#you've gone and done it I'm grumpy now

[rubenesque-as-fuck]

you're always complaining about being "bad at dating" but have you considered you just might be aro or even ace?

Well I don't love the tone here, to start. But I'll answer from a place of assuming that you're trying to be helpful, if perhaps in an incredibly rude and condescending way.

No, I am decidely neither aromantic or asexual. I desire both romance and sex and romantical sex, in no uncertain terms. I love to fuck, and I love fucking someone I love. But due in part to a lot of trauma in my past, I am just extremely bad at making connections with people. I am extremely picky about who I let near me, both in a physical and in an emotional sense. I also know that I am not considered 'ideal' by many people's standards, so the dating pool is much smaller to start with. And then lot of the folks who like the same stuff I do are ENM, which is also not something I can handle emotionally, so that shrinks the dating pool down to more of a puddle. I'm also determined not to settle for someone that I'm not attracted to either, because back in my young slutty past I used to have a lot of questionable hookups just to prove to myself that I was desirable. At this point I know I'm fuckable and it's now the lovable part I'm struggling with, so I'm holding out for someone that feels like they could provide both.

And honestly this kind of question specifically rubs me the wrong way because I had an emotionally abusive ex who used to tell me they thought I was ace because I was having trouble being horny with them after they kept doing shit to hurt me like lying and cheating on me multiple times. But of course they didn't want to take any responsibility for their behavior, so obviously my problems with intimacy were because I secretly disliked sex!

Anyway no, I am For Sure not aro/ace. Please stop telling strangers on the internet how to interpret themselves.

[alicewritez]

Gossip - Aaron Hotchner

word count: 1329

summary: you’re a new recruit at the BAU and a firm favourite of Hotch, which has not gone unnoticed by the team. unbeknownst to the team, you and Aaron are in a relationship and are holding another secret; there’s more to what than meets the eye.

Aaron Hotchner x Reader

authors note: implied age gap, mentions of student-teacher dynamic, brief mention of pregnancy at the end but nothing too descriptive. it’s just a bit of fun/fluff. feel free to send requests of any criminal minds character you’d like 🩷

You leave Aaron's office after he briefed you on your tasks for the day; still in the probationary period. You're a newly hired profiler and a very clear favourite of Aaron's. You were surprised to hear that everyone thinks of him as a bit of a grump - he's a soft, gentle and kind man underneath the hard and stern exterior.

As you leave his office, everyone turns to look at you and you're flooded with questions. Are you two secretly related? Why does he like you so much? What is going on between the pair of you?

But truthfully, you didn't know yourself, you were just as clueless as the rest of the team. Sure, you could definitely say you harboured a crush for the man, but he had made no attempt to reciprocate those feelings. Not that he really knew about yours anyway.

Derek gives you a gentle nudge, grinning widely as his eyes glisten with mischief and he surprised a laugh. "So, you and Hotch are close?"

You shrug as you sit down at your desk. "I don't know, I suppose so..". Morgan raises an eyebrow at your nonchalant response. "You don't know?"

Penelope chimes in as she weaves her way back through the desks to get to her office. "It's so obvious. You two are clearly close! You're also, like, half his age. How do you know each other?"

You set your files on your desk. "He was one of my teachers back at the FBI Academy."

Both Derek and Penelope's eyes widen at the revelation, not imagining it could have been something as simple as that. David chuckles from his office before moving to stand against the doorframe with his arms folded. "So you're the fresh-faced prodigy we've all been hearing about."

David's smile widens. He knows you're exactly the prodigy the FBI has been boasting about for months. "But it's true, isn't it? You got your Ph.D. at nineteen and you're the youngest person to join the BAU. You were also the youngest to graduate the FBI Academy."

You suck in a breath, "well, you've certainly done your research.. but I only graduated thanks to Hotch..". Derek leans forward, his smile growing wider. "'Hotch', huh? He really is a softie for you, isn't he?"

You furrow your brows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that we've all noticed that he's much tamer around you." Penelope chimes in again, her voice full of excitement. "Yes! Much softer, too! I've never seen him smile so often until you joined."

"I think you're reading too much into this. He's probably just being nice because I'm new." You wave them off, making a start on the files piled in your desk.

Spencer, the youngest besides you, looks at you skeptically. Sometimes he could be too smart for his own good. "You're not just any new agent, though. You're a brilliant one. You're smart, talented, gifted, and young. And you're a favourite of our unit chief. Who also happens to be a grumpy, intense man who can be hard to impress. I agree with Derek and Penelope, there must be more to the story."

"Well there really isn't." You sigh as you start writing some notes up. Each member look slightly skeptical at your response, but decide to drop the subject for now, seeing how you wanted to just get on with your work. Once you were done with your notes and reports, you excuse yourself to Hotch’s office, knocking gently on the door.

A few seconds pass before you hear his voice call out. “Come in.”

You slowly step inside and close the door behind you, files in hand. Hotch looks up as he hears the door open and close, looking up at you with a small smile. “Finished with your reports already? Impressive, as always.”

“Yeah but,” you pause, “that’s not the reason I’m here.” Hotch raises an eyebrow as he sets down his pen, giving you his full attention. “Then what is it?”

“The team are figuring it out.” You fiddle with the corners of the files in your hand, while Hotch’s eyebrows draw together in confusion. “Figured it out? Figured what out?”

“Stop playing dumb Aaron… about us..”

Hotch pauses for a moment at your use of his first name, then a sigh escapes his lips before he rubs a hand over his forehead. “I suppose they’re all talking about it, then.”

“Talk of the office yeah.” You sit down, dropping the files onto his desk with a small thud. “I suppose they were bound to find out we were together sooner or later but, I didn’t think it would be this quick.”

Hotch chuckles softly, his eyes focusing on you. Seeing your worried expression, he stands and walks around the desk to stand in front of you. He takes your hands, intertwining your fingers together. “They’re just being nosey. They’ll get over it and move onto the next bit of gossip soon.”

You sigh, squeezing his hand. “I hope so.” He rubs the back of your hand with his thumb, the gesture affectionate and soothing. He knows you don’t like being the constant topic of office gossip. “Hey, look at me.” He tilts your head up gently so that you’re looking directly into his eyes.

You look into his eyes, melting under his touch. He gazes into your eyes and over your face, his expression full of affection. He lifts a hand and tenderly strokes your cheek, his touch sending chills down your spine. “No matter what the others think or say, none of it matters. I chose you. I’ll always choose you.”

Your eyes flutter shut as you whisper, “I love you.”

He smiles at your soft admission, his heart swelling with love and affection. He pulls you closer, his arms encircling your waist. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

You smile giddily, your arms wrapping around his torso. “You’re being very bold doing this in the office.”

He chuckles, his arms holding you close to him. Despite the risk of someone walking in on the two of you at any moment, he’s too lost in the moment to care. “Can you blame me? It’s my way of showing the others who you belong to.”

You smile softly up at him. “I think we should give them something else to gossip about.” He grins gown at you, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “What do you have in mind, sweetheart?”

You pull away from him, bringing your hands to rest on your stomach. “We tell them about this.” You and Aaron had found out weeks ago, but chose to keep it quiet for now, not wanting too many to be involved just yet. It was nice that just you and Aaron knew.

His smile widens at your words. He follows the movement of your hands, placing a gentle hand over yours on your stomach. “You think it’s time?”

“We can’t hide it forever.. however much we may want to.” You respond, deep down wanting to keep it to you and Aaron for a while longer, but also knowing the team deserved to know.

He nods, his eyes fixed on the spot where his hand is resting on your stomach. He can’t help but smile wider. “You’re right. But are you ready for all the questions and comments we’re going to get?”

“No, but.. it was all going to come out eventually..”

He nods in agreement, his hand gently caressing your stomach after pulling your hands away. “You’re right. You know, you’re the bravest and most brilliant person I know. Nothing can stop us.” He drops his head down and plants a tender kiss on your forehead, then on your cheek before finally capturing your lips in a loving kiss.

Little did either of you know, the team had all been listening in from outside his office door, hearing every word. But they wouldn’t say anything, they’d let you and Aaron go to them first.

[n3ptoonz]

Can I get SFW and nsfw bi han headcanons pleaseee

bi han!sub-zero sfw/nsfw hcs

y'all know the rules; includes reader

SFW

absolutely hates loud music but catch him blasting soft jazz or traditional instrumental music that you can hear throughout the temple

another chronic tea lover like you'll never not see him with a mug in his hand or sitting on his desk, and you can best believe it's never empty

he hates surprises. unless they're from you then he's more like "oh...that's nice. thank you." with a lowkey wholesome attempt at a genuine smile (you are the first person to ever actually see him smile)

he has a soft spot for flowers. literally any kind of flower and this becomes obvious if you roam around his temple and see all the pretty vases with their hand made bouquets by yours truly

he has the best hand writing out of the trio. i'm talking like calligraphy master type shit and he even offered to teach you so you could write to him when he has to go away on long missions

i'm giggling at the thought that the "this isn't you" speech would work on him😭his short temper and grumpy demeanor gets him into so much shit and when you give him those eyes he's like "grumble grumble...fine."

at the start of your relationship he was the same but very very slowly became more patient with general things. he still has those moments though and you gotta be the level headed one or else nothing gets done

NSFW

roughest out of the three. who else is surprised? right. it did take him a while to learn control so you'd be able to leave his room not limping for once!

TITTY/CHEST ENTHUSIAST. i will die on this hill. he gets so grabby like he saw something shiny. y'all remember when his eyes damn near glossed over when he saw the coins on the ground? that's exactly the face he makes. dudes a sucker [all pun intended]

i feel like once he learns how to be gentle he's so caring. after care becomes more prominent cause sheesh the way the room looks when yall done is...😧 but seriously i think he'd be so attentive too asking if you're okay in the heat of the moment before going right back to fuckin yo shi up

groan city population him. soft mutter central. you could swear you've heard a small whimper before but he refuses to ever acknowledge it ever again LMAOOO

you [did]nt hear this from me but...he likes wax play. actually, temperature play now that i think about it. you didn't even need to suggest it cause he experimented with it once when his cold handprints were still on your hips. the second he could sense you were into it, now you gotta do it in moderation cause bro is a lil too excited

he likes to be choked.

i know i say this every time but idgaf he turns into a lil bitch when his hair is pulled. that tough guy shit is GONE once your nails meet his scalp. he has once came on the spot from it too, another thing to never bring up again LOL

[miss-oranje-disco-dancer]

the king of sex

pairing: javi x reader

cws/tags: p in v, m! receiving oral, unprotected sex, handcuffs, coworkers, sex as stress relief, pwp, not beta read

summary: almost no plot, literally javi is just grouchy so reader offers him sex (but handcuffs him) ... in the office... they really just kinda give up on the case at the end lmao

a/n: i like to imagine the voiceover of steve going "in case you were wondering, this is the asshole..." at the beginning of this fic

wc: 3k

You're at your wits end with Javier Peña. He's known to be (at the very least) kind of a dick. You're fairly sure it's unintentional, just his natural demeanor, but he's also made no efforts to remedy his behavior. He's an asshole because he's grumpy and he's grumpy because he's stressed. And he becomes more stressed and more grumpy and more of an asshole when you provoke him. You have the practiced self-restraint to bite back your snide remarks until he's out of earshot.

It hits you one day when he's particularly irritated as there's a huge roadblock in the case against Escobar that he can't seem to charm his way past - he's tried a wad of cash, a gun to the head, and of course, sex. He's grumbling about whatever-the-fuck when he slams his hands down on his desk with a loud, "Goddamnit!" He's lucky he works with you and not someone over 50 who would've certainly had a heart attack with how startling it was.

You could say 'no harm, no foul', but enough is enough. Javier Peña is inching his way towards 40 and needs to learn a thing or two about civil and professional behavior.

"Look, I get that you're upset right now, but it's not necessary or appropriate-"

"I don't need a lecture from you," he snaps.

"I wasn't lecturing you. I was being nice."

You were being nice, but your tone quickly takes on the bitterness that's been building inside you for weeks.

"If you were nice, you would let it go." His words are slightly muffled by the cigarette he holds between his lips. 

"Are you even hearing yourself? I was being sympathetic and diplomatic. I could've said way worse things to you."

"Go ahead. Maybe I'd appreciate your honesty."

The smoke blown in your direction when he fully turns to face you is the final straw. 

"Okay," you say, taking the deep breath you need to form the next string of words that leave your mouth. "Would you shut the fuck up for one fucking second?! I don't know if all the whores you fuck have been telling you that your voice is sexy but you should know that I'm tired of fucking hearing it."

"Wow, chica. You've got a mouth on you. Could be of better use but-"

"No," you cut him off with an accusatory finger pointed in his direction. "I'm not just going to sit here and twirl my hair and giggle at your sexual harrassment. Sorry if that's what you're used to."

"I don't think it's harassment since you didn't even wait to hear the full sentence. You don't even know what I was going to say."

"I don't care. You should get used to women not stroking your ego because someday soon your good looks will be gone and you'll have nothing but your shitty personality."

"So you think I'm good-looking?"

"That's what you took from that statement? It doesn't matter if you're good-looking because everything else about you is terrible."

"What do you want me to do? Cry? Grovel? Because I don't care that much about your opinion, and I'm done having this conversation."

You don't speak for the rest of the day, but you're in the office well-past daytime. You're on a time crunch, so you cooperate in silence so as not to get your asses handed to you by the ambassador or your heads put on a stick by the cartel. Sometime after everyone else has gone home - which makes Javi particularly pissed - he gets a phone call. You do not know what the person on the other line is saying, and Javi only speaks in Spanish, and says very few words before he slams the handset down so hard the phone falls off his desk.

He looks like he's about to have a psychotic break when he notices that the phone is broken.

"You need to calm down."

"I'm trying to calm down. I'm always trying to calm down."

"Maybe you need a Valium prescription or something because it's not working."

"Are you not stressed? Do you not care about catching Escobar?"

"Of course I am, and of course I do, but I know how to take care of my stress."

"Fine. Then, tell me how you do it."

"First off, you need to take a break, step away from your work. Stand up, take a walk, sit down somewhere else where you can't look through those folders anymore."

He stands up, maintaining a level of eye-contact that says he's determined to disprove your methods.

You motion for him to sit in a different chair and he does with the same permanent scowl plastered across his face.

"Now what? What else do you suggest?"

"I usually put on a movie or take a hot bath or…" You stop yourself before saying it.

"We don't have a VCR in here or a bathtub, so tell me what the third option is before I lose my mind."

"You know…" You make a motion that's supposed to indicate masturbation.

"You're saying I should jerk off? Right now? In this office?"

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you've never done it before."

"Not while you're here."

"Do you care if I'm here?"

"You would care. You just asked me to stop making sexual remarks about you earlier."

"Because your remarks were insulting and uncalled for and you were using them to deflect from the problem at hand."

"I don't get it. Are you saying you want to watch me jerk off?"

Truth be told, you wouldn't mind watching him get off. It’s not like you haven’t thought of it before. Seeing him finally vulnerable, undressed. Hearing his breath hitch, the choked out moans he struggles to hold back. His eyes closed, head thrown back, the sweat beading on his forehead, his lips parted -

"If that's what you want. But, I can do you one better."

At this point, you're just satisfying your own fantasy. You're more selfish than Javi, but he doesn’t need to know that.

For the first time in weeks his lips curve into a smile. "Yeah? You want to?"

"If it'll make you calm down and you swear on your life that you will never tell anyone that we did this."

"Deal."

"It better be. Or I will hand your ass over to Escobar."

"You're gonna make me go soft if you talk about him."

You're hard? Already? you think but don't say. Instead, you take a not-so-subtle glance at the front of his jeans. 

"What? You offered me sexual favors. Of course I'm hard."

You approach him and he waits for you to slide into his lap and kiss him. It's sloppy, wet, tongue-tangled, teeth mashing together. You pull back nearly panting, and you begin to understand why women let him get away with things.

"I have one more condition."

"Lay it on me."

"I'm in charge."

"You've been in charge, cariño."

He hasn't called you that in at least a month - after you begged him to stop. You insisted he call you by your name because ‘this is a work environment’. And nicknames make you weak in the knees. But you can't tell him that being on a first name basis with him is almost worse. Every time he says your name it goes straight to that debauched part of your brain that you try to suppress.

You nod and stand up, and he says, mildly offended but mostly desperate, "Does 'in charge' mean you're leaving me high and dry?"

