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moonstrider9904 · 3 years ago

Text

Flora

Chapter 7 of The Hunt

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Wolffe x Fem!OC, some Comet x Fem!OC

Series summary: The 104th battalion’s new medic Rose comes into the scene dazzling everyone, ready for anything life as a battalion medic will ofer to her after having spent much too long secluded in a medical station orbiting Rishi. While she forms close friendships with the troopers, she and commander Wolffe never seem to get along. As arguments between them heat up, Wolffe is challenged to make Rose fall in love with him, a game that by no means will end well for either of them.

Chapter summary: Rose and Wolffe attempt to be as discreet as possible about their relationship (and fail in the process). The wolf pack are sent on a simple pick up mission on Balmorra that leaves the squad a vague warning.

Warnings/tags: Explicit 18+. SMUT. rough and soft smut, PiV unprotected (but please wear protection irl!), oral (female receiving), hair tugging, hot making out, floor sex, light breast and nipple play, canon-typical violence, mentions of injury and blood. Please let me know if I forgot to tag something!

Word count: 7.7k

Note: I know the hype for Kenobi is at its fullest right now!! So I'm just going to quietly cross-post the last chapter I've got of The Hunt so that it's now up to date on all my platforms before hopefully finally updating this baby sometime along the week. Thank you to everyone who has read or reread this, everyone who has commented, given feedback, you all mean the world to me! I'm finally getting excited again over the course of this story, I hope you'll all like it!

People were beginning to notice.

Granted, despite the couple’s efforts, it was never really hard to miss. The commander, walking fully armored down a hall he didn��t use to cross before, never flanked by any of even his most trusted men. The medic walking down the same hall about fifteen minutes later. Her figure sneaking off one of the common rooms, squirming near the walls unconsciously as though she were being watched. But the most obvious factor was the lack of fighting. There was banter, but it was no longer the shameless feud of insults and growls that would linger between the two of them.

And yet, nobody ever said a word. It was common agreement within the wolf pack not to blow the cover of their relationship to the higher ups; it was common amongst all clones, as a matter of fact.

Since leaving Naboo, most of Rose’s encounters with Wolffe had been in the supply closet just outside of the barracks. The first few rotations, it had worked, taking up the time of their long voyage to the other quarter of the galaxy. But shortly after, more troops had begun to arrive, and the halls were more occupied and less safe for a quick fling. She’d grown close to that closet, but now, the medic was on her way to a storage compartment opposite to the barracks. Encountering very few faces on the way, she had the excuse of seeking medical supplies if anyone asked what she was doing. Eventually, Rose took a detour down the main hall and reached the thick gray door, perfect for isolating some of the sound, and she swiftly got in and closed the door, still facing it before looking inside the storage.

“Did anyone see you?” The commander’s voice had the filter of his helmet’s vocoder, which made Rose smirk instantly.

“No one at all, commander,” she said as she turned around to see him fully armored except for his belt, which he held beside him and let drop in a manner so seductive to her she felt her panties get soaked.

“Atta girl, bunny,” Wolffe purred as he removed his helmet, eyeing her with lust. “Get over here.”

Remaining faithful to the pet name he had for her, Rose hopped onto Wolffe’s arms and wrapped her legs around his torso with a little giggle. Wolffe chuckled seductively, pleased by her enthusiasm, as he sat down on one of the boxes in the storage room with her still in his arms and locked in a passionate kiss they both smiled and giggled through. Rose pulled bits of plastoid off, piece by piece, until his torso was just down to the shirt of his blacks. Wolffe removed Rose’s white uniform shirt, taking his kisses down her neck and to her cleavage, reveling in the warmth and softness of her chest. With a firm grip on her thighs, he lifted her up while she removed his codpiece with expertise.

After sliding his shirt off and freeing his erection from the confines of his blacks, Wolffe hungrily kissed Rose’s lips and went down her jawline and neck, tugging and fisting on her hair as he marked her as his yet again. Rose bit her lip to suppress the long moan that threatened to escape her as Wolffe suckled on her neck, whimpering softly as a result. Wolffe chuckled in response, his laughter morphing to a low, deep groan as Rose wrapped her fingers around his girth and pumped slowly, squeezing his member just enough to make the hairs on his body stand. Their kiss deepened too, their tongues brushing against one another, and at times, Wolffe would nibble on Rose’s lower lip just to hear what kind of noises she’d make—and how well she’d suppress them.

Despite his girl squeezing and rubbing on his cock, Wolffe could keep his composure fairly well, but he did want more. Slowly and with rhythm, he rocked his hips into her hand for more friction and felt as the liquid fire spread through his body. He ran his hands all over Rose’s figure, teasing at the edges of her bra before finally unclipping it and sliding it off her body. Wolffe was always mad for the way her hair fell down her skin, so delicate and sweet. After throwing her bra aside, Wolffe continued to explore every curve and dimple of her skin until his head rested on her shoulder when he could barely keep himself fully upright, body tingling and cock dripping precum as he reached the edge of his release. He needed to have more, both of them did, and he nearly became lost in the precipice of pleasure as his eyes went to the floor when he got an idea.

The storage room was considerably larger than the usual supply closet, and Wolffe secured Rose in his grip to take her down to the floor. Her breath hitched when her bare back touched the cool floor; Wolffe stuffed a box behind the door to keep anyone from coming in and went to lay on top of her, kissing her lips and soothing her body with his hands as he whispered tender praises to comfort her from the cold. Rose watched as his body loomed above her, his lips smirking and breath fanning over her as he pulled her pants and panties off of her. As her back got accustomed to the floor’s temperature, Rose smiled and cooed at Wolffe in excitement, arms wrapping around him and bringing him down for a loving kiss.

“I like this spot,” Rose purred.

“Me too,” Wolffe replied, his voice low and inviting as he bent down to kiss her again. While he did, his hands gently squeezed her breasts and softly pinched her nipples just the way he knew that she loved. Slowly, he let his hands travel down, teasing her with gradually letting his fingertips just barely hover close to her inner thighs. He reveled in every little noise Rose made, every time her breath hitched or panted at his touch. Wolffe loved feeling that she was entirely his.

Rose felt his cock throbbing up against the skin of her inner thigh, and her kissing became almost furious as she pulled Wolffe ever closer to her own body. Even after several times of having been intimate with him, Rose felt shocks go down her skin when his chest touched hers, more so whenever she could run her fingers and trace the elaborate wolf tattoo that covered his back, or over the lumps of the scars that were still prominent on his skin. She became distracted, however, when she felt Wolffe’s fingertips tracing her pussy lips before gliding fully over the wetness of her folds. A sweet, high-pitched moan escaped her as her eyes were flooded with plea, causing Wolffe to smirk into the kiss and back up to look at her.

She was splattered on the floor beneath him, her wavy black locks fanned out and framing her head. In the dim light of the storage room, it seemed as though ever one of her lines had softened. Somehow, she always looked so sweet when she was caged in Wolffe’s arms, so innocent and tender at her core, and every time he looked upon her like that, Wolffe just wanted to keep her there, shielded and immaculate, undeniably for him.

“Dammit, bunny…” Wolffe growled. “You’re beautiful…”

Rose blushed and her eyes traveled downwards as she bashfully averted her gaze. “You’re so romantic, commander.”

With another soft growl, Wolffe smirked as his fingers massaged Rose’s sensitive bundle of nerves, going from soft strokes to quick, accurate circles around her clit. Her head fell back on the floor and she grinned wide in lust, her breath deepening and chest heaving at his touch.

“You’re so wet, sweetheart,” Wolffe whispered before planting a tender kiss on her lips. “And you’re all mine.”

“I’m yours,” Rose echoed, kissing him back.

“What do you want me to do, bunny?”

Rose chuckled, trying her best to keep her voice as quiet as possible. She perked up slightly and let her lips hover over Wolffe’s ear, her breath sending chills down the commander’s skin.

“Surprise me,” she whispered.

Wolffe groaned softly in response, and he let his fingers work with more instinct over her folds. He rubbed from her entrance to her pearl, igniting flames wherever he traced. His precum began to leak onto her skin, girth already begging to be inside her. But he wanted Rose to squirm underneath him, he wanted to see her eyes rolling back as she desperately tried to keep in her moans, lest they’d both be found out and reprimanded for doing something so dirty in a storage room. The thought unconsciously made Wolffe growl, aroused only by the risk and by Rose trying to avoid it, and his finger traveled back down her pussy only to slide inside her and curl perfectly to stroke and massage her walls.

He could reach her most sensitive spots with ease. Stroking, pumping, or just barely grinding against it, he could feel the way Rose’s hips quivered as the heat pooled inside her body. In tiny, agitated whispers, Rose spoke his name and begged him not to stop fingering her; she’d begun grinding against him too, and desperate for pleasure, she took her hand to keep rubbing on her clit as Wolffe worked her inner walls.

Seeing her touching herself riled Wolffe up more than he ever imagined he could be in a storage room. His forehead rested on hers, gazing deeply into Rose’s eyes to see the way pleasure flooded her. Her breath hitched faster, her spare hand fisted his curls, and her whimpers, rid of any more control, announced to him how close she was to her climax. Wolffe smiled at her as he took in her beauty, the utter sweetness of the woman under him, mesmerized by how she’d gone from insufferable to irreplaceable.

Just before Rose came undone, Wolffe removed his finger from inside her earning a whine from the medic.

He chuckled. “Needy one, aren’t you, bunny?”

Rose whimpered in response, barely able to form coherent sentences at the pleasure, and before she rubbed her clit to orgasm, Wolffe stopped her from that too. She’d have whined again had it not been for the sight of Wolffe positioning his cock between her legs, rubbing the tip slowly from her clit and down to her entrance. Wolffe chuckled again at how sweet she looked when she was thirsty for him, and choosing not to torment her further, he slid himself into her walls and stretched them out granting her that sensation of fullness she longed for.

Again, Rose bit her lip in an effort to quiet herself down, only making her body quake at the pleasure of finally having Wolffe inside her. He began at a sensual pace, savoring every sensation, every movement, the warmth filling him and threatening to make him burst. His fingers clawed into her scalp, and thanks to the floor, he had more leverage to speed up and turn his luscious grinding gradually into a rougher fucking, until it finally became merciless pounding.

Rose’s body bounced with every time Wolffe jammed into her. Relentless, he growled out strings of curses in his mother tongue, relishing in the way her body felt, so warm and swollen and wet, and just so good. He always loved to hear her moan, but something about Rose suppressing her sounds only tipped him into bliss. It made him go faster, harder, with no more regard of the risks that lurked outside the storage room. He moaned her name out, growled out her nickname with a pure ecstasy of a man in love, and in his trance, he swiveled his hips with more speed than he knew he was capable of.

She remained looking into his eyes until her own rolled back just as she felt her walls tightening and clenching around his cock. Rose couldn’t help but to moan out Wolffe’s name, so sweetly and clearly that it sounded almost like a howl, and it only prompted the commander to move faster.

“Oh, bunny…” Wolffe grunted, taking the hand he fingered her with to her lips for her to suck on his middle finger before he growled again, inhumanly increasing his pace even more. Rose’s skin flustered and her eyes pooled with pressure begging to be let out, but in sucking Wolffe’s finger and tasting her arousal, she was able to remain quiet just for a moment before she couldn’t hold it in any longer, and a loud whine of Wolffe’s name escaped her, only to repeat it over and over.

Rose was the one to release first, wetness squirting with glee onto Wolffe’s skin and armor as she moaned freely with a mix of bliss and surprise, and right after that, Wolffe’s cum shot in delicious ropes into her walls and filled her to the brink, so much the hot white liquid leaked from inside her. Their bodies fell limp, only pushed upon by gravity itself as they rested on the floor. His head on the crook of her neck, Wolffe, gently traced featherlight patterns on Rose’s skin, smiling softly at the mess underneath them when he pulled out of her.

Rose panted, lips curving into a grin as she began to giggle and look into Wolffe’s eyes. “That was really dirty, commander. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Wolffe smirked back, his voice lowering into a seductive purr. “Woof.”

Rose laughed sweetly, charming every fiber of Wolffe’s body, and he hugged her to him and pressed a kiss onto her lips. Starting passionate, the kiss faded into something loving and genuine, soft as the petal of a rose. Wolffe held her in his arms, wishing for a moment he had a bed under them instead of the floor of the storage room, but even that sufficed if it only meant being by Rose’s side.

“You were pretty loud,” Wolffe whispered.

“Yeah…” Rose’s bashfulness was clear. “You think anyone heard?”

“It’s likely,” Wolffe chuckled. “But I don’t care.”

His lips traveled over to her cheek, her temple, her earlobes, pressing soft kisses on her as her gaze scanned the features of his face. His skin gleamed with sweat, emphasizing the expression lines around his eyes, those most prominent belonging to any sort of frown. Her dark brown eyes settled on the scar over his right eye and the grey-white mechanical eye that replaced his real one, and a pang of sadness hit her. It wasn’t long before Wolffe realized what she was looking at, and his hand wrapped softly around hers in a comforting gesture.

“How did it happen?” She asked him softly, distant and letting him know it was alright if he didn’t wish to answer.

However, as Wolffe looked her in the eyes, he realized just how much he trusted her.

“A Sith assassin named Ventress,” he said, his voice a low growl. “If it weren’t for my helmet, I’d have been a goner.”

Rose’s eyes softened with sympathy. “Were you scared?”

Wolffe looked up at the roof, evaluating his emotions even though the mere act of it was still foreign to him. “Not really. I was angry, mostly. Not in a vengeful way, but… I was just mad. Think I have been ever since.”

Rose tenderly traced her finger over the scar, not wanting to look as though she pitied him, but still extending her support to him. Wolffe watched her softly, feeling the touch of her fingertip over the scar that physically set him apart from his brothers, and when her fingertip was over his cheek, he softly took her hand and pressed kisses to her fingers and palm. Her big brown eyes looked into his, and wordlessly, their foreheads rested on one another for them to remain in silence with each other while time passed.

It was quiet, peaceful, warm; it was all either one of them wanted and needed.

Then, the silence was broken by Wolffe’s comm beeping. Rolling his eyes, Wolffe reached for the comm device under the heap of bits of plastoid on the ground and, placing a finger over his lips to tell Rose to keep silent, he answered it.

“Come in,” Wolffe said.

“Commander!” It was Sinker on the other end of the comm. “Listen, I know you’re off with Rose in some supply closet doing the dirty, but we need you both at the bridge. The briefing’s going to start soon.”

“I’ll be there,” Wolffe replied with his commander voice. “And if you gossip, you’re on cleanup duty for the rest of the cycle, got it?”

“Got it, sir,” Sinker replied with his sergeant voice in return. “Oh and… tell Rose to fix her lipstick. We can all tell when it’s been,” he cleared his throat, “smeared off.”

“Two cycles,” Wolffe threatened Sinker when he picked up on the mocking note of the sergeant’s voice while Rose blushed at the remark.

“Okay, okay,” Sinker chuckled. “Don’t be late.”

After that, he hung up. Wolffe got up and helped Rose back onto her feet, both of them dressing quietly and quick enough to be proud of.

“Shall I go out first?” Rose asked him.

Wolffe looked at her with a smooth smile, not quite able to explain the admiration he felt for her. “Sure. Head to the bridge for the briefing, I’ll meet you there.”

Rose walked up to him again and gave him a final peck on the lips before getting out of the storage room and making her way to the bridge. As she walked, she took out her tiny mirror and redid her lipstick, double checking it was perfect. While any Venator-class ship always seemed enormous to her, Rose found herself getting to the bridge fairly quickly, pleased to see the familiar grey armor of her division when she arrived. She averted her gaze from the front as she put her mirror away safely in her pack, and in that mere second, she stumbled onto someone. Apologizing with her signature charisma, Rose’s features dropped when she noticed the person she’d bumped into was Comet.

He had the same reaction. Rose and Comet had barely crossed gazes since they broke up, and as far as Rose knew, things were going well between him and… Gazelle, was it? Rose didn’t let herself care that much; it was her final defense mechanism.

“Hey,” Comet sighed, eyes bleeding insecurity.

“Hey,” Rose half-smiled, ready to walk past him. Just as she began stepping forward, Comet’s hand gently stopped her. It took all her might not to roll her eyes or sigh in utter dread, but there she was.

“I…” Comet began. “I heard you’re with Wolffe.”

“Did Sinker tell you?”

“No,” Comet replied. “No, Boost, actually.”

Rose nodded; it seemed Sinker wouldn’t be mopping for another cycle and a half.

“So?” Rose asked, her tone far gentler than the intention of the word itself.

“No, I just… I know we haven’t talked since that. I just don’t want there to be any hard feelings.”

Rose sighed, averting her gaze to a random point to the side. She remembered perfectly well what Comet had told her that night. That he still cared for her, that he still loved her.

“I’m really not at that point, Comet,” she said. “But I appreciate your intention.”

“Rose…”

“Look, if you don’t understand, just call Giselle and ask her how she’d feel if you told her you were leaving her for someone else,” Rose replied in a not-so-heavenly way. “She wouldn’t be happy, whether she’d drunkenly slept with someone or not. I at least regretted what I did.”

“You think I don’t regret breaking up with you? Rose, I felt terrible, but I had to do it. It was never gonna work.”

“Clearly,” Rose smiled poisonously. “Let’s just call it even.”

Of all things, Comet looked hurt. “I’m happy you’re with him. I really am. You’re better with him.”

Rose thought of all the things she could say for him, but only settled on thinking how much she hoped that was true if it meant he wouldn’t surprise her with any similar crap. But she couldn’t bring herself to say anything to Comet—she hadn’t stopped being angry at him, and seeing him still prickled the thorn into her skin that he’d left when he broke up with her. Instead, Rose just walked past Comet, not looking at him anymore. She wouldn’t burden herself with it.

As Rose approached the holoprojector in the center of the room, she noticed General Plo Koon stood behind it. It felt like ages since she’d last seen him, what with it not being uncommon for the wolf pack to take on missions without him as well as the long break they’d had on Naboo, but his presence was just as comforting to Rose as it had been when she joined the 104th. The troopers began lining around the holoprojector when the briefing was about to start, and just then, the door of the bridge opened to reveal the commander walking in with his regal, imposing aura around him.

“Are we all here now, then?” General Plo addressed Wolffe.

The commander removed his helmet and hugged it by his side; though his expression held his usual rough nature, Rose could notice the way his features briefly softened when he looked at the general now that she new him better, knowing Plo was clearly a father to him.

“Yes, sir,” Wolffe replied, authority reigning in his voice.

“Excellent,” said General Plo. “I am pleased to see that your time on Naboo has been beneficial to you all. This next mission will not be very difficult, in fact, the entirety of the division is not required.”

The general powered up the holoprojector which clearly displayed the image of the planet Balmorra as well as some of its stats, including how far away they currently were from said world and how long it would take to arrive.

“Balmorra is a Republic ally known for its diverse factories,” the general explained. “Commander Wolffe, you will have to take a small squad into the main durasteel foundry to receive the latest shipment of weaponry and bring it back to the ship; all details on location and shipment size will be on comm chatter for all of you to monitor. Once you have brought it to the Venator, the staff will take care of the rest.”

“How many troopers?” Wolffe questioned.

“About five, at most, including your medic,” Plo Koon then turned to Rose. “Respiratory infections due to fumes are not uncommon in such an environment, make sure you take the necessary supplies to treat any complications.”

“Yes, sir,” Rose nodded.

“One more thing,” General Plo now addressed the battalion in general. “Due to the nature of the place and the operations, the population is heavily intergalactic and the presence of multiple tongues may trouble you, which is why I have been instructed to send you alongside a protocol droid.”

Rose noticed as Sinker and Boost sucked air in through their teeth and, like twins, looked over at Wolffe in unison. She also heard various chuckles coming from some of the troopers around the briefing room, and her attention was brought to Wolffe as she could almost feel how hard it was for him to not roll his eyes in front of his general.

“Do we know which droid?” Wolffe brought himself to ask, his question making Boost blow a raspberry as the trooper tried and almost failed to hold in laughter.

“Yes, commander, it is the droid you are thinking of,” Plo Koon answered, a very subtle tinge of mischief decorating his voice. In the background, Sinker and Boost facepalmed, clearly dreading said droid, but it was more important to them how much they could laugh at Wolffe at the moment.

Meanwhile, Wolffe finally let himself roll his eyes, accepting his fate for the mission.

“The sooner we get it done, the better,” he stated.

Rose directed a confused look over at Sinker, who chuckled one last time before providing her the context.

“About a few months ago, we were assigned a mission with a very… peculiar protocol droid,” Sinker said.

“He drove all of us insane,” Boost continued.

“But specifically Wolffe,” Sinker finished. “If we hadn’t needed the droid for translation, I think he would have blown its head right off before it stepped off the ship.”

“Yeah, I’d never seen him roll his eyes that many times in one same day,” Corvis spoke up from the other side of the room. “And that’s saying something considering it’s Wolffe.”

“There was little I could do,” said Master Plo. “General Skywalker heavily recommended the droid. He has faith in it, of course, given he was the one who built C-3PO.”

The room fell silent; Wolffe’s gaze darted over to Master Plo with a blend of dismay and disbelief.

“General Skywalker built the droid?” Wolffe questioned.

Rose could almost hear the glass shattering inside Wolffe’s head. Master Plo nodded, a light chuckle escaping him.

“There go our chances of ever working with the 501st,” Sinker whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Yeah, Wolffe is never going to forgive General Skywalker for building C-3PO,” Boost whispered back with the same volume, clearly following along with Sinker’s game.

“Anyway,” Wolffe said. “Sinker, Boost, you’re on the squad. Corvis, you too. With Rose and I, it makes five. We ship out as soon as we jump out of hyperspace.”

“Yes, sir!” replied the troopers assigned to the op, all of them in unison.

“You are dismissed, then,” Plo Koon said.

No further instructions were given. Wolffe rounded up the squadron he’d take to Balmorra as the rest of the battalion left the bridge and awaited their own assignments. As Rose walked up to the group, her eyes instinctively found Wolffe’s, who were already looking at her as though he’d been watching her since the stars had been created. Her lips curved slightly, barely noticeable, as their gazes met, and for a moment, Rose began to wonder how much time they all had before reaching Balmorra.

Just like old times, Sinker nudged her arm and leaned beside her with a devious smirk.

“No, I don’t believe there’s time to sneak in a quickie,” he whispered at her with that smug look. “We’re already too close to Balmorra.”

Rose playfully punched him, though hard enough to make Sinker wheeze through his laughter. Still, the two were grinning as they laughed as silently as they could so as to not stir up the military environment, but Rose felt like it had been forever since she’d been on such terms with her squad. She was having an amazing time with Wolffe, but it felt nice to return to the old ways if only for just a bit.

“We should head to the hangar and be ready for our gunship to fly us to Balmorra upon arrival,” Wolffe stated.

“The sooner we get to the hangar, the more time we’ll spend with that droid,” Boost said through clenched teeth as memories of 3PO invaded his mind.

“I hate it more than you do, but they’re Plo’s orders,” Wolffe said as he began leading the squadron towards the hangar. “And now that we know Skywalker built him, it’s not as easy to shoot its head off.”

“Accidents happen,” Rose said from behind, a smirk tilting her lips.

Boost and Corvis whistled at Rose’s wit, always that charming quality that embellished all the others, and Wolffe looked over his shoulder with a smile only he could notice. It was just the type of remark he would have loathed coming from Rose, at least back in the days before he accepted she was everything to him.

“We’d have to plan really good for that type of accident,” Sinker commented as they walked down the last hall leading them to the hangar. “I mean, I’m confident in the wolf pack’s skills, but even we need to be careful with such a stunt…”

Sinker trailed off, and he alongside the rest of the squad ceased walking as soon as the door to the hangar opened and revealed to them the gunship they would travel to Balmorra on, and in front of them was the dreaded protocol droid who appeared way too golden, result of a recent polishing that it was showing off to any troopers who happened to be unlucky enough to wander by; those who were helmetless already looked pained.

“We won’t hear the end of it for the entire trip,” Corvis muttered.

“Not to mention a fancy polishing like that isn’t going to last in Balmorra’s industrial landscapes,” Rose added.

“Let’s just… let’s get this over with,” Wolffe grumbled as he put his helmet on.

The squadron of five walked up to the gunship, and it didn’t take the droid long to notice their presence. Lacking facial expressions, C-3PO giddily raised a hand and almost seemed to bounce upon landing sights on them.

“Commander Wolffe!” said the droid. “How very nice it is to see you again!”

Wordless, Wolffe merely stood before the droid.

“I do hope you are smiling beneath your helmet!” 3PO said.

“Right…” Wolffe hesitated, clearly doing anything but smiling.

“We will be at Balmorra soon, commander,” 3PO pledged. “I am most pleased to inform that you have my full cooperation. After all, I am fluent in over—”

“Yeah, yeah, you speak a lot of languages,” Wolffe cut the droid off.

“I am flattered you remember!” 3PO said with evident excitement. “Shall we review the briefing of the mission?”

Tension lingered in the air, and Rose was certain Wolffe was about to lose it. She swiftly stepped forward, positioning herself beside Wolffe, and she held her hands out in a friendly and welcoming manner to catch the droid’s attention.

“Actually, we have just been briefed, and we know you probably know this mission better than we do, so there’s no need for that!” She said happily. “How about you go take your place on the gunship? We have to ship out soon, and we don’t want to risk leaving you behind because we’re in a rush. You’re the most important asset in the mission.”

“Ah, at last, some appreciation!” C-3PO nodded and spoke kindly. “I am most grateful. Sometimes clones do not have the kindest of ways—did you know none of them have batted an eyelash to my polishing—”

“It’s wonderful, now go!” Rose swept him in the direction of the gunship. “We’re due to leave soon!”

“Will do, ma’am!” said C-3PO as he headed towards the gunship just as Rose had instructed, leaving the squadron with some long-awaited silence. Meanwhile, Rose turned around to look at the clones, a smug look on her face, while the three helmetless troopers looked at her with dropped jaws.

“We really needed a woman on the team,” Boost said, turning to Wolffe. “Didn’t we, commander?”

Wolffe shoved Boost just a bit more aggressively than other times, and the squadron remained peaceful while they waited for the venator to arrive at Balmorra.

“Doesn’t—”

“He ever—”

“Shut the hell up?”

Corvis, Sinker, and Boost respectively grumbled between gritted teeth as the never ending chatter from C-3PO plagued the ship. Rose smiled, her features scrunching as she forced her own laughter inside; she felt a gaze on her, Wolffe’s gaze, looming over her behind his visor, a gesture that tinted her cheeks pink. Sadly, any illusion created between her and Wolffe would be shattered for the moment due to the dragging of chatter that filled the gunship, mostly a one-man show from the droid.

“And then it appeared that the leader of the tribe had died—though how, I am not certain. R2 says it was my fault, but that cross-wired droid always blames me even though usually I am the one getting us out of trouble—”

Every trooper exchanged looks. All the clones donned their helmets now, but Rose didn’t need to see their faces to know just how miserable they all looked. 3PO’s monologue was loud enough to drown out the sounds of other conversation, especially aided by the vocoder of each helmet whenever the clones wanted to whisper amongst themselves.

“It would be a real pity if that stupid polishing got ruined, wouldn’t it?” Boost commented.

“A real pity indeed,” Sinker followed.

“Oh, gods, what are you two thinking?” Rose asked them.

“You were right, there’s a lot of ash and timber in industrial landscapes,” Boost said, his gaze hatefully on the droid.

“As long as it stays at that,” Rose warned.

Sinker and Boost nodded in unison, partly brushing off Rose’s concern as their only care was getting back at the innocent droid somehow. She rolled her eyes playfully, knowing better than to underestimate them, and just then, the engines’ whirring slowed down and they all felt the force of the ship on them as it landed for its doors to hiss open; the smell of molten metal and exhaust of oil filled the air, indicating they had finally arrived at the central industrial complex of Balmorra.

“We’ll need to walk about half a klick and make our way inside the factory,” Wolffe instructed. “Come on, let’s make it quick.”

As they all started walking, C-3PO’s concern became evident almost immediately.

“Is there not something we could do about all this ash in the air?” The droid asked.

“Oh, yeah, lemme ask the president of Balmorra if she can shut down all the factories,” Boost commented with sarcasm flooding his voice. He then turned to Corvis, grumbling under his breath. “Entitled much.”

“Droids, am I right?” Corvis grumbled in agreement.

“Droids,” Sinker echoed.

Meanwhile, as they treaded towards their destination, dust and ash began to settle on the plating of 3PO’s chassis, and the troopers chuckled at how it was already ruined—and how easy it would be to ruin it further. Sinker skipped forward a bit and positioned himself just behind 3PO and, with a gloved finger and featherlight touch, traced the silhouette of a large penis along the droid’s back, making Corvis and Boost laugh as quietly as they could.

Rose’s jaw dropped and she covered her mouth with her hand, only to glare at the boys in makeshift disappointment.

“You guys are such guys!” She whisper-yelled. “You really hate that droid?”

“Yes,” the three said in unison.

“Could you at least have drawn something else?” Rose whispered.

