#thank the gods for these inky bastards
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trainsgenderjamie · 4 months ago
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Laying in bed at agent 3 in the morning looking at 24 and Pearlina and Slpoon Yuri and the stupid little dog in my brain is wagging it's stupid little tail because oh my GOD I love splatoon and I love yuri thank you Splatoon for having a mostly/all yuri-able cast
Edit: Late happy 8/3/24 I missed the once in a century Fem/enby yuri day... fucking amazing.
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irishmammonagenda · 4 months ago
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Your head hits your pillow. Your heavy eyes close, leaving your world in darkness.
Darkness that for a split second turns into the most fiery terrifying pits of hell before being overwritten.
Darkness that brightens up into a luscious garden, one in which a tanned woman is standing, arms crossed.
Her long inky black hair blows softly in the wind at the same rhythm of her softly fluttering garments. She looks familiar in the way of deja vu.
You feel drawn to her, so you walk closer, close enough to be at arm's length.
She slaps you.
"Ow! What was that for?!" You blink, taking a step back.
"That was for being an idiot." The woman shrugs, her lips are the same shape as Lucifer's when he scowls. You shudder. "I mean honestly," She grabs your shoulders and shakes you. "I thought you were smarter than this."
"Smarter than what?" You get out rather shakily seeing as you're being shaken. She sighs and holds her head in her hands, now leaning against a tree.
"Have I taught you nothing? Has all my guidance been for nothing?"
You pause. "....You're Lilith."
She nods, "And you're quite intellectually challenged by the looks of it."
A crow caws in the distance, probably laughing at that one.
"Mean."
"MC."
You turn your attention back to your ancestor and smile innocently. "Yes?"
Lilith grabs you by the shoulders, and you brace yourself, preparing to be shaken again, but you're not. Instead the most beautiful grey eyes look into yours, eyes that held a storm in them. " I don't care if you have pacts with the Seven Avatars Of Sin. I don't care if you have the Demon Prince and Butler wrapped around your finger. Your never ever ever, fuck with an ouija board."
"I was in the Human Realm with my human friends! We got bored and I missed everyone!"
Lilith deadpans. "You have a DDD."
"....Good point?"
"I'm serious MC. As your great times a thousand billionth grandmother, I forbid you from playing with that board again. Even the Wise Sorcerer doesn't use ouija boards! Mostly because the demons in those boards have a restraining order against him....but still."
"So, you're banning me?"
Lilith smirks, "If I even catch wind or even suspect you're using one again. Especially as stupidly as you used the one with your human friends, I'm going to write a letter detailing your exploits and have the breeze blow it atop of both Lucifer and Barbatos' desks."
Your eyes widen in terror. "Are you...blackmailing me?"
"Yes." She smiles.
"God Dammit."
The world fades into black once more, you see glimpses of horrors beyond your comprehension for a split second once more as you feel yourself be shaken awake.
The Avatar of Sloth looks at you sternly, almost as if he was mimicking Lucifer. Jealousy in his gaze. "Care to tell me why your dreams are infested with demons that aren't me?"
He's already in demon form. Damn.
You blink. Those images that flashed for a second was what was supposed to be your dreams? So Lilith took you out of your dreams? So he couldn't see Lilith?
Belphie blinks, holding eye contact with you as he slinks sneakily into your bed beside you. "So who are those guys? Your new dream buddies?" He scoffs, acting more like his older, more envious brother for a moment.
"...I...." You look away from him. "Don't tell Lucifer....but...when I was in the Human Realm....I might've maybe....messed around with some stuff?"
Belphie stretches intertwining your legs with his, "What stuff." It was hardly a question.
"...Ouija boards?"
"You idiot." He says as his tail smacks you, before wrapping around your waist like a shackle.
"...Don't worry, MC." He says in a softer tone, though the sinister look on his face said otherwise, "...I'll flush those bastards out."
"....Thanks Belphie."
He looks at you through half lidded eyes as he rests his chin on your chest. "If you do something stupid like that again while in the Human Realm, I don't think I'll let you leave next time you come back down here."
Belphie smiles as the both of you fall asleep, the low life demons he originally thought were secret boyfriends (he doesn't think straight when he's jealous) but were actually just stupid enough to latch themselves onto you had actually done him a favour. This would be a great thing to bring up to a certain six brothers he had if you ever tried to leave the Devildom for so long again.
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margowritesthings · 2 years ago
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ROMEO AND JULIET: II
𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧.
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series masterpost part I
pairing: low honour!Arthur Morgan x O'Driscoll!reader (f) word count: 5107 words warnings: 18+ minors dni, sexually explicit, low honour Arthur, rough sex, fingering (r receiving), oral (r receiving), blood play, knife play, gun play, touch of cnc, dirty talk, degradation, enemies while lovers, violence, murder, choking, low honour Arthur being sexy af (yes it needs its own warning) authors note: okay, it's been a whiiiile for these two crazies, but part 2 is finally here!! i gave this one my all, i hope y'all enjoy <3 i have a plan for this series that's mostly built on requests ive received, so if y'all have any suggestions please feel free to drop them in my asks!!<3 as always thank you to my darling Bea for being my cheerleader throughout getting back to writing. couldn't do it without ya <3beta read by @cowboydisaster
taglist: @cowboydisaster @inkandbloodbound @counteveryfreckle @elifsukirdaghehe @reaveries @delilah-grimes @mrsarthurmorgan7 @twola
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Thanks to Arthur, and your own terrible decisions, it is far from the easiest ride back to camp, your bare, sticky skin uncomfortably grinding against your saddle with each movement your steed makes. Also thanks to Arthur, ironically, it isn’t the roughest ride you’ve ever had. You’d actually be hard pressed to find a harder ride than the one you experienced just minutes ago. It infuriates you, how unbelievably satisfied you feel despite everything. It’s bone deep and unlike anything you’ve felt with any of the other men you’ve been with. It even dopes your mind up enough to allow you to reach the bridge out of Saint Denis before the real regret sets in like a gypsies fuckin’ curse. 
You urge Tybalt, your snow white Arabian, faster, almost frantically squeezing your calves and verbally ordering his gallop. The saddle burn is searing, but it’s not nearly as bad as the ice water that feels as though it’s being dumped over your head when you realise what you’ve done. 
Arthur Morgan.
Arthur Fucking Morgan.
Fucking Arthur Fucking Morgan.
You don’t even really remember how it happened. It’s a complete blur of pleasure and pain and the smell of Arthur’s smoky breath and the feel of his calloused hands against your softest, most sensual parts. One minute, you’re gathering information, planning just how you’re going to loot the bastard, the next you’re bleeding for him, burning for him as he takes you under the orange glow of the streetlights.
The wind whips at your cheeks painfully, the skin of your thighs ripping against the hard leather of the saddle. The faster you ride, the more it hurts, but you’re grateful for it. It's the perfect punishment for what you’ve done, a painful distraction from the thoughts plaguing your mind of you fucking someone who considers your father’s killer a father to him. To add insult to all the injury, you have to go back to camp empty handed. You didn’t even think about the job Morgan is probably off finishing right now after finishing you, which is probably exactly what he wanted.
“God fucking dammit!” you scream out into the swamps of Lemoyne, scattering a few birds from the trees into the inky night sky. 
Tybalt carries you home, but in your current state you simply cannot face your family and the other gang members. It's 4am before all the lanterns are distinguished and you can finally hitch up and bring yourself to enter camp, tying Arthur’s jacket tighter around your waist and walking as quietly as you can back to your tent. You don’t sleep, despite longing for nothing but your cot the whole time you were waiting. 
Your jeans burn faster than expected. 
If only you could burn the rest of the night to ashes just as quickly.
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It’s been three weeks since you’ve seen Arthur Morgan. Actually seen Arthur Morgan, that is. Three weeks of good old Uncle Colm handing you the shittiest jobs as punishment for your failings. Three weeks of trying so damn hard not to bring yourself back to that night every time you’re alone in your tent, but finding it near impossible. It takes 9 days for the bruises on your thighs to fade and 14 for the cuts on your neck, though the constant reminder of your sins lies just on your inner thigh, where Arthur’s knife ripped your skin as you came undone in his arms. The scar shines in the candlelight, only seen in the dead of night when you’re alone, shamefully tracing the same lines Arthur did with your fingers over and over, chasing that rush you know deep down you won’t find without him. He haunts you, and yet you’re infuriated each and every time his cocky goddamn smirk somehow shows up in your deepest fantasies. 
It’s not your fault. You can’t even get yourself off without brushing against the mark he left on you. Hell, he may as well have branded his name into your leg. Bastard.
These are the grievances you grumble to yourself near nightly, the battle you fight with your subconscious even now, as the lock to the gunsmith’s clicks open in your nimble hands. The old door screams out the tale of years without oil for its hinges when you push it open, stepping inside into the dark, empty room. You’re far too focused on everything you shouldn’t be focused on right now to check over your shoulder before slipping inside, but in your years as an outlaw that mistake is yet to cause an issue.
The moonlight streams through the windows, the panes casting shadows of crosses on the shelves and the weapons adorning them. Your tired eyes scan your surroundings, a smirk tugging at the corner of your lip at the sight of those beautiful weapons, all yours for the taking.
The owner of the store almost certainly lives upstairs, so when the weight of your boots on the wooden floorboards makes them creak underneath you, you wince. Yes, you’re more than prepared for any disturbances, but you’d rather not have to deal with the hassle of shooting some guy in the face. A quick job, in and out, and you can get back to camp victorious and not think about Arthur Morgan.
You start with the ammo, loading the leather bag up with all the little boxes. The shells and bullets make such beautiful music to your ears as they clatter around their cardboard boxes, a song of abundance and a successful loot that you could listen to all night. When all the side pockets are full, you turn on your heel, spurs scraping against the wood as you begin to survey the shelves upon shelves of weapons. They appear to be organised well, the rifles in one corner, repeaters next to them, there’s an entire wall of pistols, some glinting in the moonlight that breaks through the dusty window, with all the other types delegated to an area of the shop each. It’s a beautiful sight for an outlaw, especially when you see the cabinet of knives and start to imagine all the different places you could shove them into Arthur’s ridiculously muscular body…
You’re getting off topic. 
The floorboards groan under your weight again the moment you start pacing the shop to grab at least two of each kind of gun. For each that goes in the bag for camp, you grab another, ever so slightly better one for yourself. You’ll carry them out separately and tie them up to Tybalt once you’re out of this place. That’s the plan, at least. 
It takes you the longest to pick out the knives, each one possessing a captivating reason to be your favourite. The carvings on all of the different handles are stunning, each blade almost glowing right to their pointed tips. Guns are great, but you’ve always been fond of the art form of blades. You reach for one, an ornate dagger that seems to shine brighter than the others, its handle carved into a beautiful, twisted scene. There’s a woman in the middle, flames wrapping around her legs and waist as the Grim Reaper holds her from behind. The detail is incredible, each bony finger of Death himself gripping into the woman’s hip. It almost takes your breath away, but something beats it to it. Someone beats it to it. 
“Aw, shucks, I caught another stray!” Arthur exclaims, all sarcasm and bravado as your gasp gets stuck in your throat. How the hell did he sneak up on you? You can’t even breathe without the wooden floorboards threatening loudly to collapse in on you. 
You set your jaw, grinding your molars and letting out a long sigh through your nose. You don’t turn around to face him, not wanting to look at him for fear everything will come racing back again.
“Fuck off, Morgan. This job’s mine. You’re too late.” 
He takes two long strides forward until he’s right behind you, which you only know thanks to the buzzing of energy tickling your back. How you can feel him without actually touching him, you may never know. But you do, and it clouds your mind something awful. 
“Now now, little stray. Don’t we share jobs? I seem to recall you tryna’ claim some of my takin’s a few weeks back.” 
Your grip on the ornate handle of the knife gets tight enough to turn your knuckles white, but you still refuse to face him, telling yourself it’s so you don’t have to look at his stupid face and absolutely no other reason. 
“And if you’ll recall, I took nothin’ from you.”
“Not for lack’a tryin’, princess. I think we both remember just what I had to do to you to stop ya’...” he taunts, low and gravelly. It vibrates against your back.
Even with your back to him, you can picture so clearly exactly what shit eating smirk he wears right now, as Arthur reaches up to the nape of your neck, running his knuckles so softly down each vertebrae of your spine, melting your very bones. For some reason, you allow yourself a moment- just a moment- to indulge in it, to let that tingling feeling spread like ripples in a pond crafted by his hand, before the immense effort you have to put in to not moan audibly slams you back into reality. You spin to face Arthur, braid whipping the air around you from the speed of it as your new weapon is pushed against Arthur’s throat, the tip threatening to slice open his jugular.
“Now you listen here, Morgan, and you listen good. That night never happened. You had a knife to my goddamn throat, you took whatever you damn well wanted from me and I’ll be damned if you take one more single fucking thing. Now get out of my fucking sight and let me do my job.”
Despite your white hot rage, despite the sharp metal nearly being forced through his windpipe, Arthur is still smirking, and by god if that doesn’t throw more fuel onto your burning fury. He scoffs a laugh out, swallowing hard enough for his Adam's apple to push back into the blade, making a point that he isn’t in the slightest bit scared of you. When he leans in, your arm follows, your resolve to slice his throat open dissipates into the thick air. Arthur reaches up, wrapping thick fingers around your wrist to pull it down away from him. For some reason, a reason you’ll spend an eternity searching for, you let him, you chest rising and falling as you attempt to merely exist without the growing tension cutting you apart limb by limb. His breath tickles your nose, and his lips are so close to yours you’re sure he’s going to kiss you, but he stops no more than half an inch away from you.
“You know I took nothin’ from you that you didn’t freely give me, little stray.”
The insinuation shatters that lie you keep telling yourself, the version of events where Arthur forced himself upon you and none of this is your fault. You know he’s right, but admitting that to yourself would break you, does break you. But you can’t break in front of him, can’t allow the slightest crack for him to prise open and reveal your true self. You hate him so much, that much is the truth, but there’s so much hiding behind that veracity that you can never allow to see the light of day nor the glow of the moon. 
You grit your teeth, jaw painfully twitching from the strain of working the muscle so hard since Arthur’s presence has begun to drown you. The fire in your eyes burns threateningly, but it’s taking more and more to keep it aflame the closer Arthur’s wandering hand gets to cupping your cheek. Without breaking the stare tethering you together, you reach up with cat-like reflexes to grip his wrist, stopping him just before contact is made.
“Get out, or I’ll scream and everyone will know you’re here.”
You’re at an impasse yet again, Arthur clutching your wrist with a near bruising force, you gripping his with his hand suspended in the air. It’s silent, save for the deafening buzzing of electricity cracking between you. Arthur chuckles, the sound coming from deep in his chest and reaching the depths of you.
“You think that’s a threat, woman? Scream in fear of me, scream for me while I take that pretty little cunt of yours again, it don’t matter. Ain’t nobody gonna come runnin’ to save you.”
He lets go first, because he knows your threats are empty. He knows you’re clenching down tight on your molars because it’s the only sensation distracting you from the heat pooling between your legs and he knows you want him just as much now as you did that night in the alleyway. Arthur Morgan always gets his way, it would seem. And you’re no different. 
You don’t expect him to release you, so the silence between you fragments and slices you when you drop your blade to the ground with a loud clatter. Anybody upstairs definitely would have heard that, and you’re infuriated that Arthur is ruining the first decent job you’ve been given in weeks, as much as your anger is overshadowed by… other sensations.
“We’re… we’re trespassing. They’ll call the law, ain’t you a wanted man, Morgan?” There’s no integrity to your words, no more fire, only an apprehension that you pray to god he can’t detect. 
He sneers, “And you’re here to what? Clean this bastard’s floors? C’mon, O’Driscoll…” At that, Arthur kneels down, picking up your discarded weapon. He drags the blade lightly up your inner thigh, making it all that much harder to suppress the little moan building from the sensation. He spins the dagger so that the blade is in his hand, offering it back to you. You look down at him while you take it, enjoying the sight of the notorious Arthur Morgan kneeling before you like this more than you could ever admit to yourself. “You know we’re just as wanted as each other.” 
His words strike a chord. A lonely chord, in a lonely song of two lonely souls who can never let anybody else in. In your line of work, closeness is danger, it’s risk and it’s not worth it. Nobody outside could ever understand… except him. You know the stories of the Van der Linde gang, of Arthur and his son and suddenly it all makes sense, why he’s chasing you like a hungry cat after a mouse. It’s the same reason you didn’t stop him the first time, the same reason you haven’t screamed like you’d threatened to, the same reason why you’re going to let him do this all over again. That closeness… you need it, even if it is with a man you can’t bring yourself to stand. You’re just as wanted as each other… just not by anybody who matters.
He watches in real-time as you realise all this, as you figure out that the man you hate most in the world is the only one you could possibly let in. It’s maddening, infuriating, and now you need a distraction. And you’re going to take it. 
You meet each other's eye, spotting the challenge hanging between you to see who will be the first to break. You feel the tension infiltrating your body, stealing the breath from your lungs and setting your skin aflame and you know the only way to stop it isn’t through extinguishing the flames but fuelling them. You need to burn with Arthur until there’s nothing left but ash and soot. 
You spark, while your oxygen gets ever closer. Arthur takes a few slow steps forward, and it’s only when his smoky breath infiltrates your senses do you realise that despite everything, you have never kissed him. He backs you up against the display case until there is nowhere for you to escape, your lips so close you can nearly taste the whiskey on him. Your heart hitches in your throat, convinced he’s about to break the barrier you didn’t cross before. 
Arthur doesn’t kiss you, instead growling deep in his chest as he sniffs, trailing his nose from your collarbone to your jaw. You shudder, your shirt suddenly feeling much too tight on your form.
“W-What are you-”
“Exactly what you want me to, little stray.” He whispers, “Or should I-”
“No. D-Don’t stop, I-” 
He doesn’t let you finish your request, knowing exactly what it is before the words can leave your lips and you’re grateful, it means you can hold full deniability after the storm just like you did last time. Arthur grasps your collar in each hand, tearing your shirt apart and scattering your buttons across the floorboards. Your nipples feel the cool night air only for a moment before one is taken in Arthur’s mouth, the other pinched between his calloused fingers. It’s too much and not enough all at once, and you feel the heat and moisture pool in your underwear at the very thought of what's to come. You need more. Now.
Your nails dig into Arthur’s shoulders, pushing him to his knees before you with a force enough to bruise him. It is an addicting view, Arthur kneeling for you, and it’s not one you’re about to pass up again. His hands are quickly on your belt, unbuckling it to access your buttons and zipper to slide your jeans and panties down your legs. Clothes discarded, he grips into your thighs and spreads them, diving into your heat like it’s a source of oxygen. There’s no teasing, no featherlight touches nor gentle licks… no, he takes your clit in between his teeth, the sharpness shooting everywhere as he begins to suck. It catapults you. To where, you have no idea, but it’s incredible, otherworldly, and enough to make you instantly forget where you are. You mewl, tugging at Arthur’s locks as he begins to lap your juices up like a man starved. Say what you will about Arthur Morgan- and you do, often- but by god does he know exactly how to make you feel good. 
You’ve never had a man take you like this, with you standing above him while he bows to you, and it takes near everything you have to not let your legs buckle beneath you. Somehow, you know Arthur would catch you, but you’d rather not find that out right now. 
“Fuck…” you breathe out amongst moans and whimpers, hips bucking against Arthur’s face. His stubble burns against your thigh beautifully, each and every sensation of the moment working harmoniously to send you to dizzying levels of pleasure. You ride Arthur’s face, bare feet pointed on your tiptoes to allow him better access as you climb closer to nirvana. Your nails scratch hard against his scalp, wordlessly letting him know just how close you are, silently demanding he doesn’t dare stop. Arthur sucks hard on your sensitive little bundle of nerves, his teeth catching it every so often in the sweetest pain you’ve felt in… well, about 3 weeks. It hurtles you over the precipice you’ve been dangled over, and you have to bite down on your lip so hard you draw blood. A coppery taste blooms over your tongue, your only sign that you’re still human despite the unearthly, ethereal sensations burning every inch of your body inside and out. 
When you reach what you assume to be the peak, the very edge of what you’re sure a human body can handle, the strength of your bite becomes no match for the need to moan out. It echoes around the room, a positively obscene sound that you can’t even really hear over the rushing of your own blood in your ears. 
“Quiet, goddammit.” Arthur grumbles, all but slapping his palm against your open, quivering mouth. Just as you think you’re about to come down from this immeasurable high, you feel two of Arthur’s thick fingers run over the part of your soaked slit that isn’t consumed in between his teeth. It’s the only warning you get before he plunges them deep inside you, curling to find that swollen spot he seems to have a map to. No barrier on this Earth or otherwise could stop the scream derived from pure ecstasy escaping your lips. The combination of the delicious suction Arthur has on your clit and the curved pumping of his fingers is a completely new level of euphoria. You feel so full before Arthur’s cock has even broken free from its denim confides and you’re not sure how much more of this relentless orgasm you can take without collapsing into him. 
You reach a crest higher than you thought possible, crashing back down into this realm as if your body is nothing but seafoam. Your chest swells with each laboured breath you’re finally allowed to take once Arthur removes his hand from your mouth, though you still can’t really see straight. Your mind is fuzzy, still trying to wrap itself around the concept that anyone could make you feel that good, so Arthur already has his zipper undone and is reaching to pull his cock out before you’ve even registered that he has stood.
After three weeks of Arthur only existing in your mind, you’d convinced yourself that your memory couldn’t possibly be accurate, that over a few lustful nights alone in the dark you’ve managed to exaggerate… but no. Arthur is, as much as you loathe to admit it, magnificent. Just as thick as you remember, with veins that wrap around his shaft like ivy throbbing with pure need. He’s almost too big, your overstimulated cunt seems to think, widening your eyes in awe to watch when Arthur begins to palm his leaking cock.
“I-I don’t think I can-“
“Oh yeah you fuckin’ can,” He grits, giving you no time to catch up with your own racing heart as he grips your thighs, lifting you up to perch on the glass counter of weapons and spreading you wide. Arthur surges up, spearing into you. He wastes no time, he needs not warm you up; after such a blinding orgasm, you’re already soaking for him. He feels your arousal, mixed with his own residual spit, coating his cock as he slides in up to the hilt. He groans viscerally, leaning right into the crook of your neck so his breath burns your skin. He takes your flesh between his teeth in a sharp, pinching bite and you yelp between mewls. Tears form in the corners of your eyes from the pure stretch and invasion of Arthur filling you so wholly, but you’re too far gone into this cloud of sensation to care if they fall. 
“See how much you need me, little stray… how much you fuckin’ need this cock, huh? Actin’ like you hate the big bad wolf, but I feel how your cunt weeps for me, how it wraps around me while I fuck you senseless.”
Your inner thigh is left with a burning red handprint when Arthur releases it to reach and rub hard circles on your clit. It makes it so hard to meet his eye without your own rolling to the back of your head in bliss, makes it near impossible to argue back when you can already feel another orgasm approaching, but your stubbornness persists enough to let you try and struggle out an argument.
“I can enjoy your cock and still hate you, wolfie.” 
Your less than affectionate nickname earns you a harsh slap against your clit, the pain bouncing through your every inch in the sweetest pain you could imagine. You cry out again, sucking in a breath through gritted teeth as Arthur continues to relentlessly pound into you. You’re sure you won’t be able to walk tomorrow, or ride for at least a week, but it’s a small price to pay for something so fucking good.
Neither of you are holding back, moaning into eachothers mouths, inhaling eachothers breaths, growling for each other and just barely avoiding your lips touching. You don’t hear the ceiling creak, nor the stairs groan under the weight of the gunsmith on his way to see who or what is making such grotesque noises in his humble little shop. All there is in this moment is you, Arthur, and his glorious cock fucking you insensible. Your ass burns from the friction of rubbing up against the glass display case, even more so when Arthur releases your other thigh to reach for something at his hip and the case is left to hold your entire weight. You see nothing but your big bad wolf, grunting and growling deep as you climb ever higher with him.
“What in the-”
BANG 
A gasp is ripped from your throat with the gunshot ringing in your ears. Your heart couldn’t pound any harder without breaking free of your ribcage, but a swift look to your left shows that you’re in no danger at all. Arthur’s arm is outstretched, smoking pistol pointed to the air above the now dead gunsmith. He doesn’t even look away from your face, contorted in such bliss as he continues to dangle you over the edge. He killed a man while buried so deep inside you, his victim’s blood now splattered across both your faces like crimson freckles. 
There’s no time to mourn, or even acknowledge, as grasps your jaw hard between his thumb and forefinger and forces your eyes back to him. The blood sprayed on his features suits him, you think, but that makes sense for the big bad wolf. The way he takes a life with such ease… it terrifies and enthrals you all the same. Your pussy squeezes around his shaft involuntarily at the thought of watching him kill again and again just to fuck you just that bit longer, at the idea that those measly mortal lives pale in comparison for his need to be inside you. 
“Oh, fuck, Arthur I’m gonna-” 
You’re cut off by a sharp slap to your cheek, and it burns so beautifully. The blood on Arthur’s hands smears across your skin, tainting you, body and soul. His hand quickly returns to its bruising grip on your cheeks, and you feel the heat of the pistol in his other hand pressing into your stomach. His finger isn’t near the trigger, and somehow you don’t think he would hurt you with it, but you suddenly realise the danger you could be in right now. You and Arthur hold a long-standing feud, your respective gangs have been fighting for even longer than that. The outlaw just executed a man ruthlessly for simply being in the wrong place, his own property, at the wrong time, and now he holds your life in his hands, literally. There is nothing stopping him from widening those jaws and consuming his little stray right here and now…
And what a way to go it would be.
You can’t bring yourself to care, can’t let the fear serve any other purpose than to pump the adrenaline around your veins and carry you back to the climax you’re searching for.
“Gonna cum, little stray? Come apart for me all over again? Hate me all you want, you n’ I know what you do for me when we’re all alone. Cum, little stray. Now.”
And you do. You come apart not with a fizzle but a bang. A blinding, screaming bang, where your limbs tighten around Arthur and your skin fizzles at any contact. He never stops his thrusts, each one seeming to renew the sensations spreading around your whole body like waves lapping and crashing against you. The gun presses into your flesh, serving as a reminder of the danger Arthur is capable of inflicting, yet it only heightens everything. You moan into his ear, your tongue running across his lobe not by design but because you have completely lost control of yourself. In this moment, you’re Arthur’s. And you feel too fucking good to even worry about it. 
The fear that he could snap your neck with so little effort, or pull the trigger of his gun and blast you to bits, lingers, spurring on your frantic movements while you grind needily against his own thrusts. Part of you wishes he would, so the both of you could find some twisted hellish realm where this union makes sense and you can rule it, together. The big bad wolf and his little stray. It’s an alarming thought to have, but who could blame you? If the devil himself could make you feel this good you’d bow to him too, weapons or none.
Arthur’s movements become sloppier, less controlled, and his grip on your cheeks tightens. He’s close, while you’re still riding your high. There’s a sharp aching where the gun presses hard into your ribcage, giving your future self the perfect excuse as to why you didn’t make Arthur pull out. He curses loudly, though it comes out more a growl, before biting hard into your neck. He surely draws blood with the force of his teeth against your skin, but it’s difficult to find it in you to care. He’s pounding you so hard into the glass you’re worried it’ll smash beneath you, but being shredded by broken glass seems an easy punishment for the sins you’ve committed again with this man.
You both come down together, glistening with blood and sweat and tears. Arthur remains in the crook of your neck, exhaling hot breaths over your skin. There’s a few seconds of a silence only broken with exasperated gasps, and then a wince when Arthur slides out of your drenched cunt. Now you can actually think straight, your hand shoots to your swollen lips at the sight of the deceased gunsmith beside you. Arthur is covered in blood, and you’re no better, but by God does it suit him. 
Having not gotten fully undressed, save for resting his jeans below his hips, Arthur takes no time at all to right himself, holstering his gun and pulling his jacket over the bloodstained shirt. He looks over to you, the harsh shadows cast by the moon only exaggerating his smirk. It takes everything you have not to flinch when he reaches for you, though the panic quells when he runs his thumb gently over your jaw, leaving a scarlet trail in his wake.
“See you on the next job, little stray.”
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2af-afterdark · 1 year ago
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Hnnnng hi new to the blog and the fandom and love the god!mc au stuff its so good.
So I'd like to toss my hat into the ring here with something I think can be juicy?
So like. What if god!mc just accepted their fate- that they're good incarnate and the Gabriel and the angels have stolen them away? Sure Mc is angry- livid specifically with Gabriel but they accept that they're god.
I dunno what godly duties mc may have but they do it- they speak to angels and smile and orders them around politely. They make heaven a bit more tolerable and maybe even slowly work to stop conflict between heaven and hell. It's all smiles and pleases and thank yous and even a few i care foe/love yous all around.
Except with Gabriel. God!mc hasn't spoken or even acknowledged him since they were taken to heaven screaming and crying and the last interaction was just the most hateful glare they could muster. And that's it- there's no smiles at Gabriel or spoken words or orders or acknowledgement. Maybe Gabriel has tried to approach mc to speak before but the inky response he gets is nothing but a blank expression with no heat or even ice behind it and a stare like they're seeing past him, waiting for another angel to come over to talk to them or if one that they want to speak with catches their eye. Its a silent refusal to acknowledge Gabriel's existence.
God!mc doesn't think it's much but they hope its a good enough punishment for the bastard.
Ohhhhh~ I always thought of MC as having some degree of hatred for the position since they would literally be abducted from their life and friends, but an MC that willingly slots into the role is an interesting choice. The question is if it's silent resignation with a dash of animosity or if they're embracing it wholeheartedly and taking delight in Gabriel's suffering. Mayhaps their warm embrace of the other angels is simply another way to punish Gabriel rather than actual affection for Heaven, in the case of a particularly manipulative MC. Ignoring him, watching his entire existence be ignored when he's always loved them... isn't that mildly cathartic? Or maybe they truly do not care. Gabriel is nothing to them.
However, it would be wrong to assume Gabriel would simply accept such treatment. He has always loved God more than any other angel according to him. There is no chance such passions would fade simply because he's being ignored. He will just have to make sure MC can't look past him anymore. He's already killed other angels before, so going further wouldn't be hard. He'll make sure MC looks his way; in awe or terror is irrelevant.
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darklydeliciousdesires · 4 months ago
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Light on the Darkside - Chapter Four.
Thanks to the handful of people giving this their time, I really appreciate you so much for that :) To say thank you, here, have another update. You might as well while I'm making such progress with the writing.
