#the only thing worse than having to miss work for being sick will be dealing with being understaffed bc other people are sick

[teabookgremlin]

one of my coworkers has covid so now basically most of the staff has been exposed and i swear to god i better not get it

[sanaexus]

pass pass- oh smash.

the inarazaki volleyball team was nothing short of chaos. be it the twins bickering, suna recording every fight, aran cheering them on, omimi's loud sighs of disappointment, kita's scolding and the manager's threat was something that happened on a daily basis, it was normal.

but despite all that nothing changed the fact that they were all extremely close, specially with the manager. in the past all most all the managers quit because of how patient you needed to be dealing with the havoc they created. but you were different. dealing with their bullshit every day, helping them with whatever they needed and just being a friend they really needed.

while to anyone outside it may have seemed like you have romantic feelings for one of them and that's why you chose to become the manager, so you could be closer to them. but that really wasn't the case. the last thing you'd like was one of those hooligans.

it was supposed to be a normal practice match with aoba johsai, but this was inarizaki they were talking about, of course it wasn't.

no one knew you were dating oikawa. no, everyone just automatically assumed you were with atsumu. they weren't exactly to blame, you were close to him but that's what happens when you know someone since your childhood.

to say you were tensed about the match was an understatement. not only about how this was going to end on the court but about how the teams would react if they somehow got to know you were with oikawa.

but it was as if luck decided to make a complete fool of me their entire team came barging in, the loud entrance made everyone flinch for a second as they stared at the door.

now you were panicking and omi being the actual saint he was asked you, "are you alright?"

"no, fuck shit no, do i look alright?" i was pacing back and forth trying to hide my face thinking about ways to hide myself from oikawa or at least let him no that he shouldn't approach me.

"are you alright you look like you just saw a ghost"

"that's because i saw someone worse than a ghost! oh my godd can i call in sick please?" you pleaded with him, trying to find any excuse that would get you out of here.

"no. why would you want that, what happened?"

"i'm kinda maybe sorta might be dating someone from seijoh"

"what's the problem, he's in seijoh this is volley- wait you have boyf- WHAT?"

the yelling had caught the team's attention as they look at the both of you confused.

"WE'RE FINE, NOTHING HAPPENED" as you glare at omi "shhh are you trying to get me killed here? the problem is he is the volleyball team and is kinda the captain of the team. i'm just gonna pray he isn't stupid enough to approach me here with these creatures all around me"

"praying isn't going to be enough for what the twins might do to him if they find out."

cue the bad luck as kindaichi and kunimi wave at you, surprised you're standing at the other side of the court. your hands frantically making the cross sign across your chest mouthing "stay away, you don't know me"

"oh wait how about you text him or something to like not come up to you and you'll explain later"

"ohhh my god you're a genius i love you omi"

as you whip your phone out going to text iwaizumi with your hands shaking.

-IWAIZUMI HELP

why do you look like you're about to pass out? are you fine?

-it's because i might pass out any second. my team doesn't know i'm dating oikawa

oh

-yeah tell him to not approach me please if they find out i'll be dead

i'll do it. good luck w this mess

-thank you i owe you big time

you look up from your phone to talk to omi- "i told his bestfriend to tell him to not approach me that should work right?"

"why didn't you tell him directly? what if he thinks he's just saying it so he stays focused"

"ohhh you're like SUPPER smart, i dont know what i'd do without you"

"probably have your little affair get caught"

you just mutter a little "rude" before going to text oikawa. but before you can, he comes in yelling.

"Y/NNN CHANN I MISSED YOUUU" his whiney voice can be heard to everyone as he jogs his over to you.

you sigh, knowing what's about to go down. "hi oikawa, i missed you too.." you whisper so only you can hear it. and before you can process the entire inarizaki volleyball team (and seijoh) is surrounding the two of you.

suna could careless about who you dated, if you were happy he didn't mind it. but this was something that was both surprising and funny, so of course he had to record it.

it was confusing to the team because up until now they were under the impression you were dating atsumu.

"wait wait wait what does he mean by he missed you? are you two friends?" osamu was curious, he knew you weren't dating his brother but he thought you liked him.

oikawa dramatically turned towards you "you haven't told them?"

"ladies, ladies there's enough of me to go around" which only brought you deadpan looks from both the volleyball teams "ok sorry, my bad for being funny"

"wait what does he mean you haven't told us??"

"we've been dating for a year, the last thing we could be is friends-"

"you're dating him? I thought you were with atsumu?"

"atsumu? i thought you were dating suna?"

"why me? i didn't even do anything keep me out of this?"

"NO WHY WOULD I BE DATING EITHER OF THEM?"

"what's wrong with us?" suna and atsumu asked offended.

"shut up i've seen you eating sand and you ask me what's wrong with the two of you?"

"y/n chan, what's going on?" kunimi asks curiously. the seijoh's team just stood there watching you, oikawa and the inarizaki members going back and forth.

"all of you shut up, we didn't even let y/n explain properly"

"oh my god thank you kita-"

"you don't like the twins?"

"KITA?! no oh lord i don't, i've been dating toruu for the past year, i never did and never will like any of these hooligans, no offense"

"HEY! that's rude-" before atsumu could whiney any further osamu smacked him in the back of his head, which shut him up immediately.

"what about the rumors of a girl making out with atsumu? that wasn't you?" suna finally asked, genuinely wanting to know more.

"Y/N-CHAN YOU MADE OUT WITH PISS HAIR? WHAT?"

"no oh my god toruu I didn't-"

"oh, that wasn't her that was just a junior i dated."

"yeah that wasn't me wait ew juniors? really atsumu?"

"she was cute! don't shift this on me"

"but guys seriously i never had have or will like anyone from the volleyball team. i'm sorry i hid it from you guys, but i was just scared of what you guys would think"

"are you happy? does he keep you happy?" aran asked borderline choking atsumu.

the question caught you off guard but instantly a small smile replaced the shock on your face "yes, he does, he's stupid but he really does make me happy"

"then that's all that matters"

"aww thank you-"

"nuh uh, i don't approve, what if he's a playboy?" atsumu disapprovingly shook his head praying aran's hands off him.

"oh god no one wants to hear that from you" suna shut atsumu up.

atsumu quietly huffed a "rude"

"well now that that's sorted, we should probably get back to warming up"

"yes thank you kindaichi, finally a normal person"

"y/n?" aran called out to you.

"yes?"

"just because your boyfriend's in that team doesn't mean we'll go easy on them, we'll just be rougher with them"

"if it makes you win, be my guest."

this was a bit awkward to write and I'm not proudest of this either but we'll js roll with it

@daisy-room here you go mam hope I did your idea justice

[berriweb]

Hello, how are you doing? If it’s alright with you, may I request pavitr, miles e-42 and 1016 and Hobie headcanons where their s/o doesn’t contact them for a week and the boys haven’t seen their s/o during that period and no one knows where they went (so pretty much went of the grid) and then one day the reader shows up and turns out, they have become the permanent host for Venom as they are completely compatible with one another and the reader apologies to the boys for not contacting them cause they were scared and had to deal with the whole symbiote thing and Venom didn’t trust the boys

╰┈➤ ❝ i have your best interests in mind ❞

: ̗̀➛ ft. pavitr prabhakar, hobie brown, earth-1610! miles, earth-42! miles

: ̗̀➛ synopsis. reader goes missing after becoming a host for venom and the boys are unaware of this

: ̗̀➛ a/n. okay so im actually madly in love with idea?? many kisses to you for this request anon, hope it’s worth the wait

— PAVITR PRABHAKAR

There would absolutely nothing more devastating to Pavitr than the worry he had when you initially disappeared

He’s a super affectionate boyfriend meaning you two would likely hang 24/7 and if you’re not together then he’s always texting you or randomly calling to check up on you

So from the start when you aren’t at home for him to walk you to school and then don’t show up at school he’s caught off guard, surely you would’ve let him know if you had other plans or were sick like you always did?

He’ll text you that morning asking if everything’s okay and where you’re at, and by noon when he doesn’t get a response he slowly starts losing it

Probably checks his phone every 2 minutes, turns it off and on to see if it’s messed up and he just hadn’t received your message, etc.

By the evening he’s contacted all of your friends and family to see if they knew where you were. When it becomes apparent that none of them know where you’ve gone either is when he starts officially freaking out

Files a missing person’s report that evening and spends the rest of the night swinging around Mumbattan looking around for any sign of your face, to no avail

It only gets worse the next few days, he starts slipping up and focusing more on finding you than any Spider-Man work he normally would’ve been doing, hoping every time that he’ll catch even a glimpse of you

It wasn’t until nearly a week later that he finally got answers, having just finished up helping a woman who’d gotten mugged when he notices someone in a familiar shirt ducking into a nearby alley

The same shirt you were wearing the last time he saw you

There weren’t enough words to describe the relief that washed over Pavitr when he rushed for the alley and saw your face just as you turned your back to the road.

“Y/N!”

That relief turns into confusion when he notices how hard you jump at the sound of your own name, as well as he notices the hood from your jacket pulled over your face as if you were trying to stay hidden. When you turn to look at him, the fear in your eyes makes him stop in his tracks, and luckily so because you throw your hands up before the spider can get any closer

“Get back!”

Pavitr doesn’t understand your vagueness at first when you apologize for going M.I.A but still seem hesitant to come back with him

Until you offer to explain but only after he promises not to freak out when you show, not tell

He agrees, but doesn’t wrap his head around it until your body is suddenly engulfed in a sea of black (tentacles? liquid? he couldn’t tell) and your face is covered by rows of sharp, menacing teeth containing a slimy, and slightly unnerving, tongue and jagged white eyes

Despite the warning he still gets initially defensive, and seeing that was enough for the monster who took over you to loudly vocalize their concerns

“I told you he could not be trusted.”

For a moment it seemed like the being and you must’ve been arguing, but he could only hear it’s side of the conversation, and from the sounds of it the monster was the reason you’d gone missing

As fast as it had appeared, the demon disappeared you were standing in it’s place again. He relaxed, and you finally explained to him why you hadn’t gone back

Pavitr still seems a bit freaked out at the thought of another being living in your body, but after the initial worry he seems to be less on guard about the whole ordeal

Pavitr rushes to pull you into a hug before you could even get out your last word, tight enough to make you pat his back to try to tap out after the first few seconds. “Pav…”

He acts like he doesn’t hear you at first, but the second time you call his name he reluctantly pulls away, but only enough for you to breathe properly, and gets sheepish.

“Sorry, I just really missed you.”

Pav assures you that you have nothing to worry about and as long as your new parasite doesn’t cause any trouble he can manage, but makes you promise to never leave him worrying like that for so long again

— HOBIE BROWN

It would take him a while longer to realize something was wrong like Pav did

There have been times where the two of you haven’t talked for days due to him being off doing Soider-Man work or you just having your own life keeping you busy so not talking for a small period of time isn’t completely abnormal

The only difference? You’d always tell each other before it happened

On day one Hobie didn’t take much note of it when he came over by your place to visit after a long night fighting as Spider-Man. You’d probably been out running errands or out with friends, nothing worth stressing himself out over

Hobie wasn’t a fan of texting and calling as he preferred seeing you in person, so his phone mostly went unused unless it was an emergency

The next day Hobie decided to drop by in the evening to hang out with you in his free time, yet when he tried knocking the lack of an answer gave him the unknown feeling of something being wrong

When he resorted to the normal route (that being climbing in through your window) Hobie was surprised to be left standing on the side of the building because the window was locked

He didn’t understand the random change of heart when you almost always left it open for him to enter if he ever dropped by as Spider-Man

Hobie picked the lock and managed to slip in regardless, but the signs showing that you hadn’t been in your apartment in a while were starting to make him suspicious. All of the belongings you’d normally take with you when you left your home were still in the home, that much he realized after finally trying to call you, only to hear your phone buzzing in the room, fishing around and finding it still plugged into the wall under your sheets

You hadn’t even taken your phone?

That’s when he started to worry

With no way to contact you, Hobie chose to spend the rest of that day and the following night lounging around your place, hoping to see you walk in and explain that you’d been in a rush and give some reasonable explanation as to why you disappeared

But you don’t

He doesn’t want to entertain the thought that something bad could’ve happened to you, and even more so, he doesn’t want to believe it could’ve been related to someone finding out your relation to Spider-Man

Hobie resorts to asking around and doing his own investigating to figure out what happened to you (which mostly involved him interrogating any criminal or villain he encountered while out as Spider-Man, but that was besides the point)

He also abandons his home entirely and spends his time at your place instead in the off chance that you’ll show up

Which ends up being exactly what happens

With his feet kicked up on the arm of the couch and his head half-hanging off of the other end, Hobie found himself mindless strumming at the strings of his guitar to fill the silence that’d overtaken the room. His eyes were glued to the clock silently ticking that you’d hung up above the door to your bedroom, showing just how far into the night it was.

It’d been days since he’d seen you, and with no way to reach you and no leads on where you could’ve gone, he was running out of options to consider aside from sitting around hoping you’d return one day. He hated that option.

In the middle of running over every possibility for your disappearance in his mind, the sound of a lock clicking pulled him out of his head and his head snapped towards the door. His heart stopped for a moment, yet his hope that you’d finally come home was demolished the moment the door opened.

Hobie jumped up before he could think, guitar long forgotten, as instead of seeing you walk in, he witnessed a large (at least 7 feet) monster seemingly completely made out of black goop and baring razor sharp teeth come barreling through the door. It’s movements were calculated but it made a mess the moment it entered the door, slamming the door so hard there was an audible sound of wood splitting from the doorframe.

“I need food! Do you expect me to starve?! I can’t survive on stolen chocolate!”

Hobie had crawled up the wall and crouched from an upper corner in the room, silently wishing he’d brought his suit with him, but in no way could he have predicted this. He watched as the monster stomped around the room, seemingly throwing a fit as it argued with itself. It ran into a shelf and knocked over all of the trinkets on it, whether or not that was intentional or not. Just as he readied himself to attack was when the being turned and it’s head shot up, only then noticing the stranger who’d been watching the entire encounter.

In the blink of an eye he’d shot webs that connected to both of the monsters arms, limiting it’s movements and lunging forwards, kicking it to the ground. Unluckily for him, he couldn’t use the element of surprise twice, but the conversation that followed as he jumped to avoid it smashing him with it’s fists was more alarming than anything else.

“What about him, can I at least eat this one?”

Hobie was seconds away from flinging the monster into the wall when the black ooze started to melt away, and his movements came to a screeching halt when he realized it was your face under the mass.

To say he was surprised would’ve been a heavy understatement

“Tell me I’m dreaming.”

He was, in fact, not dreaming

He immediately backed off upon realizing what he was about to start fighting was his s/o, but demanded an explanation before he lost his mind trying to come up with one himself

When you explained how you’d become a host for the symbiote and why you were so afraid and couldn’t come see him, his reaction was more collected than you were expected even considering his calm personality, but he did proceed to lightly scold you for not coming to him in the first place while understanding why you would’ve been scared to do so

When he finds out about how Venom didn’t trust him, Hobie offers to make a deal to keep the symbiote in line and keep you from having issues dealing with the being not liking your boyfriend

What exactly was the deal? Hobie let’s Venom eat all of the corrupt government officials he ends up defeating, that way everyone’s happy

— EARTH-1610! MILES MORALES

Poor Miles would be going through it

He’s not as clingy as Pav but he does get worried since you guys talk nearly every day, so just like him, when you didn’t show up to class he was beyond worried

He’d try to call and ask if something was up since you two had plans for later that day, but no answer. Alongside that, no one else has seen you around either

When he calls your family and they voice their concerns about you not coming back home the day prior is when his nerves get the better of him

Miles is a smart boy so one of the first things he does is immediately go to his dad to file a missing person’s report

Alongside that, he’s questioning any and everyone he comes in contact with about whether or not they’d seen you around

As he clapped his hands together to mock wiping dust from his palms, Miles searches for his phone that he always seems to pull out of his suit from no where (because seriously, where does he have room to hold it?), ignoring the angry curses from the bank robber he’d webbed to the outside of the building.

“Yeah yeah yeah, that’s nice and all…” he mutters while typing away on his phone, which only seemed to anger the criminal anymore, evident by the vein popping in his forehead and the increase in words that definitely weren’t meant for children.

As the police sirens grew louder and the citizens who’d previously been the gunman’s hostages stood around anxiously, some attempting to get the heroes attention to ask for photos, Miles held up the phone to the man’s face and zoomed in.

“You seen this person around lately?”

It takes a week for him to finally find you (one of the worst weeks of his life), albeit it wasn’t you he was looking for initially

After being stopped in the street by an old woman complaining that she’d seen a monster lurking around the abandoned building near her apartment home and heard weird noises coming from it, Miles had gone to investigate in order to come back and happily report that there was nothing for her to worry about

Unfortunately for Miles, however, he was completely wrong, as when he crawled into the run down storage center through the roof, he caught a full view of a gigantic, inky black creature crunching on what was once the full body of a man

He would’ve been more concerned over the fact that there was a man-eating monster lurking the streets of Brooklyn had he not focused on taking down the monster first, but just as he dropped down from the ceiling is when it became aware of its presence and what he assumed was the creatures skin started to peel away until you were left standing in its place

The mask prevented you from seeing his full expression, but the way the eyes widened was enough to show his mixture of shock and confusion

Miles could only stand there, baffled as he listened to you explain your situation and how you’d become their new host. When he got a chance to speak, the first thing he brought up was how he’d technically just watched his s/o eat a man alive, only for you to reassure him that it was the only person you’d ever eaten and that he was a really bad criminal you’d had eyes on for days

It was hard for him to make sense of it and while he didn’t exactly enjoy the thought of you having to eat people to survive now, Miles will admit that as long as you aren’t devouring the innocent he can manage

“So…does this make you like- a zombie or something?”

You tried (and failed) to resist the urge to roll your eyes at his comment as the two of you sat atop the roof of the old building, watching the city. “Miles.”

“I’m just saying, Venom eat brains,” he raised one hand, “zombies eat brains,” he raised his other, then pushed the two together, “you’re kind of like a zombie. You come become a hero like me! Maybe keep the ‘eating heads’ part on the down low, though. I can even come up with a cool zombie name for you! We could be a team.”

“One, I am not a zombie, and two, what’s wrong with the name Venom?”

“It’s fine I guess, not nearly as cool as a zombie name would be though-” he stopped when your hand suddenly shot up before his reflexes could kick in and smacked him in the mouth. “-hey!”

“Sorry! That was Venom.”

Miles made a face at you, but you knew it was more or less directed at the symbiote.

“Venom said that’s a terrible idea and you’re an idiot.”

That’s not what I said.

“-in more vulgar words that I’m not going to repeat.”