"No, I'm getting something." You walk to his desk. "Where are your handcuffs?"

You have handcuffs too, but there's something more enticing about restraining him with his own. 

"Top right hand drawer. Why? Which one of us is getting handcuffed?"

"Take a guess," you say walking back towards him with the cuffs in hand.

"It's me, isn't it?"

"You're so smart, Javi," you tease. Even though you’re joking, you swear you hear his breathing change. You rarely praise him because he rarely deserves it. Maybe you should do it more often, you think. 

"Take off your shirt first and put your hands behind your back."

He does as he's asked. Javi is suddenly more obedient when your tits are eye-level with him. "I can't believe I'm doing this. It better not be some sort of trap."

"It's not. I just think it'll be fun for both of us if I do this to you." The handcuffs click as you attach them to his wrists. It’s the only sound that fills the rare silence in the office. 

"Do you hear that?" you ask with a serene smile.

"No, what?"

"Nothing. It's quiet in here for the first time ever."

"Not for long if you're any good."

"I am very good, I'll have you know."

"Have me know."

You straddle his lap and run your hands along the smooth skin of his broad chest. You lock eyes with him, tilt your head slightly and part your lips like you're going to kiss him, but when he leans in, you pull back.

You stifle a laugh when he leans forward, trying to reach your lips. It’s his only option as his handcuffs prevent him from grabbing your cheeks and pulling you towards him. 

"That's fucked up," he says.

You're not cruel so you kiss him for real. Your tongue brushes against him and you arch your body towards him. You kiss him until you need to come up for air.

"You're not gonna pull back and leave me hanging this time, are you?"

"No, not unless you do something to deserve it."

"Like this?" he asks before biting your bottom lip gently.

"No, not like that," you whisper against his lips. You place featherlight kisses from his jaw to his collarbone, lips ghosting along his skin, teasing.

"You're making me more stressed, chica."

You hum, ignoring him, and then making your way up to the nape of his neck where you lightly suck and nip at his skin.

"Oh, fuck me," he groans.

"Be patient," you say softly as you place your hand on his hard cock, still covered by his jeans.

You palm him slowly, looking up into his eyes when you begin to unbuckle his belt. You wonder what kind of underwear he's wearing - is he a boxers type of guy? Briefs? Boxer-briefs? Every guess is incorrect, you find, as you unzip his jeans - he's gone commando.

"I knew you were a slut, Peña, but no underwear with jeans? That's bold."

"Easy access."

"Easy, that's for sure," you say, as you work together to get his pants down to his ankles. "And yet, very hard," you remark, taking his cock in your hand.

His hips twitch and you can tell he's trying not to fuck your fist, knowing you won't take kindly to it. You're in charge - that's the deal. You spit into your hand and watch as a bead of pre-cum forms at the tip of his dick. His breath hitches when you run your finger over it before you stroke him, increasing the speed of your hand gradually.

You dare to get on your knees and lap at the head, reveling in the way his head lolls back. Dying to get his eyes back on you, you take his cock as far as you can into your mouth - though you hadn't initially planned on sucking him off as he doesn't deserve it. His eyes fly open and he stares at you slack-jawed, his mouth slowly forming an 'o'. When he gets close, you stop, pull back, and stand up.

"Huh?" he asks in an uncharacteristically pathetic voice.

"You were enjoying yourself a little too much." You shrug.

"Yeah, I was enjoying myself. I was gonna cum soon." He pouts, lower lip jutting out and making him look boyish despite the mustache on his upper lip.

"I know."

"Are you not gonna let me cum? Is that what this is? A plan to torture me?"

"No, you'll get to cum eventually. This is an exercise in patience."

"I thought this was supposed to be stress-relief."

"Correct me if I'm wrong but it doesn't seem like you're thinking about work at all right now."

"I'm not."

"What are you thinking about?"

"What do you think?"

"I think, I want you to tell me." You sit down atop the desk across from the one he's sitting at and spread your legs. You watch his eyes as he figures out what you're doing.

"I'm thinking about what you'd look like without that skirt on. I'd rip it off you."

"I'm glad your hands are tied then," you say as you unzip it and let it fall to the floor. "Because it was expensive."

Javi doesn't say much about your black lace panties but his eyes are fixated on them. You begin to unbutton your top and his eyes follow your fingers as you slowly reveal your bra, and then your tits. This is the most he's paid attention to you in your entire time working here.

"God, I wish I could touch you," he says. "You're so fuckin' hot."

"I'm actually quite chilly," you say with a coy grin as you walk over to him and grab his shirt from the desk in front of him. You put it on, but don't button it up so your tits still peek through.

"It looks so much better on you."

"Thanks," you say with a genuine smile. "I expected it to smell like cigarettes but it smells nice."

He half-laughs. "What does it smell like?"

"You." You slide your panties to the side and begin to touch yourself nonchalantly.

"This is so unfair. You get to touch yourself, but I don't."

"I thought you would like watching me."

"I do, you have no idea how much I do."

You intended to tease him, but you find yourself going further, even slipping a finger inside yourself. When you add another, you moan, "Javi."

It's barely a tease anymore. His name slips out just as it does when you're alone in your bedroom with your hands in the same position. But now, you're watching Javi who’s watching you with his pink cheeks and leaking cock - all for you, because of you.

"Yeah? Feels good?"

"Uh-huh." You wish it was him, so much so that you get up from the desk and walk towards him. You sit in his lap, wearing nothing but his shirt, letting your skin touch his.

"You're so wet, cariño."

The way his voice rasps does something to you, grinding on him isn't enough. You need him inside you.

As you position yourself so that his tip is at your entrance, you ask, "promise you won't come inside me?"

"Promise. I'll let you know when I'm close."

You believe him because you have to, because you're going to fuck him anyway. You need him. So, you nod and sink down on his cock. You figured he'd be big - his tight jeans don't hide very much though you try not to stare, lest he catch you doing so, but you still whimper at the stretch.

"You're doing great, cariño."

You don't expect it to feel as good as it does, nor do you expect it to drain your stamina the way that it does. Your legs are shaking by the time you get close to the edge.

"You're struggling, querida," Javi says. "I can help, but you have to let me out of these."

"Yeah," you say, standing up to grab the key. He sighs at the loss of your wetness surrounding him.

You uncuff him and he grabs your hips gently, helping you back into the position you were in previously.

"I've got you," he says, and you trust that he does.

You let your head rest upon his shoulder, and when you moan, he can feel your breath on his skin - he can barely hear you over the sound of your skin meeting his over and over, the slick sounds of your arousal adding another layer to the pornographic chorus of your noises.

Your names are traded back and forth, both of your voices getting progressively needier. One of his hands slides under your - his - shirt to stroke the bare skin of your back as the other remains steady on your ass. You bite into his shoulder despite the fact that no one is in the office to hear you. You get a groan in response and you can tell his orgasm is approaching too.

"Gonna cum," he says. "Where do you want it?"

"Inside," you say because it's the truth.

It's like you've cast a spell on him or rewired his brain. He should not cum inside you but he does. His whole body jolts as euphoria washes over him.

Your walls clamp down around him and your fingernails dig into his flesh, and you've never been high but there's no way cocaine feels this good. If you could crush an orgasm up into a powder, you'd be rich.

When you come back to reality, you're faced with Javi's beautiful brown eyes and a smile.

"Thank you," he says. "I feel a lot better."

You're beginning to envision your happily ever after when you stand up and you hear Javi say, "Oh fuck."

"What?" You say, looking down and watching your mistake drip out of you.

"I think we just created another problem to be stressed about."

"I'm on the pill. We'll be fine. And, if you're stressed, we can always do it again."

"You're right. I think we need to give it another shot. You said baths are relaxing, right? We could try it in a bathtub, maybe even in the shower."

You shake your head. "Uh-huh," you say sarcastically. "And since movies are relaxing, we should do it in the theater."

"That's a great idea, actually."

"Yeah? You think risking an arrest would help your stress?"

"I don't know, baby. I guess we'll have to find out."

Maybe you have yet to catch the King of Cocaine, but tonight, you feel satisfied as you climb into bed with the King of Sex.

[daydreamgoddess14]

Support System pt. 8

Roy Kent x Reader, spicy rating - MASTERLIST

CH1 | CH 2 | CH 3 | CH 4 | CH 5 | CH 6 | CH 7

It's gala time! With a sprinkle of Tedbecca cos I've missed them!

ohh and this is the gif on repeat in my head (that SMILE!! JFC):

~~~~~~

He hasn’t seen the dress yet. You’ve hung it up in his spare room while you deal with the other stuff you don’t do all that often like hair and make up - and when you do do it, you have a little shadow following you and asking if she can share your lipstick, what’s mascara, and why do you need to put that weird thing on your eyelashes. You’d both had to rush to get ready for work after he’d fucked you in the kitchen, everything taking that little bit longer when you could hardly keep your hands off each other. He’d gone off to Nelson Road with the promise of meeting you in the city so he could collect his suit. He’d run you a bath when you’d both gotten back to his, kissed each little fingertip bruise on your hips. You’d gone with Sara to get a manicure for the first time in a very, very long time, while Phoebe played Princesses with Roy.

“Jesus, you’re glowing. It’s sickening.” She laughed.

“I know you don’t want to hear this but just pretend it’s not Roy for a sec, cos it’s not really about him anyway, but it’s insanely different. Like night and day different to anything I’ve ever experienced in my life, Sara. My whole fucking life. It’s like I’ve been struck by lightning. With Andy it was just about him, with anyone else before actually. Like they didn’t actually care about me, it was only ever about them. And I mean that in every aspect, not just the sex.” She pulled a face, “I know, I’m not going to talk to you about the sex, I promise. I wish I could, because I need to shout it from the rooftops in all honesty.” 

“I told you, he’s so ready to make someone happy. I’m glad that person is you.”

“I’m still nervous about tonight.”

“Don’t be!” She said, full of confidence.

“These people mean as much to him as you and your mum and Phebs do. It’s like you three top tier, then this entire building full of people he adores.”

“You’ve met Jamie though?”

“Yeah, but he still thinks I’m just your best friend. He’s going to know as soon as he sees me that that’s not the whole truth.”

“So are you labelling this thing when you meet everyone later?”

“He said it’s up to me. But I don’t want it to be up to me. Or not completely anyway.”

“If anyone asks, you’re friends. They don’t have to know that you’re friends who are sleeping together and are almost certainly more than friends.”

“Hmm. You’re right, we can do that. That sounds easy.” 

“Ah. Wait, no. Forget that. I’ve seen his face around you. It’s literally impossible for him to disguise that he likes you. And tonight, with the dress and the boobs and the legs he’s just not going to be able to keep his face like,” she exaggerated Roy’s impassive, grumpy face, “that all night. He’ll never be able to manage it.”

“Oh.”

“So they find out you’re seeing each other - does it really matter?”

“Suppose not.”

“Exactly. So just enjoy it. Enjoy grown up company, drinks and a really fancy night on the town with a whole football team. You’ll have a blast.” You knew she was right, you repeat her comments in your head as you potter around Roy's room - hair done, make up done, you've just finished putting in some earrings and now you're having trouble with your necklace. 

"Not going to fucking lie, if this is the outfit then I'm fine with that. I want my money back and we're not leaving the house, but I'm fine with all of that." He says from the doorway where he's been standing for goodness knows how long. His suit leaves you speechless, perfectly tailored with sharp lines. You know he can tell that it's had an effect on you.

"Make yourself useful." You tell him, handing him your necklace and turning your back on him. 

"There are other ways I can do that," he suggests once he's done the necklace up, hands tracing the line of your strapless bra and your underwear. 

"No time babe, the car is due soon isn't it?"

"I'm sure I've got time for something at least." He hooks his thumbs into your underwear, using them to pull you over to the bed and sitting down, moving you between his knees. You cup his face in your hands and kiss him, knowing you made a wise choice in not putting your lipstick on yet.  

"I don't think we do. God, you look gorgeous." You run your hands down the lapel of his jacket. 

"Bet you a fiver I can make you come and leave you enough time to finish getting ready before the car gets here."

"I'm not taking that bet," you laugh,

"Cos you know you'll fucking lose." He teases. You swat at his shoulder, 

"Aren't you wasting valuable time?" His eyes light up, hands squeezing your bum.

"Well, it's not exactly what I wanted but you'll only tell me off if you have to do your hair again." His hands, as promised, make very quick work of you while he talks about everything else he wants to do. He holds you to him as you come back down from the high. "Dress on then." He tells you, taping your hip. "I'll be downstairs." He leaves you with a lingering kiss filled with promises for later. You step into the dress and lift it into place, reaching around for the zip. You slip on the shoes and apply your lipstick, checking the whole look in the mirror. You feel amazing, you just hope he agrees. He hears you on the stairs, "just in time-" He starts, but stops abruptly. "Holy fucking shit."

"That's what I said." You laugh. "It's OK?" He hasn't said another word or taken his eyes off you while you navigated the stairs. You wring your hands nervously. "Roy? Fucksake, say something please? Is it awful?"

"You look incredible," he finally says hoarsely. "Fucking incredible. Show me?" He takes your hand, urging you to turn around and show him the whole dress. When you stop in front of him again, his hand goes to the thigh high slit up the front of the dress. "I definitely can't wait to take this off." 

"When's the car coming?" You ask, stepping into his arms. 

"It should be outside." He leads you out. In the car, his hand slips under the split of your dress to rest on your bare thigh. "Remind me to take advantage of this later when you’re less fucking nervous."

~~~~~~~

Your grip on his hand gets progressively tighter the closer you get to the venue. 

"Look at me?" He asks quietly, "It's going to be fine. They're going to love you. And god, you look gorgeous." You take the arm he offers at the start of the red carpet, you'd tried to skip it completely but you couldn't bear the thought of Roy having to do it alone. Photographers had also asked for Roy on his own but his response had been a very tame "No." Inside the venue, you spotted the only people you knew, the American coaches and Jamie both at opposite ends of the room. Once people noticed that Roy had not arrived alone, they seemed to all be looking at you at once. 

"Royo my man, why don't I escort your lovely date inside and get a table, seems the fellas need you and it might be a bit like throwing this poor young lady to the lions. Maybe give them a Kent word of warning before you introduce them?" Coach Lasso kindly offered you his arm and before leaving your side, Roy checked in with you. 

"Think I can cope with that." You smiled. 

"I'll bring you a drink back." He kissed you softly and walked over to the first group of young men you'd seen out on the pitch. A couple of them clapped him on the back in greeting, looking over at you and then back to him. You could see from his profile how much he smiled. Ted led you into the ballroom which was decorated to perfection. 

"This looks amazing." You breathe,

"It does, right? The boss likes to make it one of the best nights we have. She does a damn good job too."

"Wonder if I'll meet her," you muse.

"Oh you sure will, Faith Hill, she and our Roy are good friends so if he wants you to be meeting anyone tonight, it'll be her."

"Oh. Great," your smile falters just a little.

"She's an incredible woman. Lotta fences, but once you've hopped over those, it's like winning the Premier League. I'd imagine, anyway."

"Hopefully you'll get to find out. Only a couple of matches to go."

"That's right, Manchester next week and then West Ham." He's easy to talk to, friendly and sincere and he has you laughing so much you forget your unease. When Roy joins you with drinks, he doesn’t hesitate to kiss you in front of everyone, happy that you're happy. 

"Right, the boys are on their best behaviour if they talk to you."

"You didn't need to do that."

"I did, the dickheads would have been bloody asking for your life story. No filter on 'em. You been OK with Ted?"

"Totally fine, we've been talking about work."

"Boring."

"We're both at an impasse. I need something new, he's not sure what to do. It's all very dramatic," you drink your wine and look around the room at the assembled guests, "I didn't get through the two interviews from the other week." You admit.

"Shit babe, I'm sorry. They're missing out, it's their loss."

"Thank you. Feels like a ticking clock looming over me."

"We can figure it out. I can help." You know he doesn't just mean financially, emotionally too, but your mind is focused on the practical issues first. 

"I wouldn't want you to do that."

"I know. You might have to stop being so stubborn at least for a bit and actually accept help though." You run your fingers over his knuckles, his hand firmly in yours. 

"I know. I'll think about it when I have to though, ok?" He nods. "No more boring talk. Who you going to introduce me to?" You look around again, Ted is talking to Rebecca over by the bar. He's making her laugh. "Think anything is happening there yet?" You ask, leaning in to talk quietly. 

"Not yet, but I think she likes him too." You sigh,

"That's so cute. Look at how he looks at her."