“Oh,” Sinker mocked her. “Don’t pretend you don’t like the D.”

“Baby, I love it, but I don’t want to see it drawn on a droid.” Rose raised her eyebrow at Sinker, challenging him further.

“What’s going on?” Wolffe’s voice spoke up from the front of the formation. “We’re almost there, I need you all on military-grade demeanor.”

“We just need to do a little something—3PO, look at me,” Rose made the droid turn around and pretended to wipe dust off his helm, its back now facing Wolffe and bringing the commander’s hand up to the top of his helmet at the sight of the drawing, probably wondering what he did to deserve the current course of events. Meanwhile, Corvis, Sinker, and Boost struggled to hold in laughter until they simply couldn’t anymore, and though Wolffe favored the idea of the dick drawn on 3PO and would have probably added a target and a shoot here sign somewhere else, he proceeded to erase the obscene drawing, simply claiming to be removing the ash from 3PO’s back.

“Thank you so much, commander,” even for a droid, 3PO seemed to display genuine gratitude.

“Keep it moving, shiny, we don’t wanna be late,” Sinker nudged the droid to make him walk again.

“I’d offer to carry you, but I can’t promise I won’t throw you at the nearest foundry,” Boost teased.

“Or nearest junkyard,” Sinker chuckled. “Spare parts and circuits always come in handy around here.”

“Children, can you please behave?” Rose glared at them, only making them laugh, but seeing how close they were to their destination, the three quieted down and regained their composure as Wolffe led the way in.

Inside, preparations for the Republic’s arrival had been thoroughly carried out. A few guards stood on the upper catwalks of the factory’s entry complex, and the manager in charge of supplying awaited along with two aides. Behind them was a cart already loaded with crates, big enough to fit at least twenty of them which each held about three dozen blasters.

The manager began speaking in its native tongue, foreign to all the troopers who had gone on the mission, and at least it didn’t render 3PO’s presence there in vain. The droid got to translating and the trade seemed to be going swiftly; as she stood there, Rose picked up on the burn in her throat result of the presence of gas and, she assumed, poor ventilation. If that was the condition in the trading dock, Rose didn’t want to imagine what it was like inside the factory. A gas like that was not only harmful to the people’s health, it also drastically raised risks of explosions.

Rose tapped on 3PO’s shoulder. “Hey, mind telling the manager to keep an eye on the gas levels in the factory’s atmosphere? It’s going to make all its employees ill sooner or later.”

After a light nod, 3PO proceeded to telling the manager as Rose had requested. In return, the manager seemed to scoff and have a defensive tone as he spoke, leaving for 3PO to translate with a tinge of hesitation in his voice.

“He says he appreciates your attempt at a contribution, but that he’s the one who knows about these things,” the droid spoke with remorse.

Rose rolled her eyes, knowing all too well what that type of man was like. Fine, she figured. If he didn’t care about his factory, it would be his loss somewhere down the road, but in the meantime, Rose shamelessly settled for taking a filtered mask from her pack for herself as well as an extra filter for the boys’ helmets.

As she searched her pack, she noticed subtle movement from just behind the wall outside, a figure lurking in the corner quickly seeking to hide. She could not have dreamt it up, and such a behavior was too odd for a factory setting like that one. She kept her gaze trailed in that direction, and soon enough, the figure popped up again only to hide once more upon seeing she was looking. Rose nudged Sinker for his attention, but in those mere seconds, the person who lurked behind the walls threw a single lighter into the factory.

The mere act of it seemed harmless, almost stupid, just a spiteful action from someone who didn’t know better. And then Rose inhaled, her filtered mask still not over her face, and she felt the gas fill her throat again.

And it made sense.

“Watch out!” She yelled, catching everybody’s attention to her direction.

Wolffe lunged forward and put himself between Rose and the lighter before it ignited. His first instinct was to punch the device away, getting it as far as possible from the gas-infested air. Wolffe’s fist made contact with it and changed its direction, but even that wasn’t enough, and the spark from the lighter caused an explosion that sent everyone flying back, primarily Wolffe, whose body crashed mercilessly onto the crates.

Rose knew she was yelling out his name, but the ringing in her ears prevented her from hearing it. She crawled on the floor, vision blurring, muscles straining as she looked up at Wolffe sitting on the ground. The entire front part of his armor was stained black with ash, damage which would have fallen straight onto Rose had Wolffe not shielded her from the blast. Knowing that, Rose forced herself to her feet, but stumbled over to Wolffe as best as she could if only to check he was okay.

“Rose!” The calling of her name was blurry to her ears, and it took her a long time realize someone had grabbed hold of her while a different pair of arms secured Wolffe onto the cart with crates and readied it to move out.

“Wait…” Rose mumbled. “I have to check on him…”

“She’s bleeding,” the muffled voice seemed clearer now. “She hit her head!”

“Get her on the cart with Wolffe and the droid, and get to the ship!”

“The target’s leaving!”

“It’s a goddamn spy!”

“Take them alive!”

She heard the sound of what she thought were stun blasts and a few more battle cries. Curses were yelled in Mando’a, orders were shouted, and in her hazy consciousness, Rose felt movement and the whirring of an engine beneath her, barely making out the figure of a trooper running beside the cart.

“Wolffe…” she mumbled again and tried shifting around the cart, unable to find him. She began panting when she couldn’t feel or see him, the hyperventilation making the edges of her vision darken and her head woozy and numb.

“Rose!” it was Sinker who yelled at her. “Rose, calm down, we’re almost there! He’s going to be fine!”

His name, however, kept leaving her lips as she frantically looked for him. Sinker knew she couldn’t keep that up for long. He pushed the cart for long enough for it to keep going without his strength and climbed onto it, rummaging around Rose’s pack to find a sedative and inject it into her arm to get her to sleep.

As her vision darkened fully, she barely recognized anything of what Sinker was telling her, but she sort of discerned an apology and the promise she’d be alright before finally falling asleep.

In her dreams, the flash of the explosion flooded her mind. Yells, battle cries, stun bolts, the feeling of going numb, the subtle prickle of a needle on the back of her head, Wolffe’s name whispered from her tongue, the smell of disinfectant. It felt like eternities when she finally darted her eyes open, the white distinctive light of a medical bay looming above her, staining her pride when she realized she was on a bed rather than helping someone else.

Her head ached and the presence of stitches on the back of her head alarmed her for a moment. She had a few scratches on her arms and legs, all of them topped by bacta patches that would help her heal faster. Whatever had happened, Rose at least found comfort in knowing she was safe now.

“Rose?”

All clones had the same voice, but she’d recognize his anywhere. Turning to her left, she saw Wolffe lying on the bed beside her, his body more covered in patches than hers was, skin moist after a full bath in bacta.

Frantically, Rose checked her vitals. As soon as she decided she was stable, Rose left her bed and went to sit at the edge of Wolffe’s, taking some of the equipment in one of her hands while the other one gently stroked his cheek.

“Wolffe, thank the gods you’re okay…” she whispered, scanning him for any other injuries.

Wolffe chuckled. “Rose, they already did all that.”

“Yeah, but I’m your medic,” she said. “I have to check on you.”

“Rose,” he spoke her name with a tender softness alien in his voice. “I’m fine. They put me in bacta for a whole night. I just need to rest. You have to get back to your bed.”

“You took a fucking blast to the face,” Rose said, her tone almost scolding Wolffe even though gratitude lined it in silver.

In his daze, Wolffe smiled at her. “I did it for you.”

“How many meds have they given you?” She asked him.

Wolffe chuckled again. “A lot.”

She calmed down and smiled at him, her eyes watering at the sight of seeing him hurt. Wolffe’s eyes were soft as he gazed upon her, and he took a bandaged hand up to lovingly cup her cheek. Rose leaned into his touch, the bandage feeling oddly soft against her skin.

“You saved my life,” she said.

Wolffe smiled slightly again, but said nothing. Their gazes were intense, holding within them an entire world of words, the feeling behind them unmistakable—and neither of them felt brave enough to speak it aloud. At that moment, both of them crippled and injured, it only mattered to them they were within the other’s touch. At last, Rose leaned down and kissed Wolffe’s lips softly. He tasted of the painkillers he’d been given, but it was still Wolffe’s taste. They kissed tenderly, each too afraid to do something that would hurt the other, and in the silent medical bay, only the sound of their heartbeat in unison glided in the air.

The doors opened with a hiss, followed by the sound of at least three different troopers clearing their throat.

“Good to see you’re both healthy enough to make out,” Sinker smiled, genuinely glad the two were okay.

With her cheeks tinged scarlet, Rose went back to her bed and sat as Sinker and Comet flanked her side, and the rest of the squadron surrounded the scene.

“What the hell happened?” Wolffe’s seriousness returned.

Boost sighed heavily as the mood of the med bay gradually came down. “We caught the culprit taking pictures of us. It was a spy.”

“Did they get away?” Rose asked.

“Yes, we… we tried to stop them but the explosions, the Balmorra guild ordering us to leave… it was a lot,” Corvis sighed.

Rose reached out a hand to comfort him, the gesture looked upon by Comet at her side.

“You saved my life and Wolffe’s,” Rose said. “Everything else will be sorted out in time. Do we know anything else about this person?”

“No,” Sinker said grimly. “We don’t know who they were, who they work for, or what they wanted.”

“So we wait,” Wolffe said lowly, confident the effects of such an odd attack would show up eventually.

“And so we wait,” Sinker sighed in agreement as everybody’s gazes got lost inside the med bay.

Too much mystery surrounded the simple mission that by no means should have gone wrong, and by the gods, not a single one of them liked it.

Taglist: @zoeykallus @sageislostinspring @misogirl828 @dangerousstrawberrypie @salaminus @ladykatakuri @whore4rex

Link to join my taglist at the top of the post! Thank you so much for reading!

#the hunt series #moonstrider writes #wolffe smut #commander wolffe smut #wolffe #commander wolffe #wolffe x oc #cc 3636 #the clone wars fanfic #wolffe fanfic #tcw wolffe fanfic #tcw wolffe smut #wolffe x reader

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miss-smutty · 4 years ago

Text

Forbidden

Chapter 1

A/N- I've teased y'all for so long I hope this series is going to live up to expectations, I'm confident it will though because I'm addicted and it's been super easy for me to write - I'm up to chapter 3 so far so updates can be on time! There's a slight age gap between my professor Hemsy and OC Jess but she's twenty and completely legal. You know this is gunna be a giant tease fest for the first couple of chapters cos that sexual tension is fucking gold 🥵

Summary- Jess meets the man of her dreams and then stupidly leaves without getting his number. Will fate bring them together again?

Word count- 1.5 K

Pairing- Professor!Chris Hemsworth x OC

Warnings- Swearing, age gap

18+ only!

Disclaimer: This is an entire work of fiction/AU and has no affiliation to real life what so ever! This is a fictional story about fictional characters who happen to share names and faces with some real people.

Posted: 5th August 2021

Taglist:- @innerpaperexpertcloud @pandaxnienke @chickensarentcheap @jjpogueprincess @longlostinanotherworld @mostly-marvel-musings @darklydeliciousdesires @monet-belle

@skyfullofsong123 @swaggysposts

Chapter 2

I pulled out a chair at the last available table in the unusually busy coffee shop, I thought I might've caught a break choosing the one outside of campus but alas I was wrong.

I was about to sit down when the chair opposite me slid out from under the table, my eyes lifted to meet with the most sparkly blue eyes i'd ever seen. The sight of him took my breath away. Literally.

I stood staring, frozen on the spot, my mouth slightly ajar as I looked him up and down. He was tall, so tall, definitely over 6ft and built like a dream. Thick thighs straining against his fitted trousers, wide muscular shoulders and I just knew there was a six-pack hiding behind that tight t-shirt.

"Sorry. You were here first, I'll just grab a take-out." He smirked a side smile, amused at how I was so obviously checking him out but his sexy Australian accent distracted you from anything else.

"It's fine, I'm on my own. I don't mind if you want to sit there too." I mentally face palmed myself, drawing attention to the fact I was alone wasn't the best idea but then again he was alone too. "I don't bite." I added trying my best to flirt.

It seemed to work, he smiled at me as he sat down and I took the time to admire his handsome face. He was quite clearly a lot older than me, the laughter lines around his eyes a tell tale sign but he was still quite possibly the best looking man I'd ever laid eyes on. His hair was fair and the short beard framed his face perfectly but the one thing that stood out the most were those piercing ocean-blue eyes.

"So do you come here often?" I cocked my eyebrow at him over my coffee cup making him laugh at my reaction. "Sorry, it's been a while." He said nervously, running his hand through his hair.

"It's been a while since you spoke to a stranger or…?" I questioned casually.

"It's been a while since I spoke to an attractive woman." He finished, his eyes sparkling as he watched me almost choke on my drink.

"Oh, I err…. I don't think you're doing too badly." I absentmindedly circled my finger around the rim of my cup, crossing my leg over my other and accidently rubbing my foot up his leg. My cheeks felt hot and flushed as I looked up into his eyes and saw him smiling slyly.

"Evidently. We're already playing footsie under the table." He smiled widely, a genuine smile that stretched the corners of his mouth. I smiled back at him shyly, thinking of something to say to change the subject before I ended up looking like a tomato.

"What part of Australia are you from?"

"I'm originally from Melbourne but I lived in Byron Bay before I came to America."

"Awesome. I've always wanted to go to Australia, the Spiders put me off though."

"Yeah I think they put most people off but in heavily populated areas they stay pretty much hidden, I think it's the size that scare people." How have I made this conversation go from flirting to talking about spiders? And how do I get back to flirting?

"Are we still talking about spiders?" I raised my eyebrows questioningly and laughed at the innuendo, flicking my hair over my shoulder. I noticed something in his eyes when I did so, a hunger, just a little flash and then it was gone again. I'm sure I didn't imagine it though because his eyes lingered on my exposed shoulders.

I checked my watch subtly, not wanting him to think he was boring me but I had to get to class and couldn't be late again, not when this semester had only just started.

"I'm really sorry, I'm gonna have to run, I'm going to be late. It was really nice meeting you." I gathered up my bags, ready to leave.

"Already? You've only just got here." He looked disappointed, his smile fading. His mouth opened as if he was going to say something else and then closed again when he saw I was ready to leave. "It was really nice to meet you too, hopefully I'll see you again." His eyes sparkled as he looked into mine, standing from his chair to get the door for me. I felt fireworks when his hand brushed against the small of my back and his face lingered close to mine. The tension was unreal, like we were the only people in the room as his eyes hungrily stared into my soul, undressing me with his eyes. My heart stopped beating when his face moved closer to mine so I could feel his breath on my lips, the smell of coffee and his aftershave filling my nostrils. I paused, my feet routed to the spot, I wanted him to kiss me so badly but I moved away at the last minute. Surely he wasn't actually going to kiss me, we'd only just met, that would be ridiculous. Wouldn't it?

********

I spent most of class daydreaming about my tall handsome stranger and the way he looked at me but most of all how I didn't even get his name. Or his number.

Now I was feeling sorry for myself because it would just be my luck to meet the man of my dreams and then never see him again. So I'd moped about all day and avoided the invitations for drinks after class. Instead I'd

gotten home early, changed into some sweats and settled myself in front of the TV for the night.

"What's up with your face?" My roommate, Ellie said as she walked into our room, throwing her bags onto her bed.

"What're you talking about?"

"Your face. Looks like you're chewing on a wasp."

"Feeling sorry for myself." I pout pathetically.

"Why, what've you done now?" She rolled her eyes, kicking off her shoes and throwing her legs up onto the bed. I felt so lucky to have a roommate like Ellie, during our freshman year she'd become my best friend practically straight away and now after two years together we were practically sisters.

I sat up in bed cross legged and faced Ellie, getting myself ready to spill my misfortunes of the day with her.

"Well, I went to Impresso's this morning to get my morning coffee before class." She nodded, showing her enthusiasm by also sitting cross legged on her own bed, facing me. "And it was packed full of students, there was only one table left. So I went to grab it as soon as I could." She raised her eyebrow at me, wondering where I was going with the story. "And I kid you not, the most attractive man I have ever seen, pulls out the chair opposite me."

"Oh my god! No way. Did you talk? Oh my god, this is like the perfect chick flick. Carry on." I smiled at her excitement.

"I told him I didn't mind if he sat there, I mean of course I didn't mind, you should've seen him El. Oh, oh, oh I almost forgot" I flapped my hands, bouncing on the spot. "He was fucking Australian."

"Fuck off, you're lying. Drop dead gorgeous with the sexiest accent ever. How is this even real? Now remind me why you're sat there with a face like a slapped arse?"

"I panicked when I had to leave, didn't want to be late for class and I didn't get his number, didn't even give him chance to ask for mine."

"Wow! Ok, now I understand. What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking, I was panicking and you know what I'm like when I panic." You sulk.

"It's ok, maybe you'll bump into him again."

"Yeah, right. I should be so lucky."

"Cheer up." she says throwing a cushion at me. "There's a party at Alpha Kappa this weekend, I'm sure we can find you someone to help get over your mystery man. Or under should I say?" She raised her eyebrow at me, smiling slyly and making me laugh. She always did know how to cheer me up and maybe a party is what I needed.

There must be some good looking boys around campus that could make me forget about my Australian hunk. Surely? I thought about the guys I'd seen around campus, the guys I'd seen at frat parties and that's definitely not what I wanted. How could a twenty year old boy match to the masculine, experienced man I met this morning. My mind was set, I'd dipped my feet ever slightly into the mature pool and that's what I wanted more than anything. There was always something missing with previous boyfriends and I was tired of all the game playing. I wanted someone who knew what they wanted and wasn't afraid to get it.

The only thing was, he didn't know I was only twenty and I had no way of finding him again. If fate did bring us back together, would he mind that I was still a student? That I couldn't even drink when we went on dates?

Who am I kidding? Of course he would mind, he could get any woman he wanted, why would he want me?

#smut #chris hemsworth #chris hemsworth fanfic #chris hemsworth smut #chris hemsworth x reader #chris hemsworth x you #chris Hemsworth series #chris Hemsworth X oc #mcu rpf

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lovelywingsart · 4 years ago

Text

Metallic (18+)

-- Karl Heisenberg X OC (AFAB, She/They) --

Oh lord here we go- Ok, first off, y'all get a small paragraph beforehand, please forgive me. :'D I've... never posted smut THIS PUBLICLY before. This is admittedly incredibly nerve-wracking and I'm hella nervous because I feel like I write... 'conservatively'? You'll see what I mean. So... Please go easy on me for this one...? I'm great for sweet stuff and angst, but smut is a whole other beast despite NSFW being one of my favorite art forms when drawing. I mean, I've already made a few *spicy* art pieces for them, but just... Writing is difficult. I mean, I really hope you guys like it anyway!! But fair warning. THIS is new for me. QuQ I do have a few more smut pieces in the works, but this was the first one written.

So uh... on to the story, I guess...!

**Small reminder that I have a small 'Masterlist' for these!**

-------

*Warning?: Hella smut, lots of biting, choking and kisses, some blood from said biting, just rough sex in general? Normal, to rough, to fluff. not entirely sure what else to add?? :'D It's all consensual, no worries.

Summary: With some high tensions, a smart mouth, and some unfortunate forgetfulness, Emelia gets herself into a bit of... 'trouble' with the notorious Metal Man. But maybe this time she bit off a bit more than she could chew... Not that she really ends up minding.

A pair of footsteps echoed through the underground tunnels of the factory, almost mimicking the constant sounds of pickaxes being dug into the stone. The walking man looked around every once in a while, seemingly proud of whatever progress had been made.

"All is going well. Good, good." He said proudly, puffing on the cigar he held between his fingers. The woman next to him rolled her eye. The small lights of the tunnels glinted in the glasses he wore as he turned his head to glance at her. "Is there a problem?" He chuckled.

"If by 'well' you mean 'excruciatingly slow by dimwitted slaves', then yes."

"Would you like to join them then, Emmy?"

"Bloody hell, no. I'm still sore from lugging those damned carts around..." Emelia mumbled, reaching to rub behind her neck. The man next to her chuckled again, handing over his cigar. He stepped forward slightly as she took it, holding out his free arm.

"And yet you're still walking!" He chimed, looking back at her as she puffed on the cigar, herself. "We'll change that soon enough."

"I'm not working myself to death, Heisenberg." She huffed, picking up speed and shoving the cigar back into his face. "While factory productions are important to me too, perhaps learn the definition of a 'break', and not as in 'break my back'."

Karl took the cigar with amusement as she walked forward ahead, clearly heading back to the main building.

"First you tell me to work harder, then you say not at all." He mused, following closely. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I can do what I want?"

"And yet, what you want is what affects YOUR factory in the long run... Timing, Karl."

"You act as if you know more about MY factory than I do."

"And what do you know?"

"Everything."

"Good, then you know I'm heading upstairs to rest for a moment."

"I assumed so."

The two wandered along the corridors to a hall with stairs leading to a metal door, sharing the cigar before she went forward and kicked the door open, snorting as she heard an irritated grunt behind her.

"If you break that, you're fixing it." He muttered, setting his hammer down to the side as he took the cigar from her. She snorted, tossing her own weapon to the side, watching it land on a pile of fabrics used for either covering machinery or covering herself when she slept, whichever happened to come first.

"You say that as if it would be difficult." She retorted, taking her hair out of the tie it was in and running her hand through it before stretching slightly as he walked past her to sit in a chair next to a desk in the room they were in. It was similar to a bedroom, but not quite. 'More like an office with a small bed' , she always said, occasionally taking residence on said 'bed' when she was tired. She felt Heisenbergs eyes on her as her muscles stretched and popped, and she let out a satisfied groan.

"It wouldn't be, but you'll have to make a new one from scratch." He said, arching a brow as he leaned back in the chair. She rolled her eye, moving to stretch her arms in front of her.

"Again, not hard." She shrugged, finally moving towards the desk he was next to. "Making a door takes less brains than you already have."

"Are you calling me an idiot?"

"I'm not calling you a genius."

She almost laughed as she saw him pause before taking a long drag on the cigar.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear you say that." He sighed. She shrugged, leaning over the table and looking over the papers that had been laying on it.

"It's a joke, Heisenberg. I'll admit you're more intelligent than you let on." She said, moving the papers and other objects slightly while looking at them. She then paused as she held them, her eye going over the plans, x-rays, and sketches. "Did you leave out the other Soldat plans?"

"They're in with the cadou notes. I thought you would have seen them." He said simply, reaching for a manila folder on the corner of the table. He put the cigar in his mouth as he opened it and flipped through with a huff. "The new ones haven't been functioning properly, damn things... I'm thinking of rewiring the circuits to the brain.".

"Wouldn't that cause more damage than good?"

"Not if it's done properly." He chewed on the cigar for a moment before flipping over one of the papers. "The worst that could happen is the head exploding from the current. In that case-"

"Lycan food?" She suggested. He nodded in agreement.

"Lycan food. They're mostly useless to me otherwise..."

"As are most things..." she muttered, earning a glance. She looked back at him. "What? Am I wrong?"

"Not necessarily. Others do still have use."

"How?" She asked, turning to face him. "No head means no use."

He shrugged, tossing the folder back onto the table before leaning back in the chair.

"Replace certain muscle tissue and bones with pneumatic or hydraulic systems, whichever proves to be less of a pain in the ass that day, hot wire circuits to the remaining muscle structures, add an engine system into the chest with a strong battery..." he tilted his head slightly, almost as if he were picturing the plans in his head, thinking of more details as he went along. "They would quite literally be mindless, but a few shocks and currents would make them go just fine."

"Sounds a bit like you..." Emelia snorted, turning back to the table to organize the papers as he glared at her. "Shall I pick a few poor sods from the village to test this?"

"Or I could just use you..." he muttered.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Keep making your ass-backwards comments and see what happens." He shot back, finally pushing himself up to stand. "Yes, I'd like you to do that. Fresh bodies work best for the experiments. I'll send out the Lycans as well, given they don't tear them apart."

"That wouldn't matter anyway, Karl. You'll just stitch them back up like you always do."

"I could, couldn't I?" He started, taking a step closer to stand next to her with a sinister smile. "Or I could make YOU do it. You seem to have fun with tearing things apart and putting them back together-"

"I'm NOT sewing your bloody creations together." She interrupted. "I'll kill them and I'll tear them to shreds, or I'll assist with the inner workings of the mechanics. I don't sew."

"You'll learn."

"Like hell I will."

"I'll make you."

"Bullocks."

"Keep talking, Emelia." He dared, his voice lowering in a threatening manor. "I'm not in the mood."

"You were before we got here." She challenged. She only held her breath as he suddenly snuffed out the cigar on the table itself while his eyes seemed to stare directly through her.

"That's what happens when you keep insulting me, Emmy. I start to get angry. You know that."

She felt a chill down her spine at his voice. It was different from any other time she had aggravated him... It was as if she were in actual danger. His face was only inches away from hers, and he smirked once he noticed her hesitation.

"Scared, Emelia?"

She kept her eye on him, watching his movements carefully. No, No she wasn't in danger... Maybe.

"No." She replied, lifting her chin slightly as he arched a brow.

"Oh?"

"What is it you say to me...? I'm 'in a mood'...? Because I believe you're currently in one, yourself." She asked, finally moving forward and brushing past him in a nonchalant manor despite being somewhat stiff in her movements. "Drink some coffee and throw a few things around with that power of yours, you'll be fine."

She felt his eyes on her as she neared a cushioned chair against the wall.

"I'll throw YOU around..." He growled, taking amusement in her body slowing down as he spoke. He walked towards her as she turned to face him. "See how that pretty mouth works after your head goes through a wall."

"You forget I've stopped your hammer with my arm." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest before smirking. "You smashing my head through a wall would be as effective as Sturm trying to hold something with his nubs."

"You don't seem to understand what I can do to you, Emelia."

"And you don't seem to understand the amount of fucks I don't give, Karl."

His arm twitched slightly, and she glanced over as metal pieces on the floor began to shake just slightly. She just hoped he wouldn't direct his power towards her...

"If you would like to play, I'll GLADLY entertain you."

She suddenly got in his face, a mischievous, antagonistic spark in the gold of her eye.

"Entertain me HOW? Throw me to the Lycans? The Varcolacs? Hell, let Urias get ahold of me, see what happens."

He bared his teeth in a snarl, though the corners of his mouth stayed in a malicious grin.

"I'll turn YOU into a goddamn Soldat, you'll be so full of metal you won't be able to FUNCTION without me-"

"I'm more afraid of your SISTER than I am you!"

Her smirk widened as she saw a sudden spark of anger in his face, his smile faltering.

"Don't you dare attempt to bring that bitch into this, I'll put my hammer straight into your skull-"

"TRY ME, THEN-" She started, only to give a yelping gasp in surprise as Heisenberg slammed her against the wall by her throat.

"Shut your damn hole!!!-" He snarled. His grip was tight, but he seemed to stop once he glanced at her open mouth. All of a sudden the air around them changed, and she stared at him with confusion in her one golden eye. "Oh, Emmy, you didn't tell me!" He said with a sudden cheerful tone, moving his hand from her throat to her jaw. He switched so quickly...

"Wh-" she began, only to stop as her jaw was yanked open. She was confused until she saw the reflection of her tongue piercing in his glasses.

Shit.

"Well well, I guess you've got some metal in you after all. I won't have to try as hard..." He chuckled, tilting his head as she stared at her own reflection. "What else are you hiding from me, Emmy?"

Her eye was wide in simultaneous fear and curiosity. She knew she couldn't have hidden the piercings forever, but certainly longer than this. She usually at least took the one out of her mouth when around him given how often they talked for this reason... But even then, he had never noticed it before. Why now?! She kicked herself for forgetting. She wanted to shove him away... Shove him and run. Would he chase her? He was most definitely trying to scare her, she knew that much... But she also wanted to know how far he would actually go if she did nothing. Would he rip them out if he found the others? Use them as control like he mentioned? Or would he leave her alone? Something told her the latter was out of the question as he showed growing interest in her silence.

"N-.... Nothing..." she managed, nudging her jaw out of his grip. "I just-"

"You're a liar, Emelia." He said, his grin growing wider. She gave a huff and shook her head.

"I am not, you ridiculous-"

She was stopped with a startled gasp as a gloved thumb was shoved between her jaws, nearly propping her mouth open.

"Now now, this'll go far easier if you do it my way. Now open up."

He lifted his other hand to his face, taking a finger of the glove between his teeth and sliding it off. The glove fell to the ground between them, and she watched as he reached for her face with his bare hand. She flinched slightly as his fingers pressed against her lower jaw, though admittedly relaxed as his thumb drifted over her bottom lip. The skin was expectantly rough, she found, calloused and covered in smaller scars. She closed her eye as it drifted over her sharp lower teeth before thrusting over her tongue, pushing it back and causing a small gaging reflex. It tasted... metallic... Metallic with hints of other things. Not quite metal, not quite blood... Maybe residual oil? Maybe a hint of the cigars. She couldn't tell exactly what it was, but the mixture wasn't bad... She really didn't mind much. She could almost feel the interested look on his face as she relaxed, though she attempted to hide it. Oh god, was she enjoying this...? She only flinched as he pressed his thumb against the muscle, pushing it out of her mouth somewhat to see the piercing fully.

