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coping-via-clint-eastwood · 3 years ago

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Unrestrained Summer Fun - canon-divergent Gil Grissom x Reader

(A/N: Thought I'd get this one out quick since it's the hottest part of the year. This is gonna be in 2 parts again. Sara doesn't exist in this fic {because I personally can't imagine Gil having a deep romantic interest in anyone else if she did}. Also, this is c-d in the sense that supervisor-subordinate relationships are allowed. And, maybe some ooc. Warning - this is...probably sickeningly sappy. I'm too deeply in love with him for my own good.

As always, @addictedtostorytelling saved my ass with the meta, and @davesdude80 helped me with Gil's walk :) Thank you.

One more person on the taglist: @stokes-theorem)

It was 3 in the afternoon, the hottest hour of the day, in the hottest season of the year. Gil and you had climbed into bed an hour ago to try and bag eight hours of sleep before having to get up at 10, since your shift started at 11. Unfortunately, the heat had kept the both of you awake. Even Hank had dashed down to the kitchen, emptied the contents of his water bowl onto the floor, and rolled around in it. Neither of you had had the heart to stop him. He was currently sleeping in the puddle.

As for you humans, you were lying on top of the blanket. The air conditioner was on a moderate setting. However, that still was not enough. You groaned, "It's still so hot..."

"Maybe, we should let go of each other," your husband joked.

You looked at him pointedly. "No." That made him laugh. You put a hand on his chest and took a bunch of the cloth of his shirt in your hand. "You should take your shirt off."

He nodded his head to one side, and swept his tongue over his drying lips. "Alright." He scooted a little ways away from you and did what you said. He tossed his shirt to the foot of the bed. You moved your eyes up and down his body. Gil smiled; he appreciated that you found him attractive. He would never admit it even to himself, but he was self-conscious about the fact that he was not stereotypically attractive. So it warmed his heart to have you look at him the way you did.

Of course, you knew how he felt. You put your hands on his chest and, closing your eyes, kissed him. He let his eyes fall shut too as he returned the kiss, his hands staying on the bed. You slid your hands down to his abdomen. "You're beautiful," you whispered. In return, he put a hand on your cheek. He gently bumped his forehead against yours. You instinctively shifted closer to him.

Feeling your shirt on his bare skin reminded him of something. He gently gave a few tugs on your collar. "You should take this off." You smiled at his imitation. You rolled back and took your shirt off, pulling it by the collar. You lobbed it next to his. "You look good."

It was your turn to smile. "Thank you." You snuggled back into him.

"Let's hope we can sleep now..." he sighed, closing his eyes as he held you.

"Yeah..." you huffed as well.

However, try as you might, the both of you tossed and turned all afternoon. Adjusting the air conditioner to a lower temperature made it too cold, and yet when you moved under the blankets it was too hot.

At one of the many points when you were looking at him, you ran your hand up his beard then through his hair. "It's not fair..." you mused.

"What?" he enquired with a raised eyebrow, a little humoured.

"Your hair is white. You don't retain as much heat."

That made him chuckle. "That doesn't make much of a difference."

Several hours later, you lay flat on your back on top of the blanket, away from your husband. You groaned and put your forearm over your eyes. "We are never gonna sleep..."

"I'm sorry." He said this because he was much more used to foregoing sleep than you were.

You turned over to your front with a grunt. "What time is it?"

He checked the digital clock on his nightstand (you had an analog clock on yours, but you did not want to move anymore). "It's seven."

You sighed heavily; he observed your back heaving. "Great..."

"We might as well eat our dinner; make the most of it and take our time to get ready."

You sighed through your nose. "Yeah..." you nodded, "...you're right..."

"You can lie down a little longer while I shower."

You turned over to face him. "Thanks..."

He was sitting up as you said that. "You're welcome." He stood up and, knowing what you would want, walked to the foot of the bed and threw his shirt into your waiting hands. You grinned at him. He set out clothes for himself, and did so for you too. You squeezed his hand in thanks. With that done, he went to shower, while you put his shirt over your nose and mouth. You inhaled deeply and closed your eyes, then let out a long sigh. His smell relaxed you. You just lay like that, taking deep, calming breaths.

You did not even hear the water stop running, or the door opening several minutes after that. The cold air from his shower mixed with the air conditioning of the room, so you did not notice the humidity. It was only when he tapped your shoulder that you were brought back to consciousness and looked at him. "O-oh!" you exclaimed softly, pivoting up into a sitting position and turning out of bed, darting past him into the bathroom; the image of him with the towel hanging on his shoulder, his arm still down and out towards you, and his eyebrow raised and mouth ajar as you cut off his necessity to speak to you, registered only when you were some ways into your shower. You stopped and let yourself smile at that picture.

When you came out of the shower, he was not in the room. You got dressed and went down to the kitchen. Gil was eating a slice of watermelon from the refrigerator, and there was a plate with more on it for you to share; the both of you consumed a lot of cold fruits during the summer. Hank had been given moist pellets, as well as some watermelon of his own. Your man had also placed your kits at the front door, along with his straw hat, sunglasses, and your satchel, which contained your sunglasses. While he preferred his straw hat to the department-issue baseball cap in hot weather, you were content to use the cap in whatever situation.

Even when you joined your husband, neither of you spoke, not wanting to exert energy unnecessarily. You cleaned up when all three parties were finished eating. You told Gil, "I'm driving." You had to state it first; he would have driven your car so as to let the engine run, but it would still have been him driving for the fourth time in a row, and that would not have been fair. Well, to you at least - he insisted that he loved doing things for you. It was how he showed his love, whereas you did so to him via physical affection. But still, you wanted to do things in return.

Thus, Gil placed his hat on his head, put his sunglasses in his breast pocket, took Hank and his kit to your car, and sat in the backseat with the dog. You followed soon after, taking your kit and bag, locking the front door, and getting behind the wheel. Gil tossed you the keys, and you started the drive to the dogs' daycare. You took as many detours as you pleased, not being in any particular hurry. Since you were the one driving, Gil brought Hank inside the building, then came back and sat in the front passenger's seat. You drove to the laboratory, taking some more detours.

At the laboratory, you and your husband hung out idly in his office, sipping on the contents of mineral water bottles which the team took turns to stock the refrigerator with. At 10:55, the both of you strolled to the front desk to check in. Then the journey was made back to Gil's office, while he waited for any calls from Jim. At 2:30 am, a case did come up, and so it was handed to Catherine, Warrick and Nick, leaving Greg, your husband and yourself. The three of you decided to get breakfast for the team.

Upon returning from your errand, you tried to nap on Gil's couch (while he read A Midsummer Night's Dream at his desk), but the leather made you sweat even more. You grumbled and slogged your way to the break room, where you sat on a chair and attempted to sleep sitting up. But it was not really comfortable, and you could not even doze off for five minutes. The whole time, you were dreading something: that Gil would get another call just as shift was about to end.

6 o' clock rolled around. Greg headed into the break room, reading a book on Vegas history while walking. He had intended to take an apple out of the refrigerator, but upon noticing your misery, he helped heat up the omelette you had ordered in the microwave. You had your head down and were drifting in and out of consciousness, so just barely noticed it, but you did not process it. Even when he set the plate and your mug of chocolate from the fridge in front of you, you remained in a discount coma. He tentatively tapped your shoulder with one finger. That made you interject and snap your head up, your back slamming against that of the chair. So only physical contact could stimulate you.

"Hey..." he said softy, placing a hand on your shoulder.

You sighed and buried your head in your hands, elbows on the table. "Thank you..." you murmured, the vague registrations of stimuli having been solidified when you woke up.

"Don't mention it. Eat up." He rubbed your upper back, and continued to do so as you ate, knowing that you loved the contact.

On your third bite however, the shift supervisor came into the break room. "Hey guys, we got a four-nineteen..." he looked at you sympathetically, "it's out in the desert."

"Nooooo," you groaned, tilting your head back. Greg could not help but laugh. "Nooooooooo..."

Gil was used to your antics, so he calmly asked, "Okay...what's your specific complaint?"

"It's gonna be so hot! It's not dark anymore! And I don't have a water bottle!" Plastic water bottles degraded in ultraviolet light, secreting toxins.

"Well...you can always share mine," he reminded you.

You quietened when he said that. Then, you sprung up from your seat and darted over to him. You threw your arms around his neck and put your face in his chest, making him grip your waist reflexively, but his cheeks turned red when you let out a, "Yes, hubby."

Greg laughed even harder. " 'Hubby' ?" he questioned through his chortling.

"During times of physical or emotional discomfort, she is not very...restrained," he attempted to explain. With how smoothly he spoke, the only reason his blush could not be passed off as sunburn was that he had not actually been out in the sun.

Greg pressed a fist to his mouth to try to stifle his laughter, looking away and waving his other hand in dismissal. "It's alright. It's cute, actually. It's just surprising to have someone call you that."

"I know. But," he shrugged, "I've come to like it." You had remained docile, but now you smiled to yourself and turned your head up to kiss his neck.

Greg's smile turned sweet. "That's good."

Your husband guided you to sit down again. "Finish your food, then we'll go." You gave a nod, then got back to eating. Grissom looked at the other CSI, "You wanna grab something to eat as well?"

"Yeah," he replied, turning around to the refrigerator, "I came for an apple, actually." He took his fruit out at last. Gil got his pancakes out of the fridge too, and had orange juice to drink.

The three of you finished eating and drinking in under four minutes. But the drive out to the crime scenes took about an hour, and by the time you got there, the sun was high in the sky. "Dayshift should be handling this," you grumbled. You did not mean it of course, but you felt like grumbling.

"Yeah? Don't worry, it'll all be over soon," your husband joked lamely. Greg, who was ahead and trying not to slide down a sand hill, gave him a dirty look (he dared to do so because he was wearing sunglasses).

For this case, it was necessary to stay for a considerable length time at the scene, because there were footprints to be moulded, little cufflinks and keys and such which had been buried and had to be dug up, and so on. Not so ironically, your unpleasant mood made it best for you to spend more time processing the scene while Grissom and Greg did the talking to people. Unfortunately but predictably, the extended period of time spent in the heat you hated made you feel worse than ever.

Several shifts later, the case was solved. You were sitting on the guest's chair in Gil's office, waiting for him (and Greg) to return from the police station. You had your upper torso on the table, arms stretched out all the way to the opposite edge. You heard footsteps enter the room, but they were not Gil's. You did not know whose they were, but they were definitely not those of the man you loved. "I thought I'd find you here," Greg's voice said, making you turn around.

"Where's Gil?" You sounded a bit sad; you missed him.

"He's talking to Catherine, presumably about work," he dutifully told you, raising a fist and sticking his thumb in their general direction. He put his hand down. "How're you doing?" You plopped back down, exactly as you had been. That gave Greg all the answer he needed. "Grissom will be here soon," he reassured you. You nodded, your cheek rubbing against the desk. "You want my company til he comes?" You shook your head. "Okay. I hope you feel better soon." You gave a nod of thanks.

A little earlier:

Grissom and Greg walked through the doors of the laboratory, coming upon Catherine in the foyer; she was just heading out. Grissom called out, "Hey Catherine."

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you?"

Greg spoke up, "I'll go on ahead first. Bye Catherine."

"See ya." Greg made his way to his boss' office. "So, what do ya wanna talk about?" Gil looked around, then took Catherine's elbow and guided her to somewhere more secluded. He looked Catherine in the eyes, but still hesitated, nervously fidgeting his fingers against each other. "What is it, Gil? C'mon, you can tell me," she encouraged.

He swallowed, then finally said, "I need a favour."

Catherine raised an eyebrow; was that it? "S-ure," she said casually, shrugging.

"It involves Sam."

Mugs chuckled. "That's why you're so nervous; you're always on about me accepting favours from Sam, and now you want me to do it." She smiled and shrugged. "I don't mind. What d'you need?"

Grissom smiled a small smile of relief. "During our next shift, could Sam keep one of his pools open at three? Just for (y/n) and me. And uh," he looked away out of shyness, "no surveillance. There can be guards on the premises but...I'd prefer to be left alone." Catherine was impressed, to say the least; it was heartwarming that he was doing this for his wife. However, he was still saying, "Meaning no cameras, and the guards-"

Catherine laughed softly and raised her hands to stop him. "Gil, Gil, I get it." He closed his mouth. Knowing that he was still doubtful, she stated, "No humans or cameras on within viewing distance of the pool."

Finally, Gil gave a long, slow nod. "You'll have to cover that shift for me too."

"You're letting Sam do something for me and I get to play boss girl? You're sure you're not the one doing me a favour?" she chirped. Grissom gave a small smile and slightly dipped his head in thanks, then walked off.

Back to you:

The sound you were waiting for was heard. Soft, shy treads which you found endearing padded their way over to you. "Hey," he said lovingly, and you felt his hand on the part of your back that was flat immediately after that. You remained silent. "We'll take the next shift off, okay?"

That made you perk up - literally. Your head snapped up so you could look at him. " 'We' ? You'll be taking a shift off with me?"

He smiled fondly at you. "Yes. We can spend some time together."

You returned his smile. You stood up and hugged him, arms around his neck and face in his chest. This time, he fastened his arms around your waist. "Thank you," you whispered. His heart flipped, because that reminded him of his conversation with Catherine.

"Let's go home," he whispered, but before he let go of you, he quickly kissed you, knowing that you wanted it. The way you pressed your flushed face into his chest to hide it only made that clearer. He moved one hand to cradle your head, letting you calm down. He found it curious how you could still be bashful when he showed you affection in particular ways. But perhaps...he was similar. The both of you picked Hank up from the daycare, went home, ate, walked Hank, showered, and fell into a deep sleep.

#gil grissom x reader #gil grissom loving #gil grissom #billy petersen loving #billy petersen #william petersen #csi #c-v-c-e fic

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ghstandpucks · 4 years ago

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Cutting Edge ~ Nathan MacKinnon Ch. 8

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well! I’m sorry this chapter took so long, but I hope you all like it! After school is done for the semester I will have time to update more frequently! This chapter kind of just feels out their relationship, setting up for the final chapters to come! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate! Be safe and stay healthy!

Prologue Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5 Ch.6 Ch.7

Monday afternoon found Nate and yourself at the rink after practice was over. The two of you had spent a lazy Sunday together, working out how this relationship was going to work. You both decided to keep it quiet, seeing as neither of you were fond of the media to begin with. Also, you did not think it would look good for you and the program if word got out. The two of you wanted to enjoy the fun that’s supposed to come with the beginning of a relationship and not feel pressured by outside sources. You also decided that the team would find out as they found out, agreeing that it would help to have people on your side if word were to get out to the public.

All of this didn’t matter though as at the moment Nate had picked you up to move you to the side as he shot a puck into the net. “Not fair!” you yelled, laughing as Nate skated back over to you, kissing your forehead with a smirk. “That has to be a foul.”

“A foul?” Nate questioned you.

“A flag?” you questioned as he shook his head and chuckled. He was about to correct you when you jumped in. “Oh wait, a penalty! Yup! That has to be a penalty!”

“Come on Coach, you really should know the terminology better by now,” he grinned, snaking his arms around your waist.

“Guess you’ll have to do a better job at teaching me,” you smiled up at him, wrapping your hand that was not holding a hockey stick around the back of Nate’s neck.

“Is that so?” he questioned, leaning in. You nodded your head as he kissed you. You were thankful for your toe picks in that moment, allowing you stand on your tip toes without taking the both of you out. Nate held you tight to him as he deepened the kiss, and you were about to let go of your stick when someone cleared their throat. The both of you jumped away from each other like shrapnel, looking over to see who caught you. Gabe stood at the edge of the rink with his arms crossed.

“If the two of you are trying to keep this a secret, maybe don’t make out in an open space,” he said, then grinned at you and Nate. He couldn’t help it; he honestly liked the thought of the both of you together. That and both you and Nate were bright red with embarrassment of being caught. “Are you trying to keep this a secret?”

“I think more just quiet,” you said softly, looking over at Nate. He nodded in agreement.

“We don’t plan on telling anyone. Just if they find out, then they find out,” Nate clarified for you. Gabe nodded.

“I won’t say anything. Besides to Mel that is. But seriously guys, hide better if you don’t really want word out about this. I know he’s concerned about your program Coach, so I’m assuming you are too,” Gabe said matter of fact. It was your turn to nod. Nate grabbed your hand and started to skate over to Gabe.

“Thanks man,” he said once you got closer. Gabe smiled, looking between the two of you.

“Of course. I’m happy for the both of you. But he better not get any special treatment Coach, or I will call you out,” he tried to act seriously, but you could see the amusement all over his face.

“Oh please, he’s the only one I’ve made skate extra laps before,” you giggled, bumping your hip into Nate’s, which was more of his thigh at your height difference.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Gabe chuckled, and you dramatically saluted him. “I’ll see you tomorrow guys.” After he left, the two of you decided it was time to leave also.

“Maybe we should be a little more discrete,” you said as you were taking your skates off.

“I didn’t think anyone else was here. I definitely didn’t think of anyone coming back in,” Nate said, cleaning the ice off of his.

“It’ll be fine right, if word gets out that we’re dating?” you asked, and Nate could tell you were beginning to overthink. He placed his hand on top of yours and gave it a slight squeeze.

“We’ll be just fine Y/N. And I’ll be right there beside you,” Nate reassured you and you couldn’t help the smile that spread across your lips. “But, we probably should be a little more aware of our surroundings. So, lunch at your place or mine?”

~ ~ ~

Later that month the team had just arrived back in Denver after a week-long road trip. You had been more careful in your relationship with Nate, texting more on the road instead of sitting next to each other. Finally being back home though gave you two the privacy you wanted. You were currently sitting crossed legged in the middle of Nate’s bed as he unpacked his clothes, having stolen one of his Avs’ hoodies. After arriving back home, Nate had asked you to come over instead of going home first, as he figured you would pass out the second you hit the couch, or bed in this instance. ��Can we take a nap?” you lazily watched him bustle around his room. It wasn’t the first time you had been over, but it was the first time you had been this comfortable. As soon as you had walked through the door of his apartment you changed into a pair of leggings and stole his sweatshirt, the chill of the vacant place getting to you. Nate was about to give you a hard time, until he looked at you and it seemed like his world stopped. He loved seeing you dressed up for games and then skating at the rink, but now he thinks that this is his favorite look on you. He walked over to you and placed a kiss on your forehead, laughing as you gave him your best puppy dog eyes.

“Aren’t you hungry?” he asked, as you had been complaining about how your stomach was starting to ‘eat itself’ as you put it.

“Cuddles first, then food.” You responded as Nate sat on the bed and tackled you down, causing you to giggle.

“You’re so demanding,” he mumbled, tracing the 29 that was on your shoulder.

“All part of my charm,” you stated, snuggling into his chest as Nate chuckled. Nate started to tell you about the Mile High Dream Gala coming up as you slowly drifted off, feeling warm and content in his arms.

About an hour later, a phone ringing woke you up. You cuddled into Nate’s side, one of his arms under you and resting on your hip as the other held your hand that was resting on his chest. You grumbled, rolling over as Nate answered his phone. You could hear Andre on the other end. As you started to drift off again, you had the sudden urge to sneeze…and it came out much louder than you anticipated. You stifled a giggle as Nate absentmindedly said “bless you.” Andre must have asked who he was talking to because the next words out of Nate’s mouth were, “Y/N just sneezed,” and both of your eyes went wide. Time to put Andre on the list of people who knew. Nate told him the two of you were keeping it quiet, and he seemed to understand from the look on Nate’s face. Once Nate hung up, you sat up and started to scoot yourself off the bed. “Where are you going?” Nate mumbled, grabbing the fabric at the back of your stolen sweatshirt.

“I was going to go get those take out menus you have so we could order dinner,” you stated, falling back onto the bed and smiling up at Nate as he trapped you beneath him.

“Five more minutes,” he whispered, kissing you softly then moving to kiss your neck.

“Five more minutes,” you hummed.

~ ~ ~

A week later the Gala had arrived and you were finishing putting on your earrings, staring at the dress Mel had helped you picked out in the mirror. When you told her that you weren’t sure what to wear, she had picked you up and took you shopping. You ended up with a deep blue floor length dress with a slit up the side. Slipping on your nude heels, your phone went off with a text from Mel saying that her and Gabe were there to pick you up. While Mel was gushing about how adorable she thought you and Nate were, you admitted that you didn’t think arriving with him to the Gala would be a good idea. She told you not to worry, then called you the next day to tell you that her and Gabe would pick you up, then have to leave before you and secure you a “ride home” with Nate. You laughed at her scheming, but were also grateful to have someone like Mel on your side.

“You look amazing!” Mel said as you hopped into the back seat.

“Thanks! So do you!” you smiled back at her. “Thanks for the ride you guys.”

“No problem Coach. You do look very nice,” Gabe complimented you, shooting you a smile through the mirror. You thanked him and talked with them the rest of the way to the Gala. Once you were there and about to walk in, Gabe offered you his elbow to hold on to as Mel was at his other side.

“Are you trying to have two hot dates?” Mel teased her husband as you placed your hand in the crook of his arm.

“I mean, who doesn’t?” Gabe chuckled. “But I think someone might fight me for this one…” he tilted his head toward you. “…so I guess I’ll stick with you,” he kissed Mel on her cheek and you couldn’t help but smile at the happy couple. Upon entering the hall, the smell of wonderful appetizers filled your nose and chatter filled the air. Looking to the left, Bednar was the first to spot your little group arriving and made his way over, introducing you to his wife. As you exchanged pleasantries, you felt a presence stand next to you and smiled wider as you looked over at Nate. He was in a grey suit that fit him perfectly, and it took everything in you to not wrap your arms around him. His tie was blue, and you laughed at the unintentional match. You hadn’t shown him your dress, or told him the color for that matter because you liked keeping things a surprise every once in a while.

“MacKinnon, you didn’t bring anyone?” Bednar asked, shaking Nate’s hand.

“No sir,” he responded with a soft smile.

“Take this one. Two dates are a handful,” Gabe nudged you into Nate as Mel smacked his arm playfully.

“Rude,” you laughed, hoping you weren’t blushing too much in front of Bednar. But if Bednar noticed anything, he didn’t say and just chuckled.

“We have a table Y/N. But if you’d rather sit with them you are more than welcomed to. I know you’ve become friends with some of the players,” Bednar said, motioning to the Landeskog’s and Nate. You opened your mouth to say something that still made your relationship with everyone seem professional, but he cut you off. “Which is a good thing. They trust you more that way. And I trust whatever relations you have you are using your best judgment.” Bednar smiled at you as you nodded.

“Of course,” was all you could say as Bednar took his leave. You turned to Nate, slightly uneasy. “Does he know?” you whispered.

“I didn’t think so,” Nate said, looking at where his coach had walked off to. When he turned back to you, he grinned. “You look beautiful.” You ducked your head as you felt your cheeks heat up.

“Thank you. You clean up nicely as well,” you responded as Nate offered you his arm to walk you over to the table Gabe and Mel had set up at. Mel eyed you as you approached.

“You guys are disgustingly cute. I can’t with either of you,” she said.

“I think Bednar knows something,” you said as you sat next to her, Nate sitting on your other side.

“What did he say?” she questioned you.

“He said he knew I was becoming friends with the team and that he trusts I am using my best judgment,” you filled her in. Gabe chuckled and you quirked an eyebrow at him.

“You guys don’t realize it but you kind of gravitate toward each other at practice. It’s not anything too noticeable, but if you are paying attention you can see that at the least the two of you are comfortable in each other’s presence.” Gabe filled you in. You turned to look at Nate and he just shrugged.

“That’s not a bad thing,” he said, and you agreed. At least Bednar didn’t seem upset by it. As the night continued you had been introduced to many new people and had answered many questions about why integrating figure skating into hockey was useful. You found you way back to your table and sat down, your feet starting to hurt. No one said 3-inch heels was a good idea. You had also lost Nate somewhere in the sea of people. You were about to go looking when Andre slid into the seat next to you.

“How’s it going Coach?” he asked.

“Good, exhausting,” you laughed and he nodded in agreement.

“Has Nate danced with you yet?” Andre questioned, motioning to the dance floor that had many couples dancing on it.

“No,” you said. “We’re keeping quiet so I don’t think a dance would be good.”

“It’s just a dance.” Andre said, standing up. “Come on Coach,” he offered you his hand.

“Andre…” you started to protest but were cut off.

“Come on. Live a bit Y/N! You look too nice to just be sitting here,” he argued. You rolled your eyes but took his hand and let him lead you to the dance floor. He put one hand on your waist as he held the other; your other hand resting on his shoulder. You were laughing at a stupid joke he made as he spun you around and into Nate. “Lovely dancing with you Coach,” he dramatically bowed, and you did a small curtsy to play along. Nate chuckled as he took the same position Andre had, but holding you closer to him. To anyone else it would look innocent enough, but the way his hand held firmly to your waist as he looked at you adoringly made your heart speed up slightly. Nate deftly tried to spin you, and you laughed as you came crashing back into him.

“You’re a terrible lead MacKinnon,” you teased.

“Maybe you just aren’t good at following,” he quipped back. You danced for the next few songs, noticing the evening was winding down. Walking back to the table, you both sat down as Mel and Gabe came over.

“So, we’re going to go. Nate, can you give Y/N a ride home?” Mel smiled innocently. You tried not to laugh as Gabe sent a wink your way. Nate rolled his eyes but was smiling anyways.

“Of course. If that’s ok with you,” Nate nudged you. You smiled back at him.

“Good. Have a good night you guys,” Gabe said, leading Mel out of the room. After making your rounds to say goodbye, you walked out with Nate. He opened the door of his car for you, and held your hand as he started to drive. The two of you were lost in conversation about the night that you hadn’t realized he drove to his place and not yours.

“Um” you said, looking over at him before you got out.

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I can take you home if you don’t want to stay,” Nate said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“It’s fine,” you said softly. Though the two of you fell asleep on your couch that first night when you got together, you hadn’t stayed at each other’s places since then. Quite frankly, you had always been so busy with skating that you had never actually spent the night with anyone. Nate was different though, and he made you feel safe. Even if you weren’t ready for that next step, you couldn’t deny that you wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. Finally the two of you were away from prying eyes and you could be yourselves. As you walked into his apartment and he locked the door, Nate grabbed your hand and pulled you back into him. He smiled down at you, dipping his head to bring his lips to yours. You let your arms wrap around his neck, and smiled brightly when he pulled away and rested his forehead against yours. Nate knew you didn’t have much experience with dating, and wasn’t looking to push you. He honestly just didn’t want to let you go for the night.

“I’ve been waiting all night to do that,” he whispered and you giggled. “Have I told you that you look beautiful?”

“Yes. But you can always tell me again,” you responded, laughing when Nate bent down and threw you over his shoulder. He walked to his room and tossed you unceremoniously on the bed. You started to take your heels off as he rustled through his drawers.

“Here,” he said, tossing some clothes onto the bed.

“Hey, I’ve been looking for these!” you said as you grabbed the pair of leggings you thought you lost from traveling two weeks ago.

“I think they fell out of your bag when you changed over here last time after we got back from the road trip. I just washed them with my stuff and kept them here for you,” Nate shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed to take his shoes off.

