#the way she displays a full range of states of mind and reactions and how they're not always palatable)

[breathings-of-the-heart]

Stuck on You (Levi x Childhood Friend! Reader) Part 2

A/N: Hey guys! It’s been kinda a while but here is part 2~ I have this habit of writing and rewriting my pieces since I’m never fully satisfied by them, but overdoing that is just as bad so I’m going to leave this as is ajflkajada  The amount of love my first part recieved was so genuinely heart warming and I cannot express my gratitude enough. I’m nervous to post this because of it, to be honest, because I hope it lives up to the expectations. Thank you to everyone who has shown me support, it means so much! If you guys want a part three, or maybe just a short epilogue, I will consider it so let me know! Also if you would like to be tagged in my future works, comment below or send me a message <3 I hope you all enjoy!

Warnings: Angst, Season 1 and No Regrets ova spoilers

Word Count: 4k

If you haven’t already, read part one here

As a former member of the Scouts yourself, you knew the ins and outs of the military’s regulations. Because of this, you also knew your request was a strange one, seeing as soldiers weren’t typically allowed visitors, but you hoped your letter appealed to the more personal side of Commander Erwin. Apparently it somehow moved the man, seeing as you had been brought by carriage to the legion's base the following night.  

The clopping of horse hooves eventually stopped, and you were currently being escorted into the building by another familiar face, her hand already outstretched to help you out of the vehicle as soon as the door swung open.  

“I understand your reservations about this, but you’re brave for coming here. I think he’ll be relieved to see you, (Y/N),” Hange spoke, her fingers hovering over the small of your back as she guided you down one of the many hallways, lantern swinging in her free hand. “I think he could benefit from seeing a familiar face.”

Your eyes were downcast, staring at the floor as rooms upon rooms passed by along your path. You couldn’t speak if you tried, words seemingly stuck in your throat and unable to keep up with your racing thoughts.

Deep breaths, (Y/N).

For better or for worse, there was no need to reply, as Hange came to a halt not a second later. She squeezed your shoulder gently before bringing her knuckles to the wooden door, knocking once, twice.

Your hands were clammy, heart thundering in your ears as you tried to steady your breathing.

“Levi, someone is here to see you,” Hange’s voice rang out firmly.

There was a distinct sound of a chair being pushed back, and footsteps growing nearer. Time slowed down, and you began to second guess every decision up to now. Would Levi even want you to be here? Will he be angry? You felt like bolting away and forgetting about the whole idea, suddenly afraid of his reaction. Afraid that your presence would only make everything worse.

Your eyes were widening as you realized the possibility of leaving was too late to explore, Levi already turning the handle from the other side. So instead, you swallowed your pride, stood up straighter, and pushed away the growing sensation of nausea in your gut.

“Who could possibly be important enough to interrupt my--”


The second his eyes met yours, Levi halted in all movements. Your gaze was fixed on him as well, every bit of longing settling back in your bones the second it did.

He looked nearly the same as the last time you saw him, clean and kempt as ever, hair styled the way it always was-- the same way he’d keep it when he used to chastise you for running your fingers through it.

And those stoic, gray irises that drew you in your were fierce, yet somehow emptier. At the sight of you, his flooding emotions became too much to properly register, unlocking every moment you’d ever spent with him as they replayed all at once.

“(Y/N)?” He couldn’t hide his disbelief, eyes widening ever so slightly. 


“Hello, Levi.” 


~~~~~~~~~

Never did Levi think he would grow to care for another group of people the same way he had for you, Farlan, and Isabel. But sitting around Petra, Gunther, Eld, and Oruo, he found their excited chatter over the dinner table endearing more than anything. The ever stoic look on his face didn’t change, and he would never openly admit it, but it felt reminiscent to be surrounded by trusted company like this. All of Squad Levi had full faith in one another; it was necessary for the battle field. This created an unspoken bond between all of them that the unreachable Ackerman did not picture building with others again.

Fate worked in funny ways, he supposed.

Sounds of clinking silverware and chatter filled the mess hall, sun setting outside of its many windows and painting the expanse in an orange light. The males eyes drifted towards the entrance of the room expectantly, where a clock rested above the doorway. He took a sip of his tea whilst squinting at it, attempting to get a better read before feeling a slight jab in his side.

“Looking for someone, sir?” Petra inquired, with a hint of deeper emotion in her tone that went right over the male’s head.

He glared at her in annoyance, having almost spilled his drink as the thought of you returned to the forefront of his mind.

It was strange, seeing how capable you had become after spending those months by yourself in the Underground. They made you a bit more calloused than when Levi last saw you, carrying over to your skills as a Scout. You never used to be skilled at riding ODM gear, not even when Levi tried to teach you in your youth. Seeing you slash Titans without blinking an eye was like watching someone completely different.

But you had to learn, since you had no one to protect you.

Your open displays affection had grown fewer and farther between as your time in the Survey Corps dragged on. At first, Levi thought nothing of it. Truthfully, the Captain had hardly noticed, with how busy the both of you were. He wrote it off as stress, or the workload catching up to you. Or, maybe, it was that nagging thought in the back of his conscience he dared not dwell on: he had turned you into this, after being away for so long and then failing to protect your friends.

But as your words replayed in his mind like a broken record, too late he realized this wasn’t the case.

“I see the way you look at her. I see it because you used to look at me that way.”

“Captain?” Petra repeated, leaning forward to study his distant countenance and successfully pulling the man out of his thoughts. “She’s probably just training.”

He rested his hand on top of her head, turning it away from him and sighing.

“Eat, Petra. I don’t need you to be whining about hunger during our patrol tomorrow morning,” he chastised, forcing his eyes away from the doorway.

After that talk, Levi had watched you go, telling himself that you’d return soon enough. Yet could not shake the feeling in his gut that there was something amiss. He pushed away the pit in his stomach. You were safe, you were healthy, and that was all that mattered. Humanity’s Strongest had other things to focus on, after all, and tuned back into his comrades’ conversation. The man blended back in easily, occasionally offering a few of his own comments as the meal dragged on.

Every so often his thoughts would shift back to your conversation earlier that day, and he realized that you were wrong. As close to Petra as he had gotten, there was a stark difference between you and her:

No matter how strong you’d get, and no matter what you thought of him, Levi would always shield you from as much of this world as he could.

But it was better this way. Better if you moved on from him and easier to do if you thought it was because he wanted Petra.

If only he knew your last words to him “I’ll be back for dinner,” had been a lie.

It had been strange for him when you didn’t return. Levi tried not to think about how Kenny had done the same, instead grasping for a reason. For once, he could not read your thought process. The male had no idea why you’d voluntarily leave, after everything. He knew better than to hold onto certainty, but you’d thrown him for a loop. You were always the one to communicate, the problem solver, the one who understood him without much direction. Didn’t you know that you were irreplaceable? He should have come clean: told you that he didn’t see Petra that way, and just didn’t have the heart to admit he didn’t feel good enough for you anymore.

Did he ever even get the chance to say “I love you?”

His regret multiplied tenfold as he began to understand that maybe if he had, you would’ve stayed.

~~~~~~~~

A strange sense of comfort washed over the man as you smiled softly, small hands clasped together in front of you. He blinked, wondering if you were simply a mirage caused by his sleep deprivation. But you remained where you were, after all this time, standing at his door. For once in the man’s life, his mind was drawing a blank.

“I’ll leave you guys to it, then,” Hange stated, excusing herself and soon disappearing out of sight. 


Her statement pulled the both of you back into the present, and you were suddenly self conscious of Levi’s stare. You tucked your hair behind your ears and gestured towards his office, unable to gage his reaction to your presence.

“Would it be alright if I came in?” you asked shyly, astonished he hadn’t slammed the door in your face the second Hange left. 


To your shock, Levi simply nodded, stepping aside to let you through. Your movements were unsure and hesitant, stark in comparison to his: calm and collected as ever.

Just like any space Levi occupied, the area was clean and tidy, a lantern sitting upon his desk the only source of light against the cloudy night sky. It smelled like tea leaves, sandalwood, and disinfectant, a signature scent that made you fill with nostalgia. As the click of the door echoed behind you, the reality of your situation set in, and you turned around to face the man you were here to see.

His gaze had never left you.

“You’re hurt,” was the first thing that left your mouth, concern evident as you studied the bandaging that peaked above his knee length shoes. 


“Long story,” Levi offered curtly, eyeing you up and down from a few feet away. “One I don’t particularly care to tell you.” 


“Of course, that’s fine,” you agreed softly, a weak smile pulling at your lips.

You did your best to mask the hurt, knowing you deserved to feel it. It hurt to be here, the fear that Levi hated you previously keeping you away. Now that you were facing the music, that fear seemed more realistic than ever. Your brain wracked to change the topic before your mind could continue overthinking; desiring instead to cut the unbearable, building tension that never used to exist between you two.

“How are you, Levi?” it was a stupid question, but you no longer knew how to talk to him.

“(Y/N).”


The way he said your name was sharp and challenging. You quickly cleared your throat and looked away.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. Of course you’re--”


“--Why did you leave?” Levi effectively cut you off, orbs narrowing as you dared to come closer.

The question caught you off guard. You thought you’d made it obvious with your last conversation with him those years ago. Surely, he had some idea, although his pained expression said otherwise. His fingers twitched at his sides, a movement you didn’t miss as your eyes flickered back to his in surprise. He had been so composed just a moment ago, that the sudden shift gave you whiplash.

Now his fists were clenching, as he waited in the painful silence, knuckles turning white.

“Why did you leave?” The phrase echoed tauntingly in your ears, over and over again.  

You don’t know what came over you. All you knew was that you needed to rid him of the rare, defeated look etched into his countenance. To purge him of this feeling you caused. Whether reaching out would help or hurt, you didn’t know.

But you needed to be near him.  

Levi’s eyelids screwed shut as you brushed your thumb across his cheek. The action was so simple, so delicate, so unsure and so familiar all at once, and at the feeling, the Captain’s composure finally came undone.


He reached up and gripped your wrist, as if you’d fade away if he let go. In previous years, it was always you who craved skinship, yet it seemed as if a weight had been lifted off Levi’s shoulders to have you this close. Your touch still felt like the comforting warmth of a campfire; the type that would make anyone want to stay forever.

“I’m sorry. I thought you’d be better off without me,” you whispered. “I didn’t want to cause you any pain.”

He let out a breath.

“Then why are you here now?” his question was more defeated than hostile, which you hadn’t expected.

If someone asked a few hours ago, your answer would have been much clearer. But now, the logic that brought you here seemed overshadowed by doubt. After all this time, and after everything that had happened between you and Levi, any semblance of a relationship with him seemed unsalvageable. You told yourself this mantra over and over until it stuck. So why were you here?

Levi must’ve thought it audacious, for you to run away like a coward and still think you were relevant to him.

“I owe you so much. Whether I ended up being wrong or right, I’ve always acted with your best interest,” you sighed, thumb brushing over Levi’s dark circles. “Truthfully, I don’t know if I’m any use to you now. I might be the last person you want to seek comfort from, but on the off chance that I still matter to you, I’ll always come back,” you whispered earnestly.

Levi’s grip on your wrist tightened imperceptibly, and you longed to bury your face in the crook of his neck; to feel him wrap his arms around you in his embrace once more. It seemed as if Levi was staring into your soul, his shallow breaths mingling with yours at this close proximity as he opened his eyes to fully drink you in.

“I’m here to tell you that if you need me, I’ll stay.”


He looked to the side as if brushing aside your touch, hand falling away from the raven-haired man’s face as he did so. It felt like rejection, as if he was brushing all of you away with a simple turn of his head.

Silence.

“You’re a real idiot, (Y/N),” he spoke finally, voice nearly out of place against the stillness.

Moonlight suddenly peaked through the window, showering you in a bath of silver light. Levi recognized this look. You were wearing your heart on your sleeve, offering everything you had to give; eyes wide and honest, shining with a vulnerability that even after a lifetime of knowing you, he had never seen before. The man felt conflicted at the sight, annoyance prickling under his skin as you somehow managed to hold him together and tear him apart all at once with your presence.

Losing his squad twist that knife in his heart, convincing him that he was cursed to be left by everyone and his superhuman talents only doomed him to live a life alone.

But now, here you were, standing within arms length: despite the pain you caused, still the only person he had left. Only you could draw this much emotion out of the typically monotonous man. He couldn’t tell if you were a blessing or a curse, but in the moment, all he knew was that he didn’t want you to leave again. He needed you to stay here, with him, the way it should be. Because you were family.

And true to your word, you did.

“You should really get some sleep, you know,” you stated after a while, closing the door with your foot as you entered with two fresh cups of tea. 


You watched Levi fill out paperwork on the other side of the desk, bringing the cup to his lips in the strange fashion you always teased him for. His gaze flickered up boredly.

“You know I don’t sleep. You go on ahead, though. The bed’s behind that door,” he paused, gesturing somewhere behind him. “I hardly ever use it.”  

You shook your head, reaching forward and plucking Levi’s pen from his hand.  


“What you’re drinking is caffeine free. I switched it, so you have no excuse now.” You ignored the indignant scowl growing on the Captain’s face, urging him to listen. “Please, you really should rest. You know you need to.”

It took an entire hour of imploring and convincing for the man to finally give in, him grumbling as you helped take off the boot on his injured foot and ushered him onto the bed. You knew you were the last person with any right to tell the short Captain what to do, but knowing Levi, he was running on an hour or two of sleep while his body was begging for rest. And yes, you were very much hypocritical, draped across the couch in Levi’s office, staring at the ceiling. But none of that mattered to you, as long as he was okay.

You had been lost in introspection, being a room away from your childhood best friend and first love after so long a surreal experience. It felt strange to be back here, but you were too tired to dwell on how strangely out of place you seemed in a place you once called home.

The weight of your abundant emotions from the day finally crashed down, fatigue settling in. You rubbed your eyes, and snuggled closer to the cushions, letting the darkness claim you.

And in the other room, as Levi slipped out of his uniform, shaking his head in exasperation. His last thoughts while he inspected the door as if he could see you through it, was that of course only (Y/N) (L/N) could be more stubborn than he was.

As he slipped under the covers per your command, the ghost of a smile spread across his lips at the thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Perhaps it was the constant danger of where you grew up, and the need to always stay on your toes, but for as long as you could remember, you’d been a light sleeper. If someone so much as stared at you for too long, your body would jolt awake, ready to take action within a moment’s notice. There had been many instances where this came in handy in your past; even after years of seldom disruption in your now boring life within the walls, this was a trait you never seemed to grow out of. So it wasn’t hard to notice the heavy breathing and panicked movement from behind Levi’s closed door.

Just like for you, some things never changed-- when it came to old habits, you knew the man like the back of your hand. The reason he rarely ever slept was one you were quite familiar with. One both of you struggled with, and probably always would. Nightmares never seem to stop. You’d gotten through so many of your own rough nights with your friends by your side.

Levi, however, always refused to admit how they affected him. Insisted on going through it by himself.  

The subconscious urge to look after one other was most likely one you'd never grow out of, even if Levi had. You didn’t think twice before making your way across the office, swinging your legs across the sofa, awake within seconds. Without missing a beat, you stood up and made your way to Levi’s personal sleeping quarters, knuckles rapping against the frame twice. Levi’s shallow gasps quieted, and when you realized he didn’t plan on opening the door, you steeled your nerves to do it yourself. This was what you were here for, wasn’t it? To offer some comfort?

He did want me to stay.

“Levi?” You called into the darkness gently, feet padding foreword as your eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

His silhouette was upright in the bed, no doubt staring at you menacingly.

“I'm fine, (Y/N). Go back to sleep,” he snapped.

That didn't deter you, for he would never openly admit vulnerability. This was by no means new behavior. Besides, the strong emotion behind the Captain’s voice was an easy tell that betrayed his words. You pressed on, sitting on the edge of the mattress.

“Do you remember the time we were teenageers and you got sick, but couldn’t afford medicine so I took that sketchy job you specifically told me not to?” Your back was to him, yet you could feel Levi peering at you.

“Obviously,” he humoured you with a reply, knowing you weren’t going to leave. “You came home half alive and I felt like the most useless piece of shit in the world.”

You chuckled, fingers fiddling with the white sheets beneath them.

“Yes, which was unfair to yourself but also something I did not realize since you called me pretty much every name in the book,” you smiled, the memory oddly fond despite its events. “You were so angry, but I was also scared out of my mind... which was more important than your anger, I suppose. So you let me lay next to you that night. That was all it took to make me feel safe again.”

There was a long pause, you trying to get your words together in a way that could allow Levi to understand how you felt right now.

“I know what you’re thinking; what you’ve been thinking your whole life. You haven’t failed anyone and that stupid idea should be the furthest thing on your mind. Take it from someone who knows, alright? So many lives have had meaning because of y--”

His hand closed around your wrist, the grip much like it was the day you left him.

This time, he would not let go.

“--Stop, (Y/N). Don’t.”

You hadn’t realized there were tears falling down your cheeks until Levi turned your face to look at him. Trying to look away in your embarrassment, you laughed bitterly. His grip did not budge as he examined you sternly.  

“Just be quiet and go to sleep, alright?”

You wiped at your face, determination etched into every fibre of your being.

“Mark my words, Levi, I will make you believe me.”

Levi rolled his eyes but tugged at you once more, opening the duvet in an invitation. When he sensed your uncertainty he simply nodded, arms winding around your waist as you finally crawled in beside him. Both of you knew that there was so much that still needed to be said; so many buried feelings and pain that would only take time to unravel. It felt like a miracle to find yourselves in this situation, pushing aside the thousands of emotions and questions and misunderstandings the two of you had, if only to stay together in this moment.

You didn’t need Levi to know that you still loved him; not while he was coping with another loss. It would be selfish to spring that on, and that was not what you were here for. But you had to tell him:

“I missed you.”

Levi hummed, nose brushing against yours in the close proximity.  

“You better not be gone when I wake up,” he chided in response, orbs fluttering shut.

Your fingers threaded through his onyx black locks, brushing through the knots soothingly. Knowing you’d help this man heal no matter how long it took, you took comfort in the realization that he’d finally let you do just that.  

“I’ll be right here. You’re not alone, Levi. I promise you never will be.”

He pulled you closer, thankful that there was at least one source of warmth left in his life that he could hold onto-- especially after coming to terms with and almost having been certain he’d never experience this feeling of contentment, again. But here you were to prove him wrong, a living slice of home in his arms.

It may have been wishful thinking, but you could have sworn you felt Levi’s breath fan across your hairline, a soft voice whispering “Thank you, (Y/N).” before you felt yourself slip away into slumber once more.

taglist: @asterroidd @chucky-26o1 @silversxble @belovedwindermere @christina-mj-stan @leviackerrman @cravrat @thekohakuriver1 @batakprincess @sunisenpai

[fenristheorem]

Lance: Dragon Headcanons

A staple mark in Lance’s character is his dragon genetics, and I have a lot of headcanons regarding this, so I figured I'd write about this while I have it in mind. A lot of these probably aren’t canon at all, mainly just me rambling away about what I'd like to see, but I think they're still pretty interesting regardless. 

~Do note: Lance is going to be a bit more feral than usual in this one (this is discussing his dragon side, after all), and many of these are going to be romantic. Combine feral and romantic and you get something along the lines of NSFW. It’s not exactly NSFW, but this post certainly isn’t clean, either. This is really only a concern near the end of the post.

~ Under the cut ~

It’s known that in a partially transformed state, Lance’s mother - Tia - has a tail, scales on certain parts of her body, makeshift claws (technically they’re just filed down nails, at least that’s what I’ve read in certain descriptions), and a few other dragon-like features, but since this post reflects my own headcanons I want to add on to and alter that. 

In my headcanons, dragons in a partially transformed state have tails, as well as wings, real claws (not nails, it’s like an extension of the bones that turn into claws), scales in certain areas, and can actually transform to the point where their limbs are more dragon-like the further away from the body it is. They can also control exactly what features appear when they partially transform, but only to some extent. There’s either a full human appearance, or a full dragon appearance, and in the middle there’s a small range of partially transformed traits that they can choose to display; like having the claws, tail, and scales, but no wings, or limiting the amount of scales on their body while having the other traits appear fully. I imagine controlling their transformations is like a muscle; the more they work with it, the more control they have (which is already sort of canon since Valk admitted he wasn’t as strong as Lance because he didn’t practice as much when they were younger), and they can control a fine selection of which traits are active and when.

From that; dragons - like many other living creatures - have their own distinct scents, and with that there are scent glands (there’s a lot of reptiles that don’t have scent glands I think, but also some that do, and since dragons can shift between a reptilian and mammal form I like to imagine that they do have scent glands). In nearly any state, dragons’ scent glands are a lot like a cat’s and are placed in the same areas as their scales when they’re partially transformed; around the mouth, on the cheekbones, the neck, genitals, and a few places on their torso, chest, and arms. In their complete dragon form these locations are primarily the same, but since their anatomy is a bit different, there may be other locations with scent glands as well. These glands work partially with releasing their natural scent, but for the most part they’re also used for scent marking. Again like a cat, dragons can rub off their scent on objects and people by rubbing their scent gland scales across something.

Because of this, Lance may have a small tendency to brush himself against his partner... a lot, especially if he’s partially or fully transformed. It’s common for him to be laying with his partner and begin to repeatedly rub the side of his face against any part of her, but he especially prefers around her face, neck, or chest, and this is usually disguised as aggressive nuzzling. He can do this at random moments through out the day as well; when he suddenly comes up behind her and takes her in his arms and nuzzles into her neck, at night when he pulls her close and accidentally wakes her up just to rub against her, or even if they’re showering together and Lance wants to remark his territory because the water is washing his scent off.

For this reason, he probably doesn't like his partner wearing heavy perfumes or anything that can disguise his - and her - natural scent.