"There is someone I want you to meet," he tells you, pulling you to your feet, "but only if you want to?" You laugh a little nervously. 

"It's Keeley, isn't it?" He kisses you and it’s just slightly over the line of publicly appropriate. 

"Only if you want to." He promises again. You might as well agree, it's easier to get it done sooner rather than later and every time you've looked at her she's been looking curiously at you. He leads you by the hand to where Keeley is sitting with Jamie and two other players. 

"This is Keeley, Colin, Isaac and you already know Jamie." You smile warmly at them all and they welcome you to their table. 

"I knew it!" Jamie grins, "you sly git, I knew something was going on the other week. Friends my arse! You look lovely, I like the Chelsea blue." He nudged Roy, clinking their beers together, you watched the smile bloom across Roy's face, it was infectious. 

"It's lovely to see him so happy. You look fantastic!" Keeley teases. 

"Makes our life easier too, y'know." Isaac laughed with Colin who readily agreed. 

"Alright, alright. I'm not that bad." He grumbles. Everyone around you falls silent but you truly can't help the giggle that bubbles up and out until you're laughing so hard you can't catch your breath. They watch you for a second before Jamie breaks first, followed by Keeley. Colin and Isaac soon relax and laugh too.

"Oh babe, I honestly say this out of love, you are though!" You laugh again. Next to you, Jamie stops laughing straight away. Roy looks at you, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Next round on me. Wanna help me Roy?" Jamie asks and gets up from the table, Roy's hand just squeezes yours before he gets up. On the stage, Rebecca is welcoming the gala guests. Keeley turns to you and you grimace at what you think she's about to say. 

"Don't worry, he just needs a minute to process that and wonder if you meant what he thinks you might mean. Better have an answer ready for later." She offers with a gentle smile. "So what do you do?" She's guiding you to a safe conversation topic but you're not quite sure why. Then it registers - your passing comment, her advice, and your eyes widen as you realise what you said, "I know. Spiral later, deep breath now." You try and relax, finishing your wine. 

"I'm a deputy Comms Director. Well, I was. I quit recently so I'm looking for something new."

"Oh wow, I love working with internal Comms, you guys know exactly what you want. Makes my job so much easier!" She laughs and pulls you into a deep discussion about external PR and internal department politics. You glance at Roy occasionally, meeting his eyes more than once. His face is impassive, unreadable. He still holds your hand, thumb resting on your pulse point while he's in his own conversation with Isaac. Your table is visited frequently by other guests and you get introduced to many other people as the evening draws on. At the auction, Roy looks relieved and nudges against you, 

"Thank fuck I don't get auctioned off anymore."

"Tell me about it, I couldn't afford you." You joke, brushing his lips in a brief kiss. 

~~~~~~~

Once the auction is over, you excuse yourself to go to the bathroom. You're maneuvering yourself in the cubicle when you hear the doors open. 

"You look cosy with Roy's new squeeze." You hear an elegant voice say. 

"She's so fucking cute, Rebecca. Honestly. I hope he's ready for her because she could be the best thing that's ever happened to him."

"OK, that's not what I expected to hear from you. Really?"

"Really. We're friends, really good friends and yes, I loved him so much. But I wasn't the right person at the right time. Maybe she is. As long as he doesn't cock it up."

"Maybe your time hasn't happened yet? What if it's still to come?"

"All respect, Rebecca, I think how Roy and I go our separate ways is not too tricky to work out. You and Ted however…" 

"There is no Ted and I."

"Exactly! That's my point, and my problem! You can't let him leave, babe!"

"I can't force him to stay either."

"Do you love him?" It's no good, you have to move. Doing so will make your presence known but you just have to suck it up. You emerge from the cubicle to see the two women sitting on a small sofa with a cocktail in hand. Keeley noticeably gasps so you hold your hands up in surrender. 

"I'm sorry, I wasn't eavesdropping, I promise. I didn't realise what a nightmare it was going to be to go for a piss in this dress, it's so fucking big and there's so much sodding material-"

"I'm sorry," Keeley starts, Rebecca is watching the two of you with interest.

"Oh don't be, god it could have been worse! You could have said I was a right bitch, or not good enough for him. Believe me, I'll take what you said no problem." She sighs with relief. 

"Thank fuck for that! Have you two met yet?"

"Not yet, you must be Roy's new girlfriend. Gorgeous dress." Rebecca reaches out to shake your hand. 

"Thank you. Not sure I deserve that title just yet, it's early days."

"You like him, don't you?"

"Like him? She might have just admitted in a very roundabout way that she loves him, Rebecca!" Keeley squealed.

"Well then the girlfriend title definitely fits"

"Stop deflecting Welton, I asked you a question." Keeley got back to business. "Do you love Ted?" She looks at you and you make to leave, 

"Don't mind me, I'll leave you both to it."

"Stay." She urges. "Yes, I think I am Keeley, and I don't know what to fucking do about it."

"Tell him!" You and Keeley both exclaim.

"You can't let him leave without telling him." You tell her. 

"She can't let him leave at all, he's brilliant." Rebecca seems ready to give up on the discussion.

"I'm not going to let you both gang up on me. You should know better," she points at Keeley, "and you, I hardly know. No offence." She points at you. She leaves the bathroom first while you and Keeley linger.

"So, what I said about my feelings for Roy? Totally true, we're friends. I'm getting closer to Jamie again, but I don't know what that really means. The only thing I don't know for sure, is how Roy feels. We've been split up for nearly a year, there's no reason he should shy away from anything with you. But his mind works in mysterious ways. You're better off talking to him. My advice is to be honest and open with him no matter how scary it is." She's taken your hands while she talks and when she's finished, she wraps her tiny arms around you. You're not tall but she's so petite it's comical. "So, we should go and fucking dance?" She gives you a wicked grin. "Maybe we'll get lucky and Ted and Rebecca will start something on the dancefloor. God, I'd pay good money to see those pair bang!"

Roy is looking out for you from across the room as you leave the bathroom, he gives you a little salute. 

"Keeley wants me to dance," you tell him, going for your drink. 

"Told you you'd get along." He leans down to kiss you. "I get one later though." You join Keeley and half the team on the dancefloor where you spend the majority of the rest of the night. As the evening winds down, Roy takes you into his arms where your stay for song after song. You notice Rebecca and Ted out of the corner of your eye dancing together and turn both you and Roy so he can also see. "Fucking idiot should tell her." He chuckles, holding you tighter. 

~~~~~~~

In the car on the way home, his hand finds its place on your thigh again. The quiet and the alcohol make you pensive, you're mulling over almost admitting that you love Roy, and Keeley's comment about making sure that he's moved on from her the same way she has from him.

"I'm sorry for saying what I did in front of everyone. It just fell out of my mouth, I didn't mean to ambush you with it." You start. He knows you're not done, you're worrying your bottom lip with your teeth, and you won't meet his eye. "Keeley's so beautiful, Roy. I mean, really so gorgeous." You'd never been one for comparing yourself to other women. You especially tried to avoid comparing yourself to the exes of someone new. You believed in the right person at the right time, and that exes helped shape a person. It had taken leaving Andy to help you regain who you were, for example, so like it or not - he had helped you become you. And so, you absolutely couldn't dislike Keeley, you knew that she'd helped Roy become this version of himself. She’d been so gracious, kind, and sweet during the evening, you’d had a lovely time. But that almost made it worse - comparing regular exes to footballers exes was like comparing apples and oranges. And try as you might, you weren't able to escape the fact that you were not a model. "I'm not her." You tell him, the worry evident in your voice. "What if she's the 'big love of your life’? I don't… I don't want to be a placeholder girlfriend. If you're not done with her, then I need to know." He didn't say anything for a long time, he keeps his hand on your leg while the car travels past the stadium and into his street. He thanks the driver, comes round to open your door and still hasn't said a word. He unlocks the front door and slips off his suit jacket before he turns to you. He takes your hand and guides you to sit you on the stairs and paces in front of you, rubbing his hand over his beard.

"If you'd asked me probably before Christmas, I think I would have said that I still had feelings for Keeley. But in the last six months, I've seen her change and I think I've changed too. Fuck it, I've tried to. I think it's crept up on me and I hadn't fucking realised it, but I am done with Keeley." He's still pacing methodically in front of you, making sure he says exactly what he wants to say, the way he wants to say it. "Properly done, I mean. I love having her as a friend, she's really good at that shit and I'd be lost without her. I could say the same about Jamie too but don't tell him, he's already a massive twat." He pauses to collect his thoughts. "She might have been the big love of my life… if my life had gone in a different direction. But it didn't. It's led me to you, and you could never be a placeholder girlfriend." It takes a couple of seconds but he kneels so that he's lower than eye level with you, leaning back on his heels. "I don't want you to be a placeholder girlfriend, I want you to be my fucking girlfriend, and I honestly say this out of love," you giggle through the tears that have started to fall, "you're a really good one." He leans up to kiss you. "Now please tell me that's the answer that covers all the shit that's been worrying you?" You kiss him back deeply, sliding forward on the step to bring your knees either side of him. 

