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roosterforme · 1 year

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Batting Practice Part 18 | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Tee ball season is almost over, and the Tiny Eagles are still undefeated. You are starting to feel bolder in your personal life, like you are ready to claim everything you are entitled to. And Bradley is subtly letting you know he's along for more than just the ride.

Warnings: Smut, fluff, angst and swearing

Length: 3800 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female single!mom Reader

Check my masterlist for more Top Gun fun! Batting Practice masterlist.

"Only two more weeks of tee ball left," Molly murmured as she sipped her coffee next to you on the bleachers.

You paused to think about that. It was only two months ago that you met Bradley, and a lot had changed since you caught yourself stuttering in his presence that first day. After he brought you flowers and lunch to work on Wednesday, he'd met you at your house that night. One thing led to another, and now you knew Bradley loved being called Lieutenant Bradshaw in bed.

"Two more weeks," you agreed. You'd be sad when tee ball ended, but Bradley had been telling you for the past week since the Phillies game that he'd work on some skills with Everett during the summer.

"Go Ev!" Molly shouted when he hit the ball really hard and scored a run against the Tiny Robins. It was Crazy Socks day, and Everett had talked you into ordering him a pair from the Phillies website. You had a second pair stashed away for Bradley's birthday, which you found out from Bob was a week after Everett's.

You clapped along with your sister as you watched Everett run the bases in his red and white striped socks, but your mind was wandering elsewhere.

"You know what you said about Danny last time we talked about him?" you asked, and Molly scoffed.

"You mean how I called him an incompetent man-child? Or how I told you he doesn't deserve to lick the bottoms of your shoes?"

"Neither," you replied, smiling as both Bradley and Bob waved in your direction at the same time. You waved your fingers at Bradley and smiled. "I'm actually talking about child support. And the fact that he never pays it."

"Ohhhh, you wanna have that conversation now?" Molly asked, giving you a bland look. "Ev is almost seven years old."

"Yeah," you replied softly.

You could see the fire in Molly's eyes, but she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You've paid for everything. Take him to court. Seriously. Please, take him to court. I would love nothing more than to help you pay for it. Who's your lawyer? I'll send them a check today."

"I don't need your money," you told her firmly for the hundredth time. But now you were finally feeling like you wanted to do something about this. Why had you been okay with letting Danny get away with so much shit before? Everett deserved the whole world, and you were going to try to give it to him. "I'm going to give him one more chance to either be more involved with Ev or start paying for support."

Molly set her empty cup down and said, "Look at me." You met her eyes, and she looked much more serious than she usually did, which gave you a chill. "What are you going to do when Danny won't do either of those things?"

You pressed your lips together to keep the tingling sensation of tears out of your eyes and nose. "I'm going to stop being a doormat."

Molly kissed your cheek and pulled you against her side just as the game was ending.

------------------------------

"Still undefeated!" Everett cheered as Bradley carried him on his shoulders up to the parking lot after the game against the Tiny Robins ended in a victory for the Tiny Eagles.

"Hey, Coach Bob," Bradley called, and Bob turned around, still holding Molly's hand. "You better start writing your speech for when you win Coach of the Year. The team is undefeated with two games left!"

"You'll have to give a speech, too," Bob said as he adjusted his glasses. "The award goes to both coaches, not just one."

"Undefeated! Undefeated!" Everett chanted. You were walking next to Bradley shaking your head and smiling.

Bradley looked at you as he said, "Ev is the best on the team, Kitten. He's really good." Everett continued to chant as Bradley added, "I'm going to plan out the whole summer with visits to the batting cages, pitching in the park, and learning more about all of the different positions. He'll be ready for baseball next spring. No more tee ball." Bradley couldn't remember being this excited about baseball since he was a kid trying out for his first team.

"He's really that good at it?" you asked. "Thank goodness I signed him up for tee ball."

"Yeah," Bradley agreed, "for more than one reason."

You opened the back door to your car, and Bradley deposited Everett into his booster seat at the same time that Molly climbed in through the other door and tried to buckle herself into the seat. Bradley chuckled while Everett practically screeched with laughter, and then you wrapped your arms around his waist.

"I'm going to buy tickets for the Pittsburgh Pirates game on Everett's birthday," you told him. "Molly and Bob are coming, too."

Bob perked up when he heard his name. "No, Molly and I are going to buy all the tickets. For his birthday present."

"I thought I'd get them for everyone," Bradley said with a frown. "My treat, again."

"I already bought them!" Molly shouted from inside the car as Everett tickled her until she was wheezing.

"She's so annoying," you said, resting your head against Bradley's chest. "She wants me to save my money for my lawyer."

Bradley jerked his head back and coaxed you to look up at him. "A lawyer for what?"

"Don't worry about it," you whispered before you returned to snuggling against him.

But he wanted to know what was wrong. "Are you okay? Is Ev? Is this about Danny? What can I do?"

"We're okay, Bradley."

"Kitten. You can talk to me about it."

"I know," you replied, squeezing him tighter. "We're okay for now."

"Well, that's settled then," Molly said as she climbed out of the car with her clothes all dishevelled. "Everett defeated me in the tickle fight, so I owe him a movie. I'll pick him up tomorrow after lunch."

You looked up at Bradley with a smirk on your face. "Any chance you're free for a little bit tomorrow after lunch?"

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Later that night, you called Danny after sending him texts throughout the day telling him you needed to talk to him.

You were happy you had waited until Everett was in bed to make the call, because as soon as Danny answered with a bark of, "Yes?" you felt anxious.

"Danny," you replied, gripping the edge of the counter so you wouldn't lose your resolve. "Hi."

"What do you need? I'm trying to work."

You squeezed the counter harder and took a deep breath. "Let me know when you have time to spend a day with Everett. I think you need to make that more of a priority."

You were met with silence.

"Danny?"

"I'm here. You know I don't have time for this."

You pressed your lips together and held back your tears. "He is your son, Danny. You need to make time for him."

More silence spread out before you. Honestly, you wanted to start screaming into the phone, but you knew you shouldn't. Nobody could upset you with just a small handful of words the way your ex husband could.

When you got no response, you took a deep breath and said, "If you're not going to give him some of your time, then you need to start making up for it by paying us child support."

"Child support?" he asked with a laugh. "You know I don't have a steady income like you do."

You took a deep breath. "I understand that, but providing for Everett shouldn't solely land on my shoulders here, Danny."

"Listen," he replied smoothly. "I have a huge gallery event coming up next month. I'll probably have some more spending money then."

He was trying to manipulate you the way he always had. You'd spent years listening to him try to validate his excuses, and somehow he always got you to agree with him. You didn't need to fall into these traps any longer. Not when you had Molly in your corner. Not when you knew Bradley cared about Everett's happiness.

"Taking care of your son doesn't fall under the same category as extraspending money." You said it before you gave yourself a chance to process your words, and somehow you felt a little stronger. "So then I guess he can come spend a day with you instead?"

"Fine," Danny snapped immediately. "But I'll probably be working, so he's going to have to play on his iPad or something."

His iPad that you paid for. "Sure," you agreed, knowing this was probably too good to be true. "He's going to love to see you no matter what. So how does next Sunday sound?"

And then you ended the call feeling better than you ever had after a conversation with Danny. You poured yourself a glass of wine and carried it up to your bathroom. You filled your tub while you removed your makeup, and then you sank down into a delicious bubble bath.

You texted Molly about your conversation, and she wrote back saying SLAY YOU QUEEEEEN BITCH. DO NOT FUCK WITH MY SISTER.

You were still laughing when Bradley texted to ask what you were up to. He had gone out to that aviator hangout bar with his friends, so of course it made you feel even giddier that he was texting you while he was there.

When you told him you were in the bath he wrote back while you sipped your wine.

Bradley Bradshaw: Pics or it didn't happen

You snorted into your wine glass and took some strategically posed selfies. Finally you took a good one where the swell of your breasts was pronounced above the bubbles, and your knee was peeking above the water next to your glass. You sent it to him, and you did not have to wait long for a response.

Bradley Bradshaw: Kitten, please baby, you're teasing me. I can only take so much.

You laughed and sent him a second photo where he could see your nipples.

Bradley Bradshaw: You are so fucking hot. And now my dick is hard. In the middle of a game of pool.

You sent teasing texts back and forth while you finished your wine, and he reminded you that he'd be there tomorrow afternoon. And then he sent you a list of all the dirty little things he wanted to do to you. You dreamed about his mouth and his mustache all night long.

And the next day, as soon as Molly picked Everett up to take him to see the movie, you ran up the stairs, two at a time and dashed into your room. You dug around in the bottom drawer of your dresser and pulled out everything you needed. Bradley would be here in just a few minutes, and you'd been wet and worked up for him since last night.

You shimmied into the tight black bodysuit and fastened the choker around your neck before securing the ear headband in place as well. Then you found some sheer black socks that went up over your knees and added them to your Kitten outfit. When you looked in the mirror, you squealed with delight. You turned and checked yourself from different angles. Not bad. Not bad at all.

You were thinking about how Bradley barely even got a chance to touch you the last time you wore this kitten costume that day at tee ball. You were thinking about how you bought this outfit just for him in the first place. When you heard the Bronco pull into your driveway, you were practically squeezing your legs together to keep from moaning.

When you made it to the bottom step, you heard Bradley's key in the door, and somehow that made you even hotter. You were afraid you were going to jump on him, so you kept your hand wrapped around the bannister as he opened your front door.

"Hi, Coach," you said, your voice laced with need as you waved your fingers at him.

"Oh, god." His groan was so deep and loud, you clenched around nothing as he blindly slammed and locked the door. He let his keys, wallet and hat fall right to the floor as you whimpered.

"Coach." Your voice quivered as he approached you slowly. "Bradley."

You almost matched up to his height as you were still standing on the bottom step. He was close to you now, licking his lips and breathing faster. He let his knuckles trail slowly up and down over your bodysuit between your breasts, and soon you were panting for him.

His grin was smug as he asked you, "Did you wear this for me?"

You nodded your head as he stroked your hard nipples through the thin fabric. "Just for you, Lieutenant Bradshaw."

And then his head tipped back as he groaned, and you felt so powerful. You guided his hand down your belly and between your legs, and he met your eyes again. "You're already wet."

"I've been wet since we were texting last night," you admitted. And then you were draped over his shoulder with his big hand on your butt while he hauled you back upstairs.

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Bradley had been thinking about you in your Kitten costume for weeks, but he hadn't been expecting you to be wearing it today. It was even filthier looking this time, as you paired it with black socks that hugged your thighs instead of your jeans. You skipped the whiskers, but you were wearing your choker. Your collar.

As he took you up to your bed, you were whimpering his name as he stroked his fingers along your ass and your thighs. You were soaking wet. He could feel it when he dug his hand between your legs to tease you as he reached your bedroom.

When he set you down, you crawled across the bed, showing off your ass for him before you settled with your back against the pillows. Bradley was tearing his shoes off followed by his clothing as he watched you run your hands over your bodysuit, squeezing your tits.

"Do you have any idea what you look like right now?" he asked, crawling across the bed to get to you.

"A Kitten?" you asked softly, fingers skimming over your taut nipples.

"My Kitten," he growled. "You look like you're mine. My own personal Kitten with a wet pussy and filthy red lips." He kissed you hard, pushing your head back against the pillow while he ran his fingers along the strip of fabric that was barely covering your slit.

When you moaned into his mouth, he released your lips in favor of running his nose and tongue along that sinful red choker on your neck.

"Lieutenant Bradshaw, sir," you whined, and his cock ached with need. "Please."

He was sucking on all of your exposed skin, tasting every inch. You were grinding up against his hand as he palmed your core through your bodysuit. "I'll take care of you," he promised, kissing your choker and your necklace chain at the same time. "You keep your claws tucked away like a good girl, and I'll take such good care of you."

Then he released the snaps between your legs that were keeping you concealed, and the bodysuit was open. You rubbed yourself against his knuckles, and his fingers slid right through your slick slit. You shook your head against the pillow, and your headband with the ears went a little crooked.

"I am so turned on," you gasped. "I don't think I have ever been this turned on before."

You were whining for him and rubbing your stocking covered leg along his cock. But your eyes were still alert, and he wanted them glazed and fucked out.

"I'm gonna eat your pussy," he told you, nibbling your nipples through the fabric as you gasped in agreement. "But I'm not going to stop until I'm ready to. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes sir, Coach Bradley, sir!"

"Kitten, look at me," he said, still stroking your clit softly with his knuckle. "That means I decide when you're done."

"Yes!"

And then he put his mouth on your pussy, and it was exquisite. Just like last time. But maybe even better, because he was going to make you lose your mind for him. He wrapped his arms around your thighs and spread you open wide, kissing your hole as he buried his nose in your wetness.

He started off slow, teasing and licking, and then your fingers were in his hair. Your little gasps and words of encouragement made him smile, but as soon as he took your clit between his lips, you got loud. Really loud. Bradley was delighted that you could be as loud as you wanted to, because he was addicted to the feel of your smooth pearl, your perfect clit under his tongue.

"Bradley!"

You were thrusting up against his face, and he dipped his tongue inside you as your wetness coated his chin. He loved this. He loved eating pussy. He knew he was good at it. But you were too perfect. Everything he liked. Everything he wanted. He needed you. He released your left leg and shoved two rough fingers inside you as he eased himself up your body to kiss those pretty red lips.

"You taste so fucking good. Like a damn kitten in heat," he told you as you ran your tongue along his chin. You kitten licked his face and whimpered while he finger fucked you harder. Your hands wound tight up in his hair were a little painful, but it just made him go harder.

Your eyes were already starting to drift closed and he kissed you, smiling against your mouth. "Remember. You're done when I say you're done."

His words made you keen, and he could feel you starting to squeeze his fingers as he put his mouth back on your clit and sucked gently. That first orgasm came screaming out of you as your hips bucked and shook against the mattress. But Bradley was already working on the next one as you gasped his name over and over again.

With his tongue moving in languid strokes as you started to calm down, Bradley managed to coax you close to the edge again. This time you released his hair in favor of wrapping your hands in your pillowcase.

"What the fuck," you gasped, gaping at him and meeting his eyes as you rode his tongue to another orgasm. Your forehead was scrunched up in disbelief as you gasped, sounding scandalized that he did it twice.

But he wasn't done yet. He ground his cock down into your bedding, bucking for some relief against the delicious show that all of his senses were being treated to. Because now you looked truly exhausted, and your fingers were unable to get purchase in his hair. He kissed and nibbled on your inner thigh as he ran his calloused fingertips over your sensitive, overworked clit until you were whining softly.

"It's okay, Kitten. I love you," Bradley promised, and you nodded wordlessly. And sure enough, after several more minutes, you hiccuped a few times as you came again for him. Your pussy softly pulsing around his middle finger as you gasped had him palming his cock.

He was about to cum. Quickly, he positioned himself so he was on his knees with your left thigh between his legs. He never removed his middle finger from inside you while he stroked himself a half a dozen times. And then he was spurting his cum all over your pussy and your belly and your bodysuit.

You didn't even seem to know what was going on as you shook your head against the pillow and wiped at your tears.

"You okay?" he asked softly, and he smiled. Because your eyes were glazed, your face looked fucked out, and your body was limp, connected to his by his one finger inside you. "God, you're fucking glorious."

A soft laugh escaped your lips while Bradley stroked your cheek with his thumb, and you nuzzled against him like a kitten.

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You had your arms draped lazily around Bradley's neck as he showered with you. For a split second, he had been nervous that he might have ruined your bodysuit when he came, but you assured him you could always buy another one. Honestly, you thought the splashes of his white cum on your skin and the dark fabric looked sinfully good.

"You gonna wear that outfit again for me?" he asked, running his fingers along the little paw print charm he got you where it rested next to your collarbone.

"Do you really need me to?" you challenged. "You just took a bunch of photos of me half wearing it with your cum all over me. Shouldn't that be enough?"

He kissed you, gently pulling your bottom lip between his before he said, "No way. Those are for when I'm deployed. I'm gonna want the real thing again and again."

You felt a jolt of reality. "Do you know when you're getting deployed again? Do I need to start preparing myself to miss you?"

"No," he murmured, kissing along your neck as the spray from the shower calmed you. "When I find out, you'll be the first to know, Kitten. And I must admit," he added, pausing on a deep inhale that left you with bated breath, "I do love the idea of being missed. By you. And Ev."

You didn't know what to say as you snuggled up against him for a few minutes before you eventually turned off the water. You'd been in a relationship with him for a week. One week. And you already daydreamed about when he'd move in with you. You were already thinking about where all of his stuff would fit in your house. But it was too soon. And you didn't know if he'd want to permanently be here at all.

But you did say, "Everett and I already miss you when we're not with you," and he smiled.

"Speaking of Ev," he said, drying off his legs. "It's getting late. Do you want me to be here when they get back?"

You only had to consider that for a beat. "Yeah."

Bradley met your eyes as he pulled his underwear on. "Can I help him with his homework? Or do something else to make things easier for you?"

In that moment, you wanted to tell him everything that had happened on the phone with Danny. You wanted to tell him that you and Molly had talked about a lawyer. But all you said was, "I love you."

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Kitten dressing as the kitten again. Kitten making demands of Danny. Kitten getting what she deserves from Coach! Love to see it. Thanks to @beyondthesefourwalls and @mak-32!

PART 19

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sadnymi · 5 months

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「 ✦ The Alchemy.✦ 」

[Quidditch player Lorenzo Berkshire× famous!reader][ttpdm]

Summary:Lorenzo and Y/N shared a mischievous history during their Hogwarts days, often causing accidents and playing pranks. Years later, they crossed paths again as the most renowned figures in the wizarding world, sparking intriguing developments.

Warnings:fluff, toxic past relationship x smut.

Words:6k.

𓍯𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓍯.

The Daily Prophet's Patronus Parchment magazine:

Sparks Fly in Paris? Y/N Y/L/N Dines with Quidditch Star Lorenzo Berkshire!: Hogwarts Reunion or Something More?

Paris, France -Love was in the air in the City of Lights last night! Our very own golden girl, Y/N L/N, was spotted enjoying a cozy dinner with none other than Quidditch heartthrob Lorenzo Berkshire at a quaint Parisian bistro.

Fans were quick to recognize that Y/N and Lorenzo were Hogwarts classmates, though their paths haven't crossed publicly since their school days. But based on the lively conversation and lingering smiles captured by our eagle-eyed correspondent, their Parisian rendezvous seemed far from a casual catch-up.

Y/N, a multi-talented powerhouse, needs no introduction. From captivating social media influencer, fashion icon and model to brilliant researcher and entrepreneur, she's an inspiration to witches and wizards worldwide. The Ministry of Magic even considers her one of the brightest minds in our time! Y/N with no doubt is the it girl of our generation

Lorenzo Berkshire, has stolen hearts on the Quidditch pitch with his dazzling plays and undeniable charm. As a Chaser for the The Montrose Magpies , he's considered one of the most exciting players of his generation. known as the "most lovable boy in the wizarding world," and it seems he might have just charmed his way into our girl Y/N's company.

A Match Made in Magical Heaven? Could this Parisian rendezvous be the start of something more? The thought of these two brilliant minds and captivating personalities joining forces has the magical world abuzz. Imagine the power couple they would be!

Neither Y/N nor Lorenzo have commented on the nature of their meeting. Were they reminiscing about Hogwarts days, or is there a spark of something new brewing? Only time will tell!

One thing's for sure:This unexpected reunion has ignited the flames of curiosity. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled for any further developments!

𓍯𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓍯

when the magazine mentioned a special guest for the next photoshoot, but I wasn't fazed. They usually paired me with actors or other celebrities. Just when the office door swung open, revealing Lorenzo Berkshire himself standing beside the manager. My smile widened involuntarily, mirroring his own surprised delight.

"Y/L/N," he greeted with a charming smile, taking a seat across from me.

"Berkshire," I replied, a wave of nostalgia washing over me. We weren't exactly close in school, but we had a shared history – one I wouldn't soon forget. The memory of him accidentally ruining my dress and land spectacularly on top of me, readily came to mind. And who could forget the time I broke his Quidditch broom before that important match?

"Congratulations," I blurted out, remembering his recent victory. He'd just clinched the European League trophy, the most coveted prize in the magical sporting world, along with the title of Best Player in the League. World Champion and the best of his generation – it was a well-deserved title.

"Thanks," he smile, "and congratulations on… everything, honestly. Is there anything you can't do?"

My laugh echoed through the room."Probably stopping you from ruining my Yule Ball dress and dance," I teased.

"Ouch, low blow," he chuckled.

Our manager chimed in then, "Since you two already know each other, and are practically the biggest names in the wizarding world right now, we thought it would be perfect to have you do a double photoshoot together!"

Lorenzo and I exchanged glances, then simultaneously nodded. "Sure, no problem with me," I said.

"Me too, I'd actually really love that," he added, his voice surprisingly husky. I felt a blush creep up my cheeks as I stole another glance at him.

"Great! I'll iron out the details with your managers," she beamed, launching into a flurry of logistical planning. My attention, however, had become somewhat… divided. I found myself stealing glances at Lorenzo, a goofy grin plastered on my face. There was something about seeing him after all this time that made my heart skip a beat. Every time I caught his eye, he'd smile back.

As the meeting wrapped up, Lorenzo held the door open for me with a gentlemanly gesture. "Thanks," I smiled, a warmth spreading through me.

"Do you have anything to do now?" he asked.

I shook my head, a smile tugging at my lips. "Not really. I have the day off."

"Great, so can I get you a coffee?" His suggestion was simple, yet the way he asked, made my heart skip a beat.

"Yes, sure," I agreed readily.

Paris, with its timeless charm, never failed to enchant me. Yet, on this particular day, the city's magic paled in comparison to the warmth radiating from Lorenzo. He led me into a quaint little coffee shop, a hidden gem tucked away from the bustling crowds. The cozy atmosphere instantly calmed my nerves.

Fame – a double-edged sword. Places like this were a luxury sometimes.

Sipping on our steaming hot chocolates, we fell into conversation easily. I congratulated him on his recent victory, the European League trophy a much-deserved achievement.

"Being on the best team now, that's huge," I said, genuinely impressed. "I mean what I want to say is you really did it, Lorenzo." The pride in my voice surprised even me.

He met my gaze for a moment, his smile softening. "You too," he replied. "I might tease my teammates about knowing you from school, but honestly?"

"No way" i smiled.

He chuckled. "Almost half of them follow your Instagram like lovesick teenagers."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously?"

"Absolutely. You're kind of a big deal, Y/N."

"Well, you're not doing so bad yourself, Mr. Champion," I countered, playfully returning the compliment. "you're quite the charmer yourself, Half the girls I work with seem to have graced the arms of a Quidditch star at some point you have a thing for models?”

His hand reaching up to brush something off my cheek. My heart skipped a beat as his fingers grazed my skin. "Just a little something..."

He held up a chocolate smudge from my hot chocolate. Relief washed over me, quickly replaced by a warmth that spread through my cheeks.

"Just a coincidence," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"We call that a 'type,'" I teased, trying to mask my fluster.

He chuckled again. "What about that actor? What was his name… Aaron?"

My smile faltered slightly. "Antonio," I corrected, a touch of bitterness creeping into my voice.

Lorenzo seemed to pick up on the shift. "Right," he said, his gaze searching mine. "He was a jerk, by the way. His movies sucks. Glad you broke up with him. You were way out of his league."

His words warmed me more than the hot chocolate. There was something about Lorenzo, something genuine and kind, that made my heart flutter in a way it never had before.

"Yeah, he was," I admitted, a genuine smile returning to my face. "Tell him that," I added playfully, "because he cheated."

Lorenzo's smile dropped. "I'm so sorry," he said, his voice sincere. "That's messed up."

"It's okay, truly," I reassured him. "I'm way over it."

The conversation flowed effortlessly from there. We reminisced about Hogwarts, teased each other about past crushes, and shared stories from our careers. Time seemed to slip away unnoticed, the afternoon sun dipping below the horizon painting the sky in hues of orange and pink.

"Let me drive you back to your hotel," Lorenzo offered, his voice gentle. The warmth in his eyes sent a familiar flutter through my chest.

The ride back was filled with laughter and easy conversation.By the time we reached my hotel, a pang of disappointment settled in my stomach.

"So," Lorenzo began, his voice hesitant as he stopped the car, "I really enjoyed today. I'm glad I met you again, Y/N."

My gaze met his, and the intensity in his eyes sent a shiver down my spine, and the playful banter of the day took a more serious turn. Looking up at him, my heart pounded a frantic rhythm against my ribs. A feeling bloomed within me – a warmth unlike anything I'd ever known.

"Me too," I whispered, my voice barely above a breath.

