#thankfully I've already written all about it

[reginrokkr]

𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈. Return to the surface from the Kingdom of Darkness —Black Cataclysm unbound—.

When the divine's wrath came to an end and all there was left is the hell they caused to spill open and crawl its way to the surface, a plethora of struggles were present in Twilight Sword's mind. Not only there were abyssal beasts of Rhinedottir's creation running to and from before none of them were left in Khaenri'ah territory, two new kind of monsters appeared: transcendent ones and hilichurls. The first more aggressive than the latter would not hesitate to command them to attack those who opposed the dark ways that were undercover until then. Not only that, even people who had yet to meet their end as a hilichurl, as a transcendent or by passing away with the tear and wear of countless years of life to come that found fascination in these creatures and added fuel to the flames of revenge against the Seven joined the madness.

Difficulty to discern innocent from foe was prevalent no matter how far Dáinsleif advanced. Oppose if he would against these, he would find himself under the risk of finding no other way to escape than to slay humans and monsters alike. This sense of being lost and confusion alongside his own grief and wounds sustained from fighting against the divine worsened his condition.

Irminsul was the first destination he encountered in his wayward path to go to the surface —to Teyvat—, where he would find a dying goddess he hasn't seen in the catastrophe tending the sacred tree. There, a vow was made between mortal and divine, so paradoxical in its manifestation as logic would dictate for them to be enemies instead. Understanding the dangers of Irminsul falling to the poisonous void to the entire world and perceiving its pain, Dáinsleif entrusted the last of his connection with the Axis Mundi to Rhukkadevata as a last resort assistance, key to give her the remaining power she needed to solve the crisis albeit momentarily. It wouldn't be until one day in a distant future that Dáinsleif would continue to exist, the issue would be permanently solved. One duty for another, was the deal. Having come to terms with her impending demise Rhukkadevata would give everything to restore Irminsul, while Dáinsleif would offer a vow in exchange for her absence in Sumeru: he would restore the nation's peace in her name, but also to appease his still lost self that no innocent people will suffer the wrath of the condemned.

Unbeknownst to Dáinsleif, Rhukkadevata's manifestation through the sacred bird Simurgh and her daughters.

The first daughter to be born found an unconscious Dáinsleif holding tightly a ring. Half-monster he was now, but not an ounce of demonic breath could be found in him, nevertheless. By some miracle, Zurvan's mercy or some spiritual reassurance from the now celestial plane that he is to be trusted by that which should've been forgotten but failed in the first Samsara, Dáinsleif was brought to the sea of flowers nonetheless to recover. For terribly flawed, curse and corrupted as he was, genuine innocence and purity could be found in him.

Black Cataclysm swayed everywhere left and right, with sunless and moonless black skies and a prophetic vision reflected in the shattered celestial dome. Where compatriots now turned into transcendent ones wanted to devour the last drop of purity and etheric essence of the land, Dáinsleif saw in them enemies that he reluctantly had to face at the detriment of psychological damage he would suffer in loneliness, wounds still too fresh to now slay people he once protected. But he had to. For the potential masses whose only sin was to be born under the Seven endangered by the now abyssal forces, for his Khaenri'ahn compatriots that were too weak or too afraid to come to Sumeru on their own— hard as the decision was, his heart was true and so were his intentions to dispel the Black Cataclysm from Sumerian lands.

The vast darkness was crossed by Dáinsleif, Zaruvan —the first Pari— and the one-armed sage in order to perform the Rites of Ab-Zohr and Chinvat to restore Harvisptokhm and with it, cleanse the land from the impurities of the dark hollow. Dev's demons disappeared slowly and etheric rainwater fell, giving birth to countless of Pari. In this moment, Dáinsleif returned to assist whatever Khaenri'ahn survivors were left, as there were no more dangers ahead other than the autochthonous creatures and they would have somewhere safe to reach after facing hell and back in their arduous road from Khaenri'ah to Teyvat. Though his deeds weren't recorded by humans, the Pari and the spiritual always remember his feats and regard him as nothing short of a hero for what his deeds brought to Sumeru.

But the journey is just about to begin, for there are other four nations each with their crises where the Black Cataclysm is involved and a destiny to find— a purpose to be in an unwanted and forceful existence he must bear for centuries to come.

[mydarlingclaudia]

no shirt, no blouse

note : I've only ever written for Leon like, once in my life and no matter how many times I tried to fix it tumblr kept my blog and what I uploaded hidden, this is my third time trying this again so I'm not gonna be too surprised if the same thing happens. I'm sorry if Leon is ooc, this is just a Leon comfort fic

wc : 2k

desc : you taking care of Leon when he comes home from a mission. established relationship, fluff, comfort, Leon being kinda head over heels for you, mentions of injuries, re4r Leon (but not specifically his mission in Spain), pet names (baby), gn!reader, not proofread.

To you, Leon was always sweet.

In the quiet evenings when he'd come home from a mission, that's when his shell would break and he'd let himself rest. When he'd crawl under the covers with you and hold you close to his chest while he laid on his cold side of the bed that the two of you shared, that was when he knew he was officially home. Hearing you talk about how badly you had missed him and how happy you are to have him back as the tips of your fingers lightly run over any cuts on his face was like a dream to him.

His shirts would always smell a little bit like you whenever he came home, so would his pillow, he’d never admit to you that he loved it. By the time that you’d fall asleep, after the two of you ate and you washed his hair for him in the bath, he’d still be awake, despite the late hour. He’d sit and watch your chest rise and fall as you slept, his hands resting on your sides underneath the sweatshirt you slept in, the one you had stolen from him.

He had missed you, you knew that much. He knows that there’s always a possibility that he won’t be able to come home to you, or something that would keep him away from you for much longer than either of you hoped. But no matter how long it took for him to get back to you, or the amount of damage his body had taken while working, you’d always greet him with a smile. You push away all your questions and worries for the next day, content on just having him back in your arms, feeling his heart beat underneath your palm while he holds onto you tightly.

You would never be able to read Leon's mind, you thought it would be difficult to do even if you possessed that kind of power, but when his face softens as he looks at you while you help him wash away his aches and pains, you have a good idea of what's going through his head.

This time is no different.

You're sitting on the edge of your bathtub, combing your fingers through Leon's wet hair while he sits in the warm water. He hadn't said much since he walked through the door, just a simple, "Missed you, love you." You never pushed him to talk too much when he gets home, you just want him to tell you if he's hurt badly, which he hardly ever is.

There are bruises splattered across his body, all in different shades of purple and yellow. There were a few gashes that had been stitched up before he came home to you, thankfully no broken bones, just a few more cuts along his face and arms, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. You knew that the government would do a checkup on him after he finishes a mission, but you liked to look him over again in the odd chance that they missed anything or if he was trying to hide a wound from you.

He still hadn't eaten yet, but you wouldn't let it stay that way for long, you'd let him lay down in bed while you put some food together for the two of you. But he likes to sit in the tub for at least thirty minutes before he either decides he's hungry or the water's starting to cool down, you'd stay with him however long he wanted, though.

Leon shifted slightly in the tub, moving closer to you than he already was to rest his head against your thigh, the water from his hair seeping through your jeans while the soap clung to the fabric. He brought his arm up to rest over your knees, letting more water soak through your jeans while some of it ran down his fingers and onto the bathmat outside the tub. You smiled down at him, one of your hands leaving his hair to run down over the back of his neck and his shoulder blades.

You let your fingers trace over a bruise the size of your fist on the back of his shoulder, pressing against it gently. "How'd you get this one?" You whispered to him, watching as he rolled his shoulder slightly in response to your touch.

"I fell," He murmured against your thigh.

"You fell?" You giggled, letting your hand leave his shoulder and return to his hair while your gaze lingered on a few gashes on his back that had already been stitched up.

"It was raining and I slipped, sorry that I don't have a cool story to tell you." He huffed, nuzzling his face into the side of your thigh as he moved his arm back into the tub and instead let his hand rest on your knee, giving it a light squeeze.

"Do any of them have cool stories?"

"If you think me getting my ass kicked is cool, then yeah, I guess some of them do." You chuckled slightly in response, pulling your hands out of his hair to rinse the remaining shampoo off in the bath water.

"I'll ice your bruises for you later," You offered, bringing the cup you kept in the tub down to the water to fill it. "Tip your head back."

"Too cold," He mumbled softly, detaching himself from your leg and tipping his head back while you moved one hand to cover his eyes as you poured the water over his soapy hair.

"Yeah? You'd rather just let them heal for the next four days instead of three?"

"I can ice them whenever, it's no big deal."

"I get that, I'm just trying to take care of you." You say softly, removing your hand from his eyes and setting the cup of water back on the edge of the tub.

"I know, baby, I know." He quickly reassures you, laying his head back down on your thigh and pressing a kiss to your clothed leg. "It just doesn't need to get done tonight. Thank you, though."

"Yeah, of course." You nod, resting your hand on the back of his neck, letting your thumb trace over the skin that lays there.

"C'mon, let's go lay down." He pressed a few more kisses to the fabric of your wet jeans before he allowed you to stand, grabbing him a towel and holding it out to him as he got out of the tub. Leon dried himself off carefully, his body facing you as you leaned against the bathroom sink, watching him quietly.

Leon moves out of your way as you go to pull out the drain plug at the bottom of the tub, "What do you wanna eat?" You groan out softly as you stand back up, placing the bath plug down next to the cup on the edge of the tub. "If you want, I can make those little kraft mac'n'cheese microwave packages for us."

"Yes, please." He sighs softly as he wraps his towel around his waist, then grabbing you by the shoulders to place a soft kiss on your lips. "Don't take too long."

"I won't," You smile, leaning forward to kiss him gently. The kiss is only a second long, Leon chases after your lips as you pull away before he catches himself and freezes, you give his bicep a slight squeeze as you pull away and open the bathroom door.

You listen to the faint shuffling noises of Leon getting dressed in your bedroom down the hall as you microwave the small, plastic bowls of mac'n'cheese. Leon never asked you to put too much effort into cooking whenever he came home. Cereal, ramen, even just some slices of cheese and pepperoni would be fine for Leon as long as he'd be next to you in bed by the end of the night.

Leon was waiting for you underneath the covers of your shared bed as you entered your bedroom with your small dinner in each hand. He graciously accepts the food you hand to him, resting the hot bowl down on the blanket, watching you intently as you begin to change into your pajamas.

"I missed you," He mumbled to you, his eyes resting on your face as you adjusted your clothes.

"I know, you told me already." You smiled at him, sitting against the pillows on your side of the bed as Leon immediately moved to cuddle into your side.

"Thought you'd like to hear me say it again."

"I mean, I guess," You shrug jokingly, poking at your mac'n'cheese with your fork. Leon snorted slightly and rolled his eyes, leaning against you to press a kiss to your jaw before he began digging at his food.

Leon always watched you while the two of you ate in bed, focusing on the way your lips curled around your fork instead of focusing on the bowl in his hands. His eyes would trail from your lips to your eyes, patiently waiting for you to finish eating so you could pay attention to him again. There wasn’t a tv in your room, so you’d often fill the quiet void by telling him about your day or the things that you had done while he was away. He’d listen intently, even if what you were saying wasn’t all that interesting, he didn’t ask follow-up questions most of the time, instead focusing on the way your lips moved and the sound of your voice. Your days were mostly all the same; work was boring, you missed him, you went on a longer walk than usual and got a new treat from that bakery down the street, Leon loved hearing it all. He’d tell you a little a bit about his recent mission, leaving out most of the parts where he came too close to death, instead telling you about whatever scenery he saw that he deemed good enough for you to like and how well he fought.

Both yours and Leon’s bowls of mac’n’cheese are long finished by now, both of the bowls and forks left to rest on top of your bedside table until you threw them out the next day. You rested your head on his left bicep, tucked in close to his chest while you held his right hand in both your hands, your fingers running over his bruised knuckles. It was eleven, maybe eleven-thirty at night, you were well past tired, but Leon let you keep rambling on.

“I’m really happy you’re home.” You yawned, your grip on his hand and wrist tightening as you curled into him further.

“Me too,” He smiled, pulling your hands closer to his chest, he squeezed your hand back, shifting slightly to let you get more comfortable. “Go to sleep.”

“No,” Leon chuckled softly at the faint whine in your voice, watching as you let go of his hand and wrap them around his back, his hand that you were holding captive finding purchase on the skin of your waist underneath his old sweatshirt that you took as your own.

“I’m gonna be here in the morning,” He whispered as he kissed your forehead, running his hand up and down your side. “Just go to bed, baby. Don’t you need your beauty sleep?”

“Yeah, but I missed you.”

“I know that, I missed you, too. But you also look really tired right now and it’s late.” He squeezed your waist, moving his arm out from underneath your head to wrap around your shoulders. “I could listen to you talk on and on for hours, but right now I wanna fall asleep next to you. We can sleep in tomorrow, I’ll spend all day with you.”

“M’kay…” You yawned again, letting his quiet voice coax you further into your drowsiness. “You’re not hurt too bad?”

“No, you’re a great doctor.”

“Alright,” You nodded, lifting your head slightly to kiss him. “Goodnight.” You murmured against his lips, feeling him smile and run his hand along your spine.

“Sweet dreams, go to sleep now.” He whispered, tucking you back into his chest, feeling your heart beat against his chest as your breathing evened-out, signaling you falling asleep in his arms again.

[kimhargreeves]

A Flashy Act-Buggy x Reader (One Piece Live Action)

Summary: You and Luffy find yourself with new members for your small pirate crew, quickly after stealing the map to the grand line, you're all kidnapped by a crew of pirates.

(Based on the One Piece Live Action!! since no one has written about Buggy which has surprised me. Enjoy this one shot Buggy fans!! You guys can decide if you want part 2 to include smut or not😩 next part will be written depending on how well people like this🤡)

"You know I'm gonna be king of the pirates. It's the first time I've had a ship like this." Luffy excitedly told the ginger haired girl.

"I know you've told me that many times already. Can you please be silent for once?" She asked getting annoyed by Luffy's constant talking.

"You be quiet. The kid's just excited." The green man known as Zoro told Nami.

Nami was trying to open the lock which was protecting the map inside.

Both of them unexpectedly helped us, when Luffy and I broke inside to find the map to the grand line, with a bit of help from Koby who had been kidnapped by Alvida. Thankfully Luffy saved him, the young boy said he wanted to join the Marines.

Luffy and I had entered and quickly met Nami and Zoro. Zoro was tied up with Nami dressed as a Marine trying to also have the map Luffy and I were after.

I have been by Luffy's side since many years now. Since he was a small boy, I am only just a couple of years older but I was the second person who raised him. The first being my older brother,l Shanks.

Just earlier the four of us were fighting a couple of Marine soldiers with Axe Hand Morgan trying to stop us, and almost did. If it weren't for Zoro and Luffy's help then we might've already been executed.

"He's just being enthusiastic about all of this. There's no need to be so mean." I said glaring at Nami and she glared back as well.

I decided to not say anything else to her so I walked over to where Luffy was holding onto his straw hat.

He had a smile on his face when he turned to look back at me. "Can you believe this, (Y/N). We finally have have a crew. I can only imagine the look on his face if he were to see me."

"I know he'll be proud. You're slowly becoming a true pirate." I nudge his shoulder and saw him smiling as he stared at the dark skies.

"I think we all make a pretty good team."

"Why do you even protect that hat so much. It looks like to fished it out of the trash."

"One man's trash is another man's treasure." Luffy replied to Nami when she spotted him holding onto the hat.

We all looked back and saw Nami has successfully managed to open the lock. "You did it!" Nami picked the map and unrolled it. With the four of us standing close looking down at it.

Luffy didn't get it or understood where the Grand Line is, so Nami began drawing it for him so he could understand it better. Rogers treasure is hidden somewhere in there.

A loud sort of bomb was heard with the sky now turning red. We all ran out of the ship and saw something explode in the sky. Zoro was the first to fall to the floor and Nami began to cough before she collapsed.

Oh shit. I tried to cover my mouth and nose but to was too late and I also fell to the floor and collapsed.

"Shhh (Y/N)."

I jumped up a bit and opened my eyes to see Luffy a bit too close to me. I rubbed my eyes and tried to stand up but saw that the four of us were inside of a wooden box.

"What..how did we get here?"

"It wasn't the Marines work. Before we all collapsed, I saw a ship heading towards us." Luffy said with Zoro quickly replying to him.

"It'll be easy then. Marines have training. Pirates don't."

We all were quickly met with circus music when the top of the box was removed along with the rest of the box. What the hell?

Zoro, Nami and I looked at each other weirdly when we looked at our surroundings. We were inside of a huge circus tent.

Red and white colored stripes with lights decorating the place, weird looking people and a crowd that were seated but we're tied by their ankles.

The crowd continued to clap with Luffy doing the same but Nami and I stopped him.

"No no no. Stop clapping! It's all wrong"

The four of us looked over at where the voice was coming from and we all looked to our left, and saw a tall man come through dressed entirely as a clown.

Long coat, bright blue long hair with exaggerated makeup and a red clown nose.

"The spotlight was late, it missed my entrance. And where oh where is the lion?" He said standing close to a man with white bear ears?

"Heyy. I know you." Luffy said which made me look back at him wishing he hadn't spoken.The man with blue hair turned to look at us. Wait..Luffy is right, we've seen him before.

"I saw your Wanted poster at Shell's town. You're the clown guy..umm..uhh. Binky, right?" He asked.

I nudged Luffy's shoulder. "Shut up, Luffy. That's Buggy." I muttered seeing that the clown kept his eyes on us.

"Buggy." The pirate corrected and grinned. "Buggy the Clown. Buggy, the Flashy Fool. Buggy, the Genius Jester." He said when no one spoke, seems like no one here knows about him.

"That one beside you seems to be the only one who's heard about me." I felt nervous when his blue eyes landed on me and he smiled.

I had only heard of him, and saw him on the Wanted poster. But I swear I must've at least since him once before…

He's creepy..but weirdly find him attractive. Maybe it's just my brain distracting myself from danger, who knows.

Luffy seemed impressed, "Wow. You have a lot of names."

I nodded my head and looked at Luffy, "He does. Everyone in the East Blue knows who he is."

"What did you just say?" His expression changed when I suddenly said that. Which made me confused.

"That everyone knows who you are?"

"Nose?!" I was paralyzed when Buggy came over and was now holding onto my face.

"Are you making fun of my nose?" He said a bit too close to me.

"I swear I wasn't! But..now that you mention it, is that thing real?" I asked genuinely wanting to know.

Buggy tilted his head as he stared at me, "You're kinda cute." He hummed and grinned

I saw Luffy's hand slowly started to try and tough the clowns nose until he smacked his hand away. The clown grinned looking down at me and stepped back letting go of me.

"You think you're so clever… What's real is I've been scheming for months to steal that map from old Axe Hand Moron. Only to find out that I was upstaged by four little nobodies, who stole it from right under my no-…No!! It's in my head now."

"Hey! I'm not a nobody. I'm Monkey D. Luffy. And I will be king of the pirates." My best friend said making Buggy laugh.

"Oh! Now that's funny. My bounty poster graces the marquee of every Marine Outpost for miles. And my menagerie of outcasts and freaks is the most dreaded pirate crew the East blue has ever known. I am destined to find One Piece. And when I do. I will be King."

"No, you won't. 'Cause I'm gonna find it first." Luffy told him.

Zoro stepped between us and looked at the other clowns behind Buggy. "I am Roronoa Zoro. Drop your weapons now and I may let you live."

This made Buggy laugh while looking at the green haired stoic man.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a celebrity in our midst. Too bad I hate sharing the spotlight. Now, maybe we should skip right to the finale."

Buffy retrieve a set of blades and smiled at us.

"My freaks put quite a bit of a rehearsal time into this little abduction. And if I can reward them with that map.. I suppose I'll have to offer them a pound of flesh instead."

Nami stepped between Luffy and I now, now looking at Buggy. "Wait. What if I have something else to offer you? Something more valuable than the map? What if I give you a new freak for your crew?"

"A rare talent. The most spectacular act in all the East Blue. Besides you, of course."

Nami glanced back at me and I glared back. Nami has grabbed Luffy's straw hat and tossed it up, just when Luffy showed his devil fruit powers, Nami left running.

"That little bitch." I whispered glaring at where she left.

It wasn't long at all when they brought her back and she revealed that Buggy's crew had destroyed the entire town.

He shrugged his shoulders as he stared at her. "Not everything. I let 'em keep their hands."

The sign for "clap" was lifted again, making the poor towns people begin to clap.

All the lights were suddenly focused on Buggy again. "I know one of you has my map, and I'm going to get it back." He said in a serious voice now.

"What was it you said, Rubber boy? That ir was in a safe place. Don't look so surprised. I got eyes and ears everywhere."

"I know where it is." I spoke up making all eyes turn to look at me.

I began to laugh as I showed the clowns and Buffy my middle finger. "You can all suck it or shove it up your asses.

Buffy clapped and at the people surrounding him. "Okay! Let's make our guests uncomfortable in the green room." A few clowns came to grab Nami and Zoro.

While another pair came to grab Luffy, Buggy stood behind me grabbed my neck and grinned looking at Luffy and looking back down at me.

"And I am gonna have a chat with our new pals.."

[myfictionaldreams]

Steddie x reader where reader is like leader of cheer squad (so ages match up) they love her in her outfit and definitely use it against her during sex. “Come on baby yell for us.” “Give us a D give us a A ….. DADDY.” “We won’t be able to hear you with a shout like that.”

Totally keeps the cheer outfit on too. Sorry just a quick thought.

Give me a D! // Steddie x Fem!Reader

A/N: thank you so so much for requesting this!!! I've changed it up a little bit to go with my Steddie series but I hope you enjoy it! sorry it's a little filthy

Tags: 18+ readers only, smut, fluff, threesome, dom/sub, pet names, restraints, teasing, fingering, degradation, spit kink, praise kink, namecalling, dirty talk, multiple orgasms, hand job, deepthroating, hair pulling, overstimulation, creampie (x2), flexibility, safe word use (yellow), choking, daddy/sir kink, subspace, rough sex, aftercare!!

Words: 7.5k

my masterlist 📚 AO3 Link

“Are you actually organising your stuff or are you just reading that old porn magazine again?” you yelled over your shoulder, not even needing to look at Steve to know what he was doing, he had been too quiet for too long. Your boyfriend confirmed your suspicions by slamming the magazine shut and dropping it into a cardboard box that had his name written on the side.

Despite the chaos in the living area caused by the numerous cardboard boxes, not much work had been achieved. Rolling your shoulders to ease the ache that had settled in the muscles from sitting in the same position for so long, you riffled through your belongings, sitting crossed-legged and hunched over. Even with this, you couldn't help but smile when Steve began to crawl over to you, shuffling closer. The affection grew to a toothy grin as Steve knelt tall behind your body, his face nuzzling into the side of your neck as his arms wrapped around your body.

“I still don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking for”, he grumbled, already bored even though all he’d been able to accomplish so far was opening up one box, finding the porn magazine and flicking through idly until he was semi-hard in his jeans.

You tried not to roll your eyes and sigh as you explained to him, “Pick out anything that you don’t want anymore, I’ve told you this a hundred times now, Steve”.

As you continued to explore through your stuff, you were momentarily stopped as a warm hand cupped under your chin, tilting your face back until you were looking up at an upside-down Steve. “So sassy today”, he commented under his breath, closing the gap slowly to kiss your lips as his fingers stroked down your neck in lazy circles. Just as you were beginning to relax fully into the touch, leaning your weight further back into his firm body, did Steve pull away from the kiss, “So what am I looking for? And If you could explain without the sass that would be great”.

You had a coy smile as you explained as calmly as possible, “I want us to donate to the charity event this weekend that's helping to support the Hawkins attack a year and a half ago”. 

Steve’s hair shadowed his face as he seemed to think about everything he owned before deciding, “But I don’t have anything I want to donate”.

“Steve, you have more stuff than Eddie and me combined. I’m sure there’s something you can get rid of now please, move away and stop distracting me. This is why I’ve asked you to help me and not Eddie because you know that boy can not do one task without being distracted by something else”.

Thankfully for once, he did as you asked with a last lingering kiss to your chin before crawling over to another box, opening the lid and pausing at what he saw. Fabric in the colours green, white and yellow were folded nicely into a pile at the top of the box. He frowned before glancing at the side of the box, not realising he’d opened one of yours and low and behold, the words scribbled on the side were your name and hobbies. It was now Steve’s turn to bite his bottom lip to hold back the gleeful laugh he wanted to burst out with as he gently pinched the thin material of the shirt, lifting it to fully inspect the treasure he’d found.

Turning his body towards yours, he coughed to gain your attention, “I can’t believe you’ve still got this”.

“Hmm? What’s that?”, you only briefly glanced over your shoulder, not thinking anything much of what he could have found, you didn’t have anything exciting hidden away. Or so you thought as your eyes widen and your body instinctively turned towards him. “Where did you find that?” Reaching over, you tried to snatch it off of him but Steve held it back and out of your reach.

“Hey! Finders keepers and all that”, he paused, looking at the material with a questioning, thoughtful gaze before a shit-eating grin bloomed across his handsome face. “So, you kept it.”

The apples of your cheeks warmed as you contemplated what to say to stop Steve from looking at you like he’d just won the jackpot. Your mind, however, was blank of any thought so eventually you gave up and released a deep sigh, shoulders dropping as you explained, “Yes I kept my cheerleading uniform, my life revolved around it for years and I wanted to keep it as a for the memories”.

Steve glanced down at the top he held in his hands and then into the box where your skirt was still neatly folded, “Ah, the matching skirt”, he teased. 

“Shut up”, you mumbled, embarrassed and tried to snatch the shirt out of his hands but he swiftly stood and held it above his head, knowing you wouldn’t be able to reach it. You still tried though as you stood up on your tip toes to get back your uniform. Steve smirked at your pathetic attempts to reach for the top. “Please could you stop looking at me like that please, I’m embarrassed enough as it is”.

“Why would you be embarrassed? You were great at cheerleading from what I remember, weren’t you the head cheerleader for a while as well?”

Now not only were your cheeks warm but your entire body as he revealed that he remembered you from high school. “Yes I was until I was dropped and hit my head, why do you think I hate heights so much?”

Thankfully Steve didn’t tease you on this and even offered you a sad smile but as he inspected the uniform again, the taunting smile returned as one of his sleek eyebrows raised, “I’ll only give you this back if you go and try it on for me”.

You hoped your expression showed how much his idea was absolutely not happening. “Steve, I’m not putting that on”.

Steve took a step forward, hope twinkling in his warm-honey eyes as he pleaded, “Please, just once”.

With one last trick up his sleeve, he smiled down at you, giving you the look that always has your heartbeat quickening and butterflies tumbling in your stomach. You gave a reluctant sigh and he knew you had finally given in to his request. As you looked at the skirt in the box, you doubted, “I don’t think it’ll even fit anymore”.

Steve holds the top but the shoulders and presses it against your front, “Looks like it’ll fit just fine to me but even if it’s not for me, please just try it on for Eddie, and if they don’t fit into them then we’ll put them away and never mention anything about it again.”

“I don’t think Eddie would enjoy me wearing this”, you mused, picking up the uniform and taking the top off of Steve.

Your boyfriend frowned at your statement, “Why not? I think he’d love it”.

“Because it’s a reminder of all the assholes who used to bully him at school”.

Steve leans close to you, his breath fanning across your lips, “Please Baby, we’ll both love it, I promise”.

“If I have to wear it, does that mean you’ll get to wear whatever I’d like to wear another time?”

Steve didn’t even need a second to contemplate before agreeing to your terms, “Deal”.

Deciding it was easier to get changed out of Steve’s grabby hands, you raced to the bathroom and began to try on your old uniform. Even though you were able to get the top and skirt on, it was still tighter than it used to be due to not having to be exercising as rigorously as you used to and the tightness meant that it was a little bit shorter. Revealing the bare skin of your waist and nearly all of your thighs. As well s this, because you didn't have the special undergarments like you used to that matched the same shade of green as the uniform, if you so much as bent over the slightest bit, your lacy blue underwear would be revealed.

You looked more like you’d bought a cheerleading outfit from a cheap dress-up store than this being the official high-school uniform you used to cherish on a daily basis. Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time, you looked yourself over one more time in the bathroom mirror and stepped out of the bathroom.

“Here she is, head cheerleader for Hawkins High School, ready to woo the boys”, Steve hollers at you before his voice trailed off as he fully took in your appearance from where he sat on the couch. One word to describe how he was exploring your body with his eyes was: hungry. It even made you a little self-conscious as you shifted your weight from one foot to the other and awkwardly crossed your arms to cover your chest. “The socks makes the outfit even more special Babe”.

Looking down at your body, you shuffled your feet that still had the pink fluffy socks that you’d had on all day. The tension eased slightly from your shoulders just as Steve begins to stand.

“Eddie’s going to lose his fucking mind when he sees you”, Steve mutters to himself, moving ever so slowly closer and then around you, taking in every inch of the outfit until he stops in front of you again.

Looking up at him through your lashes, you ask, “Happy now?”

Steve’s full lips part like he was going to answer but he snaps them shut and slowly smirks instead, lifting his hands to stroke his fingers across your exposed midriff, his eyes never left yours though. “I’m very happy right now, Princess”. The low, husky tone he speaks in as your thighs clench together as arousal pools in your core. Steve noticed the movement of your legs, his eyes darkening beneath the strand of hair that had fallen across his forehead.

Neither of you say anything, not when his fingers seemed to be doing all of the talking as he inched them over your top until resting against your nipple that was physically peaked beneath the thin material. You’d not bothered to put on a bra today seeing as you weren’t planning on leaving the trailer today and with the uniform being tight, it only accentuated the outline of your breasts and most importantly your hard nipples.

Steve looked like he was a second away from snapping and you wanted nothing more than for him to do such a thing, especially as he presses his thumb down on the peak, causing you to release the breath you hadn’t realised you’d been holding.

The heavy screech of Eddie’s van tyres snapped you both away from the heated moment. You quickly turned on the spot, stepping back towards the bathroom with the intent of changing back into the clothes you were just wearing. Steve on the other hand had other ideas as he caught your wrist and tugged you back to his chest, your other wrist was then easily manouvered to join the other so now both of your wrists were pinned behind your back as you faced the front door to the trailer.

“Steve, please I need to go and get changed”, you chastised over your shoulder as you heard Eddie’s happy whistling as he clambered out of his van.

“Why? I told you he’s going to love it”.

“He won’t, I know he won’t, you don’t understand how badly they all treated him”.

“You’re being dramatic Babe, just wait and see”, he continues to be at ease over the situation and his eyes were almost gleaming when Eddie finally stepped through the door, the whistle tune stopping as he stared at you and Steve.

“What’s going on?” he asks, his eyes exploring your outfit just as hungrily as Steve's.

Before Steve could answer, you quickly blurted out, “Steve found my old uniform and made me try it on and I was trying to go and change it but he wouldn’t let me”.

Eddie steps closer, only stopping when he was close enough that you could smell the recent cigarette on his work clothes and breath, something you used to detest but now reminded you so much of him. His chocolate brown eyes devoured your body, moving slowly and not revealing whether he was happy or pissed off.

Gently, he pressed two of his fingers against the tip of your chin, tilting it up so that you were both face to face. “Why would you think I wouldn’t want to see you wearing this?” he asked with an eerie calm that had your nerves still on edge.

“I... I didn’t think you’d want to be reminded of high school or the people I used to cheer with”, you explained in a soft voice, trying to sound sympathetic.

Eddie’s eyes widen for a split second and then his gaze hardened, his fingers remaining against your chin to keep your face in place, “I don’t care about them, I only care about you. Even if you were playing basketball with that prick Jason, I’d still want to know everything about it, Angel”.