“You kept my leggings?”

“You stole my sweatshirt,” he chirped back, and you laughed. You did indeed take his sweatshirt home with you with no intentions of giving it back. Not that Nate actually minded. You couldn’t wear his jersey to the games like all the other girlfriends and wives, so he liked seeing you in something with his number on it. After changing into said leggings and one of Nate’s Avs shirts, you brushed your teeth with a tooth brush Nate claimed as yours from here on out. Then after washing the make up off your face, you crawled under the covers of Nate’s bed and waited for him to finish up. He came back into the room with just basketball shorts on, and you couldn’t help but stare at his toned body. “Like what you see?” he teased you.

“Maybe a little,” you blushed at being caught. Nate laughed and got into bed next to you.

“Is this alright? I can sleep on the couch if you want me to,” he said softly and you shook your head.

“Stay here,” you whispered back, scooting up to kiss him. The kiss was soft this time, almost like a silent prayer, and you cuddled into him as he wrapped his arm around your waist.

“This is going to work Y/N. Whether people know or not. We’re going to work this out,” Nate said as you pulled back, running his thumb over your cheek.

“I really hope so,” you spoke, tucking your head under his chin and letting his strong heartbeat lull you to sleep.

Tags: @bqstqnbruin @avsfans95 @andreiaafaria @gravygravygravy @comphybiscuit

#nhl imagine #nhl imagines #nhl x reader #nhl fic #nhl fanfiction #nathan mackinnon imagine #nathan mackinnon x reader #nate mackinnon imagine #nate mackinnon x reader #Nathan mackinnon #Cutting Edge

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jaxsteamblog · 4 years ago

Text

Momtara and Dadko

Click here to read the entire fic on AO3

Content Warning: Suggestive Content

Zuko, as usual, woke up early in the morning. Katara recalled kissing him before he went on his run, but didn’t properly wake up until a few hours later. Normally, Zuko woke her up when he returned, so Katara was confused when her aide came knocking.

After getting dressed, Katara walked into the dining room where Sokka, Suki, and the children were firmly entrenched in their breakfast.

“Where’s Zuko?” She asked.

“He’s not with you?” Sokka asked, glancing up briefly before looking back down to continue feeding Lu Ten small pieces of bacon.

“Clearly.” Katara said dryly, taking her seat.

“Mommy, you are being mean to Uncle Sokka. You should say sorry.” Izumi said.

“It’s okay.” Sokka said quickly.

“It’s not.” Katara said and sighed. “I have been mean. I’m stressed out and taking it out on you, which isn’t fair. I’m sorry Sokka.”

“I understand Kat. I forgive you.” Sokka replied.

“And I’m sorry Mimi. I shouldn’t have yelled at you yesterday.” Katara said, putting her hand on the top of Izumi’s head.

“I forgive you mommy.” Izumi said primly. “Now Kya.”

“I’m sorry Kya. I shouldn’t have yelled at you either.” Katara said, looking at her niece while stroking Izumi’s hair.

“Thank you Auntie.” Kya murmured, looking down at her plate.

“And Lu Ten!” Izumi chirped.

“What did I do to Lu Ten?” Katara asked, tilting her head down to look at Izumi.

“You left him out.” She stated.

“You’re right. I’m sorry Lu Ten.” Katara said.

Sokka picked up Lu Ten, thrusting the toddler over the table. Katara chuckled as she leaned across the corner to kiss Lu Ten. He, with his hands covered in greasy egg, grabbed onto her face as he kissed her back.

“Ew!” Kya and Izumi shrieked together.

Katara leaned back, wiping her face off as the others started chattering once again.

“What did I miss?” Zuko asked as he walked in. Katara turned and was surprised to see him still in his running clothes.

Then Hakoda, Malina, and Bato stepped in after him.

“Lu Ten got mommy messy.” Izumi answered.

“He seems especially skilled at that.” Zuko agreed. He walked to Katara and kissed her cheek.

“Good morning beloved.” He murmured.

“Kisses!” Lu Ten yelled. Zuko smiled and made his way down the table and around, going so far as to kiss Suki and Sokka’s cheeks. As he got to Sokka, he took Lu Ten from his lap and walked back to take his seat next to Katara.

“That’s very cute.” Malina remarked.

“Thank you. It was very weird at first; physical affection wasn’t something I was used to as a kid.” Zuko said, speaking easily enough to keep things from growing awkward.

“I can understand that! South Pole custom seems to be very touchy.” Malina said, playfully nudging Hakoda with her shoulder.

“The first time I hugged Zuko, he thanked me and then shook my hand.” Sokka said. Bato sputtered out a laugh and Hakoda broke a smile.

“Was he always like that?” Zuko asked, looking side to side for verification from the other South Pole members.

“As children, they were handled a lot. It’s nearly impossible to get toddlers through the snow when left on their own two feet.” Hakoda said.

“Katara wore one of those wrap things when the kids were babies. Genius. I think I carried both of them all day sometimes.” Zuko said.

Katara snorted and everyone looked at her.

“One time, Zuko had Lu Ten in a sling during a financial meet and, in his sleep, decided to use his diaper.” She explained.

“Nothing is worse than potty training a child during the dark season in the South Pole when your bathroom is outside.” Hakoda interjected as the others were laughing.

“Paw-Paw, what was mommy like when she was my age?” Izumi asked.

The table quieted and Katara stared at her father.

“Well, I wasn’t around when your mother was five. I was fighting in the Earth Kingdom.” Hakoda said.

“You didn’t see her at all?” Izumi questioned with clear shock.

“Not for many years.” Hakoda said with a shake of his head.

“Sometimes I don’t get to see mommy for a few weeks when I live with daddy in the Fire Nation.” Izumi said softly. “It makes me sad.”

“I was very sad when I couldn’t see my mom or my dad.” Katara said, putting her arms around Izumi and kissing her hair.

“When I’m queen, I’m going to live here and I’ll be able to see Izumi every day.” Kya announced.

“What about me and mama?” Sokka asked.

“You can live here too if you want.” She conceded and Sokka scoffed in amusement.

“Oh, why thank you.” He said and smiled over Kya’s head at Suki.

“I had hoped after the war, I’d be able to live with my entire family in one place.” Hakoda grumbled and Malina patted his hand.

“Tell me about it.” Katara sighed.

“Excuse me, your majesty?” A woman called from the doorway. Katara turned and waved the aide in.

“The Matriarch is waiting for you. And we just got confirmation that the ambassador has entered the city.” She said, angling a tablet down so Katara could see the verification.

“Delightful.” Katara muttered. Then, speaking up, she tried to sound more cheerful. “Time to get dressed!”

More voices than she expected groaned in disappointment.

The first meeting would be a quick, but formal, welcome. In the throne room, Katara had Hakoda and Dong-Lee take their seats first. Then, holding up the thick fabric of her skirt, she stepped up to the platform where her own carved monstrosity awaited her. Kya knelt on a cushion at her side, still on the platform above Hakoda and Dong-Lee. Politics were in everything.

The Ambassador was escorted in and he bowed in greeting.

“Ambassador Yi, welcome to our little oasis in Republic City.” Katara said.

Yi was a stout man, but younger than she expected. He was middle aged with a receding hairline, yet his face was fairly youthful. From his file, Katara knew he was married with three children, all a few years older than Izumi.

“Thank you, Queen Katara.” He said.

“You are here at the pleasure of Chief Hakoda, leader of the Southern Water Tribes, and Matriarch Dong-Lee of the Swamp Tribe.” Katara went on, gesturing with both hands to the other leaders.

Yi bowed again.

“Thank you, Chief Hakoda and Matriarch Dong-Lee.” He said.

“And I would like to introduce you to my heir, Princess Kya.” Katara finished.

A third bow and Kya shifted uneasily.

“It is a pleasure to meet the princess.” Yi said.

“I know you have meetings with us separately, but did you have anything you would like to bring before the triumvirate?” Katara questioned.

“No, your majesty.” Yi answered.

“Then I give you your leave. I will see you at our appointed time.” Katara said. She stood and Yi bowed again, keeping his gaze lowered. The others stood and left, exiting behind the platform before Yi made his way back the way he entered.

Such rituals made Katara feel stiff and irritated; she’d be taking her lunch with the man in a few hours while wearing pants. All of the preceding pageantry struck her as unnecessary.

“He seems agreeable.” Dong-Lee said.

“Well, be careful, he’s from the Upper Ring. There’s been a lot of chatter about pruning the swamp.” Katara said.

Dong-Lee scoffed. “As if the swamp would let anyone do such a thing.”

“Are all the meetings going to be like that Auntie?” Kya asked, tugging hard at the neckline of her dress.

“Not all of them, no. But enough of them to make you grumpy.” Katara said and Kya groaned loudly.

“How does Izumi do it?” Kya whined.

“She’s a lot like her father I suppose. They were born into it.” Katara remarked lightly. Kya groaned again and Katara laughed.

“I wish Thuy was here.” She muttered.

Katara only nodded.

Ambassador Yi met with Hakoda and Dong-Lee prior to lunch, talking about his goals for his appointment and the technical aspects of the placement. The lunch was far more casual, and Yi brought his family. Dong-Lee was attended by her brother and two children, while Malina came along with Hakoda. The rest of Katara’s royal family bustled in and the large table on the veranda was bursting with activity.

Yi and his family were patient through the introductions, though Katara promptly forgot the names of everyone with him. Zuko had a better mind for names and she would have to ask him about it later.

“Ambassador, I’d like to introduce my consort, Fire Lord Zuko.” Katara said, gesturing to Zuko. Yi and his family all gave a hasty Fire Nation salute while Zuko only smiled, holding Lu Ten at his hip.

“Forgive me,” Yi’s wife said, sounding nervous. “But how should we refer to your Highness?”

“Zuko is fine.” He replied and the blood drained from her face.

Katara made a tsk sound and swatted his arm lightly.

“Titles are very loosely held and wielded around here. We both prefer to be on a first name basis, but since we don’t have a family name, I understand it can be awkward.” She explained.

“I do think consort is rather fun.” Zuko said, smiling at Katara, who glowered back at him.

“I was told the Earth Empire custom was a bit formal compared to the rest of the world.” Yi admitted.

“It was the same in the Fire Nation until very recently.” Zuko said.

“I’d like us to be friends.” Katara said. “So I’d love it if you’d use our given names.”

“That would make it easier to know when I’m in trouble.” Yi joked and Katara laughed. His wife looked mortified.

Lu Ten started to fuss and Zuko started bouncing him.

“I think it’s nap time.” He said.

“Thank you.” Katara replied, offering her cheek as Zuko leaned in to kiss her.

“Can we go eat mom?” Yi’s eldest son asked, tugging lightly on his mother’s sleeve.

“Please! This was meant to welcome you after all!” Katara said, shooing them away. Yi’s wife and children walked off, heading over to the serving tables.

“You have a lovely family.” Katara said.

“Thank you. Your’s is charming as well.” Yi said and rubbed his chin. “I hadn’t expected the Fire Lord to be so approachable.”

“He’s a lot like his uncle.” Katara replied.

“Your son looks just like him.”

“Oh yes.” Katara said with a laugh. “He’s a Firebender too.”

“But how lucky your daughter is just like you!” Yi said.

“Hmm?” Katara turned and faced Yi more purposefully.

“I was glad you introduced her first, because my packet was incorrect. I thought her name was Izumi.” He said.

“Izumi is my daughter.” Katara said.

“My apologies. Is that her Fire Nation name?” Yi questioned.

“Yes.” Katara said slowly. “You misunderstand, Kya is my niece.”

Yi’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Then Izumi is not the Waterbender?” He asked.

“No, Izumi is a…” Katara frowned. “She’s not a Waterbender. Kya is my brother’s daughter. She recently came into her bending and now she’s my heir.”

“So Izumi is…” Yi sounded panicked and confused.

“Fire Nation. Completely.” Katara said tersely. “She is her father’s heir.”

“I’m sorry. I am completely embarrassed.” Yi said in a hurry, bowing in apology.

“I can understand the confusion. The inheritance law changed when I was crowned.” Katara said.

“Thank you for your understanding, your Majesty.” Yi said.

“Of course. You should join your family, they seem to be waiting for you.” Katara said. Yi bowed again and walked to the table. Katara watched him for a moment before turning back toward the palace.

She saw Izumi’s face peeking from behind a wooden beam that supported the pergola. As their eyes met, Izumi darted back inside the palace. Katara sighed, a weight settling on her shoulders.

Katara’s meeting with the new ambassador was awkward, but she merely questioned him about his goals. The Earth Empire was still gunning for drilling rights in the arctic, which simply wasn’t going to happen. They also wanted to expand their fishing and research waters, which also wasn’t going to happen. Those two points came up time and again, becoming chronic sores in Katara’s life. In the Poles at least, her people had learned how to live in harmony with the seas. They were also intimately aware of what happened when they tried to tip the balance in their favor. Seas could rise, ice could crack, and hungry things could see better than they in the night.

After the business was concluded, Katara cancelled the debrief with Hakoda and Dong-Lee, pushing it back a day.

She needed to talk to Zuko.

In their bedroom, Katara sat on the bed as Zuko undid his dress shirt. He never dressed down around politicians, despite his insistence on the given name thing.

“Am I ashamed of our children?” Katara blurted as Zuko hung the shirt on the valet rack. He paused, his hands still on the hanger and slowly turned his head around to look at her.

“Excuse me?” He asked.

“Yi thought Kya was our daughter and I couldn’t just come out and correct him. It was so awkward!” Katara said.

“I don’t think that means you’re ashamed of her.” Zuko stated firmly.

“Izumi heard me and she ran off.” Katara said.

“Did you talk to her?”

“No.”

“We probably shouldn’t let that marinate.”

Katara groaned and bent over, holding her head in her hands.

“I am the worst parent.” She said.

“I think we can both agree that Ozai was the worst parent.” Zuko retorted.

Katara lifted her head, keeping her fingers splayed over her mouth.

“I’m serious.” She moaned and Zuko raised an eyebrow.

He brought both hands sharply up to his face, framing his scar.

“So am I.” He said.

“I don’t even consider him a parent.” Katara said, falling backward onto the bed. “He’s a monster.”

“Fair point, yet he still is legally my father.” Zuko said.

“I think biologically too.” Katara added.

“Did you know Toph takes Lin and Suyin to her matches?” Zuko asked.

“What?” Katara asked, shooting her confused look up to the ceiling.

“Lin caught a tooth before she even lost one of her own. It’s nuts.” Zuko said, sitting on the bed beside her.

“And?”

“And she adopted Jae-hwan, seemingly on a whim. No one knows who fathered Lin or Suyin, but Toph doesn’t care because they’d be Beifongs regardless.”

“I repeat, and?”

“And Toph is an amazing mother. Lots of people give her so much crap for simply being blind and having kids, let alone all this other stuff. None of us are perfect, but we’re doing our best. Our kids are great.”

“I know that Zuko. But I don’t act like it.” Katara muttered, covering her face with her arms.

“You’ve been really protective of Izumi about this bending stuff, but have you talked to her about it?” Zuko asked.

“No.” Katara said, her voice muffled.

“I’m telling you, Izumi and Kya love each other. And Izumi is going to be Fire Lord, so it’s not like she’s getting shoved to the side.” Zuko said.

“So what about Lu Ten?” Katara asked.

“Who knows? The Fire Nation hasn’t had a good run with siblings, but Izumi and Lu Ten seem to be fine.”

“Has there ever been a woman Fire Lord? Or a non-Bender?”

“Well. No.” Zuko admitted. “But there’s never been a Prime Minister before either.”

“Obviously I don’t need to protect her, so why am I hiding her?”

“When Kya was born, you were so relieved. I thought it was because you were worried about Suki, but you were so anxious before Sokka texted. Then suddenly everything was easier and Izumi popped out two minutes later. I think Izumi was exactly what you wanted her to be.” Zuko explained.

“What do you mean?” Katara lowered her arms and looked up at him.

“She’s not named Kya, so you didn’t have to go through that. She looks like you when you haven’t been in the sun for awhile, and her hair is just like mine. I remember you talking about how much more manageable her hair was when it started to really grow in.

“And she’s not a Waterbender, so you didn’t have to put her through what you’re going through.” Zuko added softly.

“But Kya’s going to be fine.” Katara said.

“Kya is going to have to live away from her parents more than you think. Sokka has a job in the Fire Nation now, remember? And Suki is still holding onto the flower shop for him.”

“I.” Katara cut off, not knowing what to say.

“Sokka’s really anxious about this. He’s terrified of being away from Kya, because he hated being away from your parents.” Zuko said.

Tears welled in Katara’s eyes and she threw her arms over her face again.

“So not only am I a terrible mother, but I’m the worst sister and daughter too!” She wailed.

“Katara, you know it’s not like that.” Zuko said, rubbing one of her arms.

“I hate that this happened. I hate how everyone makes these stupid choices without me and then I end up doing something terrible!”

“So it’s not your fault?”

“How is this my fault?”

“How is it anyone’s?”

Frustrated, Zuko stood up and walked back to their closet.

“We talked about kids for years because we knew this was going to be hard. And Sokka and Suki could never have expected that their kid was going to be a Bender. And your dad didn’t go off thinking he’d never see his wife again, or that his children would grow up without him.” He said.

Katara sat up, glaring at his back as Zuko picked out a new outfit.

“So it’s me then? I’m the one making everything difficult?” She shot back.

“I didn’t say that.” Zuko replied.

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m saying this sucks!” Zuko turned around sharply, holding tight onto a t-shirt. “I hate being in Caldera without you for so long. And it’s pure misery when you have the children.”

He yanked on the shirt and rubbed his nose furiously.

“Honestly, sometimes I can’t wait for the children to be grown. Because then I can toss Izumi onto the throne and Kya can move in here and then you and I can finally be together, properly.” He laughed darkly and ran a hand through his hair. “But then I feel terrible because these are my children and I’m already missing out on so much.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have gotten married.” Katara muttered.

Zuko advanced on her quickly and grabbed her arms, squeezing her hard enough to scare her.

“Don’t you ever say that.” He said, his voice low. “I would rather have died in the Agni Kai than even think you mean that for a second.”

“Zuko…” Katara protested and he shook her once, softly but with urgency.

“Tell me to step down. Ask me. Order me and I would crawl from the port to your throne to become your proper consort.” Zuko said. “But don’t you ever think things would be better had I not made you mine.”

“Stop.” Katara said brusquely, using her forearms to break his hold. Zuko grabbed her wrists, holding them up.

“You gave me your bed, you gave me children. And they are forever a part of me. But you are mine. Just as I am yours.” Zuko kissed her, loosening his grip on her wrists. Katara grabbed his shirt, pulling him onto the bed.

“Do you suppose that was a healthy and loving way to handle our fight?” Katara asked, shaking her hands off in the sink. It was easy enough to heal the minor marks and Zuko examined his chest in the mirror.

“I would definitely say it was loving.” He said and then nodded at his reflection. “But we should probably leave out some details if we bring this up at therapy.”

“What are you so angry about anyway?” Katara asked.

“I am angry, dear wife, that you are in the throes of your righteous fury while I’m also struggling but I feel like I have to hold everything together.” Zuko said.

He had an easy way of talking that made Katara relax. Had it been anyone else, she would have launched right into a fight.

“I’m sorry I’m not being more supportive.” Katara said and moved behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle and pressing her cheek into his shoulder blade.

“Like I said last night, I do understand that this is difficult for you. But I think you need to have a little faith and try letting go. Not everything has to be a battle that you win or lose.” Zuko held onto her arms and tilted his head back to bump hers.

“Fine. So, as a wife first, what can I do?” Katara asked.

“Not much. Summer will be in a few weeks and you get to be Fire Lady again. I’ll be able to breathe once you and the children are in Caldera.” Zuko answered.

“Mom time then?” Katara said meekly.

“Mom and dad time. We’re a team.” Zuko replied.

They dressed and went to Izumi’s bedroom. Apparently, she had run there during lunch and refused to come out.

Zuko knocked on the door and called gently. “Mimi?”

“Come in.” Izumi said, sounding despondent.

Opening the door, Zuko and Katara hesitated before entering. Izumi was on the floor, moving her dolls around limply.

“Izumi, it is time. For.” Zuko paused with performative austerity. “The feelings wheel.”

Izumi heaved a long sigh as she got up and shuffled to her small desk. Pulling open the center drawer, she pulled out a laminated piece of paper and went back to her spot on the floor. Zuko and Katara joined her, shutting the door behind them.

“Okay Mimi, you know the drill. How are you feeling?” Zuko asked as he and Katara sat down.

On the paper was a large circle cut into tiered segments. The wider wedges at the center of the circle were labelled with general emotions like “happy” and “scared.” Things got more specific in the thinner wedges radiating outward.

Izumi pointed with a heavy finger to “sad.”

Zuko worked with Izumi through the process, getting her to be more specific about how she was feeling. Katara stayed quiet, watching her daughter’s face. She was surprised that Izumi identified “guilty” before ending on “ashamed.”

It wasn’t what Katara expected at all.

But she knew exactly how Izumi was feeling.

“Why do you feel ashamed sweetie?” Katara asked.

“Because I’m not Water Tribe.” Izumi said quietly.

“Why do you think you’re not?” Zuko asked.

“Because mommy always says that I’m only Fire Nation. That I’m your heir and that’s it.” Izumi explained.

“Okay, that’s a valid reason.” Zuko said and Katara sighed.

“I say that because I know you’re part Tribal. I want everyone to know that you deserve to be your father’s heir regardless.” She said.

“Why would being Tribal be bad?” Izumi asked.

“Well…” Katara drifted, sharing a look with Zuko.

“During the war, the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe were enemies.” Zuko said honestly. “And a lot of people in the Fire Nation still feel angry about that.”

“So they hate me?” Izumi asked, her voice quivering.

“Oh no sweetie! No one hates you!” Katara said in a rush. “It’s just, they may think being from the Water Tribe will make you a bad Fire Lord.”

“Do you think I’ll be a bad Fire Lord?” Izumi asked Zuko.

“I think you’ll be the first good one.” He said. Izumi crawled onto Zuko, hugging him.

“You’re good, daddy.” She said.

Zuko hugged her back and kissed her hair. “I’m glad you think so, Mimi.”

“Your father is a great Fire Lord, and you’ll be even better.” Katara added, patting Izumi’s back.

Izumi still clung to Zuko but looked over at Katara.

“So it’s okay that I don’t look like you or Paw-Paw?” She asked.

“Of course sweetie! And not all Water Tribals look like me. Some of them.” Katara stopped and took in a breath. “Some of them look like your Gran-Gran remember?”

“And it’s okay that I’m not a Waterbender?” Izumi continued.

“Absolutely. Is it okay that Kya is?” Katara asked.

Izumi thought about it seriously for a moment and then nodded.

“Kya is going to rule the tribes and I’m going to be Fire Lord and then we’re going to take over the world.” She said and Katara sputtered.

“What was that?” She asked.

“Well Lu Ten has to have something and there are Waterbenders and Firebenders in the Earth Empire, so Kya and I are going to take it.” Izumi stated.

“You very much are not, young lady.” Zuko said, holding Izumi up to look at her.

“But daddy, you said I could do anything.” Izumi replied simply. “And grandfather Ozai took over Omashu, my teacher told me so.”

“Okay, we’re firing your teacher for one thing.” Zuko said and Katara gently pried their daughter from his hold.

“Izumi, we’ll have to have a chat about why world domination is not a good thing, but do you feel better now?” She asked.

“Yes mommy. Can I have lunch?” Izumi asked.

“Let’s go see what’s in the kitchen.” Katara stood up and held Izumi’s hand, pausing while Zuko stared off.

“Coming?” She prompted. Zuko shook himself and stood, looking curiously down at Izumi.

“Maybe we should hold off on introducing her to Azula.” He said.

Izumi lifted her head, her hazel eyes shifting in the overhead light.

“I already know all about her. Auntie Ty Lee told me about her when we were on Avatar Island.” She said and then looked toward the door. Zuko, bewildered, caught Katara’s eye.

Auntie Ty Lee? He mouthed over Izumi’s head. Katara only shrugged.

She had her own family problems to deal with.

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#zutara month #zutara #fanfiction #jax writes #modern au #the fic that prompts built #zutara month 2021

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lukealvezhimboextraordinaire · 3 years ago

Note

Daphne+ simon

okay this took me way too long and i apologize! i could seem to find the right theme for them but must admit i had fun writing this one.

so here it goes, a little snippet into simon and daphne's life

As most things in Daphne’s life, it all started with a conversation with her siblings. While she didn’t exactly have many complaints regarding her life as a married woman, she had to admit that she missed the loud family at Bridgerton House. The multiple conversations going at once, the having to make sure Colin was the last one to get to the food or else no one after him would get to indulge in that dish, the ongoing antagonizing game between her youngest siblings, the yelling from across the table, the savage teasing paired with the sarcastic and always on point snarky comments coming from Francesca and Eloise’s witty remarks.

Speaking of Eloise, she was the sole culprit. Well, her and Hyacinth.

Ever since Amelia had been born she had been the centre of every conversation around the dinner table whenever the Bassets had enough energy to put on semi-decent clothes and drive all the way down to Violet’s house. Having a baby was exhausting. Daphne was slightly surprised she had never quite realized how much work babies were considering she had seen her parents go through the same four times. But Amelia was older enough for the hype to have died now and the Bridgerton brand of chaos was slowly returning to the table.

It had started innocently enough. A casual comment about how they barely saw Daphne anymore. Then someone had mentioned that she was probably too busy with the baby. And then it happened. Eloise had leaned back in her seat with a huff, shrugging one shoulder before very solemnly looking at her sister.

“Daphne is no longer fun.”

That seemed to catch everyone’s attention as all conversations died down and the room suddenly grew quiet. Eight pairs of heads turned to look at her. Daphne raised her eyes from her plate, stared at the eight pairs of wide, expectant eyes and pulled her shoulders up into a casual shrug. A dismissive wave of her hand before focusing back on her food sealed her half-decent performance at pretending to not be bothered by it.

“Hey leave Daff alone, she is busy!” Between mouthful and mouthful of food, Colin tried his best to defend his sister. He had a special bond with Daphne and had decided a long time ago that the only person allowed to tease her was, in fact, him.

“Busy being boring,” added one of the younger voices from across the table. Eloise chuckled, pleased, and high-fived the youngest of the clan.

Colin tsked his tongue. “At least she is doing something with her life!”

“I am eleven, Colin.” There was so much resignation in her voice that the room erupted in laughter.

“You are one to talk about wasting your life away,” Anthony mumbled pointedly, biting down a smile.

With an air of resignation to it, Colin let his fork fall against the wooden surface of the very old, very expensive family’s table. The action earned him a cautious look from his mother. “I have a career! I have fans!” At this point he was waving his hands in the air with indignation. “You just love to antagonize me!! Why are you not telling Benedict to go take a shower? He hasn’t showered in three days. He stinks!”

“Me and my body odor would very much like to be left out of this conversation, thank you.”

“Suspicious that you know that, Colin,” Francesca interjected, leaning on her elbows as she looked intently at him.