If his partner allows this scent marking to be a commonplace thing, they can find this becoming a habit for him even when he isn’t transformed, and he especially likes when his partner willingly touches his scales - even if just to feel the textures again. Along with that, his partner may make it a habit to brush herself against him; acting as though she’s scent marking him, or just brushing against him so that his scent rubs off on her more. Since dragons probably follow some set of instincts (like any other living creature, even humans), Lance’s partner ‘scent marking’ him is probably incredibly endearing to him, as not only does it mean that she accepts his instinctual nature, but it also shows that she wants to take part in it too.

On the topic of instincts, I image dragons to be incredibly feral and impulsive in at least some basic ways, specifically with some forms of communication and relationships (no matter if it’s romantic or not), so body language may be a major way of communication with him some days. Of course, he’ll still actually talk to other people, but if he’s having a day where he’s just really not in the mood to talk but he needs to communicate with his partner in basic ways, he may revert back to a relatively feral form of communication: body language. Everyone and all species display things through body language, so it would make sense for Lance to rely on speaking with his partner through body language when he’s not in the mood to talk, but he’ll probably use other basic sounds like huffs, grunts, groans, and growls to relay things more clearly since his partner may not be as fluent as he is with this type of communication. 

On these days, she can expect to come back to their room at night and ask a question, only to be answered with a grunt, or a faint growl with a glare, or a scratchy purr and contently closed eyes as he takes her into his arms. It will take his partner a while to decipher exactly what each noise means, as well as what they mean when combined with different facial expressions and posturing, but she should pick up on it quite quickly. Fortunately he acts a relatively similar way on the days he is talking, so many of those days where he resigns from speaking shouldn't be too much of an issue, as he acts mostly the same way minus the words.

Keeping on the topic of nonverbal communication; when he's partially transformed, he probably has a few other habits than just scent marking is partner. As a show of being territorial, he may drape or curl his tail around her, be it her ankles, legs, or even her waist if they're lying down together. As a sign of affection, he may lightly drag his claws along her skin, similarly to how he would with his fingers to relay tender affection.

In a general idea; when Lance is partially or fully transformed, he acts much more on feral instincts than usual. This can lead him to being simultaneously more territorial and romantic towards his partner; it imprints the idea to others that she belongs to him while he maintains a quality relationship with his partner so she doesn't seek to leave him. He feels emotions very deeply, and it's those emotions that influence him to act more on feral instincts (after all, emotions are basically chemical reactions within the body that we then respond to). This means that his emotional reactions can be - and usually are - amplified, or at very least it's easier for him to have a stronger than normal reaction.

This last headcanon may be a bit iffy, but I imagine dragons definitely take a singular mate for the rest of their lives, and have a sort of mating ritual where they leave a physical mark - a bite - on their partner that signifies that from then on, their partner belongs to them.

Marking in general - be it biting, clawing, or bruising (that last one is typically on accident) - may be a common thing with Lance due to his interest in making his partner his mate, and he may perform those markings willingly (usually on the gentler side) or by pure accident as he's caught up in the moment of pressing his partner into the bed and holding her down as she squirms (it's in these accidental moments where the more rough, violent-looking marks come from). He's alright for the most part if his partner would rather not have him inflict a lot of physical marks, he understands her reasoning - after all, its certainly not entirely painless - but his partner may need to understand that if she allows him to act on his more feral instincts sometimes, even in nonsexual ways, he may still end up accidentally inflicting some small mark on her. Of course, if she's sensitive enough to pain that any sort of marking will make her show signs of distress, he'll immediately back off upon noticing those signs (the last thing he wants is to truly hurt his partner), but if she doesn't show signs of discomfort, he may indulge in the feeling of sinking his teeth into her flesh a bit too much and end up accidentally leaving a mark. While on the topic of marking by teeth; dragons - being carnivores - probably have abnormally sharp teeth, even in a human form. This also helps their marking mates by a bite mark stand out more, as not many other species can do similar things.

On the other hand, if his partner is entirely fine with - better yet; likes - marks, be it of any kind, expect him to make that a semi consistent thing. He's much more likely to inflict smaller, more common marks (like hickeys), but if his partner lets him, he'll gladly leave a few scratches or light bite marks on her skin next time he finds himself between her legs and deep within her. On occasion, when he really lets himself go and indulge in the feel of his partner, he may leave a more aggressive scratch or other mark, but this would usually only happen when he knows his partner doesn't mind - or likes - these physical marks.

An important thing for his partner to keep in mind is that he has a human form but his species is dragon. At the end of the day, he’s a dragon by nature. He can certainly be civil and calm, but he will have his moments where he seems more beast than man. Living and being intimate with him is very different than just working with him, so his partner does need to be aware that she may find out some interesting facts about him that she may have never guessed before.

Being with a dragon isn't for the faint of heart, Lance is a true testament to that, but as long as his partner approaches the topic of romance and heavy instincts with an open, considerate mindset, it's unlikely there should be any issues that would arise from this.

I'm glad I finally got those written out, I've been meaning to write them for a while! Hopefully it's not too unorthodox of a topic, but I've noticed the topic of Lance being a dragon is something people like to continuously acknowledge, so I figured this is a good topic to post about.

Thanks for reading!

[max-the-d0g]

The Missing Piece - Little moments in the library.

Cordelia Goode x Wilhemina Venable x reader

If you haven't read the Mystery woman series, the link for it are below. 

The Mystery woman part 1, part 2, part 3

Warning : none really. A little tiny mention not so innocent thoughts. 

will be edited sooner or later. 

This is part 2. Part ones link is below.

Part 1 

The best part of the academy is the library, the shelves filled with many different types of literature, ranging from the classics to modern-day literature. There was a shelf dedicated to magic books, only the simplest books, however, the more complex books were in Cordelia's office for obvious reasons. You also appreciated the little details, unlike the academy's halls and main rooms it wasn't minimalistic. The room was heavily furnished, with a couple of tables and chairs around the room and paintings that were centuries old on the wall. The room was magnificent, the most superior part of the room is the fireplace, it was placed in the centre of the furthest wall. Your favourites spot was the corner of one of the three-seater sofas, close to the fireplace, of course. It wasn't a popular place for the more youthful students, you do spot the odd bookworm in the corner of the room reading. You might spot Zoe deep in a book. When you do, you would join her, and silently read.

That's what happened, you had joined Zoe in the library. However, she was dragged away by Madison a couple of minutes ago and now you were alone. It wasn't like you were complaining, you enjoyed your own company. It didn't last long as a heavy shut of the doors snaps you out of your calm and silent state. Wilhemina steps out of the shadows with a book pressed against her chest, with a tight lip smile as she sees you. She settles on the opposite sofa to you. You glue your eyes back on the page you were currently reading, however, in your peripheral vision, you see her settle her cane against the table next to her. She flexes her hand out a little, almost as it became stiff due to holding the came for long periods. What you didn't know was that your thoughts were a little correct, her back had been unbearable today making her hold her cane more tightly than usual. Her knuckles were almost too white at the grip she had on the cane. The tension in her back was very similar to someone repeatedly poking it with a hot pipe, despite the fact that she hadn't gone through that suffering. It seemed her body had decided to torture her today. You overhear her take a deep breath out before opening the book. The heat of the fire gives her an orange hue which made her hair more vibrant. You can see the various colours of orange and red in her hair, it was extremely similar to the sun. Tempting to touch but too hot to.

Shaking your head out of your thoughts, you go back to reading your book. After, a couple of page-turning you feel a pair of eyes on you. Looking up you see the redhead observing you, offering her a gentle smile. "Yes?" You question, wanting to know the reason for her looking. "Nothing, Ms L/N" Shaking your head at the formalities."Y/N."You correct her."Huh?"She mutters."Y/N. My name is Y/N, not Ms. I've told you to call me Y/N."You say daringly. A smirk graces her lips, she tilts her head a little, studying your reaction. "Well, Y/N. I will remind you that I know your name, I just like teasing you."Your eyes widen a fraction, heat graces your face. The book in your hand long forgotten as you stare at the woman across from you. She was staring intensely into your eyes, a wicked smirk gracing her lips.

Wilhemina went back to reading, the smirk still on display. Focusing your eyes back on the abandoned book in your hands. The words on the page, mixed together in a jumble, nothing making sense. You try hard to focus on the words on the page, but nothing works. You quite enjoyed this side of Wilhemina, the calm and teasing side of her It was unexpected of her to joke around.

Perking up a little bit you hear a set of recognisable footsteps outside the door. A second later the doors open, the supreme walks in with a tray. She looks up a little startled seeing you. There was a little hesitation before she comes further into the room, you send Cordelia a gentle smile. The small glow of the fire coats your skin in a rosy glow, Cordelia thinks it makes you look like you are bathing in the sunlight. There was a gentle look on her face as she stares at your sitting figure for a few seconds before placing the tray on the coffee table in front of you. Her eyes catching Wilheminas stare, a twinkle of mischief in Wilheminas brown orbs. On the tray are two cups, a hot steaming teapot, milk jug and sugar cubes tray. "I'll be a minute. I'm going to get another cup for you Y/N." Cordelia flashes the two of you a smile, your try to decline but she sends a playful glare to you.

There were a few awkward glances from you and Wilhemina when Cordelia left. Wilhemina glances down to the book laid on her lap, her fingertips tracing against the spine of the book. Your eyes follow the simple strokes of her fingers, wondering what else they could do. Wilhemina can see your eyes following her fingers, she knew how distracted you can get at them. She has seen you stare at them a couple of times around the Academy, desperately wanting to know what thoughts were going on through you head.

They halt as the door opens again, the blonde strutting in with a cup in her hand. She places it on the tray with the others, she holds eyes contact with the redhead for longer than necessary, almost as if they were having a silent conversation. Cordelia settles down next to you, a smirk gracing her lips, very similar to Wilehminas smirk across from you.

"Is it okay if you read to me, Y/N?" Cordelia questions softly. "I've always wanted to read that particular book and since you are reading it, do you mind if you read to me ?" She adds, a lip toyed between her teeth as she observes your reaction. You hum. "Sure." You shift a little in your seat, gazing at the blonde next to you. Wilhemina leaned forward a little pouring herself a cup of English tea, her hands stilled before she decided to pour the other cups with tea. There was a little wince as Wilhemina moves, you decided not to say anything knowing very little about her pain. She lifts the other jug with milk and pours a small amount of milk in her tea, followed by three sugar cubes. A crackle of the firewoods shakes you out of trance, locking your eyes with the redhead. She gives you a tight lipped smile. Cordelia nudges forwards too, doing the same, she pours a hefty amount of milk in her tea followed by two sugar cubes. Noticing the differences of each of their taste in tea, one liked it strong but sweet, the other weak but and not sweet. They almost complimented each other, having complete opposite preference in tea. "How do you prefer your tea, dear?" Cordelia asks, a fond smile on her lips as the fire glows in her brown orbs. "Not too milky and not too strong and two sugars, please." She follows your demands, you watch Wilhemina brings the cup to her lips, she blows at it a little before taking a sip. A hum slips from her lips, and an unexpected smile tugs at them.

Some movements from the side of you catches your attention. Cordelia sits back down further into the sofa, she shifted a little bit closer to you, a couple of inches away. A blanket lays across her legs and the cup in between her delicate hands. "Whenever you are ready, dear." She says before resting her head against the back of the sofa. You capture Wilehminas eyes, not wanting to disturb her reading, her eyes meeting yours, you silently ask if it was okay. She nods her head a little, before directing her eyes on the blonde and smirks. "Okay then..."

The words on the page escape your mouth, each sentence producing an image in Cordelia's minds. The image played the scene in great detail, her eyes closed, distracted by your voice. It was smooth and sweet, a lot like honey. It was addictive, it made her crave more wanting to hear it for the rest of her life. Wilhemina had also become distracted by your voice, watching your mouth form each separate word. The way the words were formed from your lips captivated her, much like Cordelia she found your voice soothing. Cordelia's head tilted a little closer to your shoulder. You shivered a little, not because you were cold but due to how close the blonde was. Wilhemina had witnessed this, she was hoping that Cordelia had noticed too, Wilhemina had noticed a little shake in your voice, from the smirk on Cordelia's lip, she had noticed too. As one would expect, she did, this was her plan after all. "Are you cold, Y/N?" Cordelia softly interrupts.

You didn't want to admit being nervous around them, so you nodded a little, which you regretted because the blonde scoots closer to you placing the woolly blanket over your lap, a heavyweight landed on your shoulder. Glancing there an eye full of blonde hair greets your eyes, you could smell the coconut shampoo and the whiff of earthiness, it warmed your insides. Wilhemina observes the interaction, she could tell that they were affecting you, and pride filled her up, confident that you felt something between them. "Carry on, dear." The words were shaky, and you were hoping that they couldn't tell, which sadly they did.

You were concluding the chapter when you stopped to release a yawn. "I'm gonna end it here Cordelia. If that's okay with you?" You say, exhaustion visible on your features. Wilhemina sees it, the little twitch in your left eyes and the slow blinking. She had abandoned her book a couple of minutes after you began to read. , it captured her attention and she enjoyed how your voice mimics the characters bringing the story to life.

"Yes, that's fine, dear," Cordelia claims, breaking Wilhemina's attention from you. She was reaching down for her cup, a frown making its way on her face when she realises there was none left. You placed a bookmark on the page you stopped at, placing the book on the coffee table you start to stand up. There was a round of cracking echoing in the room, being in the same position for longer than expected caused your body to stiffen.

"Goodnight, Cordelia. Goodnight, Wilhemina." You gently say, facing each woman, a kind smile from Cordelia and a less stern expression from the Wilhemina. "Goodnight, dear," Cordelia replies, equally soft. "Goodnight, Ms L/N," Wilhemina says, a smirk gracing her lips as she notes your narrowed eyes. Cordelia gives Wilhemina a little questionable look, which Wilhemina brushes off. "Ms Venable, I've told you before. Don't make me say it again." You rasp out, Wilhemina's eyes widen a fraction. The tip of her tongue pokes out, licking her dry lips. Her teeth toy with her bottom lip before she lets it go, it stirred something inside her. The way you spoken with confidence. Walking away with a smirk on your lips you hear a little shuffling. "As I've said before Ms L/N, I like teasing you."

Once the library door closes, you take deep breaths, in and out desperately trying to even out the fast beating in your heart, your legs have a mind on their own as they carry you to your bedroom. A smile settles on your face as you think about the feeling of Cordelia's head against your shoulder, feeling her body heat against you and Wilhemina's intense gaze on you. It made you feel warm. You knew when you were reading that Wilhemina had stopped reading her book and concentrated on you. The atmosphere moments ago was intense when you spoke to Wilhemina. Her words repeating themselves inside your mind. She liked teasing you.

When you left the library, you missed a certain blonde moving to the side of Wilhemina. She curls into Wilhemina , snuggling against her neck placing a light kiss against it. "When do we tell her ?" Cordelia whisper against Wilhemina neck. "Soon, little one. Soon."

Tagging : @talulahmae

[biggest-stupidhead]

Bad Timing (Levi x Reader) Part 8

Summary: how do you tell your friends that you’re falling for your big brothers’ best friend?

Word Count: 4.8K

__

You woke up late the next morning, having forgotten to plug in your phone which also functioned as your alarm. Instead Hange had busted into your room and ripped the blankets off of you, exposing you to the chilly air. You yelped and reached blindly for the covers, your mind too foggy with sleep to comprehend how late you were.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty." Hange sang as she jostled your shoulder.

"Wha..."

"School starts in like thirty minutes come on bust a move." That woke you up. You tossed your legs over the edge and stumbled around your room, pulling on a pair of joggers and a large t shirt. Hange had left once she was sure that you were awake, leaving you alone to get ready. You didn't bother with make up, not that you ever really did. You double checked that you had all of your supplies for school before zipping up your bag and meandered down the steps. Erwin and Hange were already pulling on their shoes by the door, Erwin was wrapping one of his scarves around Hange's neck. You scrunched your nose in disgust at their outright display of affection and shoved your feet into a pair of old sneakers.

The three of you exited the house, and made a beeline for Erwin's minivan which had been heating up to melt off the frost and snow. The drive was slow and cold, the van was dated so no matter how early Erwin woke up to heat up the car for you, it would always be colder than the Arctic. Erwin also drove like a god damn grandpa in the winter due to the icy roads which didn't help. Finally you made it to school with only five minutes before the bell rang, you bolted into the building, you were in such a hurry that you didn't bother to stomp the snow off your feet as you entered. Which was a mistake because in your hast you lost your footing on the already slick floor, you yelped as you fell flat on your ass. You blinked as you tried to comprehend what had just happened, you were brought back to the present by the sound of boisterous laughter. You turned to glare at Connie and Sasha who where standing to the left munching on a bag of hot cheetos.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" Connie howled as he slapped his thigh. Sasha giggled and nodded as she wiped cheeto dust on Connie's white shirt while he wasn't watching. You rolled your eyes as you picked yourself up off the floor, you ignored them and pushed forward down the hall. Sasha and Connie trailed after you since they had the same first class as you, making jokes as they went.

"You know they really should put out those yellow signs, you know the ones with the person falling?" Sasha joked loudly.

"Yeah I know what you mean, then we could print out a picture of (Y/n)'s face and then stick it on the sign." Connie quipped which lead to the two of them dissolving into another fit of laughter. You ducked into the class room as the minute bell rang weaving through the desks to get to your seat. Armin watched you with wide eyes as you pulled your things out for chem, after your desk was covered in notebooks and pens you topped it off with your phone, which was still dead. The bell rang and then Sasha and Connie staggered in, your teacher shook her head and marked them tardy once again.

"Did you get my text last night?" Armin asked, eyeing your phone on your desk.

"Aw no Armin I'm sorry, I didn't charge it last night so it's dead." you apologized as you attempted to organize your cluttered desk. Armin smiled sweetly and nodded,

"It's all good! I was just wondering what your schedule for this week was and if you wanted to study together again?" Armin explained as he pushed his pencil across his desktop.

"I'd love to study, Geometry is kicking my ass right now." you moaned, the thought of your math class made your stomach heavy with dread.

"I can help you with that if you can help me with poem for English." Armin said softly, his blue eyes sparkling with a playful glint. You rolled your eyes you knew that Armin wouldn't need your help with any of his classes, he was just trying to make you feel smarter.

"Whatever you want baby doll." Armin's face flushed at the pet name that you used for him, you had recently started calling him the nickname due to his doll like features. He averted his gaze to the board where the teacher had written a warm up question on the board to get class started. Instead of working on the problem like a good student, you decided to use the first five minutes of class time to revive your dead phone. You plugged your charger into your laptop and then plugged your phone into the charger, once you saw the tiny lightning bolt you turned your attention to the board.

__

Chemistry went by uncharacteristically fast, the teacher kept the class busy with a lecture as well as a rowdy game of kahoot in preparation for your midterm. You had no time to check your phone, so it wasn't until you were walking through the hallway with Mikasa and Sasha that you noticed that Levi had responded. According to your phone, he had responded only fifteen minutes after you sent the initial message.

"My bathroom schedule is none of your concern."

You smiled at your phone, it may not seem like he was pleased with your text but you knew better. You had come to appreciate Levi's own weird way of showing that he cared, it had been no small feat either. So you decided to interpret his response as "don't worry I'm fine." you shoved your phone back into your pocket and continued to push through the throng of students in the hall. Sasha walked a few paces in front of Mikasa and you, swinging her lunchbox and humming along to whatever song was playing through her ear buds. Mikasa tugged her scarf up over her nose as you passed Eren who waved vaguely in your direction. Your eyes roamed over Mikasa's form, she had recently switched her aesthetic a bit, changing her wardrobe to a more soft goth mixed with grunge.

Today she wore a green plaid skirt with a belt cinched tightly around her thin waist. She had selected a black turtleneck that clung to her curves with a thick silver necklace with a heart pendant. And of course she wore her red scarf around her neck. You had to admit that it suited her, she looked hot as hell. Sasha on the other hand often dressed in a more causal manner. Today the brunette wore a pair of baggy jeans that hung off her hips, only staying in place because of the shoe lace that she had tied around her waist to function as a belt. Despite the cold weather Sasha wore a tiny pink cami with cute little strawberries on it, she also wore a light pink cardigan over the cami, presumably to prevent herself from being dress coded. Seeing how cute your friends had dressed made you feel embarrassed, you frowned down at your sweatpants and your t shirt that had an ugly bleach stain on the front. You'd do better tomorrow, you thought to yourself as you and Mikasa followed Sasha to your next class, which was World History.

The three of you arrived just in time, not that it mattered anyway. The history teachers always took their time on Mondays, spending a minimum of at least twenty minutes in the hall chatting about sports. You took your seats in the back of the room, surprisingly Connie and Jean were already seated and arguing quietly.

"-I don't know that's a bit sus but hey I won't judge." Connie retorted, crossing his arms and averting his gaze while Jean glared at him.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sasha interrupted as she dropped into her seat next to Connie. Jean's cheeks flushed as he hardened his glare on Connie who waved Sasha off.

"Oh nothing" Connie winked at Jean who eyed the pair suspiciously, knowing that neither one could keep a secret.

"Aw ok then." Sasha looked a bit disappointed as she dropped her huge lunchbox down on the desk.

"Got anything good in there?" Jean sighed, eager to change the subject.

"Duh you dummy." Sasha scoffed as she opened the bag and began pawing through it's contents.

"Let me rephrase that: Got anything to spare? I have practice tonight and I didn't pack any snacks." Jean exasperated as he pointed to the lung box. Sasha paused and pursed her lips in thought while Connie poorly covered his laughter.

"Hmmm what's in it for me?" Sasha hummed thoughtfully as she pulled out a variety of granola bars and fanned them in front of her face tauntingly.

"I'm giving you the chance to be a good friend that should be enough!" Jean fumed with his eyes locked on the bars. You watched the pair go back in forth as they bartered for the snacks until they finally settled that Jean would be the designated driver for the party this weekend. You watched as Jean stuffed a handful of granola bars in his soccer bag and Sasha opened up another bag of hot cheetos. You giggled and turned to gauge Mikasa's reaction, she had a small smile on her full lips as she jotted down some notes.

"Speaking of parties, where is the party this weekend?" You asked as you pulled your own notebook out to take some notes. Connie cocked his head, his thin eyebrows furrowing as he stared at you.

