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saetoru · 9 months

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✩ ‧₊˚ ✩。FAMILY SECRETS — GOJO SATORU.

contents. fem! + mom! reader, reader is referred to as “mommy” and “wife,” girl dad toru <3, family shenanigans in the grocery store that are unfortunately inescapable when your husband is gojo satoru

“ok,” you nod, looking over your grocery list. “i think that’s everything—”

“mommy, can we please get this,” your daughter looks up at you pleadingly, tugging at your sleeve as she holds a bag of candy—she has satoru’s eyes, wide and blue and so easy to give into. you look at her for a moment before pursing your lips.

“no, satoru. we can’t get this bag of candy.” you turn to the devil himself, glaring at him as he whistles innocently.

“what’re you lookin’ at me for, sweetheart? our little peanut here wants—”

“satoru.”

“fine,” he deflates. you pinch your nose as you sigh.

satoru, in his thirty plus years of life, has surprisingly never had a cavity for how much sugar he consumes. he’s good at taking care of himself, he argues, there’s no chance he’d ever get a cavity. that is, until recently. he visits the dentist and has not one, but two cavities—you think this is a rather alarming sign that he needs to cut back on the sweets, so you take matters into your own hands.

and, well….he’s not handling it very brightly.

“you thought i’d cave just because you tricked our daughter into asking?” you raise a brow, making him huff as he pouts.

“what kind of heartless soul could say no to those eyes?” he asks in disbelief, waving a hand at the small carbon copy of your husband as she blinks up at you, “i mean look at her! she doesn’t deserve the word no.”

“she definitely needs the word no so she doesn’t end up spoiled like you. and i’ve had plenty of practice,” you shoot blandly, “i’ve said no to your eyes all these years haven’t i?”

“even crazier,” he mutters, “i have the most adorable eyes, how could you say no?”

“it’s pretty easy if you ask me,” you shrug.

most people tend to call satoru arrogant—humble is not usually used in the same sentence as gojo satoru. evidently, they’ve never watched him interact with you before—you always find a way to humble him. he’s starting to think he’s the butt of every joke in his own marriage.

“please, baby?” he pouts deeper, “i’ve been good! i floss!”

“no.”

“what if i fold the laundry for a month?” he bats his lashes.

that’s tempting, you have to admit. folding laundry is a very boring job, you’re more than happy to hand it over to satoru for a bag of candy that barely dents your wallet. but then you find your resolve again, crossing your arms as you stare at him unimpressed.

“no, satoru.”

“two months?”

“nope.”

“did you only marry me for my looks?” he asks in disbelief, “because there’s not one ounce of love in that heart of yours.”

“this is for your own good, satoru,” you say firmly, “you had two cavities. how much sugar have you been consuming lately? and don’t think i don’t notice you skipping meals when you’re busy—a chocolate bar does not replace lunch.”

you’re glaring at him, drilling him for his health choices that are not his fault—he’s a busy guy, and he can’t help that a chocolate bar on his way to a mission is all he can squeeze in sometimes. maybe a protein bar would be a better option, but they’re not as tasty, and satoru thinks he deserves to be happy. and then, from the end of the aisle, you hear a few snickers coming from passerby’s. he pouts deeper at the thought of being laughed at as he gets scolded by his wife in the middle of the breakfast aisle.

“what’s the point of living if you’re gonna be miserable?” he groans, “we might as well just start going to bed at nine pm too, while we’re at it. and—”

“that’s actually a lovely idea,” you hum thoughtfully, “you certainly could use the sleep, couldn’t you?”

he glares at you petulantly, sulking as you grab the bag from your daughter’s and put it on the shelf—it’s not the right place, but taking a trip to the candy aisle to place it where it belongs is only venturing deeper into the lion’s den. you’re not letting satoru have more options to choose from.

“you seein’ this, angel?” he turns to your daughter, “you see how mean mommy is? she’s not letting us have candy. make sure you remember that when i ask you who’s your favorite again.”

you roll your eyes, snorting. satoru asks her playfully one night who the favorite parent is—it’s a meaningless question, meant to be a joke and nothing else. you’re sure he expects her to say both—but he gets his feelings severely hurt when she giggles and points to you, staring in disbelief as you grin in victory and kiss her cheeks. you even rub salt on the wound when you mumble she’s your favorite baby too.

he’s starting to really think he’s a victim in his own household.

“but mommy gives me candy,” she tilts her head in confusion.

oh no. she’s not supposed to say that—she promised not to say that. why can’t children ever keep a filter on their words? and why can’t they keep their promises?

almost like in slow motion, both of your eyes widen. satoru pauses. you start to sweat. he turns to face you slowly, in abject disbelief.

“what?” you laugh nervously, “no i don’t! we don’t have any candy at home—”

“she keeps it in her drawer!” your daughter adds, as if she wants to see your downfall.

you love your daughter, you really do—but sometimes you think motherhood is a punishment for whatever sin it is that you’ve committed in your previous life. satoru crosses his arms and taps his foot.

“what happened to we’ll all give up sweets together so you’re not alone, toru,” he mocks your voice, squinting at you accusingly. “so we’re a family of liars now?”

“toru, listen—”

“i trusted you.”

“baby—”

“what happened to our wedding vows? what happened to in sickness and in death? a little cavity is enough to change all that? i’m scared to think what you’d do if i lost an arm.”

“well, you’re not the strongest for nothing,” you point out, chuckling nervously, “so we have nothing to worry about there.”

“i can’t believe you,” he spits, turning away from you with crossed arms and a quiet hmph.

“toru, you can’t expect us all to give up sugar just because you can’t stop making poor health choices,” you argue exasperatedly.

so what if you secretly enjoy a kitkat here and there? you deserve it for dealing with not one, but two children at home every single day—sometimes three if shoko comes over, her lifestyle choices aren’t any better. satoru should let you enjoy a piece of candy or two until he fixes his terrible habits that could very well set a terrible example for your very young and impressionable daughter.

“well, i have adult money of my own,” satoru huffs, “and as an adult, i’ll be purchasing my own candy to hide in my own drawer that i won’t share with you since we’re now apparently a family that doesn’t think sharing is caring.”

“i don’t know if i’m raising one child or two,” you sigh tiredly, rubbing a hand over your face.

satoru grabs the bag of candy off the shelf, promptly placing it in the cart before walking off ahead of you as he pushes it. your daughter grabs your hand and smiles, tugging you along.

“c’mon mommy,” she says brightly, “you said we can go to the park!”

—————— BONUS ——————

“are you serious, satoru?” you ask incredulously, watching as he comes back to sit on the other end of the bench, ice cream cone in hand.

he didn’t even bring you one—what an asshole.

“oh sorry,” he shrugs, “i figured you and our daughter were planning on getting ice cream on your own without me. since, you know, apparently you guys love to have lots of things without me.”

“you’re being so dramatic—”

“i want ice cream too!” you hear a small voice call from the distance, making you turn to your daughter as she sprints over to you from the playground, eyeing the cone in satoru’s hand.

“you heard her,” he drawls, licking at his strawberry ice cream mockingly, “why don’t you go buy her a secret cone. i won’t look.”

being a single mom of two is a full time job, you think, you didn’t sign up for this.

guess who has two cavities ?? a certain brother of mine. guess who’s entire household has to give up sweets now for their brother’s inability to have proper dental hygiene ?? if you guessed me, you might just be psychic :O

#teepods.writings #drabbles.#gojo x reader #gojo fluff #gojo x you #jjk x reader #jjk fluff #jjk x you #gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru x you #gojo satoru fluff #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen x you #jujutsu kaisen fluff

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blissfullyapillow · 6 months

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┃Genshin + HSR men as spiderman (+ your boyfriend)

₊˚⊹♡ Various x gn reader

₊˚⊹♡ wc: 7,189

₊˚⊹♡ warnings: Baizhu. Alhaitham’s part is suggestive but nothing explicit. Caelus’ part contains a ton of references to various things (one of them being your option to choose between Caelus or Stelle when you start HSR). Overall fluffy scenarios w/ your boyfriend (who is also Spiderman) :>

₊˚⊹♡ Pillow Talks: Some parts are proofread others aren’t (for once) because I wasn’t feeling up to it. I intentionally put Baizhu under warnings it's not a mistake, I thought I was being funny doing that lol. Ngl Caelus’ part is my fav <3 !! I have a ton of drafts I’ll eventually complete, life is just a lot for me rn. I love you all ♡(੭´͈ ᐜ `͈)੭ ♡ <3

₊˚⊹♡ Masterlist

Alhaitham ✮ ๋ ࣭ ⭑ 〃

always has headphones on. Even when he’s fighting. He’s literally never seen without them

He’s been offered to do collaborations with many companies to make a model of headphones off the one’s he usually wears. He never accepts, unless it’s for his go to brand.

All villains know to leave spidey’s headphones alone. The last villain who broke his old pair didn’t make it out of the fight alive.

That wasn’t a joke.

Anyway, most people don’t ask about his headphones, rather reporters are always at their wits end since they can never get an interview out of him. Not even a brief still shot of him.

Hell, most people don’t even know what he sounds like.

For the most he’s a man of few words, but when he does speak? You’ll wish he hadn’t.

Very sassy. Has the best retorts and the most vile insults.

His suit is really cool too, and very practical.

He’s a college student when he isn’t spiderman. He’s scarily efficient at juggling his part time superhero duties along with his heavy college workload. Maybe it’s because he gets all his work done way in advance? Who knows.

He’s super gentle whenever he’s rescuing civilians. At most, he’ll say a word or two in response to their gratitude. Something along the lines of “yeah.” Or “It’s no problem” if you’re lucky. Most people don’t try to make conversation anyway. As stated before, he’s really good at dodging not only reporters but cameras in general.

So, imagine your surprise when he actually stops walking away after you’ve asked him what he’s listening to. You can’t see his face, but his spidery eyes widen comically in shock.

No one has ever asked him that before. You’d think someone would, but no one has.

So, he indulges you. “I’m not listening to anything at the moment. Sometimes I’ll have music playing, but for the most part I tend to use these just to block out noise. Plus, people tend to leave you alone when they see you have headphones on. It also makes for an adequate excuse to pretend I don’t hear people speaking to me.” Your mouth drops in pure shock at the fact that spiderman not only spoke to you, but he’s also.. very.. interesting.

Oh, he likes that look on your face. You can’t see it, but he has a huge smirk on his face underneath that mask.

Alhaitham recognized you from campus. Of course he was quick and efficient with moving you to safety before he took care of the danger, but he couldn’t return you to ground level until after the fight.

Speaking of fighting, he’s really good at it. His movements are calculated and precise. You made a mental note never to get on spider man's bad side as you watched him clock the villain square in the jaw, with no regard for whether they retain consciousness or not.

“I’ll see you around.” Is all he says now, before he web slings away. Wait, see you around? But he’s spiderman!

Little did you know that spiderman was your hot, intelligent classmate you had a raging crush on.

Lucky for you, it seems he may develop feelings for you too.

𓆩♡𓆪

“I thought I told you to leave your window unlocked? I’d hate to be spotted.” Alhaitham scolds you as you unlock your window for him, and he effortlessly slips into your abode.

“I’m sorry, but I like hearing your cute little knocks on my window. It’s the highlight of my day.” Alhaitham sighs, as if he’s annoyed, but in reality your words cause his heart to flutter.

Once he’s inside he slips off his mask and stretches his fit body. He catches sight of your lingering, fixed gaze. He smirks as he purposefully flexes his arms for you. Your head whips around, looking away as if he hadn’t caught your ogling.

“It seems like someone missed me.” His knowing words result in a click of your tongue. Yet, you find yourself melting in his warm embrace as he wraps his arms around you from behind. You’re a goner when he buries his face into the crook of your shoulder. He presses a kiss there.

As his lingering lips trail along your sensitive skin, you ask him your usual question. “What are you listening to?” He hums in contemplation as he thinks. “To the sound of your voice.” You suck in a breath, and he smiles.

That question is something of a routine between the two of you. You always ask him, ever since you learned of his identity during one of his canon events. His response will change depending on his mood, and it’s a good indicator of his current mood.

If he gives you an actual song, it’s an easy way to tell depending on the tone and meaning of the song. Otherwise, if he replies with “Nothing.” He’s either tired or on the verge of breaking. Usually it’s both, since he says the silence helps him think.

Now, if he responds with something sweet, like “The sound of your voice,” he either wants to cuddle or…

The firm press of his hand as it trails along your inner thigh is answer enough.

You feel heat warm the expanse of your body, but you pretend not to notice. “I thought you said class drained you earlier today?” You try to distract yourself with conversation. Alhaitham’s hand only travels up further. “It did. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you, yet I was stuck listening to the professor droning on and on about a topic I’ve already read extensively about. Now, I can finally do what I’ve been wanting to do to all day long.” Alhaitham’s voice is rough, and his breath grazes the shell of your ear.

“Okay…” Is your eloquent response. You know if you turned around, you’d be met with that knowing smirk of his.

“Now, will you help me relax? Being spiderman is draining after all, and not being able to touch you the way you deserve all day has made me really tense.”

You have no objections when his fingers finally reach the place you’re craving it most.

🕷🕸 ๋࣭ ⭑⛓

ᐟᐟ☆ Caelus .✮𖦹‪‪ ₊˚

Radiates the most Gen Z vibes it’s insane

Up to date on everything and anything pop culture related. Whether it be old or new.

A theater went into a frenzy when fans realized spider man was in the same theater watching Five Nights at Freddy’s with them

He was upset since he had to slip out and watch the movie at home on Peacock instead.

Anyway, he’s a real sweetheart. He always makes time to stop and help older individuals cross streets, helps children find missing items, and he’ll even give some citizens a lift to a place they’re running late to.

Well, he stopped doing that last one after the incident. … That was his second canon event.

He became spider man when a woman named Kafka purposefully had a mutated spider bite him. He doesn’t recall too much before that, and he’s not sure why he can’t, but that’s a part of his journey. To discover himself and put together pieces of his past.

He still occasionally runs into Kafka and her companions, but for the most part he’s still developing his own opinion of her.

He’s a ball of energy most days. Reporters love him since he’s always so receptive and open to their questions.

Yet, he has his moments. Some nights, if you look to the right building, you’ll spot a lone figure on top, staring into the vast night sky. On those nights, he imagines a life where he travels those skies, exploring what the universe has to offer. Maybe there are other planets out there? What if he could visit them, and experience intergalactic adventures?

Oh well. Maybe in another timeline. He isn’t a nameless traveler here after all.

Unbeknownst to the both of you, you’ve bumped into each other on countless occasions when he’s in his civilian form. Actually, you two are very close friends.

He’s debated with himself many times. Should he tell you the truth? Time and time again his answer was no, and for many reasons. One, Kafka clearly has a close eye on him, and he isn’t sure of her intentions yet. Two, he doesn’t want you needlessly worrying about him. Unfortunately, you already do.

So it honestly doesn’t come as a surprise when you stumble upon him during a particularly hard moment in time, and he lets it slip that he’s spiderman and he’a struggling.

Thankfully, you’re just the support he needed.

Now, he has a safe space. A person who feels like home in a place where he truly has none. And he’s eternally grateful to you for it.

As for you, he’s your personal ray of sunshine. You’re overjoyed you can play such a prominent role in his life, and you don’t love him any less for being spider man. If anything, you somehow worry less about him…?

It’s honestly hard when you watch him overcome many impossible odds. He even accumulates new powers every now and again! He’s really strong, mentally and physically, so it eases your worries at times.

Even if he does need a shoulder to lean on, as you often do, you’re more than happy to be that shoulder for him.

Honestly, it’s a good thing he has you. His future canon events look pretty… rough. Especially the one where he meets himself from a parallel universe. You know, the one where he’s a star instead of the sky.

𓆩♡𓆪

“Oh my gosh Name look! They even have my bat in the game!” Caelus happily swivels around in his chair to look at you, frantically pointing to his pc monitor all the while.

You look at the screen, and sure enough there’s a scarily accurate model of your superhero boyfriend in the game, currently performing a silly dance move.

“Ah.. I see..” Is your response. You really think it’s cool, but you want to tease him a bit. You struggle to contain your grin when he pouts at your lack of enthusiasm. “I thought you’d think it was cool….” You can only chuckle as you run soothing fingers through his soft locks.

“I do sweetheart, I do.” Your words make him visibly light up, and he practically jumps out of his chair to wrap his arms around you.

“Speaking of, I have something else I want to show you…”

Que a fun midnight outing on top of the tallest building overlooking the whole city.

“Wow.. this is beautiful..” Your eyes shine as bright as a dying supernova as you gaze upon the beautiful landscape before you.

Caelus is beaming with pride, glad he was able to surprise you like this.

“Yeah, I stumbled upon this view after a particularly hard battle.” He hums in content as he leans back, pulling you into him.

You rest your head against him, his chest a comfortable pillow.

You can feel his steady heartbeat beneath your ear, and it’s a soothing melody.

“Thank you for sticking by me all this time.” The words are a gentle caress against the shell of your ear, yet they cause your heart to ache.

“You don’t need to thank me for that, silly. I love you, and when you love someone and they’re good for you, you stand by them. No matter what. Yeah?” You gently pat his chest.

He smiles.

“Yeah.”

He’s silent again, and a comfortable atmosphere wraps around the two of you like a warm blanket right out of the dryer.

That is, until he decides to open his mouth.

“Don’t get too comfortable. I might just push you off.”

…

He looks at you to gauge your reaction.

Absolute horror is written on your features.

He loves it. It sends an electrifying thrill through him; he loves to tease you too.

“You’re getting too out of hand with these jokes of-“

His lips steal the rest of your words, and you allow it.

The city paints a magical backdrop for your moment of intimacy.

🕷🕸 ๋࣭ ⭑⛓

Jing Yuan �� ⟡ ⚡︎ ♡⸝⸝ 🕷

This spider man is always accompanied by his cat, Mimi.

He rescued her during a particularly rough encounter. He tried to send her off after ensuring she was safe with authorities, but she refused to leave his side. Now, he already had a soft spot for cats, so it was a no brainer to him

Mimi has accompanied him ever since, and she even has her own little mask and everything.

Little does he know that the ‘cat’ he saved was really just another one of the smuggled exotic animals those crooks tried to sneak into the city. Mimi will no longer fit in that backpack of his in a few months time.

He’s really lazy, honestly. He calls it conserving energy, but really he will only intervene when it’s called for or if the situation is rapidly turning dire

He has many admirers. Pictures of blurry glimpses of his suit sell for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, online

So, so many fan edits of him. And he’s seen ‘em all. He’s secretly really smug about it, but he keeps that to himself

He has a commanding presence, and an air of elegance about him. It almost feels like his fighting is an art of sorts. It’s fascinating to see the creative ways he’ll use his webs to get the job done.

Mimi has plushies, courtesy of collaboration with spiderman.

He bought the pre-orders for her plush and a few more when the official drop released

So, how did you end up with a man like Jing Yuan? Gorgeous, handsome Jing Yuan who's also a renowned general?

Simple. You're his personal alarm clock.

No. Literally. You were asked to wake him up after he fell asleep on the job again, as everyone else had grown tired of the task, and that was the beginning of an.. interesting dynamic.

The best part about it? One day you arrived a bit earlier than your usual time to wake him up, only to find the infamous spider man frantically urging Jing Yuan’s cat, Mimi, into a backpack.