“Yeah, Colin. Do you keep track of our hygiene routines?” Unable to resist having a go at the easiest to rile up Bridgerton, Eloise joined in the fun.

“I bet that’s why he has so many journals....” Of course, Hyacinth had to get her revenge.

Colin’s ears turned red. He tossed his head to the side and then, in what could be described as the most immature move in men’s recent history, stuck his tongue out at his younger sisters while making funny faces.

The rest of the night went by without any other major conflicts. No one seemed to notice that Daphne had remained quiet for the rest of the evening. Or if they did, nobody dared point it out.

Simon, however, noticed.

He always paid attention to her. Even when seemingly he was entranced by some other activity, a part of him was always watching over her. Not in a creepy or possessive way, no. Just in a… in a need her around way. Daphne was his anchor. Her presence brought him a peace and calm he had never known were possible let alone imagine himself craving. She and Amelia were his whole world and it was only fair to take care of the two more important people in his life. He watched over her to make sure she was okay, to give back a bit of all she had given him.

Simon knew his wife. And knew that when she was silent for so long it could only mean a thing; something was bothering her.

“Princess.” His hand found her thigh and gave the softest of squeezes to it when she didn’t address him. Hopefully, it would make her turn to look at him. There was only so much he could do when his whole attention was supposed to be on the road.

“Huh?” Daphne seemed a little startled to hear his voice, as if she had just been shaken out of a reverie. On any other occasion, the look of bewilderment on her soft features would have made him chuckle. But the worry was starting to set at the bottom of his stomach.

“What is going on in that mind of yours?” His voice was cautious, soft, as if he was taking to a wounded animal.

Daphne pulled her shoulders up only to let them fall back into place. “Nothing.”

Simon opened his mouth to talk but Daphne beat him to it.

“Do you think we are boring?” The despair in her eyes made his stomach churn. He had to ponder it a second before giving her an answer.

“We are not boring,” he sent her a quick glance before returning to the road. “I know we have barely left the house since Amelia was born but that doesn’t make us boring.” It sounded bad even to his own ears. The groan his wife produced confirmed his suspicions. He chuckled. “Okay, maybe we are a bit boring.” She huffed and he laughed loud. Amelia protested in the back and he was reminded that his baby didn’t appreciate noise when she slept. “But we can change that, okay? Let’s go out this weekend. I’m sure your mom won’t mind keeping Lia for a couple hours.”

Daphne’s whole face lit up. “Really?”

He nodded. “Really.”

Violet was delighted to spend some quality alone time with her first grandbaby. But it turned out Daphne and Simon were a bit more hesitant about leaving their baby with her grandmother than either of them had anticipated. As excited as Simon had been all week about the prospect of going on a date with Daphne, as soon as he woke up that morning a strange pressure had settled in his chest. And as the time to leave came closer, it became more and more suffocating. His whole world had revolved around Amelia for months. She was his last thought before falling asleep and the first thought in the morning. He had taken paternity leave under the premise that Daphne needed help but the truth was that he could not fathom being away from his baby. And now that was exactly what he was about to do; willingly spend time away from his daughter.

“I don’t want to see you before midnight,” Violet warned, practically pushing them out of the door of their very own house, Amelia secluded to her hip, happily sucking on her thumb. “Amelia and I will be fine. I raised eight babies and most of them turned out fine.”

Simon sighed. His mother in law was right. They could do this. They had to do this. They needed time for themselves.

“Be good to your grandma, eh,” he placed a sweet kiss on the top of the baby’s head, taking in her scent before moving to kiss Violet on the cheek. “Thank you so much, Violet.” With his arm wrapped around his wife’s waist, Simon watched as she said her own goodbyes to their baby before gently dragging her away when it became evident they would miss their reservation if they didn’t get going soon.

Daphne’s eyes were clouded with tears by the time they got to their car.

“She is going to be just fine,” he tried to reassure her even if he himself wasn’t very convinced.

Daphne nodded, sniffing her nose loudly. “But will we?”

Simon didn��t have an answer for that but he really hoped it was a yes.

Ten minutes into their date and they had already called Violet twice. It was funny how they had become those parents. Especially Simon, who had never cared to picture himself as a dad. Prior to Daphne the life that waited ahead of him was pretty lonely. Hedonistic, yes, but lonely. Filled with parties and luxuries but always an empty house and cold bed awaiting him once his bacchanals were over. Ever since his wife had prompted him the question of if they were bored, Simon had not been able to stop thinking about it. A few months ago no one would have dared call Simon Basset any variant of the word boring and now all he wanted to do was spend his afternoons cuddling his wife and baby on their blue couch. The long nights out, getting drunk and taking strangers back home seemed like something a different man had enjoyed. The thrill he used to feel now turned to disbelief that he had convinced himself that life was enough for him. Now, he looked forward to bath time, to nap time, to any and all those special moments he planned on sharing with his baby. Because he was going to be present in every step. He refused to be half a dad. He refused to only be there for the good, easy parts of fatherhood and let Daphne bear with the weight of raising their children. And oddly enough, he was fine with that. He was content with his life, happy, enraptured. Even if that meant having to endure being called a bore by his new found family.

They called Violet one last time before being escorted to their table. She hung on them, threatening to turn her phone off if she received one more call before they were done with dessert. They looked at each other surprised and then laughed.

“This is weird,” Daphne commented, hiding her face behind the glass of wine for a brief moment. “We are here without Amelia and I miss her but I am also having fun.” As if suddenly a thought had struck her, she froze in place, furrowed her brows and frowned. “Are we terrible parents?”

Simon laughed, shaking his head. He reached for her hand across the table and laced their fingers. “We are great parents. Great parents also enjoy some adult fun.” That mischievous expression she had come to know so well framing his features.

Daphne sighed, feeling the thrill of the unknown starting to bubble up in her stomach. “Adult fun?”

Slowly, Simon nodded, eyes burning into hers.

“Wh-what are you thinking?”

He looked around them and then leaned forward, urging her to do the same. “Do you want to do something bold?”

Daphne nodded. Simon grinned.

“On the count of three, we run.”

Her eyes grew wide with shock but a devilish grin spread across her face. She nodded, eyes shining with excitement. The wine in her veins making her bold.

“One, two...three!!!”

Simon held his hand out to her grinning like an idiot, Daphne took it with a smile so big it rivaled the sun and together they stormed off the elegant restaurant, laughing and screaming, the manager hot on their heels. They ran and ran and ran until they were sure no one was chasing them. Breathless, they took refuge in a deserted alley.

“I can’t believe we just did that!”

Adrenaline rushing down their bodies, they looked at each other for a long second before their mouths crashed one against the other in a hungry kiss.

The next morning Simon dropped by the restaurant to pay for their food. He left a very generous tip.

Nine months later, they welcomed Belinda Basset into the world.

#bridgerton #mine #fics #simon x daphne #simon bassett #daphne bridgerton

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maree-ff · 3 years ago

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Interlude: Remission

CAMILA

Excited, joyful, in lust, anxious, nervous, and overwhelmed. These are all of the emotions I was hit with at three o’clock this morning when I woke up to begin my day. Today officially marks five weeks, seventy-two hours and sixteen minutes since I ruined our relationship. Today also marks the same amount of time that Jorden has completely flipped his switch. His behavior is nothing like Andre or I have ever dealt with. I know I’m to blame for calling off our engagement but it’s almost as if Jorden feels like I took his father away. That was never my intention by any means. I only wanted for Andre and I to take some time out to explore every crevice of our relationship. The energy in our union has been off and I want to know what the root of the issue is.

Papi’s been coming by everyday to bring the kids home from school. He’s even stayed to tuck them in, help me clean up from the aftermath of dinner and then he leaves. He’s been distant, rightfully so, but I miss him! I’ve been yearning for attention and I haven’t craved male companionship in ages! Tonight, I’m going to try and do things differently. I’ve been spying on him to get his schedule for today so I can scheme and coordinate in peace. Andre didn’t pick up the kids today because I asked for his mother to do it herself. The girls are helping me choose what to wear for my weekend away while their baby brother is napping.

Sliding my boots on I tiptoed around the mess I created, rushing to get their opinion. I spun around, danced a little, showing off another outfit I pieced together.

“Okay, nenas...what about this?” I’m frantic. I am supposed to be meeting Dre at a resort in Palm Springs. He has an assignment there for the weekend so I figured this is the perfect time for us to fix what’s broken.

“Shoes..perfect. Outfit..even better.” Zoe smiles assuringly.

Kenja tilted her head left and right before responding to my question. “Perfecto..”

“Perfecto? La verdad o es esa actitud que estoy escuchando?” I sassed her.

“Si..la verdad. Mom, mira la hora por favor.” She pointed out. Glancing at my watch I cursed under my breath, rushing to get out of here. I tossed what I need for the weekend in my bag, smothering my girls in affection. I looped my bag over my shoulder and quietly raced up the steps to check on my youngest baby.

Cautiously I entered his bedroom, blushing at the mere sight of him. “Mommy’s going to fix this nino. I promise. For you and tu hermanas.” Shuffling to his bed I pulled his blanket up over his stomach to keep him warm. “Mommy loves you baby. I’ll see you when I get back and I’ll make sure to kiss Papi for you, if he’ll let me.” I kissed his forehead and backed away before he had the chance to wake up.

I left his room, spoke to Divya briefly and headed straight for Palm Springs.

———— ————

Pushing the bottle further down into the ice bucket I turned around to check out the room. I managed to get an extra key to his hotel suite since he’s still out. I got a phone call from Meah saying that he should be arriving shortly.

“Mommy,” I exhaled. Clutching the Bible to my chest I looked out at the sun setting over the horizon. “Necesito su orientación.” My spirit feels alive again. I can feel her. “I need you to walk me through this. I ruined my relationship and I need to get it back. Please watch over me and don’t let me screw this up.” Marking my body in favor of the cross I set the Bible down and put some final touches on his room.

About fifteen minutes later I heard a key unlatch the lock to the room.

“Alright, look I’ll tell you what. Let me look over the proposal, run the account and find the bug.” The door shut and the automatic lock clicking made me jump out of my skin. These goddamn nerves! Quickly I downed one of the shots I poured, needing to calm myself before he saw me. I stood tall by the window, looking out at the montañas and hills. “No man, I will personally take care of the firewall and the hiccup in your account. Why don’t you sen-”

Our eyes met the second his speech paused. With the phone to his ear, he silently set his bag down, looking me up and down. “I will have my assistant contact you so you can get me that file personally. Once I get to the bottom of this I will call you..” he motioned to the glass signaling for me to pour him a drink.

I did as he asked, going ahead to fill two glasses.

“Of course. I’ll get back to you in a few days.” His phone touched the desk as did his jacket. “I’m surprised.” He simply stated.

Closing our distance I handed him the glass, holding my own with two hands. “I know.” I agreed. “Necesitamos hablar.” I sipped on my champagne, reading his energy from the body language he’s showing.

“About?” He too sipped from his glass, going to remove his tie.

“Let me..” I offered. I set my glass down to complete the task I offered to take off his hands. A mass of nothing but fears from my subconscious lodged my airways, making it difficult to look at him. “Habla sobre nosotros, nuestra familia y el futuro de nuestra relación.” The slow movement and slithering sound of his tie falling across his shoulder made my heart skip a beat.

“So let’s talk then. Where should we start? You breaking up our family or completely blind siding me at dinner that night?” I knew this surprise visit from me would be a battle but I wasn’t expecting fire this quickly.

I draped his tie over the back of the chair, not wanting the fabric to catch wrinkles. “Don’t do that. I don’t want to fight with you tonight. For you and for us but not with you.” I created space between us, giving him room to breathe again.

“Why not? There’s enough issues to go around that we can argue about right? Isn’t that what you were saying five weeks ago when you tore our family apart?” He’s agitating me and he knows it. He’s pressing my buttons on purpose but I sympathize with his anger and hurt.

“Everything. Papi, we can fix this. I want to fix this. I broke us apart and for good reason but I want to make it right. I never wanted to hurt you or our family.” The sun has vanished leaving the sky lit up in the most beautiful orange and yellow blend.

“Mm..that’s the memo I got and if I’m correct you did hurt me. You hurt our bond, our love and our kids.” He calmly explained his point, fully raising my nerves.

Snapping my head in his direction I warned him not to steer us down a path we may not recuperate from. He clapped back at me as if I’m not in this fight with him.

“Ay, basta ahora! No me hables así! I hurt myself too, okay? You’re not the only one who got hurt that night alright? Stop trying to make me feel like crap and help me fix the problem!” Waving my hand for him to cut the nonsense out, I paced the floor waiting for him to react.

“What problem, Camila? Tell me what are these problems you speak of? I never saw any facet of our relationship that was broken and needed to be fixed. Were you imagining things that aren't real? What is it?”

“Our chemistry must have been off, Dre. It didn’t feel like old times. Y me estás llaman loco? That’s not fair of you to say! I meant what I said and how I feel is valid. You cannot deny the way I feel! Those are my feelings and I am entitled to them!” I yelled.

He approached me silently, picking up the shot from the tray. He threw it back, poured another two rounds, encouraging me to take second. “Our chemistry? What about our chemistry? Break it down for me. We have all weekend right? That’s why your bag is partially unpacked and you got a second key to the room? Well let’s get to the bottom of this shall we?”

He doesn’t know this but that was my fifth shot since I checked in. The scent of his cologne sent my desire for lust, love, affection, attention, you name it..into overdrive. I rolled my eyes swiftly as he walked past me into the living room of the suite. I followed him thinking of how to recite my feelings.

“Well..I feel like you’re still holding back. You never opened up about what happened to you while you were away. You’ve changed, baby. I recognized the signs when you came home. I didn’t pester you about my concerns because I had enough to deal with already. But you have changed and I just want you to feel comfortable enough to be open with me about what you went through.” Removing my earrings I placed them on the coffee table. Andre was mute. He drew an invisible figure eight with the champagne flute in his hand. “Coming here was intentional my love but stressing you out wasn’t.” I reminded him. I inched over to the large windows, taking in the views with him.

Throwing back the remaining champagne, Andre set the glass down by his feet. “Yeah I changed. I’m ashamed of a lot of events that have taken place over the course of my life. You know that. Being away is at the very top of that list. You know that too. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to share at all with anyone but God himself. I can’t.” He disagreed.

Cupping the nape of his neck I fingered the smooth hair, getting excited. He hasn’t touched me in weeks and I’m still breastfeeding so my hormones are driving me batshit crazy. I have been forced to stick out this drought between us, calculating how long until I get him back. Allow me to be frank and say that I have ventured down the road of self pleasure but it takes too long. I’m capable of satisfying myself on a small scale but I need him for that soul snatching, big time release.

“I’m not shaming you, papi. I would never do that. Though I strongly urge you to reconsider. God is an excellent choice mi amor pero I-” his hand claimed my throat as he backed me into the glass. The liquor in my bloodstream and on his breath made me want more. “Por favor..” I am prepared to beg, plead or use any other extreme measures I have up my sleeve if this will bring us closer. I cupped his cheek, yet again finding our son in him. Their eyes hold a familiar sense of depth and comfort. “I want to fix this, really. Again I’m sorry love, you must believe me.”

The teaser of his increase in pressure to my neck turned me on. I’m sure that was his intention and I have no objections. He’s never harmed me which is good because I love when he uses force. A little pain feels ten times better when sex and intimacy are around the corner.

“I know.” He huffed. I’m already wet with anticipation. He only added fuel to my fire. He overpowered me, giving off anger and animosity. I’ll take what I can for the time being, wanting what I’ve been deprived of. I can’t decide if I want this first time back into our fold to go by quickly because I’m so hungry or if I want to take my time.

“I want both.” I thought aloud.

Andre ripped through my clothes without any regard for common sense to treat my belongings with respect. “Of?” He uttered quietly.

We disrobed one another not caring that anyone could possibly walk by the room. We’re completely exposed and normally I’d be willing to keep watch for bystanders but tonight I don’t care much. Let them have a show to enjoy.

Tossing the belt he had on somewhere off to the side I rid him of his trousers, dominating the scene. “I want this to last but I’m desperate after five weeks.” I whined. I did not allow him to choose what pace he would rather stick with. “Give me what I want. Answers and attention.” Moving in for the kill I felt the ground lighten up from underneath my feet. I wrapped my legs around his midsection and locked my ankles to keep myself steady. He stumbled still teasing the clasp of my bra.

My body was freed from the confines of my brassiere, leaving me open for the taking. Andre granted my wish. He fucked the soul out of me up against the glass but tenderly and lovingly. We traded off with the power of getting the beauty of both worlds. What feels like angry, make-up sex carried on out to the hot tub that’s acquainted with the room. I gasped for new air, gripping his hip and palming his lower back to force him into me.

I needed a resting place for my head so I sought out the rim of the tub. My brief moment of desiring to speak ceased to exist as he touched two of my favorite spots. My outcry made me tearful and oh so sad. Sex only places a bandaid over our issues but a lovely bandaid it is. We carried on in the hot water and later transported our affairs back inside the room.

The time has come for us to use our words again. Tying my robe closed I lifted my hair up and out. With a heavy heart I studied Andre from several feet away.

“When did you begin to feel the shift?” He asked me, barely looking over his shoulder.

Clearing my throat I swiped my glass from the desk, taking a sip. “Sometime after Jo’s fifth or so doctor appointment. I think..”

Dre’s insincere snicker ruffled my feathers. He took a long drag of the blunt he’s been working for half an hour. Putting it out he sucked in a fresh wave of oxygen only to take his time blowing it back out. “So Ali is the root of your issues with me?”

“Let’s be adults about this. You know damn well that’s not what I’m getting at nor is that what I’m saying. Maybe it was the stress of waiting for all of the test results to come back..” my sentence ran off as did my feet. I walked myself across the room to look out onto the night sky. Finishing off my champagne I built up the courage to explain a selfish mistake I made so long ago. “I still feel guilty for my comment. I didn’t mean it then and I didn’t mean it now. The waiting and re-testing was backing me into such a dark place that I traded in hope for fear. That is no excuse and I have to live with my idiocy at that moment for the rest of my life.” Turning on my heels I zeroed out the space between us. I placed my hands upon his shoulders, molding to his shape wanting to ease the tension in his upper body. “But you were there. You didn’t give up on our son even while I had doubts and bombarded you with my sadness over the matter.”

Inching closer I captured his lips, entangling us to each other for round three. Speaking about our kids brings me back to consciousness. All of the wild sex that we’ve had since Jorden was born has surprisingly not created another child. This troubling and confusing separation has not hindered an inkling of romance. All that’s different is the lack of title.

“We’re supposed..to be talking..” he hummed. I fondled my way into his lap, going head first.

“Not right now we aren’t.” I denied. I’m in the mindset for a specialty cocktail I can’t put a price on. My skin began to heat up from under the robe. It’s my throat, mouth and hands that are the hottest points of me currently. I used my hands, feverishly wanting to bring him all the way up so I could stop and get him angry. His fingers ran through my hair finding the right coordinates to hold my head still. His body shuddered underneath mine as I ramped up my speed so he can feel like he’s in control of the moment. He’s never been allowed to dominate my pace when I’m pleasing him. I was very transparent in the beginning stages of our romantic relationship about why he can’t force me down or hold me still. In exchange we have worked out an arrangement to where he feels like he’s in control but he’s really not.

The overflow of saliva and the tiny bubbles running down over my fingers and wrists turned up my pride. It’s also the sweet melodic manner in which my name and God’s fills the air. I always honor him with his few moments of fame in thinking that I can’t handle his measurements. There are times when I doubt myself. Like the generous man that Andre is, he never comes short with complimenting how charming my tongue is. The hyper speed of his shaft and juevos sliding in and out my mouth brought on the most beautiful feeling. My scalp is tingling from the massage he’s giving me while I’m finishing the one I’m offering him.

His call out to the heavens is making me greedy. I’ll admit to it and I want him to know. Halting, I knelt before him and pushed him down, ultimately mounting him. Our mouths reunited in sync, no exceeding dominance displayed. My back touched down against the plush comforter, he removed my robe, and I used my hands and feet to disrobe him of his pants.

“Cuidarme, yo soy tuyo.” I begged. Our bodies meshed together resembling a fly getting caught in a Venus fly trap. My internal organs accommodated his endowment warmly. I saw darkness as he set himself up with the right momentum. “Ay Dios!” I called on our Heavenly Father several times over in the most disrespectful way. Tightening the grip I have on him I forced eye contact needing to face him head on.

His affirmation of how I’m making him feel calmed my nerves. “Making love to you always feels a step above incredible..” he told me once again.

Blissfully grinning from ear to ear I matched his strides, watching him react just the way I wanted him to. “Mm,” I hummed. “..te sientes mucho mejor.” I moaned heavily. The darkness took over again, shutting down any verbal conversation for the rest of this fight to the top of the mountain.

———— ————

Staring at the moon aligned with the stairs I rolled my eyes listening to Andre ramble. He’s been on a hot streak for what seems to be pushing eternity. In reality only a few minutes have lapsed.

“Can you please sit down? Your pacing is unsettling.” I advised him.

“I can’t believe you would even stoop so low to bring Jorden into our problems. I know the testing was hard on you but you can’t place the blame of our downfall on him.”

“I never said Jo was the source of our problems! All I said was that the outcome and the process itself brought me down to a place I had never been before. I have no reason to blame our children for the reason our relationship was severed and I never will. You’re taking my words and running with them trying to make me look like a shit mother and I’m not. I always put our kids first. The reason we’re apart is because of tu y yo! There are no other parties to blame except for us so don’t ever drag anyone into our shit. We made this mess together so we are responsible for cleaning it up!” Standing up to walk around I meddled in my hair only wanting to reflect.

There’s the fight about Gerrard’s initial arrival. That was the first time that Andre accused me of being unfaithful. He hurt me down to the core. I was already battling how to deal with the slander brought to my name and in my place of work. The pain from Gerrard’s doing and the assumption was double what I was expecting.

Exhaling through my nose I picked up my hair, rubbing my scalp. “Dígame, was Gerrard’s first appearance something that stuck around for you? Did you think about that day anytime afterward?” I asked him.

“Sometimes, yeah.” He confessed.

“Why did you do it? I have never understood why you felt the need to question me after our history. I don’t think I’ll ever understand. I’ve never once accused you of anything even at my lowest point so I’m just trying to put the puzzle pieces together here.” As I met his eye I put in a strong effort not to look angry.

Andre’s shoulders fell as he ran his hands over his head. “I just got scared. I had a moment of weakness and took it out on you. I was sorry then for the way I behaved and I’m sorry now. I will forever be sorry.”

“I know. That’s number one. Numbers two, three and so on. Gerrard coming around the second time, the psychos you once called family, Chris… There’s so much heavy shit in your past and in ours as a unit that keeps me up some nights.” Letting my arms fall I crossed them over my chest.

“Are you a-”

Stopping him short I held up my hand swiftly. “I am not angry. I am not sad. I don’t know what I am.”

My shoulders gained weight. I dropped my head to one side feeling my muscles loosen up.

“I have a feeling that I-my mistakes are a part of our downfall. Amongst other things now that I’m diving deep into our past.” He says.

“Que otras cosas? Dígame por favor.”

He claims that all of what I mentioned are the strongest points that broke the very foundation we’ve built. I deny it all. There’s got to be something else that we are missing.

“I owe you my life babe and I know that you hate hearing about my suicide attempt but it’s relevant. That moment in my life will forever be pertinent to many conversations that we share. That memory, despite how painful it is to both of us, plays a key role in why I am the way that I am today. I still don’t see what you see but I do know that I don’t want to lose you.” He resumed the massage on my shoulders, making me feel warm again.

“A little to the right please.” I suggested. He followed orders eliminating all tension in my upper back. “Mira, I don’t take pleasure in giving you the ring back. Deep down I just didn’t feel right wearing such a statement with the way I was feeling. The way that I’m still feeling. I’m not sure how long it will take us to get back to our old ways but I don’t want to lose you either.” I faced him sliding my hands up his chest. “I did not come here to argue and go back and forth. I want to get to the root of the problem hoping that we can find some middle ground and work our way back to normal.” I used him as a place to lay my head.

“Agreed.” He solemnly voiced.

#maree-ff #mareeff #short story #fiction #short reads

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deathonyourtongue · 4 years ago

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Falling Again

Summary: Life is cruel, but the mind is crueler. Pairing: AU!Henry Cavill x OFC Word Count: 5.2K Warnings: Angst. Loads of tears. I apologize in advance. A/N: @luna-aestas requested angst in the same vein as the Welcome Home series, along with some unrequited love. What’s worse than unrequited love? Assuming it’s unrequited. This will probably end up being another series. You’ve been warned.

Everyone told him that the pain would pass with time. That with each day, the wound would scar over and the dull ache in his chest would go away, that things like work and social events would be less awkward, and that even alone time would normalize again.

They were all wrong.

The truth was that it had been five years, and he still felt the pain like a red-hot poker searing through his heart each time he woke to live another day.

The knocking on the door was never loud enough to hide the sound of her sniffles, and though sleep always threatened to drag him back under, it was her soft voice that always made him sit up.

“Papa? I had a nightmare.” Her voice, tear-filled and scared, always broke his heart, and though there were days when he needed an extra moment to hide his own tears, he never denied his daughter entrance.

“Come in, sweetie,” Henry called, barely getting the words out before he heard the knob turning. He watched as she padded in, taking extra care to close the door behind her. With her otter plushie tucked under her arm, she tiptoed to the bed, looking up at her father, fresh tears tracks painting her ruddy cheeks.

“What did you dream about, pumpkin?” He asked, his voice as soft as his daughter’s as he picked her up and lifted her into what had--over time--become her spot. He was shocked when the mere question had her whimpering, her little arms finding his neck and holding on tight as she cried into his shoulder. His face broke into one of sympathy and pain, his heart breaking any time his daughter cried so earnestly.

"We were at the park and I got l-lost! I ran the wh-whole park and f-finally found you, but-but you were a-asleep and wou-wouldn't wake up! J-just like g-grams!" She keened, his shirt soaked with her tears as she shook like a leaf in his arms.

Cradling her head against his chest, Henry smoothed down her hair over and over, his own eyes filling with unshed tears as he realized, in that moment, how much his mother-in-law’s death had affected his little girl. His mother-in-law had been far too young to go, but had lived long enough to become attached at the hip with his daughter. Her death hadn't come as a surprise to either of them, but holding her now, he could tell that his daughter hadn't been given a fair shake at grieving.

He'd taken her to the funeral, not because he thought it was the right thing to do, but because he had no other choice. Babysitters were exorbitant luxuries in NYC, and everyone he knew was either going to be in attendance, or tied up with work. Technically, he couldn't even afford the day off for the funeral, but his boss was self-servingly magnanimous and had paid him time and a half, knowing full well it would put Henry in his pocket for another year. She'd been quiet as a mouse during the ceremony, the eulogies, and the procession to view the body (which he'd left her in her seat for). Even the ride home, he realized, had been a silent one, and for all the grieving he'd done when he thought she wasn't looking, Henry had never seen his daughter so much as throw a tantrum to try and express herself.

Now, holding her as she wailed softly, her grip on him a vice that wouldn't release until she slept, Henry realized that the nightmares she'd been having were her mind's way of processing what had happened, and that, like her father, she was afraid of losing everyone she loved.