"Let's see how much you're hiding from me, shall we?" He grinned.

There was a moment of confused silence before she felt his thumb press against the metal rod, her eye snapping open with a gasping yelp as what felt like electric sparks and currents traveled through that piercing, as well as the others.

All the others.

The sparks lasted only a second, but a second was all that was needed as her back arched slightly away from the wall. Heisenberg took a step back in surprise as Emelia suddenly collapsed to her knees, shaking and panting ever so slightly out of shock and... something else. She doubled over with a wide eye, an arm covering her chest and the other pressed against her abdomen and ever tightening thighs. What the hell WAS that...?! What the fuck did he do?!

"W-.... Wh-...." she tried, trying to voice her thoughts. But alas, despite the tingling feeling up her spine disappearing, she couldn't. She couldn't even move as she heard movement directly in front of her, the shock of the feeling only allowing her to look up as he grabbed her chin and lifted her face to meet his. She watched as he kneeled, only to look up and see the most smug grin she had ever seen.

"Liar liar, Emmy... You know how I hate liars." He chimed, adding to the smug aura he held. It pissed her off, but she couldn't do much about it now... She then grew nervous as he tilted his head, taking in her reaction fully as she stared at him with an ever-deepening red blush on her cheeks. "If I was more foolish, I'd say you enjoyed that."

"I-I... D-did NOT...!!" She snapped, stopping with a small squeak as he shoved his thumb back into her mouth to silence her.

He was met with another squealing whine as he pressed against the piercing once more, gleefully sending more currents through the metal pieces in her body. Emelia reached up to shakily grab his arm as the piercing was left alone once more, though the residual shock still remained. She wanted to say something... Say ANYTHING... but the feeling in her face, chest and thighs was so odd and... and good... It kept her silent, and Heisenberg took interest.

"Lycan got your tongue?" He joked, chuckling as she let out a growl. He found it amusing, of course. She only frowned as he tilted his head with the ever present smirk, his sharp teeth glinting in the dim light of the room. "You know, Emmy..." he started, yanking her forward by the jaw slightly as she kept her hold on his arm. "I can't help but wonder how it tastes."

She felt another shiver down her spine at the sickeningly curious tone in his voice. Taste... Taste?? She stared at him as he removed his thumb from her mouth, though nearly started to form words immediately in stupid curiosity. The answer came to her quickly, however, in the form of a hand around her neck, a mouth to hers, and being shoved against the wall once more. She made an almost strangled noise as her back hit the concrete, her mind attempting to play catch-up as she felt something being shoved into her mouth. More sparks traveled along the piercings as his tongue slid over hers, and she let out a whining growl in response.

The taste of metal and the slightest bit of sweetness filled her mouth, along with the taste of the cigar they had shared only minutes prior. But... Why did it taste so good? Why wasn't she fighting him? She found herself frozen for a few moments as the realization set in that she... truly enjoyed this. He couldn't have known, could he? There was no WAY he could have known... Oh god, what was wrong with her? She generally wanted to strangle the man, but now...

She allowed the frustration from earlier to bubble in her chest, giving her control of her limbs for a few moments. Heisenberg began to back off, thoroughly satisfied in her reactions and his 'taste test' before she suddenly grabbed the front of his jacket and yanked him back against her, giving a quiet grunt as her back was forced against the wall again with his weight. He was brought to his knees at the force of the tug, and it was her turn to feel satisfaction as a startled grunt left this throat.

Emelia returned the forceful kiss with all her strength, her back arching somewhat with the now consistent current from the piercings. Her legs shook slightly as she felt a warm feeling in her thighs from the current, unintentionally letting out quiet whimpers and heavy breaths into the kiss. His hand stayed pressed to her throat before he moved it to the side of her neck and shoved her head upwards with his thumb. He tore himself away to attack her neck immediately, licking along the skin before closing his jaws around it. She gasped as he moved along her neck, leaving bloody bites and bruises while using his free hand to nearly rip at her shirt. The fabric was pulled it from its tucked position, his grip tearing a few holes in the worn fabric as he held it taught away from her skin. She couldn't help it as her heavy breaths turned into pants, and she gripped his arm tighter as she felt the fabric continue to tear from a mixture of his grip and her squirming from the feeling between her legs. She shuddered as he finally pulled away from her now very bruised neck, his lips hovering right against her ear.

"Let me taste all of them, then." He growled, returning his hand to around her neck and squeezing along the bottom of her jaw.

Her squirming paused in his grip. 'Please, oh PLEASE-' she thought, secretly wishing to rip the shirt off, herself. But he couldn't know that... If he did, she knew he'd taunt her mercilessly. Not that he wasn't doing the same now... Instead she shook her head just slightly, trying to even out her breathing.

"W-Wait-" she started quietly, only to gasp once more as he finally tore the front of the shirt clean off from the seams. He tossed the fabric to the side as her back arched to meet the new air her front was exposed to, the newly revealed silver nipple piercings glinting as her body moved.

"Too late." He chuckled deeply, grabbing her by the side and bringing her chest forward as if he were claiming a prize.

He leaned down slightly, his arm wrapping around her as his mouth returned to her skin. He kissed and nipped to her shoulders and collarbone until his lips met the tip of the large scar that rested between her breasts. She swore she could almost see something flicker in his shade-covered eyes as he seemed to study it before nipping at it carefully. The nips were... oddly careful. It was as if he knew what it was... She managed to compose herself enough to speak, one of her hands moving to nudge his shoulder. She couldn't help but give a nervous gulp as he looked up at her, his eyes burning as if her touch had fueled the fire.

"N-... N-Not... um..." she tried, her voice oddly timid. She knew what was happening, though the idea made her nervous... "N-Not... here..."

"Hm?" He tilted his head slightly, loosening his grip on her neck. He then followed her gaze to the small 'bed' in the corner of the room- though it was more like a single mattress over a solid 'frame' with random odd pillows along the wall and multiple covers lumped on top. It was how she liked it.

"Th-There... uh..." she looked away for a moment, heavily aware her burning cheeks. "P-... P-Please..."

She could nearly feel his smile against her skin as he chuckled, though he didn't reply. It was then that she was suddenly picked up with a surprised yelp and tossed over his shoulder, her knees pressing against his sides to balance herself. She managed to hold on long enough before he walked to the 'bed', landing roughly onto it as she was tossed. She nearly scrambled to sit up until she looked up at him, watching him quickly close the space between them, removing his thick jacket and single remaining glove.

"Stay still, Emmy. The show is just getting started." He taunted, unbuttoning the long sleeve shirt he wore before kneeling onto the cushion and looming over her. She couldn't help as her vision traveled down what she could see of his chest, seeing similar scars along his skin.

She opened her mouth to speak, giving a quiet yelp as she was shoved into the sheets by her neck, her legs now situated around his waist. Her back arched as he leaned over, biting at her shoulder and collarbone once more before around one breast and onto the other. She gave a whining gasp as he reached the peak, his tongue swirling around the sensitive skin and the small bar of metal pierced through it, his teeth grazing the it ever so slightly. He used his other hand to trail along the scar on her chest and down to her pierced belly, his rough fingers caressing the skin until they pushed underneath the tied overalls. Her legs twitched as his fingers reached the piercing between them, feeling as it was surrounded by a moist warmth. He smirked.

"I knew it." He said, rubbing against the piercing and bundle of nerves with another jolt of electricity before removing his hand. She couldn't help the whine that left her throat as her hips bucked lightly from the feeling, and he chuckled. "Easy..." he muttered, returning the palm of his hand to her stomach and shoving her down.

He dug his fingers into the skin around the belly piercing as she glanced down, and she made another strangled noise as he sent another wide current through her piercings. Her back arched as he pressed harder to keep her down, though she was startled as he suddenly crushed his mouth against hers once more. The small currents pulsed in a slow rhythm as she returned the kiss, her legs shaking and tightening against his hips. She let out a soft cry against his lips as the pulses increased, her grip on his arm tightening and even pulling him closer as the waves of a small orgasm rushed through her in spasms. The feeling was strengthened with the addition of... something pressed to her thighs underneath their clothing. But the waves... The small spasms that affected the muscles of her back and legs... While it hadn't been something she had felt even when human, and while she knew what it was, all she knew was that it felt good. REALLY good...

She could have sworn up and down she hated the man at any point before this, but as he broke the kiss and pulled away to look at her, she couldn't help but feel... want? Desire? Whatever it was, she knew she didn't want it to stop at the moment, and that's all that mattered to her. She still didn't want to give in so easily... But god damn was this feeling hard to fight off.

"D-... D-Damn you..." she nearly whispered, her voice wavering slightly. She was met with an amused chuckle as he removed his glasses and lightly sent them to the table they had been at before.

"Just what I like to hear..." He taunted, removing his hand from her throat. "Tell me, Emmy... Do you want more? Feel free to say nothing if you do."

She stared at him as he gave another sly grin, opening her mouth as if to protest... But she couldn't. Instead, she remained silent, though gave an irritated, embarrassed huff as she glanced off to the side. Her lip curled into a silent snarl as he gave another chuckle.

"I thought as much." He replied, leaning up. His fingers were dragged along her skin as he moved, trailing along other scars that littered her skin.

She glanced down to follow his hands, watching as they trailed over her hips and around to her front where the knot in the tied mechanic suit she wore. With one quick movement it was untied and loosened, and she jumped as everything was suddenly pulled away and off of her hips, sliding down her thighs. She froze at the new rush of cool air surrounding the warmth between her thighs, and suddenly the entirety of the clothing was removed as he seamlessly pulled it away from her legs. Now she was completely bare in front of him... Exposed.

The desire to cover herself was overwhelming as she met his eyes, seeing the smugness and sense of possession he gave as he took in every visible inch of her skin. Her arms and legs twitched in an attempt to cover any vulnerable areas, but she suddenly found her arms pinned next to her head and his hips against the backs of her thighs to keep them open.

"Don't you dare." He grumbled, a smirk still on his face as he glanced down slightly before looking back up at her face. "I haven't tasted everything yet."

"Wh-..." she tried, her legs twitching again.

She was met with another kiss as he leaned down, though it didn't last long. She let out quiet pants as his lips and teeth moved along her jaw to her neck, leaving more bites and bruises among the ones that already stained the skin. Her arms twitched as he reached her breasts again, hit tongue repeating the same actions as before on both piercings before finally returning to the large scar running down her sternum. He planted light kisses and nips along it, earning her confusion as he continuously moved lower. She watched as he nipped along the skin of her stomach, the corner of her mouth twitching as he seemingly, almost playfully, gently bit the piercing in her belly and glanced up at her. She rolled her eye for a moment before he sent another current through the metals, and she let out a soft whimper. It wasn't until he let go and moved to kiss and bite around her hips and thighs that she realized, her head shooting up with slight panic as she felt his lips against the inside of her thigh.

"H-Hey-"

"Quiet Emmy." He purred, the tone of his voice making her freeze. She watched as he kissed the inside of her thigh once more, her head landing back against the cushion with a shuddering gasp as he bit along the sensitive skin. Her hand flew over her mouth as he moved closer to her core, whimpering as she felt his tongue gliding along the skin.

"K-Karl, wait-" she whimpered through her fingers, only to take in a sharp, gasping breath as she finally felt his tongue against her, moving slowly as if savoring her reactions.

She tried closing her legs, though found it nearly impossible due to his hands forcing them to stay where they were. She could almost feel the bruises form where his fingers pressed against the skin, though that feeling was second in her mind compared to the pleasured sparks up her spine with each movement of his tongue. She couldn't help as her hand left the sheets, finding its way to his head as he played with the small piercing through the bundle of nerves, sending small electric pulses through her body once more. She felt the vibration as he chuckled against her, gripping his hair with small gasps and whimpers as his tongue delved into the warmth. Her back arched slightly with each movement, her thighs shaking from the new sensations. Why did it feel so good...?! She let out a long whine as the electric pulses continued, eventually biting down on her hand as to attempt to prevent any further noises. She could feel the tightness return as his teeth grazed against the piercing, and suddenly her hand was gripping his hair in a fist as she came again, a multitude of muffled whines and mutterings of his name escaping her mouth while her back arched. She barely heard the grunt he gave as he was pressed against her, not even realizing as he was able to pull himself away.

She flinched as Heisenberg reached up to grab her wrist, her body shaking slightly as he managed to nudge her hand away. He ran a hand through his hair to smooth it out, rising to loom over her once more as he licked his lips. Where the actual FUCK did he learn that?!

"That hurt, Emmy." He purred, keeping his grip on her wrist as she finally looked at him. Her face was red as she panted, her legs trembling as they rested against his hips once more. "Good girl."

He smirked as she stared up at him, his tongue swiping over his teeth before he leaned over and yanked her other wrist from her mouth, pinning both of them to the cushion beside her head. Her breath caught in her throat at the sudden movement, her eye widening as it met his. There was a moment of silence as they held a stare down, only ending as he shifted her wrists into one hand and used the other to undo the belt and button of his own pants in one swift motion. It took her a moment to register the movement, keeping eye contact once the full realization of just how far- and how fast- this was about to go hit her. She squirmed slightly in his grip as she glanced down, nearly breaking said grip, only to get caught in yet another rough kiss as she felt something warm press against her thighs. She could taste herself on his tongue, and somehow it made her arousal worse...

She let out a whining groan as she was rubbed against, her back arching once more at the new feeling, only to give a surprised and somewhat pained cry against his lips as she felt him enter her quickly and fully with a grunt. She gasped into the kiss as he returned his hand to her neck, her back arching into his chest and her thighs once again tightening around his waist. More of the pleasurable feeling shot up her spine as he moved a few times, pressing against her roughly as she gave small whimpers and whines. It felt... good... so good. Why did it feel good? Why did all of this just feel GOOD? What the hell was she missing from her old life that didn't include THIS?? She couldn't help the small moan she gave as the kiss was broken, and he shoved his hips against hers. He tightened his fingers around the sides of her neck with a sly smirk as he stayed where he was. Although the glint in his eyes may have looked malicious, his actions proved otherwise as he allowed her a few seconds to relax.

"Am I being too rough with you, Emmy?" He asked, his smirk widening into a grin as she mindlessly shook her head, though it was more like a few twitches.

"N-... No... N-Not rough enough..." she growled with a challenging tone, though her voice was still light. She was met with a dangerous chuckle.

"Good."

Emelia glared up at him with a somewhat clouded eye, her breaths coming in light pants that turned into gasps and moans as his movements continued, growing faster and harder with each passing second. She struggled to keep her voice down despite the feeling of each thrust sending sparks into her chest. The sounds of his low grunts and deep breathing weren't helping, she found, and it made it much more difficult to control her own pleasured noises. She was then aware of a low laugh from him.

"Ah... I didn't think... you could sound like THIS, Emmy...~" He purred, his grip on her neck tightening. She opened her mouth, nearly flinching as she let out more soft moans.

"S-... S-Shut...." she tried, though was unable to finish any thought with her gasps and whines.

Her arms struggled in his grip, shaking with each thrust, only to suddenly be freed as he let go in order to take ahold one of her hips. She mindlessly reached for him almost immediately, gripping the edge of his shirt with one hand and grabbing the necklaces around his neck with the other in order to yank him down. She was rewarded with another rough kiss, her head being jerked up as he kept a hand around her throat. She let go of the necklaces, instead reaching under his shirt, her fingers trailing over his own scars until her nails dug into his back. There was an internal satisfaction as she heard Heisenberg give a surprised grunt, only to give a yelping cry as he suddenly pulled away to replace his hand around her neck with his teeth.

Small sparks of pain made their way through her shoulder as his teeth broke the skin, though they seemed to amplify the feeling as the thrusts became rough and quick. She finally reached her other hand around and under the shirt he wore, her nails dragging down the skin of his back as her moans and whines grew louder.

"F-... FuCK...! K-Karl...!!" She said suddenly, her voice cracking somewhat as she was met with a possessive growl and the slight smell of fresh blood as he let go of her neck. She couldn't help but gasp as she felt his cheek against hers, his beard scratching against her skin as his lips nearly against her ear.

"You're MINE, Emelia..." He growled.

Emelia felt as more pulsing currents were sent through her piercings, and she couldn't help but cry out as the pulses caught her by surprise. Her muscles tensed, her nails tearing at Heisenbergs back as she felt the waves of a strong orgasm, making her body shake and her legs flex around his waist. Her thighs tightened at his hips, halting him enough to keep him where he was as she came, but not long enough to stop him entirely. He let out a low growl as he kept up his movements until he slammed against her hard enough to move her up a few inches. She gave a gasping moan as could feel his muscles shudder and a strange warmth in the pit of her stomach as he filled her, and her back arched against his chest as she nearly hugged him to her for dear life.

There was small silence as their movement ceased, each breathing heavily. Emelia held onto the man over her as if it meant life or death, momentarily forgetting her irritation around him in the first place as there was a sudden feel of lips along her neck in a multitude of small kisses. They were gentle against her bruised skin... The odd tickle of the facial hair made the corner of her mouth twitch as she panted, unintentionally laying her head to the side for him as she very slowly but surely relaxed. Her irritation only slightly returned as she heard a chuckle from her neck, and she glanced down.

"Th' bloody hell is so funny...?" She muttered, unable to keep the lightness from her voice. She watched as he looked up from her neck, a sly smile across his still bloody lips.

"You're adorable, Emmy." He said simply, making her groan and start to push him away.

"Piss off...!!" She growled, only to gasp as he suddenly leaned over her with a chuckle, nearly being pushed into the mattress again as he finally slipped off the button-up shirt.

"Precious little doll, you didn't seem to hear what I said."

'Doll' ...? Emelia stared at him, now also shirtless, taking in the rest of the scars she had never seen. She could feel her face heat up more as he leaned over her, holding himself up with his hands on either side of her shoulders.

"Wha-" she started, only to let out a gasping yelp as he gave a single hard thrust to silence her.

"I told you, Emelia. You're mine. In more ways than one, it seems." He nearly purred, leaning down to press his nose to hers.

Her single eye widened as he grinned, only to be met with a quick, relatively gentle kiss. It took a moment for her to calm down before she returned it, staying where she was and secretly holding herself to that proclamation. She didn't want to admit it... She never would. But somehow, despite how he could be, this made her feel... wanted. It was an odd feeling, and one she knew she would be hesitant on getting used to. But she still hated him... Right?

She gave a soft whine as he pulled away, physically removing himself from her with a shuddering breath. She let out a whimper as she relaxed back against the covers, feeling an odd coldness and even a slight sense of loneliness as his weight left the mattress. She opened her eye with confusion and watched as his pants were fixed before her vision trailed up his back to see the bloody scratches she had left.

"Whoops..." she muttered, earning a chuckle and a glance back.

"I'll let you relax for now, Emmy. I don't wanna break you just yet..." He joked, nodding to the shirt he had left. "Use that for now, we'll get you another shirt later."

She couldn't help but smirk, her face red.

"Done already...?" She asked, her smirk faltering heavily as he glanced back with an odd mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Never said I was, Doll. This is for your sake."

Emelia watched as he began to walk to the jacket he had left, but she felt... sad. Not because he had stopped. Not even because she almost wished they would keep going immediately... No, it was another reason she couldn't quite place with every step away he took. She carefully pushed herself to sit up, wincing at the tenderness that settled between her legs before reaching for her discarded jumpsuit. But she only grabbed the simple boxers she had, managing to slip them on with minimal issue. She saw him slow his movements as she managed to stand, her knees just the slightest bit weak. Holding on to a support beam on the wall, she shakily made her way over to him as he glanced at her with an odd curiosity. She didn't care if she was entirely naked save for underwear, simply covering her chest with her arm as she reached for him. She stumbled into his back, feeling his muscles tense as her arms slowly wrapped around his torso, her fingers lightly drifting along the hair and scars on his chest.

"Don't you dare leave me like this, Heisenberg..." she muttered, pressing the scarred half of her face against his back. She knew he could feel her trembling as her legs threatened to collapse on her.

There was a moment of silence before she heard and felt him chuckle.

"You really are an odd one, Emmy..." He chuckled, turning his head to glance at her over his shoulder before giving a dramatic sigh. "Have it your way, then."

Emelia jumped as he suddenly turned in her arms, her cheeks going red as his face was suddenly mere inches away from hers. What was she DOING? Why she acting this way? She didn't know... But she was pleasantly stunned as she felt his hand raise and nudge her chin gently. However, instead of it going around her neck again as she expected, he simply caressed her cheek, avoiding the scars around her missing eye; Even he knew she hated them being touched, and now didn't seem like the best time to annoy her. In fact, he almost enjoyed her more when she was calm like this... She couldn't help but feel relaxed as the rough pad of his thumb brushed over her skin. Relaxed enough to settle her cheek into his hand fully, ever so slightly trying to remind herself that this wasn't who he was all the time. This was temporary... But she could do temporary.

"... Don't tell anyone..." She muttered suddenly, keeping her hold on him as he leaned back against the shelving next to them to stay comfy. He chuckled once more.

"Who do I have to tell, Emmy?" He chimed. She stared at him for a moment before shrugging, laying her head against his chest.

It was a moment of domesticity that she vaguely remembered wanting as human... Something about someone being close physically always seemed tantalizing, yet there was no way to achieve it here... Or so she thought. If she could just have more time like this... Though she knew it wasn't meant to last, especially not with him... But for now, she appreciated it. It wasn't until her senses focused on the machinery noises outside of the room that she gave a sigh, reluctantly pulling away from him.

"I should get back to work, then..." she mumbled, taking a few steps away, her fingers dragging along his chest before she turned, not seeing Heisenbergs face as he watched her walk away and run a hand through her hair to push it out of her face.

She made her way over back to the bed-like cushion, absent-mindedly picking the button-up shirt he had been wearing and slipping it on, herself. She'd take it since he offered, and because she didn't necessarily feel like hunting down new clothing. It was only slightly loose over her frame, being only slightly smaller than him in stature, and she felt his eyes burrow into her back as she buttoned it up. Quiet footsteps approached her from behind, causing her to jump with a small gasp as arms surrounded her while the shirt was only halfway buttoned. Heisenberg pulled her back against his chest, one hand on her hip and the other around the front of her waist.

"What are you-" she started, only to stop as the arm around her waist raised to nudge the collar of the shirt off her shoulder, placing gentle bites and kisses along the skin as soon as it was shown. Small shivers went up her spine with the movements, and she let out a wavering breath in attempts to not laugh from the tickling of his beard. "K-Karl, stop-"

"I never told you to get back to work..." He said simply, his now semi-serious tone interrupting he train of thought and causing any hint of laughter to disappear. He trailed kisses and bites to her jaw and her ear once more. "Indulge me then, Emmy, and I'll let you go. Let me have my fill."

Her face fell slightly. His fill... Did he mean...?

"W-What, be your toy until you're done?" She huffed, turning her head slightly to face him. Though he was on her blind side, she could almost feel the grin.

"Well, when you put it that way..." he started, letting his hands wander. One trailed under the shirt slightly, his fingers drifting below her belly, while the other found and gave a gentle squeeze to a now exposed breast from the shirt being moved before resting over the large scar. "Yes. But don't worry. I take care of my toys... I said I wouldn't break you so soon. And besides..." he pressed another gentle kiss behind her ear, "You seem like you want more. Am I wrong?"

Emelia took a shaky breath as she felt the odd sensations once more, reaching to hold onto his forearms as his hands moved. Well, of COURSE he was right... She knew there wasn't much else she would have to do around the factory today anyway. She worked constantly, and the factory ran relatively smoothly without her. She even came here for a break, anyway... And, despite her feelings about him, what the man had just shown her was... Well, her legs still held a slight wobble. To say she wanted more was an understatement. And so, she have a small huff and looked forward, tilting her head to allow him at her neck.

"... Go ahead..." she muttered, her voice an embarrassed tone. She felt his grin against her neck taking a breath as he gave a small, rough bite.

"You won't regret it, Emmy."

She gave a small, joking snort.

"I'll believe you if you can prove it, Karl..."

"Oh, even after what I've just shown you?" He played, his lips pressing to her neck once more. She said nothing, only somewhat easing against his chest with a huff. She rolled her eye as he chuckled, though her breath caught in her chest as his hand left the scar, letting his fingers trail up and along her throat. "I didn't think I would have to prove anything."

"You never do..." she muttered suddenly, only to close her mouth as she felt him freeze behind her. Where the hell did that come from...??

"Oh?"

She was silent for a moment before clearing her throat.

"Th-That, ah..." she started, only stopping as he grabbed her throat and pulled her to him roughly.

"What?" He growled, ever so slightly moving them forward. She took shaky steps, following his direction.

"N-Not... what I... mean..." she finally managed, glancing down with a quick breath as she felt the edge of the work table against the front of her thighs.

"Hm. What did you mean then, Emmy?"

"I..." she tried, though was unable to find her voice. What was this rush of excitement...?? The tone of his voice sent chills down her spine as he nibbled at her shoulder while awaiting a response. She then decided to just speak. What could go wrong?

"I-I mean...." she managed, gaining a smirk and holding onto his arm. She could feel as he tilted his head in curiosity. "You haven't quite done so thus far, how am I to believe you could...?" she continued, feeling his grip tighten. Good. She pulled away from him slightly to aggravate him. "You always need to prove yourself Karl, you won't get far without it-"

She was stopped with a surprised grunt as she was suddenly shoved down against the table, giving a surprised grunt of pain as her chin hitting it with a light *thunk* . He kept his hand between her shoulders, using his weight to keep her down as she moved to rub her jaw. Her hand was then suddenly yanked away as he twisted her arm behind her back, earning an uncomfortable grunt.

"Bloody hell- H-hey-!"

"I don't give proof, huh?" He growled suddenly, leaning down over her to talk into her ear. "I assure you, Emelia, I have all the proof you need."

She opened her mouth to speak, only to shut it with a surprised noise as he suddenly bit down on her neck and yanked her towards him. The backs of her thighs hit his hips, and she let out a small, surprised whimper. He slipped his fingers under the waistline of her underwear with his free hand, taunting her by slowly dragging them down. There was a sudden spark at her piercings once more while her lower half squirmed, and she couldn't help but give a small, moaning whine as she felt the sparks increase. Waves of pleasure traveled up her spine, causing her back to arch into the table somewhat and nearly bite her bottom lip until it bled. Small goosebumps covered her skin as she felt her underwear finally fall to her ankles. It wasn't until she felt him adjust himself behind her that she attempted to look to the side, only to be met with a growl and his teeth digging into the skin more.

She could smell the blood as it began to seep from between her skin and his teeth... It made her head swim as she finally felt him rub against her roughly, the small sparks of pain from his teeth adding to the odd pleasure she was feeling. He removed his teeth from her neck for a moment to speak into her ear, sending more shivers down her spine.

"I've got your 'proof' right here." He purred, his smirk nearly audible. He shoved her down again once more. "HERE!!"

He gave a rough thrust forward as he spoke, filling her quickly once again and earning a yelping moan; but this time, he didn't stop. A mixture of pain and pleasure racked her body as he kept up the rough thrusts, simultaneously twisting her arm more behind her back to hold her there. She couldn't stop the now loud moans and whines she gave as she panted, nearly digging her nails into the metal table supporting her. She could feel the pulses of her muscles threatening to tighten and mutate as she was slammed into nearly mercilessly, her fingers creating small dents in the material as she forced her mutation back once she felt a familiar flutter in her chest. He seemed to notice, letting out a low chuckle through his own grunts and growls.

It wasn't long before she felt the sudden waves of an orgasm, making her give a loud cry as she shifted under him, pressing back against him for a moment. She reached forward quickly and gripped the edge of the table, easily denting and nearly crushing it in her grip with light cries as he continued his thrusts through the tightening spasms. Her body shook while he didn't slow down. Instead, he increased his movements, and she almost felt tears come to her eye with the overwhelming sensation.

Her other arm was suddenly freed as he moved to grip both of her hips, leaning down to bite at her shoulder once more with low grunts and growls. He kept going... Oh god, he kept going. She couldn't speak, the only noises leaving her throat being whines and cries. She couldn't help but lean into his jaw, almost begging him for more despite the overstimulation. Her neck was bitten multiple times as if she were being marked, each bite breaking the skin with ease. Beads of blood slowly dripped from the wounds and over her skin every time he let go, only to feel his teeth elsewhere. She felt tightness below her belly once more as she let out a wavering cry of his name, only to be met with slower thrusts and a growl at her ear.

"What do you want, Emelia?" He growled, his voice low and strained. She couldn't help but squirm and push back against him with whining whimpers as he slowed more, quickly becoming frustrated and seemingly desperate. No... No, why was he stopping... Why was he slowing down?!

"N-.. N-No...!! D-Don't- fuck- D-Don't slow-...!!" She managed, earning a dangerous chuckle.