He raised his hands defensively. “That’s a genius idea! Would you rather be named after brains or chocolate or something instead? Chocolate and spiders don’t go together at all.”

“Neither do zombies and spiders.”

“Point taken.”

“…”

“…what about Spider-Zom-”

“Miles.”

“Alright alright, Venom it is.”

— EARTH-42! MILES MORALES

Miles would get straight trying to find you the second he realized it’s been hours since he’s seen you and no one else has a clue where you’ve gone too

He’s not the type to be too overbearing but he is really overprotective considering you’re associated with him and the type of danger he gets himself involved in, so making sure you’re always is a number one priority for him and when he has no idea what you’re up to for a long enough period of time he gets worried

Especially considering the amount of crime in the city, for all he knows anything could’ve happened to you and if he finds out that something did and he wasn’t there to protect you he’d be devastated

Immediately let’s Uncle Aaron know to keep an eye out and that most of his Prowler business would be put on hold until he finds you because you’re more important than any vigilante work

The longer you’re gone, the more anxious he becomes and while he might not show it most of the ones he’s close to will be able to tell that something’s up

“Cálmate, Miles. The more you sit around stressing yourself out the harder you’re being on yourself for no reason. I’m sure they’ll show up any day now.”

Miles tried to take his mother’s words to heart, but knowing that you could be out there anywhere in pain or worse because of him leaves him no room to relax.

“No puedo, mamí. I have to know that they’re okay.”

His worries were starting to manifest physically, the tightness in between his brows, constant bouncing of his leg and the tapping of his fingers on any surface he could reach being clear signs of it. He was sure he’d checked his phone nearly a hundred times in the last hour alone, waiting for a call from you saying you were okay or a text from Uncle Aaron letting him know he’d found you. Something, anything. It was the fourth night in a row he’d spent up all night, completely abandoning his bed when he realized he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

His mother leaned down and placed a hand over his own to stop him from the finger tapping he hadn’t realized he’d picked up again, turning over his phone to lay it flat on his desk.

“And it’s my job to make sure you’re okay. Get some rest, I’m sure if we get any updates it won’t be in the middle of the night.”

He looked her in the eye for a moment, but any attempt to disagree was futile as he knew he couldn’t argue against her.

“Okay, fine, I’ll get some sleep.”

“¿Juras?”

“Lo juro.”

With a kiss on the cheek she left him to his own devices in his room, but as soon as the door shut and he was sure he’d heard her footsteps retreated back to her room, Miles grabbed his claws and mask and headed straight for the fire escape.

All attempts at trying to find you were futile, and while he refused to lose hope Miles was beginning to assume the worst

He never wanted to entertain the thought that you could’ve died or worse, but thankfully for him that worry was squashed when in the middle of yet another restless night, Miles suddenly heard tapping coming from his window

The one clawed glove he always kept on him was the first thing Miles reached for when he heard the initial taps on his window, but as he slowly approached the window, he paused with the glove half on when meeting your gaze as your head poked over from the edge of the windowsill.

With a mixture of confusion and surprise, he rushed to unlock and open the window, watching in awe as you climbed through, rising to your feet. He looks out the window, taking note of the fact that there’s absolutely no way you could’ve climbed up given that there was nothing to climb on and his window was far from the ground.

When you look at each other a long moment filled with silence follows, and he can’t help but notice if you’re studying his looks or judging them.

“You look tired.”

Possibly both?

“I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to wake you, I shouldn’t have come.”

He seems to snap out of it as soon as you start heading back for the window, reaching out to grab you by the arm.

“Wait! Stay.”

Miles would have loads and loads of questions to ask you, starting with “are you okay?” and ending with “why did you disappear on me? i was worried sick!”

Listening to you explain how you’d become a permanent host for the symbiote was almost just as hard to comprehend as when you showed it off and allowed Venom to momentarily take over you

He’d unconsciously move back without realizing it, but you retreated back to your normal self moments after just for the sake of not freaking him out

It’d take a moment to process, but when you’d show signs of guilt and mentioned leaving again and understanding if he didn’t want to be associated with you he’d stopped you again

“You really won’t mind?”

Shaking his head, Miles pulled you in for an embrace, nose pressed into the top of your head for a moment before a placed a kiss on your forehead.

“You come as a package deal now, right? I don’t really have a choice of not being cool with the whole Venom thing, no way I’m leaving you. Somos tu y yo.”

When he pulled back he noticed you make a funny face and muttered a quick no, only for a moment, and wondered what was wrong.

“It’s nothing, Venom just asked if they could eat you.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“I mean, I guess that means they think you’re tasty so probably good, take it as a compliment.”

“I’ll take what I can get.”

[lunajay33]

Mothers Daughter🕊️

Summary: Being the youngest of the winchesters had its ups and downs, but being the only girl made you miss out on a female figure, so the only thing you can do is ask the men around you about your mother

Pairing: Dean Winchester x lil sister, Sam Winchester x lil sister, John Winchester x daughter

•Masterlist•

You never got to meet you mother she died 6 months after you were born, well when you and Sam were born, he was older than you by 5 minutes and still treated you like his little sister but you couldn’t ask for 2 better bigger brothers, they were always there for you and made sure you were okay

Being the youngest and only girl in the family it got hard sometimes, when you were little it wasn’t as big of a deal, John treated you like his little girl and loved you dearly always reminding you that you looked like Mary, your brothers treating you like a princess and let you play with dolls, but as you got older and you got more woman problems it was hard to handle since there was no motherly figure to turn too

You woke up in the motel you were currently staying at with John, Sam and Dean, late at night you got up feeling groggy and your stomach aching so bad, nothing like you’ve ever felt before, you got to the bathroom looking in the mirror seeing how pale you had gotten, thinking maybe it was just something you ate you went to use the washroom but when you pulled down your pants all you see is blood and you panic

You pull your pants back up dropping to the ground when another wave of pain hits your lower stomach

“DADDY!” You scream out scared you might be serious sick

He runs in frantic looking around for danger, probably thinking something supernatural was out to get you, he kneeled infront of you brushing your hair back

“Baby what’s wrong?”

“Somethings wrong, I’m bleeding a lot and….and it hurts so bad” you say breathing heavy just wishing for him to take you pain away

“Oh princess, it’s your period every woman goes through it, I’ll run out and get you some pads and pain killers, drink some water I’ll be right back”

When he left Sam and Dean came and sat with you on the bathroom floor, doing everything they could to comfort you, but you were still confused on what was happening

That happened when you were 14 and after John explained to you what a period was you felt so different from your brothers, every month you had to go through pain while they carried on with hunting, having to go through bouts of random emotions was irritating but what was worse was having your body change and not knowing what to do

“Damn sis your legs are just about as hairy as mine” Dean laughed as we were all sat around in another motel, you felt so embarrassed covering your legs under the blankets

“Dean enough” John said as he saw your bottom lip tremble

“Daddy I don’t understand why do I have to change like this my legs are hairy and my boobs are getting bigger and I don’t feel comfortable”

“Come on princess I’ll take you shopping”

He took you to a drug store find a training bra that fit comfortably and some razors, the drive home was a little quiet

“I’m sorry daddy, I don’t mean to inconvenience you I know you have a lot on your plate right now with this werewolf case”

“It’s not your fault, and you’re not an inconvenience, just wish your mother was here to help guide you on this”

Your mother was a sore topic for the family which is all the more reason you wish you knew her, they barely talk about her

You got back to the motel room and Sam was already asleep but Dean was up watching tv still, John got ready for bed while you sat at the little table working on some homework Dean coming to sit with you, he was 19 so he didn’t have to do any schooling anymore

“Dean can I ask you something?” You sighed putting your pencil down

“Sure kid, what’s got your little head worrying?”

“Do you….i mean I never knew her but…..do you like mom would have liked me?”

He looked surprised not expecting that question, you saw John come out of the washroom seeing Dean expression and your nervous state

“What’s going on?”

“She…..she asked if mom would have liked her”

You were scared that he was going to yell at you, but you were just so desperate to have a mom or even a older strong woman figure to look up to

“Daddy I’m sorry I just…..I feel so different and you always say I remind you of mom, I just miss someone I never knew and it hurts”

“I’m not made princess, I’m sorry you and the boys don’t have your mother but I’m trying my best, and your mother would have loved you, I remember when she found out she was having twins she was so excited and when you were born and we saw you were a little girl she always said she felt this connection with you, how she’d cradle you and you’d immediately relax against her, she had so much planned for you Angel, she told me to wait till your 16th birthday to give you this but it’s close enough” he got up rummaging through his bag pulling out a little box

You opened it to see a silver necklace with a protection charm, just like the one John had tattooed

“I love it, thank you, I hope where ever she is she’s proud of me”

“Hey kid, we’re all proud of you” Dean smiled helping you put the necklace on

“She couldn’t have left me with better protectors, I love all three of you”

“Love you too princess, forever”

You were 22 now and on a run with all three Winchester boys, you had just finished getting the colt back from some vampires and trying to make a game plan so that John would accept you help, Sammy was driving and you and Dean were in the back

“Daddy please just take a break for a second, let us help I…….i miss you” bright lights burned you eyes before everything crashed and everything went black

You opened your eyes to see you were in a field full of flowers, not a worry in the world just the calming feeling of wind in your hair, bees buzzing by, no vampires or demons or anything just peace, then a woman in white appeared next to you

“You’re so beautiful” she smiled brushing your hair back

“Who are you?”

“I’m your mother dear, don’t tell me those boys haven’t showed you a picture of me” you shook your head but then you realized what she said, your mother was sitting next to you

“Mom…..it’s you!” You wrapped your arms around her feeling her warmth that you craved for

“But if it’s really you then…..am I dead?” You asked scared

“You got in a crash, the boys are waiting for you back there but if you want you can stay with me, we can be happy just mother and daughter, you can stay with me”

“But I haven’t lived yet, I don’t wanna leave Sammy or Dean and I can’t leave dad like that, I just got him back”

“It’s your choice baby, but either way I’m always with you” she said pointing at my necklace

A bright light above stung your eyes slowly coming into focus, seeing everyone surrounding you bed

“There she is, god sis you terrified us” Sam said wrapping his arms around you

“Princess why are you crying?” John asked worried your in pain

“I saw her” you whispered still in shock

“I think she still got drugs in her system” Dean laughed

“No I saw her, it was mom” everyone went still

“She said I could stay with her, wherever I was it was peaceful and free of evil but….i had to come back I just got you back dad and I can’t just leave my brothers you’ll tear eachother apart without me here” you smile

“I ain’t leaving anytime soon baby girl”

You went to sit up but pain shot through your body

“Good driving Sam, how is it you all look like you got in a little bar fight and I’m the one in this hospital bed…….any serious damage?”

“Doc said you got a concussion, broken rib and some nasty cuts on your face”

“But I’ll be okay?”

“We won’t let anything happen to you, never again”

Requests are open for supernatural or the walking dead:)🩶

[ratherbefangirling]

Mi casa (2)

Genre: Omegaverse AU, Angst

Pairing: Ot7 x alpha!reader

Summary : Namjoon wonders if letting you in thier home will destroy it? He hopes it won't but if it does. He will start from scratch again because for his soulmate there isn't anything he wouldn't do.

Warnings: past mentioned abuse.

PREVIOUS | NEXT

Yoongi sits in his office working. After his comment about you possibly being Namjoon's mate. Namjoon sweared at him and left. Before Yoongi would have made a fuss about it but now he knew better, understood the more nuanced sides of his packmates including Namjoon.

Yoongi and Namjoon had both gone to the same middle school and high school and hated each other to the core. Or Yoongi hated that Namjoon was more alpha like and smart, always at the top of his academics. Namjoon on the other hand was jealous of Yoongi's more omega like features and his ability to not care about anyone's opinion.

They had gone to different colleges. They had met once again when Jin and Namjoon's pack had decided to introduce them. They surprisingly melded well. At that time Yoongi and Jin had already decided to form a pack and Jungkook and Namjoon were roommates.

Yoongi had a rough time accepting Namjoon as his future pack. The first time they met again had been, for a lack of better word disastrous.

Still even though they had their differences most of the time they could put aside thier petty personal grudges for the sake of the pack.

Yoongi still remembers the day they had come to the conclusion to put the people they cared for before thier frankly childish behaviour.

Working for the shelter was a tough job. In a day Yoongi sees more terrible things than most people do in months. As much as he finds his job fulfilling it makes him tired and angry and it's made worse for having to show up at a job where everyone else is also tired and angry and there's nothing he could do about it (not to mention dealing with officials, lawyers and policemen most of whom are entitled and haven't suffered a day in thier lives.)

Despite the majority of their time together being spent in arguments both firm in their beliefs (which is why they often seek each other out) he actually hates fighting with Namjoon.

In the pack he is usually agreeable with Jin and Hobi, Jungkook is his baby, Taehyung and him may have different world views but usually the younger one is very doting taking full advantage of calming Yoongi after riling him up because they are pack. He does bicker a lot with Jimin but its nothing like how Namjoon and him fight.

Thus only Hoseok or sometimes Jin who ends up using his alpha command can interfere. The alpha command (which Jin uses sparingly and in absolute necessity) is reserved between the pack and only works towards the pack. It has no effect in ruts and only the pack alpha's command has any noticeable effect.

Just like the other times the matter of concern hadn't been huge. Towards the end of the winter Jungkook had fallen sick. Incidentally everyone was busy. Hobi and Jin had to leave to Hoseoks close cousins wedding. Jimin and Taehyung had to give finals of their masters degree. Which left Yoongi and Namjoon.

That day Namjoon had an important meeting for the project he had spent months working for.

"I'm leaving hyung." Namjoon said picking up a bun to have in transit.

"Namjoon. Stay and help. You know I have to start with a lot of work.

"Hyung can't it wait. I have an important meeting." While the statement wasn't meant to be dismissive but Yoongi felt anger bubble through.

"What do you mean can't it wait"

"I said what I said hyung." Namjoon says irritated. "I have an important presentation I can't miss."

"Are you trying to say my work isn't important."

"I didn't say that hyung but you work in a shelter when I have an actual job." Later Namjoon would feel immense guilt because of his careless words. But then he was one tracked towards his job. Not ready to back down at all. Corporate wasn't kind to omegas.

"I'll stay back." Hoseok says.

"But your cousins wedding." Namjoon mumbles.

"Taehyung and Jimin will be done early because of their exams." Jin says.

"Yes we can come early don't worry.." Jimin says.

And that was that. Namjoon and Yoongi resolve their fight and treat the pack to a nice dinner. Making a pact to be more careful in the future.

//

It might be a little irresponsible but Namjoon needs to think and he hopes Yoongi won't tell on him to Jin.

But it's not very simple for Namjoon to decide.

Namjoon has a soulmate. A real soulmate.

Namjoon remembers vividly being alone. So alone that it ate him inside. For a long long time he felt unlovable. Unwanted. Being part of the pack helped alleviate some of those feelings. But being part of a seven member pack sometimes someone felt like a seventh wheel. And he would rather it be him than anyone else.

But having a soulmate. His soulmate meant nobody would be lonely. He would have his own person. He didn't doubt the packs love no but he was ultimately selfish and he wanted something that was entirely his. Someone that was his.

His alpha.

He got butterflies just thinking of it.

He knew it wasn't going to be easy. The pack may not approve but he wasn't going to abandon her. No matter what. You were his. Only his. His own Alpha.

And if he had to fight the world or his own pack to have you. Namjoon realised he would. Because you needed him too. He would take care of his alpha. He would make everything okay again.

The atmosphere in the house is tense, Jungkook notes. Yoongi is irritable and in one of those moods where he needs to be left alone. Namjoon has gone camping with his friend Jackson. Jin seems antsy and Hoseok looks like he's waiting for a bomb to drop. Jimin and Taehyung are as clueless as him.

The Maknae line decided to have a sleepover trip. A staycation at a nearby hotel. Its partially to give the hyungs space and and partially because its been a while since the three hung out together.

They spend part of the night gaming into the late hours of the morning together. As the morning sun rises Taehyung nudges Jungkook.

"Go get food. Junkookie.."

"I dont want to you get it if you're hungry" Jungkook says still busy in his game.

"Rock paper Scissors the Looser gets the food."

"Fine." Jungkook agrees. He ends up loosing against Taehyung who hi fives Jimin happily and they continue with the game.

Jungkook stretches. His muscles aching since he's been in the same position for so long. He grabs the car key and drives to a convenience store nearby.

He spots Namjoon and Jackson talking and goes near them.

"Are you sure Namjoon? Don't you think you're taking it way to far?" Jackson asks Namjoon.

"If I have to leave the pack I will."

Jungkook's mind blanks. Everything seems immaterial. He leaves the cart He was holding to run back to the hotel. This couldn't be happening.

When Jungkook more or less storms in both Taehyung and Jimin look up.

"What's wrong? Where's the food?" Taehyung asks.

"Namjoon's going to leave the pack."

"What the hell Jungkook?" Taehyung swears.

"What? Tell me clearly what happened?"

"He was talking to Jackson. He said he'll leave the pack."

"But that makes no sense." Jimin said.

"I'm not lying I swear." Jungkook says.

"Is that's why the hyungs are so on edge." Taehyung pointed.

Silence fell.

"Surely they wouldn't hide things from us right?" Jungkook asked tearing up at the thought of their family breaking.

"Maybe it's a misunderstanding and it'll sort itself." Jimin tried to reassure the maknae and hugged him.

"You must have misheard it. There's no reason to leave the pack." Taehyung reiterates.

"But I heard him"

"You must have heard wrong." Taehyung says anger evident in voice.

"Taehyungie calm down. You too kookie. It could easily be a misunderstanding like taetae said there's no reason to leave the pack" Jimin says.

Jungkook nods sniffing. The thought of Namjoon leaving scares him to death. He wonders if Namjoon feels unloved or unwanted. He decides he's going change Namjoon's mind.

"Let's just order room service OK?" Jimin says

Taehyung nods and calls. Making sure to order extra icecream because he thinks they'll need it.

So yeah that's it. It's been a while since I wrote anything. I just can't seem to these days. I miss the boys terribly. I hope you liked this. Mostly I'll try to finish this in the next part. I felt I had to end this part because it would go way too long though it ended up in the shorter side and feels slightly unbalanced to me. Tell me what you think.

Taglist : @kaceypdf ; @ghostlyworld ; @thelilbutifulthings ; @hijabae2019

Permanent taglist : @exfolitae ; @cryingpages ; @outrobtsnd

[ijwrsmff]

I really hope requests are still open, I adore Mihawk and I love when he’s portrayed as secretly caring, especially when he’s loving towards his wife in the stories that have him and AFAB reader.

I’m sadly sick with what I think is Covid and just trying to imagine how Mihawk would be like if he were to try to care for a sick wife that he loves. (Not necessarily with Covid lol) but with the aches and pains and having to rest and eat and drink healthy but her not wanting to be bedridden.

