#so you will hear me complaining about that decision for the next month and about how i have to write the fic now

[hl-obsessed]

.

[rieamena]

three and five

ken sato—

wc: 1.6k contains: afab reader, smut, fluff, lots of kisses, petnames (reader uses fem!aligned ones), breeding kink, mating press, multiple positions, both you and kenji being whipped for each other, marriage of 8 years, you have kids together (6 year old twins), you call ken daddy once (im sorry) author's note: first smut was ken sato, second was billy kid, this time its ken sato again and i will say that what they say is true. the third time is really the charm. idk what possessed me while i was writing this but i wanna say a big thank you to whatever did nsfw ,, mdni

"oh, my beautiful wife~" kenji sings, plopping down next to you on the couch, head finding immediate comfort in your warm, plush thighs. this is how days spent without the kids usually went, your special set of twins spent the day (and night) at ami's, playing and complaining about homework with chiho, leaving you and your husband of eight years to unwind and spend some alone time together. "yes, my lovely husband?" a hand raked through his hair, massaging his scalp. ken lifted your unoccupied hand, pressing a kiss to it before using it to cover his eyes, the entire action painfully slow. from kenji's point of view, you're more than an angel on earth, you're his faith, his belief. words cannot express how grateful he is to you for choosing him—for staying with him— despite all the challenges

"i love you." three short words that held all the meaning in the world. your husband made it a habit to tell them to you everyday without fail. like that night five months after you moved in together when he was dealing with yet another kaiju attack. he rushed out of the house, powering up into ultraman, but he didn't forget to stop by the window where you watched on. how could he? ken pointed at himself, then formed a heart with his hands, before finally pointing at you. even though his body physically looked different, and you couldn't see his pretty, expressive face, you knew with every fiber in your body that he was grinning widely. or that time when he woke up at 11:58 pm and shook you awake for a minute to tell you that he loved you one more time just before the clock hit twelve. but despite all of that, all of those i love yous, this one felt different. "i love you so much." at this rate, you were starting to get suspicious. when you tried to remove your hand, ken held it against his eyes firmly

"are you crying, or just embarrassed?" "can you say it back." "i love you too, ken sato." "i love you more, mrs. sato."

kenji's face was now pressed against your stomach as you rubbed circles into his back. a series of mmphs were heard along with the vibrations of your tummy. "sweetheart, i can't hear you." "right," ken said as he pulled himself away, pecking your stomach goodbye, "i was just saying how i read an article that said three is a really good number. things that come in three are easier to remember," you felt ken's head rest between the crook of your neck and shoulder, and you habitually brought your hand to his hair. "and five is also a nice number," he continued, "it's nice to look at in terms of objects, and it's clear to see if something's missing, and—" "i have a feeling this is no longer about numbers." you cut him off, looking deeply into his eyes

"our babies could use another sibling, no? i'll go with whatever decision you make, angel. do you want another baby?" "maybe…" "can i… fill you up?" "always."

"i'm gonna give us another one," kenji mutters against the back of your thigh, his thin hands pushing them to your chest, "don't waste a drop, okay?" you nod your head feverishly, gasping when his length settled into your dripping cunt. "oh f-fuck…" he moans, not only gripping tightly onto your body but also to his sanity, "you-you're so good, 's been too long, baby." you and ken have barely been able to have sex for six years, dealing with the combined stress of two children. and the last time you two did try something, you both ended up passing out less than halfway through. "can't believe i forgot how good your dick is," you mewled, feeling like it was your first time with kenji all over again. at the sound of that, ken began to move his hips, sliding in and out of you painfully slowly. "i'll make sure that never happens again, doll." a few movements passed before you felt a liquid filling you up. "ken," your hand met his face, bringing it up to look at you, his eyes shrouded in embarrassment as he came so quickly, "the more times you cum inside, the better, okay?" sharp dark eyes met yours, and ken shook his head, breathily chuckling, "you're really something, y'know that?" the sudden snap of his hips against your thighs made your body jolt. his face flushed a slight pink, deepening intensely when he heard your moans and giggles of pleasure

god, he loved you. you and your cunt that never failed to suck him so good, those gummy walls that always squelched and spasmed at the right time, pleading for it to be painted white. his hand trailed to your sensitive clit, prodding it with his thumb, harshly rubbing circles into it. "w-wait—" you gasped, feeling his length leave and enter you with a newfound quickness. "kenj—ah! oh f-fuck, baby, i'm gonna—" your moans got obnoxiously loud as he pounded into you, cock getting impossibly harder as he listened to your sweet voice call out his name so lewdly. "gonna cum?" "mmm! feels s-so good. you're—mmm, yeah, just like that…, made for m-me, ken…" it was embarrassing how cute kenji found you, your brain used up all of its power to make coherent sentences just for it all to be about him and how good his cock made you feel. "this is also made for you." he breathed raggedly, moaning your name uncontrollably as he felt his seed escape his slit and settle into your welcoming walls. at the same moment, you clenched around him, sucking him in even tighter than before, legs shaking and chest heaving. kenji looked down at your state, rubbing hands over your body to bring you down. to ken, you're always the prettiest girl, especially at your post-orgasm state. "you're makin' it so hard to not destroy you right now." it was so light, ken could barely hear it: "please destroy me. make me carry more of your babies. kenji, breed me."

throwing one of your legs over his shoulder, kenji pulled out briefly, just to slap himself against your entrance and slide right back into you, dick already missing the warmth of being buried inside of you. one hand held your leg in place, the other was stationed at your waist, its grip so tight, it—amongst other places—would without a doubt be bruised by the morning. suckling on your chest, ken pulled and pushed out of you slowly, in order to not overstimulate you too much, but a single tear fell from your eyes and that was all he needed. "fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK KENJI—" your string of curses could be heard throughout the neighborhood. you've been pounded by ken before but never like this. it couldn't be called fucking, no, he was making love to you. he took your body into his like a carnal desire. his tip was hitting places you didn't even know you had, making tears well up in your eyes and fall seconds later

"stop that baby, i'm supposed to be the one pleasuring you." ken said in between soft kisses to your cheeks, forehead, and lips, moving the hand you snaked to your sensitive bud. lacing his fingers with yours, kenji felt his mind go blank, feeling your walls adjust to remember his dick. he was moving, not only because he wanted to but because he felt like he had to. if he stopped even for a second, he might go insane. "mmm-more, please, i nee-need m-more…," you squeezed his hand nearly at the same time your pussy clenched around him. "fuck, angel, ah–! 'm gonna, 'm gonna, 'm so close… please pleaseplease…" he begged for you, thighs shaking and spasming as he heard your voice say those sweet five words, "give it to me, daddy." ken's vision went white, matching your walls. as he reluctantly pulled out of you, he closed his eyes, relying on his sense of touch to soothe him. he felt all over your body, his touch like fire against your skin. nimble fingers teasing over your shoulders, then breasts, waist, hips, and thighs. he even lifted you up slightly to get a feel of your ass. a warm liquid dribbled out of your core and onto kenji's thigh, your mind was unbelievably hazy, barely registering how your own body betrayed you

"kennn, come back to me," you whined, caressing his bicep with your hand as if to coax him out of his trance, "it was jus' too much, i couldn't keep it all in. 'm sorry…"

"i told you not to waste any of it." ken spoke against the shell of your ear, "guess i'll just have to give you more then," his voice was cracking, and you could hear his small whimpers and moans escape as he talked to you, "how many more loads do you want, love?" his thick and veiny cock rested atop your tummy, deathly overstimulated yet begging for more. he wanted nothing more in that moment than to fully submit himself to you; he was yours and yours alone. weakly holding up a finger, you looked away embarrassedly causing your husband to laugh, "one? nah, i'll give you three. it's a special number, remember? our special number…" he pressed a deep kiss to your lips, thrusting back into you sharply, practically pushing his cum out of your fucked out pussy, long forgetting the sanity that he tried so hard to grasp onto

"get ready princess, we'll have another little one to take care of very soon."

divider by @/cafekitsune

ken sato taglist

@mochminnie @despacito-uwu16 @yellowheartz @ririkacchi @ifharbingerbad--whyhot 

@reit0o @heavenlyraindrops @lovingyeet @stickypaperstarlight @raee-dreeaaamz 

@rreasonablydumbb @bandolls @gingersnap126126 @automalvo @spiderboogie 

@shellspider @blogscach @nightingale047 @deadbydad @deadbydad-writes 

@phantomface @spencerrxids @moonjellyfishie @optimisticladysalad @tsumimimi 

@purplegobrrrrrr @sillybillyp9 @cyberpsiko @swaggyv1v1 @l-charl 

@miffysoo @aise-30 @bakugouswaif @rinaizha @goodomenslover20

@biderman-666 @jaowiwh-blog @lazulihrts @meloncreme @woahhajime

@theboredhooman @pr0bablyr0se @jinshikinoku @sxftiebee @your-left-sock 

@teyamswifeyy

[plus-i-miss-you]

I LOVED THE OREKOTO AND MIKOTO HEADCANONS AUUAU!!! If it's not a bother, could you pls write a prisoner gn!reader comforting mahiru, fuuta, mikoto and amane after t2? Sorry if this is too vague !!

Seeing them all tired and beat up made me miserable... they deserve a kiss on the forehead or smth

▷ listening to:

"but i still forgive you" (gn!reader)

⇆ㅤ ㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤㅤ↻ ılıılıılıılıılıılıㅤ

♪ note: HI HI ELI so sorry this request has been gathering dust in my inbox for more than a month.. i really wanted to write this but life be life-ing.. i really enjoyed writing this and i hope you enjoy reading this too! (also so sorry if i sound weird but i'm assuming you meant comforting them after t1? ^^'')

♪ summary: es may have done some.. pretty strange decisions and now not only the guard and the guilty prisoners, but everyone has to deal with it, including you. you can't help but feel bad for the guilty ones, and hopefully, you can offer them at least some kind of support.

♪ warnings: description of fuuta and mahiru being in pain because of their injuries, the reader character doesn't know about mikoto and john being a system, but still treats them as respectfully as possible, mentions of cults and religious trauma in amane's section. fuuta, mahiru and mikoto parts can be seen as both romantic and platonic, meanwhile amane's part is strictly platonic.

fuuta kajiyama.

♪ fuuta was.. in terrible condition, to say the least. his personality was so different from the fuuta you knew, too. sure, you've met him not so long ago, but seeing him act like this felt.. weird. you actually kinda missed the old fuuta, yes, he was kinda rude, loud and said things without thinking, but you'd prefer that than seeing fuuta in pain and not being able to say a word. you wish you could help him somehow, but.. what could you do? you doubt that convincing es to forgive him is possible..

♪ you tried to support him at least in an emotional way, even though you knew that might not work. it's highly possible he won't be able to see with his right eye ever again, of course, that's extremely traumatizing. he also got beat up by kotoko out of all prisoners, who actually seemed to be similar to him in a way. but you told him that if fuuta wanted to talk to you about anything, like complain about something or vent, he could always do that. fuuta found your kindness weird and even suspicious at first, but.. fine, he could use a friend in a situation like this. or at least a person who could hear him out.

♪ fuuta finds himself coming to you more often than he thought he would. it's not like he has that many people to talk to here anyway. he's grateful to kazui (even though he doesn't want to admit it), but.. he's not sure if there is anything he can talk to him about. haruka and muu are really close now, it honestly feels like haruka has forgotten about everyone else. oh, but surprisingly, fuuta's been getting along with amane lately- what do you mean, you "have a bad feeling about this", y/n?.. 

♪ you will never actually hear this from him, but you can feel that fuuta is glad to have someone like you here. he looks calmer with you around and if he can't open up to anyone else about something, at least he can open up to you. it's easier for him to fall asleep when you're next to him, so you may find him suddenly doing so with his head on your shoulder or your lap. just, uh.. be prepared for him to be really flustered when he wakes up and sees you.

mahiru shiina.

♪ she's honestly surprised that you want to spend time with her and help her feel better despite her being voted guilty. she immediately starts joking (or maybe half-joking?..) about falling in love with you because of your kindness and you just roll your eyes and ask if she's okay and if she's in any pain. you remind her to take her medications, you ask shidou for help if her condition gets worse and you help her move around with her wheelchair, so that she doesn't feel isolated from the rest of the prisoners. being in milgram is already isolating enough.

♪ you try to help her feel better by doing things that are small and simple to you, but very meaningful to her. you brush her hair, you paint her nails (even if you can only do so on one hand for now..), you tell her that she still looks beautiful, and every time you do that, it makes her smile. it's still different from that usual smile of hers, but it's a smile that shows even though she's still suffering, she appreciates you being around. 

♪ mahiru doesn't understand why you're still helping her. is this because you love her?.. ah, please forgive her, that's just her being her usual silly self. but still.. she wasn't forgiven, right? that means she was in the wrong.. but she doesn't understand what made es vote her guilty. all she did was love her boyfriend a lot, right? does that mean that her love itself is a sin?.. is she not allowed to love at all?.. you gently interrupt mahiru and say that you don't know why es refused to forgive her, but you personally don't think mahiru's love is a sin at all. in fact, it's a blessing.

♪ mahiru feels like the sun itself personified to you and you hope that she gets better soon, but you're also grateful for the opportunity to take care of her like this. she always gives so much love to everyone, you wonder how much she gets back. you softly pat her head while making sure it's not painful considering her injury and ask what she wants to do today, but it takes a while for mahiru to answer because of your words still ringing in her head, but in a good way.

amane momose.

♪ .. so why exactly es decided to vote a child guilty? you know you probably shouldn't say anything about the guard's decisions, but.. this just doesn't make any sense to you. just what did es see in amane's video? or maybe something happened during the interrogation? amane's behavior has changed a lot, but you don't blame her for it. of course she would start acting differently. she's a 12 year old who was voted guilty and almost got beaten up by kotoko, kotoko ending up not doing anything to her was honestly a miracle. of course she would be mad. she should be.

♪ you try to talk to her and she kinda ignores you at first. however, you're not as bad as shidou, so.. fine, maybe she can hang out with you a little bit. it's hard not to feel sorry for her though, because of how messy her hair is and how empty her eyes are. you try to cheer her up somehow, like maybe you can do something really cute with her hair or maybe you can cook something for her (while still respecting her dietary restrictions and not forcing her to eat something she's not allowed to).. amane finds your attempts to become closer with her strange, but.. maybe she could use some company.

♪ every time she mentions her "god" around you though, you try to change the topic. you like amane and you genuinely want this kid to get better, but you're not really feeling like becoming a part of a cult.. amane just sighs and says you'll understand it someday. sometimes you catch her mumbling something about being forgiven this time and es needing to make the correct judgement. you can't really help her much when it happens and you can't do anything other than say that es will definitely forgive her, but amane manages to turn even something simple as that into rambles about her god. you can't help but wonder what amane's life used to be like.

♪ you can't convince amane that her family wasn't as kind as she thinks they were. you can't convince her that the way she was raised was too cruel. you know she won't believe you. and you know you're not a therapist. but at least you can be her friend. at least you can gently guide her, while still giving her a choice, so that she feels more free. more free than she possibly ever was in her life. and even though amane never talks about it, she does appreciate it. she feels strangely warm when you're around. she wonders if it's okay to feel this way and if god would ever forgive her for that. 

mikoto kayano.

♪ you didn't know why mikoto suddenly started to act like this. you tried to get at least some information from others, including es, but nobody gave you a proper answer, even though you had a feeling like kotoko and es know what's going on. for some reason, this mikoto just didn't.. feel like mikoto to you. it's like it was.. different mikoto? no, that doesn't sound right. it felt like it was a completely different person. you couldn't prove it and when you tried to say it out loud, it sounded weird, but.. it felt like a correct answer to you. 

♪ when it felt like it was the mikoto you knew, you always made sure to tell him what's going on, what happened, basically all the information he needed. he always looked so lost and confused, you couldn't help but feel sorry for him. you assumed that it was probably because of the trauma related to being voted guilty. you actually couldn't understand es's decision at all. just why would they vote someone like mikoto guilty? was his video really that bad? it didn't feel like mikoto was pretending to be less smarter than he is. why would he even have to do that? you all are murderers here, there's no reason for him to try and trick anyone.

♪ when it felt like it was someone else, you still tried to treat him with kindness. you couldn't understand why everyone started to avoid this person so suddenly. yes, this person was.. quite different from mikoto, but.. maybe at least they could try to accept him? you actually found it surprising how quickly he calmed down after you showed him that you don't intend to hurt him or mikoto. maybe this was the only thing he needed: someone telling him that he's safe and that he's not in danger. or maybe it was something they both needed.

♪ both mikoto and this person seem to actually like you a lot.. well, it's not like they have much of a choice here, considering that other prisoners don't really want to spend time with them. but it looks like they don't mind it that much. yes, mikoto is definitely still worried about it and he doesn't seem to remember what happens when the other person is here, but the other guy doesn't really care about the other prisoners and the only thing that bothers him is how possibly dangerous they can be. and even though he still has his suspicions.. you don't seem that dangerous to him.