Oh, and people might notice if they haven't interacted with the story as yet, I will have bumped your name off the taglist. Nothing personal at all. If you don't want to read then that's fine, I don't want to bother anyone who isn't feeling it. If however, you are feeling it and are yet to reach out with your thoughts, please don't be shy. I'd love to hear what you think!
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Previous chapters - One Two Three
Tag list - In the comments. Please DM to be added/removed.
Words - 3,841
Warnings - 18+ throughout. Topics cover depression, suicide and eating disorders. Minors DNI!
“So like, how painful are they?” 
James sniffed, looking down at one of his half sleeves of tattoos Ella was examining carefully. He thanked his stars he hadn’t made his way to two full sleeves yet, else his recent brush with death would have ruined the artwork. Not that he one hundred percent fully committed to living as yet, but he was getting there.  
Medication plus his new friendship with the pretty anorexic were definitely getting him there.  
“They hurt, but I like the pain so it don’t bother me,” he spoke, turning his arm when she moved it to take a look at the other side. “Kinda wanted to punch someone when it got close to my armpit, though. You can be the hardest person on earth but yeah, it gets really fucking prickly there, innit.”  
She marvelled at the detail, crows flying across a grey sky, tombstones, a shrouded figure of the grim reaper, all blending into spooky trees and skulls. Upon the other arm, he had various runes, the faces of Viking warriors, and something called a Valkyrie, which he explained were the beings who took the battle slain to Valhalla.  
His intent was one Nordic arm, one spooky arm as he coined it, telling her more of his ideas for the next portion he’d have in getting them finished. He had to wait a while, for the scar tissue to heal.  
“They can’t tattoo over it while it’s still fresh,” he explained, Ella running her hand down to his forearm without thinking, her fingertips stroking the red scar. God, it was horrific to look at, to imagine his pain. Both mentally and physically.  
Recovering herself, knowing how cagey he was over his suicide attempt, she quickly moved her hands. “Sorry,” she blushed, shaking her head rapidly. “Not for me to touch.” 
He blinked slowly, a very seductive play of long, inky lashes, whether he meant it to be or not. “It’s alright, I don’t mind. Not when it’s you, at least, innit.” 
Her heart skipped a little, dropping her gaze, playing with one of the shoelaces on her red Converse. Despite her being quite confident with men, she got a little shy sometimes, when he said things like that. Mostly, she felt pretty special, since he made no real attempt to be friendly with anyone else. Friendly... and flirty on occasion. Whatever it was, she enjoyed it. Well, sometimes... 
“You’re so bleedin’ sneaky.” 
“I’m not. Just a clever bastard, innit?” 
He had her there, because he was. James knew how to play a game and win. Ella wagered he’d likely be unbeatable at chess.  
“Come on,” he continued, shaking the bag of Smith’s crisps he held in his hand. “Eat another one and I’ll tell you.” 
It was blatant bribery and likely a huge no-no in every textbook on how to deal with an anorexic, but to his credit, it was working. If she ate a crisp, he answered a question about himself. He hadn’t been hugely forthcoming so far during their chats, of which they’d had quite a few of since their first encounter just over two weeks before.  
Somehow, though, he felt great calmness when he was around her. Ella was sweet, cool and funny, but incredibly troubled. It took his mind of his own situation, too, trying to help her with hers. A few crisps here, a fruit pastel or two there, it all helped her become less terrified of what food would do to her. They had quite a tight little bond with one another forming.  
Eyeing the packet, she tucked her hair behind her ears, peering in.  
“Stop looking for the small ones and take that big bastard off the top, Ella.” Yep, he’d sussed what she was doing.  
“Fine.” Pulling it from the packet, she popped it into her mouth, biting half of it away and crunching through it, looking uncomfortable. “So, come on. Spill.”  
“Finish it first.” 
God, he was so demanding! “And you call the orderlies the gestapo!” she exclaimed through a mouthful of potato, swallowing down the half crisp and putting the rest into her mouth, showing her empty hands to him. “There. It’s gone. Now talk.” 
“Bossy twat.” He winked, and she felt her stomach roll pleasantly, making an impatient winding motion with her hand. “Alright, just give me a minute. Privileged info, this is. Ain’t ever told anyone before, innit. Other than the commander in chief.” He meant Dr. Beaumont, the senior clinician of their wing.  
“So, we’d been out for a few pints after rehearsal and came back to ours, just me, Steve and Snedders. I was feeling alright to begin with, but then when Steve was talking about the new album we were meant to be recording about now, and the subsequent tour we’ll be doing at some point to promote it, I just started feeling... I dunno. Top grade depressed.  
“I always feel shit beneath it all, but this was next level. I was sitting there nodding, saying all the right stuff at the right time, but inside I just knew I didn’t want to even be there any longer, let alone think about a future I had no plans on living. And I’m there, lying to my best mate and all that, and I just thought nah. Fuck this. They deserve better, and I’ve fucking... I’ve fucking had enough, you know? 
“So, while they were busy talking amongst themselves, I grabbed a knife from the kitchen, picked up my tequila and went to the bathroom. Went in the cupboard, got out all the painkillers I’d been stockpiling for that very reason, took the lot and just sat there for a bit. Fucking worked way faster than I thought they would, innit, so I cut my arms open and then just lay there until it went black. If Steve hadn’t needed a piss exactly when he did, I’d have been dead.” 
The way he recounted that, so matter of fact, with such coolness, it truly made Ella feel a little uneasy. He was so comfortable with the idea of death, whereas for her, even though she knew it was where she was heading if she didn’t eat, the idea of dying terrified her. 
She could only think of two words to accurately reply to that. “Bleedin’ hell.” 
“Fair comment.” 
“Was it scary, to feel yourself slip so close to dying, or didn’t you know?” 
A wry smile was returned, the crisp packet proffered forth. She rolled her eyes, taking one, James winking. “Nah, not at all. Not for me at least, because it’s what I wanted. I knew, too.”  
Another crisp was taken, looking out from beneath her lashes at him. “What was it like?” 
“Dark and quiet.”  
Her mouth twitched. “Ahh. Perfect for a morose, church burner such as yourself then.” 
“Cheeky fucking shit, Ella,” he spoke, laughing despite himself. She had to do it, though. Not because she cared little for his feelings, but because she actually cared for them a good deal. Ella was getting used to noting when he was on the verge of glumness, and she knew how to pull him back from it. Make him laugh.  
Reaching into the bag, she took another crisp. It was actually becoming less scary, although her stomach was beginning to protest, her mind counting the calories. Roughly forty-two so far. With James sitting right there opposite her, mirroring her cross-legged position on the sofa, it was a little less frightening. It was like the food didn’t have its usual power, because he was stronger than the hold it had upon her.  
If her food trauma was a person, she could bet her last pound that he would grab it by the neck and throw it through a window for her. He seemed very much the type.  
“Right, so I’ve borne what little is left of my soul to you, if there’s anything left at all. It’s your turn now,” he began, Ella crinkling her nose at him.  
“Everyone has a soul, James,” she spoke gently, “no matter how many misdeeds you think chip away at it.” 
Again, she was so bloody profound. “Nah, think I’ve got some kind of demon where mine used to be. Or at the very least, an agitated cat.” The feline hiss he accompanied his words with had her chuckling softly. “Tell me, then. Where did it all start, you restricting your food and all that?” 
Ohhh, here it was. The real talk for her had descended. It was only fair that she shared it with him, especially after hearing something so deeply person from him. Still, though. Scary. Very scary. “I was bullied at school. When I was in year ten, some of the other girls started calling me fat and teasing me for having a chubby face, and it gave me the push to lose a bit of weight. I probably needed to, I was a size fourteen after all.” 
God, it was ingrained deep with her, James shaking his head. “A size fourteen ain’t big, Ella. No where near it.”  
“Well, I thought it was and so did they.” She likely hadn’t at all, but what bullies taunted people with stuck eventually, if repeated often enough. He knew that from his own experiences. “Anyway, so like, I decided to lose a stone. Ended up losing two, went down to a size eight and I loved it, so I just carried on going. Of course, I still got picked on and no matter what I did, they wouldn't leave me alone. I couldn’t control it, but my weight and my eating, I could control that. 
“I kept on restricting and losing weight, and it made me feel so good about myself, the smaller I became. I got really good at being sneaky, throwing food away, going to puke after meals, until I passed out when I was at college one day from exhaustion. Malnutrition, the doctor said, from a severe case of anorexia nervosa. That’s when I first came here, back when I was eighteen. I put weight on, came home, and then it all started again.  
“I got a little flat above the place I used to work at, so nobody could monitor what I was eating, and I was happy. My weight dropped again, much lower than before. I managed to maintain it, and I was happy. Then my body gave out on me and I suffered a small heart attack. I got taken to hospital and then straight here. Been in ever since.”  
Without even thinking, his hand went to hers, grasping her dainty fingers. “You had a fucking heart attack? Shitting hell. How small were you, when that happened?” 
“Five stone three.” 
His eyes almost fell out of his head. “For fucks sake, Ella! I weighed that when I was ten!” 
It was the same horrified reaction she had received time and time again, yet five stone three felt great for her. She felt thin and perfect, pretty and little. Now, at a stone heavier, the incessant voice in her head that decreed she was fat and ugly had reared up again considerably with its noise.  
“Made me feel happy, comfortable. I feel like a big, fat beast right now. They want me at eight stone before I leave, and it’s frightening the shit out of me, James. I know I’ve got a problem, I know I’ll die if don’t start eating properly all the time, but it’s so scary! I get watched at every meal to make sure I eat enough, and it makes me feel sick, and like I’m in a bleedin’ zoo! Then, like, I can’t even go to the loo unless Tracy or Chris are watching me to make sure I don’t make myself sick! It’s fucking torture!” 
Her rapid spiral took him by surprise, not really knowing how to handle what he was witnessing as she began to cry softly. There was one thing he could empathise with, though. “I know how it is being watched all the fucking time. Shitting hell, I can’t even shave unsupervised, or take a bath alone in case I try and drown myself. Always got Gus or Tony watching me. You’re right. It is like being in a fucking zoo, innit.”  
“It’s horrible!” she gasped, hiding her face in her hands and sobbing. 
“Oi, come on,” he told her softly, gently grasping her arms and pulling her close. If there was one thing he did well, apparently it was hugs. His sister and many ex-girlfriends had told him that, which was something Ella would have instantly agreed with as she was wrapped in the strong embrace of slender muscles. “Don’t cry, babe. You’re alright.”  
All she did was cry more at that, shuffling closer, climbing astride him and burying her face against his neck, wanting to try and drink up a little of his strength. God, he smelled gorgeous, and she felt so safe and warm, there in his arms.  
He let her sob out her distress, hidden beneath the dark curtain of his hair, hand rubbing softly at her back. Bone protrusion, her spine jutting out almost aggressively. Christ. He couldn’t understand how she thought she was fat. The poor little thing was literally a bag of bones. His eyes flitted across the room, noticing Gus watching the interaction. If it was Tony, he’d have told them to separate, but Gus was a lot softer. He understood that in that moment, all Ella wanted was to be comforted, so let the interaction continue under his watchful eye.  
“I’m sorry,” she sniffed, sitting up and drying her eyes. “I’m such a silly twat, crying all over you.” 
“Shut the fuck up, that’s my little mate you’re badmouthing,” he spoke, smiling. “I don’t mind being cried on, just don’t tell nobody. Got a street cred to think of, innit.” 
That had the desired effect, Ella laughing, shuffling off his lap. “Thank you. You give mint hugs, by the way. And you smell really good.” 
“Ahhh, the girls can never resist a bit of Lynx Atlantis.”  
More giggles followed as she composed herself, drying her eyes. “You’re lovely.” 
He snorted. “I’m a clinically depressed fuckwit, but thanks.”  
“James?” Tony’s voice then called from the door, “visiting time.”  
“Aww,” Ella grumbled, poking out her bottom lip. God, how hard her cuteness hit him at witnessing it. “Don’t want you to go, but enjoy your visit. I’ll see you later, yeah?” 
“Yeah, in a bit, babe.” 
How her heart thundered happily whenever he called her babe. Since the visits were all done on alphabetical rotation, it wasn’t her day on that morning, hers falling the day before. Sitting there alone on the sofa, she reached for a magazine, nothing else to do with her time since Andrea was also likely on the way to her own visit, and no Tiff any longer since her release two days before.  
While Ella sat and read, James walked into the visiting room to see a very welcome face. One he hadn’t actually seen in almost three months. Standing, he opened his arms, giving the man who’d scared him half to death a massive hug and slap on the back. 
“What the fuck are ya?” Steve spoke, clasping him tightly. “Fucking dickhead, ain’t ya?” A little quiver rocked his voice, remembering it. He wasn’t made of stone, and it had shaken him severely to see his best mate there on the bathroom floor lying in a pool of his own blood and vomit.  
“Not as much as you are.” 
“Sorry, a dickhead says what?” he spoke rapidly, James not about to be caught out by offering that very word to him. “Don’t ever, ever fucking do that to me again, sunshine. Thought I was about to shit a lung, finding you like that. And I had to fix the bathroom door. With Snedders of all people.”  
James snort laughed, imagining it. “How many times did he smack his own thumb with a hammer?” 
“None!” Steve yelled, holding up his own. “Bloody hit mine about seventy-two times, the gormless prick!” Taking a seat, he pulled out his cigarettes, offering one.  
“Can’t smoke in here, man.” 
Steve’s eyes widened. “What?” Looking over at the orderly, he raised his hands high in exclamation. “Oi, what the fuck’s with the no smoking?” 
“Moor Acres is a smoke-free facility,” he spoke, his tone matter of fact.  
“Fuck’s sake, I bet even Hitler let ‘em light up in the bunker,” he snorted, turning to James. “No wonder you call ‘em the gestapo.” He then pondered for a second. “Can we go outside?” 
“You can, but your mate has to stay put. James doesn’t have grounds privileges yet.”  
Steve’s eyeroll could detach a retina. “How come they won’t let you out?” 
“I keep playing up.” 
“What ya been doing now? Twatting the orderlies again? Your old man told me about that, fucking pissed myself, mate!” he chuckled, his dirty giggle filling the room. It attracted a certain someone’s attention from a couple of table’s back. 
“That’s a filthy laugh,” Andrea chimed, looking him up and down approvingly. “Wow, you’re a right babe, you are! You single?” 
“I am,” he confirmed, leaning to James quickly. “Ain’t a murderer or nothing, is she?” 
“Sex addict.” 
“Jackpot! Hey honey, wanna come get on me, yeah? I’ve got my car here; I can take you for a quick bang in the back?” He was only half joking, not expecting for Andrea to quickly glance at the orderlies before flying from her seat, running to their table and sitting astride him.  
“I would do you right here,” she purred, pressing her mouth to his rapidly. It took him by surprise, but what was he meant to do? Wrap his arms around her and kiss her back was exactly what he chose, Tony and Andy moving at speed to pull her away.  
“Come on, Andrea. That’s enough now,” he spoke, pulling her from Steve’s lap, who shared a hissed laugh and a fist bump with his friend.
“Nah, I just got set on by a legit nympho. Quality!” he announced, Tony not seeing the funny side.  
“Please, no winding up the patients while you are visiting.”  
Steve gave him a little salute, still entertained as hell, winking at Andrea as she was escorted back to her seat. “Any more birds like her in here?” 
“None that I know of,” James replied, turning to look at Andrea and laugh. “You little demon.” 
“Think I’ve got a new type, James. Black metal guys!” she chirped, Tony reprimanding her again. 
Steve couldn’t help himself. “Once you go black, you never go back, honey. Counts for us metal fellas an’ all!”  
“Calm it down, visitors and residents, or you’re all back to your rooms for the afternoon!” Andy boomed, pointing between the tables, Steve and James still snickering.  
“My Monday is looking up. Come and see my best mate in the nut house and get a cute little redhead shove her tongue down my throat. Might do something crazy so I get to come stay here an’ all!”  
“Don’t even joke, mate,” James began, “cos’ trust me, you don’t wanna end up here, innit. It’s total bullshit.” 
“Yeah, one batshit fella in the band is more than enough,” he quipped, scratching his short beard. 
“So, we’re firing Snedders, then?” 
Steve laughed, clapping his hands together. “Ahhh, Snedders. He’s a good lad underneath the fact he’s an utter fucking flid. He’s staying at ours at the moment. Kerry’s kicked him out. Again.” 
“Ain’t in my room, is he?” James barked, eyebrows arching. “I don’t trust that he’s not got an entire flea circus in them rank dreadlocks.” 
“Nah mate, he’s on the sofa. Might buy him a flea collar on my way back, actually.”  
It was a tonic for him, to have a visit from his friend, the hour passing much too quickly, James feeling tired so heading back to his room for a quick nap before dinner. Afterwards, he made his way down to the common room, finding pretty quickly upon nearing the doorway that someone was still having a much worse day than he was.  
“Where’s James? I just want to see him! No, stop touching me, get off!” 
“In his room, I think. Come on now, Ella. Calm down and come back to the dining room,” Chris, one of the female orderlies attempted to encourage her with, her tone gentle but sadly falling on very deaf, very distressed ears. Turning to see him enter, Ella ran, sobbing, flinging herself into his open arms, James lifting her until she was clung on around him like a tiny koala grasping onto a tall, strong tree.  
“What’s the matter, little?”  
“They’re trying to make me eat potatoes!” Uh oh. One of her extreme verboten foods. Potatoes, pasta, bread, rice, cake, those were the ones that upset her the most when she was made to eat them. He’d been surprised he’d had any luck at all with getting to eat crisps. “I ate all the vegetables, and some chicken, but because I didn’t finish the mash, they want me back there until I do! I feel sick, it’s minging with all the butter they add!” 
Chris went to intervene and separate them, stopped by Gus who touched a soft hand to her arm. “Just give him a minute. You won’t believe how good he is with her.”  
“Alright, that’s a scary food. I know, I know,” he soothed her with, her frail little body clinging to his in a death grip. Still, it was like carrying no weight at all. “Listen, if I come with you, will you eat them then? For every mouthful of mash, I’ll tell you a funny story from when the band went on tour last. Believe me, I’ve got a stack of ‘em. How about that? You can take your time as well.” 
Her thundering heart began to slow, her breathing steadying itself. Emerging from beneath his hair, she looked at Chris. “I’ll do it if James comes with me.”  
She shook her head. “No men allowed in the female dining room, Ella. But, if you promise me that you’ll eat, I’m happy to bring your plate in here.” It was mainly for the benefit of the eating disorder patients, why the dining rooms were not mixed spaces, many of the women not comfortable to eat around men, feeling they’d be judged. It was also a lot to manage, especially when tantrums flared, just like they had with Ella not ten minutes before.  
With her half-finished plate brought to her, Ella settled at one of the small tables, James sat adjacent. “Right, get that mash down your neck and you can hear all about the time Snedders and I had to leg it halfway across the red light district in Amsterdam from the police.” 
If there was ever an incentive to eat a scary food, hearing such a tale was certainly it. 
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littlechinesedoll · 2 years ago
Text
My Happy Marriage - Chapter 1 | SasuNaru
Relationship: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba/Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura/Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Kizashi/Haruno Mebuki
Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mpreg, Magical Realism, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Meiji Restoration Era, Taisho Era, Child Abuse, Out of Character, Nobility, Indentured Servitude, Arranged Marriage, Cinderella (Fairy Tale) Elements, Alternate Universe - Different Powers, Curses, Gender Roles, Class Differences, Heavy Angst, Angst and Feels, Discrimination, Abduction, Alpha Uchiha Sasuke, Omega Uzumaki Naruto, Omega Haruno Sakura, Alpha Inuzuka Kiba, Not for Sakura fans, Haruno Sakura Bashing, Haruno Bashing, Age Difference
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Summary:
Based on My Happy Marriage written by Akumi Agitogi and illustrated by Tsukiho Tsukioka.
Uzumaki Naruto, an omega bastard of the Haruno family who is born without a supernatural gift and believed to be cursed by the Nine Tailed Fox, is forced into an existence of servitude by his father and his abusive wife and daughter, his half-sister, Sakura. When Naruto finally comes of marriageable age, though, his hopes of being whisked away to a better life crumble after he discovers his fiancé’s identity: Uchiha Sasuke, an alpha, a commander of the imperial army apparently so cold and cruel that his previous would-be omega brides all fled within three days of their engagements. With no home to return to, Naruto resigns himself to his fate—and soon finds that his pale and beautiful husband-to-be is anything but the monster he expected. [ x ]
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Notes:    
Hi everyone! This is my actual first SasuNaru fic (written before but finished after The Fox Bride), so I hope you’ll be gentle. This will follow the manga very, very closely, unless I feel like switching up the scenes, or for the points or character placements that need more explanation. Hope you enjoy!
Please click here to see some additional inspiration/visuals for Sasuke's hair from the doodle by @veemeenniee on twitter.
The ages will be the same as the manga.
Sasuke: 27 Naruto: 19
before you come at me yes historically during this time at the end of the Meiji era to the start of the Taisho era, 18-19 is of marriageable age. in the manga they are not married immediately.
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Uzumaki Naruto is a bastard omega son of the Haruno family, a distinguished family.
His mother, a widowed male omega servant, fell pregnant by the head of the household before their master got married just weeks later. He was a child conceived by a momentary diversion. He knew the head of the family is his father, but they had no father-son relationship, and he was largely ignored. But he remembered the love of his mother, who gave him all his heart.
“Naruto,” he said, adjusting Naruto on his lap as they situated themselves in front of a small, once overgrown shrine depicting a nine-tailed fox, outside in the wooded area behind the Haruno estate. He had cleared this out one day on a walk, when Naruto was five moons old in his womb. He lit some incense to offer to the god they’re praying to. “Never forget to pray,” he put the incense in three-year-old Naruto’s small hands and guided him to put the burning sticks into the incense holder in front of the stone shrine.
“To the fox?” Naruto pointed to the effigy carved in the stone.
“To the fox,” his mother nodded, “He gave you these beautiful whiskers,” he traced the light marks on Naruto’s chubby pink cheeks, “and the seal on your belly, to keep you safe,”
“On my belly?”  Naruto repeated, peaking into his haneri, otaiko, and obijime, and seeing the inky black marks on his skin.
He asked the fox to stop his bleeding. To save the child. “You give him thanks, for you were born healthy,” mother fixed the obi back on, tapped at Naruto’s nose, and the child giggled. “For the shelter over our heads, the food in our bowls, our health, and the safety provided to us,”
The boy snuggled into his mother’s comforting scent of rain, cool breeze, and orange blossom, reached up for his mother’s face, which was framed with the same bright blond hair and blue eyes like his own. “Pray! Mama wa kirei desu!” Mama is pretty!
“Thank you, my love,”
The fox didn’t grant his mother health, no matter how hard he prayed. His mother died two years later from a severe fever, and he was left to the servants to care for. Naruto became a servant at the Haruno household at the age of five.
His father’s mate despised him. For being a bastard. For the ugly whiskers on his face and the cursed seal on his belly. He’s a demon, his father’s mate said, carrying the fox demon’s seal on his body. A cursed child to bring destruction to this family. That he was born so his mother should die, his life for his mother’s.
Sakura, his half-sister, an omega born just after Naruto turned one, has all the attention of their father and his mate. He had always thought Sakura, with her green eyes, long, silky, and shiny pink hair, is far more beautiful than him. She has the gift of strength and fast healing.
She looks down on him like her mother.
Sakura throws the hot tea in Naruto’s face. “What the hell is this?!” she barks at him in outrage.
The hot tea stings Naruto’s eyes, scalds the skin on his face and neck, and stains his kimono.
“This is the worst tea I’ve ever had! It’s too bitter! Make it again!”
Naruto bows, forehead almost touching the tatami under him. “Moushiwake arimasen.” There is no excuse for my actions, and I apologize.
Sakura huffs. “Is there anything you can do right? You can’t even brew decent tea. What a disgrace!”
“Out,” barks Sakura’s mother. “Your scent is stuffing the room. Get some herbs on,”
He already has the pockets of his kimono stuffed with fragrant herbs. No amount of herbs can fully hide him, even if he wants them to. How nice it would be, to just disappear.
Naruto gathers the teacups back onto the tray without a word, wondering when this torment will end. His father sits there with his breakfast and tea, ignoring his mate and child’s mistreatment of his bastard. He’s stopped praying to the fox long ago, when the bruises on his body never started to fade. When he realized the fox had done nothing for his ailing mother.
As Naruto brings the tray back to the kitchens, he thinks that if he were an acknowledged child of a respectable family, he at 19 would be at the age where he’ll be expected to marry. But he won’t, seeing as he is a bastard and a servant who does not receive wages. He can never leave.
Another servant picks up the brewing for him, and a grateful Naruto leaves the kitchen to sweep the falling leaves from the gardens. That way, he can avoid Sakura and her mother, who will give him complicated, never ending, or impossible tasks. He prefers to do the laundry or other chores outside the house, which other servants gladly allot to him, perhaps out of consideration.
“Hello,”
Naruto looks up to see a good friend. The sight of him relieves the heaviness in Naruto’s chest. “Kiba-san,” he bows. “Hello,”
Inuzuka Kiba, an alpha, is the second child of the Inuzuka family. A childhood friend of Naruto and Sakura’s. His sister, Hana, also an alpha, is first in line for the head of the Inuzuka family. When they were children, the servants let Naruto off to play with him when Kiba was visiting with his father. He holds those memories close to his heart.
Naruto notices Kiba is in a suit. He wonders what formal event he’s about to attend.
“I have something for you,” Kiba hands Naruto a fancy wrapped box. “I hope you like them. It’s not the western sweets that are popular nowadays. I heard those go bad quickly,”
Kiba is the only person Naruto can be himself with, someone Naruto has given a piece of his heart to. He also treats Naruto like a part of a family, not just the bastard servant. When his heats started, he was no longer allowed to play nor be alone with the young alpha. Receiving his courses were the worst thing. It separated Naruto from the only person who cared for him. Kiba had once tried to get his mother, their family head, to interfere with the abuse. That did not end well. Kiba had gotten a stern talking to. Sakura’s mother found out, and the abuse worsened.
A pleasant lightness fills Naruto’s very being as he receives the box. “Thank you very much. I’ll share it with the other servants. I’m sure they’ll enjoy something so luxurious,”
The young Inuzuka wanted only Naruto to have the sweets. “Ah, no. That’s not what I meant…”
“Why are you visiting today, Kiba-san?”
“I have some important business to discuss with your father,” Kiba admits solemnly. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
As Kiba walks away from him, headed for the main house, Naruto gasps. “Maybe a marriage proposal?” he sighs dejectedly. His father won’t offer him to the Inuzuka’s. There would be no point, as he isn’t an acknowledged child. He’s no different than an orphan beggar on the streets.
Later, when the box of sweets has been set aside and his sweeping is almost done, a fellow servant calls for him. “Naruto-kun! The master asks for you,”
Naruto stares.
---
In the receiving room, Naruto enters quietly, and another servant slides the door closed with a soft thud. Naruto bows before his father, his father’s mate, Sakura, and Kiba-san.
“Today’s discussion,” starts Haruno-dono, “will center on marriage and the future of this family. Naruto,” he pauses, and Naruto dares to look at him. “This is something that you should hear,”
The silence in the room is piercing, and only Haruno-dono is allowed to speak when he is at the center of the room.
“After much thought and consideration, it is a welcome decision that Kiba-kun will marry into the Haruno family and take over as the head. The one to support him as mistress and this family as his wife, will be you, Sakura,”
There isn’t any surprise there, Naruto thinks. He then wonders why he was called here in the first place. He had hoped maybe one day, had Kiba-san, his only friend and confidante, not been chosen to lead the Haruno family, he would ask for Naruto’s hand in marriage from Haruno, and take Naruto away with him. Maybe one day, he’ll be free of such hardship.
Naruto is foolish to even think he would be able to leave the life of a servant behind.
“Naruto,” says Haruno, “You’ll marry into the Uchiha family.” Kiba snaps his head up to look at the family head. “To the head of the family, Uchicha Sasuke-dono,”
Naruto keeps his eyes to the tatami. “Yes,”
Why? What is the point of giving him away to the Uchihas? He’s a bastard; it’s pointless to marry him off when this won’t result in a union of two families.  
“Isn’t that wonderful, Onii-sama!” Sakura pipes up, finally happy to be rid of her untalented half-brother. “The Uchiha family is a high-ranking family! They hold much power and influence,”
But the head of the Uchiha family, an alpha, is known for being a cold and cruel soldier. Naruto hears the other servants gossiping about his engagements, how many omegas from good, respectable families have been presented to him, but have never lasted three days with him. All either chased off or ran away.
Naruto has been ordered to marry such a terrifying man, and once he leaves the estate, there is no going back, and he’s no longer allowed to step into the residence again. He wonders why he’s been chosen to marry Uchiha Sasuke-dono, when it’s impossible for an uneducated omega like him to fit as the mate of a well-known, respected, and prominent family.
“This marriage will be a waste on someone like you with no redeeming qualities nor talents,” Mebuki-oku-sama, Sakura’s mother, sneers at him. “But it would be impolite to turn it down and you’re in no place to refuse,”
“You are not allowed to refuse, Naruto,” says Haruno stiffly. “Pack up your things at once. You will leave and proceed to the Uchiha estate immediately,”
Naruto is dismissed. He bows and doesn’t see Kiba aching to run after him.  
Finally, Naruto is free from the Haruno family, yet he doesn’t feel safe nor relief from his father’s decision to give him away. If anything, he’s dreading his departure even more. He’s terrified of the Uchiha family head’s notoriety. He might just be kicked out of his fiancé’s home or put down by his cruelty.
“Naruto,”
The omega turns around and sees Kiba with him in the hallway. “Kiba-san?”
Kiba bows. “I’m sorry. I was unable to do anything. I had hoped for a different outcome for us,”
“Kiba-san,” says Naruto, “You have nothing to apologize for,” he smiles at him, the best he can give him despite the heaviness in his chest threatening to pull him down to the floor. “I’m simply unlucky,”
“It’s not about luck!” Kiba hisses.
“I don’t mind. After all, I may find comfort, happiness, maybe love, with the family I’ll marry into,”
Kiba wants Naruto to ask him why he couldn’t protect him. He wants Naruto to blame him for this. He’s a coward; the only thing he ever wanted, was to marry Naruto and take him away from here, and yet, in the face of his soon to be father-in-law, engaged to the wrong child, he couldn’t speak up. “Don’t you… resent me?”