Long story short, now you not only have to deal with waking him up, but you also have to deal with a clingy boyfriend who isn't afraid to his webs against you

𓆩♡𓆪

“Jing Yuan! I told you, this meeting is important and it’s imperative that-“

He blatantly ignores you as he webs the door shut, and now you’re stuck with him in his office.

“Mhm. I understand. Now come here, I miss you.” His stupid smile makes your heart race as he opens his arms, welcoming you in.

Ah, what the hell.

You all too easily bend to his whims. You quickly find yourself in his arms, snuggled against his warm body.

“That’s much better sweetheart. See? This isn’t so bad is it?” You abhor his teasing, yet all the same it sends a thrill through you.

“Shut up. I better not get in trouble because of you.” You sigh. “No one would dare say anything to you. If anyone ever does, I will personally tend to the matter.” His voice is tense, along with his statement, but all you feel is his thick hair tickling your cheek as he nuzzles his head against you.

A goofy smile spreads across your lips, and soon you forget all about the meeting as you enjoy each other’s embrace.

An adorable sound comes from Mimi, lounging somewhere in his office you assume. The usual.

“By the way, are we still on for dinner later?” Your question evoked a chuckle out of Jing Yuan.

“I wouldn’t miss dinner with you for the world.” “Not even if your spidey duties call?” Your quip causes an adorable pout to form on his lips.

“My ‘spidey duties’ can wait until I’m full and satiated. You mean more to me than you know, my sweet angel.” His words warm not only your heart, but your soul.

You completely lose track of time in his arms.

So it comes as quite a shock when obnoxious knocking can be heard on his office door. You know, the one that’s currently webbed shut?

“Jing Yuan!!”

Ah, Diviner Fu. She knows all too well that you’ve failed yet again to lure Jing Yuan out of his office.

“Ah, looks like dinner has arrived sooner than we expected sweetheart.” You squeal when he suddenly sits up with you still in his arms.

He uses his webs to grab his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder as Mimi hops in, used to this ordeal.

“Remember to hold on tight, okay?” He murmurs the words against the shell of your ear, before he slips on your own little mask over your face. Just as a precaution, though he’s really good at staying hidden whenever he’s with you.

“Off we go.”

And with that, you two sling out of the window of his office, leaving an exasperated Fu Xuan behind.

🕷🕸 ๋࣭ ⭑⛓

♡ ┃ Kaedehara Kazuha ‧.°˖➴

He is the amazing spider man

Like, he’s the ultimate spider man. He’s kind yet deadly, and very friendly.

He’s as swift as the wind, and he actually travels with a sword. You’ve never seen Spiderman incorporate sword play in with his webs? Well, you’re in luck! Kazuha does this at a masterful level. He made it into a sort of art form as well. At the end of his fights he’ll always create beautiful imagery using his sword, carving out complicated shapes and scenes with his webs. It’s kind of like a signature of his

He’s pretty good at balancing his civilian and hero life. Although he may get caught up with things if unexpected incidents occur, which lets be honest, it happens all the time when you’re spider man

He’s genuinely so sweet, and it’s easy to see through his actions. The public loves him. He has loads of admirers.

After a very traumatic incident involving a close friend of his, he experienced a period of grief and depression

He got back on his feet eventually, and he awakened new powers within him! Well, that would be the only explanation for why he was suddenly able to use electricity during combat with a particularly strong villain

Not only does he use a sword but now he has the ability to wield electricity?

Once word of spider man’s new powers spread, the number of crimes that were committed went down drastically. Literally. Statistically crime rates decreased by 25% the following week. 25%. Your usual run of the mill people were too afraid to do anything after witnessing the devastating beating Kazuha gave to a particular individual

To be fair, he was late to your date because of them. He wasted no time, defeating that villain within mere seconds before frantically webbing away to meet you

Speaking of dates, Kazuha enjoys going on many dates with you.

From indoor cozy dates to public outings, typically walks through nature, Kazuha’s favorite past time is the time he spends with you

He often leaves you handwritten notes before he leaves, ranging from eloquent poetry of his feelings for you, to short blurbs of how your eyes make it physically impossible for him to focus on what you’re saying. (He felt bad because he got lost in your eyes while you were describing your Christmas decorating plans to him)

Overall, Kaedehara Kazuha is a model spider man. Kind and caring, yet swift and fatal when the situation needs him to be.

𓆩♡𓆪

“Kazuha, I told you I forgive you already!” You giggle despite your exasperation. Kazuha disregards your statement as he places fleeting, soft kisses on your person.

He starts with your hand. He holds your hand delicately, treating you as if you’re porcelain. He places a kiss to the back of your hand before his lips slowly trail up your arm.

Your heart melts at the tender gesture, all the while your body lights aflame with his burning gaze. His piercing orbs hold your gaze as his lips make their leisure ascent.

You couldn’t tear your eyes away from him even if you willed it.

“I promised you I wouldn’t be late to our date this week, but I was. You have my sincerest apologies, my love.” You feel his lips move as he murmurs the words against your skin.

“No need to be all formal. We’ve been together for how long now?” You murmur the words in embarrassment, as Kazuha’s lips now brush along your neck, teasing you.

“Hmm.. if I recall correctly, today would make five years correct?” You nod your head, yet your eyes drift shut as Kazuha playfully teases the skin of your neck with his teeth.

“Y-Yeah.. so..” Your mind is blank. You completely forgot the point you were trying to make.

You have a feeling that was his goal all along.

His lips finally reach their destination; his eager lips meet your parted ones.

You groan as he draws you closer, placing a firm hand on the back of your head. His kiss almost feels a bit desperate; his lips mold with yours in perfect sync as his free hand explores the expanse of your body.

When he finally parts from you, you take desperate gasps of air. His state isn’t much better; his lidded gaze roams your body as he takes deep breaths.

“Kazuha…” “hmm?” He smiles, a lazy, slow smile, and you know you’re not letting him leave any time soon.

“I.. um.. oh! I was going to say, before you rudely distracted me..” He chuckles at that, tracing the contour of your face with a finger as you continue to scold him. “It wasn’t your fault you were late. The police force needed backup and-“ His lips capture yours again.

You reluctantly press against his chest, gently pushing him away.

You pout.

He winks at you.

“I know, but it still took away from our precious time together. I wanted to make it up to you by arriving early today, but I wasn’t able to fulfill that desire.” He sighs, and his finger moves from your face down to your neck, lower to your collarbone.

“I promise you it’s okay, Kazuha. I understand. Although, if you really want to make it up to me…” This time, your gaze is the heated one as you skillfully unravel his ponytail.

He sucks in a breath at your action. “I have another desire that you most certainly can fulfill.”

“Ah, I like the sound of that.”

Lucky for you, he is more than able to fulfill that desire of yours.

🕷🕸 ๋࣭ ⭑⛓

‧₊˚ ┊Shikanoin Heizou ⚖✮⋆˙✦

Public menace #1

He drives the police force crazy because he always solves all the cases before they can get to the bottom of it. He does so not only as spider man, but as his civilian self too.

He can be a bit of a flirt when he has the mask on.. well, ‘a bit’ is an understatement, but he doesn’t just flirt with everyone!

He really only flirts with you, honestly, yet you reject him time and time again. He was a bit puzzled, since he knows how flustered you get when he flirts with you without the mask. Maybe it’s because you don’t know it’s him? He’ll have to test that theory

Using his detective skills he quickly deduces that it was because you have a crush on him. Him. Not spider man.

He knows of your intense loyalty, so of course you wouldn’t entertain his flirting, even if the individual flirting with you is the spider man.

Once he figured that out, oh how much fun he has teasing you as spider man

He’ll use his webs to get around quickly and restrain his enemy, but in combat? He prefers to use his fists. He’s quick with it too. He’s Shikanoin ‘left, right, goodnight’ Heizou.

So, whenever he does use his webs in combat, you know he’s going against a formidable foe

He’s super sweet to fans. Signatures, autographs, everything. On the sly though, when you still didn’t know he was spider man, he kissed an autograph he signed specifically for you before he handed it to you.

There was a visible mark left behind, and although you were annoyed you still kept the autograph (that you didn’t ask for)

When he finally revealed his identity to you, you were simultaneously livid and not surprised; You know of Heizou’s tendency to tease

He planned for the whole reveal to be super romantic and everything, and by the end of it you two became a couple.

You are the ones who create the iconic spider man kiss. He’s upside down, holding a handwritten confession of love, not a rose, that you cautiously take from his hand. In the letter he explicitly stated that spider man and the man you were currently crushing on are the same people. Following that was a very romantic declaration of his feelings for you.

When you looked up from reading the letter, you found yourself face to face with Shikanoin Heizou instead of the spider’s mask. The shock on your face was too adorable to ignore, so he kissed you whilst hanging upside down.

It was an… interesting experience, to say the least.

Would you repeat it? Absolutely.

𓆩♡𓆪

“Heizouuu….” Your whine is music to his ears.

He nuzzles his head further into your chest, and his sigh is one of contentment.

“Yesss..?” This time, you’re the one sighing, except it’s one of annoyance rather than content.

“I’ve needed to use the bathroom since five minutes ago.” “And I told you you’re welcome to. I will wait as my warm, loving arms ache for your return.” You scoff at his dramatic use of words.

“Thanks, Heizou, but how could I possibly go to the bathroom when your body is literally tangled with mine?” This question gives him pause, even though it really shouldn’t.

Said body adjusts a bit, but he makes no move to get off of you.

You’re currently lounging in bed, doing nothing really. Just enjoying Heizou’s company. It was nice until you had to use the bathroom, and with the way Heizou’s body is lying on you, legs entangled and arms wrapped around you, there’s no possible way for you to escape.

His head remains on your chest, but he looks up at you now.

“How about a deal? If you can solve this riddle-“

“Shikanoin Heizou.”

…

“My apologies.”

He quickly moves off of you, and you make a beeline for the bathroom.

You’re not surprised when he’s on the other side of the door the moment you open it.

“Sometimes, Heizou, you just…” You struggle to find the words to properly express yourself.

“I just..?” He prompts you, guiding you back to the comfort of your shared bed.

You finally find the words you were searching for as you both resume your previous position, except this time Heizou’s head is buried against the crook of your neck.

“You just.. fail to surprise me, really. Which is funny, since you’re someone who’s full of them.” His body shakes against yours as he laughs at your bold statement.

“Ah, my lovely partner knows me so well. Honestly, how did a detective like me get so lucky? I believe that’s the biggest mystery of all.” His words fill you with warmth; they effectively morph your feelings of affectionate annoyance into a feeling of immense joy.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You do know I’m the one who got lucky, right?” You chuckle when he gasps, as if the very concept itself is absurd.

“I would refute that hypothesis of yours, but I believe it would only cause this conversation to continue in circles. So, I propose that we are both the luck ones. Do you agree?”

You feel his smile and hear the affection in his voice as his lips brush along your skin.

“Yeah.. I agree.” “Perfect.”

And with that, a comfortable silence fills the room once more.

It’s a relaxing evening, spent with your very loving and very dramatic boyfriend.

🕷🕸 ๋࣭ ⭑⛓

Welt Yang ﹕⸝⸝ *:･ﾟ✮

“Wait, spider man is an old man!?” Yeah and there’s a literal dinosaur who dons the mask in another universe. Your point?

Lol jokes aside, Welt is one of, if not the most, powerful spider man. I mean, he can literally manipulate gravity.

He’s also a huge nerd.

He always brings his cane along with him when he fights, so the enemy tends to underestimate him, thinking he’s close to retirement and should just give up the whole ‘hero act’ already. Honestly, maybe he should, but that day isn’t today.

If he gets particularly annoyed by comments from his opponents, he’ll just get rid of ‘em. via a mini black hole of sorts. It’s super effective.

He’s actually very fond of making jokes and semi-horrible puns. They make you laugh though. Others? Not so much.

Anyway, he’s very reserved and he won’t stick around for reporters to interview him. He’ll just give the necessary information needed for authorities to take over, and in the blink of an eye he’s gone.

For his day job, he’s an animator. A well renowned one too. He’s very casual about it though, and he doesn’t see it as something deserving of praise.

He’s taken on a young talent who’s a blank page, in the process of writing a story of their own.

You’re the one who finds out Welt’s well kept secret. He didn’t plan on revealing his identity to you, as he felt it was his burden to bear and he would hate to make you a target.

He’s experienced many battles and has faced numerous foes, so he’s very wise and experienced. He’s faced scenarios where his morals come into play, and that’s something he’s not fond of. He rather preserve his integrity and do things in a way that aligns with his inner values. He’s been granted many opportunities to do things in an underhanded manner, yet he has never taken that opportunity.

𓆩♡𓆪

“Please please please!” You jump up and down in innocent joy, but the man before you pinches the bridge of his nose.

“No.”

“Why not? Please! I promise this is my last time asking.” You plead with him, moving to hold onto his arm.

“That’s the exact same line you use every time.” “It is not!” You retort.

“You said the same thing yesterday.”

“Welt, please!” Now you fix him with a pleading look, a look you know he can’t resist.

“Name, my ability to manipulate gravity is a powerful one that comes with great responsibility. It shouldn’t be used as a measly… ahem..” His cheeks take on a pink hue as he coughs into his fist.

You’ve pressed yourself against him, your head tilted as you gaze at him with that look in your eyes.

“…this is the last time.” His gruff response brings you to life, your eyes alighting with joy as you remove yourself from him.

He misses the warmth of your body, but your smile provides him with a permeating warmth that is different, but comforting all the same.

“You always say that.” Your bratty response irks him. In an instant your world is flipped upside down as your feet are lifted off the floor.

“Yay! Thank you Welt.” He can’t find it in himself to be annoyed when you’re doing silly little flips as your body floats in the air.

This has become a regular occurrence for you. Occasionally, when you’re in the mood to be a bit silly, you’ll ask Welt to use his gravity manipulation to suspend you in air.

He was opposed to it, but eventually you wore him down. Now, he agrees to give you a few moments of fun, although sparingly.

His gaze is soft as he watches you enjoy the moment with childlike glee, before you’re gently lowered to the ground once more.

“There. Satisfied?” His voice is rough and his gaze won’t meet yours, but his heart pounds in his chest. You really are too cute.

“Yes! Thank you, and I’m sorry I keep pestering you about it… but… I appreciate it.” You saddle up beside him and wrap your arms around him in a grounding hug.

He smiles.

“Don’t worry about it.” Is his simple response. He presses a sweet kiss to the crown of your head, before he rests his on top of yours.

Fwip!

You glance behind you when you hear the sound, just in time to see the door to your shared bedroom close shut. Your eyes study the webs on the door handle before you swivel around to face Welt.

His cheeks are tinted pink once more, but he meets your curious gaze.

“Let’s.. enjoy each other’s company for the remainder of the day.” His words cause your own face to heat up, but a sly smirk soon presents itself on your lips.

“Can’t get enough of me, can you?” You relish the look he fixes you with, and you willingly follow his lead to your neatly made bed.

“On the contrary, with that attitude of yours I get more than my fill of you.” His words are contradictory to his actions, since he’s pulling you closer as his lips seek yours.

You smile when his lips finally meet yours.

🕷🕸 ๋࣭ ⭑⛓

‧₊˚ ┊Baizhu ⚕ *: ♥

With swift and deadly attacks that require minimal movement, Baizhu is always quick to subdue the enemy

Some days are harder than others for him, as he has a chronic illness. He still gets the job done, and he’s always advocating for others in a similar situation as him. He doesn’t reveal much to the media, but he does like to tell anyone who may hear “If I can be spiderman, then I know you can do anything you set your mind to.”

Instead of a spider biting him it was a snake. A talking snake no less. Her name is Changsheng, and she travels with him almost all the time.

Many ask to pet Changsheng. He turns down most requests but on rare occurrences he may let an individual do so (mainly children)

Has miraculous healing powers. He’s also a good sport at taking heavy hits, but he can only handle so much. Still, he’s stronger than you’d think, and he’s great at sporting others back to health. It’s almost like they were never sick at all once Baizhu tended to them. Unfortunately, his illness always seems to flair after he does so…

Speaking of, he’s well loved, Dr. Baizhu. He literally has a 5 star rating and everyone raves about him. You would think he would limit clients since he constantly gets a large influx of them, but he’s too kind to do anything of the sort.

Sometimes you have to scold him and force him to coax him into taking it easy; he tends to take on a bit more than he can handle.

He’ll say cheesy things like “You’re the remedy I’ve been searching for all my life. Most certainly.” Whenever you two are alone and spending quality time together. You can only smile when he tells you these things; He’s too cute to feign annoyance with.

He’s immune to poison. Don’t ask why he just is. (It’s totally not an added benefit of a contract he made)

𓆩♡𓆪

Your fingers gently scrub the area, and a noise akin to the sound of a satisfied cat purr is heard.

You bite your lip as you try to contain your smile, even though he wouldn’t be able to see it anyway.

You’ve finished lathering Baizhu’s hair in the floral conditioner. He allows you to finish the process of rinsing his hair, and the result is satisfactory. His hair, which now has the floral scent of the conditioner, has a renewed sheen to it.

“Your hair is gorgeous, Baizhu. Well taken care of too.” You hum, guiding him as you both move to sit down.

You sit on the couch, and have him sit in front of you on the floor.

You gently dry his hair as he leans back into you. It causes you to get a few droplets of water on your person but that’s insignificant to you.

It’s been a long time since you’ve seen your boyfriend so relaxed. He’s been overworking himself again, not only with his job as a doctor but with his spiderman man duties.

You insisted on a self care day since he has the day off, and you prayed people would stay in line today so he wouldn’t have to suit up.

It seems your prayers were answered; it’s now late evening and the orange hue of the sky is slowly morphing into a starry night sky.

The streets remain peaceful today.

A groan from Baizhu draws your attention.

He’s looking up at you with furrowed brows. “I thought I told you to stop worrying so much about me.” You ‘tsk’ at the audacity of his claim, opting to flick his forehead. It was a light flick, but he acts as if you’ve scorched him.

He hisses. He sounds like Changsheng.

You giggle.

“I know you aren’t telling me to stop worrying.” You shake your head in dismay, albeit a knowing smirk is on your lips.

“Name, I know I am not one to talk but I promise you I’ll take better care of my mental wellbeing. You have my word.” He places a comforting hand on your knee. The touch brings warmth to your skin.

“Promise?” Your voice is quiet. It sounds small. You’d be surprised if he even heard you.

You open your mouth to repeat your question, sure he hadn’t heard you, but he speaks before you can voice the question once more.

“I promise.” His statement is firm. When you look into his golden snake-like eyes, they’re full of life. Determination emanates from their intense gaze.

You believe him.

“Okay, good. I hate to see you like that, you know…” His gaze softens at the obvious concern on your face. He understands it comes from a place of love, so he only nods in understanding.

“I’m sorry sweetheart.” He reaches for your hand, still a bit wet from washing his hair, yet he places a kiss to your palm nonetheless.

With that, you resume your task.

You take your time braiding his hair. It’s relaxing, and the diffuser you have going only adds to the calm atmosphere.

As soon as you finish braiding his hair Baizhu moves. It startles you, but you’re soon put to ease when he sits beside you.

His arms wrap around you, and he rests your head on his shoulder. Your eyes fall shut as you breathe in the floral scent of his hair.