He is just. So husband material. And I hope you start to feel better soon ;-; sometimes when I'm sick, I like a nice little sick reader story with characters I love so I feel you XD Hopefully this helps a little bit ^~^

Word Count: 1,144

Of course you were sick. What wonderful timing. Mihawk was due to return today, after a week of traveling to hunt a notorious pirate. You were sure it was no big deal, he was the best swordsman in the world. It wasn’t hard for you to worry about him, but you trusted him. You knew the second the both of you got together, you would get married and he would burn the world to keep you safe. 

However he couldn’t exactly protect you from your own sickness. You don’t even know how you got it! Zoro and Perona weren’t even on the island, doing their own thing. You highly doubted those monkeys he trained were close enough to you in order to get you sick. No, this was just some freak occurrence, to get horribly sick the day your husband came home. Which was just your luck. You missed him so much, but you couldn’t be around him, knowing you’d probably get him sick too. 

When you heard him enter the front door, you tried to get up out of bed but your legs collapsed without even taking a few full steps. He heard it, always being perceptive and you heard his footsteps speed up until he had barged into your shared room. “Darling? Are you alright?” He took in your appearance, seeing the bags under your eyes and how much you shook in place from your position on the floor. 

“I see…you’re sick. I can call a doctor to come as soon as possible, until then I’ll make you food to help and-” He leaned down towards you, but you covered your mouth as you coughed. “What…are you doing?” He went to pick you up but you feebly moved his hand away from you. 

“You’ll get sick too!” Your eyes would have been wide with worry, but you could barely keep them open. “You can’t…you can’t get sick…” The words took what seemed like forever to get out, and you couldn’t catch your breath hardly at all. “You have work to do…I…I can’t…” You nearly collapsed on the floor, but he of course caught you. 

He gave you a reassuring smile, “I’ll nurse you back to health as much as I can.” Mihawk picked you up, and you didn’t have the strength to fight him. “If you think something like a sickness can prevent me from working, you haven’t much faith in me, do you?” He chuckled, as he made the joke that caused you to laugh quietly too.

“I’m…I’m sorry…I feel so weak…letting it get to me…” You muttered as he placed you back down on the bed. It was so cold…you were already bundled up, but reached for the covers anyway. He raised an eyebrow at that, and put the thinnest of the blankets over you as he placed a hand to your forehead. 

“And I’m also sorry, love. You have quite the fever, try not to overheat yourself.

I know it feels cold, but wearing such heavy clothes along with the large comforter would only agitate the fever more.” He rubbed your shoulders and you winced. Everything was just so sore. Mihawk was always so gentle with you, but especially in this moment. It wasn’t the first time you got sick, but this seemed worse than a lot of other times you had been through. “Don’t worry, in sickness and in health, remember?” 

He smiled, and when he went to walk away your arm reached out to try and stop him. “It’s alright, I’m just getting a rag to put on your forehead.” He held that hand that reached out to him, and placed a kiss on the top of it. The action always made you smile, and you could feel your eyes closing knowing he was there to help you. 

Like he said, he returned quickly with the soaked rag. He placed it carefully on you, and went back to rubbing your neck and shoulders. It was quiet, but not awkward. Serene almost, with only your occasional coughs to break the silence. His hands weren’t soft, but calloused from years of training and fighting. Even still, just because it was his hands, it still felt blissful to have them run up and down your sore body to try and ease some of the pains. 

“I’m sorry…I just feel so weak…” You muttered, eyes still closed. Though you sighed, partially because of the pains but also because of how safe you felt with his hands trying to alleviate the aches along your body. “I don’t…wanna stay in bed…” You tried to get up, but you were of course stopped as he carefully held you back down. 

“No need to apologize. You might be physically weak now, your brain is strong. Although a bit foggy.” He chuckled and ran his fingers along your scalp, in a soothing manner. “Even if you were weak…I want you to trust me as you always do. Let me be your strength. If you need anything, I’ll be right here to help you.” His eyes were adoring, and though your eyes were closed you could feel that warm smile from him, “If you need water, food, a massage, get out of bed, I can help you. You won’t be walking, but I can carry you where you wish to go.” 

“Thank you…I love you…so much…” You tried to open your eyes, but they closed again almost immediately. “Try not…to get sick…” It made him smile how much you cared. Though he couldn’t care less if he got sick. Especially if it meant him helping you to feel better when you were. You did try to open your eyes when you felt his hands leave you, only to return a few seconds later from beside you. 

“Getting sick would be worth it, if I can make you feel better for even a second.” He chuckled, and wrapped his arms around you. “I can help you feel warmer. But no big blanket.” He cradled you to his side and rubbed your arms and stomach. “I’ll be here by your side until you’re back to full health.” His touch was smooth, and soft. Anything to help you. 

You laughed, and muttered “Cheesy bastard.” Before falling asleep in his arms. He would always help, and be there for anything you needed. He could be halfway across the world, and still be next to you in a moment if you needed him to. You would always be his main priority, sick or healthy. It warmed his heart, to be there when you were sick. He knew you could be stubborn, and not follow a single doctor’s order if you didn’t want to. But regardless, he would make sure you were safe. 

Safe now, forever, and always. Anything for his dearest wife, that he loved more than anyone else in the world. 

[ginnsbaker]

In Losing Grip On Sinking Ships (2/?)

Chapter summary: You face your own struggles after the divorce

Chapter word count: 4k+

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader, Yelena Belova x Fem!Reader

Chapter Warnings: Brief smut, Fingering (r giving), Oral sex (r giving), only mentions of Wanda in this chapter, sorry

Author’s Note: Things will pickup considerably after this.

AO3 | Masterlist 

Taglist: @blackluthxr | @esposadejoyhuerta​ | @secretbackrooms | @justgotlizzied | @casquinhaa​ | @marvelwomen-simp​ - let me know if I missed anyone 

Next Chapter: Three

---- 

Two

“Thank you for giving me the best years of my life. Goodbye, Wanda.”

You couldn’t escape that room fast enough. The room that kept the person you love most in the world–was your world. Natasha approaches you carefully after handing the check to your lawyer. Her brows are snapped together in what seems like a permanent frown whenever you’re concerned, and it puts you off more than usual. 

“You alright?” she faintly asks, already knowing the answer. The part of you that refuses to die–the part that endlessly cares for Wanda and wants to protect her at all cost–inexplicably wants to send Natasha to that room so she could offer her comfort to your ex-wife instead. Wanda’s been left by you. She is alone for the first time in her adult life, without the same support you’re getting from Natasha. You give thought to the fact that you were Wanda’s best friend first, before you were her lover and eventually her wife. And it dawns on you that, maybe, Wanda's losses outweigh yours. It’s a sick form of victory for some, yet you certainly don’t feel like you’ve won anything. 

“Honestly?” You groan and clutch your stomach, frantically scanning the hallway. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Natasha calls on a staff member to direct you to the nearest restroom.

You nearly miss the toilet in the first empty cubicle you find. Feeling the cold, hard tiles on your knees, you think it couldn’t get any worse than this. You’ve finally hit rock bottom, and you’re still alive–

–If the burn in your throat and the bitter taste of bile in your mouth constitutes being alive. 

Slumped against the porcelain seat of the bowl, hardly a good place to deliberate one’s life choices, you try to figure out what’s next.

-

Following the divorce, you don’t last a month at your new job. Your newfound love of whisky before bedtime may have contributed to it when you only managed to be on time for work twice: your first day and your last.

In the beginning, not being able to see Wanda in the flesh helped. Being back in your beloved city and taking refuge in the small confines of Natasha’s spare room initially distracted you enough to carry on as normally as you would. That lasted a full twenty-four hours before you started seeing her ghost everywhere–on the subway platform while waiting for the train to arrive, on the street lining up for a morning bagel, and even in your bed, whereas she no longer has any business being in. 

You briefly considered moving to a new state, but financially, it wasn’t the best option. With Wanda out of sight, there’s just yourself to deal with. And dealing with yourself gives you a strong urge to flee; to a place or time that would take away the remnants of yourself that stubbornly belong to Wanda. 

“You can stay here as long as you like.” Natasha says when she catches you mindlessly scrolling through real estate listings in the neighborhood. 

“You’ve helped enough, Nat. I can’t keep being your charity case.” you mutter, continuing with your search.

She raises her hand to aim for your temple, but thinks better of it and pulls it back. “You’re lucky I’m done with violence or you would’ve had your ass handed to you for saying that.”

You snicker. “I’m your golden ticket to heaven for being so good to me. Even my mom would’ve kicked me out by now.”

“You want to pay me back? Stay. Don’t argue anymore.”

“But, Nat–”

“I said drop it.”

Your mouth snaps shut at the forceful dismissal. Natasha’s eyes dart everywhere to avoid yours. You’ve been so caught up in your problems, you missed the obvious signs that maybe she needs you as much as you needed someone when your life was falling apart (and still is).

“Babe, are you okay?” you ask, keeping your tone casual.

“Babe,” Natasha chuckles at the nickname you haven’t used on her for almost a decade. “God, it sounds so weird, now that I’ve heard you call Wanda that countless times.”

You scrunch your nose, recalling also the times you’ve screamed that endearment during sex with your ex-wife. “Fuck, you’re right. I kind of want to barf all over this couch.”

“Don’t you dare.” You’re both laughing now and it feels really, really good. 

“So,” you say once you’ve both recovered. “Is there something you’d like to share with me?”

Natasha pauses to think, and it’s more than enough to let you know she doesn’t want to talk about her own problems and feelings. 

“I’m good. Now, where are we on: not abandoning your best friend after exploiting her?” she says, effortlessly putting you back in the spotlight.

Whatever it is she’s going through, you want to be there for her. 

“Fine,” You already owed Natasha your sanity; you didn’t want to owe her money too. “But I want to pay rent.” 

Natasha grins in satisfaction. “Deal.”

-

It was either you get drunk on alcohol, or you get drunk on memories of Wanda. Apparently, it only takes a while before they eventually mix up to mess with your head tenfold. One second you’re struggling to keep your eyes open to take just one more shot before you call it a night, and the next your fingers are inching towards the waistband of your shorts, your mind wandering to moments you’ve woken up in the middle of the night mid-orgasm, your wife’s head buried in between your thighs. 

Nothing sobers you up more than the near mistake of touching yourself to thoughts of your ex-wife. You’re beyond disgusted that you still fantasize about a woman who’s no longer yours.

A woman who basically destroyed your ability to trust. 

The bed of Natasha’s spare room is a double, and you’re still not accustomed to having all the space to yourself. After downing what’s left of the bottle of whisky, you place all the pillows on the unoccupied spot to your left and lay down on your side, waiting for sleep to take you.

-

The days that follow are a mere repetition of the day you officially quit your job. They mostly adopt a template that consists of three things: Netflix, pizza and housekeeping.

(In truth, it’s four things, but you keep the liquor in your room, where all the drinking takes place without your best friend’s knowledge.)

Apart from being a lifestyle that’s easy to maintain, it is also a far cry from your old life. You want to remove as much detail in your life that reminds you of Wanda, and this is what you’re left with. Your mother(and only living parent) who has retired in Montauk, is not pleased to discover that you’re reliving your college era–jobless and sharing a flat with Natasha. But at least she had more to say about your current situation than when you told her about your failed marriage over the phone. 

“I did warn you about that girl.” your mother remarked frankly during that call, and then proceeded to flatly ask if you were okay, like she was reading a script on how to react when you find out your daughter is getting a divorce. In retrospect, it was the best reaction you could ever hope for considering her dislike of Wanda–a feeling she’s never attempted to hide at every opportunity. Wanda, to her credit, only ever respected and loved her through the side-eyes and snarky comments, and this capability of hers to do so surprised you given her relationship with her own mother. The way she loved your mother certainly felt like an extension of her love for you.

Right after letting your mother know you’re out of work, she wired you a ridiculous amount of money for your “allowance”. You tried giving it back, but she refused and alluded that you should take some time to enjoy yourself without the pressure of getting another nine-to-five desk job. You graciously relented, knowing it was her way of looking out for you and being sorry for what happened with Wanda. 

And that is basically how you are able to keep up being a kermit in Natasha’s apartment. If it’s up to you, you wouldn’t change a thing in your routine, but Natasha has other ideas after finding her study tidy and uncluttered–which she often leaves in a state of anarchy.

“Here,” she says, handing you a purple key fob. “Go to the gym, and use up all your energy on lifting weights instead of ruining my order of things around here and wallowing in self-pity.”

You pause the television and put down the slice of pizza you’ve been holding to receive the key with greasy fingers. 

“If I go, will you promise to leave me alone for the rest of the week?” you ask around a mouthful of cheese and pepperoni. 

“Do it, and then I’ll think about it.”

You shrug and return to finishing a whole box of pizza by yourself and your eleventh re-run of Modern Family. 

“One more thing,” Natasha says, tossing you a watch. You click pause again and look at the offending item on your lap. “Wear that so I’ll know if you actually do the workout.”

You groan and Natasha smiles in triumph at your agony. You don’t know what her deal is, but you’re actually thankful someone’s making sure you don’t stuff yourself to death with pizza.

-

The gym looks more like a hotel lobby than a place where people grunt and sweat and ogle their reflection.

By the counter near the elevators, a receptionist is wearing an ensemble that belongs more to a fashion magazine company. You had expectations that it would be a luxurious place due to it being housed on the penthouse floor of Manhattan’s newest skyscraper. It’s ridiculously aboveboard, however, and you’re starting to feel uneasy and out-of-place. 

“Welcome back, Ms. Romanoff.” The receptionist greets you, flashing her unnaturally white and straight teeth. You respond with a timid nod before heading straight to the lockers in case she asks for ID. 

After changing into a black sports bra and biker shorts, you walk straight to the lifting section. 

There are only two other clients in that room, both of them male, and they’re not exactly subtle as they let their gaze sweep over you from head to toe. 

Oblivious to prying eyes, you attempt to deadlift just a tad more than half your weight, but think better of it when your forearms feel like they would snap out of your elbows if you try to raise the bar a few more inches off the ground. Exhaling sharply, you drop the weights and it causes a resounding bang as it hits the floor, turning a couple of heads in your direction as a result. You hear snickering behind you, and sweat forms along your hairline as you duck your head in embarrassment. 

Your eyes flit to the rows of treadmill to your right. That’s something you definitely can’t screw up. Hopping on one that’s situated in the corner, you are presented with a spectacular aerial view of the city.  

The last time you’ve been to the gym was the day you learned that Wanda was fucking one of her students. While you haven’t lost weight (quite frankly, you’ve managed the opposite), you’ve lost all the muscles you’ve developed in a measly gym back in Westview. Your habit of googling everything led you to actually read a few dozen articles on how to heal a broken heart, and while their advice varied from developing a healthy habit to copious amounts of rebound sex, they all suggested daily exercise or taking up a new sport. Running was the only sport you fell in love with in the suburbs, but you found it hard to motivate yourself once you moved back to the city.

You and Wanda spent a lot of time in Central Park the first few months you began dating, and you knew how much she enjoyed taking random walks there. No matter its vastness and the odds of randomly seeing her during a stroll being less than ten percent, you can’t rely on your subconscious not to bring you to some of the areas that might result in an encounter. 

Not that you haven’t thought about the possibility, on the contrary, you’ve thought about running into Wanda a lot. 

You’ve thought about how you’ll feel and what you’d do. If you see her, should you say hello like two old friends meeting after a long estrangement? Should you apologize for not answering her texts and returning her calls? Would she apologize for it again? Are your interactions from now on, going to be awkward exchanges of hellos and sorries? 

Will words be exchanged at all? Or will you be strangers passing each other on the sidewalks, like parallel lines that would walk the same paths but never intersect each other again?

How do you cope with knowing someone from the inside-out, only to cut them out completely out of your life?

“Excuse me?” you hear a female voice next to you, cutting your line of thought.

Speeding on the treadmill at eight miles per hour, you’re lucky to hit the stop button before you could trip all over your feet. Once you’re sure you won’t lose your balance, you steadily turn around to address the owner of the voice– 

The girl is stunning, and–as cliché as it sounds–has the appearance of a Victoria’s Secret model. Her auburn hair is styled in an intricate braid and she smells too good for someone who’s just finished their workout. 

“Can I help you?” you ask, suddenly feeling self-conscious about your own appearance and scent.

It doesn’t help your diffidence when she deliberately takes a step closer. 

She must’ve sensed her effect on you, because she makes the bold move to place a delicate hand on your damp arm, then says, “I’m about to do some post-workout stretch, and I know this is gonna sound weird but I need your help.” 

You swallow dryly. “My help… stretching?”

“I understand if you’re not comfortable with it. It’s just, I don’t want to ask a man to do this for me.”

You blink at her. Otherwise, you barely move a muscle in your face.

At your lack of verbal response, she gives you an apologetic smile and starts walking away. “I’m sorry for disturbing you, thank you for your time.”

You catch a whiff of her perfume, and suddenly your tongue finally catches up with your brain. 

“Wait!”

Like a trained ballerina, she swivels gracefully on her heel, and you swear she looks even younger from this distance. 

“I can help. Just tell me what to do.”

-

You’ve never done this. You’ve never done anything remotely close to this.

Not before Wanda, and certainly not in a semi-public place where anyone could walk in and hear you. 

(Although in this case, they’d be hearing her.) 

Her name is Charlie (or was it Lottie?) and she’s riding you on a bench in the women’s dressing room. Her towel has pooled to her waist, barely covering her ass as it bounces on your lap at the motion of her hips lifting and forcefully coming back down to fuck herself on your fingers. 

You’re so mesmerized at the sight of someone’s pleasure, and the fact that you’re the one causing it. By your standards, it hasn’t been too long. But the nights you’ve woken up to a throbbing sensation between your legs and not once seeking release, had you acting on impulse when Charlie/Lottie kissed you as soon as you stepped out of the shower. 

“Fuck, it feels so good.” she moans against your ear. “More, please.”

You don’t bother to ask what she’s asking for specifically, as you insert a third finger into her pussy, and push in and out of her at a speed that has your wrist cramping in a matter of seconds. She doesn’t last much longer after that. As soon as she starts coming, she buries her head in the area where your neck meets your shoulder; her teeth biting rather harshly at the flesh there while her walls flutter around you. 

She kisses you softly after she comes down from her high, and it almost makes you cry. 

“Thank you.” she murmurs sheepishly, and you try not to think about the last person who thanked you for an orgasm. 

“You haven’t cum yet. Do you want–”

“Can I taste you?” you whisper, blushing at your own request.