“I would never, Kiba-san. I’ve long let it go. I’ve…forgotten such feelings,”
If words could stop Kiba’s heart. It’s painful, the way those words pierce his chest like cold steel. “I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, Naruto. I wanted to save you. It’s always been you. I lo—”
“Kiba-san?”
Kiba turns around and Sakura, his new fiancée, has followed him.
“What are you two talking about?” she smiles at them.
Kiba stares at her. “Nothing,”
Naruto knows, that despite the laughs and beautiful memories he’s made with Kiba as his childhood friend, despite coming from a respected family, despite his high education and talents, even though he’s blessed with good looks, he’s tied to the decisions made for him by the heads of the families who choose to unite. Kiba-san is kind and understanding, which is why he remains silent, and Naruto feels that his silence will hurt Sakura in the future, just like how it’s hurting Naruto now.
Whatever Kiba was about to say, Naruto doesn’t know and he’s not sure if he wants to find out either. Naruto will forever cherish his memories with him, and the friendship he offered. “Kiba-san,” Naruto bows, “Thank you for all you’ve done for me,”
He doesn’t get a reply. Kiba only watches him walk away.
---
Naruto finds himself unable to fall asleep that night. He’s finished packing the few belongings he owns. His clothes, which are all servants’ attire, all hand-me-downs from fellow servants. He had other pretty kimonos, accessories left to him by his mother, but he doesn’t know what happened to them. Maybe Mebuki-san took them and threw them away. They were the only things he had left of his mother. Mebuki-san said bastards didn’t deserve such pretty things.
Haruno-dono gave him a fine kimono for his departure tomorrow, since showing up in a beggarly would tarnish their name. His father knew he had nothing yet did nothing. He also told him to introduce himself as a Haruno. How awful, to be ordered to drop his mother’s name. To pretend to be an acknowledged child. If Uchiha-dono finds out about Naruto’s secrets, he will surely be thrown onto the streets.
So that’s what it is. They want to use him as a pawn. To make connections, marry into a powerful family. Haruno-dono isn’t his father. He never was. He was his master.
Sometimes, Naruto wishes he wouldn’t wake up.
---
When he arrives to the Uchiha residence, he’s surprised to find a humble abode.
Naruto enters the receiving room, kneels, and closes the door with a quiet thud. One wall is decorated with a large red fan with a white base and handle.
His fiancé has his back turned to him. His black haori bore the embroidered with the same red and white fan on the wall. It must be the family crest. Naruto is to be married into this family, should his fiancé not be rid of him in three days’ time.
How very warm, the scent of his new fiancé, like a home. Grass, wood, and warm coal. Surely, he isn’t what they say if Naruto feels drawn to his warmth? Perhaps he can find a home with him.
Nevertheless, he bows his head in greeting. “Pleased to meet you. My name is Haruno Naruto,”
Saying his name with his father’s surname felt like acid in his mouth. It felt like a betrayal to his mother and his mother’s late mate.
The master of the house, his alpha, doesn’t answer or turn to him, so he keeps his head down. Naruto’s used to being ignored. He has never been outside of the Haruno estate since he was five. It’s best if he keeps his manners and bring no shame to the family or embarrass himself when meeting someone for the first time. Time and time again, it’s been ingrained into him that an omega servant like him must know his place.
The master keeps on reading his papers, flips a page after the other.
The bamboo fountain outside is a testament to how long Naruto has his head down, waiting for the response and relieve him from his bow.
The master sighs, turns around and sees the omega still in a bow. “How long do you intend to stay like that?”
Naruto keeps his head down. “Moushiwake arimasen.” My deepest apologies.
“I’m not asking for an apology. Raise your head,”
Naruto obeys, but he doesn’t expect to see that his husband to be, might be the most beautiful thing he’s ever laid eyes own. Fair, porcelain skin, long, dark hair, and piercing obsidian eyes framed by gentle bangs. His delicate features aren’t what is expected from a man of his status and a clan of power.
His breath is caught in his chest. Naruto knows that the Uchiha family is an esteemed and wealthy clan, but is his fiancé of blue blood?
However, he mustn’t let himself be swept away by his fiancé’s appearance. He knows about the many brides this alpha has chased away. Naruto no longer has a home to go back to. Being sent away to the Uchiha family head to be given away in marriage is the same thing as throwing him out to the streets.
No matter how difficult this marriage may turn out to be, he’ll have to endure it.
---
end notes
Onii-sama (お兄さま・おにいさま) – older brother
Dono (どの)– sort of like mister. Above -san and below -sama.
Oku-sama (奥様。奥さま・おくさま)– mistress / wife
lmk what you think! chapter 2 soon!
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marinerainbow · 1 year ago
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Hehehe thank you so much for accepting a challenge! XDD
To start:
Otis B Driftwood (All versions)
Jim Bickerman
Inkubus
Winifred Sanderson
Jerry Dandridge 1985 ! (I don't know if you've seen it but you can look him up XD )
'To start' Oh my god XD I wonder how many characters you have planned for me to rate.
Otis B. Driftwood
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(I feel like I'm looking at a Pokémon XD)
House of 1000 Corpses: Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD HAVE MERCY
It depends on the lighting of the shot. Some shots I think he's just alright. Some, like the one I chose here, I think he looks cute ^^
The Devil's Rejects: Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD HAVE MERCY
Otis definitely looks better in the second movie I think. I think it's got to do with the beard?
3 From Hell: Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD HAVE MERCY
The last one is only half highlighted since... It seemed like too many points if I went all the way? But I couldn't not add the lord have mercy either XD
Jim Bickerman
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Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD HAVE MERCY
I'm not as obsessed with Jim-Balayla as you are admittedly, but I still love him! How can anybody not love Jim??? He's a deranged old man that desperately needs to retire, but he's got a tiny soft spot too! And they gave him depth with his trauma!!!! And of course Robert Englund the cards were stacked against us XD
Inkubus
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Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD HAVE MERCY
INKY ON THE OTHER HAND. Holy shit, I love him so much. The smug bastard that he is. It could also be the fact that he is a monster/incubus that gets to me. In my book, supernatural creatures earn 20 extra points in the hotness department.
Winifred Sanderson
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Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD HAVE MERCY
When I was younger, I didn't like her too much for some reason. I actually preferred Sarah- and still do. Now though? Idk how little me was so blind XD
Jerry Dandridge
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Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD HAVE MERCY
Ok I'm so sorry Jerry, I still need to see your movies and I'm only seeing your beauty through Google. But OH SWEET LORD LOOK AT THIS MAN!!! LOOK AT HIM!!! His human facade looks so damn cute!!! He looks like the kind of guy you'd expect to kiss you on the cheek after dropping you off at home- before giving you a full-blown lip kiss! His facial expression in the gif I found?? Wicked PLEASE tell me he gets more intense expressions in the movie. And his vampire form???? (I'm assuming that's his vamp form) it looks monstrous??? I'm in love. I want this man and I haven't even seen the movie.
Thank you for sending this in! I can't wait to see what other characters you send! ^^
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5mcsinatrenchcoat · 1 year ago
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*deep breath* Sera.
Okay, so, on the surface? Unapologetic, loud, straightforward, fuck-your-norms, not sugar-coating shit etc etc. All the things I LOVE in a character. Came in after all this avalanche of "aaah Herald of Andraste the chosen one" bullshit and said "wtf you're, like, just a human, what". I am very much projecting my own Inquisitor here but also I am a "one character one game for a reason" - there's quite a bit of me in there usually. Priorities, also - yeah everyone DOES need to lighten up and little stuff DOES matter, thank you.
Also, like, visually? She's a delight, and her room at Skyhold is the cosiest little place ever.
Then, like, you dig deeper and oh shit, her loud seemingly careless personality constrasts wildly with her actual low LOW self-worth and identity issues and trauma! Of course! And, like, not gonna lie, always been drawn to characters who got traumatized and decided to get ANGRY at the world about it. Even if (perhaps especially if) at times irrationally and unfairly. Flaws are good, actually. And then there's also growth (which there IS)? Chef's kiss.
By the way did never find the end of her personal quest controversial. In fact I was actively looking for an option to off the fucker myself before I saw I could leave the honors to her and clicked that immediately without even talking to him further.
A hurting and angry woman getting to stomp the bastard responsible into the ground with no restraint is always beautiful, bite me.
Then there's this character building thing that only she gets, which is her journal. Fascinating thing, reveals so much - thoughts, hobbies, little knick-knacks and reasons for their collection, how much you matter to her as a friend or a lover, reactions to game events she didn't want or didn't know how to voice! (The fucking last notes in Trespasser. I was bloody WEEPING.)
Obvious neurodivergency of her particular flavor also clicks with me a lot.
She was also my first lesbian videogame romance and then my Inky got to MARRY her and like. My back then "straight" (stuck in confused denial closet) ass was so happy for soooome unknown reason. Sob.
Listen you can't just ask such questions unprepared I WILL ramble. But then again, you invited me to, right.
Like. The fact that she's canonically "tall for an elf". That her ears sit at different angles!!! THE LAUGHTER.
The notes she leaves at every documentation that concerns her 'cause evidently she's a good rogue and will find it and will not hesitate to tell you off if you collect crap on her.
Also her manner of speech - like, yes, as a non-native English speaker I struggled with some expressions at first (none of which prevented me from understanding the gist mind you), but that just made her so much more fascinating to me. I am a sucker for accents and dialects are you kidding me!
The fact that she's one of the very very very few companions (if not the only one actually???) who takes time to explicitly ask you ARE YOU OKAY? in Trespasser.
The fact that the best gift ever for her is you not being ashamed of her as a lover?!
And that she makes sure that you know you're not alone and will have people to fall back on even after the Inquisition as a friend?!
(The way it becomes obvious after all the DLCs that she learnt and knows much more about the elven culture than she lets on, but masks it with mockery 'cause she's been seriously hurt before. I been there - you aggressively demand I be a thing, I shall never admit that the thing even slightly interests me. Even if it really does. Yes, not a healthy way to cope - which she admits herself eventually, proud of her so much - but like I adore asking her about the elven god the scholar can't recall in the Ameridan DLC. Yes my Inq has an option to show off herself, no, she leaves that to her girlfriend, who's actually very damn smart even if no one expects that, including herself.)
I'm sure I'm missing like 100500 more thoughts that I have on how much I love her but I think I'll have to stop at this and at an "AAAA >w<"
would y’all do me a favor? reblog this and tell me WHY your favorite dragon age companion is your favorite. this is a free pass to be annoying and rambly I wanna read some positivity
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paintedscales · 1 year ago
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WoLstinien Week Day Three -> Blood
Written for today's prompt, Blood, this year's WoLstinien Week.
Word Count: 750
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Dull. Achey. Throbbing.
A heart’s beat rhythm. Thrumming. Thrumming. Thrumming. Painfully so.
Biting cold. So very, very cold.
It seeped into her ever-so-flawed scales, into her dark-azure skin, into the marrow of her bones. What did not sting due to the site of the pierced flesh, stung thanks to the powdered ice that surrounded her. Enveloped her.
White, glittering snow all around, stains of red splashed in dark splotches upon its otherwise pristine visage.
Chattering teeth and whines of pain. Tears pricked and stung at the corners of her eyes, threatening to break a dam and let loose wet, hot streams of anguish.
It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.
Gods did it hurt.
‘But she rises again. Again and again and again. It matters not the fight she was in – she gets up again.’
But it still hurts. It always hurts.
‘She can stand toe to toe with even Gods and beings beyond our understanding.’
That did not mean it did not still hurt.
Shaky hands slowly lifted from their indentation pressed upon the snow. Rising, rising – feeling both weightless and like lead pipes at the same time. A contradiction of being, and yet those hands found purchase at the wound that gaped upon her abdomen. As her hands shook, they pressed into the wound, staunching blood flow – damming the scarlet river.
Cool, crisp air was sucked in between her teeth. A cold reminder that despite the chill, despite the ache, despite the mere desire, she could not afford to fall asleep. She could not close her eyes. She could not. She would not. Not unless she wanted the snow around and the snow that fell to become her grave.
The battle had been hard fought in the worst clime she could imagine. A person who proved themselves a beast. Fang and claw bared against fang and claw. Someone who desired revenge against her. Someone who saw her as a villain rather than a hero.
‘It’s only fair…’ she thought to herself. ‘I can’t be a hero to everyone…’
“You’ve gone and made a mess of yourself again…” came a soothing voice that quelled the pain, quelled the ache.
His voice. His.
Her mind was foggy, just was her vision as she struggled to stay conscious.
But who?
Through blurred vision thanks to the tears that had welled, the sight of someone looming over her was apparent. The silhouette of someone there.
Who? Who? Who?
The voice was familiar, it was warm, it was welcome. But who…? Who was it?
Gently, oh so gently, was she lifted, dustings of powdery snow falling from her body and appendages. Her unbound hair unwillingly clinging to the ground, her eyes still gleaning a bastardized mosaic of the world around. A brief moment was all it took – a second of clarity for her to see familiar horns, a familiar smile, the familiar ruby red that dazzled upon the inky black of his lustrous scales.
“... A…Arik… Arik, it hurts…” she whispered, her voice cracking.
“...” The individual who carried her remained silent for a time. He had only heard that name once or twice. Perhaps even three if he had been paying more close attention. For it was not his name – though it was an important one to her all the same. That much he remembered.
He would not fight this, for what would that do but to deliver more pain?
A soft sigh came from him, gently adjusting her before he spoke again. “Aye, I know. Let’s get you somewhere safe, Nomin… I’ll get you cleaned up.”
Whining and whimpering, Nomin nodded, blinking the tears out of her eyes with some modicum of desperation. And as she blinked away the tears, blinked away her delirium, what false lie of clarity she had prior had given way to the truth that surrounded her.
“‘St-… Est… Estinien, I…” Nomin started in pained surprise, her fingers curling and gripping into the flesh around her wound as it throbbed with another shock of pain. “I-I’m sorry….”
“‘Tis fine. Hush now,” Estinien replied, walking forward while making sure the auri woman in his hold was secure. “What’s important is that you’re here. You’re alive. You triumphed. And we are all okay. By the Fury we’re okay thanks to you yet again.”
‘Yet again.’
It always ended that way, didn’t it…
Recklessly throwing herself into problem after problem.
“... N-no…” Nomin uttered. “I…I wanted days of peace with you. Our family. Not…not more blood and pain.”
“... Aye… I know…” Estinien gently replied.
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keilemlucent · 4 years ago
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if you are interested, i would like to present my dear salem with hero hawks and his little horny crush on his innocent assistant bc man’s corruption kink go brrrrrr😇
okay look LOOK i have... such a thing for hawks getting a h*rd on for his sweet, far-too kind PA.
(NSFW)
word count: 2.5k
warnings: dubcon, coersion, (a little bit of) yandere hawks, reader wears lingerie, reader is sorta oblivious,  sugar daddy hawks, scumbag hawks, power imbalance, hawks is a manipulative bastard but its hot so who cares <3
...
“Are you sure this is... appropriate, sir?” 
No, no, definitely not, not at all. Taking his sweet, desperately-in-need-of-a-break PA out on a little shopping spree was definitely crossing a lot of professional lines, but how could he care? He was far more focused on the wobbly way ‘sir’ had dripped off your tongue.
It wasn’t sin, but he’d get you there, he was quite persuasive. 
The little shopping trip (literally) landed you at a luxury mall across Fukuoka, many-floored and lavishing decorated with twinkling, bright bulbs and crystal on every fixture. The stores were expensive, too expensive for you to afford on your own but Keigo knew how hard you’d been working! All that extra paperwork (he’d been purposefully giving you because it kept you around the office later and more often) had been getting done beautifully, and you deserved a treat. Many of them. 
Consider it an early bonus.
You already had quite a few bags dangling off your arms, the cords and ribbons digging into your arms (god, he wished he could make some marks of his own--). And Keigo had decided to treat you to one, final stop. He guided you to the store entrance with a hand on your lower back.
God help you, a lingerie store.
Nothing cheap, only custom-made and designer pieces. It was more of a boutique, some places private where no one would bother the two of you. 
He watched your expression, the pull of your brows and the way your pupils dilated. It might’ve been from a bit of ill-placed stress, but he’s sure he can get your eyes just as inky other ways, if given the opportunity. 
“This is remarkably appropriate, dove,” He hummed and ushered you inside the store entrance, flashing a grin to the starry-eyed salesclerk. His hand drifted downward, just over the upper curves of your ass, just to watch you squirm. “Consider it a reward! You’ve been doing so much good for me and the agency, you deserve a treat or two, don’t you think?”
You shifted the bags on your arms and dared to meet his gaze with your own, meek and wide, “I-I think this is more than ‘a treat or two’--”
“Then shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, thanking me for my generosity then?” Keigo smirked as your expression faltered. You were way too easy and god, he fucking loved it.
Before you had a chance to fret anymore, he assured you quietly that everything was alright. A bit of praise to ice the pinpricks he left behind. He shooed you into the fitting rooms, pointing a beaming smile at a clerk and getting to work. 
He’d have you spoiled, whether you liked it or not.
...
You sat on the plush bench of the fitting room, hands in fist and lip tucked between your teeth. You chewed on it, swallowing around your dry throat. Hawks’ voice drifted back from the salesfloor, though you couldn’t tell what he was saying. You could pick up words like ‘sweet’ and ‘cute’ and you could only assume the words were about the bright-eyed, big-titted employee you saw when you walked in.
You squeeze the fabric of your skirt and tried to let some of the tension in your shoulders dissipate. 
“Oh, wow, dove, the selection they have here is amazing!” Hawks whistled as he returned to the fitting room, alone, carrying an armful of padded, velvet hangers. 
“I can imagine,” You wished you could have looked around a bit yourself, but Hawks had a much better eye for these things than you did. You were very fortunate to have him around. 
He arranged them on a gold railing nearby, wings tucked to his back as to not crowd the small space of the dressing room.
It was truly just a single room, though it was large enough. Six-sided, each wall complete with a well-padded, velvet bench seat to idle on. The middle of the room had a little raised platform, leading to three, angled mirrors. They were massive and felt a bit too revealing as Hawks hummed to himself nearby.
The only thing separating you from the rest of the store was a heavy, velvet draping. 
Hawks plopped onto the cushion next to you, letting out a deep sigh and leaning back. You watched him, gaze flickering from the garments on the rack and the exposed patch of his chest visible from the unpopped buttons of his shirt. 
His feathers brushed up against your arm and you shuddered.
“Now, sweet thing,” He clicked his tongue, jerking his gaze to the hangers. “I picked out some pretty sweet pieces for you. Why don’t you try them on and let me know what you think, hm?”
You nodded, though your stomach felt like there was suddenly lead in it. From the looks of the lace and silks, those pieces weren't going to cover much of anything. You mentally sparred with yourself.
It’s not... that bad. It’s not like he’s going to see anything more than he would if you were wearing a swimsuit. 
Besides, this a gift, right? You should at least show him what he’d paid for on an actual body. 
He had you so well-trained--
You stood, moving to the rack on shaking legs and examining the pieces.
They’re all... a bit whorish. None of those soft babydolls and teddies that folks wore in those softcore pornos that you definitely never watched. The pieces Hawks picked for you aren’t the least bit modest. They’re all lace, mesh, and ribbons. Stockings and garters that looked like they might be a tich too snug. You grab the least garish-looking piece. 
And Hawks was still in the room, body lax and slumped against the cushions.
His eyes lazily opened, a bushy brow-raising, “You good, dove?” 
“... Aren’t you gonna step out?” 
He chuckled and you knew you were fucked. Just not literally, not yet. 
“Why the hell would I do that?” Hawks laughed and righted himself. His vibrant gold eyes bore into yours, though they looked more black than topaz by that point. 
You swallowed. 
“I would prefer if you d-did.”
“And if I don’t?” His voice oozed something that made your knees weak. “What then? I know you don’t like disappointing me.”
You didn’t, but this was a bit far. ‘A bit’. 
“... s-sir, please,” You begged, albeit quietly. 
This was crossing lines. As much as Hawks gave you special treatment at the agency, literally and figuratively taking you under his wing and tending to your needs as he saw them and has he saw fit, stripping and playing dress-up in expensive lingerie definitely was too far.
As much as part of you adored the attention, you tried to keep that quiet. Stuffed down and hidden. Hawks was your boss, and you had to keep yourself occupied with his busy schedule and mountains of paperwork, lest you allow yourself to dissolve into thinking his attentions were anything other than favoritism. 
Oh my god, you really were that dense
“’Please’?” Hawks cocked his head to the side, the corners of his lips curling. “‘Please’ what, dovey? Tell me.”
You let out a shaking breath, “Hawks, this is remarkably inappropriate--” 
“Maybe,” He cuts you off swiftly, a flap of his wings pushing him to his feet and directly in front of you. “You just need some help? That’s it?”
Your mouth went dry. He wasn’t wrong, not really. 
“That’s all, huh?” Hawks ran a hand through his hair, his wings curling around the room, too-wide and fluffed for the small space. “Should’ve just said something. I imagine you don’t do this kind of thing often.”
“N-no, I don’t.”
Does anyone? 
“That’s alright, I know you try your best and just need that extra push, hm?” Hawks sighed, deep in his chest. 
With the scarlet swallowing your peripheral vision, you feel like you’re suffocating. Maybe in a good way. You nodded, pliant.
He always knows you. What you want, what you crave, what you need. 
Nimble fingers untucked your blouse from your waist, and you yipped at the chill of his fingers. He was undeterred, loosening the garment and immediately going for the buttons.
One by one, they came undone and you wrap your arms tighter around your middle. Hawks ogled, openly and without a care. It made something in you writhe, but you still wanted more of it. His attention, overt affections that supposedly mean nothing-- you want it.
He slid the blouse from your shoulder, letting it fall to the ground. You watched as his feather shuddered, rippling as he let out a few harsh breaths. You knew how you must look, hot and flushed to the touch. Bare on your upper half, sans a cheap bra that had seen better. 
“Are you sure--” You weren’t sure what you were going to ask, but Hawks didn’t let you say it besides.
“Yes, of course, obviously,’” He licked his goddamn lips. A taloned-finger caught the pilling strap of your bra, snapping it against your shoulder. “Besides, look at this! Can’t have you representing the agency, me, and my brand wearing shit like this.”
Something burned in your gut, some mix of shame and arousal that was threatening to spill from the wet corners of your eyes. 
Hawks dropped to his knees, so fast you hardly could register it. His hands hooked in your skirt by the first two knuckles and tugged and he went down. The sound of splitting fabric cracked in the air, and your skirt fell to the floor in tatters.
And Hawks, the fucker, hovered just inches away from your covered cunt. The cheap cotton of your panties did nothing to shield you from the hot breath that he fanned over you.
“H-Hawks!” You cried out, attempting to push at his shoulders with sweaty palms. “What the hell are you doing?!”
“Just taking a closer look,” He gave you no time to protest as those quick fingers of his pulled the elastic of your panties, tugging them down your thighs. He had the decency to tap your ankles, one at a time, so you could step out of the garment. “You don’t mind, do you?”
You let him. 
Perhaps you should’ve protested a bit more. Maybe. But it wasn’t like this wasn’t your wildest fantasy. Your sweet, too-kind boss, spoiling you. You weren’t sure if you’d thought about Hawks that way at first, but he had gotten to you at some point. The impromptu lunches, the late nights together, the walks and flights home. There was even that one he’d managed to wrestle a guy getting too handsy at a club with (how had he known you’d even been there?)
Hawks unclipped your bra, throwing the thing to the side with a  look akin to disgust. He snatched the hanger and garment from your hand and nodded toward the platform.
“Stand over there like a good girl for me, okay? Don’t take your eyes off yourself.”
You couldn’t disobey him, could you?
You’d seen what he did to people who crossed him, when it really mattered. He didn’t put his heart or energy into something unless he really, actually cared. And the handful of times you’d seen that go to shit had left memories of sharpened feathers and terror-filled eyes in their wake.
But you were good for him. His assistant who always made sure his meetings lined up with his patrols, and that everything was brief unless entirely necessary otherwise. You were the one who made sure he had caffeine nearby and a full belly, even on his most busy of days. 
He’d never do anything other than be kind, right?
You didn’t want to find out otherwise. 
He approached you from behind, the silk of the garment tucked over his arm. His eyes looked predatory, gleaming and inky. 
He only stopped when his chest is flush to your back, hands finding their home just above your hips with a squeeze. You shuddered at the feeling, new and raw and you couldn’t tell if you hated or loved it. 
“I want to see how this looks on you, god,” Hawks groaned, nails biting into your skin. “Hold still for me, dove.”
You did.
You didn’t dare move an inch as Hawks took his sweet time dressing you up. The garment is silken straps, the lace wrapping around the curves of your hips and chest, securely with expert bows that he pats into place after each one.
It was impossible to ignore the bulge pressing into your ass. Even as he pulled the pair of panties between your cheeks, stroking the lace and the fat with a wide palm, you were far more focused on the heat and hardness slowly grinding at the other cheek.
He tied you up expertly, and you watched in the mirrors, seeing each angle of it. The way his hands squeezed and pulled at your flesh along the way. The hungry glint in his eyes as he traced your figure. The way his wings seemed to shake and flutter in tandem with your short, quick breaths.
You were truly at his mercy. 
“Look at that,” He whistled low, grabbing your jaw and pulling your gaze just where he’d like. “Tied up like a pretty present I told you this would be good, didn’t I?”
“Y-You did.”
Hawks sighed, draping himself over your shoulders and nuzzling into your neck. You could feel the part of his plush lips, the way they drag over your skin. You swore you a nip or two.
His gaze met yours in the mirror. One of his hands trailed low, very low, sliding over top of the lace panties and cupping your sex. His index fingers lazily traced your lips through the fabric, idle. His other went to grope your chest, more insistent as he palmed at you, pinching a nipple as you began to sputter. 
A warbled moan cracked from your lips as Hawks fingers dipped below the seams of the pretty garment, rubbing at just the rights parts of you, tugging your body flush to his. 
“W-Wait, Hawks!” You wrapped a hand around on his wrist, begging your breath to stay somewhat even. “What if someone hears? Or one of the employees comes back? What if--”
“Do you think I care?” Hawks groaned, grunting as he ground into your ass. The unmistakable sound of fabric tearing cut through the room (again) and the fabric of his pants hit the ground. And suddenly you could feel how hard and hot he was. 
Something twisted in your gut and your legs rubbed together. Hawks caught your gaze, scarlet enveloping the room from the sides of your vision and the mirror in front of you.
Hawks shifted your face toward his, nosing along your cheek. The grip on your jaw was replaced by one on your throat; he was hardly exerting any pressure but the threat and meaning were clear.
Keigo has you right where he wants you. He always has, always will. You’re just a bit too... naive? No, maybe dumb... That’s a bit mean, isn’t it?”
“You need this just as I do,” He spoke low and rolling, touch burning like embers. “You know you do. I know you do. You trust me, don’t know?”
All you could do was nod before Keigo slotted his lips to yours, staking a claim that was only new to you. He nipped at your bottom lip, tugged until you were wincing into his mouth. He caught every sound, every little gesture of yours was his, just like you were. Keigo kicked himself for waiting for this so long, but he could be ginger, under the right circumstances. Ones that benefited him. He could only hope you were as good of a fuck as you were fun to toy with. 
You’d be sin yet, Keigo resolved as he pulled away. He just had to coax you there first, and he wasn’t against more... direct methods.
Maybe you’d finally get it then.
323 notes · View notes
palbabor-writes · 4 years ago
Text
Adhesion
Pairing: Dabi/Touya Todoroki x Fem!Reader
Warnings: SMUT/18+ only, unbalanced/unhealthy relationships, TA/student dynamics, tw.mild drug use, tw.bribery, tw.recording without consent, tw.dubcon, brat taming, fingering, cucking 
Words: 8,915
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You can feel his gaze; can tell he’s watching you from hooded eyelids and you do your best to resist his pull, not wanting to be drawn in by that eerie blue of his eyes. It’s not that you don’t like his eyes; no, if anything, you like them a little too much. They’re a beautiful shade of shifting cerulean and possibly the only positive thing about the man. 
“You sound upset, babe,” he taunts, taking another drag on his silver vape.
“I’ve told you a hundred times, don’t call me that. And me? Upset? You’re a real Sherlock, you know? What fucking gave that away? Oh, maybe the fact that I pay this university good money for these classes and I could actually use some support. But what do I get instead? A lazy TA who can’t be bothered to do anything more than the bare minimum. It’s a goddamn miracle I’m passing, and it’s certainly no thanks to you,” you snarl, twisting back to your work, ignoring the sound of his chair, gliding ever closer.
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Notes: i bribed @libiraki and this fic is my part of the bargain. you heard it here folks, full stop, i am trash. 
this story falls under the University AU that i’m working on: Licentia Docendi - the first fic is Practicum & is all about Professor Shigaraki. For Adhesion, Dabi is a TA: Teacher’s Assistant in a college chemistry class. 
my reward for completing this is User 433 by libiraki. go read it, it’s killer & i’m so fucking pleased my nefarious deeds have paid off.     
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Adhesion ad·he·sion /ədˈhēZH(ə)n/ noun the molecular force of attraction in the area of contact between two unlike bodies that acts to hold them together
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What time did he say this was supposed to start at? There’s no way you’re late. Did he tell you the wrong room number? You paw into your low slung backpack and wiggle out the [Teacher’s Assistant (TA) handout for Organic Chemistry II]. Nope, you’re not in the wrong room, so it looks like he’s the one who’s late. 
Not too surprising, judging from his appearance. 
You’d only caught a glimpse of him that morning. He’d sauntered to the front of class when the professor had finished with the preliminaries of the syllabus and introduced the lanky man with inky black hair and some of the scruffiest clothes you’d ever seen, as nothing other than, DABI. No last name, no other credentials, just a simple, ah, here’s the TA for this class; he’ll give you a handout on meeting times and be sure to follow his lead with the labs. This Dabi fellow hadn’t even grunted out a hello. He’d merely waited, hands tucked firmly into his jacket pockets, and dropped down from the raised platform once the professor finished his brief introduction. 
You tend to avoid the TA sessions. They’re usually just reviews and endless reminders on the readings, and study prep has never been a weak spot for you, but this semester is different. You’re a junior and you’ve got to push through six classes this term if you want to graduate on time. You haven’t slacked off, haven’t taken less than a full course load. No, it’s just bad luck that they only offered organic chemistry during the Fall term this year.