“Thank you.” He whispers the words, and you feel the soft press of his lips on your forehead. You feel the same touch on your nose, your cheek, your eyelids, until they finally press against your lips.

When he pulls away, you respond with a thank you of your own. He seems taken aback by your words, but then the sweetest smile lifts his lips.

“You are quite welcome.”

🕷🕸 ๋࣭ ⭑⛓

♡. Blade 🗡⭒⚠︎︎ ⛓°˖

He is the second spiderman in Caelus’s verse

He honestly feels as if the whole Spiderman role is a curse rather than a blessing, but he still plays the role nonetheless.

When he feels like it

Most people only know of Caelus as spiderman, but once Blade also took on the role there were rumors of a darker, more sinister spiderman seen webbing from building to building during the late hours of the night

Of course Caelus had to investigate said rumors, and that led to a one on one encounter with Blade and.. Kafka?

Long story short Blade begrudgingly helps Caelus out when he’s in a jam, but for the most part he keeps to the shadows and does his own thing. Whether what he does is morally ‘right or wrong’ doesn’t concern him.

He has the symbiote, Venom, and he absolutely hates it. Yet, well, here they are.

There was an incident when things got a little.. tense between Caelus and Blade. Before the situation escalated Kafka was able to get Blade under control.

Overall he doesn’t really do too much as ‘spiderman,’ but you’ll definitely have a chance at catching him beat the absolute shit out of a robber in a dark alley, their cries for help muffled as they’re eaten alive by the symbiote :D

Unfortunately for Blade, Kafka isn’t particularly fond of him eating people, due to the hassle of keeping it on the down-low. He’s supplied with massive amounts of chocolate to substitute for the people he was firmly told he can no longer consume, unless it’s a dire situation.

Blade truly sees his life as a misfortune, especially during moments where Caelus coerces him into helping him out. He’s really under no obligation to help, but something about Caelus persuades him to comply (albeit begrudgingly).

They make a great duo! Surprisingly. Like, Caelus can already be a hard hitter, when he chooses to use his bat, but add Blade into the mix? Whoever they’re fighting is not surviving that fight.

𓆩♡𓆪

Your hands slip under his shirt, cold against the warm skin of his abdomen. You trace the outline of his many scars; they feel rough against the delicate pads of your fingers. You move closer to Blade, burying your head into the crook of his neck.

You can feel the gentle rise and fall of his chest against your own; it soothes you.

He moves, his hands slipping under your shirt as well, tracing the curve of your spine.

“You really are such a handful…” He murmurs the words, quiet and emitting a gentle warmth. You shiver from his gentle touch, cold fingers leisurely teasing your skin.

You debate speaking up, to let him know you’re awake, but you quickly decide against it when he speaks once more.

“No one could compare to you. When I’m with you, I feel a warmth I haven’t felt in a long, long time…” Blade’s uncharacteristically honest words cause your heart to swell.

You struggle to contain your smile. You feel him shift closer to you, and soon a pair of surprisingly soft lips are pressed against your temple.

He remains silent now. Enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, running his hands along your skin.

“I love you too.” You finally say. He startles for a moment, and it makes you giggle. When you pull your head away from his neck you’re barely able to make out the sight of his flushed cheeks before he shoves your face back to its previous position.

He says nothing, but the smile on his face says all the things he fails to put into words.

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messiahzzz · 7 months

Text

i’d briefly like to talk about the “it was fine” dialogue option that happens the morning after gale’s Last Night Alive scene in act ii and about the fandom's general reaction to it.

gale is a character who evidently enjoys the occasional teasing. taking the piss out of your partner every once in a while can certainly be a way of showing affection. however, it is important to consider the context of the situation: what is at stake for him and his current emotional state, as well as what exactly had transpired between the two of them prior to said conversation.

gale: forgive me. these were already trying times before elminster delivered his missive. now, for me at least, they are potentially end times.

after he and tav had spent the night together and confessed their love to each other, gale is once again showing himself utterly vulnerable and is carefully asking them for reassurance.

gale: [..] i hope that night meant as much to you as it did to me.

gale: but you - you led me away from the edge.

gale: without your words, your touch... i fear i would have sought purpose and solace in that void. you reminded me what living can feel like.

he wants to check in with them, after both of them have shared something tender and very intimate, something he might even consider life-altering.

gale: we didn't just make love. we bonded, body and soul. i got lost in you.

it’s not even about gale “not being able to read social cues” and “not recognizing the fact that it was meant in jest.” in fact, i’d argue it is a rather tone-deaf, inconsiderate response and just genuinely a REALLY BAD TIME to joke at your partner's expense when they are actively baring their feelings to you and are asking you for reassurance.

i have seen people write off his reaction as “unwarranted” or “overtly dramatic” but in my humble opinion, it is pretty understandable given the nature of their conversation and what he is asking of them. it's also sad how there seems to be a general pattern of gale's emotions and boundaries getting played off as a joke, while other companions get shown the courtesy of thorough analysis/understanding. he is proud of his skill as a lover and the fact that he was able to bring them pleasure, yet his inquiry is less about him wanting tav to stroke his ego and more about him, once again, asking if you indeed share the same feelings for each other… after the emotional high has now passed.

gale has an ever-present need for clarity in his relationships, very likely due to the fact that this was something he couldn’t request of mystra. he might appear more sensitive in that regard compared to the other companions. he doesn’t want to take himself too seriously, but this still often clashes with his general feeling of inadequacy. where he is able to take criticism as long as it isn’t related to his performance, overall prowess and usefulness.

yes, his response is passive-aggressive and yes, he IS obviously hurt by what tav said. yet merely repeating “it was fine” in response to a heartfelt, genuine question could’ve as well been interpreted in that manner. if tav does clarify that they have only been joking, he apologizes to them instead. otherwise his dialogue remains the same, albeit said in a more embarrassed & awkward tone.

gale is a character who is dealing with deep-rooted self-worth issues and yet that doesn’t mean that he wants to be handled with kid gloves, far from it. he craves a relationship in which his emotional needs are recognized, respected and cared for, where he can be unabashedly open and vulnerable without facing ridicule nor pity for it. and he is more than willing to give the same in return.

also y’know — there is a time and a place.

#“briefly” they said (sorry can't shut up once i've started. you'll have to bear with me)#this has been bothering me for a while now #by all means roast your wizard to your hearts content #but maybe opt for his shortcomings that aren’t genuinely hurtful/rooted in his self-hatred #that only serve to further reinforce his belief that he is not worthy enough #when he is still very much dealing with the inevitability of his own untimely death and sacrifice #today’s lesson in empathy lmao #aka me once again getting emotionally invested in tragic pixel men #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 meta #bg3 spoilers #datamined dialogue

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neo-nomatrix · 1 year

Text

Give you the world

Joel Miller x reader

summary: You love Joel more than you can explain, you just can’t figure out if he feels the same

warnings: age gap, angst ig

my last joel fic

a/n: could be read as a part two of my last Joel fic but it can be read as a stand alone

You haven’t seen Joel truly happy in a while, the closest it’s come to is now. You’re standing with Ellie when Joel runs up to his brother, Tommy, who you’ve heard little about. You swear you hear him sniffling as he walks back to you.

The gates of Jackson are unbelievable. It’s somehow so incredibly warm despite the thick layer of snow below your feet. Everyone is beyond inviting and kind, it reminds you of before the outbreak.

“It’s amazing here,” you tell Tommy and Maria as you, Joel, and Ellie eat the plates of food in front of you.

“I’m glad you all like it,” Maria responds, smiling,

“It’s safe here,” Joel mumbles while leaning over his plate.

You can tell he’s thinking about something, whether it’s a good thing or not, you don’t know.

Maria leads you and Ellie to your home for the next day? week? month? You’re still not sure how long you’ll spend here. You secretly hope it’s a long time but you can tell it won’t last.

Since you’ve arrived you haven’t seen Joel in at least three hours.

“Hey, El, do you know where Joel is?” you ask the girl, slightly concerned.

“No, are you going out looking for him?” she asks.

“Probably, don’t know where I should start though,” You respond.

Something drew you to the carpenter's shed when you were searching for Joel. You peer into the window and as you suspected you saw him sitting there. Toying with new boots you assumed Tommy had given him. As you open the door Joel didn’t look up like you had expected.

“Joel,” You say quietly.

“Joel,” you say again, this time tapping his shoulder and using a firmer voice.

He slightly jolted back like he was shocked.

“Oh, hey,” he said reluctantly.

“Is something the matter? You seem upset,” You ask worried.

“How’d you like it if you stayed here for a while?”

“This sounds like a trick,” you tell him.

“I’ve asked Tommy to take Ellie the rest of the way. I’m gonna leave too, and you’re gonna stay here,” He said, his eyes not meeting yours.

“What?” you say, as if you didn’t hear him the first time.

He still wasn’t looking at you.

“And what makes you think you can just decide that for us?”

“It’s the best option for you and Ellie,” he said.

He still wasn’t looking at you.

“Like hell it is! Joel, you are the only person I trust right now, and as far as I'm concerned you are the only person who can take care of me. You promised me you’d protect me, you fucking promised!” You’re both standing now, in a fit of rage you start lightly hitting his chest with your fists.

“Hey, hey I know what I said. You can call me a liar all you want. Just please, stay here. Where you’re safe. This is how i’m protecting you,” He says, you don’t miss the way his voice breaks.

“Joel, don't do this! I’ll never fucking forgive you. I’m gonna hate you if you do this,” You sob into his chest as he holds your clenched hands.

“I’m sorry, I'm so sorry. I just- I just can’t take care of you. I’m worthless to you now,” At this point his eyes are threatening tears too.

“You can’t! You can’t leave me too. No, no, no, I won't let you.”

“Doll, you have to trust me. I’d give up everything for you if I could. But you’re young, you have so much more life to live. If I take you with me I'm endangering that. And I'd rather die than see you hurt,” he admits as he picks up his boots and leaves you to settle with your own pain.

Ellie had told you about her own fight with Joel only a few hours after your own. Part of you still can’t believe he would just let go of the two of you so easily.

You’re walking beside Ellie and Tommy to the stables. You’re still processing the fact that this is “the end.”

“So what? This is it? Everything we did all for just this,” Ellie asks you.

“Maybe not,” you nod towards Joel who’s standing by one of the horses.

“Are you here to say goodbye?” You ask Joel, walking up to him.

“Look, I still think you’d be safer here and Ellie would be better off with Tommy. But you both deserve a choice. You can-” Joel gets cut off by Ellie throwing her bag at him.

“Let’s just go already,” she tells the both of you.

“You have every right to hate me, doll. I don’t blame you if you want to stay here now. But I need you to know how much you mean to me, okay?” Joel says, his hands cup your face.

You sure as hell don’t miss the way his eyes finally meet yours.

#joel miller x you #joel miller angst #pedro pascal #joel the last of us x reader #joel the last of us #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x y/n #joel miller x reader #joel miller x y/n #TLOU #tlou x reader

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slexenskee · 2 months

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Only Shooting Stars (Break The Mold)

The AU where Gojo is actually All Might's California kid that literally no one asked for, including me 🤦‍♀️

Satoru’s best friend just told him she hates him. Actually, she told him she wanted to go hiking, which is basically the same thing.

There is emphatically nothing he’d like less than being dragged through the parched, dry hills around the Dish on an otherwise perfectly normal Saturday morning free of classes, but Makoto is only in town for two days and he promised her he’d do whatever she liked barring arson and/or more tequila shots.

“Can’t you just get Captain Underpants to go with you?” He throws out as a token protest, staggering into her rental jeep with the darkest shades he owns tossed over his eyes in a desperate attempt to keep his hangover at bay.

He squints at her as she settles in the driver’s seat of her rented death contraption. And why isn’t she hungover, anyway? She had even more to drink than him last night.

“You know his hero name is Captain Celebrity, and please don’t say that where anyone can hear you.” She rolls her eyes as she starts the car. “Until I get a more famous client he’s still my cash cow, and I’d really rather not get fired right now.”

“You couldn’t have picked a worse one.” Satoru snorts, flopping into the passenger seat. “Isn’t he still cheating on the daughter with the stepmom or something?”

“Alleged,” Makoto hisses. “Allegedly cheating. And no, obviously. I wouldn’t still be his publicist if he was that much of an idiot.”

She tries to back out of her spot and almost immediately slides several inches down the heart-palpitation-inducing San Francisco incline he’d parked her on last night. She gives him a look of pure, sheer terror over her steering wheel.

Satoru quickly undoes his seatbelt. “Yeah, okay. Put the parking brake on and switch with me— I’ll drive.”

He has them up and off the worst of Hyde St.’s incline with the undisturbed impassivity of a kid who’s spent his entire driving career wedging himself into tenuous and visibly improbable parking spots all across the bay area. Makoto gives a sigh of relief once they clear the worst of the soaring hills, and actually doesn’t bring up the topic he knows she’s itching to broach until he’s pulling onto the 101.

“You know, I wouldn’t have to bother with Captain Celebrity if someone would just finally agree to be a hero.” Makoto needles him, for the umpteenth time.

He rolls his eyes behind his glasses. “Not happening.” He shoots her down flat.

“You can’t stay in college forever!” She protests.

“What do you mean, forever?” He protests back, offended. “I’m not even twenty-two yet!”

And she makes it sound like he’s wasting his life away going to college or something! As if getting into Stanford isn’t the most snobbish badge of supremacy you can wave around in this damn state!

This is what he gets for saving her all those years ago, he laments. A best friend who nags him over all his life choices. He should have let her just fall from that damned New York skyscraper. Or more realistically, just waited it out and let an actual hero swoop in and save her. It’s not as if there hadn’t been plenty around at the time.

She’d been a twenty-one year-old intern at a prestigious marketing agency caught at the wrong end of a villain takeover, and as far as his mother was concerned he’d been a seventeen year-old ostensibly touring the city for colleges, but in reality had been touring music dive bars more than campuses. They’d immediately bonded over the fact he’d saved her life, but also the indie band shirt he’d been wearing as he’d done it.

Growing up in LA, his only two real options were surfing or surf rock, and he’d chosen to spend more time on the route that wouldn’t lead him to immediate skin cancer. His mom had eventually moved them to San Francisco, but he’d never quite grown out of his SoCal roots. He’d loved music in his last life, and in this life, he’d decided to chill the fuck out and ignore society and all it’s problems, and music seemed as good a way as any to do it. And he was pretty damn good at it, if he did say so himself. His expansive catalog of songs from his last life and eidetic memory made most people call him a genius, even if he rejected the label. So he was a passable— if not prodigal— guitarist, and Makoto had just learned to play the bass herself, so it was really no surprise they’d not only immediately bonded, but immediately decided to make a band together.

Makoto jumping ship and splitting her time between the US and Japan had thrown a bit of a wrench in their rockstar dreams, but they were making it work somehow. And considering he can teleport around the world at will, it’s really not that much of a hindrance.

That does beg the question though, of why Makoto would rather him be a hero than a musician. But he imagines he actually already knows the answer to that.

“How about you stop cleaning up after stupid celebrities, and become a celebrity yourself.” He argues, with a raised brow.

Makoto scoffs. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to break into the music industry?”

With the confidence of several dozen platinum hits spanning several dozen genres sitting pretty in his head, Satoru retorts; “I don’t think that will be a problem for us.”

She laughs him off at first, but then seems to give it genuine thought. “I guess you are pretty enough to have lead singer appeal,” she concedes, uncharitably. “But we haven’t even released an album yet; you have no idea how well it will be received on the charts. Playing little dive bar shows isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

Satoru just shrugs. “Then what’s stopping us? Let’s record an album.”

Makoto just rolls her eyes. “Yeah, sure. Come pop by Japan next weekend, and let’s do it.”

“Sure.” He agrees immediately, making her do a double take. He grins winsomely at her. “What? I’m free next weekend. Why not?”

She just shakes her head in wonder. “Even seeing it multiple times, sometimes I really do still forget you can just… teleport across the world. And stop bullets with your eyeballs.”

“It’s telekinesis,” he corrects, but at this point it’s just rote.

“No, I specifically remember you trying to explain it had something to do with your eyeballs, don’t try to change it up now.” Makoto pokes him in the shoulder— or tries to, but is stopped with his barrier. “And how the hell that’s supposed to even make sense, I have no idea. But you definitely said it.”

Yeah, he probably deserves that for trying to explain his cursed techniques while he’d been several mystery drinks deep at a college frat party. Makoto probably still hasn't forgiven him for dragging her to that madhouse, but in his defense, she’d all but begged him to take her to an American college party in the first place.

“It’s… complicated.” He hedges off. “My eyes just help me understand how to use my powers; they’re not actually what creates my barrier.”

Makoto squints at him suspiciously. “... What’s your mom’s quirk again?”

He chuckles awkwardly. “Oh, she can convert energy from the sun. Mine’s a mutation, obviously.”

“Could just be a strange combination.” Makoto muses. “What did you say your dad’s quirk was?”

“I, uh, have no idea.” Satoru coughs, keeping his eyes on the road in a vaguely panicked manner.

“Shit, that’s right, I’m sorry.” Makoto jolts in her seat, apologetic. “You still haven’t heard anything? I thought your mom said… I mean, they’re not on bad terms, right?”

Frankly, Satoru almost wishes she would continue pestering him about becoming a hero over this particular topic.

“They’re not on bad terms, no.” He hedges off, shifting in his seat. Why couldn’t his best friend have a normal quirk, like fire breathing or water bending? Or anything besides being a human lie detector when he has so much he needs to lie about? “But they don’t talk much. I’m not sure she even knows what his quirk is herself.”

“Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway, your quirk is what it is.” Mercifully, Makoto lets the subject drop. “Even if it makes no damn sense.”

Satoru laughs that off. “Does any quirk ever really make sense, though?”

Makoto just clicks her tongue, then launches into a spirited rant on the laws of quirk science. Satoru breathes a quiet sigh of relief as the conversation devolves into a nonsensical argument on what would be the most useless quirk in history.

One of these days he’s going to have to cave and tell Makoto the truth, but he’d really rather not do it when he’s hungover and facing the prospect of a miserable hike for the next few hours.

And to be fair, nothing he said to Makoto was a lie.

His parents aren’t on bad terms. Or rather, they’re not on any terms at all, as he doesn’t think they’ve even spoken once in the twenty-two years he’s been alive in this world. But according to his mom, they hadn’t parted on bad terms. They’d been college sweethearts, and his father had always been honest about his intentions to return to Japan. His mother had been adamant about staying in America and pursuing her own career. They’d split up for practicalities sake, unaware he was already on the way, and his mom looks back on that time of her life fondly.

His mom would go on to have him several months after his father had left the country, and raise him as a single-mother as she built a life for them. His father would go on to be the world’s strongest hero.

His mother had only ever known Yagi Toshinori as All Might, unbeatable and unbreakable, with a quirk so strong it would have him going down in history as one of the strongest heroes of all time. As far as she— and the rest of the world knew— he had some kind of strengthening quirk.

But Satoru had seen him before, on one of his trips back to Japan. It had been from a distance, as he’d taken down a villain to the delight of the cheering crowds around him, but it had been enough for Satoru’s Six Eyes to see his quirk wasn’t quite as straightforward as the strengthening ability listed on his hero profile. All Might’s core— where most humans had a swirling mass of plus alpha energy— was as empty as Satoru’s. Satoru was quirkless because his father, All Might, had been born quirkless. The quirk All Might had now must have been given to him when he was older, growing around that empty space and spreading through his body almost like a parasite. Or a curse. Satoru honestly couldn’t tell.