"Your house I thought." Connie remarked as he drummed his pencil against the desk.

"Oh, I wasn't really planning on hosting but..."

"No Connie it's at Marco's remember?" Jean stated as he rolled his eyes.

"My bad." Connie chuckled.

"Well still I don't think I was invited so I wouldn't want to impose." you admitted.

"Nonsense! Marco would love to have you over." Sasha assured you as she once again wiped her hand on Connie's sleeve.

"Yeah Marco wouldn't mind if you tagged along." Connie shrugged, not even noticing that Sasha had left a bright red stain on his sleeve from the cheeto dust. You noticed that Jean looked a bit uncomfortable, the tips of his ears turning a bit pink. Strange, maybe something happened between the two of them.

"I don't know guys, I really wouldn't want to take advantage of the guy, he seems really nice and I wouldn't want him to think badly of me." you sighed, thinking about the sweet freckled barista.

"I'll ask him, don't worry about it!" Connie waved you off before he turned back to his work. You nodded, deciding to throw in the towel with this argument.

____

After history, you went your separate ways with your friends and went to your next class. English was easy enough, your teacher was an older woman who also doubled as the theater director. This meant that she would often assign some busy work at the beginning of the period and turn you loose so she could make preparations for the next production. So once you finished the assignment for today's class you allowed yourself some time on your phone. Levi's message remained unanswered as you ran through all the possible replies. Everything that you thought of didn't seem to fit so you decided to leave it unanswered until you could think of something good.

__

Levi tapped his foot impatiently as he watched Farlan and Isabel fumbled around the small flat. Farlan was rooting through a bin filled with shoes searching for his loafers. Isabel was standing in front of a small mirror holding up two different pairs of earrings up to her head to see which best matched her outfit. Finally they both found what they were looking for, Farlan slid on his brown loafters and Isabel fastened her hoops to her ears and then they were off. The streets of Paris were dusted in about a foot of snow, which Farlan bitched about due to his poor choice of footwear.

"Can we please call an uber? My toes are going to fall off!" Farlan complained as he shook snow out of his shoes. Isabel giggled and tossed her scarf over her shoulder.

"I like the snow." her green eyes sparkled playfully as she teased the older boy.

"So do I but that doesn't mean I want it between my god damn toes." Farlan hissed as he lifted his other foot to shake out more snow. Levi watched the pair bicker with a certain fondness in his gaze. They had been his first friends and for a time his only family. After his mother died, he was sent to live in an orphanage where he met the odd pair. Even if he was only in the orphanage for two years, he still had come to love the idiots. Thankfully they never lost touch, Farlan had turned 18 in July so he now had custody of Isabel and rented a flat for the both of them. Isabel was still only 16 so technically Farlan was her legal guardian, and so far he seemed to be doing a good job.

"What do you think Levi, should we call an uber?" Isabel asked, bumping her shoulder into Levi's to grab his attention.

"We're already almost there." Levi deadpanned as the three of them meandered down the sidewalk. The city was surprisingly busy for a Monday evening, couples walked with arms linked, families were window shopping, and students sat perched on barstools as they drank coffee while they typed away on laptops. Levi couldn't remember much about Paris, at least not this side of the city. He had grown up in the north-eastern district, which was known to be poorer than the central district or southern district. Farlan had managed to get a job at a law firm as an assistant which had allowed him to move himself and Isabel to the central district. Of course Kenny sent Farlan and Isabel a monthly allowance to keep their heads above water, but it was mostly Farlan who had scrounged the money together to move the pair.

"Then it's settled! We'll walk!" Isabel whooped as she skipped ahead of the two boys. Farlan groaned and shot Levi a disappointed look.

"Don't look at me like that, you're the idiot that wore loafers." Levi scolded.

"I hate how you're always right." Farlan chuckled. The trio walked the rest of the way to the restaurant in relative silence. Thankfully the walk wasn't too long, they sat themselves in a booth. A waiter came and took their orders, Levi was slightly taken aback when Farlan ordered a bottle of wine, but he quickly remembered that the legal drinking age in France was 18. The waiter left them to put in their order, Levi took the moment of peace to check his phone. A hand full of texts from Hange, a meme from Erwin, and.... no response from you.

He frowned as he stared at his own response, looking back at it he wasn't sure how she could respond to that. He mentally kicked himself, for the first time in your odd relationship you showed an interest in him and all he was doing was pushing you away. Levi was so deeply engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to notice that the waiter had already brought them their drinks. Isabel tapped her straw on the table a few times to rip the paper, once the tip of the straw was exposed she lifted the straw to her lips and blew. The paper shot off the straw and hit Levi square in the chin. Farlan snorted and spat his wine back into his glass so he could laugh at Levi's exasperated expression. Isabel howled with laughter, she banged her hand on the table dramatically as Levi frowned at the two of them unimpressed.

"How old are you?" Levi ridiculed as he stooped to pick up the scrap piece of paper. He balled the trash up and set it down on the table top. Farlan sighed as he finally managed to quell his laughter.

"Someone has to keep you humble Levi." Farlan teased as he took another sip of wine. Levi reached for the bottle and poured himself a glass, Isabel was drinking a root beer loudly through her straw. Levi sat his phone down on the table as he gave his friends his undivided attention. Isabel told him about her job at a doggy day care where she cleaned kennels and watched dogs. Farlan told him about his superiors and how they told him he would make a good lawyer one day. Levi felt a huge sense of relief as he listened to his friends, he was glad that the two of them were finally making a living for themselves. Levi was politely listening to Farlan rant about one of his annoying coworkers when he noticed that Isabel had grown uncharacteristically quiet. His heart dropped when he saw that Isabel had his phone and was frowning at the screen. Farlan followed his gaze and grew quiet as well.

"Isabel what do you think you are doing?" Levi enunciated each word, his tone dripping with venom. Isabel looked up at him, her cheeks tinged pink when she realized that she had been caught.

"Your phone was open and I saw her text..." Isabel trailed off as she turned to show Farlan. Levi slapped his palm over his face and sighed deeply. Farlan whistled lowly as he read the text.

"Shot her down real quick didn't you Levi." Farlan chuckled as he took another sip of wine. Levi frowned, another wave of guilt washing over him.

"Didn't mean to." he mumbled as he lifted his glass to his lips. Isabel had already set his phone down and favored her own phone, her eyes were scanning over the screen quickly as she scrolled through her phone. A few minutes of silence passed before Isabel showed Levi her screen, she had pulled up your instagram.

"This her?" she questioned, Levi only gave her a curt nod as he finished off the wine in his glass.

"Aw Levi's she's adorable!" Isabel gushed as she scrolled through your page, pausing on one of your more popular posts. A series of pictures of you on a beach towel wearing large sunglasses and a huge sun hat, the quality was amazing. He was sure that Armin took the photo, the kid had a knack for photography.

"Damn if you don't want her I'll take her." Farlan hummed as he looked over Isabels shoulder. Levi shot Farlan a disapproving glare.

"What's her number?" Farlan pressed, Isabel choked on her drink as she burst out laughing.

"Forget about it." Levi hissed as he snatched his phone off the table top.

"I'm just teasing you Levi." Farlan waved his hand dismissively as he poured another glass of wine. Levi rolled his eyes and let out a grunt, his own version of acknowledging Farlan's good natured jokes.

"You should call her." Isabel mused as she chewed on her food. Levi furrowed his brows, what would he even say to you? It's not like the two of you casually conversed, he usually only called you if Erwin couldn't reach you, which rarely happened. He glanced at his watch and frowned, if it was eight o'clock here that meant it was about two back home. Therefore you were still in school so he would have to wait until later.

"That's a dumb idea." Levi monotoned, Isabel rolled her eyes dramatically.

"No it's not, even if you're just her friend I'm sure she would like to know that she's on your mind!" Isabel insisted enthusiastically, Farlan nodded in agreement as he shoveled a forkful of pasta into his mouth.

"She's right you know-" Farlan paused as he swallowed his mouthful of food, "not everyone can handle your cold demeanor as well as others." Farlan chided as he lifted another bite to his lips.

"Fine I'll call her." Levi caved in as he stabbed his fork into his salad. Isabel squealed in excitement.

"This is great Big-bro! I'm so proud of you!" she gushed, her eyes glimmering with adoration. Levi couldn't resist reaching across the table and ruffling her hair affectionately. Dinner ended without any more noteworthy events, Farlan and Levi split the check and then bundled back up to walk back to the flat.

___

You sat at your dining room table staring hopelessly at your geometry homework. A bowl of cold soup sat untouched, you had been too stressed to eat dinner, a habit that you had recently picked up. Erwin and Hange had made dinner so you could get straight to work, which had been very sweet, but you felt guilty because truthfully you had barely made a dent in your assignment. You thought about calling Armin, he would help you. No you couldn't bother him, he was probably doing work of his own.

So you suffered in silence, the shapes and numbers spinning in your brain the longer you stared at the page. With a frustrated sigh you flipped the page only to see more blank problems that needed to be done. You stood up intending to stretch your legs and take a brain break. After you'd walked around the island in your kitchen three times you came back to the table and dropped down into the chair. You cracked your knuckles before clutching your pencil in a death grip and began to attempt one of the questions. As you scribbled on the page, attempting to make sense of the numbers and letters, you pressed too hard on your pencil and snapped the lead. You watched the tiny piece of lead roll across the page, out of spite you swiped your hand over the page to wipe the lead off.

Your eyes widened at the large smudge that now marred your paper. It all started with a single tear, it rolled down your cheek and splashed onto your paper. Before you could really understand why, you were absolutely bawling your eyes out at the dining room table. Was it because you were frustrated with school? Yeah that was definitely part of the reason. Before you could spiral into a dark pit of self deprecation, you were rudely interrupted by your phone ringing. You squinted through your bleary eyes to see that it was already 10:30 pm. You sighed, not really caring who was on the other end of the line you answered the phone.

"What" you blurted, not really in the mood to talk.

"..."

"Well? I'm kind of in the middle of something right now." your voice quivered as you fought back tears .

"Is...this a bad time?" your heart dropped at the sound of Levi's smooth voice.

"Uh" you sniffled and wiped your eyes.

"No it's not I can talk, what's the matter Levi?" you asked as you continued to wipe your eyes.

"Are you sure?" Levi probed, you nodded despite the fact that he couldn't see you. You stood up and began to pace around the kitchen once more.

"Y-Yeah-" you hiccuped and cringed, Levi sighed on the other end of the line.

"(Y/n) be honest with me....are you drunk?" Levi interrogated, you gasped it was a Monday night! Did he really think that you were that much of an alcoholic?

"No! I just...."

"Hm? What is it?" Levi quipped clearly enjoying your frazzled state.

"If you must know, I was in the middle of a mental break down." you admitted with a heavy sigh. Levi went silent on the other line, you were beginning to regret your honesty.

"It's only Monday." Levi cringed at his less than empathetic response.

"Yeah you're telling me." you chuckled, Levi immediately relaxed at the sound of your laughter even if it wasn't as bubbly as it usually was.

"What's bothering you?" Levi asked, surprisingly softly. You furrowed your brows surely he didn't call you just to hear about your day? He was probably just being nice.

"Oh uh... just school I guess." you paused your pacing to drop onto the sofa and kick your feet up onto the coffee table.

"I see." Levi mused as he reclined in the armchair he was seated in.

"Anyway, enough about me, why did you call me? Is there something you need?" you asked, you were sure that he didn't want to hear you complain about geometry.

"It's fine, tell me about your day." Levi grimaced, tell me about your day? Who was he your mother?

"O-Okay. Well I guess it was fine up until I tried to do this stupid geometry." you grumbled, the mere thought of your homework making your stomach sick with dread.

"Geometry?" Levi hummed, crossing his leg so his ankle was over his knee.

"Yeah." you sighed dejectedly, waiting for his scathing remark about how stupid you were.

"That one can be tough." Levi huffed, you could hear him re-situate so you waited to respond. Once you were sure he was settled you inhaled sharply to prepare yourself.

"It's just not clicking for me." you groaned, Levi snorted and once again you could hear some shuffling.

"Want some help?" he asked. You blinked slowly, not fully processing his words.

"Help?"

"Take it or leave it."

"I would be an idiot to decline."

______

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Levi asked, a playful glint in his grey eyes.

"It was awful, but I'm grateful for the help." you sighed, resting your head on the table. You'd been on the phone with Levi for almost two hours now. After he had offered to lend you a hand you had switched to facetime so he could see the problems. Levi tapped his pen on the counter top he was sitting at. Yeah you heard that right, Levi does math with a fucking pen like a psychopath.

"Anytime." his lip twitched upwards ever so slightly.

"God, I'm sorry that all we talked about was fucking math." you apologized.

"It's fine really. " Levi shrugged once again tapping his pen on the counter.

"Tell me about Paris? How are things on the other side of the pond?" you joked, finally able to genuinely smile now that the stress of your homework was lessened.

"First off, never say 'pond' again. Second, it's cold as a witch's tit over here." Levi enunciated each point by tapping the pen against the counter.

"Really? Is there snow over there?" You asked, suddenly very invested in the weather in France.

"Yeah there's a fuck ton." Levi stood up and brought his phone with him to a window. You could tell that he was on a high floor, you could see the lights of the city through the flurries of snow.

"Woah, it's so pretty!" you gushed as you admired Levi's view.

"Tch, I guess." Levi clicked his tongue as he flipped the camera back onto his face.

"Hey what time is it there?" you yawned.

"Six am." Levi deadpanned.

"What!! Why did you let me keep you up so late Levi! My god go to bed." you huffed incredulously. Levi rolled his eyes as he listened to you lecture him on the importance of a good nights rest.

"I mean seriously Levi no wonder why you're always so grumpy." you finished your rant as you closed your bedroom door and began pulling out a pair of flannel pj pants and a large hoodie since your room seemed to be particularly chilly. You dropped your phone onto your bed (camera down obviously) and began to change into your pjs.

"Don't worry about it sweetheart." Levi drawled, his voice a bit muffled by your comforter. Once you picked up the phone you dropped down onto your bed and sighed.

"Seriously, I'm just adjusting to the time change." Levi shrugged, he was now in his own room, also laying on the bed a pale morning glow seeping into the room.

"Uh huh sure." you teased, a smile spreading across your lips. After a moment of silence you decided that it was time to call it a night.

"Well, unlike you I need my beauty sleep." you said groggily.

"Good luck with that." Levi scoffed, his own voice a bit scratchy.

"Thanks again Levi. Goodnight or erm, Good morning I guess." you giggled as you watched Levi try to cover up a yawn.

"Yeah yeah whatever." He scoffed, you waved as you hung up. You rolled over and plugged your phone in, having learned from your past mistake. You sighed contently as you snuggled beneath the covers, your head filled with thoughts of geometry and Levi.

[everlastingdreams]

Weeping Monk X Reader : The City Of Fey Chapter 4

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Notes: ^ my gif. Decided to drop this chapter as well today.

Summary:   As a fey queen you are by now used to it that fey come into your woods seeking refugee or a place to hide. Things get complicated however when your knights have not just brought a fey boy but also the red paladins’ fiercest warrior into your city.  

Chapter Summary:   After returning from the forest with you, the Weeping Monk must face another battle, this time against a specific fey boy. He learns that being around Percival can be both harrowing and rewarding

Chapters:   4/ ?

Word count:  1473 (in this chapter)

Warnings: None in this one I think.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He had half expected that you would tie his hands again but you didn't. But he had left the sword behind in the forest, carrying no weapons with him as you escorted the fey group to the city. It seemed to ease their minds somewhat.

When he arrived at the city the fey group was welcomed by Raphael who firstly checked in with you about what happened.

As you were explaining the situation to Raphael, the Weeping Monk looks up to see Percival running towards him. "Where were you ?!" The boy demanded as if he had personally insulted the boy. He quirked a brow at the boy, he didn't expect the boy to care about his whereabouts as the boy was safe in the city. "He just helped me rescue some people from red paladins." you walked up to them. The boy looked suprised at you before sending a glare to the Weeping Monk. "Why couldn't I come ?" He sounded offended. The Weeping Monk's eyes quickly darted between you and then to the boy, impressed at the range of how the boy could test his patience. "There are safer ways to use all that energy." He stated. The boy shrugged his shoulders "Like what ?" He gestured to the wooden sword still in the boy's hand "Like learning how to use that sword and not just evade attacks." "Perhaps you should teach him then ?" You piped up. It came out of nowhere, and his eyes snapped to you. Were you serious ? "That would mean I'd have to handle a sword." He reminded you of the fact that he had to give up his weapons upon arriving here. You reached and pulled out the sword from behind your back, holding it out to him. "I know." He hesitated to take the sword from you and Percival was shooting looks between you and the Weeping Monk. You sighed frustrated "Would you prefer Sir. Crillan to continue teaching him ?" 'No' was his immediate inner thought and he caved in and took the sword from you. Pleased at the small victory you said "Good. That's settled then. I'll tell Raphael to return your weapons." He looked at you suprised, was this your way of letting him known that you trusted him ? "Thank you, your highness." He tilted his head down, a sign of respect towards you. "Just call me y/n. I guess you've earned it after you stopped that paladin from cutting my throat.” you smiled down at the boy “That goes for you too.”

“As you wish..” the weeping monk bows his head for a second.

You looked at him in expectation.

“..y/n.” he finished his sentence earning a satisfied look for you.

“Thank the gods. Now I only have Dahlia left to convince.” you muttered to yourself.

Suddenly he noticed how the boy looked at him expectantly. As if he wanted to make something clear to him without speaking. The boy's eyes darted to him and then he tilted his head in your direction. Then it dawned on him what the boy was trying to communicate to him. The Weeping Monk had never even given you his real name. It was perhaps useful knowledge to you so he turned to you and caught your attention. "I... uhm" he pauzed "My name.. it's -" "Lancelot." You finished his sentence for him and watched as he looked utterly confused. Did he misunderstand what the boy was trying to communicate ? Had Percival told you this already? "I know. I was just waiting until you wanted to share that with me." A grin played on your face. Seeing him look at you completely confused before looking at the boy was quite funny. "I didn't tell her !" Percival piped up. At that moment Crillan appeared and whispered something to you before heading back inside the small castle. You turned to the both of them "I believe you two must be starving. Please, join us for dinner." Percival nodded eagerly. You directed it at Lancelot now "Afterwards you should go see Dahlia. I doubt she will be pleased that the cut on your head is bleeding again." He noted how this was amusing to you, but after meeting Dahlia he understood why. She'll probably scold him for it. "I will. Thank you." He replied and you beckoned for them to follow you inside the castle. The dinning hall was small, yet still large enough that there was room for everyone.

Some civillians, cooks, guards and soldiers all chatting together. When he inquired about it you told him that the same food was prepared for everyone in the city. All were treated the same. A pleasant suprise as he had seen King Uther feast upon the most exotic foods while some people in his kingdom were almost starving. You sat across from him, now telling Crillan about what had happened in the forest. And at some point the conversation had switched to the subject of training more civilians. Lancelot had already eaten a few bites when he noticed Percival's odd behaviour.

Percival was checking the food as if there could be bugs in it. It looked like he had never seen this type of food before.

Crillan pointed it out to you discreetly, finding the display comical. You muffled a laugh by putting your hand in front of your mouth, but still let out a giggle at the sight. Lancelot on the other hand felt somewhat embarrased to see the boy doing this.

He nudged his elbow with his own before whispering "Just taste it." The boy rolled his eyes, clearly not liking the intrusion in his investigation. You had to look away now before your risked bursting out into laughter.

Crillan drank from his tankard to hide his own laugh. The boy huffed before taking the tiniest piece of food on the plate and putting it in his mouth. Lancelot didn't know if he should be relieved or hold his breath for the boy's reaction to the food. You eyed them curiously and saw how the boy's eyes went wide before he started to wolf down the food. It took you off-guard and you let out a laugh before covering your mouth.

The others looked at you strangely, wondering what was so funny. You avoided their stares and their attention returned to their food. You looked up through your lashes and saw Lancelot looking at you.

The two of you shared a look and you nodded in the direction of the boy before you smiled. He was relieved to see that you weren't insulted at Percival's food suspicion.

The boy sure kept him on his toes at all times.

Dinner was uneventful after that. And he was grateful for it.

He made his way to the infirmary afterwards, making sure the boy went with him as they passed their rooms anyway.

He opened the door to Percival's room for him “This one's yours. Mine's right next to this one.”

The boy stepped inside the room and looked around in awe.

A smile tugged at the corner of Lancelot's mouth as he watched the boy.

Percival turned to him “Mine ?”

He tilted his head in confirmation at the boy.

A wide smile spread on the boy's face before he leaped and plopped down on the bed.

Lancelot leaned against the doorframe as he watched Percival feel the covers on the bed.

Then it was as if the boy remembered something important and he jumped from the bed and took a few paces towards him.

“Will you teach me how to fight tomorrow ? How you fight ?” the boy asked excited at the idea.

Lancelot gave a short nod “Tomorrow. At dawn.”

He didn't know if it was because he had agreed to teach the boy, the room or the full stomach.

Or a combination of it all.

But the boy ran up to him and flung his arms around him.

The unexpected embrace took him completely off-guard and he tensed up.

“Thank you.” the boy whispered against him.

He clenched and unclenched his hand, stretching his fingers nervously before putting a hand on the back of the boy's head.

He didn't know how to react to it. The only time someone had touched him was to either punish him or wield him as a weapon.

The boy's hug thightened for a second before he let go off him.

Percival looked up at him, not knowing what to expect.

After a brief silence, Lancelot found his voice again but couldn't avoid the words coming out shaky at first “Rest. I will come for you at dawn.”

The boy nodded and Lancelot left the room,

The moment he had shut the door he let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding.

He took a moment to compose himself before he walked towards the infirmary.