Thanks to the addition of Organic Chemistry, now all of your classes are heavy sciences. Ick. Well, it’s the price you’ll have to pay for your pharmaceutical degree. It’s not that you don’t like the classes. Honestly, they’re fascinating, chock full of information and techniques that you love to dive into. Nah, it’s not the material of the classes themselves, but the course load and labs that’ll be your downfall if you don’t keep pace. 
So, here you are, waiting in an empty room in the library’s basement for the errant TA of organic chemistry to show. You’re a little shocked that no one else has come to this session. Maybe they’ll try for the other times, or they might be under the blissful impression that they can score the ‘A’ with no outside help. Who knows? 
You’re twiddling with your phone and debating leaving when the study hall door opens. His dark hair is the first thing you notice. It gleams in the bright light of the fluorescents, and you’re distracted by the sheen. It’s almost a little too black. 
It’s not that it doesn’t fit him. If anything, it makes the angled features of his face and neck stand out and draws your eyes to his pale patches of skin. They’re patches because his collarbone and lower neckline are wrapped with spiraling whorls of tattoos; they’re everywhere. How had you missed that? Was his jacket zipped up when he stood in front of the class?
“What’s up?” he calls out, tilting his chin at your wide eyes. He pauses beside the table you’re sitting at and regards you frankly. His eyes are half hidden by his fringed mop of hair, but you can see that they’re a vibrant blue. It’s a haunting color, almost otherworldly. You don’t particularly like the coldness that’s reflected at you, so you focus on the rest of his face instead. He’s got a few nostril piercings, three little studs that shine out when he wrinkles his nose at your bewildered expression. 
“You hard of hearing or something?” Dabi scolds, crossing his arms and glaring down at you. You shake your head and loosen your heavy tongue, finally pulling your gaze away from him. 
“I-I’m here for the TA session.”
“No fucking way!” he mocks, a barked laugh escaping his quirked lips. “Alright captain obvious, let’s get you set up so I can go about my day. Sign this and I’ll give you the power point slides for this week.”
He yanks his backpack forward and tosses a few mismatched papers your way. One is so badly crumpled you have to iron it out with your arm, ignoring the slight stick that clings to one side. Ah, it’s a sign-up sheet. But, hang on, isn’t he supposed to poll the class on these meeting times? He can’t just pick the times himself, can he? You’ve never seen that before. What’s going on?
“Hey, aren’t you supposed to ask which time works best for us before you set the schedule?” you question, sliding the paper back to him. 
His long fingers catch the sheet before it can tumble off of the narrow table and he gives you a wolfish smirk. “Ah, you’re gonna be one of those,” he grumbles, pulling back one chair and flopping into it, splaying his long legs out in front of him. 
“Tch, what do you mean by, ‘one of those?’ I’m not some green freshman, I’ve been to TA meetings before. You ask us for the times.”
“Hmph, okay. Let’s put it this way then, you’re here now, right?”
“Yeah. I–”
“So it’s fair for me to assume that you can make this time?”
“I can today, but what if it’s a one-time thing? What if I have another class or a job?”
“Do you?” his voice drops as he lingers on that ultimate word, lacing his fingers together and leaning forward, blue eyes watching you closely. 
“N-no, I don’t personally have any objections to this time. But what if others–”
“Others?” he scoffs. “I’m sorry, do you see anyone else in here? We’ve been talking, what, five minutes? And I was, eh, almost fifteen minutes late? That sound right? Hate to say it, but I think it’s just gonna be me and you babe.” 
“Ew. Don’t call me that! It’s (F/N)(L/N). Gross, who does that? Babe? You don’t even know me,” you sputter, leaning away from his hunched gaze, earning yourself another clipped chuckle. 
“Ooh, so sensitive! Alright, miss. “I’m not a freshman,” if there are no more objections from the peanut gallery, go ahead and sign this so I can conclude this session. Don’t particularly like chatting with you either, since you’re taking years off my life with these pointless questions.”
“Yeah, well, you’re a dick,” you bristle, crossing your arms and glowering down at the crinkled sign-up sheet that Dabi’s pushed back toward you. 
“Damn, we’re already talking about my dick! I usually reserve that kinda thing for the third week, but I’ll let it slide. Now, be a good little girl and sign that paper for me.”
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A month in this whole TA arrangement hasn’t gotten any easier. 
Half of the time Dabi doesn’t even show up, opting to text you the notes and study guides, waving you off with some vague excuse, or promise to make it up next time. The days he appears for the session, he’s always late and glumly sits beside you in the vacant study hall, tinkering with his phone and doing his best to avoid any kind of work. 
But today? Today takes the cake. 
He’s got his booted feet on the table and is taking quiet hits on his vape pen, exhaling long breaths of clear steam into the study hall. “Dabi,” you hiss across the room, aghast at his cavalier attitude. “You’re not supposed to smoke in here! Wait. Oh, my god! Is that weed?”
“Shhh, Jesus. Keep your voice down, mom,” Dabi sneers, puffing a wisp of smoke your way. “Why don’t you try focusing on your work, huh? You’ve got twelve more molecules to stabilize and your functional groups are a mess; you don’t have time to worry about me. Come on, chop, chop. I’ve got places to be.”
“Ugh. Places to be. What a load of bullshit. You know what? I wonder what might help me speed things up? Oh! I know! What if you did your job instead of getting stoned out of your mind?”
Dabi swivels around in his rolling chair, lowering his legs from the table and cocking a dark eyebrow at you. He’s foregone his tattered jacket today, and the sleeves of tattoos that lace up the chorded muscles of his arms are on full display. He’s done that on purpose, the bastard; likely noticed that you like to stare at them, your eyes engrossed by the shadings and designs. Not your fault you like some of the artwork. You’re not looking at him, not admiring any kind of twist or pull of his forearms. Not thinking about how nice they look when he wears a low cut shirt, or rolls up his sleeves. Nope, you promise yourself, careful to keep your eyes down and on your notes, it’s not that.  
You can feel his gaze; can tell he’s watching you from hooded eyelids and you do your best to resist his pull, not wanting to be drawn in by that eerie blue of his eyes. It’s not that you don’t like his eyes; no, if anything, you like them a little too much. They’re a beautiful shade of shifting cerulean and possibly the only positive thing about the man. 
“You sound upset, babe,” he taunts, taking another drag on his silver vape.
“I’ve told you a hundred times, don’t call me that. And me? Upset? You’re a real Sherlock, you know? What fucking gave that away? Oh, maybe the fact that I pay this university good money for these classes and I could actually use some support. But what do I get instead? A lazy TA who can’t be bothered to do anything more than the bare minimum. It’s a goddamn miracle I’m passing, and it’s certainly no thanks to you,” you snarl, twisting back to your work, ignoring the sound of his chair, gliding ever closer.
“Such a fucking sour puss. I bet you’d look a lot prettier if you’d wipe that scowl off your face every once in a while. Lemme see what you’ve got,” Dabi snorts, sauntering out of his chair and bending over your work. 
His tattooed arm braces itself beside your shoulder and the exposed skin brushes against you, making you unconsciously scoot awkwardly to one side.
“Don’t get so close,” you chastise, doing your best to ignore the pull of his cologne. It’s got a hint of patchouli and oranges, and it mixes so well with the cloying sweetness of his lingering vape smoke that it makes your head swim.
What’s he doing? This… well, it’s not like him. He never “checks” your answers, he usually just tells you to submit it to his email and he’ll get back to you later, which he never does. You don’t like this. Nope, not one fucking bit.
He takes his time studying your work, one long finger etching its way across your scribblings. His skin is warm; almost too warm. The heat of it against your clothed side makes you shiver and you duck your head at your unbidden reaction, balling your hands into fists and scrunching them against your tense thighs.
When he finally replies, he dips his head close to your ear, keeping his voice low and steady. “Not bad, (L/N). Nice to see you have some capacity for development after all.”
“What the hell does that mean?” you huff, whipping your head to his.
Oh, that’s right; he’s close.
The lazy smirk he gives you stretch his lips over his teeth and his eyes fall to a half mast as he leans closer, ghosting his breath over your face. “It means, you did a good job, babe. I’m impressed.”
You must be gaping at him; there’s no way that you’re not, but you can’t fucking think, not when he’s so close. If he wanted to, he could close that gap and he’d be against you. His lips look nice from here, smooth and pink, and you suddenly have a wild urge to see what he tastes like. Heart pounding, you feel yourself tilting your chin upwards, your lips parted, tongue dancing across the open plushness, dampening them, waiting, hoping that he’ll just…
“Practice your Lewis structures. Some of those compounds look fucking ridiculous,” Dabi replies, pushing himself off of the table and peering down at you, eyes gleaming with poorly concealed mirth. “But, you’re on the right track. Finish this shit up. Gotta go.”
“W-what?” you sputter, trying to quiet your pounding heart and steady yourself, upended by his short-lived…seduction? What exactly was that?
“Already told you, got some place to be. Send me the screenshots, if you wanna’, but I’m prolly’ not gonna look at them until after the weekend. Well, see ya’ around, (L/N).” And, with a last wave, he snatches up his backpack and saunters out the double doors, leaving you alone.
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“So what are you thinking? Just go up to the dean’s office and ask to file a report against him?” your boyfriend questions, his voice hazy and distant through the filter of your earbuds. You’d called him a few minutes ago, once you had a good signal and filled him in on, well, most of the details. 
After Dabi left, you’d gathered up your things and paced the floors of the library, debating your next move. He’s not doing his job. That much is a fucking given. You’d even talked with a few of the other students in your class the other day and they all said the same thing: He’s lazy and he can’t be bothered to help. Apparently, you’re the only student who had one on one sessions with him, but the group meetups sound worse. They told you he usually just opened the textbook and asked them to copy down definitions, and those were the days when he showed up for the meetings.   
“Yeah, and today he really outdid himself. The jerk basically… well… he’s not doing his job,” you flounder at the omission of Dabi coming onto you. If you’re honest with yourself, he hadn’t really done much, and you’d been the one who was surging forward, suddenly tempted by his closeness, his scent, and those rippling sets of tattoos and bright blue eyes. No. Stop it. It’s the last straw, you remind yourself, shaking your head and refocusing on the familiar tone of your boyfriend’s voice.
“I’m sick of it. Midterms are coming, and I’m not about to let him hold the fate of my GPA in his stupid hands.”
“Go get em,’ love! You’re totally right, you’ve worked so hard and you shouldn’t have to put up with some middle-aged asshole’s antics. It’s been a crazy week for you, so dinner’s on me tonight. Wherever you wanna’ go, name the place and I’ll make sure we get a smile back on your face!”
That… that’s so like your boyfriend. He’s always so sweet and caring. Always looking out for you, ready to pick you back up and dust you off each time you feel you’ve fallen short. He’s perfect. He’s all you want, all you need… right?
Goddamn it, you think after you hang up your phone and hop on the elevator that will whisk you up to the dean’s offices, you’d almost kissed your TA. Here’s your boyfriend, being the most supportive and loving thing in the entire world and all you can think about is how fucking good Dabi’s cologne had smelt has he leaned over you. Some partner you are. 
The dean’s office is emptier than you expected. There’s a single secretary, who is sitting behind a low desk, twirling a dark lock of hair and skimming over the pages of a magazine. She looks up when you clear your throat and a practiced smile lifts her lips. 
“Hey there! How can I help you?”
“I uh, need to file a complaint against someone in the College of Sciences,” you explain, dropping your heavy backpack from your shoulders and scratching at the back of your head balefully. You’re likely not the first one to file a grievance against the Dabi, so why are you suddenly bothered by the idea? It’s not going to get better. Just remember all the shitty, half-baked sessions he’s made you sit through (Y/N) and get this over with. 
“Oh! I’m sorry to hear that! Let me grab you the registry of TA’s and adjunct professors,” the secretary chirps, pushing her rolling chair across the wooden floors to snatch at a heavy binder on a shelf. 
“I can, um, just tell you his name. If that makes it any easier,” you quietly reply, one foot tapping agitatedly against the other. What is this uneasy feeling that keeps zinging through your mind? It’s going to be an anonymous complaint. It’s not like he’ll ever see it. He likely won’t even know it’s you. Some of the other students had discussed the idea. He could think it’s one of them, not you.  
“No, no,” the secretary replies, sliding the binder across the glass counter of the desk. “It’s no trouble at all! Just search for their name and fill out all the particulars on the university system. Doing our best to reduce waste! Gotta keep that paper trail down! We’ve got a little kiosk outside, close to the elevators. It’ll help you with all the details, just click on the form and it will file it into our online system. The dean’s office closes in fifteen minutes, so be sure to bring the binder back as soon as you’re done!” 
“Uh, ok,” you mumble, hefting the thick book into your hands. “Do you want me to take it with me, or just look it up here?”
“You can take it out there! It’s sorted by department, for ease of use, so it shouldn’t take you long to find them.” 
Great. 
You lug the binder to one of the many empty tables outside the sliding doors of the office. Slipping your backpack into a vacant chair, you flip through the lists and sections. Chemistry, chemistry… ah! Okay, you’re in the right section. Now to find Dabi, should be easy enough.
Yeah, no. There’s no one in here listed as “Dabi.” What the hell is this? Some kind of elaborate scheme? Is he just a random student who’s fronting as a TA? It would explain some of his general disinterest, but he knows more about molecular chemistry than anyone you’ve ever met, and that skill isn’t exactly a common parlor trick. 
Oh? My secret talent? Well, I can tell you about isotopic labeling and the exact timing of the reaction speeds! Wanna hear more? 
No. No one does. Plus, the professor had introduced him to the class on the first day. He knew him and Dabi’s not exactly inconspicuous. There’s gotta be something you’re missing. 
You close the heavy book and make your way back into the office, fingernails tapping out a disjointed pattern against the plastic of the binder. “Hey, um, sorry to bother,” you begin, tilting your head and biting your lip at the secretary’s beaming face.
“No bother! Did you find them? Everything work okay in the system?”
“No. I, uh, couldn’t find their name? He said his name was Dabi, never gave us a last name so, um, that’s all I have to go on,” you explain, placing the binder back on her desk and praying she’ll give you some kind of explanation.
“Ooh! Dabi! Sorry about that, he’s a special case, since he goes by his nickname. He’s under the adjunct section. I believe his last name is Todoroki,” she twists the book toward herself and flips through the pages at an alarming rate, eyes skimming over the names. 
“Here he is! Touya Todoroki! They don’t put nicknames, or preferred names, since it’s an official listing. He’s a brilliant man and one of our brightest junior professors. I know the university is hoping to snap him up this coming semester, get him on track for a tenured position. 
He’s a little unconventional, but he’s a super nice guy and… oh! Wait a minute, you wanted to file a complaint against him, right? I’m so sorry, here I am, running my mouth! You want a pen and paper? So you can jot his university number and info down? Lets me keep the book in here. Four minutes to closing after all, might as well save you the trip back.” She whips out the procured sheet of blank printer paper and a university stamped pen, holding them both toward you, a friendly smile still crinkling her eyes.
“Thanks,” you sigh, a little bewildered by her chatter. From the sound of it, Dabi’s got some university backing and is a ‘nice guy’. Coulda’ fooled you. Doesn’t matter, you think, crossing the t’s of his first and last name; he’s likely just skimming by on the promise of tenure, and the sooner the school knows about his lackadaisical attitude, the better. 
You’re typing in Todoroki, Touya when the secretary closes up the office of the dean, flicking off the lights and waving a goodbye to your tensed expression. A few minutes later, the elevator swallows her up and the only sound that fills the empty space is the clacking of the keys as you finish typing out your complaint. 
Alright. Got most of the minor points out of the way. 
Inattentive to the lessons, frequent absences, missing materials, smoking in the library; you’ll leave out the mention of weed, it’s not like you can claim innocence on that charge yourself and you’re not looking to have the guy arrested, just stripped of his TA status. You could mention the near kiss, but it feels too vague, and it’s not like he made a move on you. No, all that shifting forward rests squarely on your own shoulders. Damn it, stop thinking about that! You’ve got a boyfriend, someone who loves you, who’s going to take you to dinner! Hit complete and get the fuck outta’ here, before someone–
“Whatcha’ doing?”
His voice makes you jump half a foot into the air, your right knee contacting the protruding keyboard of the university kiosk. “Fuck,” you hiss, twisting around and hunching over at the bright spots of pain that flash across your vision as you rub your fingers over the hurt. The soft footfalls of his approach snap you out of your dazed reverie and your head snaps up, eyes widening at the sight of him.
He’s got a loose fitting white shirt on and you can see the coiling of his tattooed muscles under the thin fabric. His chin is lowered and his eyes are distant pinpricks of blue flame in the low lights. Booted feet take a few more steps toward you, but he pauses beside the table that your backpack is sitting on, hands sliding into his dark jeans, waiting for your response. You gulp back your nerves and lift your eyes to his, hoping some of your ire and defiance will shine through. “I’m putting something into the system,” you reply, your voice holding steady as you re-straighten your spine. 
“Can see that,” he counters, head tilting, dark hair falling to one side of his soft jawline. “Why are you doing it up here? This is the College of Science’s dean’s office. Most people don’t come up here to adjust their university login. So let me ask you again, whatcha’ doing, Ms. (L/N)?”
“Filing a complaint,” you snap, fingers curling into tight fists, shoulders rising and fall with your quickening breaths. That’s right, asshole, and it’s a complaint about you. How do you like that? Not much you can do about… about it now…. oh, shit. Fuck.  
You haven’t hit the enter key. 
The fucking e-document is just sitting there, unattended and completely vulnerable. He might not have seen that you haven’t sent it through and if you could just step a few feet to the right, then you can slip one finger against the keypad and hit that all important “enter.” 
You look up at him again, praying he won’t notice you scooting your shoes backwards, doing your best to keep him wholly focused on your face. “What did you expect?” you taunt, eyes narrowed, arms wrapping around your back, fingers unconsciously stretching out, feeling for the lift of the keyboard. “You’ve been shit. Midterms are in a week and half of the class says you’re not showing up for their sessions. Don’t look so shocked. This can’t possibly be your first run in with something like this? No wonder you go by that silly name, Dabi. What’s the matter? Upset that I know your actual name now?”
As you ramble on, his face has dropped all pretense of blank civility and now his entire body is hunching forward, shoulders curving, hands pulling free of his pockets and coiling outward, reaching, palms tilted upward. 
“So much fucking talk (Y/N). Looks to me like you forgot that last step. Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing,” he begins, a wicked grin twisting across his lips, not quite reaching the glare of his narrowed eyes. “Ah, babe. Why you gotta be this way? Make you a deal, huh? Walk away now and I’ll forget the whole thing. No repercussions, no questions asked. Never even saw you up here, scout’s honor.” 
The keyboard is close; you can hear the hum of the monitor, buzzing as it holds the screen with your complaint against Touya Todoroki steady, waiting for your inspection, for that final command. Dabi is close, his looming form heavy against your wide eyes, but it’s now or never. You’ve got to turn around, got to let the predatory lumber of your ill-appointed TA slip from your mind, you have to do this. It doesn’t matter what kinda promises he’ll make to you. That changes nothing, absolutely nothing. 
Now! Do it now!
You whirl around, hands shaking as they search for the right keystrokes, the right submission link. It feels like minutes have passed, not seconds. Even though you’ve pressed all the buttons and heard the computer chime, a sent message alert into the sudden, reverberating silence, you can’t take your eyes off the burning gleam of the screen. Not until that thank you pops up. 
He’s still behind you. You can hear his boots as they click across the wood. His movements have slowed, but he’s still advancing. It’s too late for you Dabi, you think, watching as the submission page fades to a pleasing orange, the school mascot waving a large “Thanks!” as it dances, close to the bottom of the page. You did it! There’s nothing he can do. Nothing that–
His powerful arm drapes across your stiffened shoulders, his wrist popped beside your face, fingers dangling lazily into the open air. “Ahhh,” he sighs, leaning over you, resting his head beside yours. You half turn your face to see him, aghast that he’s so close again, that he’s touching you, holding you in place with his weight. His muscled side presses against your back, leaning heavily into you as he gives you a rakish smirk. “Well, looks like we get to do this the hard way.”
“What the fuck? The hard way? What does–hey! HEY!” He’s stepped away from you, and that arm that was braced over your shoulders shifts to the back of your neck, ramming your face down into the keyboard, mashing out a random string of commands. Your nose stings from the impact and your eyes wince shut, protecting themselves from the threat of the black letters. 
“Warned you about sending that,” he replies, and you can hear the grin in his voice. He’s stroking a hand down your head, tangling his long fingers in your hair, pulling at the strands until you’re groaning in pain. “Now we have to do this another way. Gotta even the score, don’t we? Need to make sure you’ve got some kinda blemish on your record, too! I know that secretary filled you in on my upcoming tenure. No way she didn’t. She’s a fucking leaky faucet and I know you had to ask her about my name to fill out that complaint. No, no. We gotta fix this, babe.”
His voice has dropped into a terrifying lower octave, his words sharp, barbed, lancing into your mind like a showering of sticks and stones. He fucking sounds like he’s seconds away from losing his goddamn mind. The hand that’s wrapped around your hair is tugging against you in earnest, jerking your neck away from the threat of the keyboard, forcing you to look up at his leering face. The pupils of his eyes are blown, the black eating away at the shine of the blue until there’s almost nothing left. His teeth are bared in a grimace and his cheeks are pinched, making the silver of his piercings stand out against his flushed skin.
You do your best to gasp out another set of questions, but he’s yanking you back, holding you against his broad chest and wrapping those ink sleeved arms around you. They coil over your stomach and across your breasts, digging into the globes and heaving them under his forearms. His lips are tracing over your arched neck, teeth nipping against your bared pulse. 
“You always smell so good, babe. What are you wearing? Hmm?”
“W-what… get off me! You sick fuck! Why are you… ow… damn,” you whimper as he sucks a bruise into your skin, gnawing and pulling until you’re writhing in his arms. You keep attempting to slip away, to shift your feet forward, but that mouth of his won’t let up. Each time you shake yourself free from those quick pants and hums he’s dashing across your neckline, he moves to another spot, or his hands cup and squeeze at your heaving chest and shivering waist, distracting you. 
“Mmm, this is unexpected. Looks like you just might enjoy what’s about to happen,” Dabi teases, licking a wet line under your jaw. “Come on, let’s go somewhere a little more private, shall we?”
You exhale a shuddering breath and remain perfectly still, hoping your feigned submission will lull him. Thankfully, it works. He chuckles and spits something out about being a ‘good girl,’ but when he moves back, his arms unlacing from you, you stumble forward, one heel raised, cracking down over his booted feet with as much force as you can muster. 
Dabi hisses out a string of low curses, his body coiling over itself protectively. You do your best to squirm out of his grasp, but one of his broad hands reaches out for you, snatching at your leg and forcing you back to him. The sudden shift jolts you off your feet and you tumble to the wood, your palms skinning against the uneven surface. 
“Stop it!” you shout, kicking your feet, trying to dislodge his iron grip. 
“Kick me again and I’ll knock you out,” Dabi threatens, lowering himself to your level and jerking you underneath him, trapping you, bracing his knees on either side of your hips. 
“Fuck you,” you screech out, bucking upwards, trying to dislodge his weight.
“That’s the idea,” he croons, long fingers curling under your clenched chin, forcing you to look up at him. “Can’t say I didn’t warn you and stop acting like you don’t want me. You were practically salivating for me this afternoon. I bet you’re already wet. Let’s find out, hmmm?”
His other hand drifts to the clasp of your jeans, flicking past the barrier of your button and dipping his hand into your pants. His touch lingers around the elastic band of your panties, yanking and teasing at the seam as he works your zipper down. Unconsciously, your traitorous hips roll under him and he gives you a sharp grin, blue eyes blazing. “There you go, babe, just relax. Don’t worry, I’ll make it good for you,” he whispers, his voice catching as his touch slips downward, tapping across your curls and snagging against your slippery folds. “Maybe… ahhh… look at that,” he moans, a satisfied grin lifting those tempting lips of his. 
His middle finger brushes between your quivering flesh, gathering droplets of your arousal onto his finger pad. You choke back a staggered breath and your head flops weightlessly against the floor as you arch pitifully into his hand. One of his nails digs into your clit and faint stars pulse over your eyes. “S-stop it,” you stutter, unable to control the shiver that echoes up your spine.
“Tch,” Dabi scorns, adding the pressure of another finger. “Figures,” he continues, his mouth dropping into a pleased smile as you writhe under him. “I thought you liked being difficult. You’re so fucking cute when you’re mad, you know? So what happened to all that vigor, (Y/N)? Not gonna struggle anymore? I’m disappointed, I was hoping you’d keep it up.”
“You’re disgusting,” you snap, your fingers lifting from your side, grabbing the loose collar of his shirt and jerking him to your waiting lips. You can feel the lift of his grin, but he allows the caress, sharp nose digging into your upper cheek. This is wrong. So fucking wrong. But, if you have to endure it, it’s only fair you get a little bit of enjoyment out of this sick power play, so you nip at his lower lip, giving him soft presses and sharper pulls. Dabi, for all of his earlier barbs of prowess, is a bit taken aback by your sudden interest, his hands cupping at the back of your head, urging you on each time you maneuver away from his open-mouthed kisses. 
“You want to fuck me here? Right in front of the elevator?” you question breathlessly, fingers coiling into his dark hair, carding through the rough strands until he’s groaning above you. 
“Nah,” he pants, pulling away from your lips and leaning back. His fingers are still working their way against you, but it’s not enough friction and you wriggle under him, slipping him from your clit. “The fuck are you doing, babe? You gonna try and make a break for it again?” he laughs, pulling his hand from your pants and licking at the faint sweetness that you’ve left for him. 
“Why bother?” you reply, twisting your neck, your head dragging over the grains of the flooring. “You’re just going to catch me. I don’t know my way around this part of the building, so even if I got away, you’d only find me and I don’t really like being tossed around. Not good for me, you know? Why do you care? I thought you said you were gonna fuck me?”
“Oh, I am,” he assures you, one hand snagging under your chin, forcing your eyes to lock onto his. “Just wanted to know what changed.”
“Nothing,” you barb, tugging your chin free and fixing him with a pointed stare. “This whole thing means nothing. I’ve got a boyfriend, and he’s buying me dinner tonight, so, just get through this and I’m free to go, right?”
“A boyfriend,” Dabi muses, knees tightening around your hips. “Should we call him? I’d hate to think how he’d feel about all this. Knowing that his girl is letting her TA take advantage of her this way.” 
“Hmph,” you snort, arms bracing under you, pushing yourself upward, doing your utmost to level this shitty playing field he’s laid out for you. “Like you give a shit.”
“You’re right,” he affirms, hands snatching under your arms and pulling you out from under him. “I couldn’t care less.”
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His office is small. 
You keep a sharp eye on the door, watching to see if he locks it. Fingers crossed, he’ll get himself off and that’ll be the end of this. But that tone he’d shifted into, when he’d told you that you’d need to fix this, to erase the complaint, to walk it back, that made your spine tingle and skin prickle. There’s something else, something he’s not telling you, he’s a smart guy, there’s no way it’s this simple. He’s paced behind his desk, fiddling with something in one drawer, his eyes lifting to observe you each time you shift on the couch he’d gestured for you to sit on.
“What are you doing?” you ask, your voice a dull monotone. You don’t care, you remind yourself, hands wrapping around your stomach. No matter how good he looks, or how skilled his fingers are, you don’t care (Y/N) and it’s pathetic that you have to keep reminding yourself of that.
“Just making sure everything is ready,” he answers, eyes flicking over you. “Take off your pants and shirt, but leave your bra and panties on.”
“Huh?” you question, shoulders tensing as you glare up at him. “Why?”
“Does it matter?” he responds, closing his desk drawer and stepping back to you, kicking his boots and socks off as he gets closer.
“I-I guess not, but I don’t understand why you–”
“Don’t worry, I’ll explain it all when I’m finished,” he reassures you, kneeling on the floor and propping an elbow against his tattered couch. “You can make a show of taking your clothes off, I won’t mind.” 
“You’re revolting,” you snarl, curling your fingers over the hem of your shirt, pulling the fabric up. 
“Mmm,” Dabi agrees, one palm rising to run over your exposed skin. “Whatever you say.” 
“Ugh,” you grunt, popping your hips up and yanking your jeans down your long legs, not wanting to give him too much of a viewing as you pull them along your calves and onto the floor.
“Cute,” he murmurs, one finger racing along the lace of your panties, curving around your hip and onto the soft skin of your ass. “Oooh, did you wear these just for me?” he asks, cupping a broad hand under your soft skin and tugging it into his palm. “Love a girl in a thong,” he murmurs, fingers pressing and lifting into the plush flesh.
“Stop it,” you groan, lifting your hips up, depriving him of his lecherous grip. “I’d never do anything for you.” 
“Always such a stuck up little thing, let’s see if I can’t change your mind,” Dabi laughs, pushing you back and splaying you against the haggard cushions. His long fingers hook under the band of your thong and steadily work it over the curve of your hips and down the line of your calves. Instinctually, you clamp your thighs together, rubbing against the ache that’s budding between your clenched legs. 
“Come on,” Dabi encourages you, slapping his hand against your round thigh, smoothing his palm over the redness that he’s left behind. “Open up babe, let me see you.” 
“Don’t, ah—” you bite out, leaning away from his ravenous gaze and bracing yourself on your elbows as Dabi leers over the sight you’ve been forced to open for him. He glances up at you for a single moment, the blue of his eyes ensnaring your attention and leaving you gaping against the cushions. Seconds later, he’s diving between your spread thighs, his curious tongue lapping over the exposed folds of your cunt.
He slows his licks as he passes by your clit, pausing against the bud before wrapping his lips around the nub, sucking a swift rhythm over you. Your feet rise from the floor to brace against his broad shoulders and you coil your hips upward, urging him on, your head falling into the swath of pillows that rest under your neck. Tense fingers wrench into the cushions and you give a soft gasp, your lips stumbling over his name.
“What was that?” Dabi asks, lifting his head from your curls, lips wet with your slick, his blue eyes watching the contours of your face.
“Fuck you. I-I know… I know you heard me… D-Dabi,” you moan, hissing when he brings a digit against the quivering ring of your entrance. 
“Dabi, huh?” he ponders, letting the edge of his fingernail tease over you. “Don’t know if I like that. I think I’d much rather hear you screaming out my name, my real name.” 
“What?” you question, popping your head up and giving him a blank stare.
“You remember,” he grins, poking out his tongue and dragging it over you, smiling as you buck under his hands. “Come on,” he taunts, sucking at your clit again. “I know you know it. Go on, say it for me.”