[look-at-the-soul]

Hi! I'm new to the Peaky fandom and am in need of some Tommy fics because he's my favourite character! If your requests are open, (if not, there's no rush!) may I pretty please have a drabble or imagine -- whatever is easier -- with this gif?

*A little spice is okay, just nothing explicit. Also, my pronouns are she/her, but a gender neutral story is totally okay, too! :)

Thank you in advance!

Hello Jessyca! 🥰 Thank you so much for sending this gif!! I decided to make it part of Adele challenge using one of my favorite songs! (Lyrics in italics) 🔥🥰 edit and welcome to the fandom!! 🥰 I forgot to reply this sorry! I hope so far you’ve found incredible stories and lovely mutuals around (I’m always reblogging stories I really enjoy reading 💖)

🔥🔥🔥although the gif is extra hot, you’ll find nothing but fluffiness in this little story…

Women like me

By the corner of your eye, you found Mr. Shelby trying to catch his breath. Resting on his back against the pillows, he was looking at the ceiling completely lost in his own thoughts, his thumb rubbing absently between his brows.

You're driving me away, give me a reason to stay

I want to be lost in you, but not in this way

Don't think you quite understand who you have on your hands

How can you not see just how good for you I am?

In silence you started the same routine you knew by heart now; get up, get dressed and sneak out of his bedroom in silence, head down.

Ah, yes you were almost forgetting about his generous payment in between.

I know that you've been hurt before, that's why you feel so insecure

I begged you to let me in, 'cause I only want to be the cure

You could still feel his seed dripping down your legs, but tried to pick up your clothes scattered on the floor as gracefully as you could to get dress in the corner.

You’d been serving him for several months now, rumor has it Lizzie Stark wasn’t his mistress anymore because she got pregnant, so that was your job now; being Thomas Shelby’s whore.

Complacency is the worst trait to have, are you crazy?

You ain't never had, ain't never had a woman like me

But tonight there was something different, out of place. Mr. Shelby was still in the same position, his chest was now moving at a more normal pace. Looking at the floor, you felt embarrassed to ask for the money so you decided to pretend to fix your hair to see if he got the hint.

But he didn’t.

So after he longest seconds of your life, you decided to walk out without anything, feeling disappointed because you really needed to money to support your family. Perhaps he’d pay you double the next time, you thought to yourself but as you reached the door, his voice stopped you.

All you do is complain about decisions you make

“Y/N…” Your mouth hang open, surprised to hear him say your name.

“Is there a chance for you to stay all night?”

“I-I don’t know Mr. Shelby.” You stammered nervously, the instructions were clear; let him do whatever he wants, pick up your stuff and leave.

“You can call me Tommy… is there somewhere you need to go?”

Your eyes found his briefly, but you instantly dragged them down. “No, it’s just I’m not supposed to stay for the night.” You answered in a low voice.

“Why not?”

Feeling more embarrassed than ever, you didn’t want to point out the obvious, but as his intense blue eyes stared at you, you didn’t have another choice.

“Sir-Tommy,” you corrected yourself, “I’m just a whore.”

We come from the same place, but you will never give it up

It's where they make you feel powerful

That's why you think I make you feel small

But that's your projection, it's not my rejection

You knew that’s what you were, anyone could tell without even knowing you. But calling yourself that, hit you differently.

“Come here,” he extended his hand at you, and you didn’t have any other choice but take it and climb into bed again. “How long have you been coming here?”

“Six months.”

I put my heart on the line for the very first time

Because you asked me to, and now you've gone and changed your mind

But loving you was a breakthrough

You saw his head moving up and down slowly, but he was still oddly quiet.

He was still trying to organize the thoughts inside his mind as he saw you absently picking on your stockings. How could he put into words the way he felt about you?

“Y/N over the last couple of months, you’ve been the only one willing to spend some time with me, when everyone else finds an excuse to walk out the door, you’ve been the constant of my days, or nights for the matter.”

I saw what my heart can really do

Now some other man will get the love I have for you

'Cause you don't care, oh-oh-oh

Was he going to ask you to stop coming every night? You couldn’t speak, terrified of saying something that would piss him off. You had fallen for him secretly, blame it to the intimacy, the frequent late night calls, the way please took over him, but you did and deep down you knew it was all wrong.

“You’re not like the others, you don’t take and leave. You fill my glass with whiskey before you go or you pick up my clothes and fold them… you’ve listened to all my shit without judging me.”

Confused, you gave him a long look. “Tommy, what are you try-”

“I’ve feelings for you, Y/N.”

“That can’t be true, I’m a whore… men like you don’t fall in love with women like me.”

Consistency is the gift to give for free, and it is key

To ever keep, to ever keep a woman like me

“Women like you?” He was suddenly kneeling in bed in front of you, his hands cupping your cheeks. “Who says that?”

“Everybody knows that.”

This was just a fantasy, a dream. You were worthless, the worst of the worst.

“Just so you to know, I’m not so different than you… we just sell different parts of ourselves, Y/N.”

His eyes fixed on you, his intense gaze penetrating every layer, tearing down every single wall. And as he realized your guard was coming down, he pulled you in for a kiss, breaking the only rule you set when you first walked into his bedroom; no kissing.

That first kiss felt totally different to anything you’ve experienced until now, because men usually take what they want and leave right away, but Tommy took his time to explore your lips, the way they molded to his, tentatively, switching his pace and tilting his head from time to time as if he didn’t want to leave a single spot unattended.

He broke apart allowing you to take a deep breath, your head was spinning.

“Beneath, there’s a good woman, I just know it.” His knuckles carefully caressed your chin. You wanted to believe him, but you had been used in the past you no longer knew who you were.

He saw the hesitation in your eyes, so he took your hand and placed it over his heart. “Y/N I’m not going to hurt you, I genuinely fell for you, for he woman you are, for the little things I know about you… for the way you allowed me to be myself when the door is closed.”

He had been fighting it for so long, but with you he was allowed to strip down not only from his clothes, but from the heartless cold bastard he had to be in front of everyone else.

“Will you give me the chance?”

Looking down you fought against the lump that formed in your throat. “But how will you deal with my past and all the burden I’ve?”

“I’m not going to erase it, just like you can’t delete mine,” his fingers sunk in your disheveled curls, “but we can look forward and take it from there, together.”

As a single tear slid through your cheek, his thumb came to wipe it away, right before he crashed his lips once more and you believed him with all your heart because deep down you knew he was right.

A woman like you wasn’t so different than a man like him.

***

Master list

A/N: I’ve had this idea for a while now, guess it was time to post it, and I apologize because although I absolutely adore the concept I have been feeling a bit down and I’m not sure I was able to portray what I intended to…

Like always I’m so grateful if you decide to share your thoughts x

Tag list: @lyarr24 @runnning-outof-time @cillmequick @datewithgianni @cloudofdisney @gretelshelby @gypsy-girl-08 @lespendy @onlydeadcells @fastfan @stevie75 @rangerelik @prettylittlehoneyeyesxoxo @esposadomd @forbidden-forest-witch @ange-thoughts @moral-terpitude @elenavampire21 @forgottenpeakywriter @thenattitude @winchestergirl22 @zablife @heidimoreton @imichelle-l-rigby @allie131313 @already-broken144 @peakyscillian @babaohhhriley @mrkdvidal1989 @shelbydelrey @shaddixlife @sloanexx @sydneyyyya (can’t tag) @adaydreamaway08 @pono-pura-vida @thomashelbyswife @darleneslane @everythingelseisextra @kmc1989

[a-case-of-attachment]

Lucifer Morningstar / reader

Warnings: religious references, alcohol, stupid drunk decisions, hallucinations?, slight horror elements, questionable friends, no use of y/n, also don't sell your soul kids!

A/N: this is just a one shot, at least its supposed to be. I just liked the idea and it wouldn't leave me alone so here you go! Have my weird little story gremlin

It’s a relatively normal night when you sell your soul to the devil. Or at least it had started out that way. Admittedly it had been an accident and a drunken one at that. You hadn’t really expected anything to come from your friends stupid dare but it seemed the old and tatted book she had found in the back of a junk store had been the real deal and you were the one now paying the price for her curiosity. Quite literally it would seem. 

On the last Friday of every month your normally quiet and relaxing apartment suddenly became the place to be, the small space crammed full of people and so noisy you could barely hear yourself think. Well, crammed might have been a slight exaggeration. There were six of you in total, somehow managing to fit on your small couch and armchair and not feeling like there wasn’t any room to move. Though there was only six of you they were loud though, their voices getting louder with every new bottle of wine that was opened and leaving you convinced this would be the one where Mrs Crouch from downstairs finally logged a noise complaint with the police like she was always threatening to do. You couldn’t really bring yourself to care too much about old Mrs Crouch from 3B though, four glasses in and having too much of a good time for it to be an issue. 

It was somewhere after the XXXL pizza had been demolished and the fourth bottle of wine had been opened that a game of truth and dare had been suddenly suggested. It had been meet with a mix of groans and cheers, you very much not wanting to take part after the last time it had been suggested. You had gotten so drunk that you could hardly remember what had happened that night and as a result had spent most of the next day hugging the toilet and feeling sorry for yourself. You were just tipsy enough that it hadn’t taken much to convince you to play the childish game and soon enough the empty wine bottle had been set on the middle of the table and spinning towards its first victim. 

It had all been standard stuff to start with, like run to the end of the hall and back naked, who did you actually make out with at your work’s Christmas party and down the pickle juice out of the jar. Childish and innocent enough that had all of you laughing and your neighbours shouting at you to “shut the hell up!” Well, it had been until it had gotten to your turn and then tings suddenly took a turn for the weird. 

You weren’t religious, hadn’t been since your dad had run off either his secretary when you were a teenager. You had been though, and your mother still was, often calling up on a Sunday afternoon to complain that you had gone yet another week without going to church and that you were opening yourself up to the devil’s influence, starting with “those so called friends of yours. Mark my words their satanists, the lot of them and your letting them corrupt your soul. If you don’t repent soon, you’re going to end up in hell. Is that what you want, eternal damnation and suffering?” It reminded you of your childhood, listening to your local preacher damning all of humanity at bible study and the church run groups you had been forced to attend. 

Your friends knew about you strict bible filled upbringing and it was often a point of their teasing so it shouldn’t have surprised you that when you picked dare they had managed to include it somehow though you would never have expected it to go the way it had. You had out right laughed when they had dared you to sell your soul to the devil, mockingly saying “oh please Mr Devil Sir, take my soul in exchange for another bottle of wine,” to a chorus of laughs from the rest of your friends and loud agreement as you clinked your mostly empty glasses together. It hadn’t stayed funny for long though, especially not when an old and tattered book had been pulled out from a long forgotten bag, the thing smelling musty and slightly like rotten eggs with an aura about it that had the hairs on the back of your neck standing up and goosebumps covering your arms. 

No, you weren’t religious, but you did find the whole thing weird as the ritual was explained to you, your friends seeming uncomfortably eggar and already having some of the odder things the ritual called for. It seemed to much like it had been planned, no one questioning it as animal bones and weird herbs you had never heard of were pulled out of the same bag as the book like it was normal to carry them around. It left you feeling nervous, like you were breaking some sort of taboo that never should have been spoken about let alone acted upon. It hadn’t bothered anyone else as much as it had you, but you supposed that was the whole point of them giving it to you as a dare. It was just a bit of fun for them, a chance to make fun you because you used to go to church every Sunday and were still a little reluctant to take the lords name in vain.

You had said no to start with, instead opting for the forfeit because having to take a shot of the weird sludgy grey concoction you had all had a hand in making seemed better than messing around with the occult. The problem was that you had always been a bit naive, your upbringing leaving you isolated and lacking the knowledge that others your age had from just every day life. You had always felt like you were at a disadvantage and as a result you were eager to fit in, not wanting to seem like a prude or killjoy. The alcohol didn’t help, lowering your inhibitions and it hadn’t taken much teasing and cajoling from your friends to change your mind, snatching up the book and demanding to know what you needed to do whilst trying to keep your hands from shaking. 

It had taken all of ten minutes to get everything set up, your poor wooden floor now supporting a pentagram with a weird array of symbols drawn in sharpie around it and every candle you owned now placed at every point of the pentagram. You had just a handful of seconds to worry about what your land lord would say if you couldn’t get the pen off the floor before your attention was drawn elsewhere, the clatter of someone rummaging through your kitchen cupboards to worrisome to ignore. 

When everything was in place, and everyone sat around the drawn circle the nerves had come back tenfold. It must have been obvious how reluctant you were as the mix of herbs and various animal bones were thrown into one of your pasta bowls, along with a couple of odd looking things that you had no clue what they actually were. No one seemed to notice though, your friends laughing and joking as they passed around another bottle of wine. You had declined a glass when offered, suddenly feeling sick. Your mother’s words chose that moment to come back to you, her sharp angry insistence that your friends were damning you to Hell apparently now a fact. She was going to be so angry if she ever found out you messed around with this stuff, even as a joke.

Only one of your friends had seemed to notice your sudden queasy state, sitting down next to you on the floor and reassuring you that it was “all a bit of fun, yeah? It’s not like any of this stuff is actually real. Trust me, the only thing that’s going to happen is a whole bunch of nothing.” That had gone some way to easing your worry. Not that you believe in that sort of stuff because let’s be real, angels? Demons? A fiery pit of damnation or an eternal paradise of peace and happiness? It was all just made-up nonsense to scare people into doing the ‘right thing’ whatever that was and it was way more likely you were just a jumbled mess of atoms and electrons that returned to the either when all was said and done. Right?

Slight religious panic aside it took all of five minutes before you were butchering your way through several verses of Latin, your hands trembling slightly as you tried to keep your voice from doing the same. The pin came next, a simple pricking of your finger and a few drops of blood squeezed out, falling into the bowl that had been placed in the middle of the circle. You can’t help but be slightly fascinated by it, swearing you can hear each drop splashing as it hit the strange assortment of things already in there. A ridiculous notion but you would aware it to be true, each little drop followed by a gentle sizzle like it was hit red hot coals instead of bone and dried herbs. 

Soon enough all that was left was for you to decide what it was you were going to ask for in exchange for your soul. It wasn’t real, you knew that, but you still hesitated, your pen hovering over the scrap bit of paper you were supposed to write it down on. Your friends had their own ideas, telling you to ask for a box or skittles or for the cutie from your local grocery store to ask you out on a date. They even suggested asking for money, enough that you would never have to worry about the cost of anything ever again. It was all frivolous things, nothing of any real value and even though it was just a game your couldn’t bring yourself to write down any of it, knowing a souls worth was more than a few material possessions. Instead, you had written something down that seemed impossible to you, something the devil would surely turn down if he was real. It was just as stupid and childish as the other’s suggestions but that hadn’t stopped you from writing down ‘to be happy’ before folding it up and setting the paper alight before anyone else could read it. 

The burning paper had set whatever else was inside the bowl aflame, a dense white smoke curling up from the pot and smelling a lot like those new age shops that burnt incense like it was going out of fashion. The room fell silent, everyone watching the pot and seemingly holding their breath as they waited for something to happen. The flames of the candles flickered, like a gentle breeze had blown across the room and then…nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing changed and whatever weird spell that had fallen over the room broke, a couple of people bursting out into laughter about how serious everyone had been, already getting up and going after another bottle of wine whilst they teased one another. Not you though, you stay where you were, back straight and eyes wide as your heart thundered away in your chest. 

Had it been nothing though? You could have sworn that as the candles had flickered you had felt a presence at your back, large and ominous as it pressed up against you. Like it intended to devour you whole. Something that had felt suspiciously like fingers had wrapped around your neck and wrists, long and burning hot like coals as their grip grew impossibly tight, your breath catching as your body stilled in fear. And then came the voice, carried on the strange breeze that had blown through your home and somehow sounding both light and musical yet somehow solemn as it had whispered “deal” into your ear, it’s hot breath causing shivers to run down your spine. It had only been a second, a fleeting moment but it left you shaken, the feeling like you had made a grave mistake washing over you. It wasn’t real, you knew it wasn’t. Heaven and Hell, angels and demons, they didn’t exist. It was just a mix of your upbringing and over active imagination playing tricks on you. It had all been in your head, no one else seemingly noticing anything. You were just being silly, that’s all it was. 

It didn’t take long after your little make believe ritual for the others to leave, all of them suddenly tired or having plans in the morning. You didn’t really care, for once glad that they were leaving earlier than planned so you could get yourself to bed and forget this night had ever existed. No one offered to help tidy up, but they never did, almost always just leaving everything where it was. Maybe if you were lucky a glass or two would make it into the kitchen but you didn’t hold out much hope. 

