#so why would they have his pleading case be he has a wife and kids unless they didnt want us to choose him

[jellycass]

austin's wife and kids comment being set up as a running gag only to then get thrown back in showfalls face when he breaks away from them for a moment and immediately says "I don't have a stacy" in the most unsure, anxious voice before snapping back to a monotone reassurance "I have a stacy" is something I can be soooo normal about (lying)

[sukunas-wife]

you could do something where sukuna and yuji team up to protect their mom/wife when a person is bothering or harassing her, they love her so much that they won't let someone hurt her 🥹💗

Leave Mama Kuna alone 😔

Old Day, because no one was brave enough to confront Sukuna for murder.

Warnings? Murder, in red text a man attempted to force himself on reader, Gore, Blood

It didn't take much to upset Sukuna, he was always looking for a reason to snap at someone and end a life. Sadly his son Yuji was a cock block for murder, and it irked him that he basically had to shake and rile his son up to get angry and then he’d just flat line and “but why don’t we-“ They didn’t agree to often on why a man should die- but in this case they were all agreeing. “Get him daddy!” Yuji yelled, pointing his chubby finger at a man maybe in his early Twenties who had been talking to you while you were trying to pick out Snacks for Yuji. He had wandered off after passing a candy stand and usually you’d send a maid or help to get the necessities but today you wanted to take Yuji out to walk and play and hopefully learn some self preservation, Sukuna, well he was feared and he just wanted to come along to make sure no idiot would try to disrespect you. “Listen, I’m just trying to get some things for my son. Leave while you still can and maybe my husband will let you live.” You smiled nodding at the man who scoffed “Your husband? What is he? a Mercenary? What’s he gonna do to kill me? That’s probably a lie you probably don’t even have a so-” you sighed turning away when Sukuna lifted the man by the neck with one hand twisting him around to face him, “No, I’m your God,” his stare darkened “but I’m not so merciful.” There stood Yuji by his dads leg, “Yeah! You deserve no mercy! That’s my mom you were disrespecting!… Idiot!” You tried not to laugh at Yuji’s extra words and went back to paying the scared vendor for the snacks you had picked out. By the time you looked back the guy was laid out on the floor bloody and probably just barely clinging to life, head being pressed into the dirt being grinded on by Sukuna’s large foot. Yuji was swinging away on his ribs and stomach, for a 7 year old his hits were surprisingly solid.

As the day progressed you had managed to convince Sukuna to have lunch despite the fact he didn’t eat human food. But he watched as Yuji sat beside him slurping away at noodles and his rice topped with diced meat, “Boy’s more human than curse.” Was all Sukuna said when Yuji looked up at him, noodles hanging out his mouth before he slurped them up smiling. “Daddy I gotta Pee.” Sukuna sighed standing up out of the booth, “then go.” “…go with me?” Yuji looked up at his dead with pleading eyes before Sukuna groaned and motioned for him to go, “Fine.” Sukuna was waiting outside the bathroom when he heard a trio, two men and one woman. “That's her isn’t it? She’s the Deity at the Shrine house isn’t she?” One man asked the girl. She just shrugged, “Yeah but I don’t see what’s so special about her? So she had some big curses kid, her body’s probably trashed or something.” “Shut up Kaguya, you're probably just jealous, any man would give anything to lay that woman in their bed. If I had a chance I’d get her pregnant too, look at her, I’d do anything to pull her robes off.” The second guy spoke up, “That’s sick man, she has a husband and kid, Yeah she’s pretty but she’s literally a deity, have some respect.” Kaguya interrupted “She’s probably a slut and maid who just had sex with him and got lucky she got pregnant, she’d probably spread her legs for anyone if they offered a comfortable lif-“ Sukuna’s hands were bloody, in a matter of seconds he had ripped th hearts out of the first man and the girls chest. It hadn't been processed as they managed to look up his blood covered hands. The smirk on his face was sinister and became worse when the second man looked up at him in fear, struggling to scream. He shoved the man’s friend's heart into his mouth like a gag, leaning down with a threatening voice “You’d do best to keep your mouth shut.”

Yuji and you had wandered off from Sukuna when he became surrounded by people bearing gifts to honour him. He was annoyed and even more when he turned to realise both you and Yuji had left his side. You were taking Yuji with you to the shrine house the people had built for you. The eunuchs at the entrance greeted you, stopping to ask if Yuji would be entering with you, which caused him to hold onto the side of your robes and sleeve, you put your hand on his shoulder comforting him, “Yes, this is my son after all.” Entering the shrine, you made your way all the way to the back where you would sit and wait before the doors would open to the public. Yuji was walking around the room looking around until he stopped. You had a wall where all the drawings he’d ever given you while leaving the palace had been framed because “I don wan you to forget me” A young girl came into the room shocked that Yuji was there until you cleared your throat, “oh! Forgive me Lady Y/n, I didn’t know you would be here today.” You waved a hand of dismissal. “I didn’t expect to be here either, but I thought Yuji,” you looked at him, he was staring at the girl in the door, slowly walking to you, his eyes never left her face. He looked serious, a face his dad often wore when something was wrong and he was watching it play out or when he was lost in thought. He turned away from you leaning against your lap standing between you and the girl. “Who the hell is she?” He sounded like a younger version of his dad with his demanding tone and dead stare, his curse word caught you off guard. You tried to form words stopping when you couldn’t, “she’s a servant who works here Yu, what’s wrong?” You leaned trying to get a look at his face, but he wouldn’t turn to look at you, he had his target. The girl became uncomfortable under his stare, “well, him Lady y/n there was an expecting mother who came by begging for a miracle.. the details shouldn’t be explained in front of such a young boy or boy at all really but-“ you held up your hand silencing her. “Bring her into the main room. I'll be out in a minute. I just need to make sure Yuji will be okay here for a few minutes.” She bowed, closing the door, Yuji turned to look at you and he seemed visibly at ease, “Yu.. what’s wrong?” He looked at the door, “She’s funny.. in a bad way..” you didn’t know how to answer. “Alright, I’ll remember that then.” You stood up, setting him on your chair and kneeling in front of him, “Will you be okay here? Alone for a short bit?” He shook his head no while kicking his feet, “Don’t leave me.”

That’s how you ended up with Yuji following quietly behind you when you made your way through the hallways to the main room. He got distracted stopping for a moment to look at a picture, the end of the hallway split two ways. There was a painting of Sukuna holding newborn Yuji, he looked so serious in the painting, when you told Sukuna you wanted it for your shrine he refused to smile saying it wouldn’t look good in the public eye or something along those words. Yuji was pulled out of his day dream when he heard you scream, he ran trying to find you. He froze seeing a man cornering you in the hallway, you were fighting him off the best you could but you couldn’t only do so much against a half curse half man that was attempting to measure up to Sukuna. He was far off from even touching the hem of Ryomen’s robes, but he was an entitled arrogant bastard. When the servant girl came, Yuji saw how she smiled at the scene. Yuji ran in blind, jumping and climbing the man’s back, wrapping his arms around his neck and biting into his shoulder. The man screamed and tried to pull Yuji free. He couldn’t do it alone so the servant girl tried, you fought harder when you saw how she was shaking him around. You broke free from the man's grip pulling Yuji free from her before rushing screaming for Sukuna, all the eunuchs wouldn’t be able to help you. The man grabbed your robes and Yuji fell from your arms, he watched his man lift you by the front of your robes and your hands, nails were digging into his wrist.

Why don’t you use your technique mom!? DO SOMETHING! dads not he- “Domain Expansion” the room went black, there was the sound of a drip and everything was dark, it felt hard to breathe, “Cleave.” Your eyes widened before you shoved the man off of you. You heard the squelch and thud of a body, and the crashing and cracking of the walls to your shrine being torn apart. Turning to look you saw Yuji, his hand sign was opposite his fathers, but he looked livid. His face was covered in markings mirroring his fathers more human form. You wanted to say something, but you turned to the gaping wall. The Cursed man was laying in the dusty street, he was sliced deeply but not fatally. The servant didn’t stand a chance. She was sliced finely for betrayal. Watching a crowd gather you pulled Yuji with you to see if the cursed man was alive. He was laying there, unfocused, he saw you and yelled “ILL FUCKING KILL YOU AND YOUR DAMN CHILD I AM THE ONE DESTINED FOR GREAT I WILL BE THE KING OF CURSES YOU BOTH WILL DIE AT MY HANDS,” before forcing himself up, chest, arms, and waist crossed with deep gashes.

He tried to lift his hands only to realise they weren’t there, his arms were gone. Yuji was mad that a man would try to take advantage of his mother, but as long as his father wasn’t there he would be there, but for now, a low chuckled rumbled behind the man, “You’ll need your hands to even think about laying them on my wife and son.” Sukuna wrapped his arm around the man from behind, large hand squeezing his neck, a low grumble, “You aren’t strong, you’re a fool and your brain is a pile of shit. You deserve only the worst death, but I’m having a little fun here so I’ll make this slow and painful.” Uraume approached Sukuna holding out his staff. Sukuna stabbed it into the ground piercing the man on the pointed edges, letting him sink down until it pierced through his chest. There the cursed man screamed and no matter how much he squirmed and begged for mercy Sukuna would push him down further. The man begged for mercy, for him to stop, “Did you listen to my wife when she asked you to stop?” He took the man’s jaw in his hand forcing him to look up at him, the pressure slowly fracturing his jaw as he shook his head no trying to profusely apologise. Sukunas nails dug into his face before he let go, “Did you have mercy on my wife when you grabbed her like this?” His large hand crushed the man's throat, nails digging into his skin, blood flowing, “WHEN MY WIFE TRIED TO PUSH YOU AWAY DID YOU WALK AWAY? NO YOU TRIED TO TOUCH HER LIKE THIS.” Sukuna placed his hand on the man’s chest, “dishonourable actions will be paid for with blood.” The crowd was watching when Sukuna drove his hand into the man’s chest squeezing his heart in his chest, the man screamed and gurgled as he spat up blood. Sukuna ripped out his heart throwing it on the ground and ripping off his head crushing his skull in his head, “Let this be a warning to every human in the vicinity, in this city in the existence of this time, that any man or woman who would act to lift a hand against my child or wife, your blood will be spilled to atone your sins.”

The crowd quickly cleared out and Sukuna turned to you, Yuji still had the markings on his face, his eyes were red. Sukuna nodded, holding an arm out to you. Pushing Yuji ahead of you, you started to tear up, hugging your husband’s side. Yuji was hugging your side. “Ryo-“ he shushed you using a hand to press your face against his chest. Burying your face against his hot skin your body wanted to tremble while you cried into the comforting of your husband but his presence was reassuring as surprising as it might sound. He rubbed his warm hand up and down your back “I’m here now.” He rested his chin on top of your head, he looked down at Yuji pulling him into his other side ruffling his hair. “You did good kid.” Yuji still looked serious before he leaned into his dads side with a slight smile. He went over to hug you, you took hold of him and he didn’t let go until you stopped sniffling. He smiled up at you, puffy eyes and red cheeks, Sukuna snickered, pinching your cheek making a joke, Yuji’s bright smile didn’t falter, “I still think you’re pretty.” Your sudden laugh made your husband and son laugh. Kneeling down you pinched both of Yuji’s cheeks lightly as he laughed, before cupping his face in both hands bringing him close to kiss both of cheeks and forehead calling him “My Little Protector.” He smiled with pride before you got up smiling at Sukuna, he sides eyed you before sighing leaning to the side giving you his face, “and my big hero.” Cupping his face you brought him into a kiss and he smirked against your lips when Yuji let out a loud “eeeewwww”

“Cmon Yu,” you held your hand out to him and he took it happily walking while holding your hand, “I’ll be stronger next time!”

Tag:

@sakuxxi @mercymccann @simpforyoubitch @certainduckanchor @domainofmarie @najiiix @bakugou-katsukis-wife @amitiel-truth @souyasplushie @mylovelessnightmare @sad-darksoul @cyder-puff @satorisgirl l @bontensbabygirl @lupita97lm @queen-luna-007 7

[lewdmommie]

No Expectations

Summary: y/n now has to navigate new complex feelings with König she didn’t have before.

Jealouskönigxreader💗

🎀Warning🎀:18+NSFW, Rough sex, raw sex, oral sex, language, angst, size kink, praise/degradation etc

Word count: 4.k

(Comment, reblog and follow)

This is part 2 of One night stand

Part 3

“No.” Ghost doesn’t even bother looking up from whatever document he’s scribbling on.

“Please, I’ll do any other cruel and unusual punishment you have lined up for me.” You plead.

“You don’t get to argue the terms of your probation. König is who you’re training with, no questions asked.” He says through clenched teeth.

“Why can’t I just work with someone else. There’s plenty of people on base.” You reach over snagging a mint from the decorative bowl at the corner of his desk. His eyes follow your movements. It wasn’t like you to not get along with someone, everyone on base either loved you or felt indifferent. Of course there was a handful that weren’t the nicest because of your popularity but König wouldn’t fall into that category. “Why do you want to switch partners? Did something happen between you two?” His question makes your eyes widen remembering how König was balls deep inside you just a few nights ago. Luckily ghost's eyes are locked on the paperwork in front of him. You stand turning your back to him, hiding the hot flush that creeps onto your cheeks.

“It’s nothing like that.” You say with false confidence. The small crack in your voice catches his attention. What was this feeling at the pit of his stomach, a feeling that made his jaw tense and heart pound. He finally looks away from the paper, capturing your gaze with an intensity that makes goosebumps prickle at your skin. He rises to his feet, palms planted firmly on the surface of the desk. “Fine. I won’t pry…I don’t have any other expendable men.” He rasps.

“What about you? It’s just three hours and it’s after work hours. We both know you don’t have a life serg.” You chuckle. If you had X-ray vision you would see the irritated expression under the mask.

“I am your superior. That means I have actual work to do unlike you sorry excuses for soldiers.” He flips through the piles of paperwork.

“That isn’t very nice sergeant, you’ve got to be more pleasant in the workplace.” You tease walking around the office space, touching things as you go.

There is a tall bookcase in the corner that catches your eye. Thick spined books with elegant writing line the shelves. Along with a small cactus and tank figurines, a picture frame stands out. A beautiful brunette woman holding a baby wrapped in a tiny blue blanket , smiles at the camera in a dated looking room. A shadow cast behind you, turning around, you're faced with a huge vest covered chest. He takes the frame lifting it over your head to sit on the top shelf. He smells of gunpowder and a Smokey musk, your back bumps the case as he steps closer. Naturally your eyes close not sure what exactly you were waiting on to happen. His arm retracts holding a black leather covered book with silver embroidery.

“Who was that woman?” You exhale as he steps away walking back to his desk.

“No one.” He flips through the pages, nodding to himself as if he’d found what he was looking for.

“Who was that baby? I didn’t know you had a kid, that must mean you’re married…who would marry you serg you’re so serious all the time.” You plop your butt onto the desk. He shakes his head fighting the urge to add another week to your probation for sitting on his desk. His gaze sharpens.

“The child is not mine.” He says.

“Oh a scandal, who’s child is it? I can’t believe your wife would do that to you sergeant, need a hug?” You open your arms beckoning him forward.

“I am not married. Don’t you have toilets to clean. Get out.” He pushes your hip off his desk.

“We haven’t even come to an agreement yet!” You exclaim, feet hitting the ground.

“Fine. I will train with you just for today if it’ll get you out of my office.” He offers.

“The rest of the week.” You barter.

“Two days.” He responds.

“Four.” You fold your arms.

“Three. Final offer rookie.” He shakes his head.

“Fine, three days is better than one.”

“You’ll be the one to inform König you’re switching partners.” The computer keyboard clicks as he enters something into the database. At this point he had to be getting off to your embarrassment, if looks could kill he’d be a goner. Ghost didn’t tolerate taking the easy way out, if two people had issues on base they would be addressed and resolved quickly. He always said there wouldn’t be war within our army.

“I-fine i'll tell him.” You sigh knowing he wouldn’t budge.

“Good,now leave, I’m busy.” He waves you off without glancing up.