“Wha-what’s wrong with Dabi?” you smart, bracing your feet against the couch and forcing him to insert his wavering finger, digging it forward until it hits the second knuckle. 
“Nothing, I just wanna’ hear how the other name sounds. I want to know what it’s like when you’re choking on it, barely able to gasp it out cus’ I’m making you feel so good. Come on, (Y/N), indulge me, huh?” 
“Fine,” you huff, legs trembling as he shoves another finger into you, curling them upward, poking and prodding until you’re squirming. “Keep going. Make me cum all over your mouth, Touya.” 
“Oh, fuck,” Dabi hisses, his teeth catching over your clit. “That sounds real nice, baby.”
His lips seal over you again and he drags another finger into you, stretching you until you feel you’re close to bursting. It’s a low ache he’s working up, but you love the burn. It’s not like your boyfriend can’t do this, but you’ve never worked up the courage to ask. How do you even go about that? Hey, I want you to pin me down and… no. That doesn’t matter, you remind yourself; fingers sinking into Dabi’s black hair, pulling him closer. You just need to get him off and get the hell outta’ here. Don’t think about it. Just relax and get this over with. 
“You need more, don’t you?” Dabi questions, tilting his head and cracking one cerulean eye open, watching as you writhe and cant under his skillful hands. 
“I-I just need…” your voice fails you as he resumes that suction, tugging your engorged clit between his sharp teeth and giving you a few rapid fire nips. “Al-almost, just… keep… oh fuck…” you sigh, thighs tensing around his dark head. His fingers speed up that sinful drag and he wriggles them forward with each push, tapping and stroking over the spongy patch of nerves within your cunt. 
Then, right when you’re breaths away from a mind blowing release, he yanks his fingers from your sopping pussy, laughing as you pant and whine for him. “Ahhh, come on babe,” he sneers. “Why would I reward you when you’ve been such a fucking pain?” 
You openly gape at him, your eyes blinking back dots of frustration and distant flashes of lingering starlight arousal. “What the fuck,” you pant, shifting away from his slicked lips and crossing your legs. “Wh-what what was that for?”
Dabi pushes himself onto his haunches, licking the last traces of you off of his fingers before digging his hand into his jean pocket. He returns with a small remote and waggles it in front of your aghast expression. “Got all I needed,” he informs you, flicking it toward a bookcase. You swiftly whip your head to the shelves and spy the tiny camcorder resting above the topmost set of books. 
“You fucking ASS,” you screech, hands reaching for the dangling remote, not caring that your sopping pussy and half naked breasts are on full display. Dabi hovers the remote above the two of you, cracking that all too familiar grin over his thin lips.
“So, about that complaint,” he taunts, scoffing at your desperation, leaning on his heels to watch you scramble up from the frayed pillows of his couch. 
“Y-you, why… I… give me that! You can’t record me without my permission!”
“Awe, babe,” Dabi barks, his laugh echoing around the small space. “Too bad for you, huh? I don’t need two party consent.”
“That’s for phone calls,” you bite out, finally snagging his wrist, yanking him toward you. 
“Who said the video was on?” 
“You fucking jackass! That’s why you wanted me to say your name!”
“Calm down, I won’t release it if you walk back the complaint,” Dabi counters, letting you pull him closer, his lips teasingly reaching for yours. You dodge his touch and fix him with a pointed glower, nose wrinkling and brow furrowing. 
“This sounds like a well oiled routine,” you accuse, dropping your hold on him and crossing your arms over your exposed stomach. 
“Tch, you jealous?” Dabi sneers, cupping both of his hands under your bent elbows, forcing you to lean into his hold. You shake your head at his accusation and grit your teeth, tilting your face away from his seeking touch. 
“What are you going to do about this part? Where I’m yelling about what a son of a bitch you are?”
“Edit it out,” Dabi informs you, lips latching onto the hollow of your throat, teeth worrying your tender skin between their grasp. “Again, if you walk back the accusation, all of this goes away.”
“What if…” you pause, biting your lower lip and shrugging Dabi off of you. He leans away, bright eyes studying your face, pausing at the dip of your lips, following the pink indentations that your teeth leave behind. “What if I wanna’ fuck you?”
“Oh?” Dabi hums, nose flaring, making those three tiny piercings gleam under the low light of the moon that’s streaming through his window. “Now you wanna’ fuck me? You sure about that? Not that I blame you, I’m pretty good, pretty big, too.”
“Ugh, don’t say shit like that,” you reply, lifting a shaking hand to his neck, tracing your fingertips over the indentations of his tattoos.
“Hmm,” he groans, already leaning into your touch, his skin prickling under the gentle strokes of your fingers. “One condition. I get to record it. This time with the video on.”
“Fine,” you confirm, coiling your hands into his inky hair. “Never know, you might want it for later.”
“For what?” Dabi asks, yanking himself away from your intoxicating strokes to jerk his white shirt over his head. You shake your head at his question, not wanting to think about the ramifications of this situation, distracting yourself with the new patterns and whorls of dark ink that are bared to you. He twists back to the camcorder, hitting a few buttons before tossing his remote across the room, the plastic clattering over the wood.
You can just make out the outline of wisps of blue flames beside his ribs when he kicks his pants and boxers down, finally lowering the curtain on the dip of his hipbones, displaying his straining length to your ravenous gaze. He’s covered in piercings. A silver Prince Albert is gleaming at his tip, catching the drips and bubbles of pre-cum that are hovering against his slit. His cock curls proudly toward his stomach when he releases it from the thin protection of his boxers and you catch sight of the Jacob’s ladder that climbs up his impressive girth. Unconsciously, you gulp in a swift breath and shake your head, not wanting to show him your wavering uncertainty. 
He’ll undoubtedly be the biggest cock you’ve ever taken, and you’re not sure that he’s stretched you out properly. He’d paused too soon and you can still feel the shuddering echoes of your faint brush with release travel up your spine as you gape at him. It’s not enough… it’s not…
“What?” Dabi questions, one black brow arched. “Worried I’m too big for you?”
You’re about to respond when he shoves you down and maneuvers you sideways, stretching you along the cushions, his hand a steady pressure against your windpipe, choking out any reservations that threaten to escape your lips. He’s on top of you seconds later, the sheer weight of him pinning you under him, and you let out a whine when he spreads your legs, popping the brittle muscles of your hips in his rush. 
“I’ll make you like it,” he promises, looming over you, his lips tracing up your neck as his hands dig under your back, unfastening your bra and stripping you of your final defense. “You’ve got a nice rack, babe,” Dabi praises, lowering himself, ghosting over your peaked nipples, tongue lapping out to dip over the puffy areola. 
“Stop saying shit like that, I might think you mean it,” you snarl, throat catching on your gasps of strained pleasure. He sucks one stiffened peak between his lips and suckles, hard. The pressure makes your back bow off the cushions, fingers reaching for him, clawing and scratching your way down the muscled plains of his back. 
“Mmm,” Dabi groans, popping his lips free from the distraction of your nipples. “Do that again, but put some effort behind it.” 
Well, why let him down now? You dig your nails into him, yanking until you feel his skin part under you, splitting from the drag of your touch. “Fuck, yes,” he grunts, his hips jerking into you, blindly seeking your entrance. “I’m gonna fuck you,” Dabi warns, teeth biting the hollow of your neck. “I’m gonna fuck you until all you can say is my name.” 
He blindly reaches for your hips, two fingers searching for your cunt. Once he finds it, he grasps the swollen length of his cock, jerking himself a few times, splashing his hot pre-cum against your inner thighs. There’s no warning, no call for preparation, or a quick kiss, instead there’s just the heady press of his hips and the weight of his length as it splits you in two. Your neck arches off of the cushions and your hips fall away, shying from the keening sting that he’s thrusting into you. A low hiss slips from your lips and your toes curl, legs unconsciously wrapping around his thin waist, heels digging into the soft dip of his back. 
“F-fuck,” Dabi chokes out, hands bracing themselves over the swell of your hips. “You’re fucking tight, babe. Goddamn it.”
“Dabi,” you moan, curling upwards, praying he’ll give you a few more seconds, positive you’ll shake yourself to bits if he tries to move now. Your hand finally lifts from his back and makes its way toward the crest of your thighs, desperate to tweak and roll your pulsing clit. Once you’re inches away, one of Dabi’s hands unlatches from your waist and snatches your seeking fingers away. “Don’t you dare,” he warns, lips rising to suck against the lines of your neck. “Only if I tell you,” he continues, warm tongue dipping and licking over your ear. “Understand?”
You nod, still reeling from the steady stretch of his cock as he tugs it out of your sopping cunt. It pricks and bites and your heels do their best to restrict his movements, pinning themselves to his lower back and grinding down. He ignores your hints and starts a steady push and pull within you, the rungs of his piercings catching on the edge of your leaking pussy. Each thrust snags against a piece of you that sends a scattering of sparks and stars over your vision and you coil yourself forward every time he yanks back, anticipating that ignition, that ache, as he braces himself to slip into you again. 
“How the fuck are you still so tight?” he complains, hands jerking your chin upward, demanding that you kiss him. The bittersweet sting of pain is still too close for you to get into his caress, so he soon gives up, finally settling the pad of his calloused thumb over your clit. “Is this what you need?” he asks, hips lancing into yours, picking up the pace of his ruts. You nod as your teeth chatter, a thin slip of drool escaping your parted lips. Dabi grins at your overwrought expression and his tongue laps at the traces of saliva, nose pressing into your skin, his hisses of exhaled air hot against your cheek. 
“You’re getting real tight (Y/N). Wanna cum? You wanna’ cum on my dick?” he asks, his voice shaking with effort, trying to ignore the insistent envelopment of your slick cunt. “Hey, come on, answer me!”
His deep pitch of exasperation snaps you out of your stupor and you fix your hazy attention on him, closing your swollen lips and giving him a cruel smile. “I don’t think you’ve done enough,” you taunt, a laugh bubbling from your throat. “Looks like you’re gonna cum first. Turns out you’re not as impressive as you think, huh, Touya?”
He’d usually ignore you, keep pressing and teasing until you’re putty in his hands, but it feels too good. It’s too much. Your fucking cunt feels like heaven and he can’t help himself, thrusting and pounding into you like he’s fucking fifteen again, all hormones and no finesse. There’s nothing he can do to stop himself, it’s too good, it’s just too fucking good.
With a half-formed groan he spills into you, his cock pulsing and swelling, hands bracing themselves against the swell of your hips, lifting you to him until those dots leave his vision. “Fuck. Fuck, that was… you were… God. That felt so fucking good.” 
You sprawl under him, your eyes languidly meeting his as you crack a sly grin. “Ahhh, Touya, like I said, you were so close. Too bad. Thought you’d last a little longer. Haha! Maybe next time, hmmm?”
Tags: @spicy-skull​, @xwildskullx​, @evesmores​
notes: editing always takes me so long :((((
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daryl-dixon-daydreams · 4 years ago
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Words: 4,577 Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Reader pronouns: she/her Era: Alexandria Warnings: Language, mentions of abuse, violence, sexuality, nudity, typical TWD A/N: STUFF. IS. HAPPENING! A/N: This is part of a series! Find the previous parts on the Masterlist! Summary: The Hilltop and Alexandria are well into preparations for the war against the Saviors, and someone goes missing.
Your name: submit What is this?
A couple weeks later
It had been an eventful couple of weeks. Alexandria and Hilltop were well into preparations for the first hammer blows to fall against the Saviors, but the Kingdom, the latest community Jesus had introduced you to, had just decided to join in the fight after shit went sideways. You and Daryl had stayed there for a few days to help before heading back to Hilltop. The biggest relief was finding Carol safe and sound, although changed from how both you and Daryl remembered her. You knew it was weighing on the archer, but there was simply too much to do to spend more time there and try to figure out exactly what was going on...
The intel from Dwight so far had been untested but consistent. He was keeping you all apprised of the Saviors movements and what Negan seemed to be focused on. There had been some concern after the discovery of the bodies that you and Daryl had been responsible for out by the survivalist cache, but the Saviors seemed to think it was a chance one-off skirmish with some other group and no more heat had come your way. Of course, Negan continued to pressure and terrorize Rick and Alexandria, but they had been able to keep him placated so far with supplies. But that wasn’t going to last forever, and it was almost time to kick the hornets’ nest.
The fine weather, moderate temperatures and ample sunshine, were in harsh contrast to the anxiety and worry plaguing you as you all prepared for a war that you were sure would result in heavy losses. That particular day, Daryl found you down by the armory, helping to sort and finish weapons that had just come from the blacksmith. His tall frame darkened the doorway, and although Daryl was well aware of how worried you were, you still always had a smile for him. He stopped and leaned on the table across from you, drinking in the sight. “Hey.”
“Hey. What’s up?” you asked, setting aside some broadhead arrows.
“Ya still wanna do that pick-up from the ammo cache today?” he asked.
You nodded. “I think we have to.”
He straightened up and nodded. “Yeah. I think so too. I’ll get the gear and my bike. Ya about done here?” he asked.
“Done. Let me just drop these few off to be sharpened. I’ll meet you down by the gate.”
Daryl nudged his nose up in a nod and headed to your trailer to collect the gear you would need. He was just about done, zipping up his pack, when he heard hurried footsteps coming up to the door, followed by urgent knocking.
Daryl spun and rushed to open it. Jesus was standing on the top step looking deeply concerned. “I think we might have a problem,” he said.
_ _ _ _ _ _
“Well, when was the last time anybody saw the little weasel?” you asked, pacing the length of the trailer anxiously. Maggie, Sasha, and Enid were gathered too.
“That’s what I mean. I’m not even sure,” Jesus said. “He’s just been holing up in his office drinking lately. By the time I realized he wasn’t around anywhere I couldn’t even tell how long he’d been gone.”
Daryl let out a low growl. “We shoulda locked his ass up. Guarantee he’s runnin’ off to find some Saviors,” he roared.
Jesus looked dumbfounded. “I never thought he’d actually try something like this. He’ll be lucky if they don’t kill him.”
You rubbed your hands over your face and shut your eyes for a moment. “It doesn’t matter. We can’t go back and stop him, if that’s really what he’s up to. The only thing we can do now is prepare for what’s going to happen.” You met Daryl’s eyes. “Our timeline just accelerated. We need to get word to the Kingdom and Alexandria ASAP.”
Daryl nodded gravely, a shadow over his narrowed blue eyes. “Did he know ‘bout that radio of theirs we’ve got?”
“No. He definitely didn’t,” Jesus said.
“Well, at least there’s that,” Maggie said. “I’ll handle gettin’ the volunteers here all armed and come up with a final defense plan. I’m sure they’re gonna be knockin’ sooner rather than later.”
Sasha shook her head, anger plain on her face. “I’ll set extra watches on the wall. Thank God we didn’t cut him in on our plans.”
“Yeah,” Daryl agreed, straightening up. “Never trusted the bastard. If I see him, he’s a dead man. We’ve got one thing goin’ for us at least. They’re gonna think we ain’t armed or prepared at all. They’re gonna think they’ll be surprising us, but they’re wrong.”
Jesus sighed heavily. “I’ll contact Rick and The Kingdom and then stay glued to that radio. If I hear anything, anything at all, I’ll make the rounds.”
You all had your plans and you watched as everyone cleared out of the trailer. Daryl turned to see you frozen and your face dark with worry.
He moved around the table and stopped in front of you, his hands reflexively landing gently on your hips. “Hey. This ain’t it. It ain’t over,” he said.
You nodded and met his blue eyes. “I know. That’s what scares me. It’s just starting. All the—all the death and destruction is coming. It’s like being on a set of train tracks with a locomotive bearing down and nowhere to go.” Your eyes turned downward, but not fast enough to hide the glassiness in them.
“Hey.” Daryl gently clasped your face and your wide eyes met his again. “Everything is gonna be alright.”
“You don’t know that…”
Daryl nodded and brushed a strand of your hair away from your face. “Ya. I do. ‘Cuz we’ve been makin’ these plans, and they’re all good. Smart. It’s like ya said. Timeline gets bumped up, but they ain’t winnin’. And I will do everything I have to, to keep ya safe. You and every one of our people.”
There was still some seed of doubt in your eyes, but your fear seemed to have diminished some and you nodded before looping your arms around his neck and hugging him against you tightly. Daryl sank into you, breathing in the semi-sweet scent of your hair and smoothing his hands over your back. “I’ve got you,” you murmured into the crook of his neck. Even despite the bad news, Daryl couldn’t help but smile.
“Mhm. And I got ya.” He was still bewildered by your constancy and how each of you seemed to carry the other when you most needed it. It was a give and take he had hardly known in his life. There were no strings attached, no deals or bargaining. You were just there.
The rest of the evening was chaotic as you rushed around preparing for what could come at any moment, but it was almost midnight and still there was no word over the radio that the Saviors were moving.
“If he went on foot, he won’t be anywhere near the closest Savior outpost until tomorrow. And that’s assuming he somehow manages to survive,” Jesus said.
You glanced toward the gate and the inky blackness beyond. “Closest ones we know about…” you said quietly.
Daryl shifted a little anxiously, your worry being his. “Jesus is right though. We best try and get some sleep while we can. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.”
You sighed, but Daryl saw you soften. “Yeah.” You placed a friendly hand on Jesus’ shoulder. “Wake us up if you hear a single peep over that radio.”
He gave you a tight smile and nodded. “You got it. Goodnight.”
“Night,” Daryl drawled, falling into stride behind you back to the trailer. He shut the door behind himself and simply watched you drifting about the space for a moment, getting ready for bed. You felt his eyes on you and paused, turning to read his expression.
“What are you thinking?” you asked the archer.
He shrugged and drifted toward you. “Nothin’. Tryin’ not to.”
You nodded and turned to face him, unable to stand the space between you any longer. You pushed the curtain of dark hair framing his face out of eyes and gently rested your hand lightly along his jaw. “You’re so strong, Daryl. Whatever else happens, I at least know you’re gonna come through this just fine. Hell, you’ll probably be the one to put Negan in the ground.”
“Hey.” He grabbed your hand in both of his, and marveled at how small and fragile it felt, despite how strong he knew you were too. “ What’d I tell ya? We are gonna be just fine.” He pressed your hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. You smiled at the forcefulness of his assertion followed by the tenderness of his action afterwards. “C’mon. Let’s at least try and catch a little sleep.” He tilted his head in the direction of the bed and you were eager to comply, falling down heavily with your head on the pillow. Daryl moved behind you until he could press his body against you. This time he was the one who moved until he could tangle his legs with yours. He draped an arm over your waist and his fingers tickled against the bare skin of your side, exposed by the way your t-shirt was draping. His hand suddenly sought more of that contact, pressing lightly, skin to skin.
You smiled at the sensation and your heart raced a little with him seeking that intimacy.
“S’this alright?” he asked softly, his breath tickling your ear.
“Mhm,” you hummed, smoothing your hand over the back of his and pulling him more tightly against you. You shut your eyes and breathed out your tension. You felt Daryl relaxing against you too, and despite all the fear and anxiety of the day, you both were soon fast asleep, feeling safe and like you were safely at home.
_ _ _ _ _ _
By the time the sun was up, you and Daryl were both awake and busy. And it wasn’t long before Jesus came striding up with a grave expression on his face, the radio in his hand. You felt your stomach twist. “What is it? Are they coming?”
He only nodded. “They’re moving out this afternoon.”
“To where?” Daryl asked gruffly. “Just here?”
“I think so,” Jesus said. “I haven’t heard any mention of Alexandria. But if Gregory did make it and did spill everything he knows, they’ll be heading there eventually.”
You felt like the wind had been knocked out of you for a brief moment before you steeled yourself again. You brought forward the image of your brother in your mind. You thought of the workers trapped in the Sanctuary with no way out, of Negan’s ‘wives’, of everything he had done to Daryl and to you and countless others… And your fear and anxiety didn’t dissipate, but it took a backseat to determination and anger. You gulped. “Fine. Good. Let them come. We’re ready.”
Daryl felt a swell of admiration for you and he nodded. “We are. That’s what all these plans have been for.” He glanced back at you, knowing you weren’t going to like the next thing he was going to say. “I gotta go check the drop-off location. Dwight might have more info,” he drawled.
A shadow darkened your expression. “What? Now? Daryl, they’re headed our way!”
“I gotta check. It was the plan. He’d get us word if shit was kicking off.”
You shook your head. “No. I don’t like it. You’re gonna go out there? What if—what if you can’t get back in time. What if—”
Jesus seemed to sense that the two of you needed a moment. “I’ll go start spreading the word, get everyone to their assignments.” He rushed off, leaving you behind staring at Daryl with renewed worry.
“Daryl, you can’t—”
He gulped, admittedly not liking the idea of separating from you while you were all seemingly standing on the threshold of potentially the hardest fight of your lives. But he had to go. He had to check. What if there was information waiting that would save lives? What if the Saviors somehow had found out you had that radio and this was going to be misdirection? “I gotta go. This was the plan.”
“Fine, then I’m coming with you!”
“Nah. Ya can’t. Everybody needs ya here. There’s too much to do to get ready.” He paused to read your expression. You looked pissed. “Ya know I’m right.”
You were wrestling with another upwelling of fear. But this was Daryl. He was a warrior. And he needed to do this. It wasn’t fair for you to try and selfishly keep him behind the walls with you when there could be critical information waiting out there. You sighed and shut your eyes for a moment and nodded. “Okay… alright.” You pointed at him vehemently. “But you come back in one piece, Daryl Dixon! I mean it!”
He couldn’t help but smile a little at you. Your tone reminded him of so many times you had scolded him for ignoring an injury or being stubborn. He nudged his nose up at you. “I will. I’ll come back to ya. Promise.”
Your anxiety wasn’t relieved but you nodded. “Okay… Come here,” you said, your tone softened.
That was all Daryl needed. He paced over to you, chewing his bottom lip a little thoughtfully, and just waited for your touch. Your hands rested lightly on his sides and you looked up and met his blue eyes.
“I mean it. Come back.”
“Mm,” he hummed. “I will.” His arms looped around your lower back and pulled you against him. He watched, still amazed every time, as you shut your eyes and arched up onto your toes so your lips met his. Your kiss was gentle and soft at first, but he deepened it, tangling his fingers in your hair and relished the way your lips moved effortlessly with his, the taste of you and feel of you all he needed. When you finally broke apart, your eyes stayed linked with is for a long moment.
“Be careful,” was all you could whisper. Daryl nodded and slipped from you, heading for his bike by the gate. You crossed your arms over your chest like a shield, still feeling the ghost of his hands and lips on you, and watched his broad shoulders until they disappeared.
_ _ _ _ _ _
You purposely kept yourself so busy you hardly had a moment to think while Daryl was outside the walls. You were stocking ammo at strategic locations around Hilltop when Maggie came bounding up to you with a relieved smile.
“He’s back,” she said.
You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you had been holding since he left. You nodded and murmured a thank you, before glancing at the pile of supplies you were sorting. She laughed. “I got it. Go on,” she said kindly, taking your place.
You reached him as he was climbing off his bike and Daryl gave you a smile that made your heart jump. “How’d it go?” you asked, nervous to hear what info he had, if any.
“No problems. Couple walkers,” he said with a shrug.
“And nobody saw you? And you didn’t see anyone?” He shook his head.
“Not that I know of. I was careful,” he drawled. “Got somethin’ though.” His tone changed. There was tension in his voice and it made the gravel more pronounced.
You felt your throat constrict with nerves. “Okay. What is it?”
Daryl pulled out a small piece of paper, left in the agreed upon location by Dwight. “He’ll be here.”
“Negan,” you said. It wasn’t a question
Daryl nodded. “Mhm,” he hummed. He looked about how you felt. Determined, disgusted, and angry.
You nodded. “Okay. So, he’ll be here. So, what? Doesn’t change anything,” you said. Daryl was watching you carefully, worried with the realization that this would be the first time you’d have to see him since busting out of the Sanctuary. It would be like if his own father suddenly showed up at the gates. It would be understandable if you were a bit apprehensive or shaken up at the idea. But instead, to his continued amazement, you just looked pissed. Maybe you were trying to hide how much it was affecting you, but Daryl couldn’t see anything other than determined anger. He licked his lips a little nervously and nodded. “They ain’t comin’ to fight. This time. They’re comin’ to give us a chance to give up. Probably think that once we realize Gregory has snitched that we’ll fold.”
You scoffed. “Not gonna happen.”
Daryl glanced down at the paper in his hands one more time. “They’re goin’ to Alexandria tomorrow. Same thing. After that, they’ll get ready to fight us if we don’t give up.”
You nodded. “I guess it’s really starting then.”
Daryl nodded. “Yeah.” He reached out and laced his fingers with yours. “But we’re ready.”
_ _ _ _ _ _
“I don’t understand why we’re here to chat instead of hitting them before they know what’s coming,” Simon said vehemently, matching Negan’s long strides as they approached the heavy wooden gate to Hilltop.
Negan turned a piercing glare to his lieutenant. “People. Are. A resource,” he growled. “Dead people don’t work for me, do they, Simon? They don’t gather supplies. They don’t work in the Sanctuary. They don’t do a damn thing except rot in the sun or feed the dead, do they? There is a goddamn good reason why I am in charge instead of you. And this is the last time I’m going to remind you of that. In fact you should be grateful you aren’t out on the fence after all of this was happening right under your oversized nose.” The look on his face was dangerous, vicious, his lip almost curling.
Simon hung his thumbs in his belt and averted his gaze down toward his boots. “Right. Sorry.” But he was biting back anger.
“Don’t question me again,” Negan growled, pointing at Simon with his trusty sidekick, the barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat he called Lucille. Negan of course knew that all of you inside knew he was already there, but he raised a cheerful sounding hello at the gate. “Hello! The Saviors are here!”
Two guards appeared over the top of the fence, glaring down at the convoy of trucks and assembled men. “Ah, there we go. Would you mind opening the gates and letting us in?” Negan asked, keeping his manufactured charm thick.
“We won’t be letting you in. Not today. And not ever again.” This was a new voice, and Sasha appeared over the top of the fence now too, her trusty rifle clutched in hand.
Negan laughed and grinned up at her. “Oh, I remember you,” he said. “Well, is there someone else here I could have a civilized conversation with? There are some very important matters that need discussing.”
“Everyone in here will tell you the same thing,” Sasha spat back at him. “And that’s ‘Go to Hell.””
There was a quick flash of rage in Negan’s eyes, like a lightning bolt, but it was gone immediately and replaced with another charming smile. He laughed loudly. “Oh, come on, now! I know just who you have in there that I would just love to talk to! WHERE’S MY DARYL AT?!” he roared. “Little pig, little pig, let me come in!”
Sasha only glared down at Negan in disgust.
“Huh. Not very friendly, are they, Simon?”
“Not friendly at all, Negan,” Simon answered.
“I don’t know what you think you’re hiding back there,” Negan said, gesturing toward the gate with Lucille. “Because I have all the inside information I could possibly want courtesy of one of yours.” Negan snapped his fingers. “Dwight! Bring my best friend Gregory out here!”
Gregory was pushed forward through the crowd and Dwight grabbed his elbow and led him forward.
“You see, Gregory here has already told me that The Hilltop and Alexandria are working together. And I know that there are some more of you Alexandrians hiding out here while Rick the Prick is back there plotting my downfall with enthusiasm. But the thing is you can’t win. We are better prepared, and better supplied, and there are simply more of US. So, I thought we’d come on down here and give you one. last. chance. to do the right thing and fall back in line.” He paused and looked thoughtful, keeping up his charming, amiable act up until this very last part. “Because if you don’t, we will rain death and hellfire down on you. And believe me when I say that I do not want to do that. But I will.”
You and Daryl were backed up against the outer wall on the guard stand, right beside Sasha, keeping out of sight. But Daryl saw just a split second before you did it that you were barely keeping your anger in check.
“Y/N—Don’t—” he whispered harshly.
But you couldn’t just hide anymore. You stood up and peered over the wall, immediately meeting Negan’s eyes.
You were surprised to see that he looked surprised. “We’re not taking any more of your bullshit, Negan. You’re done. This is your last chance to walk away.”
But instead of responding to what you were saying, Negan was simply peering at you for a long moment before he resumed his usual persona. “You have got to be kidding me! Y/N? My wife is with you people?” He clicked his tongue and clenched his jaw. “Ain’t that just a kick in the crotch? And here I was thinking that you just took advantage of the chaos of my Daryl breaking out to escape again… You always were the type to get restless. But it seems maybe I need reevaluate that chain of events!”
Negan seized the back of Gregory’s neck hard and yanked him forward. “You know, it’s funny, because I specifically remember asking for the names of everyone hiding out in Hilltop and Y/N, your name, never came up,” he growled.
Gregory was shaking from head to toe. “I—I’m sorry! I got her name wrong! I didn’t remember—”
Negan looked like he was ready to strangle Gregory when your laughter broke through his pleading. Negan’s eyes shot back to your face. “That should give you some idea of the quality of information you’re working with from him. You might want to rethink things,” you said, leaning on the top of the fence casually, like you were discussing the weather.
You knew that if there was one thing Negan hated more than anyone defying him, it was being made to look weak.
He ran his thumb thoughtfully over his bottom lip as he stared up at you.
“You cocky little bitch,” Simon suddenly drew his pistol and pointed it straight at you.
You didn’t even flinch, but Sasha and the two other guards all had their guns to their shoulders and aimed right back at Simon.
Negan was furious as he turned toward his lieutenant. Simon felt Negan’s eyes like they were burning a hole in his skull and he waivered. Negan spoke to him through a growl. “Put your goddamn gun down. Now. I told you, she comes back to me alive.” Simon lowered his gun.
You felt your stomach twist. You weren’t sure whether Negan had meant for it to be heard or not, but the effect on you was an instantaneous, overwhelming sick feeling. You managed to keep your expression blank, but you knew that if Negan did ever get you back alive, you would be in for a fate worse than death.
Daryl’s hands landed lightly on your hips from behind and he gently pulled you slightly back, stepping forward, protectively putting his body in front of yours, glaring Negan down.
Negan noticed and it was like he suddenly flipped a switch back to his old persona. He grinned and chuckled. “Daryl, Daryl, Daryl…” He took in how close the two of you were standing, how Daryl was guarding you, and he realized… “So, what’s this? You two? You’re together? Really? Daryl, you and Y/N? I mean, I don’t know, but that doesn’t seem to make any sense to me.” He chuckled again as he watched Daryl’s chest heave with angry breaths.
“Wow. Alright. I don’t get it but, hey, some women like dumpster diving.” You watched Daryl’s entire body tense and you laced your fingers with his, resting your other hand on his arm, wishing more than anything that you could just shoot Negan in the fucking head right at that moment.