This right here was one of the reasons you had fallen so quickly in love with Eddie Munson. He was so selfless and caring with also the edge of being dominant and demanding with his stance, it always made you feel like you wanted to melt into the floor with how gooey your insides felt.

“Eddie”, you whispered lovingly, about to tell him just how much you cared for him but he cut off any words as he continued to talk, his voice low and rugged.

“I always watched you during practice, you know, from a distance”. This admission had you slightly taken aback, you knew of Steve and Eddie, everyone knew of them at school. Steve Harrington the heartthrob and Eddie the freak Munson, but you never dared to speak to either, just admiring from the back of classrooms or lingering glances at the end of the corridors for two opposing men you thought didn’t even know your name until you’d met them at work. Eddie noticed your shocked expression as he continued to explain, “Just because we didn’t talk at school, doesn’t mean I didn’t notice you, Sweetheart, always up in the air with this little skirt, but of course, I’d never look”, he teased, pulling a smile from the corner of your lips.

“You might not have, but I certainly did”, Steve whispered into your ear from behind you, where he was still holding your arms behind your back. You tried to turn and look at him, also shocked that he had been watching you whilst at school as well but Eddie firmly held your jaw so you were forced to continue to look into his pretty eyes.

“Such a perv”, Eddie taunts as he flicked his gaze towards Steve and finally releases your face so that he could reach for his boyfriend, hand cupping the back of his head and pulling him forward for a searing kiss. Steve groaned deep in his chest which vibrated against your back as he tried to also move closer to Eddie which forced your front against the other man's chest.

A high-pitched noise bubbled from the back of your throat as you were thoroughly squished between the two of them. Eddie pulled back first, releasing his grip on Steve to rest it against your hip as he took a tiny step back to look down at you once more, his lower lip sticking out condescendingly. “Aw, is our sweet little cheerleader feeling lonely?”

Shivering under his intense gaze, you tried to pull your arms out of Steve’s hold but to no avail as he continued to hold tightly, his thumb occasionally stroking against the soft skin of your inner wrist, giving you some comfort.

Eddie’s eyes roamed over your outfit, his fingers beginning to explore your body just as Steve’s had, His fingertips were rough and hard as he began at your hairline, stroking back a strand of hair that had blurred your vision. Slowly and with intent, he moved over your cheekbone, down your jaw and throat, caressing your collarbones as he finally grazed the tops of your breast, pressing down firmly over your still-perked nipples, causing more noises to come from you. The colours of his eyes seemed to darken further at your noise but he continued on his journey, teasing over the exposed skin at your waistline, down your hip and only pausing when he reached the bottom of your shortened skirt.

You were breathing hot, heavy breaths with the anticipation of his fingers delving beneath your skirt and against your ticklish inner thighs, reaching the edge of your panties, pushing them aside so that he could stroke a single finger between your folds.

“So wet for us already, our horny little cheerleader, aren’t you?” he mused, spreading your juices up to your clit. Your hips bucked against his movements, wanting to feel more of him, mewling pathetically as you raised onto your tip toes with the hope that he would see how much you wanted him.

Thankfully he was happy to oblige to your whimpers as he circled your clit, not applying much pressure but just feeling the roughness of his guitar-playing fingers was enough to satisfy. Your head lulls back against Steve’s chest, eyes closed as you allowed Eddie to play between your legs.

Eddie watched you intensely, his cock almost painful inside of his black jeans at watching how hot you looked succumbing to his touches. “Always wanted to do this”, he mused, “How scandalous would it be, the head cheerleader with the school freak”.

That word split through your pleasured bubble as your eyebrows furrowed, looking up at Eddie as you remarked, “Not a freak, Eddie”.

“Ah, but I am a freak when it comes to you”, his eyes twinkled in the late afternoon light, a smile forming on his face and deepening his dimples as he raised his other hand to grip your cheeks, squishing your lips together and forcing them to open. “Wider”, he demanded with a tilt of his head. You opened your mouth wide, sticking your tongue out, knowing exactly what he was going to do, it was degrading and dirty but when Eddie started to tip into this dominant head space, there was nothing you wouldn’t do for him.

Eddie spat into your mouth, the saliva landing on your tongue where you immediately swallowed it, tasting him and cigarettes. You never used to like doing this but seeing the look on Eddie’s face, the blush that crawled up his neck as his arousal peaked and the praises you knew were sure to come, it only turned you on more to have such a degrading act done.

“So fucking good to me, aren’t you? Swallowing my spit like a pretty angel, such a good girl, our good girl”, every word went straight to your core, causing your pussy to throb and clench and hips to move faster, wanting him, needing him. Eddie observes you for a second, looking as if he was going to combust right then and there before he retracted his fingers from your clit and down to your hole and brought his attention to Steve. “Want to feel how wet she is?”

Steve didn’t say a single word as he continued to hold your wrists behind your back with one hand and whilst looking down your shoulder, he slipped his other hand under your skirt and down the front of your panties. The two of them moved at the same time, Steve circling your clit and Eddie pushing a single digit into your pussy, moving in and out in time with Steve’s circles.

“You are soaked Princess, is that just for us?” Steve asked in a low tone whilst rutting his hips into your palms so you could feel his erection in his jeans.

“Always for you two ”, you sound breathless as you continue to look up at Eddie and lean your upper body against Steve for support as your thighs were shaking with all the stimulation between your legs.

Steve chuckles in your ear, biting the lobe for a second before mocking, “Our slutty little cheerleader”. You mewl at the name, usually, your praise kink needed to be stroked just as much as your pussy but today, standing between them, the spitting and the names were welcomed to create a scenario of breaking the rules with the outfit you were wearing. 

Eddie noticed just how much you enjoyed this as well as your hole clenched around his middle finger. The curly-haired man chuckled down at you whilst licking his bottom lip, “Oh, you like it when he calls you that? What are you thinking about right now, Sweetheart?”

Your mind is buzzing, skin prickling with heat as the boxes and plan to organise had been long forgotten about. “I’m imagining us, in the janitor's store room, we’re hiding from everyone but, I could see you both as I’m performing and I’m so desperate for you both, so wet, so needy, I want you to touch me - ah, right there! Please don’t stop-”.

Your rambling becomes incoherent as Eddie added a second finger, curling them against your pleasurable nerves inside your pussy as Steve pressed harder against your clit, increasing in speed. Everything felt so good, you wish you could tell them how good your body felt, how much you needed them, wanted them but your tongue felt too heavy.

“So naughty”, Steve mumbled into the shell of your ear. You can smell his hair as it stroked your cheek, the lemon shampoo and the copious amounts of the hairspray that he’d used.

Eddie’s masterful fingers curled and pumped inside of you, the hand on your face squeezing once more forcing your mouth to open again so that your moans split out without any restraint as you felt the beautiful spark between your legs. “You gonna cum for us, pretty slut? I can feel you tightening around my fingers”.

“Ye-Yes, please can I cum? I can’t- I can’t hold it, I need…”, your words were blurring together and Eddie chuckled at how desperate you looked. However, his condescending laugh was the complete opposite of his sweet touch as he kissed your temple once, “You can cum for us, been so good for us so far, haven’t you, that’s it, around my fingers, cum for us”.

The two of them encouraged you through your orgasm, your insides burning with pleasure, knees trembling and struggling to keep you upright as your boyfriends coaxed your orgasm as far as it could go before you slumped fully against Steve.

Your eyes had clenched close in the process so you didn’t see Eddie sucking on his soaked fingers but you certainly heard his dirty moans before he again tilted your face so that he could kiss the tip of your nose in a second of comfort before his hard exterior returned.

“Do you wanna show me how much you missed me today?” Eddie asked whilst releasing your face.

Opening your eyes, you knew you probably looked a mess, eyes glazed, unsteady on your feet but his words were like more praises as your mouth began to water of its own accord as you moaned, “Yes, please”.

Eddie’s eyes latch onto Steve as the man behind you released his hold on your wrists and immediately you were dropping to your knees, the carpet comforting against your skin. Eddie stepped closer, his crotch now at eye level as your fingers fumbled to undo his chained belt, the metal clanging as you raced to try and get to the area you wanted most. You could feel his cock, throbbing in the confines of his jeans and boxers as his belt opened, the button was undone and the zipper was down. You push his clothes down over his hips until his cock was bobbing in front of you.

He was rock hard, the tip a darker shade of pink compared to the shaft and already leaking beads of precum. Without wasting a second to tease him like you usually did, your lips wrapped around his cock, tasting the salty goodness and lapping it up with a few licks before taking more of his length to the back of your throat and sucking. Eddie sucked in a quick breath, his thighs clenching under where your hands rested against them as he quickly grabbed the back of your head.

You’re still crowded around them both, kneeling between them and shaking slightly from your orgasm but the adrenaline of it all had your throat relaxing, desperate to please him just as much as he’d pleased you, taking more and more of his length until his curly hair at the base of his cock was nearly brushing against your nose.

Eddie was cursing and shaking nearly as much as you as his hands disappear from the back of your head. Glancing back up at him as you bob your head up and down on his cock, you could see Steve and Eddie making out.

Their lips and tongues clashed together, both their hands trying to undress one another, needing to feel each other’s naked bodies. Eddie was swifter and more skilled with removing clothes as he had Steve’s jeans pushed down his hips and his hand wrapped around his cock and pumping with long strokes. Steve gasps, his eyes closed as he leaned his forehead against Eddie’s mouth hanging open as he thrust into Eddie’s palm before his fingers delved into the soft curls and pulled him into another burning kiss.

The position you were in was hot, sweat dripping down your temple and spine beneath your uniform, especially as the two men removed the remaining of their clothes from above you continued to become more heated with their kisses and touches. Neither deem to dominate the other which always seemed to be the case when the three of you were intimate, they were both in charge but had different ways in which they displayed this.

Eddie’s fist increased his speed as he pulled back and looked down at you on your knees still. “You look so pretty on your knees for me”, you smiled around his cock and sucked him harder, causing his hips to jut forward. “Shit! Do that again, you can take more of me I know you can”.

You loved seeing the competition in his eyes as you raised slightly up, taking a deep breath through your nose and sucked him harder and tried to swallow his entire length, gagging but keeping him there wanting to pleasure him, even as your eyes filled with tears. Eddie always liked to push your limits but you try and relax to not overwhelm yourself as his bush again tickled your nose.

“Angel, I’m going to cum already if you do that again”, Eddie admits as he watches Steve hold back your hair that was damp with sweat. Hearing those words from Eddie, only drove you to make him cum, wanting to taste his seed so you moved faster, sucking his heavy cock with more power and need.

Eddie on the other hand did not appreciate this as he released Steve’s cock to grab his hand instead, pulling your hair back harshly so that you were moved off of his cock and you couldn’t help but grin up at him, a string of salviia conneting your lips and his cock. Eddie was flushed and breathing heavily as he stared down at you. “Didn’t say I wanted to cum did I?”, he retorted at you.

However, it was Steve who spoke next, breathing just as heavily as Eddie. “You know, I used to remember her being one of the loudest during cheer, why don’t we try it out?”

Frowning at his idea, embarrassed by the thought of having to shout whatever it is that they had in mind, you tried and pull against their hold on their head to return sucking of Eddie but they held onto you firmly. “I guess you’re right, can’t cheer with my cock in your mouth. Why don’t we try something else, stand up for us, Sweetheart”.

Eddie and Steve release your hair and firmly grip under your arms, helping you to stand and steady yourself with how wobbly your legs now felt after being on your knees for so long. “Come here, Honey”, Steve instructs, his strong hands still supporting you as he now smiled down at you. 

Then you’re completely hypnotised by Steve as he presses his lips to yours, slowly and deeply kissing and tasting you, moaning as hints of Eddie coated Steve’s tongue as he pushes it into your mouth. With his distraction, you were hardly aware of his wandering hands as they reached under your skirt and pushed the flimsy material of your panties down until they rested at your thighs.

It was only when his hand spanked your arse did you pull away from his mouth to gasp loudly at the sting that settled across the soft skin of your cheek. Steve spanked again, the noise sharp in your ears as he then massaged the area before turning you around so that you were facing Eddie, “I need to feel you, Princess”.

Steve rested a heavy hand against your shoulder, pushing your upper body against Eddi’es so your face rested against his warm chest and your skirt was lifted to expose your ass to him.  Steve curses taking in the sight of you slightly bent over, all pretty and cock drunk and waiting for him to fuck you. With his cock still wet from your lips, he reached down, sliding his hips closer to yours and slowly eased his cock into your soaked pussy.

“Ah- Steve!”, your moans were like sweet music to his ear as he slowly begins to rock his hips, his hands massaging your hips before one clenched into your hair, yanking your head back so pain flashes through your scalp. You love it however as you clench tighter around him, even at the odd angle that your neck is not bent, exposing the front of it to Eddie as you held on tightly to his shoulders so that you didn’t topple over.

“That’s better!”, Eddie encourages as he strokes the back of his finger against your cheek, wiping some salvia that had dribbled there. “Now, where were we? Oh yes! Come on Angel, yell for us”.

Your silence was enough that Steve stopped fucking you, his lips hovering over your ear as you whimpered at him to keep going. “You want me to carry on, then you’re going to listen to Eddie, understood?”

“Yes, I understand”, you whined whilst trying to rock yourself back on Steve’s cock.

“Good”, Steve began moving in and out of you once more, his hips snapping against yours as he spoke. “Give me a D, give me an A, give me a D D Y!”

Your body trembled with embarrassment but you did just as instructed, “D A D D Y”, you mumbled in a half-assed volume.

Eddie shook his head, “We won’t be able to hear you with a shout like that”, he chastised. “Again! And louder this time so that everyone in the trailer park can hear”.

With each snap of Steve’s hips, you shouted a letter until you were hollering the word DADDY loud enough that the neighbours were sure to hear. Eddie was loving it with how hard his cock was throbbing in front of you, especially looking over your shoulder and seeing how flushed Steve was as he continued to fuck you as you shouted the nickname that you liked to call him during intimate moments like this.

“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Now what about me?” Eddie mocked before he lifted your cheerleading top, exposing your breasts of which he promptly dropped his height to suck on each of your nipples in turn. Your nails dug into his shoulders as his teeth nipped harshly on the peak, then licked the pain away. 

You let out a quivering moan as you work up the courage to shout, S I R, with Steve’s thrusts. Eddie laughs around your breast at your pathetic attempts but knew you were teetering on the edge of going too far with his degradation so he sweetly kissed the side of your stomach. “Doing so well for us Angel, taking Steve’s cock like that, doing everything we tell you to. Jesus H. Christ, how did we get so lucky?”

You mewl at the praises, starting to feel overwhelmed at the harsh touches of your hair still being pulled on, your breasts being groped and played with by Eddie and the cock that was desperately fucking your cunt, causing loud squelches from how wet you were. But then there were his words, the little kisses from both of your boyfriends and despite all of the degrading and teasing, you still held so much affection and love for them both. You wanted to tell them just how much you adored them however the words that tumbled from your lips were an incoherent mess.

“I…I - Lov- Want you- Need you-”, there were almost tears forming in your eyes with how frustrated you were getting with yourself for not being able to tell them how much you loved them. Steve and Eddie didn’t need to hear though as they simultaneously kisses the closest body part, Steve your shoulder and Eddie your sternum.

“I know Honey, it’s a lot, isn’t it? You’re doing amazing Baby, wanna cum on my cock?”

“Yes…please”, you sob, clinging to Eddie as he began to move lower, your hands now holding onto his hair.

“Always so polite”, Eddie chuckles as he watches Steve slow his thrusts but only so he could fuck you deeply and each stroke caressed every single nerve in your pussy. This was then when the long-haired man spread your legs further apart which was limited by the panties still around your thighs but it gave him just enough room to dip his head down and lick your clit.

You weren’t able to ask for permission to cum as you saw stars, breath catching in your throat as your whole body shivered and throbbed with your orgasm. Once again they both had to hold you up as your cunt spasmed around Steve’s cock and he tipped his head back trying not to cum but it was no use. “Shit, sh-it, you’re so tight Baby, I’m cumming, that’s it, take it all!”. You could feel his cum spurting into your cunt, coating your walls and dripping out of the edge and down your thighs.

You all but slumped forward completely onto Eddie as he finally stood back up. Steve on the other hand had pulled out of you and was removing your panties completely from your body, using two fingers to push his cum back into your still fluttering hole. Eddie admired your dazed face for a second before stroking your hair away from your ear, “Shall we show Steve just how flexible you are?”

Giving him a simple nod, Eddie walks you over to the couch, lying you down on your back, your breasts still exposed and your skirt now bunched around your waist. Eddie gives you a proud smile, leaning down to kiss you softly and sweetly, a touch that had you craving more and groaning as he moved away. His rings were cool against your thighs as he began to push your legs back until your knees were by your shoulders.

In this position and basically being folded in half, you could see how soaked your pussy and the tops of your thighs were with your juices and feel Steve’s cum oozing out and down over your asshole. “Can’t let that go to waste now can we?” Eddie mumbles, dipping down and licking up the cum and swallowing it all. You and Steve groaned desperately at the sight before you’re being distracted as Eddie knelt properly over you and began to slide his cock into your cunt.

Eddie holds you down and fucks you fast and hard, the cushions of the couch springing your body up and down which only helped with his momentum. At one point Steve stood behind you and began to hold down your legs so that Eddie could stroke your clit in rough swipes.

Your orgasm hit you like a train, and as you were being held down, you couldn't wither and move to release the tension that was pulsing through you. It was so thoroughly intense that you couldn’t even form words anymore but Eddie kept going, fucking you through your orgasm that it formed into another. However, this time, as he fucked you hard and deep, his tip brushing against your cervix and g-spot with each thrust, it was too overwhelming for you and everywhere between your legs felt too sensitive.

As the next orgasm clenches through you, your moans stutter as you struggle to catch your breath and when your face clenches tightly and the noises coming from your mouth change, was when Eddie notice that you might have been too overwhelmed.

Eddie grabs your chin, forcing you to look towards him but your eyes are closed so he leans down to kiss your nose. “What’s your colour, Sweetheart?”

“Ye-yel-yello-”, you can’t even form the word properly but he understands enough. Steve releases your legs, easing them on either side of Eddi’es body as he crowds down around you, like an overheated cocoon, the small space helping to ground you. The two of you catch your breaths as Steve strokes your hair away from your face where it nuzzled into Eddie’s neck.

“Want me to pull out?” Eddie asks, kissing your cheek gently and pushing up on his hands so that he could look at your face again where it's a lot more relaxed than it had been.

“No, No I just need a second”, you explained, feeling too sensitive that you didn’t want him to move anything down there, knowing the sensation would pass in a moment, just needed to calm down enough that you wanted to continue. If you’d shouted red, he knew to pull out and find out what was hurting or scaring you but when you said yellow, it was mostly because you just needed a moment before it became too overwhelming.

Eddie and Steve continue to hold you for a couple of minutes and after taking a deep breath, you dared to open flutter open your eyes and look at both men. “I’m ok, it just felt like a lot but I’m green, I promise”.

Steve gives you an upside down kiss from where he stood over you both and then Eddie drops down kisses down your neck, moving his hips slowly, being careful like you were fragile and close to breaking but you appreciated the careful movements. However as your arousal quickly builds again, you’re wanting it harder and faster.

Reaching behind you for Steve’s hand, you placed it around your neck, wanting him to choke you which he did with a deep chuckle as your legs wrapped tightly around Eddie’s hips, encouraging him as well. Eddie didn’t need to be told twice and he was soon fucking you vigorously as Steve applied the slightest bit of pressure, not enough that you were struggling to breathe but enough to have you feeling light and dizzy.

“Look so pretty like this beneath me, taking my cock so well, I’m gonna cum now Angel, you gonna take it all like a good girl?”

“Yes Sir”, you gasp as he shifted his hips and began to fuck directly into your g-spot. Instantly your legs dropped open as you were once more overwhelmed with pleasure and cumming with Eddie who grunted just as loudly as you moaned through each of your orgasms.

As soon as he stopped spilling his seed, he pulled out and moved away but was swiftly replaced by Steve who sat back on the couch and pulled your trembling body into his arms. You’re still moaning, clenching and shivering as he holds you close, lips against your temple as he whispered sweet praises to you, “Did so well for both of us, so proud of you babe, we’re gonna look after you ok? Just take a few deep breaths for me, I need you to slow you breathing down, that’s it, well done”. 

You hadn’t even realised just how panicked your body was reacting to being overstimulated and thoroughly fucked, drifting into a submissive space of needing the comfort of their warm bodies. Each word that Steve spoke, you mentally clung onto, slowing your breathing down which in turn settled your disorientated mind.

You were still shaking as if you were cold, even though you were still half-dressed in the cheerleader uniform as you nuzzled into his neck, breathing in his smell. This was when another pair of hands rested against your thighs, easing them open slightly. “Careful Sweetheart, just going to clean you”. Even though Eddie was soft and tender with his touches, you still couldn’t help from flinching at the contact of the warm cloth stroking over your puffy, used pussy. “All done, now I need you to drink this for us”.

You turn your head towards the voice and then a glass is pressed against your lips, opening your mouth, Eddie helps you to drink the glass of water before you once more nuzzle into Steve. “Are you in pain?” the man holding you asks. You’re still feeling floaty so you try and shake your head, not wanting them to worry, only wanting to make them happy.

“I need to hear your words, Baby, you know that”, Steve continues, sitting up slightly so that you're forced to move away from his neck.

“N-No”, you whisper, giving the automatic answer but then you really thought about it, especially as the adrenaline began to wear off.

Eddie and Steve noted the stutter and shared a worried look. “You sure about that?” Eddie asked, his fingers interlocking with yours, another move to help ground you to the moment rather than getting lost between whether you were still in a dom/sub scene or the reality that it was over.

“N-no, I’m not sure”, you admit after a couple of minutes.

“Talk to us, what are you not sure about? Where does it hurt?” Steve encouraged.

“I have a tummy ache”, finally you admit, feeling a dull throb in your stomach, almost like a light period cramp.

“Sorry Sweetheart, did I go too hard?” Eddie asks guilty, his doe eyes wide with worry.

“No, you didn’t go too hard, I mean, I liked it”, you say, finally opening your eyes and smiling sweetly at him. Perking your lips Eddie got the hint and leaned forward for a gentle kiss before he stood and walked into the open kitchen area. A couple more minutes passed as the moisture that had formed on your skin began to cool, you shivered as a calm gust of air brushed over your body. Eddie returned then, with a hot water bottle which he pressed against your stomach, some pain relief that you took, a blanket and a bag of chips that Steve helped you to eat after taking a greedy handful for yourself.

“Was everything else ok?” Steve asked with a mouth full of snacks.

“Yeah, everything else was great”, you answer honestly and tiredly against his shoulder, still feeling limp in your body.

“What about needing a break? What happened there?” Eddie asked as he sat next to Steve, behind your back, crowding in close to you both once more.

“Just felt like a little too much, I knew I just needed a break, I wouldn’t have asked you to do anything differently”.

“What about you? Everything ok with you?” Steve asks Eddie as he feeds him a couple of chips.

“Yeah, everything was perfect with me, you?” Eddie asks, smiling genuinely at his boyfriend.

“Yeah, everything is perfect with me too”. The boys lean in and kiss each other slowly before Steve leans back with an idea, “Shall we go out for some food? I’ve heard there’s a new Italian a couple of blocks away from Nancy’s.”

You frown and open your eyes to look up to Steve who was now looking down at you with a shit-eating grin then you realise he was joking. “Funny Stevie, I don’t think I’m going to be on my feet any time soon but food does sound good and more than just chips”.

“How about I order in? Pretty sure I’ve got a couple of coupons in my car”, Steve manhandled and shuffled your body until you were in Eddie’s arms who was now dressed in so grey joggers and Steve rushed to the bedroom to find his own, then out of the front door to go to his car.

Snuggling in close to Eddie, feeling the heaviness of sleep starting to take over your body. That is until he whispers against your hair, “I bet you ten bucks you’re asleep before he comes back”.

Your eyes snap open as you look up at him, fighting sleep as you confidently responded, “You’re on Munson”.

[sundew199]

Times Two

a/n: good lord this is long and filthy. If you prefer to read it on AO3, it'll be linked. I've also never written a threesome before and tried my best, hopefully it isn't too horrible :)

words: 8,180

tags: Reiner x Jean x F!reader, rough sex, rough oral sex, Eiffel tower position, slight panty kink (Reiner), cum eating, Reiner and Jean are Bisexual, College AU, Reijean if you pay attention or care lol, pet names

What was it about Reiner and Jean that had you constantly glued to their hips? If you’re friends were to ask they’d say it was a double crush you were denying. If you asked your family their answers would vary from underlying crush, to enjoying being the center of attention or a close friendship. You personally didn’t think you were attached to their hips at first, but the more people started to whisper and theorize, you started to ask yourself the question. In reality, Reiner and Jean were your closest and longest friends, surviving multiple friend groups and growing up. You met Reiner in grade school, sat next to him on the first day of fourth grade and throughout the whole year due to the teacher’s assigned seating. The two of you might as well have been siblings, walking home together, eating dinner and playing at each other's house, even his mom and your parents were close after a while. Jean entered the scene later, seventh grade to be exact when he transferred mid year and as luck would have it the three of you shared almost all classes together. Reiner was the one who sought out Jean’s friendship and you became friends by proxy and from then on all the way to college the three of you were tight knit. 

Attending the same university is what you think further solidified the glue between the three of you, swearing to everyone it wasn’t intentional to attend the same university together. Some believed you and others didn’t, but you really didn’t care. Thankfully rumors spreading about you being in a three way relationship with them ended going to college, high school was rampant. You’d admit that it did bother you, because why couldn’t you be really good friends with two guys? Why did everyone have to make it seem the other way around? Reiner and Jean never hesitated to defend your honor against the rumors, landing themselves in suspension once or twice when defending you turned physical. Even when you tried to blame yourself, they never allowed it. 

Now when people questioned what the true nature of your friendship was with them, you’d play into the bit and come up with wildly different answers on how the dynamics of the relationship worked. Reiner and Jean both got a kick out of it as did you. 

Junior year of college is what changed things for the three of you. Since you couldn’t room with them in the dorms since they were guys, all three of you decided to rent a condo off campus. You’d spent almost all your life with both of them so there wasn’t any harm in living with them, besides all three of you were just friends. 

Towards the end of the first semester of junior year already and finals quickly approaching, you were buried in your books, studying like a madman to keep your GPA around or above a 3.5, needing the best possible grades to earn the degree you were working towards. Jean and Reiner had it easy in your mind, ashy haired man working towards a degree in Art History and the blonde meathead shooting towards that finance degree. In hindsight, they didn’t have it much easier than you, but they were also stupidly smart in their own respective studies. You envied them in a sense. 

It was chilly out, keeping two blankets wrapped around you sitting at your desk and scrolling through the notes you took the other day to refresh your mind for the practice test on Monday. As much as you wanted to deny it, you need a mental break from school but wouldn’t allow yourself to take it, not when so much was riding on the line. 

“Hey.” 

Jumping in your chair at the sound of a gruff voice at your bedroom door, blinking and rubbing your eyes from staring at the screen for too long. Swiveling to face whichever one of them it was, you wrapped the blanket around you tightly. 

“Yea.” 

“Are you still planning on watching the season premier of the show later?” Reiner asked, tapping his knuckles on your doorframe and leaning into it. Your eyes refused to focus on his face and instead on the bulging bicep through the fabric of the long sleeve shirt he wore. Since when were his arms that big? I mean fuck you knew he worked out but you’d never noticed how ripped his arms alone were. 

“Yeah if I finish going through my notes.” 

Reiner scoffed, rolling his eyes and approaching you, reaching over you to slam the laptop shut, deciding for you if you were going to look over the rest of your notes or not. 

“Reiner-” 

“You’ve been holed up in here for almost two days. I know finals are important but I’ll bet your brain is fried to a crisp.” Defiantly declaring, crossing those beefy ass arms over his chest and waiting for you to give in like he knew you would. 

Whatever. The premier of the new season of the show the three of you watched would only be an hour, and then you could return to forcing yourself to absorb as much information as possible. Sighing dramatically for effect and throwing the blankets off of yourself, you uncross your stupidly numb legs and ignore the sharp tingles running up from your foot as you stride over to the small closet to put on a sweatshirt. Reiner didn’t bother leaving as you tossed your t-shirt and bra from where you stood partially out of view to pull the sweatshirt over your head. 

“Jean is picking up food and drinks - is that my sweatshirt that I haven’t been able to find?” Sounding hurt and accusatory as you brushed past him out of your room, looking back to nod with a smile, because yes it was his and it was his fault for mixing it in with your laundry. He muttered down the small hallway to the main area of the condo all three of you shared, pinching your shoulder when he purposely knocked past you, hearing the muttering replaced with chuckles. 

One of them had taken the liberty to find all the blankets that were supposed to already be in the living room and tossed them all over the couch, setting up for the three of you to comfortably watch the premier. You could hear Reiner in the kitchen that flowed into the open concept living room, making a whole bunch of unnecessary noise in trying to find whatever it was. If you were being honest, living with your closest friends was turning into living with siblings, getting into pointless arguments and doing everything to get on each other's nerves. Would you change it to live with a regular roommate that could be a hit or miss in how well you got alone? Hell no. 

Finding a spot on the couch while waiting for Jean, you decided to look through all the notifications you missed while studying for hours. Some of your classmates were checking in, or asking questions about the notes, contemplating on whether you should respond. They could wait, Reiner was probably right when he said your brain was fried at this point. Checking social media quickly turned into envy seeing some of your other friends enjoying the holiday break, done with their finals and celebrating by jumping from parties to bars or wherever they sold cheap alcohol. If only you were done with finals so you could actually destress, but that just wasn’t in the cards. 

Jean came through the door after barreling through it, hands full with food and drinks. From the strong aroma, you knew he went to go get wings, always choosing the messiest option somehow. 

“Damn out of your room finally? Swore you died or something.” Commenting with a smirk as he passed by the couch to get to the kitchen where Reiner was snickering at his comment. Rolling your eyes instead of lashing back, you joined them in the kitchen to plate some of the food and momentarily forget about the weight of finals. 

“Please tell me you didn’t just get beer.” Approaching the center island of the kitchen, noticing the familiar white box in one of the bags that happened to be Jean and Reiner’s preferred drink of choice. If they wanted to give you a break, they would’ve at least gotten drinks that didn’t take four or five to actually start to feel the buzz. 

“No, I got you those lemonade drinks.” 

Ugh you could kiss him. As much as you loved Jean as a friend he had a tendency to forget to grab whatever you needed when he went out, always having to send you or Reiner back to the store to go grab it. Taking the glass bottle and popping the lid, the tingling fizzy drink left a slight burn as it went down your throat, just the right amount for you to down an entire six pack in a night and not regret your life choices in the morning. 

“Shows about to start.” Reiner announced after checking his phone, taking his plate with him to the couch. You and Jean did the same, grabbing the drinks as well to keep from having to get up and get another if you wanted. 

Sitting next to Reiner at a reasonable distance, Jean plopped down next to you and ended up sandwiching you between them. They were doing the absolute most to work every single one of your nerves, but you didn’t want to lash out again like you did earlier this week when one of them accidently ate your leftovers in the fridge. Tucking your feet under you as Reiner found the streaming service the show was premiering on, you actually didn’t mind being squished between them, their combined body heat doing more than the blanket over your lap would warm you up. 

The host for the show gave a quick recap of last season, breaking down the drama and how it might affect this season. This dating competition game that you had started watching out of boredom surprisingly took the guys interest, somehow watching it with you when it was on to turning into offense when you’d watch the latest episode without them. Despite the show being corny and scripted and at times unbearable to watch, it was nice to do something like this with them. 

“I swear to god if Jodi and that dick Preston aren’t broken up I might not watch the show anymore.” 

Jean hummed in agreement with Reiner, guzzling down the rest of his first beer and reaching for another. “I know, he’s so fucking annoying and Jodi is either dumb or desperate if she hasn’t left him yet.” 