~

Three days. That should be enough time for things to cool down between you and König, you think, grabbing a lunch tray. The line moves steadily as the staff ladles today's lunch onto each plate.

You smile at the older lady behind the table, holding out your tray.

“y/n, I’ve got your lunch packed up right here for you.” She bends down grabbing a brown paper bag with your name scribbled on it. She nods apologetically, placing the bag on your plate, peanut butter and jelly again…yum.

“Y/n! Over here!” A cute brown skinned woman with luscious dreadlocks waves you over. Maya. You and Maya enlisted at the same time, basically going through the whole process together. Without her, you don’t know how long you would have lasted here. when you two found out you’d be stationed at the same base it felt like fate intended for you to stay with each other, She’s the entire reason you planned to reenlist. Unfortunately your closeness meant she could see right through you, so you had to find a way to keep her off your trail.

“Hey May thanks for holding my seat.” You sit across from her.

“No problem you’d do the same for me.” She jokes biting into her apple. You unroll the wrinkled paper bag that looked like it could have something illegal inside of it. You pull out a poorly wrapped peanut butter and jelly sandwich along with a juice box and an orange. Your nose scrunches at the thought of tasting sticky peanut butter and sickly sweet grape jelly again. You look longingly at Maya’s lunch, your stomach growls in envy.

“Peanut butter and jelly again I can’t believe ghost, do you want to trade lunches?” She pushes her tray towards you. You shake your head unwrapping the plastic and taking a bite of your sandwich.

“I like the pain.” You say in a playful tone.

“You’re such a freak.” She laughs rolling her eyes.

The mess hall echoed with chatter from various conversations, every table for lack of a better word, had their own cliques. It wasn’t like some cheesy highschool movie but everyone had their own friend groups they’d break off with during lunch. Guys like Ghost and König didn’t dine in the mess hall so when you see König leaned up against the wall watching you, it completely catches you off guard.

“What’s his deal?” Maya asks not even trying to hide the fact that she was staring back.

“We had a disagreement.” You sip your juice box averting your gaze from him.

“No way, you’ve been telling me how you two were getting along so well. Did something happen? I’ll kick his ass right now.” She says in a serious tone. König stood at 6ft 6inches tall with the body of a tank but Maya was statuesque at 5’11 inches tall with an extremely toned physique. He was strong but so is Maya, she trains with the men for fun. After long days of them making sexist jokes, She loved beating the shit out of them. She can squat 250+ pounds easily so you definitely don’t take her threat lightly.

“It wasn’t like that Maya, this one might be on me. I’ve been avoiding the issue instead of talking it out with him…” you trail biting the sandwich.

“Well then it sounds like you know what to do.” She touches your hand, nodding in his direction.

“Yeah…you’re right. I am a part of the special military forces. I’m not afraid of a conversation.” You shoot up ready to deliver the news of your new partnership with ghost.

Your legs wobble as you walk to the trash, throwing away your tray. You can feel his eyes follow your every move as you snake through the cafeteria full of people. He’s leaning against the wall with one leg, arms folded, peering down at you. His body language was reserved, there was an invisible wall stacked between you two.

“König I-“ you start.

“-We will not be speaking during work hours rookie.” He says coldly.

“König please I-“ he interrupts you again.

“Colonel König.”

“Colonel König. I need to talk to you about something.” You whisper.

“You’ll have to schedule an appointment during my office hours.” His voice is flat.

“You know what, fine, fuck this.” You storm off, fed up with his distance. His hand twitches fighting the urge to reach out and pull you back. Instead he watches as you slip further away from him. Truth is…he was scared. Scared that you’d reject him and that you’d felt everything that happened was just a mistake. He found himself pulling back before you could deliver the final blow. Your departure in the middle of the night showed him what he needed to know about your feelings for him. It was just a one night stand, nothing more…Right? If that was the case why was his chest tight at the idea that he’d just hurt you.

~

“You’re slow!” Ghost barks as your body hits the mat. You cough, holding your side. He stares down at you with impatient eyes, waiting for you to reset.

“Again.” He orders as you stand rubbing your ribs.

If he was holding back, you’d hate to feel his full power, he could toss you around like it was nothing. With your feet planted firmly on the ground, you step one foot back allowing more range for your dominant hand. Your fists are raised, just as König taught you, protecting your jaw. Ghost swings left punching the barrier of your forearms, it hurts, but your guard doesn’t break. You duck his right hook taking the advantage and hitting him with a quick body shot to the gut. He stumbles crashing into one of the wooden pillars in the training room. You advance keeping your guard up, to his surprise you rush him jabbing the hard material of his mask. One of your weak points was the inability to strike someone when they’re down. If he didn’t have military grade training, the mask would have shattered from the force of your blows. Before that can happen he attacks low, swiping your knees from under you. Your back crashes onto the mat, knocking the wind out of you. You wheeze from the impact trying to catch your breath. Ghost towers over you with both wrists locked in his iron grip. You can hear him breathing heavily, his chest pressing against your with every exhale. Your legs wrap around him in an attempt to get the upper hand, he doesn’t budge as you try to flip his body. He chuckles at your struggle lifting your arms above your head to show off his strength. “Give up.” He pants as you wiggle beneath him.

“That isn’t what you taught me now is it?” Your hips buck against his waist. A tiny whimper escapes his lips, his hand lets your wrist loose to replace it on your leg. His cock strains in the tight confines of his cargos, if not for the thick material, you’d have felt him poking your inner thigh. Utilizing your center gravity, you rock your body using his weight to roll completely over, landing on top of him. Your legs straddle his thighs. without thinking, his big hands grab your waist balancing you.

“Who was that woman in the picture?” He struggles under you, your knees tense, locking him in place. Now he quite literally couldn’t run from the question.

“No one.” He doesn’t budge.

“She must be important if you won’t talk about her.” You implore.

“Since when are we worried about each other's personal lives?” He relaxes, no longer fighting back.

“Whenever I bring it up, you get this pained look in your eye…like something changed you. Like a piece of you is still hurting.” Your voice softens. His heart thumps at your words, he can no longer look you in the eyes. He wanted to fight the urge to let you in, to have you truly know him. No one knew him and that’s the way he likes it . If no one gets attached, then no one would be put in danger because of him. He didn’t trust himself to protect the ones he cared for after what happened.

“She was my mother.” He says finally.

“Was? What happened to her?” You lean down to hear him better, your face inches from his.

“I couldn’t protect her.” his voice was barely a whisper. You both jump as the training room door creaks open.

“Sorry I’m late y/n-“ König freezes with a tense jaw and clenched fist. After the heated moment earlier he planned to apologize for his behavior at practice today. He had decided to conquer his fears and give you guys a real shot. He wanted to confess his true feelings today when you two had some alone time but things just changed. You scramble off of ghost’s lap standing to your feet clumsily. König takes a step back as you approach him.

“This is what I was trying to tell you earlier…me and ghost will be training together for the next three days…” you ramble.

“Right. Then I’ll just leave you two to do your ‘training’.” He backs into the doorway turning on his heels. He wanted to go back there and beat Sergeant Ghost’s face in, break every finger he laid on you. He wanted to throw you over his shoulder, take you back home and pound every ounce of anger he had into you. He wanted everyone to know you were his…but you weren’t and he had to accept that. He couldn’t stop you from exploring other options but he wouldn’t sit back and watch either. Ghost sits up watching the whole thing play out, he could see the anger seething off of König. He got the exact same feelings right before a mission, that sense of imminent danger. This was more than some silly fight between the two of you, he realized that now. He realized what you meant to König and now what you meant to him. His heart drops as he watches you run after König, he thinks about calling after you but chokes back the words.

“König please wait!” You yell running behind him. You grunt as he stops suddenly, making you slam into his back.

“What is there to talk about y/n? You don’t owe me anything.” He mutters.

“I know this sounds like bullshit but that wasn’t what it looked like.”

“You’re right it does sound like bullshit.” He says.

“I just needed a break from this…from us. Just for a few days.” You explain.

“You’ve made it painfully clear there is no us.” He snaps. His head shakes as if he wanted to say more but instead he walks away leaving you alone in the hall.

~

“How was your day” Maya asks, slipping on her purple bonnet.

“Horrible. May, do you think I’m a good person?” You ask, climbing in her bunk. She welcomes you with open arms, stroking your head gently. You nessel into her embrace, finding comfort in her touch. Maya always knew the right things to say, you could count on her to make you feel better after hard days.

“Of course I think you’re a good person y/n. What makes you ask something like that?” She strokes your hair, looking down at you with concerned eyes.

“I just needed to hear it.” she pulls you close, kissing your forehead.

“You know you can talk to me about anything.” She states seriously.

“I know.” You sigh.

“Well you’re one of the best people I’ve ever met.” She assures.

“Thank you may I love you.” You kiss her cheek before throwing your legs over the bunk and walking to your bed.

“I love you too weirdo, goodnight.” She rolls over pulling the cover up to her neck.

~

“Wider.” Ghost orders, slipping two fingers in your open mouth. You suck desperately, wiggling your ass in anticipation. A large warm hand pushes your thighs apart exposing your dripping slit, your back arches as they flick your beating bud. Who? You turn your body and behind you is a half lidded König looking back. His green eyes stare into your soul as he slides a thick finger inside you, pulling it out achingly slow before pumping it back inside again. Your gaze is snatched away by ghost and met with a stiff twitching cock. Clear pre-cum oozes from his flustered tip, using his thumb he gently opens your mouth, sliding his head over the plush of your lower lip. He hisses as you take him in fully, hollowing your cheeks to take him even deeper. You gasp as König stretches you with another finger, stroking the deepest parts of you. Wet squelching fills the space as your pussy drools with arousal. Saliva dribbles down your chin as your head bobs, swallowing as much of him as your body allowed. His head falls back as his tip is met with the back of your warm velvet throat. You gag, making your throat quiver around him, his hips rock sporadically , fingers tangled in your hair. “S’fucking good baby…that’s it you’re making me feel so good-“ Ghost whimpers, head lolling back.

“Ahhh uhn…” You groan, mouth full, as König runs the flat of his tongue up your split, licking away your slippery nectar. His tongue pets your stiff clit, sucking and licking every inch of your inner sex. His five O’clock shadow rubs against your sensitive lips as he pushes deeper, snaking his tongue inside your tight hole. Your jaw goes slack as he tastes you from the inside fucking you with his wriggling tongue.

“Focus on me.” Ghost growls tilting your face to meet his fuck drunk eyes. His hips move aggressively, pounding the back of your throat without mercy. He pulls out admiring the long glistening trail of spit connecting the two of you before thrusting back in.

“Are you ready to take me Prinzessin?(princess)” König calls, planting soft kisses down your back. You nod your head attempting to say yes but all he hears are small moans and gags. He lines himself between your plush thighs, his tip pushes past the barrier of soft skin. You can feel his dick pulsing so close to your needy cunt you begin to whine, you shake your ass hoping to inch him closer. “I’ll fuck you when I’m ready.” He grunts, stroking your inner thighs with his cock. Your womanhood is soaking wet at the idea that these two monsters were using your body to get off too. “Your thighs feel just as good as that pretty pussy between your legs” he moans fucking your thighs. Ghost pulls back, slapping the curved underside of his dick on your swollen blushed lips.

“Are you tired baby, do you want me to cum?” He teases rubbing his head over your smooth skin.

“She doesn’t deserve to cum yet sergeant.” König slams into you with one long stroke. Ghost follows suit, ramming the back of your throat and trapping your screams inside. König grips your waist holding you still as he absolutely rails you, your pussy flutters with each stroke. His curved dick kisses your sweet spot with every thrust, your walls clench around him when he pulls back. Your entrance squeezes his tip, trying to suck him deeper. With short frustrating thrusts, he fucks you using just the tip of his cock.

“You’re so greedy, you already have a cock in your mouth…and you’re telling me you want more?” He flicks his hips rutting deep inside you. His fingers dig into your hips so hard you knew it’d leave a bruise. They rock your body between them using every piece of you to make themselves cum. You hear an audible ‘pop’ as König uses his spit to lubricate his finger before teasing the only hole that wasn’t full. Slapping sounds fill the air as he pounds into you, massaging your tight little hole. Ghost starts moving faster, making tears fall down your cheeks from overstimulation.

“That slutty mouth is begging for my cum isn’t it?” He chokes, his dick spasming in your mouth.

He makes an inhuman noise as he slams into you one final time before shooting thick salty cum down your throat. König’s nails dig into your hips as he fucks you so hard, your stomach aches. He reached around grabbing your throat as his pace picks up…he was close.

“Can’t take anymore p-please König I’m so close” you cry, eyes rolling back.

“I love the way you beg.” He impales you one last time going as deep as your pussy allowed him. His cock trembles inside you as hot cum shoots from his pulsing tip. You fall to the bed in exhaustion, shaking like a leaf.

~

You wake up to the nagging sound of your alarm. Oh no you think pulling the covers up to your chest.

The sheets were soaking wet, if you didn’t remember last night's dream you’d have sworn you had an accident. Honestly you’d prefer if the infamous toilet dream was the culprit but that wasn’t the case here. This was a good old fashioned wet dream. You’ve had your fair share of wet dreams but König and Ghost…you had to be out of your mind. your brain probably used yesterday's events to generate some random dream sequence, it couldn’t mean anything. You stand, quickly stripping the sheets and making your way to the showers to wash off last night’s dream-like fun.

You get dressed and book it to the janitors closet to get a head start on your chores…something you never did. You couldn��t face either of them now, you decide to just bury yourself in your work. How could you talk This out? What would you say “hey I had a dream you two completely dominated me so we can’t chat right now?”. You’d rather die than ever admit something like that. Maybe this was a sign it was time to really think about your feelings. You need to truly understand how your heart works so nobody else would get hurt. You wondered where König was and what he was doing. Was he thinking about you the way you were thinking of him? You move the mop absentmindedly along the tile floor. You felt so safe with König, his laugh could light up a room, he was beautiful inside and out. But something about Ghost intrigued you and left you wanting more. You had to come up with a fair way to get to know both of them without anyone getting hurt.

~

“Maya, what if I wanted to date two people at once?” You lean over the lunch table so no one else would hear you. She’s quiet for a second, waiting for you to laugh but she sees how serious you are.

“What the hell are you talking about y/n?” She plops an orange slice in her mouth.

“Just hypothetically, how would you go about that?” You raise an eyebrow.

“Well…communication. Both parties would have to have a mutual understanding. Consent is key.” She explains.

“So just show your interest in the idea and inform them of the terms?”

“Right, but the real question is why would you want to do something like that?” She tilts her head.

“First of all it’s hypothetical, and second why should someone have to choose between two people they barely know. Shouldn’t they get the chance to atleast get to know each person.” You take a disgusting bite of your sandwich.

“Well…the person can try being friends with them first. That way there are no expectations.”

“What if they are stubborn and expect an answer right away?” You ask doe eyed. Maya pats your head supportively.

“Then they aren’t the ones for you.” You nod, shooting from your chair.

“God you’re so smart. I gotta go! See you later!” You yell back running out of the mess hall leaving your half eaten lunch.

~

You burst through ghosts office door without knocking as usual and as usual he gives you an annoyed look. To your surprise König sits at the opposite side of the desk, your guess is he’s being briefed on the next mission. His legs are wide as he leans back in his chair staring back at you silently.

“Great, you're both here.” You start.

“What do you want Rookie?” Ghost asks.

“We need to talk…” König stands, not wanting to hear whatever conversation you had to have with ghost.

“All of us.” he turns back to face you.

To be continued?…

[writeforfandoms]

Waking Lions 4

Find the series masterlist 

You learn some things, do Laswell a favor, and run into Captain again. This is becoming a bad habit. 

Speech in italics is Russian, this chapter. 

Warnings: Swearing, aftermath of violence, vague threat from terrorist, MW2019 typical Russians, blood, injury (not to reader), spy shit. 

Word count: 2k

Serious slow burn John Price x f!reader

You discovered the plot on accident. Really. 

It was just… one of those things.