"I think that covers it. God, I really fucking love you." His laugh is magical,

"Fucking love you too. I love Lexie. I love that you can't park for shit and you're late for everything, and that you made my mum like you within about 5 minutes. She didn't even like me within 5 minutes." You kiss him again as his hands open up the split of your dress and slide up your thighs. He brings you further forward on the step and brings your underwear down your legs. "I'd spend the rest of my life on my knees worshipping you, even if it kills my bad knee." You lean back on your elbows as he brings his mouth to you and you believe every word he says.

~~~~~~~

[silver-itallics]

My Favorite Inside Source pt 2

Part 1!

Pairing: Leon Kennedy x Reader

Warnings: smut, masturbation, toxic behavior, mentions of rape, heavy choking, Leon being a grumpy old man, p in v, light mentions oral and fingering (f receiving), guilt (kinda)

!! Contains dark content !!

"do it and do it again..."

Leon is silent for a few moments. You're looking at him like he hung the stars. Really all he did was hang your knees over his shoulders last night.

"What?" He blurts.

He never was the type to think before he speaks. But this doesn't throw off your rhythm, though. Maybe there's more cotton in your head than there is a brain.

"I wanted to say thank you." You repeat, holding up the pan of bacon. "I had a good time last night."

You didn't seem like you had a good time. Leon looks down, confirming that you're still not wearing panties. That's because he stuffed them in his drawer, and your blood is still on his sheets.

For once, you're not the one looking stupid. Leon knows he looks like an idiot, but he can't stop staring at you like you're in one of those old carnival freak shows. But this just makes you laugh. You turn back to the stove, finish off the bacon and put it on a plate.

"I actually wanted you to do that. Sorry I freaked you out. No one has ever tried to do something like that to me before," you're grinning, despite the fact that your words could send you to a psychiatric ward.

Leon just stares wide eyed at you, as you sit him down on his ripped couch, putting a plate of food on his lap. First, you're his rape victim, and now you're his housewife? He's not sure if he should be thankful or not. Definitely not.

He pokes at the plate as you set a cup of orange juice near him. "You shouldn't be thanking me," Leon mutters. His voice is cold, shaggy bangs hanging in his eyes. He can't see, but that's the point. He just wishes you'd disappear.

"I know it's messed up, but…" you blabber on about the fantasy, and Leon tunes you out. You're just like him, in a way; you're both stupid, and neither of you know when to shut up. But at least you're not a monster. If anything, you seem like a sweet kid.

Kid.

Fuck.

"How old are you?" Leon asks, completely interrupting you. Slowly, you blink at him a few times. You look like you're going to say something to him about interrupting you, but instead you just answer.

You explain how you're in college, only a semester in. A smile crosses your face again as you chatter on.

Leon groans, covering his face. The plate in his lap tips, but you catch it before the scrambled eggs splatter on the floor. You take it from him gently, setting it on a cluttered table nearby.

"Did I do something wrong?" You ask, kneeling at his side. Your smaller fingers massage the muscles in his knees, and Leon has to try to push your hands away as politely as possible. He's so touch starved he might get hard just from the innocent gesture.

"No. You didn't do anything wrong," Leon sighs. He's the one that's gone and fucked up, yet you can't seem to understand that. The only thing you've done is started to follow him around like a baby duck does to its mother.

You look at him with big, watery eyes and he bites his lip to stop from groaning in annoyance. Before you can say anything, he cuts you off again.

"Don't you have school today?" He asks, trying to get you to take the hint to leave.

"It's Saturday," you reply, squeezing Leon's knee.

"Go buy me a six pack of beer from the gas station, then," he suggests. Please, please leave, Leon pleads in his mind.

"I'm not twenty-one yet," is what you reply. Leon should've known. God abandoned him years ago.

He doesn't want to yell at you, but he does. "Christ, kid!" Leon finally lifts his head up, grabbing his wallet on the crowded table. He shoves a twenty in your hands, the force pushing you back and startling you.

"Go buy some candy or something. Knock yourself out." He stands up, hoping that'll force you to leave. Maybe he'll take an angry shower. Sometimes that helps.

You clasp the dollar bill in your hands, looking like a deer in headlights. "Do you want anything?" You ask cautiously.

Leon turns, giving you a glare. "Go." With that, you scurry out the door to find the nearest gas station.

As soon as you're out of the door, Leon needs a fucking drink. You've definitely got the same type of parasite that he has, but yours is a more obnoxious, loud one, while his is a silent killer.

He's not sure if he'd rather go at the hands of this parasite or his own.

In his room, Leon yanks open one of the drawers in his nightstand. The one that has the "emergency whiskey" as he calls it. Instead, he finds your stupid panties that he shoved in there on a whim.

He reaches forward, hooking a finger in the lacy fabric. Underneath is a flask of whiskey, which Leon downs in a few seconds. As he does, Leon unfolds your panties from the ball he crumpled them into.

They're pretty. He never really looked at them last night. The panties are white lace, with a small bow at the front.

Leon blames the parasite when he lifts them to his nose. He inhales the same sweet musk from the night before. You.

Your pussy is probably your best feature, in look, feel, and now smell.

The drawer snaps closed, the contents disappearing along with the panties he'd thrown back in.

He needs a shower.

The warm water soothes his muscles, but comfort isn't something Leon is used to. Warm reminds him of you. Your cunt, your tits, you sleeping on his chest.

He switches the water to cold.

That's better. The water makes him feel a little more awake, more coherent. Things stopped making sense the moment he slipped those pills in your drink.

As Leon washes himself, he starts to think that the shower is helping with the thoughts of you. Then he gets to his crotch. He's not gross, most of the time, and actually washes his dick.

But the moment he takes it in his hand, he's imagining your smaller hands around it, the teary eyes you were giving him earlier. Which reminds him of the way you sobbed around his cock, and makes everything worse.

Leon can feel himself getting hard in his own hand. He's literally remembering raping you and getting hard?! Well, you did squeeze him tighter than any chokehold he's gotten put in, but that's not the point.

He slams his head against the wall of the shower, causing one of the three shower bottles to clatter to the floor. Your knuckles tap on the door, startling him even more than his own thoughts. You must be back from your trip to the gas station.

"Are you okay, Leon?" You yell over the running water.

The way you say his name reminds him of when you said it before, hands on his chest to try to push him off. He stiffens even more.

"Fine," he yells back. Nothing about this is fine. Why are you still here? And why is he getting hard to the thought of you again? That was supposed to be a one time thing. Or a never thing, really.

Hearing your footsteps recede, he takes his cock in a firm hand, stroking like he's done so many times before. His hand isn't as tight as you. For a moment he wonders how wet he can get you next time.

His fist squeezes hard on his dick, causing Leon to wince. What the hell's gotten into him? Reluctantly, his hand starts moving again, loosening his grip. He cums with a low groan to the thought of your tits.

Panting, Leon watches his cum wash down the drain. He wishes he could wash you away.

Apparently that won't be happening, as when he gets out of the shower and dresses himself, you're in the living room. You're eating gummy bears, sorting them into piles by color. One of the stupid toys out of a kinder egg is on the floor nearby. God, you're really a child. Not really, but you act like one. Can't believe he stuck his dick in you, now he's watching you make Frankenstein gummy bears.

You look up when Leon enters, immediately looking away because he's only wearing sweatpants. He rolls his eyes, but tries to ignore the way your shyness makes his heart thump.

"Why are you still here?" He really needs to work on watching his mouth. And not raping girls he found in bars, but that's a personal issue.

You look a little sad for a moment, but smile as you pick up some coins and a dollar off the table. Leon stares at you with a look of disapproval.

"I gave you a twenty," he scolds, like you're a child. Mentally, you probably are. Physically, you've got some nice tits.

"I know. Inflation is really bad nowadays," you bite the head off a green gummy bear and stick it to the body of a red one.

"What the hell did you even buy?" This is getting ridiculous.

"Uh, a bag of gummy bears, a kinder egg, and a soda. Oh, I also got you this!" You smile, taking a coke and two chocolate bars from behind your back. They're both different kinds because you didn't know what he liked. Leon watches as you set the items on the table.

"I told you not to get me anything," he's standing over you like he's trying to intimidate you, but you don't seem to notice. When he's not angry with you, you think he is. But when he is, you don't care. You're even worse than a child.

"I know," you chirp. "But I didn't want you to be sad while watching me eat."

Leon goes quiet. Really, it's a nice gesture. Even if it's his own money. He sits next to you on the couch, doing his best to put as much space between the two of you. You eat until you feel like you're on the cusp of a stomach ache, and fold up the bag of candy, then put it on the table.

Then you're lying your head on his shoulder, melting into him. Leon wants to push you away, but he's more shocked when you speak. You seem to do that a lot. Surprise him. He never liked surprises.

"Do you know where my underwear went? I accidentally went out without them," you chuckle, like it's funny. It's not. You're stupid, parading your pussy around in a tiny skirt. Don't you know that gets the wrong kind of attention? But Leon isn't the greatest person to give that type of advice, considering he's the one that gave you the wrong kind of attention in the first place.

"I lost 'em," he lies. Leon doesn't even know why he does. Maybe he wants to keep them, or just wants to get a glimpse of your ass when you walk around his house. He used to take an hour to get it up, but now he's popping a boner at the sight of you. Why don't you just kill him already? Y'know, you probably are already. Slowly, and quietly. He won't know he's done for until his eyes fall out of his skull. Maybe you'd finally leave if that happened.

But like that parasite, he can't seem to get rid of you. Like you're a tumor on his frontal lobe, he can't get rid of you without it killing him or changing him permanently. Seems like you've already done the second one, though. He never thought about taking someone unconscious or even without consent before you. You're like the forbidden fruit, but full of maggots and rot.

What the hell are you even doing to him? He's screwed. But probably more screwed up than anything.

But the worst part is: you won't leave.

The sun set a long time ago, leaving you two in the near dark with some cowboy movie playing on the TV. There's a take out box in your lap from a cheap Chinese restaurant that Leon ordered from. He's not really sure why he did it. You were complaining that you were hungry, and he wanted to shut you up like a baby with a pacifier. Did the trick for about fifteen minutes, but now you've got that look on your face that means you're thinking. Leon didn't know you could do that.

"Leon, what are we?" You ask, clicking your chopsticks together after shoving an ungodly amount of noodles into your mouth.

Leon almost powers down at the question.

His silence makes you start to ramble.

"Well, I was just wondering… because I've never really had sex with anyone. We hit it off last night and I-"

Sex. You think that was sex? Good God, he's really messed up. Or just chose the wrong victim. Leon isn't sure if he'd rather you go to the police or do what you're doing now. Honestly, he'd rather you try to lock him up. Maybe that'll control him. He wouldn't get out of his job either way.

"That wasn't sex," he snaps at you.

You wilt like a dying flower. Leon can't look at you when you make a face like that. He feels too guilty.

"I never said you had to have feelings for me. There's like, friends with benefits," you're trying to convince him to put a label to you. Leon wishes he didn't even know your name. That way he wouldn't have any reminder of you. But you're like a tick, digging your fangs into him so you stay stuck to his skin.

Leon remembers some shitty therapy session he had after a mission. They told him to take deep breaths when he's upset. Ground himself. But Leon isn't a man of therapy. He believes he can't really be fixed. So he yells at you. Again.

"Why can't you get it through your thick skull? You're a victim!" He sets his food down. His appetite disappeared a long time ago. Standing up, he tries to get away from you. But there's really nowhere to go. Especially with the way you draw him in like a magnetic force field.

You stir your food a few times, not sure how to feel. On one hand, you're angry that Leon doesn't seem to get your intentions. But mostly, his words hurt.

"I told you: I wanted it. I don't really mind it… whatever you call it," you sigh, setting your food down as well. When you start to clean up after him is what makes Leon's heart ache.

He's so mean to you, but you come back like a dog playing fetch. Each time, you drop the ball by his feet, a smile on your face. You run and go get the ball no matter how loud he yells or how hard he hits you. You remind him a little bit of himself in that sense. He wants you surgically removed.

"We can even do it again if you want. I'll let you," you try to plead with your eyes, doing everything in your power to get Leon to like you. He doesn't really like anything, especially himself.

Your words make him feel sick, leaving the older man to ignore you most of the night. But without a verbal cue to leave, you stay. You're not sure why you do it, but the next thing you know is you're fast asleep on Leon's ratty couch. At least you're smart enough not to sleep in bed with him.

Reluctantly, you sleep on Leon's couch. The springs dig into your back and you can barely get comfortable. Leon didn't give you a blanket either, so you're cold. The only one you found isn't even big enough to cover you.

Leon can't sleep. Your words repeat in his head, over and over. You're like an itch- the more he thinks about you, the more it bothers him. But he can't force himself to stop thinking about you either.

With a groan, he pushes up out of bed. He needs a beer. His emergency whiskey is gone, since he drank it this morning, also because of you.

Past his bedroom is the living room, then the kitchen. You left the light on in the kitchen as a night light, illuminating your form on the couch. You're an obstacle blocking his way from greatness. Technically, a cold beer. Same thing.

He inches forward, and you shift when a floorboard creaks under Leon's weight. Why is he even so scared or cautious? You're just a kid, couldn't do a thing if you woke up. The thought goes directly to his cock, reminding Leon exactly why he's been so guarded around you.

While he's caught in his thoughts, you move onto your stomach, that tiny blanket doing nothing to cover your ass. God, he wishes now that he gave you some clothes, since your puffy lips are poking out from underneath your skirt.

His mission is immediately forgotten.

Leon beelines for you instead, moving faster than he has in ten years. Pushing your legs wider, he kneels between them, hovering over you. Were you always this pretty? Or maybe he just likes you when you're sleeping. Fucking creep.

One hand holding himself up on the arm of the couch, he reaches around you to toy with your nipples. Last time, he was just searching for an object of pleasure, anything would do. But now he's got this little attachment to you.

This relationship, if it can even be called that, is closer to folie a deux than love. The madness of two. You've got this shared sickness between you both and only the other one can quench it.

Which is a very eloquent way to explain that Leon doesn't know why he wants to fuck you. Or why he's gently rubbing his bare knee over your core.

He's rough still, but he pays more attention to you this time. In his mind, you're almost a person. Almost.

Leaning down, Leon pulls his hands away from your tits, prying your thighs open instead. Slowly he licks you open, tasting the sweet slick you produce. It's not like candy, as Leon's a pessimist. He doesn't like to sugar coat things. But he can't stop his tongue from dipping in your slit and down to your clit until you're squirming and whining.

He wants you awake this time.

Maybe you'll fight like last time, maybe you won't. He isn't sure which he likes better. You're sweet, and it almost seems like you'd do anything for him. He wants to earn that privilege. Even if he's nowhere near worthy of your trust.

You moan softly, struggling to break through the barrier of sleep. Leon's tongue moves faster, holding your ass cheeks apart so he can watch the way you clench around nothing. When you cry out is when he knows you're awake. Your hips shift much more, he's not sure if you're fighting or if his tongue just feels good.

"Leon..?" You mumble, looking over your shoulder with glassy eyes. All you can register is the tingly feeling you've got between your legs. Then he stops.

You're flipped over on your back, Leon above you. He didn't know he still had strength like that. Guess being horny gives you superpowers.

This time he actually undresses you. He's treating you better than garbage, but only slightly. Leon's callused hands are still rough as he pulls and pinches your nipples.

Once you're conscious, you seem to be into it. Leon's not used to that. He's used to being pushed away, ridiculed for his taste and constantly manipulated. Maybe that's why he keeps you around: because you treat him nicely. Or just because you don't leave.

But what Leon is good at is self sabotage. He's excellent at it, actually. Once your skirt is off, he pushes two fingers in your hole without bothering to trim his nails earlier. You can feel him scratch your insides as he stretches you out.

He watches you squirm and cry in pleasure and discomfort, ultimately deciding it's not enough for him. Leon pulls himself out of his boxers, spitting on his hand before pumping a few times.

"You said you wanted this, yeah?" He asks, but it's a little late for asking permission. Before you can nod, his bulky hands wrap around your throat. At the same time, Leon pushes his dick inside all the way to the hilt. You feel like you're being torn in half and twisted like a pretzel at the same time.

"Thought you wanted this," he says again, taunting you. He pushes all the way inside just to pull almost all the way out at a slow pace.

You'd scream if his hands weren't blocking your airway.

Leon knows the difference between choking for pleasure and choking to kill. He's knocked his fair share of people out using the same method he's using on you. You can barely focus on the feeling of him moving inside you when you're worried he's going to kill you.

You trust Leon to an extent, but you know he's unpredictable. Which is why you squirm, thrash, and kick as much as you can.

"What, can you not handle it? Can you not handle me?" He lifts you up by the neck just to bring your body back down to the couch as he speaks. Leon feels like he's losing it as his hands clamp down on your fragile windpipe.

If he was choking you for your pleasure, he'd just squeeze the sides of your neck to cut off your blood flow. Make you a little dizzy. But right now, you can't breathe.

After having no oxygen for a few seconds, you start to run on instinct, panic flooding your body. Leon can feel your walls tighten around him as you weakly thrash in his grasp. For a few seconds, he likes it. But your nails are clawing at his arms, eyes wide and mouth open.

You're terrified. Of him.

The same person that refused to leave his apartment all day is looking up at him in pure terror. Leon slows his thrusts when he realizes all the usual pigment in your face is gone. He doesn't choke you for more than a minute, but it feels like eternity.

You gasp, hands flying to your own throat as soon as Leon lets go. Tears flood your eyes in relief. As much as you talk about wanting to be raped, for some reason, Leon's brain is hellbent on making you hate it. Teach you a lesson, maybe.

