyes of her son and his best friend, and knew there would be no arguing with them. sirius would be staying in james’ room.

sirius woke up sharply the next morning in james’ bed, gasping for breath and looking around wildly. after clearly not recognising where he was, he started thrashing and crying out again, waking up james who was curled up next to him

“hey… hey, sirius, it’s me, prongs, i’m here mate, you’re at my house” james did his best to soothe the terrified boy, nervous hands flying all over his body before deciding his shoulders were the best place to rest them

“i’m at your house?” sirius whispered, wide eyes looking like they couldn’t quite believe it when james nodded back at him. “at my house. you’re safe, sirius.” “safe.” sirius repeated back to him, his hands trembling and curling over james’ chuddley cannons duvet

“safe, padfoot.” james promised, lying back next to sirius and putting a tentative arm over his bandaged chest so that even in his sleep, sirius would know he was with people who loved him

over the next few days sirius gradually grew back into himself, the worst day being when dumbledore visited and sirius was forced with trembling hands to recount the events of his last night at grimmauld place to a room of euphemia, fleamont, dumbledore, james and remus. after dumbledore had asked a few follow up questions and promised he would sort things out sirius had collapsed into remus’ waiting arms, allowing the boy to lead him back to james’ bedroom where the three boys stayed for hours, just sitting quietly in each other’s company on james’ bed

a week later the worst of sirius’ wounds had healed and he accompanied fleamont on a trip to london, which he returned from laden with bags and grinning ear to ear.

“i can stay! forever!” he crowed as soon as he got back, throwing himself at james and nearly tackling him to the ground. james couldn’t believe his luck- not only was his best friend out of the worst place he’d ever heard of, but he was moving in with him!

the three marauders immediately ran to the potters’ spare room which had been given happily to sirius. however, the thing that shocked sirius the most was that he was allowed to decorate it however he wanted- hence the trip to london with fleamont

“merlin pads, how many bloody bowie posters do you need?” james grumbled from where he was stood on top of a chest of drawers, getting his fingers tangled in spellotape as he attempted to stick up his fifth david bowie poster as of yet, snorting at sirius who was busy not helping and instead had chosen to twirl around the room to the music blasting out of his brand new record player

“oh i don’t know, i think he has more of freddie mercury.” remus grinned, ignoring sirius’ indignant protests and tugging him in by the waist to press a kiss to his hair.

sirius’ offence was of course, a pretence, as when he stood in his room in the arms of his moony watching james wobble off the chest of drawers with a yelp, crashing onto his bed, a warm feeling spread from his chest to the rest of his body, a warm feeling that he felt whenever he looked at james. james, his best friend. james, his partner in crime. james, his fellow marauder.

james, his brother.

[binxyu]

A psychopath? Choi Chanhee? You couldn’t believe that when you first met him, a scared man in an alleyway. You tried to just offer him some help before turning him in, but feelings got in the way of that plan and, before you knew it, you were cuffed to a guy you had fallen in love with.

>>Pairing: Choi Chanhee (dom) x fem!reader (sub) | psychopath!chanhee x cop!reader

>>Word Count: 3.8k

>>Genre: Oneshot / Requested / Smut

>>Warnings/Kinks: Aftercare, blood/injuries, blowjob, bondage, breast play, choking, corruption, creampie, extreme degrading, hair pulling, manhandling, marking, mental illness, murder/death, overstimulation, possessiveness, rough sex, scratching, unprotective sex, and weapons

You had heard the gunshot before you saw him.

You always went on patrol in the area so hearing such things wasn’t new to you, but the noise always made a shiver go down your spine.

Cause with the sound of a gun always came death or injuries.

Your heart pounded against your chest as you rushed towards where you heard the deafening sound, the light of the moon shining down against your badge.

Sometimes you had wondered why you even decided to take night shifts, quickly finding out that the most brutal of crimes took place when the sun was set.

Your fingers tightened around your gun when you rounded the corner into an alleyway, the walls covered in moss and old graffiti.

There you saw Choi Chanhee.

Quickly, you had noticed that he was bleeding heavily and you rushed over, putting your gun back in your pocket and pressing down on the wound on his leg.

“Hey! What the fu-“, you put a little more pressure onto the wound when the bleeding didn’t stop and slowly it did, blood now covering your hands. The man could only let out a groan from the pain.

“What the hell did you do to get shot?”, you mumbled and ripped off a piece of your sleeve to wrap around his thigh as he watched you curiously.

He stayed silent and you wondered why. You were a complete stranger even if you were a cop and you assumed he retaliate or say thank you, but he never did.

He didn’t until you noticed something to your right, a flash of a badge similar to your own.

There, laying eerily still, was another officer. One with a chest soaked with blood.

“Shit”, the word barely came out before a gun was pressed against your head.

“Turn slowly darling”, he ordered and you slowly turned your body to look at him.

What had once been such an innocent, and dare you say cute, face was now dark and corrupted. A smirk played on his lips as he watched a shiver go through your body in fear.

“Ah, I’ll take those~”, he cooed and took the handcuffs off of your belt. As he fiddled with it, the gun dropped slightly and you came to the conclusion that possibly getting shot in the shoulder was better than letting this psychopath get away.

You quickly grabbed the handcuffs and tried to cuff the man, gripping the wrist with the gun and pushing it away. A bullet pierced the wall behind you as the gun fell from his hand, landing with a clatter on the concrete.

You had managed to cuff his other wrist, but he grabbed your own and cuffed the other onto you.

Now, you were stuck together.

You reached for your gun but it was quickly knocked out of your hand, sliding across the concrete to beside the dead officer.

The criminal pushed against your chest and you were pinned on the ground, squirming and trying to push him off of you. You could tell he was in pain from the movement and you pressed your knee against his wound, causing him to cry out in pain.

“Stop! I’m not going to hurt you”, his words were lies and every logical part of you knew that. A bullet had barely missed your head moments ago, but his voice sounded so desperate.

“Then why in the hell did you shoot him?”, you gestured your chin up a little in direction of the officer.

“Because he tried to take me back”, you didn’t understand what he meant until your eyes trailed down to his chest, his shirt reading ‘Seoul Asylum’.

You had dealed with clinically insane criminals before but not one that was a murderer.

“Okay, calm down uh-“, you waited, hoping the man would tell you his name.

“Chanhee. Choi Chanhee”, you wondered why he trusted you enough to actually tell you, but you let that question slip your mind.

“Calm down Chanhee. You’re okay. No one is going to take you back”, the words came out of you softly and, much to Chanhee’s dismay, they calmed him. His breathing was slowly steadying.

You immediately realized he wasn’t really an evil person. He was just terrified.

You looked into his eyes and only saw emptiness. Thoughts flew through your mind about how much the man had been through.

“See? Nothing bad. Now, let me call-“, you were cut off by a rough shake of his head.

“No! They’ll take me back”, he whimpered and you couldn’t tell if it was a trick or not, but you truly felt sympathy for him.

“Chanhee, did the officer look like something scary?”, Chanhee looked at you and then back at the officer, a shiver of fear going up his spine before he nodded.

“What did he look like?”, Chanhee’s grip on your wrists loosened and you gently carassed his cheek to try to keep his attention on you.

“A monster. He looks so scary. Like a demon. Big horns and flames everywhere. He was going to take me back to hell”, of course he would associate the asylum with hell. You had seen the place.

Hell was an understatement.