Sergio had invited you to stay for a few days and play with his girls, so you did. You brought them gifts from Turkey, California, and Scotland (you’d had a layover and had gotten bored in the airport). 

The girls were darling, and you’d known them both all their lives. You would never, ever marry Sergio (not least because of his obsession with the next future ex-wife) but you loved his kids. Sophia and Natalia. For a while, when you’d initially started building this relationship, you’d helped tutor Sophia. 

Now, you played with the girls and helped to keep them out of trouble and helped with their homework. You were more or less the weird aunt they saw every once in a while, and that worked for you. 

The girls were asleep, but you’d been unable to sleep yourself. So you got up, figuring you’d have a little snack or some water and wander a bit. 

Except wandering may not have been the best idea. 

Low voices from a sitting room had you on alert, and you moved as quietly as you knew how, creeping closer. 

“...perfect bait for them,” someone was saying in Russian. Not Sergio. You didn’t recognize this voice, actually. 

“Why do you want to capture one of them?” That was Sergio, sounding vaguely disgusted. “More of a risk this way, no?” 

“You are short-sighted,” the first speaker said. Well, he was definitely above Sergio, then. “Capturing an operative will give us an edge.”

There was a beat of silence. “Still sounds risky,” Sergio grumbled. “But it is your will, so we will see it done. When will you set the bait?”

“It has been set already,” the leader said, sounding smug. “I let information leak about the gas storage, so the Americans will know of it by now. We will be ready this time.”

Well. That was fucked. 

There were days when the back and forth espionage shit got on your last nerve. 

“To a successful hunt, then,” Sergio offered, the gentle clinking of glasses following his words. 

You might be able to hear more if you stayed… But you also ran the risk of discovery. And that would end poorly for you.

Bullet in the head kind of poorly.

So you snuck away back up to your room, debating the best way to alert Laswell. Text was risky, but a call would be more risky, especially here. You couldn’t wait until morning, just in case people were already en route. And since you didn’t have a location… 

You puffed out a breath, walking into the en suite and shutting the door. There was no easy way to do this, and you didn’t trust Sergio not to have bugs planted in the bathroom. So you hummed to yourself as you typed out a quick text.

Gas a trap for info. Advise abort.

There. That was… not your best work, admittedly, but you were a bit strapped for time. It got your point across. 

And, really, if someone managed to get hold of your text records, you had more things to worry about than the wording of a single text. 

She replied two minutes later. Copy. Send updates.

You puffed out a breath. She was so lucky you liked her. (And that you were indebted to her still for her help.) 

Turning the shower on, you decided maybe a bit of hot water would help you relax enough to get to sleep. 

You were very glad you had the girls as an excuse to be out of the house for the fallout of the failed mission. Sergio didn’t tell you anything, but the blooming black eye spoke for him. 

You stayed another week, mostly because the girls pleaded with you to stay. But a little bit because you were curious and wanted to see if you could hear anything else. When that ended up being futile, you booked a flight to Morocco. 

Because why not.

The plan was to touch base with someone you knew who had fingers in shipping pies. (Seriously, the woman was an absolute master. She could get anything anywhere in the world, for the right price.) And, of course, to eat some delicious food, and check on the hideaway you kept there. You had several across the globe, but it had been a while since you’d been to this one. You probably needed to change out some of the non-perishables. 

It was supposed to be a low-key, quiet trip. Relaxing. The only adventure you wanted was wandering through the city. 

It was not a low-key, quiet trip. 

Three days in, you’d restocked your hideaway, contacted your shipping master friend, and found a new place with some of the best food you’d ever had. It was shaping up to be a good trip.

And then a man dropped down in front of you, woozy, dark skin glistening with sweat. The tactical vest was a dead giveaway, but the flag was a surprise. 

You very purposely did not look for a name. But you did do a quick sweep of the rest of him. 

Blood seeped out from under the vest, staining his shirt, and you swore softly.

“You need help.” 

“I’m fine.” But the words were a little sluggish, one hand pressing over the wound at his hip. 

“You need help,” you reiterated, glancing around, suddenly wary. You did not want to be caught in the crossfire of this, and the longer you stayed out in the open, the more likely that became. “Please. I’ve got bandages back at my place.” 

His gaze held yours, suddenly hard, calculating. “I’ve got people on the way,” he said, clearly testing.

“Good, then they can pick you up.” You ducked under one of his arms, your own looping across his back. “Come on, in we go. Before whoever shot you finds us both.”

He gave in, letting you walk him down half a block and inside. He didn’t even complain going up the stairs to your hideaway, though you could see the way his jaw clenched.

“This one’s mine,” you told him, pulling your keys out of your pocket when you reached the appropriate floor. It took a moment to get the door unlocked and maneuver him inside without letting go - he was slowly leaning more on you for support. You kicked the door shut after the two of you and more or less carefully deposited him in a chair. He groaned softly, like he didn’t even mean to, and you winced in sympathy. 

Fortunately, all your hideaways had first aid kits stocked, and you thumped it onto the table in front of him.

“I’ll help if you want,” you offered, taking a step back and putting your hands up, away from your body. “But you are very well armed and I am not.” 

“S’alright,” he muttered, accent effortlessly charming even as he popped open the first aid kit. “I’ve got it.” His gaze lifted to yours, a little less wary and a little more curious. “What’s your name?”

You tutted at him, amused despite yourself. “Does it matter? You need to get patched up and wait until your buddies come get you.” You put two sealed water bottles onto the table for him, already kind of mourning your decision. Dammit, you shouldn’t have brought him here. 

“Thank you.” He tugged his shirt up and out of the way to press gauze to the still-bleeding gash. 

“Don’t thank me yet,” you muttered, more to yourself than him. You stepped past him into your bedroom, taking a quick look around. Only a few things of sentimental value resided here, and you were quick to throw those and a change of clothes into a duffel bag. 

You had to burn this hideaway now. Not literally, but you’d never be able to come back here again. 

At least nothing here would give them more information on you. 

You set the duffel bag on the floor by the door, ignoring his gaze. You let yourself look around one last time. You really liked this place. Damn. 

“Where are you going?” His voice was calm, just a hint of urgency there. 

“Nowhere yet, I suspect,” you said on a sigh, turning to look. He didn’t actually have a weapon in hand, which rather surprised you. “Just getting ready to go once your friends arrive.” 

His eyes narrowed, suspicion growing. Your smile was crooked and understanding. 

“Just because I helped you doesn’t mean I want that kind of attention,” you said, hands carefully palms-out at your sides again. “Nothing personal.” 

He didn’t seem quite sure what to make of you, shoulders tense, fingers twitching. Then he blinked once and lifted his free hand to the radio on his vest. “Injured, currently patching up. Indoors, one unknown.”

Ah. You were likely the unknown. Well. Fair, honestly. You were acting pretty suspicious for anyone who didn’t know you. 

“Solid copy.” His hand left his radio, but his gaze stayed fixed on you. “They’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“And I suppose I’m to wait here until they arrive?” You puffed out a breath. “Alright, sure.” You had contingencies, if you needed them. If you really needed to, you could call Laswell. But you hoped you didn’t have to. 

The wait was silent and felt like it dragged on forever, although in reality it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. Two heavy knocks pulled you from your spot, and you opened the door.

And then blinked.

“Captain?” 

His expression immediately settled into a scowl. “Ace.”

“Huh.” You stepped back to let him in. “I take it this one’s yours, then?” You nodded back at the wounded man behind you. 

“Yes.” He stepped past you, momentarily dismissing you to kneel by the injured man. You could hear them speaking quietly, going over the situation. But Captain’s voice had softened a little, care clear in the way he checked his man. He did have a heart after all. 

That would be your cue to leave. 

You picked up your duffel bag and managed to take one step before a quiet, “Sir,” cut you off.

“Where are you going?” 

Captain was glaring at you now, tense, wary. Probably thinking the worst of you. Again. 

“I have to abandon this place now anyway,” you pointed out reasonably. “You might as well enjoy it, get properly patched up before you go.” 

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Is it not enough to know that I’m leaving?” 

“No.” He stood, prowling over to you, using his height to loom over you. 

You debated with yourself, head tilting to one side, looking up at him. You could probably make it if you distracted him with something and ran. Then again, you might not, and you were not in the mood today to be thrown around. 

“I am planning on getting the hell out before whatever chaos you’re involved in explodes.” You kept your tone dry, chin tipping in challenge. 

His lips thinned. “No.”

“You’re not my boss,” you said quietly, stepping into him, refusing to back down. “And you can’t keep me here, not without all kinds of trouble. I’ll be on my way to another country, and you can bug out as soon as you want.” 

He was going to keep arguing with you, you could see it in the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands were ready to grab you. But something distracted the both of them, Captain turning to the injured man.

You didn’t wait. You booked it, hauling ass out of the apartment and down the stairs. You heard the yell behind you, but you didn’t acknowledge it, focused on getting out. 

And once you were outside, it was easy to find crowds and blend in, easy to get to the airport and buy a ticket to Cairo. From there, you weren’t sure, but you did know one thing. 

Captain was showing up too often in your life. He was becoming a distraction. And that? That could be a problem.

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Retaliation: Final Part

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.7k

Summary: Everyone can see just how much you're suffering, Spencer more than most. When he confesses to the team about your nightmares, Derek takes matters into his own hands.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Season Five Masterlist

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them.

x

When they come through, Emily points to the person she saw helping Schrader out of the car he wrecked.

"That is the guy. That picture is ten years old but that's him. Garcia, it's the first one you sent over."

"His name is Joe Muller. He has a wife and two kids."

"That's definitely the guy. Where is he now?"

"I'll hit you up when I know."

The team doesn't wait for Penelope to do her job. Instead, they start asking around at people who might have known him or do know him. Even people who know his wife and children.

"Muller's not at home," JJ says. "No one is. His wife didn't show up at work and the kids weren't at school yesterday or today."

"Schrader probably has them hostage," you say.

"Where? What could Joe do for him?"

"The only thing that's left. He can get him the money."

"No one even knows where it is."

"Schrader does. He must have hidden it someplace safe. Though, I don't think he'd use a bank. His face is circulating all over town. The only way he would is if Joe walked in," you say. "He'd have to have a key, though."

"Where's the physical evidence from the Schrader case?" Emily asks.

"We don't have it."

"Well, if we can figure out where Schrader hid the money, we'll know where he's going."

You and Derek go to the police station that has the evidence from the original case, and a woman named Betty is working inside the cage where all the evidence is held. She looks up when you three approach her.

"Can I help you?"

"We're with the FBI. We're working the Dale Schrader case," Derek says while flashing his badge at her.

"Is Joe Muller helping you?"

"No, why?"

"He was just here."

"When?"

"Two minutes ago."

"He'll still be in the parking lot," you tell Derek.

You and Derek rush outside and find Dale and Joe inside a car that is about to leave the parking lot. You and Derek raise your guns and stop them before they get far. Joe is the one driving but Dale pulls him close and pushes a gun into the side of his head.

"Stop the car! Put your hands where I can see them!" Derek yells.

"Don't shoot!" Joe pleads.

"Schrader, put it down!" you yell.

"Are you really gonna let me blow his brains out?"

"Drop it or I'll shoot!" you say angrily.

You're channeling his anger to fuel your own. You're not normally this angry but you can't help it.

"What's wrong, agent? Upset I hurt one of your own? Huh?" He smirks at Joe and yanks him closer. "Look at her. She is pissed."

"Please don't kill him," Joe begs.

"See that look in her eyes? She is going to do it. Come on, what are you gonna do?!" You don't say anything so he turns to look at Derek who moves the gun from Joe to Derek. "How'd your aim?"

You take this opportunity and shoot Schrader in the head through the windshield. Joe freaks out and immediately tries to get information on him but Schrader is already dead. 

"Where are they? Where's my family? Tell me where they are!"

"Back up! Get away!" Derek argues.

"She just killed my family!" Joe gets out of the car and stalks toward you. "You killed my family!"

"Calm down!" you yell at him. 

Joe grabs your shoulders and tugs you towards him in anger. Your entire body freezes as you're brought back to the moment when you were taken by your rapist.

"Let me go! Help! Somebody help me, please!"

"Let me go! Please let me go!" you beg in horror.

"Hey! Stop!" Derek yells and yanks Joe off you. He slams him against the car next to you and holds him in a way that he can't go anywhere. "Calm down!"

Yeah, you need to go to therapy for sure. You back away and try to control your breathing without having a complete breakdown. Once Joe is calm enough and you're confident you won't break down in tears, you and Derek take him back to the station while you let the local police deal with Schrader's body. Joe explains the situation with Schrader and produces a photo that he took of Joe's family to prove they are alive.

"He was the only person who knew where my family was and now he's dead." Joe looks at you but you can't seem to look at anyone. "I had every chance to kill him but I couldn't. He had my family."

"This photograph is the only proof of life?"

"Where's my phone?"

Joe takes his phone out of his pocket and plays a voicemail he got from his wife for all to hear.

"Joe, honey, it's me. He got us. All of us. I don't know where we are. God, I am so sorry."

"Help us, Daddy!"

Hotch looks away in pain when he hears the son call out for his dad. It reminds him of Jack who reminds him of Haley and what happened to her.

"Just do what he says, okay? Please do whatever he says."

"I'm gonna get Garcia to trace this," Derek says and dials Penelope. "She might be able to help."

"Were there any other phone calls?" JJ asks.

"I tried to get him to let me talk to them again but he wouldn't."

"There must not be anyone there watching them. He hid his family where no one would hear them call for help. Maybe someplace remote? The cabin?"

"No, the locals tore it apart. There is no one there," Emily states.

"Where are they?" Joe sobs.

"You saw Schrader since he's had your family. You saw something or heard it. There's got to be some clue. Y/N?"

"Yeah, I'm on it," you sigh quietly. You get in front of Joe and hold out your hands. You don't feel like telling him what you can do and he doesn't ask. He puts his hands in yours and you close your eyes to concentrate. "When was the last time you saw your family?"

He explains it as you see it. There is a one-story house with three cars in the driveway. Joe's wife is getting the kids in the car and once done, she approaches the car Joe is in. They kiss and both go their separate ways. 

"Did you notice any cars on the street?"

"Nothing." Joe drives away and she waves him off, but there are no other cars on the street. "Our routine's the same every day. The kids have to be at school by 8:15, then Molly heads to work."

"She didn't make it to either yesterday. What was her route?"

"North on Route 7 and East on 22."

"Is that route isolated during the morning commute?"

"No."

"If he was watching, there's a good chance she never left the driveway," Hotch sighs.

"I drove out first. I just left them there."

Joe wants to pull his hands away but you keep them firmly in yours.

"Where did he find you?" you ask.

"At the hardware store."

Joe just got done in the hardware store but before he can even put the keys in the ignition, Schrader slaps a picture of his wife and children onto his window indicating him of their danger.

"He told me how for eleven years he'd been trying to figure out how he got locked up. He knew Otey had ratted him out for the robbery, but that wasn't enough to put him away. He said I was the piece that didn't fit. He figured out I was a cop."

"He took your family." Hotch holds up a picture of Stacy. "Did you ever see this woman?"

"Yeah. I think she's some junkie. I saw her right after he told me, 'You help me, your family lives. You don't, they die.'"

Joe is driving Schrader around town and stops at an alleyway where Stacy is pacing. Schrader hops out and starts talking to her but they are disagreeing. You can't hear what they're saying but her body language suggests she is angry and impatient and Schrader is anxious and annoyed with her.

Suddenly, he stabs her and drags her to the car. Joe can't do anything but watch as Schrader shoves her in the front seat and climbs in next to her before ordering Joe to drive.

"You didn't know what she was talking about?"

"No."

Joe drives to an open area on the side of the road and tosses Stacy down the hill where she is ultimately found. You take your hands away from Joe since you're done seeing what he is willing to give. You explain what you saw to the team and they try and piece together what happened.

"He could have left the body in the alley. Why didn't he?"

"He didn't want to draw attention to that place."

"Where was it?" Hotch asks.

"South of Van Wyck. It's an abandoned side of town that the junkies took over."