Kissing her forehead, Henry tried to think of a way to make her understand that he wasn't going to die the way her grandmother, and her mother both had, but he knew his daughter well enough to know that promising he'd live to a ripe old age wouldn't cut it.

"That sounds like a scary dream, pumpkin, but papa's not going anywhere, okay? Grams was very sick, the kind of sick that only really happens to people that are much, much, older than Papa. Grams was sick for a long, long, time. Ever since you were a baby. Papa just went to the doctor and he said I was in perfect health. I don't want you to worry about Papa falling asleep and not waking up, okay? I’m going to be around for a long, long time. Might even be around when you've got white hair and wrinkles everywhere, okay? Papa works out and eats healthy every day so that I can be around as long as possible. So don't worry, alright? I’m not going anywhere."

Sophia sniffled and whimpered a little more, but finally nodded, understanding what he was saying, even if she didn't 100% believe it quite yet. "I love you, papa," she whispered, giving him a squeeze. He kissed her temple and nodded. "I love you too, sweetheart. More than you'll ever know."

"I won't worry about it unless you go bald like grams or mama," she whispered, the decision one that made her content and relaxed in his arms, Sophia never to know just how much the simple reasoning shattered her father's heart.

Henry waited until she was completely asleep to tip his head up to the ceiling, his own tears silent and desperate as he clung to what little family had left.

There was very little he paid attention to at work aside from work itself. He couldn’t afford distraction; medical bills, funerary costs, utilities, rent, and groceries all required money, and working an entry-level job was barely cutting it, even with mandatory overtime. Still, there was one distraction he couldn’t seem to shake, despite the guilt that came over him each time he realized it was happening again.

His distraction had a name and a devastating smile much like his wife’s. In fact, there was a lot about Zoe that reminded him of his Izzy. At first glance it was hard to see, given the differences in eye color, nose and face shape, but there was something about her mannerisms, her energy, and her kindness that evoked the love of his life. Henry couldn’t help but watch her whenever she came to speak to one of their colleagues, and at lunch they exchanged polite conversation. That was the extent of it, though. Henry knew that a woman like Zoe, a woman who radiated such brightness and joy, would never be with a man like him, a hulled husk ready to be crumbled into dust at any given moment.

There were days however, where even Zoe’s brand of sunshine couldn’t break the storm clouds that seemed to follow Henry wherever he went, days where the world crushed him just that little bit further. As Henry took a seat at his desk, he knew today would be one of those days, if his morning had been any indication.

He had cried himself to sleep, if the heaviness of his eyes was anything to go by, but as the sun crept through the crooked blinds of his bedroom, Henry remembered the events of the night before, and in peeking down, found Sophia pretending to be asleep.

"Rise and shine, pumpkin, it's time for school," he murmured, peppering her face with gentle kisses, Henry angling his head before blowing a small raspberry on the top of her arm.

"Papa, I don't feel good," she said as she swatted his face away, her eyes staying closed--Henry's first indication that she was faking it.

"You don't feel good? Well, let's see," he kept his tone soft and neutral, both of them knowing this game all too well, both intent on playing it anyway. The back of his hand pressed to her forehead before he scooted down to press his ear to her tummy. Coming back up, Henry gave her a half-shrug. "You don't have a fever, and your tummy’s not rumbling...Is it the kind of 'not feeling good' where you just want to stay home?" Fixing her with a soft, 'tell the truth' gaze, Henry waited for her answer.

"I don't wanna go to school. Wanna stay home with you."

"But papa's not staying home, I have to go to work, sweetheart," he tried to reason with her, Henry surprised when, for the second time in less than 24 hours, Sophia’s lower lip started to quiver.

"But I want you to stay home! You're always so tired and so sad, papa! Want you to stay home so we can nap and have tea, and so you can be happy!"

Sophia's reasoning hit him like a truck at an intersection, Henry feeling his heart stop for a few beats while he tried to process what she'd just said. He'd thought he'd always been careful to smile and be upbeat around her, but obviously his little one had the gift of stealth and had caught him in private moments, when he thought she wasn't looking.

"What makes you think Papa's not happy?" he asked, trying to keep his face neutral and his eyes from watering.

"I hear you crying every day, papa! And when you talk to Uncle Dom, you always say about how you're worried about money, and about how bills are piling up. At night, you say mama’s name over and over, like you're having a bad dream."

Tears spilled over as he listened to his six year old be so observant, so astute, and so heartbreakingly no nonsense in her reasoning. Chin falling to his chest, he only managed to hold back his sobs, crying as quietly as he could, because, as seemed to be the case whenever she really watched something and made up her mind about it, Soph was right.

The shrill ring of his cell phone cut through the otherwise-quiet moment, and Henry answered it without looking, not realizing that it was his sister-in-law, Imogen on the other end.

"H-Hello?" he stammered, the grief clearly heard in his voice, even through the shortest word possible.

"Henry? Darling, is everything alright? Nevermind all that, I’ll be over in a jiff."

Wiping his eyes, Henry sighed heavily, getting up to unlock the door to his ramshackle apartment, knowing Gen would be there in less than five. Though it was nice having her and her husband, Dom so close, there were times when Henry wished they lived just a little further up town. Henry hadn't been expecting the hug, but the moment Gen was through the door and her arms were around him, it was all he could do to keep from sobbing.

“Are you certain you’re okay to go into work like this?” Gen asked softly, feeling a sense of dejavu come over her. It was a conversation they’d had often enough, both before and after her sister’s death, and it had yet to end differently. Shoulders shaking, Henry nodded, the words that followed being the opposite of what anyone wanted to hear.

"I d-don't have a choice," he whispered, knowing full well that any slip-up would cost him his job, and that being without income, even for a few days, would spell disaster for his and Sophia's lives.

"Aunt Gen, make him stay home and sleep!" Soph said quietly with urgency in her voice, the little girl knowing how frayed her father was, even if he fought it tooth and nail.

"Soph, sweetheart, Papa has to go to work. It's not like school, I can't miss a day just because I don't feel like coming in," he did his best to explain it to her gently, Henry crouching down, arms outstretched for her.

Reluctantly, she came, and Henry wrapped her up tight, kissing her head over and over. "You're going to have the best time with Aunt Gen. You always do. You'll go shopping and have lunch at her place, or maybe even help her and Aunt Beth make a cake! Or you two could go to the pool, or maybe even go see Uncle Dom at the bookstore. You're going to have loads of fun and before you know it, papa will be there to pick you up."

Though he managed to keep his voice steady, Henry's free hand covered his eyes, the age-old shame he felt as a father who couldn't provide everything his daughter needed and wanted coming back the second he realized he couldn't even give her spending money for anything.

Wiping his eyes hard, he pulled back and fixed his daughter with a beaming smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I want you to tell me all about the fun you had today once we get home, okay? Now, go on, you're wasting time hanging around here with your old gaffer, when you could be having pancakes for breakfast with your favorite auntie."

He winked, Henry’s smile growing just a little more when Soph's eyes lit up. It was rare she got more than a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, as groceries tended to be kept to the cheapest items that provided the most nutritional value possible. If the military had taught him anything, it was how to stretch food, and he did it without even thinking sometimes; without taking into account that a treat here and there would be good for his little girl.

Standing, he went for his wallet, eyes on the floor, jaw clenched, and face burning red with shame as he handed Gen a five, giving up what he'd budgeted for lunch for the week, wanting his daughter to at least have something on her day out with her aunt.

Henry turned immediately so that Gen didn't have the chance to put it back in his hand, moving across the room to grab his phone and call in to Sophia's school, not wanting to get the call later at work, where he wouldn't be able to answer it.

"Hi, Mary, yes, this is Sophia’s father, Henry. Soph's not going to be coming in today. She's feeling rather poorly, so I'm going to keep her home. Okay, thank you. Have a great day," he spoke softly, making silly faces at Soph while talking, grateful to get a silent laugh from her, his daughter knowing better than to jeopardize her day off by giggling loud enough to be heard by the school secretary.

"All right, pumpkin, come ‘ere. You have fun and listen to your auntie okay? No running off, no being a silly monkey in a crowded place. I love you, have fun, and I'll see you tonight," Henry said softly as he hugged Sophia tight, holding on just a little longer than usual and wishing for all the world he could call in.

“You always have a choice,” Gen reminded him, her face holding sympathy for the man who’d single-handedly been responsible for her sister’s happiness, especially in the last few months of her life. “You should stay for dinner. Dom’s making his famous Kitchen Sink Pasta,” she added after a moment, noticing the sallowness of Henry’s skin, how the hollows of his cheeks were becoming more pronounced.

To Gen, Henry and Izzy would forever be soulmates, an insurmountably perfect couple, but her sister’s request that he find someone new after her passing weighed heavier and heavier on Gen’s mind with every passing year. If Heaven did exist, Imogen imagined her sister was tearing her hair out with impatience, or sobbing without end at seeing how life had panned out for her husband after her parting.

"Easy for you to say," Henry murmured, giving Gen a kind smile, not needing to remind her that her situation was far different than his, given her huge family, and the fact that she ran her own business. The more Gen looked at him with sympathy, the more shame he felt, and while he knew she was only trying to do right by him, it only made him feel worse about his circumstances.

"Don't count on me for dinner. Dom's been picking up Soph for a reason. I probably won’t make it out of there until at least nine," he spoke softly and between his teeth, wanting to make it as garbled as possible so that Sophia wouldn't be upset. One look in her eyes however, and Henry knew his daughter had understood every word.

"You two have fun. I'll see you ladies later," Henry smiled, seeing them to the door and watching until they'd disappeared down the stairs before closing and sliding down against the frame, his tears free to fall in privacy.

Connected to her father by an invisible thread that latched her heart to his, Sophia forced Gen to stop midway down the stairs, her ears perked, head tilted towards the general direction of her home.

"Papa's crying again," she stated plainly, her own chin falling to her chest, the softest, saddest little sigh escaping her. "He hasn't been happy in a very, very long time. Wish I could fix him. Wish I could make him stay home, aunt Gen. The only reason I wanted to stay home was to stay with him."

Sniffling, she wiped her eyes, looking up at her aunt with questioning eyes. "Do you think it would be easier for papa if I gave him all the money in my piggy bank? Would he be able to stay home and sleep then? Is there a way that we can make the bills stop coming? Stop them from making papa so worried and sad?"

Gen did her best to keep her face neutral as bent down to hug Sophia tightly, feeling the waves of anguish roll off her. Her heart broke for her niece, knowing the little girl was as empathetic as her father, and that at her age, emotions were always felt more deeply.

“Tell you what, why don’t we go back in there and see if we can’t convince your father to stow away with us one more time? I think he could do with some pancakes as well, don’t you?” Knowing she was pushing her luck, but also knowing Sophia would spend the day withdrawn if she didn’t try, Gen opened the door, hoping once, just once, Henry would say yes.

“So Soph and I decided that you don’t have a choice. You’re coming with us today, for pancakes and books and cake, alright?”

He’d had just enough time to wipe his eyes and stand up by the time the door opened and Sophia ran to him full tilt, hugging him as tight as she could manage for such a little girl.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking up at Gen in concern before her words clicked everything into place. Though he kept a smile on for Sophia, he couldn’t stop from fixing Gen with a look.

"Girls, much as I'd like to join you, I have to go to work. Like I said, pumpkin, I can't just skip a day because I feel like it. Papa's has to go to work." Henry was tender with his daughter, never once wanting to be the one that made her upset, but also needing her to understand that his world didn't work as easily as her's did.

"Give papa just a second to have a word with Aunt Gen, alright? Then you two can get to those pancakes," he nodded, pressing a kiss to each cheek and giving Sophia a squeeze, before motioning for Gen to follow him into his bedroom.

With the door closed and locked behind them, Henry ran a hand through his hair, blowing out a sigh. "I appreciate what you're trying to do. I really do. But I can't skip work, or I'll lose my job. Furthermore, Gen, if I miss a day, I literally can't make rent or groceries this month. I cannot skip today, especially when I’m being paid overtime. I'm sorry, I r-really am, and believe me, this is k-killing me, okay? But I c-can't. So please, don't get her h-hopes up like that. It's not fair--"

Turning his back to Gen, he curled in on himself until he was crouching down, hands covering his head as though it were a bomb drill. Using his forearms to muffle the whimpers, he stayed down there until he felt his composure return. Wiping his eyes with the same ferocity he always did whenever he knew someone had seen him crying, Henry stood up and gave her a gentle smile.

"Please make it a day she'll never forget, okay? Do that for me? Please?"

It wasn't lost on him, in that moment of vulnerability, that he'd yet been able to make it to any of his daughter's events during her first year in kindergarten. None of the little parties, show-and-tells, or anything of that nature had seen him in attendance, but instead, had been graciously covered--and recorded for later viewing--by Dom, who had been mistaken for Sophia's father more than once.

Wracked with guilt and shame over his failings as a parent, Henry looked down at the floor, destroyed through and through. There were a lot of things missing from his life that most took for granted; a couch, Netflix, sometimes electricity. But it was the intangible things that ate him up and made him feel like true scum. Missing Sophia’s events, not picking her up from school every day, and often being too tired to do more than what was absolutely necessary for her when he finally came home, were all things that caused him deep shame and often-sleepless nights.

He waited for Gen to give up, to say she understood, and to leave in order to hopefully give his beloved daughter a day she'd not soon forget, Henry knowing that today, no matter how easy the calls turned out to be, would be hell.

"You were supposed to be here by six, Cavill!!"

Henry's head snapped up when he heard his boss' voice booming down the hall.

"I'm scheduled to start at nine, sir," he replied, trying to maintain his cool as he fumbled with trying to pull his schedule from his desk drawers while putting himself in a code so that calls wouldn’t come in automatically. He was certain his schedule was right and that he hadn’t switched with anyone.

Even as he tore through his papers, a write up sheet was laid on his desk, Henry finding the printout before turning and looking up at Jerry, utterly confused and more than a little appalled.

"You were supposed to start at six, you showed up at nine. You're late, so I'm docking your pay." Henry's eyes hardened as he held up the sheet of paper, handing it to Jerry.

"I was scheduled for nine. I logged in at 8:58 am."

"I wanted you here for six, I told you on Friday. Sign the form and get back on the phones."

Henry tried to wrack his brains for any important conversations he'd had with his boss, anything that could help him defend himself, but nothing came. Friday had been as ordinary as any other day.

Swallowing down the lump in his throat, Henry signed the paper, knowing full well he was giving away half his paycheck and with it, any chance at getting rent paid on time.

Sick to his stomach, he looked at the clock, then at the picture of Sophia he kept tucked in the back of his cubicle. "I'm sorry, pumpkin. Should've just stayed home today," he murmured, wiping at his eyes to keep fresh tears at bay.

By lunch time, Henry was beginning to feel light-headed with hunger. Knowing he’d given his lunch budget to Gen, he settled for a black coffee and took his usual seat, intent on shutting out the world, if only for a few minutes.

“Uh oh, *someone’s had a rough morning,” Zoe grinned as she came in, setting her lunch bag down on the counter before putting the container inside into the microwave to heat. Moving over to where Henry sat slumped over, she rubbed his shoulders gently, surprised when she felt nothing but tension beneath her fingers.

“Everything okay? I heard Jerry muttering in his office all morning about you being late, which I found unusual, given you were here on time.”

“According to him, I should have been here at six. I think he has it out for me, or is planning on letting me go,” Henry answered, finally lifting up his head to look at Zoe. He wasn’t surprised when she gave him a double-take; he knew he looked like roadkill, her expression simply confirmed it.

“Have you been sleeping alright? You look like you could use at least 24 hours’ worth,” She commented softly, Henry scrubbing a hand over his face before taking a sip of his coffee.

“No rest for the wicked, isn’t that the saying? Soph hasn’t been sleeping all that well, so I wake whenever she has a nightmare.” Though it wasn’t the full truth, it wasn’t an outright lie. Henry simply omitted the parts he knew no one at work would care about.

Zoe grimaced in sympathy, getting up and fetching her food before sitting down across from him. Whatever was in the container smelled wonderful, and were it not for the coffee boring a hole in his gut, it would have been pure torture.

“I bet she sleeps snug as a bug in a rug once she’s been comforted though, huh?” Zoe grinned, taking a bite of sauce-covered ravioli with impeccable manners. Like him, Imogen’s family, and Dom, Zoe was a British expat, having come to NYC to fulfill a career in fashion, but having had her dreams detoured instead. Unlike the rest of them, Henry had landed on his ass in the Big Apple, with all his prospects falling through within the first year of him being in the country. He managed to stay afloat until his paperwork was in place, but no matter how often he applied to jobs in his field, nothing ever came through. Then Izzy got sick and the downward spiral began for good.

“That she does,” he agreed, rubbing his face and managing a smile for Zoe’s sake. Finishing his coffee, he allowed himself to daydream for a moment. He only ever allowed himself to think of what a date would be like with Zoe, and it was always the same thing. A bright blue sky, good food, and a trek through one of the city’s smaller and more interesting museums. Nothing more, nothing less. More than anything, he just wanted her company.

“Earth to Henry!” Zoe’s sweet, musical voice brought him back to reality, and looking at her, he couldn’t help but blush. “You were on a different planet. Time to get back to it, sleepyhead,” she mused, tugging one of his curls playfully before letting it spring back up.

“Sorry. Just a zombie today, I s’pose,” Henry answered, looking at his watch and seeing he only had two minutes before he had to be back on the phone.

“I’ll see you later. No falling asleep at your desk, eh?” Zoe grinned, giving him a wink as she stood to wash out her container, her heels clicking on the floor in a way that had Henry momentarily entranced.

Nine o'clock came as quickly as molasses. By the time he’d stamped out, Henry’s vision was blurred, and he was slightly dizzy. He was careful as he walked home, staying closer to the buildings than the car-lined roads, and waiting for the crosswalks to give him the right of way instead of jaywalking like he normally did.

By the time he hit Dom and Gen's block, he was swaying a little, beyond starving. He hoped the goodbyes wouldn't take too long and he and Sophia could be on their way. Dinner would be something quick, easy, and carb-loaded to hopefully keep his roiling stomach from protesting too much.

Taking the stairs slowly, Henry knocked on the door, leaning against the frame and dying to see his little girl.

“PAPA!!!!” Sophie called excitedly, rushing to Henry with the biggest smile on her face. Though she loved her extended family, it was clear that she’d missed him as much as he’d missed her.

"Oh, my sweet, sweet girl. Papa missed you a ton!" Henry grinned, dropping into a squat to hold her close, his body swaying a little at the sudden movement.

“We had so much fun today and I made you dinner and I made cake and Aunt Gen said you can eat here while it’s still hot and I missed you, papa!!” The second part came out in a single, muffled rush of air, a confirmation of the type of day Henry’d hoped she’d had. At hearing about dinner, he pulled back, fixing Soph with a playful, narrow-eyed smile before raising a knowing eyebrow up at Gen.

"Did you now? Did you make it allll by yourself?" he asked, tickling Sophia’s sides, Henry tugging her close once more to press kiss after kiss to her face.

When his legs began to get pins and needles, Henry reluctantly let her go. Standing, he tripped over his own feet, Henry’s swaying combined with his clumsiness making it seem as though he were drunk.

"Everything alright, mate?" Dom asked as Henry finally came in through the door, Dom hugging his brother-in-law a little tighter than normal, concern etched in his features.

"Yeah, yeah, just a very long day. Glad to be back with the munchkin and to apparently have dinner made for me…Gen," Henry spoke the last part with emphasis, shooting her a half-smile and a wink, not in the least mad at her for making him dinner. If anything, he was relieved he wouldn't have to wait until they were home.

He didn't even flinch as Soph crawled up onto his lap as his plate was set in front of him, Henry crooking his finger at Gen before she could leave, a warm kiss pressed to her cheek in thanks.

"Thank you for doing this today. I owe you big time," he murmured, cupping the back of her head for a moment, Henry wanting her to be certain that he meant every word.

“Just remember, you’re not alone in this,” Gen whispered back, her expression tight and filled with an emotion that was both intense and unreadable, a cross between anguish and worry.

“Hands off my wife, pal,” Dom joked to bring some levity to the room, his hands coming down on Henry’s shoulders with a friendly shake. Henry’s mind set out to hurt him, reminding him of the many daydreams of Zoe, of their lunchtime conversations, long enough to make him flinch in his seat, the thoughts feeling like blasphemy.

There was once a time where he’d come back with a quip of his own, something quick-witted to keep the room laughing just a little longer. As it stood however, Dom’s words were just a painful reminder that there was only one married man in the room. Putting on a brave face, Henry managed to look the part, but his voice betrayed him, coming out soft and broken.

“You got a good one, mate, that’s for sure, but I got the angel.”

#henry cavill #henry x ofc #deathonyourtongueoriginals

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maximumjinx · 5 years ago

Text

Ladybug’s Finale Chapter 3

1, 2

Adrien woke up the next morning before daylight, which wasn’t unusual for him. It felt a little lonely without Plagg snuggled next to him (because despite his outward nature the kwami did, in fact, like to cuddle). He had said his good-byes to the black cat after Ladybug swung him to his window, and knew it wouldn’t be for long.

Adrien quietly got dressed, favoring a plain black t-shirt and dark green joggers instead of the usual designer clothing Nathalie would lay out for him. This felt far more comfortable. He wrote a quick note to Nathalie that he would be going to school early for study group, then had Gorilla drop him off at the front steps. The sun just began to rise above the city skyline, and as soon as the coast was clear Adrien began his walk to the address only 3 blocks away.

It...was a massage parlor. Had Ladybug given him the right address? Before he could knock, a small black mass flew through the door and into Adrien’s neck, the door opening moments after.

“Kid, I know it’s necessary but Shelly here doesn’t like to snuggle and I miss that big, fluffy bed of yours.” Plagg whined, already nestling comfortably into Adrien’s hair.

The Guardian smiled kindly from the doorway, a small green kwami looking unamused at Plagg’s antics.

“My name is not Shelly, and you stink of Camembert.” He spoke, small paw over his nose in disgust.

“Now boys, I won’t tolerate bickering.” The Guardian turned, motioning Adrien to come inside. “It’s nice to see you again Chat Noir. Ladybug filled me in when she dropped the black cat miraculous here last night.”

Adrien quietly wandered in, taking in the surroundings.

“Yeah, uh- yes.” Plagg gently nudged his cheek. “I want to be a better Chat Noir, one that can stand by Ladybug’s side with pride.”

“You’ve been having trouble lately?”

“I...got in my own way. I had a lot of feelings that I couldn’t work out, and I put it on Ladybug to deal with them. I see now it wasn’t fair to do that. I don’t want to be a hinderance to her.” She’s probably the only one to really care about me.

Adrien didn’t know what else to say.

“Training is not easy. You will become tired, and sore. More so than you currently are.”

“I still want to do it. I need to.” Adrien was determined, he had managed to skip and get out of extra activities before, and if he’s quite honest, he feels no more motivation to please his father.

“Good.” Master Fu nodded, and brought him to a small room in the back of the parlor. Mats lined the floor, there were staffs, sand bags, and other gym equipment neatly organized on the back wall.

“It is not the training rooms of the temple, but it will do.” Fu walked up to Adrien, hand clasped tightly around something.

“I usually do not tolerate when a holder reveals their identity. It becomes too dangerous.” Adrien held his breath. “You made the choice knowing it could end with the miraculous being taken from you. Yet you are here, making the effort to be worthy of it once again.”

Fu smiled, a glint in his eye. “I knew I picked a good Chat Noir.”

Adrien let out his air in relief. Then stood straighter.

“Please Master, give me everything you’ve got. I have caused Ladybug too much trouble to get off this easily.” He patted Plagg’s head. “I’ve got catching up to do.”

For a 186 year old man, the Guardian was incredibly spritely. Adrien winced, his thighs aching with each step he took up the school steps. The foyer was clear of students, most already in classes as the bell was going to ring any moment. Adrien took his time up the stairs, thoroughly exhausted before the day really began. He entered his classroom just as the bell rang.

The class gave him a confused look. He looked tired, he was in sweats, his hair was messy from Plagg nuzzling in it all morning, and most of all, he completely ignored Lila and her friends in the front row to climb to the last row in the back. He sat next to Marinette, who looked at him with wide eyes, and gave her a small smile while Bustier began class.

He would’ve relished in the reactions more if he didn’t immediately pass out during the first lecture.

He was gently poked awake an hour later.

He opened one eye, Marinette watching him with furrowed brows and a finger still to his cheek.

“It’s only been five minutes into break and everyone keeps staring.”

“Including you, I see.” Adrien grinned, and lifted his head off the desk, stretching. Marinette cheeks flushed for a moment, the hem of his shirt rising just enough to see a sliver of abdomen.

(She may not have the same feelings for Adrien, but she was still human damn it.)

“Why are you sitting back here?” She asked, when he settled.

“Well-”

“Adrien, why are you sitting up there?” Nino called, already making his way up as Bustier left for their small break.

Alya and Lila weren’t far behind. Alya gave Marinette a small smile, but stayed close by Rossi’s side.

“Adrien, I thought you were going to help me with my notes, you know how bad my wrist is!” Lila pouted, rubbing her arm tentatively. The rest of the class watched on, curious to the blonde’s unusual actions.

Adrien only shrugged. He felt sudden relief in not feeling the need to please his father, and in turn not having to please any that he didn’t care for.

“Marinette is my friend, and I wanted her to keep me company. Lila has her hearing issue,” he narrowed his eyes at the girl, but continued on, “so I came to the back. Worked in a nap too, felt nice.”

The class began to murmur.

“That’s not like you dude, you never slack off in school.” Nino looked even more confused. Lila gasped dramatically.

“Is Marinette a bad influence on you Adrien? Just because she's late to class and with schoolwork doesn’t mean you should follow suit!”

Marinette’s stare suddenly dulled, and her lips sealed tightly. Adrien however, wasn’t going to let that slide. Not anymore.

“Marinette is the second best student in this class, right behind Max. She always has been.” Adrien crossed his arms in front of his chest. “She’s selfless, hardworking, and kind. I would appreciate it if you didn’t accuse her of anything otherwise.”

Lila looked as if she had been slapped.

Marinette was trying to not smile.

“I don’t think Lila was trying to accuse Marinette, Adrien.” Alya was quick to defend her.

“I’m just protecting my friends.” He shrugged.

“Am I not your friend, Adrien?” Lila cried, knowing he couldn’t refuse her if he wanted to stay on his father’s good side. Pity for her.

“Nope.” He popped. The class stilled.

“But you guys do shoots together. You hang out all the time.” Alix piped up.

“Yeah, but personally? I’m not her friend, and I don’t want to pretend I am anymore.”

“That isn’t nice Adrien, I thought you were better than that.” Alya snapped. Lila was so shocked she didn’t have time to conjure tears.

Marinette remained silent, looking at the exchange without reaction. Adrien felt fire in the pit of his belly.

“I thought you were better than that too Alya.” He snapped. “I will always be there for my friends. But I won’t extend that kindness to those that hurt them.”

It looked like there may have been more to say, but Ms. Bustier entered and called the class to settle for Algebra.