“Okay, Chanhee listen. We can keep the cuff on and I’ll protect you, okay? I’ll take you to my place and help you. But, you can’t hurt anyone else, okay?”, you waited for his response. You got a slow nod and he got off of you cautiously, obviously still scared.

You weren’t really going to let him get away with what he did, but you supposed helping him a little wasn’t bad.

“Wait, do I look like a monster?”, you asked as you both got up together. Chanhee looked at you, glancing over your entire body and your face before he was sure and shook his head.

“No, you look like an angel”, you blinked a few times in surprise and imagined what he could be seeing, making you laugh at the thought.

“Okay, you have to grab the guns Chanhee. I won’t touch them, but we need them”, you knew those guns would be great DNA traces and you needed them with you and not some other criminal that walked by.

“Why?”, he asked innocently and you got the sudden urge to pinch his cheeks but you wouldn’t.

“Cause we wouldn’t want any other demons to find them and get us”, despite the seemingly horrifying words your tone was soft. Chanhee’s lip quivered and he nodded, quickly heading with you to pick up the guns.

He shoved them into his pocket after putting the safety on and stared at you. He seemed calm now, but you knew from past experience that that would only last momentarily.

“Let’s go to my house now, okay?”, Chanhee nodded and followed behind you as you started to walk, the cuff around your wrist digging into your bare skin whenever he lagged a little.

Once you were inside of your home, Chanhee looked around and he hummed. It was a beautiful sound and you wondered what he must sound like singing.

“Okay, lets take the cuffs off so you can shower”, Chanhee immediately shook his head in disagreement. His arms wrapped around your waist and his face went to settle in your neck, inhaling your scent. The gesture would’ve felt nice if it wasn’t for your cuffed arm being in a rather uncomfortable position.

“Chanhee... let go”, you had to remember your place and his. He was a criminal. Your job was literally to catch criminals.

Not shower with them.

The man surprisingly listened and let go of you, stepping back a little. He fiddled with the cuffs and then looked back at you, a glowing hue around you. You literally looked like an angel to him.

“B-but you’ll leave”, you shook your head immediately at his statement, trying your best to reassure him.

“I won’t leave. I promise”, you put your pinky out slowly, not wanting to startle him. He smiled slightly and linked his pinky with your’s.

Oh, his smile is cute.

You forced the thought out of your head.

Chanhee allowed you to get the key for the handcuffs and unlock them, the handcuffs falling to the floor.

“There. All better, see?”, you smiled as you rubbed your wrist. Chanhee smiled and rubbed his own.

Chanhee grabbed your hand and started walking towards the bathroom, sitting on the side of the tub before he looked at you.

“Can you check my wound?”, he asked you and you nodded, turning around because he’d definitely have to take his pants off for that.

“Take off your pants and drape a towel over yourself if you can”, you didn’t see it but Chanhee smirked.

He could’ve definitely taken them off himself and he knew that. He’s been through much worse injuries.

“I can’t. It hurts really bad”, he whined and you sighed before turning back around, a blush forming on your cheeks when you saw that Chanhee had already been working on unbuttoning his jeans.

He definitely noticed your blush as you started to unbutton the rest and pull them down his legs. You grimaced when you looked at his thigh. Luckily, the bullet had only grazed him, but you could tell the man had aggravated the wound because it looks more than inflamed. It looked enraged.

“Hold on”, you whisper and moved to get your first aid kit. Chanhee watched you as you grabbed the kit from your unorganized cabinet and came back. You kneeled in front of him and Chanhee had to do everything in his power not to grip your hair and force your head down onto his crotch.

“It might sting a little, but it won’t for long”, Chanhee nodded slowly, biting down on his bottom lip as you started to clean the wound. He groaned under his breath as the stinging started and you apologized gently.

“There. All better”, you realized he needed to shower.

“You really can’t take them off yourself?”, your arms crossed over your chest as the man shook his head. You shook your head as you started to help him out of his clothes, keeping your eyes only on his face as you did.

Chanhee admired your rosy cheeks as you finally got him free of his clothes.

Everything in his world was dark except you.

Little did you know that also included him.

Eventually, it had been months since you had become Chanhee’s light.

You couldn’t bring yourself to ever turn him in. Especially when he always made an effort to help you.

He was oddly sweet for a psychopath.

He stayed in your home. Where he believed he was safe. Sometimes he’d leave at night, but he always came back home to hold you after a rough day or to joke around with you.

The only thing odd was that the less demons he began to see, the more demonic he himself had become.

Fear no longer masked who he was and you slowly realized that because, while he was sweet to you, he began to despise everyone around you.

“Y/n...”, Chanhee whispered as he held you in his arms. He was usually this clingy when you got home from work. He hated your job.

Not because you were a cop and he was a criminal but because you were almost always in a dangerous situation.

And you always smelt like the criminals you caught or your coworkers who hugged you after a highly wanted criminal was put in prison.

Chanhee hated that more than anything else.

You quickly realized that much.

“Chanhee... I’m fine”, you giggled and wrapped your arms around him too, trying to reassure him that nothing was going to happen to you.

Tragically, you had let the man steal your heart.

You loved him.

A murderer. A psychopath. A criminal.

How fucking ironic.

“Why do you always come home smelling like someone else? It makes me jealous”, you watched as that signature pout came across Chanhee’s face.

If you didn’t know better then you’d say he wasn’t really angry.

But you knew he was fuming internally.

“Chanhee, we’ve been over this. I’m not your’s”, you spoke the brutal truth, feeling your heart throb a little when you saw him frown.

It was the truth.

Chanhee never confessed to loving you too.

“You are. I’ll prove it”, it was shocking to hear such determined words come out of his mouth. A wave of pure excitement went through your body.

“How?”, you mumbled and his finger immediately went to settle under your chin, tilting your head up to look at him.

“May I... touch you?”, the question was soft spoken with absolutely no hint of force, but it lingered in your mind for a couple of minutes.

Was this right?

Eventually, you decided you wanted him and nodded.

You could feel your heart beating even harder then before as Chanhee leaned his face closer to your’s.

That’s when you noticed a vast difference in him. His eyes were dark, shaded over with lust.

He looked at you with such a primal desire that a wave of arousal went through your body.

“I feel like these are needed. They’re kinda why we’re together now”, Chanhee chuckled and you admired him as he took the handcuffs off your belt. You had never heard him laugh or chuckle. It was an amazing sound.

The cuffs were locked around your wrists, keeping them together behind your back. You squirmed as you got used to the knowledge that you were no longer in control.

“I always hated this damn uniform”, Chanhee gripped the inside of your shirt and ripped it open, something you didn’t think he would be able to do.

“Chanhee! I have to buy a new one now”, you huffed but he just shushed you and buried his face in your neck, kissing and sucking on the sensitive skin.

You looked down as he started to trail his finger down your stomach, noticing a small cross tattooed onto his left pinky. It was a small detail you had never noticed before, but it seemed to make the action so much more unholy.

Chanhee fingers started to work on unbuttoning your pants as he trailed his kisses down your body to your chest, swirling his tongue around your nipples.

The sensation sent a shiver up your spine and a soft moan slipped past your lips. It was the first time Chanhee had heard such a sound from you and he perked his head up to look at you.

You could tell something had snapped inside of him.

A wall that kept the darkness from destroying his angel. It disappeared.

Now, all he wanted to do was destroy that beautiful innocence inside of you.

“Fuck, make that sound again”, he groaned and bit down on your breast, causing a louder moan to come out of you, “you sound so pretty”.