Satoru honestly didn’t care.

He has no opinion on All Might, or what choices he may or may not have made to wield the power he has.

When he was much younger, and saw how much his mother struggled to raise him on her own without help, he would resent him a bit for leaving her on her own like this. But his adult mind could understand the logic in both his parents’ motivations. They both made their own choices, and did what they thought was right with only care and consideration for each other.

And it’s not as if Satoru’s childhood was lacking in any capacity.

Actually, his childhood was awesome.

To be entirely honest, he doubts he would have wanted All Might around even if that was possible. He can’t imagine a better way to grow up than the way he did, rocking out in the garage with his mom on the weekends, surfing in the mornings (with adequate sunscreen), skating from school to the skatepark in the afternoons, and having the complete and utter autonomy only a latchkey kid could have. His mom did what she could to make sure he grew up comfortably and well-cared for, and that included putting in long hours at work that had him on his own for most of the week. It was the best. There were no rules against using quirks in America— someone finally got their act together on personal bodily autonomy and all that— so he’d use his ‘quirk’ to teleport himself all across the world in his spare time. As long as he was back by dinner time, his mom didn’t need to know if he decided to spend the afternoon wandering the streets of Seoul in search of the best hotteok.

He tried to keep his excursions on the down low, and keep his grades up and his nose out of trouble. While he adored his freedom, he never wanted to worry his mom. She was honestly too good for this world— and for him too, if he was being honest. The least he could do is be as good of a son as possible.

Well, he can try to be as good of a son as possible. As it stands, the majority of his chaotic existence usually gets in the way of that.

“Oh, Sacchan, you’re home already?” His mother peers out of her office, thick, horn-rimmed glasses making her purple eyes look comically large on her face as she pokes her head over the wall. “Where’s Makoto-chan?”

“Probably on the plane already, unless it got delayed.” He tosses his keys into the basket by the front door, toeing off his shoes.

She frowns at him. “You drove her to SFO, right? Don’t tell me you let her go by herself!”

He rolls his eyes. “She had a rental car to drop off, ya know. But yeah, I drove her from the rental place to her terminal.”

Not that she deserved the consideration, after dragging him on a hike of all damn things yesterday. They’d just stayed out the whole night drinking beforehand, what madwoman does that?

She gets up out of her chair, stretching her arms over her head as her hapless bun spills silver-white hair over her shoulders. “She’s such a nice girl,” his mother enthuses, as she cracks her neck. “I wish you’d bring more of your friends around, Sacchan. Your poor mother worries.”

“I’m in college now, mom.” He rolls his eyes. “We don’t really bring our friends around to meet our parents.”

More to the point, he wouldn’t want to anyway. College boys are emphatically the worst, and his mom is a very pretty woman. That’s just asking for trouble. And beyond that, he doesn’t have anyone at school he’d feel close enough to introduce her to anyway. He has plenty of people in his orbit to pair up with in labs, hang around the quad with while he’s killing time between classes, or drag to various house parties, but those are superficial bonds at best.

He’s a young, handsome boy who surfs and skateboards and is good at all sports and plays rock music and still ranks at the top of his class; suffice it to say, he’s never wanted for friends or popularity. But he’s also a full grown man living through a second life; he has very little in common with the people in his age group. It’s gotten better now that he’s a full-fledged adult again, but he still tends to find the petty struggles of his fellow undergrads to be a bit pedantic.

“You never brought any around in highschool either.” His mother laments. “Sacchan, you’re not embarrassed over your mother, are you?”

“Not at all.” He protests, then adds, because he doesn’t want to worry her, “I just don’t want people knowing exactly where I live. They seem nice enough, but you never really know with people these days.”

He says it to assure her that he’s a perfectly well-adjusted and well-liked kid who has plenty of deep and genuine friendships (entirely untrue) but only serves to worry her even more.

She frowns at him, eyes downcast. “Oh, Satoru,” she says, in a sad tone that automatically has him lurching forward to comfort her. “I know things with your father are… complicated, but I never wanted to make you feel like you had to hide yourself from the world. I want to keep you safe, but I want you to have fun too, you know?”

“Yes, I know.” He rushes to reassure her. “And I do have fun— you know I do! You came to my show just last week!”

His mother gives him a watery smile. “Yes, and your bandmate Kenji nearly started a bar fight, and the crowds got so unruly that the fire department got called in.”

“That guy deserved to be slapped around a bit.” He returns, unapologetic. “And the fire department was just there to make sure we stayed under capacity— we weren’t causing any trouble!”

“No trouble, he says, when the cops were still called by the end of the night.” She teases him.

He rolls his eyes. He can’t control whether or not two drunks decide to get in a brawl over baby mama drama outside the venue, that was totally not his fault. And also probably not the best show to take his mom to, but it was one of the few local performances they’ve ever done, and she was always making noises about finally seeing his band play in person. Unsurprisingly having two bandmates that live across the ocean and one that hops between two countries means they rarely play shows on this side of the Pacific, and he still hasn’t found a way to admit to her that his teleportation radius is a lot larger than he’d originally told her as a five year-old manifesting his ‘quirk’.

“Cops or not, it was still a good time.” He grins, adamantly.

“It was indeed a good time.” She nods, grinning back. She leans up to pat his cheek. “You looked like you were really enjoying yourself up there, Satoru. I always knew you’d be a star.”

“It was a weekday performance at a local bar, I would hardly call myself a star.” He protests, helplessly.

Her eyes twinkle behind her glasses. “Maybe not yet.”

Yes the title is from All Star by Smashmouth 😂 this fic has the most millennial playlist I've ever made

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#fic may death never stop you #mdnsy oneshots

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ghostlywhiskey · 8 months

Text

John Price - Hell on Earth - Part 1

Pairing: Lawyer!John Price x Fem!Reader Word Count: 2,427 Warnings: None Summary: Your a paralegal at a law firm and John Price is a top attorney - but makes everyone's life a living hell. And it only gets worse when he decides to make you his primary paralegal. Notes: Going based of this prompt/blurb I wrote. There will 100% be more parts - you think I'm gonna have lawyer!price and not have smut at some point? Absolutely not. Also let the record show, I did not proofread teehee<3 ▸read part two here ▸find my masterlist here

The phone sat snug between your ear and shoulder as the contents of your bag were shifted around with one hand, the other holding a coffee. Where is the damn keycard? Your thoughts block out whatever Morgan was saying on the other end of the phone. As you push through the revolving door, the keycard finds a spot between your fingers as you say good morning to the guard and head for the elevator.

“Morgan.” The name coming out of you is rather monotone as you try to grab your friend's attention from her ongoing rant. “Morgan, take a breath would you?” Eyes looking at the lights above the elevators to make note of which one you would be getting into.

“I can’t take a breath! Who goes on five dates with someone and just poof! Hey, I don’t want a relationship?” her voice belted through the phone loud enough that you would think your phone had the speaker option selected. The sudden exclamation in her voice causes you to pull the phone from your ear, eyes glancing to see multiple emails come in from Price about various different cases that had been transferred to you in the past three weeks.

“Son of a bitch.” you mutter as you stand in the elevator, scrolling through twenty new emails, all delivered at 8AM. He fucking prepared them to be auto-sent. Is he fucking kidding?

“Hey, are you there?” Morgan’s voice echoes through the phone, quickly putting it to your ear.

“Sorry, work is already chaotic. Can I call you later? Or maybe drinks after work?” voice apologetic, but your anxiety is already focusing on what needs to get done for the day.

As you push through the doors of the firm, ‘good mornings’ are thrown around from your coworkers as you make your way to your cubicle. The door to his office is wide open, the lack of yelling and aggressive taps on the keyboard nowhere to be heard - He isn’t in yet, thank fuck.

Your bag drops onto the desk along with your coffee next to it, body dropping into the chair as you stare at the black screen. Eight hours to go. Hand grasping the mouse, you give it a shake as the dual monitors come to life and type your login quickly. The inbox rapidly catches up to what your phone already knows - 127 messages. Twenty of them are Price’s alone from this morning.

Monday, August 7, 2023 - 8:00 AM

Subject: K. Laswell - Deposition of Our Client

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Good Morning,

What is the status of getting the deposition set up? Why is no one agreeing? Call them and get answers. Tired of the emails flooding my inbox.

Very truly yours,

John Price, Esq.

Monday, August 7, 2023 - 8:00 AM

Subject: S. Riley - Motion to Compel Discovery

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Good Morning,

Prepare the exhibits for A to H. They are in the file under the exhibits folder for the motion. Want it filed today - discovery has been outstanding for over a year. No more good faith letters.

I want to see the final version before it is filed.

Very truly yours,

John Price, Esq.

Monday, August 7, 2023 - 8:00 AM

Subject: J. McTavish - Search Case Law

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Good Morning,

I don’t have time to look into this today - find me relevant cases that can be applied to the file. Preferably by tomorrow morning, get as specific as you can. Opposition is due 3 weeks from now and I’d rather not be stressing about it when it is due the week before the motion. Any questions, ask Mary. Thanks.

Very truly yours,

John Price, Esq.

Monday, August 7, 2023 - 8:00 AM

Subject: K. Garrick - CASE DISMISSED

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Good Morning Patrick,

No need to apologize, I hope the family is well. Glad we were able to resolve this.

Looping my paralegal in. She will provide you the document signed on behalf of me and have it to you by the end of the day.

Very truly yours,

John Price, Esq.

“I hope the family is well.” the mumble from your lips is a mocking one, as if that prick ever wishes anyone well. God forbid he ever wrote thank you instead while signing off on an email. The few emails are just the start of the tasks for the day. Happy Monday.

One more email catches your eye before you go to start from the bottom of where you left off the other day answering people. One email not sent exactly at 8 AM.

Monday, August 7, 2023 - 8:02 AM

Subject: Meeting about cases

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Morning,

When I’m in the office later we need to discuss more cases you are getting reassigned to. Let me know when you are free today. I’ll be in around 12 after court.

John

Get Outlook for IOS

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

And by the time the clock hits 12, you��ve barely made it through half of the emails. Completely zoning out as you chew on a pen cap, you scroll through the case law your searching for one of Price’s tasks - saving various memorandums into the file and your own notes on a word document. The sound of your desktop messenger goes off, the paralegal chat receiving a message from the firm secretary: Price is in.

Another paralegal, Ava, quickly sent a reply: Prayers up. Headphones in before the yelling in his office starts.

Fingers quickly typing your own response, you send yours: Fingers crossed today’s the day I can get fired and just collect unemployment instead.

You couldn’t help but chuckle quietly, closing the chat before Price would make his way to his office by your desk. Better off he didn’t see the alerts of his presence or everyones personal feelings about him. The sound of his shoes clicking against the floor caused your head to peek over your desktop setup, his phone already held up to his ear as he angrily spoke on the phone.

“Well, the judge doesn’t know his fucking ass from his elbow.” his eyes glanced over at you as he walked by, his hand holding up five fingers as he mouthed ‘five minutes’ to you.

So, you didn’t do anything for the next five minutes besides watch the clock on your computer. By the time four minutes hit, you stood up from the desk and stood outside his closed door. And right as five minutes hit, the door swung open and his breath caught in his throat as he was prepared to shout your name but saw you standing right there.

“Glad to see you can count.” he opted to say instead, turning to walk back towards his desk. “Door shut.” You nodded at his demand, closing the door and walking to stand at the front of his desk.

“Is the Laswell deposition set up?” he asked.

“Calendered for January 18th.”

“Exhibits on Riley…finished?” Another question as he scrolled through his emails.

“Prepared for your review.” The response leaving your lips quickly. “Document signed on Garrick. Still working on the case law for McTavish. And anything else you emailed me about.” You decided to finish off responses to any more questions he might have. He glanced up from his laptop, nodding.

“So, that leaves us with case reassignments.” Price stated and you simply nodded to acknowledge his comment. “Any file that Kelsey had with me is getting reassigned to you.” You knew Kelsey, she was a capable paralegal, she was Price’s go-to paralegal. Well, heavy emphasis on the ‘was’. She had quit the other week. Rumors spread, but the consensus seemed to be that Price might have driven her to a mental break.

Your brain did the math quickly - that would leave you hitting around over 250 files altogether. And before you could voice your concern, Price spoke again. “You’ll become my primary paralegal. Any case you have with another attorney is going to get reassigned to someone else.” Slight relief washed over you. At least that knocked your case load down a bit, but that still left you under Price’s reign of terror. Reporting to him about everything.

How soon am I gonna have a mental break? Your brain echoed, but again, you just nodded in response to what he just said. “Have you lost your voice?” He raised a brow. Quickly you shook your head ‘no’.

“No, sir. Understood. I’ll draft memos on any file I have getting transferred to someone else so they know the status.” You spoke, looking down at him as he sat at his desk.

“Good, get back to work.” was all he said, nodding towards his door. And with that, you hurriedly exited his office before he could mention anything else.

Once you sat down at your desk, you opened the paralegal chat.

Guess who is the new Kelsey :))

The hours this day seemed to drag. And for what felt like the hundredth time that day, your eyes glanced at the clock.

7:03 PM.

You let out a frustrated sigh, keeping it quiet. Anything you wanted to actually get done today for the most part didn’t, as you were handling forest fire after forest fire that Price would email about. But at this rate, you felt defeated. Not even a full 24 hours as his designated paralegal and you were one step away from a mental break of your own.

Price was long gone from the office. Every other paralegal was also gone at this rate, vanishing at 5 PM on the dot. The only other presence was the office cleaning lady who came in everyday. She came over to your desk, smiling at you as a greeting before she grabbed your trash can to dump the contents into her larger bin she pushed around. “Isn’t it late, love?” her voice soft and you smiled sadly at her.

“I guess it is.” you said, glancing back at your screen. The lady glanced at your computer screen and then her eyes went to Price’s door, reading his name on the door. And it was like something clicked.

“Oh, does Mr. Price, have you staying late?” she asked, voice laced with pity it sounded like. How did she know? And it was like she read your mind. “That blonde girl….hm, Kelsey!” she exclaimed as she remembered the name. “She was always staying later for that man.” The older lady spoke and you huffed.

“Yeah, Mr. Price.” you mumbled, reaching over to shut your laptop off. There was no way you were doing anything else tonight - besides burying yourself under your bed covers.

“Well, have a good night.” The lady said, walking away as she continued to empty trash cans throughout the office.

And by the time you were home, it felt like a chore to put yourself in the shower. But the water hitting your back acts as a cleanser of any stress of the day. Why was he such a prick? The inflated ego was understandable stemming from the fact he was a successful attorney. But, what was the point of treating everyone around you like shit? If he had a wife, you felt terrible for her. Though you never did notice a wedding ring, honestly, it wouldn’t surprise you if he took it off when he wasn’t around her. And if he wasn’t married, then you figured he was probably single and alone, because who the fuck would deal with that?

Two Months Later

If hell was on earth, it was right here in this very office. At your desk. Working directly for John Price.

The past two months felt like you were running a treadmill that wouldn’t stop and the only way to get off would be to stop running and just let the damn thing fling you into the wall. At least there was paid overtime, or you genuinely would have been on the next train to the unemployment line. But once again, the clock read 6:30 PM for the third time this week. The music from Price’s office blasting as his door had been shut the past four hours. First the sounds of him screaming on the phone, the next two hours followed by a conference call where you were almost positive you heard another attorney start crying and the past hour had been strictly music. You weren’t sure what to expect from his music taste, but the array of Mötley Crüe, Rolling Stones, Slipknot and a bunch of others you couldn’t even begin to name was driving you to the point of losing your mind.

Your body only jumped slightly in your seat when the door to his office abruptly opened, the music pouring into the rest of the empty office. But your eyes focused on Price as you made note of his appearance. In your months working here, nothing about him was ever disheveled. Every button done, tie aligning perfectly with the buttons on his shirt, his hair gel holding every hair on his head in place. Except right now, he looked like he actually just ran on a treadmill as opposed to you who had just felt like you had been on one. The first two buttons of his shirt undone and his tie sprawled on the desk in his office along with his suit jacket that hung off the back of his own chair. His face was slightly red and the gel in his hair looked like it lost his hold and as if his fingers had run through it.

The way his eyes locked on you made your body tense. It made you feel like you were in the wrong for still being in the office. “You’re still here?” he questioned, slightly caught off guard by your presence.

You hesitated for a minute, fingers on the keyboard coming to a stop as you looked at him. Well obviously I’m still fucking here. And the tiredness of the day hitting you, that you couldn’t help but reply with an attitude. “Well, unless I’m a ghost then yes, I’m still here.” The emphasis on the ‘still’ was strong. But your tone didn’t even seem to strike him like you thought it would, he just cleared his throat and nodded.

“I’m stepping out to grab something for dinner quickly. See you tomorrow if you’re gone by the time I’m back.” was all he left you with as he left the office. His demeanor and lack of response to your attitude caught you off guard as you stared blankly at your screen as he left the office. What the fuck is wrong with him?

#john price x reader #john price x you #john price #captain john price #john price x female reader #lawyer!price #captain price #john price cod #captain john price x reader #captain john price x you #call of duty #john price x y/n #captain john price x female reader #finally i write the first part for lawyer price the day has come

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spaceshipellie · 11 months

Text

we were never just friends

ellie williams x reader

part three (part one, part two, part four)

summary: modern!ellie, both in their mid twenties. ellie and reader have been friends for years, their friendship has always been somewhat flirty but nothing has ever happened. not yet anyway…

warnings: angst, ellie’s pov for a bit, loser ellie but also cocky ellie, gay pining, reader being chaotic, mdni

author’s note: i feel so evil for this. thank you sm to everyone who’s read/liked/commented/reblogged, it really makes my day considering this is my first fic, love you all <3<3

word count: 4k approx

“what the fuck have we done?”

“i’m pretty sure we just fucked,” ellie whispered, a smile evident in her voice.

you stared up at the ceiling, in disbelief at what just happened. it felt as though it all happened so quickly yet time seemed to have stopped. the dim, dark blue of the room and the midnight hour made it feel like you could spend an eternity here before returning to the real world.

“what are you thinking about?” ellie broke you out of your trance.

“i was just thinking…” your voice trailed off. what exactly were you thinking?

half of you felt a euphoria you’d never experienced in your life. this breaking of the threshold of your friendship with ellie dripped with temptation and you had to use every ounce of willpower to not reach out and grab it again.

however, the other half of you felt an uneasy sense of dread. you’d just fucked your best friend in a bed that was meant for you and your girlfriend that weekend. not only were you going to have to figure out what to tell kate, you were worried what this might do to your friendship with ellie.

you’d always been close and when friends get close, harmless flirting can sometimes follow. you could admit to yourself that at times you had felt jealous of the girls ellie dated and that she occasionally flustered you, but you never thought that meant anything. or rather, you’d never allowed yourself to think it meant something.

ellie meant the world to you and the idea of losing her made your chest ache. you had been in happy, loving relationships before which had come to a bitter end and you supposed, subconsciously, you had thought that if you couldn’t handle those relationships ending, how on earth could you cope if ellie left your life. staying friends had always been the safest option.

“i was just thinking about how i don’t want this to make things weird between us,” you confessed.

ellie immediately shifted to lie on her side, facing you.