Negan knew what effect he was having on Daryl. He saw it. And he went on, grinning. “Did she tell you about all the things we did together? Dirty, dirty things…” He bit his bottom lip and cultivated a starry-eyed and vague smile on his face, remembrance. “And she is either a fantastic actress, or she was having just as much fun as I was, because I really didn’t have to do any convincing. I mean, she is good… I still dream about it and wake up rock hard…” he trailed off, grinning widely as he saw your face burning with anger and humiliation. You couldn’t help but be extremely aware of the fact that the entire Hilltop community was standing right behind the gate, listening to every word exchanged. You felt like you’d just been outed. Daryl shifted uncomfortably, his fist clenching.
“Oh my God,” Negan laughed, his eyebrows lifting. “Don’t tell me you two haven’t fucked yet?” He chewed his bottom lip, nodding, knowing exactly how much this was torturing both of you. “Oh, Daryl. You don’t know what you’re missing! This is some biblical level shit. I’m talking Whore of Babylon! I mean, really, you have no idea what—” But Negan had to duck as Daryl pulled his gun and fired a shot that whizzed just past his head and struck the truck behind him. Instantly, about fifty guns were aimed your way. The archer’s chest was heaving with anger as he glared through the drifting cloud of gun smoke. And this time when Negan straightened back up, the cocky smile and manufactured charm was gone. His eyes were dark and cold with rage. “Now, that—that was a mistake, Daryl.”
“Nah. You made the mistake,” Daryl growled. “And ya will pay for it.”
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sporadically-writing · 2 years ago
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A Night At the Museum
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"I couldn't even begin to explain" Steven says.
"Alright, if you want to, tell me when you're ready and when you can, but don't run away from me, alright?"
"Yeah." Then he turns around and sees the man has gone. "Oh, bullocks."
"Down the hall through that first gallery, I think he's turning left."
"How did-"
"That's all I've got," Penny responds, "go before you lose him."
"Thanks."
"No problem. I've gotta go before Donna skins me."
And with that the two part, Penny going about the rest of her day, masterfully avoiding direct conversation with Donna, but always managing to be seen giving some of the best tours she ever has. At the end of the day, she clocks out, but hides in one of the galleries. Donna could make other employees stay late, sure, but she would never do so herself. After a certain point, Penny figured she would be safe to head out and find Steven.
As the lights went out, things were very quiet. A certain level of quiet is to be expected when being one of two people in a closed, empty museum.
It wasn't that.
This was the sort of quiet that stuck the hair up on the back of your neck. This kind of silence had a slime to it. An oozing dread-like quality that painted every shadow into a monster. That inky black quiet that children were afraid of. The kind of silence we think we learn not to fear as adults but we don't.
Penny's curious face clicks into a sharp, observant, hunting one. It's probably nothing, she tells herself, but one can never be sure.
Then, she hears a growl coming from somewhere far away in the galleries. Gotta be about three or four rooms over.
"What the hell is that?"
No way that was a dog. Too large and bassy a sound. No way.
If it wasn't a dog, what the hell was it?
Ding-Ding.
"Steven Grant of the gift shop."
"What the f-"
"Give me the scarab and you won't be torn apart."
Penny is unsure what to think or do, but of their own volition, her limbs move anyway. The only coherent thought in her brain that her friend is in danger. The rest is muscle memory.
Charging as quickly as she can, doing her best to stay in the shadows, Penny Morris listens for any sound other than her own controlled breathing or her shoes hitting the tile on the floor.
She reaches the doorway to the main gallery, the one she directed Steven to earlier that day and pauses in the shadows.
Not a sound.
Like nothing had even happened.
Where was Steven?
Penny works her way around the cameras, knowing Donna would have her head if she knew she hid in the back.
Where was Steven? He had to be somewhere, unless he was torn apart like the voice over the PA system said.
No. No.
No.
Wait.
Footsteps.
Who was that?
She peeks around the corner, staying hidden as best she can, when she spots him.
A man about her height.
One with dark curls and a blue jacket over a dress shirt.
Steven.
Penny finds her way to the side exit of the museum galleries, one used for fires and employees only and rushes to the front.
"Steven!"
Steven turns to her, something odd, wrong, about his face. His eyes widen and he bolts.
"Steven?! Wait!"
"Go home, Penny!" It sounds like Steven's voice, but something is strange and twisted about it. It sounds too deep to be Steven, but that's Steven's body. It's his face, that's Steven. Has to be.
"Steven! Stop! Oh, for God's sake-"
It's odd, Steven is running much faster than she's ever seen him. He's not shuffling his feet, he's fully athletically running. Penny isn't making up the ground she expected to.
They continue like this for a second city block before Penny begins to slow down. Swapping tactics, Penny hits the brakes, calling, "I think that bastard is gone!"
Steven slows and stops a healthy distance away.
"How much did you hear?" The voice is still that strange version of Steven's.
"Something that definitely wasn't a dog. Scarab. Torn apart" she bullet points, catching her breath.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah? I'm more worried about you. Are you-"
Steven turns around and takes a step forward so she can see him better. The voice that comes out of his mouth is definitely not Steven's.
It's deeper, sounding far more battered than Steven's has ever sounded. Oh, yeah, and it's also an American accent that says, "Promise me when you see me tomorrow you won't talk about this. Any of this."
"Steven-" she says because she doesn't know what else to call this completely different person that is somehow standing in front of her- "You're going to have to tell me what's going on."
The street around them suddenly receives a surge of wind. Street lights flicker for a moment as they rattle in the air.
"I can't. I wish I could but I can't. Go home. Do not talk to me about any of this."
Penny's expression hardens.
"Please."
A tone Penny has never used around Steven before comes out as she says, "Fine. But you are explaining this later. Steven Grant better show up to work tomorrow. I do not take kindly to threats upon my friend's life." I don't take orders from strangers either, but that's beside the point.
Against her better judgement, against every red flag, every buzzing, flaring alarm in her brain, Penny turns around and goes home.
She tries to sleep.
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sweetestlamb · 4 years ago
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Mostrami Amore.
Summary: Cha-young tries to move on from a certain mafia boss. 
Author’s Note: Thank for to everyone who sent in prompts for Chayenzo, it resulted in this mess. I don’t have much to say, I considered making this into a multi- chaptered story but honestly I don’t have time for another ongoing story so if this seems rushed it was a little, I wrote it in one go today. Hope you enjoy this, I stuck in some of my favorite crack ship because I am weak and obsessed. Happy reading! 
p.s takes place after final episode but han seo lives because this is my world and I get to play God. 
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Another postcard.
Their delivery becomes sporadic and she’s embarrassed at the giddiness that washes over her each time a new square is sent miles across a wide stretch of ocean, the view on the card most likely lackluster in comparison to the true rendering of Malta. She has spent many hours on her laptop searching for images of the small paradisiac island, yearning to see what he sees and feel just a tad bit closer to him. Most of her life has been spent in solitude with only her work acquaintances filling the void at times, so she expected herself to be more equipped to deal with his disappearance and subsequent absence. But nothing prepares her for those moments at the coffee shop, when she finds herself smiling across a table only to realize there is no miniature espresso cup in the hand of a very dangerous Italian Korean mafia member grinning back at her. 
The smile melts off her face and she swallows the bitter cool sludge in her cup, the beverage tasting exactly as he had described it without him there. 
Nights are the hardest, loneliness coils around her like a snake. 
There was never any other fate for them, she knew that when Vincenzo murdered all their enemies this was their only real outcome. He would always be a fugitive on the run and she an accomplice if he were captured and questioned, it was in both of their best interests if he vanished from the face of the planet. But knowing that does nothing to qualm the ever present feeling of isolation that clings to her skin as she sits alone on her couch, downing makgeolli at a vicious pace. Trying to wash his taste from her mouth, that kiss on loop in her mind and the phantom grip of his hand on her neck. 
It’s those treacherous nights without the plaza members that have become a second family to her and Han Seo following her like the lost puppy he is calling her “Noona” so freely and frequently until she forgets her own name, that she allows herself to feel exactly what she’s feelings. 
Heartbroken. 
Desperate. 
Lonely. 
Rage. 
The last one she hides like a dirty secret in the closet of her heart, she knew what she was signing up for. She has no legitimate reason to be angry, or so she tries to reason with herself. But. This was the same man who had bypassed the security of one of the richest men in Korea and ultimately killed him without leaving a trace. She had watched him do despicable things, blackmailing, threatening, seducing, and murdering others as he saw fit and yet, he hadn’t used any of those dastardly ways to see her. That chance meeting at the art gallery had been the last she had seen of him, Then a few weeks later another postcard with the same message she had boldly uttered at the airport, it feels insufficient after having him in her arms again. She knew in that moment that they would never be enough again. She hadn’t even argued when Mr. Nam claimed he would leave this one on his table instead, she merely nodded and walked away to peruse the new sexual assault case she has taken recently. 
It gets harder and harder to hear Han Seo regaling the wonders of his “hyung”,  her anger boiling deep below the surface like magma waiting to explode and transform into something tangible and destructive. 
“He told me that he has a room for me too. I wonder when he’ll let us visit.” 
She nods absently, staring out the window at the sunlight twinkling in through the blinds but then his words register and the gears in her head churn before running the sentence back through to carefully process them. 
“He---what? You spoke to Vincenzo?” 
The human puppy pouts his lips before tilting his head and dealing a hard blow to her ego and her heart, “Yeah, he sends me letters. I got so scared the first time! He said the letter would self-destruct after I read it and I really thought that was true and I dived across the room to escape but I bumped my head on the table and then...” 
He sent Han Seo letters.  
She had received the same fucking postcard for months on end with the same message she had said to him, and he had time to write Han Seo letters. He hadn’t sent her even one in the time he had been gone. 
“That fucking bastard!”  She explodes interrupting Han Seo’s recount of his near death experience and he looks wide- eyed and taken back by her outburst, she almost soothes him before another wave of anger rushes through her veins. She had accepted the bare minimum because she thought this was all he could give her but it seemed she was being too naïve. He was Vincenzo Cassano after all, he could make anything happen. She had seen it with her own two eyes. If he wasn’t reaching out to her maybe that was a message and she was too blind to see it. 
“Noona? Are you okay?” Han Seo looks absolutely terrified, eyes huge and quivering. She doesn’t bother answering, grabbing her cup of lukewarm coffee and stomping out of the office ignoring Mr. Nam’s calls behind her. She’s tired of being an idiot. 
She throws herself into forgetting him, the same way he seems to have forgotten her despite his words to her that fateful night on the stairs. 
I thought about you everyday. 
Actions speak louder than words and she is done accepting his crumbs. She has never needed anyone, had even accepted when her own father wanted nothing to do with her; she has basically been prepping for this moment her entire life. 
So she goes shopping with Miri, buying gadgets that she has no idea how to use but that the other girl makes sound like things that she definitely needs such as a new home security system, her break in still fresh in her mind. She grins at the pretty smile on the other girl’s round face as she explains the specification of the machines around them and she can see why Han Seo has such a huge crush on the girl, the pretty blush that blossoms on the other girl’s cheek after stating the fact out loud is adorable and she pinches said cheek much to her chagrin. 
“You should worry about your own love life.” Miri teases but the words sting like acid on her skin and she turns away to hide the grimace on her face, but she’s not fast enough and the other girl catches her wrist halting her movement. 
“What? What’s wrong? Did something happen to Mr. Cassano?” Miri whispers the last part, looking around to make sure that nobody overhears them. 
She forces herself to stifle her emotions, trapping them in the back of her mind refusing to let him have this kind of affect on her. 
“I wouldn’t know.” She tries for a emotionless tone but even she can hear the bitterness in her own voice and Miri’s eyes fill with pity and it makes her sick to her stomach, “Don’t. I am going to be fine. Let’s just go.” 
They don’t utter single word in the car ride home. 
After that it becomes painfully obvious that everyone in the plaza thinks something is wrong with her and are teaming up to make her feel better. It’s the packed lunches that keep showing up on her desk without fail, her clothes being steamed and pressed for free, the way that they won’t allow her to be alone and there are countless spontaneous family game nights all ending with her drunk and being carried home. 
Tonight Mr. Tak is the unlucky volunteer, dragging her limp body in her father’s house and she thinks of all the times that they drank here together and a certain person was the one hauling her body to bed complaining and grumbling but that distractingly fond smile on his face that he only ever seemed to shoot her way. Her heart thumped loudly as he loomed over her and leaned in close, getting her hopes up only to brush her hair behind her ears and softly tell her, “Go to sleep now,” and she had never been obedient all her teachers could testify to that but when he looked at her like that she was powerless to do anything else but listen. 
“I miss him.” The traitorous words fall from her lips and vanish into the inky darkness of the night. 
A deep sigh from the left of her, “We know.” 
She feels vulnerable, the worst thing about having a weakness is other’s noticing too. She hates how weak she feels. 
“I am going to forget him.” 
The body supporting most of her weight tenses under her arm and she waits for his response, they all love Vincenzo- he had become their unexpected hero and leader in many ways. They would always take his side, she knows that. 
“If that’s what you need to do to be happy. Then, do it. Loving a man like Vincenzo isn’t easy.” 
She turns to look at him in genuine shock. 
“What? You thought I would tell you to keep waiting with no end in sight? You should know by now, you mean a lot to us too. Your happiness is important to us too, we’re a family.” 
“But we’re the Cassano family,” she challenges unable to accept that they could love her without Vincenzo attached, but Mr. Tak shrugs at the clarification, “We can be the Hong Family too.”
She feels her eyes swimming. 
“I should go inside.” 
She feels sober and more awake than ever, she stays up all night twirling the long strands of her hair in between her fingers. 
Thinking. 
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Variety is the spice of life. 
She doesn’t know where she’s heard that but it’s those sage words that are the catalyst for her spontaneous decision. 
“Same as always? Silky with some body?” Her stylist peers into her eyes through the wide mirror and she hears herself say, “No I want a cut and some color.” Yu-jin raises one pretty tweezed brow but nods after a moment’s pause, “Okay. How short are you thinking?” 
And that’s how she starts her day with long thick hair that grazes her lower back and ends it with a short bob that tickles her neck. It feels like a weight has been lifted from her shoulder, metaphorically and literally and she loves the face that she sees in the mirror, her eyes looking brighter than they have in months. She feels more alive, like a snake shedding its skin and becoming a newer and fresher version of itself. 
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“Your hair?” That becomes the running theme for her day, shocked gaping mouths and hands reaching out for the hair that was once there.  She merely smirks at their palpable surprise, especially Seol-jin who doesn’t recognize her from behind. 
“I haven’t seen a pretty lady like you aro--Oh Ms. Hong! I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you, I am so sorry please excuse me!” The interpretative dancer bolts away leaving her to watch him bemused, she skips to Jipuragi with a pep in her step laughing loudly when Mr. Nam drops his coffee upon seeing her and the brown liquid goes flying and douses him in a sticky hot mess. 
It’s an entertaining day to say the least. 
Moments later when he’s finished cleaning himself up and changing into the cheetah print track suit that he insisted to keeping in the office, he mentions that a new postcard has arrived. She nods at the information, looking at her laptop and it’s only seconds later that she finally looks up and sees that he’s waiting for her response. She doesn’t have one. 
Forcing a tight smile on her face she replies, “Oh that’s great. Just put it with the others.” 
He does. 
But she can feel his eyes on her, his concern heavy and tangible in the air. 
She pretends not to notice and keeps clicking away on her laptop, only glancing over at the card once or twice. But it’s only out of habit. 
Nothing more. 
She starts going on dates with random men. Men she meets in coffee shops, on the streets, in bars, hell one time even the bookstore. She never meets the same man twice and they never get what they want but it does make her feel desirable and that’s all she’s looking for. 
“Where are you going?” Han Seo asks her curiously, Miri by his side as she struts out the plaza new perfume on her skin. 
“On a date. I’ll see you both later.” They both gape at her and can only watch with wide eyes as she sashays away, heels clicking with every step. 
Word spreads like wildfire and no one takes it harder than Mr. An, who calls her a “jezebel” and cries at the front of the law firm for hours, she has to step over him to go get lunch shaking him off when he latches on to her ankles. 
The others just look at her with sad eyes, filled with both understanding and disappointment. 
Much to her surprise the lunch boxes keep coming and her clothes are still pressed and starched to perfection though. 
She also starts taking self defense classes, Korea is much more dangerous than she had first suspected and she has to be able to protect herself because nobody is coming to save her.  Not anymore. 
It becomes a great outlet for her built up anger and her instructor praises her for being a fast learner. She grins and nods before flipping him and twisting his arm around his own neck in a modified sleeper hold. When he taps on her arm she squeezes tighter instead of letting go and he goes limp for a moment before she comes back to herself and releases him hastily with a quick apology, “Sorry!”
He rubs his neck, panting for air and she feels guilty, there's a tinge of that but most of all she feels powerful, more so than she has for a long time. 
It’s crazy but she finds herself asking him for drinks after class and even crazier is that he agrees even with her marks still there on his skin, the area bruised and red. He looks at her like she’s challenge that he wants to conquer, she lets him believe that’s possible. It’s only a bit of fun anyway, she has no plans for anything serious. 
Drinks turn into a drunken cab ride home with his hand on her thigh, hot through the thin material of her tights and they don’t feel right- too small and not rough enough but she’s moving on and she has no time to reminisce. 
There hasn’t even been a postcard lately. Message, loud and clear. 
When she shoves the keys into her door, he’s glued to her body leaving wet kisses on the long column of her neck and she tries to suppress the nausea that swims in her stomach, everything feels wrong and she hates herself for feeling that way. Why shouldn’t she fuck whoever she wants? He is probably doing the same thing, everyday on his beautiful private island. Kissing women that aren’t her and whispering dirty Italian words into their ears as he rocks back and forth, nary a thought of that Korean woman he knew once upon a time. 
Fuck him. 
She rocks back into the purposeful grind of the hips behind her, feeling the hardness that digs into the soft flesh of her ass and finally the door opens and they both tumble in haphazardly and he thrusts a hand under her loose shirt fingering at her breasts before a dark figure moves far too quickly in her peripheral and she hears her date cry out in pain. 
She almost faints at the familiar sight of the one person she never expected to see, the hard glint of his cold eyes as he twists the same hand that had just been fondling her chest. The grip looks painful, the wrist contorted in an unnatural manner. 
“What the fuck? You have a boyfriend?!” Her instructor cries out, voice high pitched falling to his knees as Vincenzo kicks his feet out from under him. 
She rolls her eyes, of course he would come now when she is trying (and failing) to get over him. 
Vindictively she answers the question, ‘No.” 
But that makes Vincenzo twist the wrist in his grip even tighter and she can see the bones breaking so she takes pity on the poor man, he didn’t sign up for a murderous mafia leader after all. 
“Just let him go. You have no right to do any of this.” 
He doesn’t listen right away and absently she wonders if she’ll need to test out her new moves on him, it would be satisfying to deck him square in the face. She dreams of that as often as she dreams of their reunion. Her feelings are...complicated to say the least. 
Then with a grunt, he throws the other man away like he’s trash and growls out, “Get out of here before I kill you.” 
She tries not be get turned on by that. But it’s a hard sell, her body already getting revved up. He’s telling the truth. 
The man wastes no time, jumping to his feet and bolting out the door without one backwards glance. Asshole, he was really just leaving her with a clearly unstable and dangerous man. 
“We need to talk.” Vincenzo squeezes out between clenched teeth, and her blood runs cold but she stares him dead in the eyes tired of this game they’ve been playing, if he’s here to end things she wants to know. 
“Okay. Then talk.” 
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She looks insanely beautiful, with her hair cropped so short bringing his eyes to the tantalizing length of her neck. His eyes close in on a spot of moisture on her neck, he feels his blood boiling imagining that bastard touching any part of her.  She’s glaring right back at him, her chest rising and falling and he can’t help but check her out, it’s been months since he saw her in person the photo of her doing aerial yoga above his bed couldn’t compare to the tempest that is Cha-young in real life. 
The flat plane of her belly is on display under the white crop top loosely stretched across her chest which leads down to her slim hips and legs wrapped in white spandex, leaving very little to the imagination not that he hasn’t imagined her in far less many, many times. Too many times to count. Spilling across the silk adorning his king sized bed with only her name on his lips. 
She looks fucking hot. 
That makes it even more frustrating because he can still clearly see that bastard wrapped around her like a snake and his hands going up her shirt---he has to take a deep breath before he breaks something. Or chases that asshole to break his face. 
There’s so much he wants to say to her, so much he owes her. 
I missed you. 
I love you. 
Come with me. 
“Who the hell was that?” He says this instead then watches her eyes glint over into nothing but pure murderous rage. Wrong move. But he couldn’t help it, green eyed raged taking away his decision making abilities. 
“That’s all you have to say? Get out.” 
He wasn’t expecting rose petals and trumpets when he returned but he definitely wasn’t expecting this, her cold glare or another man in his spot. He thought she would wait for him, just as he had done for her. 
“Are you serious right now?” He counters, flabbergasted. 
“Deadly. Get out.” 
He clenches his fist, and then stomps out. Turning back but only to watch the door slam in his face. 
What the hell. 
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It had only taken a letter from Han Seo to get him on boat that would take him to an open field and hours later he was soaring through the skies on a hot air balloon, on his way back to Korea. It was insane and he barely had time to explain to his family but Luca nodded at him like this was the only choice and told him that he would take care of everything, and he trusted those words more than he had ever trusted anything in his life.
“Vai a prendere la tua donna( go get your woman).” 
He had nodded, gruffly patting the other man on his shoulder before hopping over into the waiting boat. 
But he wasn’t so certain anymore that Cha-young was his. 
She seems different. Colder almost, she leaves whenever I mention your name and she goes on dates now. I think she’s moving on hyung, what are you going to do? 
Those words had been the scariest thing he had never seen. Scarier than every gun that had ever been pointed at his head. He thought what they had was something special, something that could stand the test of time and distance. He stared at the huge pile of letters on his bedside, all addressed to her. He had written one everyday since they had been separated, but each time he was too much of a coward to send it. In those letters he could say things that he could never say to her face, things like how much he ached without her by his side and how her smile was the only thing that kept him going. In those letters he could regal the ways he loved her, and how deeply she had been branded into his soul, every atom of his body belonged to her and her alone.  He would kill for her, die for her, anything she needed or merely wanted he would provide it, all she needed to do was ask. 
He could only share those feelings in the letters. 
He walks for hours, until he ends up at his old apartment the familiar door greeting him and he sticks his hand in his pocket before he remembers that he gave the key away, with a sigh he starts to walk away before the door creaks open and he hears a voice he hasn’t heard in months. 
“Hyung!” 
A warmth spreads across his back as a solid weight almost knocks him off his feet. He reaches one arm around his body, awkwardly slapping the face that is pressing into his collar. 
“You really chose to stay here.” 
He feels the nod on his shoulder, “Of course. It made me feel closer to you hyung, I missed you.” 
He grunts in response, before turning around and tugging the younger man into a real hug. He had missed the annoying little leech too, he had missed everyone. 
They are still in each other’s embrace for a moment before Han Seo pulls away, sympathy etched deep on his face. 
“She wasn’t happy to see you.” 
“There was someone else there.” He hates the words even as they leave his mouth and Han Seo winces, looking pained for him before tugging him into the small apartment. Everything is just like he left it.  He looks around in awe. 
“I’m sorry hyung. What are you going to do?”
That’s the golden question, he pondered it all the way here and he’s no closer to knowing the answer to that. Usually she is the one that makes the move, she has always been the brave one between them. He back steps and says things he doesn’t mean and she sees through him and smashes down all his walls. That’s how this has always worked. 
“I don’t know. Maybe I should just leave her alone. Let her be happy.” 
A loud scoff reaches his ears, “Sure. Is that why you sailed across sharked infested waters and trusted a hot air balloon company run my former thugs?”
He smarts at the sarcastic reply and glares before flicking the cheeky brat on his nose, "I liked you better when you were stupid you know. Now you're a little smart ass."
The younger man looks even more youthful as he grins back at him, rubbing at his nose before shrugging.  "I learned from the best."
He has no rebuttal for that so he tries to flick him again, giving chase when he darts off.
It feels good to be home.
He warns Han Seo not to tell anyone that he's here least they give away his location.
So he's not surprised the next day to find the cavalry at his doorstep hands filled to the brim with containers of food. There are tears, mostly from Mr. Nam who won't stop screaming his name and pinching his cheeks to see if he's real and Mr. An who wraps around him like a koala despite his very detailed threats. It's all chaos and so familiar that his heart aches but her absence is like a hole in his chest. Nobody mentions her but they all keep looking at the door, so it's obvious that she was invited but chose not to come.
Because she didn't want to see him.
"You're here to win her back right?" He doesn't know who even utters the words but when he glances up they are all looking at him expectantly.
He didn't know that was what he was indeed here for thought that she would happily welcome him back and they could pick up where they left off but she's made it clear that this won't be the case. This will be the most important fight of his life.
"Yes. I'm here for Cha-young."
He gets enthusiastic thumbs up and a loud giggle from the Yeon-Jin  and Cheol-Wook’s adorable baby, her little hands too uncoordinated to do a thumbs up but she waves excitedly  feeding off the energy around her.
He wonders how Cha-young would look with a baby in her arms, their baby it's a dangerous thought. But one that he can't get out of his mind once he thinks it.
They stay until midnight, forcing him to eat and drink too much soju until he passes out to dreams filled with a round Cha-young, belly swollen and protruding from her body. 
It doesn't take much to learn her schedule(Mr. Nam hands him a laminated copy) and he has to put on a disguise but he enters the shop seconds after her, hearing her order that god awful sewer water she's so fond of.
"An espresso for me." He leans in too close, almost brushing her shoulder and she jolts at the sound of his voice, turning to stare at him as if she's a mirage.
"You're still here?" She whispers and then shakes her head and looks away as if she's hadn't meant to say the words aloud.
It hurts him that she thought he would leave without telling her but he can't blame her, he has been anything but consistent. Instead of answering, he leans forward to hand his credit card to the cashier who glances between them suspiciously before accepting the card.
Their orders are ready in seconds and he follows her as she walks to their table, butterflies in his stomach at the familiar sight.
She turns to him with a glare, "It's just the only available table."
He moves to pull out her chair and she starts at him tight lipped before sitting down. She's in a tight black suit today, two long slits on the side of her pants going all the way up to her thighs. He gulps down his drink to get rid of the drool pooling in his mouth.
"You're upset with me."
She stares at him like he's the biggest idiot on the planet, it's not a look he receives often but she's always the outlier in his otherwise organized life.
"Astute observation." She quips back, sucking loudly at her coffee.
"Why?"
He considered how to go about breeching this subject and in the end had decided on going straight to the source, he had been under the impression that this was working for them.
Her face morphs into a person he hasn't seen for a long time, the Cha-young that would berate him and make him angry enough to curse in Italian.
"Do you think this little of me?"
He's completely lost, "What do you mean? What did I do that was so wrong? Wrong enough for you to cheat on me!" He's panting now, his voice has gotten loud enough to catch people's attention he can feel them watching their table, nosy and invested.
"Cheat on you?"
Cold as ice, her voice is. It almost makes him shiver.
"How could I possibly cheat on you? We're not together. You send me the same postcard with the same message every few months. I have no idea what you're doing in Malta, who you're with. You can't even be bothered to send me a letter, do you think this is a relationship? You think it's enough to pop up like this every once in a blue moon? You've told me nothing about how you feel about me but I'm supposed to be satisfied with whatever you throw my way?"
If he wasn't sitting down his legs would have already given out he's certain about that. Her voice is deadly quiet each word landing and chipping away at his confidence.
"I'm doing the best I can! You knew it would be like this after everything was over, why are you blaming me now? How about you, I don't know how you feel either!"
"I love you! Anyone with eyes can see that, I told you that at the airport too. And again when I took a bullet for you, you didn't think that meant I loved you? I was willing to die for you."
Shit.
It's not at all how he expected them to confess their love for each other, it's hard to believe the words that are coming out of her mouth as she bares her teeth at him.
"So why are you doing this? Why are there other men?"
Why aren't I enough? He wants to say but he's scared of her answer, terrified that she'll say that she can't do this anymore. That he just isn’t enough anymore. 
She stares at him long and hard.
Waiting for something. But he doesn't know what.
"You haven't changed at all. You're still a coward, I'm not interested in guessing anymore. I’m done playing this game.” 
She stands up and walks away, leaving her unfinished coffee on the table.
Unwanted just like him.
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She doesn't see him for days and she accepts that her words had done their damage, she had cried until she fell asleep that night. Waking up with swollen red eyes that no amount of concealer would save but thankfully no one commented on her state.
She goes through her day on autopilot and before she knows it she's back home, ready to face her night alone  again. She pushes the door open, half praying he'll be waiting for her but her hopes shattered when she turns on the lights and finds no one.
"It's better this way." She lies to herself, pouring herself an obscene glass of soju. She's going to need plenty of alcohol to get through this pain.
Her head is woozy and heavy when she hears a sound, suddenly alert she stills in her chair before rushing over to get a frying pan walking on the tips of her toes she prowls closer to the clicking sound, finding herself at the window peering at a long lost friend. Placing the frying pan on her window sill she pry opens the window, screeching when the audacious bird flies inside landing on her table as if he belongs there.
"Hey Inzaghi! Get your dirty bird feet off my table!"
He looks at her nonchalantly, making himself comfortable on said table and she sighs before shutting the window and drunkenly swaying over to him.
"What are you even doing there? Do you want to be my bird now, I won't be a very good owner. I won't remember to feed you. I barely remember to feed myself."
Despite being a bird he finds a way to roll his eyes at her before standing up and only then does she notice something on his leg. She looks at him cautiously before moving closer and untying the paper on his leg, the pigeon barely reacts before flying over to her couch. She sighs in annoyance, she's going to have to clean everything after this bird leaves.
She unwinds the string holding the paper together, unrolling the paper scroll. There is a message written inside: the rooftop. 9 pm.
Glancing at her clock the time shines at her.
7:34pm.
"This could be a trap."
It very much could be, she has enemies now. It was a small price to pay for taking down Babel but she's always looking over her shoulders now, so this note could easily be someone luring her to hurt her or get back at Vincenzo.
Inzaghi coos loudly at her as if he can hear her thoughts. This time he finds a way to look exasperated.
She stumbles off to her room.
She needs time to think.
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"So she told you that she loved you and you didn't say it back?"