You weren’t sure if it was his words, the way his fingers were stroking your folds through your panties, or the bite but you were drenched.

“Get on your knees angel”, the pet name sounded like honey as it came out, his voice no longer cute but rough instead.

You obeyed. For once, you never questioned what you were told to do. It was like he had you under a spell.

Chanhee licked his lips at the sight of you, looking up at him with your hands bound behind your back and only your soaked panties left on.

He quickly worked on getting his pants and boxers off, the unnecessary fabric falling to the floor before he stepped towards you.

Your eyes widened at the sight in front of you. He was so attractive and big. You weren’t sure if you could take him.

“Open up”, he tapped his tip against your bottom lip and you whimpered before opening your mouth wide obediently.

“You really don’t have any shame, hmm? How cute”, he cooed as he slipped his cock into your mouth, waiting for you to get used to it before he was roughly gripping your hair and thrusting into your throat. His stomach was almost pressed against your face when he went all the way in.

You had never felt so used and needy in your life, rubbing your clothed clit against his shoe in hopes that the friction would satisfy you. Chanhee felt the movement and you would’ve called the sound he made a growl if it was any lower of a groan.

You hallowed your cheeks to suck him, hoping to bring him to his orgasm quickly, in desperate need of his touch. He twitched in your mouth before he came into it moments later, filling your mouth with his seed.

“Swallow”, he ordered as he pulled out of your mouth, moving his foot so you couldn’t rub against it anymore. You listened and swallowed the slightly bitter tasting seed, feeling it go down your throat and rub against the walls of it.

“Good girl”, Chanhee smiled and patted your head once he let go of your hair. He picked you up bridle style and walked towards your bedroom, tossing you onto your stomach onto the bed.

You moved to get up and his hand wrapped around your neck from behind you hard enough to leave dark bruises on your flesh. His other hand gripped your panties and tore them off your body, the sound of the fabric ripping filled the room along with your heavy breathing.

“Angel, your thighs are covered in it”, Chanhee chuckled as he ran his finger up your thigh to collect your wetness on it, sucking on the digit to taste you.

“You taste amazing too. Do you really want me y/n?”, he asked you as he walked across the room, grabbing a black sharpie off of your desk and coming back.

“I really really want you”, you nodded enthusiastically, but the sound of the lid on the marker coming off made you turn your head to look at Chanhee.

He hummed and smiled at you, making your cheeks go a rosey red. Chanhee started to dig the marker into your skin, writing degrading words along your perked ass and curved back.

Words that showed you truly did belong to him.

And in the middle of all the ‘cumslut’s, ‘whore’s, and ‘needy bitch’s was Chanhee’s name in big bold letters in the middle of your back.

He leaned back to admire his work and licked his lips, rubbing your ass with his hands, causing some of the black ink to smudge.

“Are you ready?”, he asked, just a hint of the cute boy you once knew was there. He really needed to know if you were okay.

“I’m ready. Everything is okay”, you smiled slightly with a nod, your legs trembling when you felt Chanhee rubbing his tip against your folds.

Slowly, he pushed himself inside of you, knowing you had never done something like this. It felt like he was made for you, filling you to the brim as you cried out from the stretch.

His hips pressed against your ass, finally all the way in. He stayed still as he waited for you to adjust, groaning when you clenched around his length.

“M-move please”, the words came out in a stutter as your eyes rolled back, completely overwhelmed in pure ecstasy. Chanhee smirked and started to rough go in and out of your tight cunt.

“Fuck, you feel so amazing”, he groaned as he brushed against your g-spot, causing your back to arch. You had never felt so good and Chanhee wasn’t going to stop until he was sure of this fact.

Chanhee gripped your hair to pull your head back as he fucked you, moans falling from your lips as the pain and pleasure mixed. His other hand gripped your hip, his nails scratching the skin as his hips pressed against your ass. The marker smeared even more, showing up on his stomach and hips.

“Who do you belong to?”, he groaned and you struggled to get any words out. He knew that. He wanted to watch you struggle to compose yourself as he absolutely ruined you.

“I-I’m y-yours! All yours!”, you screamed out and he smiled sweetly, a sharp contrast to his words.

You clenched around him again, your pussy throbbing around his cock. You started shaking and you felt a knot start to form in your stomach.

Without warning, you released. Your cum coating Chanhee’s dick that was still thrusting deep inside of you. He didn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop.

Tears welled up in your eyes from the overstimulation. Heat engulfed your body as Chanhee leaned more into you, his chest pressed against your back so you couldn’t move.

Your hands gripped the cuffs around them to keep your mind intact. Otherwise, you probably would’ve already been fucked way beyond dumb.

“I’m going to cum angel”, you heard his voice in your ear but none of it had registered. You were too focused on all the sensations happening to your body.

Soon, Chanhee’s load was shot deep inside of you. You whimpered as you felt his cum stick to the innermost parts of you, a warmth erupting from the action.

He pulled out and you whined from the emptiness, but you slowly gained your sense back as your chest heaved in desperate attempts to get air.

“Are you okay?”, just like that, the cute Chanhee was back. The one that cared about your safety and wanted to hold you all the time.

It shocked you a little, but you smiled weakly and nodded.

“I’m okay”, your voice sounded hoarse from all the screaming and moaning so Chanhee uncuffed you before he went to get you a glass of water. He handed it to you once he helped you sit back up and you drank it, mumbling a thanks.

“I love you”, the words caused you to choke a little on your water before you looked at the man. He was serious. You could tell by his face.

“I love you too”, you spoke without thinking. Chanhee smiled and put his arm around your waist, placing a chaste kiss to the side of your head.

You two stayed there, cuddling and loving on one another. You were the only one Chanhee would ever want and he knew that. He’d never let anyone hurt you.

Sleep overcame you both until you woke up, hearing a familiar sound.

The sound of sirens.

Police sirens.

You quickly got up, startling Chanhee into waking up. He looked at you, his hair a mess and a groan slipping past his lips.

You heard the pounding on the front door and as the first officer ran in, the first pull of your trigger took place.

[whiplaaaaaaaaash]

I just wanted you to know (Adrian Chase x reader)

Y/n’s POV:

It had been almost a year since Adrian and you became friends. The both of you worked together and he would often walk you home when you closed together, not wanting to leave you to walk home alone.

It was barely two months into your friendship, which bloomed because of his stupid jokes, he accidentally came clean about his secret identity.

It was funny, really. You were meant to hang out that day and he accidentally came over while still in his suit, which he decided to blame on the injury on his head.

Ever since then, your home was like a safe haven for Adrian whenever he was hurt. Was it late at night? Don’t worry Adrian, Y/n definitely told you that you could come by any time.

So that’s why he was stood in front of your door at midnight, wound on his chest. “Hi.” He seemed to be out of breath, entering your house after you open the door more for him.

“What happened this time?” You sigh, taking out your first aid kit. “Robber.” His answer was short, and he smiled sheepishly, looking you in the eyes.

You get closer to him, trying to disinfect his wound as good as possible, while he sat on your kitchen table. “Anything interesting happened?” He simply asks, trying to strike up a conversation. “Nope, barely anything.” I sadly smile, letting him know that we need another subject to continue the conversation.

“Hey, what happened to Chris?” He suddenly asks, looking at the wall behind me. That was an excellent question. What did happen with Chris? You weren’t sure, he just started ignoring you and you decided that it might be for the best. “We don’t really talk anymore, you know? It’s the same as with James, they both just ghosted my all of the sudden?”