"I didn't want this to end here," he murmured.

My heart soared. The butterflies returned, a swarm of them taking flight in my stomach. "Me neither," I confessed, mirroring his sentiment.

A slow smile spread across his face. "Can I take you to dinner tomorrow?" he asked, his voice husky with unspoken emotions.

The world seemed to shrink to just the two of us. A wide smile bloomed on my face. "Yes," I breathed, "I'd love that."

My smile stretched wider. For the first time in a long time, I felt a genuine connection, a spark of something real.

Tipping my toes up, I leaned in and brushed a soft kiss against his cheek. His breath hitched, and a flicker of surprise crossed his features before melting into a smile.

With a final lingering look, I stepped into the elevator, As the doors closed, I couldn't help but lean back against the cool metal.

Lorenzo Berkshire. On a date. With me. The little girl inside me would have laughed hysterically at the very notion back in school.

Today, however, was anything but a joke. Today was perfect. From the fancy Parisian restaurant with its impeccable service and breathtaking view, to Lorenzo himself, with his easy charm and genuine conversation, it was a fairytale come true. By the end of the night, I couldn't deny the giddy, lovestruck teenager bubbling beneath the surface.

As we exited the restaurant, paparazzi swarmed, cameras flashing like angry fireflies. We were caught in HD.

"I really liked you back at school, you know?" he confessed as we finally reached his car, the Eiffel Tower shimmering majestically in the distance. I perched myself leaned against his luxury .

"Wait, really?" Surprise mingled with a secret delight I hadn't allowed myself to acknowledge before.

"Really," he chuckled. "Though I wouldn't say I didn't mind ruining your Yule Ball dress a little."

My jaw dropped, then a laugh erupted from my lips. "So that wasn't an accident?"

"Maybe not entirely," he admitted with a sheepish grin. "Needed a reason to talk to you and stop you from dancing with that stupid boy. Besides you were always surrounded by your girls."

A blush crept up my cheeks. "I did that on purpose too being angry and act like running the dress was a big deal ," I confessed. "So you'd notice me." Schoolyard tactics, but it seemed they had worked.

The revelation hung between us for a moment, a shared secret from our past. Then, Lorenzo leaned down, his lips brushing my ear. "Well, it worked. And you, Y/N, have become even more beautiful than I ever remembered." His voice was a husky whisper, sending a rush of heat through me.”

His breath sent shivers down my spine. Before I could respond, he cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. It was a soft, hesitant touch at first, then deepened, his lips moving perfectly with mine. The world melted away, leaving only the warmth of his touch and the intoxicating feeling of him.

He finally pulled away, his eyes searching mine. My heart hammered against my ribs, my breath coming in shallow gasps.

We reached my hotel in a comfortable silence, the kiss hanging heavy in the air. Stepping out of the car, I hesitated, looking up at him.

"Do you want to come in?" The words tumbled out before I could stop them, an entirely unexpected invitation.

The moment we got into the room and the door closed, we jumped into each other, he kissed me again, pushing me up against the wall. My hands found their way to his chest, feeling the heat of his body through his shirt. His lips were soft, yet insistent, and I moaned into the kiss.

My dress rode up as he lifted me, his hands gripping my bare legs. I wrapped my legs around his waist. I could feel his hardness pressing against me, and I rocked my hips, desperate for more.

He pushed my dress up, his fingers tracing a path up my bare legs. I shivered as he reached my thighs, his fingers teasing the edge of my lace panties.

"You're so wet," he murmured, his fingers tracing the outline of my pussy through the fabric. "I can't wait to taste you."

His lips trailing down my neck. I tilted my head back, giving him better access. His stubble scratching against my skin, sending shivers down my spine. He pulled my dress over my head, leaving me standing in nothing but my matching lacy black bra and panties.

Lorenzo looked at me like I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and it made me feel powerful.

I reached for his shirt, undoing the buttons slowly. I wanted to savor every moment of this, to remember every touch and every kiss.

Lorenzo helped me, shrugging out of his shirt and tossing it aside, I ran my hands over his chest, feeling the muscles ripple under my fingertips.

"Fuck, you're beautiful," he whispered, his lips finding mine again.

I moaned as he kissed me, my hands exploring his body. I could feel his hard length pressing against me, and I knew that I needed him inside of me.

"Let me show you how good I can make you feel baby."

He picked me up again, carrying me to the bed. He laid me down gently, his body covering mine. I could feel his hardness pressing against my core, and I rocked my hips, desperate for friction.

He kissed me again, his tongue exploring my mouth. I met his tongue with mine, our kiss growing more passionate.

"I want to leave marks all over your body. Can you handle it?" I nodded in response and pulled him to another kiss.

He trailed his lips down my body, his hands cupping my breasts.

"I've been thinking about this all day.“ He squeezed them gently, his thumbs brushing over my nipples. I arched my back, pressing my breasts into his hands.

He took one nipple into his mouth, sucking and biting gently. I arched my back, moaning with pleasure. He moved to the other breast, giving it the same attention. I cried out, my fingers digging into his shoulders.

“I want to taste every inch of you. Spread your legs wider for me." He moved down my body, his lips leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

He hooked his fingers into my panties, I nodded, he pulled them down slowly. I lifted my hips, helping him, exposing my wetness. He kissed my inner thighs, teasing me, working his way up to my core.

He ran his tongue along my slit, making me gasp. He teased my clit, his tongue flicking back and forth. I moaned, my hips bucking up I moaned loudly, grabbing onto the sheets.

"Don't stop, please Enzo fuck, you're so good at this," I begged.

He slipped a finger inside me, curling it up to hit my G-spot,and I exploded. I screamed his name, my orgasm washing over me.

He didn't stop, continuing to lick and suck on my clit. He added another finger, fucking me with his fingers. His tongue still teasing my clit. I could feel my orgasm building again, my body tensing up. He increased his pace, fucking me harder. I cried out, and came again, my body shaking.

He kissed his way back up my body, his lips meeting mine. I could taste myself on his lips, and it only made me want him more. He reached for his pants, pulling out a condom. I watched as he rolled it on, my body thrumming with anticipation.

He positioned himself at my entrance, his tip teasing me.

"Do you want me to fuck you?" He whispered in my ear, his voice husky with desire. I nodded, unable to speak.He thrust into me, filling me completely. I cried out, my nails digging into his back.

He started fucking me, hard and fast. I met him thrust for thrust, our bodies slapping together. He pounded into me, and I could feel another orgasm building up.

"Fuck, you feel good," he moaned, his lips finding my neck.

He sucked on my neck, his teeth grazing my skin. I moaned as he bit down, my orgasm building again.

"please Enzo," I begged, my nails digging into his back.

“ please what baby?” Lorenzo picked up the pace, his hips slamming against mine. I could feel the orgasm building, my muscles tensing.

"You're so tight around me. Do you like it when I fill you up like this?" He say , and I kept nodding at him he pushed my tears away and put kisses in there places.

He reached down, rubbing my clit. I came again, my walls clenching around his cock, and I could feel him getting closer to his release.

I screamed as I came, my body shaking with the force of the orgasm.

He thrust a few more times, and then he stilled. I could feel him cumming inside me, and I moaned. He collapsed on top of me, both of us panting heavily.

He rolled off me, and I snuggled up next to him. We lay there, our bodies entwined, as we caught our breath. I couldn't believe what had just happened. It was the hottest sex I had ever had.

“Forget about the European league, this is the best night of my fucking life,” he said, a satisfied grin on his face.

I huckled softly, resting my head on his chest while playing with his hand. “Me too,” I whispered, feeling a rush of warmth and affection for him.

He turned to me, his gaze softening as he took my hand in his and brought it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on my palm. “I don’t want it to be just a one-night thing,” he confessed, his eyes searching mine for a reaction.

My heart skipped a beat at his words. I had to admit, the connection we shared tonight felt deeper than just physical attraction. I traced circles on his chest with my finger, pondering his statement.

"I don't want that either," I admitted, feeling a sense of vulnerability and honesty between us.

𓍯𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓍯

The Daily Prophet's Patronus Parchment magazine:

Love in the Air: Y/N Y/L/N and Lorenzo Berkshire Spark Dating Rumors (Again!)

The rumor mill is churning once more, thanks to the undeniable chemistry between Y/N Y/L/N and Quidditch superstar Lorenzo Berkshire.

Holding Hands in London. Sharp-eyed fans spotted the pair strolling hand-in-hand through the charming streets of London. This heartwarming sight comes after their Parisian rendezvous last month and now-famous photoshoot, fueled further speculation of a blossoming romance.

Despite the growing buzz, Y/N and Lorenzo remain tight-lipped. Neither has officially confirmed their relationship status, leaving fans to decipher the undeniable sparks flying between them.

A Match Made in Magical Heaven? The pairing has the entire magical world swooning. Y/N, the multifaceted influencer, model, and researcher, and Lorenzo, the charming and talented Quidditch champion – they're a dream couple on paper and even more captivating in reality.

Is it Real? The lingering question remains. Is this a whirlwind summer fling, or the start of something truly special? Only time will tell. One thing's for sure: we'll be keeping a close eye on these two lovebirds!

𓍯𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓍯

Lorenzo sprawled on the couch, a defeated sigh escaping his lips as he surveyed the culinary disaster in the center of the coffee table. What started out as a valiant attempt at a romantic home-cooked dinner had morphed into something resembling a misshapen, charcoal-tinged UFO.

"Don't worry about it," I chirped, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "Those YouTube tutorials made it look so easy!" Maybe a dash of optimism would salvage the situation.

Lorenzo took a valiant bite, his face contorting into a grimace he tried his best to disguise. "It's...interesting," he managed, his voice thick with forced cheer. Bless him, he was trying so hard.

I snatched the offending slice from his hand before he could ingest another questionable morsel. "You're adorable, but food poisoning is not on the menu tonight." A laugh bubbled out of me, the tension easing.

He pulled me in for a kiss, flour smudging his cheek. I couldn't help but giggle as I retaliated, dusting a heart and smiley face onto his face with the rogue flour.

grabbed another wad of dough and shaped it into a heart, a playful smile adorning its surface. Flour dusted his face as I added finishing touches, my smile widening at his sheepish grin.

"Aww, look at you," I teased, pulling out my phone to capture the moment. A picture of the unknown -shaped pizza and Lorenzo, flour-dusted and grinning, filled the screen.

My finger hovered over the 'post' button. Suddenly, a wave of uncertainty washed over me. Was it too soon? Too public?

"Hey," Lorenzo murmured, his voice soft as he tilted my chin up. "What's wrong?" His gaze followed mine to the phone screen.

"I was just...thinking," I admitted.

"About posting it?" A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Yeah," I mumbled. "Is it weird?"

He shook his head, his smile widening. "Absolutely not. Post it. Put a million red hearts on it, let the world know you have a boyfriend."

The playful jab sent a blush creeping up my cheeks. "Boyfriend, huh?" I teased, a shy smile gracing my lips.

He leaned in, his eyes holding mine. "I'm whatever you want me to be, Y/N. Just know that I'm serious about you."

My heart did a little flip-flop in my chest. "Me too," I whispered, the words tumbling out before I could stop them.

With newfound confidence, I hit 'post,' adding a caption: > Dinner may not have gone according to plan, but the company is definitely five stars! ❤️❤️❤️.

𓍯𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓍯

The Daily Prophet's Patronus Parchment magazine:

Antonio Garcia's Latest Film Flops: Karma's a Witch, or Just Bad Scripting?

Box Office Blues: Antonio Garcia's highly anticipated film, "Galactic Guardians," has crash-landed at the box office, leaving critics and audiences equally unimpressed. The film, touted as a summer blockbuster, has garnered a mountain of negative reviews, with many citing a weak plot and forgettable characters.

Worse Reviews Than Revenue: The critical drubbing is compounded by the film's dismal financial performance. "Galactic Guardians" struggles to pull in viewers, with its earnings barely covering its production budget. This financial flop marks a significant setback for Garcia, who previously enjoyed a string of successful films.

Karma's Calling? The timing of this double whammy couldn't be more curious, especially considering Garcia's personal life. News of his messy breakup with Y/N Y/L/N, the wildly popular model and influencer, dominated headlines last year. Rumors of infidelity swirled around Garcia, rumors he never fully addressed. Many fans are quick to draw a line between his alleged infidelity and the film's disastrous performance, whispering of a touch of karmic justice.

Coincidence or Consequence? Whether this is a case of bad scriptwriting or cosmic payback remains to be seen. One thing is certain: Antonio Garcia's career has hit a major snag. Can he bounce back from this double blow? Only time will tell, but one thing's for sure – Y/N seems to be doing just fine. In fact, she's recently been spotted with Quidditch champion Lorenzo Berkshire, and the pair seem to be radiating pure happiness. Looks like karma might have a sweeter side.

𓍯𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓍯

Lorenzo dimmed the living room lights, the soft glow of the TV casting flickering shadows on the walls. We were sprawled on the couch, a mountain of popcorn between us, halfway through a cheesy rom-com that neither of us were taking very seriously.

Suddenly, I hit pause, the silence thick after the movie's soundtrack abruptly cut off. Lorenzo looked at me, a questioning eyebrow raised.

"Hey," I said, taking a deep breath. "Can I tell you something?"

He scooted closer, concern etched on his face. "Of course, Y/N. What's wrong?"

The words tumbled out, a jumbled mess of emotions. I told him about Antonio, about how young and naive I was back then, how he used me for everything I had to offer: my fame, my connections, everything but me. I confessed to feeling unloved, unseen, a trophy on his arm rather than a real person. And then, the final blow – the cheating rumors that turned out to be all too true.

"You were so young," he murmured, his voice filled with empathy. "He didn't deserve you, Y/N. Not even close."

His words were like a balm to my soul, the anger and hurt momentarily soothed. He pulled me closer, and I rested my head on his shoulder, the familiar scent of his cologne grounding me.

"You know what the best part about all this is?" I whispered, my voice thick with emotion.

He shook his head, his arms tightening around me.

"The best part is you," I confessed, looking up into his eyes. "You are the best thing that's ever happened to me, Lorenzo. You make me feel seen, valued, loved – everything I never felt with him."

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, his eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't decipher. Then, he leaned down, his lips brushing softly against my ear, "I love you," he murmured.

The words hung in the air, heavy and unexpected. My breath hitched, surprise flickering across my face. Love? Here, now, with Lorenzo? It felt like a beautiful dream, too perfect to be real.

"Enzo…" I stammered, completely thrown off guard.

He cupped my face in his hands, his thumbs gently brushing away stray tears. "Don't say anything," he pleaded, his eyes searching mine. "Just know that I do. I have for a while now."

Taking a deep breath, I met his gaze, my voice trembling slightly. "I… I love you too, Enzo."

A wide smile bloomed on his face, a smile that mirrored the warmth blossoming in my chest. The cheesy rom-com on the screen suddenly seemed unimportant.

One night, while he was staying over at my apartment, we found ourselves in a candid conversation.

I admitted that the first orgasm I had ever experienced was with him, after our first date. The confession seemed to shock him. After all, I had dated Antonio for three long years, so it was a significant revelation for both of us.

𓍯𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓍯

The Daily Prophet's Patronus Parchment magazine:

Antonio Garcia's Sour Grapes: Y/N Y/L/N Responds with Class

A Case of Ex-xcuses? In a recent interview promoting his (commercially challenged) new film, Antonio Garcia took a not-so-subtle jab at his ex-girlfriend, Y/N Y/L/N. When asked about his ideal partner, Garcia launched into a rambling diatribe about needing someone "grounded" and "focused," seemingly throwing shade at Y/N's multifaceted career as a model, influencer, researcher, and all-around powerhouse. Sources close to the actor claim he's been making negative comments about her to anyone who will listen. Considering their public breakup last year, fueled by rumors of Antonio's infidelity (which he never fully denied), this behavior comes as no surprise.

Lorenzo Berkshire Sings Y/N's Praises: When asked about Y/N during a recent interview, Lorenzo's face lit up with a genuine smile. " She's the kind of person who makes everyone around her better." His words paint a picture of a strong, supportive woman – the complete opposite of the image Antonio is trying to portray.

Fans Rally Behind Y/N: Needless to say, the internet erupted in support of Y/N. Fans flooded her comments with messages of empowerment and praise, applauding her success and her dignified response. Many pointed out that while Antonio struggles with box office flops, Y/N continues to excel in every aspect of her life.

𓍯𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓍯

Today was the day. The Montrose Magpies, Lorenzo's team, were facing off against their fiercest rivals, Puddlemere United. It was always a tense match, but this year, the stakes felt even higher. The crowd crackled with energy, a mix of nervous anticipation and Magpies pride.

I knew Lorenzo would be incredible. He exuded a quiet confidence that was contagious. Before he stepped onto the field, I leaned in and kissed him softly. "Good luck," I whispered, my voice barely above a murmur. He smiled, a hint of nerves flickering in his usually calm eyes.

"I don't need luck with you cheering me on," he replied, squeezing my hand before disappearing into the tunnel.

The match was a whirlwind. Both teams played with an intensity that bordered on aggression. Cheering and groans filled the stadium as players soared and cursed, the Quaffle whizzing through the air at lightning speed. Penalties were called, tempers flared, and the score remained stubbornly tied.

Just when it seemed like the game might go into overtime, Lorenzo pulled off a move that defied gravity. He weaved through a sea of Puddlemere Chasers with the grace of a dancer, dodging Bludgers left and right. Finally, with a powerful flick of his wrist, the Quaffle soared through the goalposts.

The crowd erupted in a frenzy. Fans screamed, flags waved, and the stadium pulsed with pure joy. The Magpies had won! Lorenzo, the hero of the day, was hoisted onto his teammates' shoulders, the golden trophy gleaming in the afternoon sun.

He spotted me in the VIP section and winked, a playful glint in his eyes. As the celebrations on the pitch unfolded, Lorenzo made his way over, a wide grin plastered on his face. He scooped me up in a hug, the trophy still clutched in his hand, and planted a celebratory kiss on my lips. The taste of victory and the warmth of his touch sent shivers down my spine.

Moments later, I received a text from Lorenzo. Just two words: "Come over, baby." My heart skipped a beat. It wasn't unusual for us to meet up later, but the changing room? That felt… different. A knot of worry formed in my stomach. Was everything okay? Had he gotten injured?

With a mixture of apprehension and excitement, I excused myself and headed for the changing room . My mind raced with possibilities as I knocked on the door, a nervous flutter in my chest. The door creaked open, revealing Lorenzo, his hair damp from the shower.

Before I could question the unorthodox location, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. "There you are," he whispered, his voice husky with something that wasn't just exertion.

fingers tangling in my hair as he deepened the kiss. I could feel his desire, hard against my thigh, and I couldn't help but respond. My own hands found their way to his shoulders, then up to tangle in his damp hair.

"Lorenzo," I murmured, breaking the kiss for a moment. "What about your teammates?"

He smiled, a wicked glint in his eye. "They all left. It's just you and me here, babe."

My heart skipped a beat at his words. I had never been with him in such a public place before, and the thrill of the possibility was intoxicating. Before I could protest, his lips were on mine once more, his hands working their way under my shirt, caressing my skin.

I moaned softly as his fingers found my nipples, teasing them to hard points through the lace of my bra. His other hand was busy undoing my jeans, pulling them down just enough to free me from the constraints of my underwear. I could feel the cool metal of the locker against my back as he pressed me against it, his hips grinding against mine.

His mouth moved from my lips, down my neck, nipping and sucking at the sensitive skin. I gasped as his teeth grazed my ear, his hot breath sending shivers down my spine. "You like that?" he murmured, his voice low and husky.

I could only nod, my breath coming in short, desperate gasps. His fingers continued to tease my nipples, his thumb brushing against them in slow circles. I could feel the heat building between my legs, my body aching for him.

My breath hitched, and I nodded, my hands gripping his shoulders. "Yes, Enzo, don't stop."

He didn't need any further encouragement. His fingers left my nipples, tracing a path down my stomach, then lower still. I gasped as he found my clit, his fingers circling it in slow, teasing movements.

"You're dripping wet for me," he murmured, his voice full of satisfaction “You're my favorite addiction. I can't get enough of you."

His fingers slid lower, parting my folds, then entering me in one swift movement. I cried out, my back arching off the locker as he began to thrust them in and out, each movement sending waves of pleasure crashing through me.

"Yes, just like that," I I moaned, my hips bucking against his hand.

He continued to fuck me with his fingers, his thumb still teasing my clit. I could feel myself growing closer and closer to the edge, my body tensing with each thrust.

"The way you look at me when I touch you drives me wild. Keep those eyes on me,"

His words sent me over the edge. I cried out, my orgasm crashing over me like a wave. I could feel myself clenching around his fingers, my body shaking with the force of my release.

Lorenzo didn't give me a chance to catch my breath. He pulled his fingers out of me, his lips curling into a wicked smile as he brought them to his mouth, tasting my release.

“ I love how you moan when I do this. You're mine, all mine." he murmured.

Before I could recover, he was pushing me back against the locker, his hips grinding against mine. I could feel his cock, hard and hot, pressed against my entrance.

"Do you want me to take you right here, right now?"he asked, his voice low and husky.

I could only nod, my breath coming in short gasps. I was more than ready. I needed him inside me, filling me up, claiming me as his own.

He didn't make me wait any longer. With one swift thrust, he was inside me, his cock filling me up completely. I cried out, my back arching off the locker as he began to thrust in and out, each movement sending waves of pleasure crashing through me.

I could feel myself growing closer and closer to another orgasm, my body tensing with each thrust.

He didn't hold back. His thrusts grew harder, faster, his cock hitting that spot inside me that drove me wild. I could feel myself teetering on the edge, my body begging for release.

“I want you to say my name when you come. Let me hear how good I make you feel."

I cried out, my orgasm crashing over me like a wave. I could feel myself clenching around his cock, my body shaking with the force of my release.

Lorenzo followed me over the edge, his own orgasm ripping through him. I could feel him pulse inside me, filling me up with his release.

He collapsed against me, his breathing ragged. I could feel his heart racing, matching my own.

His lips finding mine once more.

My body still trembling with the aftershocks of my orgasm. I had never experienced anything like that before, and I knew that I would never forget it.

"I never knew public places could be this thrilling," I whispered, still caught in the haze of pleasure.

Lorenzo smiled, his eyes full of affection. "Don’t worry I have a lot of in my mind for you " he promised, his lips claiming mine in another searing kiss.

𓍯𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓍯

#slytherin boys x reader #slytherin boys x you #lorenzo berkshire x you #lorenzo berkshire fluff #lorenzo berkshire imagine #lorenzo berkshire x reader #lorenzo berkshire #Lorenzo Berkshire smut #lorenzo berkshire fanfic #enzo berkshire #thetorturedpoetsdepartmentmasterlist

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vipvesper · 1 month

Text

all is fair in love and war

pairing: octavian x child of bacchus!reader

warnings: octavian 😞, pining, minor cursing, spoilers for son of neptune!!

word count: 1.3k+

“i wish reyna would let me strangle you.”

Octavian? You hate him for the most part. You hate the storm swirling above the Temple of Jupiter that crackles with electricity as another teddy bear augury is completed. You hate the way his piercing blue eyes mock you from behind Reyna as you sit at a Centurion’s meeting. You hate his insane laughter that echoed in your ears 6 years ago when he mutilated your stuffed animal. You roll your eyes. Dakota’s red-ringed lips lazily speak orders to the Fifth Cohort, but nobody’s listening. We’re gonna soften the defenses. Again. Great. As if the looks on our faces afer stepping away from the Officer’s conference wasn’t bad enough, Dakota’s speech isn’t helping. He squeezes a packet of Kool-Aid.

“Listen, guys. This is gonna be a good one, I can feel it!” You take charge, opting to do the talking. “Hazel and Frank, I know you guys are still on the new side, but I think you can do this. First row, create a shield wall with Dakota as you advance to soften the blow. Second row from Cecil over, hide behind the shields to fight off any advancing defenses. The other twelve, try to sneak around the flanks and find a way in.” A smile pulls at your lips, moving your brother aside. “Let’s move out, troops! Victory for the Fifth!”

The child army echoes your cheer as your ranks break. A looming wall stands in front of you, cohorts three and four standing guard behind. How do we see past the wall? When it’s so tall? “I suppose we’re acting as bait again,” you murmur to Dakota.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“Hannibal’s all ready?” You inquire, wanting to make sure your cohort gets the win they deserve. He nods, grabbing another juice out of his pocket.

The war games start, Reyna hovering overhead with Scipio. A circle of eagles fly in tandem with her, awaiting injury. You tag along with the twelve soldiers, attempting to find a crack in the wall, an unguarded plate. A tug pulls in your stomach, long green vines pushing out of the ground of the Field of Mars. Branches split off to grab your cohort, gently placing my teammates over the wall. It’s a struggle to keep Hazel and Frank quiet as they’re plopped right into enemy territory. The sounds of swords clashing rings out before you can even climb up yourself.