"I was shocked. She was growling at me and looked ready to kill me at the same time." He reasons back, trying to show his hyung his point of view. The younger man doesn't look even a little bit convinced by his logic.
"Okay and? That sounds perfectly normal for you too. You should have shot someone and wrote it back in their blood on the table."
He recoils in disgust at the suggestion, "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you actually insane, why the fuck would I do that?"
Han Seo stares deadpan in return.
He puts up a hand trying to stop whatever response he has, "Don't say it."
It doesn't work.
"Pig's blood. Don't forget I saw it all, I've never seen Ms. Hong look so excited before. You're both crazy."
Well, that had been different. It was an old tradition, she simply had an appreciation for the classics.
"And I bet you're defending her right now in your mind. Noona is just like you, that's why you're made for each other. She's the gasoline to your fire."
"You know that would just make an even larger fire right?"
"Yes. I'm smart now remember? I know what I said."
He sighs falling into the comfortable familiarity of the couch, a spring digging into his thigh.
"Why didn't you say it back?" His stills at the barely whispered question, his chest constricting as he recalls the passionate confession. He had frozen, like he'd always known she was the brave one between them. Always doing the unexpected and the time was no different, her words had knocked him off his feet.
"Because I was scared."
Han Seo huffs at his honesty. He doesn't know where the words are coming from but he's tired of keeping it all in.
"Because if anything happens to her it'll break me, I thought it would be better if I kept her at a distance. I thought this was enough. I thought this would be easier. When I think about her I want to drop everything and just be with her and that...was too dangerous. I had to keep my distance."
There's a pregnant pause, just the sound of their breathing filling the void.
"Was it?"
"What?"
"Easier. Is this better? Enough?"
He thinks about Cha-young getting married to a faceless man, exchanging vows and sealing it with a kiss, happy and in love on their honeymoon wanton moans and screams from their room, learning that they're having a baby and her round and glowing with someone else's child smiling brightly as she rubs her belly and it's too much. He wants to smash it all into little pieces.
"No. It's not enough. I need her, without her nothing is enough."
"That's what you should have said to her. Don't glare at me I'm right, but I have an idea. I saw it in an American cartoon."
And that's how he lets his younger brother convince him to send a note to Cha-young using Inzaghi, the pigeon had shown up one night and he'd been so happy he almost kissed the bird.
"How will he know where Cha Young lives?" He asks skeptical even as he ties the note to the birds leg.
"I showed him a picture of her house. According to the cartoon, birds just know.” 
He stares at the younger man, wondering why he's listening to this ridiculous plan.
"This is stupid. I should just text her, Inzaghi is never going to deliver this. He's just a regular pigeon." 
"This is more romantic." He answers matter of fact.
"How is a pigeon delivering a message in anyway romantic?" He challenges already knowing from the shit eating grin he won’t like the response. 
"The same way pig blood was." The brat counters and he doesn't get a chance to respond before Han Seo picks Inzaghi up and throws him out the window, "In the name of love!" He only barely stops himself from bashing his head into the wall, the younger man has to wrestle him to the ground.
It's stupid. They did all of this for nothing the cool breeze makes him pull his coat tighter around his body, exposed to the weather on the open space of the rooftop.
He checks his watch, 9:48.
She's not coming and the worst part is that he doesn't know if it's because that damn bird never delivered his message or if it's because she really doesn't want anything to do with him. The burden of not knowing hurts more than anything.
Expelling the air in his lungs he walks back to the single door that leads off the roof, twisting the doorknob in his hand and pulling it open.
Meeting the shocked face of one Cha-young.
They both just stare at each other before he speaks, "You came."
He can't believe it. Inzaghi had actually delivered the note, somehow the pigeon had found her house and she was here. He almost pinches himself to see if he'd passed out on the roof and this was just a dream.
"I didn't know Inzaghi was a carrier pigeon." She futilely tries to change the subject and he takes a step back, gathering the tattered pieces of his courage. The same courage that had propelled him to kiss her all those months ago on the stairs.
"I'm so happy you're here. I waited for you."
She stares at him like he has two heads before blushing, and avoiding his eyes.
"Come with me." He extends his hands and tries not to be too hurt when she bypasses it and steps around him instead.
At least she was here.
With a quick swipe of his hand he sends the message to his accomplices.
Now.
The lights come on, fairy lights decorating the roof top in a heavenly glow. She spins around in wonder, eyes nearly as bright she's so beautiful it's almost painful to look at her.
Then the music starts.
The soft notes filling the space.
When I walk down a road I don't know well....
She looks around in wonder, staring back at him she can’t believe what’s happening. 
Then the letters start falling from the sky, all the letters he had written to her alone and missing her thousands of miles away. His plaza family smiles down at him, throwing letters from a higher building.
Cha-young stares up at the sky in surprise, hundreds of letters landing all around her.
It had taken a few days for Luca to send them all over and then another day to get the guts to do this, there was no turning back now. He had never willingly made himself vulnerable to anyone else, but according to Han Seo it was the only way he was going to win her back. 
“She just wants to know that you love her too. Show her.” 
He watches anxiously as she picks up a letter, stroking lightly at her own name on the front looking at him with stunned wet eyes. 
“You wrote me a letter.” Her voice is revere and awe that he doesn’t deserve, not after everything he has put her through in the sake of protecting himself but he’s too elated to see her looking at him like that again, like he’s someone important to her. 
“182. For each day we were apart. I told you I thought about you everyday, and every time I did I wrote you a letter.” 
She stares at the letter in her hand, gently ripping it open and devouring the words on the page. Nerves shoot up and down his body as he watches her read his most private thoughts about her, her expressive face for once empty of emotions as she silently reads the letter. 
He waits. 
Breathless and terrified. 
“Why didn’t you ever send them? They were mine so why did you keep them?” He hears an edge in her voice that makes him wonder if she’s only talking about the letters. 
“Cha-young, I don’t think you understand.” 
She breathes out loudly, stomping over to him until they are inches apart and he has no choice but to look into the deep pool of her eyes. 
“I don’t! I don’t understand anything, I thought you had found someone else in Malta and the postcards were just your way of being nice. I thought you didn’t feel the same way I did, you were sending Han Seo letters but you wouldn’t do the same for me. What was I supposed to think? Why didn’t you try to help me understand, you were gone for six months!” 
There’s so much wrong with everything she said, how could he find anyone else when his heart beats for her? How could he forget her when everything he did reminded him of her, he saw her every night in his dreams. But he doesn’t make the same mistake this time, he says what’s important. 
“I feel the same way. I love you Cha-young. I thought this was better for you, that this could be enough. But I was wrong, I missed you every minute of every--” 
“Come home with me.” 
He stops, stares, gapes and then stares some more. 
“What? I wasn’t finished confessing though.” Actually offended that she interrupted his planned speech. He was about to recite one of his favorite Italian love poems for her and then ask her to dance. 
She rolls her eyes dragging him towards the door, “Don’t you think we’ve wasted enough time? It’s been six months and you have been here for too long, you have to go soon.” 
She’s right, he has a flight in two days for an identity he borrowed for his escape. 
“Listen to her, just go back to her place and have a good night!” That sounds like Cheol-Wook and then they all erupt into applause and start cheering and hollering, chanting their names and then to his embarrassment they start chanting, “Go have sex! Go have sex!” complete with the monks banging on their drums and he doesn’t think he will ever live down this moment, especially when he sees Miri capturing it on the new video camera he had gifted her. 
He flips them off as an eager Cha-young pulls him away their laughter following them all the way. 
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The car ride is too long on the way over and she wonders how quickly she can undress them both as soon as they reach, there is simply no time to waste. 
But once they get to the doorstep he suddenly freezes, tugging her backwards into his chest. 
“This looks familiar doesn’t it?” His voice is dark and smoky and she immediately knows what he’s referring to, and she refuses to give him any reaction. 
“Are you seriously doing this right now?” 
“You let someone else touch you. Here.” He runs a hand up her neck, briefly squeezing, “And here,” she gasps at his hands suddenly on her breast, squeezing harshly at the tender flesh. 
“So what are you going to do about it?” She knows that she’s playing with fire, but that is their foundation. She has never aimed to cool him off or tone him down, she sees the dark side inside of him and loves it, encourages it and feeds on it herself allowing it to bring her darkness out too. 
He kicks the door open, shoving her side and she delights at the rough treatment. She hopes that she is filled with his bruises tomorrow. 
She doesn’t wait for his next move, pulling her shirt up and over her head before tugging off her skirt leaving herself in a barely there lace panties and a matching lace bra that is translucent, her nipples peeking through the sheer material. He stares at her transfixed, his hunger evident in his eyes and in the tent forming in his tight dress pants. 
“Take those off.” She commands and he smirks before obeying, peeling the pants off his thighs standing in his button down shirt and tight boxer briefs that leave nothing to her imagination, every delicious inch of him visible. She steps forward bringing their bodies in contact, before thrusting her hand inside the opening of his briefs. He feels hard and smooth, liquid pooling at the tip and she twists her hand collecting it to ease her slow strokes up and down. His voice hitches as she fingers his balls and without warning she tugs his boxers off, leaving him bare to her eyes. 
Mesmerized by the unencumbered sight of him, she drops to her knees using her hand to guide him to her eagerly waiting mouth. 
His flavor explodes on her tongue and she swallows more, grabbing his hips to drag him deeper into her mouth until she can feel him in her throat, but even after her eyes start to burn and she feels herself choking she doesn’t stop, bobbing up and down hungrily, sloppy wet sounds filling the room in a filthy symphony. At first he lets her control the movement, pliant in her hands but as she increases her speed and suction he starts groaning and huffing loudly and then she feels his hand on the back of her hand, keeping her in place and when she looks up at him he looks wrecked. Eyes dazed and his face red and flushed, she ingrains that image in her mind, for when he’s gone and all she has are her toys. 
She stares back defiantly before he draws himself out of her mouth, a single line of spit connecting them and then he thrusts back into her mouth roughly and she opens her mouth wider to accept the abuse, loving every second of it even as a her throat aches. He sets a frantic pace, his balls slamming against her chin and she doesn’t realize at first that his grunts have transformed into words, too much blood rushing to her head. 
“Mine. Mine, nobody can---ah fuck! Nobody can see you like this. Only me. You’re mine.” 
He fucks her mouth like it’s his to use and do what he pleases, and she’s wetter than she’s ever been listening to him claim her verbally and with the wet push of his dick in her mouth. 
She starts grinding on the floor like a cat in heat and without preamble he grabs her under her armpits and lifts her like she weighs nothing, his dick sliding free from her hot mouth, “I want to make you scream.” He says this like a declaration of love and she throws herself at him, kissing the words off his lips. His tongue swirls in her mouth and she wonders if he can taste himself in her. It makes her hotter and she grinds her barely covered pussy onto his naked length, groaning at the friction even though the thin layer separating them. 
He tosses her onto the bed and she doesn’t even remember them walking, his tongue and his wondering fingers had completely distracted her. 
She lays sprawled across the bed as he stares at her, like she’s feast he can’t wait to devour. 
“Nobody has been in here.” She doesn’t know if he’s asking a question or making a statement, but she feels that his jealousy is real. Seeing her with someone else had done something to him, guilt washes over her. If she had seen him with someone else she would have lost her mind too. 
“Nobody. I never brought anyone home before, that guy was a mistake. I was just hurt and missing you. I’m sorry.” 
He had abandoned her for six months and she didn’t owe him anything but his pain is her pain and they are stronger now, everything has been said. 
“Good.” 
Then he rips her panties away and buries his face between her legs, prying her wide open with his hands and lapping at her with his searing hot tongue. Immediately he has his wish and she screams, loud enough to fill the entire room. 
“Already screaming amore? It’s going to be a long night, I want to make you hoarse.”  
She doesn’t get a moment to respond before he’s back to licking and sucking at her most sacred part, fingers deep inside her as he thrusts and strokes alongside his tongue, his fingers and tongue moving in tandem and she tries to stifle the scream but a particularly deep fuck makes the sound erupt from her throat and her head feels dizzy from the overwhelming sensation. 
He has boundless energy it seems, as time drags by and she feels her body tightening up as he systemically destroys her, he never takes a break or pauses, slurping up all the liquid that drips from her and the sounds of him swallowing are beyond erotic. When a hand runs up her stomach and squeezes at a bouncing breast she can’t contain her moans of pleasure, crying out as his fingers pinching the tight bud of her nipple. 
“Please.” 
He coos in her, “So pretty when you beg.” Then he sticks his tongue as far as it can go and she hears the rush of blood in her head as her body shakes apart and her release gushes from her body, twitching when he laps it all up her oversensitive body recoiling from the overstimulation. 
She has never come like that before, most men have never put in the work necessary to make her come and she wasn’t one to fake it so her experiences with sex with someone else were few and far in between. 
This feels like nirvana. 
“You still with me amore?” The bastard looks so smug, looming above her naked arms on the side of her head, and she had no idea when he took his shirt off. 
“I can’t feel like my legs.” 
He chuckles loudly at the statement, grinning growing wider. 
“Well I can assure you that they’re still there and they will look great wrapped around my waist.” 
Raising to his challenge, although her body is still buzzing she wraps her legs around his waist, they feel like jelly but she finds the strength to follow through with her movement. 
“I was right they do look great.” 
“Well this would look great in me.” She counters, grabbing at his thick ruddy red dick jutting from his body and he rocks into her hand before knocking her hand away and taking himself in his hand. 
“Do we need a condom?” He asks her, looking like he is ready to stop at nay minute if she tells him that they do. 
“No.” 
She has been on birth control since she was a teen and there’s been no one for her since she met him, and she trusts that it’s been the same for him. 
“Thank goodness, I want to feel everything.” He barely finishes his sentence before he’s easing into her, slow and steady. She lets him continue for a moment before she tightens her legs around his waist and pulls him in roughly, as deep as she can get him in this position. “Fuck, you’re so impatient.” 
“Shut up and fuck me already.” 
He grumbles at her calling her bossy, but she sighs when he draws out and slams back in with a quick snap of his hips. 
“Yes just like that!” 
He takes direction very well, repeating the motion until the bed starts to creak from their movements, he pistons in and out of her gone all semblance of gentle or slow, they have teetered into a speed that can only be defined as “break neck” and she feels her body sliding up the mattress as he pounds into her over and over again, she latches onto his neck eager to leave a branding mark on him and he groans at the suction, grinding harder into her and gripping her ass to force her to meet his vicious thrusts. 
Absently she feels him peeling her bra from her body, the only remaining item of clothing that has survived their coupling and she knows exactly when he sees the scar. The grotesque knitting of skin that had left a permanent scar on her shoulder, she almost covers it up but when she peels her eyes open he is staring at her mesmerized. 
“Don’t look.” 
He leans down to kiss it, the softest more precious kiss she has ever received in her life. 
He peppers more kisses all over, then strokes at it with a single finger. 
“I should have realized, this was your confession. I was an idiot. I will never be that stupid again, I love you so much. I would do anything for you. Anything.” 
He puts her legs on her shoulder, nearly bending her in half before resuming his thrusts but they are less frenzied now, it feels like lovemaking. Her eyes prickle when he kisses her scar with every downward thrust, whispering, “Beautiful, so beautiful. Every inch of you.” 
She cries out. 
With every thrust he kisses her scar, making her feel lightheaded and naked. 
When he moves them into a new position, her back to his front giving him better access to her scar, she loses herself as he whispers sweet nothings into her ears and litters the spot with warm kisses. 
She falls off the edge with his lips on her scar and him deep inside her, warm bursts filling her up before leaking out onto the bed sheets. 
“Today’s our last day.” 
Waking up next to him is torture, she tries not to ingrain that in her mind but it’s too late it’s already there. He blinks away the sleep in his eyes at her words and then nods solemnly in agreement. 
“Yes for this visit. But I’ll always come back for you.” 
She smiles brightly, “Don’t keep me waiting for too long.” 
They don’t leave the bed except to get breakfast and that ends with her laid across the kitchen table getting taken from behind after teasing him. He can’t seem to keep his hands off her new hair, twisting the short strands in his hands and yanking on them. She catches him looking at her heatedly more than once. 
Then they wind up in the shower, trying to clean up and getting dirtier instead, his hands tight in her hair and around her waist as he hoists her up to pound her into the wall. Making up for lost time. 
They get messages from their entire family, Vincenzo showing her a message from Han Seo asking if he’s going to be an uncle soon. She promises to embarrass him in front of Miri very, very soon. 
Both pretend they don’t feel the day fading away, bringing them closer to their goodbye. 
Tomorrow he will be gone again, but there’s no guessing now. She knows what she means to him now and that’s more than enough. 
She wakes up to an empty bed and a ticket to Malta, the ball is in her court. 
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ficsilike-reblogged · 4 years ago
Text
Sweetest of Exiles - One
Summary: When Oberyn Martell travels to Essos for exile, he found more than he anticipated when he first lays eyes on Pero Tovar, his brother-in-arms in the Second Sons mercenary company. While Pero is a bit resistant to his Oberyn’s overt charms at first, the Prince always gets what he wants. When the Second Sons are hired to rescue a wealthy merchant’s daughter, Oberyn learns there is much more to the grumpy sellsword. And Oberyn doesn’t mind sharing–especially when the merchant’s daughter smiles at him like that.
Pairing: Oberyn Martell x Pero Tovar, (past) Pero Tovar x F!Reader (No Y/N), future--it is a surprise.
Rating for this chapter: T for mentions of blood, guts and gore...magic. My overuse of italics. 
Word Count: 5k
A/N: I wrote most of this drunk (or buzzed). I am still riding my red wine high so I almost apologize for the nonsense. If you have any questions about the ASOIAF lore/geography that I’m mentioning, please send me an ask or a DM! I’m always happy to ramble about this series.
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(thank you to my love, @starlight-starwrites for the absolutely gorgeous banner. I love you.)
Or read on Ao3 here!
CHAPTER ONE: The Mercenary
Oberyn had always wondered what he looked like when fucking someone. He had looking glasses set up in one of his lover’s rooms so he could try to catch a glimpse himself. But his unrelenting need to keep his partners satisfied always won out over his curiosity.
But then the gods seemed to have a sense of humor when they sent him away from Dorne after he might-have-killed Edgar Yronwood. The Citadel and Oldtown had entertained him for a moment but it soon bored him and he set off across the Narrow Sea to Essos. While the Second Sons mercenary company welcomed him and his sword arm, his eyes were firmly trained on the man toward the back of the company with the scar down his face.
His face.
And well, his time away from Dorne just became much more interesting.
**
It had taken almost an entire year of not-at-all subtle flirting and propositions and nearly losing their lives time and time again before Pero found himself tumbling into the Prince of Dorne’s bed. The Prince was definitely persistent, Pero would never admit that his charms—his annoying charms—had worn him down instead of Pero’s selfish desire for release while the company was too far away from any sort of willing woman and his hand just wasn’t cutting it. But the Prince had been attentive—willing to let Pero wrap his scarred and rough hand around his throat when he was pressing him into the threadbare bedroll in the quiet corner of camp.
The prince felt good—and he knew how to make Pero feel good.
It was infuriating—he wanted to strangle he smug smirk right off the prince’s face but he knew that the Prince was only capable of enjoying when someone’s hand was around his throat. But he had to admit that he had finally found a true friend (and not just release) with the man who looked strangely like him.
It had been nearly two decades since he could speak with someone as openly as he did when he was alone with the prince in their tent.
But his mind still drifted—to years ago. To his life before finding coin in the service of the Second Sons.
“You make the moon shine brighter, Pero.”
It was childish of him, stupid, to still think of her all these years later. Surely she had forgotten him. They had just been children—he had just been a third-born son of a disgraced lord from Valysar and she had been… she had been everything.
“You are pensive, Tovar.” The prince’s voice cut through his reverie.
He had thought the prince asleep—spent from a long day’s ride and a quick, near-desperate fuck as soon as their shared tent was erected. “It is dark, princeling. You cannot see me.”
Oberyn chuckled. “I know your brooding silences from your angry quiet.”
“You think a great deal of yourself, don’t you?” He grumbled, rolling his eyes despite the dark.
“I believe you think a great deal of me, as well.”
Pero sighed.
“Tell me what weighs on your mind.”
“Nothing that concerns you. Go to sleep.”
Oberyn laughed. “I will find out what has you brooding.”
“Do not hold your breath, princeling.”
He only laughed.
Pero was not sure when they had both fallen asleep but they were both woken by a frantic yell outside their tent. The prince’s knife glinted in the dimming moonlight and Pero had never let his hand leave the hilt of one of his smaller swords as they charged outside. They expected an ambush—a retaliation from the Tyroshi they had just pushed back on behalf of Lys—but instead, they found a disheveled man, bloodied and bruised and desperately limping toward their camp, frantically waving his hands above his head, shouting something in the Myrish bastard Valyrian dialect.
Pero sheathed his blade as he finally started to realize what the man was babbling. “Calm yourself, man.” Pero said, stepping in front of Oberyn.
The man nearly collapsed as he reached them, big, brown eyes shining in the moonlight. “They took her. They took her—I barely escaped.” He continued to jabber and Pero mostly listened—having heard desperate pleas from hundreds of men and women over the years of his service in the mercenary company—the man’s story consisted of being surrounded on the road to Myr by a group of religious zealots. The story was not an unfamiliar one. The Free Cities were known to erupt with pockets of violence; the causes ranged from trade disputes, claims to land, religion, and everything in between.
Pero had heard it all.
But then the man opened his mouth, blood drying on his chin, and said, “but they took her—they wanted her.” And a name pushed by the man’s bruised lips—a name he hadn’t heard in years.
Before he could stop himself, Pero reached out and grabbed the man by the collar of his tunic and hauled him to his unsteady feet. “Tell me where.”
**
The captains deliberated for only a few short moments before refusing to take the charge.
The fact that the woman was Qohorik had negated the fact that the Myrish magistrate who had fought his way to their camp had promised a princess’ ransom and promised that her father, a prominent merchant, would double it for her safe return. The Second Sons had been humiliated generations ago at Qohor and had not taken any bounties or contracts from the city or its inhabitants since then.
The Second Sons gave the magistrate—Orestes, his name was—some water and a bit of feed for his exhausted horse and then told him to leave. They would not go.
And Pero was an angry man. He had wrath in his blood since he was a boy, tempered only with bouts of relief and quiet. But this had sent him into a near rage with how flippant they captains had been when they had delivered their decision. Of course, he had not mentioned that the woman Orestes had pleaded to be rescued had been…her. Or how he knew her. Attachments like that were frowned upon, even by mercenaries. Soft hearts made easy targets.
But as the sun set the next day, Pero knew what he had to do. Even if he was alone. He packed his bare essentials, mostly worried about his sack of coin and weapons, and then pushed out of the tent-
-only to be met with the smirking face of the princeling. “Come, I have a surprise for you.”
“I do not have time for this.”
“Yes, you do,” Oberyn said with a broadening smirk as he turned away, leading Pero further away from camp as the moon continued her climb up into the inky sky. And why was Pero following him? He had to leave. He had to find that stupid magistrate. He had to-
There were about two dozen Second Sons, including one of the company’s healers, waiting at the tree line with their packs and mounts. Oberyn’s smirk reached its peak as he winked over his shoulder at Pero who only scowled in return. The Magistrate—Orestes—was standing with them, looking more than a little out of place with his rumpled fine clothes, now stained with dirt and blood. But he offered a tentative tilt of his head when Pero stepped up to the group with Oberyn.
“What did you do?” Pero hissed.
“I formed my own mercenary company,” Oberyn replied with a roll of his shoulders. “I know you are brighter than this, Tovar.”
If possible, his lips formed an even thinner line.
“Do not pout. We are going to save the damsel and get paid.” There was a cheer from the small band of men—both Tovar and Orestes were the only ones who did not seem to enjoy it. But soon they were on their way, each step taking them further away from the strange safety of the Second Sons and into the wilds of Essos.
**
Orestes, Pero found, was fond of speaking to anyone who would listen. His voice was pleasing but Pero preferred the quiet in most instances. But, he supposed it was necessary to learn just how he had ended up fleeing to the Second Sons in a desperate plea for help.
Orestes and his companion had been traveling from Qohor to Myr—and Pero tried very hard to not grind his teeth every time Orestes referred to her as ‘my lady’—to allow her to see more of Essos and to return Orestes to Myr after his year-long residency to Qohor that had been in the name of strengthening trade routes and agreements.
(“But, of course, I found myself more entranced by the city and its people than my fellow magistrates’ mandates that I was told to quickly solidify.” He sighed, the sound only a lovelorn man could make and Pero could not stop the grinding of his teeth at that.)
But on the road between Volantis and Myr, a group of heavily armed, religious zealots had slaughtered their small band of traveling companions and guards and took her and Orestes captive in a plot to gain the knowledge her father was keeping secret.
Her father, Lord Ollo, had been one of the famed smiths in Qohor who still knew the secrets of re-forging Valyrian Steel. The famed metal had become a treasure since the Doom and those who could work with the fickle and strong metal were regarded as lords and wielded their power like nobility, too. Travelers from all across Essos sought him out for new weapons, armor, and the occasional piece of jewelry from bits of Valyrian Steel and he had gained a reputation for being excessively secretive but the best at his trade. His wife was a noble woman and had raised his status with their marriage while providing her with the lifestyle on par with princesses.
But Pero knew all of this. He had seen it firsthand. He had supped with him and felt his lady-wife’s fingers tug at his boyishly poorly cropped hair with a fond smile. He knew that their home, an imposing fortress deep in the Forest of Qohor, always smelled of fire and metal and drying flowers.
It smelled…like home.
Well, it had. For a time. A long time ago.
And Orestes never needed to know that—never needed to know that the only reason he had a small band of mercenaries at his call was because the Prince knew that the woman, whose name he could not even say aloud, meant something to Pero.
For all his pride and well-earned arrogance, Oberyn was a good man, Pero had to admit. (He would never actually say this to Oberyn, his ego was big enough without the extra fodder.) And he would have to find a way to repay the prince-who-had-everything in some fashion. Pero’s pride would not allow this kindness to be left unpaid.
Orestes went on to explain that the zealots thought attaining the knowledge of Valyrian Steel would allow them the proper way of sacrificing in order to satiate the supposed blood lust of some old, stupidly named god. They hoped to trade her for Lord Ollo’s knowledge.
“But you seem to know my lady,” Orestes said, turning in his saddle to look Pero straight in the face. “Do you?”
“Is she your lady?” Pero asked in return, ignoring Orestes’ question and how his stomach turned at the thought of her being alone with a group of men as delusional as the band of zealots. Thankfully, they were nearing where Orestes said he had been held captive—less than two days’ ride from their camp but they had set their horses upon the trail with haste, cutting time from their journey.
Orestes’ answering smile was small. “No. But I am blessed to know her and I will never forgive myself for leaving her behind.”
“But she told you to, didn’t she? Told you to run and not look back.” The words were out of his mouth before he could bite them back and his ever-present scowl deepened.
“You do know her. Indeed, she told me to run as soon as I was able. But not to Myr—she told me to run west.” He paused and shook his head and Pero barely caught the confusion coloring the Magistrate’s features. “I had thought the prince was jesting when he said you knew her. I am in your debt, it seems.”
“Just pay the fee you promised.”
“Of course! I would not dream of-”
“Good.” Pero dug his heels into his horse’s side and urged the animal into a faster trot. “You will keep your head, then.” Orestes said something else but Pero had already galloped away to Oberyn’s side at the front of the group. “What have you said to the magistrate?”
“Nothing of consequence.”
“Do not lie to me, princeling.” Pero scarcely noticed the men behind them slow their horses’ pace to give them room. Their relationship—if it could even be called that—was an open secret to most in the Second Sons and some of those who followed Oberyn into this new company were also willing to indulge themselves in each other’s bedrolls if the time called for it.
Oberyn only laughed. “I did not know that your obvious reaction to a lady’s name was a secret needing to be kept.”
“What else have you told him?”
“Nothing. Just as you have told me nothing. But I have still called the men who were loyal to me and the promised coin to save this woman you have kept like a secret.” Oberyn arched an eyebrow, a look Pero knew meant Oberyn was daring him to argue. “She will be safe. The Magistrate will be on his way and our pockets will be filled.” Oberyn’s dark eyes sparkled in the growing sunlight. “And I shall meet this lady of yours. She must be a sight to behold to warrant such attention.”
“She…” The words died on his tongue. How would he even try to describe her? How childish would he sound to a prince for harboring such affections for his childhood love after all this time? “She warrants much more than any man could ever give. Including the Magistrate.”
Oberyn huffed but a smile tugged at his lips. “We are nearly there, Tovar. You can make the polite introductions.”
**
Night had just started to fall, painting the sky a violent shade of orange, when Orestes had announced that the ruined castle was just over the next hill.
Pero felt his chest tighten for a moment, a shot of adrenaline he had not felt as strongly since he was a new recruit to the Second Sons facing a small horde of Dothraki.
They crested the hill and Pero saw the broken remains of a once-grand castle. A single window was lit with the dim light of a candle just as the sun disappeared behind the stone, making it look like it had absorbed the red light and bathed in an inky black.
Defense of the castle was nearly impossible with its location and the small band of mercenaries quickly surrounded it, ready to drive inside when suddenly….the door, large and rusted, opened and a single man rushed out, screaming something in what Pero thought to be Old Ghiscari and covered in…blood.
Pero turned to look at Oberyn who seemed to be waffling between amusement and confusion at the sight. He waved a hand, silently commanding two men to secure the fleeing zealot—quietly, if possible.
“It is too quiet,” Pero said as he turned back to the castle after watching the screaming man be brought to his knees and a dirty rag shoved between his lips.
Oberyn agreed. “Surely a band of zealots would make more noise. I’ve been told they’re fond of chanting.” The prince slid closer to the ruined castle, staying hidden behind the rolling hill and scattered boulders for cover.
Pero watched him move, knowing the prince had an innate talent for hearing the smallest noises—whether it be from a rabbit or a sneaking assassin, and would trust whatever his judgement was.
“If anyone is left, they are not moving.”
Pero nodded, ignoring the umpteenth time his chest clenched, and signaled for the rest of their band of men to press forward. Step by step, they neared the castle and spread out to find different entrances. Orestes stumbled in the loose dirt to stay near Pero and Oberyn and Pero grimaced when Oberyn nudged him in the side, silently telling him to allow it—at least for the time being.
Closer and closer, they crept until they Pero was able to curl his hand around the edge of the door and peel it open just enough for him and Oberyn to slip inside. Orestes tripped over a loose stone as he followed.
And Oberyn had been right.
The castle was quiet. Unnaturally so.