"It's a perfect place to leave hostages," you state.

"Can you take us back there?" Emily asks.

"Wait, you think she knew about my family?"

"Her murder was the only thing that didn't fit. Now it makes sense. Schrader killed her to shut her up."

With your help, you're able to lead the team inside the abandoned building to where Joe's wife is. She is battered, bruised, and dirty but alive. The kids aren't with her so you use her energy to guide you to where they are. With his family safe and Schrader dead, this is a case closed.

Derek had given you the choice to start therapy sessions Monday morning but you feel like you need to get this done and over with. You don't want to be here even if you know you have to be here. The therapist you chose, Melissa Patterson, had an opening right when you got home to Virginia and suggested you take it so she could get to know you and establish a rapport.

However, you've been in her office for twenty minutes and have been silent for seventeen of it. The ticking of the clock makes you more anxious, anxious enough to want to blurt out how you're feeling.

"I don't even know why I'm here. I'm fine."

Of course, you'd say that. Everyone wants to be fine. No one wants to feel like their world is falling apart.

"That's not what I hear," Melissa says and crosses her legs.

"Yeah, I went to prison for a crime I didn't commit. It could happen to anyone."

"It didn't, though. It happened to you." You go silent and look at your lap. You don't think you can look at her face without crying. "Why don't you start by telling me a bit about yourself? That doesn't seem so bad, does it?"

You take a deep breath and finally look at her in the eyes.

"Where do I begin?"

"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and of unspeakable love." - Washington Irving

x

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[everlasting-rainfall]

Yandere Domflamingo next for Pages AU 😳

So I’m not not going to sugarcoat anything, I have a hard time writing anything romantic for Crocodile or Doflamingo unless it’s them interacting with each other

I know why but I won’t be disclosing this information unless it’s to close friends that I trust as it’s a sensitive topic that I don’t like sharing but regardless I will at least try but don’t expect it to be long and somewhat detailed like my others

I hope you enjoy it regardless though and sorry that this took so long to come out

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FOR ANY REASON AT ALL

-Potential Trigger Warnings-

Breaking and Entering, Not Very Good Writing, Kidnapping, Stockholm Syndrome, Doflamingo being Doflamingo

-Potential Trigger Warnings-

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT FOR ANY REASON AT ALL

So starting off, I just have to say that no matter what happens when it comes to Doflamingo picking up your books and winding up in the same delusion as everyone else that picks them up then I pray to god that you don’t live in Dressrosa

Don’t get me wrong as you will be found and captured but it will happen a lot faster if you live in Dressrosa, Doflamingo will have you summoned to him if you live in Dressrosa and if you don’t then he will come directly to you himself

Like imagine getting home from some kind of outing like maybe a celebration with your friends on finally finishing your series only for the lights to turn on suddenly and Doflamingo is sitting leaned back in one of your chairs like he’s been waiting patiently for you to get home

I’m not sure if Doflamingo would identify with the Pirate or the Marine or even one of the characters that the MC simply interacts with but it could be possible that Doflamingo just fell in love with the MC, saw the picture of you, and sought you out

If he is meeting you inside of your house then don’t try to run, he is a warlord of the sea after all so you’d have to have the luck of a god to escape him plus he probably has the house surrounded just in case as he isn’t going to let you slip away

He says that he just wants to talk and that you should think of this as like an impromptu interview, he isn’t going to give you an option to say no either so I’d recommend just sitting down and answering all of his questions until he’s satisfied

I can imagine it starting off as an interview as he asks you questions about the story but slowly it starts to get more and more personal like questions about “What did this character mean when they said this thing?” start to turn into “What kind of shampoo do you use?” and “Do you want to have kids someday?”

You can try to ask him to keep his questions about the book but it’s not like he’ll listen and it isn’t like you can just refuse to answer either as you can sit there all night until you finally answer as he won’t be going anywhere until all the questions have been answered

Eventually his final question is “Are you pregnant?” which is responded to with a No, of course as you aren’t but cue a big grin on his face as he has all the answers that he needs

Turns out that he was asking all of these questions to figure out if you were really the MC from the story but even if you weren’t then he wouldn’t have given up as it would simply mean that he would need to condition you

Cue getting kidnapped by Doflamingo though and hauled off back to Dressrosa where you’re locked in a room that very much appears to belong to him. You’re chained by your leg to the bed and when you plead to go home

Doflamingo will simply just tell you that you are home now and he isn’t going to let you go now that he has you, he simply needs to turn you into his perfect loving wife that will happily listen to everything that he says so basically he intends to give you Stockholm syndrome

You can attempt to stay strong and refuse him but trust me, Doflamingo isn’t going to get bored as you’re his now and he isn’t going to get rid of you anytime soon

Trust me too when he says that he is going to give you Stockholm syndrome, he is going to give you Stockholm syndrome and succeed one way or another as he has no problem giving it to you in a way involves a lot of pain and bruises or in a way that involves a lot of kisses and soft feelings

I also would not recommend trying to escape, Doflamingo will have you dragged back to him within minutes…

Regardless of what you do in the end, Doflamingo will have you standing by his side as his loving wife who will listen to him no matter what. He’ll still allow you to write your stories if you wish but just don’t forget to make some time for him

[the-monkey-ruler]

I got an ask about Yellow Robe Demon to ask to clarify some things.

Yes, sadly that the children are half-yaoguai and conceived under questionable circumstances their deaths were to be considered non-issue. We only see Yellow Robe mourn them but I'm not sure if this was to imply that the children were already far gone under their father's influence that they could not be helped like how Red Boy was, or that it was punishment on Yellow Robe Demon himself for kidnapping his wife.

Wukong did say that he would give the boys back but at the same point, the Princess seemed more worried about their father's wrath than their safety. She pleads with Wukong against and against because she seems more worried that the Yellow Robe demon is going to hurt Wukong or those around him. I would like to thing she could care but it seems more like she is protesting out of fear than love.

She claims that she was taught to be a loyal and dutiful wife but Wukong reminds her that she is also a daughter and should go back home to the family that has been looking for her for 13 years. Being filial to one’s father and mother was something that was to be respected and while this isn’t always the case I think was trying to get her to see she doesn’t have to stay with a family that she didn’t have a choice in and go back to a family that does love her. The mother calls the children “his seed” showing perhaps she never really bonded with the kids or that even she was unable to.

It could be that they were still being cultivated and therefore were either old enough to have a human body or that they were only connected to their father. We see that the only example of a demon that is unable to speak within the story and that is the python yao, was said to be uncultivated. Because these are half-yaoguai children it is hard to say exactly how their biology works because there were so few examples.

We only have one other example of a half-yao demon and that is the White Snake child. But the White Snake child was seen to be a very normal baby with no complications and even came out fully human. This could be a case that perhaps a yao mother yields better results of a more cultivated child than a human mother but I have another idea why that could be.

Yellow Robe's children were never given any dialogue, and while we do read that they were shouting and screaming, they are never given a position where they’re able to communicate with anyone. And to me, this suggests that they are unable to communicate, or they are not meant to be understood as reaching the point of being a human. I am going to try to compare White Snake and Xiyouji and their half-born demons but these are very different stories, one being a romance and the other one being a fantasy journey. But we see how a union created with mutual love and respect is different from how a union created and kidnapping is to be perceived.

This could be a matter of earth-born demons versus demons that were fallen celestials. We see two different types of earth-born demons, one being the White snake boy that came out fully cultivated and completely human. The other is Red Boy who is said to have cultivated at least 300 years in order to reach the position where we meet him within the story. Red Boy could have taken longer due to himself being a full-born demon child. White Snake's son has a parent that has cultivated and another with natural cultivation therefore having a more accumulative.

But we have to look at how fallen celestials have children. And this could actually tie into why Heaven is so strict about celestials not having families when they already have positions due to how their offspring could come out.

Zhu Bajie was reborn as a pig but kept his Dao powers somehow, leading to him becoming a demon at birth. We see at the moment of his birth he was unable to think properly and had a more violent temper, he showed us by eating his siblings and his mother. It could be that fallen celestials, or any new life with fallen celestial cultivation becomes more volatile and unstable in both mind and body.

However, we see that not even celestial that has children is fallen as with Yuanhua and Sanseng Mu who were able to have normal human children and never lost their human forms. It is never said that they turned into Yao when they left heaven and this could be for many reasons that they were not punished by heaven by being banished or that they didn't eat humans when they left the heavens while Yellow Robe and other fallen celestials did fall into a hungry desire for power and started to eat mortals. This could suggest that a strange cocktail of both cultivated qi from good and bad sources leads to more unstable children if with a mortal.

We see that children born from celestials are very powerful with Erlang Shen and Liu Chenxiang being prime examples, but their mothers never were considered fallen despite breaking the law. The children of Yellow Robe are nowhere near as strong and this could be because they lack formal training but it could be that they are more cultivated from demon qi than their father's celestial qi and therefore would be weaker such as the case with White Snake. There could be a case that these children could have been as powerful without formal training similar to Red Boy but that is hard to say without ever seeing a case of this.

This is all to say that children born of fallen celestials are more unstable and need more cultivation similar to full demon children, unlike celestial children who have not fallen.

Another option that I find less possible is that these children were born of a mortal woman while we see other celestials having children with mortal men. Can't really see how that would change much but that is also a variable to be noted.

The last option is that these children were never to be considered 'characters' to say. While we see with other children born of celestial or yaoguai unions we get to explore who they are and what they can overcome. These children were sadly more extensions of Yellow Robe and his influence over the Princess. While that isn't the case in a more real-life setting, story-wise the symbolism is that the Princess is completely freed of Yellow Robe's presence and can return to her 'real' family. I may not be putting it eloquently but that could just be the case.

It could be the case of the Nine Generation law. Wukong's monkeys went through a similar thing and yes while most of them were fighting against heaven the law has it that the family member never even had to be directly involved in the crime of the criminal. So the children wouldn’t have to have been involved with Yellow Robes crime, like how White Face Vixen was with her adopted father, but been punished due to their affiliation with their father.

[bohemian-nights]

Aemond x Reader HC

Warnings: None(except for cousin incest 🤷🏽‍♀️)

Word Count: ~960 words

AN:

I know I said I might write something for Daemon, but this came into my head last night. I can’t help it, I have Aemond on the brain🤷🏽‍♀️ I might turn this into an actual full fledged fanfic.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Okay so reader 🧝🏽‍♀️ is Aemond’s half-cousin(her mom is the younger half-sister of Viserys). Her dad is the younger brother of Corlys Velaryon(Vaemond?).

She was basically raised at court and was a childhood companion of Helaena. Her mom died when she was young so Alicent was kinda like a second mom to her.

She was betrothed to Aemond when they were children(maybe shortly after Aemond claimed Vhagar). Got to keep the Valyrian bloodline as pure as possible.

Reader doesn’t have a dragon🐉 Her dragon egg never hatched. She may try to bond with a dragon once the Dance begins though.

She and Aemond married 💍when she was 15-16 and Aemond 18-19. So they’ve been married for about 7-8 years by the start of this story.

Aemond is hard for her to read sometimes. Reader still feels that he is distant despite the fact that they’ve known each other for most of their lives. He’s still very loyal though. Aemond can also be very possessive over her.

By the time the Dance 🐉is about to kick off they have three children. Maybe one girl(their first born?) and twin boys. I feel like they have the names of the old school Targs/dragon lords. Perhaps Visenya, Aerion, and Maegon. Their daughter is betrothed to Aegon’s son and heir. Maybe the reader is pregnant 🤰🏽with their fourth child, but they don’t know it yet.

Lol Aemond is a girl dad, but he is not a deadbeat to his boys cause he loves his kids equally(I’m looking at you Viserys). He loves taking his kids on rides with him and Vhagar. He teaches them high Valyrian, their history, and how to “control” their dragons 🐉 He teaches the boys how to fight⚔️ You know the works.

I feel like this story starts off when Vaemond 👱🏾‍♂️comes to Kings Landing asking to be made his brothers successor. Reader tries to get him to see reason and not rock the boat, but her father doesn’t listen.

Reader is there standing by her husband and in-laws when her father pleads his case. Obviously things go left and Daemon takes Vaemond’s head💀(on Rhaenyra’s orders like in the book). Reader is rightfully horrified. Aemond has to literally carry her away from the scene since she starts to break down.

Aemond is beyond pissed off with the situation himself(though he never had great regard for Vaemond he was still his good father), but someone’s got to keep it together.

Reader is obviously still in shock by the time nightfall rolls around. She does not want to go to family dinner 🥘 . Honestly she just wants to hug and cuddle with her babies and lowkey so does Aemond, but Viserys forces both of them to attend.

At dinner 🍽 Jace tries to ease some of the tension by dancing with her which she reluctantly accepts(cause King Dumb Dumb is still in the room). Jace dancing 🕺🏻with his wife + the Luke 🐷 situation + Vaemond being beheaded = Aemond Strong speech. Reader would have told him to stop but she’s beyond exhausted at this point. Alicent has to be the one that scolds him(like in the show).

When King Dumb Dumb finally kicks the bucket 🪣 that night, reader and Aemond are alerted. It might be stretch, but I’ll say Reader is on the Green 🟢council. Her daughter is set to become the future queen and Alicent considers her an important and trusted person.

She tries to argue for peace, but Otto and Alicent(why did they have to make it seem like Alicent was clueless?) point out what Rhaenyra and Daemon will do to them if Rhaenyra takes the throne. I love Daemon, but you can’t convince me that he wouldn’t have at least made Viserys' trueborn sons and grandsons take the black ▪️ to protect Rhaenyra’s reign.

Reader obviously fears for her husband and son’s safety so she goes along with Aegon being crowned king🤴🏼

Aemond voices to her privately that he’d make a better king, but both are loyal to Aegon. While Aemond is on the hunt for Aegon, the reader finds out that Rhaenys is being kept prisoner in her room. She feels guilty about Rhaenys👩🏻‍🦳 being locked up(she is her aunt)so she goes to free her.

Rhaenys tries to get her to leave 🛫with her. She says that Rhaenyra will be merciful to her and her kids(they are first cousins after). Reader doesn’t trust it(I mean they did behead her father).

Plus she could never abandon Aemond and she definitely could not take away their children from him. Lol Rhaenys does not burst through the coronation(seriously why did they add that?) when she leaves.

When the Green 🟢 council finds out that it was the reader who let Rhaenys go, they are furious (even Alicent, who reader is usually in the good graces of). They need all the dragon 🐉 riders they can get on their side to win this war.

Otto is especially upset. He kinda wants to put the reader on house arrest 🚔, but both Aemond(he’s still pissed but that’s his wife) and Alicent defend her.

Since Aemond is married he goes to Storm's End with a proposal on his younger brother’s (Daeron) behalf. Daeron is still in Oldtown so it’s more convenient for Aemond to make the journey. The Luke situation obviously goes down. Team Black ⚫️ gets pissed off(understatement I know).

Daemon was initially going to go after Aemond’s kids in retaliation for Luke, but they are heavily guarded. You won’t catch Aemond 🧝🏻‍♂️slipping plus he knows that Daemon 🧝🏻‍♂️ will be coming for his kids. So Daemon has settle for Aegon’s kids instead.

The Dance is definitely in full swing now. Both sides want blood 🩸 and to see their side come out on top👑 Reader just wants to see her babies, herself, and Aemond make it out in one piece.

[eileenslibrary]

A/N I'm treating you guys since I've been going for two weeks, another thranduil x reader, jealousy, and feeling unrequited love. Gender or skin color is not mentioned The reader is depicted as a human but has elven descent.

Orange Tulips

Thranduil had always been someone you loved even through his grumpy attitude or short temper you had always forgiven him and stayed close, but things had taken a deep plunge when he met Calathiel, she was drop dead gorgeous but you felt like your friend was being torn from your life so abruptly you didn't have time to say goodbye.

After the news of Thranduil's wedding spread. You had left for a new start, you had left Mirkwood.