Biting back a laugh as you took a bite of one of the wings, you looked at both of them to see they were being completely serious, so engrossed in this stupid show. The premise of this variant of a dating show was two people are paired up as a couple in the beginning and go through a series of challenges to see if they’re right for each other. Couples who continuously didn’t work together could get voted off or petition to break up with their partner. The downside was if there wasn’t another couple trying to split, you could be left without a partner and voted off, ya know all those stupid dating show rules that make you question why anyone would sign up to do it. 

Finally beginning to destress while nursing your vodka infused lemonade, it all went to shit when the couple you were rooting for petitioned to split. 

“Oh my god no! Why?! They were so good together!” Exclaiming and throwing your arms up, throwing your head back into the couch and pouting like a child. 

“Man that sucks, but he did fuck Serena last season so I’d leave him to.” Reiner commented, grabbing your attention even more, failing to recall that important detail. 

“Really?” 

“Oh yeah, they were getting each other off in that hallway, remember? Moaning so loud it's a shocker no one heard them.” Jean answered, laughing a little as he recalled the scene you’d clearly missed. 

“Yea! She was standing there going ‘oh josh faster! I'm going to cum, oh my god I’m so close!’” Reiner took it upon himself to imitate the moans one of the contestants were making, and you wouldn’t have felt as uncomfortable if it wasn't for that throaty laugh he let out there at the end, turning your cheeks flush with pink and throwing back the rest of your drink to hide it. Jean found Reiner’s imitation hilarious, laughing a bit harder than you’d imagine he would if he wasn’t finishing his second beer already, grabbing another and throwing his arm behind the couch and slouching, lifting his hips in the air trying to get comfortable. 

Suddenly the short commercial playing on screen was so interesting, taking small sips of the second bottle of lemonade and trying to drown out the sounds of their talking over you. Studying your ass off for the last couple of months left you little to no time to snag yourself a quick one night stand. You’d been able to ignore the urges and pour everything into your notes and reviews, but fuck it was harder than you expected. Espescially when you pick up on conversations between Reiner and Jean on their nights out, the girls they sometimes went home with and wishing you were getting fucked into the next semester. When all three of you moved in here, everyone agreed not to bring anyone home, unless clearing it with the other two that they’d be gone for the night. It hadn’t happen yet (that you were aware of) and you were glad, unsure how you’d feel knowing one of your best friends was getting their dick wet and having to listen to it. 

Regular programming returned and tried as you did to focus on what was unfolding, you just couldn’t. Replaying Reiner’s laugh in your head and Jean’s hip motion, turning you warm all over and settling something funny yet familiar in your abdomen. You wouldn’t lie and say you haven’t though about fucking one of them, mostly they were just passing thoughts and that was it, but now? Jesus fucking christ your head was a mess. This what you get for turning down outings with other friends to study, leaving you hornier than a motherfucker. It’d be fine, the show only had about thirty minutes left and then you could go back to studying and rub one out if you really needed to. 

“I wonder why there aren’t any same sex couples? I’d like to see how that plays out.” Jean’s words had a slight slur to them as he spoke, now reclined completely with his feet propped up on the coffee table. 

“Wasn’t there one last season?” Reiner asked, in a similar position as Jean, one arm behind his head and his half drank beer between his thighs. 

“Mm no, I think Zach and Marco made out on a dare but they weren’t a couple.” Giving them an answer after searching through your brain for that jaw dropping scene from last season that had everyone talking about on social media.

“Oh yea I remember that, that was hot.” Jean slurred, heat dripping in his words and causing you to raise an eyebrow. Maybe it was because he was drunk, that was what you told yourself instead of questioning how your friend really felt about that scene unfolding.  

Every little movement either of them did drew your attention, watching as Reiner drank the last of his beer, adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, only to be pulled away by Jean’s groans as he adjusted on the couch. They weren’t doing it on purpose and you were tipsy so that explained the clenching of your thighs to ease the throb, not because you were getting turned on by them. 

A preview of next week's episode played at the end of the premier, taking the liberty to watch it before getting up and heading back to your room to get your mind out of the gutter. But as you walked away, Reiner grabbed your wrist, pulling you back towards him lazily. 

“Leaving already?” 

“I said I’d watch the premier with you guys and then study before going to bed.” Ignoring how large his hand looked around your wrist and how warm it was on your skin, taking in a sharp breath. 

“It’s Friday though.” The blonde whined, the slight inebriation turning him a bit sappy. 

“Play a game of cards with us and then go, please.” Jean chimed in, fluttering those hazel eyes at you, begging to spend just a little more time together. 

Not giving it much thought, you let out a sigh and walked to the media console below where the T.V hung on the wall to grab the deck of cards. Surely there was a quick game the three of you could play that wouldn’t send your mind further into the gutter or put you in a compromising situation. Jean managed to get up and grab some water for everyone, tossing one to you and Reiner as he sat down on the floor behind the coffee table, leaning back into the couch for support. 

“One round of B.S, alright?” Shuffling the cards between your hands and the table, repeatedly doing so that way everyone played fairly. 

“Lame but alright.” Jean agreed, chugging some of the water and sharing a look with Reiner that you didn’t understand and didn’t care to acknowledge. 

Dividing the entire deck between the three of you, now waiting for one of them to put down the ace of spades to begin the game. Reiner ended up having it and motioned towards you to go next. This game used to be a staple for you guys, playing every chance you got and getting into heated arguments whenever someone suspected someone else of putting down the incorrect card. 

The game went quietly in the beginning, until you picked up on Jean and Reiner putting down cards that they ‘supposedly’ had, smiling behind your deck every time they called out cards that were in your deck, the only thing keeping you from calling them out was waiting until the deck got a little thicker. 

“Two eights.” Reiner called out, looking at you to go next. 

“Bullshit.” 

“Ha! You sure? Cause I promise you I just put down two eights.” Reiner laughed, encouraging you to rethink your decision but also egging you on to check in hopes of watching you take the entire deck. 

“Check it.” Jean motivated from beside you, pushing his shoulder with yours. Reiner still had that confident look on his face which did end up making you regret your call out a bit, second guessing if you were right to call his bluff. No matter what since you called B.S, you had to check and you were going to livid if it actually was two eights. 

Reaching forward and thumbing apart the top two cards from the rest of the deck, you snuck a peak and saw what you didn’t want to see; two eights. 

“Nevermind, I take it back.” Knowing that wasn’t how the game worked but hoping you could worm your way out of it. 

“Uh uh, check.” Reiner insisted while standing up, coming to lean over you from behind, taking your arm and trying to force you to check the first two cards so the entire deck would go to you. Doing everything to resist, laughing as the man behind you snarled and laughed in your ear, still trying to force you to check with his hand over yours. Jean was leaning over to help, slipping an arm under the one that held your deck in the other hand, sandwiching you between them for the second time that night. 

“Just check, it’s okay if you’re a loser this round.” The taller of the two sneered in your other ear, brushing his lips over the shell and letting out a breathy laugh. You instantly shivered and became much more aware of your position, Reiner pressed into you from behind and Jean from the side. Heat rose in your entire body, refusing to let yourself enjoy the firm muscular bodies rubbing against yours. 

Resistance faltered completely as you got caught up in the overwhelming thoughts and sensations coursing through you, Reiner succeeding in getting your hand to flip over the top three cards, chuckling directly into ear. 

“Now was that so hard?” So close to the side of your face, you couldn’t help but turn and meet him. His eyes were still a bit hazy from the alcohol but not enough for you to feel guilty for leaning in and pressing your lips to his. 

Reiner gasped softly, giving into the feel of your soft plush lips on his and parting them when he felt yours begin to. You had absolutely no explanation for what spurred you to lean in and kiss what you considered your best friend, but you did and fuck did it feel nice. Reiner’s lips were surprisingly soft and the lingering remnants of his beer on his tongue kept you latched to his mouth. 

Behind you, Jean watched intrigued, though not entirely shocked. He would feel left out if he weren’t enjoying his two best friends making out on the floor of the living room, noticing how his sweat pants turned a little tighter. He smirked when Reiner peeked an eye open, a silent invitation to join in while pulling away from you. Jean wasted no time grabbing you by the back of your neck and slotting his lips into yours, sighing delightfully and wasting no time moving them with his. 

There wasn’t enough time for you to process that it was Jean you were kissing now, your other best friend, letting out a small moan when his tongue dipped into your mouth. He was slightly more insistent than Reiner was, moving faster and with a purpose but still reeling you in as your mouths stayed locked together. 

Coming up for air, not even wanting to think about what had just happened, you stood quickly. 

“C’mon,” Nodding towards what you think was Reiner’s room, knowing that if you gave yourself a moment to consider what you were about to do, you’d back out and hole yourself away in your room and never speak of this again. 

Both of them were quick to follow, smiling victoriously behind you. The door shut and you sat on the edge of Reiner’s bed, looking at both of them and debating on how this should continue to carry out. Consequences could come later, right now you’d gotten a taste of what you’d been actively avoiding for the sake of a GPA and needing so much more. 

“However you want to do this, I’m down.” Voicing your consent and ultimately putting all of your trust in both of them. You would admit this could be smoother sailing since you’d known both of them since childhood basically, but just not like that. There wouldn’t be much need to worry about keeping them in check like you would if it were someone you went home from the bar with and part of that excited you. 

Out of the two of them, Jean approached first, standing between your legs and grabbing your face and kissing you again. Slowly as your mouths returned to motions from minutes ago, the taller man began to push you back into the bed, holding himself above you with his hands beside your head. The bed dipped in the sudden weight of another person, knowing it was Reiner. 

Slender hands slipped under your sweatshirt, roaming around your skin and littering it with goosebumps. You gasped when the lith fingers brushed the underside of your breast, remembering you weren’t wearing a bra. Jean chuckled into your lips, humming as he dared to cup the flesh, sighing pleasantly when brushing his thumb over your nipple. 

Abruptly his mouth left yours, leaving you dazed and sitting up to search for his lips, only to see hands that weren’t Jean’s pulling his shirt off. Reiner stood on his knees just behind your head, tossing the shirt to the other side of the room and giving a playful smack to Jean’s pectoral. 

“Sharing is caring by the way.” The blonde rumbled behind you, scolding Jean and pinching his nipple teasingly, hearing Jean hiss softly before Reiner slipped his arms under your armpits and hauling you to face him. He was in nothing but his boxer briefs, the faint imprint of his half hard cock catching your eyes and widening at how big it looked beneath the fabric. Fuck you hadn’t even thought about how big either of them were, both impressively fit and no doubt having a dick to match the rigid muscles rippling over their bodies. 

Falling with Reiner as he leaned back on the bed, you threw your legs over his torso and smashed your mouth to his, feeling another set of hands from behind you lift the hem of your sweatshirt until you were bare from the waist up. The man below you groaned when you sat up on his abdomen, running his hand across your stomach. Acquainted hands from earlier snakes around to your chest, Jean cupping both of your tits and softly kissing down your neck while circling his thumbs over your nipples. 

“Fuck,” Reiner breathed from below, raising his hips as he watched Jean tease and stimulate your nipples in to pert buds. Mindlessly, you began to scoot down until you came in contact with the bulge beneath Reiner’s boxers, grinding in time with Jean’s circling thumbs. The blonde groaned again, bringing his hands to your hips and encouraging you. 

“Eager huh?” A voice teased, pinching both nipples harshly and sucking the side of your neck. You couldn’t think of anything but the rising heat in your body, the teasing from Jean and the quieted groans from Reiner below. Maybe you were stupid for never giving this a shot before, both seemed eager and willing to please and show you what a good time looked like. 

“Are these my sweat pants?” Jean asked, pulling off of your neck and slipping one of his hands to the waistband of said sweats, snapping the band against your skin. 

“Mhm.” Unable to give any other answer as Reiner started rolling his hips up to yours, matching the roll of your own. Wasn’t intentional to wear either of their clothes but seeing how it looked now only made you more desperate for them and if that got you what you wanted, then where was the harm. Reiner began to tug at the waistband, sitting up on his elbows after hearing the short conversation between you and Jean, aiding him by lifting your hips and no longer straddling his waist. 

Enough teasing, you decided, pulling down Reiner’s boxer briefs after he tossed the sweats aside, gripping the base and watching his face contort at the contact. He was thick from the base up, intimidating you from the sight and size alone. Jean chuckled, moving to lay beside his friend, cupping the side of his face and hovering above his lips. Interesting to see there was no resistance from Reiner when their lips slipped together, craning to reach the ashy haired man like he was desperate for his taste. Smirking while the two of them made out, you flattened your tongue over the top of Reiner’s cockhead, fluttering your eyes at the delicious groan that Jean swallowed from Reiner. It’d take some working up to taking his dick all the way down, girthy enough to know your jaw would ache when it was all said and done. 

Sucking around the head and moaning when Reiner’s hand reached down to grip Jean’s dick still shielded by the fabric of his briefs, seeing his hand move up and down. Had they done this before? You couldn't help but wonder the more you took Reiner’s dick down seeing how they were both so comfortable with each other’s touch, and the slight jealousy of being left out. Jean’s hip rutted into Reiner’s hand, breaking their make out session to finally pull his briefs off and give you a look at what he was packing as well. It was slightly longer than Reiner’s, by an inch or two but not as thick, pausing your bobbing head to stare between his legs. 

“I think she likes it.” Reiner hissed, bringing a hand to your head, pushing you further down his dick and letting his head fall back when the tip brushed the back of your throat. 

“Haven’t met anyone who hasn’t.” Jean quipped back, moving off the bed and coming to stand behind you. You watched Reiner’s eyes follow him, a sly smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. Warm hands massaged your ass cheeks, gasping around the cock still deep in your throat when two fingers swiped over your clothed pussy. 

“Fucking soaked.” He commented behind you, Reiner groaning approvingly as he still guided your head up and down on his dick. Jean then pulled your panties down, tossing them over to Reiner who shamelessly brought them to his nose, listening to him mutter a few words and pull you off of his dick to give you a break. Jean then took to spreading you apart, licking a strip from your clit to your entrance, squeaking out a moan and falling forward onto Reiner’s abdomen. The blonde pulled you forward until your tits dangled in his face, taking one into his mouth. 

“Holy shit-” Gasping at the double stimulation, forgetting all shame and grinding back into Jean’s face, who appreciated the gesture with a firm slap to one ass cheek, dipping his tongue inside you, slurping obnoxiously. You were shaking, struggling to hold yourself up, moaning like the whore you felt like. Reiner managed to keep you steady above him, holding you so he could bite and suck at your over sensitive nipples. You knew both of them were experienced but fuck, they were intent on making it impossible to make any future hookups impossible to enjoy, hoping this wouldn’t be a one time thing. 

Reiner suddenly bit down hard on your nipple, pulling off it with a tug and causing you to wince at the slight pain. Unsure of what would cause him to do that, you turned around to see one of Jean’s hands between your bodies, languidly stroking the blonde’s spit coated dick. This wasn’t exactly the right time to question the nature of your two friends' relationship, but the way Reiner was moaning and struggling to return to the task at hand, it continuously flashed in the back of your head. Jean was still buried in your pussy while simultaneously jacking Reiner off, pressing your forehead to Reiner’s and practically synchronizing your moans. 

“Fuck, have you two done this before?” asking the man below you, watching his slow nod come before his answer. 

“Yea - fuck - every once in a while.” panting as his hips grinded into Jean’s hand, and sitting up enough to where he could pry the man away, seconds away from cumming. 

Jean took the hint, also pulling away from your pussy and stroking it affectionately. You winced at the final slap he gave to your ass, coming back to lay beside Reiner, taking the side of his face and turning it towards him. 

“Pussy tastes fuckin’ devine.” 

“Oh yea?” Bolding swiping his tongue over Jean’s bottom lip, speaking as if you weren’t there listening to them talk. You watched as they kissed again, yearning for the combined taste and chastising yourself for not noticing the signs for whatever they had going on sooner. 

“Think I need a better taste for myself, lay down for me baby.” Reiner instructed, already moving to get out from under you. Jean chuckled deviously, pecking the side of your mouth and moving to the very back of the bed, reclining against the headboard, patting his inner thigh. Reiner immediately knew what he was wanting and waited until you were sitting between the other man’s legs to center him between yours. 

“Keep’em spread for me.” Glancing up to the other man, running his palms over your inner thighs. 

You were already so sensitive from Jean eating you out minutes ago, you were afraid you weren’t going to last much longer. Nevertheless, you let Jean hook your legs over his and watched on baited breath as the blonde examined your slick and puffy folds. 

“Fuck, such a pretty pussy.” His voice so airy, breathing over your cunt prior to latching onto your clit. Your back arched off of Jean’s chest, whining at the intentionally harsh sucks. The man behind you held you down with an arm around your chest, chuckling right beside your ear. Reiner looked up, smiled against your tingling flesh and flicked his tongue over your clit while he continued to suck. 

Jesus fucking christ, it was too much, you were already starting to feel yourself cum when Jean’s hand tipped your head back. “Don’t cum, not yet gorgeous.” 

“Jean, I can’t.” Mewling pathetically, feeling the beginnings of tears at your waterline from the overstimulation. 

“Sure you can.” Giving a slow grind of his dick on your lower back, the promise of a silent reward if you did what you were told. Keeping your head thrown back on his shoulder you shamelessly moaned and whimpered as Reiner alternated between sucks and swirls of his tongue, listening to his chuckles as you writhed against Jean. He finally pulled away only to shove his middle and ring finger inside, pulling you too look at him by your chin as he sat on his knees between your legs and furiously fingered you. 

“Fuck look at you, so pretty baby.” He cooed with a smirk, running along the spongy part deep inside of you and giving a small tilt of his head, knowing you would take it as your indicator to cum. 

You came on a broken cry, arched off Jean’s chest and pulsating around Reiner’s fingers. Both of them laughed endearingly at their combined success at getting you to come. Reiner pulled his fingers out, locked his eyes with yours and sucked the two digits clean. Jean was the one who moaned behind you at the act, dick still grinding into your lower back subtly. 

“Think you’re okay to take one of us?” One of them asked, still delirious from your orgasm to tell who was asking. You gave a nod and sat forward, not really caring how but still feeling the ache in your cunt for more. 

“Alright hands and knees then princess.” It was Jean instructing, hearing his voice vibrate in his chest that was still pressed to your back. 

On shaky legs you sat on your knees, watching them move around as you positioned yourself on all fours. Reiner was still behind you, massaging your ass cheeks and letting out huffs of appreciation at your puffy wet folds, his and Jean’s handy work. Jean sat on his knees in front of your face, running a loose fist over his angry cock, using the pre-cum leaking from the slit to lubricate his motions. 

“If it’s too much, pinch my thigh or kick the brute behind you.” Jean swooned, holding your head up to look at him as he spoke, stroking his thumb over your bottom lip, watching the anticipation blaze in his irises. 

“We’ll take care of you angel,” Reiner pressed himself into your back, lips brushing against the shell of your ear and sending a shiver down your spine. All you could do was nod, witness the shared glance between both of them and wait on pins and needles. 

The fat head of Reiner’s cock started to slide between your folds teasingly, wetting the tip and making it hard to focus on your gentle kisses you were giving to Jean’s. It was good they were both aware of their size and knew they couldn’t just shove themselves in disregarding you completely, but holy shit, if your weeping cunt wasn’t enough to entice Reiner to slip inside you already then you weren’t sure what will. 

A hand held your jaw when you enclosed your lips around the tip, sucking long and slow, tasting the salty pre that continuously leaked out. Jean’s head was thrown back, the defined muscles cascading over his body clenching the more you took in his cock more. You could hear Reiner chuckle on a low breath, pushing just the tip inside of you and giving a full body shutter. If their goal was to drive you insane with their pace, it was working, taking things into your own hands and pushing your hips back into Reiner until you were flush to his pelvis. 

He choked, dug his fingers into your hip and somewhat growled with the ragged breaths he was taking. It was Jean’s turn to laugh now, the sound so disgustingly seductive you could feel yourself grow wetter around the cock you shoved yourself on. 

“God you’re fucking tight, feels so good.” The blonde breathed out, pulling his hips back nearly all the way, returning the favor by thrusting forward and sending Jean’s cock deeper down your throat. The hand not holding your chin tangled harshly in your hair, looking down with parted lips and hooded eyes at the sight and little reaction you gave. They may have known you all your life but they didn’t know how well you could take dick, letting a small amount of pride surge through you at their astonishment.  

Their rhythm synchronized quickly, settling somewhere in the middle of not too soft and not too rough, letting you adjust to their respective sizes. You knew it wouldn’t last before they abandoned it all and used you to find their pleasure, just from radiating restraint coming off of them, eventually fucking your throat and pussy like you were nothing but a hole to be filled and that thought alone was exciting. 

“Shit, do that again.” Jean breathily exclaimed, enjoying the method of your tongue swirling around his shaft as he plunged in and out of your mouth, tipping your head back with the hand still in your hair. Giving him a hum, you repeated the action, felt your stomach flip in on itself as he moaned prettily. 

There was a slight hitch in breath from the man behind you, faltering in his thrusts and seemingly regaining his composure. Something about Reiner experiencing the same surge of arousal as your were at Jean’s expression and action thickened the lust hanging in the air around you. He didn’t resume his pace like you were expecting him to, but yanked back into focus on Jean tightening his grip in your hair and pistoning his hips forward, fucking your throat with vigor, something snapping inside him. 

“There you go, gorgeous.” Growling, inhaling sharply through his nose. Your eyes were welling up with tears, the ache in your jaw beginning but you didn’t want to stop, not until his cum was trickling down your throat, leaving you no choice but to swallow. Reiner palmed both of your ass cheeks, spreading them far apart and slamming into with the same force Jean was. This sudden switch up had your legs nearly buckling, tears rolling down your cheeks and pathetic whines and whimpers muffled. Your pussy fluttered around Reiner everytime Jean thrusted down your throat, the wet squelching noise turning obscene, your gummy walls sucking the blonde back in over and over, like your pussy craved to be stretched and fucked on his thick cock. 

“Fuck she feels so good, so wet,” Reiner groaned, talking to Jean, again like you weren’t there. 

“Mm, she sucks cock better than you.” Jean groaned back at the mental image his friend was painting, acknowledging your mouth felt just as good as your pussy probably did. 

“Not my fault, you barely give me a chance before trying to get me inside you.” 

Their banter of a conversation sending you into a new wave of arousal, images of their bulky bodies fighting over who would fuck who and never in your life did you think something like that would turn you on. Despite it being your two best friends fueling these fantasizing images, you couldn’t help but want to be in the middle of that from here on out. From the way both of them fucked you, there wasn’t any desire to look for anymore hook-ups, not when the two perfect candidates were right here. 

“Gonna cum princess, be a good girl and swallow it all for me.” A husky voice drawing you back to reality, doing your best to give him a nod and look up at him with doe-like eyes, a trick that worked on just about every guy. 

With a slow drawn out groan, Jean pushed the entirety of his cock into your mouth and down your throat, pressing your nose to the happy trail below his belly button. Hot ropes of cum shot down your throat, feeling him ease up and pull out of your mouth so he wouldn’t accidentally choke you with his cum. He gave you a lopsided smile, wiping away the milky liquid from your bottom lip and the corner of your mouth with his thumb, shuffling over to Reiner who was still fucking your pussy absolutely raw. You could only assume the blonde cleaned off the cum smeared thumb Jean presented him, based on the hiss and brief collision of mouths. 

A heavy palm landed on the center of your back, forcing you off of your elbows holding you up and forming a deep arch in your back. From this angle, Reiner was able to sink so much deeper inside you, splitting you in half on his thick cock, crying out with a moan. 

“Glad I held off, been dying to hear those pretty moans again baby.” He chuckled, putting more of his weight into the hand on your back, forcing you to keep the arch. 

“Fuck Reiner, don’t stop.” Gasping, twisting the bedsheets in a tight fist, the tears welling up in your eyes again. 

“Don’t plan to, sweetheart, I want to see you leaking by the time I’m done.” 

Your eyes rolled into the back of your head, unable to stop the constant moans and incoherent noises leaving your lips. Jean had come back into view, partially laying down beside you, keeping your hair out of your eyes and giving you a look of endearing smugness, like watching you getting fucked by Reiner was better than fucking you himself. 

Skin slapping on skin echoed in the bedroom, your body coated in a layer of sweat and your limbs so weak that if it weren’t for Reiner holding you by the hips now, you wouldn’t be able to keep yourself upright. Your spongy walls clenched repeatedly around him after another orgasm, unsure of how many at this point. 

“Doin’ so good, doll.” Jean cooed, pinching the nipple he had been messing with and muffling your broken squeak with a soft kiss, keeping you occupied. Reiner grunted, beginning to break his steady harsh rhythm and fucking into you furiously with abandon. His breathing turned into short gasps, letting out something of a whine, tipping his head back with two final slams of his hips before cumming inside of you. 

A familiar warmth filled your pussy, moaning weakly into Jean’s lips, giving up on holding your position. Reiner pulled out slowly, groaning as he watched a glob of his cum drip from your hole. You collapsed on the bed, forcing yourself to turn over and lay on your back, placing your hands over your eyes to ease the dizziness you were experiencing. 

Just when you thought all the nerve endings in your body were shot, you sprung forward when a flat tongue glided over your folds, seeing Reiner lap up the mess he made between your legs, smirking and moving out of the way so Jean could do the same thing. 

“Fucking filthy.” Muttering at the sight of them both taking turns cleaning you up, your legs twitching and tingling from sensitivity. They both looked at you guiltless, even though you were shaking with overstimulation that didn’t stop you from pressing Jean’s head into your folds, watching as he eagerly lapped at Reiner’s cum. They switched again, Reiner being gentler this time, only running his tongue across your messy slit twice before using his middle finger to shove some of it back in. 

Reiner moves out from between your legs to lay beside you, cradling the side of your face for the sole purpose of giving you a taste of his cum. You were just as shameless, moaning into the kiss and running your hand through his sweaty hair, feeling him smirk against your lips. He pulled away, grabbing Jean by the back of the neck and slotting his lips between his, kissing him rather tenderly. 

With zero strength to make it to the bathroom, let alone your room to grab a change of clothes, Reiner and Jean took the liberty of taking care of you. Both of them pulling on their sweats thrown around the room, Reiner cleaned your inner thighs while Jean went to your room to grab you some underwear after tossing you one of Reiner’s sweatshirts. All three of you situated yourself into Reiner’s king bed, you of course in the middle of them both. There was so point in going back to your room and studying, not when you had several unanswered questions. 

“So how long have you two been dating?” They both froze beside you, and you couldn’t help but laugh a little. 

“We’re not dating, we just fuck occasionally.” Jean answered, Reiner nodding to further reaffirm the statement, but you weren’t buying it. Their chemistry in bed was enough to convince you they’d been hiding a relationship from you. 

“You just fuck? No feelings attached?” 

“There’s obviously feelings when we’ve been friends this long, but we’re not exclusive.” Reiner responded, propping himself up on his elbow and looking in the direction of you and Jean. “We didn’t tell you because there wasn’t anything serious between us.” 

Okay, that made more sense than you were expecting too. But experiencing what you just did created a longing inside of you, one that might’ve been there that you didn’t want to acknowledge before now. Jean and Reiner were your best friends without a doubt, but they were also so much more than that and in order to not ruin the friendship, you shoved that deep down inside of you. 

“But,” Jean’s hands from behind turned you to look towards him. “We’re also not opposed to the idea of you being a part of this situationship.” 

“You’ve talked about this?” Surprised to know this wasn’t a coincidence happening, sounding like they planned this in a way. 

“Of course we have, do you know how long both of us have had a crush on you?” Reiner laughed, sending your mind into a flurry of confusion. They liked you? Like holding affectionate feelings beyond friendship for you? 

“Huh?” 

“Since junior or senior year of high school. We didn’t know we both felt the same way about you until after we had sex for the first time six months ago, agreeing that if it ever came to the point where you chose one of us over the other we would be okay with it.” Jean was speaking now, softly and almost lovingly, sending a blush to your face. 

“And we’ll never ask you to choose, if you want only one of us that’s fine and if you end up wanting both of us, that’s fine too.” Reiner spoke with the same inflection Jean did, softly smiling and looking at you endearingly. 

“I want both of you.” Blurting out without even thinking twice, hearing them laugh. But you knew you would rather have both than just one, it's always been the three of you. 

“Don’t decide now idiot, we’re being serious.” Jean pinched your shoulder with a frustrated grunt, rolling his eyes while Reiner just laughed softly. 

“We can talk about it more tomorrow, it’s late.” Reaching over to turn the lamp off on his bedside table, pulling you down under the comforter into his arms and kissing the top of your head. Jean shuffled behind you, pressing his chest to your back and kissing your cheek. 

For a few moments you refused to close your eyes, trying to break down all the new feelings and emotions you were experiencing, from earlier when you were at their mercy, to the confession from them both. It was in a way exciting, and whatever ended up happening between the three of you, it would work out in the end.

[bellaxgiornata]

The Devil at Your Window |4: One of the Good Ones|

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader Word count: 4.9k

Warnings/Tags: 18+; fluff, flirting, sexual tension, light angst, pining, eventual smut, identity reveal, and lots of black suit Matty

Series Installment List & Summary

a/n: Just a smidge of angst in this one! And I've already got a rough draft written for the next part, too! This story has been stuck in my head... Feedback is always appreciated!

Tag list: @danzer8705 @darkened-writer @keepingitlokiii @kezibear @dorothleah @sarahskywalker-amidala @1988-fiend @haruari @sleepysleepymom @marveious @sunflower-tia @fizanotfeeza

Your arm burned from the effort with which you were currently scrubbing your kitchen counter, working hard trying to remove a stubborn stain with the sponge in your hand. On the counter just behind you, your phone was playing music as you stress-cleaned. Truthfully you were too caught up in your thoughts as you'd been frantically jumping from one task to the next to have been paying much attention to what song was currently playing, though.

You'd already vigorously deep cleaned your bathroom, scrubbing your shower hard enough to make your fingers ache. Once you'd finished in there, you'd ended up in your bedroom, finally folding the laundry basket of clothes that had been sitting in the corner of your room all week. After that, you'd changed your bedsheets before bringing the dirty ones down to the laundry facility in your building to be washed. Upon returning to your apartment, you'd begun meticulously organizing your kitchen pantry before cleaning out the kitchen sink of dirty dishes. And then you'd landed on scrubbing your counters with every intention of cleaning off your stove top next.

You'd been cleaning like crazy after you'd come home from work tonight and finished dinner because you'd had a shitty day–though really it had been a shitty week. Everything had gone absolutely wrong at the office and you'd somehow managed to make a massive mistake on a big project the other day. Thankfully today you'd corrected the error, but your anxiety over the issue hadn't remotely disappeared. And of course, Eric, the most obnoxious and irritating co-worker at your workplace, had been at the top of his game of being an absolute asshole to you about the issue all week, too. You'd admittedly had far too many daydreams of throwing your coffee on him just to shut him up these past few days.

But as if that hadn't been enough, you'd found yourself becoming increasingly upset over the realization of your growing feelings for the Devil, who you hadn't actually seen since he'd appeared injured at your place just over a week ago. You were torn between believing his absence was either because he'd been recovering from his injury–which would also explain his absence in the news lately–or that he had zero interest in continuing whatever friendship you thought you'd both been developing. And because you'd gotten your period earlier today, you'd been hormonal all week. Which meant your brain had been telling you it was because of the latter reason.

But you didn't want to think about that. It was ridiculous to have a stupid crush on him. You didn't even know the man's name or what he looked like beneath the mask. You had no clue what he did for a living, if anything at all. And you'd only seen him three times now, it's not like you'd known him for months. It was quite likely he didn't feel the same despite the flirting he'd been doing. 