He means to say he's sorry. He wants to. But the only words that come out of Leon's mouth are: "you're an idiot for staying."

Part of the sentence is an apology in itself, but he's too much of a coward to come to terms with his feelings. In his job, he was always told he was too emotional. But everywhere else, he's too cold.

Leon shallowly thrusts in and out of you, looking at your tits instead of your terror-stricken face. You're still moaning, but the sound is strained and scratchy, not sweet and soft like usual. Turns out toys aren't as fun if you break them.

You don't cum, even if you tighten around him. Your brain is still too fearful to fully relax enough to orgasm. But Leon does. Maybe he gets off to the fear in your eyes. Just a little.

But really, he likes the power he has over you. Nobody else listens to him, but you do. Why do you do that? You're really unlike everyone else. You treat him differently. Which is why he has to treat you differently too.

He has to break you, but not completely. Just enough for you to understand that he's no good. He's a rotten old perverted man that only has a good ten years left. Only if he doesn't get snapped in half on his next mission.

Leon pulls out, groaning quietly as he busts on your stomach. Your skin is painted in white, like he's claiming his territory. You don't speak and he knows that's a bad sign.

He tucks himself back into his boxers, standing up. You expect him to leave and Leon plans to. At first, he did. But you're looking at him with those big, sad eyes of yours. Leon thinks you look like a trembling baby bunny. Seems like his attempts to push you away don't work. You just rely on him more.

"Stay right there," he mumbles before disappearing for a few minutes. Leon comes back with a washcloth and a glass of water. There's also a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel tucked under his arm.

The bruises in the shape of his own hands are starting to form on your neck. Why can't he just leave hickies like a normal person?! This job has fucked him up so bad that all he does is destroy.

Leon sits across from you, a guilty look in his eyes. You can tell he's sorry, but he refuses to say it. He sets the glass of water near you, wiping the cum off your stomach with the wet washcloth. The action is the closest thing to aftercare he's ever done. Mostly because he doesn't get treated very nicely after sex either.

He reaches out for your neck again, causing you to flinch. Leon curses under his breath, wishing he could be better. For himself mostly, but now for you.

"Why do you stick around?" He asks in a strained voice. Leon almost sounds like the one that got choked with how he's struggling not to cry. He picks up the bag of peas and unwraps the towel to show you what's underneath.

"Ice pack," he explains, trying to get you to lie down so he can place it on your neck. You take a few seconds, but eventually you relax enough to lie down. Leon adjusts the ice on your throat, hoping it'll help with the bruising and the pain.

"I'm not a very good person to stick around," Leon says, speaking more than he has before. He's also being more vulnerable than usual.

"It's okay, I'm used to it," you explain, trying to comfort him. But your confession just makes everything ache more. You're worse than any concussion or cut he's ever gotten.

You make him deal with his emotions.

Leon gives you a look that you can't decipher. His expression holds so many things that he wants to say, that he wants to do. But he doesn't let them out. He just needs to drink himself to sleep and bottle up his feelings to make himself feel better.

"Night, kid," he pats your knee before rising with a soft grunt.

Leon disappears for a few seconds before returning with a few things in his arms. He throws them at you, landing on the couch in a heap.

Then he turns and leaves.

You reach out, touching the soft fabric he's given you. When you hold it up, you realize what it is.

Clothes and a blanket.

Maybe he isn't so bad after all.

[atlantis-just-drowned]

could you do Sun and Moon x Reader who works as Music Mans attendant? (Handles maintenance, cleaning the dance floor, putting playlists together, scheduling, ect.) ???

I love all ur work btwwwww 🫶

A/N: Omg thank you!! For your kindness and for being patient with me!! You're my first ask about the DCAs lmao I'm so glad to finally answer this request, I hope you'll enjoy it :]

DCAs x DJMM attendant!reader

Please reblog to show support! Likes don't boost posts on Tumblr :(

Masterlist

I believe with all my heart that you meet Moon first

Well if you can call that a meeting-

Because you have to stay after hours to wash the floors while DJMM plays his own personal playlist

(he lets you listen because you're nice)

At some point during his patrols Moon just goes to the arcade and hide in a corner of the ceiling

The creature is curious

You seem to treat the DJ rather kindly even if he's an animatronic, which is... unusual, for human staff

So, he observes.

In case you are Secretly Evil

You are totally unaware of it but once you're gone DJ Music Man absolutely teases Moon about it

Sun does too

He is witnessing everything and thinks you're cute when you dance on the music

He just wishes Moon would stop being such a creep and just introduced himself

Which he does, at some point.

After weeks of being called a pussy.

Honestly your first interaction together is kinda awkward

Because he's only here to prove he's not actually scared of you so he acts grumpy

Which... you brush off as him having a bad day or something

I mean that's probably it

Right?

You're kinda concerned you did something wrong and annoyed him

But then again you only just met him, how could you have done anything wrong?

He thought he would be left in peace now that he proved he's not scared of you

Buuuut now you're installing some new decorations in the arcade and ask DJMM about him

Like how he usually is, if he's just always grumpy or more calm like you've seen on the posters...

You're being nosy. He's condemning you to Jumpscare Sentence.

You're kinda mad at him for that one but afterward he carries you around to set the higher decorations

Not that he cares okay?

He just doesn't want to risk being accused if you fall and die

(liar)

You probably meet Sun after a while because you get to go with one of the Glamrocks to pick up a toddler from the Daycare for their birthday party

The kid wanted it set in the arcade so you're mostly here to ensure everything goes smoothly

The second you pass the wooden doors Sun sees you

He's so so so glad to finally personally meet you!!

He's heard a lot about you, friend!!

Sun is honestly a lot easier to befriend than Moon

But now the starboy has to put up with Sun rambling about how nice you are and how he should probably try to be a bit kinder to you!!

He WILL jumpscare you again for making him go through the monologue

And that's... More or less how you get to know each others

Moon ends up coming to the arcade mostly to chat with DJMM

Because you know

It's not possibly to see you that he hangs around more often

Like not at all he doesn't care

No it's completely different

It's because the DJ is his friend

I'm also thinking, when you have day shifts and get some time to relax

DJMM lets you go to the Daycare to say hi to Sun :)

Well, more like

He encourages you greatly

By pushing you out of the arcade

He's just glad you're making friends :D

And he probably gets Bluetooth messages from Sun asking about you so he just directly sends you his way

After some time, going to the Daycare during all of your breaks just becomes an habit lmao

You chat with Sun and even sometimes get pulled in a game with the kids

Moon thinks the both of you are dumb

But he will get used to having you around eventually

It just takes some more time

And denial

Lots of denial

Until one day you almost trip and fall but he catches you

And you're all like "see!! you actually DO care a little bit riiiiight? :]"

He is not happy about it at all

Will probably blame you for being too endearing >:(

Troublemaker, making trouble in his head >:(

Meanwhile Sun knew Moon was getting attached all along and wouldn't stop mocking him

But he's genuinely so glad when Moon finally lets his walls down around you!!

They both managed to make a friend!! How exiting!!

And such a kind, caring and beautiful friend, with that!!

They both can't get enough of you for real

Well Sun can't get enough of you

Moon says he has way too much of you but he's a liar

He will never admit this is a lie >:(

(false)

(he will)

(in a very not so distant future)

(maybe)

[kiriiqt]

ur dad zhongli fics are so cute 😭😭 I’d love to see xiao in an older brother role

under a watchful eye

- in your time living with zhongli, you've met all the adepti, except for one; xiao. unbeknownst to you, he was never as far away as you thought.

characters: xiao & reader a/n: thank you so much! they’re fun and pretty comforting to write, so I'm glad you guys enjoy them. this one is about how xiao meets the reader in this au. i have another fic about him as well which will hopefully be done soon. i put this in the same ‘canon’ setting where zhongli is a father figure, so xiao is still an adepti and all that. feel free to request again if you had something else in mind. warnings: descriptions of injury, grumpy xiao, the reader is implied to be in their mid/late teens, visionless reader.

You’re no stranger to the rules of the wilderness, or in other words, the code of conduct for traversing any area outside of cities and settlements. Ambushes are common, even on the larger roads connecting Liyue with Mondstadt. Even so, they’re usually the result of a startled pack of monsters attacking, or planned by the Treasure Hoarders when specific goods are being transported. Generally, not a concern to your average traveler, so long as you’ve got your basic survival instinct in check. Even the Fatui don’t bother to harass lone travelers passing by.

However, it’s when you stray off the roads that those rules, or rather, tips, come in useful. You remember Madam Ping’s words as clear as day; 

“Always be aware. Is the buzzing you hear from a bee, or is it closer to the whizzing of a cicin? Is the distant clanging from the nearby house, or is it a ruin guard closing in on you? Is the change in temperature normal for the area, or is it the first warning sign of Whopperflower?”

To her relief, you’ve always taken the words to heart, even if trouble somehow still seems to find you. Normally, you manage just fine, with a few scratches and a disapproving glance from Baizhu to show for it, but nothing more than that. At the same time, you normally travel with companions. This time around, you’re alone. You’re alone, and curiosity got the best of you when you accidentally stumbled into that clearing, in the hills and mountains behind the harbor. The old ruin hunter in front of you set off alarms at first, but within the past minute it hasn’t moved, nor made a sound, and the rust and moss covering it is a clear indicator that the machine is dead and gone. From what you know about the various Khaenri’ahn war machines wandering around, it should have reacted to your presence by now. Against your better judgment, you decide to step closer. Most of these machines are left to rot, or collected by academics, so it’s not often that you get to look at one.

Still, you’re not stupid. You approach the machine with caution, and give the area a good look before kneeling down to investigate. You were right; it’s been powered off for a while, and as you move one of the blades, you notice that it’s quite small.

“Right…it’s rare to see a small ruin hunter that still works these days” You mumble to yourself, wiping your thumb across the wing where the serial number should be. It takes some effort to get the dirt and moss off, and eventually you settle for using a small cloth from your pocket. Your eyes narrow to get a good look at the number, and you mumble to yourself.

“Fo-118…”

Your voice trails off; an odd whirring sound, quickly increasing in intensity, stops you dead in your tracks. It’s not coming from the ruin hunter you’re looking at, but from somewhere behind you, and as you lift up a hand, you see that it’s bathed in red light, partly interrupted by the shade your head provides. It begins to blink, and your reflexes kick in.

Within a second you lunge to the side and collide with a wall, feeling a sharp pain flash across your entire skull as your head hits the wall as well. You do your best to ignore it, curling up to protect your ears and face. The ground in front of you shakes, and a flurry of dirt and metal splinters rains down on you. The blast rings in your ears, painfully so, and you scramble into a sitting position as soon as the downpour of small debris stops.

You blink; the ruin hunter you were studying mere moments ago is blown to bits, and there’s a large dent in the ground in front of it. Precisely where you were sitting. A shiver runs down your spine. Your ears are still ringing, and your head is pounding, but as some of your senses return, so does the whirring sound. It draws your attention to the source, and panic finally takes hold of you.

attention to the source, and panic finally takes hold of you.

Somehow - and you’d be beating yourself over the head due to your own stupidity, if you weren’t in dire straits - you’d missed another ruin hunter, hidden in the bushes on the opposite side of the clearing. Well disguised, and probably only alerted when you first sat down to investigate. Once again, the target appears on your back, and you decide that your best option is to dodge it once again, as hiding behind a tree could be a death wish.

With bated breath, you turn around and wait for the machine to send another laser after you. It blinks, settling its target directly on your chest, and you count down in your head…

Three…Two…One…

The blast never comes. A flash of green comes barreling towards the machine, and it collapses on the ground from the seemingly fatal impact. It all happens too fast; your instincts take over, and you leap, dodging the nonexistent blast. With a thud, you land on the ground next to the rubble of the smaller ruin hunter.

Your eyes close for a brief moment, and upon realizing that you’re no longer in immediate danger, you try to calm your heart that’s frantically beating away in your chest. The adrenaline and fear are both still present, but they slowly begin to fizzle out, allowing you to take in your surroundings.

The attacking ruin grader lies on the ground, twitching; its eye moves quickly, and the runes around it switch on and off in an unstable pattern. The same unintelligible sound leaves it over and over again, and you figure that it’s an error code. You almost feel bad for it. Almost.

A spear is then jammed into the eye, and the machine stills completely. 

Slowly, your gaze flickers to the owner of the weapon. A…relatively short man, with a pretty distinct appearance, face hidden by a mask. He yanks the spear out in one swift move, before turning to you. The mask is pulled off, and golden irises meet your own in a narrowed gaze. A sense of familiarity washes over you, though you’re not sure why… you’re certain that you’ve never seen the man before.

He seems to hesitate before taking a step towards you, and you feel your heartbeat pick up a bit again. You’re not entirely calm yet, and this man did just take down a ruin hunter in one move.

To your surprise, he seems to sense your fear. He stops, settling for staring at you as you push yourself up from the ground to sit. Despite being alert, you figure that he isn’t a danger to you at the moment, so you allow yourself to break eye contact. Instead, your gaze flickers to the mask that is now hanging at his side, and a lightbulb goes on in your head.

That’s a Yaksha mask.

The man in front of you is none other than Xiao, the adeptus that Zhongli and Madame Ping have mentioned on endless occasions, but never elaborated on. You figured that you’d never get to see him, much less speak to him, but now, here he is, right in front of you. The fear dissipates and is instead replaced by intrigue.

“You’re…Xiao, right?”

Seeing that you’ve let your guard down - and that you’re not bleeding to death - he lets out an exasperated sigh. 

“Foolish human…” He mutters. His voice is raspier than you expected.

You don’t say a word; he seems annoyed, but if there’s one thing you’ve learned from regularly mingling with adepti, it’s that they’re difficult to read. Though some of them may look human, they’re far from it; you can’t really judge them, or their emotions, by human standards.

“...It’s nice to finally meet you?” You say the first thing that comes to mind, testing the waters. He sends you a sharp look in response and crosses his arms.

“Are you hurt?” 

You shake your head in response. Too soon, though.; Xiao’s words seem to remind your body and brain of what just occurred, and the pain hits you all at once. You weren’t directly hit, but debris still lodged itself into your left arm in the aftermath of the blast. Your knees are scratched up, and bruises are forming in multiple places. Worst of all though, the adrenaline is no longer there to remedy the pounding in your head. You reach up a hand to touch the area.

It hurts; it hurts a lot.

“...Don’t lie to me. You’re injured.” Xiao mutters, voice softer than before, when he reaches you. He crouches down, eyes scanning your body as they narrow once more. He’s no doctor, but he can see the telltale signs of a head injury, on top of all the other things.

“Move your hand.” He commands, though the stern voice is a sharp contrast to the way he softly pushes down your hand. He looks at your head, but sighs, realizing it’s not much use. Concern laces his words as he speaks.

“...I need to take you to Bubu Pharmacy, but…you are too injured to be teleported, and as you don’t have a vision, the consequences could be greater. We’ll have to go by foot.” He concludes, before reaching out a hand to pull you up. You take it, slowly getting to your feet, yet again trying to ignore the pain.

Xiao looks into your eyes again.

“Can you walk?” 

You nod, taking a step to test it. Wobbly, but not impossible. Xiao seems conflicted for a moment, wondering whether he should just carry you, but as you insist on walking by yourself he settles for trailing you, very closely.

It’s silent for a while. You figure that he’s not one for making friendly conversation, at least that’s what you’ve heard. Still, you have questions - and somehow they’re at the forefront of your mind, right next to the splitting headache.

“How’d you know I was in trouble?” You ask, voice slightly strained. He doesn’t answer.

“Were you just passing by?”

Still no luck.

“Did Madame Ping send you?”

He spares you a single glance - but nothing more.

“Was it Zhongli who sent you?” 

Xiao sighs, and as he looks at you again, you wonder if the frown on his face is permanent. Or if you’re just extraordinarily annoying.

“Must you mortals ask so many questions?” He shoots back, though unlike the exasperated voice you were expecting, he just sounds worried.

“I mean it’s pretty convenient that you found me just as that thing was about to blast me to the depths of the chasm. I’m curious…do you adepti have some shared telepathic sixth sense? Or something?” You ask, trying to lighten the mood a bit. It earns you a scoff.

“The ‘sixth sense’ you refer to is commonly known as intuition or survival instinct, something most living beings should possess.” He answers, giving you a pointed glare at the last remark. You ignore it; He’s talking, and that’s what matters.

Xiao lets out a quiet groan when you don’t say anything.

“...If you must know…I follow you when you leave the harbor, if I don't have more pressing matters.” He explains, and though he doesn’t exactly seem flustered, his eyes don’t meet yours. You let out a small ‘Oh’ in response, and he hums.

A moment passes before you speak again.

“Wait…so you’ve been nearby this entire time?” You exclaim, but immediately regret it as pain shoots through your head from how loud your own voice is. Xiao looks at you as you wince, complaining under your breath. You take his silence as an answer.

“Well, I never saw you, so I thought you were cooped up in Juyeun Karst, avoiding everyone” You mumble, rubbing the bruise on your head. Xiao lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Foolish child, how would I protect your people from demons if I stayed in Juyeun Karst? They do not dare to cross that threshold.” He explains, looking at you as if you had asked about the color of a silk flower. A truly idiotic question, that is.

“...Right. Cloud Retainer did mention that you never visit, heh…”

Xiao looks at the sky, and you wonder just how badly he wants to roll his eyes at the moment. Yet, you don’t sense even an ounce of anger coming from him. You decide that it’s safe to continue pressing the matter.

“So did Zhongli ask you to be my personal bodyguard? Didn’t realize I was that important” You joke, amused at the thought, though Xiao nearly stops in his tracks, expression morphing into a slightly irked one. His response is immediate, voice as stern as it was before.