Adrian seems to huff at this, just as you get another hing from the first aid kit. “I mean, I don’t really think they are fit for you anyway. Did you know that our urge to date other people comes from the ancient urge to kill animals?” He lights up, completely changing the subject.

“It does not, dude. That doesn’t even make sense.” You raise an eyebrow at him, laughing. He seems to have accomplished something because he seems rather satisfied with himself. “Well, at least you’re laughing.”

After cleaning him up, he slowly stands up from the table making his way to the door. “You can- I mean, you can stay here for the night because it’s already so late and you’re hurt.” You can feel the heat rush to you cheeks, something you had hoped wouldn’t happen. He nodded his head, shifting on his feet and walking to the living room.

You follow him, wanting to stay up just a little longer with him. “Do you wanna watch a movie?” You ask, putting on the TV. “Did you know that we watch TV because-“, you cut him off with a rather threatening glance at hin. “Yeah, let’s watch a movie.”

In hindsight, watching a movie was not the best idea. You could barely talk to Adrian during it, being forced to concentrate on the screen in front of you rather than the man beside you.

It’s then when he cracks a joke, something that was so unfunny that it became funny again. You really weren’t sure if it was for that reason too, because the current time, which was almost 2 A.M., obviously played an important part too.

The movie is long forgotten, the both of you cracking jokes with each other about god-knows-what. Hearing the sound of Adrian’s laugh was something so infuriating yet something so loveable. The laughing came to a halt though, the both of you looking at each other, engulfed by the darkness around you.

You could barely breath, staring into Adrian’s eyes for this long. “I love you.” The words leave your mouth before you can even think about what you just said.

It’s quiet for a long time, you think of what you had just done. Obviously this was the worst time you could possible tell him you loved him, even Fennel Fields would’ve worked better than this.

“I..”, he starts off, his mouth hanging open just the tiniest bit.

“It’s okay. I just wanted you to know.” You smile, shifting away from him. The silence continues. 1 minute? Maybe 2? Then suddenly you feel his lips against yours, taking you aback.

He seems to be very eager to kiss you, pushing you down onto your couch, hovering above you. “I love you too. God, you don’t know how happy I am right now. I could literally call Peacemaker and-“, you again, for what seems like the 100th time today, cut him off. This time it’s not a stare or you speaking up, this time it’s your lips against his. Ever since you tasted him the first time you craved his lips, even if it was just mere seconds.

[honey-dewey]

We Can’t all Have 20/20 Vision

Pairing: Din Djarin/Reader

Word Count: 2,730

Warnings: None

Permanent Taglist: @phoenixhalliwell

When Mando took you on as a mechanic, you expected you’d be fixing his ship while he bounty hunted. You did not expect him to need his HUD to be fixed, resulting in a very blind mandalorian stumbling his way around his own ship because he’s too stubborn to find an alternative until it finally becomes too much. How will you fare when dear Mando abandons his helmet for a pair of glasses?

A/N: Based off a lovely tumblr post by @javi-djarins in which Mando had garbage vision and needed glasses and I couldn’t help myself. 

Traveling with what was likely the most stoic person in the galaxy was a very interesting way to live life. The mandalorian and his weird green son were the highlights in your otherwise boring life as a mechanic on Tatooine, now technically a mechanic in outer space. 

“Mando!” You yelled through the ship, waist deep in the heater unit. “Mando get your metal ass over here I have a question!” 

The telltale clanking of Mando’s footsteps drew closer, and you wiggled upright, highly aware that you were wearing nothing but your cargo pants and a sweat soaked tank top. “Please explain what the hell this is.” 

“It’s part of the heater.” 

“No it isn’t!” You yelled, holding up the part in question. “It’s a children’s toy that has been melted to form a very shoddy cap. Fuck me, I don’t know how this ship is still flying.” 

Just like that, you tossed the melted toy at Mando and slid into the heater again. 

“Did you call me out here just to yell at me?” Mando asked. You promptly ignored him, fumbling with your tool belt and sighing. 

“Can you pass me that socket wrench?” You asked, shoving your hand out so it was exposed enough for Mando to hand you the wrench. “And the 3/8 socket.” 

The wrench was placed in your hand, and you tucked it to your side only to immediately discover a problem. 

“3/8, not 3/4,” you said, sticking the wrench up. 

“That is the 3/8.” 

“Bitch, can you read?” You asked, sliding upright. “That’s a four, not an eight.” You dragged your toolbox over and found the appropriate socket, peering at Mando as you exchanged the sockets. “Is your HUD okay? You did take that nasty hit the other day, might’ve knocked something out of place 

Mando was still. “It’s fine.” 

“How many fingers am I holding up?” It was childish, but would get the job done. 

“Three?” 

“Four,” you said, squirming back into the heater. “Your HUD is definitely on the fritz. Leave me the helmet whenever, I’ll have that thing fixed before you know it.” 

Mando left, leaving you to continue your assault on the heater until it began to function again. It was a few hours before you were trudging up to the cockpit. You were covered in grease and sweat, but the job was done. 

“Mando!” You announced cheerily, in case he had his helmet off. “What’s up?” 

He turned from where he was playing with Grogu. “Not much. Why?” 

You fell into your copilot’s chair, taking a mechanic’s kit out of your pocket. It was small, a testament to what it was intended to do. “Is he close to sleep?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Get him to fall asleep, I’ll take a crack at that helmet once you do.” 

Mando hesitated, and gestured for you to turn. You did, surprised when something heavy and made of beskar fell into your lap. 

“We’re family. He can see my face.” 

You blinked a few times, but at the notion of a job, your mind went blank. You took a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the complex wiring of the HUD, and then dove right in, using minuscule tools on equally tiny mechanics. It was a tricky job, but you found a good grove with your heels dug into the control board and your knees supporting the helmet in your lap. You stuck your tongue between your teeth, bending your head in an effort to get closer to the problem. 

“Aha!” You said finally, pulling the destroyed part out and looking it over. “There’s the tricky bastard! Should’ve known it was the image processor.” 

“Did you fix it?” Mando asked. He’d been entirely silent until now, and it was a bit unnerving. 

“Unfortunately, no.” You tossed the part onto the control board. “It has to be replaced. You said we’re headed to Arvala-7? I can bargain with the Jawas and find a replacement. You can have this back, but without that image processor, you won’t be able to see much.” 

You held the helmet up, and Mando took it. You heard it slid into his head, and then a string of muffled curses. 

“Oh yeah,” you said, standing to face your mandalorian. “Your power source died too, so good luck getting that modulator to work. It looks like it’s rechargeable though.” 

“It is,” Mando said, and you let out a bark of laughter at his horribly muffled voice. 

At some point that night, he abandoned the helmet entirely, leaving it in the cockpit along with the ruined image processor. You were now completely buried in the ship’s wiring, trying to fix a problem Mando had been complaining about with the carbonite system.

“Mando!” You shouted, squinting at the mess of wires in front of you. “Can you hand me my soldering iron? It should be next to my wrench kit.” 

“Uhh,” Mando hesitated, making you roll your eyes. 

“It’s blue and labeled with ‘soldering iron,’” you said. 

“I can’t read.” 

You stopped. “Yes you can. You read Grogu a book yesterday.” 

“No, I mean,” Mando stammered, and it was probably the first time you’d ever heard him hesitant. “I’m, well, I haven’t exactly got 20/20 vision.” 

“Oh boy,” you said under your breath. “What is your vision?” 