Your adventure was long but enjoyable, you walked far from your old home, on your journey you met Gandalf, you sat and told him your tale and solemn feelings you'd felt back in Mirkwood, you felt at peace talking with him he had spoken of a land twenty miles west from where you were traveling, he told you that it would be a fine place for a home. You nodded deciding you would head west at dawn.

As for Thranduil, when he met his wife he was at peace but sometimes he thought about you and how you felt about this, you had disappeared when he met her. And when he had heard the word you had left Mirkwood, he felt a small piece of him break. You were his closest friend and you were gone just like the snap of his fingers, he had heard from Gandalf that you were completely fine and had settled on a peaceful prairie out in the middle of nowhere.

Years went by and you thrived, a small village had grown around your house with people from everywhere coming to live in the peaceful prairie. You had made a life long friend with a half elven man named Kharis Miafir, he was charming and kind to everyone.

After years of his wife's death, Thranduil searched for his old friend. Eventually he had found out about the small village of E'fa Anore, and he shed tears of joy when he found your location. He sent a letter to you, pleading for you to visit him, you wrote back to explain that you were in no condition of travel due to a friend's wedding but saying he was invited to come visit. So that's what he did, he and a few guards traveled to the village of E'fa. White and blue decorations had been put up for the wedding, he looked around, the houses were large and the whole village gave him a warm feeling in his chest. When he arrived at your house, flowers of all colors adorned your house. He hesitated before your door, thoughts raced through his mind, would you want to see him after years of no contact?, Would you look the same?, Were you married?, Did you have kids?. He took a deep breath and knocked on your door. A few seconds later the door opened, and he looked down to see a small child, his eyes widening. "Markle Who's at the door!?" Your voice shouted, the child stepped back yelling a description of the strange elf outside your door. You came to the door, golden rimmed glasses sat on your nose. A white blouse and leather corset hugging your torso, black leather leggings making your legs look more defined, black boots, with a pair of blue earrings, and a red necklace. "Sorry that's my god child Markle" you spoke before opening the door for the king "please come in, and please close your mouth before you catch a fly" you tease him, he didn't realize his mouth was agape until you mentioned it. He snapped his mouth shut.

Your hair was in a new style and eyes were bright your clothes had changed too. You looked drop dead gorgeous in his eyes. He looked around, a large map placed on the wall, a nice kitchen with lots of plants, and a few book cases lined the left wall. A large table and chairs sat next to the drawing room, the dining room and living room combined nicely. A few closed doors he assumed were bedrooms. He returned his attention to you again, you were making tea. "now where was I? Oh why yes!" You said "how is Mirkwood?" You asked. He stared at your back and you looked over your shoulder expecting an answer, clearing your throat as Markle got out the biscuits. Thranduil wakes up at your voice "oh Mirkwood is doing well" he replied you nod "how is Calathiel?" You ask. He freezes, you hadn't heard. "She... She died a few years back" he spoke solemnly. You gasp turning around "I'm so sorry" you say, he looked up "I wish I could have been there for you" you spoke in an understanding tone. His heart squeezed although he loved his wife you had always made his heart twist and squeeze when you spoke or did anything he found admirable.

When the kettle screamed. You turn and begin pouring the tea into your china set, Markle helped set the table before sitting in his chair swinging his legs. Thranduil pulled your chair out for you. "So are you married?" He asks with bated breath. You shake your head "oh no, I haven't met anyone who has caught my eye yet." He nods "I heard you have a son" you speak. "Yes I hope Legolas will be a fine ruler one day" he says sipping from his cup. He had been feeling nervous about the visit, but it was turning out great so far.

He was staying in your extra bedroom for the two weeks he was visiting. Today was day three when the sun had just risen, he could hear you moving around in the kitchen starting your morning tea, you seemed so much happier than you did back in Mirkwood. You had taken up the hobby of art, and the extra bedroom had a few of your pieces hung up. A picture of one of the giant eagles, his favorite was a picture of an orange tulip.

He got up, walked to the dresser, and grabbed a white blouse with golden trim, and brown leggings. He then walked out to the kitchen and sat in one of the dining chairs, you looked at him "Morning sleeping beauty" you teased. He smiles and shakes his head, looking at you, your hair is ornately styled, with a green tunic and brown trousers. Golden jewelry adorned your neck and ears, you were always a beautiful sight but now you shined like the sun. He couldn't help but feel adoration for you. He had always taken you for granted but when you left he couldn't help but go crazy without you around, he regretted chasing you off, and he was blinded by what he thought was love. He loved his wife but now that he thought about it you were always the one who caught his attention when you were around. You tapped his shoulder, "You alright Mellon nín?" You spoke as you placed a scone in front of him. He nodded grabbing his pastry and biting into it. "Why did you leave Mirkwood?" He asked. You sighed "I left because I felt you push me away, I didn't want to get in the way of you and Calathiel's relationship," you said a solemn look painting your face. He nodded before grabbing your hand and placing it over his heart. "Pushing you away was my biggest regret" he spoke, you gasped when he pulled you closer. Pulling you in to kiss you, "I regret leaving you in the dust. You were always important to me," he said to you, you blushed before wrapping your arms around his neck "I missed you too." You sigh Before kissing him again.

[luminouslumity]

I've been wanting to do something like this for awhile now, and since it'll still be awhile before the album's fully complete, why not do it while only three are out? And what is it exactly? Essentially, comparisons. I've done quite a few similar posts with the Monkie Kid series already, in which I would talk about certain characters and the mythology behind them, with Journey to the West being my main reference point.

In this case, I'll of course be using the Iliad and the Odyssey for sources, specifically the Emily Wilson translations. I'll also be referring to other sources when necessary. They'll be pretty brief and will only cover up to where we are now, but here's your spoiler warning just in case (yes, even for a tale as ancient as this). Basically, think of this as a way to provide extra context. I intend to do this with each saga that's released.

Now, without further ado, let's begin. And as a disclaimer, I by no means claim to be an expert, I'm just someone who loves mythology and also happens to read a lot.

THE HORSE AND THE INFANT: Lots of names are being dropped here, so let's start with the main man himself, ODYSSEUS (Ὀδυσσεύς)! He is the son of LAËRTES (Λαέρτης) and ANTIKLEIA (Ἀντίκλεια), who is a granddaughter of the god HERMES (Ἑρμης), which I'm sure many would agree would probably explain a lot! In some versions, Odysseus' biological father is said to have been SISYPHOS (Σίσυφος), another mortal trickster, albeit a far more villainous one. Either way, clearly this runs in the family! He also has a sister named KTIMENE (Κτιμένη). And of course, there's his lovely wife PENELOPEIA (Πηνελόπεια), more commonly known as Penelope, and their son TELEMAKHOS (Τηλέμαχος).

Speaking of Penelope, the following story comes to us briefly from Pausanias' Description of Greece. Born in Sparta to King IKARIOS (Ικαριος) and the river nymph PERIBOEA (Περιβοια), it's said Princess Penelope was allowed to marry only after someone had beaten her father in a footrace. Of course, that someone ends up being Odysseus, but here's where the interesting part comes in: when discussing AIDOS (Αιδως), Modesty, Pausanias adds that Ikarius attempted to convince Odysseus to stay, and failing that, pleaded with Penelope. Odysseus, rather than challenge Ikarius or speak over his new bride, let her make the choice. But Penelope said nothing. Instead, she simply placed her veil over her face, her silent answer clear as day.

Next, we come to Telemachos, who was a newborn when his father left. However, it should be noted that Odysseus really didn't want to go. So much so that he feigned madness to try and get out of it, which was only foiled when PALAMEDES (Παλαμήδης) seized baby Telemachos and placed him right in front of where his father was recklessly ploughing the fields; Odysseus stopped immediately after noticing his son, but was then forced to join the war afterwards.

DIOMEDES (Διομηδης): one of the more notable Greeks during the Trojan War and a favorite of the goddess of wisdom alongside Odysseus, Diomedes was an intelligent and valiant soldier, to the point where he had even wounded the god of war himself. He also directly assisted Odysseus in Troy's downfall.

AGAMEMNON (Ἀγαμέμνων) and MENELAOS (Μενέλαος): Okay, these two have their own stories that I could make an entirely different post on, but for simplicity's sake, Agamemnon is the king of Mykenai and commander of the Akhaioí (Greeks); much of the Iliad concerns his feud with AKHILEUS (Ἀχιλλεύς) over the captive BRISEIS (Βρισηίς). Meanwhile, his brother Menelaos is king of Sparta and had been married to the reason this war started in the first place.

TEUCER (Τεῦκρος): one of the greatest archers, Teucer actually had Trojan blood through his mother HESIONE (Ἡσιόνη), who was the sister of King PRIAMOS (Πρίαμος), or Priam. Through his father TELAMON (Τελαμών), his elder half-brother is AIAS (Αἴας), or Ajax, the Greater.

AJAX THE LESSER: By the time of the Trojan War, there are two characters by the name of Ajax, with the Lesser referring to Ajax of Locris. He was known for having been a spearman and the fastest of the Greeks, but like many of his comrades, never made it back home after having earned the wrath of the gods.

NESTOR (Νέστωρ): the eldest of Greek army, he often offered wise, albeit long-winded, advice. At the end of the war, he was among the few who managed to return home safely.

HELEN (Ἑλένη): And now we get to the Reason. Well, sort of. Married to Menelaos and then PARIS (Πάρις), to blame the Trojan War solely on Helen would mean to disregard a lot of other things, such as the idea of KLEOS (κλέος)—glory—three powerful goddesses, a little golden apple, and even an entire plan to depopulate the earth. Sources vary as to whether Helen even left with Paris willingly, and that's not even getting into the versions where she didn't even make it to Troy at all! What is known, however, is that by the time we see her in the Iliad, Helen is nothing short of resentful. For example, during a confrontation with APHRODITE (Αφροδιτη), she says:

“You, goddess? Why do you want to trick me in this way? Will you keep leading me to yet more cities, in Phrygia or in fine Maeonia if any other mortal takes your fancy? Now Menelaus has defeated Paris, and wants to take me home with him again, although I am so hateful. Is that why you come to me now with these tricks of yours? Then go to him yourself and sit beside him! Give up the path of gods and let your feet never turn back again to Mount Olympus! Spend all your time on taking care of Paris, crying for him, until he makes you either his slave girl or his wife! But I will not ever go back. It would bring retribution. And I will never service that man’s bed. All of the Trojan women in the future will blame me if I do, and in my heart I will endure more pain than I can measure.”

Aphrodite threatens her immediately following this, forcing her to go and comfort her new husband, but not before Helen tells him:

“So you came back from the fighting. I wish that you had died out there, defeated by that strong man who used to be my husband. Before, you claimed you were superior to warlike Menelaus in your strength and hands and spear. So go on, challenge him! Call Menelaus back again to fight you! But no. I order you to stop. Do not make war and fight with ruddy Menelaus. It would be idiotic. You would soon lose and lie dead beneath that fighter’s spear.”

According to a fragmented poem called Ilias mikra ( Ἰλιὰς μικρά), or Little Iliad, when Odysseus and Diomedes are sneaking into the city to steal their PALLADION (Παλλάδιον)—a wooden statue fashioned by the goddess of wisdom herself and said to be Troy's protector—Helen recognizes them, but never alerts the people in the walled city.

In terms of family, Helen had at the very least a daughter—HERMIONE (Ἑρμιόνη)—who had been about nine when she left (sources vary on whether she had other children or not), and she was also a first cousin of Penelope on her father's side. Though speaking of TYNDAREUS (Τυνδάρεος), prior to Helen making her choice of husband, one of the suitors present had suggested that should she be taken by anyone else—of which there actually had been a precedent for thanks to a certain Athenian king—they would all take up arms against that person to get her back. This would become known as the Oath of Tyndareus. What a brilliant idea, Odysseus.

NEOPTOLEMOS (Νεοπτόλεμος): son of Akhileus and called PYRRHOS (Πύρρος) at birth, Neoptolemos joined towards the end of the war and helped bring about the fall of Troy. Though young when he was called to arms, many sources often emphasize his brutality during this time, while others—such as Euripides and Sophocles—show him to be kinder, albeit torn in regards to the situation he's in.

And as for his father, Akhileus had actually been killed by Paris of all people, though not without divine help. Paris himself would later be killed by the archer PHILOKTETES (Φιλοκτήτης), and of Priam's remaining sons, Neoptolemos is credited by the Roman Quintus with having killed the following: POLITES (Πολίτης), PAMMON (Πάμμων), and ANTIPHONUS (Ἀντίφονόν).

JUST A MAN: Which brings us to ASTYANAX (Ἀστυάναξ), the infant son of HEKTOR (Ἕκτωρ) and ANDROMACHE (Ἀνδρομάχη). He is indeed killed because the Greeks feared his potential retribution, but the exact details aren't entirely consistent. In one version, he's killed by Neoptolemos, in others by Odysseus, be it directly or indirectly. In Seneca's The Trojan Women, the child even leaps off the walls himself. It's only in much later traditions does he survive.

As for his father, Hektor was said to have been the greatest fighter of the Trojans and had shown great kindness towards Helen for all of the twenty years she'd spent at Troy (yes, according to the very end of the Iliad, Helen specifically had been at Troy for twenty years at that point). The poem ends with his funeral.

FULL SPEED AHEAD: EURULOKHOS (Εὐρύλοχος) is not only Odysseus' second-in-command, but also his brother-in-law. His home is near Ithaka, on the island of Same. Polites (different one, of course) meanwhile is a very minor character in the Odyssey, but is still referred to as Odysseus' devoted friend.

OPEN ARMS: The LOTOPHAGOI (λωτοφάγοι), or lotus-eaters, were a race who—when consuming from a specific plant—would fall into a state of apathy to the point of never wishing to leave. This incident in the Odyssey is actually incredibly brief, with the crew arriving and then leaving immediately after Odysseus forces the men who ate from the lotus back on the ship.

WARRIOR OF THE MIND: Throughout both the Iliad as well as the Odyssey, ATHENA (Ἀθηνᾶ) acts as Odysseus' patron goddess. The boar "only the best could kill" is likely in reference to the famous Kalydonian Boar Hunt, which Odysseus is actually never mentioned as having taken a part in, but his father Laërtes did, depending on the source. The poem does reference a boar hunt, though, one that caused Odysseus to get scratched when he was still young.

POLYPHEMUS: In this song, we officially meet, well, POLYPHEMOS (Πολύφημος), the KYKLOPS (Κυκλωψ). Odysseus and his man arrive at his island immediately after they leave the land of the lotus-eaters, find a cave filled with cheese and sheep, and...

My crew begged, ‘Let us grab some cheese and quickly drive the kids and lambs out of their pens and down to our swift ships, and sail away across the salty water!’

That would have been the better choice. But I refused. I hoped to see him, and find out if he would give us gifts.

Obviously, this doesn't turn out to be the case. What needs to be understood, however, is that Odysseus and his crew were technically guests, so he would've expected Polyphemos to uphold XENIA (ξενία), sacred hospitality, something he even makes clear in the poem. He hadn't anticipated for Polyphemos to have no fear of the gods. The next morning, Odysseus gives him wine gifted to him by a priest of APOLLON (Ἀπόλλων) named MARON (Μάρων); Polyphemos finds it so delicious that he even compares it to nectar, the drink of the gods. Yet still, this wasn't enough to persuade the kyklops to free them.

SURVIVE: In the original poem, Odysseus is mentioned to have had several men eaten by Polyphemos, though the only one actually named is ANTIPHOS (Ἄντιφος).

REMEMBER THEM: It's worse in the poem.

‘Hey, you, Cyclops! Idiot! The crew trapped in your cave did not belong to some poor weakling. Well, you had it coming! You had no shame at eating your own guests! So Zeus and other gods have paid you back.’

[...]

My crew begged me to stop, and pleaded with me. ‘Please! Calm down! Why are you being so insistent and taunting this wild man? He hurled that stone and drove our ship right back to land. We thought that we were going to die. If he had heard us, he would have hurled a jagged rock and crushed our heads and wooden ship. He throws so hard!’