"Tell me Emelia, or I swear to God I'll stop right NOW." He played. She could hear the smirk in his voice as he spoke. She knew this was amusing to him... It was payback for her insults. Her body shook out of desperation and anger as the thrusts slowed considerably, and she put her forehead against the table with a growling whine. He held her hips in place against the table to prevent her from moving against him. She couldn't take it anymore... She wouldn't even try to fight it. It was as if she were being denied a prize, and she hated it already.

"F-Fuck- I-" she started, barely able to get words out, "Y-YOU Heisenberg, you bloody idiot!!! I want YOU!!!" She finally yelled, her voice cracking somewhat. "J-Just... D-Don't... Don't FUCKING stop!!! Fuck- PLEASE!!"

She could almost feel the pride-filled smirk he gave in knowing he had won, but she didn’t care... Her little outburst gave her slight confidence as he chuckled, his last breath coming as a low growl.. She jumped as she suddenly felt an arm around her waist, roughly pulling her back towards him as his other hand reached to pin and hold hers as if keeping her in place. A wavering whine left her lips as he gave a possessive growl, looming over her with obvious intent.

"Good girl." He grumbled, only giving her a chance to inhale before returning to the powerful, near brutal thrusts from before, pulling her to him with each movement.

She didn't even attempt to hide her voice again, her cries and moans growing louder with each passing second. She almost didn't want the feeling to end, allowing herself to melt into him as her back arched into his chest.

"D-Don't... D-Don't stop... F-FUCK- Don't stop...!!!" She repeated, her voice wavering with uneven pants and gasps.

"You. Are. MINE." He suddenly growled in her ear, not letting her respond before biting into her shoulder once more.

More electric pulses were sent through her piercings, nearly making her scream while gripping the hand over hers. The orgasm she felt then was strong, traveling through her body in waves and overstimulation as the pulses continued. The feeling was amplified as he kept moving for a few seconds, finally pressing her roughly against the table with a loud, wavering growl and swear as he came as well. She let out another gasping moan as she felt him twitch inside of her, shuddering with the light warmth she felt at the pit of her stomach.

The room was filled with the sound of their panting and deep breaths as their rode their highs, and Emelia finally relaxed against the table with a shaky, satisfied sigh while still panting. She felt... good. Great, actually... Very sore now, as well as numb, but good nonetheless. It was as if any frustration she felt had melted away with the thin layer of sweat on her body. She gave a quiet whimper as she felt Heisenberg shift somewhat. He removed his jaws from her shoulder, nudging her head and pressing his cheek against hers as his grip on her loosened to allow her to relax more.

"Are you alright, Emmy?" He asked quietly, his voice low and catching her off guard enough to flinch. She only made a small, confused noise as she glanced over. He chuckled, catching a glimpse of the residual pleasured tears that stained her cheek. He reached over, dragging his thumb over her skin to wipe them away. "Is that a yes?"

She kept her eye on him for a moment before giving a small nod and setting her head back on the table. She attempted to shift, but found her body was... unable to move. The numbness had begun to turn into the feeling of being a puddle, she found. Her muscles shook as she tried to push herself up, and she almost collapsed under him. He nearly laughed while kept his grip on her waist, keeping her upright while he watched in interest.

"Would you like some help?"

"N... N-No, I..." she tried, her voice quiet. There was silence for a moment before she gave a shaky sigh, putting her head down once more in defeat. "... y-yes..."

"I thought so." He chuckled, finally pulling himself away with a quiet grunt. She could hear the amusement in his voice. "Alright. Keep steady, now."

Emelia glanced back as he partially adjusted himself, not bothering to fully fix his pants before he let go of her waist. A small panic entered her chest as her legs began to collapse under her, barely able to use the table to keep herself up before she felt him at her side. Her body shook as she tried to lean up once more, reaching to hold on to Heisenbergs arm as he draped it across her shoulders. He didn't even flinch as she leaned her full weight on him, and he chuckled.

"Come on, then." He said, suddenly leaning down once she was fully off the table. She let out a surprised yelp as he swept his other arm behind her knees, bringing her up into a cradling position against his chest as she held onto him tightly. She tightened her grip more as he started to walk, her face red. "Something wrong?" He asked, amusement thick in his voice. She watched his movements, only somewhat relaxing as they neared the bed.

"N-No..." she replied quietly, slowly easing herself in a sitting position the tattered covers as he set her down, wincing again at the soreness she felt. While the fabrics weren't always the best for relaxing, right now they were comforting, and a godsend for her shaking muscles. She then jumped as he sat down himself before he laid beside her with a huff. She stared at him for a moment as he held his arm out for her. What was he doing...?

"Well?" He asked expectantly, raising a brow as she looked confused.

"... what?"

He rolled his eyes.

"You're wearing my shirt Emmy, the least you could do is lay down."

"What-" she started, only to look down. "O-Oh... um..." She had admittedly forgotten what she had been wearing, and sheepishly pulled the shirt over her now throbbing shoulders and neck. She then adjusted herself on the mattress with a quiet grunt. "Ok..."

"NOW you're embarrassed??" He asked, nudging her arm slightly. "Should I describe, in detail, what I just did to you?"

She glared at him and gave a small huff as she managed to lay down.

"Shut up..." she mumbled, somewhat begrudgingly cuddling onto his chest as he smirked.

"It was an honest question."

Emelia only grumbled in response, though relaxed as she felt his arm go around her. She adjusted her head on his chest, pausing as she felt a heartbeat. It was slow and rhythmic, lulling her into a relaxed breathing pattern. He glanced at her as her arm wrapped over his chest as well, though he froze as she mindlessly began to trace over some of the smaller scars over his skin. She watched her own fingers move, an amused smile creeping on her face as she felt him tense and relax at her touch. She tilted her head slightly as she heard a light grumbling from his chest, her fingers pausing. He shifted under her, and she looked up to meet his eyes.

"What...?" She asked, resuming the movements. She watched as his eyes traveled between her and her fingers multiple times, his breathing easy with small grumbles in each inhale.

"Nothing." He replied simply, only to lift his chin slightly in confusion as she moved her hand to the scar across his neck. She felt his breath hitch as she traced it, and he looked at her again. "What are you doing, Emmy?"

"Nothing." She copied, almost laughing as he rolled his eyes.

"Don't get soft on me now Emelia, just earlier you were threatening me." He snorted.

"I still can if you would rather that."

"Hm. No, I'd rather fuck you again."

She went silent for a moment, her face heating up once more with embarrassment. "You said you wouldn't break me." She huffed.

Heisenberg gave a chuckle before turning to face her, gaining a smirk when she looked at him in surprise.

"I won't. I can't, actually." He said matter-of-factly, suddenly pushing her shoulder to have her lay on her back. She jumped, staring up at him in a stunned silence. "That doesn't mean I can't try. I haven't had that much fun in years, and I know you're durable. So am I."

"I-I can tell..." Emelia managed, clearing her throat slightly. Well, she knew he had a point... Despite being sore, she still felt oddly energized... Sure, the light exhaustion was there, but she knew she would have gone back to work immediately if she were physically able to. And she had to admit... She enjoyed this. It felt... normal. Almost.

She kept her eye on him for a moment before taking a breath. Was she really debating on this? The reality of the current situation hit her full force like Sturm on a rampage. She was silent for another moment before gulping slightly.

"What... What is... 'this' , exactly...?" she asked, her voice quiet. Karl drew back slightly, caught off guard by the question.

"Excuse me...??"

"I... You... You piss me off, Heisenberg..." she started, her arms resting at the sides of her head. Each movement of her shoulders resulted in a dull pain from his teeth, and his mouth twitched as he realized. She paused as she saw the smallest... tiniest twinge of regret in his eyes. But she shook her head, looking down at herself.

"I don't... I've been here for... only a short time compared to you, Karl... And now I... We do... THIS..." she continued, looking back up at him as he held his place over her. "What are we doing...?"

It was his turn to stay silent, obviously contemplating his answer. She had seen the same look on his face when discussing important factory matters... It almost made her feel better.

"What do you want from it?" He asked finally, tilting his head with a light shrug. She blinked.

"... What?"

He rolled his eyes, giving a small smirk.

"Ah, who's asking the hard questions now?" He played, chuckling as she glared at him. "I don't quite care what this leads to, I know what my goals are." He explained. "What are yours? What do YOU want out of it?"

"I..." she started, looking to the side. "... I don't know."

"Then don't worry about it!"

"But I-"

"Look, Emelia. If you can't figure it out, then focus on something else. Is it really worth wasting the energy if you don't know right away?" He asked.

She was silent. He... He was right.

"That... That's the most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say."

She nearly laughed at his insulted expression.

"Hey-"

"I'm joking, Metalhead..." She sighed with a small smile. There was silence for a moment before she finally gave a huff. "Just... For now just..."

"Come on, we don't have all day." Heisenberg joked, smirking as she glared at him.

"... Shut up you daft idiot." She growled finally, reaching to yank him down by his necklaces.

The movement startled him, but he seemed to know exactly what to do as his lips met hers with a light chuckle. The kiss was... gentle, oddly enough, but she relaxed once more under him. Light shivers traveled up her spine as she felt his fingers travel along her skin. The shirt was fully unbuttoned once again and nudged to her sides, and she took a deep breath as she felt the air on her chest. She only whined as her legs were moved, making him pause. There was a soreness between them from his roughness beforehand, sending small waves of a low, pulsing pain through her body. He gave a questioning hum against her lips, and she spoke against his.

"Sore..." she admitted quietly, feeling his amused smile.

"Good." He replied simply, adjusting himself and his pants to rest between her thighs. Emelia let out a quiet whimper as she was rubbed against, her legs shaking against his hips and her arms reaching out to his onto and wrap around his shoulders.

The dull throbbing sensation continued as he pushed into her once more, earning a somewhat pained whine as her back arched. It hurt... But the feeling lessened to a light sting after a few seconds, and she took lighter breaths. She couldn't help but wonder as he stayed still, his words and question playing in her mind as he returned to his position of leaning on his forearms over her. What DID she want from this...? Did she truly wish for any sort of stability from this? Or just survival? Maybe this was the first and last time she'd experience this, or maybe it would be regular. Did she WANT it to be regular, though? She didn't know... All she knew was that his touch swung wildly between rough and gentle every time he touched her, even before this. He always switched between harsher interactions and kind ones, making her angry and thankful at the same time. And yet, when he touched her NOW... Even while over the table, it was almost careful, hesitant to push her too far even while leaving bruises in her skin. Somehow, while sharing this intimacy, he was a perfect mix of the two. And somehow, it calmed her and even gave a small hope in the back of her mind.

Her thoughts stopped, letting out a breathy moan into the kiss as he started moving, this time at a slow pace. This time she kept her arms around him, hugging him close enough for their bare chests to press against each other. Her breaths and moans came from a different sort of pleasure, almost willing to believe that sharing this with him would allow some sort of normalcy. Her nails dug into his shoulders as he set a careful, hard rhythm, one of his arms moving down to press his hand against her stomach.

A single second passed before Heisenberg sent a low pulse of electricity through her body and piercings, causing her back to arch as she pulled away from the kiss with a gasping whine. She felt as he lowered his head with a low groan, starting to kiss and nibble along her jaw. Her nails dug into his back as his movements increased somewhat, creating more scratches to match the ones he already had. Her voice came out in quiet whines and moans into his ear as she clung to him. Sure this was making the soreness worse, but she almost couldn't tell between the low pulses and thrusts coming from the man. Her body shook while simultaneously encouraging more. She WANTED more... She already admitted as much to herself. Another whine escaped her lips as he nibbled just below her ear.

"Fuck, Emmy...~" he nearly purred into her ear, lifting her hips slightly and switching to smaller quick thrusts.

"K-... K-Karl-! F-FUCK-" she managed, her voice breaking somewhat as she allowed her legs to loosen at his sides to bring him closer. She whimpered as he suddenly leaned up, her nails digging and sliding down to his biceps before gripping them as she felt a familiar tightness below her belly; he could feel it, too.

Emelia suddenly held her breath in a surprised, wavering gasp as he slid his hand up her body from the belly piercing, his fingers dragging along the large scar on her chest before lingering and pressing against the sides of her neck. Her whines and moans continued, even as his hand moved higher to her jaw. She then jumped as his thumb pushed past her parted lips, resting on her tongue. She attempted to look up at him, but found it difficult to even keep her eye open... Heisenberg gave a low chuckle at the sight, pushing on her jaw slightly. He didn't even have to say a word as her mouth nearly closed around his thumb. Her whines and whimpers grew louder and her grip on him tightened, and she could only gasp as he pulled his thumb from her mouth and replaced it with his own.

The kiss was returned instantaneously, followed by her wavering, now muffled cry as she finally came once more. He grunted into the kiss as she tightened around him, her legs wrapping around his waist once more while her back arched. She wrapped her arms fully around his shoulders with overstimulated whines as his pace quickened before he finally let out his own wavering moan against her lips. She joined him with her own moan as he shoved his hips against hers, feeling the warmth enter her as he rode out his own orgasm with shaking muscles. God, it felt... It felt good... The warmth and twitching from him kept her whines going as they panted, her body shaking under him.

Both were silent for several moments, the kiss lessening to gentle movements before breaking.

"D-... D-Damn..." Emelia nearly squeaked, her head rolling to the side as her jaw was nuzzled.

"Hm. Are you alright?" Heisenberg asked, earning a small nod.

"... gonna be sore..." she replied quietly, relaxing somewhat as he kept his face against hers. He chuckled.

"You wanted it."

"Shush..." she huffed. Her breathing eased, feeling his smile against her skin. This was... Nice, she had to admit... An uncomfortable whine left her lips as he began to push himself up and away, only pausing as her legs twitched around him to keep him there. "N-No... stay..." she whined, watching as he raised a brow. "... P-Please..."

"I've never heard you say 'please' this much." He joked, earning a light glare. But he simply returned to his place over her with an amused chuckle, nearly laying on her.

She was relaxed despite nearly his entire weight on her torso, though she had no issues. He was really warm... She could almost purr with the warmth both on top of and inside her, the feeling relaxing her to the point of her limbs going lax around him. She felt him chuckle against her skin, taking a breath as his lips found her bruised neck. But her mind wandered elsewhere, and she found herself pressing her cheek to his.

"Can we... Not talk about this...?" She asked quietly, earning a confused hum as he glanced at her.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"J-Just... Um..." she tried, turning her head to look at him. "M-Maybe this could be... just... stress relief...?"

She jumped as Heisenberg shifted, his face now hovering over hers with their noses together.

"Just stress relief?" He asked, amusement dancing in his eyes as her face reddened. "Is that what you want?"

She simply nodded, her fingers traveling over small scars that covered his upper back and shoulders. 'For now...' she thought. Wait, 'for now'...?? Did she really mean that...? She was pulled out of her thoughts as he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead.

"Then so be it." Heisenberg said simply, meeting her gaze. She stared up at him before nodding and taking a breath. But he moved before she had a chance to even think, wrapping his arm around her waist. "Hold on."

"What-" she tried, only to cling to him with a surprised yelp as he pushed against the mattress to lean up with her against his chest. She let out a light whine as she was shifted on him, small sparks shooting up her spine as she was settled against his hips while he sat and leaned back against the wall. He couldn't help but smirk as she let out a whimper, her legs twitching. "Better?"

"I..." she tried, though couldn't manage words as she felt him shift against her to make himself comfortable. So she simply nodded before leaning against his chest.

It was his turn to freeze as she nuzzled to his neck, giving a pleased sigh as his arms hesitantly went around her waist. She relaxed against him, enjoying the warmth he gave and the feeling of his arms around her.

"... You're warm..." she said quietly, earning a surprised chuckle.

"I would almost hope so." He replied, reaching up and under the shirt she still wore to drag his fingers along small scars on her back. He smiled as she relaxed. "I'm going to assume you're not moving any time soon?"

He nearly laughed as she nodded against his shoulder.

"Fair assumption..." she mumbled, closing her eye.

While she wasn't necessarily tired, there was a sliver of exhaustion in her chest. She had to admit, there was still pain from the bite marks that now covered her neck and shoulders, and the soreness of her legs came as a dull throbbing. But she oddly didn't mind... She held her breath as she realized her enjoyment of this. The touches, the intimacy... Even the dull pains she felt. Maybe she didn't even mind HIM...

No, no... She DID mind him. Did she...? She still found him infuriating... But the way he held her now was... Well, it made her question quite a bit.

She finally sighed, relaxing fully against him. She focused on his touches against her back instead of the thoughts in her mind, willfully ignoring them for once. She'd enjoy what she had for now... Her attention went to the sounds of his heart and distant machinery, letting them lull her into a light sleep. She didn't NEED she sleep at the moment, but to her, it was almost perfect.

She only hoped it would stay that way.

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iaintyourbro · 4 years ago

Text

The Unknown Journey Continues

Part 1

I know it's been a while... but I've been going down a rabbit hole with @starlight-samurai regarding time loops, Jenova, Minerva, and more fun. So I figured I'd try to put it into one post to get the insanity out of my head. Everything in here is based on things we've found by either going through more obscure Ultimanias, learning more about Dirge of Cerberus and trying to decipher what the hell Jenova is by putting together various sources - including other Square Enix games - and how they handled freakishly similar scenarios.

Did you know there is a companion mobile game for it that was out on the good old flip phones? Did you know there was an online mode in Dirge of Cerberus only available in Japan, but had story elements that were not in the main game?

The sad part is, there's still so much to go through...

(I've also had various discussions with @ourfinalheaven, Manu, who doesn't have Tumblr, so here is her Twitter. and Somebody's Nightmare (here is her Twitter). So I wanted to tag them here, as it's much more fun to discuss these ideas as a group, since it'll only help you build on and strengthen your own ideas.)

Please be aware, there will be Spoilers for FFVII - Almost all Compilation titles, Xenogears, and NieR Automata throughout this.

So let's go on a journey where we explore what actually already exists in the compilation - including the idea of the whispers and timeloops - how Minerva may play into everything, and what exactly Jenova is capable of doing.

I asked Sesi if he'd ever played any of the NieR games, because he'd said something that made me wonder if they were going to take a similar approach. As a very, very quick high level summary: NieR Automata deals with a time loop type of idea. The androids will be rebooted and repeat the same things over and over again. This is broken when 2B is killed by A2 because she becomes infected with a virus. That being said, you have the option after Ending E to either erase all of your data and end the cycle OR you can try again. The Pods have a discussion, and one asks, "But won't they just do the same thing again?" and the other replies with "Maybe. But it could also be different this time."

Here's Sesi's message back to me when I asked him about this (cleaned up a bit since we were having a casual conversation over Discord):

Maybe I could just guess based comparatively on the Dirge storyline, because that was sort of SE's first flirtation with “robots and androids” since they’re all programmed and locked behind like task managers and shit that can shut them down. The story of the online mode for DoC that came out in Japan, we never got to see it, you’re basically an Android OC and you have to get to “the end of the level” and then essentially die, and a new one takes its place. This keeps happening until Weiss is essentially freed from being able to be task managed by the guys who are suppose to be able to control them and I know from tons of years with Square games that they’re verrrrry bad at differentiating their narratives they tend to just keep “ripping themselves off” so is it anything close to that?

Cuz if so I think I kinda know what you’re saying and yeah, I agree, I think with CC bringing in its poetic symbolism and LOVELESS, and DoC bringing back the cyclic nature of the lore, whispers, premonitions and future visions, proto-Materia and the perversion of this next cycle since the planet can no longer cleanse and protect itself and its will is weakening lesser and lesser to the point where it’s fate is “in a true sense of jeopardy This time essentially it’s all tied in together and sort of played as though it's a fated track; a cycle of events and something has hitched it, thus the whispers manifesting and Sephiroth's higher implied control over his destiny. Of course, even all that is just their new red herring game, but it’s definitely a part of the lore they want to play with, in order to go back and reMAKE the OG with the comp inserted from inception. Also gut punch a lot.

Time Loops

I was somewhat surprised to find out that this concept is NOT new to FFVII's universe. It's discussed in Dirge of Cerberus... probably one of the least played and least understood of the compilation. (Trying to sell a third person shooter with terrible controls to a market of mostly people used to turn-based combat wasn't going to go well.)

On top of it, we didn't even get all of it, since online mode was never released outside of Japan, and the Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode was on Amp'd Mobile and Verizon flip phones back in 2006. Were you around for the cell phones in 2006? I had the ones on the list, and how somebody could play a game on those blows my mind.

Square has a tendency to reuse themes from their other titles. Probably one of the most blatant is the similarities between Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII. They were both being developed at the same time and a lot of ideas that didn't make it into FFVII ended up in Xenogears.

NieR

So how does this work? In NieR (both Replicant and Automata), you play the same path multiple times. Each time, it's slightly different depending on what side quests you did your first and second playthrough, but there's also other subtle differences throughout the story. In Automata, you get to play as 2B your first playthrough and 9S for your second. They follow the same path, but you get it from his perspective the second time and it reveals a bit more of what is going on. However, even with some slight differences, the main plot points stay the same and the ending result it also the same.

Then on your third playthrough, you wake up in the Bunker, and you're getting ready to go on a new mission. This time, though, 2B is killed and shit hits the fan. Things get crazy, you play as a new character: A2. In the end, pretty much everyone "dies", but you can choose to "reboot" and try again. You also can say you are done and let them all rest and delete your save data (the game gives you the option for both Automata and Replicant, and with Replicant, it actually leads to a new ending).

The striking thing for me is... There are certain events that will always happen, no matter what.

Fixed Points in Time

It's been years since I've watched Doctor Who, but there was something that stuck with me, and that was the fixed points in time. You can read about all of them here, but here's the basics:

Now, of course Doctor Who goes into this with much more detail and it's a recurring theme. However, as you read through that page, you'll probably find many aspects that have been used in various JRPGs that you've played. And Doctor Who most likely pulled some of the idea from classic Science Fiction novels. Each story puts its own spin on it.

How does this relate to FFVII Remake? Well, when they say that the major plot points will stay the same, it reminds me of this. No matter what, Cloud must fall into the Sector 5 Church, the Sector 7 Plate must be dropped, Aerith and Zack both must die, and Meteor has to be summoned, to name a few. So, with a time loop, those things would still have to take place in order to prevent a complete collapse of reality (at least in how Doctor Who uses it).

Therefore, the Whispers are ensuring that the Will of the Planet is followed.

One of the major themes in FFVII is that of loss. People die and they do not come back. Yes, other FF games do allow this to happen (FFX, FFXIII, FFXV), but VII is not those games. It was written with that idea in mind, that once a person dies, they, just like in real life, are dead and cannot be brought back.

I've previously written that I think they'll make us believe we are able to change fate, but we will eventually be slammed with the reality that we can't. That is because the planet has determined that certain events are fixed points.

Xenogears

Xenogears takes a bit of a different approach to the loop idea. Instead of repeating the same time period over and over, it has the characters reincarnated, and the same outcome happens each time: Elly dies. However, each time it's different. After all, they're in various time periods, in some cases thousands of years apart.

In all of the lives of Fei (who will have a different name in each time period) and Elly (who is always Elly/Elhaym), Elly will end up dying trying to protect Fei and the others. In one life, she is a religious figure at a totally not Catholic church, in another she's the wife of a scientist who was working to create children from nanomachines due to mass infertility issues. But she is ALWAYS with Fei, even if his name changes.

In her Mother Elhaym time, this is when Lacan (Fei) finally snaps. Though he's not fully aware of his past lives, he becomes aware, the anger consumes him, and he becomes Grahf. Fei is then reborn into the time period you play the game in.

There's a lot to unpack with this, so I won't go into it. Grahf wants to destroy God (Deus) because he thinks if he does, then it'll stop the suffering (his suffering).

If you do want to read more about Grahf, you can do so here, but it probably won't make much sense unless you've played Xenogears up to that point... Since it's much later in the game that this is all explained.

Lacan's desire was to stop the cycle of Elly always sacrificing herself for his sake. Though Grahf is not a perfect existence - he's not fully "The Contact", he sacrifices himself in order to let Fei move forward, and hopefully stop the cycle, by destroying the Deus system. (Elly also tries to sacrifice herself here, but Fei goes after her and stops her.)

Now, some people may think I'm saying that Cloud or somebody is going to do this in order to save Aerith or Zack (or his village or mom), but in FFVII if they do the loop method, I don't think Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and the others are aware of it. Most likely, it's only 'Sephiroth' and Aerith who are aware of it.

How this Could Be used for Final Fantasy VII

I'm stressing could because there's so many different possibilities on how they use this (if they are using this), so please, don't take this as fact. This is based on speculation based on what we know.

A time loop is a great way to explain away the differences in the story that we've seen: Biggs being alive, Wedge living for longer than he should have, etc. Since these are not major plot changes, they can simply say that this time it'll be slightly different... but your fixed points (major plot points) will remain the same.

It's a way to pull in some of the more obscure themes from Dirge of Cerberus and also play with the LOVELESS lore.

It could all simply be a big red herring and it's really just a remake of OG, but with the compilation tied together nicely... since it works much better when it's combined and not in 50 different games, books, movies, etc.

I don't think it's a "sequel" per say, not in the way I generally perceive a sequel. It's more of a loop of the same thing. The question is, when is the loop started and what will cause it to end? When will the planet (if it even is the planet) determine that it's good enough to begin moving forward?

JENOVA, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Minerva - Oh My!

Let's be real... Genesis isn't exactly the most popular character in the FFVII Compilation... but what if they make him one of the most important to the story? //Ducks as various fruits and vegetable are thrown in my direction//

I think what Genesis is probably most known for is his love of LOVELESS. He has the entire thing memorized and randomly says lines from it throughout Crisis Core. LOVELESS lore is still something I'm trying to grasp, so I am not going to comment much on it. Once I understand it more, I'll update this.

...And then this happens. The secret ending for Dirge of Cerberus, where Genesis picks up Weiss. Weiss, who has now been introduced along with Nero in FFVII INTERmission and is an optional ridiculously hard boss in the Shinra battle simulator in chapter 17 of the main story. There is some lore associated with the battle sim - so if you don't plan on beating it or you just can't, you can look up the pre-battle and post-battle cut scenes on YouTube. They're very short, but interesting. (I beat this asshole last night - it's a hell of a fight.)

....To Be Continued because apparently Tumblr won't allow more than 10 images per post now.... Next will be more on JENOVA and Sephiroth along with Minerva.

#ffvii #ffvii genesis #ff7 genesis #ff7 intergrade #ff7 intermission spoilers #FFVII intermission spoilers #FFVII Intermission #Final Fantasy VII #Dirge of Cerberus #FFVII Weiss #Xenogears #nier automata #final fantasy vii #ff7r #final fantasy 7 #timey wimey

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saturniandragon · 3 years ago

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For visitors of my blog

New to my blog, or a recurring visitor? In any case, hello! My name is Adra (short of Adrastea, my dragonsona name). Here you'll find various things of my interest, which you can check in list of my major interests!

I'm a digital artist, a fic author (none officially published atm), and also a staff in Indonesia's statistics bureau (Badan Pusat Statistik, BPS)! I'm 23 (as of 2024) years old cis bisexual man who uses government-assigned he/him pronouns.

My sideblogs:

@su-35bm-flanker-e for Ace Combat and aviation stuff

@2017-mclaren-675lt for cars and motorsport stuff

Secret sideblog #1 containing horny stuff, unlock at friendship level 3 (or just, you know, ask me nicely)

Secret sideblog #2 for my darkest fetishes and kinks, unlock at friendship level 10+

Why not check out my most popular posts as a starter?

Some of these aren't that "popular" but I just love revisiting them from time to time.

Enjoy your stay, and don't break nothing!

Don't talk to me or your daughter ever again

teldryn

hazard to society

onion scrolls

responses to fuck you

onion scrolls part 2

lady elenwen that's a mirror

skyrim + tumblr

the elder tweets

the elder tweets part 2

back on my bullshit

spell tome: yeet

nb dragonborn mod

skyrim + discord

unashes your yam

bonjour (not exactly my post but i contributed)

picks up a potion i will never use in the game

my child is fine

oc: merri'sa

thu'umblr

hermaeus mora plush

zanri al-anaqi: short bio

zanri al-anaqi: story

Update 2

bread seller miraak by jirosan

responses to i love you

fictional alien race part 1

fictional alien race part 2

receiving asks in tumblr

love language

ace combat + screenshots of despair

f1 + screenshots of despair

stealth archer appreciation post

ebony blade

Update 3

ahravani al-karim

oc: adrastea

oc: aeryx

ask about aeryx by saxhleel

Update 4

a new face touches the beacon

vestige did you put your name on the amulet of kings

oc: adrastea (updated)

oc: mira

skyrim mod concept

can't sleep babe

music ask

dragons and dragons

oc: adrastea (eso)

oc: jesse

Update 5

systema saturnium (lore about my alien dragon characters)

systema saturnium, extras

future PC specs

Merri'sa megapost

skyrim writing prompt

why is everything so loud

eso: opposites react

inspiration behind my TES ocs

shutterstock alternative for stock images

oc: martin revello (maned wolf)

oc voices!

how soft are my ocs

Update 6

New gaming laptop!

tumblr sexy lizardman/woman poll

Adra's french toast recipe

incorrect summary of ace combat by adra

so, have you found a reason to boop yet? buddy.