“hey, it won’t,” she touched your cheek and you moved to your side to face her, hands tucked under your pillow.

“you’d have to try pretty fucking hard to get rid of me.”

you laughed, thankful for her encouragement. but the next thing she said made your heart drop.

“i don’t know what i’d do without you anyway.”

you looked at her, longingly, unsure of what the right thing to say here was.

you stroked a hand down her arm that was resting between you until you reached her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“i’m not going anywhere, i just have to figure out what i’m supposed to do.”

if it weren’t for the darkness you would have seen the sadness that took over her face.

“i know,” she said faintly.

you remained like that for a moment, sleep almost consuming you until she pulled her hand away and sat up.

“i should probably go back to my room, you know, incase they catch us in here together.”

she searched around for her clothes, muttering a “fuck” as she bumped into the dresser.

“do you want me to turn the light on?”

“no, no, it’s fine. i got it.”

she clumsily pulled her shorts and t-shirt on and paused at the door.

“night.”

“night, ellie.” and with that she left.

you ran your hands over your face and pinched the bridge of your nose. don’t even think about it, just go to sleep, you thought. you tossed and turned for a while, but eventually you drifted off.

˚ · • . ° .

when you awoke in the morning, you could barely remember where you were. that was until you caught sight of your underwear on the floor.

you dragged yourself out of bed and threw some pyjamas on so you could go and use the bathroom. after showering you went back to your room and got changed before heading downstairs. the creek the last step made caused everyone’s heads to turn in your direction.

“hey, you’re up!” dina beamed. you noticed she was putting together some breakfast.

your eyes immediately latched onto ellie’s who was sat at the kitchen table. you shuffled over and took a seat opposite her.

“smells amazing, deen,” you mused.

“thanks, there’s loads here so don’t be shy,” she said as she put the food on the table. a stack of four plates already there for you to take.

as you ate, you talked about what you might do that day. aside from you and ellie sneaking glances at each other from across the table, everything seemed normal.

freya had told you about a farmer’s market that was close by which sounded fun so you agreed that’s what you’d do that morning.

in the car on the way, you were sat next to ellie in the back. her knees were spread so one kept bumping into yours with every jolt of the car. you didn’t talk very much, content with just listening to dina and freya mostly, as well as the music that played. you felt sick every time you thought about what the hell you were supposed to do now. you knew you were going to tell kate but you didn’t know how and you didn’t know when. tomorrow you’d get back from this trip and then there were only a couple of days before you were leaving for california. looking out the window and biting your nails you wished you could just stay in this car and drive forever, far away from the mess you’d made.

“you okay?” ellie’s quiet voice snapped you out of it.

“yeah, yeah, i’m fine,” you gave her a weak smile. you wished you could tell what she was thinking. to be able to tell what that look in her eye meant.

suddenly, you felt the car stop and freya announced that you were there. you all clambered out, adjusting your tote bag on your shoulder, and headed towards the market stalls.

it was quaint and lively as you wandered around. you casually browsed everything from the fruit and veg stalls to the jewellery and art stalls.

“hey, you could sell your art, you know?” you said to ellie, gesturing towards a stall where a woman was selling watercolour and charcoal drawings.

“i don’t think i’m that good.”

you both slowly strolled on, dina and freya somewhere up ahead.

“yes you are, i love your art.”

she gave you a quick smile before shaking her head.

“i’m fine just doing it for me.”

you lightly nodded, looking at her face as she looked ahead. there was a hint of dejection in her expression and she was dragging her feet more than normal. without really thinking, you grabbed her hand and pulled her to the side, away from the flow of people. she stood in front of you, eyes scanning your face waiting for you to explain.

“we need to talk about this,” you rushed out.

she hung her head and lightly kicked a rock on the ground.

“yeah, we probably do.”

“i’m really sorry, i shouldn’t have done it and i–“

“will you stop apologising?”

her eye contact was more intense than it had been before and she sounded serious as she cut you off.

“sorry,” you mumbled out and she let out a laugh before composing herself.

“are you gonna tell her?”

“i have to. i mean, i’d want her to tell me if she…”

ellie just nodded, looking down at her feet.

“can i ask you something?” she said.

“of course.”

“do you hope she’ll forgive you?”

her question caught you off guard. yes, seemed like the right answer so yes, you hoped she did. but a tiny part of you was here, looking at ellie’s face, not caring whether kate did or didn’t. the anticipation in ellie’s voice also made you wonder why she’d asked you that.

“why do you ask?” your voice came out small.

“because,” she sighed, “never mind.”

“ellie…”

“no, it’s,” she waved her hand in dismissal, “it’s none of my business.”

your heart pulled. you wanted to know what she was going to say so badly but didn’t want to push. she gestured towards the stalls.

“let’s go find them.”

˚ · • . ° .

— ellie’s pov —

“ok,” your voice was quiet and deflated and it made ellie feel terrible.

she was so torn about what to do. what could she do except wait on the sidelines? she so desperately wanted to know when you were going to tell kate and selfishly, she wanted to know if you and kate would stay together.

last night was something she’d dreamed of happening for as long as she could remember. she felt dazed just thinking about it. the way your lips felt against hers. the way you whimpered when she touched you. the way you made her feel so good.

something amazing had finally happened between you both. the only problem was it had happened under the worst fucking circumstances. she could kick herself for not doing something about her feelings sooner, when you were single, and everything could have been good.

she hated herself for the way she lost her mind around you. normally, she was pretty confident with women, but with you, it’s like every time she saw you her biggest fear became you finding out that she liked you because what if you didn’t feel the same. what if you rejected her and it ripped the fabric of your friendship forever. but, you had kissed her back. you had wanted her. she just now needed to know how much. soon enough you both found dina and freya over by a fruit and vegetable stall.

“there you guys are,” dina said before looking at ellie, her smile dropping slightly. fuck, ellie thought, she knows somethings wrong.

the four of you continued walking around, you’d bought some food to have back at the cabin and when it was midday you decided to go back. the entire car ride ellie’s brain was just spinning in circles about what could happen next. she couldn’t decide if she wanted this trip to be over now so she could find out or if she wanted to savour every second she had left here, away from reality.

as soon as dina noticed you and freya distracted by putting the shopping away, she grabbed ellie’s arm and pulled her into a different room.

“is everything ok?”

“yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“come on, ellie, don’t give me that. what’s going on?”

ellie looked down at her hands and played with her rings.

“it’s nothing, really.”

“did something happen?” dina’s voice was hesitant, “with you guys?”

ellie’s head snapped up to look at her.

“no, why would you say that?” her voice came out defensive and dina closed her eyes for a second, pondering what to say.

“i’m not stupid, you know. i see the way you look at her. the way you’ve always looked at her.”

ellie couldn’t deny it anymore.

“shit,” she ran a hand through her hair, “i know, it’s bad isn’t it?”

“well, it’s not bad to have feelings for her. it’s just difficult as she’s with someone.”

“yeah,” ellie let out a small, sarcastic laugh.

“so, what are you gonna do?”

“nothing. absolutely nothing.”

dina looked at ellie and felt sad. she pulled her in for a hug and rubbed her back comfortingly.

“it’ll be ok. talk to me if you need to, i know what you’re like.”

ellie laughed but appreciated dina’s encouragement.

“can’t say i can make any promises.”

˚ · • . ° .

— your pov —

the four of you spent the rest of the day cooking, swimming, and playing board games. things between you and ellie seemed relatively normal, she had perked up a bit since this morning which you were glad about. then your phone buzzed.

kate 🩵

10:34pm

hope you’re having a good time. i’m visiting my parent’s atm so won’t see you until wednesday morning, can’t wait to go away with you xx

your stomach dropped. fuck. wednesday was the day you were traveling to california. kate’s parents lived miles away, you couldn’t just go and see her now. how the fuck were you supposed to tell her before you went away? you thought you could call but you wanted to tell her in person so you could talk properly. you wrote back an unsure reply.

you

10:37pm

okay, see you then. me too xx

you put your phone back in your pocket, not wanting to look at it again. everyone was getting tired so when dina and freya said they were going to bed, you quickly jumped up saying you were too. before you followed them upstairs, you turned to ellie.

“are we ok?”

she gave you a reassuring smile.

“yeah, we’re ok.”

you hugged for a moment, giving her a small squeeze before you pulled away and both went to bed.

˚ · • . ° .

“how fucking could you?”

“ellie, please. i’m sorry, i’m so so sorry.”

“i don’t care if you’re sorry, you fucked up. you’re a horrible person. you were a horrible friend and i never want to see you agai–“

your body jolted awake.

you had the worst nightmare and it took your eyes a minute to adjust to the room that was still dark. your eyes squinted as you looked at your bright phone screen. 2:17am. groaning, you swung yourself out of bed and made your way downstairs to get a glass of water.

“shit,” you jumped upon seeing a figure already leaning against the counter by the window. the only light in the room came from a tiny lamp.

“ellie, you scared me.”

“sorry.”

you went and leaned against the counter opposite her. she was wearing baggy sweatpants that hung low on her waist and a white tank top.

“can i have some of that?” you pointed at her joint.

“sure,” she said, passing it to you, “can’t sleep?”

you took a drag before shaking your head, “no, you?”

“no.”

it was silent as you passed the joint back and forth a couple times.

“this is pretty fucked up, isn’t it?” she half-heartedly laughed, bringing it to her lips, looking at you.

you laughed with her, folding your arms over your chest.

“it is pretty fucked.”

her eyes lazily trailed over your body making your cheeks heat up and you shifted from one foot to the other.

“this isn’t how i expected the weekend would go,” you tried to lighten the tension but it was useless.

“me neither,” ellie said mindlessly, stepping forward and pulling the spaghetti strap of your top back up onto you shoulder after it had slipped down. her fingers touching your bare skin made you shiver.

“what are you doing?” you warned.

“you can tell me to stop.”

she gently grabbed your arms and uncrossed them from your body before sliding a hand down to your waist.

“do you want me to stop?” she taunted, putting her other arm behind her to stub the joint out on the sink, her eyes never leaving yours.

“i–no?” your voice was a mere quivered whisper.

she smirked and her eye lids went heavy as she slowly placed a light kiss on your lips. her face was still close to yours when she pulled away but she wanted you to do something.

your hands were gripping the counter you were pressed against. her hand spread itself wide on your waist whilst the other leant on the counter behind you.

“this is such a bad idea,” you muttered before kissing her again. your hands moved to hold her face and you moaned a little into it, truly feeling erratic but it was all too tempting. her hips pressed into yours and pathetically you clenched around nothing, itching to have her hands on you in you again.

“fuck fuck, stop,” you whined, not wanting her to but you had to. she stopped kissing you but you still held each other close.

“ellie,” your voice cracked, “i can’t. i want to but i can’t.”

she leaned her forehead on yours and rubbed her thumb on your waist.

“okay.” her voice was barely above a whisper. your hands squeezed her shoulders before letting go and she slid her hand away from your waist.

you went back to bed wanting to punch yourself. how was this happening. you still couldn’t sleep, a million thoughts barrelling through your mind.

you had never fully addressed your feelings for ellie out of fear of getting hurt. well isn’t that fucking ironic, you thought. not only were you hurt anyway but you were hurting other people. you knew you were being a coward. if you could bring yourself to just ask ellie outright how she felt about you then maybe this would be easier. if you could have done all of this six months ago it would be easier. but you didn’t and now there was a heavy weight of anxiety drilling into you every time you thought about the consequences.

˚ · • . ° .

the next morning, you felt like a ghost. you were so unbearably tired after getting no sleep last night. you patted your cheeks trying to knock some life into you so you could get up and get ready. stumbling down the stairs you noticed only dina and freya were there.

“where’s ellie?”

“still asleep i think,” dina said. she looked at you with soft eyes as if she was trying to work something out. you ignored it, praying she hadn’t got a clue about what had been going on. it was nearly 11am and the plan was to have brunch at the cabin before heading home. you helped dina and freya get the food sorted and arranged on the table when ellie came downstairs, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

“morning sleepy,” dina cooed.

“morning,” ellie said sitting down next to you, but she didn’t look at you.

you were pretty much ready to go after you ate and cleaned up seeing as you didn’t really unpack. you loaded up the car with your stuff before heading off, dina taking charge of the music in the front.

“did you guys have a good time?” freya directed her question at you and ellie, catching your eye in the rear view mirror. at the same time you and ellie shot out, “yeah loved it,” and “yeah it was great.”

“thanks so much for inviting us,” you added.

“anytime.”

you and ellie ended up falling asleep on the drive home, not waking up until the car stopped. your eyes fluttered open and you realised your head had been leaning on her shoulder and hers on your head. slightly confused, you both sleepily looked at each other before realising that freya was parked outside ellie’s place.

“oh fuck, sorry,” she said. dina and freya giggled, giving each other a knowing look.

“it’s alright.”

ellie got out the car and grabbed her bag before bending down to see through the open window.

“thanks freya, see you later guys.”

she caught your eye for a split second before going inside. you slouched in your seat whilst freya started the car again, heading to your place to drop you off.

˚ · • . ° .

you’d mostly been working the last couple of days since the cabin weekend which was good because it took your mind off everything by about 2%.

you hadn’t seen anyone either which was just as well because your nerves were through the fucking roof. you had wanted to tell kate before you went away as you assumed you wouldn’t be going anymore after she found out. if only she hadn’t been away at her parents prior, because it was now wednesday, and kate was on her way over.

she burst through the door after you buzzed her into the building, immediately rambling about everything you had to do. she started listing off everything to make sure you’d got it and you kept trying to interject.

“you’ve got your passport? your kindle? your–“

“kate, i need to tell–“

“–your phone charger–“

“please, can we just slow down a minute?”

“we don’t have time, we need to leave in like 30 seconds,” she said rummaging through her bag, checking everything again.

“i know but i need to talk to you.”

“babe,” she stopped to look at you, “we’ve got all the time in the world to talk, when we get there.”

you wanted to just blurt it out and get it over with but something was stopping you. the words were getting stuck in your throat like you were trying to scream on command. you really wanted to tell her before california but stupidly, you found yourself boarding that goddamn plane.

kate had read her book the entire flight there so you read yours too. you were sat in a taxi on the way to the hotel when you remembered to turn your phone back on. a text had come through just a few minutes after you had boarded.

ellie 👽

12:38pm

have a safe flight x

your leg bounced as your thumbs hovered over your phone.

you

4:56pm

thank you x

you wanted the ground to swallow you whole. you wanted that stupid spaceship you and ellie had joked about to come crashing down on top of you. the taxi driver started pulling up at your hotel and helped you get your luggage out. you thanked him and went through to check-in.

kate started talking to the receptionist as you smiled at her then looked around the lobby. jesus, it was fancy, you thought. when you got to your room you let out a deep breath, dumping your things down and falling backwards on the bed, hands running over your face in post-travel exhaustion.

you felt the bed dip and a hand peel yours away until you saw kate above you. you dropped your hand on the bed and hers placed itself on your waist as she leant down to kiss you. you kind of hesitated to kiss her back but she didn’t seem to notice as she started leaving kisses along your jaw and down your neck.

“what time did we book dinner?” you asked. she kept kissing.

“kate?”

she hummed against your skin.

“what time did we book dinner?”

she stopped and looked at you.

“uumm, 7 i think? why?”

“just couldn’t remember.”

she started to push her hand up under your top before you suddenly grabbed it.

“i’m not– i’m sorry, i wanna go have a shower. wash the plane off me,” you said, starting to sit up making her move off of you. she didn’t say anything just let you go and lock yourself in the bathroom. you leant on the sink and looked at yourself in the mirror.

“you are such a bitch,” you mouthed to your reflection before sighing and stripping to get in the shower.

your evening consisted of going to dinner and drinking far too many cocktails which made you crash instantly when you got back to the hotel.

the next day, you got up leisurely. you removed your smudged makeup from the night before, chugged a pint of water and got yourself ready for a day of lounging on the beach.

“so how was your weekend?” kate asked from where she sat beside you.

“it was,” your voice cracked so you coughed to clear it, “it was good thanks, freya’s cabin is beautiful. how was your time at your parents?”

“great, haven’t seen them for a while so was good to spend some time up there.”

“aw good, i’m glad.”

the silence that followed was probably a comfortable one for kate as she started to get her book out of her bag again but it was a soul-crushing one for you. you got your book out too and pretended to read whilst you went over everything again in your mind.

your day at the beach was filled with lots of reading, swimming, eating, and spiralling. it was about 5pm when you got back to the hotel room. your body felt like it was about to enter fight or flight.

“is everything alright?” kate asked, noticing your fidgeting.

“um, yeah,” you tried to sound upbeat.

“it’s just i feel like you’ve been acting weird ever since we got here. in fact, you were acting strange before we left your apartment.”

you sighed. your timing honestly couldn’t be worse if you tried but it was now or never, you thought. you couldn’t avoid it anymore, you just had to rip it off like a bandaid.

“i was trying to tell you that i need to tell you something.”

“ok?”

you hung your head and squeezed your eyes shut.

“i slept with ellie.”

˚ · • . ° .

tag list: @ximtiredx @mattm1964 @robinismywifee @gold-dustwomxn @rolly-pollie @sapphicproblem @harrysslutsstuff

an: this was probably the hardest part so far to write because i had no idea how to get the reader to tell kate. i know they’re SO MESSY BUT THATS RHE POINT

#spaceshipellie fics #ellie williams x reader #ellie williams x you #ellie williams #ellie williams smut #ellie x reader #ellie smut #ellie tlou #the last of us #tlou 2 #ellie williams x female reader #best friends to lovers #ellie williams angst #ellie williams fluff #ellie williams fic #ellie williams fanfic

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therainscene · 1 year

Text

Much of the supernatural horror that Will has to contend with works extremely well as a metaphor for his issues -- the Upside Down is the closet, the monsters represent homophobia, his powers are as repressed as he is, yadda yadda -- and in my opinion, this makes him a relatively easy character to analyze. Being able to draw on the supernatural stuff just gives you a lot more material to work with.

Mike, though? A goddamn enigma. He’s often present when supernatural stuff is happening, but he doesn’t interact with it to anywhere near the degree that Will does, and it’s much harder to fold him into the allegory being told here without reducing him to “Will’s love interest”.

And that’s interesting, don’t you think?

That the “stereotypical” gay boy who attracts homophobes like moths to a flame has had his issues laid out in code since the beginning? Whereas the straight-passing one, who’s so deep in the closet he’s probably not even out to himself yet, is so hard to read that most of the GA assume his bizarre personality change in S3 was a symptom of bad writing?

Figuring yourself out as a queer is a challenge even today, and part of the reason it’s so challenging is because heteronormativity steamrolls right over our right to know that being queer is a valid option.

The closet isn’t a queer space -- it’s a queer-shaped void within a heteronormative space.

Stranger Things is full of examples of this:

Will isn’t shy about expressing his disgust at the thought of dating girls, but he’s dealing with a lot of childhood trauma so he’s just a late bloomer, right?

Will is jealous and upset about his new step-sister’s relationship with the boy he’s been attached to at the hip since he was five, but it must be because he’s in love with her or otherwise misses his platonic buddy, right?

El’s character arc is about freeing herself from toxic relationships with men, but her infatuation with the boy who puts her on a pedestal is the one exception to that, right?

Robin shows zero romantic interest in men before coming out, but she and Steve just vibe so well it’s reasonable to assume they’re love interests, right?