As you drop down, armor clinking together, the vines recede to leave a small scar in the earth. Wide blue eyes immediately stare back at you, coupled with the golden glint of a spatha. Great. Octavian’s here. Can’t give him a chance to think, you remind yourself. Your gladius makes a nice noise as you remove it from its sheath, pressing the flat against his smaller weapon. Before long, he’s disarmed. Unfortunately for you, he immediately starts to squawk, alerting any soldiers who might’ve still been preoccupied by their Mythomagic tournament.

“Backup! I need backup!” The lanky blonde yells, fumbling for his secondary weapon. A stray arrow whizzes past your ear as you lunge, grabbing him by his shoulder.

“Fifth cohort, for the colors!” Jonathan and Frank rush for their emblem, narrowly dodging flying furniture. Hazel’s backed into a corner by a First cohort member, her golden eyes filled with determination.

But, Tyche really isn’t on your side, is she?

A last minute elephant mishap knocks your troops away from the battlefield, wiping the scoreboard clean. Eagles swoop down to snatch up a good portion of the teenage militia.

You sit on a stone wall overlooking the city of New Rome, holding an icepack to your cheek. Guess Octavian had gotten you after all. A sigh rolls past your lips. The win was so close, it was right there. Bandages wrap around any minor cuts you may have acquired during the game. The all-too familiar crinkle of a Kool-Aid pouch makes you assume that Dakota had finally found you.

A rather soft object hits the back of your head.

It’s a freaking Kool-Aid packet. Grape flavored, at that.

“Wouldn’t Reyna like to know that her favorite Centurion is throwing a fit over a loss? What a sore loser,” a sarcastic voice jests. You grit your teeth, turning to face Octavian.

Curse him and his skinny body, his stupidly gorgeous blue eyes, his unblemished skin—

Woah.

Where did that come from?

“I’m looking for ways to better myself for my cohort. Not like you’d know anything about self-reflection,” You scoff. Much to your chagrin, the augur sits beside you. Phoebus Apollo rides close to the horizon, signaling the nearing arrival of dinnertime. “Do you mind?”

“No, I don’t,” he smirks. He looks quite stupid with those stuffed animals hanging from his belt, in your opinion. Seven stripes burn on his forearm under the symbol of an eagle, much like your own. His loose white toga hangs off his clothed shoulders. The sun radiates onto his pale skin, bathing him in a warm glow. Cocky bastard. He knows he’s pretty. “Do you have a staring problem?”

You snap back to reality real quick.

“No, I don’t.” You turn your head away, embarrassed. You weren’t staring, were you? Small vines decorated by bundles of purple grapes pop up around you, encircling the area. “Is there a reason you’re here? Or would you just like to gloat.”

Octavian reclines, pressing his hands on the green grass behind him. He picks a grape, tossing it at your temple. “I’m simply encouraging your improvement,” he teases.

“I wish Reyna would let me strangle you.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

As you look out at the sunset, you don’t notice his eyes on you. You don’t notice the way his gaze trails over the bridge of your nose and your freckles and the rosy hue covering your cheeks like he’s committing the way you look at dusk to memory.

“Pretty night, huh?”

That’s unusual. Octavian making small talk?

“Yeah, it is.”

“You weren’t too bad today,” he mutters, very clearly avoiding his gaze. It’s very much unlike him to butter you up, even if he wants something.

“Thanks?” you tilt your head, confused by his praise. Should you be offended?

The two of you look out at the little Tiber rolling over the hills, basking in the golden hue painting the heavens. A long, cold hand drapes over yours eventually, gently squeezing. You jolt away, face pink as the clouds in the sky.

“The Pluto?!”

“Shut up.” He shoves something in your lap, and for a second you think it’s a grenade of Greek fire, set to explode as soon as he’s out of range. Tyche must feel sorry for her absence earlier.

A soft green material, as green as the grass, sits against your thighs, a happy smile staring up at you. It can’t be. A fuzzy memory returns to you, a feeling of nostalgia washing over you. A frog plush from long ago. Stitches a bit darker than the original fuzzy fabric reach from seam to seam, head to toe.

“What—?”

“Seriously, shut up. I found it tucked away, thought you’d like to see it again before it gets sacrificed to the gods again.”

You scoop up the piece of your childhood in your free hand, eyes wide as the cosmos. Before that little smirk on Octavian’s face can grow any further, a cold, hard object smacks him right across the face, sending him reeling.

“What the—?!”

“You little dick,” you huff, placing the icepack on the ground. “Thanks, I guess.”

He smiles—a real smile, however small—as he stares into your eyes. “You’re very welcome, love.” His alabaster face is painted red.

You shake your head, amused. “Don’t ever call me that again.”

Like a scene from a fairytale, his hand snakes its way onto your waist, the proximity only forcing more of your father’s fruit out of the ground.

“Like I’d listen to you,” he chides.

You lean forward, pressing your lips against his in a gentle kiss.

“I really am irresistible.”

“Shut up, you’re ruining the moment.”

#fanfic #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #percy pjo #octavian #hoo x reader #hoo x you #pjo hoo toa #rick riordan #fanfiction #self indulgent #self insert #ancient rome #rome #tyche #vipvesper

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corneliaavenue-ao3 · 26 days

Text

End Game: I Wanna Be Your A-Team (chapter 3)

Ginny Weasley is playing for England's Quidditch Team in the World Cup.

This is her fanbase's reaction to it.

Read from the beginning on Ao3 here

Read this chapter on Ao3 here

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

The 132nd World Cup will start later today! England and the United States of America will meet up for the first time ever in the finals!

@quidditch4lyfe posted

For the first time ever, I will be rooting for the refs in a quidditch match

@thunderbirdgirll posted

CAW CAW BITCHES!!! LET'S GO USA!!!!

@horny-serpent posted

I'm about to break the statue of security and tell the No-Maj's that today is basically a second independence day. I want to dump some tea in a harbor

@beatemup posted

i can't believe i live in a time where i have to watch the fucking USA play England in the biggest game ever. The world of quidditch deserves better than this

@nycwitchy posted

🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅

@quid-bitch posted

Happy Block An American Day to everyone who celebrates!

@harpies-hore reblogged @quid-bitch

my favorite day of the year!

@ginwiz posted

no matter what happens today, this is the best day of my life

@ginginweas reblogged @ginwiz

love that for you, i might avada kadavra myself if we lose

@harpies-hore posted

I can't believe they are playing this game in fucking Canada. The stadium is going to be filled with USA fans

@thunderbirdgirll reblogged @harpies-hore

HELL YEAH IT WILL BE

@harpies-hore reblogged @thunderbirdgirll

fuck you, i post the memes here

@drarry-is-real posted

only the united fucking states of america would get me to actually root for Ginny Weasley

@hinny-luv-4-eva reblogged @drarry-is-real

if you didn't have maggots for a brain, you would always root for Ginny Weasley

@drarry-is-real reblogged @hinny-luv-4-eva

you have maggots for a brain

@queezy-4-weasley posted

is anyone actually going to the match?

@ginwiz replied: merlin i wish

@ginginweas replied: my cousin is, but apparently didn't want to invite me????

@gin-will-win replied: I thought we were going to lose last round, so I spent all my money on that game

@im-a-keeper posted

I am so curious what England will bring as their mascot

@quid-bitchh reblogged @im-a-keeper

Harry James Potter

@bitch-witchh posted

so if i floo to the ministry of magic right this second, i could buy a last minute international floo ticket to canada, and then apparate to the fields outside the stadium, run to the stadium, and then apparate to the top of the stadium where i can then watch ginny weasley play in the world cup for approximately 1 minute before i get arrested by canadian aurors

@queezy-4-weasley reblogged @bitch-witchh

worth it

@corneliastreet28 posted

i can't believe this is my first quidditch game and it is the world cup!!!

@ginwiz reblogged @corneliastreet28

omg have so much fun!!!!

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

The United States of America has taken the field with their mascot, the Griffin, proudly flying behind them!

@nycwitchy posted

🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅CAW CAW!!! LET'S GO MY WEIRD LITTLE EAGLE/LION MASCOT🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅

@ginginweas posted

Oh you know the Gryffindors are going to be pissed about America's mascot

@bitch-witchh posted

I can't see him, but I know my man, Ron Weasley, is booing so hard right now

@quid-bitch reblogged @bitch-witchh

i love a man who is a hater to his core

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

England has taken the field, surprisingly, with no mascot

@ginwiz reblogged @quidditch-world-cup-updates

wait why???

@queezy-4-weasley posted

Did they try to get Harry to be their mascot, and he didn't agree??

@ginginweas posted

why would we not have a mascot?????????

@nena-96 posted

no mascot?? nothing?? we couldn't even have gotten a house elf to represent us???

@im-a-keeper posted

I hate to be the one to let everyone know, but England did bring a mascot... it's just that only some people can see it

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

We stand corrected, England did bring a mascot. It has been reported that several Thestrals are flying alongside the British players.

@thunderbirdgirll posted

well that's fucking depressing. way to bring down the vibes britain

@puddlemore-111 posted

That is so tacky to do

@ginwiz posted

Honestly, what a tribute. We know Ginny and several of the other members of the team can see them, and it is such a great way to remember the war that we fought just a few years ago and how it still impacts people today.

@harpies-hore reblogged @ginwiz

yeah and it's a threat. We brought a fucking death omen as our mascot

@gin-will-win posted

THERE SHE IS!!!

@ginwiz posted

GINNY!!!

@harpies-hore

THAT'S MY GIRL!!!

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

GINNY IS THERE!! NOW SHOW HARRY!!

@ginginweas

OH MY!!! I LOVE THESE QUIDDITCH KITS

@quid-bitch reblogged @ginginweas

her ass looks so good in it

@ginginweas reblogged @quid-bitch

it does, it truly does

@harpies-hore reblogged @ginginweas

harry is going to kick both of your asses

@queezy-4-weasley posted

THERE'S HARRY!!

@ginginweas posted

Harry wearing a Weasley jersey, makes me sob every time I see it

@hinny-luv-4-eva reblogged @ginginweas

wait until Ginny wears a Potter jersey

@drarry-is-real reblogged @hinny-luv-4-eva

that is NEVER going to happen

@gin-will-win posted

okay yeah Harry is wearing a Ginny Weasley jersey, BUT LOOK AT HER PARENTS!! THEY ARE WEARING MATCHING JUMPERS WITH HER FACE ON THEM!!

@bitch-witchh posted

Molly Weasley, what do I need to do for a Ginny Weasley jumper???

@ginwiz reblogged @bitch-witchh

you probably need to become a weasley

@bitch-witchh reblogged @ginwiz

any of the weasley brothers single?

@harpies-hore reblogged @bitch-witchh

percy

@bitch-witchh reblogged @harpies-hore

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

With the release of the snitch, the 132nd Quidditch World Cup has begun!

@brightlybound posted

can someone explain the rules of quidditch to me real quick

@queezy-4-weasley reblogged @brightlybound

big ball needs to go through hoops for 10 points

medium sized ball hits people and hurts

little golden ball ends the game for 150 points

@brightlybound reblogged @queezy-4-weasley

Thanks! I'm going to forget about half of this

@im-a-keeper posted

England came READY today

@gin-will-win posted

Weasley to Killick to Alton back to Killick to Weasley to Alton to...

@quid-bitch posted

AMERICA IS SO FUCKED

@ginginweas posted

SHE SCORED!!!

@bitch-witchh posted

I KNOW THAT IS MY GIRL!!!!

@thunderbirdgirll posted

wait, i was told weasley got her spot on the team because her boyfriend saved the world, not because she was actually good at this sport

@harpies-hore reblogged @thunderbirdgirll

America's live reaction to realizing how good Ginny Weasley is

@thunderbirdgirll reblogged @harpies-hore

plz delete

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

HARRY ALMOST FELL OVER THE RAILING IN EXCITEMENT!!!

@drarry-is-real reblogged @hinny-luv-4-eva

now you are just writing fanfiction

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

lol, because @drarry-is-real is my older sister

@drarry-is-real reblogged @hinny-luv-4-eva

give me my green jumper back

@hinny-luv-4-eva reblogged @drarry-is-real

@ginwiz posted

SHE SCORED AGAIN

@gin-will-win posted

is America okay? are they even trying???

@thunderbirdgirll posted

America rn

@harpies-hore reblogged @thunderbirdgirll

in another life, we would have been friends

@ginginweas posted

Do we think Shah catches the snitch today?

@queezy-4-weasley reblogged @ginginweas

by the way the chasers are playing, he might not need to

@im-a-keeper posted

I refuse to get comfortable, the USA is known for their comebacks

@ginwiz reblogged @im-a-keeper

don't say that

@quid-bitchh posted

we can't lose, america can't score

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

Sullivan scores the United States first points after an incredible Dionysus Dive! England is still up 40-10.

@horny-serpant posted

THANK FUCK WE GOT POINTS

@thunderbirdgirll reblogged @horny-serpant

ALL HOPE IS NOT LOST

@gin-will-win posted

ah fuck

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

NOOO they weren't supposed to score!!!!!

@queezy-4-weasley posted

is it too late to get a new keeper?

@ginginweas reblogged @queezy-4-weasley

Ron can sub in, I heard he was keeper at Hogwarts

@queezy-4-weasley reblogged @ginginweas

i don't trust the quidditch skills of a man who cheers for the Chudley Cannons

@ginwiz posted

CAN THEY STOP SCORING PLEASE!?!?

@quid-bitch posted

GINNY!! OPHELIA!! RICHARD!!! HARRY!!! SOMEONE!!! DO SOMETHING!!!

@thunderbirdgirll posted

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!!

@nycwitchy posted

OOOOHH SAY CAN YOU SEEE!!!! BY THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT

@ginginweas posted

okay I was fine with them scoring once, a little troubled with them scoring twice, hurt about the third, BUT WE LET THEM TIE US IN THE SPAN OF 5 MINUTES????

@bitch-witchh posted

I'm blaming @im-a-keeper for USA comeback

@im-a-keeper reblogged @bitch-witchh

I'm sorry

@thunderbirdgirll posted

@gin-will-win posted

things are getting.... snippy out there

@harpies-hore posted

oh Ginny is MAD

@queezy-4-weasley posted

yes Gin, steal that quaffle right out of the greedy American's hand

@nycwitchy reblogged @queezy-4-weasley

not the British citizen calling America greedy, girl, yall have some artifacts to return from the British Museum

@quid-bitch posted

THAT BITCH CLARK PULLED ON GINNY'S BROOM TAIL!!

@im-a-keeper posted

... did the refs not stop that?

@ginginweas posted

I DON'T EVEN NEED A POLL TO KNOW THAT THESE REFS ARE WORSE THAN VOLDEMORT

@ginwiz posted

OH SHIT

@quid-bitch posted

THAT WAS SO HOT OF HER

@bitch-witchh posted

GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

damn...

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

A fight has broken out between England and The United States of America after Ginny Weasley punched Cecelia Clark in the face

@harpies-hore posted

@quid-bitchh posted

Ginny, you can punch me at any time

@quidditch4lyfe posted

I can't believe I thought I was going to hate this game.

@thenicestthingiveseen posted

@puddlemore-111 posted

Further proof that this generation is ruining Quidditch

@ginginweas reblogged @puddlemore-111

people have died playing quidditch before and you're offended by a punch???

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

I'm crying, Harry is cheering so loudly for Ginny right now

@bitch-witchh posted

no, but Harry is out of his seat thrilled that she threw that first punch

@gin-will-win posted

shut the fuck up, her PARENTS are celebrating her punching Clark

@ginwiz posted

@hinny-luv-4-eva reblogged @ginwiz

Harry would kill himself before hitting Ginny

@bitch-witchh reblogged @hinny-luv-4-eva

and Ginny would kill Harry before backing out of a competition

@thunderbirdgirll posted

Cecelia, girl, how you going to start that fight with an illegal move and then get your ass beat like that??? You're embarrassing me

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

The refs have both teams separated and the fight has ended. Cecilia Clark will be rewarded 2 free penalty shots. Ginny Weasley has received an official warning penalty.

@quidditch-world-cup-updates reblogged @quidditch-world-cup-updates

this was a terrible call btw

@ginginweas posted

NOT @quidditch-world-cup-updates recognizing how BAD these refs are!!

@queezy-4-weasley posted

at least Clark only made one of her two penalty shots

@harpies-hore reblogged @queezy-4-weasley

Clark does not equal free points

@horny-serpant posted

we were going to need those extra 10 points

@ginginweas posted

okay folks, back to our regularly scheduled England dominance

@gin-will-win posted

Alton scored thank fuck

@thunderbirdgirll posted

Sullivan scored thank fuck

@queezy-4-weasley posted

GINNY WITH THE QUAFFLE!

@bitch-witchh posted

so much is happening at once

@im-a-keeper posted

it is back and forth, back and forth for both teams.

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

Clark scores tying the game back up at 90-90.

@quidditch4lyfe posted

Ginny should start another fight

@harpies-hore reblogged @quidditch4lyfe

I agree

@quid-bitch posted

I fear we will be relying on Shah once again to catch the snitch

@ginwiz reblogged @quid-bitch

THAT'S OKAY!!! HE CAN DO IT!!!

@thunderbirdgirll reblogged @ginwiz

@gin-will-win posted

More points!

@nycwitchyy posted

AMERICA SCORES AGAIN!!!!

@harpies-hore posted

whenever I think we can take the lead, there America is, right behind us, scoring again

@thunderbirdgirll reblogged @harpies-hore

CAN'T GET RID OF US!!!

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

okay can we go back to winning please? i need a happy harry and ginny post-game celebration

@puddlemore-111 posted

2 hours into the game and still no snitch sighting. Shah was the worst pick as a seeker for England

@im-a-keeper reblogged @puddlemore-111

Shah literally caught the snitch the last two matches, one of them against Victor Krum? What are you even talking about?

@ginginweas reblogged @im-a-keeper

you got to block him like the rest of us did

@im-a-keeper reblogged @ginginweas

@four2andnew posted

so when does the game actually end? I was told that Harry Potter might propose to Ginny Weasley at the end of the game

@queezy-4-weasley reblogged @four2andnew

whenever the snitch is caught

@four2andnew reblogged @queezy-4-weasley

and when will that happen?

@queezy-4-weasley reblogged @four2andnew

who's to say

@gin-will-win posted

Ginny scores again!! What is that? 8 goals for her now?

@bitch-witchh reblogged @gin-will-win

nine!

@quidditch-world-cup-updates posted

At the 2 hour and 34 minute mark, we have our first snitch sighting!

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

CATCH THE FUCKING SNITCH AND END THE GAME SHAH!

@ginwiz posted

aaaaand they lost the snitch

@quid-bitch posted

while you were watching shah miss the snitch, i was watching our girl score again

@ginginweas posted

this is such a high scoring game so far... 210-180

@bitch-witchh reblogged @ginginweas

both team's keepers kinda suck

@ginginweas reblogged @bitch-witchh

we should have had Wood over Frisby

@quid-bitch reblogged @ginginweas

I love Wood

@bitch-witchh reblogged @quid-bitch

we know

@gin-will-win posted

MORE POINTS FOR GINNY!!!

@harpies-hore posted

if we manage to win this, Ginny deserved MVP again

@bitch-witchh

SNITCH SIGHTING SNITCH SIGHTING!!!!

@ginwiz posted

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

@queezy-4-weasley posted

SHAH YOU CAN KICK THE AMERICAN'S ASS

@thunderbirdgirll posted

COME ON DIAZ!!!! CATCH THE SNITCH!!!

@nycwitchy posted

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@harpies-hore posted

YEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!1

@im-a-keeper posted

SHAH DID IT!!!!

@quid-bitch posted

I NEVER THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD COME!!!!!!!!

@bitch-witchh posted

BREW YOUR TEA WITH AMERICAN TEARS TONIGHT BECAUSE ENGLAND JUST WON!!!!

@quidditch-world-cup-updates

Steffan Shah snagged the snitch! England has won the 132nd Quidditch World Cup!

@drarry-is-real posted

I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM ACTUALLY HAPPY GINNY WEASLEY WON!

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

SHE FLEW STRIAGHT OVER TO HARRY!!!!!!!1

@drarry-is-real posted

I no longer am happy Ginny Weasley won

@queezy-4-weasley posted

GINNY AND HARRY!!!!

@ginginweas posted

i love their love

@quid-bitch posted

HARRY AND GINNY SITTING IN A TREE!! K-I-S-S-I-N-G

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

THEY JUST MAKE ME FEEL SO MANY THINGS I LOVE HINNY YOURE HONOR

@harpies-hore posted

EVERYBODY WANTS TO KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO IF I DIDN'T WIN!!! GUESS WE'LL NEVER KNOW

@gin-will-win posted

WHERE'S THE TROPHY??? SHE JUST COMES RUNNING OVER TO ME!!!!

@thunderbirdgirll posted

okay im sad, but they are very cute together

@nycwitchy reblogged @thunderbirdgirll

i know. like the hot, young quidditch star is dating the savior of the world. swoon worthing. i need a romance book based off of them, stat

@hinny-luv-4-eva reblogged @nycwitchy

i don't have a book, but I can give some fanfic recommendations

@ginwiz posted

wait... did anyone else see that sparkle?

@ginginweas reblogged @ginwiz

i thought my eyes deceived me there for a second but....

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

DID SHE JUST SLIP ON AN ENGAGEMENT RING??

@queezy-4-weasley posted

THAT'S A RING

@harpies-hore posted

@bitch-witchh posted

ENGAGED HINNY??? DID HE JUST PROPOSE???

@gin-will-win posted

I don't think it was a proposal??? i think she couldn't wear the ring during the game and she just slipped it on herself after the game!???

@ginginweas reblogged @gin-will-win

I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT!!! THEY WERE ALREADY ENGAGED!

@ginwiz posted

THEY JUST CASUALLY ANNOUNCING THAT THEY ARE ENGAGED???

@im-a-keeper posted

This was the best season of quidditch I have ever experienced. Love stories, fist fights, and a quidditch world cup. I may actually be crying.

@hinny-luv-4-eva posted

I DON'T THINK I WILL EVER GET OVER TODAY

@drarry-is-real reblogged @hinny-luv-4-eva

you are so annoying

@hinny-luv-4-eva reblogged @drarry-is-real

LOVE YOU TOO SIS!!!

@ginnyweasley posted

WE WON!!!

I had a wonderful experience playing for England alongside my excellent teammates. So thankful to have such a loving, supportive fiancé to celebrate with!!

@gin-will-win posted

FIANCE!!!!!!