She nods eagerly at that, and you gently lay her down fully on the bench. You take her towel off completely from her waist and place it over her chest in case she starts to feel chilly. Securing your own towel around you, you lick a trail down her body. The thing about Charlie (you decided to just call her that) is she’s inconceivably hot. Half of your thoughts are fixated on that one particular fact, and the other half is still fumbling with what’s already happening. Charlie’s thighs close around your head, causing your cheeks to rub against the smoothness of them. Her supple skin feels as expensive as it looks, her stomach is taut and defined, unlike–

Nope.

You’re not supposed to compare. You’re not supposed to even think about her at this moment. 

When you reach your destination, you place an open-mouthed kiss at the top of her cunt before flicking her clit with the tip of your tongue in short, quick strokes. At the same time, your right hand travels to your own wet heat, and you groan at her taste and the relief of finally attending to your own needs. Charlie impatiently removes the towel covering her torso to grab her own breasts and squeeze them. 

Moving lower, to the place where she’s ostensibly gushing, you stick your tongue in a slow but deliberate movement. The action causes her to abandon one of her tits in order to cover the scream that escapes her mouth. You switch up tactics. Flattening your tongue against her clit, you alternate between massaging and giving it little licks, all the while you mimic the same measures to your own nub. You start moaning against her pussy, sending subtle vibrations that add to her building climax. 

You meant to tease her to no end, until she impatiently whines, “Hurry, my boyfriend’s picking me up soon.”

“Yeah, my boyfriend is on the way to pick me up.” Wanda said after you asked her if she’ll be okay on her own. Natasha had been ringing your phone for the last fifteen minutes, and it wasn’t going to stop vibrating in your pocket unless you got to the subway.

She’s the prettiest girl you’ve ever met, but the universe apparently had other plans and was telling you you’re in over your head. 

You tried to contain your disappointment. “It was nice meeting you, Wanda.”

“Likewise, Y/N.” Wanda beamed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The faint glow of the golden hour hit the side of her face at the most perfect angle. Her bottom teeth weren’t perfect, but her smile was so carefree and so unrestrained, it lit up the empty hallway where the two of you were standing close together. A warm fuzziness seized your entire body, reaching the end of your toes and your fingertips. 

It’s a mystery to you as well, but you genuinely hoped she was happy and properly loved. 

With a grateful smile, you waved her goodbye.

However, just right before you turned a corner, you heard your name echoing in the hallway. 

“Y/N?”

You turned around and met Wanda’s green eyes that pulled you like magnets. “Yes?”

“Do you, maybe, want to hang out sometime?”

You didn’t think you’d eventually find yourself at the other side of the equation. That someone would use you to cheat on their partner. Karma has a dark sense of humor, and you can’t do anything but chuckle in disbelief.  Her revelation makes you freeze in all respects, and there’s no way you’re going to cum after knowing that you’re fucking someone else’s girlfriend. 

“That was incredible,” Charlie murmurs in between pants. She reclines on her back, unabashedly naked like a renaissance painting. “I wouldn’t mind doing this again with you.”

You pick up her towel that has fallen on the floor, and carelessly toss it right at her face. 

“I would.” is all you say, and start dressing yourself without another word. 

-

You don’t remember much of the so-called walk of shame. One minute you’re eating a girl out, and the next you’re back in Natasha’s apartment, staring at the mirror and not recognizing the person staring back. You took another shower–a scalding one–when you got home, cleaning off the woman’s traces from your skin. What you couldn’t remove is the mark she left on your neck: a glaring purple bruise that will probably won’t go away for at least two days. 

With a long sigh, you close your eyes at the detail that won’t leave you. 

She had a boyfriend.

For a short moment you were in Vision’s shoes, even if you had no idea that she was using you for the very same thing that broke you.

“Y/N?”

You visibly jolt out of your stupor, and reach for the knob of the bathroom door to make sure it’s locked.

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

“No, it’s fine. Please don’t come out yet. I prefer saying this without you seeing me right now.” Natasha says, and you can tell she’s now standing just on the other side of the door. 

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, uhm…”

A pause. Two deep breaths drawn, and then–

“I’ve decided I’m going back.”

“Back…?”

“Back to work.”

“Natasha,” You say in quiet shock. “Does he know? You’ve talked to him about this?”

Natasha nods. “He said I can do whatever I want. We’re on a break, anyway.”

“Oh,” Your eyes drop to the floor, thinking of something else to say.

“You’re going to be okay on your own, right?” you hear Natasha whisper through the door.

You? She’s putting her life in constant danger once again, and she’s asking you. It just about makes you smile with boundless affection. You’ve been through countless conversations with Natasha, trying to talk her into a career that is not life-threatening at the very least. You used to think that Bruce coming into her life years ago would change her mind, but it seems her work is so etched to her identity that she could not just be without it.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. When are you leaving?”

“The day after tomorrow.” she says.

You open the door this time. “Wow, they really need you that bad, huh?”

Natasha smirks. “Clint’s throwing me an impromptu send-off party tomorrow night. Will you come?”

“As long as you’ll pay for the drinks.”

“He’s got us covered,” Natasha says, and then her eyes zero in on the evidence of your earlier tryst. “Oh, and you might want to cover that up.”

You blush as your fingers automatically stroke the hickey on your neck.  

“I–” you try to explain.

She doesn’t let you and only says, “Good for you. Sweet dreams, stranger.” with a knowing little wink, before retreating to her own room. 

Good for you. Somehow that makes you feel infinitely worse. 

You pad quietly towards your bed, and as you settle in it, you hear a vibration coming from inside the nightstand next to you. 

It’s your old phone. The one you keep but no longer use. The one that Wanda’s been relentlessly calling and texting. It’s buzzing to notify you that its battery is at a critical level.

You still haven’t decided what you should do with it. When you were married to Wanda, you were naturally each other’s emergency contact, and so you’ve convinced yourself that maybe you should keep it for that reason alone.

Picking up the phone with the intention to plug it, you see one missed call from Wanda. Guilt, however irrational it may be, settles at the pit of your stomach as your mind returns to what happened in the gym. It mortifies you now to realize that you have touched Charlie the way you would touch Wanda when you made love to her.

Aside from the missed call, there’s a text message from Wanda that reads: Took Sparky to the vet today. He said there’s nothing to worry about. Maybe he just misses you.

Biting your lower lip, you think about responding. 

‘I miss him too’, you begin to type. ‘I miss y–’

You quickly press the backspace button to delete it altogether. Deciding not to text back, you return the phone to its hiding place. The battery will eventually run out, and maybe then, you’ll be able to decide its fate. 

[zukkacore]

Crossposted to ao3

The morning after Frosty Fair Festival, Jace summons Porter to the principal’s office.

“I’ve been VP for five minutes, and I find out that one of the fucking Bad Kids is taking three simultaneous years of artificer class? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“You can’t pin that on me, Stardiamond.” Porter’s laugh is easygoing, and he’s only half paying attention as he watches the smoke trail from the cigarette he’s waving around. “I tried to dissuade him. He put himself through that.”

“But you won’t sign his MCAT. Do you want his annoying little truant friend to hate you?”

Porter laughs. “Miss Faeth isn’t a truant, I’ve been taking attendance for her in barbarian classes nearly every day."

He takes a long drag. “Of course you have.”

“Miss Faeth hates me no matter what I do. If she hasn’t caught on to what’s going on by now, I think you can breathe. Besides, I like a challenge. Something you could stand to learn.”

He tries to take another drag, but his hands are shaking, he’s so mad. There’s a clenching in his chest where the shatterstar is placed, then a pain that radiates outward. He winces. “Be it from me to question your teaching methods, but. Do you know what the Bad Kids did to the last vice principal?”

“Hey. I brought you back once. I can do it again.”

“I—” He doesn’t want to talk about that right now. He’s not ready to talk about it. “Tell me, does getting chewed out by a devil because one of his best bloodrush players is swamped sound like a good time to you? Jawbone recommended I look into xanax, that’s how wired I’ve been. And that was before I got ‘promoted’.”

“I’m sure you could get your hands on some if you attended one of his orgies.”

“Go to hell.”

“Likewise.”

They glare back and forth. Jace is used to getting into tiffs with Porter, but this—this is real.

 When he opens his mouth, his voice is quiet. “I don’t see why you can’t just sign the kid’s fucking MCAT.”

“Not that I don’t appreciate the whole impassioned speech,” says Porter, “It’s nice to see you actually riled up about something once in your silver-spoon life, maybe finally you’ll start giving a fuck.”

“I’m not riled up,” says Jace, but he’s working to keep his voice steady.

He’s used to the assumptions about his life, and he’d much rather keep up appearances than let a soul know about his estranged parents or the mind that’s trying to kill him. That’s the thing about sorcery—when your power is innate, you can never stop being grateful. If things are fucked, they could always, always be worse. He has to be unassuming. He likes being unassuming, because a gift is not a threat. And if his student’s can see that this scary thing they can’t help doesn’t have to rule their life, then, yeah, he’s ok with being a little bit of a joke.

At least, he was ok with it, before Porter Cliffbreaker broke him and shoved a shatterstar into his gaping chest wound and gave him a choice: rage or oblivion? He made his choice. He can’t back out now. So doesn’t Porter see he’s trying to look out for him? “I just think it would make things so much easier—”

“For who? You? Pardon me for treading on your cushy little gig.”

“Oh, we’re way past that.” Eight months past, to be exact. His mind is drifting back fondly to bleeding out in the Mountain’s of Chaos. He’s grateful that it’s so early in the morning, that no one is around to cast Detect Thoughts.

“Thistlespring could use a little tough love. That’s just the way I teach, now that you’re in charge, you’re gonna have to deal with it. He’s an orc, Stardiamond—barbarism is in his blood. He just needs to apply himself. I mean, you’ve seen the kid play bloodrush, he’s a beast.”

He grimaces. Something about the way Porter is speaking, he can’t place it, but he feels sick to his stomach.

“Right,” says Porter, clearly misjudging the expression on his face. “You know, it wouldn’t hurt for you to show a little school spirit.”

Jace laughs sharply.

“Well. He’s a beast you’re gonna find yourself on the wrong side of if you don’t watch yourself. You know how The Bad Kids are—they worm their way into everything, and the goblin that Kipperlily hates, he’s the worst of all. You know, he ate—Forget it. I just. I don’t want you getting—” He stops just short of saying it. As much as Porter has personally fucked him over, he’s in it too deep. Despite everything, Jace cares about him. He’s just so tired of trying to make things work. “If… this plan is so important to you, you have to be a little more tactful and a little less—you.”

“You think I can’t take care of myself, Stardiamond?” Porter flashes an infuriating grin.

“I didn’t say that. I just said… Be careful.”

“I appreciate the feedback and the personal concern, veep, but trust me when I say you’re letting your personal feelings get in the way with this one.”

His face is burning up, and he’s certain he’s a humiliating shade of red. Jace doesn’t even have to say anything. Porter knows what a low blow that is.

“Yeah, well,” mutters Jace. “Multiclassing is not for everyone.”

“Right.”

Jace is a good sorcerer. So good that it’s hard to articulate to his students what to him is second nature. He’s not the kind of teacher who does lesson plans precisely because he was never the kind of student who needed to study. It’s eerie how much Porter in these moments reminds him of his own teacher—the kind of teacher who praises his natural gifts all day and was absolutely resistant to him looking into other classes because he viewed it as a waste, as noncommittal, as proof of his lack of dedication. 

Jace never got his MCAT signed. And he was… not prepared for the sheer volume of work required for even early level wizardry. He wanted it; he wanted to be the kind of dedicated person who could put in the work. Maybe his teacher had been right, maybe he wasn’t very bright, and maybe he hadn’t been cut out to be a wizard, but it did feel a little like he was thrown in the deep end and told to swim just to prove a point. He’s always been a slave to his impulses. And in the end, he ran back to sorcery where they welcomed him back with open arms because it felt good to be good at something.

He can feel the thrum of the shatterstar in his chest, anger coupled with shame. He hates himself for being Jace Stardiamond. He’s always taken the path of least resistance. 

He’s not even sure he could call himself a good sorcerer anymore. He’s never been the kind of wizardly person who innately finds the joy of learning and discovery. He’s never found it all that rewarding. But sorcery does require a kind of self-knowledge, a certainty of oneself that he hasn’t felt in a long time. Whoever he is right now is a stranger, buried under several feet of bitterness and self-loathing.

“What’s it to you? You don’t even give a fuck about your own students, have you gotten a soft heart about little Thistlespring all of a sudden?”

“I don’t give a fuck about Thistlespring! Don’t you get it?”

“Look, if he confronts me on it, I’ll sign the damn MCAT. Happy? I was only resistant at first because—well, I mean, have you heard that ridiculous song he sings? The kid’s not very bright.”

He doesn’t answer.

“I’ll get it done if it means that much to you. C’mere.”

Porter takes Jace by the hands, pulling him in so that he can wrap his arms around Jace’s waist.

“We’re at school—” says Jace, but his protests are half-hearted. He turns his head, and he can feel Porter’s lips press up against his cheek.

“Listen to me.” Porter takes his face in his hands. “I have everything under control. The Bad Kids are nothing, Jace. Trust me. They’re twig gremlins. Maybe I got a little overinvested. I can’t help it, I need recruits, and the kid’s a natural. But that’s not everything. He’s too… Too timid. Afraid.”

“Of what?”

“Embracing his power.”

“Are… Are we still, um—” Porter’s gaze on him is so intense, Jace forgets what he’s saying. But that drive that he sees in Porter, that deep need to push, to optimize, to always be the best—it’s always been a source of deep frustration for Jace. But he can’t deny those are the same traits that make Porter so easy to admire. Maybe it’s just a wish, but he swears he can see the same admiration mirrored in Porter’s expression.

He can feel himself being reeled back in. His life is currently a living hell, but something in him has always felt compelled to be worthy of Porter’s admiration.   

He wishes he could be the kind of person Porter wants him to be. He worries that there is no ascendant version of him, that this really is all his potential, plain and simple. But he’ll try. For Porter, he wants to be great.

They can hear footsteps on the other side of the door. Time for school.

Porter is quick to change gears. He coughs, clearing his throat as Jace is quick to step away. “Tell you what—I’ll get that straightened away, Stardiamond. I’ll sign the papers. Things were a little rocky at first, but you know what? He earned it, after the damn display of frosty fair. He’ll make a great… adventurer.” He’s watching. “You know. When the time comes.”

Jace sighs, but it does nothing to help release the tension in his chest. Yeah. Frosty fair. He has to make the announcement about that soon. He can feel a headache coming on just thinking about it.

Porter kisses him, but Jace is quick to brush him away and toward the door. “You need to go.”

Porter grins, and Jace can feel his heart skipping like he’s some teen adventurer with a schoolyard crush. “Tell me some things aren’t worth a little risk.”

“Well, I have to give a speech,” says Jace, following Porter out of the office. Jawbone waves at them, and Jace nods as he shuts the door behind them.

“Hey. You’re gonna knock it out of the park, alright?” He gives Jace a punch in the shoulder, and it’s so awkward that Jace would be charmed by it in any other circumstance. Like they’re amicable co-workers and not the bad guys. Like they’re not intertwined, Porter’s rage making a comfy little home in his ribcage. “We’re all looking to you, now, Stardiamond. It’s a heavy burden, but I can’t think of anyone else I’d trust more to handle the responsibility.”

Jace doesn’t bother to check his insight. If Porter says it, he’s ready to believe it.

[battlemaiden13]

Since HND part two have been going on for a little while now. I am curious on the HND skeletons relationship wise with reader as it's been a little while since it was last asked about. The latest update to this being at chapter 135. How do they feel about the MC romantically and such up to the most recent chapter 171?

HND Feelings chapter 172 since I just posted that one XD

Sans -His crush is still going strong but he also still has no idea what he should be doing about it. He’s not great when it comes to these sorts of feelings and they always leave him feeling sick with nerves. When you came back into the skeletons' lives he realized just how strong his feelings were and seeing Papyrus also be in love with you was killing him, that was until the two of them talked. He still feels horrible about ruining your date by confessing to his brother but he doesn’t want to push down his feelings for you anymore either. 

Papyrus -So his brother threw a bit of a wrench in the works and being apart from you for so long made him feel odd about just asking you out right away as more than a friend but he still plans to. He still needs to find the perfect moment though and he now wants to make sure he doesn’t hurt his brother's feelings in the process. It’s a very complicated thing but he is working up a plan. 

Red -So he doesn’t think you hate him anymore but he is still convinced that he's not good enough for you. He ended his casual thing with Casey over guilt and he couldn’t bang someone else knowing the love of his life is right there. He’d seriously do anything for you but has convinced himself that you would never like him as anything more than a friend. 

Edge -He actually feels much better about himself and feels ready to ask you out, if only he could find the words and a way to do it without dusting his brother by accident (From breaking Red’s heart accidentally). Seeing you again and you being so excited about him made him feel like all of his hard work payed off. He’s still unsure about whether or not he could actually protect you but he wants to be with you. You just make him feel safe and seen. 

Blue -He’s working on it. Honestly the Interview boosted his ego on this a lot. If people thought you were dating already perhaps that idea could begin to sprout in your head. He already knows you're attracted to him but he doesn’t want just attraction. He wants love. So he’s being patient and building that up first.

Orange -Has it bad. He gets so jealous over every interaction you have with the others it’s driving him insane but he feels like you wouldn’t date him if he asked. He feels as if he has been nothing but bad luck to you and that he always ruins or makes things worse. This of course won’t stop him from getting jealous when you flirt or mention being interested in someone else. Like Kal. He hates Kal for no other reason than he thinks you were going to sleep with him 

Berry -Still in love with you and very much working up the nerve to kiss you and propose a poly relationship where he can share you with his brother. He has been working a lot since you came back into the skeletons' lives so he’s missed seeing you but his feelings for you haven’t changed in the slightest. 

Syrup - If he hadn't of made that deal with his brother he would have asked you out the moment that you admitted that you loved him. He still can’t think straight whenever your around and knows he’s going to go back to making an absolute fool of himself if you spend time together. If it wasn’t for Charm telling him he’s an idiot and that he would scare you away he would be in full stalking mode. 

Axe -Still doesn’t remember your real name but he knows he likes you. He can’t say how much he likes he just knows it’s strong. He can’t remember the last time he felt so strongly about anyone. He wants to protect you and keep you safe. The others have noticed Axe will often ask about you even if he hasn’t seen you in weeks proving just how much you are on his ever slipping mind 

Crooks -He still has a crush on you and still doesn’t have a name for it. If asked he says that he likes you a lot and will gush about you but he believes this is just a strong admiration. He doesn’t understand why he feels bad hearing your hanging out with other people or why when you tell him he’s hot it’s the first time in a long time he actually believes you. Even if he can’t name his feelings as a crush he knows he wants to be around you as much as he can. 