Once alone though that uneasy feeling started to creep up on you again and despite your best efforts you found yourself staring down at the pentagram like you expected a portal to open up and some demonic beast to pop up and drag you kicking and screaming down to Hell. The room seemed to get hotter, a weight settling around your neck and wrists, almost like you wearing a choker and bangles made of metal. The lights began to flicker, one after the other as the room filled with the crackle of electricity. Suddenly all the shadows seemed darker, more sinister, like they were crawling up the walls and spreading across the floor to get to you, their inky black tendrils looking far to much like claw tipped finger as they reach out for you. Your heart rate picked up, back pressed firmly against the door as your hand blindly searched for the handle. “Not real, not real, not real,” you chanted to yourself, eyes squeezing shut as your fingers brushed against the lock. 

The loud slam of a door had your eyes flying open, a startled panic filled cry falling from your lips as you stumbled backwards, the door handle digging painfully into your back. Your fear filled mind struggled to keep up with what you were seeing or in this case the lack of what you could see. The room beyond looked just like normal, no creeping shadows or ominous presences to be found, the lights on and filling the space with a warm and inviting glow. Of course there was nothing there. It wasn’t real, none of it was. You just needed to sleep off the worst of the hangover you were most likely going to have and move on with your life. Chalk all this up to Catholic guilt and be done e with it. 

Feeling embarrassed and stupid you pushed away from the door and started the arduous task of clearing away the mess that had been left strewn around your apartment, knowing that you wouldn’t have time to do it in the morning despite how badly you just wanted to forget it and collapse into bed. You avoided the satanic mess on your floor though, the heavy feeling around your neck and wrists getting worse the closer to it you got. That you wouldn’t leave till the next day when you would be better equipped mentally for trying to get the sharpie off the floor. If it would come off that is. If not, you would have no choice but to spend the last of your spare money on a rug to cover it up and hope your landlord didn’t want to look under it on your next inspection. 

Feeling drained you finally started on your normal nightly routine. Though you checked the windows and doors were locked twice tonight, your paranoia getting the best of you. You would normally leave your bedroom door open as well but tonight you closed it, not wanting to see the shadows that lurked beyond. Slipping under the covers had felt like sweet relief, whatever fear and worry you had been carrying around all evening vanishing as you snuggled down into your pillows. It didn’t take long for you to fall asleep, the late hour and alcohol you had consumed finally taking its toll on you. 

Somewhen in the early hours of the morning though the quiet and stillness of your home ended. The small bowl still in the middle of the pentagram began to smoke again, the candles that remained half melted at the points relighting all on their own. The red flames flickered and danced, casting long shadows that shifted and pulled together creating the silhouette of a man, with a cane and top hat. Silently the shadow moved through your apartment, your bedroom door silently opening with just a wave of its cane. You were so deeply asleep that you didn’t even stir as your bed dipped slightly under a new weight. You sighed softly as a clawed back hand gently brushed across your cheek, its sharp thumb nail dangerously close to your closed eye. The hand trailed down, nails not even pressing hard enough to leave behind so much as a red mark. They stilled at your neck, thumb brushing against the hollow of your neck. There came a glimmer of gold, a large decorative collar appearing around your neck, decorated with snakes and a large red apple at the front, a matching golden chain hanging from a loop at the front and leading straight into the shadows hand. 

From within the shadow came the same disembodied voice from before, soft and slightly forlorn as it whispered “happiness huh? I hope that’s possible, for both our sakes.” Unaware of what lurked over you, you slept on peacefully, blissfully ignorant of the fact that you had been wrong and now, because of a stupid drunken game you were bound for all eternity to the Devil himself, no longer the one in possession of your soul. 

[belli5]

No one noticed — Chunkz

Pairing: Chunkz x f!reader

Warnings: toxic relationship, crying, break up etc.. based on this request. Please reach out to someone, if you’re in a toxic relationship. this is short :(

Summary: in which, y/n breaks up with her bf and Chunkz is there to comfort her.

A/n: i chanced it up a bit, where reader breaks up with her bf because ain’t nobody breaking up with her first 😛

Masterlist

It was finally over. You finally broke up with your boyfriend, the one you went to the same high school with and after graduation you both met again and started talking.

But lately, these past few months he would constantly tell you how you’ve changed since you became famous after graduating, your both arguing it became an daily routine. There was no day you two wouldn’t argue. He’d always complain how you would spend more time with the beta squad, than him, but he had met them so you didn’t see the problem.

It hurts. There’s more to me than just spending time with them, like I think I spend a lot of time with Jay, if I’m honest..

You tried telling him that you enjoy spending your time with them and you can’t just drop your friends for him and if he thinks you’re gonna do that because he doesn’t like it, then he was wrong.

If there was no trust in your relationship, you don’t see the relationship going anywhere.

It obviously wasn’t the best feeling to go through, especially when you have known him since school times, you didn’t wanna tell anyone right now that you had broken up.

All you wanted to do was sit in your room, alone and cry, even though right now it doesn’t feel like the right decision to break up, but you know later you will thank yourself for it. You wouldn’t have to hear him complaining about everything that made you happy.

Hearing your doorbell ring wasn’t what you wanted or needed right now, going to the door and opening seeing Chunkz was last thing you expected.

Chunkz seeing you cry, it broke his heart seeing his best friend crying about something. “What happened?” Chunkz asked, as you let him in obviously.

You sat both down on the couch next to each other, you didn’t know if you wanted to talk about it right now, but you knew if you told someone, your heart wouldn’t feel so heavy.

Chunkz didn’t push it, he patiently waited for you to talk, he knew you’d talk about it once you’re ready. But he wondered what made you hurt so much? Even though it was yourself who did it..

“Today..” you began, leaning your head on his shoulder. “I broke up with my boyfriend.” Your tears falling and wetting his shirt.

Chunkz was surprised when you said that, but he didn’t say anything, he just put his arm around your shoulder for comfort.

“I just couldn’t deal with the daily arguments..” You said, trying to wipe your tears away “and not to mention, he’d always have something to say about me hanging out with you guys..”

You thought everything just sucked.. Chunkz noticed how your mood would change anytime you were on the phone with him or even just texting.

“It gonna be ok.” Chunkz tried to comfort you, even if it may not help right now, but he knew later you’d be way happier than before when you were with him.

“I noticed.” Chunkz says, “You deserve to be with someone who wouldn’t act that way. Your future husband, wouldn’t tell you with who you can hang out or can’t.” After he said, he realised maybe that wasn’t what you needed to hear right now, but still you would have to realise it in one way or another.

“I don’t want a relationship,” you cried, “I don’t think I want anything right now..”

“That’s fine.” He said, “But one day you will realise, that there’s things already right infront of you.” You didn’t know what he meant by that, but maybe he was right, whatever that meant.

You pulled yourself up from Chunkz, sitting straight up to face him, Chunkz wiped your tears from your cheeks and the ones that were right under your eyes.

“Look, I don’t want you to cry over some prick who doesn’t know how to treat a woman.” Chunkz said as you laughed at the name he called your ex. Chunkz smiled when he got a laugh out of you “and out there, there’s someone waiting for him, someone who is just like him.”

“Thank you.” You said, you truly were thankful “I didn’t know I needed shoulder to cry on till you got here.” The tears now were starting to dry on your skin, but still tearing a bit up at the thought, but you could hold them back.

“Of course.” He smiled at you.

“I just feel like I’m so stupid.. I should’ve known from the start” you say, fidgeting with your hands

“No you’re not” Chunkz said, not wanting you to feel that way “you just didn’t know.”

You went in for a hug, a hug you needed from someone. “Thank you for noticing everything.” You said.

“Hm?” Chunkz said, not hearing you the first time.

“No one noticed, but you.” You repeated yourself.

[satansamwriting]

hi! saw your post from yesterday and im fairly new to ur blog :) can i ask for headcanons for kung lao and liu kang with a gender neutral reader who gets a lot of bug bites?? like in the summer they get bit a lot and it annoys them

HC Kung Lao and Liu Kang with a gn s/o who keeps getting bug bites.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

HI! I wasn't expecting someone to ask me that quickly. I'm farely new to writing headcanons so I tried my best and I hope you enjoy it as much as I had fun writing it.

Kung Lao

This man would find your "suffering" entertaining.

Like you two would be training together and suddenly the urge to scratch your bug bites would distract you enough to stop the fight and he'd be there watching you curse summer and all the bugs on Earthrealm with a grin.

Bug doesn’t seem to bite him and it annoys you. 

Amazed by how many bug bites you get

"(Y/N), the bug charmer"

Enjoy hearing your creative swearing as you discover new bites. 

It gets to a point where you discover bites in odd places like in the palm of your hand or in between your toes. He tries his best not to laugh as you complain about them.

Eventually, Kung Lao would take pity on you, seeing how much it bothers you and would try to find ways to help. 

Kung Lao  asked around the temple for anything that could help with (y/n)'s bug problems. It took some time, even after asking Liu and Lord Raiden, before finding someone that could help. A small bottle of diluted citronella oil in hand, he thanked the monk before making his way back to (y/n). He finds them sitting on the training ground currently trying to fight off the bugs that surrounded them.  “Here, this should help.” Taking a seat next to them, he pries open the bottle and poured a small amount in the palm of his hand.  “ I think my last option is to ask Grandmaster Liang if I could live at his temple during summer. At least bugs would leave me alone.” Rubbing the oil on the several bites covering their body, Kung Lao tries to hide his grin.  “ And leave me here all alone for months?” Satisfied with his job, Kung Lao closed the bottle, pocketing it in case they would need it again. His grin never left his face as he looked at them. (Y/n) seemed to be weighing the options in their head. Signing as if they made the most difficult decision in their life (y/n) stood up and stretched.

“Oh the sacrifices I make for you.”

Kung Lao couldn’t help but laugh as he took  (y/n) extended hands.

Liu Kang

Similar to Kung Lao, this boy doesn’t get bug bites. 

Although, he is more sympathetic toward you whenever you get new bites or complain about the itch. 

Would start to worry if the bites become more apparent on your skin.

Liu Kang is curious to know why, despite the both of you being outside together, the bugs only bite you

Even though he himself doesn’t get bitten , he knows you shouldn’t scratch them. And so, he tries to keep your mind off the bites by training with you.

Secretly finds it entertaining as long as it doesn’t get worse.

Asks around the temple for any advice on how to appease your itch 

It  was a warm day at the temple. Liu Kang and (y/n) were meditating, hiding in the shade to avoid getting sunburn. The meditation was going smoothly until Liu Kang's concentration was broken by a loud smack. Opening his eyes, he turned toward (y/n), who was trying their best not to scratch the newest bite. Liu Kang could see how annoyed they were and, with a soft smile, decided to help with their discomfort.  “Wait here.” The chosen one left his partner for a short while, knowing full well that they would take this opportunity to scratch the bite. He came back soon after with a small bowl filled with cold water and a towel in hand.  “I heard cold water help ease the itching sensation.” Wetting the towel, Liu Kang gently wrapped it around the bite and watched as they smiled in relief. “ Thanks, it does help a bit.”  Too distracted now to continue their meditation Liu Kang and (y/n) spent the rest of the time enjoying the warmth of the day sitting in the shade. Whenever the itching sensation got too intense again, (y/n) would simply remove the towel and wet it again. If the water in the bowl became lukewarm, Liu Kang would stand up and change it for cold water. When other bites started to show up, Liu Kang searched for ways to repel the bugs. One of the monks, who overheard him talk about the problem to Kung Lao, offered him straws of lavender. Thanking the monk, Liu Kang left his friend to find his partner. (Y/n) was scratching at one of the bites when he arrived. The smell of lavender slowly filled the air around them.  “I told you not to scratch yourself while I'm gone.” Placing the flowers in between them, Liu Kang took hold of (y/n) hands in order to prevent them from worsening the bite.  “In my defence,you were back when I started to.” Smiling, Liu Kang kept holding their hands as the two of them continued their conversation.  Despite how annoying it was to get bug bites all summer long, (y/n) enjoyed the care Liu Kang gave them. 

[trash-king18]

M pt. 3

notes: no smut in these next few ones, there’s a build up loves but i promise more will come

cw: drinking, being drunk, overprotective miguel, soft miguel, arguing as always

————

it had been a few weeks since you’d talked to him. he was away on mission after mission. and he had to use an emergency injection on one so he didn’t need an infusion. the shots were highly concentrated and mainly to help him come down off of kill highs on high stakes missions. the more concentrated solution usually stayed in his system for up to month. they also caused some nasty side effects you were still trying to work out. 

you only knew he had used one from Lyla, since Miguel evidently refused to allow himself a single second of free time. He hadn’t even stepped foot in this dimension in days. Even though he knew he was supposed to let you do an evaluation and monitor symptoms after the shots. 

Peter B, Spider woman and Hobie had returned from their last mission and had all elected to go out for a drink, the other kids were there too but they were all underage. As much as they complained, you never let them come with. “go out” was sort of a loose term here there wasn’t a bar in HQ the only alcohol was whatever spiders smuggled in from other earths. But occasionally you guys liked to pop over to the closest universe and play music loud and have a couple drinks, play pool. just pretend to be normal. Spider woman was designated portal operator, of course, with a baby on the way. 

But this time you had more on your mind than normal. The anniversary of the incident was coming up and the situation with Miguel was increasingly frustrating. So this time, you may have gotten a bit drunker than normal. Hobie had left early to go help the other kids with babysitting Mayday. A few hours later when the three of you went back to HQ, they had to essentially carry you. You were giddy and off balance so you didn’t notice why they had stopped walking. a voice booms from up ahead. 

“you three, my office. now.”

shit

Peter helped sit you down in a chair once you got there, and you slumped over. 

“WHAT were you thinking”

Spider woman speaks first “alright o’hara you can scold the others like children if you want but we’re adults making adult decisions so talk to us as such” 

Peter props himself on her shoulder for support and offers up a slurred “yea” 

“If you want to get drunk that’s your prerogative, but i expect you do that in your own universe when you are ~off~ duty” 

Peter “cmon man you’re no fun”

“you— no nothing from you” 

all that gains him is a raspberry blown in his face. 

you’re still slumped over in your chair just listening to them argue. 

He walks up to Spider Woman 

“now him? i expect this from him” 

“hey man” 

they both turn to him in unison “shut up peter” 

“but you?” 

“we’ve done this plenty of times before and you’ve never seemed to have a problem” 

“but never with her.” 

“she comes all the time” 

“that’s not the point” 

“so what is” 

“so? you let her get drunk. you took her to an unknown universe, and let her get drunk in an un secured environment. she’s not like us, she could’ve gotten hurt! or worse!” 

“she’s an adult, she can handle herself” 

“not when she’s like this” 

“we were with her” 

“you’re pregnant and he’s..” he looks at peter before pinching the bridge of his nose before turning away 

“that’s never stopped me from handling anything before.” 

“but it was a risk you shouldn’t have taken, now get out and take ~him~ with you.” 

“what about her” 

“i’ll take care of it. out” 

she scowls at him but just turns muttering curses under her breath. “cmon parker let’s get you home to mj and may” 

“mayday!” is all you hear before she pulls him out the door. 

now it’s just you and Miguel in his office. he looks up at the ceiling and says something in spanish before turning back to you. 

he approaches your chair 

“y/n.. y/n hey are you alright” 

“now you care?” you slur as you swat his hand from your face 

he mutters 

siempre un placer 

always a pleasure 

before you can protest he picks you up and puts you over his shoulder. gently though, so he doesn’t risk you getting sick just in case. 

you protest, throwing curses at him in spanish. there’s few spider people left but the ones that are still milling about turn to watch this scene. he scowls at them and they immediately turn back to what they were doing. you curse and try to squirm your way out of his arms the whole way back to your apartment. it’s a code lock, like most rooms in that universe, but when he asks you for it you refuse. so he calls lyla up and has her give it to him. he opens the door and sets you down gingerly on the couch. 

you just lay back and groan trying to stop your head from spinning. being thrown over his shoulder didn’t necessarily help the dizziness. he walks away and you can hear him moving around. normally you’d yell at him for invading your space but you were too tired and too drunk. he was gone for a while and you called out for him but there was no answer. you tried to get up and stumbled over your own feet but before you could fall you felt a strong arm brace you. 

“can’t leave you alone for a minute”

“you left for three weeks just fine.”

it was a low blow, but you were drunk and cranky and you didn’t care. he didn’t say anything just lead you towards the bathroom. 

“i’m not sick it’s fine i just want to go to—“

but you’re cut short as he opens the door and you see he’s drawn a bath. 

“can you uhm.. do you need help with..”

“i can undress myself o’hara just get out” 

he frowns at you, he almost pouts, it’s cute 

but you’re mad at him. 

you climb in and sink into the tub and audibly moan at how good the warm water feels. you lay your head on the side and drink the water bottle he had put in there for you and try to sober up. 

you must have fallen asleep because when you open your eyes you feel better and the water is barely hot. you can hear clambering sounds outside the bathroom coming from the kitchen. 

you pull yourself out of the tub, you’re still a little unsteady on your feet but it’s much better than before. you open the door to find him in your kitchen cooking something that smells absolutely amazing. your stomach growls but you don’t say anything. he glances over but looks away when he sees you in your robe. 