So that was what your brain continued to tell you this week whenever you got upset about his lack of appearances on your fire escape. That those visits hadn’t meant anything to him. You were just another person in the city he protected. His first visit had been accidental after all. And the second time was just to return the scarf he'd borrowed. The last time he had appeared had been because you'd been a convenient safe place for him to briefly stop and recover at when he'd been hurt, nothing more. 

Though trying to repeatedly rationalize that didn't make the ache in your chest disappear. It didn't stop you coming home every night from work hoping to have another surprise visit from the mysterious vigilante before you went to bed. And it certainly didn't stop you from shedding a few pathetic tears when he continued to remain absent each night. 

You'd begun to miss him. It was impossible to deny that now. And you'd worried about how he was doing with his injury, wondering if he really was alright. Which only had you wondering more about what he was capable of if he could meditate like that because–

“It's a bit early for spring cleaning, isn't it?”

Your hand abruptly paused mid-aggressive scrub of the stain that had long since been cleaned at the sound of the familiar and unexpected voice cutting through your thoughts. Eyes growing wide, you spun on your bare feet to find the Devil standing on the other side of your kitchen counter with a grin on his lips beneath that black mask.

“It's only February,” he teased. “Spring is still another few weeks away. Maybe show your counter a little mercy before you wear a hole in it.”

Hand gripping the soapy sponge tighter, you felt your heart nearly fly up into your throat in excitement. Because he'd come back . 

“You're here,” you breathed out.

“Yeah,” he replied. He gestured a gloved hand back towards the window behind himself. “You left that unlocked, so I may have just invited myself inside since you didn't seem to respond to my knocking. I hope you don't mind.”

You shook your head quickly, still surprised to see he'd actually returned. It felt like someone had loosed a multitude of butterflies in your stomach at the sight of him standing there so casually in your apartment once again. It was something you'd missed all week.

“No, that's alright,” you told him, shaking your head. “I don't mind.”

“You should really keep it locked though,” he stated. “Literally anyone could just climb in here. That's not exactly safe.”

Still trying to shake off the surprise of his visit as you took a step forward, turning off your music, a nervous laugh slipped out of you. “I think you're the only one crazy enough to climb all the way up that rickety fire escape,” you replied.

You turned, heading over towards your kitchen sink in the hopes of busying yourself with washing your hands so he wouldn't see the embarrassing grin steadily growing on your face. 

“I think you might be surprised with what the criminals will do in this city,” he countered.

“Well that's…unsettling,” you muttered, turning off the faucet and drying your hands on the nearby kitchen towel. “With the way my week has been going though I suppose it would be my luck that someone probably would climb through my window. Someone other than you, I mean.”

You set the towel back on the hook near your sink, turning around only to find the Devil had stepped around the counter and into your kitchen. He was standing a few feet away, his head tilted curiously to the side. How the hell did he always manage to move so quietly?

“You're having a bad week?” he asked. “Is that why everything smells like lemon cleaner in here and why you were scrubbing your counter so hard you couldn’t hear me knocking on the window?”

Clasping your hands together in front of yourself, you fidgeted awkwardly with your fingers. Now that your hands weren't busy with an actual task you were feeling your anxious thoughts beginning to spiral again. Especially because it was only Thursday night and you still had to go into work tomorrow and deal with Eric and everyone else when all you desperately wanted to do was crawl into bed for the duration of the weekend and pretend this week never happened. 

“What's wrong, angel?” the Devil asked softly.

You glanced up at the sound of the name he’d called you just before he left your apartment last time, watching as he took another step towards you. You sniffled lightly, trying to ignore the confusing and conflicting feelings arising inside of you at the nickname. The smile disappeared from his lips, his mouth instead pulling a bit downwards at the corners. Swallowing hard, you waved a dismissive hand at him.

“Nothing, things are good,” you lied. “I'm fine.”

The frown visibly deepened on his face before he took another step closer. “Someone who's fine doesn't generally deep clean their place on a random Thursday evening,” he pointed out. “And it seems like you've been on the verge of tears for a bit now. What's going on?”

You swallowed hard, wondering how he could’ve possibly known that when he’d only just entered your apartment. Yet another one of his mysterious little powers, you figured.

“Nothing,” you answered. “Really, I’m good. I just got into a random cleaning frenzy. It happens.”

The Devil’s head canted further to the side, his lips thinning along his face. He shook his head slowly, taking another cautious step towards you.

“You’re not fine,” he replied. “And for the record, I know when someone is lying, angel.”

You sighed, wrapping your arms around your chest and trying to ignore the way your stomach twisted nervously at that name again. Surely it was meant to be more of a joke than a term of endearment considering you always called him Devil.

“Another useful skill of yours?” you asked curiously. “Like your ability to heal?”

Briefly a smirk slid over his mouth, one you caught just before it disappeared. Your eyes narrowed suspiciously back at him.

“Something like that,” he answered. “So believe me when I say that I’m not buying the line that you’re okay. What happened?”

Eyes darting down, your nails began to pick at your sweatshirt nervously. The memory of your boss chewing you out at work the other day resurfaced in your mind, quickly followed by one of Eric’s heartless comments to you afterwards. The continual disappointment of an empty fire escape night after night before you went to bed also reared its head, tears starting to sting at your eyes at the memory of those lonely nights. Blinking rapidly, you tried to stop the tears from coming.

You did not want to cry in front of the Devil.

“Nothing,” you muttered, shrugging your shoulders. “It’s all stupid in comparison to what you’re usually dealing with anyway, so don’t worry about it.”

“Hey,” he murmured, closing the remaining distance between you and gently grabbing your shoulders, lowering his masked face into your line of sight. “It’s not a competition.”

His light, reassuring touch only had the tears welling up faster in your eyes. It had been so long since someone had touched you like that. With comfort and care. A touch that made you feel both safe and seen. And here he was doing it with such ease, like you deserved that sort of attention–and from him no less. 

It suddenly became all too much. A single tear slipped out of the corner of your eye as you gazed up at his face half-obscured by that mask, unable to blink it back before it made its way down your cheek. The Devil’s hands carefully began pulling you in towards himself barely a second later. Surprised at his response, your arms remained wrapped around yourself as his arms slowly encircled your shoulders.

He was hugging you. Comforting you.

Somehow that managed to open the floodgates to your emotions, the tears beginning to spill down your cheeks hot and wet in a continuous stream that you couldn't seem to control. Your hands gripped your sweatshirt tighter, unsure if you should hug him in return or not. Instead, you pressed your face into the thin fabric of his black shirt, attempting to hide how fast the tears were flowing from his sight.

You weren’t exactly sure why you were even crying at this point, either. Was it because of the shitty week you’d had? Because of the gentle touch and compassion coming from the masked vigilante, a touch that you hadn’t felt since you'd last been in a relationship? Was it because of the fact that him holding you like this only stirred up those confusing feelings further inside of you, making you wonder what this weird relationship with the Devil actually was? Or was it just because you were hormonal and on your period?

“I'm sorry,” you choked out.

“Don't apologize,” he replied instantly.

The smokey voice he always used had your fingers twisting tighter around your sweatshirt, your heart beating a little harder at the sound of it so soft beside your ear. You shifted, burying your face further against his chest. Though guilt quickly filled you as you cried. Because he shouldn't be comforting you, not for something so foolish. Not when there were people out there who actually needed him and all you'd had was a bad week, some out of control hormones, and a stupid crush.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked. “Is there something I can do to help?”

You shook your head, begging the tears to stop falling. This was embarrassing. You didn't want him to see you like this, let alone be comforting you.

“No,” you whispered. 

You have better things to be doing with your time , you thought bitterly. I don't deserve the comfort.

Clenching your jaw, you took an abrupt step back from him. You raised an arm up, using the sleeve of your sweatshirt to aggressively wipe the dampness from your cheeks. Before you, the Devil stood with his arms still hovering in the air as if he was still holding you, seemingly confused about you withdrawing from his embrace so suddenly. There was a large wet spot from your tears soaking the front of his black shirt already.

“I'm sorry, that was embarrassing,” you muttered, still wiping at your eyes as the tears gradually slowed. “I know you don't want to be dealing with an emotional mess tonight. That's not what the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen does.”

“Who says it's not what I do?” he countered, his arms lowering back to his sides. “I'm here to help people who need it–and for the record,” he added, “crying does not make you an emotional mess. Trust me on that.”

“Well,” you began, sniffling a little, “my problems aren’t the type you can punch. And you can't exactly punch away my feelings. Or my hormones. So I think this is a little out of your usual wheelhouse.”

“Maybe so,” he agreed, “but you've helped me plenty of times now. Is it wrong for me to want to return the favor?”

So that's why he was comforting you. A sort of quid pro quo. Tit for tat. An exchange of favors, not because he'd genuinely cared about what had happened to you this week and would have offered to help anyway, but because he felt like he owed you something in return. That's what he was saying, wasn’t it? 

“I don't help you because I want anything in return,” you muttered, turning around and wiping the sleeve of your sweatshirt across your eyes once again. Afterwards, you reached up into a nearby cabinet and grabbed a clean glass from out of it. “I help you because I worry about you out there. And because I think you're one of the good ones.”

You closed the cabinet door before focusing on the faucet in front of you, filling the glass with cool water. Sniffling softly, you felt the tears beginning to slow to a stop as you tried to collect yourself. You’d cry about your misplaced feelings later when he wasn’t here. Right now you just wanted to enjoy his company and not scare him off with your tears. And maybe make sure he was doing alright himself tonight.

Once the glass was full, you turned off the faucet and inhaled a trembling breath, attempting to steel your resolve. You were not going to cry anymore tonight. 

“For what it's worth,” the Devil said from behind you, “I think you're one of the good ones.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes and shaking your head at his comment, your back still facing him. Now that sounded like a line.

“I’m serious,” he continued. “How many people would help a vigilante instead of turning him over to the police? And how many would just ignore him entirely? And here you are inviting me into your home multiple times now without question. Always offering whatever form of assistance you can when you certainly don't need to.”

Eyes dropping down to the full glass in your hands, you felt your heart flutter in your chest at his kind words. Clearing your throat, you tried to swallow the lump that had begun to form. “I think you vastly underestimate what you mean to the people in this city, Devil,” you whispered.

Gradually you turned back around, the glass of water clutched between both of your hands. His lips were once again pulled in a straight line across his face, his head faintly tilted to the side. 

“You're a symbol of hope to many in Hell’s Kitchen,” you said softly, extending the glass out towards him. “A sign that there’s still good in the world. That there are still people who care about helping those in need.”

You could see the muscles working in his cheeks, the corner of his lips twitching faintly. You wondered what expression he was making beneath the mask right now. Was he not aware of what he meant to this city?

“Here,” you said, holding the glass out further towards him. “Drink it. I’m sure you’re dehydrated.”

The Devil’s right hand flexed open and shut at his side for a moment, your eyes drawn to the movement. After a minute's hesitation you saw it raise, reaching out to carefully accept the glass of water from your own hand. He murmured a soft ‘thanks’ as he drew it up towards his lips. In silence you watched the bob of his throat as he drank almost half the glass immediately, a satisfied smile eventually landing on your face. 

“You hungry?” you asked, stepping around him and heading over to your fridge. “I have spaghetti leftover from dinner tonight. Unfortunately no garlic bread,” you grumbled, opening the door of your fridge. “Because my week was apparently so bad that I even forgot to grab garlic bread at the store.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” he assured you.

Half bent in front of your fridge, you glanced over your shoulder, shooting him a flat look. “Are you planning to go home and eat something before you go to sleep tonight?” you asked him. “From the fridge you have apparently only stocked with beer, eggs, and sometimes orange juice?”

He hung his head in defeat, his gaze behind the mask appearing to drop to the floor. It looked like he was fighting back a grin on his face.

“Well…no,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Right,” you said, focus returning to the contents of your fridge. “So do you eat spaghetti? Because I have plenty.”

“If you’re that determined to feed me, yes,” he answered. “I do.”

Reaching into your fridge, you pulled out the container of leftovers that you’d put away earlier this evening before you’d begun meticulously stress cleaning. You closed the door, bringing the container over to your counter and setting it down before searching for a clean bowl and a fork.

“So how’s your rib doing?” you asked as you worked. “Did your doctor friend tell you it was broken? Have you somehow meditated it back to normal already with that useful ‘skill’ of yours?”

The Devil chuckled good-naturedly behind you as you began scooping some pasta into a bowl for him. Internally you thought it strange that he found that somehow funny, though that warmth of pleasure filled you at once again still being able to make him laugh.

“She's a nurse, not a doctor, and that's hard to say,” he answered. “I’d need an x-ray to know if I had actually broken it, and I can’t exactly go to a hospital because they’d surely call the authorities on me. But either way, it’s feeling better than that night I was last here. Not completely healed with my ‘skill,’ but the pain is…tolerable.”

You stopped mid-scoop of some pasta, your head turning over your shoulder towards him. Quirking a brow at him, you shot him a quizzical look. 

“The pain is ‘tolerable’?” you asked him. “So you mean to tell me you’re still going around tonight scaling buildings and jumping off fire escapes with an injury that’s not even fully healed?”

The Devil shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly, shooting you a charming smile. “Yeah,” he answered. “Something is almost always injured or hurting. But it's not like crime ever takes a night off. So usually neither do I.”

Sighing, you focused back on scooping pasta into the bowl for him. “I'm starting to worry about your sanity,” you half-joked. “You know, I've always wondered why you do what you do. I don't suppose you'd answer that truthfully, would you?”

Picking up the bowl, you stepped over towards your microwave and set it inside. Setting the timer to heat it up, you turned around and leant your back against the counter, crossing your arms over your chest as you eyed him expectantly. 

The Devil shook his head, a faint smile on his mouth. “No, not right now,” he answered. “But maybe someday I could answer that for you.”

Hugging your arms tighter around yourself, you tried to hide the thrill that shot through you at his answer. The prospect of him continuing to visit you was clearly layered in his response and you couldn't even begin to explain how that made you suddenly feel.

“Always so mysterious,” you muttered nervously, glancing down at your feet.

“Don't suppose you'd ever give me your name, would you?” he countered.

You grinned, glancing up at him from beneath your lashes as the microwave hummed behind you. “I'll tell you mine when you tell me yours, Devil,” you replied. 

“So mysterious ,” he teased back, grinning. 

You tried to bite back the smile growing on your face, laughing softly. The grin only grew wider on his face and your cheeks began to heat at the sight. You could feel your heart beating a little faster as you watched him from across the kitchen, taking in the handsome shape of his mouth and feeling the nervous churning of your stomach beginning to increase at the comfortable silence that fell over you both.

Thankfully your microwave beeped a moment later, pulling you from the moment that surely would have only resulted in you further ogling him, wondering what he looked like beneath the mask. Turning around, you opened the microwave and removed the bowl of spaghetti. You set it back onto the counter, mixing it around with a fork to make sure the entire bowl had been thoroughly heated. Satisfied that it was warm, you picked up the bowl and carried it over to the Devil. 

“You can have a seat at the table if you want,” you offered, holding the bowl out to him.

You gestured your other hand to the small circular table just outside of your kitchen. The Devil accepted the bowl of pasta from you, looking somewhat over his shoulder where you'd gestured. 

“Thank you,” he replied. 

You watched as he twirled a handful of noodles onto his fork immediately, bringing it up to his mouth before he'd even began to make his way towards your table. It was obvious he was hungry with the way he'd shoveled the bite into his mouth–just like when he'd devoured that burrito–and that satisfied smile returned to your face. Even if you'd messed up a lot of things this week, at least you'd managed to do something helpful for him. And that felt good.

You'd been about to turn around and put away the container of leftovers still sitting out on your counter when you saw him suddenly freeze, his entire body tensing. Your own body froze as you watched him chew the bite of food so slowly, your stomach sinking to the floor.

“What?” you asked cautiously, feeling self-conscious and on the verge of tears again. Had you actually somehow messed this up, too? “Is it…not good? I mean I know I'm not the best cook or anything, but I thought I was decent at making spaghetti sauce. It's not that complicated.”

The Devil swallowed the bite of spaghetti, his body still stiff as he stood there. His hand had tightened around the fork in the bowl as he remained silent, which only had your nerves growing. The feeling of being a failure once again this week was suddenly bearing down heavily on you. Was there nothing you could do right this week?

“Look, if it doesn't taste any good you don't need to eat it,” you told him, taking a step closer and reaching for the bowl. “Apparently I just can't manage anything this week. Just one of those weeks I gu–”

“This tastes exactly like the spaghetti my dad used to make,” the Devil whispered in disbelief.

Your hand hovered in the air reaching out for the bowl, your mouth hanging open at what he'd told you. That certainly hadn't been the reaction you'd expected. 

“Wh–what?” you stammered out.

The Devil pointed at the bowl of pasta with the fork in his hand, something like amazement creeping into his voice as he focused on you. When he spoke again, you'd noticed that raspy, deep voice he always used had disappeared.

“The sauce,” he told you, his words gradually picking up speed as he spoke. “It tastes exactly like the spaghetti sauce my dad used to make when I was a kid. I–I haven't tasted anything quite so similar since he passed when I was young. The likeness is incredible.”

You could feel the heavy pounding of your heart in your chest at yet another little piece of the real man beneath the mask being revealed to you. Mouth opening and closing a few times, you quickly realized you didn't know how to respond. Was he going to run away on you now that he'd let another little personal detail slip? Especially considering it looked like he was also realizing what he'd just told you and was beginning to regret it.

“I'm–I'm sorry to hear about your father,” you managed out.

The Devil continued to stare at you over the bowl of spaghetti in his hands, his lips pressing together as his mouth began to twitch. It was as if he didn't quite know what to say himself, but the longer he remained quiet, his jaw grinding back and forth, the more fearful you became that he was going to bolt back out of your window for accidentally revealing more personal information about himself to you. 

Slowly you held up your hands in front of yourself like one might do to a scared animal, hoping not to scare him further. The Devil didn't move, but his jaw visibly tensed at the gesture. 

“Look, I'm not about to tell anyone that you come here sometimes,” you told him. “And I don't go digging around on the internet trying to find out who you really are with the vague information I have, mostly because I don't have that level of motivation, if I'm being honest.” You saw the corner of his lips twitch upwards at your comment and you cautiously lowered your hands back to your sides. “I just want to help. That's all,” you continued. “And personally I worry that if I scare you off, you'll end up out there starving and with kidney damage from constantly not drinking enough water while you're out parkouring around the city.”

“You're worried about my kidneys now?” he asked, amusement in his tone. 

You shrugged lamely, shooting him a small smile. “If I say yes will you sit down and eat that spaghetti and drink some more water?” you questioned back. “Instead of jumping out of my window like a terrified cat?”

Something like an amused snort came from him as he turned, making his way towards your little kitchen table. You relaxed when you realized he wasn't going to disappear on you.

“For the record,” the Devil told you, voice muffled around a large bite of spaghetti that he'd shoveled into his mouth, “I am not a stray cat.”

“Of course not,” you agreed, picking up the glass of water he'd already finished and set onto the counter. You brought it over to your sink and began to refill it for him. “Because a cat would know better than to keep running around and making a broken rib worse. And I'm not sure how partial they are to spaghetti,” you joked. 

At the bright sound of his laughter over the sound of the running faucet, you found yourself smiling. You'd certainly missed having him here, even if you knew you were going to miss him the moment he finished that bowl of spaghetti and jumped back over your fire escape. All you could really do was enjoy the next few minutes you had with him and hope that he returned another time. 

Though deep down you sort of found yourself hoping he was more like a stray cat than he let on, because at the very least, maybe the prospect of food and water would tempt him to appear again at your window sooner rather than later. 

And that thought was steadily giving you an idea.

[g3tosugu]

can’t get enough

wriothesley x f!reader

wc: 1.7k

cw: reader is neglecting their health, fainting and i think that's it, but please do tell me if i missed one!

synopsis: you pick up an extra shift at Cafe Lutece but, it proves to be too much on your body as you continue neglecting your needs and Wriothesley is there to figure out why.

a/n: eeek! first post hope u like it :3c i've never written genshin stuff before which is why this is kinda short lol so please forgive me if it's not that good!!

Picking up another shift at Cafe Lutece whilst you were in the middle of prepping and training to begin work at the Fortress of Meropide was probably not the best decision you have ever made in your life. You could have easily quit your job or asked for more leniency with your scheduling and Arouet would surely understand if you explained the situation you were in. The only issue with that was you didn't want to also put him in the tight spot of having to find a replacement, especially since the Cafe was already short staffed at the current time. And now, you have decided to overwork yourself more.

The place was absolutely jam packed with people. There was a pretty intensive trial that was held today and the people who attended were starving and eager to chat about the turnout of the trial over a meal. You're not sure why you set yourself up for disappointment when you convinced yourself it wouldn't be too busy because of the rain. Instead of being a nice regular 8 hour shift, you instead were met with a very busy and never ending 10 hour shift. When you arrived an hour earlier to the Cafe today you had no idea that extra hour of leisure time was going to be something that was so vital. Too late now. You finish your shift as efficiently as you possibly could with what little energy you had left in your system.

As you exited the building, you were met by Arouet who had been out saying his farewells to the final customers of the evening. "Thank you so much again for all your help today Y/n! I really don't know what I would have done without you" he thanked you with a warm smile. You tried your best to muster a more enthusiastic response, but all you could bring yourself to do is give him a tired smile and say "Don't worry about it, boss. It's my pleasure to help you as you have helped me by giving me this job".

When you moved to Fontaine from your home of Monstadt you didn't have anything. Sure, you had your bag you had packed with things of sentimental value and some clothing but, that was it. You couldn't even bring mora with you because you had none to your name due to never having to work back in Monstadt. Your family had always taken care of you. So when you were telling them about you moving so far away, they tried to give you basic starter funds but you declined. You even lied and told them you had some mora saved from doing favors and chores for other people (usually older people) just so they wouldn't worry further. With your lack of job experience and no funds or place to go, Arouet saw how determined you were to make the most out of your situation and decided to give you a job as a waitress.

Arouet studied your face for a moment before giving a sympathetic smile. "You look like you could use a nice relaxing evening and you deserve it. Go home and be safe and please take the day off tomorrow" he gently patted your shoulder. The sudden contact and thought that you get a whole day off the next day made you perk up a little more, "Oh, thank you so much, boss! I will and same to you as well, of course. I just have somewhere to stop and then I will go home for the night".

The first few times you entered the Fortress of Meropide it was a very nerve wracking experience. You had no idea if it was a rowdy and rugged environment or a serious and strict one. But, you soon realized it wasn't as horrific and terrible as you initially thought it would be. Regardless, it was still to be considered a dangerous environment. Thankfully, with Wriothesley around, you never felt like you needed to worry.

As the guards walked you up to the large metal doors to the Duke's office, you heard a familiar voice call out to you from the cafeteria area. "Y/n! Wait!" she ran up to you enthusiastically. "Hello Sigewinne" you patted the half Melusine girl on the head and smiled at her. "What are you doing here? I didn't think you were stopping by since you seemed to be working late" she smiled up at you, but everything started to feel fuzzy. Your eyelids became harder to keep open, your vision was going in and out of focus and you started seeing spots. "Y/n?" Sigewinne called out to you, worried by your lack of response and the way you were looking physically. Before you could give her the reassurance you so desperately wanted to, you collapsed to the ground.

"Y/n! Oh no..." Sigewinne quickly walked to your side and began trying to rouse you awake. The guards that were with you quickly clamored around you to protect you from any onlookers. In the midst of the sudden event, the loud metal doors to the Dukes office opened and out came Wriothesley. "What's all the commotion out here about?", his eyes searched for just a split second before they landed on Sigewinne standing over your unconscious form with a very troubled look on her face. "Everyone move" Wriothesley ordered the guards and they immediately met his demand in return. He quickly knelt down and picked you up bridal style and started carrying you towards his office. "Wait! We need to take her to the infirmary so I can perform a proper check up!" Sigewinne tried to stop him. "You can treat her in here can't you? I don't want her out here. I want to be able to keep an eye on her" his gaze was serious and his jaw was set. He was clearly fully intent on doing this, so Sigewinne just sighed and nodded in response as she followed him into his office.

Your eyes fluttered open and you searched around your environment to try and decipher where you had ended up. Wriothesley's office. "You're awake?" you heard Wriothesley rise from his chair and walk around his desk. You slowly began to sit up and when your eyes met his, you looked away in embarrassment. You knew Sigewinne checked your condition and told him you were neglecting your needs. You had hardly eaten and you weren't sleeping a full night's rest for the past week. His eyes said it all to you. He was disappointed.

After a moment of you avoiding looking at him while also feeling his own gaze piercing right through you, you sighed. "You're disappointed in me" you looked down at your hands in your lap. "Disappointed?" his face had confusion present on it but, you fail to see it as you are still too afraid to look him in the eyes. "Oh no, I've probably frightened Sigewinne terribly, I should go show her I'm alright" you try to quickly excuse yourself from the situation. "I don't think so" Wriothesley firmly but gently grabbed your arm and pulled you towards him so he could swiftly lift you onto his desk, his palms planted firmly on the desk at your sides, effectively caging you in. You're still looking away from him. "Come on sweetheart, look at me. Please?" his voice soft in a way to show you that he isn't upset with you.

You slowly raised your head and finally met his eyes. He looked at you in a way that made you feel like you were the answer to all problems in the world. Like you were something precious and sacred. "There she is" he smiled warmly. The smile you gave in response wasn't one the same warmth in return, it was an apologetic one. "You've been overworking yourself, haven't you?" he tried to coax you to explain yourself. You nodded, "I took an extra shift at Cafe Lutece today while I've been prepping to become a nurse here". "Oh? You're going to be working here? How was I not made aware of this?" he asked as he finally moved away from you to fold his arms across his chest.

The guilty expression on your face made him let out a soft, "Y/n...". "I told Monsieur Neuvillette to keep it a secret because I was afraid you wouldn't allow me to pursue it" you admitted. "I see" he nodded and sighed. "Well, I just want to say first and foremost" he moved toward you again and placed a tender kiss on the top of your head, "I'm not disappointed in you. Not for what happened today or for keeping this secret from me" he reassured. "I also want you to know that you can do whatever you want. I don't ever want you to consider my own thoughts if you are going to put them above your own. At that point my feelings don't entirely matter do they? You are free to do as you please" he gently lifted your chin with his hand so you could look at him again.

"Besides, you act like I wouldn't want to see this gorgeous face everytime I come into work" he grinned as he removed his hand from your chin. You smiled the first genuine happy smile all day. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you want to be a nurse down here?" he asked as he took your hand in his to help you steadily hop down from his desk. "Well, I would love to work with Sigewinne of course. You know I adore her and I know she could teach me a lot of things. Her point of view in life is always so fascinating and wonderful to me as well" you went on to explain. As you went on, Wriothesley just had the most lovesick expression plastered on his face and you made note of it. "And don't act like I don't want to see your gorgeous face everyday when I come to work" you use his own words on him with a grin. He chuckled and shook his head "You're a very dangerous woman". "Hmm, maybe I've just been around you too much" you joke. Instead of laughing in response with you, he pulled you against him by your waist. "I don't know about you, but you could never be around me too much" his eyes studied every detail of your face, "No, matter of fact. I can't get enough of you sweetheart".

[cosmal]

𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤 — 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐮𝐬 𝐋𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧

summary — you and remus lupin have become really good at stealing each other away from parties.

or but if you're too drunk to drive and the music is right, she might let you stay but just for the night....she might want a kiss before the end of this song.

warnings/tags — fem!afab!reader, she/her pronouns, modern!au, friends to lovers, absolute idiots in love, mutual pining, oblivious!reader, oblivious!remus, drunk!reader, drunk!remus, alcohol consumption

note — this is inspired by lovers rock by tv girl!!! i think this is the longest thing i've ever written. I do very much like it as of right now. that'll probably change in a week.

word count — 12.4k

“Thank Godric, you’re here,” Mary groans from her position on the front porch, Marlene leaning into her side. Both are clearly enjoying a cigarette away from the din of the party. You can tell what type of night it’s going to be already. Not that you’ve arrived two hours late anyway.

“I’ve never seen you so happy to see me, Mary,” you giggle, crossing the threshold of Sirius’s front lawn, careful not to trip on his collection of stolen garden gnomes.

“I’m always happy to see you, lovely.” She extends her hand, the cigarette between her lovely red nails on offer. 

“You know who’s going to be even happier?” Marlene coughs, as you take the smoke thankfully, taking a few calming puffs. 

You pretend like you have any idea who she’s referring to, “Jamie? Haven’t seen him in a while. Miss that boy,” you laugh, voice strained through the thick smoke you exhale. 

“No, you idiot.” Mary pipes up and you hand the smoke back, “Remus. He hasn’t shut up about you all night.”

“That’s if he’s sober enough to even notice you’re here,” Marlene laughs and so does Mary. You smile, small enough to not show how happy you actually are that you get to see him. It’s been too long. 

“He’s drinking?” 

“Absolutely hammered. We were hoping you’d get here earlier so he wouldn’t drink too much. Please go look after him.” Mary throws her arm around Marlene and she snuggles in closer. They both look content enough to fall asleep right there in the cool summer breeze. 

“I’m sure he’s doing okay.” 

“I’m sure he will be when you get inside.” 

You move to toe your shoes off at the front mat, kicking them away so they’re not a tripping hazard. 

“When has Sirius ever done that at your house, Y/N?” Mary laughs, looking down at your socked feet

“Oh, no. This is for me. Don’t want to get my shoes dirty.” You laugh when you grab the handle of the flyscreen, swinging the door open. 

The girls’ laughter becomes a distant murmur when you enter the kitchen, met with mostly everyone sitting around the dining table. A deal of cards in everyone’s hands, and piles of coins and sweets sat in the middle. 

James and Lily laughing and glowing under the downcast of the orange lighting, appearing to seemingly be winning. Sirius and Frank having their own side bets, throwing coins around before both calling tails. Then, there's Remus. You try to ignore the hitch in your breath when your eyes land on the sandy-haired boy.

He really does look drunk, eyes droopy but still bright when he hiccups a laugh at something James says. A quiet, airy chuckle that has his mouth creasing and eyelashes kissing his cheeks. A smile so pretty, you have to fight your own.

His head is propped up on the table by an elbow that looks like it’s about to slip off the edge, so you sneak up behind him and place your hand against his arm to stop him from falling face-first into the wood.

He looks up at you, a little startled for a second, and you can see the moment it clicks in his head when he realises who he’s looking at. He smiles, all surprised but content and you melt. The last time you had seen him was only for the third time ever at another one of Sirius’s parties. You hate to admit that the only thing you look forward to now is when you receive an invite from your workmate and you have another excuse to see his lanky best friend.

“Y/N! When did you get here?” Sirius chants, flicking his last remaining coin at Frank. He shoots him a well-deserved glare.

“About thirty seconds ago,” you smile.

Sirius looks down at your socked feet and frowns, “You took your shoes off again. How many times do I have to tell you, you don’t have to do that.”

You roll your eyes, “You’re gross, Sirius.”

Remus looks down too, the top of his head pressing into your side, a crush of his curls tickling the bare skin of your arm and you almost shiver. “Cool socks.” Is the first thing he says to you. You giggle.

They’re a dark cornflower shade, moons scattered across the material at random. They crease when you wriggle your toes, “Thanks. Got them from mum for my birthday.”

“She has good taste.” He moves off of you, slouching down in his chair until his knees are pressing Lily’s legs. 

His head lolls backwards, neck bared under the warm light. You think you feel dizzier than he does. Even when he squeezes his eyes shut. 

“What have you done to him?” you laugh, hand flat against his forehead to brush away his loose hair. He keens, sighing deeply under a hiccup. 

“He’s very awful at poker,” James laughs, flicking a pastille across the table. You look at his high pile, and then Sirius and Franks’ which are almost of equal height. Then you look in front of Remus, the table almost bare. You laugh. 