Error -Is still trying his hardest not to fall in love with you. And he doesn’t. You're annoying and an earworm. His only saving grace really is that you were hardly around but now your back and he finds himself wanting to see you and also wanting to stay as far away from you at the same time. When he heard about your trip to the hospital it really got to him and now he keeps checking in on you which is just pissing him off. He’s probably going to be annoyed the next time he sees you purely because of the happy feeling that will spread through his chest when he does. 

Ink -He still is conflicted about you. He doesn’t feel a rush of love or anything for you but he is still very curious. Surely there is more to you than what you are showing him. More than anything he misses the version of you he knew. He was probably one of the only skeletons unaffected by your absence and sudden return into the skeletons' lives. 

Nightmare -Still in love with you and still is trying to not get involved. He doesn’t want you to get hurt, he couldn’t do that again. After checking in on you at the house and seeing your face again it’s all he could think about. He wants to spend more time with you but his scared. What if you aren’t what he thinks? What if you get hurt again? Or what if he loves you more than he did when you were his sacrifice? 

Dream -Still likes you and has no idea what to do about it. As such he's in a sort of waiting period where he won’t do anything, not even seek out your company but whenever you are around he gets all giddy and happiness floods over him. He has never actually acted on his own feelings before in the ways of love so he’s not even sure what his supposed to do. 

Killer -Fuck he missed you. He didn’t realize how much he missed you until he saw your face, until you snapped him out of spiral with a simple touch and how you had grounded him so easily. Killer also knows as much as you ground him you also make him insane. He wants to be near you but couldn’t bear the thought of you getting hurt. Whatever he chooses though doesn’t stop the fact that he is very much in love with you. 

Daydream -He thought he would be ok. He thought he could just be friends with you but after that kiss the memories of his wife flooded back. He is still madly in love with you but being near you hurts too. He knows he could get you to fall in love with him again but feels greedy for wanting that. He is going to avoid you as much as he can until he can get his thoughts straight. 

Mint -Still hates you purely based on the fact that you are a human although there is something itching at him. You don’t disgust him as much as some other humans in fact he finds himself being comfortably numb in your presents. He’s always numb but you seem to make him falter and he’s not sure how to act near you. 

Mango -He might have a small crush. He hardly knows it's there though he’s just happy to have another human friend. He’s so excited that you seem to want to talk to him more that he’s going to send you a million messages and then get embarrassed that he sent you that many. His crush will only get bigger the more the two of you talk and the nicer you are to him.  

Roulette -He is no longer concerned for your safety, well, he is to a point but he’s no longer concerned about you getting involved in his job. It's obvious you can take care of yourself but he still thinks you should avoid getting dragged into their family business as much as possible. His crush has grown the more he spends time with you and he’d be happy to date you but would actually feel more comfortable if you were dating some others as well. That way there's more people looking out for you and you wouldn’t be lonely when he’s away at work. 

Sniper -He’s completely and utterly embarrassed. He now knows he loves you, he wasn’t sure until he tried to apologize to you at dinner again and you shot him down but even though he knows you can take care of yourself now he still doesn’t want you to have to put yourself on the line and if you were dating he knows you’d have a strange obligation to do so. He’s trying to come to terms with the fact that the two of you won’t ever be together but it’s hard to get over someone you are madly in love with. 

Colt - Next time he sees you he is going to ask you out. The only thing that will stop him is if any of the others get in the way but he’s made up his mind. He was in love with you long before he knew it was you and ever since meeting you that love has only grown stronger ever since meeting the skulls. Seeing you in action just gave him the push he needed. He wants to be with you. 

Musket -You telling him off for saying he needs to be stronger for you really made him fall harder, which he didn’t think was possible. He likes that you told him how you felt about the gang and actually enjoyed being a part of it part time. He wants to ask you out too but is planning his moves very carefully. 

Carbine -Is still convinced himself that this is just a little crush and nothing more. You are literally the only being who can make him put his work down but that doesn’t mean you're special or anything. Of course if you asked him out he’d say yes but you have so many skeletons to choose from he is doubtful that you would even pick him. 

Rifle -Fuck he has it hard for you. He will still go out of his way to listen in to any conversation that might be about you and will full on fanboy about you when he has a moment. He snuck away from work to visit you in the city and even almost got a kiss. Now the two of you are planning a beach trip. Even if it won’t happen for a while he’s excited to spend time with you. He won’t ask you out though, convinced you’ll say no and just see him as a friend. 

Lust -He’s interested to say the least. He thinks you're very attractive and would like to do many things to you but there are moments when his attraction feels like more. He’s not reading too much into it though. Love doesn’t really exist after all and even if it did he would be far to horny for a single partner. He would very much like to kiss you. 

Charm -Is still very attracted to you physically. Personality wise he thinks your lovely and he can see why the others hold you in such a high regard. He would still love to explore that physical attraction but with Syrup being his best friend it feels wrong to ask so he’s content to stay on the sideline and help his friend make better decisions to win you over. 

Wine -So that kiss may have fucked him over. He wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was nor turn him on as much to put you in your place. He wouldn’t call it love or anything though. Just an attraction that he would very much like to see more of. He’s more shocked at how fast you have gained his attention more than anything else. No one has been able to catch his eye as quickly or efficiently. That slap you gave him must have knocked out some brain cells. 

Coffee -He was in love the moment he laid eyes on you. He never really believed in love at first sight until then. Because of this he also had no idea how he was supposed to act around you. What is he supposed to do with his hands? He gets so embarrassed around you he just doesn’t know how to act. He’s never been in love like this before

Black -He’s so very annoyed that he likes you. Mainly because he hates you at the same time. He’s also very much still convinced you hate him. Sure you called him a friend but the two of you argue so much that there’s no way you actually like him as anything more than an annoyance, which is making him even madder about his feelings. After all you never actually said you didn’t hate him, you were clearly putting on some sort of act for the other monsters. 

Mutt -He liked you from the moment on the train. Now he’s just trying not to make a complete ass of himself. Him and Coffee often talk together about you as neither know what the fuck to do. Mutt may come across like he has a lot of experience in dating but he has very little. Either way he fell quickly for the human and now he’s stuck with these feelings. 

Vi -There might be something there but he hasn’t registered it yet. Sure he panicked when he saw you having a panic attack and his soul feels lighter when he sees he’s scheduled to work with you for the day but that’s purely just because your nice and nothing more. Probably. 

Money -He likes teasing you and thinks you're cute with how obvious your crush for him is. He doesn’t have feelings beyond friend for you though and is convinced he won’t develop any more as it’d be too much work with the amount of other skeletons trying to get with you. 

[dark-is-d3ad]

Got covid, so here is a collection of sick!141 headcanons:

• When someone gets sick, Gaz will bully the hell out of them. Last time he told Ghost he had the worst case of sniffles known to man (god knows how he didn't get disintegrated at the spot). But, he's also the one to make ginger tea, bring some snacks, flirt some lemsip out of that pretty nurse for his sick teammates. His actions really balance out the jokes.

• When he gets sick himself, he usually gets all of that back, everyone makes sure he's got everything he needs, and he ends up with way too much snacks, tea, and medicine. He's usually quick to get better, yet it warms his heart to know they care about him just as much as he does about them.

• Soap gets dramatic when he's feeling off. Not on missions, he knows how and when to push through, but God forbid he's going though a cold back on base, he'll let everyone know how fucking miserable he is. If he has an option to take a day or two off, he will do it, screw everything until he's back on his feet. Also, Ghost would usually ignore the rambles but then check up on him every now and again, just to make sure he's actually OK, and there's nothing major going on.

• Ghost usually gets more gruff and moody when he's sick. He also tries to avoid everyone, and he just sleeps it off if he can. Having a runny nose when you wear a mask all the time is not fun, it gets wet and awful. He doesn't like to miss the gym, too, but he usually goes easy if he's not well. The only thing Soap really scolds him for is that he keeps smoking anyway.

• Sick Price is a nightmare for the rest of 141. Not only the man is a fucking workaholic, he's also stubborn as hell. He'd be sitting in his office working his ass off even if his head is stuffed, and he's really not in shape to deal with all that paperwork. It requires a joint effort from all of them to get him to drop it and rest some, and him getting more irritable doesn't help it. That attitude also makes it worse for him, so he's usually sick for longer because he doesn't really allow himself time to recover and jumps straight back the second he feels just a smidge better.

• Soap usually has these awful high fevers for the first couple of nights, he's shivering and all that. Ghost brings him extra blankets and stays with him sometimes, especially when it's really bad. He's seen Johhny being really out of it because of how high his fever was, the guy couldn't even figure out how to use his phone, had forgotten about the meds and was a complete mess. So, Ghost tracks that for him, and makes sure he's OK, and that his fever doesn't fry his brains ("god knows you haven't got a lot left in that noggin, Johnny, you need every braincell").

• Price has a secret family recipe for chicken noodle soup that he refuses to give away, but when one of his guys is really not OK, he usually makes some. Even Ghost can't resist it. He's reluctant to let anyone in, but the smell really hits home, so he opens the door. The small "thank you" he blurts out really tells Price a lot.

"You're welcome, Simon. And you're off for tomorrow, get some rest, OK?"

Also, the only other person that he just can't not let in is Soap. Gaz would just drop off a tray full of things at his doorway, shout him a quick "get well soon, Lt" and be out of his hair, but Soap is a whole another story. Soap is relentless. One time he stayed at his door for hours, so now Ghost knows better than to resist him, it's a fight he cannot win. God knows he tried. Having him is honestly good, too. He somehow makes it easier just by being there, he reminds Ghost to drink his water, makes him comfortable in a way Ghost would never care to, not when it comes to himself.

[sourbinnie]

Hi omg I just came across ur page, I loved your recent it was so cute & now I’m dying for more comfort Hyunjin.

Can I request reader being on her period so she’s rlly irritable and then Hyunjin comes home saying he has a stomach ache and she thinks he’s just joking around so she just ignores him but then later realizes he’s being serious when he doesn’t eat dinner n feels sick so she feels bad and takes care of him.

title -> misinterpreted pair -> hyunjin x fem!reader genre -> hurt/comfort + fluff warnings -> mentions of periods + mentions of food + cursing a/n: yall i think im a sucker for hurt/comfort jinnie, thank you for you request! <3 it came out shorter than i expected but i still hope you like it ¡! :(

as if the day couldn't get more annoying, periods happen. ok, it's not like i had a lot on my plate but there's no worse sensation than your uterus kicking you like you deserve it. it was painful, annoying and overall made me feel like complete garbage. i carried through work like i could, continuing with my day like i wasn't suffering every step of the way. getting home was a task too but i managed through it and decided to throw myself on the bed, trying every single position to see if it would make the pain go away. 

i know i wasn't the easiest to deal with when i was like this but i was hoping hyunjin would understand. 

speaking of him, he was just about to come in through the door every minute now and the things that i usually get ready for him, are not there. like i said, i hope he understands that it's not my best day and he can get them on his own. i know practice must've been a lot and i truly wish he would take care of himself better.

"(y/n)?" i hear my name being called out and i don't even have the strength to get up. feels like the weight is pulling me down again. i manage to do so in a few tries but everything still spins and hurts around me. "missed you baby." he says when he sees me and gives me a hug which i have to retract because of the tightness of it all. he looks at me confused which i have to explain.

"i'm on my period and everything sucks right now." i say calmly but dying on the inside. "i'm sorry if i'm gonna be a bitch to you at any moment but right now i just need to rest."

"oh, that's okay i actually had like a stomach ache through the whole day so i get it." and i just sigh 'cause i knew he was messing with me. he always likes to do that and even with the confused look on his face, i wouldn't fall for it at all. i decided to not linger on it and go to our room to get my sweet sleep as much as i wanted to stay and cuddle with my boyfriend, i knew it would only bring pain and uncomfortability.

✉ ✉ ✉ 

getting up and being met by the moon in the night sky was not my plan all along. hyunjin was by my side, he didn't even try to cuddle with me which i thanked for but he looked a little odd. i couldn't place my finger on what it was but i had to get up and make dinner before it was too late. as i tried to concentrate in the cooking and not the pain (again), i tried to place my finger around what was going on with my boyfriend. 

could it be that things didn't go well today? but he didn't look mad or sad. he also didn't say anything about the boys (usually there's one or two comments about felix). maybe he was just tired and didn't need me on top of his business and i was just panicking over nothing.

"babe?" he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts and there was definitely something going on. he looked pale but at the same time it looked like he had a run a marathon with all the sweat and i was starting to see things better. "oh no, jagi i love your cooking but i think i'll pass today."

i placed the dinner on the table and i looked at him. he never passed on my cooking so something 100% was off today and what did i miss? as i got close to him i tried to repeat our conversation today. my hand went directly to his forehead and as everything started to make sense with him burning up, i said.

"fuck you weren't lying, you truly had a stomach ache." i felt like crying right then and there. even if i felt terrible, i still would do anything to take care of hyunjin. it hurt that i put myself first when he was hurting just as much as me. i didn't want to cry though, this was my chance to make it better unless he hated me at this very moment and didn't want me to do anything and-

"you're thinking too much and yes i did or i still do. i don't know, everything's kinda of spinning and i think i might have a fever." he said and i immediately sat him down as i looked for the termometer. thinking of every remedy and healing technique i went through my entire life as i came back and made him open his mouth. 

"i'm sorry jinnie. i should've been more careful and paid more attention to your words." i said and he wanted to say something but i stopped him. "nuh uh no moving! also i'm gonna tell the boys you're not going tomorrow." that's when he also wanted to protest but i took the termometer out and checked. 

"so? do i have a fever?" he said and i nodded as he responded with a sigh. "i can't miss practice when we're learning a new choreo though, babe you know how it is".

"but you also can't practice if you're basically running a fever and feeling dizzy, what if you pass out?" i said and i could see that he was seeing my point. "just let me text chan and then i'll have all the time in the world for you."

"but what if you get sick too?" he pouted and i just smiled because even in the sickness of it all, he still cared about me. he really was the sweetest guy i've ever met.

"if i get sick, i get sick baby, there's nothing bad about it plus i get to spend time with my favorite person." i said laying him on my lap as i messed with his hair and caressed his cheek.

he eventually fell asleep and i just couldn't stop looking at him. i decided to slowly get up without disturbing him, then i would call work and tell them that i would be taking the day off to spend it with my loved one 'cause it's what he deserved.

[snorkling-in-sodasea]

Ghost F-Kers Rant

Because yeah, I'm pissed at this episode. I initially liked it but that's literally just because it had the fucking Stolitz drama that I'm so sick and tired of at this point to the back. It may be how the episode even happened but it was still to the back.

Then I read YMMV on TV tropes for this episode and realize that, under Informed Wrongness, Blitz is a fucking douche. Again.

And now I'm right back into hating Blitz so I don't like the episode as much anymore.

It's amazing. It truly is. Stolas is literally the only reason I can ever care about Blitzo. When Blitzo is being made to care about and fall in love with his abuser and sexual extorter. Take Stolas away, though, and I go straight back to hating Blitzo and wanting him to suffer.

And no, I don't mean 'suffer' like that fucking constant trauma dumping that the show writers seem to do with Blitzo in every single episode now. I'm talking about making him suffer comedically.

Eustace Bagg from Courage the Cowardly Dog. Dan from Dan Vs. Those two men are grown up entitled babies and yet, I can feel for them far more than I ever can Blitzo. Eustace and Dan definitely don't need a sexual abuser like how Blitzo does for me to feel sorry for them and/or like them

Maybe that's because of two major things that are coming to me off the top of my head. For one, the writers made sure that Eustace and Dan got as much shit as they gave. Or at the very least, they often made sure to remember that they're assholes and should be punished for it

The other thing is probably that, more often than not, it was funny. It wasn't just cathartic when these assholes got consequences for their jerkass behavior. It was also funny. Sure, Courage the Cowardly Dog and Dan Vs. are comedies but maybe that's it. Helluva Boss really was better off being a comedy and nothing more, so that way, Blitzo can suffer like Eustace and Dan and that would've been perfectly fine

Because really, nobody's ever held accountable in the right way. As in, the actual fucked up shit someone does, especially if they're in Viv's favor, actually get held accountable for that shit. It's treated as no big deal that Blitzo has always stalked his employees and tried being their 'third' against their wishes. Stolas is constantly written like his worst flaws are just not being aware or missing the hint, like his racism and fetishizing ways aren't a thing he does, as well as neglecting his daughter the very second Blitzo re-entered his life. And getting into Hazbin Hotel, and just to give a couple of examples for that show, only a fucking passing mention is made about Angel always violating Husk's boundaries and apparently Husk isn't a bad guy for taking his frustration out on everyone and airing their dirty laundry when it was only Angel who was bothering him at the time. At least if Helluva Boss was strictly a comedy that made assholes suffer comedically, then I wouldn't give as much of a fuck (I don't know about Hazbin Hotel but I'm staying focused on my rant for Ghostfuckers here)

But yeah, I hate how, in this episode, Blitzo nearly bankrupts the company that Millie works in and she's the one who says sorry to him. Like, does Millie seriously not realize the end result that would've affected her? Sure, Blitzo may have given her a new life she loves but he was threatening to end it. And worse, he couldn't have been bothered to care or even think about how his incapability of managing his personal shit without dragging others into it would have affected the employees he claims are his family

Come on, Millie, your and Moxxie's jobs were on the fucking line! If anything happened to your job, then you wouldn't be able to stay in your apartment building. You wouldn't be able to have the city life. And if you can't stay in the city, where you were so damn happy to be in because it proved you could be more than a simple farm girl or, at best an underpaid goon, then you. Would have lost that.