The trio made their way back to their seats, unsure of what just happened.

“No more high road?” Adrien turned back to the girl next to him, a small smirk on her features. One she’s been holding back.

“Hey I took etiquette classes, however I handle Lila I will do it with class.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” She mused.

“I should have done this sooner. I’m sorry.” Adrien thought back to his talk with Ladybug. “I can’t make it up to you in a day. But I’ll try to everyday until I deserve your friendship.”

She looked back at the teacher, a few notes in her notebook.

“I’ll try not to make it too hard for you.” Marinette glanced back, “but I appreciate the company.”

Adrien felt a flush of relief. He must be more tired and out of shape than he thought, his heart was beating unusually fast.

--TAGLIST--

@shannaro-sakura @uninspired-writer @magic-miraculous @mividaexo @juhavs @salsyy301 @liamnl @reblog-trasher @autumnhunter1 @grimmhallow31 @f0xylegs @amelyhot @marichat00 @peachedpocky @sturchling @elmokingkong @corabeth11 @akana-sama @ephemeral-firefly

#it's short lol sorry #if I missed you in the tags or you wanna be tag just ask! comment tag pls :)#maximumjinx #writing #ml salt #miraculous ladybug #ladybug #chat noir #master fu #tikki #plagg #Lila rossi #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #ml fic #Ladybug's Finale #adrienette

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flameo-hotman · 5 years ago

Note

ZUKKA PROMPT 🔥💧 Zuko fainting and Sokka catching him (they are already a couple). It can be anything. Maybe sickness (he was feeling weird all day for example), maybe stress (maybe because he is already Fire Lord and he has all those meetings), maybe exhaustion (after training with Aang or not sleeping because of Fire Lord duties).

Fire Lords Need Their Rest

“I really hope Zuko’s doing okay,” Sokka sighed as he laid on Appa’s saddle looking up at the sky. “I mean I’ve been gone for-”

“Yeah, a month!” Katara snapped. “It is all you talked about during the solstice. The whole month. Zuko this and Zuko that! Next time just bring him with! I’m more than a little sick of hearing about it!”

Sokka sat up and shouted back, “HEY! You know how Zuko does with the solstice! Fire benders get sick when they don’t have the sun! And it isn’t like I haven’t had to deal with you gushing about YOUR BOYFRIEND endlessly!”

“I’m sorry…” Katara answered looking embarrassed. “I forgot… I shouldn’t have said that. You’re right. You just really miss him, and I hate when I have to be away from Aang.”

“I hate when I have to be away from you too, Katara!” Aang chirped from where he sat steering.

“Oogie!” Sokka groaned before he went back to staring at the sky and worrying about his husband. Was Zuko eating right? Was he getting enough rest? Was he listening to Guards Kenzo and Ming about taking care of himself, like Sokka had instructed Kenzo and Ming to do before he left? Did he remember to let Zuko know that was why their favorite guards were now on him about that stuff?

He thought for a few moments and suddenly recalled the adorable eye roll Zuko had given him when he’d let him know, and Sokka felt himself calm down.

“Hey Aang, how much longer until we get to the palace?”

“Two hours.”

Two Hours Later

Zuko had been in a meeting with General Fong when Ming came and stood at attention with a smile.

“Speak.”

“Fire Lord Zuko, Fire King Sokka has just arrived with Water Tribeswoman Katara and Avatar Aang. They are in the courtyard if you would like to go-”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not done talking with-” The unpleasant Earth Kingdom General began, but Zuko was already on his feet and walking out the door.

He paused in front of a particularly shiny and reflective gold statue in the entryway to fix his hair and robes, before heading out into the courtyard, ignoring the look Ming gave him and setting his eyes on his husband. He smiled for the first time all week.

Katara smiled at him, before pointing to him, saying, “Sokka go say hi to your husband, you dork.”

Sokka’s face lit up with his radiant smile as he rushed to envelop the Fire Lord in his arms, and Zuko was home for the first time all month.

“I missed you too.” Zuko sighed as he returned the hug, choosing to ignore the way the world swayed for a moment. Sokka did not need to know that he hadn’t slept in… How many days? Zuko wasn’t sure. He stopped sleeping again after his uncle had gone back to Ba Sing Se.

Right then General Fong came storming out into the courtyard shouting, “We weren’t done talking about the import tax of geminate candy!”

“Another word before I’m done saying hello to my husband, and I am banning the import of the stupid rock candy,” Zuko growled, before tightening his hold on his husband and inhaling the comforting scent of seawater and a scent that screamed Sokka.

Aang laughed at that, before jumping down from Appa, right as Sokka’s stomach growled.

“Ming, tell General Fong that we will have to reschedule our meeting for after lunch,” Zuko ordered with a smile, as he leaned back in the embrace and looked up at his husband. In the past few years, Sokka had shot up in height and stood taller than most people. Stupid Water Tribe genes, making Sokka into a total pillar of muscle that towered over Zuko.

Zuko loved it. He loved how when he stood next to Sokka, he felt safe. He loved how Sokka’s body curled around him, creating a warm alcove of home and safety. He loved how every inch of Sokka was filled to the brim with love and loyalty. He loved Sokka.

He rocked up onto his toes and rewrapped his arms around his husband’s neck, before pressing a kiss to the man’s lips. Sokka happily returned it, before pressing another to Zuko’s forehead.

“I missed you, Beautiful.”

“I missed you too, Sokka,” Zuko replied, smiling. “Now let’s go get you some food.”

Then Zuko turned to Aang and Katara saying, “You don’t mind if I have a private lunch with-”

“Please do.” Katara interrupted. “I can go get something in the city with Aang. I really do not want to see what a private lunch entails.”

Zuko flushed, but Katara had been absolutely right about the way he planned for his private lunch with his husband to go.

If he had his way, and Zuko knew he would, then he was going to be finding himself thrown onto the table- And oh no… Everything was rapidly swaying, as Sokka let go of him to give his pack to a servant.

“Sokka!” Came the distant sound of Katara shouting, as the ground rushed up to meet the Fire Lord.

—

Sokka had only stepped away from his husband for a few seconds to hand Shoji his pack, when Katara shouted, “Sokka!”

He whipped around to catch his husband, when he’d realized what she was looking at, just in time. Zuko had fainted or passed out, and Sokka already had a fair idea of why. He had known the moment he caught the earthy scent of makeup on his husband, that the man was likely covering up the shadows of exhaustion on his face. However, in his relief at seeing Zuko for the first time in a month, Sokka had been willing to not bring it up until after their lunch, but now it looked like he was going to have to wait until his husband woke up.

“Ming?” Sokka asked, looking at the guard. “When was the last time the Fire Lord slept?”

He wasn’t going to like the answer. He knew he wasn’t. He had never once asked that question and received an answer that had made him smile. This time was no different.

“Counting the nap he took yesterday, during lunch?”

“Naps don’t count.”

“Five or six days ago.”

Sokka sighed and shifted his husband in his arms, so he was carrying him bridal style. Then he nodded at his sister and headed into the palace. He had known leaving his husband to his own devices for a month hadn’t been a good idea, but he had been so excited to join in the Southern Water Tribe’s celebration of the darkest time of the year when Yue’s light filled their days without interruption. However, if Zuko was going to do this every time he was gone, and he did, then Sokka wasn’t going to be able to do this again.

It looked like he was only going to be able to make it work by bringing Zuko with him and staying for the short period of time that Zuko was able to handle without getting moon sickness.

For now, he had to make sure Zuko got his rest and a proper meal.

He was in love with a complete moron.

—

When Zuko woke up, he was in bed and curled up in Sokka’s arms. It took him longer than he would like to admit to realize what had happened. When he did realize, he groaned and curled further into the embrace.

How many people had seen him pass out? Did that awful General Fong see? Would the man try and use it as a sign of weakness and use it to exploit Zuko during their negotiations? How would that beetle roach react, when Fire Lord Zuko refused to allow it to be a way to manipulate him?

“I can hear your brain thinking way too hard, Babe.” Sokka sighed, as he let go of Zuko and sat up to grab something off of his nightstand. That something turned out to be food.

Zuko sat up as well now, and his stomach gave a growl of hunger. How long had it been since he had a proper meal and not just bites of food between meetings?

Sokka held out a piece of mango to his mouth, and Zuko looked up from the offered food and at his husband.

“You obviously aren’t responsible enough to feed yourself, if the palace staff’s report is anything to go by, so I’ve decided that making sure you eat is now my job.” Sokka joked with a loving smile, and Zuko accepted the food.

He made eye contact with the Water Tribesman, as he wrapped his lips around the fingers that held the mango chunk, and felt a fierce sense of pride at the way that smile fell and became something sinful. If Sokka insisted on feeding him by hand, then Zuko was determined to make it into a game of how many bites of food did it take to break the man’s control.

He was sure this game would leave them both very satisfied.

He licked away the juice that dampened his lips before practically purring, “Of course. Thank you for being equipped to take care of my needs, my love.”

It didn’t take much more than that and meeting Sokka’s wide eyes with his own fiery gaze to break him.

Round one of this game had left them both extremely satisfied.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22462120/chapters/54249058

#flameo-hotman #atla #zukka #zuko #sokka #zukka prompt #prompt #ask #Anonymous #ask the hotman

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thetravelerwrites · 5 years ago

Text

Cetzu (Part 3)

Rating: Teen Relationship: Male Changeling/Human Woman Additional Tags: Exophilia, Lizardfolk, Changeling, Interspecies Romance, Monster Boyfriend Content Warnings: Assault, Bandits, Injury, Field Surgery, Blood, Poisoning Words: 5201

Part 3 of 5 generously commissioned by @ivymemnoch! After exchanging letters for a few months, Cetzu and the reader make another trip to Coleville, selling the reader's father's furniture and spending time with the children of the orphanage. On the way home, however, the two are attacked by highwaymen that leaves Cetzu injured, and the reader learns an important secret about him. Please reblog and leave feedback!

The Traveler's Masterlist

The first letter came a mere three days after you returned home.

How are you?

Planting is still going on, though the family finished most of it while I was away. Mother was happy that so many people liked my carvings, and Father was proud of what I did with the money. They’ve given me time off of planting to carve more things for the next time you call upon me.

My niece, nephews, and younger siblings were delighted to hear about the festival and are dying to go to one. Convincing my parents and theirs might be tricky, but do you think we might be able to bring them next year? Or maybe we can start one Willowridge and take them to that. What do you think?

Your friend, Cetzu

Next year? Was he planning to stick with this job that long? The thought made your heart flutter in your chest.

You wrote back:

Cetzu,

That would be a lot of fun! I don’t have much experience with kids, but I imagine they would have a wonderful time, as long as it doesn’t interfere with business.

I still have the ornament that you put in my hair the night of the festival. I’m sorry I forgot to give back, but I’ve enclosed it in the letter. I’m hoping it makes it to you without breaking in the post. I’ve wrapped it in velveteen, but there’s no telling how gentle letter carriers might be.

What new things are you carving? Dad’s doing his old staples. I keep telling him he should try new things, but he’s set in his ways. Perhaps you could teach him some new things, if you’d like to visit. I’m not a great cook, but at least I can roast a chicken without burning it.

I eagerly await your reply.

The next letter came within five days, and the hair fork was inside it, unbroken.

Keep it. To repay you for the performance. I greatly enjoyed your dancing and look forward to seeing it again. The ornament looks best on you anyway.

I would love to visit. That is, if you were serious about the offer. If you’d really like me to come by, send me a response and I’ll visit on the first Thursday after the next full moon.

You sent a reply telling him to come, and waited.

The Thursday of his visit, you woke up before dawn in a nervous titter and bustled around the house, cleaning whatever there was to clean, which was mostly sawdust and wood shavings. Your dad woke up a few hours later, looking around the house with a quirked eyebrow.

“Who’s coming?” He asked as you handed him his bowl of oatmeal.

“I told, you Daddy, Cetzu’s coming,” You replied, making him sit so he didn’t try to eat standing and spill all over the ground you had just polished.

He squinted in confusion. “The bodyguard?”

“Yeah,” You said.

“But I haven’t finished the work yet,” He said, taking a bite of his breakfast. “I’ve only completed two tables and a sitting room set.”

“I know,” You said, busy dusting the shelves. “He’s just visiting.”

“Huh,” Your father said, and you turned to look at him. He had a funny, suspicious look on his face.

“What?” You asked him innocently.

“Why are you cleaning for your hired guard like the queen is visiting?” He asked slowly.

You scoffed. “Is it a crime to want the place to look nice for company?”

He snickered. “Does that lizard fellow have a thing against shirts?”

“Dad,” You said sternly. “Please don’t be inappropriate while he’s here.”

“I’m not being inappropriate, I’m just contemplating my only daughter traveling alone with a meaty, muscly man who doesn’t believe in shirts,” He teased.

“Dad, I’m serious, he’s really shy. Do not embarrass him while he’s here or he might quit!”

“Oh, we wouldn’t want that, now, would we, dear?” Your father said, giggling into his coffee. “You might have to hire someone who wears more clothing. What a terrible fate that would be.”

“Be off with you!” You said through gritted teeth, flicking a dish towel at him. He escaped to his workshop with his breakfast, chuckling. Your father’s glee at your discomfort did nothing to quell your nerves.

Finally, around midday, Cetzu stepped out of the forest and onto the pathway leading to the house. You had been watching at the window like a creep when you saw him, and you rushed to the door to let him in as soon as you saw him, but you stopped just short of opening it.

Don’t seem so eager, you told yourself. You waited for him to knock before opening the door.

“Hello again!” He said brightly. “I’ve brought something.” He lifted a bag and gave it to you. “I figure if you’ll be cooking, it’s only proper to provide the food. Fair trade.”

You looked in and saw two pheasants, freshly killed, likely hunted by Cetzu on his way to your house.

“You didn’t have to do this!” You said, though you were pleased. You hadn’t had pheasant in a long while.

“It’s to thank you for inviting me. Believe it or not, I’ve never been invited to someone else’s house before. At least, someone who wasn’t family.”

“Well, I’m happy to have you,” You said, stepping back. “Come in, come in!”

He stepped inside cautiously and looked around your modest home. “It’s cozy.”

“You can say small, it’s alright,” You said with a laugh.

“No, really, I mean cozy,” He said. “It feels warm here.”

“Well, thank you,” You replied. “Dad’s in his workshop. Maybe you guys could shop-talk a little while I prepare the birds to cook.”

“Sure,” He said, and he followed you out to the shop.

Your father was working on upholstering an armchair when the two of you walked in.

“Hey, there,” He said, hammering in a finishing nail. “Good to see you again, young man.”

“You as well, sir,” Cetzu said, offering his hand.

Your dad stood and took it. “So you’re a woodcarver too, eh son?”

“Yes, sir,” Cetzu replied.

“Well, show me what you can do,” He said. “My daughter’s always saying my pieces could be flashier. She says your work is beautiful. Maybe you could show me a thing or two.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t presume such a thing, sir,” Cetzu insisted.

“Even still, let’s see you at work,” Your father said, showing Cetzu an unfinished end table and his tools. “You’re free to use what you like, just don’t break anything, you bruiser.”

Cetzu chuckled. “I won’t, sir.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then, while I get lunch started,” You said, enjoying the sight of your dad and Cetzu working together.

As you walked past, your father whispered, “Should I lend him a shirt, or do you think it would even fit him?”

“Behave!” You hissed, and exited the workshop.

After cleaning the pheasants and rubbing them down with butter and herbs, you put them on a roasting spit and laid it over a slow-rolling fire. As they cooked, you’d check on your father and Cetzu periodically, sitting to watch them work. By the time the pheasants had cooked through, Cetzu had taught your father how to carve a basic rose design in the wood, and had finished sanding and varnishing the end table in record time. It was the first time your father’s furniture had any sort of embellishment on it. It was a simple flourish, but pretty and eye catching. You already knew it would sell for twice what you normally charged.

Lunch was a festive affair, and the three of you laughed over food and wine and told silly tales of your families. Cetzu was careful not to ask questions about your mother, and you and your father were careful not to ask about Cetzu’s birth family. There was a mutual understanding that certain topics were off-limits, and those limits were respected.

After lunch, your father went to take his afternoon nap, leaving you and Cetzu alone.

“I need to go into town to pick up some lumber from the woodcarver,” You told him. “Would you come with me?”

“Of course,” Cetzu said. “I’ll get Jackdaw hitched up for you.”

“Thanks,” You said. He smiled in a way that made your stomach flutter before stepping outside.

The ride to town was quiet, but it was a comfortable silence. You didn’t feel the need to speak if you had nothing to say, and you felt he was a similar type of person. He helped you load the wood from the woodcutter without being asked and was happy to wait as you negotiated prices for both the wood and for some items he’d ordered from your dad. The return trip was made up of casual conversation.

All too soon, you were home again, and the sun was low in the sky. Cetzu sighed sadly.

“I should start heading home,” He said.

“This late?” You asked. “It’s a full day to get to your house from here.”

“Going by roads, yes. The forest is much quicker. I’ll be home before the moon rises if I’m quick, especially if I take the river. I’m a good swimmer.”

“Oh,” You replied. “Well, then, I’ll see you again before too long. And there’s always the letters.”

“Yes,” He said. “I’ll write soon.” He took your hand and kissed it again, and before you could speak, he turned and dashed into the woods.

Two months and a dozen letters later, your father had made enough merchandise for you to go out to sell again, so you sent a missive to Cetzu to let him know you were ready for another trip. He appeared at your home within a day carrying his trunk strapped to his back. You were overjoyed to see him, but you did your best to hide it.

“Are we going back to Coleville?” He asked.

“Yes,” You replied as you handed him your travel bag to load into the wagon. “Do you have more things to sell?”

“No, nothing to sell this time,” He said. “I made toys for the children.”

You had to hide your face with your hair for a moment. Why is he trying to make my heart explode?! You thought to yourself.

On the way to Coleville, he told you that a friend of the family was pregnant again, a blacksmith that lived in a sanctuary village for people who’d run away from enslavement and forced marriages. She was technically still married to the orc who kidnapped her, but was living happily with her father and the orc who rescued her. The story Cetzu told of her abduction, escape, and time spent under the protection of his family was equal parts terrifying and heartwarming. You began to understand a little better not only what kind of family Cetzu belonged to, but how Cetzu had grown into the man he was.

You arrived the next day in Coleville late in the afternoon, too late to set up your stall, so Cetzu eagerly asked if he could deliver the toys to the children.

They were out in the yard again as the two of you approached, Cetzu’s trunk up on his shoulder. There were nine children running around, two more than last time, but you noticed many of them had new clothes on. They waved when they saw you and Cetzu, running up to the fence to greet you both.

“You’re back!” One of the girls said. “Can we play chase again?”

“If you’d like to,” Cetzu said. “But I have presents. Would you like those first?”

There was a chorus of excited voices as the matron of the orphanage came out to see was the ruckus was.

“What is all this-- Sir!” She said in delighted surprise. “Welcome back! You’ll be please to know I’ve put your donation to good use.”

“I can see,” Cetzu said, smiling. “May I ask your name? I regret I did not do so when last we spoke.”

“I am Mother Anne,” the matron replied. “And may I ask yours?”

“Uh…” Cetzu faltered for a moment, much to your confusion.

“It’s Cetzu!” One of the children said. “I heard the lady say it.” He pointed at you.

“That’s right,” You replied with a grin.

“What brings you back?” Mother Anne asked.

“I’ve come with gifts for the children. Toys I made,” Cetzu said.

“How wonderful!” She said. “Come inside, children. Go to the classroom and sit in the circle politely.”

You began to follow them in, but Cetzu stayed where he was, kicking the ground.

“Why are you waiting?” You asked him.

“I have to be invited inside,” He said in a low whisper.

“Well, come on in, then,” You replied in confusion, waving toward the door.

“That won’t work,” He said, avoiding your eye. “You don’t live here.”

Before you could ask more questions, one of the children ran back to the door. “Come on, Cetzu! Come in!”

With a sigh of relief, Cetzu stepped into the building, leaving you trailing behind him, feeling baffled. Despite how much the two of you had corresponded over the last couple of months, you realized there was still much you didn’t know about him.

The classroom, you realize, was more of a multipurpose room. The desks were lined against the wall as they were not in use currently, though your expert eye could tell they needed some repair and polishing, and the floor of the room was empty and clean. There was a box in the back with old and poorly crafted toys, many broken and seemed to be communal. The children didn’t seem to have toys that belonged to them. You got the feeling there wasn’t much at all that belonged to them.

“Alright, children,” Mother Anne said, clapping her hands. “Sit in a line and I will call you up to choose a toy.”

The children did as they were told, sitting cross-legged side by side in jittery anticipation. Cetzu set his trunk down heavily and knelt next to it. You leaned against the wall, watching with a smile.

“Toby,” Mother Anne said. A human boy of perhaps seven came up and looked into the trunk. He chose a wolf carved of hickory. The next was a lizardfolk girl, who chose an alligator made of walnut. Each child came up and chose a toy, except for the last one. You couldn’t determine the child’s gender, and they were pale in all respects; skin, hair, eyes. They refused to come up when their name was called.

“Beryn,” Mother Anne said in a strained voice. “Don’t be rude. Come and get your toy.”

“I can’t,” Beryn said, shaking their head. “There are rules. I would owe him something.”

“It’s a gift,” You said, confused. “You don’t own anything for gifts.”

“There are no such things as true gifts,” Beryn replied resolutely. “Everything comes with a price.”

Cetzu walked forward and crouched down in front of Beryn, looking them over carefully.

“You’re fae, aren’t you?”

To your surprise, Beryn nodded. Ah. Now you understood. The fae took gifts and debts very seriously.

Cetzu went back and pulled out a cleverly carved doll in the shape of an elf. “How’s this?” Cetzu said, coming to squat in front of the child again. “Tell me a secret, and we’ll call it even. If you tell me a secret, then I’ll owe you something in return, and you’ll have earned the doll.” He turned his head and bent it down. “Whisper it in my ear.”

Beryn gave him a suspicious frown, but leaned forward and whispered into his ear.

“Oh, that is a good one,” Cetzu said with a smile. “Well, then, I think you’re due this. My debt is repaid.”

Beryn gave a tentative smile as they took the doll from Cetzu’s hands, clutching it to their chest.

Each child had a brand new toy, and Cetzu took the extras out of the trunk and placed them in the toybox at the back of the room.

“Can we play chase now?” One of the children asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Mother Anne said, to the groans off all the children. “It’s time for supper. Put your new toys on your beds and go wash.”

“I’ll be here for the next few days,” Cetzu reassured them. “So I’m sure I’ll have the chance to come by and play.”

The kids perked up at that, and they did as they were told without complaint. A couple even hugged Cetzu as they left, Beryn included.

“You’re so good with kids,” You said as he walked you back to the wagon, which was parked near the inn like last time.

“Many siblings,” He said. “I’m older than a lot of them, so I helped my parents with them. Then there’s also my niece, nephews, and friends’ children, who visit often. I’ve got a lot of experience.”

“Does it bother you that you have so many?” You asked.

“No, no, not at all,” He replied with a smile. “I love having a big family.”

“I think I would have liked a sibling,” You told him contemplatively. “It was just me and my parents for a long time. Now it’s just me and Dad. I love Dad, but it can be boring when he’s in his workshop all day.”

“Don’t you have friends in the town you live near?” He asked.

“No, not really,” You replied. “People think I’m the weird girl who lives in the woods. I wouldn’t be surprised if people think I dance naked with fairies at midnight and make potions out of animals or some nonsense.”

He snorted. “Still, seems…”

“Lonely.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I have a friend now,” You said, smiling up at him.

He smiled back down at you. “You do.”

Like last time, he had brought food with him, so he didn’t need to buy any, and like last time, he insisted on sleeping in the wagon instead in a room of the inn.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” He said. “It’s what you hired me for.”

You eyed him suspiciously, just as Beryn did. You wondered if this was another of the off-limits topics.

The next few days went off without a hitch. The new rose design your dad had learned, while it may have been a little monotonous after a while, made it look to the untrained eye as a limited edition set, so they were quite popular, and you were sold out by the end of the second day.

Cetzu made it a point to spend time with the children of the orphanage as much as he could, playing with them and giving them rides on his shoulders. It was obvious they were starved for attention; Mother Anne clearly cared for them, but she was in her elder years and there was only so much she could do alone.

You left at dawn the next day with a heavy purse and an empty wagon, happy with your outing. Cetzu was also in good spirits, happy to be returning home. As much as he liked this job, he did get a bit homesick after the first day.

Around midday, Cetzu jumped into the back of the wagon to retrieve some food and water for lunch, and while was back there out of sight, a human man emerged from the forest and waved you down.

“Hullo, there!” He called. “Could use some help, if you wouldn’t mind, darlin’.”

You bristled immediately from being called “darlin’” by a stranger, but you slowed Jackdaw to a stop. “What sort of help?”

“My horse broke a leg and has fallen,” The man said. “I could use a ride to Shoreside.”

“I’m afraid I’m not going that way, sir,” You told him, wondering where the horse was. “The farthest I could bring you is Willowridge.”

The man tsked. “That’s not going to work. Do you have any money?”

“I’m sorry?” You asked, taken aback.

“Your money,” He said, his voice changing. A bow appeared in his hands, and he pulled an arrow from a hidden quiver behind his back. “Give me your money.”

Just as you felt panic rise up in your chest, Cetzu stepped back through the flap, food in hand, and asked, “Why have we stopped?”

You pointed wordlessly, and he saw the man and his weapon pointed up and aimed at you.

“Lads, need help!” The man called, and three other human men wandered out of the forest, all armed, though the only one with a bow and arrows was the man taking point. The rest were armed with daggers and short swords.

For the first time since you met him, Cetzu’s face became something nightmarish. He dropped the food down on the driver’s box and straightened to his full, immense height, a low, guttural snarl issuing from his throat, his teeth bared. The claws on his hands appeared to grow longer and curve further. Cetzu took a deep breath and roared, long and loud, his teeth and claws on full display. His muscles rippled and he crouched into an attack stance.

It was a display of raw power you had never seen before and it made Jackdaw step nervously and your heart skip a beat in reflexive terror.

It seems you weren’t the only one, though. One of the men dropped his knife and took off into the woods, clearly not up to the task of fighting a seven foot wall of muscles and sharp edges. The other three faltered back a step, but stayed put.

Cetzu grabbed you and pushed you roughly into the back of the wagon. Perhaps startled by the sudden movement, the man with the bow let fly an arrow, catching Cetzu in the shoulder. Cetzu roared again and leapt off of the wagon, barreling down on the men. Another of the three broke off and dashed into the woods. Cetzu ripped the arrow from his shoulder and flung it away, slashing his claws at the man with the short sword, sending a spray of blood through the air. The man gurgled and fell to the ground, unmoving.

Cetzu turned on the bowman, taking the bow and snapping it in his hand. Cetzu’s fist curled around the man’s neck and he held him a food off the ground, snarling in his face. In your terror, you flung yourself out of the wagon and grabbed Cetzu by his other arm.

“Let him go, Cetzu!” You yelled. “He’s just a dirty thief!”

“He would have killed you!” Cetzu growled.