Adra's trance music collection

eso fanfic: shadows of the past

ac7 fanart: magic spear

suffering from a disease called indonesia

Update 7

the myth of AK-47

DMDE file recovery tool

Furaffinity murdered Andrew Tate

the MTD

Adra's scrambled eggs recipe

No noise november

Cat

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unprofessional-bard · 4 years ago

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Chapter 7 - The Fog, Pt. I

Losing My Religion Series Masterlist

Unprofessional Bard's Masterlist

Previous Chapter • Next Chapter

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female!Reader/OC

Warnings: Enough with fluff, time for some angst... with smut in flashbacks but detailed enough to satisfy y'all 😌. TW// mentions of suicide, canon typical violence/events, death of a child - overall a lot of blood and gore.

Summary: Things take a dark turn for the reader on patrol one day.

Word Count: 4.119

Author's Note: PLEASE READ!! I'll be moving to another country next week, so my updates might be delayed from time to time... I'm putting a soundtrack from the walking dead below called "The Pulse (I)", the sounds in the beginning (you'll know what I'm talking about once you listen) are what the reader hears; I really didn't know how to describe the sounds so I decided to put the soundtrack there and also linked it on a word when the time comes. Finally, I'm assuming Ellie was born sometime between the end of spring and summer because of the outfits they wore in that cutscene in part ii, so I set this chapter's date to September; wanted Joel to have some nice time with his daughter :")

Enjoy!

Walt made sure to stay away from you after your conversation. You were absolutely shocked and angry - you hated Walt for that, but you could only laugh at the situation when you told Maria what happened. How ironic it all was. You thought maybe if Joel hadn't come along, you could have ended up with Walt but you weren't sure if you'd be as happy with him as you were with Joel. You would've been sad or upset after finding out about this new 'information' if your feelings for Joel weren't this strong, but you were simply glad Walt didn't open up to you before Joel and Ellie came. Your relationship with Walt was damaged for sure now, but it wasn't completely in disrepair.

Joel and you, on the other hand, weren't the type to kiss or hold hands in public. You weren't too sensual with each other in front of others, but behind closed doors, it was a different story. Who would've thought Joel Miller would be a cuddler? It definitely wasn't you, or Tommy or Ellie. Nobody knew for awhile of course, but Tommy eventually caught Joel and you in your kitchen one day, weeks later. He was hugging you from behind and placing sweet kisses on your neck as you tried to focus on the task in front of you, but he was making it significantly hard.

Tommy teased Joel to no end about being a love sick puppy around you and kept asking when the two of you were going to get married. You'd blush and laugh, but you never even thought about marriage in the first place. It had only been around ten months since you two made things official between yourselves, but the idea of labeling it sounded silly at that time- plus, it was still a little early to think about marriage. As Eugene had put it, you were in the sex, beer and rock 'n roll phase of your relationship and you needed more time to figure everything out before settling down together. You two stayed at each other's houses most of the time of course, but still. There were still sides to the both of you that neither of you discovered yet as well.

Sex, beer and rock 'n roll? Well...

"Really? Now?" Joel.

"Yes, now!" You whisper yelled, then slowly sneaked your hand under his shirt and began kissing his neck. "Come on, baby, please? I need you..."

You were leaning against Joel, practically rubbing your whole body against his as you moaned whispered in his ear. Of course, he couldn't help himself when he saw you were this hungry for him, so he gladly obliged.

You kissed Joel's lips softly, but just as you pulled away, he held your neck and kissed you again harshly. You knew, you weren't in for a gentle treatment the moment you felt his hand around your throat lightly. Joel sat you on the desk and spread your legs, settling between your thighs and grabbing them.

"Tommy won't stop bustin' my balls about this if he catches us," Joel grunted.

"He won't- if we're quick enough," You smirked and took his jacket off in a rush. You two were currently at a back room of the ski lodge lookout, where Tommy told you he'd meet you both in half an hour.

"Lay down for me," Joel growled and pulled your pants down to your knees while you did as he told you, getting support from your elbows as he slowly unbuckled his belt. Your arousal was present ever since you woke up from a rather naughty dream in the morning. You didn't say or do anything about it, hoping that it'll go away throughout the day. Guess what? It didn't and here you were, Joel between your wide open legs and pumping his cock while teasing you with his other hand. You wouldn't say you had sex too often like rabbits, but you had sex when there was a mutual tension between you that needed to be subsided and it was so perfect every time.

Today though? You were just horny for the man and the hunger in your eyes was enough for a tent to build up in Joel's pants.

Your wetness was a natural lubricant for his easy entrance into you. He absolutely loved you around his cock, the way your walls took him in and clamped down around his length and, of course, the noises you made.

Joel stepped over the barrier made by your pants, grabbed your hips and set off with a fast, brutal pace. Your arms shook as they struggled to keep you up, sweat trickling down your forehead and finally gave out, making you lay down completely. He leaned down to kiss your neck, hips snapping into yours and stroking all the right places in fast motions. He pulled your v-neck blouse up just above your breasts and his teeth immediately met with your hardened nipples, making you moan loudly.

"Shh," Joel chuckled. "It's like you want us to get caught, baby."

Your giggles soon turned to high pitched whines of his name, his fast and rough pace gave you an indescribable amount of pleasure. The table you were currently spread across on began hitting the wall behind you louder and louder with each thrust along with his skin slapping against yours but neither of you were in a state of mind to care.

"Oh Joel!" You cried out, holding onto his arms for dear life as he fucked the living out of you.

Joel growled - you would've thought he was angry if you weren't in this situation right now: "Fuck, (Y/N)-"

A few profanities and thrusts later, you came undone a moment before he pulled out and with a couple of strokes, came on your inner thigh. You thought you'd seen stars as your legs twitched, hanging off the table. Joel collapsed on your body and you two stood like that, trembling and trying to catch your breaths.

"That- that was-" Joel tried to speak.

"Mind blowing?" You chuckled.

"That's one word to describe it," Joel slowly pushed himself up and placed a kiss on your forehead, helping you up.

No one ever caught the two of you in the act, of course. You two were incredibly careful while teasing one another in public - it could be a look, a smirk, the slightest spreading of his or your legs, a touch, a word- anything would be so carefully executed that nobody would even notice. After sex, your mind lingered too long on Joel and that usually wasn't good because it sometimes led to daydreaming while doing chores in town. Not on patrol, of course, but this one morning Joel had fucked you so good, you couldn't help but spend the rest of the day aching for more.

You were still a little sleepy so you let him have it his way. He took off whatever clothing he had on him and stripped you of yours, then spread your legs open: "Ain't you the loveliest little thing when you wake up..."

You grinned at him, stretching as he kissed your belly once, then proceeded to eat you out like a man who hadn't eaten in days. He took his time and didn't rush anything, earning soft gasps from you with his skillful tongue: "Oh god, Joel-"

One of your hands went through his hair while the other was on your forehead as if you were about to faint. Your cheeks were burning, his hands had a tight grip on your waist so he could keep you from wiggling out of his touch. This was pleasure in its purest form, you thought. The sight of him buried between your legs were absolutely delicious and the feeling even more so. He didn't let you come, however. Instead he sat on the bed and licked his lips: "Turn around for me, baby."

You whined at the loss of contact but did as he asked. He got on top of you, then caressed and massaged your back and kissed down your spine as his hands moved lower to your rear: "You ready for me, doll?"

"Yes," You sighed dreamily, a light smile on your lips. Joel pushed your legs together and you felt the bed dip on each side. He was hovering over you on his knees: Slowly, he pushed into you, almost moaning at the feeling of how tight you felt around him. You were already a mess by the time he was buried to the hilt. He fucked you thoroughly and slowly - he had all the time in the world and didn't want to rush anything. You liked it when he was taking his time, it extended your orgasm to it's limit but this position was about to see to a quick end on both sides.

He gently grabbed your chin and pulled your head up so he could tease your lips with his. You were on your elbows and moaning softly, whining when he didn't kiss you: "Joel..."

A quiet chuckle left his lips: "You want a kiss?"

You simply nodded and moaned instead of answering when his pace got faster. He gave you your kiss, your jaw in his careful grasp and fucked you until you came with a high pitched moan. Joel came on your rear, finishing with a long, hushed groan.

Those two and your first time with each other were the best sex you two ever had, you both agreed on it during a drunken chat.

Joel wasn't too hard to handle. During his time in Jackson and then his time with you and Ellie had really helped him open up and get comfortable with his emotions around people he let in. He hardly ever got jealous, but the way he got jealous would be sweet rather than a mood killer.

"I'm real lucky to have the most beautiful woman in town all for myself," He'd say, before kissing your brow and putting his arm around your waist. You enjoyed it, being his. New arrivals who'd try their chances with you would instantly know that you were 'his gal' and he was your man. You two really helped one another fit better in Jackson - you socialized with others and got to be vulnerable around each other. You taught him how to love again and he taught you over and over that all hope wasn't lost.

Until September 23rd, 2035. A date you'll never quite forget.

Red, orange and brown leaves had fallen off trees and blanketed the soil you and Joel were walking on. You two were set off to patrol a new place Tommy and Joel had discovered a few days back and it needed clearing from the infected. There was also a child, Miles, missing along with his father Samuel. They'd been missing for four days now and your thoughts were very troubled because of it, ever since their disappearance was announced. You really liked Miles, a sweet twelve year old boy he was.

"Doll, you okay?" Joel gave you a concerned look. Your grip on your rifle was hard and you had zoned out apparently, missing everything Joel had been talking about.

"Yeah," You nodded. The sun was shining through the trees and right onto Joel's beautiful face, which made you smile. "I wish we had a camera."

"I heard Tommy found one, he said someone was working on it this morning," Joel replied. "Why'd you ask?"

"You look so beautiful like this- and we don't have a picture together."

"Yeah, you're right," He nodded. "We'll be the first ones to use it, I promise you... I actually want a picture of me and Ellie too."

The way he loved Ellie like he did Sarah made your heart break. He had mentioned how he was absolutely destroyed and almost took his own life after her passing, also the story of how him and Ellie came across two brothers, Sam and Henry, before they found you which turned you into a concerned mother duck around the kids in Jackson and more of a wife to Joel than a girlfriend.

"Yeah, I want a lot of pictures with a lot of people: With the kids, Maria, Tommy, even Eugene!" You chuckled and made him laugh, but suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you saw two bodies lying on the ground and a third one away from them. "Joel, look."

Joel's smile immediately dropped at the sight. You two shared a look before you got in position and carefully walked over to the bodies with your rifle pointed at them, Joel right behind you. The closer you got, you noticed how there was a third body under the other two. You didn't recognise any of them, so you carefully leaned down and moved one of them away to see an awful scene in front of you.

"Oh god, Miles?" You whispered. His eyes opened slowly and you immediately moved the corpses off him.

"Miss (Y/N)?" Miles' voice cracked.

"It's alright Miles- It's me, I got you-"

"(Y/N)," Joel called over to where the third body was, only to see Samuel lying on his face.

You gave him a devastated look, but stopped Miles from seeing his father's body and picked him up bridal style: "Good god, how long have you been here, darling?"

"A few hours?" Miles held onto you while Joel was trying to figure out a way on how to get Samuel's body back to town. "You need to be careful miss, those men could be still here."

"What men?"

"The men that attacked us," Miles continued. "My pa thought they were bandits, but they wer-"

Blam!

You didn't understand what happened first. Blood got into your eyes and splattered all over your face - an incredible force almost pushed Miles out of your hold but your grip stopped him from falling.

"Dolly!" You heard Joel yell, but you couldn't open your eyes, too much blood-

You wiped your eyes on your arm as best as you could with Miles in them, but when you finally managed to open your eyes, you almost screamed: There were two holes on the sides of Miles' head and a bullet, covered in blood, on the ground.

"Oh- Oh god," You trembled, you couldn't take your eyes off the poor boy's head, but Joel pushed you on the ground suddenly and saved you from another bullet.

"Take cover- run!" Joel yelled, pushing you in the direction of a huge rock only a few feet away from you. You reluctantly let go of Miles' body and ran with him. Once behind the cover, Joel whispered: "Dolly- Dolly are you okay?"

You sure as shit were not, your face looked like the statement too.

"You heard the boss: Bring the woman alive, get rid of the other one!" A shiver went down your spine. Who the hell were they? Was FEDRA finally caught up to you?

"Oh fuck," You tried to breathe, wiping at your face. "Joel-"

"I'm right here darlin' but you gotta focus, we need to get outta here," Joel held your face between his hands. "C'mon (Y/N), focus."

You took a few deep breaths and concentrated. You heard about seven to eight footsteps beginning to surround you. You readied your rifle and Joel did the same, but before attacking, you threw a smoke bomb right onto a man who was the closest to your position, then moved in his direction as a smoke cloud hid your movements. This gave Joel time to cover you as you killed the first man, bullets flying in your direction. You quickly jumped back to your cover, a bullet barely slicing through the flesh of your leg as you landed beside Joel.

"Please tell me you have a nail bomb," You whined.

"Always," Joel said before sending it off to where three of the men were, the shards embedding themselves into their skin and making them cry out in pain. Quickly taking the chance, you fired at the men until you ran out of bullets. You took out Kurt's your knife and advanced at another man with a baseball bat in his hand. You were quicker with a knife - it took you almost five seconds to cut open the man's vital veins and have him collapse onto the ground. Just as you were about to turn around to see where Joel was, you felt someone grab you by the waist and slam you to the ground.

"Oof!" You immediately collected yourself and swung the blade to your opponent's throat, but he grabbed your wrist and rolled you and himself over, pushing himself away from you. You quickly got up on your knees and reached for your blade when the same hand caught your wrist once more. You were, once again, mortified at the sight in front of you: "Gabe?!"

"Hiya commander," Gabe growled in despise and headbutted you, completely taking advantage of how off guard you were.

"Fuck!" You cried out and kicked him in the face before he could get to you when you collapsed. While you two were on the floor, making sure your bones weren't broken, Joel was shooting his way to you. He was going hand to hand with a man who's neck was going to be broken by the heel of Joel's boots in a matter of seconds. You stumbled but got up and immediately got on top of Gabe with your knife in hand. You went to stab him in the throat but his arms blocked you from doing so.

"(Y/N)!" Joel pointed his gun at Gabe, but was interrupted by another man suddenly tackling him.

Your vision was red - you were like a raging bull, wanting nothing more than to kill Gabe for what he had done. You were angry at yourself too, mostly at yourself but he still played a part in getting your family killed. You couldn't even hear your surroundings anymore as you repeatedly hit and forced your knife holding hand down to his throat while grunting angrily.

Another unexpected move from him had your back slamming onto the ground with his ankles wrapped around your throat. How the hell- Since when was he this flexible?!

You gasped for air with a loud cry, drawing a distressed Joel's attention back to you. You were scared now, actually scared because of the move Gabe pulled, so your survival instincts kicked in with full effect. The tip of your boot met with his jaw, hard, as soon as it got free from under your thigh. The moment you felt his lock weaken around your throat, you rolled back, grabbed his leg before he could recollect himself and with everything you had, struck his knee with your elbow. Gabe screamed and kicked you with his fine leg, but he was weak and you kept striking the same spot, crushing his bone ferociously.

"(Y/N)!" Joel pulled you away from your shoulders, but you pushed him off with your back. "(Y/N), stop!"

You grabbed Gabe's throat, nails digging into his skin and pressed him down: "Got you, you fucking rat."

"(Y/N)-"

You ignored Joel and choked Gabe to his death: "Is there more of you, huh? Where is he?!"

"You'll be seeing him-" Gabe choked out, struggling against your grip. "Very soon."

"We need to move!" Joel pulled you off of him, but you pushed him away with your hands.

"Fine," You replied through your teeth after calming down. You gave a final look at Gabe and when you saw a shit eating grin on his face, you, with the speed of light, leaned down and grabbed your knife, then shoved it through his throat with a roar. You looked him dead in the eyes as he choked on his own blood and died.

"(Y/N)..." Joel's eyes were wide as he watched you wipe the blood on your knife on Gabe's jeans. You got up, more blood smeared on your face and jacket, but just as you began walking away, you heard more footsteps from inside the woods.

"Shit, hide," You kneeled and took cover behind a fallen tree, Joel right beside you.

"Who are they?" Joel whispered as you reloaded your rifle with a hard look on your face.

"People I thought were dead," You replied, not looking into his eyes. "They escaped me once and I paid dearly because of it. I'm not leaving until they're dead."

"No, we can leave now and come back with Tommy and other's-"

"And let these assholes find out where we live and terrorize the town?" You growled angrily. "Let's make one thing clear: I'm not letting anymore people die because of stupid mistakes I make. This ends. Now."

You discreetly scanned your surroundings: There were, once more, around eight men searching the area for you two. You took a deep breath and sneaked off to take down your first target. Joel was really tense but still carried out his fair share of executions until one of the men saw you and alerted the rest, bullets flying in the air. Most of the men were already down, but suddenly more men filled the area. Where the hell are they coming from?!

You were more than willing to take him up on that offer, but you obviously didn't trust him: "You think I'm dumb enough to believe you'll stay true to your word, you son of a whore?!"

"Hold your fire!" A very, very familiar British accent that haunted you to this day reached your ears and your eyes went wide. "Oh (Y/N)~" He sang and called for you. "Are you still alive, sweetheart?" You gulped and tried to breathe, a sound lightly ringing in your ear the more he talked: "I know you're out there, I have an offer for you: Come with me now and I'll leave your friend alone."

"Come now, my mother flipped in her grave because of you and your team too many times already, poor woman..." You peeked at him from behind your cover carefully as he continued: "Oh for god's sake- bring him out!"

You watched in horror as two men dragged Joel out to the open from his arms. When did he even get captured?! God, you thought, I was so blinded by revenge I couldn't protect him.

"Dear lord above," The man chuckled, quite shocked. "I never thought I'd see you again."

What?

Joel remained quiet even after the men pushed him onto the ground, then the leader pulled out his pistol and pushed the tip against Joel's head: "Alright, new deal: If you don't come out in the next three seconds, I'll blow his bloody head off."

"Alright, stop!" You immediately got up, desperation taking over you. "Here I am, let him go."

"Now, why should I do that?" The man snorted. "He betrayed me and ran off to be a goddamn smuggler, I should just blow his head off."

"No!" You yelled, your voice cracking. "He has a daughter and a wife- your deal is with me, let him go."

Joel looked up at you as best as he could while his head was pressed on the ground. You couldn't believe he, your lover, used to run with them- with him.

"Are you possibly the wife you spoke of?" The man grinned at you.

"No, you imbecile-!" You lied through your teeth and he seemed to be buying it so far. "You've already destroyed enough families, just let the man go... You'll be satisfied enough while killing me."

"You're quite right," The man nodded thoughtfully. "I'll enjoy ripping you apart... But you know what? Since you're cooperating with me so nicely and, well, since he used to be my second in command -brothers in arms and whatnot- I'll spare him."

You exhaled in relief, not letting it creep up into your expression however. Suddenly, he kicked Joel in the nose and knocked him out: "In two hours, I'll send a man here and if he's still knocked out, I'm going to kill him."

You knew Joel would be up in less than two hours, so you kept quiet and stared at the man, hard. There's got to be a way out of this...

"Well, shall we?" The man snapped his fingers at someone behind you and they kicked the back of your knee to bring you on your knees while your hands were behind your head. The man took your rifle from you and with the back of it, hit you in the head, making your vision go black.

#joel miller #joel x reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller imagine #joel miller smut #tlou x reader #the last of us #tlou fanfic #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us x reader #SoundCloud

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professorsnape394 · 4 years ago

Text

The Potions Master’s Apprentice

Chapter Nine: Letters, Lovers and Loyalties

A/N: This is the ninth part to my fanfiction ‘The Potions Master’s Apprentice (Severus Snape x OC)’. Chapters 1-16 can be found already uploaded on Wattpad under the same name. Feel free to leave requests in my inbox for anything Snape related you want me to write. Leave a comment below if you wish to be added to my tag list.

Pairing: Severus Snape x OC (Dumbledore’s Granddaughter)

Summary: A talented young witch is employed as an apprentice professor at Hogwarts, but who will she be working under? Severus Snape is not best pleased with his new responsibility of taking on an apprentice, however she is relentless to create a friendship between them. Will she be successful? Or might the friendship just go a little two far? With the eyes of her grandfather constantly watching over them, an attempt at a relationship might not be in the cards for Aria Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

Word Count: 2185

Warnings: n/a

Credits to Gif Creator

Yet another letter dropped into the lap of Aria Dumbledore as she sat absentmindedly sketching. Dropping her quill back into the small pot of ink which balanced on the arm of her chair, a small sigh escaped her lips. She had been expecting another to arrive any day now.

Aria allowed herself a small glance in the direction of her desk where the ever growing pile of unopened letter sat gathering dust. Disregarding her drawing, Aria traveled to her desk, fingers fumbling with the edge of the envelope. Admittedly, Aria's mind had been focused on that small pile of letters the past few days, and consequently the man who sent them. She couldn't bring herself to reply to his constant inquiries, but she had considered there was no harm in opening a few of them. She longed to hear from him, though she had been in denial for so long now she wasn't sure what to expect from his most recent letters.

Waiting no longer she ripped the paper from its wax seal, her eyes quickly scanning every word on the page.

My dear Aria, Though I know you say you cannot reply to my letters, I write them all with the hope that you will find the time in your busy schedule to at least read them. As always things are quiet here without you. Too quiet. I miss your voice. I miss hearing you sing to yourself in the shower thinking no one can hear you, I miss hearing you hum as you wander aimlessly through the house, I miss watching you draw as I pose for you, but most importantly I miss holding you in my arms. I long for the end of the school year when we will be reunited and I will have nothing to miss except maybe writing these letters. I long for a response to my letters, my darling. I simply must know that you miss me as I miss you. In the mean time I will continue to write to you to keep myself distracted from everything terrible happening in the world, by simply thinking of you. All my love, S.

Aria couldn't help but feel a great pang of guilt in the pit of her stomach for ignoring the letters, but she couldn't bare the thought of reading them, while she was still coming to terms with how she felt when she decided to leave for Hogwarts. She knew immediately she would not be able to maintain a long distance relationship with him. Though he was the first man she had ever loved she had been too cowardly to confess her feelings for him in person, let alone on a piece of parchment. She knew she was a pathetic coward from the moment he told her he loved her and she could not find it in her to return the favour. Her cowardice was more than proven the day she left for Hogwarts. Aria had planned to break up with him, to avoid further heartbreak down the line. But she could not even find the courage to do that.

Instead she was living in denial. In her mind they had broken up, and refused to face up to whatever she was truly feeling until it was absolutely necessary. Her plan had been to distract herself as much as possible, suppress her feelings and just forget about the situation completely. And to be totally honest her plan had been working for her, with the exception of a few off days such as today. However when it came time to wake up and face the music she had no idea what her plan would be then.

Leaving the letter open on her desk she took a stroll around the grounds of Hogwarts to clear her mind. The time to figure out all of her problems was not now. She was still a young, carefree woman and she didn't want the burden of guilt stopping her from living her life however she so wished.

Arias walk led her to the village of Hogsmeade, and after working up a light sweat, the young professor opted to pop into the Three Broomsticks to quench her thirst.

Unsurprisingly for a late Tuesday evening the place was barren. Besides for a drunken wizard practically falling off his bar stood, a crazy witch whispering to herself and two well dressed men, sitting out of place in a side booth, the place was completely deserted. Planning to only stay for a pumpkin juice Aria took a seat at the bar and begun chatting to the same barmaid who had served her and Severus all those weeks ago.

"Busy night?" Aria joked, rolling her eyes at the drunk to her right.

The woman laughed in return, handing over a glass of pumpkin juice. "This is pretty much the standard, at this time." She shrugged, polishing off a perfectly clean glass, to keep herself busy. "That one over there doesn't even order anything, but its not worth the hassle kicking her out." She gestured to the old hag in the corner, her perfectly polished nails glistening in the dim bar light.

"I wish I could say I felt sorry for you, but a break away from the chaos that is Hogwarts is a slight relief." Aria sighed. She was still not used to being around so many people all the time having spent the past few years alone, besides her mother, she often needed time alone to breathe.

"Oh, then you must be new. I've had my fair share of lonely professors spend an evening behind my bar, and I usually remember who's spilled their whole life story to me. Though you do look familiar, what do you teach?" She finished up with her glasses, leaning her elbows on the bar to get a closer look at the younger woman, her breasts practically falling out her blouse.

"I'm just an apprentice for now. I'm the new Potions Mistress." Aria smiled, taking a small sip of her drink.

"Oh yes, now I remember. You came here with that Severus. He's not unfamiliar with our whiskey selection, if you know what I mean." Both women rolled their eyes in unison. "He doesn't seem to talk much though, I can't say I know anything about him. I must admit I was surprised to see him with a gorgeous young witch like yourself."

"You weren't the only one." Aria scoffed, finishing off her pumpkin juice.

"Well it makes a little bit more sense now." She laughed, a set of pristine pearly teeth emerging from her red glossy lips.

It seemed Aria was not the only one who had been admiring the woman's beauty, and almost right on cue the drunk decided to look a little bit more lively, demanding another pint. Reluctantly the barmaid obliged, shooting Aria an apologetic look.

Aria couldn't help but notice the gruff looking man practically throw himself over the bar in order to get a good gawk at the barmaids behind. The slightly older woman seemed unfazed by the mans actions, in-fact Aria wasn't entirely unsure she wasn't enjoying the attention. Choosing not to interrupt as neither party seemed to object to the altercation, Aria kept her mouth shut.

That was until the man's attention turned to her. The barmaid disappeared from view, presumably to refill the barrel the drunk had practically drowned himself in. "Haven't seen you around here before." He started harmlessly, though Aria did not miss the way his eyes seemed to scan the whole of her body.

"Just moved into Hogwarts, haven't seen much of Hogsmeade." Aria admitted, but made the conscious decision to turn away from him, hoping not to engage in any further conversation.

"You a friend of Ros'" He asked, intrigued, while downing a good half of his pint.

"Not really, no." Aria shrugged. "I didn't even know her name until just now."

"Rosalind Rookwood." He edged his seat closer to Arias. "Fantastic barmaid, though I wouldn't say it was her best profession." He winked.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean." Aria turned her nose up at the man, just praying he would leave her alone.

"Well, you know, bein' a barmaids fine an all, but it doesn't always pay the bills. Miss Rookwood's got her fair share of stories to tell, and not all of them her own." He laughed, the potent stench of his alcoholic breath suffocating Aria as he leaned in closer, wrapping a heavy arm around her shoulders. "If it turns out teaching isn't for you, just know you'll have a loyal customer in me." He hiccuped, his free arm, reaching down to stroke the woman's exposed thigh.

Instinctively Aria gripped onto his wrist, forcing it off of her. "What the hell do you think you are doing!?" Aria exclaimed, pushing the man away from her. "Don't you dare lay your hands on me again."

The drunk showed no sign of guilt or remorse, he simply chuckled to himself, revealing a shocking lack of teeth. Disgusted, Aria made to move but found herself cornered against the bar.

Fortunately the altercation had caused enough disruption to alert the two men having a casual evening drink. Instantly one rushed over to her aid, stupefying the old man. The second man followed suit and made it his business to remove the frozen figure from the bar.

"Are you alright?" The first man asked, his brow furrowing with worry.

"I'm fine, thank you for stepping in." Aria smiled, brushing herself down, as though she was riding herself from the drunks disgusting touch.

The man returned a boyish grin, his eyes bright blue and full of kindness. Aria had never seen anyone like him. His presence was almost cartoon like, with positivity radiating from him. Aria couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh, her smile growing just by looking at him. His energy was contagious.

"Is... is there anything I can do to thank you?" She tried your shake herself back to reality though remained entranced by him.

"Nothing at all. I'm just glad I was here to help." He extended a hand, almost nervously, introducing himself. "Alexander Turner, pleasure to meet you."

"You too." Aria blushed, unable to break eye contact with the man, and was now incredibly aware of how dumbfounded she must look. "I'm Aria" She stuttered, the sound of his friend retuning sending her back to reality. "I apologise for staring, but I just can't seem to take my eyes off you, you have an enchanting aura about you. I'm sorry if I may seem a little strange."

"There's no need to apologise, I get it all the time." He laughed, though not arrogantly, it was sweet and innocent. "My mother's a Veela." He added, almost embarrassedly, upon noticing the slightly look of confusion appearing on Arias face.

The couple shared an awkward smile, both at a loss for words.

Alexander's friend passed by the pair silently, slapping him encouragingly on the shoulder before disappearing behind the bar, Rosalind following closely behind.

Aria noted the difference in both attitude and appearance in the two men, finally able to distinguish between the two. The friend was tall and broad shouldered, his hair messy though not long. He gave off a sort of American football, "bro", fratbroy vibe. In other words kind of arrogant and full of himself. Clearly he saw himself as the one in control. Alexander on the other hand was more slim, but not skinny. Tall but not lanky. Innocent but not naive. His clothes appeared similar to his friends but presented more neatly and well put together. She assumed he felt sorry for his friend, knowing his Veela parentage would gain him lots of female attention, and in return Alexander simply allowed himself to get pushed around to boost his friends ego.