“there’s clothes on your bed” 

“oh sure just let yourself into my room, and root through my drawers. i can pick out my own clothes” 

he ignores you and just keeps cooking. you fully intend to ignore the clothes he laid out but when you open your door you see that he pulled out your spider man hoodie. you curse silently as you throw it on. 

you come back out of the room and when he sees you wearing it he has a little victorious smirk on his face. 

you grumble something about him being an insufferable prick but that’s soon forgotten when he places a plate of tacos in front of you. 

you just look at him. 

“i didn’t even have tortillas how-“

“i made them”

“of course you did”

“eat, you need food”

“i know how to handle being drunk o’hara”

he just shakes his head at you 

“just eat will you?”

you don’t want to just to spite him.. but they look so good and you’re so hungry so you do. 

and he was right, you feel 10 times better after. 

you sit drinking more water as he cleans the dishes 

“why are you doing this”

“doing what”

“this.. everything, taking care of me”

“you’re my employee, it’s my responsibility as your boss-“

“oh cut the crap as my boss you give me a stern talking to and tell me to take a day off. not whatever this is”

“then it’s a favor in return for all the work you’ve done”

“that’s what you pay me for”

“what would you like me to say”

“the truth” you say slightly mocking him from that night

“ay eres tan— look i’m just trying to look out for you can i not do that”

you are so—

“if you can’t be honest about it? no.”

you get up

“i’m going to bed, lock the door on your way out”

“no thank you?”

“whatever, thank you, good night.”

you go into your room and shut the door behind you. you go to grab your heating pad from the top of the book shelf but you’re short.. and still drunk and you stumble and cause a few things to tumble from the shelf and you to fall over. 

“damn it”

“y/n? estas bien?

you good,you okay

“fine just dropped something i told you to leave” 

you don’t hear anything else so you assume he left until you hear your bedroom door click open slightly. 

“y/n?” 

he sees you on the floor and pushes the door open and comes to your side. but you push him away and get up on your own

“i’m. fine.”

“you fell.”

“really i hadn’t noticed” 

you turn around and start to walk to the bed but he steps after you capturing the front of your waist from behind with his hand. 

you don’t deny that his touch lights your skin on fire but you’re pissed at him. you know he’s emotionally stunted but that doesn’t mean he gets to not talk to you for weeks after what happened. 

you turn around quickly, his hand now on your back, you don’t move it

“hell no. you don’t get to come in here playing my white knight after you ignored me for weeks AND ignored my medical advice. something could have gone wrong with the injection and i would have no way of knowing. you could have compromised your health and the team. now i can handle whatever commitment issues you have because i don’t expect anything from you but i do at least feel i am owed an explanation and at the very least enough professional respect to follow my directions when it comes to your health and safety.” 

he just stares down at you dumbfounded, before a look of guilt washes over his face. his shoulders slump slightly and he doesn’t even try to argue. 

“really? you’re not going to say anything?”

you push his hand off of you and turn your back to him again. 

he whispers softly 

“cariño..”

“no. no. do not.”

“cariño please dejame explicar”

let me explain 

“stop calling me that”

“why”

“because that word is supposed to mean something, i don’t want to hear it from you when you’re not capable of doing or even feeling the things that come with that word”

“i-“

you sigh feeling deflated as the anger drains from your body you face him again 

“just go o’hara, please”

he’s genuinely pouting now, he looks sorry and part of you wants to give him a chance to prove you wrong. but you can’t risk it. 

“y/n-“

“~o’hara~”

he sighs 

“i’m sorry.. why don’t you uhm.. take the day off tomorrow, curtesy of your boss or at least come in late”

you don’t answer 

“just.. see how you feel in the morning yeah?”

“yeah fine i’ll see”

he leaves without another word and you collapse into your bed yet despite how tired you are you don’t fall asleep for a while. 

[glitterguts13]

I don't know if you do Playable Character x NPC but could you write something about Argenti x Velite with Argenti doting on a pregnant Velite and Velite complaining but secretly enjoying it.

OK BUT LIKE, THEY WOULD BE SUCH A CUTE COUPLE, RIGHT??? I hope we see Velite with Argenti again, I love me a good Tsundere. However, since we don't really...have that much on Velite, I'm just gonna do some headcanons on this one!

TW: mention of abortions

Velite's pregnancy came as a shock to no one but him. In his mind, Argenti is just...a casual lover, nothing serious! He wouldn't get caught up with someone like that, he's too weird! Even if Argenti wasn't such a weirdo he'd never want someone as ordinary as Velite...

Except in Argenti's mind he and Velite have been dating for months and he's already hearing wedding bells. They might be separated a lot because of their different paths in life, but Velite always finds himself crossing paths with the knight.

Velite doesn't take the news well. It was just a routine physical exam that the IPC required, nothing was supposed to come up! He'd been feeling just fine, why would the doctor have even run a pregnancy test at all?? These exams were just to make sure he didn't pick up any weird space viruses along the way!!

Doesn't tell Argenti and fully plans on getting an abortion. It would...be better that way. If Argenti knew, he wouldn't want Velite around anymore and, well, Velite didn't want that either. A baby would get in the way of his work, and he didn't have any family or friends to help so...maybe another time in the future.

Except the night before he's supposed to go in, Argenti shows up, all smiles and holding a massive bouquet of roses.

"My love, how I've missed you!"

Velite nearly throws up on Argenti's shoes.

It doesn't take long for him to blurt out he's pregnant, and he's getting an abortion and Argenti doesn't need to worry about it, it's going to be taken care of, just don't be mad about it-

Argenti looks positively gutted.

"What? What are you looking at me like that for?? I told you already, I'll get rid of it!"

"Is that...what you really want to do?" it catches the IPC worker off guard and he falters.

"It's what you want me to do, right?"

Velite didn't expect the hurt expression that Argenti gets, how just how safe and warm he feels when the knight pulls him into his arms and holds him close.

"Of course not!" he chides gently, "I'd be honored to raise a child with you! What more beautiful thing could there be in the world?" he does stop, holding Velite at arm's length, "However...I will respect whatever decision you make. It is not my right to control your choices, but please know I would be happy to raise a child with you...should you want that?"

Now Velite is totally thrown off his balance because WTF was that about?? Argenti was supposed to be mad about this, not sweet, kind, caring, understanding, and, excited?? Fuck.

Velite is a sobbing mess because damn pregnancy hormones, and it takes a long night of talking things over and hashing out feelings that the IPC worker, quite frankly, didn't want to talk about at all.

He calls and cancels the appoint the next morning, and Argenti is thrilled, and truthfully, despite denying it it, Velite is happy too.

Argenti is an attentive lover on a normal day, but now that his beloved is pregnant? Oh, he is nearly insufferable with how sweet and thoughtful he is.

The smell of his shampoo causing Velite to feel nausea? Throw it all out, he'll get something unscented. Velite has cravings at 2 in the morning and isn't going to sleep until he gets it? Where in the galaxy does Argenti need to go, his ship is fueled up and ready. Morning sickness? He's got a cold washcloth, a bottle of water, and his toothbrush set up. Aching feet? Foot rubs for hours, even is his thumbs start to cramp.

"Knock it off, you don't have to baby me so much," Velite argues, whining as Argenti helps him undress for the night and change into something more comfortable.

"Nonsense. It is my duty to make you as happy as possible." Argenti nuzzles into Velite's neck, trailing kisses down his shoulders.

"You aren't obligated to do anything, I told you from the start, I don't want you feeling forced."

"Do I seem as if I'm being forced?" Argenti asked, genuinely. Velite groaned and shook his head.

"No. That makes it even worse!" plopping down in bed, the IPC worker lets his head fall back against the pillows and runs a hand over the swell of his belly.

"I don't understand, why is that 'worse'?" Argenti sits beside him, looking like a puppy that had just been dropped kicked across a field. Christ, Velite wasn't equipped to handle this.

"Because...I don't deserve having you...do all this for me. What am I gonna do when you're gone?"

"I will have my phone with me at all times, just say the word and I will be right back here as quickly as I can be-"

"No. I mean, what am I going to do when you leave." it takes a second for Argenti to fully grasp what Velite is saying, and when he does, much to Velite's shock, he laughs.

"My love, I'm never going to leave you. I love you. Why would I ever leave someone I love?" Velite really didn't understand Argenti, how could someone think so simplistically about such complex things??

"Because you get tired of me? You fall out of love? Find someone better?" the list is cut off when Argenti leans in and presses a kiss to Velite's lips.

"I am not the sort of man to promise my heart to someone carelessly. When I say that I love you, I mean that. I mean that I love everything about you, that I can not bear the thought of living in this world without you. You are the light in my sky, the colors in my vision, the reason my heart bea-"

"Ok, ok, ok, I get it!" Velite presses a hand over Argenti's mouth to silence him, cheeks burning hot, "Stop saying such embarrassing things! Look, you've gone and gotten the baby all riled up now!" the IPC worker whines. Eyes sparkling with delight, Argenti presses his cheek against his lover's belly, nuzzling it gently.

"Ah, our little one agrees with me! Yes, let your mother know how much we love him and how wonderful, smart, and caring he is. How we're going to shower him with love for as long as w-"

A pillow is brought down over Argenti's head with a soft pwff. Velite's whole face was bright red, the color creeping up to his ears and down his neck, in a way Argenti found truly breathtaking.

"I said stop it!"

[hugmekenobi]

The Bad Batch (3)

Chapter Three: Replacements

GIF by @kamino-coruscant

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: You joined the Batch 8 months ago and everything was going well. But then, Order 66 happened and the galaxy around you changed. Now, not only do you need to be careful given your new 'social status', but you also need to navigate your feelings towards a certain Sergeant.

Chapter Summary: You and Hunter finally talk things over but amidst all that, the ship crashes and you need to find your way off a desolate moon.

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers

Chapter Warnings: Use of (Y/N) (but I've limited it as much as I could), swearing, the Force works how I say it does, mild innuendo, brief injury mention, light angst, Hunter defence (a theme that will run throughout now).

Word Count (Ch 3): 7.6K

Rating: 18+

Author's notes: Okay so things are finally being talked out lol but despite the honesty mention, both of them continue to lie about their feelings but I allow that because they're both doing it and they're dumb haha. Also I'm sorry for not including Crosshair's section of the episode. It was a tough decision not to but I think with what my focus for this chapter was, it had to be done. Also a big thank you for the support this story as received to far! It means a lot!

You sat down on the bunk you had once shared with Hunter; you weren’t really sure if that would still stand anymore, you didn’t really expect it to and finished tying off the bandage around your arm. You also quickly applied a light touch of bacta on your cheek and your eyes followed Hunter as he walked over to where Omega was sitting restlessly on the floor, examining a datapad as she leaned against Gonky who was also on his side.

Hunter walked up to Omega with the ration box. “Well, that doesn’t look comfortable, for either of you.”

“We’re fine.” Omega said lightly.

“Here. Chow time.” Hunter said, handing Omega a ration bar as she stood up.

“Ah! Finally!”

Hunter looked up to see Wrecker jumping down the stairs that led to the gun turret. He handed his eager brother a bar only to see him consume it at record pace.

“Hit me again.” Wrecker demanded keenly.

“Well, that’s all for now.” Hunter said, closing the box. “Rations are low.”

Wrecker groaned.

Omega looked down at her portion then back to Wrecker. “You can have mine.” She offered.

Before he reached out to grab it, Hunter pushed Wrecker back a few steps. “Hey, Omega doesn’t even have a place to sleep. You wanna take her food too?”

Wrecker glanced past Hunter. Now he felt bad. “Oh. Uh… no, no thanks. You keep it.”

“Okay.” Omega said casually before sitting back down against the droid.

Wrecker let out another groan. “I guess I’m not used to having a kid around here.”

“Well, none of us are, but she’s not complaining.” Hunter pointed out.

--

You let out a soft sigh as you witnessed the scene just past you before turning away to start packing up the medical kit. You made sure to put everything back where it was, or you knew you’d never hear the end of it from Tech. You’d made the mistake once of just chucking things in in any old order which had not gone down well with the clone, and you’d spent the next 20 minutes getting lectured on the importance of the organisation of the medical supplies.

“The bandages go in the top right compartment.”

You looked up quickly to see Hunter standing opposite you. “Oh, um thanks.” You replied, knowing you were not successful in hiding your surprised tone.

“You didn’t get your portion.” Hunter said, holding the box out to you.

“Thank you.” You replied, taking the ration bar out and nibbling the top of it before putting your attention back on the med kit. You figured that’s all he’d come up to you for and you didn’t want to make him stay any longer than he wanted to.

He knew you well enough to tell that your demeanour right now was for his own benefit and was based off his own action towards you. Come on Hunter, time to settle this, he thought to himself. “That, uh, happen leaving the lot?” Hunter asked, hoping he didn’t sound as awkward as he felt.

You looked back at him. “Yeah, but it barely touched me, and I heal fairly quickly. You know, Jedi and all that.” You cursed yourself internally for bringing up the one topic that held a high degree of sensitivity right now.

“Hmm that’s pretty handy.” Hunter said, giving you a small smile.

You let out a quiet laugh. “Yeah, it is.” After a few moments of silence, you spoke again. “Well, I uh, better put this back in its proper place or who knows what Tech’ll do to me.” You kidded half-heartedly before you sealed the med kit box and stood up, putting your top layer back on as you did so.

“Hey.” Hunter said softly, grabbing your free hand as you moved to pass him.

You glanced down at his hand then looked back at him. “Everything okay?”

“Can we talk?”

You wanted cry out with relief as he said those words but restrained yourself to a simple nod of your head.

Hunter led you towards the cockpit. “Tech, can you give us the space?”

“I’m working on this scanner.” Tech protested.

“You can work on it back there.” Echo said, standing up and dragging Tech out of his seat, giving you a small smile as he did so.

“Hey, Tech, put this back for me, would you please?” You asked, holding the med kit out to him.

Tech nodded and reached out to grab it. “Is everything-”

“Yes, everything is back in place.” You said, exasperated, but shooting him a smile, nonetheless.

“Okay, I only say that because last time-”

“Out!” Echo said, directing Tech away from you and back down the body of the ship.

--

Hunter let go of your hand- he hadn’t even realised he’d kept a hold of it- and went to sit in the pilot’s chair.

You squeezed your hand into a tight fist before relaxing it again as you did your best to ignore the usual feeling of emptiness that filled your hand whenever he let it go. You sat down in the co-pilot’s seat, turning it to face him. “This isn’t about Tech getting the ship impounded right cause-”

“No, it’s not.”

“Okay, good.” That was not the issue you were too worried about fixing. You waited patiently for him to talk first.

“I just… I need you to explain again. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did but-”

“No, you were perfectly entitled to do that. I know I messed up.” You said quietly.

Hunter took a breath before speaking again. “So, why did you hide this?”

You heaved a sigh and ran a hand through your hair. “In the beginning, I was being nothing but selfish. I wish I had a real reason, but I don’t. I’d spent years supressing that part of myself after I left. I didn’t get involved with anything that might threaten that until you all showed up. I lost myself for a while and forgot what I’d been taught. I don’t know what was different about you guys, but something told me I had to help you. I thought it would be a one-time thing but then you offered me a place here and I found myself saying yes and it’s like I said, as time went on, I grew to care for yo- all of you, you know you guys were the closest thing to friends I’d had for a while.” You caught yourself quickly.

Hunter pushed away the upset he felt as he heard that word.

“And I thought by telling you what I really was, things would change, or you’d send me back but, as with any secret, the longer it went the more uncomfortable I felt and the harder it got to keep, and I knew it wasn’t fair to keep lying. Especially to you.” You added quietly, looking down at your hands in your lap. “If you can, and I understand if you can’t, believe it when I say that I really did plan to tell you after Kaller but with Order 66 and Crosshair and Tarkin, I couldn’t. I don’t want to ask this of you but please trust me on this. All the odd behaviour, the deflections and the whole not telling you was purely because I wanted to protect you but I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have lied at all. I’m just- I’m just really sorry.” You finished and looked back at him.

“It just felt like you didn’t trust me or the rest of us. We don’t hide things from each other, not when they’re that important.”

“I know.” You said sorrowfully. “I regret it and I’ll keep regretting it for the rest of my life.”

“Do you regret it because you got caught out?”

“No!” You replied, horrified that that was something he was thinking but then again you could see how it may look that way. “I regret it because I hurt you and the others. I hurt my team and I hurt my friends. Hell, I hurt my family. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

Hunter sighed. He knew you felt awful about this and that you wouldn’t do something like this again. He didn’t like this anymore than you did and if the others could forgive you, then he could too. “You’ve not lied about anything else?”

You shook your head. “No. If you have any other questions, I’d be happy to answer them too. I’m done hiding from my past.”