But my tough heart was not convinced; I was still furious, and shouted back again, ‘Cyclops! If any mortal asks you how your eye was mutilated and made blind, say that Odysseus, the city-sacker, Laertes’ son, who lives in Ithaca, destroyed your sight.’

Then it's immediately revealed this had been part of a prophecy.

Like MY GOODBYE, I honestly don't think there's much for me to talk about STORM and LUCK RUNS OUT, at least not at the moment, so let's move on to KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE, where we meet AIOLOS (Αιολος)! His island in the sky is named, fittingly, Aiolia, and he lives there with his wife and twelve children. Though initially receiving Odysseus and his crew warmly, once the bag of winds was opened and returned them to the island, Odysseus tried to ask for his help again, but Aiolos simply demanded that they leave, figuring the men were disfavored by the gods.

And finally, we have RUTHLESSNESS! After being rejected by the wind god, the crew come across the LAISTRYGONES (Λαιστρυγονες), giants who ate the crew and destroyed the ships until only one vessel remained. According to Hesiod, they sprang from Laistrygon (Λαιστρυγων), whose father was POSEIDON (Ποσειδων).

Poseidon as he appears in many myths is, in one word, ruthless, cursing Odysseus almost as soon as his son Polyphemus prays to him for vengeance. In certain myths, he is also portrayed as a rival to Athena, such as when the two competed for dominion over the then unnamed Athens; Poseidon offered them the first horse and Athena the first olive tree. To quote Emily Wilson:

Whereas Poseidon favors the untamed world of the stormy sea, Athena loves fixed settlements and the olive tree—a crop whose oil was used in archaic Greece for cooking and skin care. Poseidon makes the earth shake; Athena makes even the most rugged, barren landscape available for cultivation.

As far as the Trojan War itself is concerned, according to many sources, Poseidon actually helped build the famous walls of Troy alongside Apollo, but when the king at the time, LAOMEDON (Λαομέδων), refused to pay them, Apollo sent a plague and Poseidon sent KETOS (Κητος), a sea monster which would then be slain by HERAKLES (Ἑρακλης) just before the monster could eat Princess Hesione; Laomedon, having learned nothing from last time, refused to pay Herakles, who would then go on to sack the city in retaliation. Poseidon would later side with the Greeks during the war, but here's the interesting part: while the Trojan War has no set date, one proposed theory is 1275 BC, as that was around when historical Troy (specifically Troy VI) was believed to have been destroyed by an earthquake. Furthermore, what animal was carved out of wood for the final ambush? A horse!

[kitsunefyuu]

[ 𝐑𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄 ] ― sender and receiver see each other again after a period of being apart

maybe something after the fight with all might, when AFO had potato face. Or kid/teen for one face. Whatever you prefer

AFO x inko

[ 𝐑𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄 ] ― sender and receiver see each other again after a period of being apart | Accepting

How long has it been since All for One has seen her face? Months? Years? Several?

It all blurred if he was honest. Such a cruel thing to note when he can still strongly recall the day All Might destroyed his happiness. The amount of rage and hatred that consumed his very being. The hero he had the most fun toying with ended up being the one to ruin his life.

Yet the moment he sees the one he had sworn he loved with all his heart it is with shock. Wondering why she had to see him like this, why did they allow a civilian to leave the safety of their shelter. The betrayal in her eyes was too much for him as she had been the one person who had hope for him.

And he betrayed it. Seeing her here as he failed to kill All Might is a wound he never desired.

"Hisashi is that you," she started. No one should recognize him as he looked so young almost a child. Inko was different as always there was no doubt in her mind. Time has not been kind to her, as her body had been rattled with stress and age. Along with hardships he can't even imagine after he had 'left' for overseas.

"Look at me!" Inko shouted. Making him petrified able to recall her once asking if this job was worth it. If it was worth dragging their whole family into by continuing this. Even if he claimed it was because of All Might smashing his head it was because of pride he didn't give up everything. His own ego.

"This is what you've been doing when you left our family? I trusted you, I cared for you, and this is what you've been doing? You've hurt our SON and now you're a child lashing out at everything. Was this all worth it?"

In this moment, he was no longer All for One the mastermind. He was Hisashi Midoriya the man who has just ruined his family. Only able to watch the tears on her face grow as she rushes over without fear of being attacked. She grabs his shoulder to shake him with quite a bit of force.

"Hisashi! Speak to me, you like ranting to heroes about how terrible you are so tell me. Was everything you told me a lie?! Was I just another pawn? Was our son!?" She demanded almost pleading for him to say it wasn't the case.

That she hadn't wasted her life with a man who only gave a shit about himself. He couldn't lie, and the wall he has had for all these years broke.

"I'm sorry, I never wanted you to know. I swear it wasn't a lie-" he speaks yet knows him saying that is so much crueler. Maybe it is because he is so young so close to death that he can't even lie to himself. He is pleading that his last moments would not be with his wife sobbing.

"Never know!? That my husband is All for One the man that just destroyed all of Japan? How long did you expect this to go!?" She questioned as a hand moves to her head pulling at the strands. "I loved you Hisashi. I begged you to move on... Please. Just stop."

He isn't even sure if he can anymore. As while she had hope in him, he never had any faith in himself. He could never get himself to stop. What cruelty has he done to his family?

Maybe he should have just died. What a cruel existence his life has been to the very world itself. And to the poor family of Inko and Izuku to have loved a man who has never existed.

If only he had been a boring and ordinary man....

[froppy-butterflyfan2000]

What is Ivy's home life like?

Well, she is now officially an adult, but her life still remains the same. Her parents are being busy in the Supernatural World. Rose stopping dragon slayers and Nigel being a wizard (AND NO NIGEL IS NOT HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH HIS WIFE! He is a faithful to her. They goes on dates a couple of times). Yeah it is lonely being in a big house. (At least she can host a big and wild parties at her house when she is home alone. As long as her niece and big sisters are not in the house.) At least her big sister, Evelyn and her daughter, Sibrella are living there now.

Plus, it is better than her childhood, she had a tense relationship with her father. He spoiled her. To be a brat..... Plus, he taught her magic and keeping an eyes on her mana recovery and stamina. Strict and have many expectations placed on her. Her father expected her to be strong in both magic and physically in order to be a sidekick to any of the Guardian Dragons, more specifically the one in NYC. He wanted her to have a Dragon in her friend group. However he saw that Ivy preferred the friends she picked. Nigel did not denied Ivy on her friendships. Reason is Ivy making friends with Bea and Stella allowed him to increase his own reputation by her boost her reputation to increase his reputation. That is why Ivy wanted to be independent and learn about hard work on her own. Another reason to break the cycle - Adults take advantages of her father, Nigel when he was a kid to feed his mind that he is superior and feed his ego to mold him into being used. It is suck. Ivy fell victim to it.

Although the memory is foggy now, Ivy still remember feeling the tight grip of Nigel clutching her shoulders to tell her how a disappointment she really is. That is why it is not a good idea to touch her shoulders.

Nigel really loves his daughter, and would visit her at the hospital if she get injured, and agrees to his wife that she should stop doing heroic works for the time being or permanently if there are severity, such as Ivy losing her leg when being amputated for her own good after an explosion incident at Phoenix Academy. He is an irresponsibly perfectionist with an ego (just liked her). Beside he was a mentor she want because Ivy learned to wield magic differently and Nigel quickly recognized this that he changed his lessons to suit what they both want.

As for her relationship with her mom, it is positive, both past and present. Rose can see the self-doubts right through Ivy. She know her own daughter best;always fascinating when with magic, as she loves to explore the city in search of magic that she has never seen before. Usually, her childish personality emerges when she encounters a new type of magic and gets excited to see it in action. And wants to help people out. Plus the reason why she became a hero and not be following in her father's because witches are cool to her.

When Ivy is putting herself down, Rose occasionally finger pistol Ivy on the forehead till she plead. Then she have her settle down to ask the questions that will go through self-reflection for Ivy, and finally pep-talks and advices to help her.

Rose and Ivy would spars in swordsmanship and throwing hands/H2H combat and would often goes on a mother-and-daughter shopping sprees and spa day. Rose is the one to put Nigel in his place if his parenting is questionable.

Is that the question you wants? If not… Sorry for rambling. The Thrall Residence is a large house that is a blend of Rococo, Victorian Style, and including Neo-Andean because Townsville is futuristic; more uptown/gentrified areas and Solarpunk in the Lunaverse. So the house is installs with nanotech in case it get destroyed, despite insures under Hanout Anoush’s father’s insurance company. Inside the house, there are a personal gym/training room that have a simulation, Rose’s Weapon Room, a personal study room for each of her parent, a state of the art high tech kitchen and living room, a potions supply closet, and a lab to make potions and to perform rituals. A shrine for deities Ivy worshipping too. Ivy have her garden of daylilies, foxgloves, and roses outside and Rose have her training ground. Ivy’s room is based on her subculture: a combination of Cottagecore, Earthcore/Bloomcore, Lovecore, Forest Fairy Princess Core, Whimsigothcore, Pinkcore, and Witchcore.

[thestressedsimmer]

July, 1314: The Tagaryen Estate

Original has fallen in love with his mother's horse. It was wonderful because the older men found taking the horse out for a ride to be a tedious 'chore,' but Original loved it! So they just pawned off that chore to him.

Besides, it was good to have the older brother occupied while the little brothers were a terror inside of the manor.

Daemon wondered why his younger children never acted like this. Maybe because they had a mother in their formative years? Or maybe he was just working far too much to notice.

Either way, it seemed like every other moment, one of the twins was screeching and throwing a tantrum about something. This sort of behavior couldn't be tolerated for long. He needed to get strict and stop letting his heart be softened because of Joan's passing.

"Young man, stop this crying immediately." Daemon scolded, listening to him sniffle. Zachaeus had been the smaller of the twins when they were born. . .

But thinking about that would only lead him to slack as his parent. He had sworn to his sons and his late wife that these boys would be brought up properly.

Like he did with his older children, he allowed the little ones to plead their case. He felt like it would enable them to use their charisma in the royal court as they get older. No matter what duties they are given, they'll be prepared.

His patience tires easily nowadays when it comes to hearing toddler babble, having kids at this stage of life was difficult, but he put on a stoic face.

"Zachaeus, my boy, we can't have everything we want in life. But screaming and crying when we do not get our way will help none. Instead, you should focus on learning how to make peace with that and ensure that you can have as much in life as possible."

"Fa-ther!"

. . . He is fairly certain his advice is falling on deaf ears, but he will continue to give it until his dying day. His job isn't to make little ones happy, it's to prepare them for being grown.

[melbournenewsvine]

Tim Paine opens up about Cricket Australia marriage and scandals

The following year, Paine’s unexpected rise culminated when he was named test leader after captain Steve Smith and his deputy, David Warner, were banned after the sandpapergate scandal in South Africa. loading However, 2018 was also the year Ferguson filed complaints about the behavior of Paine and other Cricket Tasmania employees after leaving the organization. Ferguson was later indicted and has pleaded not guilty to allegations that she fraudulently seized $5,600 from Cricket Australia in 2017. The case has been adjourned several times, most recently last month. Ms Ferguson is suing her former employer over allegations that she was sexually harassed by four of her former colleagues. These allegations have been denied. Payne, 37, insists the exchange was consensual and was later cleared by Cricket Australia and Cricket Tasmania investigations. But he was forced to resign as captain of the Australia cricket team when the scandal became public in November last year, then withdrew from the Australian and Tasmanian teams. Tim Payne goes out to toss the coin against Pakistan in 2018.attributed to him:GT “I never thought I’d never put my wife and family first, but when I took a step back, it was ridiculous that I couldn’t see how selfish I was, and how much I was in my own bubbles,” said Payne LaLaure. “I remember Bonnie saying something to me years ago and I was thinking, ‘What are you talking about?’ I am a good husband, I do everything, but now I see that I was hopeless. I wasn’t a terrible person, but everything I did was all about me and what I had to do. And now I’m probably – no, I – quite the opposite. “I don’t know if I could play international cricket the way I am now, I would probably be better, but I was always the type who thought they needed to be fully immersed, that’s how I did it. I didn’t know any other way.” “At first I was only interested in missing out on cricket, but it soon became less of my concern. It was awful. I was sitting at home thinking about the memories we had of it, about the kids and everything that Bonnie and I had created, and I think I screwed it up was awful. . Tim Payne battles for Tasmania against Queensland earlier this month.attributed to him:Getty Images “It was annoying and then I got to the point where I thought why would I even bother trying.” The couple received professional help, which saved their marriage, and Pine recently returned to play for Tasmania. “It changed my thinking,” he says. “I just shut up and worked on becoming the person I wanted to be and should have been, and slowly things turned around. Our relationship is so much better now.” News, results and expert analysis from the Sports Weekend are sent every Monday. Subscribe to the sports newsletter. Source link Originally published at Melbourne News Vine

[pinkmirth]

can i req some dad reiner fluff? i feel like he would have a lot of kids bc of the breeding kink 🥴 but yeah just some cute stuff pls thank uuuu!!

THE THOUGHT OF REINER BEING FATHER JUST DOES SOMETHING TO ME I- AJHSJS

THANK YOU SM FOR REQUESTING, ANON!! LET'S GET CAUGHT UP IN THE REINER BRAINROT TOGETHER <3

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—DAD REINER!

 (MODERN AU + MENTIONS OF PREGNANCY + FEMALE BODIED READER + FLUFF + SLIGHTLY SUGGESTIVE + REINER BEING THE BEST DAD EVER DUH + TW: SLIGHT LANGUAGE)

═════════°∴,*⋅✲══〖✰〗══✲⋅*,∴°═════════

Dad Reiner who was such a hot mess moments before he became a father to begin with. The pair of you are situated inside a hospital room, occupied with things much bigger than a sprained ankle. He stood alongside you, his beloved, all the while; Encouraging your efforts and attempting to ease your pain with the squeeze of your hand within his bigger one. As fretful as he feels, it's no surprise that Reiner ends up passing out a good few times, and he wasn't even the one in labor. Though, the hard part is now over, and all his worry has subsided.

Dad Reiner who recalls whimpering, weakly grinning, and eventually bawling of joy when holding his child for the first time. You'd never seen his cries mingled with such joy before. He cradles yours and his newborn within firm forearms and large, mindful hands. The pair of you sob and smile, ogle your baby with a relieved, content thrum in your heart. You allow Reiner to attempt squeezing into the hospital bed beside you, as broad and weighty as he is, with your child being held right between you and him. He’s a hot mess, but an overjoyed one who has you; and little Reiner x [Y/N] junior 🥺

Dad Reiner who converses with you for days before ultimately deciding on a name for yours and his daughter— Joyce Braun. He contemplated on “Karina”, the name of his dear mother. Though, he wants his little girl to be better than any past generation, and rather goes with a more revitalizing name, one that holds a simple, but deep meaning in his perspective. As obvious as it sounds, the name means “Joyful”. That's all he wants; for his kid to be happy in this life, happier than he ever was. Therefore, he bases her name, the root of his dear child’s identity, on cheerfulness.

Dad Reiner who tends to grow somewhat frustrated. Not with you of course, not even with Joyce’s incessant wailing in the early hours of the morning, but with himself. It wasn't as though he did anything wrong, he simply hopes that he won't. Begs himself not to fuck up with this whole “Parent” thing. If it wasn’t clear enough, Reiner wants to be nothing like his own father. He’ll never, ever shoo his child away and disregard them, but instead use those same hands to hold, guide, and lift them up. It doesn't take long for the blonde to snap out of his funk, because he's sure that he can become all the better for the sake of his little family.

Dad Reiner who wakes to your still, ethereal-like form every morning, and it's enough to make his day. A kiss to your neck, a nibble along your earlobe, and a couple repetitive rubs to your waist and thighs are enough to stir you right awake. And if that isn't the case, then it's usually the other way around; You pressing soft, lengthy kisses to his sharp, attractive cheekbones. Despite who arises first, there’s always one thing that's bound to happen— Joyce making her arrival into the bedroom via crawl, with a babble and a cute, happy little shriek upon seeing her parents.