Yet another hesitation. “20/400. The HUD usually fixes my sight for me, but it’s not, y’know.” 

“Holy Maker!” You almost knocked your head against the wall in surprise. “How do you function with vision like that?” 

“I just told you, my HUD.” 

“Rhetorical,” you pointed out, wiggling until you were facing the exit. “Coming out.” 

It took enough shimmying that Mando was actually able to grab his helmet and slide it back on before you were fully out of the walls. He looked down at you, or at least he would be if he could see. 

“I swear,” you grumbled. “We have got to find a better solution. We won’t be on Arvala-7 for another day, and you are not wandering around blind until then because you’re too stubborn to take the helmet off.” 

Mando was quiet. “Would it be easier if I took it off?” 

“Probably,” you said with a shrug, turning away so you could grab your soldering iron. You yanked the cord, swearing a bit before turning back around and immediately yelling and covering your eyes. “Fuck! Warn me next time, I could’ve taken my eye out! And with this thing, that would’ve hurt.” 

Mando shuffled, likely placing his helmet down. You’d caught the barest glimpse of tanned skin and brown hair, but his features were a huge blur. “It’s okay. You can look.” 

You slowly pulled your hand off your eyes, your curiosity winning the small fight in your head. Had he not consented, you wouldn’t have ever looked. But he’d given you the okay, so you did what you wanted to do. You looked at Mando. 

“Oh.” It wasn’t that his appearance surprised you, but it just wasn’t what you expected. After years of wondering, you’d assumed he would have some weird face thing, and yet, the man before you wasn’t odd or bizarre or exceptional. If you saw him on the street, your eyes would’ve slid right over him. “You’re cute.” 

That wasn’t what Mando was expecting. He flushed, turning away from you and covering his mouth with his hand. 

“So, do you wear glasses or something?” You asked, tucking your soldering iron onto your belt and tuning back to the wall as if Mando wasn’t freaking out behind you. “Because that would make this much easier.” 

“Yeah,” Mando said, voice fading as he walked away with familiar sounding footsteps. When he came back, you were back in the wall, dislodging the control board from the back of the carbonite system. 

“Hey, can you fix this?” You asked, blindly passing the control board out. “It just needs to be rewired, but I’m busy.” 

Mando took the board, and you managed to catch snippets of small swears as you worked on the second problem, eventually shimmying out to turn your soldering gun on. 

What you were met with surprised you. Mando, fully armored sans helmet, sitting cross legged on the ground. He was holding your delicate tools in his gloved hands as he fiddled with the control board, and he was wearing glasses. 

You decided he was infinitely cuter with his thick rimmed black glasses and went back to work, determined not to worry about it. “Having fun out there?” You asked when he let out a particularly loud swear and you heard plastic clattering to the ground.

“My glasses keep falling off!” 

You snorted, coming out of the wall and sitting in front of Mando, who had grabbed his glasses from the floor. Watching as he fumbled with the delicate tools and his glasses slipped down his nose again, you resisted the urge to laugh, instead sliding forward and looking at the control board.  “Fuck me you need smaller hands,” you said, using your own hands to grab the thin wires and hold them out of Mando’s way as he worked. “So, tin can, you got a name?” 

“Din.” 

“I’m sorry, did you say tin?”

“No. Din.” 

You huffed. “Shame. Tin would’ve been so funny.” 

Din rolled his eyes, and you laughed. “Is that what you’re hiding under that helmet? Perpetual annoyance?” 

“With you around? Absolutely.” 

You would’ve hit him had he not been holding the carbonite control board. Din shoved his glasses up his nose yet again, swore softly that he hated working in his glasses, and set about completing the repair job. When he finished, you took it and slid it back into place, finishing your work for the day. Din sighed, wiping sweat off his face and setting his glasses back in place as you replaced the wall panel and stood back up. 

“I’m so hungry,” you said loudly as Din grabbed Grogu for dinner. “I could probably eat a whole bantha.” 

“You could not,” Din said, grabbing the three containers that had your dinner. He passed the smallest one to Grogu, who took it eagerly. He handed you a bigger one, and you nodded your thanks before digging in with just as much enthusiasm as Grogu. 

“I think I totally could,” you decided, stabbing a piece of mystery meat and sighing. “Putting up with you is very hungry work.” 

Din chuckled, and you swore your heart skipped a few beats. He ate alongside you, which was surprisingly foreign. He never ate around you. 

Once dinner was eaten and cleaned up, you announced you were headed off to shower. Din let you go, picking Grogu up and taking him to the cockpit to play. 

Your shower was short and sweet. The Crest’s water heater was a piece of junk, but you managed to get a solid ten minutes in before the water began to chill. As you stepped out and dried off, you heard Din’s voice, soft and quiet. He was real kind to Grogu, who was likely about to fall asleep for the night. You put on your pyjamas, stretching and heading to Din’s bunk.

Din looked over as you walked up. He had taken his armor off and was left in the black short sleeved shirt and deep brown pants you often saw him in at the end of the day. “Did you use all the hot water?” 

“This heater is a piece of shit, of course I did.” You leaned against the wall, raising an eyebrow at Grogu, who was settled in Din’s lap. “You, sir, are a huge sap. Imagine if the general public knew about this. The great mandalorian, secretly a giant soft dad.” 

Din sighed, pulling one of Grogu’s favorite books out of a small box he kept by his bunk. He adjusted his glasses and looked up expectantly at you. “Are you going to stick around for story time?” 

“Oh what the hell, it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do,” you decided, scooting into the bunk and settling down beside Din. Your hips pressed together in the small space, but no one seemed to mind. 

The book was one you’d picked up for Grogu. It was a childhood favorite of yours, full of princesses, daring sword fights, and a brilliant love story. It was long, so Grogu never stayed awake for all of it. But you completely underestimated the book’s effect on you too. 

A few minutes after Grogu fell asleep, you felt your own head grow heavy, eyes fluttering shut before you snapped them open, determined to last until your favorite part. 

As Din reached the bit about giant rodents, you gave up, letting your head fall against Din’s shoulder, eyes half open. He stopped, looking over at you. “You okay?” 

“Fucking exhausted. Keep reading.” 

Din chuckled, pushing his glasses up and continuing to read. You slipped deeper and deeper into sleep until the world was no more than a fuzzy haze and Din’s voice was just a mumbling mess. 

You very faintly registered Din stopping reading, then you were moving but didn’t exactly have the energy to care, and then the void of sleep swallowed you up for real. 

When you woke up, it was to the Crest landing. Arvala-7 had shown up faster than you expected. Or maybe you’d slept for too long. Whatever the situation, you jumped up, got dressed, and made it to the cockpit in record time. 

“Good morning,” Din said as you entered the cockpit. “Ready? You know what part you need for my HUD?” 

You nodded, scooping up the damaged piece and rolling it over in your hands. “Yep! A new image processor. Do you want to stay here or wander around Arvada-7 completely blind?” 

“I’ll go with,” Din decided, standing and putting his helmet on. “The battery gives me some semblance of sight. I’ll survive.” 

Shrugging, you shouldered a bag of spare parts and smiled. “Let’s go then.” 

Finding the Jawas was, unfortunately, the easy part. Even Din could see their fortress from half a mile away. When you finally met up with them, the bartering began. You spoke decently good Jawa, and were able to trade for some upgrade parts for the water heater, but they were stubborn about the image processor. It took you almost an hour under the hot desert sun to take the part, and even then, you didn’t want to give that much up for it. But Din needed to see, so you caved. 