“Then we’re good.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Hunter replied.

You couldn’t stop yourself; you lunged forward and hugged him. “Thank you.” You whispered.

Hunter was glad your head was over his shoulder because that meant you wouldn’t be able to see the combination of happiness and shock on his face at your actions. He returned your embrace, breaking it very reluctantly after a few moments. “I do have some questions though.”

You removed yourself from him, you couldn’t believe you’d just done that, and went back to your seat. “Go ahead.”

“Is it because you were a Jedi that you’ve always refused to use a blaster?” He wanted to give you a more light-hearted question since the one he really wanted to ask might be a bit much to launch into straight away.

You snorted. “Yeah. They’re just not very elegant. I did try them out for a while but at the end of the day, I prefer the feeling of a sword in my hand. Anything else?”

Alright, moment of truth. “Yeah, but this one you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“No, I meant what I said. I’ll answer whatever you want to ask.”

“Okay.” Hunter waited a moment before speaking again, he knew this would be a hard question for you to answer. “Why did you leave?”

You huffed out a sigh. Oh boy. “That’s a longer story.”

--

Meanwhile, further down the ship, Echo, Wrecker and Omega watched the interaction with relief.

“Do we think that’s them told each other now?” Wrecker asked.

“No, we’re not that lucky.” Echo replied. “I reckon they’ve just fixed the whole Jedi issue.”

“Told each other what?” Omega asked, looking away from the two of you to focus on Echo.

“They share a mutual attraction that neither party want to acknowledge or divulge to the other.” Tech answered, his attention never leaving his scanner.

“Huh?” Omega asked.

“Basically, they both have feelings of the romantic type for one another and despite our best efforts, they still deny it to us, and they won’t tell each other.” Echo explained.

“No matter how hard we try to get them to admit it.” Wrecker grumbled.

“Oohh.” Omega replied, turning back to look at you both. “We should do something.”

“Believe me kid, we’ve thought of everything. It’s gotta come from them at this point.” Echo said with a sigh. He just hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

--

“So yeah, that’s why I left. I couldn’t forget the way they’d treated her which led to a crisis of faith, so I left my lightsaber in my room and left the temple in the dead of night. I had thought about seeking her out, but she had her new path to follow and now I had mine, so I took the first shuttle off world. That began my life of planet hopping. I didn’t really fit in there to begin with to be honest. Too emotional with a tendency to talk back and sway from standard rules if you can believe it.” You said, shooting him a playful smile.

“Oh, I can.” Hunter agreed with a quiet chuckle. “That also explains why you disliked Tarkin so much.”

“Yeah.” You agreed with a laugh of your own. “I was really surprised that he didn’t recognise me.” You looked out into the blue hyperspace swirls.

“Well, I’m very grateful he didn’t.” Hunter said quietly.

You turned to face Hunter with a smile. “Me too.”

Hunter cleared his throat. “So… uh on Kaller. There was something else I wanted to mention. You and the padawan looked like-”

“We were having a conversation?” You completed for him.

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s cause I kinda was.”

“But I didn’t hear anything?”

“It’s hard to explain but I basically reached into his Force Signature which allowed me to communicate with him without talking out loud and he was able to do the same to me. With Jedi, it’s pretty simple since everyone’s signature is pretty strong but emotional connection can make it even easier. It can be done with normal civilians too, like with Gerrera, though obviously it’s one-sided and it’s harder, emotional connection really helps out there.”

Hunter paused before he spoke again. “So, you and Saw Gerrera… emotionally connected at some point in your past?” He asked, hoping you couldn’t pick up on the hint of jealously he was feeling at that prospect.

“What? Gosh no!” You replied quickly, you would not let yourself analyse the slight change in his tone and what that could possibly mean. You wouldn’t ruin this rather important conversation with all that nonsense. “That was basically just luck. I wasn’t even sure it would work, let alone work that quickly. I helped him out when I was still with the Order, but no emotional connecting was done. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve taken me a lot longer to do that.” You hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “Can I show you how emotional connection actually helps?” You asked, moving to sit on your knees in front of him.

“What do you mean?” Hunter asked, refusing to let his mind wander to what else your current position meant to him.

You took his hands in yours. “Just quiet your mind as much as you can for me, please?” You also made sure to take that advice for yourself, the suggestions of your present position were not lost on you but thinking about that would be very counter-productive right now.

After a brief moment to steady your thoughts, you closed your eyes and reached out.

What met you didn’t really surprise you. Hunter’s Force Signature was a lot like him, a little rough along the edges but warm at the same time.

When you sensed that you had achieved a successful connection, you opened your eyes and looked at him as you spoke to him without uttering a single word. Hi there, Sergeant. You giggled as his eyes widened. I know, it’s a bit weird, especially since you can’t do the same thing back so this’ll be the only time, I’ll do it but yeah, apart from Gererra being the exception, if I wanted to do this with anyone else, it would take a long time.

“What about the others?” Hunter asked, his gaze focused intensely on you.

I could probably do it, but I know it’s a faster process with you.

“How?”

You did not want to properly get into that, you still didn’t think your feelings were reciprocated so you did the next best thing. You instead played back the first conversation you had with him back on Devaron. You’re the one I connected to first, it’s just natural it would be this way. You provided as an explanation rather than admit anything else.

Hunter couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by it all, it wasn’t a bad feeling necessarily, but it only served to strengthen the feelings he had for you. All this proved was that you really were incredible, and he couldn’t imagine a time when you weren’t a part of his life but then he remembered what you said. You were his friend, nothing more, no matter how much he wished for that.

You felt his distress and assumed his enhanced senses weren’t too fond of what you were doing so you withdrew. “Sorry. I should’ve thought about your particular gift before doing that.” You said aloud.

“No, it’s not that.” Hunter said. “You can do that whenever; it doesn’t bother me.”

“What is it then?” You said softly, looking at him.

“It’s just… nothing, forget about it.” Hunter said, looking away from you. He couldn’t do this now, not like this.

“Hunter.” You murmured, placing a hand on his cheek so he had to face you. You lightly traced the outline of his tattoo with your fingertips.

Hunter closed his eyes and his breath shuddered slightly at the feeling of your hand on his face. To anyone else, this action would register as nothing more than a feather-light touch but to him it felt like so much more. He opened his eyes again to look at you. “You’re just pretty amazing.” Hunter breathed out, finding himself leaning down towards you.

You met his gaze, and you felt yourself moving up to meet him halfway.

Just as your lips were about to meet, the lights flickered and cut out, providing the most annoying but probably necessary interruption the two of you needed. You coughed and shuffled back on your knees awkwardly. You put that particular moment down to the whole speaking into his head thing. Anyone wouldn’t really think straight after that.

Hunter stifled his frustrated sigh and stood up out of the pilot’s seat, noticing the way everyone in the back of the ship had quickly turned their heads away and were now staring at random parts of the ship. Well, I should’ve known that would be the case, he thought to himself before addressing Echo. “Echo, the lights cut out again. I thought you fixed it.” He offered his hand to you to get you up and was pleased to see that despite what just happened you still took it.

“Yeah, add it to the list.” Echo replied grumpily, moving back to the cockpit with Tech, munching on his ration bar.

You and Hunter both moved out the way of Echo and Tech so they could sit back down.

“The ship got hit hard when we fled Saleucami. Several systems have been glitching ever since.” Echo explained. “Repairs would go faster if I had some help.” He said pointedly, shooting Tech a look.

“As soon as I finish building this scanner.” Tech said, soldering some parts of the device. “Testing the functionality of out inhibitor chips takes precedence.”

“But I thought you said they were defective?” You asked.

“A theory this test will be able to prove.” Tech said confidently.

“Huh, okay.” You said simply with a shrug of your shoulders, and you turned around to follow Hunter back down the ship.

“Besides, the ship-wide diagnostic report indicated no critical systems were compromised.” Tech informed.

Just as he said that the ship jolted violently and came crashing out of hyperspace.

The alarm started ringing and the red lights began to flash.

You lost your balance, and you suddenly felt the tight press of a body against yours.

In the slight commotion, it would seem that you had fallen into the wall, your back pressed against it while Hunter had ended up with his body pushed up against yours, his hands on either side of your head, his eyes looking directly into yours.

You blinked a few times to fully process what just happened and bring yourself back to the present moment of the ship hurtling towards a moon.

Hunter rather awkwardly pushed himself off the wall and away from you, trying and failing to forget the feeling of your body against his in that manner. He’d only ever felt it like that when the two of you had been asleep together but in the more recent times, those occasions had grown rarer, and they seemed a lot more innocent than whatever just happened there, even if it was purely accidental.

He quickly walked into the cockpit, and he heard you close behind him. “Getting thrown out of hyperspace. I’d say that’s pretty critical, Tech.”

“It’s not affecting life support.” Tech replied calmly, fiddling with some controls. “We’re fine.”

“Are you kidding me?” Hunter replied, exasperated.

“I don’t think life support will matter too much if we crash and burn.” You added, adjusting your footing slightly as another rumble ran through the ship.

“The power capacitor’s blown. We need to land immediately.” Echo said.

Omega was still back in the main body of the ship with Wrecker, trying to maintain her balance.

“Get ready for your first crash landing.” Wrecker said, lifting one of the over-the-shoulder restraints.

“Crash?” Omega said anxiously.

“Omega, strap in.” Hunter said, darting back down towards the young girl. “You too.” He directed, looking back towards you.

“Are you?” You asked, crossing your arms, and looking at him questioningly.

“No but that’s not the point. You-”

“No, I’m fine thanks. I’ll sit right here.” You sat in one the normal passenger seats, bracing your back against it to keep steady.

Hunter sighed and sat in the chair across from yours.

Omega quickly sat in on of the seats with the over- the- shoulder restraints and Wrecker lowered one down for her before going into one himself although the restraint proved to be a bit small for his larger frame.

“I can’t see anything.” Echo groaned, straining his eyes to try and see through the fog that filled the moon’s atmosphere.

“Hold on!” Hunter called back towards Omega and Wrecker.

Omega grunted with the impact on her shoulders as the ship continued to be unsteady. She lifted her feet when Gonky slid down the hallway.

Wrecker wasn’t having the best time of it either. A particularly strong heave of the ship had the side of his head being smacked off the one of the metal hand bars of the restraints.

The alarm blaring grew louder and more insistent, but you saw the fog had cleared which allowed Tech to level out the ship as best he could before it crashed to the ground. You held on to the sides of your seat to stop yourself from falling out of it as your body lurched with the impact.

Once the ship had come to a complete stop, you stood up and helped the Gonk droid to his feet. You looked over at Hunter when he stood up. “You good?”

Hunter nodded before addressing the back of the ship. “Everybody alright?”

You glanced down to where Omega and Wrecker were. She seemed a little bit dazed but otherwise okay. Wrecker was the one who looked the most affected out of all of you. He was taking breaths in short, sharp pants. You only hoped you had the parts needed to fix the ship and get off this place.

--

“The storm’s getting worse. It’s knocking out our comms.” You said irritably as you stared at the controls.

“I suspect one of our capacitors sustained damage during our firefight with the regs. We won’t be able to take off without replacing it. Inventory analysis indicates we have one spare onboard.” Tech explained to the group, looking up from his datapad.

“Is it in here?” Omega asked, grunting as she dragged a box out and placed it on the ground.

A hush descended in the ship as you turned your seat to see what Omega was talking about and why everyone had gone so quiet. Oh, that was why, you thought gloomily.

“What?” Omega asked, wondering why everyone was suddenly staring at her.

“That’s Crosshair’s weapon kit.” Hunter said, the guilt and painful reminder of all that went down on Kamino coming back to haunt him.

Wrecker groaned. “Fine. I’ll say it. I kinda miss him.”

“He shot you, remember?” Echo reminded him.

“Ha! I sure do. That hurt!” Wrecker said with a laugh.

“It’s worth noting that the possibility that Crosshair’s actions were influenced by the inhibitor chip.” Tech said to Hunter.

“It can do that?” You asked, getting out of your seat, directing your question towards Omega.

“That’s what it was designed to do.” Omega confirmed.

“So, it wasn’t Crosshair’s fault?” Wrecker asked.

“Well-” Tech began.

“Look, debating this won’t fix the ship.” Hunter interrupted. He almost didn’t want to know the answer. The slightest chance that Crosshair had done what he did willingly was the only thing keeping his inner turmoil at bay and now there was a chance he wasn’t in complete control of himself? And they’d left him behind? That was something he wouldn’t be able to get past easily. “Right now, we need to find that capacitor and get off this rock.” He said before walking away.

You followed him to the cockpit. “It’s not your fault you know.”

“I’d love to hear how it isn’t.” He replied dejectedly, hanging his head as he held on to the back of the pilot’s chair.

You sighed deeply. “You made a judgement call. Even if he wasn’t of sound mind, we were still under fire.”

“Exactly, there’s now a chance he didn’t really know what he was doing, and I left him behind. I can’t-”

“Even if he wasn’t himself, we were taking fire, Hunter. And it wasn’t just from Crosshair. We would’ve died if we didn’t get out when we did. If Crosshair isn’t in control of his own mind, then we’ll get him back. I know you; when the moment is right, you won’t leave him behind.” You said, laying a hand on his shoulder, turning him to face you but he still refused to look at you. “Hey, look at me.” You put your hand on his cheek, angling his face towards you. “You’re a good sergeant. Those guys back there would follow you through anything, as would I.”

Hunter gave a half-hearted smile. He only hoped your image was him proved to be accurate because despite your words, that element of doubt still resided within him. “Thanks. Go help Echo and Tech with the repairs, would you?”

“Yeah, no problem.” You complied. You caressed your thumb across his cheekbone. “I mean it you, know. Until you want rid of me, I’m not going anywhere.” You said, removing your hand and you walked away from him, grabbing an oxygen mask as you went to join Tech and Echo outside.

May that day never come. Hunter thought as he watched you go, the feeling of your hand remaining on his cheek.

--

Tech lifted the panel and took out the damaged capacitor.

“Careful. Those capacitors hold a massive charge.” Echo warned as he stood on Tech’s right, holding his flashlight up to help Tech see what he was doing.

You joined on Tech’s left-hand side, shining your light too.

“I am well aware.” Tech responded, placing the new one in. “I just need to secure it.”

You turned your head slightly as you heard the sound of faint snarling and you felt goosebumps on your skin. “What was that?”

“I’m a little busy as the moment.” Tech replied.

You walked a few paces away from the others, shining your light ahead of you.

“Get back here.” Echo called after you.

You waved your hand behind you. “Shush. Keep your light with Tech.” You hissed back.

As you walked, you shone your torch to your left as you heard some rustling, but you couldn’t see anything. You kept walking forward, taking slow, quiet steps, fanning your flashlight right and left but you were coming up empty.

Pausing, you closed your eyes and reach out into the Force, trying to feel for any unusual or threatening signatures but you couldn’t sense anything. You let out a frustrated sigh and turned your light towards the ship and then something caught your eye. “Echo, Tech, look at this.” You called back to them.

Tech just finished securing the capacitor and he joined Echo to make their way towards you.

You shone your light back on the fresh, long, and jagged claw marks that now decorated the ship.

“Ah. Well, those weren’t there when we landed.” Tech observed.

No wonder you hadn’t sensed anything strongly. You’d never quite managed the whole force connecting to animals thing, it had been one of the things you’d still been practicing before you’d left but after you had gone, you’d ceased all training of that manner. You berated yourself for that now. You were so preoccupied with your own thoughts; you hadn’t noticed that Tech and Echo had made their way back to the ship entrance.

“You coming back in?” Echo asked, looking back at you.

“Give me a minute.”

Echo looked at Tech, who simply shrugged, and they both made their way back onto the ship.

You took a deep breath. “Come on, you can do this.” You whispered you yourself as you closed your eyes, and reached out again, really focusing in on the nature around you.

--

“The capacitor’s in place, but other systems are now failing.” Tech said, taking off his mask as he walked towards Hunter.

Echo removed his own mask before speaking to Hunter. “Something’s causing damage to the exterior hull.”

“You wanna narrow that down?” Hunter asked. “And where’s (Y/N)?”

“The capacitor is gone!” You shouted, quickly removing your own mask as you ran on board. You hadn’t seen it happen, but you had gotten a read on a signature that had gone very close to the panel where the capacitor was.

“I just placed it myself. It can’t be-” Tech stopped as the entire ship just powered down.

Each of your heads followed the faint sound of banging that moved across the top of the ship. “I told you.” You whispered. “Something’s taken it.”

Omega looked out the ship window to suddenly see an animal with luminous green charges flowing through its body, dart across it. “Look!”

“What is it?” You asked as you all ran towards the cockpit.

“Some kind of creature, about this big.” Omega said quickly, holding her arms wide apart. “With a long tail. It ran off with the part.”

Echo stepped forward and reactivated the control to get a view of the ship. “They’re right. The capacitor’s gone. And that was our last one.”