With a roll of his eyes Alexander practically confirmed her theory and Aria couldn't stop herself from laughing once more.

Knowing that while Rosalind and 'Braydon'; as he turned out to be, would not be returning any time soon, Aria and Alexander chose to occupy one of the booths and get to know a little bit about each other, where Alex truly confirmed all of Aria's suspicions.

Upon Braydon's return, he flashed his rather large biceps, kissing each one in turn as he flexed them, before letting out a hearty growl, presumably this was a display of male dominance among his kind. His kind being; douchebags.

With another roll of her eyes Aria bid farewell to the men, thanking Alexander once more for his heroic rescue.

"How about a date?" Alex called nervously as Aria had just about reached the door.

"I'm sorry?" She replies, caught off guard.

"A date, here, with me. What do you say?" Aria shook her head unable to look away from that damn charming smile of his.

"I'll agree to a few drinks." She clarified. "Just send me an owl, you know where I'll be." And with that she disappeared once more down the path to Hogwarts, the grey sky above all the while threatening to rain down on her.

Taglist: @ayamenimthiriel @lizlil

#severus snape #severus snape fanfiction #severus snape one shot #severus snape imagine #severus snape x reader #severus x reader #severus x oc #severus x y/n #Harry Potter #harry potter and the goblet of fire #harry potter fanfiction #alan rickman #dumbledore #dumbledores granddaughter #potions master #potions masters apprentice #Severus Snape smut #severus snape fluff

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heresathreebee · 4 years ago

Text

Dirty Water

Benny 'Borracho' Magalon x Robyn Banks (Black!OC)

Summary: Robb met a couple of shady characters calling themselves cops. Well it just so happens they are, and they're worse than she first thought.

Masterlist

Word count: 2.5k words

Rating/Warning(s): +16 Mature | kidnapping, mild torture, tied up, wanna be clear: IRL I do not condone hooking up with a person who kidnapped you or was complicit in kidnapping you, it just don't work out like that in reality

AN: so basically I'm gonna write and post this in whatever order I please, then go back and figure it out later. Since my brain has jumped back on the Pascal bandwagon, it's hard to focus outside of his body of work but I'm still coming back to this story with relative ease.

Just when she'd started to warm up again, a another shower of ice cold mop water was pitched over her head. Robyn sputtered and coughed, trying not to swallow the suds in her mouth or let them see her cry to keep the dirt out of her eyes. From the shadows that danced beyond her eyelids, she could tell the alleged cop who called himself Nick was crouching in front of her.

"Last chance, sweetheart," the dirty cop said. "Tell me how you know Tony D'Onofrio."

Fuck.

Seven years ago, two federal agents walked in on officer Robyn Banks being sentenced to traffic duty. She didn't mind– she was fed up with the secrets her colleagues were forcing her to keep anyways. Maybe stepping down could help her clear her head, maybe give her time to compartmentalize those events and feelings. Only now could she say that the rest of her career was already out of her hands.

"Those agents on that file? They approached me about D'Onofrio. Said he was my moby dick. Made a big deal about 'justice' and 'law and order' and 'the sanctity of the badge." Robyn spit more mop water onto the floor and continued, "I told them I didn't know what the fuck it had to do with me and they just sorta looked at each other."

The blond man– Nick called him Z, she thinks– crossed his arms. "Quit jerkin us around, Banks, get to the fucking point."

Nick held up a hand. "Easy, tiger. I asked for a story and that's what I'm hearing. Keep going, Robbie."

Robyn scowled on the inside. "They told me he was my father. More like a sperm donor than anything, he probably didn't even know I was alive."

"Now that is interesting," Nick purred.

He cut the zip tie binding her arm to the rolly chair and handed her a towelette to wipe her eyes. She dared not reach for the tie on her other arm, lest her captors think she's pulling a move to escape. Instead she dabbed the sweat and mop water that soaked into the skin of her neck and face to pause and think about her next words.

"That was the basis of the deal. I join their investigation undercover, see if I can get somewhere with my connection, and help them put one of the biggest crime bosses on this side of the coast away for good. In exchange, I get to call the shots, they'd put in a good word with my CO and elevate me to detective status instead of beat cop."

"Thought you liked being a beat cop," the one in the silk flamingo shirt said.

"Apparently nobody believes that."

"So," Nick steepled his fingers beneath his aquiline nose in thought, "your end of the deal wasn't even your idea? How does that work?"

"Sounds like she got something else out of it," the bald man in the white polo accused.

Robyn glared at him, but she didn't contradict him. If she wanted to be listened to, she needed to stay calm. Stay calm, stay alive. Go home with the minimal amount of PTSD.

"Do you want me to tell you what happened or not?" When nobody raised any more objections, she continued. "I agreed to their terms. Next I know, I'm climbing the criminal ladder, dropping bread crumbs about my parentage, two years goes by, yada yada yada, and then bam. I have a meeting with the heir apparent to the Italian mafia.

"At that meeting I told Tony D'Onofrio he knew my mother and that I knew they had been dating around the time I was born–"

"Conceived–"

"Yeah that– he stared at me for so long I forgot how to breathe and then… he… believed me."

A pin dropped somewhere in the empty parking garage. A dog barked wildly a mile away but could still be heard in the silence that followed. Robyn still couldn't believe he'd bought it either.

"He just… believed you," Nick said skeptically.

Robyn could do nothing but shrug. "I never got the details, I couldn't ask my mom about it and Tony never gave me any indication that he knew about me before that meeting. He just asked me what I wanted and did it."

Nick dragged his eyes over her form, shivering and glistening, and then-- "what did you ask him?"

Robyn felt her eyes gloss over as she tried to remember what mysterious force compelled her to say the exact right words. "I told him all I wanted was for him to know, to see him with my own eyes and know he was real. I said I didn't need any favors or special treatment. I just needed some closure."

That was all. And the agents had been fucking furious with her. They had accused her of using them, of being a traitor and a spy for D'Onofrio or a mastermind cat-woman type villain and all manner of other terrible things. They were ready to pull the plug on the whole operation when Tony had offered her a better job. A job where she would come face- to- face with every schmoe on Tony's payroll.

"Tony offered me a job 'running errands.' Not quite in his inner circle but higher in his ranks than I had any business being," Robyn said. "Most of the people doing these jobs were kids, easy to get around the city undetected and reliable. Now he knew I wasn't a kid but I guess he wanted to see more from me, put his best eyes on me to see if I was legit."

Nick nodded and stood up (his knees popping like broken branches). He walked over to Murphy in the flamingo shirt and passed a few inaudible words between them. Robyn wasn't skilled in the art of lip reading, and failed to catch anything from Murphy except the word 'pointless.' It rubbed her the wrong way, sending a spark of fear through her that quickly dulled back into the numbness of being helplessly bound to a chair. She needed to finish this soon before she completely cracked.

Nick returned to her side, chasing some pepto bismol with a flask of what smelled like tequila in it. "That's a very sweet story, Robbie, really it is. But… what I wanna know is why you're not in this file."

"That's not what you asked me," she griped, then backpedaled into, "I'm trying to tell you why I'm not in the file. But in order to tell you that, I have to tell you what was left out of the file first. I'm getting to the point, I just… there's a lot of shit to sift through."

Nick nodded like a patient father (yeah, right). "Just the good parts then."

"Yeah," she nodded quickly, "just the good parts..."

"The good parts, uhm. Well he did learn to trust me. I barely had to do anything just… let him try to kindle a relationship between us. I started calling him dad at his request, nobody bothered me or questioned me after that and I didn't abuse it, expect on the downlow giving info to the feds. He liked that about me– he liked me. We'd talk about my mom and he'd let his guard slip, started taking me to his meetings and asking me to deliver his important paperwork."

"I let him think I was with him and documented everything I could for six more years." In truth, she had had some doubts. About putting him away and the vacuum of power it would create, about the dichotomy of good versus evil, about her career. In that last year, she had actually warmed to the idea of becoming a detective and getting to do work with her own moral backbone and not someone else's. "We made the arrest January 19th and put him away for a dime."

Nick leaned so far forward in his chair Rob had to lean back. "This is the part where you wrap it up, sweetcheeks."

Robyn gulped. "Gomer and Valentine pushed me out. They'd been acting really strange at the end, wearing these shit eating grins and looking at each other, and then they iced me out. Had me fired on the grounds that I was too close to the perp, used a fucking Christmas photo for evidence. There went the Italian mob's heir and seven years of hardwork, and I wouldn't even be mentioned by name in the case file. No testimony, no credit, just a dishonorable discharge and dumped on my ass in the streets."

"Wow." Nick rubbed a hand down his face like he was the exhausted one. "That's quite the story, princess."

He looked at each of his mates, every face stonier than the last. Especially the silent one's, the latino guy. Then he looked back at Robyn and smiled with a lot of teeth.

"I do have some questions though, if you'll let me." Sure like I have a choice. "Now it wasn't public knowledge you were in on the investigation, but I find it hard to believe your dad's lackeys didn't know it was you who turned him in. And what I find even harder to believe is that they'd let you live for it."

Robyn said nothing. There was a part of her that didn't quite grasp it either. When she had arrested him, when she'd slapped the cuffs on him herself and read him his Miranda rights, after the shock of her betrayal wore off, Tony had congratulated her.

"I'm proud of you, kid. You may be a narc but at least you got your head straight. You got guts, kid."

As far as she understood it, his last order as the leader of the mafia was not to harm her in any way. Nobody bothered her. They still knew her face on the streets, sent glares her way but never touched her. One of his underlings had come to her place and suggested she skip town permanently just to be safe. It was not a courtesy she ever expected from anyone let alone a man with a reputation for high profile robbery and murder.

She didn't know what to expect. "I guess he really did love me." And Nick left it at that.

Robyn was unbound, blindfolded, and dumped right back onto the street those so called cops had snatched her from. Her legs shook as she walked the last block to her place, utterly miserable and in desperate need of some sleep. Maybe tomorrow she could figure out what the fuck her life had come to. She showered (and cried) and picked up the half drunk beer from her fridge and brought it out on her front steps, taking a sip of the flat beverage and wishing it was something stronger.

People passed below her on the streets, never once looking up. The traffic never disappeared but it did lull this time of night. She didn't mean to– barely noticed she was doing it– but she found a pack of cigarettes in her overcoat and lit one up.

"Next time," she promised herself. I'll try to quit next time.

Just as she was beginning to ease the tension that had been weighing on her all night, a man climbed the steps to her building and pointedly slowed down to a stop a few feet away from her. She chanced a glare at him and found him no stranger which was somehow infinitely worse.

"Fuck off," her nerves got the better of her, "I told you everything, can't I at least get some sleep first?!"

The man lifted his hands in defense, carrying a bottle in a brown bag in one of them. He was, well, he was the handsome one. The Cuban with the neck tattoo and broad shoulders. His eyes seemed a lot softer now Despite the dark setting.

"Swear on my life, I'm not here for Nick." He took a single step up, waiting to see how she'd react, and when she didn't run, he took another and set the covered bottle down next to her before backing off. Still skeptical, Robyn carefully unwrapped the thing, revealing an expensive looking wine label. Dark red. "It's an apology," he explained with his hands in his pockets, "Nick thinks he's this big, clever actor but he can be a real bully when he drinks."

Robyn gave him the 'do I look like an idiot' eyebrow and he had the decency to look at his feet. "We could really use your help with this, Banks. Nick forgot to mention the part where Tony was put on parole for good behavior. He'll be out tomorrow."

"He what." That's just the thing isn't it? The case that ended her career permanently and he just got to walk off after only serving two years of his sentence. That was the real crime here. Robyn gritted her teeth, gripped the neck of the bottle and squeezed. She started shaking it like it was her criminal father, or the weasel federal agents who took her credit, or the dirty cops who kidnapped her tonight.

Borracho looked concerned. "Do you need a corkscrew or– "

Robyn shrugged off her jacket and looked him dead in the eye as she wrapped it around the base of the bottle and gently banged it on the porch step until the cork exploded into the air (along with a third of the bottle's contents but whatever). Borracho raised a hand to protect his face from the spray, and turned away to hide a silly grin.

"Nevermind," he said, shaking the excess drink off his hand. "Listen, if he calls you about anything, please let us know."

He pointed to the bag, which had a phone number on it. "Don't let your work be in vain."

"You try that line on everybody?" Rob was feeling a little facetious in the face of mercy, over tired from the revelations, and pissed off by these fucking pigs. "Your good cop, bad cop routine needs some balance. Did you know I was kidnapped today? Now this wine is a start but you'd better step it up, good cop."

He started to walk away but she called out, "I got Nick, Z, and Murphy. Clocked 'Gus' by the name written on his underwear. Which one are you?"

"Benny," he threw back, and disappeared into the nighttime traffic.

"Benny," Rob scoffed. "Cute ass."

Robb drank the equivalent of two glasses, then passed out from exhaustion. She slept dreamlessly and tried to forget last night had ever happened. Benny, in the meantime, returned to the office where his crew was huddled around a phone receiver.

"Don't appreciate you throwing me under the bus, B," Nick growled from his seat.

"Shup up and drink this," Benny pushed the glass of raw eggs closer to his boss' hand, a so called 'hangover cure'. Nick shrunk back a little.

"Told you she'd be sweet on him," Z elbowed Murphy in the ribs and ignored his protesting 'um actually I said that.'

"Wouldn't call her sweet," Benny said, grunting as he took up residence at his own desk. "She looked like a feral cat."

Nick laughed. "Yeah well don't go getting mixed up with that pussy, B, we've got work to do."

It was gonna be another long night for everybody.

#three bees writing #god it's been so long #i don't know what to call this series #benny borracho #benny borracho x oc

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is0gild · 4 years ago

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Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 26

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 8,801

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

We stepped into the ballroom together and everything was just as grand and impressive as I'd remembered it. The room was immense, stretching two stories high with giant, elaborate gold and crystal chandeliers hanging from the embellished ceiling. Majestic columns lined the east and west sides of the room, with heavy red velvet curtains draped between each one, currently tied back to reveal the long banquet tables of food behind them. The celebration was already in full swing and the place was just simply packed with family and acquaintances I recognized, each guest dressed more fancy and sophisticated than the last as they all mingled or took a turn about the dance floor.

Or at least, that's what they all had been doing before Lea and I had made our entrance. Maybe it was just my imagination… maybe I was just being paranoid… but I swear the whole place suddenly went very still, all chatter dying down to a muted undertone as it felt like every last eye in the room turned toward me.

My chest seized and I swallowed hard, taking a tiny step back.

This was a mistake. I couldn't do this. I couldn't be here. I couldn't-

"Crabclaw?"

I twitched at Lea's low voice right next to my ear. My eyebrows knit together and I turned a quizzical look towards him. What… Was he asking if I wanted hors d'oeuvres? ...no, I don't think they were even serving crab tonight. I frowned, mulling it over for another second before squinting at him. "...is this you trying to whisper sweet nothings to me again?"

He chuckled, "Please. You'll know when I'm laying some sweet sweet nothings on you. Nah, I was just taking another crack at it."

"Crack at…?" I cocked my head with a frown. Crabclaw…? Come to think of it, something about it was prickling at the back of my brain. Now why did that sound so…"Oh!" Realization struck. "My favorite ice cream?"

"Yup!" he tapped his nose. Then his lips pursed to the left with a small hum before he was shaking his head. "But that's not it either. Seafood in ice cream? Blech! You're adventurous, but that's a lil too out there, even for me."

My brow furrowed. "...you think I'm adventurous?"

Did I miss something? Was today Opposite Day?

"Course!" he grinned. My face scrunched up in pure disbelief and he laughed. "Well let's check the scoreboard here. You ran out on your wedding and everything ya knew to start a new life from nothing. You followed a devilishly handsome stranger," he jerked a thumb into his chest with a smirk, "up a decrepit old clocktower. You jumped last minute into open auditions for a musical with barely any preparation or practice." Lea shrugged, "Seems to me there's at least some small part of you that's attracted to the unknown. Ergo: adventurous!"

I looked away with a tiny scowl. "I think you mean ergo: stupid."

"Eh. To-may-to, to-mah-to. No true adventure is complete without a healthy dose of stupidity thrown into the mix anyhow. Lil pearl o' wisdom for ya there, courtesy of yours truly," he beamed.

"Such sagely advice," I snorted before my face softened. "...thanks, Lea. I… think I'm ready to do this now."

"But you already are."

With a start, I realized we were walking. Had been walking. I hadn't even noticed when we'd begun. Those big double doors were long behind us now as we weaved our way further into the crowd. No one seemed to be looking at us anymore. I suspected they had only gotten more discreet about it.

"Oh, look, there's the birthday boy now," Lea gestured with his chin towards where my grandfather stood not too far off, greeting and shaking hands with a couple that'd arrived just before us. He was looking a lot warmer and friendlier than I'd seen him all weekend. Then again, Grandfather had always been very good at putting on a cordial mask for the public. Lea asked, "Shall we go give the ol' boy our best wishes?"

I gnawed on my lower lip for a second before sighing, "Alright."

Might as well get this over with.

We made our way over just as Grandfather was finishing up with those guests. As if sensing our approach, he turned to face us and immediately went very still. However, his poker face was in top form this evening for it betrayed nothing as he just stared at us impassively and waited.

"Grandfather…" I paused, floundering a bit under his scrutiny. But then I took a deep breath, forced a tremulous smile and simply said, "Happy birthday." Releasing Lea's arm, I stepped forward and got on tiptoes to plant a swift peck to Grandfather's cheek, just as I'd done for all his birthday's before. Just as if everything were normal, even though they were very much not.

He answered with a stiff nod and a polite smile that did not quite reach his eyes. "Thank you, my dear."

Retrieving my hand to once more fold into his elbow, Lea piped up, "Happy birthday, Sir!" I preemptively winced, waiting for the surely inevitable 'Gramps' that always followed. However, it never came. I stared at him in stunned silence. Pretty sure Grandfather was doing the same. Amazing… perhaps Lea actually could take things seriously when he really- "Wow, seventy huh? Keeping it tight, big guy! I mean, hell, it's gotta be more candle than cake at this point! But man oh man, you're still pretty spry for a dude your-"

"Enjoy your evening, Grandfather!" I said quickly, turning to make a hasty exit and yanking Lea along with me. Once we had put a safe distance behind us, I shot a tiny glare up at him.

"What? I was complimenting him!" Lea defended himself. I gave him a flat look and he snerked, "Hey now, I told ya I would be on my best behavior. No one ever said anything about my best being any good."

I huffed quietly, one side of my mouth twitching up. "Fair point."

"So then," he pulled us aside, stopping next to one of the columns as he grinned down at me. "We've put in our appearance. Did what we set out to do. We came, we conquered. Wanna split?"

A small laugh hummed in my throat. "As lovely as that sounds, we can't leave already. We've only been here a few minutes. I appreciate you trying to get us out of here as soon as possible for my sake, but I'm doing okay at the moment. I can last a little while longer."

His grin ticked wider as his hand rose to gently brush a strand of hair off my cheek. "Okay then. Whaddya say to a lil jaunt about the room then?"

"A 'jaunt' you say?" I cracked a smile at that. "My, sounds fancy."

"Babe, ya got me in a tux for this. Damn right I'm gonna be fancy. C'mon, you can point out all your relatives to me as we go, tell me all their deep, dark, icky secrets they don't want anyone to know about." His hand drifted down behind me, slowing to hover over my lower back as he looked to me in silent question.

I hesitated for a heartbeat before giving him a nod. Then I felt his warm hand pressing to the bare skin at the small of my back as he guided us into a walk once more. Suppressing a little shiver as we went, my eyes scanned the crowd for faces of interest.

Everyone was still doing it. Watching Lea and me. I could no longer see them doing it, but I could still feel it. All those eyes following us as we went. And really, I couldn't blame them for it. Hardly six weeks ago I'd broken off my engagement in the most public and humiliating way possible to my ex, his family, and my family… and now here I was, parading my new "boyfriend" around my grandfather's birthday celebration as if everything were fine and dandy and like I didn't have a care in the world. This seemed inappropriate. Callous. I wouldn't have even done it if my parents hadn't all but insisted… why? Why were they putting me through this? They must have had a goal, an objective behind it all, I just had yet to fathom what it could possibly be.

Trying to take my mind off the swirling questions, not to mention off the ever growing numbness in my knees from anxiety, I focused harder on searching the room. "Hm… ah!" I pointed, "See that man over there? In the wheelchair with the wild poofy hair?"

His gaze followed my finger. "Talking 'bout that mummified corpse they wheeled in? Ya mean that thing's alive?"

I pinched his arm. "Be nice, he's very old. Anna and I have called him Grandpabbie ever since we were little. He's Grandfather's father."

"Shit, that's not old, that's ancient. Have ya ever asked him what it was like, growing up in the freaking Stone Age?" He snorted as I swat his shoulder. "Seriously though, how many years we talking here?"

A crease formed between my eyebrows, "...I don't really know actually. Honestly, I'm not sure anyone remembers anymore, possibly not even Grandfather. Certainly not Grandpabbie himself, he's sadly not really all there these days," I grimaced as we moved on before my eyes landed on another pair of people who were peering in our direction. "And there's the Duke by that painting over there."

"Ah yes, the Duke. Still reeling from the pleasure of the last time we met," Lea waggled his fingers in a teeny wave towards my uncle. Even from all the way across the ballroom, we could see him agitatedly puff out his mustache as he stuck his big nose up high into the air and looked away. "I think he likes me."

"Oh yes, he's positively tickled by you," I said dryly. "That woman he's talking to is Yelena."

Recognition flickered in Lea's eyes. "Right, Anna mentioned her showing up with your cousins this morning. She's your aunt?"

"She's Mother's aunt, my great aunt," I corrected as I observed her. She was studying us both currently with a slight frown and a calculating look in her eye. "She's… strict. Solemn. Very stern and proud. But I think she always means well."

Lea scoffed, "Boriiiing! C'mon, where's all the juicy dirt on these people? Looking for the primo, blackmail-worthy shit here."

My feet came to a stop once more as I half chuckled, half sighed. "Sorry, there just isn't any dirt to share. My family is rather unexciting in general."

"Nah," his hand shifted over to my hip now, pulling me in to nestle up against his side, "they're rich. And the rich always got some nasty skeletons hidden away in their closets, just gotta know where to look."

"If you say so," I muttered, face warming slightly as I leaned my cheek against his chest. It just felt natural. I mean, it's what a girlfriend should do, right? Listening to the low, soothing rhythm of his heartbeat, I cast another glance around. "...oh, there's Mattias. See the woman he's dancing with?"

"Ya mean the one he looks all twitterpated over?" Lea murmured as his hand came up to fiddle with a few of my curled locks.

Nodding, I said, "That's his wife Halima. I've known her since before I can even remember. She's very sweet."

"Mm," was his only acknowledgement to that, fingers still twirling the pale strands between them.

I went on, "She always made the best macaroons… Ah! Here's some dirt for you," I whispered conspiratorially. "Her secret ingredient? Baby applesauce."

"...mm-hm," he hummed softly as I felt him press a kiss into my hair.

Pushing away from him now, I narrowed my eyes up at him, "Hey, are you even listening to me right now?"

"Wha-? I-" he stammered, sheepishly scratching a spot behind his ear before laughing. "Course I am!"

I turned my head slightly, giving him some side-eye. "Really? Then what's the last thing I said?"

He shrugged and smirked, "That Halima's the one in the wheelchair."

A traitorous snort escaped me despite myself. "Oh, you think you're funny, don't you?"

"I'm a goddamn riot and you know it. In fact-" his words suddenly cut off as his gaze landed on something past me. "Uh oh. Inbound, six o'clock."

I turned to see what he was talking about. It took me a second before I spotted them: the Duke and Aunt Yelena making their way through the crowd, beelining straight for us.

Oh goodie. This should be fun.

"Ah!" Uncle Weselton declared as they closed the distance to join us. "Here's the young mongrel-" he forced a loud, exaggerated cough into his fist, "ahem, I mean young man now. Elsa's new consort…" he sniffed and glared down his bespectacled nose at Lea. Or at least he tried to but seemed to be having some difficulty, seeing as how Lea towered at least a good foot over him. "...I believe… Lou, was it?"

He flashed a toothy grin back. "Lea, actually, but that's alright. Names can be tough to remember, especially the single syllable ones and especially at your rather… distinguished age." The Duke bristled, huffing under his breath something along the lines of 'the audacity' but remained otherwise mute. Turning his attention to the other person who'd joined us, Lea held out a hand towards her, "And you must be Aunt Yelena. We were just talking about you a sec ago. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Yelena's face was unreadable, neither cold nor warm as she considered the hand offered to her for a few seconds. At last she took it with a curt, business-like shake but didn't release it right away. No, instead she turned it slightly so she could have a better look at his fingernails. More specifically, at the black painted to them. Her only visible reaction was to arch one silver brow.

"...charmed, I'm sure," she stated evenly in that flat, no-nonsense voice she always seemed to have as she finally let him go. Then her eyes turned to me and she bowed her head slightly, "Elsa. You're looking well this evening."

I ducked my head quickly to return the greeting. "Yes, as… as do you."

Turning her sharp gaze on Lea once more, Yelena began, "So tell me, young man… how did you and my niece meet?"

Wasting no time, I see. Diving straight on into the interrogation.

Just keep your cool, Elsa. We'd already worked out the details to this story, so everything should be fine.

...so then why was there this uneasy feeling churning in the pit of my stomach?

"It was 'bout a year ago," Lea was saying, his hand reaching for mine and lacing our fingers together. "Met on a train and struck up a delightful lil conversation with her."

"I was on my way back to Traverse Town from Corona," I tacked on. "You remember that trip Anna and I took last summer, Aunt Yelena."

Her eyes flicked slowly back and forth between us and I noticed there was now the barest hint of a downward pull to her lips. Settling her gaze back on Lea, she remarked, "And you thought it would be okay to seduce and corrupt a young, innocent woman in a long-term, committed relationship who was engaged to soon be married?"

It wasn't said like an accusation, merely a dry statement of fact. Still the sheer bluntness of it seemed to catch Lea off guard as he stiffened, stammering, "I- uh, heh… well, ya see-"

"And you," she turned those flinty eyes on me now. "You gave little to no thought as to the impropriety and dangers of a girl of your means and station consorting with some strange man you'd just met on public transport."

Again, there was no harshness to it, no criticism but more just a… curiosity. And again, it struck like a blow to the gut, only this time to me. "Ah… Aunt Yelena, it… it was just a harmless chat on the train…" I said, fidgeting with one of my earrings.

"Outrageous!" barked the Duke, startling a flinch out of me.

Yelena's gaze narrowed on him briefly before returning to me with a harrumph. "Harmless, you say… tell that to the fiancé you left standing at the altar."

Ouch.

Sighing deep in her throat, she looked up at Lea. "Please. Go on."

He blinked and echoed, "Go…?"

"I presume there's more to this than a chance encounter on a railcar. Continue," she insisted dully.

"Oh! Right! Er…" he gave a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head as his eyes darted about. Interestingly enough, Aunt Yelena was the first and only member of my family so far who seemed to give him pause and think twice about snarking her. "...well, there… may have also been a, heh… romantic, late-night stroll round town?" It came out sounding more like a question, almost as if he'd be willing to change his answer if she didn't like it.

She held him with a long, hard stare. Then she was addressing me, still with that ever-present monotone, "You mean to tell me you took your sister to stay out all hours of the night, wandering an unfamiliar town with some mystery man you'd only just met?"

"Disgraceful!" Uncle Weselton snarled, swishing his bushy mustache to and fro. Yelena shot him another not so subtly veiled glower out of the corner of her eye.

Ignoring him, I squared my shoulders and told her, "No, don't be ridiculous, of course not!" However, I was quick to deflate as I nibbled at my lower lip. "Anna wasn't there. It was just me... alone with the mystery man… roaming the streets and back alleys of a city I was unaccustomed to… all night long… straight through to morning…"

Great. Thanks a lot, mouth. Way to make that all sound so much better.

"Deplorable!" was the Duke's deep and insightful commentary this time. Yelena just remained stoically silent.

Pulse beginning to thud loudly in my ears, I licked my dry lips and tried, "It… it actually wasn't as untoward as it- wait, let me start over… you see, there were these floating lights- lanterns! That's what they… what they're called. That's when- on the train, we... " I screwed my eyes shut. My throat was closing up. I pushed past it, "...let's see… there was a… a park, and… a f-ferris wheel… a café with a belly dancer- wait, no, palm reader! ...or p-poet… was it? Lamppost! Almost forgot! Earlier, there was a lamppost! That Lea, he… just bam! Right into… actually, now that I think about it, that part isn't really… all that important to the-"

"Annnnnd that's enough storytime for now!" Lea suddenly chimed in, interrupting the absolute trainwreck that was spewing forth from my lips. Thank god. "If you'll 'scuse us, I promised my lady fair a spin 'bout the dance floor." I felt his palm at the small of my back once more, steering me away from my aunt and uncle.