Back aboard the Crest, you settled in your spot in the cockpit, helmet in your lap, small tools in your hands. Din sat to your right, messing around with the controls to take the both of you out to Sorgan for a week or two of vacation. 

“And, done!” You said happily, watching the HUD flicker to life inside the helmet. Din looked up. “One perfectly fixed beskar helmet,” you announced, handing Din the helmet. 

He examined the helmet, took his glasses off, and put his helmet on. “It looks good,” he said, taking it off and putting his glasses on again. “Thank you.” 

“You’re not going to wear it?” You asked, putting your tool kit away. “If I did all that work for nothing, I swear I will murder you.” 

“Well I’m not going to wear it around the Crest,” Din said, as if it were obvious. “You’re family now.” 

How words made your heart swell. “So, what?” You said, trying to keep your composure. “Am I like, your spouse now?” 

Din shrugged, setting his helmet on the other copilot’s chair. “If you want.” 

“The hell does that mean?”

“It means,” Din said, turning to face you. “You’ve been staring at me an awful lot.”  

You grinned despite your face growing red, seeing exactly what game Din was playing. “Okay. Fine. I guess we’re married now.” 

Din’s grin matched yours as he gave his glasses a small shove and held his hand out for you to shake. When you did, he turned back to the Crest’s controls. “I guess we’re married now,” he echoed softly. “I should get you a ring, shouldn’t I?” 

“That’s how it usually goes,” you responded, getting up to fix that damned water heater. 

Four years and two kids later, he finally remembered to get you a ring and make it official.

[we-dragons]

I'm from a different dimension actually Chapter 7 Damian x reader

"Ira! I need my emergency kit!" Molly is pulling at my hair with a brush, I grimace at my reflection, she had put pearls and violet gems in my hair. Seeing as it already wasn't long bearly pushing past my ears, even though there aren't many of them in there it ways down in some places. I had already allowed her to put me in a ball gown, which I'm sure costs much more than my apartment building. It reminds me of peacock feathers, purples, greens, blues fill the cloth they blend seamlessly dark purple at the top and ending with blue at the bottom. I look at the matching marbled shoes and guilt climbs through me.

"Molly I don't need makeup, I'm already in a peacock dress, and there are gems in my hair. Besides the mascara is enough I don't want to spend an hour rubbing anything else off." Molly gasps, a hand gripping at her heart.

"Why-how could you say such a thing!" Ira hands Molly her phone, she screams. "We're going to be late! Ira put the bag back!" I'm yanked from my chair and raced down the hall within minutes I'm thrown into a limo with Molly's parents. Molly jumps in starting to yell at the driver shocking her parents who kept telling her to calm down. It doesn't take long to get to Wayne Manor, the courtyard is crowded filled with flashing lights from cameras reporters, and newscasts. They surrounded every inch with an exception of a semi-circle right at the front of the building where the car pulled up. Once more I'm pulled roughly out of the vehicle by molly, I nearly trip going up the stairs.

"Molly dear, we need to go in together!" My friend's mother pants from behind her husband seems to be in a similar position as me. Like mother like daughter.

I pull my arm away from Molly gently and smooth out my peacock dress, I sigh internally finding relief that I had personally told Molly to make the dress so it covered without it being tight. If I didn't then I would be pulling up the fabric like Molly who went not so modest. Not only had she blinged out she full-on black and high heels that pushed out her height. She looked good, and she made her parents match. When her mother finally catches up she puts a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

What happens after the incident leaves me at a table sitting behind a card with my name on it. Molly was seated somewhere else because I had used my own invitation instead of being a plus one. My eyes cast over the room soaking in again the decor of the newly decorated main floor. My energy seems to drain while I watch the people chat dance and laugh. No one was seated at my table and I was slightly relieved but I still felt odd. I had gone to parties with my mom in the past, ones that were held in her honor about her findings. I feel myself relishing in those memories I had looking back at the times she would pull a silly face at me while I was bored at said parties, or told a joke in some of her speeches. My mother was the expert in The Islamic Golden Era, despite not being a Muslim herself. She prided herself on giving credit to those who deserved more but had their work stolen by Europeans. But then, when she went on that Egypt and Greece dig she had found something that unnerved her. I knew what it was, and I wish I hadn't either. My happy thoughts turn sour, and I can feel myself grimace. I am tired...so tired.

"You made it, It's good to see you here." my head whips around falling on emerald eyes.

"Yeah, I had already told Molly that she could take me to the next party she goes to. However, I didn't know that if you came with an invite and not a plus one that you had to sit at a separate table." He snorts and sits down to my right.

"You were originally sat by her but father assumed I needed a friend," He shows me a card with his name on it. "so he changed Grayson out for you."

"Do you not have friends?"

"None close by."

"When have I accepted you as a friend?" He smiles

"That is a good question, but the same goes for me, you more someone I tolerate."

"Same here, Besides your a bad influence."

"tsk,...touche." his gaze looks me up and down and I have the sudden urge to say 'eyes up here'.

"You look tired, would you like to go to the library?"

"Usually libraries and tired people don't mix."

"How about a tour then, we have several artifacts my father has purchased that you might find interesting." He pushes harder.

"You want an excuse to leave, don't you? I thought my main purpose for being here was to talk to Mr.Wayne, not venture into the mansion." He sighs with his own body, visibly exaggerating the movements.

"My father is deeply preoccupied already in another engagement, he won't even be here for hours. Would you prefer to stay here doing nothing or would you like to leave?" He sounds rather annoyed while looking off to his left and scowling more. I follow my eyes to a group of three who I recognize from the cafe, all of them are pointing and smirking. I being to feel more drained at the thought of them coming here and stand. "Your home, where to first?" He shoots up, grabbing my hand dragging me through the dense crowd of people.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Amazing, this would date back to the early years of feudal Japan, this is Greek! Oh! There's a Khopesh and a Canaan Sickel sword on this wall!"

Damian scoffs sounding more like a laugh than a mocking tone. "You can tell the difference." I give him a look, feeling offended.

"Of course I can, you mostly can tell by the markings on the blade." I turn my head back to the wall slowly pointing to the distinguishable pieces of evidence. "This one is older Hebrew, and here you can see small hieroglyphics depicting the sun. Plus the metals on each blade are very different." I tilt my head back to him, his face stays indifferent. "You knew that already didn't you?" He nods and walks again.

"You must really like history, seems like you could talk about it none stop." He calls back.

"Did you forget who my mother was?"

"I thought she specialized in the Islamic golden era."

"It didn't mean she didn't know the history of other peoples. My mother developed research of anything she could get her hands on." I pause for a minute. "What about you, where did you learn."

"I was taught by some of the best in the world, my mother made sure of it."

"I see." We talk more while examining the objects displayed, I had fun just listening to him explain how his father got some of them. Though the collection wasn't huge it still made me a bit happy to see the objects. My phone buzzes, and I quickly take it out of my pocket.

Molly: Hey where are you we need to get going!

Molly: Dad got too drunk and now he's crying about the world.

Molly: We will be outside, Be there.

"Sorry, I have to get going, I'll see you at school later!" I run through the hall and snag as many macarons as I can on the way out. Molly waves from the car opening the door so I slide in faster.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sorcerer found. Name: Doctor Fate, Subject: host"

"Anyone else?"

"Database shows,... John Constantine, and Zatanna. All other information is unavailable."

"Gather what they have on the crows send probes if you must."

"Proceeding."