TAGLIST

@linkpk88​ @5am-cigarette​  @beananacake​ @mogothepogo​ @lancelotapricot​

[kalle-and-lita]

"Are you ever going to show me what's in here?" Aiko rapped a knuckle against the hard steel door. Kalle gave her a glance, his brow cocked with a frown on his face. She gave him an innocent look, but he knew the curiosity had to be burning her up. He snorted,

"Not if I can help it."

She wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue, "Why not?"

He turned back to the project in his hands, "Because there's nothing in there you need to see, that's why."

He felt a weight on his shoulder, and he hid his laugh with a cough, "But Old Man...!"

"I said no, Aiko, and I mean it. Now don't you have a date with Lucius, or something?"

Aiko sighed, but still rested on his shoulder. Her head leaned into his, "Yeah, but that's not until later." She nudged him playfully, "So maybe you can show me what's behind the door?"

"Aiko, I try not to make it a habit to repeat myself." Kalle warned dryly, he felt his patience start to thin. If she noticed it certianly didn't bother her. Instead she made a face before kissing his cheek and sweeping out of the room. Kalle shook his head in amusement.

It was Aiko's nature to be so curious about everything, and Kalle could hardly blame her for it. Yet, there were things she didn't need to know or see. The secrets behind that door were among many; artifacts of great age and terrible power best kept out of sight. Roboute was the only one who knew what lie behind that door, for not even Cato was privy to the knowledge.

All the better to protect him, and Aiko as well.

A notification signal drew his attention to the data slate sitting on the table. He rose with a grunt, his joints popping as he investigated. He scrolled through several mundane messages until he found a summons from the Primarch Guilliman himself. Curious as to what could be so important, Kalle dressed and left within the half hour.

He greeted passing marines with a silent nod, a silent shadow in the halls all the way to the lower docks of the Maccrage's Honor. It was clear that the Victrix guard had just returned with their Primarch, several marines were already in the process of unpacking when he arrived. He spotted Cato overseeing the guard on the far end of the bay, and he exchanged a passing smile with him.

It was nice to have him home again.

Primarch Guilliman hovered in the threshold of an empty transport, a nervous energy about him as Kalle approached. The old Night Lord dipped his head in greeting,

"Primarch Guilliman, I take my presence here means you found something?"

"Yes." The large man turned on his heel with Kalle quick to follow. He hit the button next to the ramp so the pair could have privacy. The artificial lights of the docking bay gave way to near darkness save for the eerie glow of the artifact.

It was stored in a reinforced steel and glass container that sat square in the middle of the isle. The faceted sides of the decahedron were engraved in glowing runes that emitted a blue and green light.

"We don't know what it is. We found it in a subterranean ruin surrounded by Tzeentch iconography."

Kalle stooped to his haunches and carefully turned the container, "Did anything happen when you went to contain it?"

"The first two marines who approached were hit with a lightning arc and aged in moments. They were dead and dust before they hit the ground."

The old Night Lord hummed under his breath, but continued to observe,

"A few of my Librarians managed to create a containment field so we could properly transport it. I wish to destroy it, but wanted your opinion on the matter before I carried out my plan."

"A smart decision. It's aura is intricately tied to its surroundings and to the warp. Who knows what chaotic energies might have been unleashed should you have tried."

Guilliman shifted on his feet, "Permanent containment then?"

"I'll have to study it first before I can design a vault to effectively seal it. With your permission, of course."

Kalle stood with a grunt; Guilliman considered the artifact for a long moment before giving him a resolute nod. "You're sure the vault in your room will be strong enough to contain any accidents?"

"Yes."

"Then proceed, and report your findings to me. I will clear the halls to your stateroom so you may transport the artifact."

Kalle was left with the artifact, to which he paced around in curiosity. Already he was forming his theories just from the Primarch's report alone. He was careful to pick up the container when he was finally given permission to move it. Any sudden movement could set off a reaction, and the last thing he wanted was an accident.

The halls were quiet, not a marine or guardsman in sight. He studied this curious object in his hands as he walked, eager to get it into his vault so he could experiment. His stateroom was empty as far as he could tell; he sent a quick report to Guillman that he'd arrived and would start his studies. Another was sent to Cato stating he would be missing dinner.

Sure that everything was in order Kalle opened his vault door. He ran a talon down the full length of the hard steel. Intricate arcane lines hissed in esoteric patterns from the touch, dissolving right before his eyes. As the last of the sigils disappeared he pressed his palm into the door and pushed his mind through the steel to force it open. The steel barrier split and opened with a pop. A thin veil of mist swept out from within, thick swirls dissipating with each of his steps.

The room was far bigger than the outside implied. It took Kalle several months of work to complete his vault; a separate space not quite in real space but not quite in the warp. A tenuous dimension where the rules of neither plane really applied. Here he could contain the artifacts too dangerous to destroy.

Or experiment on them to his heart's content.

It was a wide, windowless expanse separated into three floors. The ground floor, which connected to the vault door, contained several glass cases meticulously displayed across the space. Each cases was organized with care, its contents as varied as the next. Several firearms sat in locked containers, interesting to look upon but deadly to wield. Another held Arcane Foci of various designs ranging from jewelry to glowing crystals of bright colors.

The second and third floor contained all manner of tomes and mural fragments. Forbidden collections that he had hoarded over the eons and best kept from mortal hands.

At the far end of the ground floor Kalle cleared off his work table with a flick of his wrist. Papers lined with runes and writing, along with several books, put themselves away as he set the decahedron on the table. He braced himself on the workbench and eyed the artifact. It seemed stable enough, yet he projected a barrier around himself just in case.

Carefully, he flipped the locks of the container and opened it. A static charge filled the air as he lifted the decahedron with a shadowy tendril, not at all eager to physically touch it. Thankfully, there were no adverse effects and he set the artifact on the table.

A thousand and one thoughts rushed through his head. Another flick of the wrist summoned empty parchment and quills that hovered midair, and wrote his theories as they came to mind. Runes and symbols crossed several pieces of paper in mere minutes while Kalle circled the table, his gaze trained on the artifact in fascination. He pushed at it with the warp and it hissed in reply, a thin arc of lightning sparking off the table.

He pushed again and another angry arc sparked, this time off the floor at his feet. It was like the artifact had a mind of it's own, as it exhibited signs of displeasure at being touched and harrassed. He pushed again and the static charge intensified enough that a glow filled the room and the sparks from the decahedron lifted it off the table for a moment. Kalle reached out and suspended the artifact, pulling the warp to keep the ambient energies at bay.

They fought, Kalle and this strange artifact, vying for power over one another. And he was winning, and he allowed himself to gloat over the idea of experimenting on this thing.

A shadow of movement just beyond artifact caught his eye. Kalle hesitated and broke eye contact with the decahedron, gaze widening as he spied Aiko among his collection.

"Aiko! What in-"

His lapse in concentration was all that was needed.

"No!"

A loud crack echoed through the room and nearly deafened him. Kalle wrapped the artifact in shadow and forced it back into its container as a large arc of lightning lit up the room. In the span of seconds he closed the lid and leapt over his work table. He called to the warp, begged it to make him weightless, fast enough to intercept the temporal arc heading straight towards his daughter.

Aiko's scream filled the air as it impacted, sending Kalle off his feet and onto his back from the blast. He grunted as he landed, rolling onto his knees with little thought about the pain.

"Aiko!"

He stumbled into a display case, disoriented from the noise and the impact. There was a loud ringing in his ears, even as his heart pounded away in his chest.

No, no, no...

Your fault, your fault. You didn't lock the door behind you, and she followed you in. She's gone and it's your fault!

Tears spilled down his cheeks, as he found the black stain on the carpet. His heart clenched, every breath felt painful as he fell to his knees.

No, no, no!

"Aiko!"

Kalle cradled his head, his shoulders wracking with his silent sobs. Guilt washed over him in relentless waves. How could he face Cato, and tell him that Aiko was gone because of his carelessness? How could he face all who had come to love her?

Your fault, your fault. The monster once again strikes, some things never change.

"Da?"

A small hand touched his shoulder. Kalle looked up to find bright, half pitched eyes gazing at him and full of tears. Long, thick black hair fell over the shoulders a tiny girl who looked no older four years old. His heart stopped and his blood froze, disbelief racing through him. His own hand reached out, almost hesitant as he traced her cheek.

His gaze flicked to the display case just behind her, a pile of Aiko's clothes and her boots haphazardly strewn underneath.

"Aiko?"

The little girl hiccuped in reply, the sleeves of her top comically large on her slender arms. It was Aiko's top, and this small little thing wore it like a dress.

"Da!"

The girl, no, his Aiko threw herself into his lap and clung to the fabric of his tunic. Kalle wrapped his arms around her and cradled her close, relief replacing the guilt with the silent shed of his tears.

~~

Am I doing a regression fic? You bet your sweet bipbies I am. I have a need for small Aiko and dad Kalle and I will not be denied!

[tickle-fic-chick]

Rematch || A Twilight Tickle Fic

Author’s Note: Finally got a fic whipped up! I’ve been struggling to find the motivation to write recently. Schoolwork just has me so burnout. However, after reading some more of Midnight Sun today, I got the burst of motivation needed to write this little gem. This fic is inspired by Emmett’s constant desire to wrestle with his siblings and his tendency to lose against said siblings. I hope you all enjoy!

The day started off peaceful enough. It was summer, so the Cullens didn’t have to worry about masking in front of humans for two more months, and Bella had decided to come over for the day. In the privacy of their backyard, the Cullens were soaking up the sunlight that had decided to grace Forks that day. They had each paired off to sit with their respective partner; Edward and Bella, Jasper and Alice, Emmett and Rosalie, and Carlisle and Esme. It was a rare moment of peace...until Emmett suddenly got up from his spot and moved towards Edward. The mind reader knew what Emmett wanted before he’d even opened his mouth. His mind was practically screaming his intentions. “I want a rematch!” Edward’s eyebrows raised, lips quirking upwards into a small grin. “I’m sorry?” Bella looked between the two with confusion, frowning. “Rematch?” She questioned. Emmett nods, arms crossed over his broad chest. “He cheated during our wrestling match yesterday! I want a rematch!” He reiterated. The determination in his voice made it clear that he wouldn’t take no for an answer without having to pry into his thoughts. “I told you, I didn’t cheat.” Edward replies calmly, making Emmett snort. “Yeah right! I know you were reading my thoughts! You matched all of my moves perfectly!” The smaller vampire’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “You just can’t accept the fact that I bested you.”

That was the wrong reply. Bella gasped as Emmett suddenly launched himself at her boyfriend. If Edward had known what was coming, he hadn’t reacted in time, and he found himself struggling against his larger sibling. The two rolled on the ground, trying to pin the other down. A shadow appeared behind Bella, making her turn. Alice stood there, beaming down at her and offering a hand. “You’ll want to move out of the way. This is going to be a rough match.” She chuckled. Bella takes her hand, stumbling a little as she is pulled to her feet. “Do they do this often?” She asked, eyes glancing back towards the skirmish on the ground. “All the time. The boys love their wrestling matches.” She guides Bella to a new spot, sitting down next to Jasper and pecking his lips. Bella looked away awkwardly; Alice and Jasper’s relationship was a little too intense for her at times. You could tell just by looking at them that they absolutely adored each other. Their unspoken devotion was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Maybe that’s how they felt about her and Edward. Bella was pulled from her thoughts as Alice’s bell-like voice spoke up again. “Who are you betting on, Jazz?” She asked her mate. Jasper chuckled, watching his brothers fight for dominance. “Not sure. They both seem pretty determined this time.” He replies. Of course, Alice already knew who would win, but revealing that would spoil the fun.

Edward seemed to be gaining the upper hand. While Emmett was stronger, by quite a lot, the auburn-haired vampire had tricks of his own. Emmett had been right; he was using his powers. While he hadn’t used them in their previous match, the other’s accusations had spurred him to actually cheat this time around. Well, could it really be considered cheating? After all, Emmett had the strength advantage, so it was only fair that Edward even the playing field. The larger male’s thoughts shifted from playfulness to full-on mischief. Before Edward could react, Emmett’s hands had shot up and were digging into his exposed sides. Edward yelped, nearly toppling off of his opponent, barely managing to hold his position. He bit down on his lower lip, holding back the giggles that were already bubbling up in his throat. His eyes narrowed, though the grin tugging at his lips ruined the effect. “N-Now who’s cheating?” He growled, hating himself for stuttering. Emmett’s grin only grew as he suddenly flips their positions, pinning Edward under him. He grabs the smaller vampire’s wrists, hauling them over his head as he attacks his brother’s ribs. “You cheated first!” He retorts, fingers expertly seeking out the spots he knew were most sensitive. By now Edward couldn’t even hope to hold back his reactions, bursting into loud laughter. “Emmehehehehehett!” The ravenette chuckled. “What’s wrong, too ticklish?” He teased, raking his fingers down Edward’s rib cage.

Bella watched, eyes widened with surprise. While she knew Edward was ticklish, and had even seen him be tickled before, she had never heard him laugh this loudly. Rosalie’s voice rang out from her spot across the yard. “Give him hell, Emmett!” The blonde called to her mate. Even from a distance, Bella could see her perfect lips turned upwards into a grin. Her eyes went to Carlisle and Esme next, who were watching their adoptive children play with smiling faces. Bella glanced over at Alice and Jasper, who seemed to have a similar reaction. This clearly wasn’t a rare occurrence in the Cullen household. Alice caught her gaze and laughed, the sound musical and pleasant. “Edward’s always been the easiest to break. He’s just too ticklish for his own good.” Edward seemed to have heard this, his laughter increasing slightly. “Ahahahahahahahalice!” He would have been blushing, if it were possible for him to do so. “She’s just telling the truth, Eddie. Shouldn’t Bella know all about your little weakness if you’re going to be spending an eternity together?” Emmett crooned, fingers scribbling up to Edward’s armpits. The ravenette ducks down, adding to the torment by gnawing at Edward’s neck. The smaller vampire screeched, struggling desperately under his brother’s hold. “NOHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHA! E-EHEHEHEHEHEHEMMETT!” He cried, head thrown back with a wide grin stretched across his face. He couldn’t get away, couldn’t think straight. Any hopes he might have had about forming an escape plan were dashed.

Once again, Bella found her attention drawn away from the ticklish display when she noticed movement in the corner of her eye. Turning, she watched as Jasper slowly got to his feet. Alice looked at him knowingly, a smirk tugging at her lips. “You’ll lose.” She warned. The blonde returned the smirk, shooting the two a wink. “I know.” Bella watched with confusion as he made his way towards his brothers. His movements were careful and calculating; he was trying not to draw attention to himself. It dawned on the human what he was trying to do and she couldn’t help but smile. “He can’t be serious.” Bella laughed quietly. “Oh, his mind is made up. Even if he knows he’ll lose, Jasper rarely changes his mind once he’s decided on something. The best he can hope for is getting in a good attack before Emmett turns the tables.” Alice replied, watching her mate with amusement. Jasper stopped a few feet away, muscles tensing. Suddenly, he leaped towards the two, going for Emmett’s ribs. If he could get the other down, he would have access to his stomach, which would afford Edward enough time to recover and help. However, things didn’t go according to plan. At some point, Emmett had become aware of Jasper’s impending attack, and he was ready for it. When Jasper moved forward, Emmett’s arm shot out and grabbed him. He pulled the blonde to the ground, pinning him next to Edward. Jasper’s eyes widened in surprise; clearly he hadn’t expected to be caught so early. The ravenette briefly paused his attack on Edward, though the other was still giggling wildly. Bella almost couldn’t believe it; Edward was giggling.

“Now, look what I’ve got here. Two cheaters in need of a lesson.” Emmett smirks down at his captives. “How did I cheat?” Jasper retorts, struggling in Emmett’s grip. If either victim truly wanted to get away, it wouldn’t have been hard. It seemed they were having too much fun to escape now. “Attacking from behind? Hardly an honorable move, Jazz. Well, look where it landed you.” Emmett’s fingers curled into their stomachs teasingly. Edward, already weakened from the first attack, instantly let out a loud giggle. Jasper barely contained his reaction, body tense and eyes locked onto Emmett’s. “It you go for his knees, he’ll break quickly! Go for the ribs and he’ll last longer!” Alice called. The former soldier’s heart would have leaped out of his chest if it could. “Traitor!” A grin instantly spread across Emmett’s lips. “Is that so? Thanks for the tips, Alice! Now, do I wanna make this quick, or do I want to drag it out.” At the word drag he raked his nails down his siblings’ ribs. Both vampires burst into chortles, trying to hold in their laughter. “I-I’m sohohoho going to get you for this.” Edward states. “Hm, I think I wanna go straight for the kill today.” Emmett’s hands lunged forward, attacking with renewed vigor. One went to Edward’s armpit, drilling into the ticklish hollow and sending the immortal into a laughing frenzy. The other hand latched onto Jasper’s knee, squeezing rapidly. Jasper’s laughter instantly burst forth, joining Edward’s in a chorus of ticklish screams. “EHEHEHEHEHEHEM, PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE!” Edward squealed. Bella never thought she would hear such a sound leave her lover’s lips. “NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! D-DOHOHOHOHON’T!” Jasper cackled.

Emmett kept up the attack for several minutes, not letting up for even a moment. His fingers expertly sought out the spots he knew were the most sensitive. Since they were vampires, he didn’t need to worry about them running out of air or growing tired. Theoretically, he could have tickled them forever, and there would have been no negative physical repercussions. However, he knew his brothers’ limits, and when their laughter couldn’t go an octave higher he finally pulled back. While vampires didn’t need to breath, or to rest, the two seemed downright exhausted. They laid on the ground, arms shooting down to protect themselves from any further attacks. “Damn, you didn’t hold back.” Jasper chuckles, resting his head against the cool grass. “I never do.” The ravenette smirked, looking to Edward. “Did you have fun? Oh, who am I kidding, I know you did.” Edward shot him a playful glare. “Shut up.” He grumbled, though his grin betrayed his true emotions. He glanced over at Bella, the human returning his look with a chuckle. “Never knew you could laugh so hard.” Edward had never been more glad he couldn’t blush. She was never going to let him live that down. Still, he would’ve been lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it. “Now you know what happens when you cheat.” Emmett’s words caused Edward and Jasper’s eyes to meet. There was a silent agreement before the two launched themselves at their brother, fingers instantly digging into the muscled stomach. Once again, the Cullen’s lives were filled with laughter, and none of them would’ve had it any other way.

[him-e]

harleygrenade:

#sansa has been making jabs at people she doesn't like since the beginning #(joffrey included - even though she knew he could hurt her) #'a madness overcame her then' a madness overcame her #sometimes she's so full of rage and grief she doesn't care what dangerous thing comes out of her mouth #also how she chose to punish ramsay was self-indulgent #the way she killed ramsay was personal #it wasn't meant for a public audience #if she made it public she wouldn't get to say the words she said. she would have to censor herself. she would have to make it #decent for the public eye (aka beheading) #he was her's to finish #plus sansa has seen enough public executions in her lifetime #i think after all this time she wouldn't be so keen on resorting to that #im not a fan of their decision to make the rape happen in the first place but like #working in the frameworks of what they gave us #this was an iconic sansa moment #her weapon has always been words #i admit that the transition from younger sansa to this sansa wasn't that smooth. and they haven't kept enough of her original habits #but still...this particular snark is very her

(I had to save your tags because you made excellent points)

[argumate]

now I feel compelled to write an analysis of the She-Ra battle in the style of Bret Devereaux’s excellent blog, if I can pull that off.

Engagement

The Battle of Bright Moon, as depicted in the She-Ra season one finale.

Adversaries

The Horde, a dictatorship led by Hordak, is at war with The Rebellion, also known as the Princess Alliance, a loose confederation of feudal states led by Queen Angella of the kingdom of Bright Moon and her daughter, Glimmer.

The people of most interest in this engagement are Force Captain Catra, who is leading the Horde army, and Adora aka She-Ra, who is the champion of Bright Moon and leading its defence under the command of Angella and Glimmer.

Fascinatingly, Adora and Catra grew up together in the Horde and it was actually Adora who was promoted to Force Captain before finding her alternate persona as She-Ra and defecting to the Princess Alliance.

The shared history and close connection between these two adversaries gives them insight into each other’s plans, but also adds emotional complications that could compromise their judgement. They are also both very inexperienced, and this is their first major battle.

Setting

The war is taking place on the planet of Etheria, with the Horde based in the Fright Zone, an industrialised and heavily polluted region that is surprisingly close to Bright Moon, a fortified city set in idyllic hilly countryside on a river by the sea. The two sides are separated by the Whispering Woods, a magical forest full of monsters, hidden crystal temples of the ancient First Ones, and other supernatural weirdness that acts as a natural barrier and prevents direct attack over land.

Etheria is an unusual planet to say the least, and it appears to be networked in some sense between an assortment of “runestones” from which the princesses draw supernatural powers. The Horde also has one runestone, their use of which is the key to this engagement.

History

The war has been going on for a long time, but decades (?) ago there was a particularly fierce battle in which Queen Angella’s husband was killed, along with many others, and the Princess Alliance effectively disbanded. Since then they have struggled to reform and have focused on defending their own kingdoms individually instead of coordinating assaults on the Horde, leaving them vulnerable to being conquered one by one.

However this earlier battle must have devastated the Horde too, as we observe a chronic shortage of manpower that leads them to rely heavily on robots and poorly trained conscripts. In particular they seem to have lost almost all of their officer class, and are forced to train new ones starting from childhood (!) a significant investment of time and effort that limits their activities to sporadic raids and hit-and-run attacks while they rebuild their strength.

Background

Earlier Catra captured a princess, Entrapta, and convinced her to defect to the Horde and help them weaponise the runestone in their possession. In doing so they were able to drain enormous amounts of power from the other runestones through the planetary network, setting off a series of natural disasters and freezing the Whispering Woods, which neutralised its magic and made it a viable route for a land assault on Bright Moon.

As it happens, destroying the runestone at Bright Moon would set off a chain reaction that depowers all the other runestones, leaving the Princess Alliance helpless and giving the Horde effective control of the entire planet. Catra thus has the opportunity -- on her first command! -- to win the entire war with one swift strike.