#end game #hinny #ginny weasley #harry potter #harry x ginny #harry potter x ginny weasley #harry potter fanfiction #this is a wrap! thanks to everyone who read and enjoyed this silly little fic!#and if you are tagged it is because you told me i could!!! I hope you enjoy your small role!!#(unless you are ginwiz then i am sorry you keep getting tagged but in my defense that was my old url)

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verdemoun · 4 months

Note

Please please please tell me Rains Fall and Eagle Flies are in your timewarp AU, if the answer is yes PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE RAMBLE ABOUT THEM I LOVE YOUR AU SO SO MUCHHHH

rains fall def isn't getting timewarped he deserves to pass away peacefully in his sleep knowing that his people were safe and content, able to build new lives in canada. he got to sit around a campfire one last time with paytah at his side and despite all the devastation and young men lost in 1899 the tribe healed and there's a new generation who will be raised with the freedom of knowing their home will always be theirs and still learn their traditions. he gets to listen to children play and finally find peace with the fact he may have lost all his sons but ultimately the freedom eagle flies had wanted for the wapiti people (even though they lost their land) was secured

EAGLE FLIES ON THE OTHER HAND

arthur was cautiously optimistic that dying might have been enough to chill eagle flies out nope. man found himself a horse and is minutes away from setting a petrol station on fire when they find him

all that anger eagle flies is holding onto would be tenfold for a long damned time in modern era like things are still Not Great for native americans and he would feel awful but vindicated

in a really tragic way grief would be his salvation he would feel so lost and stuck like he misses his father his friends his men. he was angry over losing his home in 1899 but in modern era he's lost his family and while arthur is still a great friend to him and he values that connection it's not family or home and he realizes he doesn't have anything left to be fighting for

BUT IT'S OKAY HAPPY STUFF TIME between arthur being the voice of non-violence (for probably the first time in his life) and learning about interactions between first nations and the us government over the 100+ years between 1899 and modern era eagle flies would come to his own conclusion that while violent protest was often necessary to start negotiation, rights were secured in legal jargon. gotta engage with the system to change and beat the system

he starts studying both history and law with a touch of lenny's tutorage. (he also learns to hide his identity and still goes to protests because he KNOWS that absolute pacifism won't work. you cannot take the absolute rage out of the last son)

it wasn't in his time or rains fall's time but the wapiti people were able to return to the heartlands before modern era so he gets to see his people in their home and no it's not perfect but it's still something so joyous it motivates him to keep being an activist both civilly and violently

there's such a positive exchange of knowledge like eagle flies is able to share traditional stories that were lost to time but also learn traditions that were already lost in 1899 but rediscovered through the exhaustive efforts of the modern era wapiti people

i lied rains fall gets one day in timewarp when he meets his natural death so he sees eagle flies as a matured young man in his 30s and they get to embrace. more importantly they sit down and talk in a way they hadn't been able to for a long time. rains fall gets to tell his son he was always proud of him and understood even through their disagreements eagle flies only ever wanted what was best for their people. eagle flies gets to tell his father he was sorry for not listening: he understands now what rains fall was always trying to tell him about the destructive power of violence (even though rains fall doesn't want or need an apology. he just loves his son and is glad he's getting a chance at a new life )

they get one perfect day where they get to be happy and understand one another

TIME FOR FUNNIES eagle flies accidentally becomes the dutch of isaac's anarchist friend group. he's giving them all the tips on how to get away with political crime. he's not directly involved but there's a whatsapp group where isaac sends selfies with the sawn off head of a columbus statue and eagle flies is living vicariously through them while he maintains his civil activist status

charles is his modern era right hand man. he will go to charles to bitch about stupid local government meetings he's been asked to speak at. he's been in timewarp for almost a decade by the time charles gets there but he's still annoyed by the same stuff charles is and it's very cathartic to hear someone else agree and Get it from their perspective

as a direct result he has the same tongue in cheek humor as charles and arthur is so easy to tease. they'll be hanging out and arthur will ask charles if he can unpack the dishwasher when he has a chance* and both eagle flies and charles will hit him with the 'slave to the white man u_u'. as much as charles tries to assure arthur it was a joke you bet poor arthur is already insisting he can do it himself

i am so sorry i hope this is sufficient rambling

#rdr2 timewarp au #eagle flies #rains fall

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lavenderovercast · 2 months

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Blessed are The Peacemakers summary: Charles sets off to give Arthur a proper burial. warnings: hurt no comfort, mentions of canonical character death, mentions of terminal illness/succumbing to terminal illness, mentions of grieving, burial of a corpse/encountering a corpse, mentions of period-typical racism notes: this is cross-posted to my ao3, click here to read it there! <3 also be nice to me, this isn't beta read and it's a year old :( > this also includes mentions of an OC since this is a gift/part of an AU, but you're free to ignore them!

He had been helping the tribe when word caught up to him. When Rains Fall had approached him with a downcast expression, Charles had felt his heart tighten in his chest with fear. The man had been sitting near the fire that he had set, watching the orange flames and embracing the warmth that blasted against his frigid body. It was October, and it felt as though winter was quickly approaching — especially with the onslaught of rain that had decided to pour down from the heavens. It wasn’t ideal weather to travel in, especially with a group of Natives… But what choice did they have? Their home was taken from them, everything, their dignity included, stripped away callously by cruel men. Charles had an obligation to help them however he could, and he knew that fact, even if he didn’t feel deserving of such a position. Even if he had felt horribly helpless, only able to watch as these people — his people — continued to have everything taken from their hands. When Rains Fall had approached after they had settled and taken a seat beside Charles, he knew that something was wrong. There was a heaviness in the man’s posture, as though more weight was set upon his shoulders. Guilt racked through Charles at the thought of Eagle Flies, his undeserved death.

“I caught word that Arthur passed.” The words leave a knot in his throat, and rocks in his belly. Charles is silent, continuing to stare down the fire to try and ignore the sensation of the hot tears threatening to escape from the corners of his eyes. He had known it was coming. Arthur was sick, very sick, and you would have to be blind not to notice such a thing. Arthur was once a big man, who stood tall with his head held high. Charles could easily tell you that Arthur’s blue eyes were filled with light, mischievousness, even — in spite of the sour look always planted on the man’s weathered face.

Arthur was not only well built but the very definition of healthy, once upon a time. Strong, brave, and able to carry out any and every task provided to him. When Charles had last seen his companion, his… His something more, he had been reduced to a hunched-over shell, his body racked with thick, painful coughs that rattled in his chest and shook his bones. Arthur’s skin had become pale, his eyes lost their light and became something dull and sad, not unlike a rainy day, and he had become terribly skinny. Charles knew better than anyone that Arthur could still hold his own in spite of his sickness, but…

Should he be surprised, really? Charles had known it was coming — Arthur’s death. It hurts to think about it like that, but it’s true. After all, Charles had been the one to assure the man that his illness was not a curse, not completely, anyways. There was a bright side to it, a blessing amongst the darkness being placed upon Arthur. Where the brunette saw his illness as the reckoning that he deserved, Charles viewed it for what it was: a blessing, an honor.

Arthur had the bliss of knowing when his time would come, and not many people would ever be granted that opportunity. Death was typically quick and sudden, like a bullet to your back or a vengeful gang torturing you before taking your head and displaying you to your own people like a trophy, a mocking image. But Arthur’s sickness? It was something that would grant him the opportunity to do right and be right. Unlike the others that they had watched die, that Charles had helped bury…

Arthur could make amends with the world and his wrongdoings before the end of it all. He could enter it as a hateful, angry man that Charles did not see within him, or leave it the good, selfless man that Charles did see within him. And he had told Arthur as much. To have used his sickness as an indication of his limits, to decide who he wanted to be during these final days.

It became increasingly clear that Arthur’s enemy was not those around him, but rather time itself. The man was waging war against an invisible clock and an invisible force destroying him from the inside out, and eventually, he wouldn’t be able to fight either of his opponents anymore. Charles swallows the knot in his throat, and tries to ignore the terrible throb in his heart as he replies in a voice that he’s impressed remains steady in spite of his swarming emotions:

“I… I see.” Charles manages, but barely.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Rains Fall is quick to reply, a gentle hand placed on the man’s shoulder as if to place emphasis on the truth of his words. Charles can only stare at the fire ahead of the pair, and for a while there’s only the sound of the wood popping and crackling. The silence between the men seems to last an eternity.

And then Rains Fall speaks again. “The army men. They mentioned Bacchus Bridge — That’s somewhere near where they last saw Mister Van der Linde.” The name fills Charles with rage, and makes him clench his fists before drawing in a shallow breath through his nose, nodding his head to signal to his companion that he had heard the older man’s words very clearly.

But the statement also warrants a question — if Dutch was seen near the bridge, and only Dutch… What about the others? Charles' mind wanders to his former gang members. Bill, Javier, Nathan, the goddamn snake… … John, Sadie, Abigail, Tilly, Eliza… His heart feels heavy at the thought of each of them, but it aches the most when the pregnant blonde comes to mind. He’s glad to know that if the army men had only spotted Dutch — then there’s a good chance that the others had gotten away — or worse, they could be dead. He tries hard not to think about the second possibility, even though it’s far more likely than the first.

“No one… No one found him, properly?” Charles questions, the words lingering in the air between them. The unspoken words weigh heavy in his sentence, although they aren’t breathed to life: Has he been buried yet? Rains Fall is quiet for a moment, and then shakes his head no. “Too many men in the area. No one wanted to come near, and I thought I should tell you…” A deep sigh racks the man’s body as he leans forward. “...Since you were fairly close with him. Maybe you’d be willing to do what others wouldn’t.”

Charles can only muster the strength to nod in reply, in acknowledgment. Because his mind is already made up — he’ll make the trek to Bacchus Bridge first thing in the morning.

The journey wasn’t necessarily difficult, but Charles couldn’t describe it as easy, either. He had departed from the Wapiti camp first thing in the morning as he had promised himself, stating that he would be back in a few day's time. He just had… Unfinished business that needed to be settled. That was an easy way of sugarcoating the truth, of trying to ignore the grief and unsteadiness lingering in his heart as he mounted Taima. The spotted grey and white horse didn’t hesitate to move forward as her rider saddled up, but gave a neigh in his direction — as though concerned.

All Charles could do was offer a sad smile and pat the mare assuringly on the side of her neck, fingers brushing through her dark mane. And then they were wandering forward, into the forest and away from the safety of the temporary shelter and community. Such a trek isn’t unfamiliar to Charles. He’s had to travel on his lonesome dozens of times before. The man can’t really recall a time before joining the gang that he had company — proper company, aside from his horse.

Yes, it was true that Charles had gotten himself mixed up with companions and people from these gangs that would travel with him — but their approaches were typically reluctant, or due to wanting something from the man. Never for the sole reason of companionship, of company shared between one another. There were no personable conversations, or simple chores like hunting being carried out. There was always bloodshed, a sense of danger, a sense of fear that you could die — and that you would be left behind by the person who dragged you into said danger.

Arthur didn’t approach Charles at the beginning of their dynamic. He was tentative, almost nervous, in a sense — which in retrospect feels funny to say, because Charles had only ever seen Arthur as someone bold, maybe even a little rash. Until he dug underneath the surface and worked his way into getting to properly know the man, that is. This eventual closeness led Charles to a conclusion about his thoughts on and toward Arthur:

No, not all of Arthur was good — but there was far more goodness and kindness in the brunette than he would have liked to believe, than he would let himself believe. Charles can still clearly recall when they had found that German family — the way that Arthur had told him that they didn’t even speak their language, so why should they help them? They both knew that these words were a poor excuse for Arthur to continue playing the big bad wolf.

Dutch’s top gun, his enforcer. The man that would do all the dirty work for Dutch, because he was more loyal than a dog. But Charles knows that this wasn’t Arthur’s true sentiments, because the man’s face wrinkled into a grimace as though he almost wanted to apologize, and he had reluctantly trailed after Charles and the split family. Arthur wouldn’t have put his life on the line for said family, not for a campsite, not for some gold that he didn’t even know about until after the fact — unless he had some goodness in his heart.

Charles had witnessed men do far worse than Arthur would ever be capable of. Unlike them, Arthur did not lack in his moral compass. Misguided with his decisions, with following his anger? Absolutely. But it could never be said with full confidence, at least by him, that Arthur was truly, purely, awful and evil. It simply isn’t true, not in a world like this.

Arthur wouldn’t have had people who loved him the way that they did had he no good in his heart, had he put no good into the world. Their relationship was proof that Arthur was capable of good, of loving, and being loved. His marriage to Eliza was proof of such a thing — the blonde had looked at Arthur as though he could put the stars in the sky for her, and Charles was almost inclined to agree with such a lovesick mentality. He couldn’t help it, there had always been something alluring about Arthur.

His chest feels heavy at the thought. Even as the scenery changes around him, and the sky shifts from dawn to day, back to dusk and then night. The man is trapped with only his thoughts and his silent companion as he travels, trying to ignore the way that the cold grows worse. Maybe it’s because of the ache in his chest, but the numbness in his fingers and the rest of his body makes navigating and moving increasingly hard. But he tries because he has to do this for Arthur and he knows that much.

Charles can’t help but worry about their other companions. He has no doubt that Arthur would do everything that he could to get John out of the situation, because in spite of the fact that the two constantly butted heads, they were brothers. The man can feel his lips twitching into a sad smile as he recalls a story that Arthur had recited to him when they were up in Colter when they were looking for Eliza. The affection and joy in the man’s voice were clear, and although he did his best to claim that he certainly did not care for the fool named John Marston, his enthusiasm about the story told a completely different tale.

Eliza is a similar case to John, in terms of importance. He knows that Arthur would have done anything and everything in his power to ensure the blonde’s safety, although he had grown to know the blonde well enough that she wouldn’t accept such a thing. The woman was kind and had a heart of gold, but she was also just as stubborn as Arthur. Their mutual stubbornness often led to their arguments and rifts being placed between one another, rifts that Charles had grown accustomed to stitching back together.

Not that such a task was very hard. Both cared for each other deeply and with the right amount of coaxing could be talked into speaking terms with each other again. With gentle ‘ I’m sorry’s ‘ and wrapping themselves up in the other. Sometimes it felt as though Charles was a part of the relationship, rather than just affiliated with Arthur through the occasional cuddle or holding of hands when they weren’t in camp, or in a rare case, they were in camp and Eliza wasn’t . Not that Charles would complain when the woman was in camp with Arthur, because he had found that he enjoyed both of their company.

Especially when Arthur was in that shipwreck. He had become especially close with Eliza, because the pair had leaned against each other, sat alone with a grief that only they could mutually understand while trying to keep everything around them afloat. Charles almost wishes that they could go back to the days in Lakay because even though it was horribly humid and hot, he had enjoyed exploring the swamps with Eliza and that old dog of hers. They’d go looking for plants, because that made Eliza feel better, and it put Charles' restless mind at ease, too.

Even if Eliza was absolutely terrified of the alligators and would scream whenever they encountered one, it was a peaceful time — it felt like the calm before a storm. And in hindsight, it was. All the man could really do now though, was hope that Eliza was okay. That she hadn’t stubbornly followed Arthur to his death, that the brunette had been able to place his foot down with the loyal woman. That doesn’t do much to ease the part of his mind that wonders if maybe it would have been better for them to go together, though — because then Eliza wouldn’t be filled with the same feelings that lingered in Charles' soul now.

And John… John was a stubborn fool himself, from what he could tell — although not relatives by blood, John had done very well to take after his older brother. But he had grown better, wiser, with time, Charles had noted. The man had seemed to become someone determined to protect and guard his family from the cruelty of the world, although Charles worried that this change in demeanor may have come too late. He wouldn’t be surprised if the law got their hands on John, and he was back in that damned prison — or put in a similar position to his brother. Charles wasn’t certain of which scenario would make John the lucky one.

But Charles is certain that the pit in his stomach is only worsening, growing into a blackhole when he finally reaches his destination. It feels strange to see the blown-up bridge from this distance, and even stranger to gaze out into the rocky surroundings and feel a sickening dread that if the rumors are correct, he’ll find Arthur here. Limp, cold… Charles forces himself not to dwell on the thoughts, the potential facts. He puts his focus into trying to find the man if he’s even here.

Most of the day is spent doing just that. Searching. He rides Taima slow and easy, investigating his surroundings for any animal tracks, or even unusual animals in the area — vultures, small creatures, even canids like foxes or wolves. Anything that would want to get their jaws into a free meal. Much to the man’s dismay, he eventually finds evidence of a fight on a rocky cliffside. This is when he dismounts Taima, and Charles finds himself climbing and moving in a way that feels so familiar, but so unnatural to the same extent.

It’s been some time since he’s left the gang to help the Wapiti tribe, and it shows in his rustiness with physical endurance, with the activities he would often be forced to participate in when he was actively assisting the gang. The cold doesn’t help any, either. The wind blows harsh against his face, and he has a hard time keeping his fingers dug into the cold stone underneath him. It almost feels as though he’s being beckoned away from something. It only makes the man more determined to press onward.

Charles needs some sort of closure, and he knows that’s part of what pushes him forward. He’s successful in climbing the cliffside, and is greeted by a patch of greenery. Wildflowers are blooming against the green in spite of the weather, but they don’t stop a terrible feeling of nausea from punching Charles in his aching guts when he catches the sight of blood. It isn’t just a little bit of blood, either — there’s enough blood splattered against the grass and stone to indicate that something had happened here, something bad.

The man wants to chalk it up to an animal’s death, but he knows that this isn’t the case. Not when he sees the imprint of boots against the dirt when he approaches. And the smell — it’s strong and sudden, and although Charles has been among his fair share of bodies of friends and family that he’s had to bury, it doesn’t stop the instinctive urge to gag. A hand lifts to his mouth and nose, and it takes the man a moment to recompose himself as he looks in the direction of the scent.

He knows what’s waiting for him around the corner, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. Charles stays perfectly still as he regains his composure and sense of gravity, even though his mouth feels terribly dry and he can already feel his grief threatening to re-expose itself. It takes every fiber of his being to muster the courage to continue forward, to make the turn around the giant boulder and let his gaze drift toward a heartbreaking sight.

A body is laid only a few feet away from him, and he knows exactly who it is. Charles would recognize that frame anywhere, even if the person is now far more still than he has ever been previously, than he ever should be. He would know Arthur’s form from anywhere, he spent far too much time watching and observing the man — taking notice of his every little tick and quirk. When Charles musters the willpower to come closer, his heart aches at the sight of disheveled, bloodied and dirtied clothes. He had fought to the very end.

Arthur’s face is what truly makes Charles want to wail like a child. His skin is pale and bruised, the familiar bags still residing underneath his now completely dull, glassy eyes — no longer is Charles greeted by a familiar blue tinged with shades of greens and yellows, but he’s staring back at something foggy and unclear. The bruises that stain Arthur’s face make him nearly unrecognizable, but Charles would know the man from anywhere and everywhere, no matter how marred his appearance became. His flawed but perfect nose is once again crooked, indicating that it had been snapped before his death. Charles can even see the starting signs of decomposition, bits of flesh now gone to reveal the body underneath. The sight of Arthur is grief-inducing.

But the worst part of it all is how goddamn peaceful Arthur looks. His eyes are half-lidded and his head is tilted toward the sky, his lips stained red with his own blood only partially opened. It reminds Charles of waking up beside the man in the morning, on the very rare occasion that Arthur wouldn’t be awake before him. But even in his sleep, he had never looked fully at rest. Charles knew that no matter what, something weighed heavy upon the man’s shoulders, an invisible burden that no one, not Charles, not Eliza, could lift off of Arthur. Only death could do such a thing now.

He can’t help the shuddering breath that he takes in, the way that his eyebrows furrow before a quiet sob racks his body, the sound itself muffled by his large hand against his mouth. Charles can’t bring himself to move and pick up the man just yet, and instead allows himself to finally mourn his loss. The sight of Arthur is a slap to the face from reality, letting it settle in and dawn upon him officially that the brunette man is in fact gone. Charles will never see him again, not after burying him properly. The man doesn’t deserve to be laid here, discarded like crow food.

When Charles had regained some semblance of his natural calmness, he had carried Arthur to Taima. It wasn’t easy, even with Arthur’s illness reducing him to a ghost of his former self. He was still a big man nevertheless, and the ache that placing his body on the back of Taima had caused in Charles’ chest made everything so much harder. But the man was successful in carrying him, and further successful in riding Taima somewhere suitable for burial.

It was a pretty spot that he had found. Somewhere small and secluded, but allowed a nice overlook to the miles of countryside and landscape that resided in front of the now midday sky. While the terrain itself was still rocky and somewhat hard to navigate, it would only ensure that only the people that Arthur would want present at his grave could approach. There were even perfectly placed rocks in the exact spot that Charles had wanted to place the man, rocks that would act as a makeshift gravestone and support the sign that the man had felt determined to place.

Digging the hole was not an easy task. While Charles had made sure to pack the correct equipment for this excursion before he had departed, spending hours bent over, shoveling dirt from the earth to eventually put back into place, over his closest companion was both emotionally and physically taxing. But Charles refused to take a break, dissatisfied with the idea of leaving Arthur unburied longer than he needed to. Even as tears threatened to sting his eyes again, and his hands burned with how hard he gripped onto the wooden handle underneath his gloved skin as he continued pulling up more and more dirt.

Eventually, he was satisfied with his handiwork and was able to place Arthur into the grave made for him. This time, Charles couldn’t help the silent tears that began to roll down his face as he began to cover the man with the soil and dirt that he had previously dug up. He allowed himself this moment of grief but refused to stop his work. Not until he was satisfied that Arthur had received the final treatment that he had deserved. A proper burial, with a proper grave marker — not a burial where he would be left to the animals and nature.

That does make Charles wonder, though — was Arthur alone when he died? Was he afraid, wanting someone to hold his hand, to be present for him? Or was he ready for the embrace of the Reaper? Arthur had seemed uncertain, afraid , when the two had their discussion about his illness. Even if Arthur didn’t voice these feelings, these thoughts, Charles was certain that it was how he had felt. He could only really hope that his words had brought some sort of peace to Arthur in his final moments, an assurance that he did the best that he could.

Maybe Arthur didn’t think he deserved to rest when Charles felt that he certainly did. The man’s line of thought is paused, however, as he stares down at a pile of dirt that now completely covers Arthur. The grave has been dug and built successfully — the next step is to make the gravestone marker, with the wood that the man had brought with him. It’s almost as hard as burying the man, to etch his name into the wood and be reminded of the days that they had spent together, making tiny, intricate carvings into wood pieces that Charles had brought as he tried to pry into Arthur’s emotions.

Whether that communication of his emotions was via carving wood or actually using his words, Charles never minded. That was because Arthur would look at ease by the end of their session, his shoulders hunched instead of tensed, his posture relaxed instead of on edge. Arthur would look in his direction and a silent thank you would be shared between the pair via one look cast to one another.

The words come to him naturally, after he’s finished with Arthur’s name. He isn’t quite sure how they come to him, but they certainly fit the man and everything that Charles had known for him to stand for:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Burying Arthur had been a task that felt hard, impossible, even. The weight of the duty leaves Charles' body aching for release and freedom from the hard work as he finishes hammering in the wooden grave marker, his eyes carefully roaming the wood and freshly placed dirt for any sign of imperfection. The least that he could offer Arthur after everything was the best, after all. But when he’s finished and determined that there are no flaws, that this is in fact the perfect resting place for Arthur, that’s when Charles finally allows himself to bend down and grieve.

Hunched forward and squatted in a position that calls for bending his knees, he carefully places his elbows against his legs before resting his head in his hands. A hand lifts to run through his hair as the tears begin, and this time, he doesn’t stop them. He doesn’t try to blink them away, or ignore the horrible ache in his chest, the dull throb now sharpened to something that feels akin to a knife being dug into an open flesh wound. Although his grief is loud, his sobs are silent against the still dusk air.

Charles couldn’t tell anyone how long he had been sitting there, simply sobbing over Arthur’s grave to the point that his chest hurt and his shoulders ached with the force that his sobs shook his body with. But he could tell you that the moon had made her way into the sky with the stars by the time that his sobs had been forced to a halt, his eyes red and aching — unable to release any more of his emotional turmoil. Charles could tell you that he stood up on shaky, numb legs, and had to tuck his jacket closer to his person to try and shake the bite of the cold wind.

He could also tell any other living soul that as he was finally making his departure from Arthur’s grave, he was cut short by a large deer. A buck, to be exact. The animal stood a few feet away from him, his head lifted from the grass that he had previously been grazing upon. The pair stared at each other, both equally stunned by the presence of the other being in front of them. Eventually, the buck was the first one to move. But he didn’t move at the pace that Charles would expect a startled animal to, he simply… Turned and walked away, slow and delicate.

But the man would keep such information to himself, doubtful as he mounted Taima that another living soul would believe in his retelling of his final encounter with Arthur.

#rdr2 #rdr2 au #rdr2 fanfic #john marston #charthur #charles smith x arthur morgan #arthur morgan #charles smith #rdr2 oc #red dead fandom #rdr2 community #cw: dead body #cw: grieving #cw: death #rdr2 writing #peach writes #cowboys 🤠

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nightingale-ghost-writer · 2 years

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Maybe [Soap x Fem!OC]

Summary: Soap finds a kindred spirit during a trying time

Author’s Notes: This is a little of a long intro, feel free to skip it! I’ve been reading fanfiction for years, and I’ve started dozens of fics. This is the first one I’ve ever finished. (11.8K words!!!) It started off with me wanting Soap to get some medical care for his unaddressed injuries after Alone, and just exploded from there. I wanted to really highlight the bond he and Ghost formed, and then I wanted to give him love (because he deserves it!). I know it’s a bit sparse on the Price and Gaz side of things, but I feel like their bonds with Soap are sort of assumed going into this game. This game, to me, is about Soap learning that sometimes the right thing to do isn’t always so obvious, and Ghost learning to work with a team, thanks to Soap. I loved this campaign dearly, so I have a lot of dialogue carried over from scenes I really wanted to set. That being said, I changed some stuff to better incorporate my OC, Daniela. Writing reader-insert fics is a skill I just do not possess. If you’re reading, I hope you enjoy it!

And to my dear @uselsshuman, who is the furthest thing from useless, thank you so much for your encouragement to write this. Your writing and support really inspired me to get this done. This one’s for you. ❤

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or events from Modern Warfare

Warnings: language, canon-typical violence, suggestive content

Soap tucked himself behind a door, braced his back against the wall, and did his level best to breathe as silently as possible. He could hear the Shadows’ footsteps and radio chatter nearby.