The Duke blustered nonsensically for a few breaths before snapping, "Listen, you, you, you- we're in the middle of a discussion here! You can't just walk off, you-"

"Watch us," came Lea's dangerously chipper response as he led me away.

"Well, I never! Of all the rude, abhorrent, insufferable, belligerent-"

"If you don't have anything of substance to add to a conversation, could you please kindly cram a sock in it, Weselton?" I heard Aunt Yelena cut him off dryly. Her eyes remained trained on us as we went, her expression blank as ever. Eventually she turned to walk away, leaving a spluttering and blotchy-faced Duke behind in her wake who eventually stormed off.

...was this why my parents had requested Lea and I attend? Were they purposely putting my shame out in the open and on display so it could be met with censure and rebuke? Were they trying to teach me a lesson of sorts? ...or maybe it was more like a punishment. Disciplining me for disappointing them. For being so thoughtless and selfish. Showing me that there were consequences for my actions.

I pulled myself from my musings, only just now realizing that we'd stopped moving. Lea had come to stand in front of me, taking both my hands in his. Brow furrowing, I glanced about to see that we were surrounded by other couples twirling gracefully in time with the melody of the nearby string quartet. My eyes widened, "Oh, we're really…? That wasn't just an excuse? To get away from…" I trailed off, frowning. I could still feel all those eyes. All that judgement. All that disapproval. My hands pulled free of his and I hugged myself, feeling all my muscles beginning to tighten and lock up. "No. This isn't right, we shouldn't do this. People are staring."

"So?" he said softly as his hands found mine again and held them to his chest, tugging me a step closer. "Let them stare."

I looked down, eyes shifting about frantically. "But-"

"Forget them. Don't even give 'em a second thought. They're not important." He hooked a finger under my chin, gently lifting my gaze to meet his. "Just focus on me, 'kay? You and me. We're all that matter right now."

Part of me still wanted to argue, but the words were getting stuck in my throat. So instead I swallowed hard, gave a small reluctant nod, and did just that. I focused on him. On those mesmerizing green eyes of his. On his winged guyliner that he'd still elected to don in all its swoopy glory, even here, to this ball of all places. On his warm smile that was starting to melt away some of that tension inside of me bit by bit.

He was drawing me closer now, pulling my hands up to clasp together behind his neck. Shaking my head, I managed to find my voice enough to mutter, "This is not how a couple is supposed to waltz, you know."

That infamous dimple of his emerged. "This is how we waltz," came his low reply as his arms encircled my waist, hands coming to rest at the exposed small of my back once more. This time, I couldn't hold back the tiny shiver.

"...this could be considered quite scandalous really," I told him, fighting the impudent little tug I felt at the corner of my lips as Lea started to turn us in slow circles. "I suspect that even now the Duke is watching us, stewing and steaming and this close to blowing his combover sky high."

"All the more reason to be doing it," his eyes crinkled as he lowered his forehead to mine.

He was doing it again. Giving me that look. The soft yet intense look. The look that made my insides a little wobbly. The boyfriend look. He was so good at it. As well he should be, he certainly practiced it enough, even at times when it was just the two of us with no one else around. I suspected he probably had trained and perfected it in front of his mirror at home. It was… potent, to say the least. And just not fair, really. My ex had never looked at me this way, so it wasn't something I was used to. I didn't know how to deal with being the target of such a stare. I didn't know how to process. It was overwhelming… confusing…

...ugh, get a grip, Elsa! It wasn't even real! He was just an actor playing a part for the masses around us.

Still… knowing that didn't exactly make this any easier…

Quick! Distraction time! Find something to talk about!

I gave a weak chuckle, "So… I'm royally awful at the whole talking thing, huh?"

Interesting tactic. Starting a conversation by pointing out how bad you are at conversations. I like it. It's gutsy.

"Dunno 'bout that, you do just fine with me," he grinned, not removing his forehead. "But if ya mean what happened back there with your aunt and uncle, heh… maybe you should just leave the chitchat to me for the rest of the evening."

"Probably for the best," I agreed. "But I had to give it a shot at least once. I have to learn to stand up for myself eventually, you won't always be around to fight my battles for me."

His smile faltered a fraction. "...El, I always got your back. No matter what our fake relationship status is, I'm always gonna be there for you, got it? I'm not going anywhere."

There they were again. The warm fuzzies, marching right on in like a parade with banners waving and trumpets blaring. "Thanks, Lea… I'll probably need it. My family can be quite persistent and stubborn, especially when they think they're only doing what's best for me."

Lea shrugged, "Well, no one ever said the fantabulous emancipation of one Elsa Fryse was gonna be easy."

"Don't I know it," a sigh escaped me. Then a tiny, wistful smile pulled at the edge of my lips. "...we should have ran away when we had the chance. Maybe we still can. It's not too late."

"Mm, don't tempt me," he smirked as his hold around my waist tightened, hugging me closer still. I just hummed a soft laugh at that. His gaze became half-lidded as he continued to watch me. Then he cleared his throat, "So, uh… I've been thinking…"

I wrinkled my nose with a snort. "Uh oh."

"Hey now, hear me out. You wanna send a message to your folks, right? Tell 'em they can't boss you around anymore, that your ex is gone for good and that I'm here to stay, so they can take all their controlling bullshit and shove it up their hoity-toity posteriors, right?"

Biting back a grin, I said, "Not quite how I would have phrased it but… yes, more or less I suppose."

"Well I may have a way to do just that. Send a message, loud and clear, big and bold as a giant, flashing neon sign. All we gotta do is kinda, sorta break one of our guidelines we set up at the beginning of all of this. Not so much break though… more like bend. Nudge it, really, into a nice easy curve," he explained as the ballroom kept gradually spinning around us.

One of my eyebrows quirked. "Oh? And which guideline would that be?"

There was a tiny glimmer dancing in his eyes now. "...let me kiss you."

I snerked and shook my head. Impressively, his forehead still managed to remain connected to mine. "You kiss me all the time."

"No," the tip of his nose tickled mine, his breath warming my lips as he murmured, "I mean let me kiss you."

...oh…

...actually, no, I still wasn't quite sure what he was trying to-

Oh!

Wait, no... I mean, he couldn't be- That wasn't what he- Not that, certainly not! He didn't- He would never… He couldn't possibly mean…

"...as in on the mouth?" suddenly came blurting out of me.

No way. There was just no way. He wouldn't-

"Mm-hm," he nodded with a sly little grin.

Oh. Well then, my mistake. Apparently he would.

...ah! This was a joke! He was just messing with me again! That had to be it! Alright, fine then, let's play along.

I breathed a feeble laugh, "And you really think that would get my parents to back off for good?"

"Well, I think it's at least worth a shot!" His grin twitched wider, "So...?"

"So…" I squinted at him uncertainly. Then I blinked. "...what, you mean right now?"

"No time like the present!" Lea chirped.

"But here? In front of all these people?" This was a joke. A prank. That's all it was. A game of chicken to see who would wimp out and veer away first.

"Exactly! What better way to make a statement. A declaration, one that your whole family wouldn't be able to ignore. We could go all out too," his eyebrows waggled. "Give 'em on hell of a show. I could shove you up against one of those columns over there, or throw you on a table and just really go to town on you."

Now I know he was kidding. He was being absolutely ridiculous. With a little huff of a laugh, I said, "Oh wow, you'd be willing to do all that just for me? You're too kind."

"My generosity knows no bounds," he agreed solemnly before the smirk was back. "So…?"

"So…?" I repeated, stretching the syllable out as I knit my eyebrows together.

"Let me kiss you," those words passed through his lips again, this time in a whisper that made my heart flip-flop.

He… was joking… right? Somehow, I wasn't so sure anymore. And come to think of it… the idea of kissing him didn't seem quite so scary as it had a couple weeks ago when I'd first established that rule. In fact, it now seemed like it might be maybe sort of… nice… One might even say appealing and-

Oh gosh, I wasn't seriously considering this, was I? This was a bad idea! A dangerous idea. The line between crushing on the guy and fake dating the guy had already become perilously blurred enough as is. Throw a kiss into the mix and it could only jumble my already befuddled feelings even further.

...then again… how much harm could one teeny, tiny, insignificant little kiss do? Really? We were professionals, weren't we? I could handle it, couldn't I? And okay sure, did I actually think one small peck at a party would be any sort of deciding factor when it came to whatever my parents had to say to me tomorrow? Not really, no. But you never know, it could, uh… rattle them! Yeah! Or-

Was I seriously trying to rationalize the kiss to myself now?!

That's it. Mouth? As the main involved party that will be most primarily affected in this matter, I leave the choice up to you. You should have zero problems coming to a decision, right? I mean, you speak your mind all the time without consulting me first anyway, so just go for it. I wash my hands of this. Go on, decide away!

Pulse racing and face heated and having zero clue what I was about to say, my lips parted.

"Pardon me."

Both Lea and I froze at the sound of another voice.

My mother's voice.

I watched his eyes close and his shoulders slump, heard a faint exhale escape him. Then he lifted his forehead from mine as he straightened up and plastered on a smile that he directed towards Mother. She was standing just off to our right, beautiful and sophisticated in her purple evening gown accompanied by a shawl draped loosely around her arms. Lea greeted, "Mrs Fryse. You look lovely tonight, Ma'am."

"Thank you," she nodded graciously in return. "And apologies, I don't mean to intrude, but it was dawning on me that I've been neglectful in my duties as your host. Please, come with me and we can make our rounds introducing you to some of the family."

"Oh! Uh…" he frowned, his gaze drifting back towards me.

"It's fine," I said hastily, my hands unfastening from behind his neck and retracting as I took a step back from him. "Please, go on ahead. I'll…" my eyes flicked about before spotting a familiar flash of auburn across the way. "Ah! I think I see Anna over there, so I'll just go join her and you can come find me when you're done."

He still seemed reluctant to leave and I didn't blame him. Some of my relatives made Yelena and Weselton seem like an absolute treat by comparison. Finally he rose a hand towards my face, grazing the curled knuckle of his pinky along my cheek. "See you in a bit," Lea's voice was low as he tenderly pressed his lips to my brow.

Then he turned, offering his arm to Mother in a gentlemanly fashion. She slipped her hand around his elbow and he grinned, "Lead the way, Ma'am."

I watched them disappear into the crowd. This was for the best, really. Now I could avoid a repeat of the minor fiasco I'd experienced in front of Aunt Yelena. Lea was so much better at dealing with people anyhow. Who knew, maybe he'd even have the whole family singing his praises before the night was out.

Wishful thinking, but hey, it could happen. You don't know.

I brought a hand up to rest lightly over my heart, which had yet to fully calm down. I still didn't have the foggiest as to what my answer to Lea would've been if Mother hadn't interrupted us. And luckily for me, I'd probably never have to find out. The moment had passed. Honestly, it was probably for my own good too. Now wasn't the best time to be opening up that particular can of worms.

Sighing, I started making my way towards where I'd seen Anna. It only took navigating the crowd for a few seconds before I located her standing next to one of the banquet tables, chatting and laughing with Maren.

I couldn't help but notice how elegant they both looked - Anna in her slinky yet tasteful green dress and hair done up in a voguish bun, Maren in her stylish, strapless black gown that accentuated the sparkle of her jewelry. Anna looked so at ease here, so natural. She was in her element here, while I very much was not. This world had always been more her domain than mine. I could certainly put on a fancy dress and look the part, but beyond that I was a lost cause. I did try. For the sake of my parents, I really had tried. But the more time I spent away from this life, the more I came to realize just how much I'd never truly belonged in it in the first place.

Maybe after this nerve-wracking weekend was finally and at long last behind me, I could start to figure out where it was that I did belong.

"Sis!" Anna smiled as I approached them. "I was hoping you'd turn up soon!"

I tipped my head to one side. "...you were?" Anna? Not taking one look at me and running from me like the plague? And actually, dare I say it, pleased to see me?

"Uh-huh! Because now I can give you this," she beamed, plucking a glass flute up off the table and offering it to me. It was identical to the one in her other hand and filled with some mystery beverage - guessing champagne, judging by the bubbles.

"...oh," I breathed, trying not to let my disappointment color my voice too much as I gingerly took it from her. "Thanks." Bit of a let down, especially considering I probably wasn't going to be drinking it. But hey, at least it was something. At least she had managed to stay in my presence for longer than ten seconds so far. Maybe this could be seen as her way of making a peace offering. Extending the olive branch. Maybe she was ready to talk about whatever she'd been holding back from me.

"So Anna," I began, but immediately stopped as I watched her blanch and go rigid.

Okay… take that as a no, she wasn't ready. Not at all.

I clamped my mouth shut, eyes darting to the left as my mind scrambled for something safe, something light. "...your dress is very pretty. Both of you look gorgeous this evening."

Anna visibly relaxed, piping up with a, "Thanks, Sis!"

"Back at you," Maren grinned, clinking her own glass to mine before raising it to her lips. "Slipped away from that boyfriend of yours, huh? The way you two were carrying on, I thought you were going to be attached at the hip all night."

I laughed softly, shyly twiddling with one of my earrings, "No, Mother whisked him away so she could introduce him around."

"Brave man," Maren snerked.

Trailing a finger absently along the rim of my flute now, I asked, "And where are your dates tonight?"

"Pft, you kidding?" My cousin shook her head. "As if I'd ever drag my girl into the lion's den. Trust me, she's perfectly content staying out of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Snooty and I am more than happy to let her do that."

"I envy her. Staying out of all this sounds like a dream come true," I nodded before glancing to Anna. "And what about you? Where's your new boyfriend? I was looking forward to meeting him finally."

"Oh, him? He, er… couldn't make it at the last minute! That stinker," she gave a weak chuckle, averting her gaze as she took a swig of her drink. "Yeah, he unfortunately… had a thing to do… with the stuff! And you know how important the, uh… the thing and the stuff can be! But he'll be here tomorrow, I promise! You'll totes get to meet him before you leave! Yup! Yooou betcha! Heh..."

"...I see." Tomorrow? Would that really be wise, given all the family drama that was surely about to explode that very day? Ah well, I suppose there was nothing for it. I forced a small smile, "Can't wait."

"Oh hey! Tomorrow's your big talk with Mom and Dad too, right?" she piped up suddenly and I nodded with a slight grimace. "Aw, chin up, don't look so blue! I'll be there holding your hand through the whole thing! We're in this together, Sis, so you got nothing to worry about, I promise!"

Another smile, this one relieved and a touch more genuine. "Thanks…"

Then there was a pause.

Of the long and uncomfortable variety.

...screw it, I was just going to try and ask her again.

"Anna, I-" There it was once more. That panic flooding her eyes. I hesitated, taking a sip of my drink just because it was there. I hardly even realized I was doing it. Oh well, one sip wasn't going to hurt me. I was too anxious to even taste it. Rallying, I tried again, "Could we please maybe-"

"Oh my god, is that Grandpabbie?! Sis, did you know that Grandpabbie was here?!" Anna squealed. "Lookit him, he's so cute and squishy and small! I'm gonna go attack him with snuggles and smoochies!"

Once again, off she went. I had no choice but to let her go, just hastily calling after her, "Be careful, he's fragile!"

"Please, he's tough as a rock!" Anna shouted back before the crowd swallowed her whole.

My lips pressed into a thin line. Maybe Lea was right. Maybe I had to stop trying to push her and instead just give her space, trusting that she'd open up in her own time.

Still… didn't mean I had to like it.

"Sorry about earlier, by the way."

I gave a tiny jolt as Maren suddenly spoke up. Fudge, I'd forgotten she was here. Not quite sure what she was talking about, I turned a bemused smile towards her, "Oh?"

"Didn't mean to make you uncomfortable by drooling over your man," she grinned and shrugged, swirling the liquid about her flute. "I was only teasing anyhow since I didn't think you two were serious, but I never would have in the first place if I'd known."

"...known what…?" I arched an eyebrow, just now becoming aware of the fact that I'd idly brought the glass up to my lips again. Whatever, two sips weren't going to hurt me.

"That you're in love with him."

I choked and spluttered on my drink.

Sorry, who's in what with huh now?!

Wheezing for breath as my face flared up red, I asked, "In love? Who said anything about-"

"It's okay, nothing to get all bashful over," Maren cooed, free hand flicking a dismissive wave. "Anna told me."

My eyes narrowed. "Told you what exactly?"

"I believe her exact words were true love," she used air quotes with a snigger.

"Ugh, Anna," I grumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose. "You know how she is. Just take everything she says with a grain of salt."

Maren cocked her head, a shrewd glint to her eye now. "So then you're saying it isn't love?"

I twitched, cheeks warming again. "I, er… well I never said... um…" Why did this question make me nervous? With a start, I realized my anxious hand had raised the flute to my mouth yet again. Gah! Someone take this thing away from me, I was turning into a friggin' lush over here! Swiftly depositing the glass onto the tray of a passing-by waiter, I cleared my throat and wrung my hands together. "I, uh… I'd rather not talk about it."

She considered me momentarily. Then a knowing smirk spread across her face and she simply shrugged again, looking past me now. "I'll say this for your boy. He certainly seems to be handling the gauntlet well."

"The gauntlet?" I asked, turning to follow her gaze. There Lea stood, a bit of ways off with Mother still on his arm, the pair of them surrounded by what looked to be a small army of my relatives. I frowned, "...you don't think they're giving him too hard of a time, do you?"

"You kidding? Our family is a bunch of vultures who can smell lower-middle class from a mile away and trust me, they're tearing into him like a fresh carcass. Correction, politely tearing into him," she snorted, downing the last of her beverage before swapping it out with a fresh one from the tray of a different waiter. "Love or no, it's not everyone who'll put up with that BS. He must really care about you."

...they probably were indeed putting him through the wringer over there. You wouldn't know it by looking at him, for he was all big grins and loud laughs and modest hair ruffling. But you could see it in the faces of my relatives. In their smiles that were just a little too plastic and in their eyes flashing with poorly concealed disdain.

Perhaps this was why we had been invited to the ball. My parents had indeed wanted to teach a lesson, only not to me but to Lea. Try and make it clear to him how unsuitable and unacceptable they thought it was for him to be with their daughter. That no matter how he dressed himself up, they'd always consider him unworthy and lesser than. That he would never belong in this world… never belong with me.

And yet, he didn't seem to be fazed by any of the subtle yet nasty snobbery. He was still just as bright and cheerful as ever. He was putting himself through all of this and for what? He was getting nothing in return. He was going out of his way and turning his life upside down, all just out of the goodness of his heart and to help a friend.

I'm not sure what exactly compelled me to do it. Maybe it was this foreign, tingly sensation tugging inside my chest. Or maybe it was just the champagne talking. Either way, I quietly excused myself from Maren as my feet started walking forward, pushing my way through the other guests and heading straight for Lea.

Coming to a stop behind him, I reached for his sleeve with a soft, "Pardon me."

He whipped around at the sound of my voice, eyes lighting up. "Need something, El?"

"Could I borrow you for just one moment?" I smiled up at him, slipping my hand into his.

"Course!" He looked back to my mother and the rest of that little group. "If you'll excuse me, ladies and gents, I'll be back in a jiff!"

Entwining our fingers together, I lead him a few steps away from my relatives, just enough to be out of earshot. When I turned to face him again, he grinned, "So what can I do for ya?"

I didn't say anything, just crooked a finger. Probably assuming I wanted to whisper something in his ear, he ducked his head down next to mine. I then gently cradled one of his cheeks in my hand and pressed a kiss to the other.

Except it wasn't so much his cheek I kissed as the corner of his mouth.

I blame the champagne.

Because really, what other logical explanation was there?

His whole body tensed, his eyes growing round and unblinking. As I started to pull away and take a step back however, one of his hands shot out to snag me around the waist. Pulling me back to him, he nuzzled his nose to mine, gaze hooded as he murmured, "You missed."

Ignoring that little flutter in my chest, the corners of my eyes crinkled as I hitched my chin slightly. "I suppose I did. I was aiming for your cheek."

"Right… cheek… that's what I meant," Lea released a breathy chuckle as he let me go now and straightened back up to his full height. "So, uh… what was that for anyway?"

I gave a low, thoughtful hum. "...just a small thank you for everything you've been doing for me. These last couple of weeks can't have been easy for you... putting up with this silly, harebrained scheme, not to mention juggling it with your school and job too. And now on top of all of that, you have to deal with my haughty and condescending family as well."

"Psh, it's nothing," he brushed off with a laugh, scratching his cheek. "I can handle a lil passive aggressive crap from these pompous old farts easy. Trust me, I've dealt with a way worse, so don't even sweat it, El. If this is what'll help ya out, I'm more than happy to do it!"

"But it's not just that. If it weren't for you, I think I might have gone out of my mind over the past weeks dreading seeing my parents again. But you kept me calm… and actually also kind of made it a bit fun too. And you've also always just been so supportive, which has meant a great deal to me. I don't know if or how I'll ever truly be able to repay you for all of this madness, but just know that I… I'm very grateful for all that you've done." Then a slow, tiny smirk tugged at one side of my lips. "...plus, now maybe you can finally rinse off your nose. It has been getting a bit smelly."

Both his hands shot up to clamp over said nose. "Shit, does it really?"

I gave him a flat look. "I was kidding. Please tell me you weren't actually serious about never washing it again after I kissed it last week."

"Dead serious," he beamed as his hands lowered. "And jokes on you, cuz now neither my nose or this spot are ever gonna know the touch of soap again!" He pointed a finger to the corner of his grin, just now drawing my attention to the fact that my lipstick had left a faint mark there.

A noise emitted from my throat that was part scoff, part snort. "Come here," I sighed, reaching a hand up to wipe it away.

However, he snatched my wrist, stopping my thumb a centimeter short of his skin. "And just what do ya think you're doing, Missy?"

"I got some of my lipstick on you, I was just-"

"Leave it," he winked. "It's a gift from my fair maiden. I'm gonna wear it proudly, like a badge of honor. Now if you'll 'scuse me, a gaggle of your persnickety relatives are still just dying to rip me a new one. I shan't keep them waiting any longer." Planting a quick peck to the back of my hand, he said, "Be back at your side before ya know it. Try not to miss me too much."

I crossed my arms, shaking my head as I watched him go. As he rejoined that group with Mother, I couldn't help but overhear one of my aunts commenting, "Lea dear, you got a little…" Her lips pursed and she swiped a finger at the corner of her mouth, causing my face to warm as I realized she was referring to the lipstick.

It only roasted more when Lea declared boisterously, "Hell yeah I do!"

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find a rock to hide under now.

Burying my face in one hand, I spun around and made a fast retreat.

"I saw that."

My step faltered as I heard those words and I glanced over, discovering Anna had appeared practically out of thin air to fall in step beside me, a wide cheshire grin stretching across her features.

A crease emerged between my eyebrows. "Saw…? I'm not sure I-"

"Don't play coy with me," she said smugly as she nudged my shoulder with hers. "You know exactly what I mean."

My head tilted to the right. "...you're referring to the kiss? That was just for show," I averted my gaze, dropping my voice to a whisper so as not to be overhead.

"Sis, please. There's being a couple, and then there's being a couple. I can't help but notice you two have been getting awful cozy this weekend, going a bit above and beyond. Maybe it is just all part of the act, but you do realize that there's no bonus points for any extracurriculars, right?" her eyebrows bounced.

A soft hmph. "Anna, you're reading too much into things. It was nothing. Really. Just… just the champagne bubbles going straight to my head, that's all."

"Champagne?" she blinked and frowned at me. "...didn't I tell you? That was apple cider I handed you earlier. Of the totally non-alcoholic variety. Figured you'd want to keep a sober head tonight."

"Cider?" my head jerked back.

"Yup! What, you didn't realize that when you tasted it?" she giggled.

"No, I… guess I was too distracted…" I mumbled, hugging one arm around my abdomen while I brought the other up to bite down into my thumbnail.

Oh gosh, then… all that back there with Lea hadn't been just the champagne talking?

...oh no. My crush was gaining in power, able to control me without me even realizing it now. Today was just my body, but tomorrow? The world.

But that was a matter for another time. Right now, I just needed to focus on surviving this weekend. Putting a pin in it and shoving it back to the deepest, darkest, furthest recesses of my mind where I tended to put any other emotions I didn't know how to deal with, I glanced back to Anna.

...okay, I knew what Lea had told me. I knew that pushing and prodding at her had gotten me nowhere so far. And I knew I had decided but a few mere moments ago to let her be so that she could talk to me when she was ready. But right now, she seemed so content and carefree, just like she always had been with me. Well, that is, up until yesterday, of course. But maybe… just maybe it wouldn't hurt to try one more time.

I took a deep breath. "Anna, I was hoping-"

"Ahhh! Do you see the size of that chocolate cake?! I'm gonna-"

No. Not again. Not this time.

My sister has barely made it two steps before I'd seized her by the wrist, making her stumble into an awkward stop. With a huff of frustration, I snapped, "Anna! Can we please for one minute just-" However, the words died on my tongue when she looked back at me, eyes wide and face stark white. Feeling a small pang in my chest, I released her, my hands fidgeting together. Tucking in my lower lip, I struggled to find the right thing to say to her. If I only knew what that was. Finally, I just settled on, "Please, just… know that I'm here for you. Whatever's troubling you, you can always come to me about anything. Anything at all."

She didn't say a word. Her expression didn't change. There was just the barest hint of a quiver to her bottom lip. Then she took a small step back before turning and running off.

And I just let her, left at a complete and utter loss in her wake.

Author's Note: Ooooo dRaMa! Haha I can't help but laugh because it's so rare for me to write it xD Anyhoo, Yelena made her appearance this chapter! I know she's not a bad guy in the F2 movie, more just a very stern, no-nonsense character. Carrying THOSE traits over into this story however, it kind of turns her a bit into a sorta bad guy, but really only cuz she's reacting to the facts she's been dealt and those facts? Do NOT look good xD Minor fun fact: The Fryse ballroom here is based off Arendelle's castle ballroom from the first Frozen movie! Minor fun fact 2: The ice cream this chapter, Crabclaw, is named after Atlantica's keyblade and I imagine its description on the menu would look something like: "This butter-infused ice cream topped with sweet cooked crab will have you partying under the sea in no time!" This is based on real ice cream that's sold out there somewhere in the world (for real! google it!), except replace crab with lobster (I figured it would probably work out close enough!)

Next chapter, will Elsa finally get to the bottom of what's bugging Anna? And what's that I see on the horizon? Could it be? Is the dreaded, the feared, The Talk (TM) at last upon us? Will Lea ever correctly guess Elsa's favorite ice cream? And just what IS Gramps secret for keeping it so tight for a man his age? Possibly that "Flower Gleam and Glow" anti-aging cream mentioned back in chapter 21 xD In any case, stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

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nothingbutfangirlsmut · 5 years ago

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The Maze Trials: A Gally Fanfiction

Pairing: Gally x Emi(OC)

Summary: Emi, first girl the Glade has seen. Tougher than she looks and more than ready to prove it. Since day one her and Gally have been at each other's throats. Fighting constantly and not just with their words.

(Gally fanfiction which will include smut. It also has an actual story line. Think of it as an AU to the original Maze Runner. It'll mostly follow the main story line with some changes. Mostly focusing on Emi and Gally and their relationship.)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

In the distance beyond the smoke from the flames I could see a few figures coming towards us. They were walking quickly. Once they got beyond the smoke I could see that it was Gally leading the way. He looked angrier than I had ever seen him. In that moment I didn't care about the grievers. I didn't care Gally had called quits on us. All I cared about was the big angry builder coming straight for us.

"Gally" Thomas said timidly.

Gally's answer was a severe right hook knocking Thomas to the ground. Several of the boys grabbed Gally pulling him back from the boy on the ground.

"This is all you Thomas! Look around!" Gally shouted angrily.

"Back up!" Fry shouted.

"You heard Alby! He's one of them! He's one of them and they sent him here to destroy everything and now he has!" Gally shouted furiously as he fought back the gladers holding him.

"Look around Thomas! Look around! This is your fault!" Gally continued to shout.

I moved to pull the gladers away from Gally making myself the only barrier between Gally and Thomas. Gally continued trying to scream and rant at Thomas. I grabbed his face making him look down at me. His eyes narrowed like he was about to turn his words on my instead of the other boy.

"Thomas! No!" Chuck and Teresa shouted from behind us.

I turned around quickly to see Thomas fall to the ground with a griever stinger sticking out of his stomach. I darted toward the boy falling to me knees beside him as Teresa ordered Chuck to get the other syringe. He was seizing. His eyes rolling back. I pulled the stinger out of his stomach and tossed it a few feet away.

"It's going to be okay. It'll be okay." I whispered as I held his face in my hands.

Chuck came running back with the syringe. We quickly stabbed it into his skin giving him the medicine.

"Take Thomas and Teresa to the pit." Gally practically growled.

I jumped to my feet to look at him. Who does he think he is? He's not Alby. He isn't our leader. I opened my mouth to chide him but he grabbed my arm roughly as he dragged me behind him to one of the barely standing huts. He opened the door then pushed me inside. He stepped in slamming the door behind him.