“He’s not worth killing,” You reasoned. “Let him go.”

With reluctance, Cetzu released him, and the bowman lay still on the ground, unconscious, but he was still breathing.

Cetzu wheezed and stumbled backward, the rush of adrenaline wearing off and he was aware of the wound on his shoulder. To your shock, he fell at your feet, the wound sizzling as if the arrow had been on fire. You leaned him up against the wagon and he groaned in pain.

“The arrowhead,” Cetzu said through gritted teeth. “It snapped off. It’s still in my shoulder. Please get it out! It’s burning me!”

His scales functioned similarly to light armor and slowed the momentum of the arrow, so it wasn’t as deep as if it had been through soft flesh, but the wound was small and the arrowhead was not visible to your eye.

“How?!” You asked desperately.

“There’s a flint knife in my trunk. Get it, please! Hurry!”

You left Cetzu’s side and jumped up into the wagon, riffling through his mostly empty trunk until you found a small scabbard. You pulled out the knife and hopped down next to Cetzu, who was writhing and hissing in pain.

“Please, get it out,” He gasped.

“Oh, gods,” You breathed. “Just… just hold still. I have no idea what I’m doing…”

“Just try, please. I feel like I’m dying,” He said through a wince.

“Alright… be still…” You said, readying the knife over the wound where the arrowhead was embedded. “Gods help me…”

You felt with your finger first to see if you could find it, but you couldn’t feel it, so you sliced the wound open wider to get more fingers in. He cried out in pain and did his best not to move or tense up, which would make the process harder.

You noticed that the scales around the wound were greying and flaking off, as if dying. There was some kind of pus leaking from the wound, as well. How could it be infected so quickly?! Less than a minute had passed since he’d been shot.

“I killed a man,” Cetzu whispered, tears of pain, shock, and remorse coursing down his cheek. “I… I didn’t mean to… but I killed him…” He looked over at the man laying still on the ground, eyes open but unseeing, his blood painting the dirt of the road.

“Stay with me, Cetzu, look at me. It’s going to be alright,” You told him with zero confidence.

It was messy work, and ten minutes in, up to your wrists in his blue blood, you finally managed to extract the arrowhead. It seemed to be disintegrating, turning green and crumbling in your hand. You dropped it hurriedly, but removing it did nothing to relieve Cetzu’s distress.

“You have to rinse it out. It’s poisoning me.”

“The arrow was poisoned?” You asked in alarm.

“No,” He wheezed. “It’s iron. There are particles left. You have to clean it out.”

“Alright,” You snatched your waterskin from the floor of the driver’s box and squirted the water in, hoping you were cleaning it out properly. “What now?” You asked him.

He was breathing heavily, but manage to stand. “Get me home. My mother and one of my sisters are healers. They can help. Just get me home. I need to go home.”

“Lie down in the back and we’ll be off,” You told him, helping him up into the wagon. He obeyed dutifully and you snapped Jackdaw to a run.

It was hours before you pulled up in the yard of Cetzu’s home. The urgency of Jackdaw’s movement drew several of his family members out of the house and onto the porch to see what the hurry was about.

“What happened?” Ryel asked.

“He was shot with an iron arrow,” You told her, showing her where Cetzu lay, unconscious and breathing hard.

“How long ago?” She asked.

“Hours,” You replied. “Midday.”

“Lymera!” She called back to the house. “Boys! Help me with your brother! He’s injured!”

The small army that was his family charged out of the house, gingerly lifting their brother and taking him inside to be treated. Lymera, the faun, was shrugging on a healer’s apron and began barking orders to the others.

“Are you hurt, dear?” Ryel asked.

“No, no, I’m fine,” You said.

“Then why are you crying?” She asked, wiping your cheeks.

You couldn’t answer. You weren’t even aware you had been crying.

“I’m fine,” You repeated. “Worry about Cetzu. I’ll be fine.”

Since there was nothing to do but worry, you decided to unhitch Jackdaw and give him a good wash and brushing down. He was sweating heavily and panting from the long dash to the farmhouse. Horses don’t run forever; you could only run him for twenty minutes at a time before making yourself slow him for a rest, otherwise he’d have run himself to death.

After Jackdaw was taken care off, you went to your wagon and cleaned up the blood and residue from the iron poisoning. The process was slowed by having to clean up the tears that fell. They wouldn’t seem to stop.

“Are you in there?” You heard from the back. You turned and saw Declan furry, quizzical face looking into the wagon.

“Oh,” You said, sniffling and wiping your face. “Yes, sir. How’s Cetzu?”

“He’s resting. Thankfully, the poison hadn’t gotten far into his system and his mother and sister have him well in hand.” He offered one of his leathery arms and helped you down. “Don’t fret, little love. He’ll be alright. He woke up long enough to ask about you.”

“Me?” You asked in surprise. “Why?”

“He worries for you,” Declan said, walking you into the house. “You are his dearest friend.”

You snickered, despite the atmosphere of worry. “I’m his only friend.”

“Even so,” Declan replied. “He talks about you often.”

“What does he say?”

“Oh, that wouldn’t be proper, would it? Those are his secrets to keep,” Declan said in good humor. His puppy-like smile faded. “I assume you’ve deduced what he is by now, though he has the appearance of a man of lizardfolk lineage.”

You sobered even more. “Yes. He’s fae, or at least part fae.”

Declan nodded. “It’s a fact about himself he keeps secret from people. Only the family knows about it. Not even close friends are aware of his heritage, by his own wishes. He was a changeling child, naturally born to the fae, traded for a human babe, and tossed aside by the human parents. Twice abandoned.”

“Gods. No wonder he has such strong feelings about family,” You replied.

“Yes,” Declan agreed. “He fights against his heritage as much as he can. The fae are morally grey creatures by nature, delighting in tricking and misleading mortal folk. The tradition of the changeling is one of those tricks. Cetzu has always hated that his people valued a prank more than their own child. At the same time, he’s terrified that they may come back for him and try to return him to the Otherworld, now that he’s part of a family and happy. The stress eats at him.”

“Poor thing,” You said, clutching a hand to your heart.

“Indeed,” Declan said. “He was the second child we took in, you know, after Soraya, and one of the few we raised from a babe. He was but a few weeks old when we received him. A friend of the family found him crying out on the edge of his territory and brought him to us. We also thought he was a lizardfolk baby until we noticed odd things happening. Fresh milk spoiling, sturdy things breaking, that sort of thing. He couldn’t control it when he was little, but he does his best to suppress his magic as a grown man. In fact, he took up carving as a way to offset the damage. He’s a strong believer in balance. All fae are, in their way.”

“Names, debts, secrets,” You mused. “Where one is welcomed and where one is not.”

“Just so,” Declan agreed and sighed.

The two of you had stopped in front of a guest room where Cetzu had been laid out on a cot, covered by a blanket. He was resting, as Declan said, but you couldn’t help thinking that he must be cold.

“One good thing about his fae blood is that he heals quickly,” Declan reassured you. “Stay with us for a few days. He’ll want you to be here when he wakes.”

With a pit in your stomach and a cold worry in your mind, you nodded.

Since my work is no longer searchable, please do me a favor and reblog this story if you enjoyed it. Help me reach a wider audience!To help me continue creating, please consider buying me a Kofi, becoming a Patron, or donating directly to my PayPal!

Thanks for reading!

My Masterlist

The Exophilia Creator’s Masterlist

#Exophilia #Reader Insert #male monster/female reader #Fae #Changeling #Lizarkfolk #Reptilian

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choco-glow · 4 years ago

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Dance With Me Pt. 1

Traveling over the Nibel mountains, past the heartache of five years ago, the death, the destruction wrought so callously…Tifa never wanted to see those mountains again. She was glad they’d met Vincent, found a formidable ally in the dour gunslinger and his hatred for Hojo, for Shin-Ra…But she hated those mountains with a passion. She was glad when they came out of the last tunnel to find that the clouds that had been dogging their journey since Gongaga had finally broken up, sunshine pouring down richly on the northwestern coastline. The scrub-forest that had filled the mountains faded here, leading to rolling grasslands that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Green grasses, a green as bright as any materia, and full of wildflowers, Tifa paused to breathe in the aromas of a thousand blossoms, Aerith doing the same next to her. The grasses mimicked the sea, waves of soft greens and silver rolling gently over the plains under the sunshine, and for a moment, Tifa forgot about Midgar, Shin-Ra, everything… Even Cloud looked a little stunned; small wonder, they hadn’t seen this much…well, life in far, far too long, save for Aerith’s home in Sector Five. This was glorious though, and it was Barret’s voice, soft and full of longing, that brought them all back. Even Red’s eyes were closed, drinking in the aromas, and Tifa imagined that he was remembering Cosmo Canyon.

“…I could stare at this for hours…but we gotta keep goin’, guys. Sorry…” He murmured, and of all people, it was Cloud who patted his shoulder, shaking himself.

“Nah, you’re right…this is just…this is really gorgeous. Rocket Town shouldn’t be too far away; we can restock there, I think. I don’t see a reactor, which is just a plus at this point.”

“We can, I’ve had traders from Rocket Town come through Nibelheim in the past…” Vincent’s voice, dark and quiet, nonetheless carried, and Yuffie gave him a raised eyebrow, one he met with one of his own. It was rare to see him speak up, and Tifa gave him a faint smile, encouraged when he smiled back, just a tiny quirk of his lips, but it was there, nonetheless, and despite his cool demeanor, he was noticeably friendlier now that they were out of the mountains. Small wonder, given the horrors he suffered; I think being down here on the plains is healing for everyone.

“I thought you stuck to the mansion, Spooky.”

“Not as often as you might think, though I did stay there more than I would have liked. I do know this area, for all that it’s been so long; we can cut right across the plains.” He stared her down, clearly unamused by the nickname, and Yuffie threw her hands up with a sigh.

“Fine, fine…I’ll take point, but I doubt anyone or anything will bug us…” She muttered, stomping into the grasses almost as tall as the ninja herself, and the rest of AVALANCHE followed, taking their time and basking in the sunshine. There was a cool breeze off the coast, much to Tifa’s relief, and the grasses were soft and velvety, rather than saw-edged like some of the places they’d visited. The sun wasn’t too hot here, either, and with fluttery white clouds passing over, there were little patches of shade. The path was clearly a walking trail, well kept with gravel that crunched under their boots and kept free of overgrowth.

Lunchtime found them in a small creek hollow with a few willow trees overhead, a welcome bounty of shade after the trek, because even Tifa was feeling warm, and Vincent looked positively exhausted. The only ones who still looked fresh were Red and Cloud, who looked the most content that Tifa had seen him in years. They settled at the base of a gnarled, ancient willow and worked through the jerky and journey bread without a fire, taking time to test the water before everyone refilled their canteens. This close to the mountains, Tifa was glad to see that most of this was glacial runoff, which meant only one purifying tablet was needed to keep them safe.

Tifa was surprised by the quiet; no one really felt like talking, but there again too, they were all exhausted, and so she settled back in the sunshine with Aerith to nap for a little bit while the boys took care of the water. When Yuffie woke them half an hour later, Tifa felt a little more revived, and Aerith looked positively energetic, and so, they continued on. Yuffie found a road soon enough, and that made their trek to Rocket Town even faster. By the time the sun was heading into the west, they had arrived, and to their surprise, the ‘town’ was…well, less a town, more a tiny, bustling market and a sprawling Shin-Ra tourism base.

The tourists looked wealthy but somewhat vapid, and Tifa breathed a sigh of relief, because no one looked askance at them, nor did anyone challenge them for coming off the road. And they weren’t the only travelers by foot, so that helped them blend in…even Barret was keeping his head down, and Cloud had quietly removed his more obvious SOLDIER gear and stowed it in his pack, looking like a true merc with his sunglasses hiding his glowing green-blue eyes.

However, just from what Tifa could see, the base itself was clearly focused on the enormous rocket and launch pad, with technicians and engineers scuttling all over both like busy bees. Cloud was eyeing them curiously, and so the group decided to split up to get intel. Vincent and Cloud headed towards the rocket, while Barret and Aerith hit the market, Yuffie vanished with Red and Cait Sith, and with a sigh of relief, Tifa started towards the main part of town. The town itself wasn’t big, of course, but it was definitely well established, with three large dorms for the Shin-Ra techs, and a group of well-built houses that led to the main square.

There stood the largest house in town, a manor house, by the looks of things, that had clearly seen better days…But it was in good repair, with a sturdy wrought iron fence, soft blue clapboards the color of the sky, and bright white trim, clearly freshly painted. The garden wasn’t in bad shape either, if a little sparse, but the wild dusty pink roses growing over an old trellis were clearly trimmed back, and sea-irises, a trademark of this area, bloomed in bright teal and pink clusters with their long silver-green leaves all around the house, and to Tifa’s surprise, the yard was clover, rather than grass; the hardy coastal groundcover probably never needed mowing.

A sign at the fence read “Mayor’s House”, and since she still hadn’t seen an inn or a hostel anywhere, Tifa steeled her nerves and opened the gate, making her way across the flagstones to the huge wraparound porch, admiring the tall windows with their half-moon transoms and the lovely set of double doors in front, inset with stained glass in every shade of blue to form fantastical birds. With a deep breath, she raised a fist and knocked sharply on the white-painted wood, stepping back and clasping her hands together before her. Please let the Mayor be kind…

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’, hold yer horses…” A loud male voice, raspy and with a heavy drawl, sounded from inside through the propped open transoms above the front windows, and the door swung open, revealing the owner to be a shirtless, tanned, handsome blond man with an unlit cigarette between his lips and goggles holding his shaggy hair back. He froze, blue eyes widening, and Tifa couldn’t help but stare. In admiration; he was taller than her, though not as tall as Vincent, and built like a model, if a little rougher around the edges. His dark brown leather belt hung undone, which let his jeans slip low over his hips, and she blushed furiously, painting a smile on her face even as her cheeks burned because oh that V-line is too delicious to ignore…

He blushed just as scarlet as she felt, having clearly given her a once over in her short skirt and tank top, eyes lingering on her legs and hips and chest, and normally? She got angry about that. With him, though…Well, it’s not like I didn’t just do the same to him, so turnabout is fair play, she thought with a faint smile, and the Mayor of Rocket Town swiftly pulled on the blue tee shirt that had been dangling from his hand, swearing faintly as he tugged the almost too small shirt down over his chest. “Sorry, miss, I uh, I didn’t mean ta stare at ya…”

“No no, you’re fine! I didn’t mean to interrupt your day, but my friends and I just came over the Nibel mountains, and we were wondering where the best place to stay the night might be? We have camping gear, we just need food and supplies. I’m Tifa, Tifa Lockhart, by the way.” She babbled out, and to her surprise, he listened, which, honestly, was a first, and his blue eyes brightened now, lips curving up in an easy smile that made her smile right back in return, eyes crinkling a little in the soft wrinkles from a life lived in the sun. He was even more handsome with that smile, dark blond stubble softening his strong jawline, and though Tifa had always known she’d had a thing for blonds (Case in point: Cloud), this…was new. New and kinda nice.

“Well then, ya came to the right place, Miss Lockhart; name’s Captain Cid Highwind, and I run Rocket Town; we’re mostly the main aeronautics test range for Shin-Ra anymore, so we don’t have an inn since most o’ the tourists head up into Nibelheim at the end of the day, but y’all’re welcome to stay at my place for the night, Gaia knows I got the room. Our market gets a boost ev’ry Thursday mornin’, so if y’all wanna wait till tomorrow, that’s the best time ta get yer gear. Care for a cuppa tea? Ya look a little parched.” In more ways than one… Tifa thought to herself, but she nodded, happy to finally get off her feet, and as Cid welcomed her into his home, he led her to the kitchen on the left. The living room was clearly storage at the moment, though it opened nicely into the kitchen and an office area that had taken the place of his dining room.

Cid motioned to the table for her to sit, and Tifa eased into one of the wooden chairs with a sigh of relief, moreso when he motioned for her to kick off her boots. “Th’ floor can take it, an’ ya said y’all came over the mountain?” She peeled off her socks and settled her bare feet on the cool tile with a faint groan that made him chuckle, and she caught a glimpse of him tugging his jeans up on his hips and buckling his belt, only a little disappointed.

She watched as Cid puttered around his kitchen, barefoot and obviously on a rare day off, but nonetheless, a gracious and kind host. His kitchen was a little beat up, but lovely, marble countertops were clean, if a little scratched up, and the cupboards were well-made and hung right, even if they were just basic plywood. A battered wood-fired stove crouched in the corner, crooked pipe propped up by several long pieces of rebar, and the tile under their feet was faded, but spotless. From what she could see of the rest of the place, it was much the same way; built up from scratch, and pride, even if it wasn’t the prettiest. She liked that; it reminded her of the bar.

“We did, two days of solid hiking. We tried to rent a truck, but there was no hope for it, and we’re…not exactly doing this for pleasure, I’m afraid.” Cid glanced over from his post at the stove, one eyebrow quirked up, and she sighed, giving him a faint smile…and deciding in that moment to trust him. “I’m sure it’ll come out, so I want to give you a head’s up…but how loyal to Shin-Ra are you?” His other eyebrow went up at that, but Cid brought her the tea as promised, in a lovely red mug that was clearly for special occasions, wrapping his own hands around his cracked dark blue mug as he settled across from her.

“…Enough to do what I want in this life, but otherwise, not terribly; I’m sure you’ve noticed there’s no reactor here.”

“…We have…” Blue eyes, hard as steel now, burned into hers, and she swallowed. He knows who we are...but he won’t betray us. They studied one another in that long moment, Cid’s eyes peering into her soul while she did the same to him, and after a time, he nodded, sharp but resigned.

“An’ there won’t be…but I also ain’t gonna get my whole town burned up fer AVALANCHE.” She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat at the realization, and he motioned for her to drink, sighing as he took a long draught off his own mug. “Palmer’s due here tomorrow afternoon; I’d suggest that you lot get out of here before he shows up so that y’all get a headstart. Bastard’s supp’sed to get me clearance on th’ rocket…but I don’t trust ‘im. But I heard about y’all…an’ I ain’t disagreeing with ya. But I ain’t watchin’ my people get hurt fer a cause, or worse, because Palmer sees a quick an’ easy ‘get outta Heidegger’s bad graces’ card.”

“…I promise, Captain, we won’t cause you any trouble. I swear it. Thank you for being so kind, and opening your home to us, but if you’d like, we can camp outside town…?” His eyes softened at that, and Cid shook his head, settling back with a groan as he stretched. Tifa tried not to watch, but it was hard as that tee shirt crept up, showing off the golden dusting of hair on his lower belly, his jeans sliding down just a little farther…she felt a blush touch her cheeks, and busied herself with her tea.

“Nah, yer all welcome here still; Gaia knows I hate th’ bastards as much as th’ next person. Ain’t gonna make a pretty lady camp outside town just ‘cuz I’m a surly fuck.” She blushed again at that, giggling as he winked, and though she felt warm all over…it was a good warmth. A welcome warmth. Certainly, it was much nicer than what she felt from Cloud at the moment…and seizing the courage, she decided that two could play at that little game. She gave him her best flirty smile and batted her eyelashes, playing up her bartender personality a little more.

“Well, I knew when I knocked that I’d find someone here, but I gotta say, meeting a officer and a gentleman is a rare treat.” Cid paused at that, then threw his head back in an honest laugh, blue eyes glittering with delight as he toasted her with his mug.

“Miss Tifa, that’s th’ best thing I heard all week; yer welcome here anytime. Now then, I think some barbecue’ll do the trick for supper if ya wanna call yer friends.”

“Gladly, Captain. Gladly.”

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thetwins-enchantedpen · 4 years ago

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Hisoka moves out from under the quilt. "You're not going to leave me to nap, are you?" It's 7am. Julian's been up half an hour.

"I'll switch the alarm on and shove it in your face," Julian replies. Julian really would. They both know it.

Hisoka sighs and sits up, glaring at him a little.

"Maybe dating younger men isn't worth it," he mutters. Hisoka's only, what, seven years older than Julian? He's so fucking dramatic.

"Mmm," Julian murmurs, then smiles a bit sarcastically and sits up properly as well. "Good morning."

"Glad to see you in such a good mood. Make me a coffee."

Would it kill Hisoka to make Julian a coffee for once? Would it? Julian had never in his life been pushed into the traditional female role and Hisoka has a lot of fucking audacity to attempt it.

Well, he wasn't attempting, he was winning, because for reasons beyond his understanding, Julian actually does make him coffees in the morning as long as he's allowed to annoy Hisoka by waking him up early. Then they're equal.

One day Julian will put salt in it, anyway, and he was sure both he and Hisoka were waiting for that day. Hisoka spends about five whole minutes staring suspiciously at his coffees in the morning before drinking them. He takes about a million sugars.

Julian wasn't even sure what they were trying to do, why they were bothering. They don't love each other, romantically or platonically or otherwise, at least not in any traditional way. If Julian loves him, even briefly, it's because of what he associates Hisoka with; he associates Hisoka with Fernando and loving someone and being loved, and with Fernando gone now, Hisoka was the only thing he has to cling to.

They were hardly even friends. Julian and Hisoka don't like other, don't love each other, don't dislike each other, don't hate each other. They need each other outside of that, and it's another thing entirely. They need each other outside of each other. It was hardly even personal, but if Hisoka was going to die, Julian would probably cry about it, and that's the most Julian could say.

They were jealous of each other sometimes, because they were in love with the same man and the same man was in love with them, but Julian thought Hisoka felt it more than he did; perhaps because Julian knew Fernando longer, because Julian was Fernando's best friend outside of being his lover, or maybe—the most likely option—Hisoka was just a bitter bitch. Julian didn't mind, didn't care, thought it was fair enough if he was jealous; he liked it more than he didn't.

Julian looks at Hisoka now, with black hair and midnight blue eyes and pale skin that makes him look like he's dying on his worse days, and that wasn't fucking pretty, even though Julian thought Fernando thought it was sometimes, when he felt like it. It wasn't pretty. Hisoka's too pale. He looks worse in the mornings, though, with hair all about the place, and that's one of Julian's favourite things about waking up next to him. Julian looks effortlessly great in the mornings, not exactly because he woke up looking amazing more than because Julian just suits looking messy.

"If you get downstairs I will," Julian says.

"I'll get downstairs after I've had a dose of caffeine." How has this man ever lived alone?

Julian scowls at him. If Hisoka ever tells him to make him a sandwich, no matter his level of seriousness or the context, Julian will have to turn to murdering him.

After all, the kitchen is where the knives are, etcetera.

- Annie 🤓 The Three Princes

#wip #work in progress #the three princes #julian #hisoka #writing #my writting #snippet #excerpt #tw swearing

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myhockeyworld87 · 5 years ago

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Nervous Regrets - Tyler Seguin -Part 15

Word Count: 3405

POV: Reader

Warnings: None

Notes: Not really any notes. Not thrilled with this chapter, just getting (Y/N) situation back into Tyler’s world. Though 16 and 17 are turning out nicely. As always feedback is welcome. Peace, Love and Hugs all!

You woke up the next morning feeling fine; however, Tyler insisted that you still call the doctor to check on your cramping from the previous evening. Of course, the physician agreed with Melissa; saying that sex can definitely cause cramping, and that nothing was wrong, so there was no need to cease the activity. This didn’t stop Tyler from acting like you had the plague anytime you made a sexual advance on him; which had never happened in any of the time that you’d known him. He even went so far as to claim that because it was a game day, he shouldn’t be having sex; like that had ever stopped him before.

So, as you sat in the office, alone, doing work; your mind would drift off, wondering if you’d be able to keep the man you loved or not. He had strayed once, and not that sex was everything in a relationship; but it was definitely a concern you had as your pregnancy continued on. You knew there would come a time when he wouldn’t find you desirable as the baby grew; you just hadn’t seen his fear of hurting you or the baby as an obstacle so soon. Eventually, sanity would win out and tell you that Tyler would come around, with a little persuasion; which you had no problem providing and so you found yourself looking for some sexy lingerie online, while he napped. Feeling a little bit better, after buying several pieces, which you hoped would entice your man back into bed; you headed into the kitchen to make a late lunch.

You were in the middle of making a sandwich, when the phone rang; Andrea Bishop’s number popping up. “Hey Andrea.”

“Hi (Y/N), it’s been a long time. I’m sorry I haven’t reached out sooner.”

“It’s totally ok. You’ve been busy with the baby; and honestly the phone works both ways.” You were just as much to blame for distancing yourself from all the Star’s wives and girlfriends.

“Still I should’ve called sooner; especially when I found out that you and Tyler are back together. Anyhow, I’m calling now.” You both laughed a little, easing the tension. “So, I was wondering if you were going to the game tonight; I thought we could get dinner together if you were, just the two of us.”

“Ummm…wow, to be honest I hadn’t really given it much thought.” It wasn’t a lie, you hadn’t really thought about it at all. You knew it was important to Tyler, yet if you were being truthful you were scared; what if people found out you were back together, and stuff started popping up on the internet. You’d both maintained radio silence the last couple months; basically, living in your own little bubble. You had no desire to be drawn back in to be taunted and ridiculed by people who didn’t know you; though eventually it was going to have to happen. Well no time like the present then. “You know, I’d love to go to dinner with you Andrea.”

“That’s great! I know you’re probably a little apprehensive to go to the game; but honestly, we all miss you. I know everyone will be excited to see you; so, you don’t need to worry about that. We’re all there to support you and Tyler.” Andrea was so sweet; it would be nice to have allies in this journey.

“That’s so nice of you to say Andrea. You know what, I’ll go. I think Tyler will be really excited.”

“Excellent! I’ll pick you up at five and we can head to dinner; as long as you can put up with a neurotic mother being away from her baby for a few hours.”

You chuckled, knowing that you’d be in her shoes, in a few short months. “Well I was hoping to pick your brain about baby stuff.”

“Oh, for sure. I’ll see you at five.”

“Bye,” you hung up the phone, excited that you’d get to talk to your friend again; your friend who was a mom and could fill you in on all thing’s pregnancy related.

“So, why will I be excited?” This from Tyler as he was walking into the kitchen. He was rumpled, from sleep; curls on his head going everywhere. The only thing you wanted to do was jump his bones; but you weren’t sure if he was still in his I’m not touching you phase.

“I’m going out to dinner with Andrea. And then if you can muster me up a ticket, I was going to go to the game with her.”

His eyes lit up with joy, as if you’d just given him a puppy or something. “Really? You actually want to go to the game?”

You weren’t entirely sure you wanted to go to the game, but you were going; and maybe you could use it to your advantage. “Well I think I might go. What would you be willing to give me if I go?” you let a hint of seductiveness drip from your voice.

He knew exactly what you were looking for as he came up behind you and wrapped himself around you. “You know how much I love you right?” You shook your head yes. “And how much I really want you to be in the arena cheering me on?” Again, you answered yes; this time he turned you to face him. “But babe, I’m not going to say, that last night didn’t scare the hell out of me; and I don’t know if we should have sex again for a while. I know you want to, and hell so do I; but what if you start cramping and we lose the baby.”