He pulled back the hammer on the desert eagle he’d found in the café safe and held his breath. He didn’t want to get into a gunfight, not here. Not with them. He had decent cover, but his arm throbbed where a bullet was lodged, his ribs stung where his plates had kept him from another, his whole body ached from his jumps and falls in the city, and he was almost certain he’d damaged something in his left hip the day before.

That particular injury came from running along cliff faces to escape the cartel, which was bad enough. Adding the Shadows to that? That was terrible.

As the footsteps faded, Soap let out a slow, low breath and slumped to the ground. He let his eyes drift shut, just for a moment, taking stock of his ability to get across the plaza to the church. To Ghost. As if he knew that he was being thought about, Ghost’s voice crackled through the comms.

“Soap?“ he asked softly.

“Ghost,” whispered Soap.

“You alright?”

Soap opened his eyes and took a deep breath, peeked around the door, and answered “Think I found a way through, LT.”

“Shadows are everywhere. I’ll hold ‘em off until we RV in front of the church and secure a vehicle for exfil.”

“Roger that.” Soap crept up through the shop, taking care to stay low and move quietly.

“Give ‘em hell, Johnny. We’re almost there,” rumbled Ghost. After a moment’s pause, he added “Listen, I picked up an ally. Should help us get out of here a little easier. You’ve just got to us and we’ll get to a vehicle.”

Soap’s eyes narrowed. Ally? In Mexico? Only two people came to mind, and they were both “detained”.

“Is it Price?” he asked after a moment’s thought.

“No, one of Alejandro's Vaqueros. Wasn’t on base when Graves moved in. Showed up, realized something was wrong. We found each other killing Shadows, decided to team up.”

Soap chanced raising his head to peer out of the shop window. Seeing no Shadows, he moved for the door. “And you trust ‘im?”

“Enough, at least for now.”

“Copy that, LT. I’m on my way.”

He wiggled the door handle, but of course, nothing could be so easy. It was locked. So he pulled out the last of his makeshift pry tools, braced it in the door jamb, and pulled.

Lots of things happened all at once, then.

The door swung open. Soap yelled “Fuck!” while the Shadow said “what the- GET DOWN!”, and hit Soap with the butt of his rifle. The Shadow called his position, Soap heard “kill him!”, and then the Shadow dropped to the ground. Soap scrambled back, pressing the heel of his hand into his eye and groaning. His vision swam and his ears rang and he couldn’t get his bearings. Two more Shadows, running for the building, dropped to the sharp report of silenced sniper fire.

“Holy hell. Ghost, was that you?” Soap asked.

“Who else?” snapped Ghost’s rough voice. “Now go!”

He scrambled to his feet. And ran.

He ran as fast as his bruised body would let him, ducking behind cars and spraying with an SMG he’d picked up. He heard gunfire coming from ahead of him and cursed, grabbing for his radio.

“Ghost, how copy?”

“Johnny, got company in the church and they are not here for forgiveness. Get to the steps, we’ll be there!”

In the last few meters, Soap saw Ghost come careening out of the church doors, followed closely by a much smaller figure dressed all in black. They both turned to shoot at their followers as Soap and Ghost called out to each other. Ghost vaulted over the wrought iron fence, followed by their ally, and the three ran back the way Soap had come.

“We need a vehicle. On me!” Ghost barked. “Stay sharp. They know we’re here and they know it’s us. They’ll send more.”

Minutes that felt like hours later, after a brief firefight, the three piled into a pickup, panting and on high alert.

“Alright, Johnny! You made it.”

“We made it, LT.”

After ramming two Shadows with their stolen pickup, and nearly losing Ghost to another, they peeled off down an alley. Soap sagged against the seat, closing his eyes again. His heart and head were pounding.

“How’s that arm, Johnny?” asked Ghost.

Soap raised his head. “I’ll live,” he answered. He shivered violently, once, and Ghost cast a concerned glance in his direction.

“You sure it’s not infected?”

“Of course I’m not sure,” snapped Soap. Softening his voice, he added “But I think it’s just the cold. Between the tunnels and the rain, LT? Feels like I’m back home.”

Ghost nodded slowly. For a long moment, the two just basked in each others’ presence, grateful to have made it back together. Then, Ghost said “Daniela, would you take a look at the Sergeant’s arm? Can’t have him dying on us.”

Soap’s head snapped around to lock eyes with the ally he’d forgotten. Later, he’d remember this moment as an indication of his quickly deteriorating state. In the moment, though, he couldn’t wrap his head around anything but the woman in front of him.

Sometime between their getting into the truck and down the street, the black balaclava and hood had come off. The woman staring back at him had light olive skin and a mass of shiny black curls plastered to her head by rain. A thin, jagged, silvery scar ran from her cheekbone to her jaw, and her full lips were pursed in a barely-there smile. Soap thought he saw scarred flesh at the collar of her jacket. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away from hers. They were the bluest blue he’d ever seen- dark like the ocean, clear like the sky on a cloudless night, and as sharp as glass. Familiar, somehow.

He hadn’t necessarily had expectations of how this ally would look, but this was as far from expectation as possible. He had pictured a man, but even the fact that she was a woman wasn’t most shocking of all. It was her beauty.

He flinched when her hand landed lightly on his right shoulder, pulling gently.

“No, we can’t,” she said. Her voice was soft, musical, lightly accented. The lilt of just those three words had Soap’s head spinning for, at least he thought, completely different reasons than it had been spinning earlier. He adjusted his body so that rather than leaning with his left arm over the seat, his right arm hung over. The woman looked straight to the wound, gently prodding the flesh around the bullet wound, and Soap bit his tongue to keep from hissing in pain.

“Does that hurt?” she asked.

Soap tried to be nonchalant. He shrugged and said “Not so much.”

Ghost snorted. Soap didn’t blame him. The words sounded strained even to his own ears. And based on the older man’s jokes about not watching the cartel’s videos of his death “more than once”, this seemed like just the kind of thing he might find amusing. The thought made Soap smirk. The woman rolled her eyes, setting them on his again.

“What’s your name, hen?”

“I am Daniela. You are Soap, yes?” Soap nodded. Daniela nodded as well, focusing back on his arm. “Your Ghost, he told you that I am with Los Vaqueros?”

Soap and Ghost exchanged a look at “your Ghost”. Now Soap really was smirking, and he imagined that Ghost was grimacing under his mask.

“Aye, that he did,” he replied. He watched as Daniela unzipped her tactical vest and tore a strip of fabric from the bottom of her shirt. She began winding it around his bicep, grimacing slightly at the wheeze of pain he couldn’t hold back.

“Well we have a safehouse. We’ll get there, stock up, get you patched up a little better, and come up with a plan.” After carefully tying a knot in the makeshift bandage, she raised her eyes to Soap’s again. “It’s the best I can do right now.”

“I appreciate it,” he replied. He held her gaze for a moment before turning to face Ghost. “Alright, Ghost?”

Ghost glanced at him again. Even behind the mask, Soap could see his expression soften. “Alright, Johnny. You did well back there.” Soap grinned, and could tell by the crinkling around his eyes that Ghost was grinning, too.

“All thanks to you, LT.”

The rest of the ride was filled with soft chatter about Alejandro, Los Vaqueros, Graves, and the safehouse… and Soap trying, and failing, not to feel Daniela’s burning stare on the back of his neck.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soap thought he was done for when Ghost shouted for him not to move. His feet had just touched the safehouse floor and Ghost was perched in the window. Before Soap even had time to react, a throwing knife flew past his head, embedding itself in the column just a meter away. Then he recognized Rodolfo’s voice.

“Quién está ahí?”

“Rodolfo!”

Rodolfo rounded the corner. “Soap, Ghost! You’re alive!” Soap could see the moment Daniela mounted the window. Rodolfo’s face crumbled, his whole body seeming to sag with relief. “Daniela!”

“Rodolfo!” She leapt from the windowsill, surging forward to wrap her arms around Rodolfo’s waist. His own arms came around her shoulders and the two rocked back and forth, holding each other, speaking in rapid-fire Spanish that Soap had no hope of understanding. Rodolfo kissed the side of Daniela’s head, holding her to him tightly. Soap looked away. His eyes met Ghost’s and the two shared a slight shrug.

While Rodolfo and Daniela chattered away, Ghost stepped toward Soap.

“Daniela should be able to fix up that arm,” he said. “She’s not a formally trained medic, but she has lots of field training and experience. She told me she’s been patching up Los Vaqueros for years.”

“Aye. How’d you say you found her? Fighting Shadows?”

Ghost looked her way, nodding. “Just a few minutes before I got you on comms, I heard a scuffle. Thought it might be you, so I went in to assist. Lo and behold, I find that one slicing up a Shadow. ‘Nother pair showed up, though, and one got her in a choke-hold. Would’ve carried her off to who knows where if I hadn’t shown up.”

Soap nodded slowly. He didn’t need any more explanation. He knew the implications of what Ghost was saying and it made his blood boil.

Ghost shrugged. “She trusted me enough since I’d just saved her life, and I trusted her enough since she was fighting them and didn’t raise her gun at me. Plus, I think she’s as dedicated to the cause as Alejandro and Rodolfo.”

“Why’s that?” asked Soap. But before Ghost could answer, Rodolfo cut in.

“Where were you guys?”

“On the run,” answered Ghost.

“I was on the run,” corrected Soap. “Ghost waited for me.”

Rodolfo nodded. “Of course, no?”

Dread sank in Soap’s stomach. “No-” he began. But Ghost cut him off.

“Yes,” he said firmly, locking eyes with Soap again. “We’re a team. All of us.”

That stunned Soap into silence. He’d known they’d bonded trying to escape Las Almas with their lives, but for all of his teasing about Ghost taking a shine to him, he hadn’t actually believed that Ghost would say the same thing.

He was touched.

Maybe even more touched by the fact that the legendary lone-wolf Ghost considered him part of his team. It was likely the highest compliment he would ever get from him.

So while Rodolfo and Ghost started in on their plan to get into the prison, Soap settled down against the safehouse wall with an MRE from Alejandro’s supplies. The adrenaline shot he’d managed to get his hands on in Las Almas was waning, and he could feel every sore muscle, the bullet in his arm, and his likely sprained hip sharply. He tried to tune in to the conversation, but his attention was immediately lost when Daniela approached him with a med kit.

She grinned a bit wryly at him. “Mind if I take a better look at that arm?” Soap nodded and braced himself to stand, but Daniela jumped forward, holding out a hand. “No, don’t get up,” she said. Soap settled back to the ground as she crouched by him, reaching for her makeshift bandage from earlier.

Soap studied her as she worked. Her hair had dried and now sat at least a few centimeters higher on her head, tight ringlets falling to her shoulders. Her eyebrows furrowed just a bit as she carefully removed the bloodied fabric. Her movements were calculated, washing the wound and looking at it closely.

“How did you join Los Vaqueros?” Soap asked. For a moment, Daniela didn’t acknowledge him. Then she raised her gaze to his.

Instead of answering his question, she said “I need to get the bullet out. It’s going to hurt. Think you can handle it?”

Soap nodded once, sharply. Her gaze softened. “I don’t have any painkillers. This isn’t going to be some… little pain. It’s going to hurt a lot.”

Soap cocked a wry grin back at her. “Just so long as my screaming doesn’t bother you,” he teased. A wicked spark lit in her eyes at that.

“It won’t bother me. Maybe I’d like to hear you scream.”

Soap’s jaw dropped. It was exactly the type of thing he’d say, but having it said to him was dumbfounding. Who was this woman?

Her smile only grew as she watched him try to compose himself. He was grateful when her gaze dropped back to the task at hand, sterilizing a pair of forceps. He was sure his face was flaming red.

“Los Vaqueros saved my life when I was sixteen,” she said softly. “My village leader refused the cartel’s demands, so El Sin Nombre set to burning the village down. I was one of three survivors.” That explained Ghost’s certainty of her dedication.

She moved to his right side, between his leg and outstretched arm, and gripped his bicep below the bullet wound.

“My whole family died that day.”

She set the forceps at the wound’s entry. Soap took a deep breath.

“I have burns all over my body from our house burning down.” That explained the scarring at her neck.

Soap lurched forward, gasping, when she dug the forceps in. The pain was so blinding that he nearly missed Daniela cursing softly in Spanish before sitting on his right leg, leaning her body against his to keep him from moving. Nearly missed. But didn’t.

“Lo ciento,” she whispered, sparing him a concerned glance. He grit his teeth and leaned his head back against the wall, chest heaving as he took deep breaths through his nose.

“I’m sorry,” he gritted out. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you.”

Daniela shrugged. “Alejandro pulled me out of that fire,” she continued. Her tone was light, but seemed forced. Soap wasn’t sure whether it was her attempt to calm him or to pretend her story didn’t bother her.

He felt the moment that the forceps grasped the bullet. Took a deep breath. Steeled himself. Nothing prepared him for the feeling. He’d been shot before, multiple times. Bullet removal wasn’t a walk in the park, but he hadn’t realized just how much the painkillers mattered.

Soap was not proud of the whimper he let out when Daniela yanked the bullet out in one clean motion. She dropped the forceps onto a medical tray and lightly patted his cheek before inspecting the wound closely, muttering about infection and pointedly not meeting his gaze. She poured antiseptic over the wound and reached for a bottle of pills.

“Here, take these. Antibiotics,” she said. After watching Soap swallow the pills, she picked a needle and thread up out of the med kit and continued. “Rodolfo threw a wet blanket over me. They put ointment on my burns and fed me. They offered me a home. They taught me to fight. They’ve been my family ever since.”

Soap felt a pang of kinship at her words. He flinched slightly when the needle pierced his skin, but the pain died to a dull burn as Daniela kept stitching.

“Now that, I do understand,” he said.

“You have no family?”

“No. Just the 141.”

After a few more strokes, she tied off the thread and laid a hand on his chest.

“They are my brothers. We must get Alejandro back.”

Soap reached up to cover her hand, belatedly hoping she wouldn’t be able to feel his heart pounding when she met his gaze. “We will, hermana.”

The smile she gave him was small, but her eyes were warm. It lasted for a brief moment before she arched an eyebrow.

“Hermana?” She leaned forward until her mouth brushed Soap’s ear and he was sure that she could feel his heartbeat stutter. “I certainly hope not.”

With that, she picked up her medical kit and sauntered away, leaving Soap to stare after her in shock.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Getting into the prison compound was easy enough.

“Trash bin on your right, time to take out the trash.”

“Shut up, Soap, fucking hell.”

A giggle from Daniela.

“Shoot him.”

“No, got something else in mind.”

“Fucking beautiful, sir!”

Impressed mumbling from Rodolfo.

“Cut and paste him, Ghost.”

Soap and Ghost’s banter amused Daniela to no end, even though Soap was sure he’d never been so anxious in his life. Having Ghost’s life almost solely in his hands was a responsibility he never wanted to feel again. But working with Rodolfo again helped to ease his mind.

Nearly being killed by Alejandro was less than ideal, but made worth it to watch him reunite with Rodolfo and Daniela.

“Alejandro! Al- it’s me, hermano!”

“Coronel, relájese somos nosotros!”

“Soap, Rudy, Ghost! Daniela!”

“Didn’t think we’d leave you, did ya?”

“What took you so long, pendejos?”

Getting out wasn’t quite as easy.

“Exfil vehicles are set. Ghost planted charges to help us get out.”

“With Johnny’s help.”

“Eh, I can’t call Soap ‘Johnny’.”

“Don’t. Only Ghost can pull that off.”

“Aww, really? Only your Ghost? What about me?”

“Yes, Johnny, what about Daniela?”

“Can it, LT.”

But between Los Vaqueros and the 141, they made it. Soap couldn’t put into words how much relief he felt upon seeing Gaz and hearing the old man’s voice. After being hoisted to the top, he and Daniela ended up shoulder to shoulder, her covering him while he detonated the Shadows vehicles.

“Have you been with the 141 long?” she shouted over the sounds of gunfire.

“The 141 hasn’t been around all that long,” he shouted back. “But yeah, I’ve been with ‘em since the start.” He raised his rifle, picking off three snipers with three shots.

Daniela raised an impressed eyebrow. “I can see why!”

Soap grinned wide, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he raised the detonator. “Would you be impressed if I told you I rigged the explosives for these things, too?”

Daniela returned his grin full force. “I would be.”

Soap’s grin only widened before he pressed the button, eyes locked with Daniela’s. He lowered his voice and said “Ka-freaking-boom, baby.” She’d giggled when he said it earlier, and as the APC exploded, she let out another delighted squeal.

“Handsome and clever? This is a good combination, Johnny,” she said. Soap was grateful that shooting was such second nature to him because in that moment, all coherent thoughts ceased to exist. When he managed to look back to Daniela, she was smiling slyly. She picked off a sniper from across the yard and Soap shook his head. Witty, intelligent, beautiful, and a good shot.

When the door to their right crashed open, Soap threw himself in front of Daniela to cover her as they each shot one of the men inside. Ghost barked at Soap about weapons, and he came back to the wall with a grenade launcher. He released several grenades before the last of Alejandro’s men mounted the wall top, and then made sure that Daniela went down the other side before him.

When he stumbled getting to their transport out, he chalked it up to battle fatigue, which he told both Ghost and Daniela when they asked whether he was okay. Neither looked convinced, but neither questioned him. They did sit on either side of him for the ride back to the safehouse, though.

Daniela leaned close to him. “How do you feel?” she asked.

“Never better,” he lied. His whole body throbbed in varying levels of discomfort and pain. At least his head had stopped throbbing. Daniela leveled her gaze at him, and he returned a wide grin. She rolled her eyes and dropped it. Instead, she said “Thank you for covering me. You didn’t have to do that.”

Soap’s grin softened. “I know,” he said.

Back at the safe house, lively music played softly in the garage as Los Vaqueros cleaned weapons, loaded vehicles, and fed themselves. Soap felt slightly out of place, like he and the rest of the 141 were walking into someone’s home. Everyone either had something to say or shook hands with Daniela and Rodolfo as they passed, and they both smiled warmly at their friends.

Soap and Ghost made their way to an unoccupied pair of cots in the corner, observing their newfound comrades. Price had disappeared with Alejandro to formulate a plan, ordering the two to sleep. But exhausted as he was, Soap wasn’t sure he’d be able to.

He couldn’t get comfortable. No matter which way he turned, something ached or stung. He tried relaxing his muscles. He tried breathing deeply. He tried counting sheep.

Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the fire and the blood from the streets of Las Almas. He could hear the screaming and the pleading and the gunfire. He tried covering his eyes, and his ears. Eventually, he rolled to his side, facing Ghost. He was startled to meet the Lieutenant’s eyes.

“Simon?” Soap asked softly.

“Johnny,” said Ghost, equally as softly.

Soap chewed his lip. “Do you ever forget?”

Ghost held his stare, unflinching. “No. You don’t.” Soap hadn’t realized before, but Ghost’s eyes were bloodshot. He looked tired. He’d learned quickly that he slept infrequently, and for short periods of time. It made a lot more sense, now. Ghost rolled over, huffing out a soft breath. “But eventually, you’ll learn to sleep anyway.”

Soap stared at his back, wondering if he would. Wondering if Ghost ever had. He didn’t know how long he stared at his teammate, but it felt like hours later that someone sat gently on the end of his cot. He flew up, grabbing for the bowie knife he kept in his tactical vest.

Daniela raised her hands, offering a tired smile. “Mind if I take a look at that arm?”

“Sure.” Soap swung his legs off of the cot, resting his hands on the edge. Daniela turned toward him, reaching out and carefully pulling off the dressing she’d applied that early morning.

“How does it feel? Any sharp pains or itching? Any dizziness, fever?” As soon as she said fever, Soap realized he’d been sweating more than usual. He’d absolutely been feeling dizzy since that harrowing night on the run, but it seemed to have died down throughout the day. And now that he actually paid attention long enough, it was quite itchy.

“No,” he lied. Once again, those ocean eyes seemed to pierce his very soul, challenging him. She knew. But she didn’t say anything, simply reached into the med kit for the same bottle of antibiotics and handed him two. Soap took them gratefully. The team couldn’t afford to be without him, and Ghost would surely order him to stay back if he thought the Sergeant was at all compromised.

Again, she washed the wound with antiseptic, then applied a fresh coat of salve before covering it with a fresh bandage.

“Why are you awake, anyway?” she asked suddenly. Soap’s head snapped up, eyes flying to hers. She looked nearly as exhausted as Ghost, all bloodshot eyes and frazzled hair and sagging shoulders. Still gorgeous.

Soap shrugged uncomfortably. “Couldn’t sleep. What about you?”

She shrugged back, offering a small smile. “Couldn’t sleep either. It makes sense, though. You’ve been through a lot the last few days.” The last few days? When Soap cocked an eyebrow at her, she fidgeted a bit. “I, uh… I was there in the cartel house. When Valeria interrogated you.”

Several things clicked into place for Soap very suddenly. Alejandro had taken him to the elevator once he got into the cartel house, and another guard had escorted him out and down to the basement. Small, with ocean-blue eyes. Then at the oil rig, Alejandro had sent one man with Soap and Graves to the ship. Dani.

“You’re strong for your size,” said Soap in awe. Daniela had shoved him repeatedly through the hallway, even tapping the side of his face with the butt of her gun when he had begun to look over his shoulder.

She smiled wryly. “Sorry about that. We had to make it real, and we couldn’t risk any more comms than we had.”

“No, no, it’s okay. You did good,” said Soap. “Why can’t you sleep?”

Daniela shifted again. “I don’t do so well the night before big missions. I usually bunk next to Alelandro or Rodolfo, but they’re both… occupied. So, I came over here instead. To you.”

Soap’s heart melted. He was so drawn to this woman, and to know that she felt even a fraction of that bond made his heart swell with gratitude. “You can bunk with us,” he said quickly. Then, glancing around, he realized that there didn’t seem to be any available cots. “Take my cot. I can sleep in a chair.”

Daniela’s face had washed with relief when he spoke, but some tension returned as she looked down at her hands. “Don’t be silly,” she mumbled. “I’m not putting you out of your cot after the week you’ve had.”

“Well then, you’ll just have to share it with me,” teased Soap. He held his breath when Daniela’s head snapped up. He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to say anything so bold, but he’d taken it and run with it. “There’s plenty of space for both of us.”

“If I sleep on top of you, maybe,” snorted Daniela. Soap wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Daniela giggled.

Soap softened his voice, speaking more seriously. “I really don’t mind sharing.”

She contemplated for a moment, sighed, and then rolled her eyes. “Fine. Just don’t complain if I crush you.”

Now it was Soap’s turn to snort. He lay down carefully, his back to Ghost’s cot, and raised his right arm. Daniela lay down beside him, turning onto her side and tucking herself under his chin. A perfect fit. Soap gently let his arm come down over her waist, laying his hand on the cot rail.

“This okay?” he whispered. She nodded. Soap nodded, too. His heart was pounding. He hadn’t been close to someone like this in… well, a long time.

The 141 was his whole life. There was always work to be done, and without a family to go home to, there was no real reason to take leave. On the rare occasion he did, he just ended up in his home town in Scotland. He’d flirt, constantly, but he seldom brought anyone home. He longed for something deeper, and sex alone could never fill that void. Plus, no one wanted to commit to someone who could be gone for months at a time.

But this? To be close to someone? This was filling the void just fine. Soap had to fight the urge to pull her further back against him as her breathing evened out, her body naturally leaning more on his own. As he dozed, he was proud of himself for staying still. He drifted in and out of sleep, dreaming empty dreams and feeling her shift against him.

As he finally woke up the next morning, he felt his hip aching fiercely. He started to shift to take some pressure off of it, and froze. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Daniela’s wild hair. He groggily remembered that they’d shared a cot the night before. All of his pride at his self-control dissolved instantly when he realized that his arm was around her waist, holding her tightly to his chest. She must have turned over in her sleep, because her leg was thrown over his hip, pulling their bodies flush together.

He could already feel a problem, and this was not the time or place. He had to get out of this cot without waking her up. He shifted back, then froze as Daniela’s hand ran up to the back of his head to tangle her fingers in his mohawk. Her eyelids fluttered, her fingers pulled lightly at his hair, and her leg tightened around his hips. Soap’s eyes fluttered shut as he swallowed a groan. Fuck. When he opened his eyes again, she was smiling at him sleepily.

“That’s the best sleep I’ve gotten in months,” she whispered. Soap nodded, desperately trying to get his body under control before she woke up any more. To his dismay, she nuzzled closer to him, nose rubbing under his jaw and hips shifting back and forth for a moment. Her eyes snapped open, eyebrows arching. “Feels like you slept pretty well, too, eh big boy?” Hells bells, this woman. Soap barely suppressed a full body shudder as she beamed at him.