The grip on his swords tightened as the small group pushed further into the dark ruins. Torches were scattered and burning out in their holds on the wall, casting even more shadows against the crumbling stone. He heard the soft footfalls of his fellow mercenaries coming in through the east and west entrances but it gave him little comfort. They were alone.
Alone.
His next step made a splash and he looked down to see the toe of his boot submerged in a dark puddle. He reached out and grabbed a torch from the wall and let the dying flames shine near the floor.
It was blood.
He raise the torch just enough to light the end of the hall and sighed.
“How interesting,” Oberyn said as he glanced over his shoulder.
Blood pooled between the broken stone and drip-drip-dripped from some unseen source to puddle in the corner. Bodies were crumpled along the path and Pero turned to pin Orestes with a look. “These men were the ones who slaughtered your guards and took you captive?”
Orestes looked down at a body and seemed to bite back a gulp. “Yes.”
“It looks like they put up quite a fight.”
“It looks like they were ripped open,” Pero corrected before pressing forward. “What did this? Did they do this to each other?”
“I’ve never seen a group more cohesive than them,” Orestes said. “They never contradicted each other or spoke out of turn. They had a singular mentality, it seemed. I would not believe they turned on each other.”
“Men turn on each other all the time,” Oberyn said. “Even without cause.”
They continued forward, Pero leading. He was not sure where they were going, but he knew—instinctively—that he needed to keep moving. If another person or creature had found the castle before they did, what hope did she have? Would he find her like this, too? Reduced to a bloody corpse? Would that be the last chance he would have to see her?
But they walked on, further into the dark, catching glimpses of the rising moon in the half-collapsed windows until they turned and saw the outline of a door, lit by a dim, orange light. Without a care, Pero pushed forward, hilt of his sword still in his hand as he pushed the door open and his grip faltered.
For the first time in nearly two decades, Pero let his swords fall from his grasp.
In the corner of the small room, huddled near a solitary candle, was a woman. Not just a woman—her.
Chains wrapped around her ankles and wrists and angry, deep cuts spanned the length of her legs and arms and her fine dress had been reduced to rags. He barely registered Oberyn calling for the healer as he stepped to her side and quickly knelt down. The locks on the chains were easily undone and his roughened hands carefully prodded at the broken skin.
“Pero,” she whispered, the name sliding by her chapped lips. Her head sagged and Pero moved just enough to let her forehead rest against his shoulder. “You’re here…” her voice was rough and raspy, like she had been screaming for hours. And perhaps she had.
“I’m here.”
The healer came in, arms filled with supplies, while more than a few of their company stuck their heads into the room to see their charge. Oberyn quickly moved them back and shut the door—Pero would thank him for it later.
“Look at me. Look at me, Petal,” Pero said as the healer tutted as he looked over her wounds before uncorking a bit of firewine.
Her unfocused eyes slid to him as the healer set to work. A cry broke her chapped lips as the firewine started to spill across her legs.
Pero reached out and kept her head still, gaze on him, as the healer continued. “Just me, Petal. I am here.”
“Pe-Pero.” The name was stilted on her tongue. “Please—it hurts-” a scream tore its way out of her throat but Pero held her steady even as his chest clenched.
“I know. But it will be over soon.”
Tears gathered in her eyes and slid down her dirty cheeks as her hands shot out to grab at his armor; he could feel the heat of her touch sliding and blooming warmth through his thick tunic. But he kept her focused on him even as the healer muttered about needing more wrappings.
“I’m here, Petal. I’m here.”
**
“This is my fault,” Orestes whispered.
The company had settled into the ruins as a camp for the night, finding the rooms (where there wasn’t blood or any bodies) more comfortable than the outside ground. Pero, Oberyn, and Orestes were the last three to retire from the roaring fire they had made in the remnants of the great hall.
Pero agreed but kept that to himself. “How?”
“We travelled by Myr weeks ago. But I could not bear to part from my lady’s side—I convinced her, selfishly, to let me take her to see Volantis, Lys, Tyrosh. She had marveled at everything Norvos and Braavos had offered—even Lorath had made her wonder like a child. I wanted to give her more of that, to show her all I could.”
“And then you were set upon by zealots. Probably followed you from Dagger Lake.”
Orestes shook his head. “Our party never neared that pirate hive. The closest we came to it was when she insisted on seeing Valysar. That little town of no consequence.”
Oberyn, only briefly, touched Pero’s back and he knew the prince meant it as a comfort at the mention of Pero’s former home. Orestes did not notice it.
“But she was adamant and refused to tell anyone why. But she all but disappeared for an entire day once we arrived and would not speak of her adventures—the little box she had procured never left her side and was never opened.”
Pero almost smiled at that. She had not changed—in that respect, at least.
Orestes yawned and stood from the rickety chair. “I must retire for the night. Please alert me if my lady calls for me.”
Oberyn hummed an agreement while Pero felt his face curl into a sneer as the magistrate left the hall.
“He certainly holds a candle for his lady, does he not?” Oberyn mused as soon as Orestes was out of earshot.
“She did not ask for him once,” Pero said before reaching forward to grab the jug of terrible wine left on the table and took a large gulp.
“But she’s asked for you? Hm?” Oberyn asked, snatching the jug from him. “And you’ve yet to introduce me. I am almost insulted.”
“She needs rest, princeling.” He had made sure she was comfortable in one of the largest rooms and was happy to find that her trunks, filled with her belongings, were still intact and made sure she received them before he had let her rest for the night, making sure to let the rest of the company know that she was not to be disturbed.
“I’m sure she does.” He took a drink. “But she has also been trapped, alone, with men who meant her harm for nearly a week. You were the first friendly face she saw—do not think that I misheard her. She called for you. Pero.”
“You could walk in there now and she would not be able to tell the difference.”
Oberyn tutted and Pero stole the jug back. “I believe she would.”
Pero nearly startled when Oberyn reached out and grasped his wrist, keeping him from draining the rest of the wine. His grip was firm but gentle and a hold Pero knew well. “I thought people in Essos were more willing to indulge themselves in matters of the heart and flesh. Do not be stupid.”
And somehow…that worked. Pero slipped into her room and found her sitting on the small bed, wrapped legs atop the thin blankets and a book on her lap. In the warm candlelight, she looked almost healthy. Like she was not covered in healing salve and he didn’t know there were long, angry cuts hidden by wrappings and her thin nightgown.
She looked…so much like the girl he had left behind decades ago.
Pero remembered Lady Daeryssa smiling down at her daughter, flowers twisted into her braids.
“You are special, my star. Like me.”
“Like you, Mama?”
Daeryssa nodded and grabbed the small, blue rose she had Pero fetch just that morning and pressed her thumb against one of its thorns until blood bloomed on her skin and started to trickle down her skin. Her face was serene and Pero could not look away. Her bloodied fingers pulled the petals from the rose and she carefully pressed them against her daughter’s forehead, sticking them to her skin with blood. Words he didn’t understand slipped by her lips as she pressed another petal and then another to her daughter’s face until she stripped the flower bare.
“You will be magnificent, my star. Your trials will be hard but you will always rise above.”
“Come in,” she said, setting her book aside.
Pero did as he was told and blindly set his hands in hers as she reached out for him, letting her tug him onto the edge of her bed. “How are you?”
“I will heal.” She smiled as if nothing had caused her pain and his chest hurt. “I brought you something.” She leaned back just enough to retrieve a small box from the mess of blankets.
The box was nothing spectacular, made from a polished dark wood with a simple latch and did not weigh more than his dagger. “How did you know we would see each other again?” He asked.
She only smiled and pressed the small box further into his grip. “Open it.”
And he could not tell her no. He unfastened the latch and felt his face crumple as he looked inside. His mother’s handwriting, still beautiful and tilted, drew his eye first. He grabbed the thin bit of parchment and unfurled it.
My dear boy- I love you more than words can say. You have saved us.
The rest of the letter was filled with anecdotes, telling Pero how the coin he had sent back home kept their family afloat and settled his father’s debts, allowing his mother and brothers to stay home and retain their titles and livelihoods. He had saved them. His mother had written it at least three times in her short letter.
But I still wish I witnessed you grow into the man you are today. Come home. You are always welcome.
He quickly let the letter curl in on itself again and shoved it back in the box, knowing she was watching him, face serene and almost unreadable. He reached into the box again and let his fingers brush against something cold and smooth. A shuddering breath pushed its way out of his lung as he pulled out a small, carved wooden wolf that fit in his palm. He raised it up to press the well-worn wood against his lips, just once, before placing it gently back into the box.
“You met my family.”
“I did,” she said. “They were very kind.” She paused. “And they smile so often. I almost didn’t believe you were related to them.”
He huffed. “You never let me have a moments’ peace, Petal.”
“You were the only peace I knew as a child,” she responded.
Pero sat with her for hours under their tree after her mother had disappeared and the petals remained on her face, only falling one by one after the sun had set, leaving little bloody thumbprints across her skin. He tried to press them back onto her skin without success, and she only giggled at his attempts, leaning into each of his touches and letting him try and try again.
She collected all the petals as they fell and Pero had given up on trying to re-stick them.
“What are you doing?”
“Practice.” He watched her reach out and scratch her palm against the broken bark of the tree, slicing open her palm in a single movement.
He squawked and moved to grab her hand but she curled her fingers into a fist, crushing the petals against her bloodied palm. She took a single, long breath through her nose and then unclenched her fist. The petals rose from her bloodied hand and floated up into the air as if pulled by invisible strings. They swirled around the pair before, with another long breath, she let them fly away, disappearing into the thick of the forest.
She laughed then, a light sound that had blood rushing to his cheeks for a reason he could not explain or pinpoint at that moment. All he could mutter as she looked at him, eyes twinkling and a giggle still on her lips was…”petal.”
“Why did you leave?” She asked as he tucked the small box away into his tunic.
Pero froze. “I had to.”
A/N: please let me know what you think! I hope you guys like this! there will be three chapters. 
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phoenixblack89 · 3 years ago
Text
Fera Ingris
Chapter 2: Fuck My Life
So I skipped Vatos. Couldn't get it to work at all the way I wanted it to but did get this finished. Next chapter will probably be out in 2 weeks. It's done but needs editing.
Anyhooo. Enjoy. If ya wanna be tagged so ya don't miss please message me or comment on this! Also up on a03.
Tags: @lilythemadqueen @writingdeadangel @boondoctorwho @fandomsaremykryponite @browneyes528 @darylsgirl
Daryl was pissed. Beyond pissed. The whole rescue Merle plan was nothing but a shit show from the start. First finding Merle's hand and no body attached to it. And no meds for the girl. Then Glenn being nabbed. Then the Vatos and that whole carry on. He was not in the best mood when they discovered the van had been stolen and they had to run back to camp. 
"Stupid Merle. Why didn't ya wait asshole?" Daryl grumbled to himself, panting as he followed the three in front of him and hoped he got back before something else bad happened as the sky began to darken. 
*
The walkers had somehow snuck into camp. Shrieks from the children, cries of pain and the vicious sounds of heads being bashed in or blowed out by bullets was all she could hear as she tore through the woods to help. She had gone out to check the snares she and Daryl had left further out in the woods early this afternoon and had found a fair few with small rabbits or birds in them, which she had slung from a rope hanging from her shoulder. Each step causing the critters to bash against her ribs, her two headed axe bashing painfully into her back. The screams and noise grew as she got closer. 
She shoved her bow over her shoulder and whipped out her axe and slowed her running. She came to a dead stop as the growls of eight walkers echoed loudly around her. She'd run straight into a group of the undead bastards without realising. 
"Fuck my life" She muttered as she started swinging her axe at the nearest walker, swirling it over her head. 
*
"Come on! Hurry!" Rick yelled from in front of Daryl, their ears being assaulted by the sounds of the camp being attacked. Daryl shouldered his crossbow and accepted the rifle from Glenn as they ran up the hill. The chaos in front of him made his blood race as he started shooting at everything in camp, taking care not to hit any one living. His eyes scanning continously for the young woman he had begun to enjoy spending time with, hunting and not. 
In what seemed to Daryl as hours, but was only 15 minutes, the camp had been cleared. 
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Rick thanked Shane for protecting his family as others grieved the loss of theirs. Daryl walked around camp quickly, eyes lingering on every corpse, his heart pounding his ribs in fear as he realised Phoenix was no where to be seen. 
"Shane!? Dale?! Where's Phoenix?! Ya see her anywhere!?" He demanded, storming up to the former police officer having checked every bloody body on the ground. Shane ran his hand over his head and shrugged his shoulders. 
"Nah man, last I saw her was this mornin' when I took over watch." Shane said quietly, his heart now worriedly gripped by fear for the Brit too. 
Jacqui slowly made her way over, hands shaking in shock still. 
"I saw her this afternoon, not long after we had to stop Jim. She said something about checking some snares or something. I wasn't paying much attention, I was busy. Maybe she's still out checking?" She said, grabbing hold of her crucifix around her neck in worry. 
Daryl grunted and began scanning the tree lines for his, possibly only, friend. He turned to speak to Rick about going to find her when a scream came from the woods. He glanced at Rick and took off in the direction of the woods. Rick, Shane, T-Dog and Glenn followed after him. 
*
5 down, 3 to go...
Phoenix thought her breath coming in short sharp gasps as she pivoted to face the next walker. Her axe gracefully span around the top of her head as she threw all her remaining strength into her swing. The sharp curve of the double blade head making cutting through flesh and bone like butter. She grunted as the head splattered into a waterfall of crimson and black. Her arms ached, her head was lightly throbbing with adrenaline and her energy was fading quicker and quicker. She span on her heels as growls grew around her once more. Another walker fell to her axe and sheer brutal anger. 
The last walker was formerly a large male, his stomach as wide as he was tall, making T-Dog and Shane look short; she tugged at the axe still inside the previous walker's skull but it wouldn't come. 
"Oh shit." She muttered, her fingers fumbling with the latch to separate her axe into 2 shorter and one handed weapons, the wound on her hand began to throb and pulse painfully. The walker got closer and she dropped her axe and slid to her knees, kicking out to knock the walker down. Unfortunately the beast's size worked against her and it fell onto her. She screamed as this was the first time in a long while she had been so close to one and without a weapon in her hand. 
Her hands quickly and harshly shoved the gnarled face and life ending teeth away from her body. Her arms felt like jelly holding the enormous weight off her. 
"You ugly fucker." She growled, arms already wobbling and shaking with effort. She needed to somehow roll the creature off her and get a hand free to pull her buck knife, her knife being painfully trapped between her thigh and the walker's massive stomach. She pulled one of her legs free and wrapped it around the waist of the heavy weight man and tried to flip them. It was no good. It was just too heavy for her slightly smaller frame to do. 
"Fuckkk" 
Her hands had begun to slip, her injured one burning fiercely and getting weaker faster, the wound beginning to ooze blood slowly. Her whole arm was burning, almost as if the flames were still licking along her skin, her chest ached from the weight, she could almost feel her ribs starting to crack as she struggled to breathe. She sighed and pushed with all her might. The teeth slowly getting closer and closer to her face as her vision started to swim towards the inky blackness. She turned her head and screwed her eyes up so she didn't have to see the disgusting pieces of rotten flesh trapped between its teeth, praying to a god she wasn't sure she still believed in that come the opening of her eyes she'd be reunited with her boys. 
A whoosh zipped through the air and the next second the full weight of the walker crashed down onto her far smaller and warmer body, pushing all the air out of her in a big gasp. She waited on baited breath for the feel of teeth taking a chunk out of her and it never came. She slowly opened one eye and realised the body on top of her had gone completely still. Footsteps near her had her twisting against the dead walker to face them, dark red-brown boots slowly came into sight as they walked closer and knelt down near her head. 
"Wha'd I tell ya 'bout comin' out 'ere on ya own?!" Daryl snarled down at her, before a half smile raised the corner of his lip with a small chuckle. She gave a short sharp laugh of her own before glaring at him.
"Ya cozy down there? Do ya need a moment alone wit' ya new beau?" 
"Screw you Dixon and get this fat fucker offer me!" 
Daryl smirked and stood up, using his foot to roll the walker off her. She slowly sat up, and took a huge gulp of air. Shane and Rick held their hands out to help her stand, she waved them away and stood. Her head throbbed and she swayed slightly to one side. Daryl put his hand on her arm to steady her and quietly regarded her. 
"You alright?" Glenn asked, his face pale as he looked around at the mess her frenzy had caused, blood splattered the trees and the ground, brain matter and bone fell in chunks on the tree trunks and the dry soil. She nodded at Glenn, giving Daryl a look and grabbing hold of her axe to tug it free. 
It refused to budge. 
Glenn, T-Dog and Shane began to make their way back towards camp. 
"Come on you sucker." She growled, grabbing the shaft of her axe with two hands and pulling. It finally flew free and she landed hard on her butt. Daryl barked out a laugh and shook his head. "Shut it Dixon!" She huffed and stormed ahead back to camp as the sun began to slowly rise over the treetop. 
"She's a fire ball that one. Might wanna watch yourself Daryl." Rick chuckled as the pair began to follow, Daryl gave him a look and raised his eyebrow in question. Rick shrugged and smiled slightly. "Just saying! Get too close to fire and you get burnt." 
Daryl ducked his head and smiled slightly to himself.
I wouldn't mind getting burnt by her, not at all he thought to himself, watching the girl's rear as she stormed in front of him. 
*
Phoenix stopped suddenly as camp came into her line of sight. 
So much blood and destruction. 
Carol, Sophia and Andrea were sobbing and clinging to their fallen loved ones. Tents were ablaze and being snuffed out by others. The Morales children clung to their mother and father as did Carl to Lori. Dale stood atop the RV on guard. 
"Oh fuck." 
Shane and the other members of camp were busy doing a headcount or putting the tents that were on fire out. She felt relieved Daryl had saved her once again but at what cost? How many more did they have to loose before everything stopped? Before the dead were actually dead and stayed that way? Until society and law and natural order was restored. Why would her god, a supposedly loving, kind god allow such a thing? Her heart felt heavy enough, this was such sheer cruelty and brutality. 
A hand clamped down on her shoulder and she jumped, her buck knife quickly leaving its sheath. Another grabbed the blade before it hit home and a grunt sounded behind her. 
"Stop tryin' t' gut me girl." Daryl hissed as he removed his hands from her. "Come on, we got grunt work t' do." He gave her a little nod and walked away. 
*
They'd worked through the morning to get some sort of order back into what was their safe little haven from the plague gripping the world. Sweat, blood and tears were falling to the ground with every step of every man and woman able to help with the clear up. Andrea laid her head bent low on her poor deceased sister's chest. Carol and Lori had settled the children down to sleep in the Grimes tent, Carol's being covered floor to roof in Ed's blood and other gory remains. 
What was left was being carried to the pile where Daryl and Phoenix were making sure they stayed dead, Daryl with a pick axe and Phoenix using her own custom made axe. Carol approaches the pair silently and almost immediately the pair stop their actions and watch her come to a slow halt. 
"I'll do it. He was my husband" her voice weak with the tremble of unshed tears, despite being an arse hole and abusive, Carol had loved Ed. 
The evidence of that being the little girl who slept soundly inside the Grimes tent despite the trauma of the night before. Daryl shares a quick glance at Phoenix, who watches almost cautiously and she gives a tiny almost unseen tilt of her head. Daryl handed Carol the axe he had been using and stands slightly back, closer to the other hunter and watches as Carol heaves the heavy weapon to her shoulders and with a cry throws it down into Ed's remains over and over again. 
The gore splattered around the former's head is almost a therapy for the small grey haired woman who had suffered so much at his hand. Carol is heaving in air as she stops and stands straight, wiping tears from her face as she silently hands Daryl the ax, as quickly as she came she leaves. 
Phoenix smiled bitterly and reached for the feet of Ed as Daryl took the ruined face under his arm, holding him by the shoulders. They carry him towards the fire where T-Dog and Glenn are burning the walkers bodies. Glenn looks up as they approach and stands. 
"No." He says quietly. Daryl and Phoenix drop Ed's body with matching grunts and wipe their arms across their faces.
"What?"
"We bury our dead." The Asian man says defiantly, pointing at Ed. Daryl raises his eyebrow and glares. 
"Don't matter. He ain't gonna feel it." Daryl huffs. 
"He's dead, don't matter what we do to the body. He's already burnin' in Hell, his fucking useless carcass should burn as well. Fucker deserves it!" Phoenix hisses, she agrees with Daryl. Who knows how long the virus or whatever it is that makes the dead rise would survive without a host. Last thing the world needs is it sitting in the ground and poisoning the land itself. 
"NO! We bury them. They're not monsters! We are people. People bury their dead. To honor them. If we don't... We might as well give up our humanity."  Glenn exclaims passionately, glancing around at the group, who had fallen silent and were watching the exchange. Phoenix glares down at the ground and walks away. Her head spinning and her hand throbbing again. 
Damn Merle, couldn't even get me some meds she thinks, her vision starting to grow blurrier by the second. She walks to her bike and sits down, leaning lightly against its dark green frame. Daryl joins her soon after. 
"Hey" 
She shields her eyes with her arm as the sun gives the older man a halo of light. "Hello angel" She smirks up at him and nods. 
"You okay?" He asked, shuffling from one foot to the other. A nervous habit she found quite funny as her mind thought of another she knew with the same habit. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, it felt filthy and coated in grime and god knows what else. "Rick says we're gonna head t' the CDC."
"Hmm"
"I know we ain't the most... We ain't friends or anythin'" 
"Oh DD! Here's me thinking we were!" She laughed lightly, as he sat down on his haunches beside her. He gave a slight chuckle at her as she nudges his leg and he lands on his backside beside her. She gives him a small side smile and gets one in return.
"Yea maybe." He shuffles around anxious about what he's about to say next. "I ain't sure but thought... Maybe... If ya... If ya want... Ya could ride wit' me, in the truck." He chews his lip and waits for the rejection he's sure is coming. "'s okay if ya don't." 
"Actually, I think it might be for the best Dixon." His eyebrows shoot off into his hair at the quiet mummer he hears. "I ain't feeling too hot." She says as her head feels heavier and her eyes grow dimmer despite the bright light in front of her. She turns her head to the man beside her and he becomes a blur of shapes as she loses consciousness. Daryl quickly grabbing her before her head made contact with the ground and laying it across his lap, worried beyond anything, his fingers running over her arm gently as he chewed his lip to bleeding point. 
*
Groans fill the cab of the faded blue truck as she begins to stir. An arm is around her waist and is pulling her into the cab. 
"Wah?!" 
"Shh girlie. Let me get ya settled." Daryl says quietly, sitting her on the bench seat and putting the seat belt over her shoulder. "Ya passed out."
"Huh." She replies, feeling sleep call her backwards once again. "My bike... Tent..." 
"I got it."
She mumbles something that Daryl is sure sounded an awful lot like Murph before gently closing the door. He sighs and walks over to T-Dog. The large man looks up as he nears and nods. 
"She okay man?" Daryl nods, eyes darting to the RV where Jim lays dying from the bite wound. "Her hand is getting worse ain't it?" 
"Merle was gettin' 'er some meds. Didn't see any when y'all came back." 
"Don't worry man. We're gonna be at CDC soon. They'll have something they can give her."
"I ain't worried. She's a fighter. She faced worse and got through it." 
Both men are quiet for a while, Daryl remembering that awful day that earned the girl the huge cut along her eye and the fear she felt around everyone. "Gimme a hand wit' her stuff will ya?"
"Course man." 
The pair quickly gather the bags strapped to the back of her dirt bike and throw them into the rear of the cab along side her bow and axe. Daryl wonders why she kept the large duffel bags on the bike all the time and why it weighed so much but it wasn't his place to go through it so he ignored it and returned to her tent. He felt a touch guilty about being in her safe space while she wasn't with him, especially knowing he was about to touch her belongings. He grabbed the open duffel and began to pack it with the pile of clean clothes beside her bed roll. He blushed as some of it fell and a lacy purple bra and panties set fell onto the ground near his feet. 
Damn, ain't gonna be able t' look at her t' same, not that ya ain't been lookin' already he thought as he stared at the delicate items. He felt his cock twitch the longer he stared and quickly grabbed them and stuffed them into the bag. His cheeks still slightly red as T-Dog opened the flap. 
"You got another chain on your truck?" 
"Yea, let me just finish in here. Then we'll get her bike up beside Merle's" he ducked his head more to hide his embarrassed and slightly turned on face from the man, grabbing the lantern and boots from around him. Shoving them into the bag quickly, T-Dog entered and began to roll the blankets and sleeping bag up. The pair made quick work of packing Phoenix's tent up, even taking it down and rolling it up. It and her bags thrown into the back of the cab next to Daryl's own scant belongings. The bike proved to be easier moved than the pair thought, it sat perfectly in the small gap between the two walls of the truck bed and Merle's monstrous Triumph, secured down with a long metal chain that also held Merle's down. Daryl quickly checked nothing of his or the sleeping girl's had been left scattered about before turning to his own tent.
*
The group gathered near to the RV as they neared readiness to leave. Phoenix sat in Daryl's truck, quiet and dizzy, her head was hurting something awful and she could barely stay awake. She could see the group talking and saying goodbye to the Morales family but couldn't hear them. After a few minutes Daryl stormed up to the truck, climbed into the bed and russled around near Merle's bike before climbing in beside her. He put a hand gently on her shoulder holding out a bottle of water. She gave him a sleepy smile in return, her hand shaking as she took it. He held it steady as she took a sip. 
"Here."
He fished an orange prescription bottle in her direction, his face starting to heat up. She took the pills from him and balanced the water between her knees. Quickly reading the label she smiled. Painkillers. She struggled with the child proof lock on the cap for a few minutes before Daryl reached over and helped her. He slid 2 pills out and dropped them in her hand. 
"Don't tell the others about those. Don't want 'em comin' t' me asking fer meds fer a paper cut." He growled harshly. She nodded and swallowed the meds with a mouthful of water. Daryl looked on as she closed the bottle of water and her eyes. The truck moved slowly out of the quarry with the rest of the convoy, horns calling out as the Morales family went a different way.
*
That night, the convoy pulled into the side of a quiet wooded road and made plans. Phoenix dozed in the truck while others stood watch. Jim's moans coming quietly from inside the RV put everyone on edge. No one complained of their hunger but they all felt it. The children especially. Daryl stood in the truck bed, crossbow raised as his eyes scanned around. Occasionally kneeling down to peer through the rear window at the pale girl in his truck. He and Merle had both decided she was a Dixon, not by blood or marriage but by deed. She had the Dixon spirit and like hell was he gonna let her go. 
She's a fighter, baby brother but she needs us. She's our baby sis now, got it? We gotta protect 'er. Merle's voice said in his head as he turned to look at her once again. 
She's more to you than a sister Daryl, just admit it t' yaself he thought a small smile on his face as she hugged his winged vest closer to her chest. He'd given it to her as the late summer wind began to chill the inside of the truck. He sighed and stood once more, knowing even if he admitted his feelings he couldn't be with her. He wasn't good enough and she didn't see him that way. Even if she did, the scars would disgust her the second she saw them. She deserves someone who could be everything he wasn't. He was worthless and she was worth so much more. 
Don't mean ya can't look, baby brother. 
Daryl chuckled at that and looked once again to the girl, nodding to himself. 
Ain't no harm in lookin' he mused, looking forward to the girl waking up properly. 
*
The horn of the RV honked loudly in front of Daryl's truck and Phoenix raised her eyebrow in question. She felt slightly better after the sleep but still weak, she hopped out of the truck and felt her knees almost give out. She held on to the side of the truck slowly making her way to the rest of the group. Jim was laid against a tree a little bit up a bank at the side of the road and seemed to want to be left behind. His face was pale and sweaty, under his eyes darkened with sickness. 
Daryl came to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist and helped her up the bank to say goodbye. She sank to her knees and placed her hand on top of Jim's. 
"Hey. I can... If you want... I got a silencer. It'll be quick. I'll sent you on your way with my family prayer." She whispered to him, Daryl waiting at the bottom of the bank with Rick and Shane. Jim smiled tightly as another cramp ripped through him, he coughed up a little blood and Phoenix grimaced. 
"No. It's your corrupt we claim, remember?" He laughed, taking her hand in his as Phoenix's face dropped. 
How did he know? 
"How - ?" 
"I saw you. I was in Boston that day, he'd killed my cousin." He smiled slightly, gripping her hand. "I know why you didn't say anything... I'm glad you did it... And don't give up on this group, protect them, they need you. That's your new mission." He burst into a coughing fit and tears dropped down her face as she shuffled away.
She stood slowly and wobbled over to Daryl, he reached an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. The only comfort he could offer. He felt awkward and uncomfortable but he was trying. He felt angry at Jim for causing her tears for a guilt inducing moment but he knew it was natural to seeing someone die. Rick offered Jim a gun which he declined and Jim met Daryl's eyes, Daryl nodded with a grim smile and lead the girl back to his truck. He helped her climb in and secured the seat belt around her as she silently cried. He gave her shoulder a squeeze before getting into the driver's seat and following after the RV. The girl passing out soon after. 
*
Phoenix was thankful when her head started to clear and her energy returned as the huge Atlanta skyline began to grow closer and closer. Daryl chewed his thumb, another nervous habit it seemed he shared with the man she'd once known. He glanced at her as the sky began to darken. 
"Feel better?" 
 "Yea, sorry for going dark on you back there." She whispered, sitting up straighter to glance through the rear window at her bike. "Thanks for taking care of my stuff. Appreciate it." 
She smiled at him as the RV started slowing in front of them. The cars all slowed down and stopped beside a road. In front of them was the CDC, its huge glass exterior mostly undamaged except for the expected gore. The barricades and army trucks had been coated with bodies of the fallen soldiers. 
She raised herself to her knees and leaned over the seat, grabbing her bow and quiver and throwing them over her shoulder. She climbed out and glanced around as the group began to move towards the building. Rick reached the door and shook it.
Daryl and Phoenix stood side by side, glancing at the shadows that darkened with every minute as the sun began to go down. She pointed towards the barricade as walkers began to approach. She nocked an arrow and let it fly, killing the walker with ease. Her blood pounding as adrenaline kicked it. She blocked the noise of the group out and focused on protecting them. Daryl also shooting at the walkers as the group got louder and louder. Three more walkers fell to her arrows when she felt Daryl tug her arm and try to pull her away. 
She spun suddenly as Rick yelled. 
"You're killing us! You're killing us!" 
Shane began pulling Rick away as a groan of the shutters sounded loudly in the dead city. A blinding light causing the whole group to stop and stare.
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