The pair of you have no clue as to how she manages to make her way over to your room every time, but you're simply glad that she does so safely. It's Reiner’s cue to leap out of bed and scoop her off of the carpet and into his awaiting arms, clad in nothing but a white tee and the baggiest sweats. He appears disheveled, but it's still clear to see the main striking similarity between him and his pretty little daughter; Those amber brown eyes that hold the same warm, yellowish hue as his do.

He rocks the giggling one-year old, back and forth and right back again, gazing upon his squirming bundle of joy until you mention that he’s been doing so for a whole ten minutes. He grows sheepish and merely chuckles in reply, resting Joyce’s head upon his firm chest with a sigh. He could do this for ten hours more if it were up to him.

Dad Reiner who knocked you up a couple more times, and real damn good at that. There’s something of a breeding fetish that he’s got on him, which is the reason why your little family is now two kids larger. There’s Joyce, who’s now seven years old, along with her two baby brothers, the pair being a mere one year apart from the other. You and Reiner no longer have to worry about checking on Joyce in her crib, for she sleeps on her own bed now, like the “big girl” she claims to be.

Though, the boys now have you both occupied, and you’re lucky to have an older daughter who’s so understanding and rarely ever  grows jealous. Joyce, your girl who’s on more of the rambunctious side but ironically never pleads for attention, has been spending much more quality time with Reiner. Both you and him are busy with the boys, but the blonde tends to have free time on his hands every now and then. Besides, someone’s got to keep Joyce company.

Reiner happily obliges, and makes this father-daughter time worthwhile. Wholesome picnics to the park that always end in races back to the car and Reiner being a damned klutz and dropping his sandwich. Having a “spa day”, filled with Reiner’s not-so-great attempts at doing his girl’s hair, messy manicures and a hefty bag of makeup that Joyce “borrowed” from you. He spoils the girl as if the lot of you are rich (and since Reiner’s always got a hefty load of spare cash, you technically are), but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Dad Reiner who’s a lot more used to this “dad” thing now, since it’s been a couple good years down the line. You and him have amazing bonds with each of your kids, but they seem to latch onto Reiner’s large, broad body at any given time a lot more than they do you. Joyce is twelve, the brothers are five and six, and Reiner’s officially a DILF— The finest one at that. His stubble stays nicely trimmed, along with the subtle creases at his eyes becoming a little more distinctive. Goes to work, and sometimes takes the kid’s lunches instead of his own, because that's just the Reiner Way.

He’s the ultimate father in practically every situation, even when looking out for peers and comrades. He doesn’t mean to, it’s just that habits easily stick with Reiner, and it’s rather difficult for him to let them go. Besides, with three kids, how do you expect him to not be in “dad mode”?

Dad Reiner who utterly loves having random little talks with his kids, and never invalidates them, not for one second. It’s almost as though he can see things in their perspective, and they don’t know anyone else better to vent to other than their dad and mom. Though, when they tend to babble on about something that’s rather popular within their generation, it gets hard for him to catch up. They proceed to call him “old” and receive a good chase around the house before they get caught and looped into a tickle attack, and that's basically the worst thing imaginable if you’re in the Braun family. The reason being is Reiner’s unparalleled speed, despite his age; Thirties to early forties, but he’s still extremely fit, and has no problem running a mile if he has to.

Dad Reiner who’s in love with his family and the person they’ve gradually helped him become. You cherish him and your kids like none other, and he does the same. Sometimes it abruptly dawns on him; He’s a dad, and he’s actually a good one, who would’ve known? He smiles to himself, allowing his amber eyes to flit over to wherever you are before his soft grin grows wider. You look back, blow a kiss, and he does the same. The action is exchanged before he strides over to give you the real deal— Though, your sweet little peck is all cut short when Joyce and the boys skip in and start making kissy noises, with you and Reiner laughing all the while.

═════════°∴,*⋅✲══〖✰〗══✲⋅*,∴°═════════

“Papa,” Gale, the youngest son of the bunch, calls aloud and gains his father’s attention. Reiner peers up from his book and gives a brief, questioning response. “Yes, dove?” It’s a simple, sweet nickname; One that he calls you, Joyce, and the boys.

“Mommy’s in the bathroom crying.” The blonde drops his novel with an punctuating hitch of his breath, the book falling upon the couch with a dull thump. “—Why? Is she alright?” Reiner, the man who generally keeps himself rather poised, is now frantic, sharp brows downturned at his son's statement.

“Uh, I dunno. She’s crying, but smiling too.” This then causes Reiner’s brows to furrow. “Smiling, you say?”

“Yeah. Can we go out to get ice cream today? I wanna get, uh.. Chocolate chip, please!”

Reiner lets a brief laugh slip loose at Gale’s query, but he has to prioritize his wife over a summertime snack. He then begins to make a beeline towards the bathroom, in search of you. “Soon enough, dove. I’ve got to go up there and check on your momma first, alright—?”

Gale then shrugs and hops onto the couch, little feet padding along the spacey seat as the leather creases underneath his weight.

“By the way, Papa,” Reiner then pauses, open to any vital information his son could give, “she has this funny stick thingy in her hand. It’s got two little lines on it and stuff.”

Reiner chokes on his breath, lower lip beginning to tremble and quirk into a smile. If the case is what he thinks it is, he’s got all the reason to bust out with the teary eyes and jovial whimpers, just as he did when receiving the news of his three expected children in the past.

“A stick..?”

“Mhm,” hums Gale, proceeding to jump upon the dark brown couch, “Mama probably wants some chocolate chip ice cream too.”

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[randomshyperson]

Wanda Maximoff x Reader - Sorry for your loss - Part III "I will get better"

Serie Masterlist here || Part II| | Read on AO3 

Summary: When your wife Natasha passes away in a car accident, a part of you dies with her. It takes a few months of mourning for your psychiatrist thinks the best alternative is for you to join a grief group. And there you meet Wanda Maximoff, and learn to live again.

Warnings: (+16) mentions of death, panic attacks and anxiety, grief, self sabotage, mentions of abusive family background, mutual attraction pining, explicit consent, therapeutic conversations about death, self-deprecation, healthy methods of coping with grief, possible triggers about anxiety, domestic Wanda, hurtful behaviors.

Tag list: @imapotatao / @aimezvousbrahms/ @ensorcellme/ @helloalycia / @mionemymind / @abimess / @stephanieromanoff / @yourtaletotell / @tomy5girls / @justagaypanicking / @thegayw1tch / @idek-5

//-//

Chapter III - I will get better.

Your mother has an insinuating look on her face when you wake up after hearing noises of voices and walk to the kitchen, finding her sipping coffee on the table. With Wanda.

"H-hey." You greet clumsily, your sleepy brain had completely forgotten that the redhead was in your house.

"Good morning honey." Your mother said, her gaze following you all the way to the cupboards and as you served yourself. "I was just telling Wanda how I've been suggesting that you schedule a coffee so we could get to know each other, and what a coincidence it is that I come home and find her lost in my kitchen."

You yawn, shrugging your shoulders.

"Yes, fate is incredible." You mumble sarcastically, and your mother laughs lightly patting you on the arm as you sit down next to her at the table. "Did you sleep well, Wands?"

The redhead looks up at you and smiles as she nods. You stare back for a moment, but feeling your cheeks flush, you look away to your coffee.

"How was your date, Mom?" You ask next, not missing the opportunity to tease her.

"How was yours?"

You choke on your coffee, and your mother laughs. You don't risk looking at Wanda after that joke. But your mother is quick enough to change the subject.

"I need to talk to you about something, by the way." She comments stretching her arm to reach for the work case she left on the empty chair at the table. "Darcy came by the store yesterday afternoon, looking for you."

You frown in surprise, turning your head to look at your mother. She rummages through the files inside her bag, and then pulls out a red folder, handing it to you next.

"What's this?"

"Your contract."

You blink in surprise, and then open the folder. Running your hand over your face momentarily, you sigh.

"Mom..."

"Honey, give it a try." Your mother pleads touching your shoulder. "You are so talented honey. It would be so nice if you would write again."

You laugh humorlessly, running your hand through your hair. Taking a deep breath, you close the folder.

"I'll think about it."

Your words are far more than anything you have done regarding work in many months, so your mother lets out a contented exclamation and gives you a kiss on the cheek, making you laugh.

"Now, let's change the topic, okay?" you ask clumsily, making your mother laugh. She straightens up in her chair, and you look at Wanda quickly, blushing at the fond look in her eyes in your direction.

"Tell me, darling, what do you do?" Your mother asks Wanda. You go back to eating, holding back a giggle. You knew that now your mother would interrogate Wanda the same way Pietro did you, but she was far less subtle than the man was.

Several minutes later, Wanda managed to evade questions when she said she needed to go home, and you nudged your mother lightly in the ribs to get her to leave the other woman alone.

You stood up, grabbing the pots and pans from the table to take to the sink before walking Wanda to the front door while your mother pretended to read the newspaper while watching you two.

"Thank you for letting me stay the night." Wanda said at the door. You smiled, telling her it was okay. She hesitated next, and then moved closer, kissing your cheek good-bye. You nodded dismissively as she walked away, a silly smile on your face as you closed the door after she returned to the car parked in the driveway.

"I liked her." Your mother says as soon as you close the door. You give a short laugh, turning to go back to your room and take a shower. "Don't let that one get away."

"I'm not going to talk about this." You tell her with a mixture of embarrassment and impatience, looking back. Your mother laughs, glancing back at the paper.

//-//

Non-Reader Pov’s

Wanda sighed as she opened the door to the house. The boys were with Pietro, because they had insisted on spending the night after the party. And honestly, Wanda was so tired that she didn't even argue.

Erik was in the living room and didn't take his eyes off the newspaper when his daughter entered the room, throwing her shoes in the doorway and her purse on the couch.

"Should I ask where you spent the night?" he says with a slight hint that makes Wanda's face heat up, but she just continues toward her own room.

"Please, don't." She asks embarrassed, and Erik smiles, not speaking again.

After taking a shower, and getting dressed, Wanda stared at herself for a few moments in the mirror. You are fine. Everything is fine. She repeated these words a few times before leaving the bathroom.

When she returned to the living room, her father was still in the same position, but this time he lowered the newspaper to look at her.

"Honey, I ended up not meeting the friend you said you were bringing to Luna's party yesterday." He counters and Wanda presses her lips together as she goes to the kitchen, starting to sort the ingredients for lunch. "Pietro told me she left early."

"Yep." Wanda agrees a moment later. "It was my fault really. But it's okay now."

"I'd still like to meet her."

Wanda grumbles in agreement, washing some pots. Erik gets up from the armchair, walking over to the counter.

"There is something else I would like to talk to you about." He continues as he rests his hands on the marble. Wanda murmurs signaling that she is listening, but does not turn around. Her father sighs before speaking. "I need to get back home."

One of the pots slips from Wanda's hand, making a noise, but she catches it before it breaks. With a racing heart, she wipes the soap from her hands and the pot, and then dries her hands with a cloth, turning to look at her father as she rests her back against the sink.

"R-right." She agrees with tears in her eyes, but forces herself to smile. Erik looks at her with concern and guilt, but still stands firm as he says.

"Wanda, it's time." He says. "Charles misses me, I can't stay here forever."

"It's okay, papa." Wanda adds in a hoarse voice. She clears her throat lightly, trying not to despair at the thought of being home alone for the first time since Vis died. "I'll be fine."

Erik went around the countertop, moving closer to his daughter to place his hands on her shoulders.

"You can call me anytime you want." He says tenderly. "This is your home, Wan. You'll be able to make it. I'm sure."

Wanda nods, letting the tears flow. Her father hugs her next, and she responds, relaxing against his grip.

Erik breaks the embrace a moment later, smiling at his daughter before pulling away.

"I need to get things organized." He says. "When Pietro arrives with the boys, tell him I need a ride."

"You’re leaving today?" Wanda asks in surprise, and Erik sighs as he agrees. She swallows dryly, nodding frantically in assent.

Her father turns toward the second floor, and Wanda rests her hands on the countertop, taking a deep breath.

She tries not to be too anxious about the fact that starting tomorrow, when the kids go off to school, she will be all alone at home. Actually alone.

//-//

Reader’s Pov

Leaving your monthly appointment with Agatha, after spending an hour telling her about all the progress since you last saw her, you were quite hungry.

You hadn't spoken to Wanda since the day before, but when you thought about texting, you were surprised to realize that she had tried to call you while you were in therapy.

Dialing her number, you waited for her to answer.

"Hey, sorry, my cell phone was off." You say as soon as she says "Hello," slightly worried that it was important. "What did you want?"

" To see you." She says simply, and you ignore your quickened heartbeat. "I...I've been sitting in my car for ten minutes. I can't get into the house."

You frown at Wanda's tearful tone.

"What happened?"

"I just..." She starts half breathlessly. "My dad's not here. I dropped the kids off at school, and I don't...I don't want to be alone."

Your heart breaks for confession, and you shake your head.

"Wands, take a deep breath okay?." You ask her. "Send me your address."

"No, you don't have to..."

"Wanda." You interrupt with a short laugh. "I don't mind, really. Let me help you."

The woman on the other end of the line sighs heavily, and then thanks you. You smile when she hangs up and there is an address on the message app.

//-//

It takes about half an hour for you to arrive, and you walk slowly to the car parked outside, tapping the window lightly to attract Wanda's attention.

She is briefly startled, distracted by her cell phone, but smiles when she realizes it is you, then opens the door and steps out to hug you. You ignore the feeling of how good it is to have her against you as you respond.

"Everything okay?" You ask softly, and Wanda denies it with her head as soon as she lets go of you. You bite the inside of your cheek, unable to resist stroking her cheek for a moment before pushing your hand away.

"I can't get in." She confesses with water-filled eyes as she leans against the car. You sigh, standing next to her with your back to the metal. Her hand slips into yours, but neither of you say anything about it.

"Why not?"

Wanda is silent for a moment, and you imagine that she is not going to answer. But she does.

"Vis bought this house for me." She begins, and you resist the urge to wipe away the tear running down her cheek, imagining that your touch might intimidate her into shutting up. "I never...I never thought I would live in it without him."

"Is that why you asked your dad to move in with you?" you question.

"I think so." She murmurs. "I...I didn't want to be alone here. I mean...I have the boys. But they stay with Pietro so much, and there's school and karate, and music class. When Vis was alive, he worked from home, and I always had company." She explains. "Dad is retired so he’s always around, and he didn't mind staying. I don't think I've been alone here in eight months." Wanda sniffles softly, wiping away tears. "But his husband needed him to come back, and Charles is right to ask. Dad can't keep babysitting his grown daughter who can't put her life together."

"Don't talk like that." You interrupt by squeezing her hand lightly. Wanda shakes her head, running her hand through her hair and taking a deep breath. "Wanda?" You call out to her after a moment, and wait for her to look at you. "Do you want me to come in with you?"

She looks at your lips for a moment, but your head is elsewhere, so you just smile. Wanda nods in agreement.

After you help her get the groceries from the car, you wait behind her until she opens the door. Wanda takes a deep breath, and turns the handle.

Her house is very nice. Clean and organized, although the common characteristics of a house inhabited by children are visible. Wanda leaves a paper bag on the countertop and helps you with the one you are carrying, picking it up and placing it next to the other.

"So?" You ask with your hands in your pockets, looking intently at Wanda, who is trembling slightly as she puts away the items in the kitchen. "Wands?"

"I just..." She begins half impatiently. You don't get affected however, standing your ground. "I don't want you to leave."

You let out a short laugh, feeling your face heat up.

"But I need to go eventually." You say shrugging. "But while i'm here, why don't you show me around? I'll spend the afternoon with you until the boys arrive. But someday you'll need to do it alone."

"Like you moving back to your apartment?" She retorts bitterly and you blink in surprise, and Wanda is already assuming an apologetic expression, but you laugh and she looks at you with confusion.

"Ouch." You joke. " All right, smarty-pants. That was mean. But it's okay, I'm not mad." You assure her approaching as you take your hands out of your pockets to raise them to Wanda's shoulders. " Let's make a deal then?"

"What?"