“I didn’t, I’m not, I-” he stuttered. But Daniela placed her fingers over his lips, silencing him. Her eyes were full of mirth.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” she teased. Then she languidly stretched, pressing against him as much as humanly possible before climbing out of the cot and sashaying away, tossing a wicked grin over her shoulder at him. Soap turned to Ghost’s cot, which was blessedly empty, and then pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, still fighting for his body to cooperate. Hells fucking bells.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Alejandro called his men, all sound stopped. The place became a real base in that moment. Los Vaqueros and the 141 gathered around a makeshift operations table, listening intently as Price spoke.

“This is a fight against our own. We are not 141 and Los Vaqueros on this. We’re a team. Ghost team.”

Soap’s eyebrows shot up when the Captain dumped out a bucket of masks, then his eyes snapped up to Ghost. Ghost was staring at him, and Soap was almost certain he was steeling himself. Their silent conversation lasted only a moment before Ghost reached up, pulling off his mask, pausing before reaching for one from the table. Price reached a hand up to his shoulder.

“Good to see you again, Simon,” he said.

Soap carefully schooled his features in an attempt to soothe Ghost’s nerves, but he felt a distinct surge of pride in being one of the few to be allowed to know the Lieutenant. As the older man adjusted the mask over his face, the two shared another weighted look. Soap quirked up one corner of his mouth, shaking his head. Quite the opposite, indeed.

Alejandro laid out the plan to get into the Los Vaqueros facility. “We’ll infiltrate the base with two Ghost teams. Team one is Captain Price, Gaz, me, and one pilot. Team two is Ghost, Soap, Rudy, Dani, and Los Vaqueros.”

Ghost and Soap looked to each other and nodded. Then Soap turned to Daniela, raising an eyebrow. He mouthed “Dani?”

She smirked, mouthing back “Johnny?”

Soap grinned. He looked to Ghost, who was shaking his head. But his eyes were crinkled with mirth.

“While Gaz and me locate and secure Valeria, Ghost team 2 will find Graves… and kill him.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ghost team 2 fought their way through the base to the HQ building, then fought their way through that. Soap and Ghost moved together like they’d fought together for years, and Daniela and Rodolfo effortlessly slotted themselves into their dynamic. Between the three of them, no Shadows made it more than a few steps into the open.

Watching Price’s helo go down had Soap’s stomach sinking. “Steamin’ hell!” Soap shouted. He and Ghost shared a heavy look while Daniela and Rodolfo cursed softly. Rodolfo quickly recovered, clambering up the wall with Soap’s help. Daniela followed after, lightly stepping into Soap’s linked hands before joining Rodolfo in straddling the wall. The two of them pulled Soap up quickly, who turned to Ghost.

“Ghost, you comin’?” he asked.

“No. Price and the pilot need help. You three finish this.”

Soap’s head whipped back and forth between Ghost and the other side of the wall until he saw something that made his stomach drop even more. “Look!” he shouted.

“That’s not ours!” shouted Rodolfo.

“Holy shite. Graves brought a fuckin’ tank!” growled Soap, dropping to the ground. He glanced at Rodolfo and Daniela. “You ready for this?”

“Hell yeah!” answered Rodolfo. Daniela nodded curtly. Soap motioned for the three to split up.

“Looks like the hunters are getting hunted now, huh?” came Graves’ sneering voice. “Ain’t that a kick in the ass?”

“Can’t wait to bake this bastard,” grumbled Soap. He, Daniela, and Rodolfo had run into different buildings. Rodolfo tried to call out C4 stashes, Daniela threw grenades as she could, and Soap gestured for both of them to stay down and inside. Then he ran for his life.

“You and your mexicano friends fucked with the wrong hombre, MacTavish!” yelled Graves.

“Come on out and let’s talk about it,” quipped Soap. Daniela snorted, and despite the severity of the situation, Soap found himself smiling.

Graves seemed altogether less pleased. “You think this is a fucking game out here? You wanna play war? Let’s play some fucking war, chicos! One of you dipshits needs to die last. Who’s it gonna be?”

“Go fuck yourself, Graves.” Soap threw a brick of C4 straight into the tank’s path, silently congratulating himself when it blew.

“You got a healthy disrespect for authority, Soap. I like that about you!”

“You’re Shepherd’s lap dog. You get paid to break the rules.”

“There’s only two rules here, boys. Walk away… or win. Guess which one I choose?” Soap vaulted through a window. It wasn’t high, but the landing still made his hip throb in protest. He grunted softly. “Shoulda gone home when you had the chance, Soap- you and that asshole with the mask, hiding behind that uniform.”

Soap’s temper instantly flared. “You wore that uniform,” he ground out. He was crouched by another C4 stash, trying to judge Graves’ location.

“That uniform was a limitation!” shouted Graves. “I shed that skin!”

“Like a fuckin’ snake,” Soap hissed.

“Like a fuckin’ soldier, son.”

“You had to make your own little army ‘cause you couldn’t hack it in the real one.” This time, Soap managed to stick the side of the tank with C4 as it passed. He ran, detonated, and silently cheered again when he heard the second explosion.

Soap managed to tune out most of the rest of what Graves said, until he turned his attention to Rodolfo. His Spanish wasn’t great, but he picked up the general idea that Graves was saying the 141 were no friends to Los Vaqueros.

“Oye, pendejo!” Daniela’s voice suddenly cut through the radio. Most of what she said was lost to Soap, but she sounded furious. He picked out the words “friends”, “assholes like you”, “good people”, and “brothers”, and “death”. Hermanos hasta la muerte.

Graves must have understood more than Soap, because his driving became erratic and he shouted back to Daniela in what Soap did recognize as poorly pronounced Spanish.

Her distraction gave him enough time to sneak up behind the tank and lay one last brick of C4 between the tank’s body and tread. But just as he started to back off, the gun began to swing in his direction. Soap braced himself to run, and then froze.

“Graves!” Daniela shouted. She had leapt up to stand in the window of the building directly ahead of Soap. As the tank's gun swung back in her direction, Soap scrambled to his feet, racing forward.

“Pinche tu madre,” she sneered.

Soap could hear the tank’s gun spinning up.

“No!” He shouted. Daniela’s head snapped in his direction. Her face fell when they locked stares, eyes flashing with anxiety. She took half a step toward him, but Soap launched himself through the window. In one smooth motion, he wrapped his arm around Daniela’s waist, yanked her against himself, and pulled them to the ground. He landed hard on his shoulder as he heard the tank fire and rolled her under him as fast as he could, tucking his head against hers and shielding them both with his arms. The building crumbled under the impact, sheetrock and dust raining down on them. Several chunks of sheetrock landed across Soap’s back. That’ll be a few new bruises.

As it began to settle, Soap raised his head just enough to look down at Daniela. They were nose to nose when she opened her eyes, hands coming up to run over his covered head.

“Y’alright?” Soap whispered. She nodded frantically.

“You?” He nodded. As he shifted his shoulders, bits of rubble fell off and cracked against the ground. He winced.

He looked up and around. Graves’ tank was rotating, looking for them. He glanced to the stairs, then looked back down at Daniela.

“Hold onto me,” he whispered. Daniela cocked an eyebrow, but wrapped her arms around his neck. Soap grabbed one of her legs behind the knee, wrapping it around his waist, and she smirked before wrapping her other leg around his back as well. As serious as the situation was, their position wasn’t lost on Soap. Twice in one day? He swallowed hard. C’mon, MacTavish.

As quickly as he dared, he crawled for the stairwell. He could see Graves’ tank through the doorway on the opposite wall, facing away. In the last meter, he leapt to his feet and ran up several steps, stopping midway to lean against the wall. Daniela slid down his body, resting her hands on his chest. Soap shivered. They were both panting slightly. Her eyes shone as she looked up at him.

“Gracías, guapo,” she said softly. Then her hand snapped up to her earpiece. She started down for a moment, then looked back up at Soap. “Rodolfo moved to Los Vaqueros private channel. He says there should be an RPG downstairs,” she said.

Soap nodded, clicking through channels until he could hear Rudy’s voice. “I’ll get it,” he said.

Daniela grabbed his arm as he moved, stopping him in his tracks. “Be careful,” she said. He nodded, clasping her arm.

“I will.”

He crept down the stairs, peeking around the wall to where he’d last seen Graves’ tank. It wasn’t there. Staying low, he rounded the corner, eyes searching frantically for the RPG.

“Check under the counter, hermano,” whispered Rodolfo. When Soap glanced up, he could barely see the other man peeking around a doorframe across the yard. He crept to the bar counter, slid open the door as quietly as possible, and grabbed the RPG inside.

“Siiick,” said Soap, raising the RPG to his shoulder. With his back to the wall, he slowly made his way to an opening, searching for Graves. Not seeing him, he stayed. And breathed. And waited.

He could hear the thing driving around outside, searching for him or the others. He just hoped they were well hidden.

His radio crackled. “He’s heading your way, Soap,” said Daniela quietly.

“Rog’,” he replied. “Stay down.”

Carefully, he crouched and turned, ready to fire as soon as the tank came into view. He didn’t have to wait long. With a deep breath, he stood, pulled the trigger, and dove behind the cabinet again. The explosion from the tank seemed to rock the very ground. He realized that he’d never detonated the last brick of C4. Double trouble, then.

Slowly, Soap stood and leaned around the corner. Graves’ tank was a ball of fire, smoke and flames billowing into the sky. He heard Daniela step down the stairs, then felt her small hand on his shoulder blade. Rudy peeked around the corner of a doorway, looking around before stepping outside. Soap and Daniela did the same, cautiously walking forward.

“You did it, Soap,” said Rodolfo softly.

“You two and me, hermano,” said Soap.

“Brought a gun to a tank fight.”

Soap chuckled, smiling under his mask. “Yeah we did!” He reached for his radio, clicking back to the main channel. “Soap to Ghost- I’m with Rudy. Graves is KIA. How’s Price?”“Angry. Lost a good cigar in the crash. Pilot’s okay, too. Out.”

Rodolfo relayed the message to Alejandro. They all took a moment to breathe. And then they moved out to meet Ghost Team 1.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Soap’s head was spinning. They had all known Valeria was a wildcard, but he didn’t think any of them had expected her to drop the bomb of information that a missile was in Chicago. Not even Alejandro. Price handed her off to Los Vaqueros almost immediately, the threat in his voice clear. Soap wasn’t surprised, and he didn’t expect to ever see her alive again.

He was surprised when he had to lift Daniela up and out of the container after she lunged for Valeria. He dragged her out kicking and screaming in Spanish, all curses and threats. Rudy followed them out first, trying to calm her down, but there was nothing for it. The other woman was single-handedly responsible for the deaths of all of her family and friends. Soap couldn’t fault her rage.

Gaz came out next, raising his eyebrows at Soap in a silent question. Soap nodded, affirming that he was alright. Daniela had stopped thrashing, but her chest still rose and fell quickly against his arms. He’d had to lean back against the wall, lifting her feet off the ground to keep her from beelining to the container. Now she stood, back against his chest, hands gripping his tactical harness where it crossed his thighs.

“I won’t pretend to know what you’re feeling,” Gaz began softly. He paced slowly back and forth in front of them. “But I do know that she’s not worth throwing your life away.”

“She stole my life!” hissed Daniela. “She took my family. She took everything from me! And now she’s doing it all again! More people will lose their lives, lose their families, if she isn’t stopped!”

“But she gave you a purpose,” said Gaz firmly. He’d stopped pacing, staring directly at Daniela now. “You’ll never let that happen to anyone ever again. We are going to stop her. And I know it’s not the same thing, but she gave you a family, too. Hell, she gave you two families. You, Alejandro, Rodolfo? Los Vaqueros? You’ll always have a family with the 141, now.”

Soap squeezed her just a bit tighter at that, his own silent affirmation. After a moment, Daniela’s hands released his harness and lay flat against his legs. She seemed to sag back against him. Her voice shook slightly when she spoke.

“Gracias, hermano.”

Gaz simply nodded before returning to the container. For several minutes, Soap and Daniela said nothing. Then, very softly, she said “You can let me go.”

“Aye? You won’t kick me in the shins and run off to kill her anyway?”

Daniela snorted at that. “No.” With one final squeeze, Soap let her go. As he did, Alejandro came storming out of the container, followed closely by Rodolfo. He moved straight for Daniela, gripping her shoulders.

“We’re going to be hunted men, Dani,” he said. “I’m not letting her get away with this. Rodolfo and I will handle her, and we’ll handle the cartel. But you…” He looked up at Soap, then back at Daniela. He pointed to Soap with one finger. “You need to go with them. I don’t want you to be a part of this.”

“Alejandro, no, soy-”

“No,” he growled. He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling, and Soap realized when he looked at Daniela again that he was tearing up. He lowered his head to her level, staring at her intently. “What did I tell you the night we found you?”

Rodolfo had turned his head away, shoulders stiff. Soap couldn’t see her face, but he could hear in her voice that Daniela was tearing up, too. “You told me you would always protect me,” she whimpered.

Alejandro shook her gently. “This is me protecting you, hermana.” He pointed to Soap. “That man will protect you with his life. You told me so yourself. Rodolfo told me.” He glanced back to Soap, who nodded, stunned. “And I can see it when I look at him, and the way he looks at you. You have to go with them. You have to get that missile, and you have to stay out of Mexico until this dies down. And then you know we’ll welcome you back with open arms.”

Rodolfo turned, reaching out a hand to hold Daniela’s. “This has always been our fight, mijá,” he whispered. “It doesn’t have to be yours. And I know you chose it, but this time… just let us do this for you. Sabes que te amamos.”

Price and Gaz had come out of the container again, Price holding Valeria. They both nodded to Soap, who nodded to Daniela when she looked over to him. Her gaze dropped, and then she looked back to her men.

“Yo sé que tú,” she whispered.

Alejandro moved to Soap while Rodolfo hugged Daniela.

“Go. You have work to do,” he said. Then he pulled Soap closer, and softly said “Take care of her.”“You know I will,” whispered Soap. He backed toward their plane. “Keep fighting the good fight, hermano!” he called.“To the bitter end, my brother!” said Alejandro.

“Good luck, amigos,” said Rodolfo.

Price shoved Valeria into the backseat of Alejandro and Rodolfo’s vehicle while Soap, Ghost, and Daniela moved to board the aircraft Gaz had already started up.

“Ghost!” called Alejandro. Ghost turned back, cocking his head slightly. “No te pierdas, hermano!”

Whatever Ghost said back, Soap didn’t understand. But Daniela smiled, blowing a kiss with two fingers that Alejandro caught out of midair and held to his heart. Then they turned, boarded the plane, and were away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soap had long since abandoned his fear of heights. Walking down a 60-story building didn’t make him nervous, but the hostage situation did. Ghost’s calm helped him keep his cool, though, and soon enough, Daniela was getting hostages out of the building while Soap and Price moved on Hassan. They cleared entire floors of the building in record times.

“And that’s why they call him Soap,” mumbled Ghost. Daniela’s answering giggle warmed Soap’s heart. Upon hearing this, Ghost added “Did you know he’s the youngest one of us? Got in with the SAS at sixteen.”

“Sixteen? Soap, you get more and more impressive the more I learn about you!”

Soap’s face flamed.

Despite the hostages, the mission was going smoothly. Too smoothly. Then, Laswell announced that Hassan had the controls. Ghost confirmed visual on floor 46, and back out they went.

“Soap, we find those controls, it’s up to you to disarm that missile.”

“Copy that… done it once before.”

The RPG could have ruined the whole plan, but Soap and Price were both lucky that it missed them. They moved into the building as quickly as possible, clearing yet another room in record time with Ghost’s sniper support.

When Gaz called that they had the target cornered, Soap and Price raced in his direction. Then came Laswell saying that the missile was launching. Everyone was speaking at once.

“No, no, no!” screamed Price.

“Fecking hell,” growled Soap.

“Watcher, where’s the target?” yelled Price.

“Unknown, we’re working on it.”

“Copy. We’re going for Hassan. This way Sergeant!” he yelled to Soap. Then, “Gaz, where’s Hassan?”

Price and Soap were rounding the corner when Gaz answered. “End of the hall! Hassan’s holed up behind those doors.”

Price’s response was furious. “Let’s clear this out and bag him, then.”

When they got the snake cam under the door, the whole thing went to shit.

The door blew. Soap and Price flew back and Gaz collapsed like a bag of rocks. Soap’s ears were ringing, he was bleeding, and he could hardly breathe. Only Gaz’s quick recovery saved his life. He was dragged into cover before Price took a bullet and Gaz went back for him, too.

Everything after was a blur. One moment, Soap was leaping down a falling elevator shaft. The next, he was running from the man he stole the laptop from. Then hiding. Then detonating the missile with Laswell’s help. Then, running for his life, again.

“Nicely done, Johnny. Now for the hard part,” said Ghost.

“That was the fuckin’ hard part, LT.”

“Let’s find out. You need to stay alive, take out the guards, and kill Hassan.”

Soap looked around frantically. “I just need a weapon,” he said.

“Make one,” Ghost replied. He sounded so nonchalant. It made Soap huff out a laugh.

“Aye. Like old times, huh LT?”

Ghost’s voice was fond when he said “Seems like yesterday.”

Soap replied with equal fondness. “It was yesterday.”

He hid. He ran. With Ghost’s help, he fashioned some makeshift weapons. Then he ran headlong into Hassan. Before he could react, his world went dark.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Soap came to, he was being dragged by his foot. At first, he wasn’t sure where he was. Then he recognized the office he’d been chasing Hassan through.

Hassan. It was Hassan dragging him along.

Sluggishly, his mind went through his team. Ghost. Overwatch. Price. Holed up trying to recover. Gaz. Unknown. Daniela.

Daniela.

Alejandro had sent her with him and he didn’t even know where she was, whether she was safe. His heart twinged painfully. He didn’t have time to think, though. Hassan was yelling about fire and thinking they could stop him. Soap couldn’t focus on it.

Ghost.

“Ghost,” he whispered into his throat mic.

“Soap!”

“Watch… the window,” he managed.

Something exploded.

Hassan dragged him to his feet. Still going on about invading, not attacking.

He thrust Soap in front of him, pushing him toward the window. Soap desperately tried to keep his footing.

“Soap,” said Ghost. Soap vaguely recognized panic in his voice. “Soap, I see him, but I can’t-”

“Take the shot, LT,” mumbled Soap.

“What was that? What are you saying?” Hassan had him by his vest now, shaking him violently.

“Soap, I can’t get a clear-”

“Take. The shot.” Soap’s jaw was clenched. It took all of his power to hold onto Hassan’s wrists enough not to fall back. Hassan was still pushing forward, shouting, and Soap was fighting a losing battle. Hassan was going to push him out of the window.

And he couldn’t stop it.

“I’m sorry,” said Ghost.

Then, just as Soap’s heels touched the ledge, searing pain shot through his chest. He lurched forward with the impact, falling into Hassan.

Hassan’s eyes were wide. Soap thought he saw blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His rattled brain couldn’t make sense of it as they both fell to the ground.

“Johnny, MOVE!” roared Ghost. With the last of his energy, Soap shoved as hard as he could, rolling off of Hassan’s body. Another piercing shot rang out and Hassan’s head cracked backward against the ground.

Soap blinked at Hassan’s body. Ghost was shouting for him through his earpiece. Suddenly, the pieces clicked into place.

“You shot me,” he said dumbly to Ghost.

“Oh thank God,” muttered Ghost. He could hear Daniela shrieking in the background, too.

“You saved me,” he said. The whole room seemed colorful and soft. Spinning. Like a carousel.

Soap smiled, head lolling down.

He could vaguely hear Ghost and Daniela and Gaz yelling, but he was too tired to listen. Just a wee nap. That’s all I need.

Footsteps pounded nearby. With great effort, Soap turned his head. It didn’t hold where he wanted it to, just flopped onto the ground on the other side. He watched a small black pair of boots race across the floor toward him.

“No no no no, hijo de puta. Por favor, Dios, no.” Suddenly, Soap’s head and shoulders were being lifted. Then he was dragged back against something soft. He looked up. Daniela was running her hands over his head, his chest, clawing at his tactical vest. “Por favor, Dios, no,” she repeated. Her voice shook as badly as her hands and tears streamed down her face.

“Hey,” Soap said. He grinned up at her. “Whassa matter? Why’re you crying?”

He reached a hand up to her, wiping her cheek with his thumb. He couldn’t keep it raised and it flopped back to his side.

“John Soap MacTavish, you’d better not die on me,” she muttered. She had gotten his vest loose and was pulling his shirt up roughly.

“Hey, bonnie, at least buy me dinner first,” he slurred. He chuckled. It was silly. It was all so silly. He could hear Ghost yelling faintly, but he wasn’t sure why. Daniela was leaning heavily on his chest, and he wasn’t sure about that either.

Suddenly, he felt as though he’d been sat out in snow for a good few hours. “Hey, are you cold?” he asked Daniela.

“Hey,” Daniela said sharply. She gripped his chin between her fingers. “Look at me.”

Clarity hit Soap like a ton of bricks. He’d been shot. He was bleeding. Cold from shock. That’s why Daniela was crying and Ghost was yelling. He’d been knocked out. Likely had a concussion. He looked up at her solemnly, grabbing her wrist with his hand. Don’t die on me, she’d said. He was dying.

They’d talked quite a bit over their few days together. Talked about their hopes and dreams, and how those fit into their dangerous lives. Talked about their dedication to their teams, their values, their futures. Talked about growing up, their families, how they’d gotten there.

She’d asked him if he’d ever been in love.

He’d said he hadn’t. But he wasn’t so sure that was true, any more.

When he’d asked her, she’d said “maybe” with a sly smile his direction, all twinkling eyes and rosy cheeks.

He blinked, hard. He wanted to know what that meant.

“What did you mean… when you said maybe?” he panted out.

For a moment, Daniela just blinked at him. Then her eyes softened, tears slipping down her cheeks as she understood his question. “I meant I might be,” she whispered. “I’m not quite sure yet. You’ll have to give me some time to figure it out.”

Soap hummed, eyes drifting shut. “I’m pretty sure,” he breathed. Daniela gasped, but he reached up to touch her cheek before she could say anything. “You,” he began, voice a whisper. “You are the most… the most beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman that… that I’ve ever-”

Daniela didn’t let him finish. Her lips were on his before he knew it. He was kissing her before even registering that she’d leaned down. Her lips were soft, just like he’d imagined. She tasted like strawberries and mint and salt. Tears. She kissed him desperately, and he kissed her desperately back. His hand slid back to tangle in her curls. So unbelievably soft. He could hardly move his head, but she tilted her own to deepen the kiss. She ran her tongue along the seam of his lips and he moaned, low in his chest. He weakly tried to pull her closer. No point hiding it now. Besides, if he was going to die, what better way to go? More footsteps pounded in the door. He could vaguely make out Gaz and Price’s voices.

And then, above them all, nearly a full octave up in his panic, Ghost. “Johnny!”

Daniela’s teeth lightly grazed his lip. Soap sighed, then everything went black.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soap woke to a gentle beeping. His head and mouth felt like they were stuffed with cotton. His body felt like one big bruise, but with shards of glass sprinkled throughout it. He couldn’t open his eyes. There was light pressure against his right hip.

He breathed deeply. Ouch.

Slowly, his eyes cracked open. The room was dark, but moonlight streamed in through a window out of the corner of his eye. He could see that the ceiling was bright white.

“Johnny?”

Slowly, he turned his head toward the familiar voice. As he did, Ghost rose to his feet from his chair, taking two quick steps to the bedside.

Soap opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Ghost scrambled to pour a cup of water, then gently helped Soap lift his head to drink. As he did, Soap realized what the pressure on his hip was. Daniela.

Her head lay at the junction of his torso and legs, black curls shining in the moonlight. The bags under her eyes were nearly as dark as Ghost’s grease paint. Her right hand gripped his thigh, and her left hand held his. She didn’t stir.

Soap swallowed several times. “What happened?” he finally asked.

Ghost’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Do you want the short or long story?” he asked. His voice sounded exhausted.

“How about the short one, for now?”

“I shot you,” said Ghost. For a moment, Soap thought he wouldn’t elaborate. Then, Ghost looked up to meet his eyes. “I shot you, Johnny. Because you told me to. Because you’re the best of us, and you’re clever.”

Soap nodded, eyes drifting shut, not processing Ghost’s words.

“You’re lucky I’m such a good shot,” Ghost added, grumbling.

Soap chuckled softly, wincing as he did. “That I am,” he said. “Hassan?”

“I shot him, too. Twice, actually.”

“Through me the first time, eh LT?”

Ghost looked unamused. But when Soap grinned at him, his eyes softened. “That’s right, Johnny.”