“We like to play a little differently,” Franks states over the rim of his bottle. 

“Basically, you take a shot every time you lose,” James says, sober as ever. You think maybe he hasn’t lost yet. 

“And Remus has lost every hand,” Sirius adds to the chime of details. 

“Have not!” Remus finally pipes up, finger pointed at James instead of Sirius, too distracted staring at the ceiling. “Frank lost the first.” 

“Anyways, Moons. You just lost and I think you owe us another.” 

Remus groans, but sits up to reach for the bottle of Sambuca sitting in the middle of the table. You gently swat his hand and push him back into his chair. 

“I think you’ve had enough,” you say, turning to place the bottle on the kitchen bench, along with the empty bottles. 

“C’mon, one more,” Remus giggles, making hands for the bottle in the air. A child, you think. 

“Yeah, Y/N! One more!” Sirius agrees, smiling boyishly. 

“You’ll make yourself sick,” you chide with a small frown. Remus slumps against you, much defeated. He might fall asleep on you if you stand there any longer. You poke his cheek where it’s pressed into your clothes. 

“He already is sick.” Sirius is smug when he speaks and you fret about what else he’s about to say, “Sick in love.” 

You laugh. Could’ve been worse. But it still has your heart skipping in your chest. You really do hope Remus shares the feelings you hold for him. But then again, Remus is drunk and Sirius, is well, he’s Sirius. Despite the name, he hardly ever is. 

“Boo. Awful.” You frown in faux offence, ignoring him when he winks at you. Sickening, really. 

You lean down so your mouth is in line with Remus’s ear, “You wanna go lay down?” You realise you’re in quite a predicament. Coming over to parties to see Sirius’s best friend. Looking after him when he’s drunk. You’d hoped he would do the same. 

“Please, no sex in my house,” Sirius states, standing to grab another drink. James guffaws. 

You roll your eyes, “He’s drunk.”

“So, you do want to have sex with him?” he adds. 

You almost choke on your tongue, “No, it’s just. He- Stop it.” You have to stop yourself from saying something wrong. It wasn’t a lie, you did want to. But you wanted much more than that. 

“Leave her alone,” Remus chides, leaning back off your stomach. “You’ll scare her off and I’ll never see her again,” 

He was right, his friends did intimidate you. But you’d hoped it would take more than not yet warming up to them to get you to never see Remus again. 

Remus stands and you’re surprised he doesn’t stumble when he takes your hand to lead you away from the table and out into the lounge room. You poke your tongue out over your shoulder when you hear James make some sort of crude comment to Frank. Lily smiles warmly at you as an apology. 

He sits down with all the gracefulness of a baby elephant and you have to bite back a laugh. He looks up at you, pretty eyes all droopy and a lopsided smile, and you feel like you’ll never come back from these feelings ever. 

Before you can overly admire him for too long, he’s patting the space next to him with a floppy hand. “C’mon.” 

You oblige probably too willingly, flopping yourself down next to him with a small oomph, your thigh pressing into his. He shuffles down the lounge to rest his head atop your shoulder, neck craned a little to reach it. You can’t find it in yourself to mind. His face is warm and it presses into your collarbone that’s peeking from out the top of your shirt. His light stubble tickles your skin and it’s weirdly soothing. God, you know you’re in deep. 

“You smell good.” 

You breathe in subconsciously, “You do, too.” 

Under the strong scent of stale beer and sambuca, you can think you can discern a hint of his cologne. Woody and something like cinnamon. Mixed in with the light scent of his laundry detergent, like fresh linen and lavender. He's dizzying. 

“I smell like beer,” he groans, hand finding its way between both of your thighs, your skirt tangled in his fingers. 

“You smell nice,” you laugh. 

You watch the doorway where James gets up to turn the dial on the vinyl player. The current song now loud enough to be heard where you’re sitting.

Humming along, you say, “I love this song.”

Remus gawps, “Me too. S’my favourite, actually.”

Remus having the exact same favourite song as you makes your head spin. “No way.”

“Yes way.” he smiles. If he were soberer, you’d gush to him over this. It’d have to wait.

He shifts his head from your shoulder and startles for a moment, eyebrows raised, “I didn’t even ask if you wanted a drink.” You get whiplash from the change of subject. 

You sigh, very amused at his intent to be nice to you, despite being half-cut, “I’m okay. I wasn’t really planning on drinking tonight.” 

He frowns, wrinkles his nose and you want to kiss it. God. “Why did you come, then?” The fact he thinks you came to get drunk and not just to see him makes you want to laugh. 

The smile you’re still trying to fight every time he speaks makes your cheeks ache, “To see Sirius.” 

He frowns even more and you think he wants to shift away from you. He roughly scratches at his face and you almost regret messing with him. 

“Sirius?” He hiccups. 

“I’m kidding.” You poke his bicep, “I came to see you.” 

There’s a silence and then Remus is breaking out into one of the biggest grins you’d ever seen. You’d have the decency in you to blame it on being drunk. Nothing else. 

“Me?” He hiccups, again. You place your hand atop his thigh and trace the thick seam of his pants. 

“Yes, you.”

His smile dials back but doesn’t fade and his face relaxes. He leans down to place his head back against your shoulder, cheek all smooshed.  

“Oh.” 

“Oh?” 

“Thank you.” he hums, hooking his elbow behind yours, completely squished against you. He thinks you must be cold in a skirt and a small T-shirt. “I like it when you’re here. You make it bearable.” 

You want to accept his compliment, but when he hiccups for the third time, you remember he’s drunk. “That’s a bit mean, Remus. Will I tell your friends you can’t bear them?” 

Remus stiffens and you stop rubbing his leg. Drunk Remus is very gullible. Sweet, but gullible all the same. 

“Stop it. You know what I mean.” He pushes further into your shoulder and you feel yourself dip down against him, head almost falling against his. You wouldn’t mind if it did, but it wouldn’t be very comfortable, you assume. 

“I don’t think I do,” you tease and Remus pinches your side, which results in a stifled yelp. 

“Don’t be cruel.” He strains.

“I would never.”

When you shiver in your spot, Remus wonders what your answer would be if he offered you his jacket. He thinks he should test his theory. 

“Are you cold?” he asks but doesn’t move his head from your shoulder.

“A little,” you yawn. Which then causes Remus to yawn. You laugh animatedly. 

“Do you,” Remus blinks slowly, eyelashes kissing his cheeks as he attempts to keep his eyes open. “do you want my jacket?” 

You’re glad Remus’ head is still propped on your shoulder lest he sees the blush creeping across your cheeks. Drunk Remus is gullible. But drunk Remus is still just as kind as he is when he’s sober. 

“Then you’ll be cold,” you reply, giving his thigh a squeeze. You crane your neck to look at him. He looks tired. 

“Better me than you.” He moves to take it off and before he can even get one arm out, you sit forward and place your hands on his chest. Fingers twisted in his cotton shirt, your turned knee pressing into his. 

“Remus, I’m okay.” You give him your most reassuring smile. Being cold is no one’s fault but your own. You don’t want to be an annoyance. 

“You sure?” 

“Positive.” 

Remus sits back, albeit begrudgingly, hands wrapped around the zipper of his jacket. The further he pushes back into the lounge, the more he looks like he’s about to fall asleep. 

“Remus?” you murmur. Voice quiet under the din of the party. Sirius is a loud drunk, his laughter roaring at something stupid James is doing. 

His head begins to dip into the edge of the cushion, headed for the arm of the chair. If he kept this up, he’d have a crick in his neck in no time. 

He hums and you pat his cheek to encourage him to sit up. It’s bemusing how quickly he can drift off. You’re very envious. Maybe it’s just the alcohol. 

“What’s up?” he murmurs in return, peeking from one eye, the other scrunched up. He’s adorable and you’re in too deep. 

“You seem tired.” You poke his face this time and he beams, all warm and dozey under the mellow light of Sirius’s living room. A line of curls falling into his eyes and the apples of his cheeks a tinge of peach. 

He hums again, much thicker than last. “M’not.” 

You hold out your hand, all five fingers spread. “How many fingers am I holding up?” 

He struggles, but pulls his hand from his lap and holds it up to yours, tangling your fingers. Palm flush against yours and much warmer in comparison. “Feels like five.” He pulls your entwined hands back down and you laugh. 

You try not to shy from his actions, pretending like it doesn’t make your heart skip, and then almost stop completely when his thumb rubs circles into the top of your hand. You can feel the warmth seeping from his into your own and your fingertips tingle. 

“Do you want to go home?” You twist so you’re completely on the edge of the lounge, hand still wrapped in his. You stop, “Or are you staying here tonight?” 

He brings his arm up - with yours still tangled - and rubs his face with the back of his hand. Dragging you up and down. You giggle at his tired actions before pouting. 

“I think.'' You can tell he’s trying to stay alert enough to hold a conversation with you.

When he wakes up in the morning he won’t remember being so tired here and will think you both had the best conversation. You’ll be okay with this. “I think Sirius was supposed to take me home, but he’s too drunk now.” 

“You’ll sleep on the couch?” You frown and he blinks. 

“I think I might have to.” He throws his head back and sighs. Strained and raspy. 

You look at the size of Sirius’s two-seater and then Remus’s stupidly long legs. It wouldn’t work, and he’d end up with either a sore back or a worse-off neck than whatever it was he was doing right now. You don’t even really think before you say, “I can walk you home.” 

Remus looks a little more alert, “You can’t sleep on this.” You prod the squeaky leather and it bounces back with absolutely no recoil. You’ll be sure to scold Sirius next time for having a horrendous couch, though enough money to buy everyone in the room ten of them. You know he won’t appreciate the exaggeration. But it’s for the sake of his friends’ backs. 

“You don’t have to do that.” He sits up properly now and tries to situate himself to look convincingly comfortable. “I’ll make do.” 

“It’s no big deal.” You shrug. “I’m walking home anyways.”

Now he’s sitting forward, his knees pushing into your leg and you almost stumble off the seat, grabbing his arm for purchase. “You just got here.” He almost frets and then coughs to hide his worry. He’s not very good at achieving a smooth, cool demeanour when half-cut. Not that he ever achieves it sober, he thinks. 

“No, but I think you need to go home and sleep.” You look out into the kitchen that’s now surprisingly quieter. Lily looks like she’s about to fall asleep, leaning on James’s shoulder, who’s trying to play a horrible game of go fish with Sirius and Frank. Absolute party animals.

“I live too far away, anyways,” he says, leaning down to tie his shoelaces. “You’ll have to walk me home and then walk back, you’ll be walking for at least an hour and a half.” Why Remus is so afraid to suggest you can stay the night at his, he doesn’t know.

You squeeze his shoulder as he struggles to loop his lace through his fingers. He decides to go for the simpler, bunny-ear option. “That’s okay. You can stay at mine. I only live ten minutes away.”

When Remus sits back up after tying his laces too tight, his face is pink.

-

Remus Lupin has never been one for sitting comfortably, ever. With long, lanky limbs, he always has his legs sprawled out and his arms thrown over something. Anything he can take up comfortably, with enough space to spread, he’ll sit willingly. 

On one hand, he’s thankful you convinced him not to sleep on Sirius’s couch. He didn’t need a repeat of New Year’s. Though, on the other hand, he could’ve made do. 

Nothing was like sitting in your bedroom. He wouldn’t say he was uncomfortable, though deep down he was a little, a pit of anxiety creeping up his chest. He felt like he had little room to move - despite you owning a double bed - because he didn’t want to look stupid. He could take up space and not notice it.  

Remus has trouble not taking in every detail he can in your room. Like your little trinket dishes filled with miscellaneous items, signet rings and seashells. The stuffed rhino toy in the middle of your pillows that you had told him - shyly at that - was named Clarence. Not before giggling at the poster of Twilight that you swore had been there since you were young. Your current read splayed open on the end of your bed, along with the stack of records in a blue milk crate in the corner, were things he promised himself he would ask you about when he wasn’t half tipsy and could hold a proper conversation. 

In his admiration, one that was making his anxiety spread into warmth that seemed to be seeping from his bones. He’s too busy pretending like he isn’t taking in every small detail one shouldn’t when they’ve only known someone for only a month, and doesn’t notice that you’ve changed. 

He looks over at you, in a pair of shorts littered with tiny daisies and a shirt that almost eats said shorts. Your hair pulled back and your face still sort of wet from where you obviously washed off the day's grime, causing the hairs around your face to curl. He doesn’t know if it’s the fading alcohol that’s causing him to hiccup even more, or if it’s seeing you all fresh and content from being at home that has his breath catching. 

Remus Lupin is still a little drunk but he is also quite clearly growing to like you even more. That doesn’t change. He thinks he's done everything backwards. Meeting you, then seeing you now but too inebriated to say something redeeming, and then seeing you in the comfort of your own home before he even gets to ask you on a date. He also thinks he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“Remus?” Your voice is as calm as you look when you speak and he melts. 

“Hm?” He blinks, shaking his head. 

“You okay?” Warm light washes over you and paints you amber as you patter across the room, the moon socks that are still on your feet pressing into the white fabric of your rug. “You’re not feeling sick?” He thinks he should blame his daze on a fake sickness, but he doesn’t want you to worry even more, so he decides against it. 

When you press the back of your hand to his cheek, that’s only warm because he’s a little overwhelmed, not because he’s feeling poorly, he can’t find it in himself to hold your gaze. “I’m okay.” 

“I was saying I don’t think I have any clothes for you to change into.” You remind him after it felt like you were talking to a brick wall a minute earlier. 

Remus pushes his hands into the rough material of his black jeans. He doesn’t see himself sleeping in anything else. “That’s okay.” 

“You’re not going to sleep in those are you?” 

What else would he sleep in if you have no other clothes? “Uh.” 

“You wear boxers?” you grin. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I do.” He wishes he was still a little drunker so he could blame his bumbling words on the effects of downing half a bottle of sambuca. Now he’s realising that’s just how he sounds when he’s overwhelmed by you. 

“Sleep in those. I don’t mind.” 

Your confidence, and your confidence only, is how he ends up pantless and under the covers of your bed. He doesn’t feel uncomfortable at all. You have a lovely way of making him feel at ease. He thinks that’s why he likes you so much. 

You smell different than earlier in the night when your shirt tickles his arm. Like fresh face wash and night creams, and maybe even roses. He’d hate to think of what he smelt like in comparison to you. Probably still like beer, and maybe like sweat. He should’ve asked if he could’ve showered. That might’ve been too much, he’s definitely overthinking. 

“You’re very quiet,” you say into the dimness of your room. He’s lucky your bedside lamp is so muted, lest you see the goosebumps raised over his skin and how his cheeks haven’t returned to their normal colour since he crossed the threshold of your room. 

“M’thinking,” he returns, just as quiet. It feels wrong to disturb the calmness blanketing the room. 

“I can tell.” He can hear you grin, “What about?” 

He swallows and he wouldn’t be surprised if you heard it, “You.” 

You huff a small laugh and push down into the pillow behind you, “Me?” Your voice is a little strained, and not louder than before. Maybe even quieter. 

“Yeah. Thinking about the next time I’ll get to see you.” 

“You haven’t even left yet and you’re thinking ahead to the next time we’ll see each other,” you tease, getting comfortable underneath your plush quilt and sheets. Probably too much for a summer night but there’s still a chill in the air, flowing through your open window. 

“I’m just hoping I won’t be so drunk,” he admits, hating how he still actually does sound drunk. 

“Hopefully,” you smile, “But that’s okay, we can blame it on James.” 

“If only I wasn’t so shit at poker,” he laughs in a strained and animated voice, trying to hold back a yawn. 

He finally gets comfortable, hands fisting the sheets around his body and head balancing restfully against the plush of your ivory pillows. 

You can see his eyes flutter in an attempt to stay awake. You think it’s endearing but you also think he needs to sleep. “Remus,” you say, firm but caring at once. 

“Hmm?” he mumbles, eyebrows pinched. 

“You should sleep.” You push itchy locks away from his forehead and he sighs at the caring touch of your fingers. 

“Don’t wanna.” He scrunches his nose, “I think I’m finally sobering up. Wanna talk t’you.” 

You smile at his absolute urgency and think he’s adorable. Truly. “Please, sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.” 

“You’ll be here?” This, you actually laugh at. 

“Of course, Remus. You’re in my room.” 

He closes his eyes, eyelashes kissing the freckles of his cheeks and his tired, darkened skin, “M’kay.”

When you wake up in the morning, almost midday, Remus plagued by the effects of alcohol, you too content to wake whilst being next to him, you both have separate texts from Sirius. 

Your own chat log reads, aren’t U glad you came out? You don’t reply, not wanting to encourage him in any way. 

Remus’s phone, on the other hand, reads, 

uncle pads has a ring to it don’t you think? xxxx

He does in fact reply, too used to Sirius being a twat. 

Nothing happened. Ur disgusting and I hate you. 

what do U mean nothing happened? 

I was drunk. She helped me basically stumble home. 

U both stumbled. in her sheets. 

Fuck off. Idiot. 

Neither of you mention any of Sirius’s messages to each other the entire morning. Too busy enjoying each other's company. 

-

The week spent after Remus had drunkenly stayed the night, you could pleasantly, though maybe even with a smidge of embarrassment, admit that he was all you thought about since. 

It was a new feeling. You’d never felt it before. The endearment, but also the nerves, of realising you actually like someone. Some days it made your cheeks ache from smiling, and filled your chest with warmth. On other days, the warmth cracked your chest open, an aching chasm pleading to be filled and a head clouded with apprehension.

You were eager and scared all at once. But you were happy either way because Remus made you feel things. Good things. 

You had spent the morning, forcing him to eat something, telling him it would make his hangover feel much better. He’d argued for no longer than two minutes before agreeing. Saying, who am I to argue with a girl like you?

“Like me?” you’d replied, mouth full of half-eaten pancake, pushing his own plate across the marble of your kitchen bar. 

“Smart,” he smiled, picking at a blueberry, “Pretty.” 

And after it was your turn to babble like a fool, he’d eased you open. Asked you about the record collection in your room (he was proud of himself for remembering). You’d rambled off your favourite artists, a lot similar, and he knew he’d be an idiot if he didn’t give you his number before he left. 

And he did. Wrote his number on your hand as you stood at your doorway and he thanked you for breakfast. And for walking him home, drunk. You kissed his cheek and watched him press his fingers into his skin until he rounded the corner. 

You wrote the number down on a piece of paper, magnetising it to your fridge as soon as you shut the door. Though your hands were sweaty - obviously because you were around Remus - and the last number had smudged. Was it a 3? Or an 8? Or a weird looking 5? You couldn’t tell and told yourself that was a problem you could deal with later.

It was later. A whole week later and you still hadn’t called him. If it was due to your nerves or the fact you had a missing number, that was your business only. You left the last space blank, the empty spot a blinding reminder of your stupidity. You’d just have to try every number until you found Remus. It would take no more than ten attempts.

Numbers zero through four were all wrong numbers. You were only met with a piercing tone before the line went dead. When you got to five, you were met with, what sounded like, a grumpy old lady. You tried to hang up straight away, well aware it wasn’t him, but she screeched and persisted that if she had a prank call one more time, she would phone the police!

Turns out, it was a 6 after all. The lovely tone of Remus’s voice rings down the line and you sigh in relief.

“It’s you.” Your voice is airy and Remus isn't sure he knows who it is. 

There are only a handful of people who have his number. His friends, most of them called and checked in regularly, except Mary, who's always one to stop by instead. His parents and his neighbour had it too. But he seriously doubted the latter, unless his flat had been ransacked. 

And then he remembers he'd given it to you and he laughs. All these thoughts happen within the span of two seconds. He hopes it's you, he's been anticipating a call all week. He was beginning to maybe think you didn’t actually want to hear from him. That he'd embarrassed himself in his drunken stupor. But then he remembered how nice you were to him.

You’ll make yourself sick.

“It is?” he laughs, still hoping it is in fact you. The image of his flat turned upside down, the spot on his mantle where his small TV is, now empty, flashes across his mind.

“Remus. It’s me!” you chirp and he pushes his phone closer to his ear as if it’ll make him hear your pretty voice even clearer.

”Me? I don’t think I know any me’s” he teases, fighting back an eager smile. Teasing you could be fun. Could become a constant. He’s imagining the warmth of your cheeks, and hopefully a small smile.

“Y/N,” you correct and he can almost hear the roll of your eyes. 

“Oh. I know an Y/N,” he smiles, leaning against the lip of his kitchen bench. “She’s very pretty,” he pauses, wanting to drag it out, “and she’s super-”

“Remus,” you plead. Half wanting him to continue, half wanting him to stop to save your phone splitting in half where you’re holding it too hard. “Stop.”

Hearing your smile isn’t enough for him, “Super cool. Actually probably way too cool for me and…”

Remus sighs, very happy with himself.

“You done?” you ask. 

“Maybe.”

“You’re a nuisance.”

Remus decides to not argue, you’re half right anyways. “I’m sorry. What’s up?”

You pause, thinking. You’ve forgotten why you called him for a moment. Too happy with just listening to him talk. You think you could do it all day if he let you. “I was wondering if you were coming out tonight? Drinks?” You feel silly asking now. It was drinks for James, he’d gotten a promotion, but of course, Remus is coming, they're best friends.

“Are you?”

You grin, “Yes. Yeah, I am.”

“Great. Me too.”

The excitement you feel when you know you’ll be seeing him again is palpable. Giddiness mixed with a number of nerves is always there whenever you think of him. He makes you feel like a schoolgirl again and you know he’ll be the cause of your undoing.

“Great.” 

A face-splitting smile erupts across Remus’s features. If only you could see each other.

-

The amount of time you spend getting ready in the afternoon for James’s get-together is silly. After what's an almost stupid amount of time rustling through your closet to find something, the final thing you settle on you hope isn’t stupid. A red skirt that ends mid-thigh, a white tee and a leather jacket. Boots that you hope actually do your legs justice, not just how they look in the mirror.

You know exactly why you're making such a fuss with your appearance. Spending an extra amount of time making sure loose hairs are sprayed down and a fresh coat of nail polish that's applied probably a little too late before you make your way out your front door.

You think that maybe if you didn’t know if Remus was attending or not it'd be a lot easier on you. Or maybe worse. God, you're a mess. You just really want to make him like you.

Arriving at the pub a little early is probably a bad idea in the long run. You greet James and Lily with equal delight. You hadn’t seen them since his shindig at least two weeks ago. Sirius, pint in hand, greets you loud enough to let the entire pub know of your arrival. Frank and Alice are absent. In-laws. You feel as though you had finally found the perfect group of friends.

James had told you that Remus was probably going to be late.

Which gives you too much time to down an inappropriate number of vodka-cranberries, much to Sirius’s delight. Pressed into a corner booth, settled next to James and Sirius who have now also transitioned to fruity drinks.

When Remus finally arrives, the sun now set, you're at least five cocktails deep. The pub is a little loud now, though you’d never struggle to hear any of your rambunctious friends. They're probably half the noise. You're a giggling mess, warm from the effects of alcohol. You feel ridiculously happy like you expected to, but you haven’t even seen Remus yet.

When you sip back the last dregs of your drink, the rim pressed into your nose, determined not to waste a single drop, your eyes finally settle on Remus who's selfishly been admiring you from afar. Your eyes light up like a delighted puppy and he has to bite his tongue to stop himself from smiling like an idiot.

He walks to the edge of the table, wet and sticky wood pressing into his jeans and he grimaces. “Finally he arrives,” James cheers, mojito raised in the air.

“Moony! Looking as ravishing as ever, my boy!” Sirius cheers with equal flare.

Remus ignores both of them with a tiny smile, too used to their words it’s like second nature to ignore them. “Sweetheart,” he smiles at you and you light up even more.

“Remus! You’re here.”

Sirius gets up and slides along the wall to make room for Remus next to you, “He looks ravishing, wouldn’t you say, Y/N? Good enough to eat,” he repeats

“I am hungry,” you admit with a giggle as Remus settles down next to you, only enough room for a sheet of paper to fit between your thighs.

“Having a good time, lovely?” Remus gestures to the empty glasses taking up the table in front of you. Your lips are stained red and he has to lick his own.

“Amazing!” You lean into his side and your hair tickles his neck. Your warmth seeps through Remus’s skin and he doesn’t have a single problem with how close the two of you are sitting. He’d be kidding himself if he said he did.

“I’m glad,” he says, hands settling atop the table.

“Are you?” You blink, eyes bright and welcoming. He has to avert his attention to your nose instead. Feeling as if you’d swallow him whole.

“I am now,” he grins.

Distracted, the half-empty glass in your hands spills when you twist its stem a little too quickly. A puddle of cosmo seeps into the half-polished tabletop and you cringe.

“Oops.” Quick to act, despite how sapped you feel from the cocktails, you grab a too-big handful of napkins from the dispenser in front of you.

With little to no flare, you push the entire pile of paper into the split drink and probably make it worse. The napkins almost turn to pink sludge and you only spread the drink further. A cold, sticky mess.

Remus laughs and grabs your wrists, pulling them up from the mess, “What have you done, hmm?” He puts your hands in your lap and you slouch, defeated.

“Accident,” you huff. You watch Remus’s hands swipe across the table, much better at cleaning up your mess. Like it wasn’t even there in the first place. 

Upset that your drink is now empty, when Sirius isn’t looking, too distracted talking quidditch with James, you reach forward and snatch his mojito. Cheering internally, too happy with yourself, you sip slowly.

“He won’t be too happy with that,” Remus laughs, pushing the serviettes to the side. 

You shrug, pushing further into the leather of the booth seat, “Accident.” you repeat.

Remus chuckles. You scull back the last of Sirius’s drink and Remus braces his hand on the skin between your shoulder blades, with a gentle “Take it easy,” 

You turn to him and wipe the line of drink from your chin with the back of your hand. Smiling before gently slamming the now-empty glass back to the table, a ring of condensation splashes across your palm. 

You wipe it across Remus’s leg unthinkingly and he wrinkles his nose. A dark stripe up his thigh. He takes your hand by the wrist again and grabs another napkin. Dabbing your palm gently and you act unaffected by his attentions when you trace the water on the table with your free hand.

“Am I the one who’s going to be doing the babysitting, tonight?” Remus counts the glasses that hadn’t been collected yet. Five. Six, now counting the one you stole.

You nod, gleefully.

“Saves me, then.” Lily takes another swig from her Pimm's, very happy. James presses into her side and throws his head back. 

“Merlin, I’m tired.” he huffs.

“Boo. No fun,” you pout, eyeing only his third drink that he hadn’t touched in way too long, “You drink too slowly, that’s your problem.” 

He snorts, “I don’t have the drinking problems, lovely.” 

You gasp, hand to your chest, sticky fingers pressing into your skin, “Just because I’m having fun!” 

You notice the beginnings of a frown across Sirius’s face, clocking the glass in front of you, green to your past pink drinks, “You little sneak.”

You pout, “Okay, I’m sorry, let me get the next round.” You move to stand and when you’re upright, the room spins. You grab Remus’s shoulder for purchase and he grabs your forearm. His grip is grounding, flesh between his slender fingers.

“Okay, let me get the drinks,” he says, standing. The love-hate relationship you have with his height hurts sometimes.

“No, let me.” You rummage through the purse over your shoulder, through sickles and spare tampons, and pull out a measly fiver. You hold it up to him with a frown, paper crumpled in your hand.

Remus chuckles and places his hands on your shoulders, “Sit.”

You do what he says and ignore the warmth in the pit of your belly.

As Remus stands at the bar to wait for the drinks, he turns to watch you with a content smile on his face and a warmth spreading up his chest until it begs to swatch his cheeks. He watches as you cover your face with your hands, giggling madly at something James is telling you. 

He thinks his heart is messing with him when it skips in his chest. When you throw your head back, neck bared and your eyes squinted, your shoulders raise like it’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard (it could be but he doubts it), he thinks his heart has an actual fault. Almost halting completely when your eyes meet his and he thinks he’s been caught, but you smile contently and he has to look away before it jumps out his throat. 

He knows he’s truly done for.

He returns with a tray of drinks, mojito’s for his friends and a pint for himself, a packet of crisps pinched between his teeth. If he doesn’t choose to drink cocktails with everyone else because he wants to be sober to keep his eye on you, that’s completely his business. 

He places the drinks down, a hum of thank yous and cheers follow, he opens his mouth to let the crisps fall into your lap. You startle and look up at him, bemused.

“You said you were hungry.” He smiles.

You beam, hiccuping what he thinks is thanks.

“Where’s my fuckin food?” Sirius calls, voice very clear above the din of the pub. He throws a cube of ice at Remus and misses.

“Up your ass.” 

Sirius goes to reach for a crisp and you clutch the foil bag close to your chest. He doesn’t try again, thinking you might bite him. “Fuck, I need a cig.” 

He stands and stops Remus from sitting as he climbs over you. Squeezing past with almost zero care. You laugh, he seems hangry.

When he almost steps on your toe, “Look out, you prat.” Remus scolds.

“C’mon. Outside.” Sirius drags him away before he can even protest.

-

“You gonna ask her out, or what?” Sirus leans against the wall of the smoking area and flicks his ash.

Remus groans, “Don’t say it like it's easy or some shit.”

“Is it not?” Sirius laughs like it’s obvious. Remus envies his natural charm some days. He wished it came easy to him.

“No. She doesn’t like me like that.” Remus toes the gravel beneath his boot with a crunch. Watches as it skips across the ground and to the firepit. A distraction from the scolding that he’s expecting he’s about to get from Sirius.

Sirius coughs on a thick exhale of smoke, pushes himself off the wall. “You’re fucking with me, right?”

“What? No.” In some delusional, fucked up way, no, Remus is fucking with Sirius. Not since 7th year, anyways.

“She's mad about you,” Sirius laughs around the filter of his cigarette, “It’s sickening really. I mean she’s gotta be half dumb or something.” After another exhale he flicks more ash to the ground.

“Fuck up.”

“Whatever.”

There’s a beat before Remus says, “She doesn’t feel that way about me.” His head rests against the red brick behind him and wishes it would swallow him up. He wishes this was easier.

“What, you think she wears her best red skirt for people she doesn’t love?”

He lifts his head and glares at Sirius, “You really are a fucking twat, you know?” He steals the cigarette from between Sirius’s fingers and ignores his grunt as he inhales deeply. As deep as he can until Sirius swats his hand.

“I’m fucking kidding.” He takes it back, grimacing at the butt of what’s left.

“Still a twat,” Remus grunts.

Sirius flicks the orange filter to the ground and squashes it under his leather boot. “Seriously, Moons. Make a move already, it’s starting to get sad.”

He sighs, and Sirius almost wants to slap some sense into him. He doesn’t, remembering how he’d reacted last time he did. “I can’t. I’m not ruining anything.”

He decides to pat his shoulder instead, a gentler approach, “You’re a miserable sap.” He squeezes his sad friend, “She likes you, a lot, and she’s really good for you, y’know?”

“She is, isn’t she?” Remus sighs, lovelorn and dizzy, “Fuck, she’s so amazing. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Have you seen her when she laughs? Fuck sakes.” He has to stop himself before he rants too much.

The both of them start to make their way back into the pub. “Alright, put your fucking cock away.”

Remus opens the door to the bar, “Get inside,” he laughs.

“If you don’t make a move soon, fuck I might.” Remus’s face goes slack and he pushes his dickhead of a friend towards their table with a little too much force. He stumbles with a hearty chuckle.

Left alone in the middle of the bar, a little incensed, he turns to look around and spots what looks like your aforementioned red skirt, standing in front of the claw machine. 

Bemused, but more intrigued, he beelines for you with slow strides. When he stands behind you he places his hand to your shoulder. You turn around and smile warmly. You’re standing, more like swaying, with both hands inside your purse.

“What are you doing, dove?” he asks and squeezes your shoulder. You push back into him, probably for the stability you lack. He braces you with his thigh behind yours.