“Tyler, the doctor told both of us this morning; it’s completely normal for that to happen. Nothing is going to happen if we have sex. Probably if we have it more, it won’t happen again.” You were hopeful, that that would be the case; and help put his fears to rest. “Do you know how bad I want you?” Fingers trailing up and down his chest, you let them express your need for him.

He groaned; you could hear his resolve begin to crack. “Babe, you know I want you. I can’t get enough of you.” He went to say more, but you stopped him.

“Then show me, and I get that you can’t right now, because of the game; but you can tonight afterwards.” He went to say something but you kept going. “I’ll go to the game and cheer you on, not for any other reason than to support you. I’m just maybe hoping that when you come home, you’ll show me how much you appreciate that.” To accentuate the point, you brought his lips down to yours; kissing him deeply. He moaned, it was purely primal and you felt him harden against you. Looping your hands around his neck, you pressed your body closer to him. It didn’t take long before you felt yourself getting wet; you seemed to be horny all the time around Tyler.

Your hips thrust into him, seeking some sort of friction to the burning desire growing within you. That’s when he set you at arm’s length, breaking the kiss; you whimpered at the loss of contact. “Babe, I have to go get ready for the game.”

“Mmmm, I know. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” You knew you were pouting, but didn’t care. Smacking him on the butt, you told him; “Go get ready, before I jump your bones Seguin.”

He grabbed the sandwich you abandoned when the phone rang; carrying it with him to the bedroom. “Easy babe, I need to keep my stamina for the game.”

“Well if you’re eating my sandwich, you’d better save some of that stamina for after the game.” He gave you a wink, as he disappeared down the hallway. Grabbing a yogurt and a banana, you headed back to the office to finish up some work before you had to get ready to meet Andrea. Before you knew it, Tyler was standing in the doorframe, dressed in a burgundy suit; that had your libido back in high gear. Instead of getting up and going to him, you sat there, taking in his appearance as he made his way to your side; he was so damn sexy. “Seriously, I don’t think you’re playing fair now. You know I love that suit.”

“What this old thing?” He trapped you in the chair; arms on each side of you.

“Just remember two can play this game.” He leaned down and captured your lips in a searing kiss; pulling back before things went too far. “Score one for me babe.”

“You know I always do my best baby; but I’ll try extra hard with you in the stands. You’re coming down to the locker room, afterwards right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there; someone has to give me a ride home.”

He kissed your nose, as he said; “So now I’m reduced to your Uber driver.” He shook his head. “It’s a good thing you’re cute, or I might make you walk.”

“Just try it, mister; and you’ll be sleeping in the spare room.” It was definitely an empty threat, considering all you were trying to do to get him into bed. “I love you, go get that W.”

“Love you too, babe. I’ll see you tonight.” With that he headed out the door to the game. You finished up on the last couple of files you were working on then headed to the bedroom to get ready. It took you a few minutes to figure out what to wear, as most things were packed for the move; eventually you settled on jeans with a white blouse and a jacket that you could throw on at the game. You fed the dogs and let them out before Andrea arrived.

You jumped in the car, the minute she pulled in the driveway. “Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you.” Both of you reaching over and hugging each other over the console.

“I’m so glad you decided to come to the game tonight; I’ve missed you being there.” Andrea was so sweet. The two of you had been close last season; but with the baby and the breakup, you’d both lost touch.

“I have to admit, I’ve missed going as well. How is everything? You better have pictures of the baby; I’m dying to get my hands on him.”

“You’ll have to come over. He’s getting so big; it just seems like yesterday I was giving birth.”

“Well you look phenomenal.” It was the truth, she looked exactly the same as she did before she was pregnant; you’d definitely be picking her brain on how to get that post baby weight off.

“Please, you’re being too nice; but what about you, you don’t even look pregnant. If Ben hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t believe it; and you’re almost half way through. Do you know what you’re having?”

“No, we decided to be surprised; it’s a decision I may regret.” The two of you continued to chat about pregnancy and babies, up until the waiter brought your appetizers. “So I have to ask, how did you deal with Ben’s overprotectiveness, or was he not as bad as Tyler?”

She laughed, “He was probably worse than Tyler. I couldn’t do anything when he was around; don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. Though sometimes, I did want to scream at him. Who am I kidding, sometimes I did.” You joined in her laughter.

“I felt that way this morning.” Replaying the morning over in your head, you finally asked Andrea the question you’d been dying to since you got in the car. “You don’t have to answer this, but was Ben ever afraid to…well touch you. Ugh, I’m not saying this right.”

“Are you asking if he was afraid to have sex with me while I was pregnant?” When you nodded your head, she continued. “Well the answer is yes. It was so frustrating, especially in my second trimester. I literally wanted him all the time.”

“Oh my god, yes! I feel like that all the time lately; and we literally just started having sex again. But then I started to cramp; not bad mind you, though it was enough for him to put me on a shelf and not touch me all day.”

“Oh Ben did the same thing with me. I’m sure the doctor told you it’s normal; and with me it only happened a couple times. Trust me after the first time, I never told him about the others.” You chuckled, but made a mental note to hide any mild cramps from now on. “Just parade around the house in skimpy clothing and he won’t be able to resist you.”

That plan was already set in motion with the new pieces of lingerie you ordered. “I’m so glad we decided to do this. Though if I’m being honest, I’m a little hesitant to go to the game.”

“Why?” The look on her face was genuine and full of concern. “You know all the girls there, were on your side during the breakup; and we all feel horrible for not reaching out to you more during the whole thing.”

“Oh no, it’s not that.” Truly it wasn’t, you’d gotten along with everyone just fine; and were excited to see them. “It’s all the things that will be said once people find out I’m there. When Ty and I broke up, I read some of the things people said. They were vicious.”

“(Y/N), you know those people know nothing about us; it’s all speculation. You just need to stay off those sites. I don’t go on them at all; I made that mistake before.”

“I know you’re right. I just need to shut it all out.”

“Well anytime that you feel like you need reminded; I got your back.” This was the support you missed when you broke up with Tyler; things might not have been as bad had you not gone on those sites. “Are you going to go to Jamie’s for the Halloween party?”

“I know Tyler has been talking to Jamie about some sort of costume they want to do; though I hadn’t really decided if I should go or not.” Part of you wasn’t sure if you were ready to jump back into the wives and girlfriend’s life; tonight was a big enough step.

“Oh, you have to go. Ben and I are going as Beauty and the Beast; his costume is over the top.” Halloween was never your favorite holiday; though you knew some of the players really got into it. “You don’t have to dress up, just come. Besides we have lots of WAGS events coming up for the foundation; so, it’ll be good to ease back in this way.”

“I probably will. I know it will mean a lot to Tyler. Now I just have to find time to get a costume; between going back to work and moving, I literally feel like I don’t have any spare time.”

“So, you’re going back to work then?”

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to work from home a little this week. I really haven’t been there much lately, so I’m sure I’ll be swamped when I go back.” Things had been piling up, you knew that from the few phone calls you’d had into the office. Going back would probably mean added stress you didn’t need; but you saw no way around it. When you’d dated Tyler before it had been hard to juggle work, games and then WAG commitments, and back then you hadn’t been tired all the time; now with the pregnancy you worried how you would fit it all in. The conversation continued, and soon the two of you were headed to American Airlines Center to watch the game.

You caught up with some of the ladies in the room outside the family and friends section. Everyone was so nice, and excited to see you; it was as if you hadn’t been gone the last few months. Sitting between Andrea and Allie Cogliano for the game, you saw Tyler scan your section when he took the ice; winking and nodding when he finally found you, the smile on his face, quite contagious. Once the game got under way, you gave most of your attention to it; forgetting how exhilarating it was to watch hockey live. The Stars took the lead with a goal from Spezza in the first, all of you cheering as the puck went in the net. By the end of the second though they were down by two. Coming out strong in the third, Jamie scored off a perfect pass from Tyler. As time ticked down, you saw Radulov catch a breakaway, Tyler streaking down the left. Rads faked and dropped the puck back to Tyler, who drew his stick up then violently connected it with the puck, causing it to soar past the goalie into the net. You were on your feet before the horn even sounded, hugging both Andrea and Allie as the slapshot replayed on the jumbotron. The goal tied the score up and gave the team the energy to push through and score one final time; the Stars winning the game.

Within minutes you and the rest of the women were down in the tunnel, waiting for the guys to finish up in the locker room. One by one the guys slowly emerged, each of them giving you a hug, and expressing how glad they were you were back with Tyler. Finally, Tyler came out, bag in hand as he rushed over to you. “Hey baby, looks like you’re my good luck charm.” He dropped a kiss to your lips, as he pulled you tight against him. “You’re just going to have to come to all the games now.”

“Is that so?” Your hand went under his suit jacket, to hold him closer to you; batting your eyelashes as you said; “You’re probably going to need to give me some incentive then.”

He tapped your ass. “What am I going to do with you?” Bending down he kissed you passioniately.

“Get a room you two.” Jamie teased you both.

You broke apart to give Jamie a hug. “Hey Jame, it’s so good to see you.”

“You too (Y/N). We’ve missed that smile of yours around here.”

“Are you trying to steal my girl, Chubbs?” The three of you were walking out to the vehicles; your hand in Tyler’s.

“If I thought I had half a chance of stealing her away from you Seggy, you know I would.” He elbowed Tyler, causing you both to stumble; though you easily righted yourself. “So, has he talked you into coming to the Halloween party yet; or do I need to work my magic on you.”

“If I go, I’ll spoil your whole costume vibe.”

“You know that’s nonsense.” Tyler kept insisting that you’d fit right in with him, Jamie and Rads.

“Segs is right, we need a Princess Peach.” The three of them had decided to be Super Mario Brothers characters; though they’d kept their idea under wraps from everyone else.

There was no point in fighting them, after your conversation with Andrea; you already knew you’d be going. “Fine, slap a crown on me, and call me Princess; as long as you guys don’t think I’m intruding.”

“Intruding, how could you even think that? Peach is Mario’s girlfriend after all; so, this makes perfect sense.” You rolled your eyes at Tyler.

“Alright then boys, count me in; as long as I can find a costume.”

“Excellent! I’ll see you two in a couple days then. Have fun tonight.” Jamie raised his eyebrows at the two of you; insinuating that he knew what would happen when you and Tyler made it home. Too bad that wasn’t a guarantee.

You slid into the front passenger’s seat as Tyler threw his bag in the back. He grabbed your hand as you headed out of the parking garage, running his thumb back and forth. “Babe, I’m so glad you came tonight; and that you’re going to go to the party. I have to be the luckiest man alive to have you.”

“Darn right you are.” You teased him back. “Though I’m pretty lucky myself.”

#tyler seguin #tyler seguin imagines #tyler seguin imagine #dallas stars #dallas stars imagine #dallas stars imagines #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #nhl fanfic #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #hockey fanfiction #nervous regrets

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nataliecarsonsuniverse · 4 years ago

Text

Say You Will Remember Me (Part 2)

Summary:

2016: Spencer has just gotten married to (Y/n), the girl of his dreams. The two navigate their new life together as they work through his demanding job and a stalker that just won't leave them alone.

2018: Wendy and Peter have been hiding out in Maine for nearly a year now from Wendy's abusive ex. The two are just starting to settle into the new lives that they hope to spend with each other.

2020: After two years of searching for his missing wife, (Y/n) and Spencer are brought back together again. However, things take a turn for the worse as Spencer realizes that she is no longer the same girl he married.

(Part 1)

March 2017

Washington D.C.

(Y/N) sat on the couch, her leg anxiously bouncing up and down. Spencer was due to be home any minute now and she could not wait to see him. He had been gone for nine days this time, far longer than usual. To say that the nights had been lonely was an understatement. She got through the day as best as she could, it wasn’t hard to be distracted all day while teaching fourth graders. After the fifth night of him not coming home she decided she would stay later at work, grading papers and getting ready for the next day. Honestly, anything to avoid having to go home to their empty house.

Friday night she had been at a bar with some friends when he called to tell her they had finally solved the case. She got so excited when he told her that he thought that he would be home that night and that she would finally get to share her bed with her husband again only for him to tell her that the weather in Seattle was really bad and they weren’t going to be able to fly out till Saturday morning. She had tried to hide her disappointment in her voice, she had always tried to make an effort to make it seem like she was okay with the long periods of absence. She never wanted him to think that she resented him for his job. So she tried to hide it the best she could, but she had also already had two beers and according to him, she was a lightweight, so she was pretty sure that he heard the disappointment. And if he didn’t he definitely figured it out when she said “what a fucking bummer” into the phone thinking that she had already hung it up.

So when she finally heard keys in the door and the doorknob turn it open it should not have surprised when she nearly tackled him before he made it into their apartment. Yet for a genius, he could be pretty dense sometimes.

“Woah Pipes,” He said laughing as she snaked her arms around his neck, her lips already finding him. Nine days she thought. Nine days since she had kissed. After a second of kissing, whatever hesitation or exhaustion that was left him gave in as he dropped his bags right there in the entryway and carried her to their bedroom.

Afterward, he pulled her into his chest burying his nose into her red hair feeling content now that he was back home with her. Traveling all the time used to never bother him but now that he was leaving her behind each time he heard the phrase “wheels up” he mentally shuddered to wonder how long it would be until he can fall asleep next to her again. And then there was how much more dangerous the job felt now. All of a sudden there was a person waiting for him to come home, someone who would be devastated if he never did come home. Sure his mom would be devastated as well as the team but yet the idea of leaving her behind made him want to be sick.

“Spence?” (Y/N) asked, putting a hand on his chest, raising herself up just a little to look at him. “Where did you go?”

“Sorry.” He replied as he went back to rubbing circles on her back as she once again settled herself against his chest. He was slightly disappointed that it was only 1 pm as he would’ve loved to have just fallen asleep right now. “You seem really happy today.” He said all of a sudden remembering the way that she practically pounced on him the second he walked in the door.

“I just missed you,” (Y/N) responded. “But also you hit your one hundred marks which means that I have the next thirty days with you.”

“Always a hidden motive with you isn’t there?” he asked teasingly. He of course also knew that he would get to spend the next thirty days working fairly normal hours while teaching. He used to hate the whole thirty days off thing but now that he was married he absolutely loved it.

“Ah man, you caught me,” (Y/N) responded before looking back up at him again noting the way that his eyelids were droopy and he was clearly struggling to keep his eyes open. “You’re tired,” she said. “What if we take a one hour nap and then head off to a late lunch or something?”

“Actually it’s not good to nap for more than thirty minutes. The ideal time to nap is twenty minutes as after thirty minutes the body will start to retreat into a deeper sleep and that will cause someone to wake more groggy than when they first started sleeping.” Spencer rambled.

“Okay then,” (Y/N) said, reaching for her phone off the bed stand table. “Then we will nap for twenty minutes.” Spencer nodded as she set an alarm before setting the phone back down on the table. She then laid her head back down on his chest and listened to his heartbeat slowly even out. Within about 2 minutes of setting the alarm, he was out like a light while she stared at their bedroom wall drawing lazy circles on his bare skin.

-----

September 2018

Bar Harbor Maine

Wendy woke up to sunlight streaming through cracked blinds, she reached across the bed hoping to find Peter but all she found was empty cold sheets. She sat up in bed rubbing her eyes confused as to where he went, he knew how she felt about waking up alone, the way it triggered something in her brain to panic and think that something terrible had happened. Wendy reached over on the nightstand to grab the alarm clock which read five in the morning. Nearly a year of living in Maine and she still wasn’t used to how early the sun rose here. She distinctly remembered someone telling her that Acadia National Park is the first place where sunlight hits each morning in the U.S. but she for the life of her could not remember who told her that.

“Peter!” She called out. Nothing. Wendy got out of bed grabbing her night robe from where it had been discarded before the events of the last night. She wrapped it tightly around herself before walking out into the living room to find Peter fast asleep on the couch. Although she was confused as to why he came out here, she decided it best not to wake him up. He looked so peaceful when he slept.

So instead she headed into their kitchen to make tea. She was ecstatic when Peter had returned home one night from a shopping trip with a kettle saying that she would no longer have to have the instant stuff, not that it was bad by any means, but it wasn’t what she was used to. After she got her cup of tea, she headed outside and sat down on the porch of their house overlooking the water.

It was starting to get cold here this time in Maine, the tourist town of Bar Harbor was slowly growing quieter and quieter which was nice. She had been downtown one time with Peter and the number of people roaming the streets made her so anxious that she begged Peter to take her home. It was strange to her that she no longer found comfort in mass crowds considering that for so long it was all she knew. But now she craves a small-town feel, somewhere where everyone knows everyone.

Wendy was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the front door open until Peter was sitting down on the porch swing next to her. “What are you thinking about love?” He asks her to swing the swing back and forth.

“Nothing really.” She responded. “What time did you move to the couch and why?” She asked him looking over at him trying to read him as best as she could.

“I’m not sure, maybe two-ish?” He responded.

“Why?” She asked again.

“I had a nightmare.”

“Peter,” Wendy said, reaching for his hand which he let her take in hers. She gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You could’ve woke me up.” She continued “You help me with my nightmares it’s only fair I help you with yours”

“I don’t want to be a burden,” he responded.

“Well neither do I,” she said. “Please let me help you next time.”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.” He said leaning over to kiss her. “I love you.”

Wendy swallowed he hadn’t said that yet, neither one of them had. They were being careful to not jump into things too fast, at least that’s what she had told herself. Yet sitting here, his hand in hers, listening to the bird’s chirp and watching the sun slowly rise into the sky, something just felt so right. So without any hesitation, she responded, “I love you too.” The way his face lit up when she said the words confirmed that she had made the right choice.

“So I was thinking that since our anniversary is this weekend maybe today I can take you to the mall and you can get a new dress and we can go out to a nice dinner this weekend?”

“Like actually go out and sit down at a restaurant?” Wendy asked the excitement evident in her voice.

“Yeah” Peter responded but judging from the way he said that she could tell that he was kind of nervous about the idea. “I made our reservations at this steak house just a little outside of town but you have to dress formally and I realized that you don’t really have any formal clothes so we would have to go to the mall. And I could just do it myself but I thought that it might be a nice treat for you to pick out the dress yourself.”

“That sounds amazing Peter!” Wendy exclaimed hopping up off the swing. “Can we go now?” She asked already heading inside to change clothes.

"Woah,” Peter said laughing “it’s only six am they are not open yet.” Wendy nodded as she realized just how early it still was. “I was thinking we can go around eleven and then stop and grab lunch on the way back.”

“That sounds perfect,” Wendy said before kissing him again. “I really love you,” she said for the second time, still trying the words out.

-----

March 2017

Washington D.C.

(Y/N) sighed in the bathroom as she stared at the three negative pregnancy tests in front of her. When she bought them she thought that she would be relieved if they were negative. She and Spencer had never talked about having kids, at least not since being married. It was a conversation they had when they were dating and they both agreed that they wanted kids but the conversation had never really been brought up again. They certainly had not been trying to have kids right now and (Y/N) wasn’t 100 percent sure how he would react when she told him. That’s what she told herself at least as she stood in line at CVS and got a look from the older woman who checked her out. Twenty-five was not too young to be having a child, but according to most of her friends, she still looked twenty at the most.

But then she got home to their apartment where Spencer was sitting on the couch reading and the second that she walked in she wondered what she had been thinking. Of course, he would be thrilled if she told him she was pregnant. He would be over the moon. Just the other day (Y/N) had a conversation with his best friend JJ about how much he really wanted kids. It felt like a subtle nod on her part as she wanted Henry to have a cousin.

Here (Y/N) sat staring at the three pregnancy tests trying her hardest not to tear up. She did want this. She wanted them to be positive so badly. A soft knock on the bathroom door snapped her out of her trance and she remembered that her husband was still here and probably wondering why she had been in the bathroom for twenty minutes. “You okay (Y/N)?” He asked.

She swallowed thickly as the tears finally left her eyes she reached up and wiped them with her sleeve before responding “yeah. Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” He questioned and this time she wasn’t able to suppress the sob that erupted from her throat. “Alright open the door Pipes” He commanded clearly concerned. She did as she was told and let him into the small bathroom. It didn’t take long for him to notice what was sitting on the counter. She watched his face grow ecstatic for a second before realizing what the results of the test were. “Oh, honey.” He whispered immediately, pulling her into a bear hug and running one hand through her hair while the other rubbed reassuringly on her back. “It’s okay.” He whispered to her over and over again.

“I’m sorry.” She said.

“What?” He asked, kind of flabbergasted. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” He said as he let her sob into his chest. “Honestly (Y/N) it’s okay. It just wasn’t meant to be yet.” He kissed the top of her head before leading her out of the bathroom and to the living room where the two of them sat down on the couch.

(Y/N) took a deep breath moving loose strands of her hair behind her ears. “I know that we haven’t been married for long and I know that we were both kinds of enjoying what we’ve got going on now but I really wanted those to be positive.” She said her voice was still kind of shaky.

Spencer smiled at her taking her hand into his as she laid her head on his shoulder. “I know.” He said. “I mean are you ready to start trying?” He asked sounding almost kind of nervous which if the circumstances had been different (Y/N) probably would’ve laughed about but instead, she just smiled.

“Kind of.” She said.

“Kind of?” He asked.

“I don’t know,” she responded. “I’m kind of scared”

“About what?” He asked her “You’ll be a great mother.”

“I’m worried that it won’t happen easily for us and then sex will become like some chore where we are only doing it when I’m ovulating and pretty soon it won’t even be enjoyable cause we will be so stressed about trying to convince and” (Y/N) stopped abruptly hiccuping as more sobs took over.

“Pips.” He whispered wrapping his arms around her again. “It’s all going to be okay. I promise. What if we just stop using protection and see what happens?” He asks.

“Like you won’t be keeping track of my ovulation.” She replies laughing slightly.

“I mean you’re right I probably will but it won’t be a concise effort and I won’t say a thing to you about it.” He said.

“Okay,” (Y/N) said taking a deep breath she wrapped her arm tighter around his torso appearing remarkably more calm then she did before. She reached for the remote and turned on Netflix before pulling up The Office, it wasn’t his cup of tea but he liked it because she liked it and he loved the sound of a laugh.

About ten minutes into the show (Y/N) had not laughed once he looked down to make sure that she wasn’t quietly crying again but found that her eyes were closed and she was fast asleep. He let the episode play in case she were to wake up and because the background noise was a nice distraction from his thoughts.

He had never seen his wife panic as she had twenty minutes earlier. He could tell that she was holding something back and as his brain began to go through all the things she might have been biting her tongue on he got more and more nervous. He wondered if she was terrified about the kind of genes he was going to be passing onto any future child of his. Sure there was the genius aspect which was great depending on which way you looked at it. But then there was also the fact that his child would be at a higher risk for schizophrenia as well as early-onset dementia, two things that absolutely scared him. And then there was the fact that he had no fucking idea what kind of genetics his father might have passed onto him that he could pass onto a child. Surly (Y/N) has thought about what he was going to be passing on and she had to be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t afraid of that. Which is why he came to the conclusion that she didn’t bring that up when she freaked out earlier. She didn’t know how to lie to him and say that it wasn’t a fear of hers.

Spencer took a deep breath and ran his hands through her hair looking down at her. She always looked so peaceful when she was asleep. He spent so many nights when they first started dating just watching her sleep wondering what she was dreaming about and if it was by any chance him. He sighed to himself turning off the tv and picking her up off the couch before carrying her to the bedroom where he gently put her down on the bed. He kicked off his clothes before crawling in next to her and wrapping his arms around her. In her sleep, she scooted closer to him locking their hands together.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the sound of even breathing. They would be okay. That’s what he told her earlier and he needed to believe it for himself. Maybe he could sign up to see a genetic counselor, someone who could give him some solid answers on what his child might be predisposed to and how likely they are of having it. As he closed his eyes he mentally made it a plan to try and get an appointment with someone. Maybe it was stupid to not tell her but he didn’t feel like there was any use telling (Y/N) yet. At least not until he knew for sure what he was looking at here. It would just cause her to worry more and the last thing he wants is for the worry more.

September 2018

Bar Harbor Maine

Wendy and Peter walked through the mall hand in hand, Peter occasionally giving her hand a gentle squeeze, she couldn’t tell if that was for her benefit or for his. Wendy smiled to herself at all the people in the mall living ordinary lives, kids running around in the indoor playground, couples walking down the corridors hand in hand, teenage girls gossiping as they swung their shopping bags. It’s been a long time since she felt comfortable being out and surrounded by people like she currently is. It was honestly hard to believe that she once roamed malls gossiping with her friends about the cute boy in the third period. It was only ten years ago that she was sixteen yet that felt like a lifetime ago. A lot can happen in ten years. If she could go back in time she would tell that girl to be careful who she trusts as even the boys that say they love you will eventually hurt you.

But that was neither here nor there Wendy thought to herself as Peter squeezed her hand again snapping her out of her trance. “Would you be okay going into Macy’s alone?” Peter asks her and automatically Wendy’s heart starts beating a little bit faster at the idea of being alone in a big store. “If not it’s totally okay, but I have a surprise for you later tonight and I need to go pick it up.” They stopped walking just outside Macy’s. “It’s okay Wendy. There is no way that he is going to be able to find you at some random mall in some random store all the way up in Maine. I promise that you’re safe I wouldn’t have even taken you out of the house if I thought otherwise.”

Wendy nodded at that knowing that Peter was right. The first couple of months they spent in Maine they hadn’t left the house at all. They were both so afraid that he would be able to find them, they had covered every trace but you could never be so sure. Peter was convinced for a while that he would find them, there was a while where even he wasn’t leaving the house so afraid that he would find them. Peter just kept talking about how he knows those kinds of guys and that they aren’t the type to just let go. Peter was even going as far as to order all their groceries online and have them left at the door with absolutely no contact. And while that worked for the first few months they eventually started going stir crazy, although Wendy still kind of is if she was being honest.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I can do that.” She said as Peter reached into his wallet to hand her a credit card. “Besides this will be more fun. Now you won’t have any idea what my dress looks like until we go to dinner and it will be a total surprise.”

“I can’t wait.” Peter replied giving her a quick kiss “text me when you’re done and I’ll let you know where I am.” He finished before he headed off in the opposite direction to get whatever her surprise was.

Wendy then turned and headed into Macy’s smiling as she enjoyed the company of just herself. She loved Peter to death but there were definitely days when she just needed some alone time. She would never admit it to him but she often enjoyed the days when he headed out to the grocery store without her. Then she could breathe and cry freely without someone standing over her telling her he isn’t worth her tears.

Wendy headed upstairs to the women’s department of the store to start browning through dresses. Peter had told her that she would need to be dressed fancy to get into this restaurant which meant that not only would she had to pick out a nice dress but she would also have to get herself another pair of high heels.

Wendy grabbed a few dresses off the racks before retreating to the dressing room. She hung all the dresses up before looking at herself in the mirror. She often tried to avoid her reflection at all costs as every time she looked in the mirror she was reminded of what he did to her. She took her shirt off followed by her pants trying to ignore the cigarette burn on her chest. That was the one that bothered her the most. Late at night she could still feel the cigarette burn and hear the sound it made as it was put out on her skin.