Vickie paused Fast Times at fifty-three minutes five seconds, but she has a boyfriend so she must be straight, right?

Over and over, the show presents us with an ambiguously queer situation and dares us to assume it’ll end heteronormatively.

If this were any other show I’d call it queerbaiting... but these situations just keep ending in a non-heteronormative way, all while symbolically dancing around Mike.

Granted, “non-heteronormative” doesn’t necessarily equal gay -- El’s arc is more about independence and forging healthy platonic relationships than about replacing men with women -- but she’s still on the path to breaking out of comphet, which is rather a queer act regardless of whether she's literally queer herself.

But I’m digressing.

We’ve seen how Will is visibly queer and struggles with the trauma of being abused for it, and how his closet is symbolized by the existence of a literal alternate dimension full of monsters.

But Mike is invisible, so his closet isn’t represented by a metaphor at all, but by something more meta than that -- it’s etched out in the negative space formed by the narrative itself. Only the audience can see it, and then only if we’re paying attention, tracing the edges of the story and feeling out the shape it results in.

These two different approaches in depicting the struggle of being closeted remind me of drowning.

In films, drowning is a noisy and dramatic affair, easy to identify.

But in real life, drowning doesn’t look like what we think it does -- it’s silent and resembles calm water play. All too often, drowning victims will quietly slip under and succumb helplessly to the depths...

...right under everyone’s noses.

#stranger things #byler #mike wheeler #will byers #el hopper #my analysis

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chelseeebe · 1 year

Text

pick a side or i’ll pick you both.

ghostface!eddie x ghostface!femreader x steve

oh there is murder, there is adultery, there is smut. there’s just about every major sin. (oh and will byers is dead :/)

she nods frantically, eyes wide with fear. it’s like fucking crack. you’d love to see how much you could get her to squirm. beg for your forgiveness. but you were aware the more you prolonged this, the more you risked getting caught.

or you and eddie become partners in crime. how wrong could it go?

a/n: cooking up a part two to this already, i really could’ve just gone on and on but it was already rather long so thought i’d split it.

part one. | part two. | epilogue.

‘i want to wrap my hands around her fucking neck,’ you spit, narrowed eyes on the image of your boyfriend and nancy wheeler giggling, awfully close. to one another.

eddie let’s out a maniacal laugh, leaning over towards you, ‘why don’t you?’

you break your glare and look at him, ‘because it’s illegal, dumbass.’

‘and?’ he dips his head, suddenly straight faced, fortunately it was only the pair of you on the table.

‘don’t tempt me,’ you push back, tilting your head at him, still not taking him entirely seriously.

‘you’ve seen those movies, right? psycho killer.. kills all the teens.. that sorta shit.’

‘yeah.. and they always get caught at the end of it.. not really selling it for me, munson,’ you look back at nancy and steve, still batting her sickly doll eyes at him.

eddie follows your eyes, ‘that’s the thing.. we wouldn’t, it’s basically the perfect crime, mask up.. leave no trace, unbeatable.’

you relent, giving him the benefit of the doubt, ‘okay.. say we do this, then what? just go on to the live the rest of our lives? live with the thought of what we’ve done?’

‘yeah,’ he nods enthusiastically, ‘or.. you might find you enjoy it.. and we go on a crazy killing spree.’

‘i don’t think so.. you really think we could do this? and be fucking serious eddie.’

‘deathly serious,’ he chuckles, ‘you’re actually down?’

‘i’m not saying i’m down.. i’d just like to hear more of this amazing plan, and then i’ll decide,’ you nod, was killing nancy really an option?

knowing eddie he was one hundred percent joking, some elaborate prank to embarrass you or to get you in on some weird drug peddling scheme.

though, the thought of nancy just permanently being gone was incredibly tempting, and say that eddie was being serious.. why would you not do it?

‘come by my trailer later, we can talk about it properly,’ his eyes shoot up, ‘heads up.. your communal boyfriend is coming.’

he sits back in his sit properly as steve joins the table, sliding into the seat next to you, ‘hey baby,’ his arm coming to rest around your waist.

you’re oddly quiet for the rest of lunch, contemplating whether to follow eddie into this insane plan. spending the rest of your life in jail wasn’t exactly how you’d planned but on the flip side, not having a third wheel for the entirety of your relationship sounded just heavenly.

turns out, eddie’s plan wasn’t totally shit. he’d ran through the entire thing, detailed plans on how it would go down. complete anonymity thanks to his cheap silicone halloween masks and the large black robe that would cover your entire body.

you’d had to bring him back down to earth a couple times, reminding him that neither of you were exactly a reincarnation of bundy.

‘so you wanna do it?’ he cocks his head, looking down at you perched on the earth sofa.

he’d jumped up halfway through his pitch, gesturing wildly and getting over excited, practically shaking as he walked you through his steps.

you bite down on your bottom lip, could you really kill someone? was it even possible to live with that guilt for the rest of your life?

the image of nancy batting her long eyelashes at steve flashes through your mind. and the urge to strangle her comes flooding back, previous thoughts drowned out with the new picture of your hands wrapped around her neck as she squirms beneath you.

‘let’s do it,’ you affirm, eddie nearly jumps for joy at the confirmation.

‘now?’ he asks, resuming his position on the couch.

‘no.. don’t be stupid,’ you ponder, you weren’t all too familiar with nancy’s schedule but you could most definitely find out, ‘nancy’s mom is in the pta.. they meet on wednesday’s.. so we know she’s out then..’

‘okay.. that’s good, i say we strike on wednesday.. mommy will be out, her dad’s a fucking loser, drinks in the same bar as my uncle and he’s always going on about how much he hates his life.’

you nod, formulating the perfect plan. how and when you would strike. it wasn’t going to easy of course, but you knew it would be worth it.

steve had accidentally let slip that he used to climb through her bedroom window, complaining that he couldn’t do that at your house. he caught a well deserved attitude for that one.

‘the window.. we go through the window,’ you grimace, ‘that’s how steve used to get in.’

eddie makes a whistling sound but doesn’t elaborate. you sit in his trailer for the rest of the night, working out timings, weapons and whatever other tiny, seemingly meaningless details that you could not fuck up.

you were nervous, unsure if you were about to commit to the worst decision of your life. but on the ride over, eddie makes sure to remind you of her disgusting pout, the small, seemingly innocent touches to steve’s arm and that stupid baby voice she put on in every conversation.

you’re angry all over again. sick to your stomach that she’d even have the audacity to act like that with your boyfriend. especially when her own boyfriend looked on in sad despair.

fucking cunt.

you’d taken your moms car, as to not draw suspicions in eddie’s ratty van. parking just down the street with all the other fancy cars.

eddie runs through the plan once more, ensuring that you understood. go in through the window, muzzle her and then you could do whatever the hell you’d wanted.

the masks smelt disgusting, like rubber and plastic and it was particularly hot under the extra layers.

eddie hoists himself up first, reaching down to grab onto your hand, landing on the slanted side roof.

he slinks over to the window, looking in before motioning for you to join him. she wasn’t in there. perfect opportunity to get in and hide somewhere.

‘open the window then, jackass,’ you hiss, nudging him.

it doesn’t open at first and you peer around hoping no nosy neighbours had decided to stick their nose out. you were pretty much hidden in the darkness but you couldn’t be too sure.

he finally gets it open, not without a struggle and hops in, turning to help you get through.

you glance around her room, all perfect and quaint. there’s a photo booth reel of her and steve still tucked into her mirror and you roll your eyes at the images of them grinning and laughing. the last one of him kissing her on the cheek particularly infuriates you.

‘fucking hide,’ eddie spits, taking position behind her door.

you flip him the finger, lingering on the photo and debating whether to rip it into pieces on her floor. perhaps that was too obvious.

you perch on all fours behind her bed, cursing under your breath as the synthetic material of the robe itches your arms.

you’re unsure how long you sit there waiting. it had to have been a good twenty minutes before you hear the stairs creak and you look at eddie one last time before ducking down properly.

the door opens and promptly shuts, a muffled high pitch squeal comes from that direction and you assume eddie had done his part.

you stand up finally, watching as nancy struggles with eddie’s hand clamped over her mouth, the other arm keeping her arms contained behind her back.

she can’t see it but you’re smirking, slowly walking over to the pair. eddie had had the common sense to lock her door before attacking.

‘shut up,’ you bark as she thrashes around, obviously trying to scream through his hand.

no where near loud enough for anyone else to hear, thankfully.

her eyes widen at the obvious recognition of your voice and she subdues for a second, chest heaving.

‘i know what you are nancy wheeler,’ pointing the knife edge to her throat, not enough pressure to really hurt her, but she starts panting, tears leaking out of her eyes.

you’re close enough to see every last expression on her face.

‘you’re a slut,’ you snarl, ‘you should’ve just listened when i told you to fuck off,’ tilting your head.

the sight of her so panicked only fuelling your rage. her tears drenching eddie’s gloved hand.

‘fucking do it,’ he snaps, almost struggling to contain her.

she must have gotten out of his grip slightly, her hand reaching around to claw at your arm. causing a hushed fuck out of your mouth. you return the knife to her throat, pushing harder than before as eddie reclaims full control of her arms.

‘you wanna apologise nancy?’ you glower through the mask, jaw tense, ‘apologise for being so obsessed with my boyfriend?’

‘too late,’ you hiss, slashing the knife across her throat, spurts of red blood come pouring out and eddie let’s go, her body falling to the floor.

‘holy shit,’ he breathes, watching as the life drains from her face, helpless gasps of her last breaths come out of her mouth.

you don’t move. frozen in place as the carpet slowly turns a dark shade of red. she eventually stops moving, eyes still wide and no longer blinking.

‘we need to go, now,’ eddie tugs on your hand.

but your eyes don’t move from her body, watching even as you climb out of the window. in a state of shock as you sprint back to your mom’a abandoned car.

eddie gets in, discarding the mask on the back seat and putting his foot to the floor to get out of there.

you don’t say a word. mouth open as you blankly watch the moving road.

‘you okay over there?’ he questions, slightly worried at your lack of response, ‘give me something here,’ his eyes dart between you and the road, flashing you a worried look.

but it wasn’t regret. no. you’d liked it. the feeling of being so powerful that you could take a life.

you catch your breath, throwing your mask into the back with his, looking over at eddie at last.

‘that was.. insane,’ you shudder, a large grin overtaking your face.

eddie bangs on the steering wheel, matching your smile, ‘holy shit, i thought you were freaking out on me.’

you reel for a second, fully taking in the entire event. how good it felt to see the blood gushing out of nancy. the colour draining from her face. knowing that she could no longer get in the way of your relationship.

you’d heard through steve that jonathan byers had been in questioning all night. as nancy’s current past boyfriend it was the obvious place to turn to.

you’re sat in the courtyard with steve, eddie and robin, consoling your boyfriend and trying your hardest to appear condoling.

there were cop cars littered outside of the school, slowly making their way through the register and interviewing each and every student. it’s a horrible feeling but you can’t help it. the swelling feeling of pride in your chest. satisfied that not a single person had suspected you.

steve had already been interviewed, fast tracked due to his previous relationship, ‘they said she didn’t fight back..’ he sighs and your hand comes up to rub his back, ‘i just hope she wasn’t in pain.’

the still stinging scratch down your forearm would suggest differently, but you just pull your shirtsleeve further down, nodding at his pathetic pining.

‘it was probably some psycho,’ robin shakes her head, ‘targeting lone women.. maybe we’re next,’ she looks at you, wide-eyed.

‘don’t say that shit,’ steve spits, scowling at her.

‘i’m just saying.. it’s a very real possibility,’ she replies, although she admits defeat and hangs her head, picking at her nails.

‘i don’t think so.. it was probably just a freak event.. we’ll be okay,’ you nod, glancing at eddie who was uncharacteristically quiet.

‘man, i just can’t believe it..’ steve mopes, clutching onto your hand.

if you’d known he was going to be such a sad sack of shit maybe you wouldn’t have done it. you’d done this for him. for your relationship. he needed to realise that this was for the better. though, now you could at least be the one to make him feel better. eventually he’d get over it.

maybe you’d have to kill him next if he couldn’t get a damn grip.

a group of girls walk past, talking loudly about jonathan being released, he’d been at work at the movie theatre all night. for a second you’re disappointed, now they were definitely still on the hunt for the killer.

accusations turn to sympathetic voices, pitying the poor boy. you hadn’t really thought of this aspect. gotta be shit to lose your brother and girlfriend and be accused of killing them both.

‘did you hear that? byer’s has been released.. that means they’re still out there,’ eddie speaks up, raising his eyebrows.

‘they’ll find him, they have to. it can’t be that hard in this tiny town,’ steve frowns.

‘him? how’d you know it’s a him?’ eddie adds and if looks could kill, he’d have been keeled over on the floor in an instant.

‘i don’t, asshole.. just assuming,’ your boyfriend sniffs, now being the one to glare at eddie.

the bell rings and you snap to attention, standing from the small bench you’d all been gathered on, ‘i’ll see you at lunch?’ standing on your tiptoes to reach steve’s face.

he nods, giving you a small smile. you take it because it is a hell of a lot better than that sad pout he’d had plastered on his face.

‘try not to think about it,’ leaving a soft kiss on his cheek and breaking away from the group, heading towards your class.

there’s loud footsteps following behind and then suddenly eddie is right next to you, smirking.

‘you’re a fucking idiot, how’d you know it’s a him,’ you mimic in hushed tones.

‘oh c’mon.. your blessed boyfriend is not that smart,’ eddie snarks, baring his teeth with that psychotic smile.

‘wipe that fucking grin off your face.. you look guilty as fuck,’ you hit back, looking at the surrounding students and just praying none of them noticed.

‘hey..’ he reaches out to touch your arm, ‘we did it, didn’t we? stop worrying, no one suspects a thing,’ he whispers, following you into the building.

‘yeah we hope,’ you snap, ‘you better pray your plan worked.. i’m too fucking pretty to go to jail,’ storming away from him and into the classroom.

he watches you leave, a small smirk on his lips before skulking into his own classroom.

‘you gonna protect me from the big scary murderer stevie?’ you breathe, leaving soft kisses along his jaw.

you’d gone over to steve’s house under the guise of keeping him company, and maybe to get laid. and after a feeble attempt to do homework, you’d found yourself on his lap, lazily making out.

he pauses for a second, internally debating whether being so horny just days after his ex-girlfriend was brutally murdered was perhaps too far.

it doesn’t take much convincing though as your hips grind against his, sucking the skin on his neck. soft groans tumbling out of his parting lips.

he pulls his head back before kissing you, his hands finally grip onto your exposed thighs. a low moan rumbles into your mouth, his hands slide under your skirt.

your fingers tangle into his hair, continuing to move your hips against him, ‘y’want me to make you feel better baby?’

‘mmhmm,’ he whines, pushing your skirt up and exposing your ass, ‘please baby,’ practically begging as you reach down to feel his growing erection.

just as you were about to unzip his bulging jeans, there’s a bang from somewhere outside, he freezes, ‘did you hear that?’ mumbling against your cheek.

‘it’s just the wind, steve,’ you moan back, still palming him through his jeans.

‘no.. no, that wasn’t.. wait,’ he gently pushes you away from him, ‘someone’s outside,’ he sits up from the couch, still holding onto your thighs.

‘there’s no one outside.. c’mon steve,’ you pout, grasping his shoulders.

you knew damn well that the murderer wasn’t outside, she was sat right on his lap for christ’s sake.

before you can regain his attention, another bang happens, right on his living room window.

his head snaps to you, ‘i fucking told you..’ his eyes are wide, full of worry that he was about to meet a similar fate to nancy, ‘he’s here.’

you’re pushed off of his lap, landing in the spot next to him on the couch, desperately trying to pull your skirt back down.

‘i’m telling you.. there’s no one here,’ well, there could be, but you definitely had nothing to do with it this time.

steve stands, panicked, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a rather large knife. he looked quite comical really, wielding a kitchen knife accompanying his raging boner.

you roll your eyes, not impressed by his heroic stance against the wind.

something knocks at the back door and steve spins on his heel, ‘i’ve got a knife! i’m not afraid to use it!’ screeching at the glass.

he gingerly walks over to the door, knuckles white as he grips onto the handle. it’s at that point you hear the all too familiar cackle.

fucking eddie.

he finally makes his appearance, waving at him from the glass. steve drops the knife, cussing eddie out as he unlocks the door for him.

‘dude, what the fuck?’ he screams as eddie saunters in, grinning.

‘oh come on.. you weren’t really scared?’ he looks at the discarded knife, and then to your boyfriends semi, ‘that’s kinda weird, dude.. but whatever you’re into i guess.’

‘fuck off, what are you even doing here?’ steve grills him, and you join him in the kitchen, holding onto steve’s arm.

‘i came to teach you kids about the first rule of horror.. never have sex, how fucking stupid are you?’ eddie chuckles, you stare daggers into him.

steve sighs, leaning back against the counter, ‘you’re an asshole man, i thought we were about to be next! where’d you learn comedy? psycho school?’

‘yeah, eddie. so not funny,’ you frown, attempting to signal for him to leave.

‘hey, i couldn’t let you guys get killed, could i? y’know there’s a scary killer out there,’ he smirks, opening the fridge and retrieving one of steve’s dads beers, promptly cracking it open on his teeth.

‘jesus- i’m gonna get changed.. make yourself at home,’ steve grumbles, slinking off from the kitchen.

‘what’d you cum in your pants or something?’ eddie bellows, watching as you check steve had actually gone upstairs.

you rush over to him, punching his arm and causing a tidal wave of beer to flow out of the bottle, ‘you’re a fucking asshole,’ you hiss, quiet enough.

‘sorry princess, guess you’ll have to get your rocks off some other time,’ he smirks, taking another large swig.

you huff, ‘i’ll fucking kill you next.. don’t think i won’t,’ warning him with wide eyes, retrieving the knife and waving it about vaguely in his direction.

‘yeah yeah.. nice panties by the way, really enjoyed the show,’ licking his bottom lip.

you slide the knife back into the wooden block, spinning to glare at him again. before you can insult his entire family line, you’re interrupted by steve coming back into the kitchen, now in a pair of grey sweatpants.

‘you’re a real asshole, dude.. i could’ve stabbed you,’ he mumbles, getting himself a beer.

‘yeah yeah, i’ve just had an earful from her.. don’t need another one,’ eddie replies, scouring steve’s cupboards.

it’s enraging you. the indistinguishable fury rising in your stomach. if steve hadn’t come and saved his life, you might have just killed him then and there.

‘what’re we doing then? movie?’ eddie laughs, walking past you and into the living, settling right into the spot where you and steve had just disgraced his sofa.

steve follows, flashing you a small smile and a sarcastic eye roll. that pisses you off too.

why couldn’t he just tell him to get the fuck out? be a man. i’m fucking my girlfriend here man. time to go. but he doesn’t. he sits on the other loveseat, gesturing for you to join him.

eddie picks some god awful slasher film to watch, making sure to point out exactly where you and steve had gone wrong.

you’re seething with rage every time his mouth opens, not even bothering to pay attention to the film and instead willing him to blow up with your mind.

when the movie finishes, eddie stands and dramatically yawns, looking at his watch, ‘it’s getting late.. i’ll give you a ride home,’ he nods at you, if you hadn’t seen it before you would’ve missed his sarcastic smirk.

steve nods in agreement, ‘it’s on the way.. i’ll see you at school tomorrow?’ hand sliding down your back.

you grin and bare it. gritting your teeth as you get your bag. feeling both of their eyes on your thighs and you bend down to collect your belongings.

you’re sure to practically make out with steve on the doorstep, leaving a solemn last kiss to his neck as you trundle over to eddie’s rusty old van.

it’s only when you’re halfway down the road that you explode, ‘what the actual fuck is wrong with you?’

eddie responds with that same maniacal laughter, ‘banging his hand onto the steering wheel, ‘awh, did someone get cockblocked? sucks.’