Nightmare stands by the window waiting for his queue. I pull a scale out from the box and open the window. I hand him the scale and he chews effectively destroying the small miracle. "Remember stay out of sight if someone spots you wipe it from their memory and if you see a crow take the fight to the in-between and go for the kill. You have a little bit of my power with you only use it when needed." He purrs, rubbing his head on my hand, then jumps. He vanishes. I sigh putting the device in the box marked with an X just in case and push it under my bed. I head out into my living room putting some things away and cleaning here and there. Proud of my work I turn on the TV and sprawl on my sofa with a bowl of popcorn. Reruns of Highlander play on one of my favorite channels, I smile at my luck and sing to the theme song.

*Thunk thunk thunk*

I jump at the sound, I hear the noise again and follow it to my kitchen bat in hand. I flip on the light and smack my face, a very wet robin scowls at me through the glass. Only then did I notice the rain, and I pray that Nightmare is staying safe. I open the door and let him in, he mutters a thank you while walking in dipping water on my floor.

"Not to be rude, but is there something you need?" He ignores me and continues dragging water on the floor to the living room.

"Robin?" I catch up to him, he pulls something out from his ear and stuffs it in his pocket.

"I would like to stay here for a little while"

"How long is a little while, will I need to pull out the bed in the couch?" He gives me a look.

"There's a bed in your couch?"

"Sometimes I want to watch TV while I do my homework, laying down here makes it easier." I go to the bathroom to pull out some towels.

"Where was this when I was heavily injured?"

"I'm sorry, but the fact that you were bleeding was more concerning. I also put new sheets on the bed and you broke a perfectly good window. There is still blood on my cushions, and you wanted me to place you on the bed?" grabbing the biggest fluffiest towel in the bunch walking back out to the living room.

"You still on about that?"

"It was expensive!" I hold out the towel, he takes it and places his yellow cape in my hand. I frown but head to the coat rack hanging the heavy fabric on the highest rung. I feel short noticing its length, I turn back to Robin who's sat down on the couch the large towel engulfing him completely minus his hair. The black strands stuck oddly to his face and drooped sadly, I almost laugh because he looks like a sad cat. Like Nightmare whenever I give him a bath, I think I have a picture of that somewhere. "Did you want something to drink or eat?"

"Why is it that every time I come here you offer something?"

"It's a hospitality thing I got living in Minnesota, it's just being nice. Besides, you work to protect people, don't you? It only makes sense that I offer you something, I doubt you get paid to do your job. I bet you have countless scars from just doing so, I can do my part and help you feel comfortable. Call it a form of respect."

"Tsk."

I stroll into the kitchen, "Well, I suppose I could give some soda, tea, or water after all you left plenty on the floor."

"What happened to respect?"

"Well, I have feelings to sir! Tossing my words aside like that, I shouldn't even feed you." I poke my head back out, I smile at his scowl while he in turn glares at me. "Now for once, I am out of tea but I have several cans of cherry coke and some popcorn and macarons from a party I went to earlier. How about that?"

"That's fine." I hum grabbing what I needed and plopped back down in my seat handing him the coke. I place the brightly colored macarons and some chips I found between us along with the popcorn. I let myself get absorbed into the Highlander again just as MacLeod beheads another immortal and gains his Quickening.

"What is this?" My Jaw drops while I look at him concerned.

"Just how uncultured are you." His face flushes and his face twists he opens his mouth but i stop him. "Say no more, I will be right back." I come out with my computer and pull up VUDU opening season one of the show. "Sit back buckaroo, now your in for the long haul. Now right now all you need to know is 'There can only be one." His face contorts in confusion, but gives in and moves closer.

"I'm not going to get in trouble with Batman am I." He smirks.

"Most likely."

"Dammit."

[carry-the-sky]

Hi could you do 14. touch on a bruise for brio please?

ahhh thanks for sending this one in!! have some post-s3 angst, hahaha. :)

(also on ao3)

.

The next time she sees him, he’s bleeding.

Okay, maybe not actively, but the jagged line of stitches etched above his ear looks like it’s seconds away from ripping open. Beth takes in the nasty bruise blooming along his jawline, the cut splitting his bottom lip.

“Um,” she says.

Rio smirks. “What’s up?”

“I—” she sputters, because he’s just standing there with that stupid, smug expression, like it’s the most normal thing in the world to drop by the showroom after hours looking like—that. “You—what happened?”

“Not your division, darlin’.”

He says it lightly enough, but Beth reads the undercurrent of warning in his voice like a neon sign. He wants her to drop it.

Well. She’s not feeling very incentivized to give him what he wants at the moment.

“It is when you bring that”—she pointedly eyes the stitches—“into my showroom. Those look awful, by the way. Did he do them?” She juts her chin toward Mick, who’s lurking in the doorway.

The two men share a look, and Mick folds his arms across his chest. “Maybe I did,” he grumbles. “YouTube’s got tutorials for everythin’.”

Beth glances between them both. She’s about to open her mouth—to say what, she has absolutely no idea—when Mick snorts, shaking his head at the same time that Rio’s mouth twists into a grin.

“Nah,” Rio says, still smiling as he casts a glance back at Mick. “Nah, he didn’t. Your concern’s duly noted, though.”

Mick makes another sound in his throat that he quickly covers by turning it into a cough. Beth’s face flames, but she draws herself up and meets Rio’s gaze head-on. Let him try to get a rise out of her—she knows better than to take that bait.

“Fine. What can I do for you, boss?” she says, spitting out that last word like it’s acid.

Rio’s eyes fall to the floor, but Beth can still see the ghost of a grin lingering at the corners of his mouth, like he knows he got under her skin. Like he’s won. For one furious second, she imagines how hard she’d have to hit him to split his lip, leave a bruise. She imagines hurting him and liking it.

But she doesn’t really have to, does she? Beth still remembers the weight of his gun in her hand, how the recoil from pumping the trigger once, twice, three times made her hand ache for days afterwards. She remembers him choking on his own blood, the sound of it filling up the loft—

No. No, she hadn’t liked any part of that. It’s a catch twenty-two; she hates him, she wants him dead, gone and out of her life, his name crossed out in permanent ink, but then—sometimes she doesn’t. It’s the not-knowing that keeps her circling the drain, pushing that damn boulder up the hill only to watch it come crashing down again and again.

She thinks she might hate that even more than she hates him.

Beth blinks, coming back to the office. Mick’s staring her down like a hawk, but Rio’s gaze is more appraising, head tilted to the side in a gesture that’s so familiar, so him, it makes her stomach flip.

“Just here for my cut,” he says, as nonchalant as if they’re discussing the weather. She hears the unspoken words as clearly as the night he said them—you, me, we. It’s just business.

Beth holds his gaze a second longer, then tugs a black duffel out from under her desk. She hands it off, dropping the straps like they burned her to avoid brushing her hand against his when he takes it from her. If he notices, he doesn’t show it.

“What, no mama bag this time?” he says, then presses his lips together like he’s trying not to grin.

Beth glares at Mick, who just shrugs. She snaps her eyes back to Rio, barely managing to unclench her teeth before asking, “Anything else?”

“Yeah, Mick’s gonna check the books.”

Of course he is. Beth isn’t exactly shocked, but it still feels like a slap on the wrist, another reminder that there’s a hierarchy and she’s the furthest thing from sitting on top. Even this, the operation she pieced together herself, the system she built on equal parts desperation and determination—even this isn’t hers.

You wanna be the king, you gotta kill the king.