You would have needed to go back to the farm where you were worried you'd be stuck in for the rest of your life. And honestly, you're lucky that you even have someone to turn to, somewhere to go, even if you hate it. Because I'm sure there's so many people who become downright homeless all because they're out of a job. But yeah, even though you're lucky, Millie, Blitzo's actions would have still left a negative impact on your life that you never would've wanted

Let's not forget how it affects your husband, too. Moxxie would have preferred the in-laws over Crimson, yeah, but it's still not gonna be a happy life for him. Not when he's with people who just barely hide their disdain towards him. That means Moxxie's life is also going to be severely negatively affected, his life would have taken a turn that he would have never wanted, and it's all because fucking Blitzo decided that a pity party for himself was the most important thing ever

Honestly, Blitzo only seems to be caring and selfless in comparison to Stolas. When it comes down to it, Blitzo will still make himself the most important person in his own life. And yeah, that does make itself known when he's in a 'mood' because there's people out there who would legitimately rather throw pity parties than actually overcoming adversity or personal problems

Blitzo was looking to adopt a kid at the pet pound but he didn't want a 'sad-looking' kid. He didn't see poor souls that shouldn't be there, he just saw the place potentially providing a convenient sap who can 'learn' to love him. He just adopted Loona because... she's the prettiest? I'd like to believe 'he saw himself in Loona' but either those kids earlier were a different type of sad from Blitzo himself or Blitzo just saw a pretty, crying girl and wanted to save her (in a platonic way, I just don't know how else to phrase that)

Blitzo wanted to get together with Barbie despite how it's the most obvious thing ever that she doesn't want him in her life again. Blitzo still goes out of his way to find her, being hostile the very second he doesn't get answers that he wants, makes Barbie out to be the bitch that he voluntarily took a week-long search for her, and never calls off the hit that would cost Barbie her job. Blitzo obviously had to know during the verbal confrontation that the target for Moxxie's job is someone Barbie needs for her own job. Yet, when the physical confrontation happened, Blitzo never stops Moxxie from killing the guy. It seems nice on the surface to offer Barbie help when she was out of a job but, given his general attitude in Unhappy Campers - specifically towards Barbie in this case - and the fact that Blitzo lets the hit happen even though he should know how it would affect Barbie, it just comes off as Blitzo wanting someone around who would notice it when he dies. Even if Blitzo didn't think of making Barbie dependent on him so that she'd have an excuse to be around him and give him a chance to 'mend' any broken bonds, it's still clear enough that he decided that his livelihood is more important than Barbie's thanks to, once again, never calling off that hit. Probably the most insulting part is that Blitzo offers help like his general nasty attitude towards Barbie and complete disregard for her personal wishes wasn't going to be an issue at all. Oh, and let's not forget how Blitzo spent months not knowing that Barbie checked out of the hospital, meaning that he never had a desire to talk to her or check up on her for months. That just seems, at least to me, more like he only cared in Unhappy Campers about a bond with Barbie for his personal gain

Blitzo may have cared about Fizzarolli but he had the fucking gall to play the misery game with the guy who lost his limbs, which means that his very lifestyle is affected and it's only lucky that Fizzarolli even secured new limbs and a job to keep living. After all, Blitzo may have been thinking about his mom but it's not like Fizzarolli didn't have people, too. (At least I hope so, since Viv, for all the new characters she creates, rarely ever gives almost any named character more than five connections to others) The thing is, Fizzarolli would have needed hospitalization and care and most people in the circus would have been either dead or too busy to do so. Some might even think of Fizzarolli as dead weight and wouldn't want to even bother. In fact, as awful as he's actually allowed to be, Cash Buckzo is notable for being willing to do so, especially for an unrelated young man. So yeah, Fizzarolli is lucky that he even had anyone wanting to take care of him, especially since I can't hold hopes for anyone else in the circus, and that's even more true since he's never had any parents or blood-related family appear in the show so far. So to shorten it, Fizzarolli lost his limbs, his anatomy - at least until he got new limbs - his very lifestyle and possibilities for the future with or without Ozzie, any friends he could have lost to the fire, and, to some extent, the ability to live peacefully thanks to the fucking trauma. But no, Blitzo decides to act like he's the one who lost more than Fizzarolli ever did, because he fully believes his own pain is what wins the misery game. The guy who only got fucking scars from the fire (I'm not saying that losing his mom isn't a big deal but I still believe Fizzarolli wins the misery game since that's how Blitzo wants to play)

And like I said, even if Blitzo was actually genuine when he first gave jobs to Millie and Moxxie, Blitzo sure couldn't give a fuck that he negatively affecting their futures in this episode thanks to caring only about satisfying himself and throwing a pity party for himself. Blitzo can't even give 'unconditional' support without attaching conditions to it; he legitimately thinks a coupon is needed to leave Millie and Moxxie the fuck alone because he apparently thinks that caring about their boundaries isn't worth anything if there's nothing in it for him

So yeah, I do agree that Ghostfuckers is better than other episodes of this season. Then again, it feels like I'm given a whole batch of burnt cookies and the latest episode is just a cookie not as badly burnt as the other ones.

That's not really a good thing, if you're just not as bad as the others. It's just that Ghostfuckers is a cookie that tastes good when I ate it but then I'm discovering, to my dismay, a downright awful aftertaste

[obsessedwithpedritoofc]

Oɴᴇ Mᴏʀᴇ Pᴀʀᴛʏ (Jᴀᴠɪ Gᴜᴛɪᴇʀʀᴇᴢ)

ℙ𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘: Javi Gutierrez × Male/GN Reader.

𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥: 7 k.

𝕊𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: He was an angel. First, he saved you from being robbed, then he invited you to his party, then... You were sure no one had ever treated you like he did. And you were falling so bad for him.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤: teeth rotting fluff, awkwardness, playful flirting, mentions of alcohol, reader is sick and tired of work, javi being a sweetheart as always, allusion to smut, slightly suggestive, allusion to reader being top and javi bottom, swearing, no physical descriptions of reader, no use of Y/N. (lmk if i missed any).

𝔸/ℕ: (gddmn never written something this long) this sht got me giggling my feet into the bed somebody stop me bc next one is gonna be pretty angsty HAHAHAHA IM SO SORRY IM SO EVIL. ahem, anyway, enjoy the fluffiness while you can ehehe. hope you like it <3

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

It had been a terrible idea. And you knew it since the beginning but you decided it didn't matter, since you just wanted to vent a little.

You'd had the worst week ever. You just didn't know how to deal with all your shit anymore, and hell, you needed a rest. From your surroundings, from your life, from the world, from everything.

So you decided to be away from home for a while at night, go back a little later than usual to clean your mind and take some fresh air. You turned your phone off, got lost outside the city, walked through the beach for a couple hours, had a drink or two... 

Man, you needed it.

Ready to go back home a while after midnight, you took a different path instead of the one you use to go home. Your feet hurt and your head was spinning but you hadn't had so much fun in a long time. You found yourself walking alone in a road you didn't know, with not one single building. Just trees, grass and walls not too far away from the coast. You didn't even think you'd been there before, but honestly, you didn't care. You just kept walking, hoping to find a cutshort that would take you home sooner or later.

You weren't that lucky, though.

You had been walking for a while when you started feeling weird, as if someone was watching you, or following you. Then you heard steps behind you. Slow, careful, almost silent steps, and luckily a little far from you. That gave you some time to think, not stopping walking, and then go faster. The steps caught up speed almost immediately. You thought of running, but you refrained, thinking it would only make things worse for you. And you weren't going to die on your day off.

For the first time in all the while you had been walking, you saw a building. It looked like a house —a really big one—, and there were lights of all colors and music bustling out of it. Your heart almost jumped out of your chest at the relief. You just hoped that whoever was inside would hear you having trouble outside.

Right before you could reach the door, the guy behind you ran up to you and kept you from going any farther. He had a knife in one hand, and the other one was extended out to you.

"You know how this goes", he talked. "Money, watch, everything of value you have", his moved his fingers as a sign to give him what you had.

"Look, man, it's been a long day, I don't have anything on me", you tried to convince him.

"Bullshit", he approached you, grabbing his knife more firmly. "I don't wanna kill you, but I will if you don't give me any other choice".

You shook your head no and put your hands up.

"I don't—".

"I said fucking—!".

"Hey, dude!".

Another man approached you and put an arm around you shoulders. You saw the robber put his knife down and into his pocket.

"Where were you? The party started long ago!", the other man pushed you towards the door of the building. Then, for a moment, he turned to the guy that was trying to rob you. "Are you with him? Maybe you want to come inside and enjoy the party with us".

"No, I was going already", he started walking away.

Meanwhile, the man with you stayed at your side and kept pulling you with him into the house. He didn't take his eyes off the robber until he was out of sight.

"Phew, that was close", he turned to you. "Are you hurt?".

For the first time in the while he had been with you, you could see all his features with the light at his door. He had nice, short —though longer than the average— golden hair. The curls at his forehead and the nape of his neck were sticking to his skin because of the sweat. His clothes were stretching his body in all the right places and were just as fine as the rest of him.

Man, God had seen you in trouble and sent you a very angel.

"Yeah", you breathed out. "I mean, no. No, I'm not hurt".

"Good", he scanned your body anyway, seeming to look for any wounds. Then he smiled at you. "I'm glad you're okay. There are many of those around here in the coast rich area, but most of them are more bark than bite", he put a hand on your shoulder. "So, long day?".

Fuck, he had heard you.

"Yeah", you tried to shrug it off with a nervous chuckle. "Just a little too much work, I'm fine".

He chuckled back.

"Maybe you can stay for a while, actually enjoy the party and take a break from what's bothering you".

Damn, he was an angel.

"You really mean it?", you gave him another nervous laugh. "I don't wanna crush it down or something. I don't know anyone in there".

"Well, you know me", he grabbed your shoulder. "Come on, don't be shy. If you feel uncomfortable you just stay with me, but take a break", he looked at you. "Do we have a deal?".

You thought for a minute. His offer was indeed generous. And to be honest, you hadn't had enough with those drinks before. Maybe you needed that party as well. Why reject a little more of your day off when you had it served it on a silver platter?

"You know what? You're right. I do need the break".

The man smiled.

"Great!", he extended his hand out to you. "I'm Javi, by the way".

Damn, that accent got in your nerves.

"It's nice meeting you, Javi", you shook his hand.

"Come on in, I will get you into the party", not letting go of your hand, he guided you inside the house.

That place was fucking huge.

Most of the people were inside the pool, having a drink and chatting. They all looked like bigwigs, people with great wealth and too full of themselves. You couldn't really complain, you expected it from someone like Javi —he already gave off that vibe with the clothes he was wearing and the house he was in, but you didn't want to judge too soon. You tried not to, since this was not Javi, but his guests. Maybe he wasn't like that. No, you were sure, certain, that he wasn't like that. He'd been too nice to you to be an asshole.

"And this is Gabriela", Javi introduced you to a woman at last. She looked nice as well. "She runs the agricultural operations here".

"Nice to meet you, sir", she smiled at you and shook your hand.

"Sure", you smiled back, then approached her discretely. "You take care of him, eh? He's like a little fish in a shark tank", you whispered.

"Don't I know well", she rolled her eyes. She laughed an put a hand on your shoulder. "You're a good man. Thanks for worrying about him".

"Yeah, he kinda saved my life. It's the least I can do".

"What are you two gossiping about?", Javi laughed this time. "Gabriella, can you go check on the pool? I think I saw someone having trouble with the waiters".

"Damn it", she muttered. "It was nice to meet you", she turned to you one last time before running to the pool.

Javi approached you once more. He had a wide smile on his face and he looked beautiful with the colorful lights dancing on his skin. You took your time looking at him. He almost seemed younger than he did when he went to help you against the robber.

"So, enjoying yourself?", he looked at you this time.

"Yeah, it's a nice party", you grabbed your beer and leaned back on the counter, crossing your arms. "You usually do this stuff? Party all the time?", you took a sip.

"No, not really", Javi laughed. "I don't usually throw parties without a reason".

"And what's the reason of this one?". 

He took a moment to answer.

"I don't know if you've seen those olive trees over there", he gesture towards the backyard of his house with his head. "I own more of them olive groves a couple miles from here. I run a little business and we found a new client", he smiled in excitement. That made you smile as well.

"That's nice", you tried to show him you were glad. "I'm proud of you", you stopped to think for a moment. "Did that sound weird?".

Javi laughed again.

"No, not at all", he bumped your shoulder. "Thank you".

"It's nothing", you leaned on your side to be closer to him. "Between you and me", you spoke softly so no one else could hear you; "I thought you were one of those rich assholes with a big shit ego".

"And I'm not?", he said sarcastically.

"Well, it's a bit soon to judge", you answered with sarcasm as well. "But nah, I don't think you are. I've been here for half an hour and no one's been half as nice as you were to me. Except Gabriela. She's also good", you winked at him. "Good thing you've kept her around, huh?", you looked at him with a mischievous smile.

"Oh no, don't do that", he chuckled nervously. "She and I are just friends".

That somehow gave you some sort of relief.

"You say whatever you want", you insisted nonetheless. "But I can see it in her eyes".

Javi shook his head no, but he laughed once more and didn't say anything else.

You stayed by his side for the rest of the night, enjoying the party and getting drunk with people that would probably forget you in a couple hours, but you didn't care. At this point, you let go of your prejudices since you just wanted to enjoy the night while you could and forget about your problems for as long as it lasted.

You woke up with no upper clothes and wrapped in satin sheets. It took you a couple minutes to realize where you were. You tried to get up, but the pulsing headache that appeared at the sudden movement sent you back to the bed.

"Oh, you're awake", Javi walked inside the room with a mug in his hands. He offered it to you. "I figured hangover would hit you hard so I made you some tea. It will help reduce the pain".

You grabbed the mug and immediately started drinking. Hell, he was even nicer than you had seen last night. He really was an angel.

"Thanks", your voice sounded deeper than usual, even after having just woken up. Javi was right —headache had hit you hard. "What happened last night?", you took another sip from the tea. "I reckon I drank too much, but...", you looked at him waiting for an answer.

"You're okay, don't worry", he smiled at you and sat on the bed beside you. "You're right, you drank too much. You fell asleep on the couch when people started leaving and I took you to this bed. I thought you would be more comfortable".

Fuck, he's so cute.

"Thanks, really. You didn't have to", you bumped his shoulder with your own, leaning on his side for a second too long.

"Of course I did, what kind of host would I be if I hadn't done it?".

Shit, you were liking this man way too much for your own good.

"You know, you've just proved I was right all along", you smirked. Javi looked at you in slight confusion. "You're not like all those rich assholes with big shit ego from yesterday night".

"Oh, right", he laughed when he remembered. "Fine, I'll give you that one", he got up from the bed. "If you want breakfast, the table is served for three".

Oh, right, Gabriela.

"Don't worry, I'll eat at my place", you smiled at him and got up as well, hanging the empty mug out for him. "I gotta go to work and we barely know each other, it wouldn't be right if I—".

"Nonsense", he grabbed both of your shoulders and started pushing you downstairs. "You're going to shut the fuck up, and you're going to accept my breakfast, and then I will drive you home".

"What? No no no, no way. You're bothering too mu—".

"What did I say about shutting...?", he waited for you to complete his sentence.

"I'm gonna shut the fuck up", you tried to hide your giggle, unsuccessfully.

"That's right", he snapped his fingers and pointed his index at you. You laughed again.

Just like Javi intended, you ate his breakfast without complaint. Gabriela ate with you as well, until she had to go and do her labor as head of agricultural operations, like Javi had said last night. He stayed with you until you were done, then gave you some clean clothes and offered his shower to you. You refused like you could, having a little trouble with Javi's stubbornness, but nothing you couldn't handle. Still, you accepted the clothes and got changed before he drove you home.

"Thanks for everything, Javi. Really", you got off the car. 

"My pleasure", he smiled at you. "By the way", he took his phone and handed it to you. "I'm going to need your number", he looked at you with a light smirk. "You know, for the troubles you caused me", he joked. "And in case I throw another party soon", he gave you a sincere smile now. "It was nice having you around. It wouldn't have been the same without you".

You smiled back and typed your number on his phone, then have it back to him. 

"Alright. I'll be waiting for you to text me. Do tell me if you throw more parties, though. I had fun last night", you winked at him. "I'll see you soon. And thanks again".

"It was nothing", he started the car again. "See you".

You watched as he drove away from you. As soon as you lost sight of him, you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding in. A smile crept onto your lips involuntarily as you walked into your house. You didn't know what he had done to you, but you really couldn't wait to see Javi again, as soon as possible.

You weren't expecting him to text you then. Not in the middle of a work meeting, not too weeks after seeing each other for the first time. You took a look at the phone from the corner of your eye, but left it on the side. When the meeting was finally over, you opened his message.

'Hey, I'm having a party at my place tomorrow night, do you want to come?'.

You laughed at what he had texted. You had already been talking the past weeks, and he had invited you over to his house, but you had been too full of work to even go somewhere that wasn't from home to work and from work to home. Maybe a little more time resting wouldn't be that bad after all.

I deserve it, you thought.

So, you warned your coworkers you wouldn't be available on weekend and got ready to spend a hellish slow couple of days before going to Javi's party. 

When Saturday night finally arrived, you hurried to his house with as much elegance as you could. You were aware that Javi's parties —or at least the last and first one you had gone to— weren't as formal as your clothes that night, but you wanted to cause a good impression on the rest of those rich fuckers, unlike last time.

You warned Javi you were at his door a couple minutes before you actually arrived. You wanted to make sure you'd make it there safe and without encountering any other robber like that last time.

"Hey!", he gave you a wide smile as soon as he saw you. He pulled you in for a hug, which surprised you —in a good way. Still, you returned it without wasting a second.

"Hey", you squeezed him tight, like he was doing, then pulled away and smiled back at him. 

"What are you wearing?", he grabbed your shoulders and took a good look at you, scanning you upside down. "Wow, that is what I call a party outfit!", he laughed.

Well, you did cause a good impression on him.

"Thanks", you posed dramatically. "Wanted to impress these motherfuckers".

"You want to impress them?", he gave you a sarcastically surprised and hurt expression. "I thought you wanted to impress me!", he couldn't hold his laughter in this time.

Man, had you missed his laughs.

"Well, that too", you laughed as well. Your eyes shifted to the lights inside the mansion for a moment. "Am I too late?".

"Not too much. I call this being fashionably late".

"Oh, you got a name for everything?", you mocked at him.

"Not really, I just came up with that one", he chuckled again. "Come on, let's get inside".

Like the last time, you enjoyed the party staying by Javi's side most of the time. You weren't used to being between all the rich bigwigs yet, at least not the mean ones. So you stayed with the nicest of them, drinking a bit, sitting by the pool or the counter inside the mansion.

You made sure not to drink in excess this time so you get home on your own. You were still embarrassed by the fact that you had slept on one of Javi's bed and he'd had to take you home. So you tried to end the night as sober as possible.

When everyone started leaving, you waited with your friend inside one of the rooms. He claimed to be hiding from everyone's goodbyes and the crowd walking outside, and he liked to keep good company in the meantime.

"I think I should get going", you said after everything stayed silent. You got up, offering Javi your hand. "It was nice coming to your party again", you smiled at him.

"Why don't you stay for the night?", he grabbed your hand and got up as well, his touch lingering for a moment too long. "It's a bit late, it could be dangerous".

"Don't worry, I'll be fine", you started walking towards the door. "Call me when you're having another party, these are pretty fun".

Javi forced a smile.

"Of course!", he walked with you. "Let me accompany you to the door".

You let him, and he gave you one last hug before you left.

"Text me when you're home. I want to make sure you get there safe, not encounter any more robbers", he gave you a sincere smile.

Turns out he was even cuter than you thought.

"Sure", you couldn't help the blush that crept up your neck and to your cheeks and the stupid smile that came with it.