“Perfect shot, LT.”“You called it, Sargeant.”

“The best of us, huh LT?”

“Can it, Sergeant.”

For a moment, the two shared a companionable silence. Then, Ghost spoke so softly that Soap thought he may have imagined it. “I almost didn’t take it.”

“The shot? Why not?”

“There was no shot. He had you directly in front of him, and he would have thrown you out that window before I had time to move.”

“You still got him, LT. I’ll call that a win.”“We got him, Johnny.”

“I’m starting to think you really have taken a shine to me, Simon.”

Ghost hung his head before looking back up. “Maybe I have.” He turned, picking up his chair, and sat it right by the bed as quietly as he could. “That one has, for sure.” He nodded to Daniela.

Soap looked down at her. “How long have you both been here?”

“Since you got here,” Ghost mumbled. Soap’s head snapped back to him.

“And when was that?”

Ghost shrugged, leaning back in his chair. “Four days, give or take.” Soap stared at him. Finally, he threw up his hands. “You, Sergeant, should have died.”

He lifted one gloved hand, ticking off fingers as he spoke. “You have a field-treated gunshot wound to your right arm, which was in fact infected. Thank your lucky stars that Daniela saw through your idiocy.” That explained a lot of little things he’d missed. Like a passenger in a getaway vehicle. “A bruised bone in your hip. Three cracked ribs. A grade four concussion. Multiple hairline fractures in your legs. And a shredded left pec from a 50 caliber bullet. Might I add that last one only missed your heart by centimeters?”

Soap snorted. “Well, that explains a lot about how I feel. Hell, how I’ve been feeling.”

Ghost just shook his head. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Thought we lost ya. Again.”

“You’re not getting rid of me that easy, LT.”

“Good,” grumbled Ghost. He looked toward Daniela. “I had to pry her off of you,” he said softly.

Soap looked down at her again. She looked younger than before, peaceful in her slumber. But he could see the exhaustion plainly on her face. “Yeah?” he asked.

“Mhmm,” murmured Ghost. “Could hardly get her across the hall to shower.”

Soap let his eyes drift shut, exhaustion washing over him all over again. “Where are we, anyway?”

“Amsterdam. Laswell has friends here. We’re in a private hospital.”

“Price? And Gaz?”

“They’re trying to find a lead on Shepherd.”

Soap nodded sleepily, relieved that their squad was still intact. “She kissed me,” he murmured.

“Doctors say she saved your life with that.”

Soap hummed, cracking one eye open to peer at Ghost. He shrugged.

“Something about the adrenaline helping to push off the shock.”

Soap hummed again, letting his eyes slide shut.

“Sleep, Johnny.”

He did.

When he woke again, sunlight was streaming through the window. He shifted slightly, and felt Daniela spring up when he did.

When he opened his eyes, she was staring at him anxiously.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Soap murmured.

Tears sprang instantly to her eyes. She squeezed his thigh, standing and reaching her hand up to cup his face.

“Oh, Johnny,” she whispered.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry,” he said. He reached up a hand to hold hers against his cheek. “I’m right here.”

She shifted a leg up onto the bed, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his.

“I thought I’d lost you.”

“I’m right here,” he whispered again. “Ghost said you saved my life.”

She made a strangled sound, half laugh and half sob. “I couldn’t let you go like that.”

Soap shifted his hand to her face, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Well,” he said. “If you remember, I was a bit out of my mind.” He tilted her chin up gently, whispering “Care to give me another taste of those lifesaving powers of yours?”

Daniela lunged forward, sealing her lips to his. Soap eyes slid shut as he grinned, pulling her closer. Her mouth opened against his, and he ran his tongue against hers. When she whimpered into his mouth, the primal need to have her close overcame him. He leaned up as far as he could, cursing the sling on his left shoulder, chasing her mouth. His hand moved to the back of her neck, holding her against him. She straddled him carefully, elbows coming to rest above his shoulders.

Her whole body shuddered when his hand came to rest on her hip.

His eyes snapped open. “I’m sorry-”

“No,” she cut him off, panting. She reached one hand up, threading her fingers through his mohawk. “There’s no reason.” Soap groaned when her nails lightly scratched his scalp.

“Woman, the things I would do to you if I wasn’t stuck in this bed…”

She shuddered again before she leaned down and kissed the place that his jaw and neck met. His whole body involuntarily arched off the bed, hand moving from her hip to the small of her back to pull her against him. She gasped at the contact. However light she was, her weight on his hip hurt. But he was too far gone to care. He leaned up again, gently sucking her lip between his as she sighed into his mouth.

His mind was clouded with the desire for intimacy with her. He wanted all of her. First in their single shared night, and now in their kiss, Soap saw waking up to her every morning, cooking together, trips to the stormy Scottish coast and the sunny Caribbean. He’d been drawn to her from the moment he saw her, and he knew from the way she looked at him that she’d been drawn to him just as much. He’d tried so hard to remain professional. To keep distance. To be a gentleman. To pretend he hadn’t fallen in love with her the moment he heard her speak.

Then she’d slept in his cot and he’d had to know what it was like to have her in his arms. Having tasted her once, there was no going back to professional and distant. Having tasted her twice? She owned him. There was no pretending, now.

His train of thought was interrupted by a sharp cough from the doorway. Daniela sprang up, scrambling off the bed with one hand covering her mouth. Soap’s head whipped toward the door. Ghost was there, finding something very interesting to look at in the ceiling, along with a pretty nurse who was smiling widely.

“Glad to see you’re feeling better, Sergeant,” she quipped. Soap grinned wryly first at her, then at Daniela. “My name’s Cat, I’m a friend of Kate’s. Mind if I take a look at you?”

Soap nodded, Daniela sat herself in the corner, and Ghost continued to pay close attention to the ceiling and walls. Soap narrowed his eyes, watching the Lieutenant closely.

Cat turned to Daniela and Ghost. “Would you two-”

“They can stay,” Soap cut her off. Cat turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. He smiled. “Nothing they haven’t seen already.” When she helped him sit up and lift his gown off, Soap got his first real look at the damage. At Los Vaqueros safe house, and then later at their base, he’d been too rushed and too tired to really look at himself.

Purple bruises so dark they nearly looked black covered his ribs. Just above his boxers, he could see more bruising on his hip that was nearly green now. Scrapes and cuts covered his knees, his arms, his sides. The bullet wound in his right arm was healing nicely, but the skin around it was still pink and tender. He was grateful that his chest was wrapped tightly so he couldn’t see the damage from Ghost’s sniper.

Soap looked away.

“So Cat,” he asked. “How did you meet Laswell?”

“Oh, she and I met probably fifteen years ago. She was still on the field, back then. I was still in training, working in a field hospital. I patched her and John up after a rough mission. I guess she decided she liked me, because as soon as I graduated, she snapped me right up.” She turned to Ghost, who had finally looked her way, and smiled. “Good thing, too. I’ve fixed this one up more times than I can count, and Kate tells me he won’t let anyone else touch him.”

Ghost looked away again so quickly that he missed Soap’s gleeful expression. “Oh, is that so?” teased Soap. Ghost shot him a warning glare. Something to ask about later.

“I trust her,” muttered Ghost.

Cat beamed at him. She looked back to Soap, smiling conspiratorially. “Quite the compliment, eh?”

“That it is,” he answered smugly. Ghost held his stare, unamused. Soap looked back toward Daniela, eyes softening. She smiled back at him, looking tired but content. Cat was wrapping up her check, talking about physical therapy and taking it easy. Soap couldn’t wait to have a moment with Daniela again.

“Alright, well I’ll be back tonight to check in with you again. Simon, would you walk me out?” Soap’s eyes shot back to Ghost at that, but Ghost refused to meet his gaze. Definitely something to ask about later.

When Cat and Ghost had gone, Daniela came back to Soap’s side, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed. She gently took his left hand, careful not to lift it or otherwise disturb the bandages.

“Take all the time you need,” Soap said softly. Daniela lifted her eyes from their joined hands, cocking her head. He held her gaze. “You said I’d have to give you some time to figure it out. Take all the time you need.” Now it was Soap’s turn to look down at their hands. He grinned, lopsided. “I’ll be here.”

Daniela reached out, lifting his chin with her fingertips. Her dark eyes watered slightly around the edges. “I’m pretty sure,” she whispered.

“Oh, now that sounds familiar,” chuckled Soap. He leaned toward her, eyes flitting down to her lips. “C’mere, you.”

Their first kiss had been desperate. Their second quickly turned heated. This one was soft, slow, gentle. Exploratory and sweet. Soap stroked her cheek, looking up at her from under hooded eyes. “Tell me you feel it, too,” he whispered.

Daniela nodded, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his. “I feel it.”

“Yeah? Not just ‘maybe’?”

Daniela smiled wide, smacking his shoulder lightly. Soap laughed, loud and full, and immediately regretted it. Wincing, he smiled back at her.

He was anxious to hear from Price and Gaz, and nervous about what would happen when Alejandro and Rodolfo called Daniela back. They’d have to go after Shepherd, and she might have to go back to Mexico. Maybe nothing would ever truly have a chance to start with them. Maybe they’d die. But maybe not. Maybe everything would be alright.

#john soap mactavish #john soap mactavish x oc #modern warfare #cod mwii #call of duty #neil ellice #soap mactavish #ghost riley #simon ghost riley #simon riley #john mactavish #soap #ghost #nightingale writes

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royal-ruin · 1 year

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red, white, and royal blue (rwrb) fic recs (part 5)

other rwrb fic recs here other fic recs here personal favorites are starred, by the way. everything is complete unless stated otherwise.

this is probably going to be the last part for now. hope you enjoyed the recs!

*Déjame Ver Cómo Es Que Floreces by 14carrotgold (~12k)

Oscar gets in close and bluntly asks, “Earlier. In the bathroom. Did you do it?” Alex scoffs, “No. Don't be a perv. Why would you wanna know that anyway?” Oscar rolls his eyes. “Mind out of the gutter, chamaco. Did you propose?” Ah. Henry is introduced to the extended Diaz side of the family at their matriarch's birthday. Shenanigans (and romance and feelings) ensue.

oh my god?? a must-read.

what we might do (if we stop keeping a secret) by indomitablelove (~8k)

'This isn't how I wanted to tell people. I thought we'd get the chance to do it right.' - Red, White and Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston, p.327 or, in another world, Alex and Henry get to do it right.

Love is indomitable [Interview] by aceofsapphics (~4k)

„It definitely stays secret until after the election. And I know it’ll be messy. But if we can get ahead of the narrative, wait for the right time and do it on our own terms, I think it could be okay.” Chapter 10, page 283 “In another universe they date long distance for a couple years and then come out with a huge piece in Vanity Fair by Ronan Farrow” – Casey McQuiston, from select annotations from Red, White and Royal Blue, accessed via pagesandpugs.blog OR the coming out Henry and Alex have always deserved and always will.

i cannot fall in love (with you) by orionseye (~22k)

"One of the many nights it’s kept her up, she imagined taking the romcom approach to this. In some alternate reality, June gives Nora the grandeur she deserves. And it’s Jane Austen worthy, it’s glitter-in-your-hair, fireworks-in-the-sky, friends-to-lovers bullshit. She’d confess, obviously. Maybe there’s a boombox involved. Maybe it’s pouring rain. The setting doesn’t matter, really, because they’re both there." even after alex and henry get their happily ever after, there's still a story left to tell. when an ironic new year’s kiss turns triggers something much more, june finds herself stuck in a messy situation. can she find the line between her personal life and her public one? what does it mean to love someone in secret? can she ever find the guts to show it? the nora x june rwrb sequel we are all dying for

the summary said it perfectly. june's pov had me reading around the tears in my eyes.

Heaven is You by cmere (~2k)

Alex stirs. Henry trails his hand down Alex's chest, nuzzles into his neck. A low, soft noise escapes Alex's mouth; he pushes back against Henry's hips, and Henry echoes it with a noise of his own. His mind is slowly awakening, catching up to the instinctual responses of his body. His eyes cast over the two of them, tangled up under the blankets and bathed in light. Suddenly, all the implications of what the bright sunlight means—shades thrown wide open, snipers on top of buildings, long-range lenses shooting them in their most private moments—sends icy bullets through his chest. Several years later, Henry is still working through the trauma of their forced outing. Alex helps him.

Room 1071 by MaryaDmitrievnaLikesSundays (~7k) ”No,” Henry said. “I…” He trailed off, his eyes stuck somewhere behind Alex. Alex followed his gaze and felt dread settle hard in his stomach at where it landed. Pink, purple, and blue. An eagle set between red and green lines. The flags that Alex refused to be ashamed of, taken apart by Henry’s unreadable gaze. So. It was like that. Henry was like that. Or, the college au where Alex is absolutely, positively sure his roommate is homophobic.

you’re leaving (now i’m left amongst the living) by peppermintpatties (~37k)

Six years since they've been together, Alex and Henry were now a far cry from the lovestruck couple they once were when their history began. If you ask Alex, all of it was Henry’s fault. If you ask Henry, he’d agree and say that Alex was right. But before Alex could ever find out why Henry does not seem like the man he once decided to spend the rest of his life with, he already walked away from it all. Now, Henry was alone, left to deal with whatever shattered remains he could salvage from his life. Or, the one where Henry’s sick and Alex only finds out two years after they've broken up.

Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood by chamel (~20k)

“I’m glad you both see it that way,” Dr. Chen says. Then she closes her notebook and folds her hands on top of it. “I think I’m starting to get a sense of where the issues lie. The good news is that you’re both here, and you’re both willing to work on this relationship. That’s promising. Not all of the couples I see are even at that point.” “Sorry, what?” Henry says, voicing Alex’s stuttering thoughts as well. (After one too many fights at work, Henry and Alex are assigned mandatory reconciliation therapy by their boss. Except the therapist thinks they're there for couples therapy... and surely, a bet on who will break first makes more sense than actually correcting her, right?)

a fair amount of it is just them being dumb lmao

*Nova, Baby by chamel (~67k)

Agent Henry Fox-Mountchristen is an asshole. Alex is 90% sure those exact words are going in this mission report. Yeah, they’re supposed to be objective when writing this shit up, but that isn’t his opinion. It’s a fact. (CIA agent Alex Claremont-Diaz and MI6 agent Henry Fox-Mountchristen don’t exactly get along, but that doesn’t keep their respective agencies from insisting they work together as partners. Then a mission in Colombia changes everything, and their relationship begins to shift and grow into something that neither of them ever expected… and something that could have deadly consequences.)

#rwrb fic recs #rwrb fanfiction #rwrb fanfic #rwrb #rwrb movie #henry fox mountchristen windsor #alex claremont diaz #red white and royal blue movie #red white and royal blue #royal's rwrb fic recs

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vilandel · 3 months

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Silver Cats & Black Roses

Chapter 23 – Younger Siblings

A/N In which Noelle learns about her brother and her squadmate, while Yami has a talk with his future mother-in-law... Probably one of my favorite chapters in this fic 💙💜

Ao3 link

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“Come on…”

“Not yet.”

Her giggle tickled in his ear, but that didn’t stop Nozel to pepper kisses on her neck and to softly caress her silky skin.

Earlier today, when he sneaked to the back entrance of Soie Velours’ shop to catch a few Vanessa, it left them with a fiery passion which haven’t left them when they have to part ways after some blissful minutes. Vanessa had already been there when he came back to the palace. Never had Nozel been so grateful to have given her a key to his balcony door.

Heavens, he needed this so much right now. The ball, Lac Silvas shadow, the ridiculous amount of proposals he was getting every day, Prudence Évantail and Athénaïs Vitrail… there was so much that could burden him right now. Nozel believed that without Vanessa now in his life, he might would have yield a long time ago.

Still, he didn’t want to take her like some wild animal. As big as his thirst for her was, Nozel wanted to do it like usual. Taking his time, making the pleasure last, try to not give in to the occasional urgency and most importantly, to give Vanessa the respect and kindness she always deserved, in a sensual act.

And of course, she wasn’t making things easy for him.

“You’re very eager, hot eagle, I can tell.”

“Will you ever stop taunting me?”

“Never, I just enjoy the effect I have on you SO much.”

Oh yes, he could tell that. She has practically wrapped him around her little finger. And still, she never abused the power she had on him. She took advantage of it, but only to tease him or to push him out of his comfort zone. Which wasn’t such a bad thing.

Nozel smiled at her, before putting his lips right on her pulse point. He might be eager, but she was as well. He could feel it under his lips. He had some effect on her as well and he would be damned if he wouldn’t admit that he enjoyed it.

Nozel let his lips travel slowly across her jawline, reaching her mouth and pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss. Vanessa moaned against his mouth, crossing both her arms around him, pulling him closer. Nozel rolled them both over and honestly, they might have rolled quite a few times while they were making out. He couldn’t tell, but that was because he had already lost any track of time.

Again, everything seemed so futile in her breath-taking presence. How could anyone even think that horrible women like Prudence Évantail and Athénaïs Vitrail were the perfect match for him when Vanessa was right there? So effortlessly perfect, even in her imperfections, so caring and full of joy.

How did he survive this long without her?

Of course Nozel knew the answers, but his mind was currently clouded with love and lust, so he couldn’t think straight. And unlike all those lonely years before, he didn’t regretted it.

Much to his displeasure, Vanessa broke the kiss, smirking at him in a seductive way.

“You know, handsome, I wouldn’t mind you’re a bit wilder with me from time to time. You’re a god in bed in every way, after all.”

“A god in bed.”

His chuckle was heavy.

“It’s true, though. You really are. And I mean it, you can be a bit wilder. Not that I don’t enjoy your slow lovemaking, on the contrary. You’re a perfect lover.”

“Haven’t you told me once that perfection didn’t exist?”

“Oh, I did. But I guess I’m biased when it comes to you.”

Nozel chuckled again. But he still wanted to take his time to love her, despite her teasing and his own hunger.

He kissed her again, slower. He could feel her smile against his lips.

“What is it now?”

“Could you please take of your shirt already? The fabric tickles me and as you certainly already noticed, I’ve been naked for quite a while.”

Oh yes, he had noticed that. He could impossibly NOT notice her nudity. There was nothing here he haven’t seen already since their first night together, but this sight was still having an effect on him that made him flustered in embarrassment.

And eagerness.

So, he sat up and took off his shirt, leaving him bare-chested much to Vanessas delight.

“You know, honey… I love that you don’t sleep with a full pyjama and with your naked chest. It’s such a sight to see.”

“I… mostly do that because of the silk sheets. I can’t really feel them when I wear a pyjama top.”

“Never had I been so grateful for the existence of silk sheets.”

Nozel chuckled. Well, it wasn’t like she was wearing much to sleep either. Either naked or in her underwear. A fact that still make him blush since he learned about it for the first time. But he wasn’t complaining.

So, leaned back down to her again, sucking on her collarbone. Her moan was needy and full of desire. Now, Vanessa even started to play with his pyjama pants with her slender fingers. If she continued like that, he might ending up taking her just like that. Terribly wild, like she suggested.

But she was like a lady. His lady. She deserved to be respected in any way.

His lips wandered again, finding their way to her mouth. Another long kiss started between them, deep and passionate. He felt Vanessas hand brushing to his hair. Nozel still has his braid on, but knowing his beloved, she would soon unmake it in the most sensual way possible.

The kiss would certainly have lasted very long… If there hadn’t been a sudden knock on his door, making them froze in their movements.

“Nozel, are you asleep already?”

Oh no. Noelle.

Nozel had kinda forgotten that she was sleeping at the palace tonight. Apparently, Nebra had decided to take care of Noelles dress for the upcoming ball and to discuss it with more details, their younger sister came to spent the night at the Silva palace.

And to have an evening reading and discussing spooky novels. Nozel would never understand the passion for spooky novels his sisters had. Couldn’t came from their mother, Acier had never been able to read even a chapter of a spooky novel without abandoning after mostly ten pages and hide under her blankets, even as a full grown adult.

He sighed. Usually, Nozel was always delighted when Noelle wanted to talk with him, it didn’t matter about what. It happened a bit more often after the whole affair with the elves and it became so regular after their return from Spade.

But right now, it was really not the moment. Not that Noelle knew. She had no idea he was dating her squadmate, even sleeping with said squadmate.

Oh heavens, Noelle would freak out once learns about the relationship between him and Vanessa!

Was it too early to tell her? It definitely was. Nozel looked down at Vanessa, who managed to pout and smile apologetically at him at the same time. He caressed her cheek in a silent sigh. He didn’t want to stop, but it was Noelle of all people at his door.

“Nozel, are you alright?”

The voice of his little sister sounded now concerned. Was she worried about him not answering?

Nozel wanted to say something something, anything. Tell Noelle that everything was alright, that will see each other tomorrow morning at breakfast and wish her a good night, then focus back on Vanessa. But his body and his voice were still frozen. Same for Vanessa, she even clinged now on him. Like him, she had no idea what he should say to Noelle. They both cared so much her.

“I’m coming in.”

“No!”

But it was too late. Noelle already entered his room… and saw them. On his bed. In a very specific position.

Two things became clear to Nozel in this very moment. First, he forgot to lock his door. Second, his beloved little sister saw him on top of her squadmate and best friend. Said squadmate was naked and as for himself, he was only wearing his trousers. And they both were… In a position that could only mean one thing. They were lovers.

“Nozel, is that… Vanessa, what are you… Wait, is he… OH MY GOD!”

Now Noelle was frozen in shock, unable to do anything except automatically close the door behind her and stare at them like they have committed something terribly shocking, like a crime or a revolution.

But Noelle being frozen allowed Nozel and Vanessa to finally move. Nozel sat up, freeing Vanessa who rolled over the edge of the bed and immediately put on his shirt to cover her nudity.

“Noelle… You deserve an explanation. Vanessa and I are going to answer your questions. But it might take a while.”

Noelle didn’t seemed like she had hear him, just looking blankly at them with shocked magenta eyes. It pained Nozel to see his beloved little sister like that. Was she hurt because she saw him with Vanessa? A pang of guilt he hasn’t felt for a long time stabbed his heart. Hasn’t he hurt her enough already?

“Don’t worry, honey. She’s not hurt, she is just terribly in shock. Which is understandable, though,” Vanessa said, putting her hand on his shoulder with a reassuring smile, before walking over towards Noelle.

Nozel just looked at her, stunned again by her entire being. How was she always able to know what he was thinking, especially if it had something to do with his guilt issues?

And why was she looking so perfectly hot wearing only one of his shirts?

No, stop! He couldn’t allow himself to be horny in the presence of his baby sister!

Vanessa took Noelle by her shoulders and firmly made her sit on his bed. It looked like that it wasn’t the first time Vanessa had to do this. Despite the rather embarassing situation, Nozel couldn’t help but smile. He was so grateful for Vanessa to always have taken such good care of his little sister.

“Alright, sweetie. First of all, don’t forget to breath calmly. And try to not freak out too much.”

“I’m not freaking out!”

She clearly was.

Nozel just put a hand on Noelles shoulder. He had clearly no idea what to say and this was right now the only thing he was able to do to calm down his little sister.

Noelle was wearing a short nightgown, pale green with short puffy sleeves, and her hair was down. He hadn’t seen her often without her pigtails, especially without the pink ribbons he had gifted her before her departure to the Heart kingdom. She really looked so much like their mother…

But this time, this resemblance didn’t break his heart. He finally find it soothing more than anything. And this time, he was also able to see the difference between Noelle and Acier more clearly. It wasn’t the eye colour, but more in their gestures and mimics. Nozel remembered that his mother always tried to smile way too brightly when she was shocked. On the other hand, Noelle was looking blankly at anything.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad that Noelle wasn’t completely like their mother.

“I mean… I’m not against it… but it’s weird… NO, IT’S NOT, THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT! It’s just… surprising, I guess… But not weird, not at all! I swear I’m not against… But I just never imagined… You, Vanessa, with Nozel, my brother… my brother… OH MY GOD, IT’S MY BROTHER!”

“I am very aware that this gorgeous hot man is your brother, Noelle.”

“No, that’s not why I meant! You… you said that your secret lover is a god in bed! AND THAT GOD IN BED YOU TALKED ABOUT WAS MY BROTHER!”

A… god in bed?

Nozel coughed and looked away, deeply blushing from embarrassment.

It sounded so much like Vanessa to say something like that. But why did it have to be in front of his baby sister?

Vanessa just shrugged. “Well, it’s true and I had no reason to lie. Your brother is such a boyfriend material and I’m hopelessly addicted to him at this point. The way he takes me, I’m going to-“

“Vanessa!”

Both siblings had shouted in embarrassment, which lead them to look at each other with confusion. Only to look away with embarrassment again. Nozel kinda feared that he would never hear the end of it.