Yeah, she tried that. Technically she’s still trying, but she shoves that thought down deep and ignores the twinge in her chest.

Rio’s already turning to go, slinging the duffel over his shoulder. “Next week, yeah?”

Maybe it’s the way he says it, like he’s glad he can pawn her off on someone else because he has better things to do with his time, or maybe the stress and exhaustion from these past few months are finally cracking her foundation—the reason doesn’t really matter. Beth can’t—won’t—let him have the last word.

“You should really get those stitches looked at,” she says.

He pauses, then looks back at her. In the low light, his eyes almost look black.

“I’ve had worse,” he says, and the words hang between them for a moment, heavy as a loaded gun.

Beth swallows. “Still. They could get infected.”

Something slides across Rio’s face, sharp and predatory. It’s the look he gets when he sees an opportunity, and Beth feels her stomach drop.

“Yeah?” he says, turning around so that he’s facing her again. He drops the duffel, and Beth can’t help flinching at the thud it makes when it hits the floor. “Sounds like you’re volunteerin’.”

“No, that’s not—”

But he’s moving, sliding into the chair on the opposite side of her desk. Beth’s eyes dart to Mick, but he just arches an eyebrow, not even bothering to look up from the list of sales projections he’s been checking.

Rio leans back in his seat. “A’ight, doc, fix me up.”

Beth stays where she is. The irritation that’s been bubbling just beneath the surface ever since he walked through the door is reaching its boiling point, but there’s something else humming under her skin, crackling like a live wire. He can leave whenever he wants—he was halfway out the door a second ago—but instead he chose to stay.

They’re circling the same drain, each of them waiting to see who will get sucked under first.

“I’ll—get the first aid kit,” Beth says, stepping around the desk only to be stopped in her tracks by Mick, who clears his throat audibly and pulls his jacket back to reveal the Glock tucked against his side.

Beth resists the urge to roll her eyes. “Really? You think I’m stupid enough to try something with both of you here?”

Rio doesn’t answer, just fixes her with an amused look.

“Fine,” Beth snaps, taking a step back. She nods at Mick, tips her head in the direction of the door. “It’s in the bathroom across the hall.”

Mick gives her a two-fingered salute and ducks out of the room, and then it’s just her and Rio.

He’s still—watching her. He looks relaxed enough, legs spread a bit and his hands clasped loosely in front of him, and if Beth didn’t know better, she’d say the expression on his face is almost neutral. But she does know better. His eyes are what give him away, flashing with the same electricity that’s thrumming behind her sternum. He’s waiting for her to make a move. She knows, because she’s doing the same thing.

God, she hates how much she likes this.

She barely registers Mick coming back—it’s only when he tosses the first aid kit onto the desk that she jumps, startled back to herself.

“Thanks,” she says, injecting as much sarcasm as she can into the word.

Mick’s mouth twitches, but he goes straight back to the books, sinking into a chair in the far corner of the office. Beth rolls her own chair around the side of the desk, lowers herself slowly into a seated position beside Rio. This close, she can see each individual color in the whorl-patterned bruise that stretches up toward the hollow of his cheek. She lets her eyes drag across it, then up his temple. The stitches look—well, not great. It’s clear they were done hastily, probably to prevent as much blood loss as possible, but the wound is seeping.

“Damn, that bad, huh?” Rio asks, reading it on her face.

Beth stares down at the kit in front of her. Her first aid knowledge extends about as far as patching up a skinned knees and Benadryl for minor allergic reactions—removing possibly-infected stitches from her crime boss’ head isn’t even in the same zip code.

“I don’t—I don’t know what you want me to do,” she says, abruptly exhausted.

Rio adopts an expression of mock concern that does nothing to ease Beth’s urge to slap him. “Oh, no?” he says. “What part’s trippin’ you up?”

Beth shuts her eyes for a second, briefly wonders why the hell she didn’t let him waltz out of here when she had the chance—except she knows why, and so does he, and when she looks again—

He’s practically beaming, that smug tilt at the corners of his mouth dialed up about a thousand percent, and it’s like a puzzle piece slotting into place. This is just another game—he’s messing with her, playing with his food before eating it.

The low buzz of electricity inside her ignites.

He’s not the only one who’s hungry.

“No, you’re right,” she says, popping open the first aid kit and digging around until she finds the antiseptic wipes. “I should at least clean those stitches up. Maybe even remove them, start fresh.”

She glances up, and that’s the only reason that she sees him falter, a blink-and-miss-it record-scratch behind his eyes before he recovers, slides the mask back on. Satisfaction floods through her. She can play his game.

“Whatever’s good, ma,” he says with a shrug. “You’re the boss, yeah?” He echoes her earlier emphasis on the word, grinning when he sees the barb land. “Shit, that’s my bad—poor choice o’ words.”

Beth rips open a wipe. “This might sting,” she says, pressing against his line of stitches, hard. She’s rewarded with him hissing a breath through his teeth, the hand at his knee balling into a fist.

“Easy, mama,” he grits out.

Beth flashes him her sweetest smile. “I’m sorry, is that too rough? I thought you liked that.”

Mick makes a noise like he’s choking, and Rio looks over, eyes bright with amusement. “Ay, cállate la boca.”

“Didn’t say nothin’,” Mick mumbles, still staring intently at the books.

Beth presses her tongue behind her teeth, swallowing a pinch of annoyance as she switches tactics. “Aren’t crime lords supposed to have, I don’t know, some sort of medical professional on retainer? For situations like this?”

“Nah,” Rio says with a shake of his head. “Why, you gunnin’ for a promotion? ‘Cause I gotta say, your bedside manner could use some work.”

And something inside her roars, because this is how she’s going to get him. She dabs gently at the wound beneath his stitches, swiping a thumb over the sutures. Rio winces, jerks back—

She sees it, the moment he drops the mask.

Beth leans forward. She brings the antiseptic up to his face again, stops just short of pressing it to his skin, as if to ask, okay?

She sees it, the moment he drops the mask.

Beth starts at his temple, softly scrubbing at the caked-on blood that’s streaked down from the cut above his ear. Her hand moves lower, fingers gliding over his cheekbones, and she’s not sure if she imagines his breath hitching when she reaches the bruise at his jaw. She drags her thumb across it, then back again. His skin is warm, under the pads of her fingers.

“How am I doing now?” she breathes, barely above a whisper, and she knows she doesn’t imagine him dipping a glance down to her mouth. Their faces are inches apart, close enough for her to count the shades of brown in his eyes. Her fingers trace lower, toward the curve of his lips—

His hand comes up to grasp her wrist, tug it away from his face. “Don’t,” he growls, low like thunder. A warning. “Don’t do that, Elizabeth.”

He’s looking at her again, but she almost doesn’t recognize the emotion swimming in his eyes. He’s—terrified. Of her. For a fleeting second she lets the thrill of it run through her, buoyant on the feeling of power, the feeling that she’s won—

(—she did it, she shot him, she’s free—)

The moment pops like a soap bubble, and she’s empty, hollow, everything good inside of her scooped away until this is what’s left. This is who she is. And maybe this game they’re playing was never meant to have a winner.

The realization leaves her numb.

She’s vaguely aware of Mick slipping the books back onto her desk, and when her eyes flick back up to Rio, his mask is firmly back in place. Steel, untouchable.

“I’m all better now, thanks,” he says, and then he’s pulling away, pushing up from the desk, slipping out the door. She watches his silhouette until it dissolves into shadow.

She’s alone.