“You smell like a chimney.” You wrinkle your nose and he laughs. It reverberates through your chest and you have to blink away the way it makes you feel. Sleepy.

“Sirius is a horrible influence,” he says with an equally wrinkled nose. 

“I’m looking for a coin,” you answer his question, looking back down into your purse. “Want to win you something.” Remus’s heart swells tenfold.

Before he can pull one from his pocket as an offering, you bend over and tip your entire purse to the paisley carpet, contents spilling everywhere. Wizard money, bright pink tampons, chapsticks and gum wrappers sit in a pile and Remus steps back with a disgruntled sigh.

You turn and crouch down to sort through everything, Remus looks down and gawps for a second. Half amused, half displeased. He bends down with you and helps as well.

“Do you think it'll take sickles?” you question, moving bandaids to the side. It’s looking like a lost cause.

Remus shakes his head with a laugh, “I don’t think so, honey.” 

You frown. 

“Here,” He handles a few items and places them in your purse, “I’ll help you clean this up and I’ll win you something, hm?” Remus thinks you’re a bit like Mary Poppins with how much stuff you have. He’d say this to you because you probably would understand the muggle reference, but you seem too upset over your lack of coins. 

“Was gonna win you some chocolate,” you laugh, picking up more stuff. 

The last few items fall back in with little organisation and he stands. You take his outstretched hands and let him gently tug you back up with a ruffle of your hair.

He pulls a coin from his pocket and slots it into the machine. You stand around to the side with your hands pressed to the glass like a little kid. The flow of colours washes you fluorescent as you point to a cherry ripe in a perfect spot.

He grips the joystick and moves it to where he thinks it hovers right above it.

“More to the left,” you say with your finger smooshed against the machine.

“You’re drunk,” he says before he pushes the red button on top of the stick, not moving it to where you’d said.

You laugh as it doesn’t even graze the chocolate. Claw coming back up with nothing. “Whatever.” He has two more chances at grabbing it and he’s determined.

The second time he does listen to you but still misses by the width of a hair. You both hold your breath as the claw gets lowered for the final time. You bend over to get a better view and watch as it gets picked up, not cheering until it gets dropped in the chute.

You clap as Remus cheers, taking the chocolate thankfully, opening it immediately with a crinkle of red foil. “Thank you, Remus.”

“Anytime.”

You break the chocolate in half and offer him the bigger portion. You both stand there, chewing on cherry and coconut and chocolate. You look at your sticky fingers and the worst of the after-effects of six cocktails suddenly hits you in a wave of nausea. Not enough to make you want to throw up, but enough for you to groan and grab your stomach.

“I think I should go home,” you whine, placing your half of the chocolate back into the wrapper and into your purse, probably just to melt and make a mess. A later problem, you think.

“Feeling okay?” he asks, turning to check you over. Etebrows pinched in concern already.

“I think I had too many cocktails,” you laugh, weakly at that.

“How are you getting home?” he asks.

You laugh, having flashbacks to your last encounter. “That’s my line.” 

“It’s a good one.”

“I don’t know how I’m getting home,” you say.

“I’ll call you a taxi.”

You sigh, “That’d be lovely.”

-

After saying goodbye to the rest of the group, after they’d moaned about your fifteen-minute disappearance with Remus, Thought you’d gotten stuck in the cubicle! James had laughed. Drunkenly, you’d missed the joke. Remus had smacked him up the back of the head. But now, the both of you were making your way to the front entrance.

Remus has to drag you out the door, holding you upright as you stammer and trip on things that aren't there.

“Be careful,” he tuts, holding you closer under his arm. 

“There was a frog!” you explain, very much exasperated.

“No there wasn’t,” he laughs.

“Was so!” you strain, fisting his shirt behind his back, sure to stretch the cotton.

“You just want me to hold you tighter.” He’s smug when he says it and can’t really help it. He has Sirius’s words ringing in the back of his head. 

You stop at the gutter and kick a stone with your boot, “Maybe.”

Your knees ache, wanting nothing more than to crouch down to the ground. You think it would probably be a bad idea. Though with sore knees and a spinning head, bad ideas turned to the best. 

You pull yourself from Remus' hold and bend your legs to crouch in the gutter. Remus’s eyes blow wide and he looks down at you. Not again, he thinks.

Before he can ask what you’re doing, thinking you've passed out, you look up, “Head rush,” you giggle with a huff of air. He sits down next to you, knees almost pressed into his chin. 

Remus tugs your knee so you turn towards him, legs pressed together. He keeps his large palm over your thigh because being crouched in a gutter leaves little to the imagination to the drunks walking past and he’s not going to ask you to get up if you’re dizzy. 

“You okay?” he murmurs. 

You rest your head on his shoulder much like he had the last time you saw him. He hopes he had more care than you do with your cheek cruelly smooshed into his skin. “I’m just a little drunk.” 

Lucky for Remus, before he thinks you’re about to fall asleep on his shoulder, your taxi is pulling up. He helps you stand, opens the back door and ushers you in. 

Listening to your murmur of thanks Remus before he clicks you in. 

“What’s your address, dove? So I can tell the driver.” You give him your address and he passes it off. 

Before he can close the door for you, you grab his wrist. 

“When can I see you next?” you ask brightly. Hopefully. 

“Call me when you’re not hungover,” he laughs, brushing his fingers across your arm. Your grip hardens. 

“You’ll answer?” He almost laughs again at how drunk you sound. Of course, he’ll answer. 

“Of course, sweetheart.” 

You lean across your seat, seatbelt pulling taut as you press a kiss to his cheek. Warm and buttery-soft just like last time, but maybe even worse now that his feelings for you are stronger. It burns. 

“Thank you, Remus.” 

“That’s okay, lovely.” 

-

You in fact did call Remus, a couple of days after your night out. Expected, you were hungover so you waited a day after to talk. 

Remus hadn’t really been expecting you to call him, despite how eager you seemed, he had talked himself out of believing you had any feelings for him. Like he’d imagined it or something. 

So, when his phone rings, he’s not expecting it to be you at all. He answers with a sigh, thinking it’s James or Sirius. 

“What do you want?” His voice is void of any excitement or joy you’d been selfishly expecting. You were also expecting a more welcoming greeting. 

“Remus?” you say, and his hand stills in his cupboard where he’s distractedly putting clean dishes away. 

He shuts the cupboard’s door a little too abruptly and cringes, clears his throat so he can speak, “Y/N! Shit, sorry. Hey.” He cringes even more at his stupidity. 

“Expecting someone else?” you laugh. 

He nods like you can see him, “Yeah, sorry.” He swallows and tries to fix himself, “How are you?” 

“I’m good,” you say with a little sigh, “Really, really good.” 

“That’s great!” 

“Yeah, how are you?” you question. 

Remus’s voice goes quieter, “Amazing.” Then there’s a small beat like you’re both thinking, “So, what’s up? Everything okay?” 

In his mind, his stupid, paranoid mind, there’s a possibility that all you’ve done is pocket-dialled him. Or, accidentally pressed his name in your contacts, maybe mistaken the name Moony for Mum. 

Is his name Moony in your phone? Or is it just Sirius’s friend? God, he wants his thoughts to shut up. 

“I wanted to ask you something!” When it sounds like you actually want to talk to him, what almost feels like relief washes over him. Paints him bright as he settles on his sofa, beaming like a schoolboy when he says, 

“Oh, yeah?” 

“Yeah!” Your excitement is dizzying. “Are you free this weekend?” 

He has to swallow before he speaks, eagerness bleeds through his skin. His foot taps and he picks at a loose thread on his battered shirt.  “Yeah, I am.” 

You chirp a happy noise, “Awesome! Cool. Um, there’s that gig on at The Red Lion if you wanted to come?”

Remus doesn’t see himself as a cool person and it definitely doesn’t show when he says, “Yeah! I’d love to.” in a tone pitched higher than normal. 

“Great. I think Sirius is coming too, I told him about it the other day and said he should invite the others. I wasn’t sure if he had asked you yet.” 

Oh. 

Remus feels like the biggest idiot ever. You weren’t asking him out, why would you? 

He leans down between his legs until all the air is forced from his lungs, he covers the receiver with his hand and groans, long and suffering in self-pity. 

Is coughing to clear your throat and hide your disappointment a good thing? Because his voice is a little squeaky when he replies. When he sits back up his head spins. “Sounds great.” 

He hears some shuffling on the end of your line before you say, “Amazing. I’ll see you then. Sorry, gotta go. Bye Remus!” 

“Bye, sweetheart.” 

Remus has about thirty seconds of wallowing in self-pity before his phone is ringing again. He wants to shove it in between his sofa cushions and forget about everything. But he sees Sirius' name flash up on the screen so he answers. 

“Moony!” Sirius’s voice pierces the phone line and Remus cringes. “Remus, my good friend.”

“Did you just get lucky or something?” Remus gruffs. 

“Huh?” 

“You’re too happy. Calm it down.” 

Sirius groans, “You’re so content with being miserable, Remus. Just because you can’t get your dick wet.” 

Remus wished his stupid friend could see the displeasure on his face, “What do you want?” 

“You’re free this weekend, aren’t you?” He questions and Remus hums a yes, expecting to hear the exact same question you had just asked him only three minutes ago. 

“Well, you, me, the gang, and a few pints at The Red Lion. Sounds like a plan?” Remus detests his friend's happiness. Or envies it. He feels miserable and doesn’t think Sirius is deserving of his lack of enthusiasm just because you didn’t ask him out. 

“Yeah, Y/N already asked me,” he replies. 

“Well, don’t get too excited.” Sirius huffs a laugh. 

“No, sorry. It’s just I thought she- never mind. Sounds good.” 

“Awesome. I’ll send you the deets.” 

Remus almost laughs, “The deets? Wait until I tell Marls you talk like that.” 

“Shut up.” 

“Bye, Sirius.” 

Sirius hangs up before he can. 

-

Remus spots you before you do, again. Watches where you lean against the bar on your tip-toes, talking to the bartender about something. He’s making you laugh and he feels the stupid need that it should be him instead. 

He does what he always does; walks up behind you and presses his shoulder into your back. You chirp and turn around. Then, your eyes do that thing that they always do that makes him bite the inside of his cheek. They squint, confused, and then light up when you realise who you’re looking at. Remus could swear that they sparkle, but that’s just something he imagines in his lovesick head. 

“Remus!” You smile, mouth upturning until the apples of your cheeks swell. You wrap your fingers around his bicep and pull him into your side. He lets you, willingly. 

“Y/N,” he says probably a little too quietly for the setting. The pub is starting to fill quickly while the band does sound check, the general hubbub of the patrons mixes in with the strumming of guitars and the feedback from the mics. 

“You’re all wet,” you giggle, pressing your fingers into the underside of his arm. 

“Yeah, it’s starting to rain out there,” he says. 

“You walked?” You frown, pulling your hands from his arm. He can still feel where your fingers were wrapped. A burn against his wet skin. 

“From the bus stop.” 

“You know there’s this thing wizards can do, I’m not sure if you heard of it. It’s called disapparition,” you quirk, mouth upturning into a teasing smile.

Amused, Remus says, “I don’t usually like muggles to watch someone appear out of thin air.”

You reach forward to grab some napkins from the dispenser on the bar, probably too many. “I would’ve picked you up,” you say matter-of-factly.

He doesn’t reply, just stops still when you reach up to brush away the damp hair from his eyes. There’s water bunching in his hair and falling in tiny beads down his face, over his top lip. You laugh when he licks it away before you dab across his forehead and then his cheeks. 

“I missed you,” you say, bunching the paper into a ball. 

Remus smiles, too hard he thinks. “You saw me last weekend.” 

You think he might be teasing you, though you’re not sure. You feel like you’ve overstepped. Demure, your eyes widen at your error. “Sorry,” you laugh, airy and quiet. 

Remus pokes you in your side, “I missed you too,” he laughs. 

You nod your head and bite your lip. You feel eased. But embarrassed in the first place. Scrunching the ball of damp napkins in your hands until it pinches. Still, you’re overjoyed. 

“What are you drinking?” you ask, splaying your hands over the bar, leaning where it comes up to your chest. You try to ignore everything. The way Remus is making you feel, the busy pub that’s teeming with rowdy people. 

“Not sure,” he quirks, eyeing the taps at the end of the bar. “What about you?” 

“I think I might just stick to squash,” you laugh knowingly. 

“You’re on it tonight,” Remus laughs, splaying his fingers around your shoulder. 

“I’m not having any repeats of last week.” 

“Damn,” he pouts, “Drunk Y/N is cute.” 

You warm, “Drunk Y/N is messy.” 

He squeezes you, a funny pinch. “I think you can be both.” 

You lean into his side while he orders your drinks. His hand doesn’t move and you don’t want it to. It’s warm and grounding and feels too good to be true. How touchy he is and how you love it. You imagine a world where he doesn’t just touch your shoulder. Imagining what he’d do if you were together. How ruining he would be. 

Distracted by his grip on your arm, before you can even reach into your purse to grab your money, he’s paid. 

“Remus,” you scold, pushing yourself off the bar. 

“Dove,” he smiles, placating. He grabs both of your drinks, in one hand, fingers twisting. The other snakes down to grab your hand to guide you through the crowd of people. 

“Stop paying for my drinks.” Someone bumps into you and Remus digs his elbow into your side to stop you from tripping. You smile thankfully. 

You let him weave you through patrons, your hand flexing around his until you get to your table. Once you've sat down, he says, “Sorry, didn’t think a fiver would cover it.” 

Faux scolding, you shove his arm. “I have more money on me this time.” 

“Good,” Sirius pipes up, “you can buy me that cocktail you owe me.” 

“I’m sorry, Sirius.” You act like it genuinely does upset you. Though the thought of how you acted when you were drunk last week, is worse. “I’m a really annoying drunk.”

“Sirius is being dramatic,” Remus sighs, leaning back against the booth. He throws an arm behind you, pressing it up against the wall. You stay sitting forward, not sure if it’d be too much to lean into him. Despite him making the first move. “You got your cocktail.”

“Yeah, you bought it,” Sirius faux scoffs. It’s hard to believe that he actually cares about a stolen mojito, easier to believe he’s determined to tease you until you die. “Doesn’t count.”

“I’ll buy you a cocktail if you really want me to, Sirius,” you lilt, happy to get him to shut up. It works when Remus shoots him a look you don’t understand. Sirius bites his tongue and sits back in his seat. 

By the time James and Lily get back from the bar, the band has started their set and you’ve had enough time to think too much on whether or not you should lean into Remus’s side. His weight behind you feels like a magnet. The more you want to pull away the stronger the urge is to just give up and fall against him. 

Much like everything is with Remus. The more you allow yourself to think you really do like him, the harder it is to keep to your regular ways. You’ve never allowed yourself to be so openly affectionate and loving towards someone without second-guessing every single thing you do.

Not that you don’t. Every time you speak to him, touch his arm for too long or allow yourself to wrap your own arm around his back, there’s that voice in the back of your head that’s screaming at you. Telling you that you’ve let your guard down too much for a boy you’re not even sure likes you as much as you do him and you’ve embarrassed yourself.

It’s totally overwhelming and constantly feels like a back-and-forth battle. Because, sure, it's no secret anymore to anyone who isn't Remus, that you like him. You just wished it were easier.

As if he can hear your head reeling, or he’s just noticed how quiet you’ve suddenly become, he nudges your leg where it’s crossed with his own jean-clad one.

“You okay?” he asks. His face is soft. Too soft for your dismissive and relentless thoughts to ebb. It’s suddenly painful to even be looking at him and you’ve only been around him for no less than twenty minutes. He’s always had that ability.

The nod you give him is unconvincing and your smile is even worse. His eyes flicker and you open your mouth to speak before he can, “Yeah, jus’ thinking.”

“I can tell.” 

“You can?”

You chance another look back at him and regret it instantly when he’s smiling like he knows something you don’t. “Yeah.” He nods, “You’re making that face you always do when something’s eating at you.”

Hating being read for filth, you turn to take a sip from your drink, filling your mouth with your straw lest you say something stupid. You drink it too quickly, and once it’s down to its last dregs, your head aches. Brain freeze. You squeeze your eyes shut and try to distract yourself when you say, “What face?”

“Your lips part and your eyebrows pinch. Sometimes I have to double-check you’re not crying.” Remus is a lovely, horribly attentive boy. And if he keeps saying things like that, things that let you know he does actually pay attention to you, you’re not going to last. When you said you wondered how ruining he would be, this isn’t what you had in mind.

Remus says something to you again, but you don’t catch it. The band transitions into a much louder song and his words fall on deaf ears. You do, however, catch the look he shares with Sirius again over your shoulder. 

Confused, you suddenly think fresh air would be better than to pain yourself through whatever’s happening around you. “I’ll go get that mojito,” you mumble.

You weave yourself over Remus’s lap, careful where your shoes and hands land, careful to also ignore where he stables you with his own hand on the back of your knee. You try to make it discrete as you beeline for the bar, taking a small turn to head for the back doors.

The warm air cast from the setting sun slowly dwindles away and you cross your arms over your body, leaning against the railing to the left of the smoking area. When the door shuts behind you, the music from inside slowly dies down and you’re grateful to be the only one out here. 

The fear you have been feeling throughout your entire friendship with Remus does its best to claw its way up your throat. Makes your breathing staggered and your palms itch. You suspect if you spent any more time with him inside you would’ve only embarrassed yourself more than you feel like you already have. Best you do it out here instead.

The muffled music slowly grows louder when you hear the door open and you pay it no mind. Not until there’s a hand on your shoulder. You flinch and turn around, pushing yourself against the railing.

“Shit, sorry. Just me,” Remus smiles, pulling his hand from your shoulder.

“Remus,” you breathe, hand to your chest, “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he frowns.

You pause. Trust him to notice your departure. You hope he doesn’t ask you any questions, you don’t expect yourself to hold anything in anymore if he soothes you over.

“You okay?”

Fuck sakes.

“Um, yeah.” You nod. Remus moves to your side, arm pressed up against the railing and you follow him. Turning so you’re face to face.

“You sure? You just kind of up and left.” he laughs weakly, stopping when he notices you don’t join in.

“Sorry,” you apologise.

“What for?” he asks kindly. You once more detest his kindness and his ability to get you to open up.

“I don’t know,” you sigh, leaning further into the railing and it rattles, “I’m being weird.” You’re not opening up like you’d expected, though the words you want to say to him are at the back of your mind, where they were once pushed away, slowly crawling forward. If he keeps looking at you like that, they might spill.

“You’re not.”

“I am. I’m thinking too much and it,” you heave a calming breath. You want to tell him how you feel, not ramble, “it hurts.”

“Hey,” He traces a line over the hinge of your elbow, “what’s going on in that head of yours, hm? Care to let me in?”

You swallow, “That’s the problem. I can’t find the words.”

“That’s okay.” He squeezes your arm, “Take your time.”

His gaze is soft though it still burns where it’s settled over your face, his grip on your arm is worse. Still, it’s grounding. You blink and take a few calming breaths.

The door opens up again and the band’s music spews back outside. It’s the same song that was playing the night you sat on Sirius's couch and you’d freaked about how it was both your favourite. In some cheesy, cliche way, you take it as a sign.

“I’ve never been one for showing, let alone telling someone how I feel about them,” you begin, “I’m not sure if that’s the most obvious thing ever, or if I’ve gotten really good at hiding it but…”

Remus is smiling widely, more smug than anything. It makes you nervous and you advert your gaze to the ground. Over the ash-strained brick tile under your sneakers, “Stop looking at me like that or I won’t be able to finish what I’m trying to tell you,” you sigh.

“Like what?” he asks like he’s oblivious. Like his mouth isn’t now upturned into the slyest smile.

“That!’’ Your face grows warm and you have to press the backs of your hands into them. You can feel the thrumming of your heart in your fingertips.

“Sorry, you were saying,” he chuckles. 

“God, where did you get all this confidence from, Remus?” you ask, a little dazed. Maybe it’s the setting or the fact you’re both finally sober together that brings out a different side of him, though you can’t be sure.

Remus shakes his head, “I’m sorry, you just look so cute when you get flustered.”

Your mouth parts, a shocked, demure gasp slips past them. Gawping, you say, “You’re not drunk, are you?” It’s not the first time he’s said it, but it's the first time it feels different.

“Not this time. For once,” he laughs knowingly.

“Right,” you pause. Taking in a shuddered breath. In what world you would ever expect this to be easy, you’re not sure. You’re also not sure that doing this with Remus makes it easier. Easier, because he makes you feel secure and appropriately worked down to tell him anything; harder because it’s him you have to let your emotions go with. It’s him you have to let know of your heartachingly, sore feelings you have. He can’t just be there on the sidelines guiding you through it.

Remus watches you slip away into your shy, quiet self again. He can almost hear your thoughts reeling, “God, you’re worse than me.”

You giggle nervously, all pitched up and light, “You make me nervous,”

He steps forward and if your eyes weren’t stuck on the ground, you wouldn’t have noticed it. He’s smooth. “Do I now?” He hooks a knuckle under your downwardly pointed chin and gives it a tap.

You look back up, catching his gaze, “I hate you,”

“No you don’t,” he says matter of factly. Like its the most obvious thing ever. You’re sure it is.

“I don’t?” You blink slowly.

He closes the gap between you some more and suddenly you’re overwhelmed by him. The smell of his laundry detergent, something familiar and heady, mixed in with the cologne that you swear follows you home. Where the toe of his boot almost touches your sneaker and where the sleeve of his sweater catches on your bracelet because he’s as close as possible. Though you still think he’s not close enough. 

His voice mixes in with the same song that’s playing inside and you can barely hear him when it builds to a crescendo and he says, “You weren’t about to go on some rant about how you love me?”

“Remus…” you murmur, quieter than the thumping of your heart in your chest,

“No?”

You bite your tongue, but it does nothing to stop you from saying, “God, yes. Just- kiss me, please.”

“What?” he asks, more shocked than you’ve been this entire interaction.

“Kiss me, Remus. Before the song ends.” You lean into him, up on the balls of your feet and pull your hands between your bodies.

Face to face, lips hovering over yours, he murmurs, “You sure?”

“Completely,”

It’s the last thing you say before Remus kisses you so hard, so deep, that you forget how it was even possible to form words in his presence before now. Snakes his arms around your back and holds you so close your shirt rides up until your skin presses into the soft material of his sweater. 

He tastes of stout, a weird mixture against the lemon on your tongue. You can’t find it in you to mind when he hums into your mouth. A desperate, pleading sound that has you squeezing the flesh of his hips. Compared to the reserved and diffident relationship you’ve held with Remus up until now, the kiss you share is nothing alike. It’s passionate and heated. Longing.

The song ends and with a final tug of your bottom lip, he pulls away panting. Eyes skipping over your face, a little glassy and bouncy. “Fuck,” he murmurs.

Tugging on the hem of his sweater, you say, “What?’' with a light chuckle.

“If I…” Remus has to compose himself lest he says something embarrassing. Completely forward. “If I knew kissing you would’ve been like that…I would’ve done it ages ago.”

“I think I’ve wanted you to kiss me for a really long time,” you confess, giddily rocking back and forth on your feet. Canvas sneakers crushing into the ground.

“Yeah?” he hums. Smugness still ever present.

“Yeah.”

“Thoughts on me kissing you again?” he asks, still not letting you go where you’re held against his torso.

You look over his shoulder, “I think if you kiss me again, Sirius’s jaw might fall to the floor.”

Remus turns and spots Sirius and James almost pressed to the glass window. James doesn’t look as pleased, shoving a crumpled note into Sirius's palm. Turning back to face you, he rolls his eyes, “I think they had a bet going.”

“Should we give Sirius his money’s worth?” you giggle.

“I’m going to kiss you. But, not for Sirius.” Remus says, “Only because you look insanely beautiful right now and if I don’t do it again, my brain might go numb.”

“What are you waiting for then?”

“Nothing.”

[oathkeeperoxas]

TOP GUN / Icemav fic recs part 8

There have been a LOT of good icemav fics posted this year - please check out some of the ones below which I've particularly enjoyed!

Rec list 1 here

Rec list 2 here

Rec list 3 here

Rec list 4 here

Rec list 5 here

Rec list 6 here

Rec list 7 here

Easy By Your Side by @wordsonamission

Written for Top Gun Ace Week! Day One - Micro labels (demisexuality) - "Promise me you'll wait for me" Maverick invites Iceman to spend their leave together in a cottage on the coast. Ice accepts, but isn't sure how to handle the fact that he's starting to develop romantic feelings about Maverick. He's never seen any indication that Maverick is interested in him beyond friendship. As they bond over seafood and grocery shopping, Ice finds his feelings growing.

Ice telling Mav about his boundaries, and Mav letting Ice come to him on his own terms is so very sweet and good. I love how the author portrays the care and understanding they have for each other!!

Apoptosis by @flyingfightingfishy

When aviators cause problems, they're designated apop, assigned missions designed to be deadly. Sometimes it's a strike mission, sometimes they're protecting other assets that the navy wants to be sure come home. Mav has been designated apop almost since the beginning. Ice is flying a mission that the navy deems worthy of protection.

Oh my GOD the worldbuilding and character dynamics in this slap so hard, I love the set up and how both Ice and Mav are written. The author places them in this sidestepped world so perfectly it feels like the fic is far longer than it really is. Such a treat!

give me mercy no more by @eighteaseven

They’re both twice as old now as they were when they started this, as both of their joints can certainly attest. But these aches make Ice’s willingness to kneel for him all the more humbling.

🫠 well what can I even say. The author GETS Ice, and writes Ice and Mav being so very in love with each other and giving each other what they need!!! The fact that they're older and experienced and still want each other and want to please each other makes the rest of this fic even better, which really is saying something considering how good it already is.

the further on the edge, the hotter the intensity by StoriesofmyLife

Maverick wonders if it's always going to be like this--this burning want under his skin, the total awareness his body seems to have of Ice. The surge of want that always seems to grip him, even at the most inappropriate of times. He wonders if he's ever going to be able to be around Ice and function like a human being. Thankfully, Ice seems to have the same problem as Maverick. Or--Five times Maverick and Ice have sex in places they totally weren't planning to.

I really enjoy the character dynamics in this, not only between Ice and Mav but the other people who they're interacting with as well. The last few chapters are especially good!

the well traveled road to you by @icemav86

“You said we’re dating?” Maverick asks, eventually, incredulous, with no indication of whether or not he’s willing to help Ice. After Ice’s divorce, he tells a harmless white lie to get his kids off his back. Turns out it’s not that simple.

Saturn has such as way of putting Ice and Mav in situations that I utterly love - the writing is very good, and nails their characterisations perfectly!

magic in your fingertips (love is a wild thing) by @whatiwouldnotgive

Maverick’s never been good at saying. At the talking about things. He always prefers action to words. Carole laughed about it when he offered to fix up her junker of a pick up truck with fondness in her eyes, and Goose never mentions it at all. Just smiles at him whenever Mav brings home his favorite dinner, or lets Mav pick out the movie they watch for the night. Ice is somehow worse.

I love the banter here, between Ice and Mav but also when Goose and Slider make their appearances. The summer romance vibes here are immaculate honestly, the get together is just soooo perfect. Melting the iceman's heart indeed!!

Don’t Read the Last Page (But I Stay) by @rabbit-factory

“Thank you, Lieutenant Commander Mitchell,” Ice drawled, disdain rich in his voice. “The day you become in charge of my promotions I’ll do whatever idiotic tasks you’d like me to do with a smile. But until then.” “Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Maverick leered, and actually managed to startle a laugh out of Ice. It warmed him, with sense of nearly possessive joy, that he was the one who got to tease this man, pull the laughter out of him when he was most frustrated. That was his to do, his responsibility, and no one else’s. *** A look at Ice and Maverick’s relationship, over ten holidays.

So sweet and good!! I love the reunion here, and how Ice and Mav play off each other over the years as their relationship develops and grows <3

face on a lover with a fire in his heart by @enthyrea

Stepping up on his toes, Maverick throws the scarf around the back of Ice’s neck, wrapping it snugly around and making sure the ends are even on both sides of Ice’s chest. Mav’s hands briefly brush over Ice’s jawline, and they’re so warm it makes him dizzy. To make matters worse, Maverick then shucks off his bomber jacket, throwing it over Ice’s shoulders and bringing it close to his chest. The inside of the jacket is toasty, and it smells like Mav. “Are you sure?” Is all Ice can say. Mav smiles up at him, the snow decorating his dark hair like glitter. “Of course. It looks good on you anyways.” He says, with an indecipherable wink. AKA, Ice and Mav get caught in a blizzard on their way to Slider's for Christmas. Ice tries to deal with his feelings for Mav while trying not to freeze to death.

So cute and good and warm - the perfect winter tale. And there's even art!!

feel my body rock (every time you call my name) by @iceman-maverick

Maverick’s got that look on his face now. The one that sets off every alarm in Ice’s mind. But there’s no tower to buzz here, it’s just Ice and Maverick and everything between them. “It does feel better.” Mav smirks at him, “You know, the omega way,” “How could you possibly know that?” Ice snaps. He feels a familiar pressure building between his thighs and absolutely the fuck not. Ice abruptly turns to walk the other way back towards the mess. Fuck it, he’ll take the scenic route before he lets Maverick scent him like this. “Rave reviews,” Maverick laughs - not unkindly though, it’s always warmth coming from Maverick these days -  as Ice tries to escape with what little dignity he has left. Fucking alphas.

Biting and chewing this one!! Ice self exploration with omega Ice! Worldbuilding and omegaverse in the Navy! Mav standing up for Ice, but also Ice standing up for himself!! Plus the flirting at the end, hmm so good

Any Change in Time by @icezansky

After the Enterprise, they came home and took up their posts at Top Gun, this time as instructors, and didn’t speak of it again. They spent their days in the classroom or in the air, and their evenings side by side at the O Club or on one another’s couch. And then Viper introduced Tom to his daughter, Sarah, and she was kind and lovely with a spitfire attitude that reminded him of someone else. She took up his evenings, then – double dates with other officers and their girlfriends, and quiet nights in where she cooked him dinner and they talked for hours. He proposed to her after two months of dating, and she said yes. Now, six months later, she’s going to meet him at the end of the aisle.

The pining in this is so rich and layered, I love the way that Ice and Mav have to learn to circle around each other and decide what they really want in life before they reach out and take it.

Delicates by @topgunreacts

In which Maverick sneaks into Ice's room for some late-night ass, and discovers he doesn't mind getting overheard.

Such a set up!! Ice and Mav in this are just so very into each other, and very much uncaring of who knows it. I love that for them honestly. Yeah boys, get that ass!!

[its-avalon-08]

Amoreeee!

i love ur works and i have a very specific reuqest in mind. this is too detailed so please feel free to ditch a few details because im aware its too much. this is a mv1 x senna!daughter one.

max is hard racing some driver and he gets angry and flustered and he crashes because he act irresponsibly. y/n's heart stops because the way the car rotated and hit the barrier refletced her late father's passing.

her breath stops, max is ok but gp IS ANGRY at him because that could have been easily avoided. max is not hurt at all.

he is still angry when he comes back into the motor home. and then y/n gives him a cold shoulder and doesnt speak to him.

this makes max angrier leading to a passive aggressive arguement. max says something which leads y/n to say "fine then, fuck off and die see if i care" max is shcoked and so is everyonbe else in the motorhome

when she rushes out in tears she bumps into carlos/charles/lando and he comforts her and she says "i never shouldve said that"

they make up, hapoy ending make it extra emotional.

LOVE UR WORKS!

i have to confess, i love this one the most out of everything i've ever written. its extra extra long, and the anon messaged me and asked me to add a few more things, so i have done the same! anon ily ! (edit - i messed up the translation! its been fixed now!!) enjoy reading <3

coração valente (mv1) (brave heart)

find the headcannon here!