Objectives

The Horde aims to destroy the runestone at Bright Moon. Since success would win the war, they commit all of their forces to the assault.

The Rebellion wishes to repel the Horde attack and protect the runestone. Ideally they would find some way to take the fight to the now undefended Fright Zone, but this is beyond their capabilities as they are in a desperate struggle to merely survive.

Forces

Force Captain Catra has the entire Horde army at her command, consisting of tanks, skiffs, attack robots, and armoured infantry. We are given little information as to their organisation or unit structure, but we can assume they have radio communication and have discussed their battle plan in advance.

Horde soldiers train together from infancy and are highly indoctrinated, so we can expect strong unit cohesion and willingness to fight. However, their training exercises are limited and unrealistic, they have little experience in battle, and are discouraged from creative problem solving, so aside from Catra we cannot expect a virtuoso display of combat skills.

Bright Moon apparently has no standing army, the guards appear to be purely ceremonial in nature, and initially they only field Adora in her She-Ra form alone against the entire Horde army, with Queen Angella providing backup via the shielding effect of the runestone.

Admittedly She-Ra is a formidable warrior, strong enough to punch through stone, wielding a sword that can shoot laser beams and slice through steel, and capable of taking a direct hit from a tank without suffering major damage. However she can only do so much at a time, and is vulnerable to being overwhelmed by the sheer number of opponents.

She is reinforced by her companions, Glimmer and Bow on the flying horse Swift Wind, and two other princesses wielding magic nets, but this is not so much an army as a loose team of individual champions with highly disparate skill sets.

Logistics

The Horde army is fully mechanised and with the woods now accessible they can be in Bright Moon in a matter of hours and be back home in time for dinner, so they move fast and carry no food or supplies.

Scouting

Bright Moon observe the Horde army on the move through the woods and have time to prepare, although the extent of their preparations is limited to choosing better weapons from the armoury. The Horde’s arrival is heralded by their first shots slamming into the castle, suggesting that the expectation of protection by the woods has led to a serious lack of defensive works in the kingdom.

The Horde are attacking a fixed target, the runestone, so they head straight for it and do not send out scouts or keep watch, a fatal mistake that prevents them from cutting off any unexpected reinforcements from the other kingdoms.

Attack!

The Horde army emerges from the woods at the shallow river crossing, just opposite the Bright Moon fortress.

Conveniently for the Horde, the runestone is located outside and in front of the fortress, leaving it utterly unprotected by any defences aside from its own supernatural shielding effect, reinforced by Queen Angella in person, which places her directly in the firing line. The runestone is also mounted on a high pedestal that is vulnerable to tank fire; it’s not clear if bringing the pedestal down would destroy the runestone but it certainly looks very fragile.

Since Bright Moon’s champions are still in the armoury choosing their weapons, the Horde army is free to position their tanks as artillery pieces and fire at will, primarily at the runestone but also taking some shots at the fortress and neighbouring area, presumably to pin down any defenders that might emerge.

So far everything is looking great for Catra: Bright Moon has no ranged weapons that can counter her tanks, defenders would need to make a suicidal charge across the ford against overwhelming firepower to get close enough to do any damage, she has fast moving hover skiffs to intercept and mop up any enemy forces that attempt to encircle her position, and she can send heavily armoured robots across the river to attack the fortress while holding back her precious infantry for safety.

Response

Adora’s response is brutally direct: she transforms into She-Ra and with her terrifying strength begins to simply tear the tanks apart. But Catra is expecting this and has prepared a surprise: the lead tanks have no occupants and are booby-trapped to explode, blasting She-Ra back and stunning her while the Horde continues their pounding attack on the runestone.

A single champion, no matter how strong, cannot defeat an army! However, She-Ra can still do devastating damage with her sword beams, so Catra moves to the next stage of her plan by luring her away into a one on one fight, and Adora, still disoriented, gives chase.

Duel

Catra can hold her own against Adora but is utterly outclassed by She-Ra in a rage, who can smash boulders to fragments with her fists. However she isn’t in her right mind: dazed by the bomb, terrified of failure, and Catra cunningly exploits this, using acrobatics and taking advantage of the terrain to stay out of range of her attacks while constantly goading her to distraction.

It’s a risky ploy as Catra’s command is vital to the success of the Horde assault and She-Ra comes close to destroying her, but ultimately her gambit works: the duel takes She-Ra away from the main assault for long enough that the combined assault by tanks and robots can incapacitate the queen, leaving the runestone unprotected and vulnerable to complete destruction.

It’s Personal

She-Ra’s big mistake was allowing Catra to make it personal and forgetting that her objective was to protect the runestone. In the heat and pain of battle her focus narrowed to the point that she lost her grasp of strategy and latched on to the one familiar thing, and Catra exploited this to the full.

However, Catra also made a crucial mistake in her planning that may have hinged on her unresolved emotional entanglements: she sent all of her forces to Bright Moon and none to the other kingdoms. Was she really betting on them staying put? Or was she so determined to beat Adora specifically that she compromised her strategy by throwing her entire army at her and holding nothing back. Even sending a small raiding force against the nearby kingdoms would have kept them pinned down and unable to assist Bright Moon, and cost her almost nothing, but it seems that her focus on Adora as the primary threat left her blinkered to possibility of the Princess Alliance living up to its name.

The Tide Turns

Yes, the tide literally turns, and Catra belatedly realises the risks of fighting over a shallow estuary against an enemy that can control the sea when Mermista shows up riding her own personal tsunami.

The gaps in Catra’s strategy become even more evident when they are attacked from behind by Perfuma emerging from the woods, trapping the Horde forces between angry plants and angry water, while the snow princess fires ice crystals and Bow and Swift Wind rain destruction down from above.

This would all be moot if the runestone was destroyed, but the display of solidarity and realisation that she’s not alone gives She-Ra the power to restore Queen Angella and amplify the power of the runestone, supercharging Glimmer’s frankly terrifying teleportation powers, and blasting Catra out of the picture.

With this the battle is over, and the Horde forces that remain take advantage of their mobility to get the heck out of there and retreat to the Fright Zone.

Outcome

A victory for Bright Moon! But a sobering one, they were badly unprepared and almost lost the war as a result. Reforming the Princess Alliance and demonstrating the ability to mount a joint defence is a vital first step, but they will need to do a lot better than this in order to win, and the Horde will be back.

A defeat for the Horde, and for Catra, but Hordak is wise enough to agree with her that it was a damn good showing for a first attempt, and there will definitely be a second.

[fleckcmscott]

Things Past

Summary: Arthur shares a childhood memory with Y/N. She sees it differently than he does.

Warnings: Mild angst

Words: 2,645

A/N: This was an anonymous request! Thank you for sending it to me - it was a real challenge. A big thanks to Karen, too. Not just for beta-ing, but for helping with the basis of the memory in question. (I had an idea but hers was much better.) 

If you have any thoughts or questions, please comment, feel free to message me, or send me an ask. Requests for Arthur and WWH are open!

Y/N was clad in her robe and brushing her teeth when Arthur entered the bathroom, flashed her a half-smile, and sat on the side of the tub. A mix of nicotine and cologne hung in the air. He must have smoked half a pack if he was trying to cover up the scent. The flexing of his bare toes on the dark tile floor, and the nibbling of his thumbnail caught her eye in the mirror. Once she rinsed, she grabbed a piece of floss and sat next to him, situating herself so they were hip to hip.

They were fast approaching five years together. Arthur and she still found respite in each other's presence. In shared warmth, not only in the familiarity of their affection, but also in the meeting of lips and bodies during lovemaking and otherwise. And in their companionable silences, which continued to hold a tacit acknowledgment that he could tell her whatever he needed, whether he uttered a simple word or two, or the rare paragraph.

Arthur appeared to be somewhere in the middle of that range of need now. It was evident in the tightness of his back as she put her palm on it. Rubbing gently, fingertips tracing his spine, she sought to bring him out. Like she had back when he'd sat on her sofa with his journal, a stand-up fresh off his first performance. The morning she'd realized she'd fallen in love with him.

His sigh let her know her attention was working. "Dr. Ludlow wants to talk about when I was a kid," he murmured. "I won't know what to say. I barely remember anything."

The subject of his childhood was seldom discussed. Even after his mother had passed away last spring; he'd been silent when they'd picked-up her belongings at the home. (He'd thrown out everything besides the periodic letters and photos Y/N had sent, stating "I like reading I make you happy.") They had never gone over the details in the Arkham file. He'd told her he hadn't and wouldn't look at all of it. He'd seen the headlines, scanned the psychiatric interview, touched the adoption certificate. That had been enough.

While he'd guessed she'd looked at Penny's records, she hadn't disclosed that she'd eventually read all it contained. Had learned the details of his neglect and abuse. Had seen the photos of his emaciated, bruised body. Her throat constricted as they flashed in her mind's eye. It was a mercy he wasn't aware of everything that had occurred. Even if his unconscious knew.

Of course, if he asked her, she'd answer any questions he had. Tell him all of it. But she didn't want to burden him. Or for him to feel shame, an unwarranted reaction her experience reading family cases had taught her was common. The two of them would keep doing what they always had: deal with the residual effects of his past, the symptoms of his illnesses together, as best they could. And for what she couldn't help with, he had his doctor and his journal.

"You can say whatever you want." Y/N bunched up the floss and tossed it towards the trash can under the sink, groaning as it bounced off the rim and back at them. "You could bring back some classic parts of your act. The one about how you hated school," she said, nudging his side. "And how the other kids were too unsophisticated to see what a sweet, funny boy you were."

He retrieved the plastic thread and stood up, threw it away. At his scoff, she realized her attempt to lighten his load hadn't worked. "That was, what? Over thirty years ago?" Then he turned to her, his thumb stuck in the waistband of his pajamas. "We have our life now. Why should it matter?"

Reluctance to admit one's past affected the present was understandable. She'd denied it to herself when she'd first moved to Gotham. Burying herself in her work had been enjoyable. And it had had the convenient side effect of allowing her to avoid processing the ways caretaking had changed her. Starting a relationship with Arthur had forced her to stop and take a breath, to examine its impact. It had done her good. She was certain it would him, too.

"Arthur." He took her proffered hand without pause and stepped to her automatically. She pressed her mouth above his navel, laid her cheek against the warm skin of his belly. "I'll be right here for you." The caress to her hair was featherlight and her hold on him tightened. "You've put so much work into yourself. This is difficult but you can do it."

Bending to her, he kissed the top of her head. "Go to bed. I don't wanna keep you up."

"It's all right if you do. I happen to like your company." At last, she succeeded in getting a chuckle out of him and a playful swat to her thigh. But he withdrew and wished her good night. Heading into their bedroom, she heard the click of the lamp in the living room, the opening of the door to the fire escape. He'd be outside for some time, she assumed. Quickly, she got one of his sweaters and brought it out to him. Though he raised a brow at her, his eyes were full of fondness. She slung the wool shirt over his shoulder and pecked his jaw before taking her leave.

~~~~~

Occasionally, Arthur would call her office before leaving for an appointment. He'd never say he was thinking of skipping a session. That he was having doubts they were working at all. That tough days were infrequent yet harsh. His flat tone and pauses clued her in, though. He'd been calm when he called today, and she'd kidded with him until his mood had buoyed and he'd said he was going. Promising a date night, if he felt up to it, had helped.

Currently, Y/N was in line at Marchetti's waiting for take-out. Wanting to catch-up on the evening news, she grabbed a Gotham Journal from the newsstand. Since the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne in a robbery six months ago, Gotham's malfeasance appeared to have gotten worse. Reports of small businesses being cited for minor code violations, while establishments run by people with the right name and enough money were left to their own devices, flourished. Construction strikes had become more frequent, which she would normally support. But they had a way of ending as soon as the city placed a higher bid. The chief of police had been photographed hobnobbing with a crime boss, but the mayor had taken no action.

On top of it all, the Wayne Foundation, that thorn in her side, was drawing back many of the initiatives it had begun after increasingly austere program cuts. Including services at that damned medical center in Otisburg. They couldn't run out of funds, the board claimed. With the continuously sluggish economy, returns on their investments weren't what they used to be. The organization needed to ensure the Wayne's son would be taken care of.

Y/N didn't buy those excuses. She had nothing against the boy - she couldn't imagine losing her parents at such a young age. But how many mansions, gazebos, and toys did a child need? The skeptical part of her, the one that always suspected an angle, wondered if the increase in the city's corruption and the Wayne Foundations machinations were related...

Stop it, Y/N. Quickly, she shoved the paper back in its spinning rack. If she thought about it too much, she'd find a way to stumble into an investigation she couldn't ignore. While she'd be ready for one and relish it, she didn't want to focus on that tonight.

Their order was ready in about twenty minutes. Arthur and she had gotten into the habit of getting two individual pizzas, borne of his limited willingness to experiment with toppings. Normally, he was happy to take her recommendations, but he insisted cheese was just as good as any other kind and liked to have it to fall back on. She'd gotten Hawaiian for herself. If he was in the mood to eat, she was sure they'd split them.

Happy notes from the Sinatra live album she'd gifted him for his most recent birthday hit her as she opened the apartment door.  It was a pleasant surprise. Arthur only listened to the LP when he was doing all right. (It had prompted him to tell her of his wish to go see him in concert together, and he didn't want to taint that with negative thoughts.)

Upon peeking around the corner from the kitchen, she spotted Arthur in his writing nook, scribbling hurriedly and tapping his feet to the beat. He was obviously engrossed, but she didn't think he'd mind if she interrupted. Soon she approached his desk, plates in hand. "Knock, knock."

A gentle snort as he put down his pen, "Who's there?"

"Delivery service." She propped her hip against the edge of his desk, and placed the food next to his journal, along with a paper towel. "You owe me a tip."

"I do, don't I?" He angled his head up and pulled her in for a quick kiss. "Thanks. I've only had coffee since this morning. Just been working on my material." Swallowing, he flipped back a page in his notebook. "How did the little boy learn to get home?" His green eyes met hers, a hiccup of laughter in his throat. He allowed about three seconds before giving her the punchline. "Step by step by step by step."

Her features softened and her grin drifted away as she absorbed what he'd jotted. In the past, his act had contained references to his childhood. References which could have been based on recollections, figments, or both. This was an observation in joke form, as his jests tended to be. "That's clever." She reached to brush a chestnut wave from his forehead, deciding to ask what she'd been curious about since she got in. "I'm glad you're doing so well. I take it therapy went better than expected?"

Nodding, he gave her a tight-lipped smiled, dimples on display. "Mhm." She moved to sit more fully on his desk, straightening as she secured her paper towel to the neckline of her blouse. They munched quietly, glancing between their slices and each other. It was clear he wanted to tell her more. After he finished his first bites, he shifted in his chair. "I remembered something nice."

A weight rolled off her shoulders, and the corners of her mouth turned up. "That's wonderful."

"Yeah." His teeth worried his thin bottom lip, his gaze going to his plate. "I was at school late - maybe I got in trouble for laughing. Penny was supposed to get me. But I think she forgot, so I had to walk home... It was dark. I hadn't gone that far by myself."

With every word he spoke, Y/N's elation ebbed, replaced by sympathy. But she didn't stop him. "The next day was the same. My mother wasn't there." He still switched back and forth between her name and that title, though he used the latter less and less. "I buttoned my coat and tied my shoes on my own." The satisfaction reflected in his expression contrasted with the pain welling in her. "The steps were icy, but I didn't fall once."

A hitched chuckle left him. "Penny stared at me when she finally answered the door. She couldn't believe I remembered the way home. Then she picked me up." His eyelids fluttered. And the beam on his face was blinding. "She said I was a good boy and told me I was big enough to walk home from then on. She gave me a quarter for a movie." His voice became small, as small as the boy in the story. "I think she was proud of me."

Y/N kept her stare fixed to the floor. Her chewing had slowed, then halted completely. A question nagged at her, even as she assumed the answer would hurt. "How old were you?"

A slight shrug in the corner of her eye. "Six? Seven?"

It shouldn't have stunned her that what he'd introduced as "nice" was to the contrary. But she was gutted. The implications behind it tightened her chest. Was it the last time his mother had held him? Had he gone to the damned movie theater alone, too? Why the hell had the city given him back to Penny?

She'd spent a lot of effort helping him learn that it was okay to be angry and upset sometimes. That he didn't have to lie to her about how he felt. That he didn't have to hide if things were too much for him or he had a bad day. And here she was, doing her best to paste on a smile for him. The difference, she supposed, was that it was to protect him. Not to lie to herself.

She didn't want him to have an inkling regarding the tumult she'd experienced in the last five minutes. That this memory wasn't ideal. Telling him how to feel about it would be crossing the line from honesty into cruelty. There had to be a truth in this she could be happy about. And following some pondering, she found one. He had so few memories from his youth. She supposed he'd been fortunate to retrieve one he considered positive, even though it broke her heart.

She permitted herself to sniff once, blinked a few times at the carpet, and looked to him. "I'm glad you have that to hold onto." Thank god she'd managed to keep her voice from wavering. She distracted herself by squeezing his hand, then brought his knuckles to her lips. "You deserve it."

After a sharp exhale, Arthur moved his palm to hold her shoulder and drew her to him. "You know how you needed me to get into NCB studios? To do your job?"

Twisting to put her plate on the desk, she couldn't stop her giggle. It hadn't been her job - it had been the opposite, frankly. "Of course."

"You're like that for me when it's hard." It was a simple comparison, but she thought it was one of the most beautiful she'd ever heard. She pushed her lips to his, titling her head to deepen the connection and cup his cheeks.

He loosened himself from her grip and grabbed the paper towel she'd tucked into her shirt. Laughing, he tried to wipe away the grease she'd gotten on his face. Y/N plucked the napkin from him and weaved her fingers into his silky hair, imploring him not to care. She looked down at him, unable to stop a smile from forming.

Damn, she was a lucky woman. How did he manage to cheer her, even with the ache lingering in her breast? She'd have to be extra sweet to him in the upcoming days. Hug him tighter, longer, until he pushed her off and shook his head with a smirk before pulling her back in again. It would soothe her, allow her to deal with the mixed emotions she felt at his recollection. Ensure his joyful mood stuck around and make him happy.

She'd start tonight. "We can skip Gotham News and watch whatever you want." She tapped his chest. "You pick."  

"I like watching the news with you." He grinned, then. "But I rented a movie. A comedy from the thirties. There's dancing."

Comedies were much more his cup of tea than hers. But she'd watch anything to sit next to him, to see joy in his eyes, to hold and be held by him. She nuzzled at him and kissed his cheek. "I'm sure we'll love it."

~~~~~

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[ajokeformur-ray]

To be caught before you fall // Lilith x J // soft comfort.

 Summary: You feel like you’re drowning. Nothing makes sense anymore. You’re just… barely staying afloat in the rocky waters of your mind. Lost in the darkness of yourself and unsure of your way, there is one constant you can count on. Just one. Your J. A joker he may be but nothing is more serious to him than the happiness and well being of his hyena.

Written for my angel and my love @jokershyena​.  I’m so sorry you’re hurting. I’m here for you, we all are; and we all love you. 💚💜💚💜 J refers to himself as ‘daddy’ in this piece because it’s personalised. The things I do for you, Lilith 😂

He’s so fucking cute with that lil’ eyebrow lift I wanna squish his cheeks in my haaaaaaands ~ 🥺

Word count: 2, 096.

Oh, but you were so tired.

You weren’t living. Not really. You were just... existing from one day to the next. Time had lost all meaning to you. Nothing mattered anymore and there were very few things, if any, which ignited your soul and made you feel alive. You woke up every day feeling as if you hadn’t slept, as if you were running on empty, as if you had lost before you had even begun. Nightmares and sleep paralysis plagued you and often did you jolt awake in a cold sweat, demons and other visual horrors in your peripheral vision as you desperately tried to ground yourself back to reality. Every day was exactly the same as the one before it and though you tried to live in the moment, to fully be present in your life, it never took you long before you tapped back out.

Reality just didn’t interest you anymore.

You lay beneath the covers of your bed, staring at the blue walls which surrounded you. You didn’t want to be here. You really didn’t want to be here. You were just... what was the point? You felt like shit all of the time. You always had to wear some kind of mask; to say that you were okay when you weren’t, to pretend to do or to be someone who you weren’t... you were sick of it. You were sick and tired of being the way that you were. You sighed, the noise loud in the silence of the room. The silence was thunderous and it rang in your ears. J wasn’t home, clearly. If he was, you would have been able to hear him, so loud and so obnoxious with making his presence known was he. “I just want to be happy... is that really so much to ask?” You spoke aloud, though you knew that no one was there to listen, and your voice was thick with the weight of unexpressed emotions. God, you were tired.

There was a mocking coo from the doorway and you jumped, your heart pounding in your head even as you looked over from where the noise came from. J was an imposing figure; six foot even with his head tilted so far down that his painted ear was brushing along the tops of his shoulders. His jaw was set, his face expressionless, but his eyes.... oh, but they were bottomless depths made of the finest chocolate, and they were... calculating. J had been keeping an eye on you, protective was he of his possessions, and he didn’t like what he saw. You weren’t sleeping. You were barely eating; asking for your body to rely only on Monsters before you had inevitably gotten sick. Indeed could he see that your eyes were rimmed red with tears already shed, your cheeks no doubt sticky with those still drying, and he knew that you had more yet to come. You were letting yourself waste away, not wanting to live but not wanting to die, either.

You just wanted... more. For yourself, of yourself. You really and truly wanted to be happy, to be really happy. To not have to worry all the time. To not be insecure or sad all the time. To not want to simply fade out of existence all the time. You just wanted to be, and to be happy within that state which others seemed to take for granted. You wanted something which was just for you, something which was innate and something which couldn’t be taken away. You wanted to feel blood pumping through your veins, you wanted to feel alive, to have your soul ignited, your bones set ablaze with something which made you feel like life itself was worth holding onto. You swiped an impatient hand over your face, to rid yourself of the last of the tears, but even the way you wiped them away annoyed J; weren’t you ever patient with yourself?