Wendy tore her eyes away from the burn before slipping on a green dress. She liked it on the hanger but something about the way it fit just didn’t look right. She picked up the next dress a pale yellow color that was tight in all the right places. She put the dress on zipping it in the back but immediately decided that she didn’t like the color. The pale color contrasted way too much with her Jett black hair. The last dress she tried on was a bright red dress with a dangerous slit up the side of it. She pulled it on and immediately knew that it was the one.

She quickly changed back into her own clothing putting the other two dresses back on the rack before heading out with the red one. She then headed down to the shoe section quickly picking out a pair of black stilettos. They were simple but the heel on them was tall enough that it would make her already long legs look extra stunning.

As she approached the checkout counter she pulled out her phone to see where Peter was at. All she had was a text from him saying that he had finished up and he asked her to meet him at the car. She sent him back a quick reply before the girl called her to the counter. Wendy exchanged pleasantries with her as she bought the dress and shoes. The girl then slapped both items into a large bag before telling Wendy to have a great day.

It didn’t take long for Wendy to make her way outside the cool September breeze making her shiver. As she made her way to Peter’s car she noticed him standing outside it holding something in his hands. As her eyes traveled downward she was shocked to see a little puppy connected to the leash. “Oh my gosh, you did not!” She all but shouted as she ran to him quickly closing the distance between them. “Thank you so much.” She whispered to him before leaning down to pet the puppy. “Hi, there buddy.” She said a huge smile on her face.

“I saw her the other day in the window at the puppy store and just knew that you would love her,” Peter said. “You can pick her name.” Peter continued “but we should get home.” Peter continued reaching down to take the puppy off the leash before handing her over to Wendy. Wendy gratefully accepted scoping the puppy into her arms before climbing into the passenger seat.

“She is so freaking cute!” Wendy exclaimed. “Thank you so much, Peter.” Peter smiled over at her from the driver seat before putting the car in drive and leaving the parking lot to head back home.

April 2017

Boise Idaho

“Thank you,” Spencer said into the phone. “I really appreciate it.” He added before hanging up. After he hung up he stared down at his phone trying to decide what to do now. A small smile graced his lips.

“You okay?” JJ asked him as she walked into the conference room that he had walked into to take the phone call. He looked up at her slightly startled as he had been so lost in his own thoughts. “Was that (Y/N)?”

“No.” He said. “It was the genetic counselor that I signed up to see.” He said honestly. It felt weird to be talking about this to JJ before he talked about it with his wife but maybe JJ could help him figure out how to tell (Y/N).

“Is everything alright?” She asked.

“Actually yes,” Spencer said, finally looking up from his phone that had long ago locked itself. When he looked at her he couldn’t help the wide smile that overtook his face. “The doctor said that the odds of me passing on schizophrenia or dementia were incredibly low.”

“Spence that’s incredible!” JJ said, now smiling just as wide as he was. “Oh, that must make (Y/N) so happy.”

“About that.” He said the smile only slightly faltered. “I haven’t told her about any of this. Like obviously she knows that it runs in my family but I didn’t tell her that I signed up for genetic counseling.”

“Why not?” JJ asked.

“I didn’t want her to worry,” he mumbled.

“Spence,” JJ said

“I know. I know. It was wrong of me to not tell her.” Spencer said.

“You should call her,” JJ said. “She deserves to know, especially knowing that it’s good news.” Spencer nodded knowing that she was right. “Does this mean that you two are going to start trying?” She asked, trying to hide the excitement in her voice but doing a really poor job.

“We agreed that we were going to just let things kind of happen naturally as of right now.” He said.

“I’m so happy for you,” JJ said, closing the distance between the two of them to give him a hug. For so long she had known that Spencer wanted to have children but now hearing that he and his wife were actually semi-trying she couldn’t help but be excited for her best friend. Just then the conference room doors opened and Rossi and Morgan walked in. JJ quickly let go of Spencer before turning to them to ask them if they found anything at the crime scene.

Spencer tried to listen as closely as he could but the only thing occupying his mind at the moment was what he was going to say to (Y/N). He had decided that he would call her later tonight in the hotel room. He would just tell her during the nightly conversations that the two of them always had.

Washington D.C.

(Y/N) was laying on the couch almost falling asleep to the same episode of Parks and Rec she had seen fifteen times when her phone rang. She glanced at the time noting that it was one am in the morning but only 11 at night out in Boise. She picked up the phone sliding it to accept the call. “Hey,s babe.” She said unable to stop the yawn that came out.

“Shit,” he said clearly realizing that he called her at one int he morning. “Did I wake you up?”

“Nope,” (Y/N) said. “I was just laying on the couch.”

“Don’t you have to teach tomorrow?” He asked before checking the date. “Nope sorry I forgot that you have this Friday off. Any big plans?”

“I think I’m going to go to lunch with Louise,” (Y/N) said. “There is some brewery that she really wants to take me to.”

“That sounds like fun,” Spencer said and she nodded before remembering that he couldn't actually see her nod. “Listen,” he said, the tone of his voice completely changing. “There is something we need to talk about.”

“Oh?” (Y/N) asked, concerned she sat upon their couch rubbing her eyes.

“So about a month ago when we had that conversation about like starting to try for a baby?” Spencer asked clearly, waiting for (Y/N) to say that she remembered that conversation as if there was a possibility that it had just slipped her mind.

“Yeah,” (Y/N) said.

“Well,” He continued dragging out his words. “I kind of started to panic that night thinking about what I would be passing down genetically. So I made an appointment the next day-”

“Wait.” (Y/N) said almost laughing “Is this about the genetic counselor?”

“Um yes?” Spencer said clearly confused, something that did not happen often, she can almost picture him now his face all scrunched up while he tried to work through what was going on. She found it adorable and was almost bummed she wasn’t there to see it. “How, how did you know?” He asks.

“Spencer.” She says. “You’re not exactly the most sneaky person.” She said laughing. “I knew that you were going to propose the exact day you bought the ring, it was so obvious that you were hiding something and the exact same thing happened right after that conversation. I didn’t know what it was you were hiding until the insurance bill showed up in the mail.”

“Ah,” Spencer said. “That makes sense.”

“Yeah,” (Y/N) said, laying back down on the couch pulling the blanket up around her and burying her face into his pillow that she had pulled from their bedroom. He had only been gone two days now yet it felt like much longer. “You know I don’t care right?” She asked him. “It does not matter one bit to me.”

“Well, it should.”

“Why would it?” (Y/N) asked. “I married you even though there is a small chance you may start to forget me years down the road.”

“I’m still not sure why you did that.”

“Because I love you idiot.” (Y/N) responded. “What did the doctor say?”

“Why?” Spencer asked teasingly. “I thought that it didn’t bother you?”

“Don’t make me fly all the way out to Idaho,” (Y/N) warned laughing too.

“She said there was a very small chance that I would pass either of them on,” Spencer said.

(Y/N) smiled into the phone. “See?” She asked. “Nothing to be worried about. How is the case going? AKA how long until you will be home?”

“It’s going good.” He said. “We are making pretty good progress. I think maybe by Sunday I’ll be home.”

“Ugh Spence that’s like two days from now,” (Y/N) whined. “I miss you.”

“I miss you more.” Spencer replied.

“I should probably let you,” (Y/N) said, glancing at the clock and realizing that it was nearly midnight out there. “You’ve got to get some sleep so that you can give it your all tomorrow and maybe be home by Saturday?” (Y/N) asked him, her voice hopeful.

“Maybe,” Spencer said. “I love you.” He said. “Have a good night.”

“I love you too,” (Y/N) said. “I’ll see you soon.” She hung up the phone sighing to herself as she grabbed everything off the couch and retreated towards their bedroom. She threw his pillow and her blanket down before heading into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Afterward, she went back out into their kitchen to shut off all the lights when she noticed an envelope that had slipped under the door at some point. She picked it up and noted the neat handwriting on the envelope that read Spencer’s name.

(Y/N) threw the envelope down on the counter leaving it for Spencer when he got back home. She then went back into their bedroom climbing into bed before turning off the lamp next to the bed. She sat there staring at the ceiling for a while before finally turning on her side, burying her face into his pillow pretending that he was there with her.

----

September 2018

Bar Harbor, Maine

“Darling!” Peter called out from the living room of their house as he straightened his tie in the mirror hanging above the end table in the entryway. “Are you about ready?”

“Yes!” Wendy called back out as she opened up the bedroom door coming out wearing a stunning red dress.

“Wow,” Peter said. “You look amazing.” Wendy twirled once, radiating happiness. Peter laughed at his hands finding her waistline before leaning down to kiss her. “Absolutely stunning.” He whispered against her lips as she smiled. “Are you ready?” He asked. “I don’t want us to be late.”

Wendy nodded once before leaning down to kiss her new puppy goodbye. She then stood up taking Peter’s hand and letting him lead her out to the car. He opened her door for her like the gentlemen he was and she got in the car smoothing her dress over. The drive to the restaurant was relatively quiet as Wendy took in all the passing scenery of the little towns that they drove through.

“Where is this restaurant at?” Wendy asked after they had been driving for thirty minutes.

“It’s up in Bangor.” He responded. “There aren't’ really a lot of good steakhouses in Bar Harbor as it’s mostly just a tourist town but this one in Bangor is well worth the drive.”

Wendy nodded once. “Did you grow up in Bar Harbor?” She asked him, realizing that she really had no idea why he chose Maine to run away to. “Or in Maine?” She followed up.

“No.” Peter said kind of hesitation before he finished“I actually grew up in Nevada.” Wendy shuttered at that not wanting to remember the few times she had been to Nevada. “Reno.” He added. “But my dad owned a casino in Vegas. It’s a generational thing. His dad passed it onto him and eventually I will inherit it.” Wendy nodded. She knew Peter came from money but knew it made sense just how much money.

“My mom was from Maine.” Peter continued. “So we came up here quite a bit, her family was from Portland but my dad didn’t like Portland so instead he bought a lake house in Bar Harbor, the house that we are currently living in, and we kind of just made it our own.”

“I see,” Wendy said, reaching across the car to take Peter’s hand in hers. “I’m glad that you decided to share it with me.”

“Me too.” Peter replied as he pulled off the highway and navigated the streets of Bangor before pulling into a parking lot that was full of nice cars and people wearing similar style dresses as Wendys and full on suits like Peters.

Peter put the car in park, shutting off the car before quickly coming around to open Wendy’s door again. The two then made their way into the restaurant hand in hand. Inside Peter gave his name to the hostesses and the two of them were quickly seated in a booth in the back of the restaurant.

Wendy took her seat across from Peter noting the dim lighting and the candles that were lit on the table. “This is really nice.” She said as she grabbed a menu and started to flip through it deciding on what she would have. The waitress came over and dropped off a basket of bread which Wendy eargley took, splitting the roll in half and lathering it with butter. The waitress then took both of their drink orders before retreating back into the kitchen.

“So I think I picked a name for our puppy.” Wendy said. Peter had told her that it was up to her to pick a name for the little guy. She had been thinking about it all night and morning when it finally hit her what she wanted to name her. “I really like the name Cherry.”

“Cherry?” Peter asked, tilting his head side to side as if imagining the little puppy as ‘Cherry’. “I like it.” He said after a moment. “How’d you come up with it?”

“I don’t know.” Wendy lied slightly before decided to fuck it and just tell him the truth. “I just have this really strong memory of being a little girl and walking underneath all the cherry blossom trees and being so happy. I can’t explain it but those trees just give off this sort of feeling that I wish I could bottle up and take everywhere.” She rambled. “And it seemed especially fitting for her now because in Japan, where cherry blossoms are the national flower, they represent a renewal in hope which is what I feel sitting here with you right now.” Wendy finished.

“I love you so much dear.” Peter said, taking Wendy’s hand from across the table. “And I think the name Cherry is very fitting for her.” He said as the waitress came back with their drinks and to get their orders for dinner.

While they waited for their steaks the two of them fell into the natural rhythm of conversation that they always had. That’s what Wendy loved most about Peter, she loved how easy it was to be with him. There were never any moments where she didn’t know what to say, everything just came so naturally.

It didn’t take long for their steaks to be sat down in front of them and as soon as Wendy took a bite of the steak she knew exactly what Peter meant when he said that the hour drive was worth it. It was easily the best steak she had ever had. “This is amazing.” She said with a mouthful of food as she quickly brought her hand to cover her mouth realizing that it was not polite at all to speak with your mouth full of food.

“I know.” Peter said. “It is easily better than half the steaks I’ve had in New York from places that claim to have the best steak in the world.” The two of them then continued on with their small talk as Wendy waited for the opening she needed to bring up what she had been wanting to talk about since he let her go into Macy’s alone the other day.

“So listen.” She said and he looked up from his steak as he was able to hear the tone change in her voice. “I was thinking that maybe it would be nice, if I could um, have some more freedom now that it’s been a year.”

“More freedom?” Peter asked. “Wendy, you’re making it sound you’re a prisoner.”

“What?” Wendy asked. “No, I didn’t mean that at all. I just meant that it would be nice if I could start going places on my own every once in a while. Take the grocery store for instance, I could totally go there on my own. Or even the mall if I wanted to buy some more clothes.”

“I don’t know Wendy it just makes me -”

“Nervous.” Wendy finished for him. “I know. But it’s been a year Peter. He is not going to find us up here and I need to go back to living my life. I want this. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I went into the store the other day. I did just fine on my own.”

“I know.” Peter responded. “I was really proud of you.”

“See?” Wendy asked. “You know that I can do this. Think about how much better our lives will be if we can start leaving the house like normal people. You can get a job since you don’t have to sit at home and make sure I’m safe all day. I could even get a part time job somewhere. I saw the other day in the newspaper a job listing for the library, I could do that.”

“Wendy.” He said softly pursing his lips together. “You can’t have a job.”

“Why not?”

“Because you don't have a social security number, it’s the same reason you can’t get a driver's license.”

“I have a social security number.” She responded before thinking and the look on his face reminded her exactly why her social security would do her no good.

“Okay well then I could still do small jobs, like I could look to see if there was anyone within walking distance that needed a nanny. Something under the table you know?”

“That could work.” Peter responded thinking for a moment before responding. “Actually that would probably be really good.”

Wendy broke out into a huge smile. “And leaving the house when i want?” She asked

“I’ll think about that one.” Peter responded. “I don’t love the idea of you just walking around everywhere but I also don’t love the idea of you driving without a license because if you get pulled over we are totally fucked.” Wendy nodded in agreement. “But I will think about the idea of letting you go more freely around. I think that you’re right. I don’t think that we have to be scared of him finding us anymore.”

“Yay!” Wendy started to shout but then remembered that they were in a very public space. “Thank you so much Peter.” She said. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #criminal minds #mgg

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tommynikkivincemick · 5 years ago

Text

three way call — part 7

Summary: Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx find themselves in the frustrating predicament of being infatuated with the same woman. This calls for a competition.

Author’s note: This is for the most part a pretty tame dialogue heavy filler chapter, except a little bit of plot building and mildly homosexual content at the beginning. The next chapter will be a lot saucier so be on the lookout for that!! Enjoy xx

Warnings: Violence, drug use, language, mildly homosexual content.

After a passionate night, the pair spent the night in the van in the forest and Tommy finally got Y/N home at around 8:00 in the morning. When he himself returned home, he did not expect for Nikki to be awake and on the couch. The bassist looked over the drummer— messy hair, goofy happy expression, relaxed body language, confident stance, smell of alcohol and sex.

That bastard.

“You bastard!” Nikki growled, standing from the couch, “How could you?”

“Okay, hear me out—“

“Hear this, you backstabbing bitch!” The older Twin yelled and tackled the drummer to the ground, punching first and thinking later.

Tommy didn’t even put up much of a fight— he deserved his beating, and to be quite honest, Y/N felt so good that it was worth it. The annoying part was Nikki yelling at him as he beat his ass.

“That’s not fair! I haven’t even gotten a shot! You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants for one night? Fuck you, Tommy Lee! Go to hell! I hate you so much right now! You motherfucker!” The bassist shouted as he beat the drummer, “Fight back, asshole!”

“Fucking fine!” Tommy grunted and began pushing back, properly wrestling with Nikki, “Yeah, I fucked her! But she still wants you! She wants both of us and it really sucks, I won the bet but I didn’t win her, so would you stop hitting me?!”

“She what?” Nikki stopped, pinning the drummer’s wrists on either side of his head, straddling the younger man.

“She still wants you. Still wants me. Still wants us,” Tommy panted.

Vince stomped into the room, ready to kick whoever’s ass was causing such a ruckus and waking him up this early in the morning.

“Would you motherfuckers shut— well, that’s a pretty compromising position, isn’t it?” The blonde cocked his head when he saw the bassist straddling the drummer.

“Yeah, Nikki finally broke down and admitted how much he wants my body,” Tommy deadpanned, “Wanna join us?”

Vince genuinely contemplated it.

“Well— what? No!”

“Your loss, baby,” Nikki gave an exaggerated wink.

“This is— it’s too early for this,” The singer grumbled and slumped back to bed.

Nikki let go of Tommy’s wrists but still remained on top of him.

“What do you mean she wants us? Like both of us?” The older Twin asked.

Tommy sighed and went into the same speech he had given Y/N the night before about polyamory and crazy feelings and how he didn’t think the other man would be okay with any of it. Nikki paused and contemplated everything he was just told. When he spoke at last, he said:

“Tommy, that’s gay.”

“Nikki, you’re literally sitting on my dick right now. Shut the fuck up.”

The Twins cracked up and Nikki rolled off of Tommy and laid beside him on the floor.

“No, but uh— it’s really cool of you to admit all that to me. All bets are off. And honestly? I’d be down to try it if you guys are,” Nikki sighed.

“Really? You’re not gonna get too jealous and kick my ass?”

“Well, we’ve been doing this and it’s been going alright—“

“You’ve punched me in the face like five times since we started this bet. Plus, you’d have to fully participate, and I don’t think you’re ready for that, bro.”

“Yes I am, I’m comfortable in my masculinity and sexuality and—“

“Kiss me.”

“What?”

“Kiss me on the mouth right now. Like you mean it.”

“What the fuck do you mean ‘like I mean it?’”

“Kiss me like you’d kiss Y/N. Three way partnership, and all that.”

Nikki paused and sat up. Tommy followed suit. The bassist took a deep breath and grabbed the drummer by the back of the hair to pull him in for a kiss. It was long and deep and just like he’d kiss Y/N, as requested. By the time they parted, their cheeks were red, their eyes were starry, and they both were a little breathless.

“... I think I’m bisexual,” Tommy laughed.

“Same, maybe,” Nikki muttered, “So how are things gonna be now?”

“Like they’ve always been, dude. We all always kiss each other’s faces anyway, only now it’s ok to kiss each other’s mouths and necks and stuff. And neither of us have to be jealous when the other person is with Y/N because we know she’s ours, too. It’s gonna be chill as fuck, man.”

“Have you talked this over with Y/N?” Nikki asked, getting up from the floor and extending his hand to the other Twin.

“Uh. Maybe we should call her.”

The Twins stumbled over each other to get to the phone. Nikki dialed her number and the pressed their faces together so they could both listen.

“Hello?”

“Mötley residence, Terror Twins speaking, may we please talk to Y/N?” They asked in unison.

“This is she,” Y/N laughed, “Why do you dumbasses always answer the phone like that?”

“Because it’s funny,” Nikki replied.

“Y/N! I got Nikki to be okay with the thing!” Tommy announced.

“The three way dating thing?”

“Yes that thing!” The drummer said.

“Oh, wow. That’s really cool. What do you think, Nikki?”

“Well, I just frenched T-Bone, so I can cross that off my bucket list,” Nikki chuckled, “But I think this will be good for all of us.”

“Me too. Well, I got home really late so I’m gonna try to sleep a little bit before work later, I’ll see you guys after that, though, unless you wanna stop by the store.”

Y/N had worked at a local record store for as long as they’d known her. When they started the band and recorded “Too Fast For Love”, she’d plugged the record non-stop, always having it playing in the store and always having a stack of records on display at the front desk. She truly was the band mom, always supporting her boys.

“Okay, we’re having a little kickback later, so be sure to change out of your work clothes before you come over,” Nikki said.

“We are?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah, Vinnie didn’t tell you?”

“No, he most certainly did not. Ugh, I gotta go shower. Y/N, I’ll see you later, love you!” Tommy yelled into the phone before heading to the bathroom.

“Love you! I’m gonna go sleep a little. See you later, Nikki, love you, too,” Y/N said with a yawn.

“Alright, later. Love you, babe. Bye.” The bassist signed off and thought he’d do the same and go to bed until he had to get ready for the party, but not before yelling to the bathroom, “TOMMY! I’M TAKING A NAP, OKAY? WAKE ME UP AT SIX.”

“OKAY, SWEET DREAMS SIXX!” Tommy shouted back.

With that, Nikki sighed and went to tuck himself in for the next few hours.

Vince heard the bathroom and bedroom doors shut and immediately rushed out to the phone, dialing Mick’s number.

“Mötley residence, Vince speaking, is Mick there?”

“Yeah, blondie, what do you want?” The guitarist yawned into the phone.

“You’ll never guess what just happened!”

“What?”

“Tommy and Nikki are in a three way relationship with Y/N now because Tommy fucked her but get this, he also had feelings for Nikki! Crazy right? So I think him and Nikki made out, but I could be wrong— at the very least they kissed a little bit and they both liked it! But before that, I walked into the living room because they were fighting and being loud and it woke me up and Nikki was on top of Tommy looking like one of them was about to get railed.” Vince spoke quickly.

“Uh, yeah, I definitely never would have guessed that,” Mick said, shock evident in his voice, “I’ll have to have a talk with Y/N about that later.”

“Hey Mick?”

“What?”

“Who do you think is the top between Tommy and Nikki?”

Both men paused before saying in unison:

“Nikki.”

“Alright, man, I just thought I’d fill you in. See you tonight.”

“Yeah, blondie.”

The two men hung up and Vince went back to bed.

That afternoon, Mick decided to take a trip down to the record store to have a talk with a certain friend of the band.

“Oh hey, Mick! We just got some new prog-rock albums in, I was gonna call you about it,” Y/N said with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s cool,” The guitarist said absentmindedly before leaning over the counter and whispering quietly, “I know what you did last night.”

Y/N’s face burned and she motioned for him to come behind the counter.

“Well, how was it?” He asked.

“Really, really good. As weird as it sounds, I could spend the rest of my life getting pounded in the back of that van,” She sighed dreamily.

“Who’s better with their mouth? Nikki or Tommy?”

“Both fantastic in different ways.”

“And you’re dating both of them now, right? Like polygamy?”

“More like polyamory, but we’re trying it out, yeah. It was Tommy’s idea.”

“You know Tommy and Nikki made out earlier?”

“No way! I thought they just kissed!”

“Yeah, way! And Vince said they were both really into it.”

“No way!”

“Is that all you can say?”

“I just can’t believe Nikki really made out with Tommy. Like loving, touching, squeezing made out? Nah.”

“Yeah, Vince called me earlier and said he found Nikki on top of Tommy earlier looking like they were about to get down and dirty, if you know what I mean.”

“I dunno, I don’t think either of them are that secure yet. It’ll probably just be business as usual but with more kissing and touching.”

“Gross.”

“It’s not gross, it’s kind of hot.”

“It’s incestuous!”

“Maybe so, but how many times have you guys seen a pair of twins kissing for your entertainment and thought it was hot?”

“Yeah, true. So are you guys gonna have a threesome?”

“I would think yes, sometime in the foreseeable future.”

“Sick!”

“It’ll be great, I bet. I’m still having a hard time walking from last night.”

“Gross, don’t tell me that!”

“But you’re my gossip buddy! I can’t bottle all this up, it would be unhealthy.”

“Whatever, I’m fine with you three having weird horny adventures as long as we don’t have to find a new drummer or bassist, just be safe, use condoms, you don’t know where those two have been.”

“It’s too late for that, bud.”

“Stop... stop telling me details. I’m leaving, I’ll see you tonight, have fun at work.”

“For sure,” She laughed.

Nikki had gotten up early and had decided to go ahead and get ready and maybe pick up Y/N from work. It took him half an hour to shower, another half hour tease and spray his hair to his specifications, ten minutes to draw on eyeliner evenly, twenty minutes to get into his skin tight leather pants, five to find his platform boots, and one minute to put on his spiderweb shirt and some jewelry. Tommy joined him and for his outfit chose his fishnet shirt and tights, short shorts, and tennis shoes.

“Tommy, don’t wear the tights and booty shorts.”

“I’m wearing the tights and booty shorts. My body, my choice.”

“That’s not what that means, Tommy,” Nikki sighed, sounding exhausted, “Let’s go.”

Tommy happily followed Nikki to the car and the two drove down to the store to distract Y/N from her job. The rhythm section sauntered in and walked behind the counter. Their favorite girl perked up and gave them both a quick kiss on the lips.

“So Nikki,” She began, “How was feeling up Tommy?”

“What? We didn’t— we just kissed— how do you know about that?” The bassist’s cheeks turned a vibrant pink as he stammered.

“Vince is a gossip and said he caught you on top of Tom and Mick asked me about it. But you still didn’t answer my question.”

“He loved it and I sexually awakened him because I am the god of love, baby,” Tommy said arrogantly with a wide grin.

“Calm down Eros. It was alright. I didn’t hate it. I kind of liked it.” Nikki said shortly, glaring at the drummer.

“So... what does this mean?” She asked.

“Are we dating?” Tommy added.

“I don’t know, maybe. We’ll have to give it a trial run before anything is set in stone, but I’m... open to it, let’s say.”

“Awe, Sixx!” Y/N cooed and pulled him down to her height to plant a kiss on his cheek, “Well, anyway, my shift’s about to end if you two wanna stick around for a little bit?”

The two nodded and went to look around the store to see if they could find anything interesting and subtly placing “Too Fast For Love” records in front of every other rock album. Fifteen minutes later, Y/N clocked out and the boys followed her home to her apartment.

“Do you have any spare blow?” Tommy asked, opening and closing all of the drawers in her bedroom in search of a little pick-me-up as Nikki instead chose to smoke a joint on her bed.

“Underwear drawer; top right,” She replied as she tried on and discarded outfits and shoes.

The drummer found a small baggie of white powder an laughed triumphantly, also pulling a lacy red thong and matching bra out of the drawer.

“This is sexy, you should wear it for us sometime,” He winked.

“Mmm, and those shiny black high heels you wore that one time,” Nikki added with a devilish smirk.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” She giggled, “Now what should I wear tonight for the party?”

Nikki got off of the bed and rifled through her closet for a minute. “I think that black dress with the silver zipper looks hot on you. Oh, and the high heel boots.”

“You just want me in heels one way or another, don’t you, Sixx?”

“I am a simple man; I like Colombian cocaine, Tennessee whiskey, and pretty women in sexy high heels,” The bassist replied with a smile, the drummer behind him nodding in agreement.

The musicians watched as their lover got dressed and touched up her makeup, admiring the way the dress Nikki chose hugged her curves and the way she smiled when she put on blush and puckered her lips after she applied lipstick. When she finished with a spritz of perfume, they followed her out to the car and Tommy opened the door for her.

“Alright boys,” She said with a wry smile, “Let’s go make it a night to remember.”

Needless to say, none of them would remember a thing come morning.

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