The roar of the engine was a dull thrum in Y/N's ears as she watched the battle unfold on the screen. Max was locked in a fierce fight for position with Esteban Ocon. Every aggressive lunge, every desperate attempt to overtake sent a tremor of unease through her. It was too reminiscent, too close to the edge.

Then, disaster struck. Ocon made a late move, and Max, fueled by frustration and a competitive fire, reacted impulsively. He swerved to block him, the car losing traction as it took the corner too tightly. The world slowed down as Y/N watched in horror. The Red Bull spun, a sickening ballet of red and blue against the asphalt, before slamming into the barrier with a sickening crunch.

Her breath hitched, a choked sob escaping her lips. The way the car crumpled, the dust cloud mirroring the crash that stole her father… the memory flooded back, vivid and terrifying. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drum solo threatening to burst through her chest.

Thankfully, the medical team rushed to the scene, and the relief was almost a physical blow. Max emerged from the wreckage, shaken but unharmed. But the reprimand from Horner was swift and brutal. "Unnecessary risk, Verstappen! You could have avoided that entirely!"

By the time Max stormed back into the motorhome, his anger was a palpable presence. He tossed his helmet onto the couch, the thud echoing in the tense silence. Y/N sat by the window, her back to him, a cold, hard wall where warmth and concern usually resided.

"Great job out there," Max spat, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Another brilliant strategy by Horner, putting all the pressure on me."

Y/N remained silent. Her silence was a punishment, far worse than any raised voice. Max, already on edge, bristled.

"You gonna say something, genius?" he snapped. "Or are you just gonna sit there like a statue?" Y/N turned a deaf ear to that.

The air in the motorhome felt thick enough to chew on. Y/N sat at the table, meticulously organizing spare race parts, a pointed silence radiating from her. Max hovered by the coffee machine, his usual swagger dampened by a heavy frown.

Christian Horner, ever the mediator, attempted to lighten the mood. "So, Max," he boomed, "what are we learning from this little spin?"

Max, bristling at the reminder, mumbled a vague response about tire strategy. Y/N, without looking up, chimed in, "Perhaps a lesson in spatial awareness wouldn't go amiss."

The air crackled. Max whipped his head towards her, his jaw clenched. "Oh, and who's the expert on spatial awareness, Miss Never-Been-On-The-Track?"

Y/N slammed a wrench down a little too hard, the metallic clang echoing in the tense silence. "There's a difference between calculated risk and reckless driving," she retorted, her voice laced with ice.

Max scoffed. "Spoken like someone who's never felt the pressure of a championship on their shoulders."

Y/N's eyes narrowed. "Pressure doesn't excuse stupidity, Max," she said, her voice clipped.

Horner cleared his throat, his booming voice a desperate attempt to break the ice. "Look, let's all take a moment to cool down. We can dissect the crash later. Right now, Max needs a clear head for the next race."

With that, Horner steered Max towards a debriefing session, leaving Y/N alone in the charged atmosphere. She picked up a stray bolt, turning it over in her hand, her knuckles white with repressed anger. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring the workshop around her.

Just then, Charles walked in, his perceptive eyes catching the glint of tears on her cheeks. "Rough day?" he asked softly.

Y/N choked back a sob. "It's just… I don't know if I can watch him race anymore," she confessed, her voice thick with emotion.

Charles pulled up a chair beside her, his presence a silent comfort. "You know Max," he said gently. "He makes mistakes, but he learns from them."

Y/N shook her head. "This wasn't just a mistake, Charles. It was reckless. And it brought back…" she trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Charles squeezed her shoulder in understanding. "The fear," he finished for her. "It's always there, isn't it?"

Y/N nodded, a tear escaping and tracing a path down her cheek. "I can't lose him too," she whispered, her voice cracking.

Charles offered a sad smile. "You won't," he assured her. "Max is stubborn, but he cares about you. He'll learn from this."

His words offered a glimmer of hope. Y/N knew Charles was right. But the fear, the raw terror that had gripped her during the crash, still lingered.

Max, a whirlwind of frustration earlier, had retreated into a sullen silence. Y/N, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy, refused to acknowledge him directly. The tension crackled between them, a storm waiting to erupt.

Daniel Ricciardo, ever the peacemaker, tried to lighten the mood. "So, Max," he said, a touch too cheerfully, "what are we having for dinner? Surely Y/N has whipped up some magic in the kitchen?"

Y/N's lips twitched, but she remained focused on her phone, pretending not to hear. Max, still fuming, mumbled a curt, "I don't care."

The forced joviality died a quick death. Charles, sensing the undercurrents, offered, "Actually, I wouldn't mind ordering some takeout. How about some Indian?"

Y/N finally looked up, her voice clipped. "No, thank you, Charles. I'm not particularly hungry."

Max scoffed. "Suit yourself. More for the rest of us, then."

The passive-aggressive jabs continued throughout the evening, each veiled comment a fresh barb. Y/N praised Charles's recent qualifying performance, a clear dig at Max's reckless driving. Max, in turn, bragged about a new training program he was starting, a not-so-subtle jab at Y/N's perceived lack of understanding.

"Honestly that race was mine, Ocon fucked it up for everyone," Max proclaimed.

"Maybe," she said, her voice barely a whisper, "if you hadn't been so busy playing daredevil, you wouldn't have thrown away the race."

The words hung heavy in the air. Max felt a flicker of something cold and sharp twist in his gut. "Playing daredevil?" he scoffed. "I was out there fighting for the win!"

"At what cost?" Y/N's voice cracked, the dam of her emotions threatening to burst. "Do you even understand the fear you put me through?"

Max, for the first time, saw a glimpse of the terror that mirrored his own reckless driving. He opened his mouth to apologize, but the words wouldn't come.

The silence stretched, thick with unspoken emotions. Then, in a moment of horrifying clarity, Max blurted out, "Look, if you can't handle the pressure, maybe you should just—"

The sentence died on his lips as he saw the blood drain from Y/N's face. She stared at him, her eyes filled with a hurt so profound it took his breath away.

"Fine then," she said, her voice a choked whisper. "fuck off and die. see if i care."

The words echoed in the stunned silence. Everyone in the motorhome froze, their eyes wide with shock. Even Max, fueled by anger, felt a cold dread settle in his stomach.

Y/N didn't wait for a response. Tears streaming down her face, she bolted out of the motorhome, the slam of the door a punctuation mark to the shattered silence.

Max stared after her, a tapestry of emotions swirling within him – anger, regret, a terror that mirrored her own. He lunged after her, but Charles, who had witnessed the exchange, caught him by the arm.

"Let her go," Charles said gently, his voice laced with concern. "She needs some space."

Max sank back onto the couch, his head in his hands. "What did I do?" he rasped, the anger replaced by a crushing weight of remorse.

The atmosphere was suffocating. Everyone, even the usually jovial mechanics, seemed to walk on eggshells around the warring couple. Tears streamed down Y/N's face as she walked, the weight of the fight, the fear, and the unspoken hurt threatening to overwhelm her. This wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

The cool night air did little to soothe the burning in Y/N's eyes. She wandered away from the motorhome complex, her legs numb and directionless. The roar of the track faded behind her, replaced by the chirping of crickets and the rustling of leaves. Tears streamed down her face, carving clean tracks through the grime of the day.

Then, she saw it. Half-hidden behind a cluster of trees, a towering mural emerged from the darkness. It was a familiar image – her father, mid-corner, a determined glint in his eyes, the car a blur of yellow and green. A wave of emotions washed over her – grief, pride, and now, a searing anger.

Sinking down onto a nearby bench, Y/N found herself talking to the painted image. "Why didn't you tell me, Dad?" she choked out, her voice thick with unshed tears. "Why didn't you tell me how terrifying it would be to watch someone you love race?"

"Doesn't he understand, Dad? Doesn't he see the risk he takes? It's like he doesn't care! Doesn't care about the fear he puts me through, the terror that I relive every single time I see a car spin out of control!"

She slammed her fist against the concrete wall, a raw scream escaping her lips. The sound echoed in the quiet night, a testament to the storm raging within her. Tears streamed down her face, hot and angry.

"And then," she continued, her voice trembling, "he has the audacity to get mad at me? To act like I'm the one overreacting? Doesn't he see what his actions do? Doesn't he see what he almost took away from me today?"

Silence, except for the rustle of leaves in the night breeze. But in her mind, she could almost hear his voice, warm and reassuring. "coração valente (brave heart)," it seemed to say, the nickname he always used for her. "Fear is a part of it, but it doesn't have to control you."

Y/N wiped her eyes, a flicker of understanding replacing the anger. Her father hadn't raced because it was easy. He raced because of the passion, the thrill, the dance with danger. He wouldn't have wanted her to live in fear, but to find her own strength, her own way to navigate the world he left behind.

The sting in his eyes wasn't just from the acrid smoke billowing from a nearby barbecue. Max's chest ached with a dull ache that had nothing to do with the crash. Y/N's words, "fine then, fuck off and die. See if I care," echoed in his mind, a constant reminder of his monumental screw-up.

He couldn't just sit there, stewing in his self-pity. He needed to find her, needed to apologize and explain the terrifying realization that had dawned on him during their tense silence.

Following a hunch, he made his way to the secluded corner where the mural of Ayrton Senna stood. In the dim glow of a single overhead light, he saw Y/N curled up with her back against the wall, her shoulders trembling with silent sobs. A red mark marred her hand where it had connected with the concrete.

His heart lurched. He knelt down beside her, his voice barely a whisper. "Y/N?"

She flinched at the sound, whipping her tear-streaked face towards him. Her eyes, red and puffy, held a storm of emotions – hurt, anger, and something akin to pleading.

Max swallowed the lump in his throat. "I… I shouldn't have said what I said," he began, his voice thick with remorse. "My anger… it clouded everything. I didn't…" He broke off, his own voice cracking.

Tears spilled down Y/N's cheeks. "And I..." she started, her voice trembling. "I never should have said what I did. It was awful, unforgivable of me." Her voice choked on a sob. "I don't… I don't want to lose you, Max. Not like that."

With a choked cry, she threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. Max held her tight, the dam breaking inside him. He pressed kisses to her hair, each one a silent apology, a promise.

"I get it now, Y/N," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I understand the fear. I see it reflected in your eyes every time I step onto the track. And I promise, I'll never do anything like that again. Not if it means putting you through that kind of pain."

They clung to each other, a tangle of limbs and broken sobs. The night air vibrated with the raw emotions they were finally releasing. Slowly, the sobs subsided into sniffles, leaving behind a fragile calm.

Max pulled back, wiping away a stray tear from Y/N's cheek with his thumb. "Let's go back," he said gently, his voice hoarse. "We can talk properly, sort things out."

Y/N nodded, her eyes searching his. "Together," she added, a shaky smile playing on her lips.

Max grinned back, the familiar spark of mischief returning to his eyes. "Always," he promised. "Together, no matter what the track throws at us."

As they walked back hand-in-hand, the mural of Ayrton Senna seemed to watch over them, a silent guardian of their love, a love forged in fire, tested by fear, and ultimately strengthened by understanding and forgiveness. The road ahead wouldn't be easy, but with each other, they knew they could face anything.

[httpiastri]

good girl – op81

oscar is so slow that it's frustrating.

genre: fluff, suggestive (not rlly smut but leading up to it)

pairing: reader x oscar piastri

warnings: foul language i guess ahahah. almost smutty

requested: yes

author's note: thanks for all the love recently. i've been on vacation with my family for the last few days so i haven't really had time to write. hope you enjoy this!! i've never written anything this filthy lmao so yeah i'm new to the smutty side. also this is consensual and protected because that shit is sexy af.

f1 masterlist

18+ below the cut, minors dni!

you'd always seen it on tv, but you didn’t know how just embarrassing it would be to be caught making out with your boyfriend in the elevator – until it happened to you.

you and oscar manage to just part your lips when the elevator doors open, but you are still quite clearly clinging onto each other so it’s evident what you’d been doing. thankfully, you have no idea who the person entering the elevator is.

the rest of the elevator ride up to your apartment floor is awkward but thankfully short. it feels much longer, though, with oscar’s hand resting right above your butt, the teasing touches of his fingers making you wish you were in bed already.

once you finally close the door to your apartment, his lips crash onto yours again. your hands are all over each other, pulling the other as close as humanly possible. you don't usually feel this needy, but there's something special in your mood today. maybe it's the way oscar's been sending you those looks all evening. maybe it's the way his hand rose higher and higher on your thigh at dinner, stopping right below where you wanted him the most. maybe it's the way he kissed the side of your neck, not caring which of your friends saw.

and maybe that's why you feel extra annoyed once you actually make it into your bedroom.

he’s inexplicably slow undressing you both. at first, he's fidgeting with the seemingly stuck zipper of his own pants. and then he pretends he has problems taking off your bra – as if you don’t know he’s opened the clasp of this exact bra of yours about a million times already.

being with oscar was always the same way; so soft, so sweet.

so lustful.

he wasn’t often this teasing, though. intimacy between you two didn’t have to be rushed, it was quite often slow and sensual. but this time, it’s clear to you that his actions are purely meant to frustrate you and he's happy to see that it's working.

eventually, he’s crossed the line. it’s when he pretends to fiddle around in your bedside drawer for a condom that you break. “just fuck me already, oscar.”

he looks over at you and grins. this state is exactly where he wanted you to be. squirming, longing, begging. “good girls say please.”

“god, you’re so annoying.”

to his complete amusement, you sit up and reach into the drawer yourself, getting the condom up in just a millisecond. it was right there in plain sight, as you knew it would be.

you hold it up to your mouth, ripping apart the wrapper with your teeth before holding it up to your boyfriend. “can you put it on by yourself or do you need me to do that for you too?”

“you know the condom can break when you rip the packaging with your teeth.”

“i honestly couldn’t care less right now.”

he pauses, and then; “you’re wonderful.”

oscar’s grin is contagious, even though you’re so set on being irritated at him. your free hand reaches behind his neck, pulling him forward to lace his smile onto yours. the kiss is slow and sloppy but so so sensual, and you feel yourself getting even more turned on when his hand cups your cheek, pushing his lips even harder on yours.

oscar takes the condom from your hand, pulling away from you for just a moment to put it on himself. then he helps you lie down against your pillows again. his hands reach down to take your wrists in them and he pulls your arms above your head, holding your wrists together with his soft, delicate fingers.

"are you okay? is this okay?" he asks, his eyes searching yours for any slightest hint of uncertainty.

he finds none and when you nod and smile, he leans down to kiss you once again.

"you're so good to me, baby. will you be a good girl and take me in? all of me?"

and you nod, because there's nothing you'd rather do than let him have his way with you.

[manicpixiefelix]

they stare at me (and i stare at you) {Felix Catton/Reader}

one. i saw you kept your gaze controlled

Summary: It's Orientation Week at Oxford and Felix is excited to experience everything university life has to offer him. Mostly socially. Almost all of his peers, thankfully, seem to be on the same wavelength as him, except you. Fine, if you wanted to take yourself too seriously, you could do it far away from him, he thinks. At least, that's what he thinks at first.

Need to Know: They/Them. Explicitly NB Reader. Reader is the Acting CEO of their family's International Media and Telecommunications Empire. There will be smut in future chapters (see masterpost for more details/warnings). You & Felix are both 19.

This is technically an AU of my long running fic head, heart, hand. but can be read 100% on its own. No prior information from that fic is necessary going into this at all.

{ masterpost }

A/N: 1787 words. Hi! Excited to finally be publishing the first part of this!! Updates will be slow, but I've already got about 20k written from all around the timeline so I just need to piece everything together. This takes place in Felix's first year of Uni so this fic won't feature Oliver. If you like it, or have thoughts about it, I'd love to hear from you!

TAGLIST IN COMMENTS!! // TAGLIST ALWAYS OPEN ! (just message or comment to be added)

----

There's a novel charm, Felix considers, about moving into the Oxford dormitories, even if the hallowed halls echo his own home more than most other students.

During orientation, he makes friends easily, all warm smiles and sincere laughter; people have always flocked to Felix. Part of it is his natural charm, but he's never been above exploiting his looks while putting his best foot forward in situations like these. His outfits are always on trend and on brand, and he spends longer in the mirror than he'd ever admit to another living soul.

It was a breeze to make friends of his peers, the people in his course - business, at his parents suggestion - the people in his dorm, anyone he really came across who felt like giving him the time of day. Everything always seemed to reinforce what he already knew; Felix Catton was a born people-person, there was nothing that could shake his confidence in that fact. Well there wasn't anything, until he met you.

In all honesty, Felix's first impression of you was that you were strangely familiar, but ultimately rather dull.

During that orientation week, he'd gotten himself to all of the introductory workshops to his course that the University had set up for students to meet their classmates and get an overview of their degrees. At every single one, you were there, hanging back, rather quiet, seeming preferring to observe the rest of your peers unless your input was specifically called for. Again, your name rang a bell to him, but you were a non-event otherwise as he focused on getting to know the people who seemed far more eager to engage. At best, you were simply a standoffish prick at the back of the room who always felt the need to wear fucking business casual to decidedly casual casual workshops.

Once, he overhears a guy he thinks is named Benji asking if he'd seen you at the club that night. Though your smile is barely a smile, more a suggestion of amusement rather than anything else, your tone is sharp and bright.

"Of course I'll be there."

"Looking forward to it," Benji grins, before heading off in the opposite direction. Felix realises he's been caught eavesdropping when your gaze meets his. He's not quite sure how to react, not to the conversation he'd overheard, nor to the curious look you're now giving him. Instead of calling him out, or even saying anything at all, you nod to him once, and take off in the direction of the dining hall.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Felix finds himself at the club that had been catering to the first years every night this week so far. He drinks, he has a good time, and he ends up going home with a pretty girl studying Chemistry, but he didn't recognise anyone there to be you.

More and more he starts seeing you around campus, or maybe it just feels like that now that you've caught his attention. Did you always have people around you or did he not notice you amongst some of the people he'd started to befriend. Our maybe he hasn't reconsidered you because he'd never seen you properly smile like that before. Everywhere Felix saw you, you were amongst friends, sometimes even one or two of his. It was never opportune moments, however, he always seemed to be on his way to or from something. He felt like he never got the opportunity to properly meet you.

Until it's eleven o'clock on a Friday night, and he hears your voice coming from around the side of one of the dorms as he was on his way to celebrate the last day of orientation week with the rest of the first years.

"- yeah, no, I know it was Decker," you sounded annoyed, and when Felix investigates, he sees you leaning against the wall by the entrance to a dorm building, phone to your ear, smoking a cigarette. Except if he hadn't just heard your voice, he'd barely be able to tell it was you; why the hell would you choose to live your life in business casual when you could look this damn good? "Because Decker's been a pain in my ass ever since -" whoever was on the other end of your call cut you off and you sighed deeply, pinching your brow out of frustration, "yeah, I just need this pulled before it can get to print for Monday," you sighed. Stubbing your cigarette out on the wall, you ducked down to pick up a dark bottle that had been hidden in the bushes by your feet.

Felix doesn't know exactly why he keeps watching, but he's fascinated. He can't look away.

"I emailed you a bunch of ads for charities we could run in its place, pick one, stick it in, it's on me, it's my good deed for the day- no, tonight!" You insisted, scowling, before you took a sip of your drink, rebuffing whoever is protesting on the other end of the line, "I'd rather the page be fucking blank- because we're not printing a homophobic hit piece on Portia De Rossi a week after she comes out!" You argued, before you sighed deeply, adding, "or ever, fucking obviously." Then, frustrated, "of course Decker fucking okayed it, you saw the shit he wrote about Rosie O'Donnell back before I -" but again, you were cut off, "I told him to cut that shit out the moment-" you took another drink, furious, "no, first thing Monday I'm having words with him." There's a terse goodbye, and your phone clicks shut, and Felix suddenly feels like he's snapping out of a trance.

"Can I help you with something?" You snapped suddenly, seemingly to no-one. Felix feels his heart rate pick up nervously. It only spikes hire when your head turns to look at him. Your gaze is ice fucking cold. You take another drink.

"Is everything okay?" Felix hears himself asking. Your lips twisted into a humourless smile, and you reached into your pocket to pull out a pocketbook of cigarettes.

"Peachy," you say bitterly, "do you have a light? I usually wouldn't ask but these pants are stupidly tight and it's going to be a hassle to get my own."

"Downside to looking that good I guess," Felix steps forward, rummaging around in his jacket pocket to find his lighter. What he's said doesn't hit him until you're leaning in to light your cigarette from his offered fire, but it seems you hadn't quite heard him, to preoccupied with your thoughts, "are you on your way out tonight?" Felix tries again, and you take a long draft, thanking him quietly as your expression scrunched up with a thoughtful kind of irritation.

"Is getting absolutely pissed tonight the smartest move? Absolutely not," you huffed, jaw set in a firm line, "am I going to do it anyways? You fucking bet." Then, you turn to him, eyebrows raised, "what about you, Catton?"

Felix kind of feels like you'd just smacked him. What?

"How did you know -?"

"Heard your name a dozen times over the week, we're in the same course," you offered easily. This Felix knew, however the alarm bells in Felix's mind just started ringing louder. There was something about you now, something almost too casual about how you choose to look away, take another sip of your drink.

"Pretty sure they only asked for our first names," he frowns. There's something rather dreadful the way you look at him out of the corner of your eye, smile curling at the edges of your lips like you're pleased.

"Perceptive one, aren't you?" The tone of your voice makes him feel like he's won the world's worst prize. Pushing off of the wall, you make a start towards him, and the path off of campus. You shove your hands in the pockets of your leather jacket as you pass, "walk with me, Felix Catton," you called out to him as he watches you pass.

He thinks you might be a trickster spirit, attempting to steal his soul. Or maybe you're just going to kill him.

For some stupid reason, he still chooses to walk with you.

He really tries not to dwell on how unsettling it was that you seemed to know more about him than you let on. He's pretty sure he recognises you from somewhere, perhaps you'd recognised him too, and you'd simply remembered.

"You're Y/N," your last name, however, does not come to mind. You confirmed easily, offering him a cigarette. He doesn't need to prompt for your last name, thankfully; you offer it. Somehow, it still doesn't feel like an equal exchange. There's several minutes of silence, broken only by the gentle sound of gravel crunching beneath both your feet, and the occasional sip you take of your drink. Finally, Felix asks who Decker is.

"Twenty stone worth of bigotry shoved into the most weasly looking cunt you've ever seen in your life," you muttered darkly, though the wording shocks a laugh from Felix, and your anger softens at the sound, wearing a pleased little grin when you look over to him, "he knows I check everything, especially his shit since I don't trust him, don't know how he thought he could pull a fast one on me like that."

"What kind of work do you do?"

"It's just the family business," you shrugged off the question with ease, "I've been helping dad out with it for years, so he's asked me to take care of a few things while he's on holiday."

"Local paper?"

"What?"

"You were talking about something going to print on Monday, does your family run a local paper back home?" When Felix's question is met with silence, he looks to you. He wasn't expecting to see you looking suddenly uncomfortable.

"Something like that," was all you offered, evasively. There's another beat of silence before you seem to shrug off your discomfort, giving him a smile that doesn't quite reach your eyes, "our parents are friends," direct and to the point, "I used to see you at," you paused for a moment, deliberating, adding carefully, "parties." Eyes bright, there's still something careful beneath that in the way you're watching him. Parties, you say when he knows you meant events. The formal kind he fucking hated. Huh.

"That's where you got my name from," his relief, however, is short-lived when he sees the strange look you give him. But in the next minute it's gone, and you're looking out to the road ahead.

"Exactly."

For reasons Felix can't put into words, there's not a single part of him that believes you.

[ghostlykeyes]

Hello! :)

First, I'd like to say that I've been enjoying your works so much! They're so well-written and fun to read ^^ I especially loved the one with Kayn and a cute partner, it was so sweet! <3

If it's alright (and there's no worries if not!), may I ask for either Sett or Yone with a shy, soft-spoken partner? Both seem like they'd make a cute pairing! Just completely sfw please.

Tysm! 🩷💫

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

HEARTSTEEL SETT/ SHY READER ♡ Gender Neutral ♡ SFW ♡ No TWs ♡ YESSSS I'm so excited to write for Sett ! While the amount of Kayn content might indicate otherwise I have ALWAYS been a Sett main and I will ALWAYS maintain he is BEST BOI ♡ Thank you for your kind words anon! Hope you enjoy ~

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

SETT

Wonderful, sweet Sett—he can tell exactly when you're worried about a social situation. All it takes is a look, and he knows that you're stuck in your own head, stressed about meeting new people or replaying the last conversation you stumbled through. "Hey," he says gently, bumping you with his shoulder. "You okay?" Sett listens as you talk through your concerns, rubbing a comforting thumb over your knuckles. He's silent until you finish. "I know other people can be rough" he says once you've expressed your struggles. "But honestly? Screw what anyone else thinks about you. You're sweet, kind, cute..." Sett continues the list until he coaxes a smile out of you. "But for real," he says, once you feel better. "I think you're the greatest. If someone else can't see that just because you're a little shy, that's their loss."

Sett knows he's got those Scary Boyfriend Privileges and he's not afraid to put them to work for you. Trapped in a conversation? He'll stand behind you, arms crossed, and glare. Usually the other person says their goodbyes pretty quickly. Need to confront someone? Any disagreement, big or small; say less. Sett is there, definitely not flexing menacingly. And asserting yourself? Well, telling your roommate to do their own dishes is a hell of a lot easier with over six feet of solid muscle backing you up.

Whenever you've got something to say, Sett shushes everyone so that you can speak. It's a little embarrassing, suddenly having all the attention suddenly on you. You do have to admit, though, it's nice to have people actually listen to you for once.

Obviously he can't avoid fans approaching him, but Sett feels so bad whenever you're out together and someone recognizes him. You've already got limited social energy, and now you have to waste it playing nice with heart-eyed fangirls ogling your boyfriend? He understands it's not pleasant. "Sorry, baby," he says to you. "I'll make it quick, I promise." After taking a selfie or two with them, he politely but insistently makes an excuse to leave. "Awesome to meet you," he smiles, winding his fingers through yours, "but we gotta go. Heartsteel schedules, man!" After you make your escape, Sett bends down to kiss your forehead and apologizes for the unwanted attention.

The best way Sett supports you in social situations is through his body language. He comforts you with the soft pressure of a hand on your back, or a reassuring thumb rubbing circles over your knuckles. When you speak, he turns his head to you, fully engaged. And, if you're in a group, he always makes sure to angle his body so that you're included in the circle.

When introducing you to his mom, Sett sticks to you like velcro. The two people he cares about most, finally meeting? Of course he wants it to go well! He practically hovers over you, trying to give you as much support as he can. You can barely go to the bathroom without him chaperoning. Bless his heart, though—he's so nervous and eager to please both his mom and you that it actually ends up making you more withdrawn. Thankfully, his mom—angel that she is—notices how nervous you are. She gives you a comforting smile (the exact same one her son often offers you, you note) and tells you both to relax. "Don't pressure yourself, my dear," she says to you. "My son adores you, which means I do, too. You've already got my approval." Her kindness and warmth is incredibly disarming, and you find it's very easy to come out of your shell around her.

God help the poor soul who tries to speak over you. Sett gets so pissed whenever anyone cuts you off. It doesn't matter if it's a Heartsteel member, or one of your friends, or, fuck it, your own damn mother—Sett's jaw locks and he gives them the dirtiest of dirty looks. "Uh, hey? I think they were trying to say something," he interrupts them, voice firm and eyes hard. And with Sett glaring down at them like that, all bulging muscles and barely-concealed growls and pissed-off-boyfriend energy? They usually quiet down pretty quick, and you're free to continue. They're on Sett's shit-list for the next couple of days, though. He's giving them a glare every time your back is turned.

While Sett loves his bros in Heartsteel, he knows that they all have really big, loud personalities. It can be a lot to deal with, especially for someone so shy. So, he invites you to everything—music video filming, birthday parties, movie nights— but he makes it clear that he completely understands if you don't want to come. Oh, but if you do show up? He's over the moon, and he'll do anything to make sure you're as comfortable as possible. Feeling overwhelmed and need a social break? He'll step outside for a walk with you. Kayn's teasing you? Sett's got him in a 'friendly' headlock in .2 seconds. Said something embarrassing? Don't worry. Sett will immediately distract everyone, even if he's got to say something twice as embarrassing to change the subject. Whatever you need, he's got you.

[natti-ice]

Wrong Assumptions- Regulus Black.

Pairing: Regulus Black x fem!reader

Summary: The Marauders come to visit for the summer, Regulus does everything to avoid the love of his life

Warnings: written in third person (she/her pronouns), this is two parts in one (2.7k words)

Author’s note: this is a reupload, I wrote this a while ago!

Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated<3

Summer breaks at 12 Grimmauld Place weren't always eventful. It was quiet most days, a rare conversation here and there. The Black brothers got along to a certain extent. Even when his parents were constantly comparing him to his brother, Sirius did love his brother. Regulus wouldn't say it out loud but he loved his brother too. 

This break was different than the rest, Walburga and Orion were out of town for a few weeks. This meant the boys had the house to themselves. Sirius took advantage of this immediately. He sent an owl to his friends the second his parents left, telling them to come asap. 

Regulus didn't care they were gone, or that Sirius had friends over. He kept to himself most of the day anyway. He wasn't overly fond of Sirius' friends, they were the complete opposite of him. Loud, obnoxious, just all over the place. Well, that was mainly James.

He could tolerate the tall one, the short boy didn't look in his direction so Regulus didn't mind him. He liked Y/N, only because she was his friend first.

Growing up, their parents were friends. Y/N would come over and play with the boys, she was always closer with Regulus even though she was a year older. She wasn't into the things Sirius liked. He was more into physical toys, while Y/N and Reg would create fantasy lands with their imaginations. 

One day they could be pirates finding lost treasure at sea, the next they were doctors performing emergency surgery on a teddy bear. This went on for a while till it was time for her to go to school. That's when she and Sirius became close, it seemed like she completely forgot about Regulus.

Most people thought Sirius and Y/N were in love the way they were never separate. For a while, Regulus didn't think that until he saw Y/N and Sirius cuddled up at the great lake one day. 

The Marauders arrived a few days ago, nothing crazy had happened thankfully. No kitchen fires or broken vases, just loud voices that reminded Regulus of their presence. 

-

It was about 8:30 in the morning, the house was quiet. Regulus figured they were all still asleep, he didn't like to leave his room when they were about the house. He went downstairs to the kitchen to make himself breakfast.

Walking into the kitchen, heading straight to the cabinet to make his morning tea. He failed to see someone already sitting at the dining table

"Good morning Reggie" She said

"Morning" he said with a thin-lipped smile

"How have you been?" she kept the conversation going

"I've been fine" he sat in front of her, stirring his tea

They made small talk for a while, catching up on what the other has been doing over the years. They hadn't had an actual conversation in who knows how long. Small waves and hellos in the hallways were the extent of their friendship.

The conversation was easy as if they'd never stopped talking. A few laughs here and there, until the boys woke up. Thumbing could be heard from outside the kitchen door, the boys came into the kitchen all at once. They were already talking about something probably meaningless. Regulus took this opportunity to slip out of the room.

It kind of hurt Y/N to see him leave, but she understood. He wasn't a people person. She would see him around school, always by himself. He would talk to some boys in his house, but she knew they weren't his close friends.

"Y/N/N get dressed, we're going into town today" Sirius told the girl as he buttered his toast

She listened heading up the stairs to her room to pick out an outfit. She passes by Regulus' room, stopping, backing up to be in front of his door.

She figured it wouldn't hurt to ask if he wanted to come. She knocks on the door

"Hey Reg, can I come in for a sec"

"sure" muffled by the door, she cracks open slightly stepping into his room.

It was very neat and elegant for a young man. A tall bookshelf and desk furnished his room.