‘i don’t think you understand, i will fucking kill you.. you’ve seen the goddamn proof,’ you grit, turned to face him.

‘good, keep that rage!’ he balls his hand into a fist, ‘we’re gonna need it.’

‘what the fuck are you talking about?’

‘carver. it’s happening, tonight,’ he grins, going the complete opposite way to your house.

‘no the fuck it is not, are you crazy? there’s not- we don’t even have a plan! you just gonna walk in there and gut him?’ you scream, flabbergasted at his frankly insane suggestion.

‘’hmm, basically,’ he nods, ‘calm down sweetheart.. shit’s in the back.. perfect alibi.. what could go wrong?’

a lot. apparently.

first of all, eddie had neglected to mention you’d be going to jason’s mansion to off him. or that his parents would be home.

he’d had to park miles away and you’d skulked through the forest backing onto his property for what seemed like hours before you reached the gigantic house.

secondly, eddie had planned to slip through his window and just slash his throat in his sleep. not taking into account that he might not be asleep and still sat at his desk, stressing over some math problem.

‘now what do we do? huh, genius?’ you spat, watching the illuminated window.

‘just.. fuck, just follow me,’ he hissed, leading the way across the large garden.

perhaps wearing your shortest, sluttiest skirt to a murder was the wrong idea. but, in your defence this was definitely not supposed to happen tonight.

eddie gestured for you to clamber up first, but you aren’t stupid, slapping his arm, ‘not a chance, pervert,’ you hissed, met with a smug smile as he reluctantly climbed up onto the awning.

you were supposed to serve as distraction, knock on the window, get him to let you inside and then eddie would swoop in and finish him off.

mumbling something about the killer. his light was on. no- no parents. and you were in.

solid plan. if it weren’t for the fact that eddie is a fucking idiot. he tumbles through the window, landing on jason’s floor with a thud. he looked like a damn goof with the mask on, now crooked and quite comical.

‘wha- what the fuck is going on?’ jason stammers, backing away from you.

‘jesus christ, can you do anything right?’ you sigh, dragging eddie from the floor, already making your way back to the window.

there’s a muffled scream and a horrid squelching sound, jason’s body crashing to the ground and then you’re hurried back through the window. scraping your knee on the brickwork on the way down.

you can’t stifle the laugh as eddie pulls you back through the trees, tripping over branches in the barely lit forest.

one would say that you were addicted. the thrill. the excitement of knowing exactly what you’d just done and subsequently gotten away with. there was not a chance in hell anyone would ever suspect the two of you.

after the initial glow had worn off and you’d come back down to earth sat in eddie’s van, you turn to look at him, ‘i really am done now.. we can’t do this again.’

‘whaaat?’ he glances at you, ‘the fun’s just starting sweetheart, plenty more assholes to off in this town,’ his eyes are wide, dark.

‘no.. that’s it, count me out of whatever you have planned next,’ you assert, running fingers through your hair in an attempt to look slightly more presentable.

he scoffs, ‘i don’t believe you, you love it,’ his eyes are back on you, ‘i saw you back there.. fucking grinning like a cheshire cat, don’t pretend you don’t enjoy it.’

‘i’m not saying i didn’t enjoy it.. we just, we’re not off the hook yet, i don’t wanna go to prison because you got too stab happy,’ you jab back, applying another layer of lipgloss in the small visor mirror.

‘we’re not going to prison, no one has a fucking clue it’s us,’ he grins, pulling into your street.

‘you don’t know that,’ you sigh, grabbing your handbag from the floor, ‘i think we should just.. slow down a little.. y’know, do it when it’s necessary.’

‘where’s the fun in that?’ he says, stopping outside of your house.

before you can get out he reaches over, stopping the door from fully opening, ‘one more.. and then we can stop.. do it on your terms.’

you pause, glaring at him and the little optimistic grin on his face, ‘fine,’ you huff, ‘who’s the unfortunate guy?’

‘principal higgins.. that wrinkly fuck is the only reason i’m still in high school, i think he’s more than deserving.’

‘right, you got an actual plan this time or are we just going in fucking bareback?’

‘oh no, i’ve got the perfect plan,’ he taps the side of his head, ‘up here.. we can talk more tomorrow.. i just needed you on my side.’

‘well, i am, can i go now?’ you glance down at his hand still holding onto the plastic handle.

he sits back in his seat, ‘yeah, meet me before school.. i’ll run you through it.’

‘right, goodnight psycho,’ you call as you hop down from the van, slamming the door shut.

he watches from the window as you disappear through the door and then speeds off into the night.

higgins went off without a hitch. kind of. it had been a friday night and eddie already knew he’d still be at the school doing god knows what.

he’d wanted to really torture him. make him beg for forgiveness, draw it out for as long as possible but you’d reminded him that the small town was absolutely crawling with cops and news crews and perhaps it wasn’t the best idea.

he has his fun though. receiving a personal apology for all the times he’d fucked eddie over. for making him retake all those years.

you suppose it was a little satisfying. that prick had given you enough detentions and notes home for inappropriate clothing choices so you enjoyed watching him squirm for a while.

but eddie does what eddie does and got far too cocky, taking off his mask and having higgins perform this whole boot kissing ritual and you’d just about had enough. getting ready to dip as soon as he’d done it.

there was a faint vacuuming sound from the hall and you realise the janitor was also probably still here, hissing for eddie to just hurry the fuck up.

he does. eventually. the most evil laugh erupting from his throat as he plunges the knife into his back, a horrid sputtering sound as he chokes for his last few breaths.

eddie gets the last few kicks in, slamming his head into desk. and then starts rooting around the large filing cabinet.

‘what are you doing?’ you asked, itching to just get the fuck out of there.

‘i want my file, i wanna see all the shit he’s put in there,’ he replied, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth.

‘are you thick? and when they go through the files and yours is missing, you think they’ll just ignore that?’

‘ahh shit,’ he frowned, looking at you and nodding before slamming the metal drawer closed.

you shake your head before opening his office door, ‘put your mask back on before anyone sees us.’

and thank fuck you did. you were almost out of the school when the very janitor you’d heard cleaning earlier turns the corner, spotting the pair of you before you dash out of the doors. pulling eddie behind you and into the car.

you had definitely broken the speed limit on the drive back to eddie’s trailer, chest heaving. you were becoming far too accustomed to this feeling. finding too much joy in taking away someone else’s life.

the added thrill of almost being caught not helping your pounding heart. knowing that you were just this close to being seen.

eddie’s rambling on in the passenger seat, gloating about the look the old man’s face, the sheer terror he had instilled in the grown man. killing him in the very office where he had told eddie that he was being held back once again.

you pull up on the gravel outside his trailer, the trailer park was always a ghost town, the residents always at work or sleeping for their night shift. there was no worry anyone would catch you here.

you follow him into the metal building, head fuzzy with excitement, that dizzy feeling ringing through your entire body.

‘holy fuck,’ you exhale, almost vibrating with excitement.

his pupils are blown out, staring straight into yours. and in a swift motion, before you can even think about what was happening, his lips are pressed to yours, fingers digging into your hip as you’re pushed back into the long cabinet.

you weren’t even really aware that you were kissing him back, a mess of teeth and tongues, your arms snake around his neck, using his body for balance as you’re walked back into the tiny kitchen area.

there’s a loud clattering as the counter top is cleared, kitchen appliances crash to the ground in one fell swoop of eddie’s arm and then you’re being hoisted onto the counter, still making sloppy contact with his lips.

you’re not even thinking. there’s no time to as your legs instinctively wrap around his waist, skirt hiked up over your thighs by his ringed hands. one arm is still hooked around his shoulder while the other grips onto the marble surface, giving some stability.

he burrows his face into the crook of your neck, just barely yanking his jeans and in turn, his boxers down before pulling your red panties to the side.

‘you wanna?’ he pants into your neck, and you nod quickly in response.

he wastes no time before slipping into your already soaked entrance, groaning as his fingernails dig into the skin of your thighs.

‘jesus fuck,’ he grunts, setting a steady pace, the cold feeling of his ringed fingers sliding up your thighs.

your legs hold him in place, face pressed into the shoulder of his denim jacket, the knob of the cabinet behind digs into your spine but the pleasure overrides the ache.

it’s animalistic, his thrusts are hard and deep, a plethora of hoarse grunts fall from his lips. one hand creeps up, thumb circling your clit, eliciting the most disgusting pornographic sound to rise from your throat.

this only encourages him, filthy sounds of his skin against yours fill the trailer. you were sure anyone outside could see the damn thing rocking.

‘fuuck,’ you moan through gritted teeth as his thumb continues to draw patterns on your clit. the familiar tight feeling in your core begins to rise.

the rhythmic sound of his knee banging into the cabinet door below you as he mumbles incoherent curse words into the air. his nails begin to sting, making indentations in your thighs as he bears his own high.

‘i’m gonna- fuck,’ you mewl, eyes rolling to the back of your head as the coil snaps, clenching around him as your legs tremble.

‘jesus,’ he pants, a solid few final thrusts as he reaches his own orgasm, sweaty forehead stuck in the curve of your neck.

you stay in that position for a moment, panting together. as you both come back down to earth, he pulls away, fiddling with the zip on his jeans.

you hop down from the counter, readjusting your own underwear, staring at the ugly tiles on the floor.

‘i have a boyfriend,’ you remark, as if you’d only just remembered. as if you hadn’t literally killed for him.

eddie scoffs, wiping a hand down his face, ‘pretty stupid thing to say when my cum is running down your leg.’

you squeeze your legs together in response, smoothing down your skirt and screwing up your face at him, ‘this stays between us.. no one ever has to know, okay?’

‘calm down, darlin’, i was hardly about to go running to tell steve that i’ve just fucked his girlfriend,’ he laughs, fixing the waistband of his boxers and walking into the hallway to his room.

you stare blankly, wondering what the hell he was up to now. you’d just defamed his kitchen and he’s just walked off?

he re-emerges, holding a small bag of weed, ‘you wanna smoke?’

‘no,’ you reply flatly, ‘i’m gonna go.’

‘suit yourself,’ he raises his eyebrows before collapsing on the couch, beginning to roll up.

you walk over to the door, swinging it half open before pausing, ‘i mean it, eddie.. don’t say a thing,’ you spit before exiting, his reaction not necessary.

what the fuck is wrong with you?

‘you knew nancy, didn’t you?’ jonathan asks, looking up at you from across the table.

robin had graciously asked him to join you guys for lunch. you’d been a bit antsy about it, not sure how much you could lie to him about what you knew. you felt bad for him, after all, he’d lost both his brother and now his girlfriend.

she should’ve stayed the fuck out of your relationship then.

‘kinda i guess.. we weren’t really friends or anything,’ you shrug, brushing him off.

but his eyes don’t move, narrowed and glaring at you, ‘oh.. i thought you two spoke, nancy said you did,’ he continues.

you swallow, trying your hardest not to look nervous although you weren’t sure how well that was working.

‘a few times.. we were in a few classes together,’ giving a small smile, throw him off whatever scent he thinks he’s picked up.

he hums, ‘right.. i always thought it was a little strange.. you never seemed like you liked her,’ beady eyes on you.

‘of course i did- sorry, i don’t understand what you’re trying to say,’ frowning slightly, eternally grateful that robin was the only other person at the table and she wasn’t really paying attention.

‘i’m not saying anything, just trying to make some sense of it all,’ he glowers, dipping his head and finally taking the hint to stop talking.

he was onto you. you knew it. he knew it. actually, what the fuck does he know? nancy sure as hell never spoke about you, especially not in a positive light. you could guarantee that.

the others eventually join you, gossiping about higgins and the apparent horrific state he’d been found in. jonathan’s eyes do not relent. anytime you’d look up, it was a given that he would be staring. it’s like he’s trying to figure you out.

before he walks off to his next class, you pull eddie to the side, under the guise of some maths homework bull shit.

‘jonathan fucking knows,’ you say through gritted teeth, ensuring no one could hear you.

‘what are you talking about?’ he replies, shoving miscellaneous scraps of paper into his bag.

‘he fucking knows eddie,’ you eye the surrounding students, none of them interested in what you were saying.

‘i can guarantee you he doesn’t, how would he?’

‘i don’t know! he was asking me all these.. weird questions about nancy.. can you just trust me on this?’ you hiss, grabbing his sleeve as he turns to walk to his class.

he stops, looking down at you with questioning eyes, ‘you’re sure?’

‘like.. sixty percent.’

he sighs and your grip tightens, holding him in place, ‘that’s not very sure.’

‘i need you to find out what he knows.. please eddie,’ you plead, turning on your pouty face and jutting out your bottom lip.

‘what d’you want me to do? i’m not exactly friends with him.’

you pause for a moment, ‘tomorrow, at steve’s memorial party thing, get him drunk.. give him some of your fucking crack for all i care, i need you to find out,’ batting your wide eyes at him.

‘i don’t sell crack for starters..’ he exhales, ‘but fine.. i’ll try and get him to talk.’

the hallways had emptied at this point and you were late for your class, but you’d gotten what you wanted. without using plan b of a blowie everyday, thank god.

‘thank you,’ you breathe, releasing your grip on his hoodie sleeve, starting to slink off before he can say anything else.

the sicky feeling in your stomach only worsens, knowing what was inevitably had to come next.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve stranger things #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x y/n #stranger things x you #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fanfic #eddie stranger things #eddie munson smut #eddie munson #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #ghostface!eddie #steve harrington x fem!reader #eddie munson x fem!reader smut

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ohtobeleah · 7 months

Text

Trade Places // Jake Seresin

Summary: It was supposed to be Hangman. And if you could go back in time? You’d let it be him. Without a shadow of a doubt.

Warnings: Leg Amputation. Jake Seresin x Enemy F!reader. Angst. Whump.

Word Count: 1.6k

Author Note: Day Sixteen of Whumptober. Prompt I chose: Amputation. Thank you to @ailesswhumptober for the prompt list.

Whumptober Masterlist | Main Masterlist

“The extensive bone injury along with the degree of soft-tissue infection is troubling.” It was supposed to be Hangman. He was the one who was meant to be flying when shit went wrong. It was supposed to be him, the one lying in a hospital room with doctors and nurses consulting on what exactly their best course of treatment would be. “No matter what we do—“

“If the infection goes to the bone it’ll be hard to treat.” There were two of them, tag-teaming the explanation that turned the axis of your life as you knew it on its head.

“And eventually you’re looking at bone loss.” It was almost impossible to understand what the doctors were trying to explain to you at that moment in time. There was no way that this was even happening. Surely you were caught up in some twisted nightmare. Because this couldn’t be real, right? This couldn’t be happening to you. “Officially, Lieutenant—I’m recommending amputation now to avoid complications later down the line.”

“I withhold consent—“ You mumbled out nearly incoherently. Your body felt so weak but the morphine was sweet. It made you feel like you were floating, but the weight of the situation you had found yourself in was pulling you back down. Keeping your grounded in reality when all you wanted to do was float away. “I withhold consent, before you drug me up anymore or sedate me, I give no-nobody permission to cut off my leg.”

Rooster, Bob, Phoenix, Hangman and yourself had been running drills at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho for the last week and a half. Advanced Tactical air to air Combat Training that was designed to push you to your absolute maximum. The Airforce were running the training days and Mav saw no excuse for the five of you to tag along.

“And certainly not some yahoo in dump truck Idaho—“ It was then you looked over to where Jake sat in the corner of the room. He looked a little worse for wear but nothing compared to you.

It was supposed to be him in that bed—fighting to keep his leg after being ejected and thrown to the ground like a damn rag doll. It should have been him—but of all days to be running ten minutes late, you took the first session, the first run, and he watched you take his place when fate called your number instead of his.

“Please, just take me home.” You begged him as tears welled in your eyes and your bottom lip quivered. “Please Jake.” He hated that it so easily could have and should have been him in your position. So without a word—Jake got up and bailed out of the room. He said not a single word as he made his way to the nearest exit. You cried a little harder knowing you were left all alone.

He couldn’t take this, this torture of knowing if he had just been on time it would be him in your position instead of you. He’d give anything to trade places with you. But he couldn't, not now not ever. Jake Seresin couldn't turn back time any more than he could take your pain away.

“Lieutenant, we’ll give you some time to reconsider your options.”

“You’re not taking my leg.” You spat without hesitation. “I’d rather die than lose my leg, do you hear me?” You meant it with every fiber of your being. “I'd rather die, because without it I'd be just as good as dead.”

This wasn’t supposed to happen to you, it was Hangman's session, it was his hop, his jet, his damn everything.

It should have been him.

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

You were going to lose your leg, you knew it. To have your leg amputated from the knee down would end your career. It would see a stop to all that you were trying to achieve.

“I’m gonna go heat up some formula for Lila.” Your husband cooed as he leaned in the press a gentle kiss to your forehead. The two of them had caught the first flight out they could in order to be by your side. After all, it isn’t everyday you get a call to say your wife had been involved in a pretty catastrophic accident. But regardless of the prognosis—your husband Eric was as loving and as supportive as he could be. He knew however, what losing a limb meant for your career. “We’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” You replied as you settled in and pressed the pain relief button. The infection in your leg had taken a drastic turn in the last three days. You had held out as long as you could but alternately, you were scheduled for amputation at three.

Your world had completely changed in one fell swoop.

“Hey.” Jake's voice caught you off guard by the doorway, you’d drifted off as the medication that kept you from screaming the entire hospital down in utter agony coursed through your veins. “I uh—I bought these for you.” In his hand was a bunch of white Lilies, you could smell them from your bed. But you knew deep down they were just sympathy flowers to help soothe Jake's feelings. He felt guilty, but he didn’t feel remorse. “I saw your husband in the hallway.” With tentative steps, Jake stepped inside your room as your eyes lingered on his frame. He looked like hell. Again, nothing compared to you with all your cuts and scrapes and bruises. “I uh—“ It was the way he stumbled over his words that told you Jake wasn’t okay. The usual cock sure of himself aviator had dark bags under his eyes that told you he wasn’t sleeping—and the way he clutched the takeaway coffee up in his hand also told you that his caffeine intake had increased tenfold to keep him awake. “I feel like crap, it should’ve been me on that jet—believe me when I say that if I could trade places with you? I would.”

You didn’t answer to begin with. Hell you weren’t even going to dignify him with a response like when he walked out of your room without a word three days prior. But as Jake looked at you with puppy dog eyes, he needed to be reminded that yes—yes this shouldn’t have been you.

“I would let you.” You sighed. Jake wasn’t expecting that. He was sure you wouldn’t say something along the lines of ‘it’s okay, it wasn’t your fault.’ But no. He stood there with a chill so strong creeping up his spine as you laid in that hospital bed awaiting the surgery that would leave you with one less limb, and listened to every word you spoke.