“Did you see this creature take it?” Wrecker asked, turning to look at you.

“No but I had a feeling.” You replied.

“A feeling?” Wrecker repeated, staring at you.

“A Jedi feeling, Wrecker. I didn’t know what though. I didn’t get very far with connecting to animals and it really doesn’t help when I have no idea what I should be connecting to.”

“The creature is most likely an Ordo Moon Dragon.” Tech informed. “A species that feeds off raw energy. It was probably drawn to the capacitor’s electric charge.”

“Well, that would’ve been good to know beforehand, Tech.” You said with a sigh before you noticed that Wrecker had walked away from you all, groaning slightly as he held the side of his head. You guessed it was an injury from the rather rough landing.

“You two get those other systems online.” Hunter ordered Tech and Echo. “Wrecker, stay here. We will go after the dragon and get our part back.” Hunter said nodding to you.

“I’m fine. I-” Wrecker protested before breaking off with a moan.

“You’re staying.” Hunter reiterated.

“I’ll go with you both.” Omega said eagerly, jumping off her seat.

“No, that thing could be dangerous.” Hunter said, double checking his vibroblade before putting it back in its cover.

“I’m a part of this squad now too, right?” Omega asked.

Hunter glanced up at you.

You finished putting your weapons on and nodded at him. We can watch her. It’ll be fine. Plus, she’s right and she’ll need to learn how to handle herself at some point. I know I’d rather it be at a time where we can comfortably watch her.

Hunter turned back to face the young girl. “Alright, kid. Just stay close.”

Omega put her oxygen mask on and dashed for the door.

You hummed out a laugh as you watched her enthusiastically run to the door then you saw how the others were looking at each other- their faces filled with a combination of scepticism and bewilderment. You smirked at Hunter and nudged his shoulder. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Of all the missions we’ve had, this one is one of the easier ones.” You both put on your masks and followed her out.

--

The three of you moved speedily along the moon’s rocky terrain. The wind howled softly, and you felt the breeze through your hair. You were taking up the rear, with Omega in the middle and Hunter in front.

Hunter paused and knelt down to the ground.

You and Omega came on either side of him and watched as he ran his fingers through some of the dirt and studied it as it trickled through his fingers.

“What are you doing?” Omega asked in a hushed tone.

“Tracking.” Hunter replied, standing upright.

“Can’t you track the creature? You know, with your Jedi powers?” Omega asked, angling her head past Hunter’s legs to look at you.

“I could if I knew how to properly. Fact is, I don’t and even if I did, it would probably take a lot longer than this. A strong bond is required to connect with an animal, and I have no ground to even begin to establish one with this thing.” You answered, standing up and brushing some of the dust off your trouser legs.

You left out the fact that you quite enjoyed watching Hunter track, it sent a warm tingle down your spine every time, the only exception to that had been Kaller due to the rather serious extenuating circumstances.

“Let’s keep going.” Hunter said.

The three of you moved on, your movements more cautious now as you reached a section with more rocks, providing more cover for anything that might want to jump out at you.

“Could I learn to track like you?” Omega whispered.

“Well, it’s an enhanced skill.” Hunter replied. “Wrecker and Tech, we each have one.”

“And Crosshair.” Omega added.

You looked over her head to gauge Hunter’s reaction but the most he gave was a quick glance back at the young girl. You couldn’t get a read, the only way you could would be to dip into his signature but this task was more important right now.

“You shouldn’t be angry at him. He can’t help it.” Omega continued.

Hunter stopped and sighed. “I’m angry at myself. We don’t leave our own behind.”

Your heart went out to him. You knew that no matter how this situation turned out, that regret would always stick with him.

“Then we’ll find a way to get him back…somehow.” Omega said, coming up on Hunter’s right.

“That’s what I said.” You stated, coming to squeeze his left hand reassuringly. “See, it’s not just me that knows it.”

Hunter nodded at you before moving ahead once more.

You lightly nudged Omega in front of you again and fell in line behind her.

--

The three of you slowly began an uphill climb and crouched behind a rock. A few metres in front of you with its lights blinking, lay the power capacitor.

“See it?” Hunter asked, shining his torch light on it.

“Yeah.” You replied quietly.

“Wait here.” Hunter ordered, sensing that Omega had stood up. “Both of you.”

“You gotta be kidding me.” You objected.

Hunter just tilted his head towards Omega. He needed you to stay for her.

You got the message and let out a frustrated sigh. “Just be careful.”

Hunter gave you a nod and moved out from behind the rock to head towards the capacitor.

You moved closer to Omega and you both watched him closely as he went. You closed your eyes and reached out into the Force around you, looking to see if that familiar signature you’d felt by the panel on the ship was anywhere near you both or Hunter.

Then you felt it, it was right by the rock that was behind the capacitor. You snapped your eyes open and went to warn Hunter, but you were a second too late. The creature had jumped out and attacked him.

You and Omega dashed out and ran towards it, but it had grabbed the part and ran off.

“It’s getting away!” Omega shouted.

That wasn’t your concern right now. You turned away from the direction the creature had headed off in to see Hunter gasping, clutching at his throat.

Panic swept through you. “Hunter, your mask!” You grabbed him as he collapsed to the ground.

You scanned the area around you quickly to find his mask. You spotted it and called on the Force to send it to you. As soon as it landed in your hand, you reattached it. “Hunter, wake up! Wake up!” You said desperately but to no avail.

You checked for a pulse and hung your head in relief when you found one, but he would be out for a while and medical help would not go amiss plus you still needed to get the capacitor back. You spoke into your comm. “Echo, Wrecker, Tech, come in! We need help!” You got no response back.

You heard a snarl and looked up to see the dragon disappear with the capacitor down into a tunnel. You were torn, you couldn’t leave Hunter and Omega couldn’t be left on her own, but you needed that back.

“I’ll go.” Omega said bravely.

“No, Omega. Not by yourself. You could get hurt.” You said, taking your eyes off Hunter to look at her.

“We can’t leave Hunter alone here either. You can stay with him. I’ll be careful. If I’m going to be on this squad, I need to learn how to handle myself.” Omega replied.

You went to disagree with her but hesitated. You couldn’t bring yourself to leave him and if Omega felt like she could, then maybe it could work. “You sure about this?”

Omega nodded firmly.

You sighed. “Okay, take his blaster, torch, and his comm. If at any point, you’re unsure of what to do or there’s a sign of trouble, you tell me. Understand?” You said seriously.

“I understand.” Omega answered, picking up Hunter’s flashlight, blaster, and comm. “Okay, Omega. You can do this.” She said to herself, taking a calming breath.

“Be careful and any trouble, you use that comm and don’t use that blaster unless you absolutely have to.” You told her. She was young, she didn’t need her first instinct to be to kill. “You better go.”

Omega nodded and set off towards the tunnel.

You watched her enter it and then readjusted yourself, so you were supporting Hunter’s body, his head positioned in your lap. Come on Hunter, wake up, you thought nervously.

--

You gently straightened your back, keeping Hunter’s head cradled in your hands as you did so. Right after you did this, you saw his eyes flicker open. “Hunter?”

Hunter groaned and then his eyes focused on you, your head positioned just above his. His appeared to be in your lap. He sat up and held his head then let out a few panicked breaths as he remembered what happened. He tapped his mask, just to confirm that it was really there.

You moved around and kneeled in front of his. “Easy. It’s okay. I reattached it after it fell. You’ve been unconscious though.” You explained. “You scared the shit out of me. Next time you tell me to wait, I’m just going to ignore you because clearly that doesn’t work out well for you.” You said, adding a touch of humour to your tone.

“I’m okay.” Hunter reassured you, laying a hand on your shoulder.

“Just… don’t do scare me like that again. I don’t know what I’d do if-” You stopped yourself from continuing.

Before Hunter could ask about what you were going to say, he suddenly remembered about Omega, she wasn’t here. “Where’s Omega?” He asked urgently.

“Umm… she’s gone after the part.” You replied awkwardly.

“What?” Hunter said, standing up abruptly and which led him to notice his blaster, comm and torch were all now missing. “You let her go on her own?”

“Not enthusiastically but it was either I leave you unconscious and her with you, not knowing if there was anything else out here that could hurt you guys, or I stay with you and let her go after it. It wasn’t like I was left with the best choices. I told her to contact me if she was in trouble.” You explained, standing up too.

“Did you even try to contact the others for help?”

You glared at him. “Yes Hunter, believe it or not I’m not a complete idiot, my first thought was not to send her after an Ordo Moon Dragon by herself. The others didn’t reply.” You replied coolly.

Hunter sighed. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair. It’s just…she’s a kid. She could get herself hurt.”

“She’s not helpless, Hunter and she volunteered. She’s not much younger than what I was when I was being sent on missions. Plus, you and your brothers were put in training when you were young.” You said defensively.

“But she’s not exactly trained either or blessed with your particular skill set.”

You opened your mouth to protest but stopped when you realised that you’d lost sight of that. You may have understood the emotional assignment of taking in a child better than the others, but you’d let your own experience cloud your judgement here. You’d looked at Omega and seen a determined young girl, wanting to do all she could to help which is what you’d been like at her age and that was all you saw. You forgot that she’d been on Kamino her whole life and hadn’t been trained in any way. “You’re right. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let her go. I just didn’t want to leave you and I forgot her experience has been completely different from mine and yours.”

“It’s okay. We can go find her now.” Hunter said.

“She’s in there.” You pointed up to the tunnel she’d gone into.

“Lead the way.” Hunter directed and followed you as you both ran up to the tunnel entrance.

--

“Omega!” You both yelled down the tunnel.

“I’m coming!” Omega called back.

You exhaled deeply in relief as you saw her crawl her way to the top.

Hunter picked her up out of the tunnel and set her gently down on her feet. “Are you okay?” He asked, scanning her body for injuries.

“Omega, I’m sorry, I never should’ve let you go on your own.” You said, bending down in front of her to give her a quick hug.

“It’s alright. I’m fine. I completed the mission.” Omega said to you over your shoulder. She pulled away and handed Hunter back his blaster at Hunter. “Don’t worry, didn’t have to use it.” She added, looking back at you.

You nodded back at her before you got to your feet to stand next to Hunter.

“I got the part.” Omega said, holding the capacitor up to Hunter.  

Hunter took it from her.

“Good work Omega.” You said. “Now we can finally get off this rock.”

--

Hunter walked into the cockpit. “Tech, get us outta here.”

“Gladly.” Tech replied, powering up the engines. “Systems are up and running.” He said as the ship left the moon’s atmosphere.

“Yeah, took you long enough.” Wrecker grumbled, coming into the cockpit.

“And where have you been?” Echo asked, turning in his seat.

Wrecker ignored him and kneeled in front of the passenger seat where Omega was sitting. “Hey, kid. Come with me.” He said, holding his hand out to her. “Cover your eyes.” He instructed with a light chuckle.

Omega did as he said and took his hand despite it being about twice the size of hers.

“I’m not missing this.” You said happily, following Wrecker out of the cockpit and back to the gun tower. You were very curious as to what Wrecker had planned.

Hunter also left the cockpit to see what Wrecker had been doing.

“Okay. Open ‘em.” Wrecker said, stepping away from Omega. “Check it out!” He said with a chuckle, showing Omega the now new and improved gun turret.

Omega walked up the ladder, pulled back the curtain and smiled at what greeted her. Wrecker had transformed the space with new, warm glowing lights and had padded it out for extra comfort. He’d also included his Lula. She couldn’t believe it.

“It’s your own room.” Wrecker explained. “Well, what do you think? I thought this place could feel more like a home.”

“It’s perfect!” Omega said joyfully. “Thank you, Wrecker!”

You chuckled as Wrecker took the praise rather bashfully.

“Oh, uh, it was nothing.” Wrecker replied.

“I never had my own room before.” Omega said, sitting down and holding Lula to her chest.

“Well, you’re a part of this squad now too.” Hunter said, stepping past you.

You noticed that Tech and Echo had now come to see what was going on too.

Omega looked at him then back around her room. She was really starting to feel that now.

The rest of you left her to it and walked back to the cockpit. “That was really sweet of you, Wrecker. And she’s right. That’s a pretty perfect set up.” You said smiling at him. “Hey, how come I never got anything like that?” You asked, nudging Hunter playfully.

“Are you unhappy with your current arrangement?” Hunter lightly teased back whilst also hoping the answer would be no.

You pretended to ponder before answering. “Hmm I guess I can manage.” You replied light-heartedly, giving him a warm smile.

Wrecker, Tech, and Echo just looked at one other, the look saying the same thing- when will they just wake up and admit what they feel for one another? If it’s so clear to us, why is it not to them?

Next Chapter>

[thesithdiaries]

Gone (Daemon Targaryen imagine)

Gone (Daemon Targaryen imagine)

Gone (Daemon Targaryen imagine)

Pairing: Daemon Targaryen x female!reader

Requested: yes

Warnings (and trigger warning): angst, badly written miscarriage, cheating, daemon being daemon

A/N: another one that was very delayed and it sucks

-

In Westeros, Lady Y/N from Highgarden was known for her beauty and gentle nature. She was the wife of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the Rogue Prince, and they had been married for two years. Y/N was pregnant with their first child, and she was excited about becoming a mother.

One night, Y/N went for a walk in the gardens and saw Daemon in a compromising position with another woman that she did not know. Y/N was shocked and devastated. Despite the rumors and his strange personality, Y/N had always believed that Daemon was faithful to her, and she had never suspected him of being capable of doing such a thing.

"Daemon, how could you?" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "How could you do this to me?"

Daemon’s face was hard to decipher, she could not figure out what he was feeling. "Y/N, what are you doing here?"

"Is that all you have to say?" Y/N yelled, her voice rising in anger. “You have betrayed me, Daemon. You have betrayed our marriage and our child."

Daemon tried to reach out to her, but Y/N pulled away. She was heartbroken and felt as if her world was falling apart. Y/N rushed to a guest chamber on another side of the Keep, the furthest one she could find.

Y/N would talk to King Viserys the next morning, to explain what had happened. She was sure he would help her, he had to.

Days passed, and Y/N became increasingly ill. She was losing weight and felt weak and tired all the time. Her maids were worried, and the rumors swept through the court. Daemon wanted to see her, desperately trying to get inside the chamber but her sworn knight did not allow him to do so, despite all the threats.

The Maester examined her after Talia informed him of the situation and discovered that she had lost the baby.

Y/N was inconsolable. She had been so excited about becoming a mother, and now that dream had been shattered. She felt as if she had lost everything.

“Y/N, let me in,” Daemon pleaded, knocking on the door. She did not respond, of course. He rushed to see her after the Maester told him about it. His heart felt heavy, and it pained him. It was all his fault. Y/N was suffering because of him. “Y/N, please.”

Daemon tried to apologize and make amends, but Y/N could not forgive him. She felt as if he had destroyed her life and her happiness. She could not bear to be around him.

As the weeks turned into months, Y/N slowly began to heal. She focused on her duties at court, and on helping the people of King’s Landing.

Daemon watched her from a distance, filled with regret and remorse. He knew that he had made a terrible mistake and that he had hurt the woman he loved more than anything in the world. He still did not know what made him look for someone else, his relationship with Y/N was good.

One day, Daemon approached Y/N and begged for her forgiveness. "Y/N, I know that I have hurt you deeply," he said. "But I love you, and I want to make things right between us.”

Y/N looked at him, her eyes filled with pain. It was the first look they shared since that fateful night. "Daemon, I don't know if I can forgive you," she confessed. "But I do know that I cannot go on living in this state of bitterness and anger. I want to find a way to move on, for my own sake."

Daemon nodded, tears in his eyes. "I understand," he said. "I will do whatever it takes to make things right between us, Y/N. I love you more than anything in the world."

Y/N looked at him for a moment and sighed. “I am leaving.”

“What?” Daemon asked, perplexed. Leaving?

“I am going back to my family.”

“You cannot do that,” he began to say, but Y/N did not want to hear it.

“You do not get to complain about this decision, it is all your fault,” she reminded him, making Daemon purse his lips. “The King gave me his blessing to leave."

Daemon scoffed, “the King? My brother is a fool.”

“It is done, Daemon. I am leaving tomorrow. You'll be free to bed whatever whore you like.”

He stood perplexed, watching as she walked away from him… and their marriage. Daemon knew she was a proud woman, and there was nothing he could do to change the past.

//

Taglist:

@my-dark-prince / @Daemonloversblog / @littlemoonash / @mypatrochilles / @beefbaby25 / @sweetybuzz2 / @Fin-never / @asexualaromosafezone / @nerdy4itall / @yelchinweasleylothbrok / @Juless_world / @thatgaytevinter / @kaitieskidmore1 / @chevelledahuman / @rozendiors / @claudiajacobs / @savagemickey03 / @multifandom-loser / @direluvr / @dandycandy75 / @bitchyglitterfox / @rumandtearsflowerisevil / @madelineannmolder / @omgsuperstarg / @edum123 / @asiababy1903 / @valentiinita02 / @ali-r3n / @bluebear142077 / @newtsniffles / @ayamenimthiriel / @theBoredCat / @aries-hco / @thekayarlene / @druigbarnes01 / @poisxnedmind / @secretsthathauntus / @hc-geralt-23 / @krokietino / @instabull

[crispylilworm]

Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I am so proud of Watcher and this next big step of the release of their own streaming site. I am glad they are going the route of maintaining the quality content we’ve come to love and expect.