“Oh, look at you both. You truly are siblings, it’s so cute.”

“Don’t change the subject Vanessa! You… you… are sleeping with my brother! Argh, why did I said this out loud? And… why… are… you… How and why and what and… how long?”

“We love each other.”

He could feel that both Noelle and Vanessa were now looking at him. Nozel tried to give himself some composure, but without much success. Still, he turned around again to look at his sister and his girlfriend.

If he would repeat those words without looking at them, he would regret it for the rest of his life. As difficult as it was, he had to do it.

“Vanessa and I… We love each other.”

Different emotions were dancing in their eyes. Both Vanessa and Noelle first had the same genuine surprise, but the next feelings were drastically different for both of them.

Vanessas amethyst eyes were slowly filled with a pure joy and at the end, she smiled so brightly at him that Nozel felt his heart racing faster than light magic.

Noelles magenta eyes were first filled with confusion after her surprise. Then, slowly she seemed to grasp his words and more importantly, what they were implying. In the end, the shock of understanding was seen all over her face and Noelle fell back on the mattress, overwhelmed.

“In love… you love each other… My brother and my squadmate… love each other… Love… You’re together… in love… different circles… forbidden love… I had no idea… I had no idea…”

Noelles part-sentences with no relation to each other made Nozel worried about his sister. He took Noelles left hand while Vanessa sat back on the mattress, taking the other one and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Sweetie, sorry that we have shocked you. It really wasn’t our intention. We aren’t together for long, so we wanted to keep it a secret for a while. Especially right now, with the ball and the tension with nobility in the kingdom. We would have told you one day, really. We were just postponing and… we also haven’t really talked about it yet.”

“Wait a minute!” Noelle suddenly yelled, sitting up but without letting go of their hands. “You… you… you… slept together… but you aren’t married yet!”

“Noelle, sweetie, in which century do you think you live?”

“I know, sorry… It’s just, Nozel is… sorry, brother!”

“Don’t apologize, Noelle. I don’t blame you for having that impression of me,” Nozel replied, giving his sister a gentle squeeze.

“So… well… I mean… I wait! Vanessa, you practically never spend a night at the Hideout since more or less a month. Because… because… you were in my brothers arms? In this room? In the Silva palace?”

“Not only. We also met up in his room at the Silver Eagles base, when Nozel had a long day.”

“At… the Silver Eagle’s base… of course…”

And with that, Noelle fell back on the mattress, looking up at the ceiling of the canopy, as if she was hoping it would have every answer to every question she was certainly asking herself right now.

Nozel sighed and in the end, he stood up, letting go of his youngest sister’s hand. Opening his door to call for a servant, he ordered three cups of hot chocolate to bring to his room. With a bit cinnamon and with whipped cream on the top. He remembered that this was how Noelle always had preferred her hot chocolate.

The old servant didn’t got a glimpse in his room and didn’t ask anymore questions. She was one of those who was there for very long, probably even from the times if his grandfather. So, she was used to most weird things happening in the Silva palace and won’t comment. This was good, because Nozel doubted he could even deal with obvious servant gossip right now.

After most of her shock had been over, Noelle had hundreds and thousands of questions, which Nozel and Vanessa tried their best to answer. When they were finished, all three porcelain cups of hot chocolate were almost empty and Noelle had been silence for a few minutes. She sat in front of them on the mattress, hands on her lap, looking down at the silver tray with the cups.

The silence wasn’t really tense, but… Nozel would admit that it made quite uncomfortable. And anxious.

He felt also a bit stupid, because until now, he hasn’t really thought how his siblings would react to his relationship with Vanessa. But now… It was actually a terrifying thought. Okay, maybe he was overreacting a bit, but still.

Hopefully Noelle wouldn’t be against. She loved Vanessa and her relationship with himself was better than it ever was before. But would she feel betrayed? After all, both Vanessa and him have kept it as a secret. They had their reasons, but would Noelle consider this as well?

As for Solid and Nebra… Nozel knew that he will need to tell them eventually. Nebra, as she was now, would maybe be less of a problem. With her own relationship with Noelle being on better terms and despite her constant complaining about the Black Bull named Zora Ideale – to a point Nozel began to wonder if his sister was kinda enjoying being bothered by Zora – Nebra seemed to get along rather well with Vanessa. But if she would feel betrayed as well? She already felt that way when he finally told her the truth about their mother’s death. But his relationship with Vanessa wasn’t quite the same, right?

And Solid… Well, Solid was Solid and he definitely would be openly against it. At least at the start. Nozel had no intention to break up with Vanessa just because his younger brother would be against it.

“Noelle, sweetie, are you fine?” Vanessa asked after a while, clearly fed up with the silence.

“No, I’m not.”

Nozel looked down, defeated and guilty. This had to be his fault again.

But his reaction must have triggered something in Noelle, because she looked at him in panic.

“I’m not hurt, brother, I swear! I’m just trying to understand, to… to grasp everything. But I’m not hurt, really, I swear!”

Vanessa took his hand, giving a gentle squeeze. “We still have some work to do with your guilt issues, honey. I’m helping your brother with this, Noelle. I promise you he’s making progress, but well, we still have some details to work on.”

“You’re… helping him?”

“Of course I do, why shouldn’t I?”

“That’s not what I meant! I… I’m just… still trying to understand.”

Noelle went silent again, looking down at her cup as the porcelain would help her with more answers. At least, to Nozels small relief, she seemed already to have calmed down a bit.

Nozel sighed. He needed to say something, anything.

“Noelle. I know it’s maybe too much to ask, but would you please keep the secret for a while? You know what the upcoming ball is implying and given that our father has something to do with it… I hate keeping it a secret, but I can’t take any risk that could make me lose Vanessa. I… will fight for her, even if I should lose my royal status for her.”

He felt Vanessa giving him a gentle squeeze on his hand again. She knew better than anyone that it wasn’t always easy for him to say such things out loud to anyone.

Noelle just stared at him again, but her glance was suddenly soft. “It’s… So it’s serious between you both…”

“Yes, it is.”

“So… this means that you won’t sacrifice yourself into an arranged marriage anymore?”

“Wait… How did you know?”

“I… well… I always suspected it. But it took me a while. After all, my royal lessons always taught me how important arranged marriages always were in history and still today. With that in mind, it was actually surprising that none of us four were married or at least engaged yet. And then, when you told me everything about mother and when I realized how much you… you practically sacrificed since then… I had fear that you would sacrifice yourself for us. And this perspective hurt a lot.”

“I’m… I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault, Nozel, not at all. I just never wanted for you to be a lifetime unhappy just so that I could have my happiness. But… now you have someone. I still can’t believe it’s Vanessa of all people! Sorry, still not used… But I wanted to say is that since you love someone and you’re being serious, it means that you won’t sacrifice yourself anymore.”

“No, I won’t… But I still refuse to marry you and Nebra and Solid off for political reasons, I swear! And I won’t let our father… I mean, Lac Silva marry you off behind my back. This will be always out of the question.”

“Thank you, brother. It’s actually some kind of relief for me… After all, one of the reasons I still haven’t started anything with Asta because I was scared you would sacrifice yourself into a loveless marriage for me.”

There was a silence.

A heavy silence.

Nozel was frozen and blinked a few times. Did Noelle just mentioned Asta and her wish to start something with him?

Noelle looked like she didn’t quite understood his reaction first, until she realized what she just said.

“I… I mean… Oh shoot! I didn’t meant… At least not like that!”

And she jumped towards his pillows to hide her head under them, muttering and babbling nothing he could understand.

Vanessa laughed, as she was the only one amused by the situation.

“Sweetie, it was only a matter of time before your brother would find out about your heavy crush.”

Heavy crush… Noelle and Asta… Nozel tried to think straight, but it was completely impossible due to what he just learned.

Now, he knew how Noelle must have felt when she saw him in a very sensual position with Vanessa.

His girlfriend now hugged him, in a clear attempt to calm him down. “Don’t be too upset, honey. I haven’t told you anything because for now, there’s nothing yet between Asta and your baby sister. Noelle never admitted her feelings to anyone until now. And Asta… he’s very dense, he never noticed anything about Noelles feeling and for some reason, he believes firmly to be in love with the nun that raised him.”

A nun, really? While his sister was right there? And wasn’t Asta able to read that famous Ki?

“Not true, Vanessa!” Noelle immediately protested, appearing from under the pillows. “I DID admitted to… myself. But only during the war in Spade and I never told anything to anyone since. Before that… I was always in denial.”

“Oh, sweetie, you tell me nothing new. And you just admitted to us.”

“But you both better than me! I know Asta for over two years and I might be in love with him for just as long. And all I managed to do was to admit it to myself six months ago and to you both just now, while getting jealous on Mimosa and Rebecca, being unable to talk properly to Asta since I accepted my love for him and still denying it to others! But you two, you know each other for not as long as I know Asta, and you’re already together, you even got… intimate together! You’re better than me on that topic.”

“Don’t say that, sweetie. We both know how dense Asta is, despite his ability to read Ki. You admitted it to yourself and you admitted to two people just now, one of them being your older brother. That’s already a lot for you.”

“But comparing to the both you-“

“Don’t compare yourself to us, Noelle.”

Both his baby sister and his girlfriend looked at him in surprise. In fact, Nozel was surprised himself that he was still able to talk despite his shock. But he continued still, “Mother told me one day that no romance is alike, each one is different. We’re handling your feelings in many different ways, due to our personalities and due to circumstances. The fact that it took you so long to admit your feelings for… for Asta doesn’t make you less than Vanessa and me.”

“Mother… really said that once?”

Nozel nodded and he felt his heart being filled like happiness when he saw the small smile of relief on Noelles lips. She might not be totally convinced yet, but at least, part of her own love burden must have been taken.

Still, there was something he needed to tell her. “Noelle… Whatever will happen between you and… and Asta… I promise you that you’ll have my full support. I know that you’re aware that it might be not easy, given your different circles, but if that’s your choice, I accept it. Besides, who am I to judge you anyway?”

He looked directly at Vanessa during his last sentence and the bright smile she gave him made his heart race again in high speed.

Noelle smiled as well. Seemed like she was more calm than when she saw them for the first time.

“Thank you a lot, big brother. And I promise to support you and Vanessa as well. I mean, I’m quite used to it yet… But I’m not against your relationship. And you are both two of the closest people to me. That in mind, it actually makes me that you of all people have found each other.”

Nozel felt his eyes filled a bit with tears of joy. What Noelle just said touched him more than he could put into words. After everything that happened between them, having the support of his little sister meant the world to him.

“So…” Noelle said after a moment, “I’ll leave you alone now. After all, I kinda interrupted your alone time. Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, sweetie, you couldn’t know.”

“And I forgot to look my door, so it’s on me.”

“But in the end, I’m glad I learned about you like this, not any other way,” Noelle smiled, while taking the silver tray with the cups and standing up. “I’ll keep the secret, until you feel ready to tell more people. Does anyone else know?”

“Only our Vermillion aunt. And Soie Velours and her nephew found out… when I opened an account for Vanessa at her shop.”

“Wait, what? You opened an account for Vanessa at the shop of the best modiste in the Clover Kingdom?”

“He did. Isn’t your brother the best boyfriend ever?”

“Stop being too cheeky, Vanessa. Well, maybe I shall better go now. Sorry to have interrupted you. But please, don’t make me an aunt just yet, okay?”

“Noelle!”

Nozel blushed immediately and despite her giggling, Vanessa seemed rather flustered as well. They haven’t talked about children yet and despite the fact that Nozel sometimes had some fleeting daydreams about babies and little kids with silver or rosewood coloured hair, it was way too early to think about that!

“Sorry, you both! But still, as much as I loved to be an aunt, you should take your time with things like that. Gosh, sorry, I shut up, I promise. I really talk too much when I’m still a bit flustered. Well, I guess I see you tomorrow morning at breakfast, Nozel. And I’ll see you later that day at the Hideout, Vanessa. Good night.”

“Good night, Noelle.”

When his sister left, Nozel stood up immediately and locked the door. He wouldn’t make the same mistake to forget something so crucial again, even if it was thankfully Noelle who found out about him and Vanessa.

“That went better than I expected.”

“Come on, honey. Noelle is a sweetheart and she loves you. Of course she won’t be against our relationship. You’ll see, once she’s completely used to it, she’s going to be our biggest supporter and threaten everyone who would dare to have some doubts about us with her Sea Dragon Roar.”

“Wouldn’t that be somehow overreacting?”

“Maybe? But who cares right now, I prefer to continue right where we had to stop, hot eagle,” Vanessa smile in a seductive way, while immediately getting rid of his shirt.

His hunger for her was back in one second. Nozel immediately kissed her with all the passion he could manage and it didn’t took long before he himself got rid on the rest of his clothes.

He wasn’t as patient as some time ago, just before Noelle discovered them. It didn’t matter. Nozel took Vanessa more wildly than usual, but still with all the respect she deserved.

Holding his beloved in his arms while loving her body and soul, with the new knowledge of his little sister’s support, in a way it made him more daring than he could ever imagined. But Vanessa didn’t seem to mind and in fact, Nozel kinda didn’t mind as well.

♣♣♣

“You’re going to be more popular than me to my brats if you continue to spoil them like that, Blue Rose Mama.”

“I don’t think so, sir Yami. It is so obvious they all care so much about you despite your rather tough love towards them. Even lord Nacht seems to have you high regards, despite everything he says.”

“Yeah, whatever. But you’re practically their favourite auntie at this point and unlike me, you have every right to spoil them.”

“But you gave them a chance when no one else would and a home. That’s worth more than ball clothing and such.”

Orchidea might be right about that part, but Yami knew that her offer to help most of the Bulls with their suits and gowns for the upcoming ball was worth more than the fancy clothes. Prickly Queens mother practically won the hearts of his brats the moment she came into their lives, just like Finesse before her.

Blue Rose Mama had come yesterday night with her offering and one thing leading to another, practically including herself spontaneously decided that their favourite auntie shall spent her first night ever at the Hideout. A proposition Orchidea had accepted happily without too much hesitation.

Yami had vaguely protested that the Black Bulls Hideout wasn’t an inn, but honestly, it wasn’t too much of a bother, to his surprise. First, his brats were stubborn and loved their auntie Dea. Second, he was rather fond of her as well. Third, Blue Rose Mama had a kinda shitty life before, so he would be damned to deny her anything good that could happen to her. Fourth, having intel about nobility outside of Magic Knights was always good to have, be it with Finesse or Orchidea.

And most importantly… She was Charlottes mother and loved her daughter truly. What else could he ask from the mum of his girlfriend?

Besides, it wasn’t he had been there that night. Like practically every night since they got together, he came over to Charlottes room at the Blue Roses base in the evening, slept with her and spend the night at her place.

Best nights ever, he would never regret one second spent in Charlottes arms.

But of course, their relationship was still a secret. So, when he accompanied his Prickly Queen back to his Hideout when she decided to pick up her mum, he entered through a back door and made it look like as he just gotten up.

No one noticed anything, which was good. Charlotte and Orchidea had breakfast with the present Bulls, which has almost ended in a food fight or an eating competition and now, he had to wait with Blue Rose Mama until Luck and Prickly Queen had finished their so-called sibling talk.

Honestly, Yami hated every time when he had to part ways with his Prickly Queen. One of the downsides of a secret relationship. But he really shouldn’t complain too much, it was something both of them decided, after all. Still, in moments like this one, Yami couldn’t wait when he was officially not in a secret relationship anymore and having a clear future with Charlotte.

On one hand, he was glad that Luck was always so eager to talk to his sister, it always meant that he could enjoy her presence for a few more minutes. One the other hand, it also meant that Charlotte was more focused on her younger brother and by that, they couldn’t have a few more minutes alone time.

What has he ever done in one of his previous lives to deserve that?

“By the way, where is lady Noelle? I haven’t seen her yesterday evening and neither this morning.”

“Noelle? She spent the night at her family’s palace and has breakfast there. Apparently, her older sis’ had decided to take care of her dress for the stupid ball and wanted to discuss some details with her.”

“Oh, really? Well, I won’t be surprise if Lady Noelles gown is going to be outstanding. Lady Nebra always had an exquisite taste in fashion.”

Oh, really? Yami couldn’t tell, with those stupid flowy clothes each Silvas was stubborn enough to wear.

Orchidea now watched how Luck was now jumping around Charlotte, probably telling her about his latest fight with Magna, while Prickly Queen laughed at his tales.

Her laughs were always so lovely.

“Isn’t it wonderful how well they get along? Usually, within nobility, legitimated children are often so vain and some cases in cruel to their bastard siblings. You can see a good example of it with how most Évantails are talking about the bastard daughter of lord Cygnus. But Luck and Charlotte? It’s almost like they were raised together.”

“You wanted more children, Blue Rose Mama?”

“Oh, yes. I never had any siblings and within nobility, an only child grew up pretty lonely most of the time. Besides, for noble women like me, trapped in into a loveless marriage, children can often be the only blessing. But due to my condition, I was only able to have Charlotte and it was difficult to see her grew up the same way I did. Especially since most Roseleis aren’t open-minded at all.”

Yami groaned. Nobility sucks, even for people who were nobles themselves. It was really unfair that Blue Rose Mama wasn’t able to have more children. She definitely had the thing for a loving mother.

In a way, Orchidea reminded him of his own mother. Just as loving and caring for her kiddos.

And married to a jerk.

With the difference that Blue Rose Mama never choose her jerk of a husband. While his own mum… Well, she had seen something in his heartless dad, but as much as Yami tried to think about something, he just couldn’t see why his mother fell in love with his father. Did his father ever loved his mother or was she just someone he choose out of selfish lust?

It was unfair that she had to die pretty young and that Ichika never got any memories of their mum.

Ichika…

Seeing Charlotte and Luck having fun with each other, happy to be together, it reminded Yami of his past as a kid in the Land of the Sun. Him and Ichika being close… before the shit hit the fan.

He envied Charlotte and Luck a bit, for having found each other, to grew a bond. But Yami immediately scolded himself. Prickly Queen and his berserker brat deserved each other as siblings. And after what his jerk of a father did to them, especially to Ichika, he had reasons to leave.

Yami was sure Ryu took good care of his little sister. As for him… he took the blame upon himself to protect Ichika. He left to protect her.

Back then, it seemed like the only option.

But today?

Would he do things differently? Yami couldn’t help but ask himself that when he saw Charlotte and Luck being happy to have each other.

Maybe he would do things differently… just to not be separated from his sister again.

But only maybe… because the life he found here in Clover, Nacht and Morgen, Julius and the Grey Deers, Goldie Guts and the other captains, his brats and his Prickly Queen… he would never give it up.

“Do you have siblings, sir Yami?”

“Huh? Oh, yes… Back in my home country. But I haven’t seen her since… well, since I got in Clover.”

He didn’t say anything else. And Orchidea immediately noticed the sad undertone in his voice.

“Oh, I’m sorry to have asked. It’s certainly a heavy subject.”

“Gosh, ya have no idea, Blue Rose Mama. It’s also not easy to talk about.”

“I understand… But do you miss your sister sometimes? And your home country? You don’t need to answer, but you if you want one day and if you feel ready, I’m willing to give you an ear.”

Gosh, why did this auntie have to be so kind hearted?

“I’ll keep this in mind, Blue Rose Mama. Maybe I’ll catch up to ya, when my poor delicate little heart of glass can’t take the past anymore.”

“You’re very welcome. And honestly, I’m quite curious to learn more about this famous Land of the Sun one day.”

“No offence, m’lady, but you seem kinda curious about good ol’ me.”

“Well… You are practically my son-in-law, sir Yami and my daughter loves you. Isn’t it normal that I want to get to know the man my now big girl has chosen to gift her heart to?”

Silence.

Charlotte was laughing at one of Lucks ridiculous imitations of Magna.

More silence.

“The hell?”

Orchidea immediately chuckled, clearly amused and Yami was too dumbfounded to even fake some offended mimic.

“Oh, dear captain of the Black Bulls, I know about you and my daughter since my first visit to your squad. Very bold of you both to make out right the next to the rest of us, I have to say. I suppose this was your idea, not Charlottes. I know my daughter.”

Oh shit. Damn hell. Blue Rose Mama knew. Was this good or bad? She sounded amused, but what if she would threaten him if he would ever hurt Charlotte in some way? Not that he had any intention to, but everyone did that for the people they care about. And Orchidea was not only Charlottes mother, she genuinely wanted her daughter to be happy. By that logic, Blue rose Mama had EVERY excuse to threaten him.

But before Yami could even come up some kind of stupid defence, Orchidea put a reassuring hand on his arm.

“Don’t worry, I have nothing against you being the one for my daughter. Of course, the different circles might be a problem. But are those really determined? I’ve already promised my daughter to support her, whoever she chooses as her beloved. Besides, she told me that you have saved her from her curse and for that only, I’m so grateful to you.”

“It wasn’t much and I didn’t even done on purpose. I was just upset about my noodles that I lost due to Prickly Queens curse going havoc, ya know.”

“In that case, I’m also grateful for the existence of noodles.”

Orchidea giggled and Yami couldn’t help but scoff as well. Damn, Blue Rose Mama was clearly one of the best nobles in the whole Clover Kingdom.

“Besides,” Orchidea continued, “all things considered, if I have to choose a son-in-law, today I would definitely choose you. You are a good man, Yami Sukehiro.”

All Yami could do was to look at the woman, mother of his beloved Prickly Queen, who practically just accepted to be his fricking mother-in-law.

But Blue Rose Mama just smiled amused at his shocked glance. “I’ll support Charlotte and you, no matter what’ll happen. I owe it to her and you would make her happy. Besides… I want to have grandchildren one day.”

“What… Wait, Blue Rose Mama, Prickly Queen and I aren’t there yet!”

He didn’t say that he didn’t want any children, because damn, one day he would love to have some with Charlotte. Little blonde boys or little black haired girls he sometimes more or less dreamt about when he was taking a dump. But it was not the time yet! It was already irritating when Luck asked them from time to time when he could become an uncle.

“I know that, I’m just teasing you… Yami. Good, now I’ll try to get Lucks attention, so that you and Charlotte can have a proper goodbye.”

With that, Orchidea winked at him, before asking Luck something and getting an enthusiastic answer.

Charlotte took the opportunity to walk over to him quickly and discreetly hug him. Yami was still stunned, but still found enough energy to say, “No need to be so discreet, Prickly Queen. Your mum knows already about us. Apparently, she saw us during her first visit here.”

Charlotte didn’t answered immediately, she felt rather stiff in her arms. According to her Ki, she was surprised but not as much as he would have expected.

She finally sighed, hugging him more directly. “I guess this was inevitable. But given what happen to her, I’m not surprised she’s not against us. And she did promised to support me.”

“Yeah, she said something like that. And she also somehow gave me her blessing by calling me her son-in-law or something. Still need to get used to it, though.”

Charlotte was happy. He couldn’t see her, but he felt her joy in her Ki. And that was enough to calm him down. He still needed to get used to it to this new blessing, but he would be damned to reject it.

“Yami…”

“Hm?”

“What are waiting for to kiss me already?”

Oh, she was asking him this like that, he better obey immediately.

Pulling her up, so that her feet where now in the air, Yami pulled Charlotte in a deep, passionate kiss. To which Charlotte responded as daring as she could, crossing her arms behind his neck and teasing him with her tongue.

Holy shit, if they had been alone, he would have brought her into some quite, lonely corner and take her immediately or let her take him. She was driving him crazy again. How did he survived ten long years without this woman?

Too bad that he had to hold back his passionate love, because Luck and Blue Rose Mama were present. Okay, both of them knew about him and Prickly Queen, but decency still had the kind of limits no one shall passed by, even by him.

But it didn’t matter. Yami knew that while he gave Charlotte another fiery kiss. He knew that in every kiss they shared, every time Charlotte looked at him, be it with love or resignation when he was being stupid.

First of all, he would see her again this evening and they would have the whole night, just the two of them.

And second… Screw the nobles and the stupid trap engagement ball. Charlotte has chosen him and no one else to spent the rest of her life with. Screw old Reggie and the other suitors who just saw her beauty and a potential heir machine or a reputation level.

Charlotte was his, her mother gave him her blessing and they had people who would support them. Except seeing Ichika again one day, what else would he want?

#Black Clover #Black Clover Fanfiction #Silver Cats & Black Roses #My Writing ☘️♣️#Black Clover OC #My Black Clover OC ☘️#Nozel Silva #Vanessa Enoteca #Nozel x Vanessa #Nozessa #Yami Sukehiro #Charlotte Roselei #Yami x Charlotte #Yamichar #Noelle Silva #Orchidea Roselei #Luck Voltia #Nozel & Noelle

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