You walked to the nearest bus stop and got home safe and sound. You immediately texted Javi to let him know. He replied almost immediately as well.

'That's good! Thanks for coming tonight, you lit up the party'.

You blushed again. Damn, how the hell could he get in your nerves so easily with a smile message?

'My pleasure, I'll come over any time ;)', you replied.

Maybe the wink was a bit too much, you thought, though you didn't give it much more importance when he answered back.

'Maybe you can come one day that I'm not having a party. Those people are a little too noisy. I'm free next Friday, are you in?'.

Your heart skipped a beat.

Was he inviting you —not to a party, but to just spend time? With him? In his house? Just the two of you?

'You sure? I don't wanna be a burden, you should enjoy your day off'.

He took a while to reply, and he got you on the maddening verge of a happiness attack.

'That's right! I'm sure I will enjoy my day off better with you. You should come over!'.

You took in a deep breath and told you to get your shit together. It was happening, alright, but you only knew this man from one party. Well, two. How come that was happening to you?

I knew he was too cute, you thought.

You wanted to say yes so badly that you barely thought about it. You gave yourself an excuse, and of course you'd tell your work coworkers later. Little did you care about what they would say about you being too calm and not working much in the last weeks.

'Alright, I'm in. But don't you dare say I fucked up your day off', was your reply to his invitation.

'I won't', he promised. You swore you could feel his laugh through his text. 'See you next week'.

You smiled.

'See ya'.

Damn.

One week.

You had one week to mentally prepare yourself for what was to come.

You were going to be in Javi's house, alone with him, no party, and no one else around to bother you —well, except for Gabriela, but you didn't really worry much about her.

You hadn't wanted something that much in a long time.

There you were again. At his door, looking up at the front of his mansion, admiring the vines that climbed along the walls, breathing in the salty air blowing from the beach nearby, trying to spot him through one of the many windows.

Was this place so imposing before?

The door opened right in your face. You fell to the ground after the person behind it accidentally hit you.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!", Gabriela offered you her hand, which you took so she could help you stand up. "I thought you hadn't arrived yet and—!".

"Hey, it's okay. I didn't text Javi, it was my fault", you smiled at her. "It didn't hurt that much either. You can rest, soldier".

She laughed.

"Fine. I'm sorry anyway", she adjusted her bag on her shoulder. "I was going already, Javi is waiting for you".

"You're going? I thought you lived here".

"I do, but Javi told me he wanted the house clear tonight", she gave you a knowing smirk. "But I'm not going to clean it up when I come back, so try to leave the sheets clean when you're done".

"Oh my god!", you stuck out your tongue in faked disgust. You did want it to happen. "What's wrong with you?", you laughed. She did, too.

"Nothing. By now", she squinted her eyes, as if trying to warn you. "You break his heart and I'll tear yours out off your chest".

"What?!".

"I'm just kidding! Or not, who knows", she gave you a soft pat on the shoulder. "I hope I see you soon. Have fun!", she smiled at you one last time before walking away.

"Yeah... Thanks...", you said, more to yourself than to her.

You turned to look at the mansion again. There was one lit window. You smiled, figuring Javi would be preparing things —or himself— for when you arrived. You took out your phone and took a picture of it before sending it to him with a text.

'Already down here. Gabriela left the door open. Do I come in, or you gonna come receive like a gentleman?'.

'I'm sorry but I'm no gentleman, I'm just a rich asshole with a big shit ego', was his reply.

'Didn't I tell you I had changed my mind about it?'.

'You're right hahaha'.

You visualized his smile and laughter when you read that. It made you smile as well.

'Seriously, though. Can you be your own gentleman this time? I'm still preparing things. I have something planned for us'.

Your heart skipped a beat when dirty thoughts came to your mind. You scolded yourself for thinking about your friend like that, but you shook it off quickly with an excuse to blame him for it.

'Fine, rich asshole with a big shit ego', you smirked at your own message. 'Coming in right now'.

'Second floor, third door to the left'.

You walked into the mansion with a smile plastered on your lips. You couldn't hide your excitement for whatever it was he had planned for you. In a way, you did hope it was related to what Gabriela had referred to before. But deep, very deep inside you, buried by the thought that he was just your friend and you had met him a couple weeks before. 

You climbed upstairs with your heart going as fast as a Ferrari. You didn't know what to expect from Javi —or the room itself— the moment you opened the door. To your pleasant surprise, you just found him setting plates and bowls with food on a small table in front of a big, comfortable-looking couch. Behind him, there was a huge TV with a peculiar selection of movies.

"Oh hi", he smiled wide at you when he saw you. He immediately walked up at you and hugged you like he had when you came to his second party —well, the second one for you. You involuntarily breathed in his essence. It had a little smell to those olive trees of his, and a bit of coffee and sea salt as well. Your eyes rolled back into your skull, also involuntarily. "How are you doing?".

"Better now. I hate working on Fridays. And now my coworkers hate me for not working this Friday", you pulled away. "But fuck them, Javi wants his fun on his day off".

"Sorry", his face scrunched in regret.

"No, don't worry. I need more of those days off anyway", you grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the couch with you. "And I got a feeling that you do, too".

"Yes, you're right", he yawned dramatically. "Owning olive groves is a terribly tiring job".

"You shut the fuck up!", you punched his shoulder. He let out a soft "ouch" as you gave him a disbelief wide-open mouth. "You could literally take every day off and you would still be doing millions!".

Javi shrugged with a smile and laughed at you.

"I guess I am a rich asshole with a big shit ego after all".

Your lips pressed into a straight line and you hit his arm again, then laughed with him.

"Anyway", you cleared your throat. "What did you say you had planned for us?", you looked at the screen in front of you. "Wait, aren't all those Nicolas Cage's movies?".

"Oh no, you caught me", he pretended to be disappointed, then he laughed again. "I'm his biggest fan".

"Oh cool! The guy I thought was a rich big mama's boy fucker is actually a freak!", you put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a smirk. "I'm proud of you".

"I don't know if I should feel good or weird", he leaned back on the couch, his face holding a worried expression.

"Coming from me, it's a compliment".

"Fine", he grabbed the remote. "Which of these do you want to watch?".

"We really have to watch Nicolas Cage?", you gave him an exasperated look. For a moment, his expression shifted and he looked like he had seen a ghost. Then you laughed. "Just kidding, I don't mind", you patted his back once. "It's your day off, you choose".

Javi smiled and immediately proceed to play the first Cage movie he saw.

You didn't say a word during it all, just eating the food Javi had set on the table and shifting positions on the couch every now and then. He was decent enough to pause the movie when you had to use the bathroom, and he treated you as nice as he had the previous times.

When the movie was finally over, you got up to stretch your legs. Javi stayed seated, looking at you with expectant eyes as you cracked your back and legs.

"Well...", he started talking. "I know it was a bit boring, I apologize".

"What? It wasn't! I had fun", you smiled back at him. "I needed an afternoon like this, just chilling".

"Really?", he looked amazed for a moment, then he cleared his throat. "Sure, I needed it, too", he chuckled. You also did. "I just... I know you just know me from a couple of parties, and that you think I'm the rich asshole with big shit ego to you", he laughed again. "But I didn't want you to only know that me. It's not the real me, and I don't want you to think it is. That is just the facade I show to all the real rich fuckers", he was looking at you with a serious expression. "I wanted you to know Javi for who he really is, not what he does for all the people around him".

Your stomach dropped.

That was the most stupid, cheesy, and the cutest thing anyone had ever said to you.

Wait, did that mean...? No, it couldn't have meant that.

Or maybe it did?

He wanted you, out of all the people —even with Gabriela living with him—, to know him how he really was, and not the version he showed to everyone else. He didn't want you, out of all the people, to think he was someone he wasn't —the him everyone else thought he was.

"I'm...", you started talking, even though you were almost speechless. "I'm glad you didn't want me to see you how others do", you finally said when you found the words. He smiled at you almost stupidly wide. "Thank you for letting me see you, and not the rich asshole with big shit ego everyone else sees".

Javi chuckled again.

"Fuck, you really hate the bigwigs, don't you?", he laughed along with you.

"I don't hate them", you shrugged. "I just don't like them at all".

You laughed for a while, filling the silence of the room, until it returned again. Javi looked at you with sparkling eyes, something you hadn't seen in him before in the time you'd known him. It made your heart jump and your stomach flutter with butterflies. You returned the smile with the exact same stupid wideness.

"Do you...", he started talking again, then cleared his throat again. "Do you want to stay for another movie?".

You almost couldn't hide your smile.

"It's getting a bit late", you looked through the window behind you. "Maybe I should go home. And I don't wanna be a burden—".

"Stay for the night", he got up and took a step closer to you. "You won't be a burden", he looked at you with pleading eyes. "You're not a burden to me".

For a moment, you pretended to fight your troubled thoughts. Then you couldn't help the smirk that played on your lips.

"Don't you dare give me shit tomorrow morning because I snore too loud", you dropped weight back on the couch.

"I won't, I promise", he gave you the widest, sweetest smile you had seen on him and sat beside you.

"You better keep that promise".

He pulled you in for a kiss as soon as he saw you were done talking. His hands, big and soft, grabbed your face as cautious as you had been touched, ever. His fingertips danced on your skin as a consequence of his nervousness —he tried to hide the way he was shaking, but he couldn't. His lips felt soft on yours, barely applying any pressure on you, barely gracing your skin. He didn't want you to feel violated, he was worried that you wouldn't want that and that you would react in a violent way.

All the overthinking made him pull away quickly after giving you a small peck. He kept his hands on your face for a moment too long as he stared into your eyes. When he paused to scan your features, he realized and pulled away immediately once again.

"Sorry", he whispered, his eyes shifting to your lips for a split second before going back to your eyes.

"For what?", you smiled.

He took a moment to process it all. Then he smiled back.

His hands went back to the sides of your face and he kissed you again, this time deeper, longer, more filled with passion. This time he showed you how he felt, told you the way his heart was beating faster because of you. But he didn't do it with words, he made it clear with the force yet softness of his kiss.

"I'm going to Italy", he pulled a bit away from you so he could speak.

"What?", you got on your knees on the couch and moved farther from him, looking into his eyes and all his face. Javi looked at you as if asking for forgiveness.

"Next week. Wednesday".

You huffed.

"For how long?", you leaned your side on the couch backrest.

"Two weeks".

You bit your tongue as you thought how were you supposed to react. You wanted to be mad at him, for waiting until now to tell you that. But then again, it wasn't like you were in a relationship or anything —or even that good friends.

"You. Are. Such. A fucker", you approached him and got on his lap, straddling him.

"What? Why?", he barely got the words out of his mouth, too focused on how you were moving over him.

"You invite me to your parties", you undid the first buttons of his shirt. "You act all cute and pretty, sticking to me like a little puppy and making me stick to you like one", you leaned down and started pressing soft kisses to his neck and clavicle. Javi sighed in pleasure. "And then you go to another fucking country and have me two weeks waiting for you", you pulled away. "It's not fair".

"It's a business thing", he managed to say. "I didn't even know it until yesterday".

"Oh, yesterday?", you leaned down, keeping short inches between his face and yours. "And still you waited until now to tell me", you bit his downer lip. "You're a bad boy...".

He gulped. Of course he knew what would happen next. Hell, he had been awaiting for that moment for weeks but he didn't even know how to react with you on top of him like that!

"It's not my fault", he gathered enough bravery to sit up and speak. "I didn't know. And I didn't have to tell you. You have only come to two of my parties, and I have to tell you that I'm going to Italy for work?", he smiled at you half sarcastically, half mockingly.

"Hm", you shrugged. "Touché", you pushed him back down onto the couch. "But you still owe me one thing".

Javi smirked.

"What is it?", he looked down at your lips. You fisted the neck of his shirt.

"A decent kiss".

"Was that last one not decent?".

You chuckled.

"Shut up", you pulled him in your direction and dived your tongue into his mouth.

You woke up with no clothes and wrapped in satin sheets. It took you a moment to remember everything that had happened the night before and where you were. You looked to your side, finding Javi with just as many clothes as you and snoring peacefully. Sleeping like that, he looked even cuter than he already was.

You wrapped your arms around him and kissed the back of his neck. You pulled him as close to you as possible, nuzzling his neck and breathing in his morning smell as your legs tangled with his. Javi groaned.

"Wha...?", he looked back with sleepy eyes. A hoarse giggle left his lips as soon as he saw you. "Good morning...", he pushed his butt back onto you. You hugged him by the hips and pulled him even closer.

"Good morning", you left a soft kiss on his jaw. He turned around to face you. "You look so cute when you sleep", your thumb swiped over his cheekbone.

"Well, you snore too loud".

"You!", you hit his shoulder softly. "You promised you wouldn't be mad at me for that!".

"Did I?", he opened one of his eyes, then shut it again. "I don't remember that conversation...".

"Oh, right", you left a small bite on the crook of his neck, next to the many he already had. Javi gasped quietly. "You interrupted me when I was telling you to keep your promise".

"Mmh... Did I?", he insisted. He laughed at your expression, filled with dissatisfaction. "Wait, I think I'm remembering something now...".

"You're such an idiot", you slapped his shoulder once again. He kept chuckling.

Your phone vibrating from the floor put you both out of your blissful state. You groaned, knowing what it meant.

You got up from the bed and bent down to grab your phone. Just as you thought, it was your alarm telling you to wake up.

"Shit", you threw your head back with a disappointed whine. "Gotta go to work".

"Don't worry. I will make you breakfast", he pulled the bedsheets off. As he was trying to get up, he had to grab the headboard to not fall. You immediately went to him and put an arm under his shoulders to help him steady himself.

"You okay?", you stared into his eyes, concerned.

"Yes", he smiled up at you. "My legs hurt a bit, that's all".

"Huh", you smirked. "Too rough for you, Mister Gutierrez?", you mocked him.

"Shut up. It was you who wasn't satisfied after three rounds", he tried to get back up on his own, but fell back into your arms.

"Oh, come on. Did you like it or not?", you looked at him with the same mischievous smirk. He didn't answer. "That's what I thought", you put him to sit back on the bed and grabbed his clothes from the floor, handing them to him. "I'll help you with breakfast. And I'm driving myself to work, don't you dare even think of you doing it".

Javi chuckled, taking his clothes and starting to put them on.

"Fine", he watched as you put on your own pants. "On one condition".

You helped him stand back again. Your eyes stayed glued to his, your lips inches away from the other's.

"What?", you whispered, your breath hot on Javi's face. He gave your lips a quick peck.

"You have to come back on Tuesday night", he smiled at you. "One more party before I go. Just the two of us".

You thought about it, moving your face from side to side.

"I guess I can pull a few strings", you giggled and kissed him back. "I'll be here".

"Good", he hugged you, almost tripping on his own feet. You grabbed his arms to help him back up. "Thank you".

You helped him with breakfast and everything he needed that morning —made him coffee, cooked some eggs and took care of him and his leg pain. You made sure to clean up your mess before Gabriela killed you for it, and you also cleaned the room Javi and you had used the previous evening to eat and watch that terrible Nicolas Cage movie he had chosen. You may or may have not stolen some clean clothes from him so you could change on your way to work, too —though he didn't seem to mind.

When it was time for you to say goodbye, you were the one to pull Javi in for the tightest hug you could give him, and the sweetest kiss any of you had ever given to someone else. He made you promise you'd be back there on Tuesday, and so you did.

Why does he look cuter every time I'm with him?, you thought as you looked into his eyes in the last goodbye.

Just like you had promised him, you were back in his house on Tuesday afternoon. You had fought with teeth and nails to be free from work that day —or the afternoon at the very least. You didn't come across Gabriela that time. Javi told you she was already gone when you arrived into his mansion. 

He made sure you enjoyed each second of your time together that evening. You also had many endless "No, you choose" fights, but you managed to survive and spend one of the best afternoons you'd ever had. You both knew how much you would miss each other while Javi was away so you made the most of your time.

Fuck, it's gonna be just two weeks and I'm gonna be so miserable, you cursed yourself many times for being too attached to a man you had only seen four times in the last month. Part of you wished to stay this attached to him, hoping and praying that it wouldn't be just the emotion of the first times and then it would be just as boring as one of those arranged marriages.

Damn, had you fallen hard for this man.

You said your last goodbye on Wednesday early morning. This time, you let Javi drive you home before he headed to the airport. You went back to bed for a couple more hours before you had to go back to work. You knew Javi wouldn't be in touch for at least four hours until he got to Italy. Of course, you had told him to warn you when he arrived, and so he did.

You kept in touch with him all the time he was away. You called him every night and texted him when he wasn't working, wishing him luck on it all and telling him to stay safe. Both of you made clear how much you were waiting to see each other again when he got back to Majorca, many times.

And you really couldn't wait for him to come back.

[luckyreds]

bob but as people from my old workplace pt1:

Dike:

- Andrew, The Head Manager of the restaurant.

- came in because nobody wanted to be head manager because it took too much time and always spilled over into your free time. Does absolutely nothing.

- goes missing for about half his shift, talks about going home 24/7, leaves the underaged staff to run the place.

- you complain to the Boss🤢 about it, he does nothing.

-if by some miracle, he’s there, sits in the office for about 1-2 hours on the computer or his phone.

- the health inspection comes by and the only people to greet him are teens. You send everyone out while to go look for him while keeping the HI busy. He wants you to accompany them because you know more about the state of things than Dike does.

-quits after a year because of a burnout.

Lipton:

- Carlos, one of three adults that work at the restaurant.

- picks up Dike’s slack but gets no extra pay for it. Deals with reservations, staff food, sick calls etc while he’s not supposed to do it.

- basically a single mom who works two jobs. Used to work 5 days a week but brought it back to 4 because of stress.

-much too competent to be working at this joint. But cares too much to let it fall apart.

- Remembers the good times before the Boss🤢. Hopes it will get better once more.

- He didn’t smoke when he started here, but does now purely to have extra breaks.

- Curses out Dike when he thinks no one can hear him.

Bill and Babe:

- Eric and Eric. Despite being from the same village, being the same age and having the same name. They never met until working here. Now their best friends.

- Babe works as a dishwashing boy at the restaurant.

-he came to visit a friend who worked behind the counter when Dike asked him to help out in the back. The friend quit a week later. Babe stayed. working illegally for about a month before Dike remembered he didn’t have an actual contract.

-Bill met Babe during break. Bill works with the outside plants. And a frequent visitor of the restaurant, the Boss🤢 caught him hanging out in the back and he now has a ban on the kitchen.

-Babe was send outside to help Bill with the Christmas trees once. They tried to stuff two trees into a jaguar and one went through the front window. Babe is sent back to the cafeteria promptly.

- people switch up their birthdays a lot. And they don’t actively make it worse. It became so confusing everyone just congratulates them twice.