“Do not speak poorly of your own worth. There are people who care about you.” He commands, eyes nearly piercing through your skull. You blink, slightly shocked at his change in demeanor. 

“...I was just kidding, I'm sorry…” Stumbling over your words as you explain, you bow your head for a moment. He shakes his head before looking at the road ahead of him.

“...The humor of mortals is beyond me. Do not joke about that again.” He grumbles and continues walking. You nod, mumbling a quiet ‘right’, and he merely nods his head in response. The two of you continue, an awkward silence filling the air between you. Xiao occasionally looks at you, assessing how you’re feeling, and you pretend to not see it.

He sighs again.

“...Zhongli did not ask me to follow you. Neither did Madame Ping. I did it on my own accord.” He suddenly speaks up, and you snap your head towards him. His gaze flicks away from yours.

“...Then why didn’t you show yourself? I mean, it sounds like you’ve been doing this for a while…” You ask, and he seems to consider whether he should reply or not.

His gaze flickers for a moment, before landing back on yours, and a frown settles on his face. His eyes, on the other hand…a look of solemn resentment fills them, and his mind is somewhere else for a moment. Somewhere else entirely.

“...There is a burden that only I must carry, though the consequences of it affect those around me. For other Adepti and Archons, the effect is laughable, while those with visions possess an increased resistance. Ordinary mortals suffer under it.” He explains, though the last sentence is spoken as if it were a dark omen. A pit of dread forms in your stomach from his chilling tone of voice. Ordinary mortal…that would be you.

Xiao doesn’t say anything, simply letting the words sink in. To his surprise, you don’t ask about the details of such an ailment; his explanation served as enough of a warning. Still, he’s curious - or rather, concerned - about your reaction to the truth. It takes you a minute, but you shrug it off. Any other time you might ask, or listen to that sense of dread…but the pain you’re in overpowers any semblance of fear you might have felt.

“...If it makes you feel better, the bruise on my head hurts a lot more than whatever you might be radiating” You mumble, sending him a reassuring smile. Or rather, your pained attempt at it. And for a second, you swear that you can see a smile tug at the corners of Xiao’s lips. It’s quickly replaced by an incredulous look, but you cherish that small flash of amusement from him.

“...You truly are a foolish child. Karmic debt is no joking matter.” He mumbles, though it’s unclear whether you were supposed to hear it or not. Either way, you don’t respond, and as the bridge to the harbor comes into view, you speed up a bit.

“Wait.” Xiao’s voice makes you stop in your tracks.

“...I cannot enter the city. I will take you to the bridge, and then you will ask a Millelith soldier to take you directly to Bubu Pharmacy. Understood?” He says, crossing his arms as he looks at you, that same stern look on his face again. You nod slowly.

“Good.”

A minute or so later, Xiao stops again to bid you farewell. He scans your body again, eyes lingering on your arm and head, before meeting your own.

“...Stay out of trouble.” He says, and opens his mouth to say something again, before quickly closing it. You nod, staying where you are with the hope that he’ll speak his mind…but he simply nods towards the bridge, before turning around and walking in the opposite direction. You huff in disappointment, but begin to make your way towards one of the soldiers stationed there. As much as you hate to admit it, you really do need to see Baizhu.

"...One more thing." Xiao’s voice makes you snap back around, so fast that you’re worried about toppling over. Thankfully, you don’t, though he doesn’t miss the uncertainty in your step. Your eyes meet his.

“If you ever require my help, call out my name. I’ll be there when you call.” He says, before disappearing into a flash of green.

You stare at the spot he was just standing in, mouth slightly agape. He’s gone like the wind. Even the grass he just stepped on remains unbent, swaying in the breeze as if he was never there.

Still, you smile, looking towards the mountain range in the distance.

“I will.”

[mimisempai]

You no longer need to hide who you really are

Summary

Through a small bowl for keys, Aziraphale once again realizes Crowley's kindness and how he always tries to hide it. It's his turn to show the demon all the good in him.

Notes

I know I've touched on this theme before... but it's true, Crowley is kind 

On Ao3

Rating G -  1684 words

"Aziraphale? What's with the bowl and the keys in it?"

Aziraphale, who was reading a book at his desk and having no idea what Muriel was talking about, got up and walked over to them. 

They were standing in front of the small table where the horse stood and where Crowley used to put his glasses every time he entered the shop.

He approached and saw the bowl that had caught their attention.

It was a small white porcelain bowl, the handles of which were two delicate angel wings, and the keys Muriel had mentioned were the keys to the bookshop.

The angel murmured fondly, "Crowley..."

Muriel looked at him in confusion and asked, "How do you know it's him, and why would he do such a thing?

"Where the heck are those keys?"

Crowley watched in amusement as Aziraphale rummaged through the pockets of his pants, then his jacket, before moving to the chair where his vest lay and searching its pockets as well.

Aziraphale ran a hand through his hair in annoyance.

"Angel."

The angel replied a little exasperated, "What?!"

Crowley pointed to his desk with his finger and said gently, "On the foot of the desk lamp."

Aziraphale breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to his desk, grabbing the keys before saying in a calmer tone, "Thank you, my dear."

Crowley said kindly, "One of these days you're going to have to find a place to put your keys, it's always the same, see, I don't have to look for my glasses anymore, they're always on the horse."

Aziraphale shrugged, "Yeah, yeah, you can lecture me some other day."

Then he was gone, to the sound of the demon's slight chuckle.

"Crowley must have done it for that reason," Aziraphale said in an emotional tone.

Muriel said softly, "He's really nice Mr. Grumpy, isn't he?"

Aziraphale nodded and Muriel continued, "But why does he always do this kind of thing in secret or as if it were nothing?"

Aziraphale replied quietly, "He's always done it that way. Probably because as a demon he risked a lot to do good, so he learned to hide the best part of himself. But I'll tell you a secret, Muriel. Crowley is the kindest person I know."

Muriel replied, "I know, I've always found him kind, even though he teased me a little at first, and even more so when we were in heaven. I wondered how a demon could be kind."

Aziraphale looked at them indulgently and replied, "I think by now you've been able to see that not everything is black and white, that goodness and kindness don't necessarily have to do with our nature as angels or demons, right?"

Muriel nodded and said with a small smile on their lips, "I live next to an angel and a demon, so yes..."

They threw a glance at the window and added, "Speaking of demons, here he comes. Are you going to thank him for that?"

Aziraphale smiled softly, "Oh yes, I'm going to thank him properly."

Muriel was still a long way from understanding everything about relationships, but they'd learned when it was time for them to retire so, they said softly, "As for me, I'm going to go have a hot chocolate at Nina's before I go home."

Aziraphale smiled gently at them, "Good evening, Muriel."

They gave him a quick salute before striding off, and just as they came through the door, Crowley entered.

Aziraphale barely gave the demon time to get through the door before he was beside him, wrapping his arms around him and hugging him tightly as he whispered, "Thank you."

Crowley laughed softly and replied, "Not that I'm complaining about a welcome like that, but why thank you?"

Aziraphale stepped back a little and showed him the bowl with the keys saying, "Thank you for this."

Crowley shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Well, it's not much."

Aziraphale replied gently, "It may not mean much to you, but it does to me. Crowley, you took the time to do this for me because you saw that I was always looking for my keys. You did this for me. Why do you always deny the good things you do?"

The angel took the demon's hand in his own and continued, "You can slam me against the wall, I won't change my mind. You're kind and good, Crowley. That's your nature, regardless of the fact that you're a demon."

He brought the demon's hand to his lips and, eyes locked with Crowley's, kissed the palm gently before saying, "You're kind."

He watched the demon swallow and his cheeks color slightly before he breathed, "Angel...no, I..."

Aziraphale cupped his cheek and asked, "Crowley, my dear, would you allow me in return to show you how kind and good I think you are, as you have shown me how beautiful you find everything in me?"

Crowley had the urge to flee, but he also felt something new, the urge to stay and be praised by his angel.

Aziraphale said softly, "As it was with me, it's up to you, and if you accept, you can say stop at any moment and everything will stop without any consequences.

At that moment, seeing the angel's clear gaze and gentle smile, Crowley decided to let go. 

He said softly, "Okay..."

Aziraphale pecked him lightly on the lips and led him up the stairs to the bedroom.

Once in the room, he made Crowley sit on the edge of the bed and asked quietly, "Still good?"

Crowley nodded and replied somewhat defiantly, "Go ahead, Angel."

Knowing his demon, and knowing that this defiance was a way of hiding his embarrassment, he leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead before placing his hands on the flaps of his jacket, removing it and placing it on a chair. He then undid his tie and placed it next to his vest, continuing to undress the demon until he was down to his underwear.

The angel took off his own jacket, bow tie, and cufflinks, which he also placed on the chair before rolling up his sleeves to his elbows.

"Will you lie down, my dear?"

Crowley obeyed and slid to the top of the bed before lying down. Aziraphale came to sit on the edge of the bed and, taking one of Crowley's hands, gently kissed the inside of his wrist before saying softly, "You deserve the world, for it is what you give to the people you show kindness to."

He let go of the demon's hand and took the other, kissing the wrist in the same way and saying softly, "You're kind when you're willing to look like a villain to save a family's children and goats." 

Aziraphale climbed onto the bed, then straddled the demon, leaned down and pressed a kiss to its chest before saying, "You are kind when you take under your wing an angel who is terrified at the thought of having thwarted God's will."

He slid down the demon's legs and gently took one of the feet in his hands.

"Angel, no..."

"Does that mean stop?" Aziraphale asked softly.

He looked up to see Crowley covering his face with his arm as he replied, "No..."

Aziraphale gently kissed the ankle, then said softly, "You're kind when you come to save an idiot angel who got himself into a bad situation because of his sweet tooth."

This made the demon laugh slightly, so Aziraphale put his foot down and took the other in turn, kissing the other ankle and saying softly, "You're kind when you rescue a few books from the rubble because an angel is desperate to have lost them."

The angel continued to dot the demon's body with tender kisses, enumerating all of Crowley's acts of kindness.

Getting close to the demon's face, he pulled his arm away and, placing his hands on the flushed cheeks, said softly, "Crowley, you're kind, even when you did your demon work, you always gave people free will to choose whether to do evil or not. You've given people a chance to do the right thing regardless. You always tried to be as kind as you could, as best you could under the circumstances. Knowing that it could have terrible consequences for you. I know this because I've been the object of your kindness countless times. You are kind. You don't have to hide it anymore, at least not from me."

Crowley shook his head slightly and, placing his hands on the angel's, said, "Do you know, Angel, how hard it is to deny for thousands of years what you are deep inside, to forbid yourself to be who you really are, knowing it will cost you dearly? To weigh all your actions and words because the slightest revelation, the slightest weakness will have terrible consequences? Then there was you, to whom I could show that kindness while denying it. Because there were no consequences. Because you accepted it. You insisted on seeing it in me when I wouldn't and couldn't show it. So be patient, because it's probably going to take me some time to openly acknowledge it." 

Aziraphale pressed a light kiss to his lips, "I am not asking you to change, just to accept that those who love you as I do see your kindness and good heart. Even in something as simple as a little bowl for the keys of an airhead angel."

Crowley chuckled slightly, and Aziraphale pressed his lips to the demon's again, kissing his laughter.

Then he slid onto his side, resting his head on the demon's chest, who wrapped his arms around him.

Crowley murmured quietly, "Thank you, Angel. For allowing me to be who I really am, at least with you, all these years."

Aziraphale replied softly, "Happy to have been able to provide you with this little safe space."

He lifted his head and grabbed the demon's neck to bring his face closer, then pressed his lips to his to express better than words how much he loved his kind demon.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story  🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Ineffable Growing Love series : here (After season 2)

Ineffable Husbands masterlist : here (Before season 2)

[the1975attheirverybest]

fic idea if you feel like writing any <3

dad Matty is left in charge of getting his little ones ready for school. his eldest daughter can get herself ready but he still checks on her and she helps him get the little ones ready. just some cute shit like making breakfast, doing their hair, driving them to school??

Gave them names cuz it gets clunky constantly referring to them by their ages, though i can't possibly imagine what Matty would name his children.

Warnings: None

---

Matty tiptoed towards his eldest's room, grinning to himself. His heart fluttered at the prospect of seeing her excited face once he hands her the coffee he'd gone out to get her. He cracked the door open as delicately as possible, wincing when it creaked. It didn't seem to bother her though. He smiled softly at the sight of his first baby girl, sleeping soundly, and thought to himself that she almost looks the same as she did back when he used to set her down in her crib, over a decade ago.

"Alice, honey, wake up." He whispered, nudging her gently with one hand, holding the coffee cup in the other.

Alice stirred slightly but seemed, on the whole, unaware of his presence. "Baby, I'm sorry cuz you look so comfortable, but- it's time to get up now."

She groaned and mumbled something Matty couldn't quite make out, pulling the covers over her head.

"what was that?" He laughed.

"I said you stink." she mumbled from behind the duvet.

"Just got back from the gym. Didn't have time to shower cuz I wanted to get you this." he stuck his coffee-carrying hand into the tent she'd made herself with the bedding. "Does that help at all?" he giggled. "It's full of that sugar and cream and gross shit that you like."

Slowly, she accepted his sacrificial offering, peeking her head out to look at him with squinty eyes.

"Wait, where's Ellie?" She sipped on her beverage, letting the saturated sweetness warm up her body.

Matty noticed that she held her coffee with both hands, exactly as he always does, and smiled to himself. "Oh, she's in the baby chair in the living room."

"You took her to the gym with you? you crazy?"

"'Course not, dropped her off at Hann and Carly's."

"hmm." she crossed her eyebrows, taking another sip.

"what? I wasn't pawning her off, I promise! went to pick up Hann anyway cuz he wanted to come with me."

"I just feel bad for Carly. Every time she thinks she's done with the infant phase, one of you lot has a baby and asks for her help."

Matty chuckled and shook his head. "She knew what she was in for all those years ago when she married Hann. It's a deal. You marry one of us, you've married into the whole band. Besides, I'd watch their kids in return....one day. When they're old enough to-"

"to not need your help? yeah."

Matty laughed, in awe of her. "Warning: im going to kiss your head now."

"Don't you dare- ewww you're gross." she squirmed away to maintain the grumpy teenager facade. Secretly, she liked when he was sweet with her.

"Count your blessings, kid." he smiled. " You think my dad ever brought me coffee in bed? He banged on the door twice, if I didn't wake up, then it was all my fault."

"Grandpa Tim's too sweet for that."

"Finish your coffee and get dressed, alright? I've got the other two to take care of." Matty walked away from her, heading for the door.

"Make sure you shower first!"

"Piss off!"

***

"Right, so what're we feeling today? pig tails? bun? what's the vibe?" Matty ran the comb through his 5 year old's hair, looking into her eyes through the mirror they were both facing.

Emma sighed loudly, looking away from his reflection.

"hey, what is it, darlin'?"

"Well, I want small braids in my hair, but you always make them too loose and they end up falling off. So...I'll take a pony tail, I suppose." She rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me! I'll have you know, I've been practicing my technique!"

"no, you haven't!" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes, I have! Your uncle George's been showing me. You want me to call him so he can tell you?"

"I guess you can just prove it by doing my hair. Tightly this time!"

"Yes, m'am!"

***

"Okay, I've got all three of you, my car keys, my head hasn't exploded, yet. So, off we go, i guess...c'mon."

"Not so fast." Alice tapped his shoulder. "Em refuses to wear the right shoes."

Matty frowned, looking down at his 5 year old's feet. "she's got shoes on. What's the issue."

Emma pulled her sister's arm and whispered something about not telling dad the situation, but Alice simply shrugged her off.

"well....you see those butterflies with the glittery wings?"

"Yeah...."

"They violate the dress-code.

"She's 5! why does she need a dress code?"

"Hey, I'm just the messenger."

C'mon Em, you're not changing out of these shoes. If anyone says anything to you, tell them to give me a call." She grinned, wide and toothy, just like her dad, hopping and skipping over to him to take his hand as they walked out the door. "these....fuckin' tyrants squashing out a kid's sense of self with their oppressive conformity." He mumbled all the way to the car.

"Hey, if you're so anti-establishment, you shouldn't have put her in that school."

"It's the best there is!" Matty shrugged, unlocking the car door and setting his infant down in her car seat. "Though I'm gonna have to have a talk with your mother about this tonight...a school with strict rules for kids? Can't be the best there is..."

***

"Whose turn is it to pick the music?" Matty asked.

"NOT yours!" Emma yelled out from the backseat, making her dad burst out laughing.

"So much for democracy." Matty muttered and handed his phone to Alice in the front seat. "Well, we're dropping you off first, so you pick for the first half, and then Emma can change it after."

"Best dad ever."

"fuck yeah I am. And don't you two forget it!"

[beckiboos]

*Right Taliesin, it's now or never*

Taliesin- Can't sleep? Or are we enjoying the view?

Calliope- Hmm..? No. Not really, too cloudy tonight. I thought I should come out here and keep watch, I've been struggling getting to sleep since... well. You know

Taliesin- Yes.. I've been meaning to talk to you about that. Can we talk? Umm.. Away from the cliff ledge? Watching you there is making me very nervous

Calliope- Ok... not like there's anything to see out here anyway

Calliope- So

Taliesin- So

...

Calliope- I'm so sorry about Rulindil. I don't know if he was a friend of yours or something more... but I am sorry I hurt you by killing him

Taliesin- Don't be. We lovers when I first came to Skyrim 3 years ago but he neither a friend nor was their great affection between us. He was quite the sadistic bastard really and the world is better off without him

Calliope- But? You've been so-