"The boys and I are going out later, I just wanted to know if you wanted to come" she smiled

"Oh, no. Thank you, though" he said quicker than she'd like

"Okay, I'll see you later then" she left his room, it was probably for the best. The boys would've flipped if he came.

-

The sun was almost completely down before the Marauders came back. They went all over London. 

During their absence, Regulus thought back to that day at the lake. He was studying some plants for herbology that lived in the water. A few feet away was his brother's little friend group. Sirius was leaning up against a tree, while Y/N was rested under his arm with her head on his shoulder.

A small pain struck Regulus' heart, he didn't understand it back then but he knows now. He's in love with her, the feeling was new to him. He felt sick to his stomach any time he saw them together after that day.

That's why he didn't want to go out with them, if it was just Y/N, he'd go anywhere she wanted. 

The boys had worn themselves out today, they all were asleep by 11:30. Y/N laid in her bed, trying her best to fall asleep. She was restless, she didn't have as much fun as she pretended she did. Throughout the day Regulus ran through her mind. She missed being around him, watching him grow up on the sidelines was painful. They should've done it together.

When he got sorted into a different house, she knew there wasn't a chance for their relationship to be as it once was. 

She left her bed, she walked the halls of the house trying to cure her boredom. She decided to go up to the roof. It was a place she and Reggie would sneak off to when they'd gotten in trouble. No one ever found them.

She climbed up the hidden ladder that was installed into the ceiling of the top floor. A warm breeze hit her face as she got to the roof. She sat down against the brick wall that's connected to the chimney.

 She sighed, finally some fresh air. She loved her friends, but sometimes they were too much.

"Y/N?" A voice said

"Reggie?" she asked back

A tall figure came from behind the wall, sitting next to her. 

"What are you doing out here?" He asked

"Just needed a little air" he nods, "I didn't know you still came up here" she says

"Yeah, it's my own hideaway" a small smile on his face

They sat in silence for a minute or two. Y/N taking in the beauty of the night sky.

"Can I ask you something?" Regulus asked randomly

"Sure, anything" 

He takes a short pause, thinking of how to word the question. "Are you in love with my brother?" he asks in a quiet voice

She looked at him searching for any sign he was joking. He was being serious. She had to laugh. 

"What's so funny?" He was confused by her hysterics

"I'm sorry, it was just funny. You think I like Sirius?" 

"You don't?" He was even more confused now

"No! I love him, just not in that way. I don't know why everyone thinks me and him are a thing." She explained

"Okay... what about when you two were cozied up at the lake?"  

"Are you stalking me Reggie?" she teased

"What? No." He was thankful for the darkness, he could feel his face heating up

"It was cold that day, I forgot my jacket. He was being a good friend is all. Plus he's not really my type" she said

"Oh. I don't think he deserves you anyway" he smirked "What is your type then?" He needed to know, he knew it would eat him up if he didn't know.

It felt like she was taking forever to answer, he could hear his pulse. It was so loud, he almost missed what she said.

"I'm sorry what?" he asked

"I said, you" She smiled

This was something he had wanted to hear for a very long time, now was his time. Something came over him, and he went for it.

"I love you" he blurted out

"I was hoping you'd say that" she leaned in slightly, inches away from his face "I'm going to kiss you now" she whispered

Regulus closed the distance between them, holding her cheek in hand. This moment was what he thought about every day. He was afraid he was dreaming. Finally pulling away for air. 

"I love you too, Reggie"

-

They didn't stay on the roof for long, the summer nights were quite warm. Sleep wasn't an option for them, rekindling their friendship and starting a new relationship gave them an adrenaline boost.

They thought of things they could do that were fun but didn't risk them getting caught. Regulus was trying to come up with something when he remembered a little secret of his.

"I know something we can do, but if you tell anyone I'll deny it" he started

"What are you talking about? Should I be worried?" She asked, his bold vague statement made her very curious

"I own one of those muggle television sets. I was tired of hearing the kids at school talking about them so I had to see what the big deal was"

"Really?"

He nods,

"Oh my" she laughs, "Who would've thought, the pureblood has a liking for muggle things"

"Hey, it was only-"

"I'm teasing, Reg!" she smiled at him "I'd love to watch tv with you"

"C'mon I show you where it is," he said, standing up offering her a hand.

She accepted it, pulling herself up. They climbed back down the ladder into the house. Regulus took her hand, leading her down the dark hallway to a small room in an abandoned part of the house.

The room was pretty bare, with only a small tv and a two-person couch filling the space. Reg walks over to the television turning the dials finding his favorite channel. It played reruns of the American show 'Charlie's Angels'.

Both of them sat down on the couch, closer than they would've this time yesterday. He had already seen this episode before, he filled Y/N in on what she'd missed.

The couple sat together enjoying the program, neither of them could believe they were finally together. They were still getting used to being around each other again. It was a little awkward at first, but as their nerves calmed they eased into it.

"Y'know what would make this better?" Y/N said

"What?" his voice raspy from not speaking

"Snacks"

"You're absolutely right" he smiled

Walking downstairs, trying their best to be quiet. They knew if the boys found out, it would be a whole fiasco. It was best to keep it to themselves for now.

Y/N took the lead stepping into the kitchen pushing open the door, the fridge light was already illuminating the room. Sirius had woken up and decided to get something to drink.

"Oh hey Y/N/N... and Regulus?" he furrowed his brows together "What are you two doing?" he questioned

"Just hanging out, we couldn't sleep" She came up with on the fly, Regulus silently stood behind her, maintaining eye contact with his older brother.

"Right, can I talk to you for a minute, Y/N" he said pulling her into the other room

She kept her composure, she knew he had many questions. But she wasn't ready to tell him everything just yet.

"You and him are friends now?"

"We've always been friends, Sirius. We just haven't talked in a while that's all" she told him

"Okay, just answer me this one question" he sighed, dreading the answer. "Are you messing around with my brother?"

"WHAT?" She said a little too loudly "No, I am not messing around with him" she whispered, Regulus was probably listening

"I'll take your word for it" he put his hands up in defense "I've got to go back to bed, Goodnight"

"Goodnight, Sirius" she watched as he ascended up the stairs

She released the breath she didn't know she was holding, going back into the kitchen.

"How'd it go?" Regulus asked

"Fine, but he is very suspicious. If we want to keep this a secret, we'll have to be more discrete." She didn't like keeping secrets from Sirius, but she didn't want to jeopardize her relationship with Regulus.

He walks up to her, taking her face in his hand. "We'll tell him soon enough, don't worry dear" he tells her, placing a small kiss on her forehead

-

It was the Marauders last week at The Black's house. Every night Y/N and Regulus would stay up, take every moment they could to be together before she had to leave.

This also meant they were exhausted during the day. She still had to hang around the boys, so she sacrificed her sleep to keep her secret. The boys noticed her tiredness but didn't pay it any mind, figured she was worn out from being around them for so long.

There were a few times they had almost got caught, barely getting out of each situation. Like the time James decided to be an early bird.

It was 4:45 am, Y/N and Regulus had accidentally fallen asleep in the living room. Y/N was laying on top of Regulus. James half-awake walked past the room, thankfully it was quite dark in the house. He could only see her figure on the couch.

"Psst, Y/N" This caused her to stir, she realized whose voice that was. Slowly turning her head to face James, thinking she was caught.

He wasn't looking in her direction thankfully

"Yeah?" she answered

"Go to your room, there's no way that couch is comfortable" he walked away

She frantically woke up Regulus after she saw James' silhouette was gone. They both had to tiptoe back to their respective rooms.

-

Today was her last day. One by one the Marauders were leaving. James and Y/N were the last to leave. She, James, and Sirius were waiting in the living room. Her parents would be there any minute, so she wanted to say goodbye to regulus.

"I'm gonna go say goodbye to Reggie" she told the boys

"Careful, he might bite" James laughed

Rolling her eyes, she made her way to his room. Lightly knocking on the door,

"Hey Reggie, can I come in?" she asks

"Of course," he replied

She walks into the room, he was standing in the middle of the room. He'd been waiting for her to come up there.

"My parents will be here soon, I wanted to say goodbye" She walks up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He snakes his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her tight.

"School starts back soon, Won't be long we'll see each other again" he says pulling away slightly so they're face to face.

"I love you, Y/N" He leans down, capturing her lips in a sweet kiss.

He's so happy he finally got the girl. The girl he always wanted, even when he thought she loved his brother.

"Hey Y/N, your parents-" Sirius says walking into his brothers from

The couple pulls away from each other, not fast enough for Sirius not to see.

"Haven't you heard of knocking" Regulus questions his brother

"I thought you said you two weren't messing around?" confusion slapped across his face

"We're not!" she panics

"Right, then what the hell was that?" slight anger in his tone

"We're not messing around. I love him, Sirius" She had to tell the truth

Sirius didn't say anything, only eyed the couple. Sighing he finally replied,

"I know,"

"You know?" Regulus asks

"Yeah, I've always known you loved each other. I just didn't know how to feel about it"

"How do you feel about it?" Y/N didn't want this to ruin anything being her and Sirius, he's her best friend

"It'll take me a while to get used to, but I want you guys to be happy"

Y/N walks up to him, wrapping him in a bear hug. "Thank you" she whispers

A car horn is heard outside the window

"I should probably go" she let go of her friend, walking back over to her boyfriend

"I love you, Reggie" giving him a quick peck

"Ew, please don't do that around me," Sirius says, a sickened look on his face

"You're gonna have to get use to it" she shrugged walking out of the room. Regulus follows behind her, standing next to his brother

"Goodbye Y/N" Sirius yells down the hall

"Goodbye boys" she says, heading down the stairs

Once he heard the door shut, Sirius turned to his brother

"If you hurt her, I promise you I will make your life hell" he put on a fake smile

"I wouldn't dream of it" he matched his brother's smile

Tags: @madwcman

Join a tag list!

[pokemonshelterstories]

this might be a little long so bear with me.

I have a Xatu called Tokko (for the sound he makes when he clicks his beak on his favorite plastic cup) who I raised since he was a Natu. Over the years Tokko has done strange things since he's evolved into a Xatu, ranging from expected Xatu behaviors - like standing on the roof of my apartment complex or in my backyard once we moved and intently observing the sun, meditating for tens of hours at a time, to less expected but aligned to partner Pokémon behaviors like using Psycho Shift to steal my colds and high fevers, using Rain Dance to create a localized storm when he didn't want me going to work and (psychically?) turning down the TV when it's too loud for me while he's indulging in nature documentaries and old movies.

I happen to work as a court reporter. I trained for a long time to properly use my stenotype and as it happens, Tokko came into my life around the time I was finishing up my prep for my certificate course to properly enter the profession. Since, Tokko has known that my stenotype is invaluable to my job. I've been professionally doing this for years now, and Tokko has been observing me more and more since I started going at it in real court cases. He's even started insisting on coming to court with me after an incident with a particularly irate defendant, for which I was thankfully issued a permit. He now flanks me basically at all times in court, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, he's calm, typically meditates and does nothing or simply observes the proceedings. He even teleported my stenotype repair kit from home to me so I can fix it up before recess ended.

Then last week happened. You'll understand why I'm anon now. I woke up to a rainstorm that morning, an obviously manufactured one when I looked out the window and saw the neighbor's house dry as bone. Tokko was just doing his usual bit of standing at the window and staring out at the rain like he's in a 60s album cover, but this is typical for him not wanting me to go to work, so I just gave him a pat on the head and told him bills don't pay themselves. As I'm sitting down with my freshly made instant espresso, Tokko suddenly teleports my stenograph onto the table in front of me, then slowly, ominously floats over and intently stares at it, like he wants me to read it. I take a paper out of it and am mortified by what I see; a perfect, court-procedure conscious record of a trial. To my knowledge, Xatu are known to be highly intelligent when properly raised and educated and I spared little expense in doing that. What scared me was that the record was of a case that hasn't been seen in court. It was for a case due in two days. Tokko probably sensed that I was scared by this and immediately started doing his little apology dance that he usually does when he knocks something over.

Timestamps, notes about witness behavior, down to the exact wording in the evidence used to prove the defendant's innocence, all appearing multiple times, all of it flawlessly written out with only an occasional grammatical mistake. And lo and behold, two days later it all plays out exactly as reported by Tokko.

What do I do. What CAN I do? Do I just keep this a secret forever? I'm not gonna experiment with future sight and I'm not very keen on punishing Tokko for what he probably only thought was helping me with work! I already communicated to him that using my stenograph without asking is rude, so hopefully he won't be giving me early morning heart palpitations anymore, but he's been insisting on trying to use the Stenograph more and more often, he seems very taken by it. I don't know if it's a toy to him now, like some Incineroar might steal home appliances they like and hold onto them just because, so taking the implications into account, would taking the stenograph away from him be like depriving him of enrichment? He only seems to want to use it when it's on, and he pretty much only seems to type out future things.

Any advice MORE THAN welcome

please

//hey so i think this is a REALLY cool story you've come up with and you've captured some really interesting vibes! unfortunately, it also goes against established worldbuilding i have for charlie. a xatu just doesn't have the cognitive capability to do this from her perspective. i do think it's a really neat idea to pursue and i didn't want to have charlie reply and just dismiss it for not being something that would happen, but you might want to send it to another pokemonirl blog where pokemon have that kind of ability.

as a reminder, please read the faq before sending an ask! it'll help make sure that whatever you send is something charlie can answer

[secretsandwriting]

Even the Destruction of the World Couldn't Keep Me From You

Xisumavoid x reader supervillain au

This is the longest thing I've written in years it feels like. A whole 4.2k words. Also I'm well aware some of their villain names are silly. I just didn't know what to do for them so this is what you got.

You weren’t sure why you of all people were kidnapped. You had of course ran into the Hermits. They were the most notorious group of villains in the area. That was as far as your relationship with any of them went. If you saw a Hermit, you ran, just like how you ran when you saw heroes. The damage from the fights was enough reason to run. 

Yet here you were, changed to a wall and locked in a room by so called heroes. To make matters worse, they weren’t even from your city. They were from the city 50 miles away that had the Villain group Empires and yet they kidnapped you to get answers about the Hermits. You didn’t know why they wanted the information or why they wanted it from you. If you had known anything you would have already reported it. But instead here you were chained to a wall and told to shut up when you asked any questions.

You were rethinking your stance on the heroes. This was ridiculous.

“Alright, let’s get started.” The heroes walked in, “What do you know about the Hermits?” He spun a knife around, a clear threat in the movements. “And don’t tell us ‘nothing’. We have proof you know the hermits.”

“But I don’t know the Hermits! I’ve seen them around, and I’ve run from the chaos they’ve caused but other then that all I know is what the heroes have told us!” The guy with the knife sneered. 

“You don’t know the Hermits? Then why do I have pictures of you making out with Void?”

What?

Apparently silence wasn’t an accepted thing because his knife sliced through part of your arm and stuck into the wall with a dull thud. 

“Do you think I’m stupid? I did my research! I have pictures of you kissing Void! I have videos of you bringing Ninja and Hotguy lunch, dragging G.O.A.T off the battlefield, guiding Zombie to the others and more! You know who they are, so tell me and I might just let you live!”

For what seemed like hours, you were asked questions he claimed you knew the answers to, and when you didn’t give them the right answer another cut was added. Finally something caused them to leave you and let the darkness finally take you. The darkness was kind to you this time and took your pain and replaced it with one of your favorite dreams.

“Come on!” You dragged the taller man behind you, “We have to hurry!” 

“I’m sure there will still be cats when we get there.” The male responded. You couldn’t see his fave and his voice was distorted but his hair was black and right across where his face would be was a scar in the shape of an X. You always figured the X met over his nose but there was no way to really know.

“I know, I just don’t want to risk you changing your mind again.” He scoffed. 

“I would never change my mind!”

“You’ve changed it 5 times about getting a cat already!” The rest of the way to the shelter was filled with teasing and laughter. The time at the shelter was pretty short however. A small black cat climbed into your lap purring and begging for scratches while a chunky orange cat started attacking the guy. You left the shelter with both.

“She’s waking up X.” A female voice ended your dream. “You can have a few minutes but then we need to check her out and make sure we didn’t miss anything.” Thankfully the room wasn’t too bright when you opened your eyes. Your left hand was gently picked  up and squeezed, what felt like a kiss was placed on your palm.

“I’ve missed you darling.” You turned to look at him. The first thing you noticed was the large X scar across his face, the next thing was the soft and gentle look of pure adoration, the third, was his armor. That was Void’s armor. Void the leader of the hermits. Jerking out of his grasp you tried to get away from him.

You can hear someone else trying to calm you down but all you could focus on was Void. The pain that crosses his face the more you try to get away confuses you but not enough to stop. Someone moves between you, blocking your view of him and replacing it with another Hermit. G.O.A.T. Glancing around the large room, you're met with the sight of every single hermit. You were screwed.

The youngest one, the one the new describes as the only non-powered Hermit who seems to be like their child, quickly moved up to you and attached some weird cuffs to your left wrist and his right.

“Anything that happens to you will happen to me while we have these cuffs on.” He then went on to demonstrate it by shocking his finger, when you felt the shock to your own finger you started calming down. Once deemed calm enough, Medic asked you a simple question. 

“Why did you panic when you saw X?” Today must be the day of stupid questions.

“Because He’s Void.” The entire room looked at you in confusion.

“He’s your fiance. You have your engagement ring around your neck.” You glanced down at the ring hanging from your necklace then back to the boy handcuffed to you. “Do you-Do you not remember?”

I woke up in the hospital 2 years ago with no memories. Thorn told me my name and where I worked and lived. At the mention of Thorn, X left the room, there was some murmuring from the other hermits before a few of them followed X out. G.O.A.T sent the rest of them out shortly after. 

“Even if you don’t remember us, we remember you. Therefore you have nothing to worry about. To us, you are a dear friend and out Brother’s fiance.” G.O.A.T Rested a hand on yours and squeezed softly. “No harm will come to you from us. My name is Doc, Stress and I will be taking care of your medical care. Mumbo is the one cuffed to you.”

You let Mumbo undo the cuffs shortly after and allowed them to treat anything that was left. When they were done, X came back in. Doc had told you his name was Xisuma but most people called him X or some rendition of Xisuma. He was quiet when he came back in, eyes red and cheeks wet from tears. You were perched on the edge of the bed, facing the chair he sat down in.

“Let me be selfish.” You looked up from the spot on the floor you were staring at to look at him. All you could see in his face was desperation and pain. “I know you don’t remember but please let me be selfish. Let me hold you at night and stay by your side through the day. I’ve been looking for you for 2 years and 4 months. Now that I have you back I want to keep you close. So please let me be selfish and allow me to stay with you.”

You weren’t really sure what to say. Void, one of the highest ranking villains in the world, was begging you for something. Not only was he begging, but he was sobbing. You really wanted to go home and forget this ever happened but that didn’t really seem like a choice. A part of you questioned if this was a trap. For what, you didn’t know. Another part of your brain reminds you of your dreams with the man and the X on his face. You weren’t really sure how this was going to go, but maybe saying yes would work out better for you.

“Ok.” You had never seen hope grow in a person so fast.

“Ok as in I can?” At your nod, you found yourself wrapped in strong arms and cradled to his chest. Unsure of what to do, you awkwardly wrapped your arms around him and softly rubbed his back through his armor, you weren’t even sure he could feel it. It seemed to be the right thing however because he held you tighter while he sobbed into your neck.

You weren’t sure how long you were there for, just that when he was done crying, he just stayed in your embrace. When he finally parted from you, he took ahold of your hand and guided you through the halls to a room.

“This is our room.” His voice was soft as he spoke. He guided you through it. Telling you were all of your things were and where his was too. You noticed a ring box on what he said was your side. Probably to hold the supposed engagement ring that was around your neck. After your toured the room, you were given a tour of the whole building. The kitchen, living rooms, dining rooms, bathrooms, otter Hermits rooms and so on. Once he was sure he showed you everything, you were guided back to the kitchen. 

Xisuma started cooking, as you watched him work you realized he was making your favorite dish. Not only was he making your favorite, but he was making it exactly how you liked it, with all the little changes and tweaks you preferred. 

Not much was said during dinner, but one of your hands was always intertwined with his. After dinner, you were given a tour of the gardens in the back. You made sure to ignore the wavering in his voice like you had earlier. Once that was finished, you went back to your room for the night. Xisuma handed you one of his shirts and some of your shorts before letting you go change in the bathroom. When the door was slightly open, 2 cats shot out and immediately wrapped around your ankles screaming for attention. One of them decided that wasn’t enough, and the orange one started trying to climb up your leg.

“Des and Ed calm down!” Xisuma scolded the cats before detaching the one that was climbing you and snatching the one still around your ankles before it could start climbing you too. “Sorry, they missed you too, and they won’t let me trim their claws.” They were the cats from your dreams. Xisuma clearly took your staring for something else. “You probably don’t remember their names,” He held out the orange cat. “This is Edgar Allen Paw,” next was the black cat. “This i-”

“Furious the Destroyer.” Xisuma lit up and nodded, “I don’t know how I remember that.” The cats were placed back on the floor and you were pulled into another hug. 

“Eventually you’ll remember everything, but for now, we’ll take it one day at a time.” He gave a small squeeze before letting you go change. The shorts fit perfectly, but Xisuma’s shirt was big on you. It ended shortly before your knees. The smell of it was familiar and comforting but you couldn’t place why exactly it felt like that. So you left the bathroom and found yourself tucked into bed with Xisuma curled up around you. 

“I’m always comfortable when I’m laying with you!” the faceless man with the scar exclaimed, you laughed and dodged a lazy hand swung at you, the force behind it was so weak his arm fell shortly after. 

“You say that, but if we stay like this you’ll be complaining your back hurts tomorrow and I’ll have to listen to it all day!” He sighed before burying his head in your neck and placing feather light kisses on any skin he could reach.

“Let's just stay for a little longer.” The request was murmured against your skin. “We’ll go to bed in a minute but for now I just want to stay here with you.” You sighed but let one of your hands wander to his dark hair. 

“If you fall asleep, I don’t want to hear a single word about your back hurting.” He hummed in agreement, and nuzzled his head closer to your neck. He fell asleep in seconds and you felt yourself shaking your head before joining him in sleep.

When you woke up, it was still dark and Xisuma was still curled into your side, sound asleep. You checked the clock on the nightstand, 12:46 am. Lovely. Xisuma must have noticed your sigh in his sleep and moved closer. 

The thought that Hypno’s dream manipulation powers was the cause for your dreams crossed your mind again. The dreams seemed so personal and intimate that the thought that they weren’t actually yours felt so wrong. 

You turned your gaze towards Xisuma. You couldn’t see much in the dark and his head was tucked into your neck, but the rest of him was somehow curled around you too. Everytime you twitched or moved, he immediately moved closer. 

Clingy.

The thought flew through your head and you had to fight the urge to laugh. It didn’t work. You found yourself giggling in the dark desperately trying to stop so you didn’t wake Xisuma. It was too late for that.

“Whats so funny?” Xisuma’s voice was groggy and he was clearly trying not to move from his spot. You weren’t sure you wanted to tell him but you were probably going to have to. If you could ever catch your breath between giggles. 

“The big bad Void who’s known for his ruthlessness and path of destruction is clingy.” You started giggling harder as he groaned. 

“You said that when you found out the first time. But you went with a clingy simp then.” The giggling got worse at the addition of simp. Something you could see with how the day had been. Xisuma just groaned again. “Is this going to last for an hour again?” 

As the days went on, you got used to the hermits and Xisuma’s constant need to touch you. No one ever told you anything that could explain how or why you lost your memory. Well, that was until you were kidnapped again. This time by someone who looked identical to Xisuma but with red armor and white hair. You found yourself seated in a comfortable chair with a mug of your favorite tea in your hands. 

“So, what did Xisuma do to make you leave for 2 years?” He asked as he settled into his chair and sipped his tea. Something about him seemed familiar, and not just his similar looks to Xisuma. He felt almost comfortable to be around.

“I lost my memory 2 years ago and they found me about a week ago when a hero kidnapped me and tortured me for information. He just stared at you for a second before putting his drink down.

“So you don’t remember anything from before 2 years ago?” You nodded. “Explains why you went radio silent for 2 years… Well in that case, I’m Xavier, Xisuma’s clone… Whats the first thing you remember?”

“Waking up in the hospital and Thorn explaining I had been caught in a hero villain fight. When I said I couldn’t remember anything he found where I lived and worked.”

“Of course it was Thorn.” He seemed to notice your interest. “They didn’t tell you about Thorn did they?” He sighed and picked up his drink, taking a sip while he gathered his thoughts. “Of course they didn’t.”

“Thorn didn’t start as a hero, he was originally a vigilante. Well, he caught the hermits' attention. Thorn was hoping they would ask him to join them, but they weren’t interested in him joining. They wanted him gone, not because he was trying to stop them or too heroic or something like that. They wanted him gone because he had gone off the deep end and while the hermits are villains, they have morals. Thorn does not.” He sipped his tea.

“When he realized they were after him for reasons he didn’t want. He told them he would make them regret it, especially Xisuma. He thought the same thing most people think, because Xisuma is called the leader. Most people think he makes all the decisions when in reality, it's a group vote. While it’s not confirmed, it is theorized that Thorns powers are memory related due to some past things.”

“So that’s why Xisuma left the room when I mentioned him.” Xavier nodded. Taking a sip of your own drink, you mulled over the information. “How do I get my memories back then?”

“No idea. No one’s said anything about it before. Have you gotten any back?” Your dreams popped into your head. 

“I’ve been having dreams… But I don’t know if they’re actually memories. I can’t see anyone specific, just a form with a recognizable feature I guess.” Xavier nodded. 

“If it’s dreams, maybe Hypno could help unlock more. I don’t really know how it works but it's worth a shot.” After that, the conversation just flowed through other much lighter topics until Xavier decided it was time to return you back to Xisuma. 

You didn’t bring it up to Hypno until a week later. You requested that Xisuma not know about it yet and while reluctant Hypno understood your reasoning. Better not to get his hopes up when no one knew if it would work. One night a week, Hypno would try to make your dreams become clearer without messing them up. It didn’t make a difference, but you both decided to continue trying. 

As the weeks dragged on, you found yourself becoming attached to the hermits, not minding it when Xisuma came to you and wrapped you into some sort of physical touch and anxiety and nervousness of being around them went away. 

Weeks turned into months and nothing new had come back in the terms of memories. You could tell it was bothering Xisuma and the other hermits as much as it did you. Hypno continued trying to help you in your dreams, but it wasn’t doing anything. 

So you did the only thing you could think of. Think back on that hospital visit with Thorn to see if you could remember anything that he might have given away. You spent hours every day trying to think of something but it wasn’t until XB invited you to go swimming in the pool like you used to that something popped into your mind. 

“Make sure to avoid ocean water. We found you there and I would hate for you to have a PTSD episode.”

That’s how you found yourself at the beach, starting at the ocean waves in front of you. You were far enough away that the water didn’t even touch you. Just taking a moment to prepare yourself for the cold water. Thankfully, due to the late hour, no one else was there. Which also meant if anything happened, no one would be there to help.

Taking a deep breath, you walked forwards. Not stopping until your head was underwater.

“Your usual?” You asked Xisuma.

“Of course, are you going to spell my name completely wrong again?” You smiled.

“Of course!” He laughed and shook his head before moving down the line to wait at the counter that the finished drinks went too. 

While you were writing a horrible rendition of his name that was so far off it didn’t even sound similar, one of your coworkers gave you a wink and a look, clearly trying to convince you to go through with writing your number on his cup. Sighing, you finally committed to it, writing the digits down while your coworkers silently celebrated behind you. 

Two hours later, you got a text from him.

—

“I really want to kiss you right now.” Xisuma stared at you from his spot on the bench next to you. 

“What’s stopping you?” Xisuma hesitated for a second before taking it as the invitation it was. He was so gentle and careful and he pulled you closer, one of his hands resting against your waist the other at the back of your neck. 

“I’ve been wanting to do that for months.”

—

“Why do you want me to let you into Xisuma’s room?” You asked Grian and Scar who stood in the doorway. Xisuma had left for some sort of meeting and you were getting ready to go to work when Grian and Scar knocked on the door.

“We want to dye some of his clothes pink.” 

“Just make sure he still has one white button up and a pair of nice black pants when your done, we have a date Friday and if it gets postponed because you messed all his clothes up I will personally arrange your torture and death.” They both shivered and nodded. You made sure to ignore them while you finished getting ready.

—

“I have something I need to tell you.” Xisuma pulled you away from your project and to a nearby couch in your room. “I’m the villain Void.” You blinked at him.

“Did you really have to pull me from my project for a joke?” You sighed.

“No, I’m serious, I’m Void.” He opened a small rift next to you, hoping that this wouldn’t be the end of the relationship. He struggled to read anything off of you as you stared at the rift. 

“But you're just a clingy simp who can barely remember where you leave things.” Xisuma snorted. Of course you would say that. “Is that why you always have so many bruises, why your gone so late sometimes and why you always give such bad excuses for not being able to do things?” Xisuma nodded, holding his breath.

“I understand it's a lot to process but I need you to know this doesn’t change anything. I love you and always have loved you and will always continue to love you.” 

“I just need some time to think about this.”

Later that night, you woke him up with your giggling. 

—

“They’re so lucky I like all of them.” You sighed as you tried calling Xisuma again. He didn’t answer. Neither did Tango, Etho, Impulse or Doc. There was one other person you could call who could find them easily. 

“Hey Iskall, sorry to bother you. Do you know where Xisuma, Etho, Tango, Impulse and Doc are? They didn’t eat breakfast or take lunch so I’m trying to bring them some but no one will answer their phone.” Within seconds, Iskall had hacked their phones and gave you a location. Thankfully it wasn’t too far away. 

When you showed up. All five were huddled over some contraption they were making, not paying much attention to their surroundings. 

“It’s a good thing I’m not a hero or you all would have been captured in seconds.” The entire group turned to look at you like deer in the headlights. “I brought you lunch since none of you have eaten today, but considering how none of you answered my texts or calls I’m not sure you really want it.”

Immediately there were apologies and protests. You just laughed at them as they tried to defend themselves. Eventually you decided to accept whatever they were saying as good enough and handed out the lunches to the five. Xisuma was kind enough to give you a kiss before he dug in like the rest of the group. 

“More of the hermits need to get into relationships if this is the treatment we get from it!” You laughed at Etho’s statement before saying goodbye and heading to work. 

—

“This way!” Xisuma tugged you over to the Gazebo in the middle of the gardens you were visiting. “It has the best view of all the flowers.”

Xisuma wasn’t lying when he claimed it was the best view. Fields of flowers of all types were laid out in front of you. The sunlight made the bright colors pop out of the green, the smell of the flowers was strong and sweet, making it so you never wanted to leave.

You turned to Xisuma to see his reaction, only to find him down on one knee with a ring in his hand. You didn’t even let him give the little speech he had clearly practiced before saying yes and letting yourself drop into his arms. There in his arms, he whispered something in your ear.

“Even the destruction of the earth couldn’t keep me away from you.”

The ring was slid onto your fingers and when you got back to the main building, the other hermits swarmed the two of you.

You were pulled out of the water, gasping for breath. You hadn’t realized you had been under for that long. Glancing up, you were met with Xisuma’s terrified face. Xisuma, your fiance, the love of your life. You didn’t even know how you could have forgotten. 

Xisuma clearly wasn’t expecting to be pulled into a kiss after pulling you up from the bottom of the ocean but he melted into it either way. His arms tightened around your waist and one of your hands found it’s way to the back of Xisuma’s head. 

“Even the destruction of the earth couldn’t keep me away from you.” Xisuma teared up, desperately searching your eyes. “I remember Xisuma. I remember everything!” You found yourself being pulled back down into another kiss. 

“We should head back to shore.” Xisuma’s voice was thick and shaking against your lips, you wiped his tears from his face before stealing another kiss.

“Let's go home Xisuma.”