"I'll keep you company at your place ." You say. "And you help me with my apartment?"

Wanda looks at you a moment, thoughtful. And then she smiles, nods, and circles her arms around you, burying her head in your neck. You don't mind that this hug lasts much longer than a hug between friends does.

//-//

You are laughing at a funny story from Wanda's college days when the front door opens and three small children come running in, throwing their shoes and backpacks on the floor. Pietro is surprised to see you too as he walks in and closes the door.

"Look who's here." He comments with a smile approaching to greet you. "How are you?"

"Good, Pietro." You reply gently. "And you?"

"Yeah, it’s all fine." He says looking at Wanda for a second. "Everything okay around here?"

Wanda bites her lip, looking away to the floor before speaking.

"She's keeping me company."

"Okay?"

"Because papa's not home." Wanda adds, and it takes a moment for Pietro to understand. He exchanges a look with you, but smiles, squeezing Wanda's shoulder for a moment before the boys join you all.

"Hello, who are you?" One of the boys asks, who hugs Wanda's right leg.

You bend down at his height, extending your hand.

"I'm your mommy's friend. You're Billy right?" You say and the boy looks quickly at his mother before shaking your hand. You shake very quickly and repeatedly without squeezing making him laugh as you tell him your name.

You turn your face to the other boy, hugging Wanda's other leg. "Good to see you again, Tommy. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you." He replies politely, making you laugh.

"Do I know her, daddy?" You heard Luna shyly ask Pietro next as she was hiding behind her cousin Tommy. Pietro smiled, nodding.

"Yes, dear, she was at your party don't you remember?"

"She helped Tommy with his headache didn't she daddy?"

Wanda frowned in confusion, but you didn't notice, your gaze on the child as you smiled. Pietro agreed again, and then Luna approached you.

"Do you want to be my friend?" She asked and you thought your heart was going to melt with such cuteness.

"Of course I do!" You replied excitedly, imitating the hand gesture you made with Billy, drawing a laugh from the girl.

"Let's take her to see our room!" Tommy suggested next, and you let out an exclamation of excitement to play with them. Exchanging a quick glance with the other two adults in the room, you let Tommy and Billy hold your hand and lead you upstairs, Luna following behind.

//-//

Non Reader’s Pov

As soon as the children were completely up the stairs, Pietro let out a giggle that attracted his sister's attention.

"What?" Wanda asked.

"Oh, nothing." He replied with a little smile. And only when he and Wanda were in the kitchen, intent on preparing lunch, did he add. "I like her."

"Shut up." Mumbled Wanda with reddened cheeks, understanding exactly what Pietro meant.

The man laughed again, walking over to stand next to his sister and chop some vegetables while she stirred the pots.

"I'll just say one more thing about it, and I promise I'll wait until you feel comfortable telling me." He says and seeing his sister's lack of response, he continues. "It's really good to see you smiling again. I'm glad you're moving on."

"Pietro..."

"Hey." The man interrupts his sister who looks clearly uncomfortable. He drops the knife he picked up to cut carrots and approaches her, holding her hands.

"There's nothing wrong with that." He says tenderly.

"Stop saying those things." Wanda asks releasing her hands to run her fingers through her hair, sighing as she leaned against the sink, breathing deeply. "I don't... I have the boys to take care of, I don't even have time to think about those kinds of things right now."

Pietro sighs, shaking his head.

"You know what, Wanda?" He begins. "Ever since we were kids, all you've done is take care of someone. You took care of babushka, and mamochka. You took care of me all my life, and then you got married and Vis joined the list too. Then came the twins." He said, and Wanda frowned, not understanding where the conversation was going, but Pietro's firm tone encouraged her not to interrupt. "When Vis died, you needed to breathe, and I really didn't mind helping you take care of the boys. But what about you. Wanda? If you're looking out for everyone else, who's looking out for you?"

"I..."

But Wanda doesn't know what to say. She opens and closes her mouth a few times, and Pietro sighs slightly, smiling to reassure his sister.

"You've been through hell the last few months, Wands." He adds. "There's nothing wrong with wanting some heaven."

"You're getting so cheesy, P." Wanda mumbles with flushed cheeks, causing Pietro to laugh lightly. The woman wiped a few tears from her face, and sniffled before shaking her head. "Come on, enough of this talk. The children must be starving."

"Yes, ma'am."

They prepare lunch in silence for a few moments. It is only when Pietro hands Wanda the cut vegetables to throw into the pot, that she remembers to ask about what happened at the party with Y/N and Tommy.

"Oh, she ran into him in the office." Pietro counters. "I think he was feeling sick again. I found them in the kitchen, eating some hot dogs. You were lucky to find a girl who does very well with children, eh?"

Wanda smiles with reddened cheeks, nudging her brother lightly with her shoulders as she mumbles at him to shut up.

//-//

Reader Pov’s

You sat on one of the twins' beds as they filled your lap with toys.

Doing your best to follow all the lines and get on with the fun, you pretended to drink imaginary tea when Tommy handed you a cup, and made a funny voice when Billy asked you to pretend to be a policewoman. Then Luna asked you to imitate a dragon and you spread your arms, running around the room behind the three of them.

Several minutes later, they got into a game of pretend play and forgot all about you, so you looked around at the posters, not sure if you should leave them alone.

Looking around, your gaze caught the pictures on the boys' dresser, and you smiled as you ran your fingers across the pictures.

You bit the inside of your cheek when you picked up one of the frames, the picture of the whole family in it.

"Careful not to break it." You heard Billy say out loud to you. From the tone, it sounded like something Wanda probably said to him a few times.

"I promise I won't break it." You assure him with a smile, turning your gaze to the photograph.

It is probably the picture of the day when the kids came back from the hospital. Wanda is holding one of them, and a tall, blond man is holding the other baby. They have contented smiles on their faces as they wave to whoever was taking the picture.

"Were you friends with dad too?" Tommy asked suddenly. You were slightly surprised to realize that he had stood up and was standing next to you.

"No, Tommy." You respond by stooping down to his height. "I didn't know your father."

"Did you know he died?" He asked next, shifting his gaze to the floor. You held your breath before letting go.

"Yes."

"Mom said that dying means you don't come home anymore." Tommy said and you felt your heart tighten.

"Yeah, honey."

"I miss daddy." Tommy confesses next, and you feel your own eyes fill with water at the scene. But not wanting to make him nervous, you swallow your emotion and smile weakly to calm him down.

"Yeah, I know you do." You tell him, extending your hand toward him for him to hold if he wants. When he accepts, you squeeze it lightly. "But the people we love never really leave us. When you think of your daddy, you feel a little pain in your chest don't you?" You ask and Tommy nods in agreement. "That's the part of your father in you. The love you feel for him stays inside your chest now. Before, you could spread that love with hugs and kisses and smiles. But now you have to keep it to yourself." You say tenderly, and Tommy seems to absorb your words. Billy and Luna are also listening to the conversation and look at you as they sit on the floor in front of a dollhouse. "Do you understand what I say?"

Tommy nods. "Yes, I'm already five."

You chuckle lightly at the quick response.

"I don't want to keep love in my chest." He grumbles. "I want daddy back."

You swallow dryly, watching the thick tears stream down the boy's face. Your gaze quickly catches Billy's, and he is crying, too.

"I'm sorry, kids." You say reaching out to wipe away the tears of the boy in front of you. "That's how death works. It's not fair, and it hurts. But that's what happens. But you all aren't alone, okay? You can always hug your mommy, and your aunt and uncle, and me too if it hurts too much.”

Tommy sniffles and throws his arms around you. You hug him back, hoping he will calm down. It doesn't take long before Luna and Billy join you.

You want to make them feel better, so you open your arms as wide as you can to squeeze them all together, and wait a few minutes before you make a noise with your mouth like a monster. And it works very well, because the next moment they are laughing.

You let them go so that they run, and you laugh as you chase them around the house. When Wanda yells from downstairs for them to come to lunch, you change direction so that they dash downstairs.

"No running on the stairs!" You quickly warn. "The monster catches those who run on the stairs. You need to go slowly."

The children exchange quick glances and then obey. You pretend to walk in slow motion so that they come down without hurrying. They run again as soon as they get down, making you laugh.

Downstairs, Wanda guides everyone to the kitchen table. You exchange a quick glance with her, putting your hands in your pockets.

"You're going to have lunch with us right?" Wanda asks with a smile. You bite your lip, thoughtfully. "Please say yes." She adds the request making you laugh lightly.

"But then I need to leave." You say with a raised finger in jest, Wanda smiles, nodding in understanding, and taking your hand to pull you into the kitchen.

Neither of you mind the look Pietro casts at your linked hands as Wanda leads you to the table.

//-//

Your week goes by very slowly.

At group therapy on Wednesday, Stephen brings games, and it is as much fun as any other time. Before you leave for lunch with Wanda, Stephen asks to speak with you both.

"I have some questions about your checklist." He says as the gymnasium empties out and you guys help him put the chairs away. "I noticed that you crossed out all the questions about grief." He begins, and you and Wanda exchange a look. "But of course it's okay, it's not a script to be followed really, it's just ideas to break the ice. And you guys are making progress, so as long as it's working for you, it's working for us."

"Stephen you are diverting from the subject." You grumble with your hands in your pockets, and the man laughs.

"Sorry." He says as he finishes folding the metal chairs in the corner of the gym. "I imagine you also realize that you have completed the vast majority of your monthly goals. With the exception of one."

You sigh, looking away. Stephen tries to smile to reassure you.

"I understand that this is difficult for you." He speaks again. "And you should also know that it's not mandatory, okay, but I would like you to try."

You swallow dryly, and it takes a moment, but you nod in agreement.

"I will." You say. "But I need time. I'm not going to drive off the first time."

"Don't worry about deadlines." He interrupts. "Find a way that works for you. Besides, you won't be doing this alone."

Stephen gives you both an encouraging look, and you take a deep breath trying not to overthink his request. When he nods in farewell, Wanda holds your hand and stands in front of you.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asks and you smile, running your gaze over her face.

"Only if you stay with me."

She smiles. "I will."

You both walk outside next.

//-//

During the following week, you set small goals with Wanda regarding her house.

Wanda is always home alone in the morning, because the kids go to school. And since you don't do anything at home, you come to spend the morning with her.

On the first day, you leave her house five minutes before the time she usually pick up the kids. You smile, hug Wanda goodbye, and tell her she can take being alone for five minutes. She catches up with you at the front door, shaking as she hugs your back. You don't have the heart to leave her alone after that, and you go with her to pick up the boys at school.

On the second day, you try again. Five minutes of solitude. Wanda is nervous as you walk out the door, but she doesn't follow you. You smile proudly as you leave.

On the third day, you leave ten minutes early. And then fifteen. Then twenty. By the third week, Wanda can be alone for hours. On week four, you don't come.

Wanda calls you, laughing and crying, saying that everything is all right. That she can breathe, and that she is not panicking anymore. And you also cry and laugh while telling her that you are proud of her.

You have started writing again by then.

Because you needed to find something to keep you busy while you were at her house and Wanda worked from home with the administration of the flower shop, and she didn't mind you bringing some books and your laptop to try to write something.

For the first few days you just watched television, occasionally chatting with Wanda when she came to ask if everything was okay and if you were comfortable before going back to her study room. But then you run your fingers through the photographs of the house and get an idea about a small story. It's brief, and simple, but it's sweet and the first thing you've written in a long time. Wanda loves it when you show it to her, and you laugh shyly when she puts the paper on the refrigerator door.

You call Darcy the second week you are helping Wanda. Your colleague is happy to hear that you are working again, and even happier to hear that you will accept the contract. It's a quick thing, and the timing is good, just what you need to get used to again. Wanda sets up a second desk in her office and you smile in appreciation, saying that she would get tired of your presence like this, but she assures you that that would never happen. You enjoy having her company while you write.

Soon you tell her that you are ready to try driving again. And Wanda sighs, saying that she is also ready to go back to the flower shop.

You agree that after she drops the kids off at school, she will pick you up at home with her car, and you will go to the flower shop together. And you can try to drive her car on the way back.

"Everything okay?" You ask Wanda when you arrive in front of the establishment. The flower shop is very nice, even from the outside you can tell. It is a small brown building, with many vases and floral decorations outside, and a sign at the entrance. You can see Monica at the counter through the glass but she is distracted by a customer and doesn't notice you two at the door.

"Yeah, I just...I just need a moment." Wanda clarifies looking at you quickly. She takes a deep breath, and then enters.

"Wanda!" Monica greets you two cheerfully as soon as the customer leaves, and you two approach her around the counter. The woman quickly hugs Wanda, who laughs lightly. "I am so happy to see you here again. And look at that, I think even the flowers have cheered up."

You smile at the interaction, letting your gaze wander around afterwards.

Flowers are not exactly something you know well, but you think they are very beautiful. And you absolutely love photographs of flower arrangements, and flowers in nature.

"And how are you, Y/N?" Monica asks loudly, attracting your attention. You take your eyes off the white flower in front of you to smile at her.

"I'm good, Monica." You reply. "It's good to see you again. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah." She says gently fiddling with some vases. Wanda disappears beyond the back doors, probably getting used to being around again. "It's been pretty quiet today, so I've had plenty of time to look around the web page."

You smile in understanding. You knew that Monica had an online store that she and Pietro ran, but you couldn't remember exactly what they sold, so you didn't comment on it. But you were glad to know that she was taking the time to check out the shop even though she was working at Wanda's flower store.

"Are you going to stick around today?" she asks next, and you put your hands in your pockets.

"I don't really know." You reply. "If Wanda stays then I'll stay."

Monica raises her eyebrows suggestively, impressed by your words. You feel your face heat up.

"B-because she's my ride." You clarify quickly, and Monica lets out a chuckle, turning to take a vase in her hands and move it around the place.

"Got it." She murmurs humorously.

Wanda joins you next, her purse was no longer with her, and you figured she was ready to work then.

"Mon, I'm going to stay in the back today, okay?" She says to Monica, who just nods encouragingly. Wanda looks at you hesitantly. "Is it okay if I leave you alone?"

You laugh lightly.

"Don't worry, Wands." You tell her. "I'm here for you. Do what you have to do."

"I'll keep you company, honey." Monica adds with amusement. Wanda laughs, glancing one last time at you before turning toward the office. You look at the other woman next. "Tell me, have you ever tended a garden before?"

//-//

You are washing the dirt from your hands when Wanda finishes. She was only inside the small office for at most three hours, much less than a normal workload, but you don't say anything and Monica doesn't care either.

After thanking Mon for teaching you how to grow a garden, you say goodbye to her with a kiss on the cheek, wishing her a good rest of her shift, and leave with Wanda from the flower shop. You were anxious because you are going to be in the driver's seat now.

Wanda left the car in the supermarket parking lot at the corner of the place, at this time the surroundings were relatively empty.

You two were standing facing the driver's door.

"Here we are." She said beside you. You took a deep breath.

"Here we are." You repeated her words.

Wanda slipped one of her arms around your waist, hugging you from the side, waiting for you to be ready to open the door. And it took a moment until you did.

As soon as you sat down in the driver's seat, Wanda turned around the car and got in, sitting next to you in the passenger seat.

Your heart was racing, and you were static. When you risked looking down, you had a flash of memories, and your breath hitched and your eyes filled with tears. Wanda noticed, and reached for your hand quickly. You sat there in silence for about forty minutes until you stopped crying.

"Sorry, I'm wasting your time." You muttered breathlessly, and Wanda shook her head, squeezing your hand and raising the other to make you look at her. She stroked your cheek tenderly as she spoke.

"Don't say that. I want to be here and help you." She whispers while wiping your tears with her thumb. "As you have done for me."

You sniffled, trying to smile a little. Wanda just looked at you as you closed your eyes, trying to normalize your breathing.

"Let's try again tomorrow, okay?" Wanda murmurs to you. You gasp slightly, agreeing.

Then you switched places, and Wanda drove you home. You mumbled a thank you, giving the woman a long kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car. You didn't notice how she squeezed the steering wheel and her face flushed when your lips touched her skin.

//-//