Taliesin- Rulindil... Rulindil was a high ranking Thalmor agent, my superior officer. The altmer are not incredibly romantic or affectionate people as you probably guessed. We still have needs though and most of us have some kind of arrangement with our colleagues to keep us entertained. He and I had such an arrangement for a brief time. He had picked me out nearly as soon as I left the dock to seduce. I'm not picky and spent the night with him. He bores of his bedfellows quickly however and when the boat came in with fresh recruits he moved onto his next toy and I moved onto other arrangements.

It was a while before I learned the true extent of his role with the Thalmor. He speciality was 'acquiring information' by any means necessary. He took a great deal of pride and pleasure in his work. At the time I deemed his actions an necessary evil and I certainly didn't envy him his job. But I never liked his methods. I don't have a taste for torture and luckily he preferred brute force rather than magic to get the job done so I didn't have to work with him much. I didn't take part but I knew what was going on. We all did. Just tried to ignore the screaming the best we could

Calliope- That's not your fault Tally-

Taliesin- No, but I was a part of it. Calliope you got caught. You PROMISED me. I wasn't there and you were caught. Do you know what would have happened to you if hadn't of killed Rulindil? Because I do. You've seen the scars on Kaidan's back. Trust me those soldiers had NOTHING on Rulindil. He would have tortured you until you were barely recognisable and only stop once you had told him every single thing he wanted to know 3 times over, all the while begging for death. What's more the last thing you would have seen would have been MY people. MY former colleagues, MY former lover taunting and beating you, if you were lucky, before your corpse would have been tossed into a cave for a trolls dinner

Taliesin- Calliope when you told me about Rulindil I wasn't just upset for him. I was shocked by it of course it was someone I knew someone I- regardless I was suddenly faced with the fact that I could have lost you. By the very people and ideals I used to follow and respect. These past few months... You have become quite a dear... friend to me. I guess I didn't know how much I cared until that moment. I don't get close to many people Calliope, me and you, this little gang, we have become closer than I ever was with anyone at the Thalmor... and yet I still care about what happened to Rulindil. I didn't handle the situation well. For what it's worth, I am sorry for snapping at you in Solitude. Forgive this grumpy old altmer?

Calliope- *chuckles* Forgiven but only if you forgive me too. I'm sorry for solitude too I may have gone a TEENY, tiny bit over the top there

Taliesin- A tiny bit?

Calliope- Ok a bit more than tiny. Friends?

Taliesin- ...Friends

Calliope- Good. I'm glad we're sorted this out Tally. I didn't like bickering with you. I missed this. Us

Taliesin- I missed us too

end of part 1. Look this post is already waaaaay too long. But I wanted to make some headcannons about Rulindil (sorry @dynamite124if you have anything planned for him) and why Tally was so upset and they really needed this talk. AND NO KISS. Sorry I take my slow burns very seriously

[geekedoutbunny]

Grimmjow x Human Reader Boyfriend Headcanon SFW

I should've posted this long ago, but shit happened, and I honestly forgot this was here until I posted the last two Dbz/Dbs fanfics. This Is rather long, but it's totally worth it..... I hope at least, I feel like it went a little off track ngl. But eh, let's wing it. YOLO!!

MASTER LIST | NSFW CONTENT

When you first met him, you were intrigued. His blue hair and his matching electric blues, his strong physic, and his grumpy yet colorful attitude. You liked all of it.

You were a common customer at Kisuke Candy Shop, you liked the man, he was a sweetheart and he always made you laugh. Kisuke was like a father away from home. He was always asking for you well being, asking if you needed help with keeping up with your bills, or if you needed a ride to work, but you'd always politely decline him.

One day, while you were shopping for some of your morning sweets at Kisuke's shop, you were startled when you happen to look up from the shelves of candy, and you saw the blue haired man. He was handsome, and you were enriched by his gaze. You were startled from it when he suddenly spoke up. "Take a damn picture, it'll last longer damn it." He said in a crude tone.

You stared at him a little longer before you just turned and walked away. 'The hell is his issue?' You thought, annoyed and upset from his words, you wanted to say something back, but something in his eyes told you not to. It was all forgotten once Kisuke came and brightened up your morning with the usually small yet goofy talk, You then left, but not before looking back, looking for the same blue eyes. Only to find that he was gone.

After that, you kind of made it a point to come earlier than what you usually do, hoping to see the same rude yet handsome stranger again, but it was rare whenever you did catch him, he was usually talking to Kisuke, apparently, his crudeness was normal, as Kisuke didn't seem to mind it. The more you came, the more you saw the blue haired mane interacting with other customers.

He's spoken to a long orange haired girl, with a young half breed man, with an orange haired man, even though they didn't seem to like one another. You've even seen him help the elderly cross the streets and help them with their things. He was a nice man, but he was just a naturally aggressive man. Then, you saw him standing outside of the shop one morning. It has been months since you last saw him, and you've been mentally beating yourself up for never talking to him, but now was your chance.

So with a deep inhale, you walked up to him, and you spoke to him. "Hi, I'm (Y/N), I come here every mor-" You were cut off when he looked towards you with a glare. "And? The hell this has to do with me?" He asked in an annoyed tone as he stared down at you. You stared at him, it's not like he wasn't wrong, but you refused to back down. "I'm just introducing myself to you, damn people can't say hi to your miserable ass?" You fired back, as you placed a hand upon your hip and you cocked a brow at him.

He snared at you before he looked off, staring straight ahead of himself. "I'm not fucking miserable, I'm just annoyed." He defended, and you rolled your eyes. "Well you seem pretty damn miserable to me, you seem lonely too." You said in an honest tone as you eyed him. He looked over at you for a moment, before he looked away. "And If I was? What if I like being alone, the hell that gots ta do with you?" He asked in a defensive yet questioning tone. You shrugged, not disagreeing with him. "Nothing, but I decided to make it my business, because I can't turn away from a person who reminds me of myself."

You said honestly as you stared up at him, he looked down at you, regarding you for a moment, before he looked off and he sighed once more. You thought that he was done talking, and you deemed that as fine, as you finally gotten the chance to talk to him, you were about to walk into the store, when his voice stopped you. "Grimmjow." He simply said, you looked back at him in question.

He then turned to look at you, his shoulder leaning against the wall. "My name, it's Grimmjow." He said, confirming our suspicions. You then smiled, and you turned towards him. "(Y/N), my name is (Y/N)" You said in a kind voice. After that, you and Grimmjow seemed to get along well. He'd always stand outside the shop, waiting for you to come to the shop. If you asked him that's what he was doing, he'd deny it.

You've grown used to his rather rude attitude, but that's what made Grimmjow, Gimmjow. It made him unique and you liked that about him. After work, you'll pass by the candy shop, and you'll see him standing in front of the shop once more, and it'll bring a smile to your face, if you went grocery shopping, he'll offer to take your bags, a bit forcefully, but you don't mind, less work honestly. He'll walk you to your door and will even come inside if you offer it to him.

Once you offer him into your home more than three times, be expecting him to break into your home, he'll be lounging on the couch, playing a video game, or watching TV. He never asks for food, and he always refuses whenever you offer him anything, he tends to like to watch you go about your regular house duties. He doesn't really talk unless he has something to say, you ask him a question, or he's feeling playful. Most of the day he tends to sleep it away.

Sometimes he'll randomly jump up and leave, claiming that he's got shit to do. But he'll always come back.

So far, life has been different with Grimmjow around. It wasn't as lonely anymore, and you felt safe at all times, you never felt like you were in danger, it was truly a blessed life. But one day, Grimmjow came in, he was badly beaten, his clothes were ripped and his hair was a mess, he had deep cuts and hard bruises all over him.

You covered your mouth in shock and horror when he climbed into the window one evening. "OH MY GOD, GRIMMJOW WHAT HAPPENED!?" You yelled, fearful for his health and condition as you raced towards him, he plopped into your home, landing heavily on his back under your window as he gasped for air. You dropped to your knees next to him, as you placed your hands together, afraid to touch him. He cracked his eye open, and he looked over at you. Your eyes held unshed tears in them as you stared down at him.

He gave a painful chuckle before he slowly raised a bloody hand, and rubbed the back of his knuckle against your cheek. It was wet from his blood, but you didn't care as you grabbed onto his handholding onto it gently. "Stop the waterworks already damnit. It's not like I'm dying." He said, his voice was hushed and it sounded strained, you shook your head. "Not dying? Then what is this Because it looks pretty fucking close to death if you ask me." You shot back, slight irritation in your voice as you spoke, annoyed with his laid back attitude.

He just huffed at your words, as he looked up at the ceiling, not denying nor agreeing with your words. You let his hand go and placed it down next to him gently, before you spoke in a shaky voice. "I-I'll go and get some help, just stay her-" You were cut off from your words, as he gripped your arm tightly, making you wince. "The fuck you are, nobody can see me as it is, so just getting help will make you seem like a lunatic." He said in a harsh voice as he glared at you. "L-let me go." You whined, as you tugged her arm away from his tight grip. "Say that you'll take care of me yourself first, then I'll let go." He said. You whined once more before you looked down at him. The desperate look upon his face made you agree.

"O-OKAY FINE!!! I'LL DO IT MYSELF, JUST LET GO!!" You shouted in pain, he let you go, and you fell back on your butt with a 'oof'. You then rubbed at your arm where he was holding it in a death grip. You then looked over at him, he was looking back at the ceiling, a guilty look on his face, but he didn't apologize. You just huffed, before you stood up, and you silently went to the back and you went into the laundry room, pulling out old clothes and sheets.

You then came back, and you placed the clothes on the ground next to him, you then got a rag and a bowl and you filled it up with some warm water, you then poured some vinegar into the water, making it a natural disinfectant. You then placed the bowl down next to him and he seemed to react poorly to the smell of vinegar and he made sure to voice his complaint. "Ugh, smells like pure shit." He groaned, you lightly chuckled at him complaint, as you squeezed out the rag.

"It's vinegar." You told him in a gentle voice, as you began cleaning the wounds on his arms, he hissed at the sting, but he didn't pull back from it. You were both silent, the sounds of your struggled grunts and the sound of cloth tearing filled the air. The occasional sound of water splashing accompanied it. You started on his exposed skin, such as arms, face, hands, and his neck. 'What caused this many cuts and bruises, did he get into a bad fight?' You worriedly yet confusingly thought as you tied off another makeshift bandage on his arm.

So far only his arms and head needed a bandage, however, even his shirt was soaked with blood, and you needed to check up under it. You would've checked it first, but you were honestly nervous as to what you'll find, his arms alone had deep cuts that needed stitching, but you didn't know how to do that. God forbid he had a hole in his body. You bit your bottom lip, worry shooting up through you. He seemed to notice, as he began moving to sit up, but you were quick to stop him.

"W-wait! What are you doing? You shouldn't be moving!!" You complained as he placed your hands on his shoulders, but he fanned you off. "Shut up, it's obvious that you're nervous, these wounds are nothing that I can't handle." He said in an annoyed voice, but hints of concern would be heard if you really listened. "If that's the case, then why did you come in the way you did?" You questioned him, as you kept pushing him to stay down. He growled at your stubbornness. "Grrrr, shut up, I just got out of a fight damnit, now move." He said, in an annoyed tone.

You became just as annoyed as you pushed back just as hard. "LET ME HELP!!! PLEASE!!! I CAN DO IT!!!" You yelled, desperation filling your voice, he stopped to stare at you, regarding you, and a flash of fear with through his eyes, before he blinked it away and he sighed. "Fine, but don't panic once you see it." He said in an accepting tone as he began working open his black shirt. You smiled, happy that he was letting you do this, but your eyes widen in shock and in fear, as you covered your mouth.

It wasn't the deep wounds that you suspected would be on him, it was the giant gaping hole in his stomach that made your breath practically leave your body. You stared on in shock, your eyes locked on the hole. "This is what I was warning you about." He said, his voice calm and relaxed as spoke, looking down at you. You then reach forward, wanting to see if it was real. But your hand just wen straight through it and you gasped as you snatched your hand back.

You were both silent, before you then started to chuckle lightly. "It makes so much sense now, why you were never hungry, you don't have a stomach." You said in an amused voice, he seemed to take it easy, as he relaxed and he smirked. "Yeah, I guess that's why." He agreed. After that, you bandaged him up as much as you could. It was quiet, for a while, after you tied the sheet off, you stared at hi back for a moment, before your vision became blurry. You leaned down and placed your forehead against his back, while you wrapped your arms around him.

He didn't say anything, as he simply looked back at you, before he sighed and he placed his hand on yours. You both sat like that, slightly until you fell asleep from stress. When you woke up, it was dark out, you were in your bed. You were facing the window and you could see the moon through the cracked curtains. You were warm and relaxed. You were recalling your day, the situation with Grimmjow, it felt like a bad dream, and you were going to call it that, if it weren't for the arm that was draped across your waist.

You could see the cloth that you tied off around the arm, making makeshift bandages. The sound of lightly snoring was finally registering in your brain, and you traced the arm gently, looking at the veins and the hard hands from years of work that you could only imagine. A deep groan sounded behind you, and you looked back at him, he was looking out the window, before he looked down at you.

His hair was still a mess from when he first came in, but it didn't look like he was beaten up and more like bed hair. The arm that was on your waist came up to rub at his eyes, and he grunted as he stretched, you could feel the muscles of his arm under your head that you didn't notice that you were laying on, the more he began to wake up the more you began to realize how pressed up against him you were.

Your back was to his chest, and you could feel his legs intertwined with yours. It made your cheeks heat up, but you didn't want to move. You were pulled from your thoughts when he suddenly spoke up. "Ugh, what time is it" He asked in a groggy voice, you were used to hearing it, but never this close. "Ummm, let me seeeee.... it isssssss. 10:30" You said as you turned on your phone and looked at the screen.

He groaned but he didn't seem to be in any rush at all. In fact, he draped his arm back over your waist, tugging you closer to him. You blushed, but you didn't stop him. You've been suppressing your feelings for him for a while now. And if he was showing any sign of liking you back, you were going to jump on it, so you began to squirm, trying to turn around to face him, but the arm around your waist stopped you.

"Stop the fucking squirming." He said, his voice still groggy as he was pulled from his dozing slumber, you whined as you kept trying to turn, but his grip stayed strong, you then gave up and just laid there. "I wanna see you." You whined, he stayed quiet for a while longer, before he loosened his hold on you. You smiled, happily before you turned around in his loose yet firm hold. Once you finally turned around, you were immediately faced with his tone chest, you could see deep scars from years and months of healing.

You lightly traced them, making his breath hitch, you looked up at him, your hand pulling from him as you did so. He was looking down at you with an observant gaze, but he never said anything. You didn't see him reacting in pain, so you went back to tracing his scars. You traced until you came to his shoulders, they were covered with his shirt, and you gently pushed your hand under it, making it slip off his shoulder, on his neck, you saw a terrible scar. It seemed deeper than the others and it looked like it took lots of healing.

"What happened?" You asked, your voice light with concern. He just grunted before he got up, pulling his arm from under your head, making you plop on the pillow when you tried to move as the other hand from your waist pushed your shoulder down. You stared up at him, your eyes wide from confusion and shock. "Grimmjow?" You asked in a light voice as you stared at him, he looked down at you with a thoughtful gaze, his blue eyes seeming darker ad richer in the moonlight, and his messy hair made him more handsome. He didn't say anything for a while, before he sighed.

"This is going to be a long night." He said before he leaned down and he claimed your lips. Your eyes widen in shock from his sudden kiss. Your eyes then slowly closed, as your hands came up to play with his hair. He groaned at the feeling of your acceptance of his advance.

After that, he began to treat you differently, he became more of a boyfriend than a friend with unknown feelings. It was official yet unofficial. It was a strange relationship. He was more open to staying longer and spending more time together and the newest addition was sleeping in the same bed together.

Eventually, the day came when you asked him. "What are we?" You asked him one day, you had just finished lunch, and he, like usual, didn't eat he was resting in a chair, arms folded behind his head as he leaned back in the chair.

He didn't look over at you at first, but he eventually sat up in his chair, and he leaned over the table towards you, he held your chin in between his finger and thumb, and he smirked. "You're mine, and I'm yours." That was all he simply said, and you accepted that.

Once that was established, he began to pretty much 'proper;y' move in. He brought all his clothes and all his fave little snacks, he didn't really eat a lot of food, like a meal, but he did like snacks.

You liked living with him, and you wouldn't trade him for anything.

MASTER LIST | NSFW CONTENT

[itzpris15634]

Bird From the Window (ft. Pepper, Penny, and Zoe)

Yet another day in Downtown City. The sun was shining, the birds were singing…

And Pepper wishes she could make them shut up. They're making this headache and sickness of hers worse.

Maybe it was the medicine she was force-fed that made her a bit drowsy, and unable to think well enough. Or maybe she was just plain grumpy.

Either way, Pepper decided to voice her thoughts, "Birds. Noisy. Kill it. Kill them all.

"…Kill?" Penny's voice shook with concern as she closed Pepper's underarm, letting the thermometer do its work, "Pepper, I think that'd be a bit much… we can just shoo them away!"

Zoe tentatively placed a hand on Pepper's forehead. She immediately retracted her hand when she felt just how warm Pepper was, "Oh dear! Penny, get a towel from that drawer over there and soak it in cold water. Pepper needs it."

"On it, Zoe!" Penny did a little salute and went off to obey Zoe's orders.

The sharp beep of the thermometer started up, signaling that it was done taking Pepper's temperature.

Ugh, another high-pitched annoying sound.

Luckily, it was gone quickly. Zoe pulled the thermometer out of Pepper's underarm, taking a look at the temperature.

"…39 degrees?! If your hot forehead wasn't enough to convince me to make you stay here, then 39 degrees definitely is." Zoe said.

Pepper took a little while to process the information. When she did, all she had to say was; "W…wuh? Oh… a-aCHOO-!"