Yes - that means for the latest releases, they are putting up a paywall. I understand why some people are upset about the news, but they literally just announced the move and haven’t even discussed potential free-with-ads or delayed free releases or anything beyond their premium content yet.

Want to be mad? Sure but direct that anger at YouTube, not the Watcher boys. Youtube has been continually shifting its favor to Shorts and other short-form clickbait content. This is why you hear people complain about YouTube “dying” or felt the quality drop off while overall site views are at record highs - it’s because the algorithm pushes these short-form videos. The long-form and higher quality unscripted content like that put out by Watcher is losing favor, and losing the ability to even survive, in the platform.

Do I love the idea of a paywall for my favorite content? No of course not - but you need to trust that this was a calculated decision done by Watcher to grow and survive. We just witnessed months of writers and actors strikes for creatives to make sure workers are fairly paid, so I will not be mad at Watcher for setting up their company in a way their workers and talent are fairly paid without cutting corners in content.

I believe (manifesting) that the individuals who are able to support Watcher through payments during this time will help subsidize the content creation so there is still free content out out for all to enjoy - this is just the beginning and we don’t know their full plans. To me, this is no different than Patreon-exclusive content.

The transition to their new site will bumpy, but I will support them even if I can’t pay. I am excited to see what happens and hope for some free content in the future. I honestly think we’ve been spoiled with quality free content so far and I am forever thankful for it, excited to see what the future brings.

[pomeloandtv]

Are you sure we didn't go too big?

We?

I mean "I"

That's right. Who's decision was it to let me pick?

My decision

That's right, you loved the thought of me being unable to turn away from you, out of mind with lust, didn't you?

Yes

And whose idea was it first, to have the augmentation? Mine or yours?

Mine.

And why did you want to do that?

I'd always been interested, but my boobs started to sag after the baby, and then I wanted to do something about it. And I suggested the idea to you. So much changed after the baby...

That's right, but the hypnosis worked for you, the depression passed, didn't it?

Yes

Anyway, so you suggested the boob job first, you wanted this, and you wanted me to pick, so what's the problem?

I'm not sure I wanted this big, they're so heavy...

But now you have an excuse to keep fit, you were never diligent about that before, now you have to keep fit to keep your back strong. So it's good they're heavy, right?

I guess so. But they get in the way...

You love that. You've told me before how hot it can make you feel.

Yeah, but I say that when I'm horny or when I see you notice how big they are. When I'm not horny it can be annoying

Well, it's good that your breasts can make you horny isn't it, so you can enjoy them getting in the way. And remember how your sex drive went away when you were sad after the baby. Isn't it good that it's back, and that you have an extra thing to feel hot about.

It is good that my sex drive is back, but....

And I know you love it when I play with them, I know it must feel great for you, right?

It feels so good

Like now?

Mmmmmm, yeeeaaahhh, mmm

OK, now take that top off, because what I've noticed is how your eyes roll back in your head when I slap them, see?

Nnnnggggggg, oooohhhhh

And I know you love how I describe how fake they are. See how they don't even move like real breasts?

Unnnhhhhh

Like big heavy lumps, the shape of the implant distorting, but still there, real breasts would flow like the sea, but look at these "things" bouncing off each other.

Hnnngg

It gets you so wet to hear me describe you like an object, doesn't it

oh god, yes, but wait, uhhh, please?

Yes?

I, uh, I it always goes like this, recently anyway, I get up the courage to talk to you about something and you make me horny and I can't think and then you just decide, I never win anymore, I dunno, since the hypnosis ...

Hold that thought. *clicks fingers*. Ok good. You know how much worse things were during your depression. The hypnosis cured it. Things are different now, but they're better. I'll reinforce that chain of thought for you later, but for now, you were complaining about your big sexy boobs. Wake.

... um? ....

Go on?

Uhhh. Um, I was talking about my big *squeezing* sexy boobs? uhhh, yeah

Complaining, you were complaining about them

Yeah, uh my friends, my sisters, some of them are surprised with how big I went, shocked even. Diane and Bobby want to host a barbecue pool party next month. Diane made me promise I wouldn't wear a bikini. A one piece, high collar at most, she said

Really?

She, uh, she didn't say it, but I think she thinks they're obscene, and her boys, well they're teenagers now...

She thinks *you're* obscene? Your friend does?

Well, not me, my breasts.

Can you go to the party without these *slap* melons?

No

Some friend.

But, everyone was shocked. You told me to lie and tell everyone I was going for a "small D", and then afterwards tell them I got up the courage to ask for what I really wanted at the last minute.

But you know how hot I found that, you did that for me, remember. Are you regretting it?

No, um no, I'm glad. I remember, the month after I healed, we visited everyone, how, much you loved how shocked everyone was, and, yeah it is hot, they never imagined I would do that. I loved it too.

So what's the problem? Why are we talking about this? Do you love your breasts or not?

This isn't going the way I hoped. There's other stuff too?

I'm listening

People just stare all the time, strangers, I, sometimes it is annoying.

Sometimes? Remember before the surgery when we spent the week away, and you wore the inserts the whole time?

Yes

You loved how everyone stared.

Yes, but that was a holiday, holidays feel easier, always. Its a different mood to real life. And you were always there, and seeing you be proud, showing me off, you're not always there.

And remember last week in Ikea?

Yes

You specifically said to me was how much you loved "being the yummy mummy with the loud heels and the huge rack"

I know, I did, I do.

And remember what I said to you?

You said everyone who wants to look at my tits knows where to find me, they just need to follow the sound of my heels

And then?

And we were in a little mock kitchen and you put your hand down my jeans and fingered me and showed me how wet your finger was *giggles, squeezing boobs*

You love your huge tits

Yeah, I do, but it's still sometimes annoying, when you're not there. People aren't listening to me, or are being too nice...

You've been hot all your life, you're used to people being too nice

Yes, but now, with big boobs they're even nicer. I used to have an idea which people were genuine and which were just being nice because I was hot, but now it is impossible to tell, even people who act uninterested, I'm thinking are they over compensating because of my huge boobs?.

Ok, you're right, before some people were only being nice because of your looks and now even more will be nice because of your looks and boobs. But this is good too

How?

Before, there were times when you could believe one particular person was being sincere. But there was always a chance you would be wrong and trust someone you shouldn't. Now that everyone is being even nicer it is harder for you to distinguish fact from fiction, and you know this, and this means you won't make the mistake to trust someone who you shouldn't

That means I should always assume everyone is treating me different because of my boobs? Is that good?

It means you won't be hurt. *kneading boobs again*. Even when people are disinterested, you should always assume they are over compensating for the effect of your boobs. I'll work on that idea later

What do you mean "work on it later?"

Hold that thought *clicks fingers* You're complaining about your boobs, worried about people being too nice. But you feel like you've lost the argument. None of your points felt as substantive outside your head as inside. You feel so stupid. My arguments always seem so strong and obvious and logical. And now you worry that you are annoying me or boring me. If there is any different argument you haven't said yet, try now so you don't have to start this conversation again later, but you definitely would love to mollify any annoyance I have by getting me to squeeze your boobs again. Wake

I dunno, sometimes they're too much, people are so weird, not trusting anyone, I dunno. I ... it's fine, I, uh, I just needed to vent, I do love them so much, I'm glad you got them. I, one thing, I worry about the effect it might have on our son. Or if we have a daughter. Like, if they're Mom has these enormous fake breasts, and is nearly always showing off cleavage... is that a problem? Am I hurting them?

That's a stupid thing to say

Wha , stupid, I...what, why would you....??

Listen to me

...

Do you want your children to have a mother who hides who they are, who tries to be a person they are not, who lives a life oppressing herself? Who lives by other peoples standards and not her own? Is that the kind of influence you want to be to them?

No, but, I ... I didn't used to be like this though, things have changed

But you've already told me several times you love it, were you lying?

No! I mean, I ... I'm sorry baby, I'm just feeling funny. I do love everything. I don't want to be a bad influence to our son, you'll see. And you're right. Thank you for explaining it to me, I feel better now.

Cheered up?

Yeah *brave smile*

*big squeeze* You like them huge don't you?

Uhhh, *giggle* yap.

You love being huge for me

*under her breath* I looooooove it

And you know how much I love it that people we don't know who live around here, they all recognise you as the mom with the huge fakes. You make me very happy.

yayyyyyyy!

Ok, here, take care of this

Mmmm, I love how hard you are!

*said between squeezing and sucking and biting her tits* You do that to me, your tits do that to me. It's your fault.

I love that I do that to you! Making you so hard so often makes me feel so good!

I know it does, and it makes me happy that you find meaning being my slut

*giggling* yeah, I'm a slut for you. Just tell me what I need to do for you, to be exactly what you need, to make me feel this good, I'll do it

Ha! You'd change for me again, wouldn't you slut?

Uh, wait...