He knew the answer instinctively, like it was some long buried truth which he had accepted long ago without ever truly having to really face it:

No.

No, you weren’t.

You were unbearably hard on yourself. You struggled more than anyone should ever have to struggle and you did all of it alone. Rarely did you open up fully to people and used were  you to doing things by yourself. J knew all of this, he had seen it every day for the last twelve years and though he only ever intervened when it was serious, respectful was he of the fact that you were your own person, J decided there and there that enough was enough. He could see as plain as day that you were beyond your limits right now, and you needed for J to put his anger away at the way that the world was treating you and to simply be there for you. J pushed away from the door and tugged his gloves off, tossing them unceremoniously onto the floor. You were always his greatest priority and you deserved to be met with the same level of vulnerability. As his gloves hit the floor so too did his reputation. He was your J now, not the one that Gotham knew. Yours. And he always would be.

“All right, shush - “ J’s tone was rough as he approached your bedside. “Come here, babydoll. Daddy’s got’cha.” J’s bare hand reached out and grabbed the corner of the duvet. He harshly tugged it from your grip and then vaulted over your body to get to the other side of the bed, making a show of bouncing around and getting comfortable. You felt a large spike of irritation and grumbled at him but J only laughed. He adored the bite his Hyena displayed when she was agitated. There was some fight in you after all, and he liked that. J liked to show you who you were as often as he could, doing things to deliberately annoy you just so that he could see that spark in you which had long since left your gorgeous dark brown eyes. He never made a habit of it, though, and it was a tactic which was saved for when J most needed it.

As J’s arms came around you and he pulled you securely into his side, you realised that you had been after a rock. You had been looking for something to rely on, something which was just for you. Something which was capable of reaching into the murky and rocky depths of your tried and tired psyche and pulling you up, until your head broke above the choppy waters so that you could breathe again. J was that rock for you, so well did he know you that effortlessly did he catch your every fall, most often before you even felt the alluring tug of gravity. Oh, but giving in to all that you were thinking and feeling would be so easy... You moved so that you could rest your head over the space of J’s chest where his heart would be and J slackened his grip so that you could fully get comfortable without his vice like grip, a safe cage was his embrace. The steady and regular beating of his heart, the very muscle which kept him alive, kept him safe and kept him yours, echoed within your ear and sunk deep into your mind, caressing your weary soul and chasing away your demons with the light that it shed upon you.

J ducked his head and pressed a heavy, sloppy kiss to the top of your head and he pulled away with an exaggerated mwah, just to make you smile. His tender affections, unusual though they were, told you that J knew how you were feeling and he wanted to alleviate them as much as he could. He had had to learn about affection and what was right for you and any given situation, and sometimes he was even analytical in the approach that he chose; it all depended on what you needed at any given moment. You only fell deeper in love with your clown as once more did he catch your fall even before you fully registered that you had slipped off the precipice in your mind. So intuitive was he that he knew exactly what to say even before you told him what was bothering you. 

J never stopped watching you, keeping an eye on you. A joker he may be but nothing was as serious to him as looking after you. “Listen, ah - I’m not great with this comforting thing, but - it ain’t easy, havin’ what’cha have and doin’ what’cha do, Lil. People’ll say that they’re there for ya but when the goin’ gets rough, they leave. And you - you’re strong, doll. You got-ta lot of fight in you, and I like that.But ya’ exhausted, hm? Ya’ doin’ ya’ best and ya’ think that I don’t see what’cha doin’ to yourself. I want’cha to take better care o’ya’self, hm? Be-cause, ah - you’re mine and ya’ gotta take care of you, hm?” J kept his voice low, soothing, a large hand with his fingers fully splayed tracing up and down your back in fluid, solid motions, avoiding all those areas you couldn’t or wouldn’t tolerate being touched for reasons neither of you needed to be spoken out loud. How could one ever forget?

“Thank you, Jack.” J’s breath caught in his throat and his fingers flexed upon your back, a natural reaction to hearing his name, his real name, used only in serious situations, but his full lips pressed another loving kiss to the top of your head. You had only said three words, but J had listened to all the things you didn’t say, and it was these words which he addressed with his kiss. Unsatisfied were you, however, and you angled your head up, up, needing this affirmation of your love, and J hummed as your lips found his. You tasted of monster, of the half a bagel you had eaten earlier, and you also tasted of you, and J smiled against your lips. It was a small, barely noticeable quirk of his lips, but it was there all the same and you only pressed yourself tighter into J, wanting to sink into all that he was and all that he would ever be. You had been looking for a rock, not knowing that the entire time had you had one already there and waiting for you to realise this very thing. J was your one constant, your one companion. You had learned about him over the long, hard twelve years that you had known about each other, and you knew who J was. You knew what he was about and the things he had done. You knew everything that there was to know about J and you loved him anyway. You loved him so deeply and so tenderly that sometimes it left you breathless... J was the rock you had been looking for the entire time. 

Similarly, J knew everything about you. Your mental illnesses, your addiction to Monster and your love for animals which others shunned for one reason or another. Your loud laughter which he adored. The way that you thrived in chaos.  Always were your waters rocky, untamed and angry, aggressive. Unchecked. Left alone and unattended. Your soul was a gentle one, it was warm and loving and bright but it had been ravaged by the harsh realities of life and there was little which you could do to stop yourself from submerging beneath your own depths daily. Despite and perhaps even because of all of this, however, J loved you in his own way. You were his Hyena, his Lilith, his night monster, his guard hyena, his One, and he would love you through it all.

You still felt like you were drowning as you pulled away from J’s lips and nuzzled back into his chest but this time... this time you knew that you would survive. You had survived everything up to this point in your life, and you would survive the coming days, too. You were a fighter and though J wished that you didn’t have to fight quite so hard, he was pleased with you. You were his pride and joy, his love, and never would he allow you to question that. You were his and he was yours and together would the hyena and her clown face the world and stand tall.

Together.

[fair-dinkum-mechanic]

I’m gonna put this here because I’ve sat on it for far too long, and for what? To protect someone who absolutely has not and will not do the same for me? 

If any of you remember me, you’ll remember I was in a long term relationship that was very publicly spoken about when I was active on my Tumblr. Over a year ago now, that ended, as was way overdue. My own issues and insecurities clouded my judgement and made me desperately want to cling to something that was so unhealthy, toxic, and borderline abusive. And I haven’t wanted to say those words because I’ve felt like it’s overdramatic or a complete fabrication of my mind. It’s not, though. It never was. 

Things were fine at the start, really good. Gradually, though, things became all about what he wanted and while he said he would never, ever make me choose between him and other things in my life that is EXACTLY what he ended up doing. He wanted honesty, he wanted open communication, something which I agreed with and carried out. If something uncomfortable was happening, I would speak up and tell him straight up. When my mum said she wanted us to break up, I told him that’s what was said. I didn’t tell him the reason, though. I didn’t tell him it was because my friends, and friends parents, had told her they were worried about the relationship because of angry and aggressive behaviour they had seen him display. They were worried about things that I had said in passing, not even meaning to suggest there was an issue. 

I witnessed violence and anger for the entire 6 year period I was in my relationship. I witnessed shouting, objects being thrown at the floor, at the walls, at animals, at other people’s property. Animals were hit, kicked, thrown. I didn’t want to admit it, because I didn’t want to have the anger directed at me, but I was scared. I was terrified. I was honestly, really, really afraid. What did I do, though? I never said “it’s okay” I made a point to never say those words, because it wasn’t. I still provided comfort, though. I still went along and pretended it never happened. 

I was by no means an angel in the relationship, though. I made my fair share of horrible mistakes. I cheated. I was closed off many times. Sometimes I could’ve compromised more, but didn’t. And while those are all horrible things that never should’ve happened, I can see why and how they happened. One of the factors being that I was young and it was my first relationship, and I’ve learned through those mistakes. I was open and spoke about these issues and we worked through them together, and I actively worked hard to make amends and ensure they wouldn’t happen again. I thought that was cool, but apparently it wasn’t. Anytime anything would go wrong, those mistakes and issues were brought up as if they hadn’t been resolved. As if the words “It’s okay, I promise” were never spoken. ANY transgression I made in that relationship was filed away and catalogued for whenever he needed to ensure I was at fault. Whenever he wanted something, or didn’t want to take accountability, SOME mistake I made was brought up and used as the sole reason anything went wrong. 

This is the abuse. Already in a fragile place, with undiagnosed BPD which was causing so many issues, none of us knowing why, especially me at the time, he twisted and guilted me into truly believing I was demanding, controlling, manipulative, and annoying. All of which I believed and all of which made my mental state spiral further and further down, which in turn exacerbated the issues giving him more fuel to use against me if he ever needed. 

Never ONCE was an issue brought to my attention. Not ONCE did he approach me before punishing me for a perceived slight against him. 

Which brought us to the breakup. I was crushed. After years and years of this, I truly believed that if he left nobody else would ever love me again. Part of me is still trying to let that belief go, it’s so deeply ingrained. When all became hopeless I just needed an escape. I didn’t exactly want to die, but I just wanted to pain to stop. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I ended up in hospital 4 times. The first time, my best friend rang him up and he snapped at her, telling her “I can’t deal with this, you deal with it I’m at work” to which her sister screamed “YOU FUCKING DEAL WITH IT YOU FUCKING CHILD” 

Unfortunately, this only further enabled him to create this “manipulative, toxic, controlling ex” narrative that he had decided was the best way to deflect responsibility. I had to be placed into a healthcare facility for 2 weeks, with limited visiting, compulsory checks every hour, and strict routines. DURING MY STAY HERE this man had begun spreading the idea that I was doing all of this to guilt him into staying with me. That I had ridden in an ambulance twice, been taken away from everything I know and love for longer than I ever had, to encourage my abuse to continue. 

What made it worse for me was that... some of my very close friends believed it. I don’t know why, or how, and it still hurts and haunts me because I had tried to explain how I was feeling to them, but it didn’t matter. I’d already become a villain in their minds. Even writing this all out I feel like “maybe I’m lying to myself?” or “is this just a way for me to manipulate the situation?”, but i KNOW that’s not true, because people who do those things don’t CARE if they’re doing it, and I care immensely. I don’t WANT to manipulate, I don’t WANT to lie. I just want the fucking truth and for accountability to be taken. I’ve taken accountability for all of my actions, no matter how ugly they were. I did it. End of story. It’s not good, there’s no excuse, and I need to work at regaining trust and never doing those things again, that’s on me and no one else. 

If there’s one thing I’ve been able to do later in life, it’s stay true to my values. For a while, I was made to feel dirty, wrong, and selfish for it. Because I didn’t ‘feel’ the correct way or I didn’t have the ‘correct love language’. 

If I didn’t express the emotion he wanted from me, or say the things he wanted me to say, he would silently try and manipulate those reactions from me. To which I never obliged. I don’t operate that way. I very much need someone to speak up and be direct with what they want from me. If it’s within my values and ability, and if I WANT to, I will do that. I won’t say “It’s going to be okay :)” if I can’t promise that! If I don’t genuinely believe that it will be! I won’t lie! 

There’s so much wrong with what happened last year, and I have born the brunt of other people’s selfish, inconsiderate, and unfortunately misguided views, and at the end of the day I can only control my own actions. 

What I know to be true: I genuinely like people, and I want to help them smile and laugh, and love themselves. I care deeply for many things, and I love very deeply. - these are all true and they will not change. 

What I also know to be true: I didn’t ask for the mental and emotional abuse, but it is up to me to recover and grow from it. I cannot control how others act or what others believe. I can only hold on to what I know is true. Anger, and accusations, I cannot control, unless they are my own.  I just ask, please, please, do not believe that everyone is who they portray themselves as online. Most abusive people that I have seen in my life have blogs, feeds, and profiles that are full of positivity, activism, good causes, humour, and cute pictures. Please. As someone who has suffered through this, and continues to try his best to recover and become a whole, healthy person again, please don’t buy into it.  There’s so much more to say but I’ve rambled on enough. I’m just hoping things get better and that the future is brighter for everyone. I am working so hard to better myself, and I have come so so far in only a year. I drive now, I have kept up my gym habit with one of my very best friends, I’m going through weekly DBT, I work in new places with fun new people that I get to meet and experience new things with, and I am slowly relearning my worth as a person, and as a potential partner. 

At the end of the day, no matter how I was wronged, and how I was manipulated and portrayed, I am so, SO much better off without him in my life and I do not miss him at all. I can do so much better, and I will do so much better. I’m lonely, but I’m wlling to be lonely until the right one comes along. I will not settle for second best again. And that’s what he was. 

[kumkaniudaku]

Scene Partner

A/N: This is HEAVILY inspired by the incomparable @justanotherloveaffair and her work. Particularly The Fountain and A Late Night Invitation. Both have strong adult content, so read at your own discretion. Enjoy. 

Warning: Adult Themes 

“The category is...live, work, pose!”

Tasha let off an elated giggle that bounced off the walls of the living room as she made herself comfortable beneath her favorite throw blanket. After hours of tinkering with the television in the rented Hilton Head townhome, she was finally able to commence a rewatch of her favorite series to keep her mind occupied while her husband worked on his script on the balcony.

In the weeks leading up to the wedding, Chadwick was on a mission to complete an initial draft of a script he’d been pouring over for months. An explosion of pent-up frustration in the dead of night led CoCo to call an audible and orchestrate a short vacation before another expensive vase was destroyed.

While Tasha spent time inside sipping red wine and reciting lines from Pose, Chadwick stared out at the sunset’s reflection on the aquamarine waters a few feet away. Though he finally felt relaxed enough to be productive, he was still stuck on a pivotal scene in the script. At the height of the conflict between the male lead and his written girlfriend, the actions didn’t feel authentic. Each word lacked passion and motivation on the page and Chadwick knew that if he found it difficult to connect to the characters, viewers would quickly lose interest in the story.

A boisterous ‘yasssss’ from the other room made him look over and smile. Observing his wife-to-be in a true state of happiness at something as small as a television show had recently become the driving force behind his desire to succeed. The mere promise of coming home to her at the end of a long day made all of the trials and triumphs worth the trouble. Taking a look between his laptop screen and CoCo, he made the decision to pack up his things and take a break.

Grabbing his script, Chadwick quietly padded into the living room and cleared his throat to get Tasha’s attention. She quickly lowered the volume on the TV at turned to greet him with a smile.

“Hey, baby! Make any progress?”

“Eh, a little,” he answered, grunting as he took a seat next to her on the couch. “I’m stuck on this scene toward the beginning. Right after Chris gets out of jail.”

“Well, come on over here and tell me all about it.”

Chadwick couldn’t help but crack a smile at his wife making grabbing motions like a toddler to welcome him into her arms. Relenting to the cute display of affection, he allowed her to pull him close enough to rest his head on her chest.

“It just...there’s no feeling in the words, ya know. He finally gets out of jail after ten years, gets back to his childhood love and she offers no resistance. Amayah is supposed to be this strong woman that has learned to parent a child after he selfishly gets locked up, and the moment he comes back, she’s all ears? It doesn’t seem real. Am I tripping?”

“No, you’re making valid observations. Have you talked to your partners about changing things?”

“They hear me, but they aren’t on board.”

Tasha thought for a moment and shrugged, “So, let's act it out. If what they wrote is something actual people would do, then it should translate as we go along, right?”

Sitting up, Chadwick beamed at his fiancé before peppering her face in kisses. “That’s brilliant! I can’t believe I’m about to marry a genius.”

“Didn’t you luck out,” she laughed. “Now go grab the script! Give me some background on Amayah. She sounds spicy.”

“Amayah is an Afro Dominican woman from Brooklyn. A nurse by trade, she parents her 10-year-old alone the best she can. Consider her a bit of a firecracker with a soft inside.”

“Sounds like the official synopsis you find on Wikipedia.”

“It is,” Chadwick confirmed as he handed Tasha the script and pointed to the top of the selected page. “You sure you aren’t getting information through an earpiece?”

“I’m just that good, love.”

Rolling his eyes, Chadwick motioned toward the kitchen for Tasha to join him. He watched in silence for a few moments while she skimmed the script for a general feel of the scene. As she neared the middle of the page, she stopped and pulled her hair free from her bun. Her once sleek style quickly transformed into a more dynamic and free look. She was morphing into the character Chadwick envisioned from the start.

“Okay,” she breathed out as she shook her hands to figuratively shake away the nerves. “I’m ready. From the top?”

“Start after Chris walks in. Take your time. Feel every word.”

Tasha took in the information with her eyes closed in an effort to channel her emotions. After a quick ‘okay’ to signal she was ready, Chadwick set up the audio recording on his phone and prepared to begin.

“Fuck, Mayah, can we sit down and talk about the shit?”

“We don’t have nothin’ to talk about, Chris!” Chadwick was shocked by Tasha’s ability to change her voice so effectively, adding an authentic accent to the character. As much as he wanted to step in and praise her, he held back for the sake of the work.

“You don’t get to be selfish for ten fuckin’ years and come back thinking shit is okay! Get. Out.”

Noticing the slight deviation, Chadwick followed Tasha’s lead and changed his line to fit the situation.

“Selfish? You - you think I wanted to be in there?”

“You weren’t doing anything to stay out! How many times did I ask you to come home? Huh! I stood right here and begged you to stay inside but you chose them over me. Over us! That’s selfish!”

“That’s taking care of a family! That’s what a man is supposed to do.”

“I never asked you to do that!” Tasha’s display of emotion injected the right amount of realism to transform the moment into a real-life situation. Abandoning the script altogether, Chadwick rounded the counter to stand closer to Tasha.

A quick flash in his eyes conveyed to Tasha that she was on the right track and had free range to continue.

“The only thing I’ve ever wanted is for you to be at home with me and Marco! And you couldn’t even do that.”

“I’m here now, Mayah! Let me be here for you.”

Following her gut, Tasha turned her head to avoid eye contact, “No. It’s too late.”

“Look at me, baby. Let me be here. Please.” He gently tugged at her crossed arms to turn her body toward his. “Let me be here.”

“No. You have to leave.”

Just as it was written in the script, Chadwick leaned into a kiss hoping that the results on paper would be different than the results in the moment. But, as soon as their lips collided, both of them became charged with their character’s emotions.

Tasha attempted to resist the temptation, continuing to withhold affection after several tender pecks on the corner of her mouth. Her body twisted out of his grasp to lean against the kitchen counter and anchor her mind to reality.

Chadwick acted on her reactions by kissing the tears from her cheek before moving to stand behind her.

“I need you to let me be here.” A kiss to the back of her neck. “I love you. Please. I can change. Give me a chance to explain.”

“You’ve had all of your chances. What’s so different this time?” Amayah and Tasha had now become one woman, both battling with past choices and chances given to those that didn’t deserve them at the time.

Silent tears fell from her flushed face to hit the back of her hand and Chadwick wondered if he was pushing the love of his life past her limits. Acting was his occupation. He knew how to separate fact from fiction. Trusting her ability to speak up when she reached her breaking point, he allowed her to continue with careful consideration.

“I’m different this time.” His slender fingers traveled up the soft skin of Tasha’s exposed arm, raising goosebumps until he anchored them on her shoulder. Chadwick nuzzled his nose into her neck to force her head up until he could softly kiss the juncture of her neck and collarbone. “I’m different this time.”

Chadwick surprised himself when his declaration came out in a low whisper. The world around them, the sounds of the beach and tourists just outside the door, had long transformed into what they remembered from the busy streets of Brooklyn. Together Chadwick and Tasha were now Chris and Amayah and able to live in the fullness of the moment.

With their faces mere centimeters apart, he pressed his lips into hers cautiously, feeling no resistance. He continued to lead the kiss until he felt the firm press of her lips on his. They both stood in a whirlwind of emotions as timid pecks made way for a deep kiss packed with anger, lust, and love.

Tasha followed what she assumed Amayah would do in the situation and reached around Chadwick to palm the back of his head and bring him closer. He happily responded to the contact and wrapped both arms around her midsection to quell the fear that she might fade away if he didn’t hold on.

The thudding in both of their hearts began to intensify as his hands slid to grip her waist and pulled her body back into the heat of his chest.

Chadwick gently rolled his lower half into Tasha’s backside before breaking the kiss to release a little sigh.

“I love you,” he confessed breathlessly in her ear. The sentiment wasn’t returned despite Tasha’s longing to scream it to the ceiling. She was still acting on Amayah’s emotions.

Instead, she moved her hand to take control of Chadwick’s movements, forcing his head back into the crook of her neck to kiss. He obliged and slowly lifted the hem of her nightie to find the surprise of her being bare underneath. One hand roamed the soft skin of her belly beneath the silk fabric while the other went on a mission to free himself from his cotton gym shorts.

When his lips returned for another taste, he introduced himself to her body in one fluid motion.

“Fuck. Yes,” Tasha belted between shaky breaths.

The script and its dialogue became a distant memory as they traded choppy moans and sighs of content. Low lights in the room created sensual silhouettes on the walls of bodies moving in tandem like a choreographed dance. Tasha searched for anything to grab hold of to keep her body anchored in reality while her fiance poured his entire being into conveying feelings that belonged to two separate people.

Using a firm touch, Chadwick’s hand traveled from her torso to her neck to apply pressure. Tasha’s jaw dropped in ecstasy at the feelings surrounding her. She could feel the rapid pulse of her lover’s dick inside of her making her legs feel like putty by the second. His warm breath alternated between pants of effort against her neck to hungry nips and bites at her lips. When his off hand moved between her lips to fondle her clit, her mind went into a black fog from the intensity.

Tasha’s hand flew back to press against Chadwick’s thighs, hoping that her attempt to slow the onslaught of mind-numbing sensations would convince her lover to give her a breather. Instead, he released a short laugh before nuzzling his nose against her cheek.

“Nuh uh, move your hand,” he commanded as he took her wrist to pin it behind her back. “Why you runnin’?” 

Tasha responded in a high pitch mumble about going slow that he responded to with a smile and a change of pace.