Luz:

- Miranda, the barista.

- has worked there about as long as Lipton and knows everybody. Always talking to somebody or getting recognised by someone.

-dated several people who work here. Nobody is clear on who exactly.

- Has customer’s orders ready before they order it. You don’t know how he does it.

- On top of all the drama bc everyone tells him everything, will spill the tea to you if it’s slow. Somehow he never gets shit for it.

- You know he worked as head manager once, but never talks about it. Still helps Lipton out with reservations etc.

- Has 2 cats, both of them used to live at the workplace as mousers. They kept making the alarm go off so Luz took them home. The mice are still a problem.

-convinces the Boss🤢 to have an end of year party at the workplace. It was the last party ever held on the grounds because someone fucked in the storage room/office against the freezer door.

- sends you to deep clean said office the day after. It quickly becomes clear it hasn’t been properly cleaned in the last 10 years.

Talbert:

- the guy that fucked in the office during the end of year party.

- Lipton and Luz catch him sneaking out of there when they go for a smoke break.

-tells them he just came back for a smoke break as well even though the office is in the opposite direction of the smoke room.

-nobody can agree on who the second person was.

-works in “the back offices” what they do there is unclear to this day.

Speirs:

- Calvin, the storage manager.

- For some reason, Storage is always silent, even though every single noise you make seems to echo. It is also about 10 degrees colder and shaded in perpetual darkness even when the lights are on.

- Every Thursday someone has to go there to empty the Paper/plastic trashcans. Nobody wants to go out of fear of meeting Speirs.

- Just as you think he truly isn’t there. Speirs appears out of the dark like some boogeyman. Asking you if you know how the carton shredder works, the only thing you can do is nod. He smiles creepily and disappears again.

- Actually kind of chill when you meet him outside his natural habitat.

Liebgott:

- Ben, maintenance guy that has also worked here since forever.

- threatened to quit and has quit about 4 different times, but always comes back somehow.

- If you hear bitchy comments from above its him fixing lights or looking at the roof. Really nice once his feet are back on the ground.

- Somehow knows your mother. You don’t want to know why.

[buckysgrace]

Seven

Illicit Affairs Masterlist Professor!Steve Harrington x Fem!OC

Daphne tries to learn more about Steve from their tutoring sessions.

Daphne

Trying to convince herself to get out of bed was hard. She wished she could slip between her sheets and melt into the mattress, hidden and never to be seen again. She was embarrassed, humiliated. She liked disappearing. It was easier to hide away from her feelings. 

She had never thrown herself at a man in that manner before, repeatedly at that. No one had ever caught her interest in such a way, but now she felt like a love sick puppy.And she didn’t even know him. Absolutely nothing. Other than that he was funny and kind. And had really pretty brown eyes. And he was a good kisser. Maybe she knew him a little bit. 

Class had grown worse since that last conversation with him. He completely shut her out, refused to look at her and didn’t answer any of her questions. It was mortifying, enough that she debated if dropping the class was worth it for her own ego. She didn’t want to go to tutoring sessions either, not when he very clearly regretted everything that had happened. It just made part of her die all over again.

Sitting in the front row, only a few feet away from him didn’t help either. She found herself more focused on the way his hands moved, how his hair was styled and the way he stuck his tongue out when he concentrated rather than listening to him talk about the guidelines for the assignment. 

Meeting him privately was even worse. She had a hard time sitting so close to him and often ended up placing her hands underneath her thighs, keeping herself in place so she couldn’t do something dumb. Her mouth, as always, was harder to control.

“You’re not married, are you?” She spit out suddenly, lost in her own thoughts as Steve pulled a pen free from his desk. She blanched, wincing to herself as he looked towards her in surprise. 

“What does that have to do with your essay?” He questioned softly, brown eyes full of amusement as he reached for her paper. It had been shoved in the bottom of her bag, the pages bent and slowly tore from her frustration over it. She missed her science classes. 

“Well, nothing,” She started slowly, “Nothing. You said you were single. I’m just-, yeah.” She gestured towards her head, feeling silly at her thoughts once again. She was trying to work out why he wasn’t interested in her, past her being his student of course. 

“I was married once,” He told her, taking her by surprise, “It didn’t work out.” He shrugged his shoulders as he turned towards her, leaning back in his chair a bit and kicking his legs out. She gulped, trying to pretend like she didn’t notice the way his shoes slid perfectly between hers. 

“How come?” She asked, hanging onto every word as he brought his glasses over his eyes. She breathed in deeply, feeling like it only made him even more handsome. 

“Sadly that story is complicated and does nothing to help your paper.” He grinned as his eyes met hers, making her lips pout out just a bit. He was good about giving her information and then yanking it right back. 

“Do you still love her?” She asked before she could stop herself, wondering if that’s why he didn’t want a relationship. Clearly whomever he had married before must’ve hurt him fairly badly. 

“Daphne.” He tilted his head as he continued to watch her, more stern this time. She traced her eyes over the moles on his cheeks before she nodded her head. Not the time or place.  Not her business either. She could deal with that. 

“Sorry,” She smiled sheepishly, “That was me asking as a concerned student.” She replied to try and make things smooth again, although he didn’t seem too upset. Maybe deep down he liked her being a pest. 

“I’m sure.” He chuckled as he straightened out once again, focusing in on her paper as he furrowed his eyebrows together. She stared at him, unable to help herself as she looked at the way his lips moved as he read the words on her paper. 

She shifted awkwardly, noting how he would stop and glance at her before he started again. She could feel her eyebrows pinching together, her bottom lip stuck between her teeth as she began to pick at her nails. At least they were acrylics so she couldn’t chew the polish off this time. 

“What is it?” She questioned as he roughly exhaled, shaking his head softly before he dropped the paper from his hands. She didn’t think that was a good sign. Not at all. 

“I guess I’m just a bit confused,” He replied gently as he glanced towards her, “Did you use your notes when you wrote this? Or your book?” He asked as he turned towards her, his knees bumping against hers in the process. 

“Uh yeah,” She answered nervously, “I mean not much of the book. It’s hard to read.” More like hard to concentrate on. It was by far the best thing she’d found to put herself to sleep. 

“Right.” He chewed on his bottom lip as he stared at the paper again, tilting his head back and forth like he was unsure of how to tackle it. 

“It’s terrible.” She stated in agreement, exhaling roughly as she thought about how much time and effort she had put into it. Okay, maybe she hadn’t been that serious about the paper but she didn’t want him to know that. 

“No, not terrible,” He mumbled, “It’s definitely not the worst paper I’ve seen. But uh, I’m thinking maybe I need to change the way I do my lectures. You’re missing a lot of stuff that I thought I covered.” He rubbed the pen against the back of his neck, looking just as confused as she felt. 

“Oh.” Was all that left her lips as she thought about hiding once again. She was sure that he had discussed all of the points above, but she had probably been too busy staring at him to really pay attention. 

“I’m not meaning it in a bad way,” He clarified quickly, “It can be fixed.” He pressed his lips into a soft smile, making her heart throb harshly inside of her chest. This was bad. Really dangerous. 

“It’s trash,” She groaned as she covered her face with her hands, “I should just rewrite it.” She grumbled into her palms, thinking about how she’d be behind on all of her sorority tasks. Well, further behind. She hadn’t done anything to help this semester.

“Mhm, I don’t think that’ll hurt it,” He tapped his pen against the paper for a few minutes before he brought it up to his mouth, pulling the lid of it off with his teeth before he began to mark different parts, “All of this is pretty good. You could keep it.”

“Could it be better though?” She asked, trying not to get distracted from the way his fingertips pinched the cap away from his pink lips. She forced her eyes away, reminding herself that school was more important right now. Sorry. 

“No one will ever make a perfect paper,” He explained with a soft smile, “I used to hate school.” He stated, making her blink in surprise. She didn’t think that most teachers hated school. 

“Really?” She asked him curiously. She thought for a quick second about her own experience. She had never honestly hated school, just not enjoyed some of her subjects. Or the people. But she had never hated it, “Why is that? Or is that too personal?” She asked quickly, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. 

“I was a bad kid,” He laughed as he sat back in his chair, “I slid under the radar for dyslexia for the longest time and made it everyone else’s problem too.” She nodded her head slowly, hoping that her paper wasn’t making him suffer in any way. 

“Sounds like they failed you,” She told him as she rested her elbows on his table, leaning over curiously, “Why did you choose to go into education then?” She pondered out loud, sure that she would never want to be in a career that she had hated when she was younger. In fact, she didn’t even hate nursing but she had freaked herself out so badly that most days she felt like she was unable to look in the direction of the hospital. 

“A friend sort of inspired me I guess,” He mumbled as he continued to read through her paper, “And it pissed my dad off.” He added slowly, snorting to himself as she felt herself pep up once again. That was interesting information. 

“A rebel,” She commented, unable to help herself as she burst into giggles, “I like that.” She huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face as she wondered about his relationship with his dad. If he had a mother, siblings. She was already in so deep that she wanted to know it all. 

“Absolutely not a rebel,” He chuckled as he quickly shook his head, “Just uh, yeah. It felt right.” He glanced at her for a brief second, his grin evident before he turned away again. She hid her own smile. 

“Understood,” She nodded her head softly, “So without redoing it, what would my grade be?” She asked curiously, tilting her head at the way he sighed deeply. He sat back again, flicking through the pages once again before he turned towards her.

“Honestly,” He paused for a second, “It would have to be a D.” He pulled his glasses off of his face, looking at her seriously this time. She exhaled roughly. She wasn’t expecting something that low. Definitely a C. But a D? She’d never recover. 

Damn.

“I don’t need my GPA to plummet,” She exhaled roughly, “Okay, so how can I arrange it again?” She asked as she scooted closer, her leg flush with his this time. Perhaps it was too close, but she felt serious this time. She needed to figure out how to fix her essay. And she enjoyed the whiff of cologne that she got from him. 

He guided her through the structure, adding in what he thought she should change and add. What she should go back and read. And reminded her of the powerpoints and the pre-recorded lectures that he had. The only problem with that was that she was certain she’d get distracted by him instead of listening. That seemed to be her issue to begin with. 

“I’ll see you on Thursday?” He questioned once she had her paper secured and bag over her shoulders. She was about to agree but then she remembered her plans. She couldn’t put them off, not without risking getting kicked out this time. 

“Oh, not then,” She made a face as she balanced her weight from foot to foot, “I have a sorority thing.” She wrinkled her nose as she relayed the news. Her paper was definitely more important, but she knew she couldn’t get away with missing another event. Not when she had promised to show up to this one. 

“Thing?” He leaned back in his chair, linking his fingers over his abdomen and kicking his legs out lazily. She dug her fingers into her palms, pretending that her feet were stuck in cement blocks so she didn’t try to straddle his lap. 

“Something dumb with one of our collaborating fraternities for Valentine’s Day,” She shook her head, “Don’t tell them I said it was dumb.” She added playfully, swaying back and forth as his eyes stayed near hers.

“I’m pretty good at keeping your secrets.” He told her, taking her by surprise. She flushed, but was fairly sure that he was flirting. He had to be. Or maybe she was just overthinking everything. It felt good, however. 

“And I’d be good at keeping yours,” She spoke up confidently, grinning at the way his eyes flickered with curiosity, “See you in class tomorrow.” 

“Instead of the eleventh we should do the twelfth,” Jason rambled to her in the last few minutes of class, distracting her from examining the map in her textbook. She didn’t see how ancient locations would help her with anything, but she wasn’t going to complain. She had picked the class, “After six though.”

“That’s so late,” She told him seriously, “It’ll be a Monday. I have class the next day.” She whispered as she glanced towards the front of the classroom at where Steve was speaking, gesturing towards the left side of the map. He looked really good. 

“Sunday would be the exact same situation.” Jason told her in disbelief, apparently having no issue speaking at full volume. She shifted uncomfortably, fully aware that people were glancing towards them. 

“Hm,” She shrugged her shoulders as she thought about it, “I’ll pass it on to Gillian.” She added softly, hoping that was enough to get him to quiet down. She was sure she was the only one struggling in this class. She needed to hear what Steve was saying. 

“I’ll give you my number,” He said quickly, leaning over despite her protests as he scribbled his number down on her notepad, “That way you can text me what you find out.” She stared at the number, trying to think of the best way to let him down. 

“You’re aware that I’m not the one in charge, right?” She looked for clarity, knowing there was no way she could handle running one of these get-togethers. Or any of the small events. In all honesty, she wouldn’t be interested in it either. 

“Yeah, but I’d rather hear from you.” He added, smiling brightly as he ran a hand through his blonde hair. She paused, about to remind him that she wasn’t interested. 

“Carver, can I continue with my lecture?” Steve spoke up, taking Daphne by surprise as she jumped in her spot. Jason reacted similarly, bumping his knees against her desk from how hard he jolted, “Or is there something better you’d like to add?”

“No,” Jason spit out roughly, his face burning brightly as she quickly snapped her attention back towards the board. She smiled sheepishly, not even realizing that Steve had begun to speak again, “I’m listening.”

Steve lectured the remainder of the time, leaving her to frantically write down his words around Jason’s number. She wrote until her hand was cramping, her fingers nearly numb until he ended the class. Fairly aggravated in her opinion.

She packed up slowly, pretending to rearrange her notebooks and her pencils while she watched Jason leave from the corner of her eye. He’d always seemed to have some sort of thing for her, something that she could avoid by reminding him that she had a boyfriend. She couldn’t do that now. 

“You’re friends with him?” Steve stalled her movements as she zipped up her bag the rest of the way. She pushed it onto her shoulders, watching the way he leaned against the desk by using his palms to balance himself. 

“Jason?” She asked curiously, “Oh he’s in one of the cooperating fraternities. He was just running by what time would work for them.” She explained as she shrugged her shoulders, squinting her eyes as she wondered why he was curious. 

“Are you head of your sorority?” He asked as he tilted his head, his hair slightly falling in front of his forehead from his movements. 

“No,” She laughed softly as she dismissed that suggestion, “My friend is so I was going to pass it along to her. It’s all business, no pleasure.” She told him quickly, hoping that he didn’t think anything about it. Jason was not on her radar. 

“I see,” He paused for a moment, “It’s not my business anyways.” He shook his head, looking like he was trying to remind himself as he shifted to pack up the things on his desk. She couldn’t hide the excitement that brewed in the pit of her stomach. 

“Maybe not,” She grinned softly as she balanced on the tips of her toes, “Were you jealous? Totally fine if you were, I can keep that a secret.” She told him, playfully winking in case he needed to be reminded of that. Just in case. He shook his head, laughing underneath his breath. 

“You’re very forward.” He replied as he looked up at her, brown eyes locking in on her. She shrugged her shoulders, hoping he thought it was a good thing. 

“I’m just reminding you that the door is open,” She grinned as she took a slow step towards the door, “Okay, I’m going to go now.” She added, not wanting the situation to get awkward once again. 

“Have a good night.” He added, lips pressed into a grin as she continued her slow steps backwards. She really hated to leave. 

“If you get bored I’ll be selling cookies at the Damen Student Center tomorrow,” She replied as she slowly backed towards the door, “It would help the university and you’d be supporting our special sororities.” She added as she placed her palm over her chest, trying to show that she was meaning it sincerely from the heart. 

“Well I have an opening at three now,” He responded, making her heart thump roughly against her skin, “So I guess I’ll think about it.”

[skania]

What are your opinions on people saying that Akane loves Aqua unconditionally, and that's a problem, because in a romantic relationship you're not supposed to love unconditionally. They say that Aquakane is not a two ways street, ,because a relationship is supposed to serve BOTH people in it. For a relationship to work, you have to prioritize yourself in the first place. When you do something for your partner, this is NOT supposed to hurt you or put you in danger. I'd like to hear your thoughts

Akane loves Aqua unconditionally, and that's a problem, because in a romantic relationship you're not supposed to love unconditionally.

People are grasping at straws at this point, why don't they just say "I don't like this ship. I don't vibe with it." instead of jumping through hoops to try and paint everything about Aqua and Akane in a negative light? 😂

Akane does love Aqua unconditionally and I love that. Unconditional love is my jam. 90% of my ships are about unconditional love. And I'd argue that the kind of love where you want to spend your life with another person is supposed to be unconditional. That's the entire point of the for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish marriage vow.

Unconditional love doesn't mean you're willing to put up with anything your partner does even when it's harmful to you as a person (that's not love, it's dependency). It just means that if they go through any hardships, you won't drop them like a sack of potatoes. It also means that you love them because of who they are (not because of who you want them to be). Similarly, you love them for them - not because of what they can do for you or because you want them to give you the gratification of loving you back.

This article is pretty good at explaining that.

So, different strokes for different folks!

They say that Aquakane is not a two ways street, because a relationship is supposed to serve BOTH people in it.

Have they missed how much Aqua has helped Akane? How happy he makes her?

Aqua saved her life, gave her a choice where she felt like she had none, paved the way to emotionally saving her, helped her beat Kana, and then he became her attentive and doting boyfriend for an entire year. She wanted to complain about something? He was there. It rained? He was there to pick her up with an umbrella. She sent him a text? He replied right away.

Whoever thinks their relationship did nothing for her is completely ignoring the many times Akane has clearly said (and showed) that being with Aqua makes her happy.

For a relationship to work, you have to prioritize yourself in the first place.

Yes and no, because things aren't white and black. You have to prioritize your well-being and your boundaries if the relationship is causing you harm, that goes without saying. But for a relationship to work, you have to be able to put the other person first as needed. If you make yourself out to be the only person that matters there, then it isn't a relationship at all.

When you do something for your partner, this is NOT supposed to hurt you or put you in danger.

Obviously! lol How does this need to be said? I think whoever wrote this just forgot we're reading a fictional story where the stakes can afford to be higher than they should be in real life 😂

To actually talk about Akane though, we have been shown that she is more than capable of stablishing boundaries when it comes to her relationship with Aqua and to what she, personally, views as harmful to herself. One perfect example of this is Akane saying that she won't tolerate Aqua cheating on her. She loves him unconditionally, yes, but there are certain things she won't put up with.

Akane however doesn't view Aqua's revenge as something that brings her harm, she views it as something that hurts Aqua. And as such, she sees it as something she needs to deal with at any costs because she wants him to be happy and well above all. Should she have cared more about her own well-being in Chapter 98? Absolutely, and not doing so is even shown as a mistake that backfires on her.

But Akane being self-sacrificial has nothing to do with her loving Aqua unconditionally, it's a character trait that has been there since the very beginning of the manga.

She doesn't say that she's "a vegetarian", but that she's "training". So from the get-go, we're shown that instead of eating, Akane prioritizes grilling the meat so that others will eat it.

So what Akane needs to outgrown isn't her unconditional love for Aqua. What she has to work on is her self-sacrificial nature.