Shhh, lay back so I can absolutely annihilate you

~~~ LATER ~~~

Um, earlier in bed, I, uh, when I said I would change, I meant like, hair or clothes or something, but I don't know if you meant that though

Hold that thought *clicks fingers* You want to ask about what I said about changing, but you already tried to ask me one thing today, and it didn't go well, all your arguments went nowhere. You feel so stupid and weak, better not say anything and feel stupid and weak again. Ask me about your friend Diane. Wake.

Um, uh. Where? Oh, so Diane, um I wanted to talk about her, sometimes I'm so stupid, what did I want to say?

Was it about the barbecue, the bikini.

I don't know. Maybe?

Listen, if she is your friend, she should accept you how you are. If she doesn't want to invite your tits to the party, then she doesn't want to invite you. Talk to her about it. If she can't see reason here, you should think hard about your friendship with her.

But I've known her since middle school!

And I expect she will see sense, but sometimes people change, and if she is no longer someone who supports their friends, I'm not saying ditch her immediately, but you do need to examine your friendship with her. You survived post-natal depression, we, as a family, survived it. You don't need toxic, controlling people in your life, telling you what to do. Do you?

I guess not

And you can always talk to me, you know that, right?

Yes, I know

[wordsarelife]

AFTERGLOW (possible ending 1)

pairing: Anthony Lockwood x reader

summary: just simply "meet me in the afterglow"

warnings: a bit of angst, but not too much, there's a happy ending!!

notes: tried doing a bit of a transition here, let me know if you got it or if it was way too confusing

-> back to part three

"y/n?" a tender voice called from across the room. you turned around to notice that the speaker had already come closer and was now standing right behind you.

"Anthony" you breathed. you hadn't seen him in a long time. not in real life at least. you had kept up with his work through the newspaper, collecting every article that mentioned him and strolling down portland row any time you were in England.

of course he was still living in his childhood home, even if his agency had become far more successful over the years and he was now owning the two houses right next to number 35.

"I haven't seen you in forever" he smiled and you both looked at each other longingly, but unsure how to greet the other

"it's good to see you" you said softly and even you noticed how his features grew even softer at the recognition of the patience in your voice, that had never left, even if you had been angry with him.

"I heard you that you left England a few years ago, so it's quite the surprise meeting you here"

"I did" you laughed "I went to Harvard, got my degree and originally wanted to stay there, but then the homesickness finally got the better of me"

a month before your wedding you and Henry had decided to end your engagement, it was a mutual decision. you had a long conversation with your parents and they finally accepted that you couldn't go through with what they had in mind for you. the contact had been low for a few years, your parents not being happy with your decisions at first, but as of now, you had been able to rekindle the relationship and they had even come to America to attend your graduation three years ago.

Today, Henry was married to a beautiful girl, a friend of yours that you had introduced to him. even if your somewhat romantic relationship had ended about seven years ago, you and Henry had stayed great friends. he was actually the reason you were here tonight, he wasn't able to make it to this art gala, so he had send you the ticket, keeping in mind how much you loved those.

"what are you up to these days?" you began to walk around mindlessly through the gallery

"a lot of ghost-hunting, still" he laughed "I've got the luxury now that I don't have to take every case, makes me get hurt a lot less."

"that's good to hear! how's George? and Lucy? still by your side, I hope"

"always" he smiled widely "they're still as unbearable and loyal as ever, they're gonna jump out of their socks, once I mention running into you"

"I definitely have to meet them again soon!"

"I mean, if you're finished walking around, you could accompany me home? I was actually planning on leaving before I saw you"

"oh sure, I mean if its alright with you"

"I wouldn't have suggested it if it wasn't"

"right" you laughed uncomfortably, before you followed him down the street and sat down in the cab beside him.

"the same old house" Anthony announced loudly, once the both of you had gotten out of the car

"not complaining, I love to see some familiarity, spending so much time away from home was weird" you both ignored how you had indirectly referred to his place as home, not that it was far off though. you followed him down the hallway, noticing that not much had changed over the years. and there, down in the kitchen were sitting George and Lucy, like they had been frozen in time.

"hello" you waved. Lucy's eyes shined bright in recognition and she quickly got off her chair to hug you, George directly behind her.

"what are you doing back home?" George asked

"yeah, I thought you would stay in America, I mean that's what Lockwood told us you went to-" she interrupted herself at the look that Lockwood was sending her

"that's right, but I finally decided to come back home" you smiled "I kept track off you as well"

"really?" both George and Lucy asked, but Lockwood drowned out both of them "you did?"

"yes, i've read every newspaper article and I saw a few interviews" you looked from one to the other "that's a really great reputation you've built over the years"

"I presume it's all thanks to you" Lockwood smiled and you raised your eyebrows, confused

after your father had retired and Matthew took over the business, you had asked him to keep an eye on the agency of your former boyfriend, invite them to every important event, where they could meet important people and give them the cases that the fittes agency was too busy to take.

"I wouldn't agree" you shook your head

"come on!" George whined "as if anyone had invited us to important meetings if you hadn't told your brother to"

"yeah" Lucy nodded "as if Matthew Fittes would've even known who we are if it wasn't for you"

you shook your head, laughing "I don't know what you're talking about"

later that evening, when George and Lucy had already gone up to their rooms, you sat in the library, still catching up with Lockwood, when it was eventually time to leave.

"it was great seeing you and Lucy and George as well" you smiled

"listen, y/n, what happened back then-"

"you don't have to say anything, Anthony" you said softly "I wasn't your responsibility to save me, alright? I respected your decision then and still do it now"

"maybe it should've been" he muttered and you shook your head

"living a life you didn't want to live? that doesn't seem fair to me"

"I think actually, I would've been a life I loved" he looked down in sadness "I just had to break what I loved the most"

"loved?" you breathed "you told me-"

"I lied, I just thought this whole thing would be better for you.. back then I was without means, I could barely keep the house, I didn't want to share a poor life with you"

"any life I would've shared with you would have been rich, no matter the circumstances" you paused "all I wanted was you, I would've never asked for more than just your love"

"you wanted to get married"

"my father wanted me to get married and I would've married you in a dumpster if that meant not loosing you, not loosing us"

"I really hurt you, y/n"

"you didn't just hurt me, Anthony. you ruined me for anybody else, I don't think that I've been able to love anyone since then, at least not in the way that I loved you. that's what keeps me up at night, every man I meet, has to win against you and that's just not possible"

"we were just children, y/n" he sighed "I saw it on your face back then, as your father announced the engagement and I knew that I was to blame for your pain, but there was nothing I could've given you, the way Henry could've given you things"

"do you see him here with me? Henry, I mean. do you see his ring on my finger?"

"no, but-"

"I mean you knew that we broke off our engagement, right? you must've heard.. somewhere, right?"

"yeah and-"

"why didn't you come find me then? I waited a year longer to start college, just in the hopes that you would come back"

"I thought you didn't want to see me"

"seeing you again was everything i've wanted Anthony" a tear slipped down your cheek

"I'm sorry" he said softly "maybe I could call you some time"

you laughed at his terrible attempt at making a joke "sure" you chuckled "but don't you dare lie to me again when I ask you if you love me"

"ask me right now" "what?"

"you heard me"

you took a breath "do- do you love me?"

"I do" Anthony breathed and you waited for the priests permission to kiss, before you leaned forward and pressed your lips onto your husbands.

the whole wedding party cheered and you could see Charlotte jump up from her seat at the front, running forward and hugging both your legs. Anthony took your daughter into his arms and you three shared a long hug

"mummy and daddy are finally married, chary" you laughed at her excitement as she squealed at your announcement

you let her down, so she could run back to your mum, while Anthony and you walked down the aisle together, smiling at all the people that had come to see you get married

"fucking finally" George muttered, which made not only Lucy but Matthew and Penelope laugh as well

the proposal had come two years after you had reconnected and shortly after you found out about Charlotte's existence, it had taken you quite some time to finally tie the knot. three years to be exact. Anthony was still leading Lockwood and co and you spent most of your time writing or plucking flowers from your garden. Anthony had surprised you with the little cottage right outside of London, in the countryside. he was still close enough to the agency, but out there in the green, you could raise your children and grow old together.

you had informed in of the irony quite promptly, hadn't he once told you that it was exactly the life, little house outside of the city where you would raise your children, he didn't want.

now everything was finally right. he had told you so himself. and every time you would find his eyes, you were glad that everything turned out how it did.

that evening you spent sitting on your chairs in front of the house, holding each others hands and silently watching the afterglow.

[coal15]

Just finished the first draft of Ch.10 of my Good Omens fic All Roads Lead Back. This chapter is a bit different because it's mostly backstory of a new OC. I thought of the idea like a month ago and I knew exactly how I was going to introduce her. I'm hoping to have it locked and posted w/in the next couple of days. So, here's a little excerpt:

Once upon a time an Angel was sent to a small town about an hours' drive outside of London to monitor and protect the local squirrel population until further notice. Why? Well, the longer she remained there, the more she suspected literally no reason at all besides Gabriel’s desire to show the Almighty what a tight ship he was running. Everyone occupied with tasks and missions. Or maybe the pompous dick just didn’t like her. A squirrel or two occasionally stopped to socialise, but mostly they just squirrelled about in proper squirrel fashion and paid her no mind.

Her only escape from the boredom was gardening and music. When weather allowed, she would fling open the doors and windows of her small cottage and blast Fleetwood Mac, Bowie, Blondie, or whatever, whilst she tending to flowerbeds. Generally no one complained about this habit of hers because the homes in her village had a decent amount of space between them, so it wasn't like she was blowing out anyone’s eardrums. Besides, they all appreciated her taste in music. With one exception.

. . . “The Sex Pistols were not well received,” the Angel says with a giggle as Aziraphale and Crowley listen to her story with tingling curiosity. “So I removed them from my gardening soundtrack rotation right away.”

“That was very polite of you,” Aziraphale says with a smart nod, quite certain he also would not appreciate the musical stylings of a band called The Sex Pistols. 

. . . One day the Angel was weeding between the peonies and primrose when a handsome young man who often roamed about with his dog wandered over to the fence around her little patch of the world. “No music today?” He asked with a gentle smile.

“Nah. I need to replace the needle on my record player, it scratched up Miles Davis pretty bad the other day. But I probably should have replaced it ages ago, so. Joke’s on me.”

“Bummer.” The man’s smile went from gentle to shy. “I, uh, when I take Pippin out for walks I usually go by this place just to hear what you’re playing. You have killer taste.”

“I get that a lot.” Something about the man’s smile made her insides feel warm. 

“Have you heard of Cyndi Lauper? She’s pretty new.”

The Angel flipped through her mental catalogue and came up empty. “Ummmmm, I don’t think so.” 

“You should check her out. She’s got, like, the most unique voice.”

“I’ll add it to my list.” Ask his name! She shouted at herself with a bizarre urgency she didn’t quite understand. “Sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

“Allan. And I already know your name-not in a creepy way!” He yelped the moment he said the words and heard how they sounded. “But, you’re, y’know the Garden Music Girl. You’re kinda . . . known. Around here. In general.”

The Angel didn’t know what to say. She bit the corner of her lip as her insides got even warmer and she wondered what Allan’s favourite food was. If it’s pizza I know a great spot, I could take him there. And maybe a pint at Salty Dog if he-

“I am so stupid!” Allan interrupted her inner dialogue. “Christ, what an idiot! I can get you a great deal on a new needle. Or hell, a whole new player if you want. My family runs a record shop in London.”

. . . . “Zoe!” Aziraphale cuts off the story with a sharp gasp when he makes the connection, then turns to Crowley. “Darling, this is Maggie’s mother!” 

Crowley tilts an ear closer to Aziraphale, wondering if perhaps he misheard. “How’s that?”  

A fond expression washes over Zoe’s face as she thinks back on her mortal days. “It took me a minute to realise I was in love with Allan but as soon as I did, unplugging from Heaven so we could grow old together and have kids was the easiest decision I ever made.”

“And as a human, you never . . .”

“Nope.” Zoe shook her head. “I had no idea you were an Angel. To me you were just the sweet, quirky guy who owned our building."

********to read Chapter One, go HERE

[tropes-and-tales-archives]

Whistle Down the Wind, Chapter Two

Word Count:  2698

TW:  Pining, unrequited love, angst.

AN:  Part of a series.  The series masterlist here.

Sonny’s first month at SVU came and went.  It was rocky at first, and he was only willing to take some of the blame for it. Sure, he could be brash sometimes. He put his foot in his mouth more often than he wished – it was a family trait.  But the people of SVU were a tightly knit family, and he struggled to find an in-road with them at first.  They weren’t very friendly to outsiders.  Fresh zeppole didn’t work.  The best pizza in Manhattan didn’t work either.

He couldn’t talk to his parents about it.  Neither his father nor his mother agreed with his career choice, and if he complained to them, they’d just try to convince him to quit and move back to Staten Island to work at his uncle’s towing company.  

He couldn’t talk to his sisters about it.  He wasn’t that close with his two older ones, Gina and Theresa.  And Bella had her own stuff going on.  She and Tommy had gotten a place in Chelsea and were trying to figure out their life together.

He tried to talk to his girlfriend Nicole about it.  He usually staggered to her place, dead tired after work, looking for comfort. 

When he first started his tour through the SVU departments of the five boroughs, he tried to talk to her about the cases he was handling:  the rapes, the assaults, and abuse against children. She wrinkled her nose at him and complained that it was too unpleasant to hear, and he understood that.  He tried to talk to her about the problem of fitting at Manhattan’s SVU, but she just shrugged.

“You can quit when you pass the bar,” she replied, scrolling through her phone. “Then you can make a real salary too.”

So he texted you.

He wished his life wasn’t so hectic; he wished he could see you more often. You were a great listener, and you gave the best advice for someone so young.  You had helped him with his decision to enroll in law school – in fact, you had been his biggest fan and supporter.  Early on, you had even helped him study, sitting cross-legged on his couch and drilling him with questions before midterms or finals.  But he had met Nicole shortly thereafter, and she had pointed out that it was weird for a single guy to be such close friends with a single girl.  So he had drawn away a bit, and his life took over. 

But he still texted you.

Struggling at new precinct, he typed.  Co-workers don’t like me.  What should I do?

Quit your job, came the response.  My cover band needs some eye-candy to dance on stage while we play.  We can pay you in exposure.

Sonny grinned and watched his phone as you wrote out something more serious.

Just be patient, stretch. You’re smart and great at your job. They’ll come around.  No one can resist that Carisi charm, even the jaded film noir detectives in Sex Crimes.  I’ll send you a playlist to help pump you up.

This is why you’re the best, he typed.  Thanks for the pep talk.  Lunch next weekend?

He watched as the dots indicating that you were responding appeared on his screen, then disappeared, then appeared again.  But all that came through was the word, absolutely.

He replied with a date and time that you confirmed, then signed off by thanking you again.  You signed off with the poop emoji, an inside joke between the two of you because you’d spent your first year with a smart phone thinking it was a chocolate ice cream emoji.  That was something else that Sonny liked about you – you had a great sense of humor, and you were always able to laugh at yourself.

The smile on his face faded.  He deleted the string of messages between the two of you, then went to join Nicole in bed.  He felt a tiny pang of guilt to have been texting you while his girlfriend waited for him, but you were just a friend.  He thought that if he could just get Nicole to spend some time with you, she’d see that you were a great person and not a threat at all.

After all, how many friends took the time to create amazing, personalized playlists that perfectly captured the moment?  Over the years, you must have sent him a hundred different playlists: one for his graduation from the academy, one for law school studying, one for his workouts.  One for when his dad had a heart attack, one for when his nonno died.

He only deleted the messages because Nicole had gone through his phone once. Not that there was anything to hide from her.  But he didn’t want the hassle of another fight.

********

You waited at the restaurant for Sonny for half an hour before you just went ahead and ordered.  While you waited for your food, you texted him.  A reply came halfway through your sandwich – an apology.  He had deleted the original message, he said, and completely forgot.

You felt a pang but played it off.  Of course you were forgettable.  

He apologized three more times before promising to make it up to you. You told him about a performance you had in the coming week.  You were a guest performer with the Gramercy Chamber Orchestra and would be performing the cello for Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata, one of the harder pieces for your preferred instrument.  You were nervous – and you rarely got nervous during performances.

Can I bring Nic? He texted.  I’d love for the two of you to get to know each other better.

Your mind immediately started to go to the meanest place (assuming that someone like Nicole wouldn’t be able to tell Schubert from Shostakovich), but you pushed those thoughts down.  It was completely unfair to stereotype, and you felt like a terrible feminist.  Just because she was gorgeous and well put-together didn’t mean she wasn’t nice or smart.  Or a music lover.  

You knew that part of your judgement came from your childhood.  Your mother had been a winner on the midwest beauty pageant circuit, and she had tried to transition to the role of stage mother once she married and had you.  That’s how your musical talents had been discovered so early, and that’s what won you more titles than you really deserved, but once you were old enough to rebel, you did.  It could have been fun – you saw plenty of fellow contestants with their mothers or aunts, laughing and genuinely enjoying the experience.  Not you though.  Your mother was too focused on winning for either of you to have any fun.  Even when you won, she still picked apart your performance until you felt tiny.

You kept up with the music lessons.  You abandoned the lessons in how to walk and smile around fake teeth. Your mother, in return, criticized you at every turn.  Your poor posture.  Your lack of care about hair or makeup.  Even when you found your own sort of aesthetic – eyeliner on regular days, a signature red lipstick for events – it wasn’t the right kind of makeup.  She even criticized the way you walked.  A lifetime of internalized judgement about beauty was sure to make you skeptical about Sonny’s girlfriend.  

The jealousy over the fact that she was Sonny’s girlfriend probably didn’t help.

You needed to be nicer, you chided yourself.  Maybe Nicole was a perfectly lovely person and you weren’t giving her a chance. Maybe instead of being jealous and giving in to your baser instincts, you could be kinder and expect something nice to come of it, like a new friendship.

Sure, you typed back.  Bella and Tommy will be there too. I’ll get two more tickets.

You explained to him how nervous you were and what a huge honor it was to play this piece, especially with a group of professional musicians who were world renowned.

It’ll be nice to have another friendly face in the audience, you told him.

Once you got through this performance, then you could focus on befriending Sonny’s girlfriend.

********

Sonny had the entire evening planned.  First, he’d cook dinner for him and Nicole, then they’d go to your musical thing.  Afterwards, drinks to celebrate:  him and Nicole, Bella and Tommy, and you.  He was determined to make you and Nicole be friends.  He wanted you in his life, and he wanted his girlfriend to know that you were a friend – and nothing more.

Dinner was a disaster.  He made chicken parmesan and risotto, but Nicole only picked at it.  She scraped the breading off of the chicken and refused the risotto altogether.

“It’s nothing but carbs and fat,” she complained.  

“Sorry,” Sonny said, ducking his head.  “I can bake you another chicken breast.”  He stood up and preheated the oven, popping another piece of chicken into a dish, seasoning it with just a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.

Once it was cooked, he slid it on her plate and she gave him one of her brilliant white smiles.  “Thanks, babe.”

“No problem.”  He sat back down and finished his own meal, now cold.  “I’m looking forward to going out tonight.  I think you’ll really like her once you get to know her.”

Nicole rolled her eyes.  “I’m not really into classical music,” she said.  “Can’t we go to that new bar in Tribeca?”

Sonny gathered up the dishes and started loading the dishwasher.  “It’s important to her.”  He glanced over at his girlfriend and watched her stick out her lower lip in a pout.  “Maybe we can head to that bar afterwards,” he added.  “All of us can check it out.”

Nicole stood up and came to stand behind him.  “Yeah, a double date with a fifth wheel,” she muttered.  Sonny felt her snake her arms around his waist, and he leaned back a bit against her.  “Or we could just stay in and make it a regular date with just the two of us…” she added, trailing a hand down his front until she was cupping him through his pants.

“Nic,” he said, trying to make his voice stern.  He could feel himself responding to her brusque strokes, and he glanced up at the clock on the microwave.  “Well, we have a little time before we have to leave,” he finally conceded.  

********

You calmed your nerves the same way you always did:  you visualized yourself, alone, in deep, cool water. Surrounded by nothing but dark blue water.  Just you, floating in the cold and dark.  No sound – at first.  Then, as you surrendered to the cool and dark, the first notes of the piece you were about to play.  

No one else, nothing else existed.  Just you and the music.  No matter what, it was always you and the music.

When you strode out onto the stage in your sharp women’s tuxedo, your low heels clicking across the boards, you didn’t hear the applause.  You didn’t see Bella and Tommy in the second row, or the two empty seats beside them.  All you saw was your cello waiting for you and the slight smile on the conductor’s face.  This was the last piece of the evening.  The main event.

You took your seat, taking your cello and bow in your hands.  You felt like a witch sometimes with the instrument as your familiar.  A wholly living thing that you could work with your will.  And, in turn, it enchanted you.

Once you were settled, you gave the conductor the faintest of nods.  Then you began.

The musicians behind you were amazing.  The allegro flew by, and you almost fumbled on the adagio but didn’t. By the time the allegretto began, you and the cello were essentially one creature.  It was a sort of magic you could never put into words.

When the final notes faded and the conductor dropped his arms, you were startled back to reality by the thunderous applause.  You blinked against the lights and then blinked again as the conductor laughed at you and gestured for you to stand.  When you did, the audience stood up.  Then you were blinking away tears too and grinning so wide that your mouth hurt.

You found Bella in the audience and gave her your patented half-shrug, as if to ask, “not too bad?”  Tommy, looking uncomfortable in a button-down shirt and blazer, shot you two thumbs up.

It wasn’t until your gaze drifted to the two empty seats beside them that your smile fell.

When you went backstage to gather up your stuff (and receive congratulations from the professional musicians, which made you almost giddy from praise), you checked your phone.  No missed texts or calls from Sonny.  He probably got called in to work.  It happened more often now that he was with SVU, and you’d never hold that against him. His job was stressful enough without you piling on.

You met Bella and Tommy in the lobby, and you went out for a drink.  They couldn’t stay long – Tommy had curfew for his parole – but a couple of drinks were fine.

“You were so good!” Bella said, pulling you into a hug.  “I’ve never heard that much applause at any of your events before.”

Tommy nodded over his soda.  “I didn’t know the music, but it sure sounded great,” he agreed.

You sipped your own beer.  “I can’t thank you enough for coming,” you told them both.  You felt the usual tears of your post-performance high start to prickle behind your eyelids.  “I was so nervous.”

“I’m just sorry Sonny missed it,” Bella sighed.  You nodded and took another swallow of beer.

“Yeah, well…” you trailed off for a moment before continuing.  “Since he went to the Sex Crimes precinct, he’s been getting called in all the time.”

Tommy snorted.  “Sure,” he started, but Bella slapped his arm, and he focused on the tabletop.  You looked back and forth between them. 

“What?” you asked.  Bella sighed and Tommy looked up at you, sheepish.

“He sent Bella a text while you were backstage after the performance,” he replied, his face turning red.  “Let’s just say that he was committing sex crimes instead of investigating them.”

“What?” you asked again, confused.  

Bella sighed, louder.  “He and Nicole decided to stay in for a, uh…romantic night in.  Or so he told me in not so many words.”

“Oh.”  The buzzy feelings from your success dissipated in an instant, replaced by a burning jealousy. And, along with it, anger.

“He said he was going to try and stop by once we settled in at a bar,” Bella added gently, trying to soften the blow.  “I texted him when we got here, and he’ll be on his way soon.”

You shook your head and finished the rest of your beer.  “Text him back and tell him not to come.  I’m celebrating tonight.”  You flagged a waitress down and ordered three shots, which were promptly delivered to the table.

“I can’t drink…” Tommy started, and Bella cut him off.

“We need to get home before his curfew…” she said, but you talked over her too.

“These are for me,” you said.  You threw all three shots back, one after the other.  “I’m celebrating tonight.”  You ignored the look that passed between Bella and her boyfriend. You ordered more shots, then scanned the bar.  When the shots came, you downed those too.

“I’ll catch up with you later, Bella,” you said.  You pulled first her, then Tommy in for hugs, then waved them off. They gave each other that look again, but you ignored that too.  You shooed them away until they left, reluctantly, and only after you promised to text Bella when you were home safely.

You shouldn’t be so picky, Sonny had told you once. 

Too right, stretch, you replied in your head.  You made eye contact with a guy at the bar who gave you a brief smile and a nod.  You made your way over to him and let him buy you a drink.  And then another.  And another. Because you were celebrating tonight.