"Gally?" I questioned watching him start to pace.

He put his finger up at me then continued pacing. He turned towards me taking three large steps to put himself right in front of me. I didn't say a word. I couldn't. He was so on edge I was actually scared of what he might do. To my surprise he grabbed each side of my face holding me still as he crashed his lips against mine. I instantly melted into him. His arms moving to wrap around my waist as he pulled me closer. After everything that happened knowing Gally was safe was all I needed. I knew this kiss was the same for him. We shared too much to just completely fall out of each other's hearts.

He pulled away leaning his forehead against mine. We stayed like this for a few silent minutes just enjoying being close to one another again. I had missed him warmth. His touch. His lips.

"Gally" I whispered.

"Please, I just want to stay like this for a little longer." He whispered back tightening his arms around me.

"I do too but you know we can't. The Glade is literally on fire. We have to figure out what to do." I said quietly holding him just as close as he was holding me.

"I already know what to do." He said simply.

"What?" I asked looking up to lock my eyes with his.

"I don't want to talk about it. It'll just piss you off and I'd rather just hold you for what little time I have left to do so."

I pulled myself out of his arms stepping back so I could glare at him. He sighed crossing his arms over his chest.

"All I can say Emi is choose your side. Thomas or me. Just know that no matter what I will always love you." He tried to look stern but I saw the softness in his eyes as he watched me.

"What are you planning?" I asked hesitantly.

"You'll have to wait till tomorrow to find that out." He said simply then turned and left back out the door.

It didn't take long for Gally to take complete control of the Glade. The only ones not in his circle was Minho, Newt, Chuck and myself. We all stood to the side watching the others move about doing whatever Gally had ordered them to do.

"Can't you talk some sense into him?" Chuck asked me.

"He doesn't listen to me anymore." I said sadly.

"Then what do we do?" Minho asked.

"We wait for Thomas to wake up then see what he has to say." I stated matter of factly.

---

The night and most of the next day was incredibly long. Gally kept us mostly out of the loop but we had caught on to what he was intending to do for the most part. We were able to get away from the other gladers and make our way over to Thomas and Teresa who were still locked in the pit. We huddled around the bars as soon as we saw that Thomas was awake. He looked at us grimly before moving closer so we could hear him.

"It's not a prison. It's a test. It all started when we were kids. They'd give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us. And then people started disappearing every month one after the other like clock work." Thomas started to explain.

"Sending them up into the maze." Newt said.

"Yea, but not all of us." Thomas said grimly.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

There was a pause before Thomas continued.

"Guys, I'm one of them. The people who put you here. I worked with them. I watched you guys for years. The entire time you've been here. I was on the other side of it. So were you." Thomas said stopping to look at Teresa.

"What?" She questioned him.

"Teresa, we did this to them." Thomas told her quietly.

"No, that can't be true." She whispered shaking her head.

"It is, I saw it as well as you." Thomas turned to me this time.

"I'm sorry?" I asked him.

"I saw you. The day they took you from me. The day they separated us. I felt completely lost without my twin sister." He said with a ghost of a smile.

"We really are twins?" I asked him.

He nodded.

"Why would they send us up if we were with them?" Teresa asked pulling Thomas' attention back to her.

"It doesn't matter." Thomas whispered.

"He's right. It doesn't matter. Any of it. The people we were before the maze they don't even exist anymore. These creators took care of that. What does matter is who we are now and what we do right now." Newt said glancing between all of us.

Then he turned to look straight at Thomas.

"You went into the maze and found a way out." Newt told him in amazement.

"Maybe if I hadn't Alby would still be alive." Thomas said trying to hide the pain he felt.

There was a pause as Thomas and Newt stared at each other.

"Maybe but I know if he were here he'd be telling you the exact same thing. Pick your ass up and finish what you started. Cause if we do nothing then that means Alby died for nothing and I can't have that." Newt spoke passionately never tearing his eyes away from Thomas.

Thomas sighed then nodded.

"Okay, okay, but we gotta get threw Gally first." He stated.

Instantly all the heads turned to look at me.

"What? I'm not gonna be able to talk sense into him. I've already tried that." I said matter of factly.

"I have an idea." Minho spoke up.

"And that is?" I asked leaning closer to him.

"We know Gally is going to try and banish you. We give the spears to certain people then use those people to catch them by surprise. We get you free then get out of here." Minho explained quickly.

We agreed that it sounded good enough then broke off to not draw too much attention. Chuck, Newt, and I went back to the rest of the gladers. Gally sent one of his builders to help Minho bring Thomas and Teresa to him. He had set up two wooden poles in front of the doors. The rest of us stood around them watching Gally pace.

The builder Gally sent came back holding a bound Teresa. Minho tossed a fake unconscious Thomas to the ground. They didn't seem to expect anything.

"This is such a waste." Gally said as he looked at both Thomas and Teresa.

"Gally!" Winston said suddenly making most of us turn to look at him.

"This doesn't feel right man." He told Gally.

"What if Thomas is right? What if he can lead us home?" Jeff asked.

"We are home. Okay? I don't want to have to cross any more names off that wall." Gally said walking closer to Jeff.

"You really think banishing us is going to solve anything?" Teresa asked him.

He turned to face her.

"No. This isn't a banishing. It's an offering." Gally said quietly.

"What?" Both myself and Teresa asked in shock.

The builder holding her moved to tie her to the wooden post.

"Gally! What are you doing?" Teresa asked frantically as see was tied up.

"You really think I'm gonna let you and Thomas back into the maze? After what he's done? Look around you." Gally spoke towards Teresa.

He then turned to the other gladers.

"Look at our Glade. This is the only way. And when the grievers get what they came here for. Everything goes back to the way it was." Gally stated like he'd never been more sure of anything.

Newt, Minho, and I shared a look. Newt nodded making me turn to see Chuck a few feet away loaded down with everything we needed.

"Are you listening to this? Why are you all just standing there? He's crazy!" Teresa said turning around on the post.

"Will you shut up?" Gally asked calmly.

"If you stay here the grievers are going to come back. They're gonna come back and keep coming back until you're all dead." Teresa stated harshly.

"Shut up! Tie him up!" Gally ordered finally loosing his cool.

"Did you hear me? I said tie him up!" Gally shouted at the two gladers who hadn't moved.

As they pulled Thomas up he suddenly "woke up". He elbowed them both to make them let go then he grabbed the spear out of one of their hands. He used the spear to his the glader knocking him to the ground. Newt moved pulling out his knife. Chuck tossed me a spear. Teresa kicked the boy who had tied her up. Gally started forward but Minho gently placed his machete on his shoulder to stop him. Frypan quickly cut the ropes holding Teresa as Chuck ran towards us. Thomas, Newt, and I stood at the entrance to the maze. Our weapons at the ready. Teresa and Chuck both getting behind us. Minho slowly rounded Gally as he made he way over to us.

"You're full of surprises aren't you?" Gally asked.

"You don't have to come with us but we are leaving. Anyone else that wants to come now is your last chance." Thomas said loudly towards Gally.

I watched as the keeper of the builders scanned the faces until he stopped at me. I could see the clear pain and betrayal all over his face.

"Don't listen to him. He's just trying to scare you." Gally said to the gladers behind him.

"No I'm not trying to scare you. You're already scared. Alright, I'm scared. But I'd rather risk my life out there than spending the rest of it in here. We don't belong here. This place is not our home. We were put here. We were trapped here. At least out there we have a choice. We can make it out of here. I know that." Thomas spoke sparking life and awe into all of us.

Winston was the first to step forward. Then Clint then Jeff. A handful of others followed all coming to stand behind us at the entrance. The only ones left were mostly the builders and a few slicers.

"Gally, it's over. Come with us." Thomas said.

"Good luck against the grievers." He said as he nodded.

I felt the tears falling. I stepped forward but Newt grabbed my arm holding me in place.

"Gally, please come with us. Come with me." I pleaded trying to blink away my tears.

"I love you Emi" he said quietly then turned his back to me and walked back towards what was left of the Glade.

I was pulled by Newt as everyone started running. I forced myself to turn away and run with the others. I tried to push Gally out of my head but all I could see was his pain filled face and all I could hear was his last words he'd just spoken.

—

#nothingbutfangirlsmut #the maze trials #the maze runner #gally imagine #gally smut #gally #gally x reader #tmr gally #original character

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dredreadsdrawing · 4 years ago

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Oc-tober Day 7: Fear

Hoohoo i suck at shading :'0 The second pic was the firdt concept art I drew of these gals. Then came the pencil sketches and lastly the one on top.

I've already got a Quickie summary of this story in my writing blog explaining who these characters are and what's going on, link HERE. So for this piece, I'll write the scene I drew lol. In it, only Kylee and the Wrath kid are left, but before they get a showdown, God gives them one last mercy. A night without worries. Anything they want, they will grant. Btw, I have decided on official names for these gals. Kylee the fangirl and Paloma the patient ghost.

~~~~

This was it.

Tomorrow, everything was bound to come to an end.

It felt unreal to Kylee. How far she's come, her numerous near death experiences, how nice their room was. God really knew how to treat em when they weren't being careless.

Still, God's assurance of a last peaceful night was a load off their shoulders. A blessing, you might even say.

Chevre left the scene immediately, deciding to spend their last day as a ghost doing their own kooky things. They felt robbed for not dying sooner to do it.

That left Kylee and Paloma, the original duo, to spend the night alone. Just like the good ol days.

They tried the hot tub, snacked on expensive sweets, watched Kylee's favorite episodes of her favorite shows, and had a great time.

Just like normal girls their age would spend a sleepover.

When it got super late, the magic of the tranquility was wearing off. Reality settled back in. Tomorrow was the end. No more fighting, no more floating. The ghosts would be reborn and someone new would be God.

A child. Both contestants left were underage.

And they had to fight eachother to the death. Kylee and Paloma agreed that if she won, she would pick older candidates next time. No kid should go through what she's gone.

Circling back to the competition, they talked about their opponent and his many helpers. They'd seen how ruthless he was. Opportunistic and never one to hesitate. He was a tough rival for sure.

Kylee got quiet for a bit, and Paloma squeezed her shoulder.

"Come on, cookie. Let's sleep early."

They snuggled onto the bed. Two had been accommodated for them, but they were used to sleeping in the same one. It was their piece of comfort.

After settling down, Kylee worded her next question carefully. She had already asked it before, when she first saw Paloma as a ghost, but it didn't hurt to have the answer retold.

What was it like to die?

Paloma stiffened. Her eyes softened. Her voice cracked a bitter smile.

"It hurts. Especially when you start struggling back. But once it's done, all you get is wave after wave of relief. Like when you ace a test you didn't study for." She laughed. It ended breathily.

Kylee didn't like her expression. She had seen it come up a lot in the past few days. And she knew exactly what it meant. She brought Paloma closer and held her face. Looking into her eyes, she asked as quietly as she could.

"... have you regretted it?"

Paloma shivered. Her eyes burst. She whimpered, and Kylee immediately brought her to her chest, letting her cry. Not a single tear stained her shirt.

"I was... So sure I did the right thing..."

"You did..."

Kylee remembered those first days. How surprisingly proud she seemed to have taken her own life. To be done with life and humanity. But as time wore on, her sentiments changed.

"I couldn't help it... I wondered... What would have happened if..."

She paused as sge choked on her words. Kylee gave her a pat. "It's ok..."

"No, it's not!" Paloma got up, her face a darker shade. "We could have been a team. We could have stuck together for as long as we could. Or- I could have been in your shoes right now. I could have been the one that made it to the end. Instead of putting all this pressure.... For you to do the right things."

Paloma was calming down, she rubbed her eyes. Kylee helped brush a tear from her cheek.

"I'm sorry I died so fast."

The words stung. Kylee wasn't taking this.

"Don't say that! If one of us is the bad one... It's... Me."

Kylee rubbed her arm. Paloma shook her head. "Not this again, Kylee-"

"I was a jerk. I admit it. I knew what was going on with you but I never stepped in. Really, Palo," Kylee started hyperventilating. Paloma rushed to embrace her. Their roles had effectively switched.

"If I had reached out to you sooner... If I was more involved... Someone better..." Kylee took Paloma's hand. Together, they squeezed them.

"If I was someone like you..."

"Stop it..."

So many what ifs lingered in their minds. So many paths they could have taken. Together.

But here they were, stuck. One as a ghost and the other possibly becoming a deity. About to fight for the right to be.

"Atleast... I got to show you my favorite stores. .." Paloma laughed at the memory of Kylee dragging her around unwillingly.

"We didn't even buy anything. You just had us people watch the entire day."

"But you had a good time anyways, didn't you?" The smiles are back. Paloma tilts her head and rests it on Kylee's shoulder.

"I did..."

While her death was premature, she had to count the small blessing that was her ability to stick to Kylee as a ghost. She got to see more than the bubble she knew. She got to make friends. And...

Kylee couldn't help the kiss she gave Paloma's forehead. Paloma's face burst and she laughed.

She got to feel so loved.

"Okay, Ms. God, settle back down. Tomorrow is... A big day."

Kylee snickered as she laid back down, Paloma following. After another small silence, Kylee's big mouth continued asking.

"If I win... What kind of life do you want?"

They hadn't touched the topic of Paloma's reincarnation.

The reality of her living without Kylee was too much.

Still, now that it was a serious possibility... This was a talk they needed to have. Paloma moved away a bit.

"Well, you're so creative Kylee, I'm sure you'll give me the best life..."

"But... I want to know what YOU want!"

Paloma was stunned for a bit, touched. Kylee really cared for her opinion. The selfish onlooker she first met was long gone.

"I'm being honest..." Paloma looked away. "I want whatever you give me. I trust you."

Kylee's stomach sank. She felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, now more than ever.

Paloma looked back at Kylee's serious expression, and she laughed some more. This was too serious for their last night together. "Stop worrying about it, cookie." She laid back down ans snuggled to her side. "Worry about surviving tomorrow. Only you can guarantee me that happy ending."

Kylee's gut sank further. It was the truth, but the pressure was on. She watched Paloma close her eyes and over time, drift away, her sleep as sound as when she was alive.

But Kylee couldn't follow, couldn't even stand to blink. Her anxiety was at an all time high. She had to win. She had to make it up to Paloma. She would be a good god, and rule like her girlfriend would.

Kylee's eyes watered again, mourning prematurely the departure to come. She looked to the ceiling. She would make Paloma happy. She knew her favorite foods, her favorite books, her favorite everything. She would give her the world on a platter, make her have the most fulfilling life. From wealth, to friends, to health and romance. Romance.

Yes.

Kylee was a multishipper. Kylee knew people could mesh well with more than one person. She could find Paloma another lover, a better one!

She would be fine.

Her stomach's knots stayed in place, no matter how long she repeated that phrase.

Yeah, Paloma would be fine.

But Kylee wouldn't.

Kylee had gotten what she wanted.

She would be alone now. Free from societal conventions. Free to do what she wanted. Free to people watch, free to bend wills, free to mess around and turn her ideas into reality.

She will find her own happiness. Somehow. The sentiment felt hollow in her chest.

Panic set in again.

What was she doing? What had she done?

She turned and looked at Paloma's face once more.

If she didn't win... There would be no more world. No more Kylee. No more Paloma.

These were her only options. Stay alone forever, or lose everything.

For the first time since the start of the game, she felt afraid of the outcome.

#traditional art #October #Oc tober #Oc-tober #Ocs #Kylee #Paloma #God is a fangirl #Digital art #oc tober day 7 #My art #Lesbians #Ace #Asexual #Kylee is ace lol i have decided #Paloma is too #Ace queens #Cries #Original writing

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bethhxrmon · 5 years ago

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do flowers exist at night? -chapter seven

Chapter Seven: Hands Clean

Pairing: Steve Harrington x OC

Chapter Summary: After the initial shock of the events surrounding Halloween and the days after, Steve and Annie both start to realize they may be wrong about how to cope. Their friendship also manages to strengthen in the process

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of trauma, might be filler but I call it the beginnings of pining soooo

A/N: Hope you guys really liked this chapter because I thought it was a decent break from all that angst I lumped on pretty early into the fic. It would be fantastic if you guys could let me know your thoughts, I live for it! Anyways, you can find all the other chapters here!

~*~*~*~

Admittedly, Steve could have handled himself alone in the house long enough for Annie to go to school. However, when she pretended to be both her mom and his, he didn't stop her. Not until he was okay enough to drive.

How school would work was a question both of them asked. Steve's bruises were faded enough for Annie to try and cover them up with makeup. That was what she used almost too much of on the cut on her cheek. Sure, she could hide it with her hair, she already did that, but it wasn't enough for her. Nothing was really enough.

Being near Steve wasn't enough to stop her from reliving everything in her head. Besides, she eventually had to go back to her own house. It was safe and she was sure that Steve could use some alone time. Though, she couldn't stand the quiet of her house.

None of that stopped Steve from picking her up on a chilly Wednesday in November. Frost crunched under her boots instead of leaves. It was clear that nothing was going to stop time from passing. She wished it would pause just so she could catch up, but she wasn't sure that would be enough either.

Going back to school gave Annie the same twisted feeling in her gut as her first day. Maybe they found someone else to poke fun at or to joke with. She didn't have anything to defend herself with. Her switchblade was somewhere in the Byers’ house, but she hadn't asked anyone where it went.

"You ready?" Steve asked, looking at her.

Annie took a deep breath and nodded, "It's just school."

They both knew it was more than that. After a few days of hanging out, it became pretty clear when Annie decided to put on a front. Her back would straighten up a little bit too much and she would appear to tense up all over. It wasn't something Steve pointed out, and Annie assumed that he, of all people, would understand.

She could only imagine what seeing Nancy with another guy would be like for him. Though, a part of her wished that a broken heart was all she had to walk into. Seeing Billy was a reality she knew that she would just have to face. However, she tried to avoid it.

Since Steve was feeling better, she knew that she couldn't convince him to stay back. And maybe doing this with a friend would be easier for her. She wiped sweaty palms on her jeans before getting out of Steve's car.

It was going to be okay. That was what she kept telling herself on a loop. Just eight hours, seven if she took out lunch, and then she could go right back home. She could lose herself in a book or maybe try to catch up on some sleep she could never get enough of.

People stopped staring at Steve, and Annie wished that being shorter than him meant that she was safe too. Except it didn't. Nothing changed. There were stares boring into her as she walked to her first class. She didn't bother with her locker. That was something which obviously hadn't changed. Giving other students the satisfaction of walking up to it every day was the last thing she wanted to do.

There was a rumor going on about how Billy slept with her. It wasn't followed nearly as closely as everything with Steve a few days ago. Still, all of that led her to looking forward to lunch.

Sitting in the cafeteria was not an option. The first day back, they both sat in his car. They tried a few more places. By the end of the week, they were sitting in the auditorium. There was something about eating on a stage that calmed Annie a little and Steve was just glad it was empty.

"So what's going on there?" he asked, nodding at her copy of War and Peace.

Annie looked up at him, "Well... how do I explain this... there's this Pierre guy, and he kinda tied a bear to someone."

"What?!"

"In his defense, he was drunk?" she offered, laughing a bit.

Steve shook his head, "Didn't realize books like that were so interesting."

"You're kidding!"

"Every time I try the words don't really make sense or I get distracted by something else."

She nodded, "I get it. I mean, I'm sure you had a lot of other stuff going on."

"Not really. Come on, you lived in Seattle and New York. That's gotta be way more interesting. No wonder you didn't wanna talk to anyone," he chuckled.

"I didn't avoid everyone because I was trying to be pretentious. I gave up. There's a difference."

"What? How? You... you seemed pretty okay."

Annie sighed, "Well, you should've figured out I'm a fair actress by now. It wasn't like I had a say in whether or not I moved. I had to go with my mom or my dad, and well, my mom was the only decent option."

"Well, you can't say you don't have any friends now," Steve said, nudging her a bit.

Annie smiled a bit, "You've got me there."

"Could you read that part, though? With the bear?" he asked, "It just sounds like you're screwing with me."

She nodded, "Gladly, and I can tell you that I'm not screwing with you."

As Annie read the passage out loud, she couldn't help getting into it. Not wanting any of the details to seem boring, she tried her hardest to make all the characters sound different. Not that she would have needed to do that to keep Steve's attention. He looked at her so intently as she read. Of course, it wasn't anything she noticed since she was too caught up in what she was doing.

Lunch was the only real time Annie and Steve got a break from the school. Though, the only people who really cared about what they did were Tommy, Carol, and Billy. The perfect trio to constantly leave Annie feeling like she was going to vomit.

Annie had to stop carrying her books around in her hands. That was something she learned when her copy of War and Peace got snatched from her hands. Tommy didn't have the strength to rip apart the hardcover book, but she didn't want to take any chances either.

"So is it true you fucked Hargrove?" Tommy asked, cornering her in the hall when she was a bit slow to get out of the school.

"No, I think that was you," she said, trying to think of a quick getaway.

Steve sauntered up to both of them, "What's going on here?"

"Nothing, just having a chat with your psychobitch slut of a girlfriend," Tommy replied.

Steve nodded, "Right, I think you're done having a chat."

"No, I'm pretty sure I was just getting started," Tommy insisted, starting to get closer to Steve.

Annie was quick to move away from Tommy and grab Steve by the wrist, "You know what? I think we're done here."

She led Steve out of the school, promptly letting go of his jacket. Something told her that wouldn't be the last time they had to deal with something like that. It was the weekend again, though, and Annie was relieved that she hadn't completely fallen apart while at school. Getting through a full week sounded like it was out of the question.

However, that wasn't on either of their minds when they were sitting in Steve's room again that Saturday. She looked through his closet and sighed.

"Is it that bad?" Steve asked, sprawled across the bed.

Annie tossed a shirt to the side, "I just didn't know anyone could own this many polos. How were you so popular again?"

"Hey! It's because I'm good with the ladies, duh," he said, "What're we listening to right now?"

She found yet another polo and turned to face him, "West Side Story, the most heartbreaking musical I've ever heard in my life."

"I don't get it."

"Well it'd make more sense if we watched it. They're meant to be watched, but I don't have it and Family Video had it rented out already," she tossed aside the eighth polo, "I don’t get why you have so many polos."

He shrugged, "My mom told me they looked good on me and Nancy never minded."

"Well... I don't mind it, just... have you ever thought about what you like?"

"A little? No one really asks me, though."

Annie sat on the edge of the bed, "Do you like having all those polos?"

"Not really... I don't care, though. Same thing with the room," he shook his head, "Do you even know what you like?"

She thought a moment before speaking, "It took a while, but yeah. I don't have anything in my closet that I don't like."

That was a lie. What she wore that night with the demodogs was something she hated now. A part of her wanted to burn it, but she used to love that flannel. But now, it reminded her of everything so much. Mainly what happened with Billy. Shouldn't she have gotten over that by now? She didn't talk to anyone about it after she broke down that one time. A part of her wasn't sure if Steve even remembered.

As helpful as he had been that night and the day after, she knew he wasn't at his best. It was a relief that he was, for the most part, okay in the first place.

"How do you do that?"

She shrugged, "You try different stuff until you find what you like. And you'll know when you like something, trust me."

They stayed in silence for a little while, just listening as "America" played in the background. By all rights, Annie should have just been at her house. Her mom would be home tomorrow, but until then she didn't want to be alone in her house if she could help it. Though, she tried to stay the night at her own house.

Never mind how it had barely been a week and the only thing keeping her from losing it was that her cat would curl up in the middle of her bed with her. She didn't know how to go about talking about it. Though, if he wasn't going to comment on how she probably wasn't sleeping or eating much, then that was fine by her.

"So... what did happen with your parents, anyway?" he asked, "I mean, I get the cheating part, but my parents are still together and my dad’s not much better."

Annie stayed quiet for a few minutes as she tried to think about how to explain herself, "They tried making it work. We moved across the country so that could happen. My dad got a guy for a TA and everything. Still, they kept fighting and they wouldn't stop, and I was getting sick of it. I'm sure the neighbors were too, and I tried to get their attention. The only way I could do that was by talking about hurling myself off the roof of the apartment building."

"Shit... did you um... were you-"

"I didn't mean it, I was just frustrated," she said, thinking that was true, "But they agreed to go to family counseling. It just brought up all the problems my parents had and taught me that I was way more screwed up than I thought. We only went twice before my parents decided on the divorce."

Steve sat up, "That sounds awful."

"Yeah, it kinda was at the time... but my mom's doing the best she can and I appreciate that," she let out a long sigh.

He shook his head, "You shouldn't have had to do all that just for them to listen, though."

"Tell me about it."

"Hey, I know I'm not perfect, but you can talk to me about this stuff. Not that you have to tell me anything unless you really want to, but I just know that not talking about it ended up hurting Nancy a lot," he looked at his hands.

She nodded, "I know- but did it occur to you that I don't wanna talk about it? It's already bad enough just thinking about everything, talking about it? Forget it."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't know what you're normally like since we kinda met a couple days before everything went to shit but," he sighed, thinking of the right words, "But you don't seem right."

"And maybe I'm not, but that's not your problem. That's mine. Let me deal with that on my own time. It's a lot easier to just make fun of how preppy you are."

"Hey!" he tossed a pillow at her.

Annie laughed, feeling the pillow hit her side, "What? I'm right!"

Really, talking about anything else was easier. It wasn't that she wanted to make Steve worry about her, but she couldn't help reacting to everything the way she did. Besides, Annie knew that he wasn't reacting the best to it either. Though, there was a lot more than just demodogs that he had to go through. Losing the girl he still seemed to love had to take a lot out of him.

On the outside, it probably looked like she simply stuck around out of pity or for some form of social protection. Maybe there was some truth in that, but she genuinely thought that Steve was fun to hang out with. He was funny and kinder than he gave himself credit for. Obviously there was a part of her that knew if she didn't stick around with at least someone, she would end up being more of a victim to ridicule than she already was.

All of that pissed her off more than she cared to admit. A part of her really did wish Billy Hargrove were dead. The way he would look at her made her want to run to the bathroom and throw up for hours. What if she had actually tried to cut his throat? No, they would be in a bigger mess than they were already. There was no need to add murder to the mix.

She wanted him dead in almost the same way she wanted her dad dead when she found out he was cheating on her mom. It wasn't something she actually wanted to happen. Death was so final yet uncertain. Saying that she wished that she wanted someone to still be alive but never come near her in any way, shape, or form was a bit long-winded and less catchy. That was more accurate to what she wanted.

"I know you don't like it when people touch you," Steve said, changing the subject back.

Annie shrugged, "Is that such a bad thing?"

"No, but... but you're really specific with it. I don't need to know why, I just need to know what you're okay with. We're friends, I need you to at least explain that."

"Um... I mean, I don't know totally, it depends," she paused, "Like, being snuck up on? That's a huge no-go, obviously. I mean, it's not that I hate touch or anything, I just- I prefer to be the one touching someone else. Or if it's, like, one of the kids, that I have a way to get out of it easily. It's mostly with people I'm uncomfortable with. Like you, at first, but it just- it depends, I'm not sure how else to tell you."

He nodded, "That's fine, I just don't wanna end up hurting you on accident or, like, one of the kids or something."

"Well, since you asked me something super personal... do you think you're getting over Nancy at all?" she asked, moving so she was criss-cross on the bed.

Steve frowned, "I guess? Seeing her and Jonathan together sucks a bit less every day. It's only been a week, though. And I'm not dumb, I know she's liked him for a while. I just didn't want to admit it to myself. After what I did last year when I saw them sitting together, I didn't wanna be the asshole jumping to conclusions again. I thought if she didn't love me that she would say it when she was sober. I put in so much effort for her and she didn't even care."

Neither of them brought up how obvious it was that Nancy and Jonathan probably did something when they were off getting some Murray Bauman guy to help them. Annie wasn't going to say anything if Steve wasn't. A part of her thought he knew, but she didn't want to hurt him even more if he hadn't put it together.

"You know she didn't leave you because you were a shitty boyfriend, right?"

"Now that's bullshit."

Annie tossed the pillow in her lap right at Steve's face, "No, you're gonna listen to me. The only one who's bullshit here is Nancy. If she didn't love you, then she should've said so. You were obviously a great boyfriend. You went to her dead best friend's parents' house when you didn't even know them. And you let her go, if you were a shitty boyfriend, you wouldn't have done any of those things."

"That's nice, but I called her a slut and I didn't even really like her much at first."

"If all that bothered her, she could have stayed broken up with you after everything a year ago," she pointed out, "You made up for all that. Not everyone does, and you obviously love her."

They both sat there, not saying anything. Instead, they both just let the music play in the background. Annie knew that she didn't have feelings for Steve. For all the bad luck she had with guys, they were too good of friends for her to mess that up. Because of that, she couldn't let him get over Nancy on his own. And she knew that for as moody as Steve would get at times, he would have told her if he didn't want her around.

Taglist (lmk if you wanna be on it!): @dungeons-and-demodogs @nxncywheeler @ilovebucketbarnes

#steve harrington #steve harrington x original character #steve harrington x oc #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things 3 #stranger things 2 #stranger things x original character #stranger things x oc #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington angst #steve harrington fluff

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