"Here's that cold, wet towel!" Penny came in carrying said item, handing it to Zoe. Zoe spread the towel out and placed it on Pepper's forehead.

"There we go. Now, your plan for today is to rest. You'll be staying in bed, and Penny and I will stay here to watch over you!"

"But I… I have a big show today… The-" Pepper coughed, "The people… must hear… my comedy…my jokes!!"

"The people will get to hear it at your next show. But you'll have to cancel this one. Sorry, Pepper," Penny shook her head.

"The great Pepper Clark does… not… cancel…!"

"Shhh…" Zoe stroked Pepper's hair, beads of sweat shining throughout. Gentle fingers scratched at just the right spot in her scalp, making Pepper sigh. The sensation was so relaxing, maybe she could just…

The fingers were gone before Pepper could ask for more.

"Eugh, sweat…" Zoe wiped the salty liquid off her hand.

The sound of a high-pitched pop song filled the room.

God, no. Please no. Not the high pitched noises…

"Oh, excuse me, I've got a call to answer…" Zoe said, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"…Your ringtone… is nightcore of one of your songs?" Penny asked.

"SHHH, don't mention it," Zoe hushed her friend as she pressed the answer button, "Hello? Yes? Oh, hello Russell dearie! You see, I'm a bit busy right now…”

Zoe's voice faded away into another room, leaving Pepper and Penny alone in this one.

"So, any special requests, Pepper?"

"Bird in the window, do something about it."

"Again with the bird in the window?"

"Y…yeah! Just make them quiet somehow. I want to sleep, but… noisy. Stupid birds. Hey, you've watched Adventure Time, right?"

"Um, a couple episodes, yeah?"

"Do the thing with like- the bird from the window. From the sandwich. Cook it. I'm not sure. Just make them shut up…"

"Oh wow, uh- okay, okay!"

"That is all… Now go forth. Complete your quest…"

That- and Penny's chuckle- is the last thing Pepper remembered before she fell into a state of nothingness.

-

The nap didn't do much to make Pepper feel better. In fact, she probably felt even worse.

She groaned, placing a hand to her head in an attempt to make the pounding stop.

Well... it was quiet now. The birds were gone. How long do they stay on windows anyway? What time was it?

"Oh, Pepper! You're awake!" Penny cheerfully said, opening the door to let herself into the bedroom. Pepper noticed the tray Penny had in hand.

"Whaddya wa… what is it?”

Penny took her place in the chair next to Pepper's bed. She set the tray on the bedside table, "So, thing is- Zoe had to go out. The boys and Minka need her for something. So I offered to stay here and look after you!"

"Wow, that's awesome, Penny," Pepper felt herself smile. Through this sickness, it was comforting to have at least one friend there.

Curious about the tray, Pepper said, "So, uh… Whatchu got over there?"

"Oh, yes! These. First, we got your medicine- you can take these later, just so long as it's within the day."

"Mmm... medicine..."

"And this big water bottle whenever you get thirsty!" Penny lifted the bottle up to show Pepper, "I'll place it right here. Remember, hydration is important, especially now that you're sick!"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Hydration." Penny's words only barely got through Pepper's mind.

"And, lastly, I have you some nice, warm noodle soup! With bird from the window, just as you requested!"

That got Pepper's mind into gear.

"Wait, what?" Pepper jolted up from her laying flat position. The (now very warm) towel from her forehead flopped onto her blanket, "I don't know what sleepy drugs I was on back there, but my lord I didn't think you'd take my request seriously-"

Penny giggled, "No, silly, of course I wouldn't! It's just normal chicken, don't worry about it."

"Oh. Phew. Okay." Pepper sighed. Feeling a bit better, she also started to giggle, "Hah, good one, Ling."

"Coming from a comedienne? Aww, I'm honored!" Penny smiled. She took the towel from its spot on the bed. The spot on the blanket where it had been was starting to get soggy.

"Now, I'll leave you alone to enjoy the soup. I'll be back in a bit with a newly soaked cold towel, okay? Call me if you need anything!"

"Yeah, aighty then. See ya…"

With that, Penny was up up and away.

"Hehe, bird from the window. I'll have to make do something with that later..." Pepper chuckled to herself as she stuck her fork into a meat chunk from the bowl, ready to eat it.

Huh. If the pieces are this tiny, that must have been a very small chicken…

===

Day 12: birdsong

I'm aware that Downtown City is most likely somewhere in the United States or something. That will not stop me from using Celsius.

Edit: My god the amount of errors I found and the amount edits i’ve made. Grrrr school makes me tired. I forgor proofreading

[mynamesaplant]

It Changes, like Water (CH. 6)

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

Summary: Akari has just met Gaeric for the first time and is still a little rattled by the experience. Ingo tries to reassure her by telling her a story.

Content Warning: Blood, bodily injury, and wild animal attack

Notes: I've made this in honor of Monsoon-of-Art and their PLA mer au (and just a touch from a different au where Gaeric acts as Irida's guardian). Many of the scenes in this fic are directly inspired by their work, there mer stuff more specifically. I've been a big fan of them since I started playing PLA and I've only grown to love all their characterizations of some of my favorite characters in all of Pokemon.

The last one! Woo~ If you've made it this far, thanks so much for the read. I had excellent inspiration and the power of Lexapro and ginseng giving me strength to write the first new fanfic I've done in months. Between school, work, and trying to sort out my depression and anxiety with medications, its been rough. Writing is one of my favorite outlets, as is Pokemon - not having the motivation or time to do much of either… well, I'm just glad to have them back.

Thank you so much to the community of writers and artists in the PLA and Pokemon fandom at large for inspiring me everyday to make more of the content I love. You keep doing you, guys.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! Don't like to read on Tumblr? Read it here on AO3.

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Ingo finished his story and Akari did not look remotely convinced, the mer grimaced.

“I know Gaeric has a – ah, reputation, but from what I gather, he has come a long way since he was a young man. He can still have a poor attitude regarding strangers, I know that firsthand. His devotion to Pearl clan can be a little misguided, but it is just that, devotion.”

Ingo realized that, again, he was making it sound as though he was excusing Gaeric’s destructive behavior. He didn’t condone it, although he knew some others did. The Galaxy Team’s presence and the mystery of the frenzied nobles seemed very closely linked in the eyes of many, even Melli had gone so far as to begrudgingly praise Gaeric for his grit. When Melli was saying something nice about the Pearl clan, that was when you knew something was wrong.

“What I am trying to say, Miss Akari, is that Gaeric has had his own identity crises in the past. He is not a stranger to misrepresenting himself or acting untrue to his ideals. He no longer permits himself to be that way. He was young once, he raised Lady Irida for a few years and continues to be her mentor – I don’t think he has it in him to harm a young, inexperienced pup like you in the way you’re thinking. So please, Akari, do not think so poorly of Gaeric.”

This plea gave her pause, absently scratching the rough coral exterior of the flute with her nail, its blue color matching the darkening color of the sea as dusk turned into evening. Ingo was asking for her understanding, but more importantly to put faith in him and his clan. In her heart of hearts, Akari knew that what she was doing was wrong. She was lying to a lot of people just to satisfy her own curiosities and desires. Now she had dragged Ingo into her brew of lies. He was asking for her trust, and she trusted Ingo just as much as she trusted her captains or Professor Laventon.

“I’ll… try. He’s not nearly as nice as you.”

“You caught him at a bad moment. Gaeric is nocturnal.”

Oh, so she woke him abruptly. That explained his grumpiness at the very least, she would also be pretty upset to be woken up abruptly by some stranger. Akari also knew for a fact that she looked terrifying before taming her hair and washing her face in the morning. His actions… She couldn’t condone his actions, but there were things that the commander did in the name of the team and Jubilife that she found questionable. There was a lot more grayness to the world, Akari was coming to realize. She hopped off the rock she had seated herself on and asked Ingo to run her across the cavern, where a narrow path between the boulders led out to the forest about a mile from Jubilife.

Ingo knew her fears were at least temporarily assuaged but knew more moments like this would crop up with more interaction with the clans. He would do his best to keep Akari at a distance, but between his clans’ own concerns for him and his mental/physical wellbeing and both clans insatiable nosiness to know more about the small pup that followed him around occasionally, he knew it was practically hopeless. His goal now was to soften the blow as best he could for all parties. It was a precarious position, but Ingo had been treading fine lines for many years now. Who knows, there was the remote possibility that this could be a unique experience for positive change in the clans and humans.

Only time would tell and that was just as unpredictable as the ever-changing sea.

<<Last Chapter || First ||

[nanoland]

ofmd s2 incoherent rambling ahoy: about tealoranges

ok so.

i get it.

i get why jim and oluwande didn't leap back into one another's arms upon reuniting.

see. at the end of s1, the show did what i in hindsight think was kind of a stupid thing. it had THREE couples. and it separated ALL of them.

and i suspect the thinking went 'well we can't have all three couples reunite at the same time when the crews meet up again! that'll be repetitive and boring!'

and that's fair. it would be.

(which is why separating all three couples was stupid)

so they decided to have three DIFFERENT reunions:

Ed and Stede, a troubled, stormy, hugely passionate reunion, epic romance, merman etc

Lucius and Peter, a rocky but much less volatile 'oh thank god you're alive! marry me!' reunion

and Jim and Oluwande, a super chill 'oh hey, missed you' type reunion, where the separation ended up undoing the relationship

if you're going to have 3 similar story events occur at the same time (which.... you shouldn't, but if that's the corner you've written yourself into), then you want those 3 events to be as dissimilar as possible.

i get it.

here's what i would have done instead:

swap J+O with L+P

because J+O are the more interesting relationship; the one s1 spent more time getting us invested in. it makes sense that it should continue, or at LEAST get a big, heartbreaking ending, instead of them basically breaking up offscreen. imo THEY should have been the couple that got married in s2! that seems obvious to me!

and L+P..... well, i like em, they're cute, but like, a. the audience is naturally less invested in them because we didn't see them get together, b. 'we don't own each other' but suddenly they're monogamously married eh?? and c. lucius on the whole didn't work in s2.

see

it really

reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly

wasn't a good idea to have Lucius be horribly abused in his time separated from the crew and then profoundly traumatised. it wasn't, i'm sorry. it wasn't treated seriously or respectfully, it had no lasting ramifications, and it doesn't fit his character's core comedic role which is to be a chill lazy cute lil bitch who sucks at pirating

s2 lucius is not fun to watch. he's angsty and despondent. which would be fine if his story was going to be treated properly as a story of overcoming trauma, but it's not, at all. so watching him just makes me sad and grumpy.

but JIM?

Jim's core comedic role has, from the start, been The Serious One with the Big Dramatic Quest!

give JIM the rocky, passionate reunion! let Oluwande leap into Jim's arms! let Jim be angsty and recover! let Jim propose marriage!

doesn't that fit much better? and Jim's already gone through the trauma of Blackbeard so, like, we can have J+O be The Overcoming Recent Trauma Couple to E+S's Overcoming Old Trauma Couple, and then we can have L+P just being easygoing once-lovers like 'oh hey it's you! <3 still wanna date? nah? ok, cool, love u <3'

and it'll be fine because Lucius doesn't need a wedding to fix his psychological wounds because - BECAUSE - because because because ACTUALLY this is all actually a sneaky way for me to suggest that we COMPLETELY CUT the shit Lucius went through!

all of it!

completely!

hand puppet joke? hand puppet nope! didn't happen!

he fell overboard, he was picked up by Zheng's ship, he's been chilling with Auntie this entire time! yay!

...... yeah so i guess this has now kinda turned into me rambling about how i'd rewrite the whole season huh :/

(but like, again, the ease with which the story could have just had Lucius go from 'thrown overboard' to 'chilling with Auntie'?? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO EASY? why include The Horrors at all? what do they add??? all they amount to in the end is one more reason for Lucius and the crew to hate Ed, which, a. THEY ALREADY HAVE TEN MILLION REASONS TO HATE ED and b. if you want them to be Ed's FAMILY by the end of the season maybe you want to start CUTTING BACK on reasons to hate him!)

[forthedancingandthethriving]

Teen Squad, my favorite group (obv joking, I love all characters equally, but the Teen Squad is fun to write)

○●○

Tulip sighs as she looks down at the night sky. She knew she should be back in the guest room, enjoying some sleep after spending all day with the others looking for runes.

They had lost track of time, and it was night when they were finally done, and everyone opted to just stay in Nimbus's world for the night before returning home. It was agreed upon, thankfully, and the respective Guardians were told before the Avatars got ready to spend the night.

But Tulip, she couldn't..

"Shouldn't you be asleep?"

Tulip turns her head to see a confused Ash peering around the doorway. She was sat on the railing of the balcony near Nimbus's room.

".. couldn't." is all she says, turning her head back to look at the sprawling Luminos Kingdom.

Ash frowns as he walks over before easily hopping up and sitting down beside his friend. "You've got something on your mind."

"Putting those braincells to use?" Tulip teases with a small smile.

"Hey!" Ash glares playfully at her, punching her shoulder. The two laugh softly, with the teen girl rubbing her shoulder.

"Whaat?" her soft laughter turns to quiet giggles. "It's true."

"Goes for you too." he chuckles softly before his expression schools to one of rarely seen worry. "But what's wrong? You've been really.. I dunno, thoughtful lately? Thinking a lot?"

Tulip sighs and looks down, kicking her feet. "I'm just.. I dunno. I'm still processing the whole thing that happened with my family, you know?"

He nods before tilting his head. "But what are you processing?"

"The fact that.. they aren't gonna bother me anymore, I guess." She shrugs, and she lifts her head to look at the night sky. "It was a part of the new normal once I ran.. and now.. that normal is gone."

"My family is gone. I mean, they always have been, but.. Ugh!" Uncharacteristically, Tulip growls in rage, grabs a pebble, and flings it into the distance. The two Avatars watch as, in the distance, a tree gets cut in half and falls.

Ash goes quiet, collecting his thoughts before speaking. "You're not used to them.. just not being in your life?"

Tulip pauses before she releases a breath. "I.. it seems so, yeah. I know it weird but.."

"Doesn't seem weird to me." Ash shrugs. "I mean, they were your family. It doesn't really seem like it matters what happens because an attachment will always sorta be there."

"Look at Ash holding the braincell." The teasing but well-meaning voice of Arle makes the other two jolt, and she joins the duo by leaning against the railing. "But is this some sort of impromptu therapy session."

"I'm not qualified for that."

"Glad we're on the same page."

Tulip snickers as the banter between the two before a soft smile appears on her lips. She turns her head, seeing a grumpy Laharl and a humming Shantae walking out onto the balcony. Sora was trailing behind then, looking at the duo with an amused smirk.

"This is what you dragged me out for?" Laharl grumbles.

"Don't act like you were even sleeping." Shantae retorts. "I walked past your room and noticed you talking to Flonne."

"Shut it you-!" Laharl growls, grabbing Shantae's ponytail and tugging on it, causing the half-genie to yelp before the two began to scuffle.

"Whole time?" Arle, Ash, and Tulip as Sora as he walks over and stands by the railing.

"Whole time." Sora nods.

Tulip giggles, and her previous negative thoughts fade. She notices, but she only smiles.

"Okay, c'mon guys, calm down." Tulip waves her hand, making Shantae and Laharl separate with huffs. The rest of the squad all hopped onto the railing, all looking at the sky.

".. you guys ever go through an edgy teenager phase?" Arle speaks up.

All eyes quickly turn to Tulip, making her squeak. "Wha- Oh, come on guys!"

As their eyebrows raise as her, Tulip hangs her head with a defeated and embarrassed whine. "Fiiine.. I did.. I even dyed my hair."

Laharl squawks out a laugh, clutching his stomach. The others are at least kind enough to cover up their laughs with coughs. The engineer leans her head back with a huff. "I was 14!"

"That's even worse!" Shantae wheezes. "I thought you would be like, 13!"

"We're not laughing at you. We're laughing at the phase." Sora reassures her, though he's chuckling.

Tulip rolls her eyes with a grumble, but there's a smile on her lips.

"Oh!" As Arle calms down, she lets out a hum. "Okay, you've gotta pick an Avatar to fight. Who are you picking?"

"Oooh.."

"Oof, that's a toughie.."

After some mulling over, Tulip speaks. "I'm not going for anyone older than me, and definitely not going for Juliano."

"What? Why not?" Laharl narrows his eyes. "It'd be so easy to beat him. He's old!"

"No, I see where she's coming from. He's the first ever Avatar. Dude is gonna be able to read us like a book." Shantae nods. "And I'm not taking my luck with Mario, who knows what tricks he has up his sleeve.."

"I think I can take either one of them." Laharl smirk.

"Of course you do." the rest of the teens deadpan, making the overlord of Hell grumble and cross his arms.

"But I do think I could proooobably take.. I dunno, Olimar?" Arle shrugs. "Maybe just punt him."

"I second that." Ash raises his hand.

The group continues their discussion, with light laughter occasionally breaking through the night.

○●○

Queen Melody smiles as she gazes down and through the window. Despite it being well into the night, she wasn't all too surprised to see the teenagers up. Teenagers did tend to be night owls.

"Your Majesty, shouldn't we tell them to head to their rooms?" Dolion frowns. "They may wake the others.."

"I doubt it, Dolion. Plus, they're causing no trouble." Melody hums with a tilt of her head. "They're simply being teenagers. Let's leave them be."

Dolion nods before he tilts his head. "How have the ones attuned to magic not noticed you? Or I?"

"I've learned how to suppress magical energy." is the answer. "I mean, with how my father was.."

The attendant nods. "I understand, Your Highness."

The queen rests a paw on the window. "That, and why should I let them feel conscious of the fact that I'm aware they're awake? They're teenagers in the end. They're going to be a little rebellious, not do things, and-"

"They jumped off the balcony." Dolion points.

Melody's gaze snaps onto the descending figures, and she can see a pouch in Shantae hand. Her mind drifts back to during dinner, when she..

"Oh goodness, they're going to spend the silver I gave them at dinner." Melody giggles softly.

"Will any shops be open?" Dolion tilts his head.

"Most likely, yes." The queen nods. She waves her hand, and with a flurry of feathers, a golden feathered bird perches himself on the queen's shoulder.

"Auryn, keep an eye on the teens, yes? I know I gave them immunity, and I trust they're trying to keep a low profile, but they are still Avatars.."

The bird lets out a croon before nodding, spreading his wings, and taking flight. The queen and the attendant watch the bird fly out before Melody hums.

"Well, you best be off to bed." Melody flicks an ear.

".. and what about you?" Dolion frowns.

"I'll be fine. It won't be my first sleepless night." The queen waves him off.

Dolion sighs before nodding, walking off.

Melody looks out the window once more before she turns and leaves, a small smile on her face. She had a feeling the teens would be just fine.