Though he slowed to a more manageable speed, the intensity remained. Long, beautifully punishing strokes made her eyes roll back before fluttering closed in preparation for a wave of euphoria. Colors burst behind her lids as her limbs began to seize in Chadwick’s arms. He held her close and praised her reactions, speeding up his rhythm as he chased his release.

Opening her mouth to respond with an expression of thanks resulted in a muted scream followed by a guttural groan when her body became flooded with warmth. While she focused on coming down from her high, Chadwick was reaching his peak. His short whimpers preceded drawn out moans until he was reduced to periodic panting to catch his breath.

Both of them stayed put, unable to form coherent thoughts from exhaustion. After several moments Tasha let out a laugh and turned her head so that she could kiss Chadwick’s cheek.

“Now you can leave.”

His eyes widened along with his smile, “Woooow. That’s method acting if I’ve ever seen it. Sure you don’t wanna audition? I’d love to have you on set.”

“Yeah, I bet. You treat all your co-stars this way?”

“Only the ones I plan sharing my last name with.” Sharing a laugh, the pair finally pulled apart to help each other clean up and return to their original, pre-coitus state. As Tasha fetched a glass for Chadwick to join her in her wine exploration, he began searching for his cell phone to make notes on the script before his train of thought was compromised.

Unlocking his phone, Chadwick felt a split second of horror at the realization that he had not only recorded the “changes” to the script but also at least ten minutes of sex and conversation. His rush to delete the recording stopped when he curiously pressed play and fast-forwarded to a random point. What he found was a beautiful symphony of passion and filth that could come in handy when work obligations kept them apart.

Still reeling from the earlier activities, Chadwick quickly edited the lewd parts of the recording, saved it to a separate file and stored it in a secret folder on his phone.

“Babe, c’mon! Damon is about to go on his audition!”

“Be there in a second. Keep my spot warm for me.”

Unable to resist the temptation, he took one last listen to the audio and shivered as he relived the moment with his eyes closed. Another call of his name snapped Chadwick out of the moment to remind him of his obligation to join Tasha in the living room but not before he took the time to send a quick text message.

Had a conversation with the wife. You were right about the C+A scene. Very authentic. Minor changes on the way.

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[obsidiancorner]

The Littlest Lion- Chapter 1

ObiYuki Bingo ‘19

The Lions of The Mountain

Pairing: Obi x Shirayuki

Word Count: ~3000

“It is what is best for everyone,” King Izana said as he stood looking out the window of his office, observing the bustle of the castle grounds and the countryside beyond. He turned to face them and, though his words were void of emotion, matter-of-fact but not harsh, there was a hint of sympathy thawing his icy blue eyes. 

Shirayuki had been expecting this for, well, years, when she really thought about it. She had expected it after her trip to her Tanbarun homeland at the beckoning of Prince Raj. She had accepted the possibility of it happening after she, Ryuu, and Obi had created a cure for the mysterious ailment of Lyrias that had been brought on by exposure to the Olin Maris plant. She was downright stunned that two years studying in Lyrias and another two years convincing the nobility of the north that Phostyrias, the Olin Maris plant they had modified to only produce light instead of both light and toxin, was safe and needed to be planted as a natural light source along the roads. 

The fact that it was happening now, a year after her transfer to Wilant Castle to continue working under Ryuu, was akin to a rug being pulled out from under her while she was at the top of one of the castle’s opulent staircases. Every memory passing by in her mind hit her with the force of a marble step as she tumbled down an escalated path years in the making, bruising her at every hit and turn of the road that led them to this moment. 

Why now, the night after Zen’s proposal and the first -now only- time they had slept together, had Izana shown up in Wilant to pry them apart for good?

Shirayuki knew better than to show any hurt to Izana. Her hands fisted in the long fabric of her work coat, obscured from his view, but she kept her face carefully neutral.

Zen huffed angrily beside her crossing his arms across his chest and one ankle over the other knee. He always had behaved like a petulant child when Izana made a decision he didn’t like, but the display was in vain. Izana was a man of calculated consistency. When he had decided something, it was done. 

“Your bride will be arriving tomorrow and you will welcome her with every ounce of chivalry you were raised to show a woman,” Izana continued firmly, looking at Zen with a level of harshness that hadn’t been present before Zen’s display of disgust.

“Shirayuki,” Izana said as he turned his gaze on her. To her surprise, the look was much softer. So soft, it bordered on actual sadness. “To prevent any accidental temptation of Zen, I am mournfully terminating your employment as a royal pharmacist.”

Even though her eyes were wide with shock, her vision went black. “Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you.” She heard herself say, distant like an echo that had trickled down to a valley from a mountain top. Beside her, Zen was silent but the rage he felt rolled off him in heated, undulating waves. 

“Very well. You are both dismissed. I am expected at a lunch meeting in fifteen minutes,” Izana stated, his voice flat. Bored. 

She and Zen both stood to take their leave. Zen, not wanting to spend anymore time on a conversation he found distasteful, stormed out of the room, his white cape fluttering wildly and the door slamming behind him. Shirayuki found herself unable to move, rooted to the spot like the plants in the herb gardens she loved tending to.

As her vision returned from the temporary blackout, the gears of her mind slowly began turning again and questions began to form. Where would she go? How long did she have to gather her personal belongings? What of Obi? 

Obi.

“Your Majesty,” Shirayuki questioned. Her voice was louder and more panicked than she wanted, so she cleared her throat as delicately as a lady of the court would have been expected. She wasn’t going to be losing face now. “One moment, if it pleases you.”

His eyebrow quirked and he opened his hand in front of him. A gesture to sit she gladly accepted. “You’d been silent thus far. I had begun to believe you had lost your spirited, if mildly disrespectful, dismissal of difference in station.”

Shirayuki opened her mouth to answer but the words wouldn’t come. They were piling up at the tip of her tongue. She could feel them. Right there, dancing on the edge but they refused to fall off the precipice. 

“If you are concerned over where you can go, I can gather a list of cities, towns, and provinces in Clarines that would benefit from a talented pharma-”

“No, thank you.” Shirayuki cut him off. If Izana wanted her normal self, his superiority was going to be disregarded in full. “I know exactly where I can go.”

The smirk he gave her was unnerving. He was amused by her interruption, so at least she had successfully managed to get back to her more willful nature. He remained silent but interested and listening so she pushed on. “What of Obi?”

Something mischievous or perhaps just his own brand of twisted amusement passed over his eyes, almost too quick to catch. Shirayuki squinted her eyes, as if that would somehow produce what was happening in his tactical mind.

“What of Obi, Shirayuki?”

“By Zen’s order, he was my bodyguard. Will he be staying on as an employee of the castle?”

“Obi’s employment, Shirayuki, is between he and my brother,” he replied, dismissive but amused. 

Her eyes drifted down to the pearl surrounded by ruby flowers and emerald leaves on her left hand. Silently, she removed the ring and sat it down on the King’s desk before turning her back on him and walking out the door. 

The brilliant orange of the setting sun cast her chambers in a fiery glow, illuminating every garment, valuable, and memory as she stowed each one away in packs and trunks with the same tender care she showed her patients and plants. 

Several days had passed since the meeting with Izana and the news of her impending departure from the castle had spread through the castle at breakneck speed. Everywhere she turned, there were whispers and sad looks cast her way. It made her itch, ready for the freedom of life outside the shame of the palace walls.

Zen’s new fiancee had arrived the day after the meeting, as Izana had promised. Beautiful, blonde, tall. A picture of grace and sophistication… and a Shenazard, of all families. Prince Raji’s first cousin, oldest daughter of the King of Tanbarun’s youngest brother. 

She hadn’t seen Prince Zen outside his new bride’s company since her arrival and even then it was only at a distance. She hadn’t spoken to him since before they had been summoned to Izana’s office, so asking about Obi’s fate had just been an unvoiced concern nagging at the back of her mind and a heavy stone weighing down her stomach. 

Shirayuki flopped down on top of the trunk. She wasn’t getting it closed any other way on her own. She had stuffed it too full of paper-wrapped jars of dried herbs, seeds, and a mountain of her most prized books. All the knowledge she had accumulated over the years on herbs and flowers, gardening practices, medicines, and anatomy and physiology- all stuffed carefully and ceremoniously into a trunk that now probably weighed more than herself. 

She hadn’t found the courage to even broach the topic to Obi, not that she’d seen him recently either. Suspicion in her bruised heart told her their separation was likely intentional but probably not by his own choice. He’d undoubtedly heard the whisperings that roared through the halls, occupying the minds and tongues of every maid, footman, soldier, and noble occupying Wilant Castle. Spies and assassins had there methods of intel gathering. He had probably heard the knees before she and Zen had.

When had she last spoken to Obi? When had she even last seen the man who served as her personal shadow wherever she had called home in the last five years or more? Two days before Izana had appeared at Wilant? 

It left her feeling hollow, like a piece of her had gone missing in all the hullabaloo, but it was ultimately irrelevant now. Her coach was scheduled to leave within the hour. If he had been planning on saying any lengthy goodbyes, he had missed his chance.

A gust of wind pushed through the balcony's double doors. She sighed, realizing she had apparently forgotten to latch it, as another burst of warm summer air sent letters of goodbyes and travel plans as well as to-do lists and notes on the quirks of her more particular patients off her desk and skittering through the air. 

Obi would have chastised her for her recklessness had he been there. He'd tried so hard to instill a greater awareness of her own security in his time with her. Usually, she was much better about it, knowing all too well her hair made her an attractive and valuable target.

She'd just been so busy lately. Her focus had turned away from the mundane day-to-day activities of her life. There were more important things to focus on now, like setting her patients up with new caregivers, sorting through what she could take versus what belonged to the royal family. 

Still, his voice rang out in her mind, clear as the cloudless evening sky outside. 

Miss, you have to take precautions. What would happen if I weren't around?

The thought squeezed painfully at her heart and the warm wet path of a tear tracked down her cheek. That was just it, she thought bitterly. He wasn't here. He wasn't around now. Losing Obi was the worst part of being cast out of the castle and he wasn't even here to say goodbye. 

She rushed to the open door, scrubbing the evidence of her heartache off her face with the back of her sleeve as she went. She swung the double doors closed with more force than was necessary. It was a momentary indulgence in her sadness and anger, providing a moment of fleeting comfort, as though shutting the doors with enough force to rattle the panes of glass would seal the lid back on the reaction to the loss of the only person she had ever truly called her best friend. 

She hadn't felt this way when she had fled Tanbarun after Raj had attempted to take her as a concubine. Why was this different? Sure she'd made a life here, but she had lived a fulfilling life in Tanbarun prior to leaving as well. She'd had friends there. She'd left them without a real goodbye. So what made leaving Obi behind without an actual goodbye this much harder?

Shirayuki choked back a sob as she bent to pick up the scattered sheafs of paper and organized them back into their previous stacks. She picked up the to-do list and thought back to her last few hours. 

With the closing of the latches on the final trunk filled with her books and herbs, she had done everything on the list. She had no intention of saying goodbye to Zen - heaven knew she'd not even be allowed the opportunity - and she knew Mitsuhide would be the one to send her off. She’d written farewell letters to Ryuu, Yuzuri, Suzu, and Kiki. Now, she just had to sit down and write the hardest letter of them all. 

Dear Obi, my best friend,

I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now but, in case you haven't, I want you to know: Zen was promised to Lily Shenazard, a cousin of Prince Raj and my employment as a royal pharmacist has been terminated. 

I just finished packing and running through my checklist. I'd hoped to see you before I left but it seems as though that isn't going to happen, despite how much I wanted it. 

Leaving you behind is the last thing I wanted to do. I had hoped to speak with Zen but was never presented with the opportunity to do so. I would have preferred you getting the chance to decide if you wanted to come with me.

I'm going to miss you more than I can put into words and I hope you can find it in your heart to see my speedy departure and inability to say a true goodbye to you as forgivable. Who would have guessed that the last conversation I'd have with you was over lunch almost a week ago. Would you believe I had to actually sit and think long and hard about the last time I saw you? Had I known…. 

Honestly, had I known this would happen, I would have asked Zen if you could come with me and simply left the castle before the meeting with Izana. 

I'd always expected Izana would make plans for Zen that didn't include me. The odds were always stacked that way but I never thought that I'd lose you, too, let alone at the same time I had to walk away from Zen. The concept of going on without you, my best friend, is unfathomable. Yet, it's what I have to do.  

Should this be the last time I am able to have any form of words potentially reach you, know this: I'll miss you always. I have never and will never again have a source of strength and support as steadfast and constant as you. 

Thank you for all the time you spent beside me as both a friend and bodyguard on all of our crazy adventures. I couldn't have asked for a better person to have had with me. 

You are a unique and unquestionably special man. It was a privilege to have had as much time at your side as I was lucky enough to have. I will always look back fondly at all the time we spent together, from huddling with Ryuu for warmth on the coldest nights Lyrias offered, to every task and challenge we were forced to undertake. Yes, that even includes meeting you after you shot an arrow at me because that was what started it all.  

You will always hold a part of my heart. If you ever leave Zen's employ, know that I went home and you'll always have a home with me. 

Love, Shirayuki

The first stars were beginning to peak into wakefulness through the deep purple of the twilight sky as she made her way down to the side gate of Wilant Castle. Mitsuhide, stoic as ever in his formal dress uniform, stood between her and the carriage hired to take her to the mountains.

"Mitsuhide, what's the special occasion?" Shirayuki teased, trying to lighten the mood. 

"Not a happy one," he admitted with little more than a whisper as she finally reached him. Around them, various footmen began loading what little cargo she had claimed as her own into the small storage space above the coach.

"It's alright, Mitsuhide. I'm going home. I'll be back with my father and the Lions in a few days." She tried to keep her voice strong but seeing the gentle giant so deeply saddened by her departure clawed at her already aching heart. 

"You will be missed in the years to come. I hope you know that."

Her eyes grew heavy with unshed tears and she blinked rapidly to try to dispel the evidence. "By some more than others, I'd reckon." She would continue laughing it off until she was away from the prying eyes of the castle if it killed her. Weakness now wasn't an option. 

"Tanbarun will be lucky to have one of their best daughters back," he added, voice cracking ever so slightly at the end. 

She couldn't help the sad laugh that bubbled out of her as three men struggled with the trunk of books, barely managing to slide it into a more manageable place inside the expansive seating area. Izana had certainly spared no expense in sending her away in comfort. 

"I wouldn't necessarily call it Tanbarun, but I suppose I'll be within Tanbarun borders."

"Don't forget to write occasionally," he advised as he wrapped his arms around her, squeezing a little too tightly. 

She squeezed him back. The finality of the moment weighing heavily over both of them. 

"You too," Shirayuki replied, patting his back before they pulled apart and began walking the remaining few feet to the carriage. "Speaking of writing… remind me to send a thank you note to Izana for the spacious traveling accommodations." 

The true laughter that peeled out of him caught them both off guard and they took a moment to simply enjoy their final moments being a time to laugh. 

"If you ever find yourself in the mountains between Clarines and Tanbarun, stop by and say hi, okay?"

"You know I will," he said with conviction as he stretched out his hand to help her up the tiny steps and into the compartment.  

She gave his hand a squeeze before letting go and stepped further in. The door closed behind her with a soft click and she waved goodbye with a graceful smile as the slap of driving reins smacking horse flanks jarred them into motion. 

[thestaytinies]

Stray Kids: First Meeting (Awkward Edition)

Another Stray kids reaction. Feel free to request anything if you like!

Chan

Today was your first day on your new job. You were afraid but also excited. The company had a good reputation and you worked your butt off to make it to the position you applied for. The people on your job interview were all very kind, the only person you didn't meet that day was your future boss. The company was really satisfied with you so you got the chance to meet him today. You spend a long time in the bathroom trying to look your best to make the best first impression. When you arrived at the company, you were greeted by the secretary who informed you that there were cupcakes in the breakroom, because someone made them for his birthday and you could take one if you wanted, cause it would take a while before your boss had time for you. So you entered the breakroom and already saw a handsome man standing near the cupcakes. He hasn't noticed you so you thought you would introduce yourself. Just as you were about to speak up, he reached for one of the cupcakes and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth. That's when his eyes locked with yours. You just looked at him awkwardly while he stared back at you, his mouth full with cupcake. You didn't know how to react so you excused yourself and left the break room. You were thinking about going to the bathroom to calm your nerves, which just increased after this scene but then you saw the secretery rushing to the breakroom. As she opened the door she said: "There you are sir, I was looking everywhere for you. Please hurry up the new employee is waiting for you." Oh no. The handsome cupcake guy came out and looked at you. He smiled but you could tell that he was emberassed. "Hello my name is Bang Chan and I'm your new boss. I look forward to working with you". What a great start, you thought.

Woojin

You were walking around the city, searching for a birthday present for a friend of yours. It had been a long exhausting day und you started to feel dizzy, but you still haven't found anything. That's when you saw your friend in front of a shop, looking at the clothes that were displayed. Perfect timing. You thought about buying him the outfit. You had to distract him, so he wouldn't buy it for himself. You decided to greet him and take him maybe to Mcdonalds so that he would forget about the outfit. You sneaked up behind him and slapped his ass. That was your usual way of greeting him but when he turned around you almost got an heart attack. If someone woud've taken a picture it surely would go viral. Your shocked and his unamused expression, a perfect combination. "Ehm, uhh you know...", you speaked up. In your panic you continued while shouting "I'm so so sorry I thought you were my friend!!" "I see I also thought you were my friend, that's why I didn't really react." You were lucky that he thought that, he could've knocked you out. You tried to make this situation less awkward. "It seems like you attract people who like to grab ass." He had to laugh at your statement and said, "seems so. I'm Woojin and what's your name Miss ass-graber?" It was your turn to laugh and you told him your name. It was an really embarassing accident but through that you gained a new good friend.

Minho

You were enjoying your bath that you have been waiting for all week and used bathbomb that made your whole bath sparkle with gold glitter. It was relaxing but you got bored after a while. You started to play with the glitter and smeared it in your face. You drawed yourself a mustache and covered your eyebrows with it. Thinking that you looked really funny, you took a sillie selfie and send it to your best friend. They recently changed their number so you tried to remember it and typed it in your phone. You sent the picture and wrote "come join me to have some fun". The caption was seductive at purpose because you two always wrote like that. But the picture was just silly, you could tell that you were in the bath but you couldn't see anything that a stranger shouldn't see. After 2 minutes your phone notificated you of a new message. "That was fast", you thought because they normaly needed at least half an hour to reply to you. What you didn't expect though was a picture of a really attractive guy who smiled kind of mischivously. You thought your best friend was just messing with you but you were horrified when you read the text that followed. "Sorry wrong number sweety, but I would still like to join you!". Oh no oh no oh no! You just send a really hot guy, a really embarassing and silly picture. You wanted to drown in the bath but you decided to ignore this situation and not reply to him. It's not like he knew who you were. But it didn't seem like he wanted you to forget because he still messaged you after that. "Hey don't ignore me, no one ignores the great Minho!", Hellooo how are you doing glitter mustache", "Please reply this could be the start of a beautiful friendship!" His last message kind of touched you so you replied to him and indeed it was the start of something beautiful.

Changbin

You were walking around your local park, letting go of your stress. You really needed the fresh air but you got tired after a while, so you sat on a bench that had a nice view across the park. You enjoyed the scenerie when you heard a voice behind the tree that was left from you. "So what do you want to eat today? I think I should go for a fast snack since I have a lot of work to do." You looked in the direction and saw a cute guy sitting underneath the tree. He was probably talking to someone on the phone even though it dudn't really seem like it. You turned back when he said in a really cute voice "ahhh I love you soooo much!" Oh so he was talking to his girlfriend, what a bummer. You didn't want to eavesdrop even more so you got up and started to leave. You had to walk past him and looked one last time when you noticed that he was actually talking to someone on his right side, which you couldn't see on the bench. Well it wasn't really someone, more a something. A cute snorlax plushy. You were so suprised that you didn't notice the "Oh!" coming out of your mouth. The guy noticed you right away and got red in the face really fast. You understood that he was embarassed since he didn't seem like the type who would talk to plushies. You didn't know him but since you both seemed like students, there still was a chance that you meet again and that you maybe knew soneone that knew him. So he quickly asked you, “please don’t tell anyone that I carry a stuffed animal around with me and even talk to it.” He looked like he was about to cry, so you assured him that you wouldn't do that. "Don' t worry I wont tell anyone! How about we grab something to eat and I might even be able to help you with your work?" You didnt know where you got this courage from but the boy seemed happy and agreed. "Sure im Changbin and I'll pay, see it as hush money." You both laughed at his joke and went on your way to grab something to eat.

Hyunjin

You were sitting in a lecture, starting to fall asleep, cause you had put an allnighter the night before. It also didn't really help that your professor had such a hypnotizing voice and the topic he was talking about also didn't interest you. You glanced to the right and saw that the goodlooking guy in your lecture was falling asleep. You chuckled and tried to return you attention to the lecture. You often heard girls talking about him and you agreed with everything they said, but you never talked to him and weren't that much interesered in talking to him or anyone for that matter. That's what university does to you. The professor was talking about something like marriage and began with "for example..let's say Miss y/n and Mr. Hyunjin are getting married.." Oh oh, you didn't expect that. You heard the gurls a row behind you whispering something like "why did the professor choose her?", but you didn't mind that, you were more focused on Hyunjin who gave you a shy smile when your eyes locked. The professor continued to use you two as a example and when the bell rang you knew you had to get out as fast as you could to calm your nerves. But you were stopped when Hyunjin stood right in front of you. "Hey how about we exchange numbers so that we can get to know each other better? I would like to know what my future wife is like." What a flirt, you thought but agreed since it seemed like he was just as nervous as you, telling from his body language. And even though your first interaction was kind of awkward, it was the beginning of something great.

Jisung

Your friends invited you to go to a bar with them. You agreed because it had been a long time since you went out and had some fun. You just had to control your liqiuor because after some drinks you tried to fight every stranger that came across you. Luckily you knew how much you could handle. The night out was fun so far, you catched up with your friends and talked about many random topics. You knew you were near your limit so you decided to get a non-alcoholic cocktail. But the bartender was new and you were so distracted by talking with your friends that you didn't notice that the drink was actually mixed with alcohol. After you finished it, you observed how your behaviour kind of changed and how you were getting annoyed at the simplest things. To your luck, your friends decided that it was getting late and wanted to head home. You all said your goodbyes and you walked home so you could sober up a little bit. Just a street away from your apartment, a guy accidentally brushed your shoulder while passing by you. It wasn't a big deal normaly but you couldn't control yourself and yelled: "Oh so you want to fight now?" The guy was suprised by your outburst but saw that you weren't that sober. "No, I'm sorry it was an accident. But you shouldn't walk around at night in a state like that Miss. There are many dangerous people out there." "I ain't afraid of anyone! I know how to defend myself." You wanted to show him a karate move you saw on tv but you tripped and landed with your face on the floor. You don't remember what happened after that because you blacked out. After a while you woke up again when you felt something cold against your head. The guy you were yelling at looked at you and smiled. "I'm glad your awake, I thought I had to call an ambulance." You were shocked, "you took care of me even though I wanted to fight you?" "I know you couln't really control yourself and to be honest, it was kind of funny. I'm Jisung by the way." That's when you really looked at his face and saw how cute and good-looking he was. He offered to walk you home and you agreed. After you finally went into your apartment, you jumped on your bed and fell asleep, not knowing how happy you would feel in the morning, finding a piece of paper, with a number and the name Jisung written on it in your jacket.

Felix

When you adopted your cat you'd never imagine how much trouble it would cause you. He was normaly good behaved and you could leave him alone in your apartment, without having to worry about going back to some damage. But he had one habit that was the cause of all your stress. He liked to steal the underwear from your neighbours. He didn't care if it was women's or men's underwear and just stole whatever he could find. You didn't know which underwear belonged to which neighbour and you didn't want to go around asking your neighbours about their underwear. So you did the next logical thing and just stored them in your basement. You felt like a creep but at least it didnt seem like anyone was suspecting you or your cat so at least you were save for now. But that would change very quickly. You left the elevator at your floor when you heard someone shout. "Hey, give that back that's mine!" You looked carefully around the corner and saw your cute, new neighbour Felix chasing your cat, that had black underpants in his mouth. The funniest thing was the "Yeet" written on it. Your cat had very good reflections and dodged every move of him, so that he got frustrated. "Come on just give it back! What do you even need it for?" You almost laughed but then you remembered that he would probably ask the other neighbours about the cat and then you would get exposed. You knew you had to step in. "Great, I've never actually talked to him and this will be our first interaction" you thought. "Better get it over quickly". You shouted you cats name and he immediately listened. "Give me that in your mouth." He complied and you turned to Felix. "Im really sorry about that. Please dont tell anyone what happened. It's a bad habit of his and I don't know how to change that. I don't know if the landlord will let me stay here if he hears about that, especially not, if he finds all the underwear in my basement!" You didn't mean to tell him everything but it kind of just came out. For a moment he was shocked but then he had to laugh, "dont worry I wont tell anyone. I'm just glad that my underwear didnt go to your collection. How about that? I help you get rid of all the evidence and you will cook for me today? Since a certain cat kept me from getting grocery shopping." You were more than happy for this deal since you got the opportunity to get to know him better. How lucky you were for adopting your cheeky cat, you thought.

Seungmin

You sat in your favorite lecture with your favorite professor. The reason for it being your favorite lecture was, that almost everyone was attending it. You liked when the room was full of people because you wouldn't stand out to much. The reason for everyone attending was that the professor gave extra credit for being there, since it was a morning class and he didn't like teaching in an almost empty room. He also didn't care what everyone did as long as they wouldn't disturb his lecture, that's why he was your favorite professor. You still paid attention to him but he talked about a topic today that you already knew pretty well, so you decided to treat yourself and do something fun instead. You recently found a good fanfic and were on the last chapters of it. You started to read and didn't pay any attention to your surroundings. The fanfic got so intense and for a minute you thought it would end up in some angst but the couple ended up happy together. Now it was time for the final chapter and the author promised some steamy smut scenes. And oh boy, they didn't lie when they said that they would get intense. You were so focused on the final scene that you barelly heard the voice beside you. "How can you read this with a blank face?" You looked at the boy talking to you and saw how handsome he was. You probably would've gotten embarassed if his look didnt tell you that he was just curious and not judging you. So you just answered him casually. "I dont know, i think I just practiced it enough, so that people wouldn't stare at my phone immediately when they see me making a expression." "Interesting, I think you could play poker or something and make much money with it. But honestly the chapters you have read were pretty good. What's this fic called?" So you told him about it and that was the beginning of Seungmin sitting beside you in this lecture and getting some new fic recommendations from you.

Jeongin

You were sitting in the community kitchen of your college dorms, with your friends. One of them decided to cook for all of you, so you joined them in the kitchen so they wouldn't get too bored while cooking. You all were laughing and having fun. That's when the topic of the new guy came up. He recently moved in and from what you heard about him, he seemed really cute and nice. Some of your friends already talked to him but you mostly spend your time in your room, so you haven't had the opportunity to meet him yet. The topics of your conversation changed every minute until it came to movies and shows. You recently started a new anime and told your friends about it. It had the perfect mix of fight scenes and intense, emotional and funny moments. There was a particular fight scene where you had to laugh for a good 5 minutes, cause it looked so ridiculous. You wanted to make your friends laugh, so you stood up and showed them the move. This was actually your first try so you weren't sure how it went exactly but you still tried it. You took your leg in you hand, behind your back and bend a little forward. But your hands slipped and your leg snapped back. What you didn't expect was the impact, it felt like you just hit someone in the stomach. You turned around and saw a guy with a pained expression lying on the floor. So it wasn't just a feeling. You immediately started to apalogize and asked him if you could somehow help him. You heard the name Jeongin around you and realized that you just kicked the new guy. Talk about good first impressions. But to your surprise, he had one of the brightest smiles you've seen, when he looked at you. "Oh it's okay! Nothing bad happened. It's nice to meet you but please don't greet me like that everytime." You were relieved and your friend invited him to eat with you guys as an apology. That was your first encounter with him, but you were sure that both of you wouldn't forget it so fast.

[fyeahwonderbat]

Here's just a thought, Bruce who has been awake for days refusing to go to sleep. Diana sick of arguing with him picks him up and carries him to bed, Imagine her walking by Alfred while Bruce squirms and demands to be put down,

The punching bag reacted to Bruce’s punches like it was frightened by every hit, but he refused to stop his assault on the leather-bound bag. Every time his knuckles collided with it, the sound challenged every grunt that came out of his mouth. Teeth gritted and brows knitted, he was nothing more than a wild creature slugging a stationary enemy, channeling all of the anger and pain that was threatening to swallow him whole for the past week and a half. In the comfort of his BatCave, where he didn’t need to wear any kind of mask as a hero or a man, it was the only catharsis he knew.

“Bruce,” he heard a familiar voice hum his name and it rang within his soul. She possessed the dangerous gift of silencing parts of him that he wasn’t always comfortable letting go of, so when Wonder Woman surprised him with a visit at such a late hour, Bruce wasn’t at all amused.

He went so far as to pretend he didn’t hear her over the smacking sound his punches made. So desperate to avoid her, he moved faster, throwing all of his body weight into every hit like the punching bag would dare to hit him back the moment he was distracted. Unfortunately, Diana took his coldness as a challenge and approached him with her warm heart on full display. She grabbed the bottom of the bag when it swung back and refused to release it from her Amazonian grip. Then she stared him down and offered him another chance to address her properly.

Bruce didn’t say a word until she arched her brow at him. Recoiling slightly, he muttered, “It’s late, Diana.”

“Luckily for me, I was given the access codes to the mansion, so I can come and go whenever I want.” she reminded him cooly.

“Thanks for reminding me, I need to change those tomorrow.” Bruce bit back. The flush of heat from his workout had nearly fallen to a simmer and he refused to let that happen. Lifting his fists up to his jawline, he arched his brow at her as an informal invitation to give him back his punching bag. Though she refused to release it, he was shocked to see her lower it enough so that he could resume his training.

She was offering to spot him, but didn’t need to announce it to him. Instead, she sparred with him verbally and said, “I’ll be sure to get them from Alfred in the evening, then.”

Bruce threw an unprofessional punch forward as an immediate reaction of disfavor regarding her words. He felt a jolt of pain in his thumb due to his haste yet he refused to show the discomfort on his face. Instead, he threw out his other hand in a tight first and moved with more caution. Diana’s presence was much too distracting for his liking and he was more than prepared to ask her to leave.

“Can I do something for you?”

“You can,” she admitted calmly, then paused before telling him what it is. “You can tell me what’s bothering you.”

The fact that she would think it was her place to ask him such a personal question motivated him to fire off a few more swings, regardless of how proper his punches were. “You did not come here just to chat.”

“Maybe I did.” Though she didn’t say it, there was a question that sounded like it needed to be tacked on to the end of her sentence: what are you going to do about it?

The urge to swing at her face came to mind, if only to distract her with a sparring match and keep her out of his head. However, he knew how cunning Diana liked to believe that she was, meaning she’d most likely attach a bet to their match and demand he confide in her if she won. It was much too early in the morning to deal with her sentimentality, so Bruce decided he’d move on from the punching bag altogether.

Turning away from her, he shouted over his shoulder without considering his volume whatsoever, “Wonder Woman’s time could be better spent somewhere else, where she’s needed.”

“I decide where I am needed, Bruce.” Diana informed him with a snap in her tone. She made it clear that she was not a fan of his dismissal of her, but she still refused to leave.

Spinning around at his waist, Bruce glowered at her and bellowed, “And it’s not here. Go home, or go find someone else to play charity case with.”

“If you actually tried to have a normal conversation with me, instead of biting my head off without even trying to be civil,” Diana warned him of his missteps as she walked towards him. She stopped herself from reaching him by planting her feet into the floor a few feet away from him, providing them both with some necessary space. “Maybe I would have left by now. But you’re much too proud to let that happen.”

Her boldness matched his own and it dismantled his confidence somewhat. Normally, he had to rile her more for her to pick up the gauntlet of a hostile conversation. Instead, at such a late hour on a rather stormy night, Diana was having none of his backtalk. Whatever the goal was in her mind, it only put him off of speaking to her even more.

“Go home.” He ordered her bluntly, unconcerned with how she’d take it.

Bruce turned away and took a step toward his weights, only to hear her drag her one of her Wonder Woman boots along the cemented floor behind him. Curious, he walked forward again, and the same noise followed him. He didn’t know if it was her own pride that was causing her to stick with him or if she was actually as benevolent as she claimed to be, but he was having none of it.

Not tonight.

Not after what he had been through, the haunting memories keeping him awake until the early hours of the morning, punching the anxiety and regret out of his soul with evident futility.

His fists acted like nothing more than dead weight when he felt his body fly backward suddenly, the years of physical training he’d suffered through rendered useless when he was at the mercy of an impatient Amazon. Bruce knew he had been tugged by the collar of his shirt, but he was caught off guard the moment his boots left the ground. “Diana!?” He screamed, both reprimanding her and demanding an explanation.

She didn’t offer one, though. Instead, she chucked his two hundred and fifty-pound body over her shoulder and left the BatCave’s training space without any type of warning. Furious, erratic, he tossed and squirmed uncontrollably as he fought her clutches to the best of his mortal ability. Nevertheless, nothing he did slowed her down. She carried on with her unannounced trek from his at-home gym, to the staircase that would take them upstairs, through the secret entryway and into his front hall.

Bruce’s could feel the blood that rushed into his face when he roared, “Put me down, NOW!”

“You’re only making my job that much easier when you flail like a child.” Warned Diana. She sounded exhausted from her efforts of transporting him from the basement to the upper level of his house, but he had never asked her to handle him like a brute. It felt like his personal coping mechanism was being scolded, making him believe that she saw him as inferior when stacked against her eternal wisdom. The longer he was in her hold, the angrier he became.

When they reached the hallway leading to the bedrooms, Bruce heard a door open and knew at once that Alfred had been awakened by his wailing. “Alfred!” He called to his butler with a tone so desperate, it embarrassed him. He felt even more foolish than he already did when he blurted out, “Stop her! Do something!”

By the time they passed by Alfred’s door, it was magically closed, and his so-called friend was nowhere in sight. “Traitor!” He condemned his butler, nearly seething by the time they reached his bedroom door.

To his dismay, Diana predicted his attempt at an escape and flattened his wrists against his sides so he couldn’t cling to the doorframe. He had handled villains with more respect than she was showing him at that moment when she went so far as to throw him down onto his bed. If there was one thing he hated, it was losing control of any situation. Glaring at her from his sprawled out position on his own mattress, it took everything he had left in his weary body not to tackle her to the ground and fight her right then and there. “Don’t ever do that to me again!”

She couldn’t have looked more repulsed by his behavior in the darkened state of his bedroom, with nothing but the moonlight coming in through his open window highlight the scowl on her face. Still, she pretended that she wasn’t wearing her heart on her sleeve and inquired, “Are you trying to manage your stress or overwork yourself into the grave? Sometimes, I can’t tell the difference with you.”

Those words struck him as if she had sent his punching bag right back at him. It felt like her voice was a can opener and his heart had been forcefully exposed when she dared to mention death around him. There was the typical reason as to why he loathed discussing grief, and then there was his newly founded reason.

Jason.

Bruce felt sober all of a sudden. All of his efforts to expunge the hurt from his heart were revealed as completely fruitless under the careful eye of Diana, Wonder Woman, friend to all and savior to some. Her entire energy was such a shift from those people who lived in his city and were trapped by its demons, she had the force of an earthquake behind her when she tried to move his mind into perspective. He was just so rebellious to any way of doing things that weren’t his own, but the resurrection of his ward was something that he had the skill set to handle.

The way Jason yelled at him as he walked away from the chance to kill the Joker proved that to him.

Shoulders sunken and breathing shallow, Bruce glanced at Diana’s shadowy form and told her the truth. “Neither can I.”

He feared she would let a pause sit between them and emphasize the deplorable authenticity to his words. Instead, she graciously carried on like his admission wasn’t horrifying. “A great midway point is going to sleep.”

“How do you figure that?” Bruce said, stunned.

“Because,” she was humming again, speaking softly to him as she approached the bed. Diana dared to even sit on the edge of it when he had been rejecting her the entire time she’d bee with him that night. Impressed by her bravery, he said nothing when she made herself comfortable. “Sleeping replenishes the energy that stress can steal away, and when you’re asleep, the world doesn’t exist.”

“Sleep doesn’t exist in Gotham.” explained Bruce in a monotone voice.

To his surprise, Diana’s delicate touch grazed his forehead. She had leaned in while he rebutted her and brushed his hair off of his forehead carefully, tenderly. She maintained her gentle composure when she responded, “It will, once you close your eyes.”

“Diana–”

“You’re the most powerful man in the city. You can schedule in sleep if you need to, and I’m saying you do need to.” decreed Wonder Woman. She still managed to appear almighty while speaking to him in the softest tone of voice he’d ever heard. He had witnessed her transform from a domineering dictator to an amicable ally within the time span of mere minutes. Nevertheless, he knew that both sides of Diana were based upon the respect she had for him.

Even when he didn’t deserve it.

A heavy breath escaped him while he summoned the courage to admit his agreement to her, both rising from deep within his gut, “I’ll try to sleep. I won’t make any promises though.”

He didn’t need to see her clearly to know that he had just made her grin. Diana lifted herself off of the bed, bringing herself to stand tall next to the bed as she praised him, “That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Wait,” Bruce exclaimed rather threateningly when he saw her turn to leave. After everything was said and done, he felt uncomfortable to have her usher him to bed and then depart. “You can stay here, in the manor, for the night. You never even told me why you stopped by but we can discuss it in the morning.”

A beam of moonlight landed on her shoulder when she stopped in her tracks, and it traced the length of her collar bone as she turned back around. When she faced him once again, she explained, “I came here to check on you, Bruce. I was worried about you. So long as I know you’ve rested - even a little bit - I’ll take my leave knowing you’re taking better care of yourself.”

Bruce felt himself becoming unhinged again at the suggestion. “There are more rooms in this house than I know what to do with. Just take one of them for the night. Please, Diana.”

“That’s not necessary–”

Bruce jumped out of bed in an obvious attempt at protesting her rejection of his offer. Before a single word of argument could escape that mouth of hers, he poorly veiled an order as a suggestion, “Either you stay the night, or I’ll just go back downstairs. You know I will.”

“Your stubbornness truly knows no bounds, does it?” It was not a compliment that she was giving him, but he took it was one to know he could get under the skin of a literal goddess so easily.

The idea of getting under something inspired him to find a compromise between both of their motivations. The king-sized bed next to him was so foreign to him at this point in his life that it wasn’t truly his own, so he thought it was fair to divide it between the two of them. “Stay here tonight. I’ll sleep, you’ll sleep. Deal?”

She didn’t even hesitate to add her one clause to their agreement, “I claim the side closest to the door, then.”

Bruce held up his hands as his answer. Then, he crawled over to the side of the bed she hadn’t declared as her own and fell against the headboard in a slumped over position. His back had been facing her for no more than a few moments, but she had already climbed into the bed and laid down flat on her back. Dressed in her armor still, he realized quickly that he should present her with some time of sleepwear as well. Leaping out of bed and seeing her rise from the corner of his eye, he latched onto the handles of his wardrobe and threw it open in order to find her a long shirt of some kind.

The mattress didn’t creak as he searched, proving to him that she was merely observing him as he scavenged through drawers that he hadn’t looked at in months. As he dug for something appropriate, he came across an old t-shirt that was gifted to him years ago. It was a group he never listened to, but they were a favorite of the person who gave it to him. Seeing the red letters sprawled out on the black fabric even reminded him of the colors associated with…

“Jason.”

“What?” Diana asked.

“It’s… It’s Jason,” Bruce fought the lump in his throat and forced the name of the revived Robin out of his body like he wanted to exorcize the evil energy attached to it. He threw the shirt back into the drawer, fuming. Refusing to relive the shock once again, he ground out the words he needed to say in order to supply her with context. “He’s back. From the dead.”

Diana didn’t say anything right away. In fact, she didn’t utter a single word until he decided upon a shirt and turned around to toss it at her. When she caught it, it was almost as if she had grasped the concept of what she wanted to tell him.

“Not in a way that benefits him, though.” Diana implied with her tone of voice that she assumed she was correct but was still open to hearing him divulge his point of view.

Bruce returned to the bed just as she stood up and began to unclasp her Amazonian girdle. In order to give her - and himself - some privacy, he faced the alarm clock on the nightstand next to him and fiddle with the alarm he’d need to set for the morning. “It isn’t how he’s back that’s the problem. It’s what he’s wasting his second chance at life on, and what he wanted me to do, to repent.”

He heard the fabric of his shirt being moved around as she surmised his meaning, “Revenge.”

“Murder.” Bruce clarified.

“One of your villains?”

“Yes.” He grumbled.

The bed dipped next to him and he almost didn’t turn over to face her. He felt absolutely stranded in the uncharted territory of their conversation, even though he had been the one to start it. Opening up about one of his greatest shames wasn’t easy, to the point that his chest tightened like it was compressing his heart to keep him for admitting to anything else he kept locked within his heart. His body was a cage for so many atrocities that his personality, his essence was so easily skewed by everything that was trapped inside.

The moment Diana touched his shoulder and grazed her fingertips against his sternum, Bruce felt a shiver rattle his spine. He threw himself into the middle of the bed to keep her from feeling the way his muscles shook, only to be met with the most understanding and empathetic expression he’d ever seen on her face, the face of Wonder Woman herself. Then, she pressed him further for more information, “But you didn’t do it.”

“No.” Was his instantaneous reply.

She didn’t look relieved or shocked. She looked exactly the same. She never expected anything else from him and that unspoken confidence touched him, even though he felt disassociated from the warmth it provided him with. “Then the only thing you can do” - she inhaled while processing what he had told her, trying to come to grips with what his life was truly like, most likely - “is hope that he sees the meaning behind your choice, and seek you out once again.”

“Right, but he might not–”

“He just might,” Diana said plainly. Bruce heard the finality of her statement and knew that it wasn’t meant to cause an argument. Instead of challenging his pessimism, she unintentionally pointed out an important piece of the puzzle: he no longer knew what this Jason was capable of. Perhaps he could travel down a darker path, becoming an adversary for the Batman rather than a partner in crime. Or, maybe all he needed was to face his inner demons to see what he was capable of when given the chance to live again.

The high risk-high reward lifestyle was nothing new for the Batman. As he grew older though, Bruce secretly wished that he could play the odds less and less. More and more people were coming into his life through the Justice League meaning there was such a greater chance of loss. It wasn’t something Jason had toyed with when he was his partner, however. It was the Batman’s game, not Robin’s. Witnessing the cruelty of Jason’s circumstances after Dick’s desertion prior, it felt like his teammates were nothing but weaknesses to him at times.

Then, there was Diana with all of her godly might. She had stayed with him even when he hadn’t deserved it, which he could easily blame on her immortality and thousands of years of life, where she had been encountering prideful people for centuries in order to prepare herself for his ego in the present. Her fortitude wasn’t always something he admired, a fact that she knew all too well. Tonight, however, it was the only solace he’d had in far too long. Her companionship was the balm he had never even dared to ask for. Still, it was always there to try and minimize the damage done to his soul.

“He might,” Was his whispered response to her after the long pause he introduced into their conversation. Unable to give her anything more for the night, he reached for the bed sheets and tugged them up over their bodies. They had fallen asleep together on missions before in grassy fields, in caves and other uncomfortable places. Sharing his bed with her felt just as intimate as unveiling his grievances. Overwhelmed by the amount of exposure he’d given her in one night, Bruce muttered an incoherent, “Good night.”

For the last time that evening, she hummed to him like she was using his name to sing him a lullaby, and he swore to himself that he’d never tell her the immediate sense of calm it provided him with to hear her serenade him to sleep with nothing more than a few simple words, “Good night, Bruce.”