“I had that thought a lot too, and I didn’t like myself for it—but I did.” It was the honest truth, you’d spent hours upon hours thinking about it. “When I was out there, being crushed by debris, I just kept thinking about my husband and my baby and how you have no wife and no baby.” Jake didn’t speak, hell he was sure he wasn’t even breathing—but he was listening. “You have no one.”

Jake Seresin wasn’t any easy person to get along with. Phoenix and Rooster had tried to tell you time and time again that under all the toxic male bravado and the cock sure attitude—Jake could be and was, a decent human being. But he’d never given you a reason to believe that he was nothing but an egotistical, arrogant, and selfish man.

“I only went up there because I was pissed at you for being late.” You could remember it so clearly. How mad you were at Jake for being late to work. How if you didn’t get going you’d be forced to stay late and breastfeeding was already a mission in and of itself as it was. Being so far away from your baby girl meant you were pumping and dumping and freezing what you could. Jake being late was throwing you off your schedule. “So I kept wondering, while I was lying there just waiting for someone to come rescue me, that I was only there because he’s so selfish and so thoughtless.”

You’d tried to like Hangman, time and time again you’d given him the benefit of the doubt. You’d even set him up with a friend of yours. But all he did was break her heart. Jake knew that you had tried, he’d given you every reason under the sun to hate him though.

Why?

Because what was the point in ever being close to you when he could never have you. The ring on your finger reminded him every day of the unattainable.

“And no matter how hard I tried to make you better, you’re still a horrible person.” It was hard to take on the chin, but Jake took it. He only let the tears in his eyes well long enough to let you know that your words would forever remain with him. No matter where in the world he went or the people he’d eventually meet. He’d remember you, the woman who took his place when it so easily could have been him. “So now, I keep wondering—why this would happen to someone like me, instead of someone like you.”

“You’re pissed off—I get it, I really do.” Jake finally answered you as he walked over to your bedside. “But I really am sorry for what happened, all of it.” Jake Seresin was a lot of things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. He truly was sorry—and he’d give anything to trade places.

“Yeah—yeah I guess you could say that I’m still pretty pissed off—“ You scoffed in return. Nothing Jake could say could change the past, could change what happened. He was lucky. He was the one who got to live out his life the way he always saw it playing out. The Hangman—always and forever leaving people high and dry.

“So, with all that being said, Lieutenant Seresin, could you please get out of my fucking room.”

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

Whumptober Tags 🏷️ @xoxabs88xox @oldermenaremyreligion @slut-f0r-u u @emma-is-cool @armydrcamers @topguncortez @topgun-imagines @kmc1989 @els-marvelvsp @blindedbythelightt

#ailesswhumptober2023 #jake hangman x reader #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman imagine #jake seresin fanfiction #jake hangman seresin x reader #top gun fanfiction

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yeonjunszn · 2 years

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BALANCE GAME

📻 “pick your answer A or B, it's a balance game, seoul university! welcome back to your favorite radio talk show— you send us two options, we pick one, and then we discuss why we picked it!”

PAIRING 𖦹 choi beomgyu x f!reader

GENRES 𖦹 fluff﹒crack﹒angst

WARNINGS 𖦹 mature language bc i need to swear every chance i can i’m so sorry, uni!au, childhood best friends to lovers trope, mutual but VERY oblivious pining, like i mean it when i say VERY oblivious, reader and beomgyu are kinda (really) dumb, everyone works for the uni radio station, seungmin and soobin are menaces to society, heeseung and jeongin are also menaces to society, chaeryeong wonders why men, this smau is actually very fast paced & kinda short so i’m sorry if it feels like the plot develops too fast for your taste

FEAT 𖦹 soobin from txt, heeseung from enhypen, jeongin and seungmin from skz, chaeryeong from itzy + mentions of other idols

SUMMARY 𖦹 choi beomgyu’s life was relatively simple. he woke up, went to class, met up with you (his best friend since 6th grade) for coffee, helped you manage the school’s radio station, co-hosted a talk show on said radio station with two of his closest friends and repeat. but when the show gets a question that asks whether he’d rather fall in love with a complete stranger or someone he’s known forever, choi beomgyu’s relatively simple life becomes extremely complicated.

STATUS 𖦹 off the air! (completed!)

START 𖦹 september 16, 2022

END 𖦹 december 26, 2022

MORE 𖦹 NO MORE SECOND LEAD BEOMGYU!!! i’ve had just about ENOUGH of giving him this treatment 😭😭 my king deserves better so i am giving him better in the form of my favorite tropes blended together 🫶 send an ask to join the taglist!!

++ this entire thing was beta’d by my bestie bff @lvandrmoon thank u luna !! i appreciate u sm <<3

PROFILES 𖦹 balance game bros | the brain cells(?)

ONE beomgyu > school > station

TWO ur despicable

THREE what the heart wants

FOUR we must repent

FIVE superbly interesting

SIX asking for oomf

SEVEN bitchless soobin and his bitchless anime

EIGHT plus one (964)

NINE seungbin and jeongseung

TEN a guest

ELEVEN y/n emo era

TWELVE intellectually intellectual

THIRTEEN taylor swift on main

FOURTEEN nice try tho

FIFTEEN he’s single

SIXTEEN willing to give it a shot

SEVENTEEN the only person to blame

EIGHTEEN abt to steal your man

NINETEEN i’d pick you a thousand times (1.7k)

TWENTY i’ll be waiting

#WOOOO LETS GOOO #i’m very very excited for y’all to finally have this baby #tomorrow x together #txt smau #txt social media au #txt socmed au #txt choi beomgyu x reader #txt choi beomgyu smau #choi beomgyu x reader #choi beomgyu smau #beomgyu x reader #beomgyu smau #beomgyu social media au #balance.game.beomgyu⚖️#⭒ — fluffy fluff #🐻 — cbg #yeonjunszn

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scarletts-scribbles · 3 months

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𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭

Hey! Here's a compiled list of prompts for people to use, feel free to submit any of these for requests or to use in your own writing. I didn't come up with all of these myself so check out the credited creators! Requests are not limited to these prompts, feel free to think of your own or change these up!

𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 «» 𝐑𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬: 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧

: ̗̀➛ 𝐅𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟

“I’d rather sit and do nothing with you than do anything with anyone else.”

“Would a hug make things better?”

"You wanna cuddle for the rest of the morning?"

"Just hold me?"

"You're being extra cuddly this morning."

"Quiet night on the couch?"

“You make me want to be the best I can be.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone that you like to be the little spoon.”

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?”

“You look really cute in my clothes.”

“You’re special. People like you don’t come around often.”

“I’ve only ever loved you.”

"You're hogging the blankets."

"May I have this dance?"

“Are you blushing?! That’s adorable.”

“Breathtaking. You’re breathtaking.”

“You should smile more often, it looks good on you.”

“Did you just kiss me to shut me up?”

“Should we make it official?”

“Can you wash my hair for me?”

"You're crazy if you think I'm letting you sleep on the couch."

"Can I braid your hair?"

"I'm not giving up on you, ever. I promise you.”

“You’re being very unsubtle with your heart eyes for them.”

“I’m proud of you, no matter what.”

"You're the worst, I love you so much."

"You got me flowers?"

: ̗̀➛ 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭

“Did you ever really love me?”

"Why did you come back?"

“You couldn’t just let me have this, could you?”

“Just because you hate your life doesn’t mine to get to dictate mine!”

“Look what you’ve done…”

"You promised you wouldn’t forget me."

“I don’t have an attitude, I just answered your question.”

“Please say something!”

"I get it! You're jealous!"

“Us? There was never an ‘us’.”

“Is this how it really ends?”

“Why can’t you be happy for me for once?”

“It’s too late for ‘I’m sorries’.”

"I thought I'd lost you forever."

“Ha… I told you you’d outlive me.”

“Since when did you ever care about me?!”

“Tell me how I’m supposed to un-love you, then. Tell me. Spare me.”

“Kiss me one last time?

“Why did you think you could change this?! You’re nothing!”

“This is all your fault.”

“I vouched for you! How could you?!"

"God, how blind can you be?"

“You’re either a fool for not knowing or an idiot for not doing something!”

: ̗̀➛ 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭/𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭

“Shut up and just let me take care of you!”

“Either go to bed and get some rest willingly, or I will drag your ass down the hall kicking and screaming. you know i’ll have no problem with either option.”

"How long have you been hiding this?"

“And just when were you planning to tell me you were sick?"

“Please be okay. Please be okay, please be okay—”

“You’re awfully quiet today.”

“Get behind me.”

“Here, lean on me. I can carry you.”

“Hey! Hey, relax it was just a nightmare, I’m right here.”

“You dumbass. Don’t do that. Ever again.”

“Try and get some sleep. I’ll stay right here- I won’t let anything happen to you, I swear.”

“We’re gonna fix you up, brand new. I promise.”

“Bless you! Jesus that nearly gave me a heart attack, how about a little warning next time?”

“Your hands are freezing! come here, let me warm you up.”

“Show me?”

“Your bedside manner is awful.”

“Your not exactly a good patient.”

"Did you eat something bad?"

“Would you like a heating pad?”

“I think I just started my period…”

“Oh darling, this fever, you’re totally burning up.”

“You can sleep in my bed, if it'd be of any help.”

"How many fingers am I holding up? ... I don't have six fingers."

“What the hell happened to you?”

“Did you remember to take your meds this morning?”

“Don’t be stupid, now sit down before you pass out.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Stay?”

“Who did this to you?”

“You’re not fine! You’re bleeding for gods sake!”

: ̗̀➛ 𝐒𝐦𝐮𝐭

"I want to taste you so badly."

"Make me beg for it."

"Oh I can do this all night long."

"Be a good girl and use your words darling."

"You surprise me every day."

"Let's find out how much you want it."

"Kiss me, I can't wait any longer."

"Come on, please, do it."

“Don’t worry, I’d take you out for dinner before I eat you out for dessert. It’s the polite thing to do.”

"Do you like it when I talk like that?"

"Oh, you like that?"

"Hmm, you're not very patient, are you?"

"Well, let's see what happens tonight."

“I’ll be gentle, baby. Don’t worry.”

"Can you kiss it better?"

"Keep the noise down, baby. Someone's gonna walk in."

“God, you look amazing like this.”

"Let’s put that smart mouth to good use.”

"Oh, you're hard to please."

"I had a very nice dream that started like this."

"Can you be good for me?"

"It's so hot when you talk like that."

"I'll go as long as you need."

prompt sources: @.scealaiscoite, @.sleepywriter00, @.dumplingsjinson, @.euthymiaaa, @.novelbear, @.luvmmarner, @.promptsbytaurie, @.creativepromptsforwriting, @.rosewritingprompts

#prompt list #prompts #fluff prompts #angst prompts #smut prompts #hurt/comfort prompts #requests #mcu #supergirl

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diedikind · 1 month

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Xie Lian taking away Lang Qianqiu’s freedom to choose his own path?

i’ve already addressed this in a reblog post but now that i’ve finished book 1 of the revised version i’d like to offer a more comprehensive analysis.

someone pointed out that in the revised version, xie lian seems much more “selfish”, that he is no better than White No-Face because he also lied to Lang Qianqiu to shape him into the kind of person he wanted him to be.

【Lang Qianqiu said sharply, "You still deny it?! For so many years, you've kept me from knowing who my real enemy is, you've deceived me yet made me grow into the person you wanted! To achieve this, you'd rather be thought of as the murderous culprit of the bloody massacre at the Gilded Banquet, allowing me to drive forty-nine nails into your chest and into the coffin! Guoshi, you're really something!"

With every sentence, Xie Lian couldn't argue because it was the truth. So, all he could do was despairingly say, "It's not like that."】 (new scene from revised version)

as i mentioned in my other post, a narrative that weaves its way through tgcf is how xie lian is supposed to be a parental/teacher figure toward lang qianqiu, and that such figures exist to the end of protecting/guiding children; even in modern society research has shown that the adolescent brain doesn’t develop fully until around 25 years of age, insofar as they shouldn’t be given complete free reign over many areas, for example we have laws pertaining to the legal age of driving or the legal age of drinking, we have age ratings for media and put minors dni in our bios… etc. in other words, it is not xie lian’s onus to completely leave lang qianqiu be to figure out his life. of course, lang qianqiu is a couple hundreds years old, but we will stick to the theoreticals of their what their relationship represents.

a brief aside about culture, i think western culture tends to place much more emphasis on individual choice / freedom in general, versus during my time in Chinese fandom nobody thought this was a problem. haha at the risk of sounding like communist propaganda, choice is not always good. for example, Barry Schwartz introduced the concept of the paradox of choice, which illustrates that while a variety of options allows for more freedom and autonomy, it can also lead to greater dissatisfaction, indecision, and paralysis; this is why businesses avoid presenting consumers with a wide array of products or services, because it could overwhelm them and lead them to give up purchasing anything in the end.

xie lian makes a similar argument:

【Indeed, whether the talisman burns could determine the life or death of what's inside the pot. But if the answer was "alive," it would be easy to kill whatever was inside right there and then. If the pot contained a little rabbit, a small demon, or even a human soul, then the gamble wouldn't be fun at all.

Shaking his head, Xie Lian said, "It's not that I'm worried. Of course, I know you wouldn't do such a thing. I just think it's better not to give others the chance to make such a choice.”】 (new scene from revised version)

this relates to the one-cup-of-water-two-people (i have no idea how to translate this properly) problem, in which no matter who you choose to give the water to, no matter which of the Two Paths you choose, it would always feel as if you’ve done something wrong. it’s a zero-sum game. similarly, alluding to the trolley problem, whether you pull the lever or not, you would either be killing someone or leaving others to die.

xie lian’s philosophy, then, is to prevent a situation such as the trolley problem from happening in the first place. he wants to spare the pain of the decision. he wants to eradicate the “two-paths” narrative.

hua cheng embodies the same philosophy. a few years ago, i asked a friend, how do you think xie lian would choose if he were to do the trolley problem, except on one track we have hua cheng, on the other track we have all the common people? and then i realised — hua cheng would probably willingly die for xie lian so he does not have to make the choice.

choice is burdensome.

another thing i want to point out is the popular phrase circulating on the Chinese internet “因为自己淋过雨，所以想给别人撑把伞” (“Having been drenched in the rain myself, I wish to hold an umbrella for others.”), in which there is no “neutral” option; there is no “support others in finding their own umbrellas”. in that sense, xie lian merely acts as a foil to bai wuxiang by doing the opposite of what he did. i do not think mxtx considered the “in-between” option of giving lang qianqiu the freedom to choose.

having finished rereading book 1, i realised that there is a line in it that directly mirrors the above.

【what he has endured enough himself already, he cannot bear to let another go through it as well.】

hua cheng also adds his own perspective to balance things out:

【He also sat down beside Xie Lian and said, "Moreover, if you value [Lang Qianqiu] so much, why can't you trust him?"

Xie Lian lifted his face from his arms. Hua Cheng said lightly, "Trust that since he is the one you've chosen, he will not lose himself in hatred. Even if he once wished to destroy the entire world, in the end, he will do what he must.”】

in the end, linking back to the narrative that xie lian is lang qianqiu’s parental/teacher figure:

【Lang Qianqiu looked as if he wished he could cover his ears: "Why are you lecturing me like this? What gives you the right to act as my master?"

Xie Lian replied, "It won't happen again." Lang Qianqiu was startled, and Xie Lian added, "This is the last time. Faults need fixing, and the rest is up to you to figure out slowly on your own."】

a popular interpretation amongst Chinese fans is that only upon his third ascension did xie lian “truly” ascend. if we read TGCF as a bildungsroman, xie lian starts off as a naive crown prince who matures through these 800 years. in parallel, then, we have just witnessed the inciting incident to lang qianqiu’s character growth arc. this is the beginning of his coming-of-age.

#xie lian #lang qianqiu #tgcf #heaven official's blessing

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infiniteetcetera · 5 days

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Hot take of the day is Gwynriel has loads of chemistry and Elucien plenty of potential but I’d still rather see Elriel together for the sake of the plot…

What I mean by that is I think an Azriel/Gwyn & Elain/Lucien love story is the path of least resistance for SJM. It fits perfectly into the “everyone is mated and happy together” stereotype much more so than Elain/Az, especially if (as most people predict) Emerie and Mor also wind up together.

I love the Valkeryies and their relationship too much for them to just be absorbed by the IC and that’s exactly what I feel would happen if we get Gwyn/Az, Elain/Lucien, and Emerie/Mor. If Azriel winds up with Gwyn it’s highly likely we’ll get an “i told you so” moment from Rhys who will continue believing he is right about everything and that its totally okay to control the lives of his so called family. Nessian will remain strong and Nesta will be even further solidified in the Night Court (FREE HER) if her two closest friends become IC equivalents.

On the Elain side of things, so many people seem to imply her being with Lucien would be an escape from the Night Court but Rhys wants Elain with Lucien because it’s a way to drag Lucien further into the Night Court. He’s already using their bond to manipulate diplomacy with Lucien and no matter where Lucien ends up, if he’s mated to Elain he will be stuck with strong ties to the Night Court and so will she.

I think Elain/Azriel are the only option that could really push and fuel change for the IC. Rhys drawing a line in the sand about their relationship forces the members of the inner circle to genuinely have to pick sides and I think it would really push Feyre and Nesta to confront their own relationships with their mates and the Night Court. And honestly I’ve always found it ironic that so many people use the “Elain doesn’t belong in the Night Court” argument against Elriel because Azriel doesn’t belong in the Night Court either.

As early as ACOMAF Azriel tells Feyre he doesn’t feel like he belongs in the NC. We’ve seen countless times throughout the series he is left out, ignored, and manipulated by his so called family. People like Rhys and Mor who are the “closest” to him have admitted to being lowkey afraid of him, most of the IC admits they know little about his thoughts/feelings, and its not one of his oldest friends but Nesta who comforts him while he isolates himself during a holiday when he’s feeling like absolute trash because he feels that lonely and unworthy.

I think it would make perfect sense for Azriel to leave the Night Court with Elain, maybe even with Nesta and the Valkeryies considering both him and Nesta have been tied to the Dawn Court now and Nesta made a point of saying she is not a member of the NC. I’m not saying we’d get a full on Nessian break up (I can dream) or that Feyre is going to leave Rhys (SJM will never do this) but I do think Nesta and Feyre would both pull for their sister’s happiness. Especially for Nesta, I feel like part of why she takes how Cassian and the IC treats her is because she feels worthless and doesn’t think she deserves better, but if there’s anyone Nesta will stand up for it’s Elain and hearing that Rhys is manipulating her love life could be such a good catalyst for this girl to move on (my dream crack theory, she leaves Cas in Elains book, Lucien’s book is Autumn Court centered and we get a Nesta/Eris redemption romance arc)

Overall I think the effects that would result from Az leaving the NC with Elain however it happens has the potential for the most complex and intriguing story. I’m sure both Gwynriel and Elucien could be perfectly happy couples, if they get books I will read them and they will probably be fine because SJM knows how to write romance (tho sometimes, I have my doubts recently 👀) but these two relationships don’t have much potential to spark the big changes in the ACOTAR universe Id like to see for the Archeron sisters (and babyboys Az and Lucien). If SJM doesn’t keep doing weird things like the necklace situation, I think Elain and Azriel make perfect sense as a couple and the breaking of the status quo they symbolize is just what the world at large needs.

#a court of thorns and roses #acotar #elain archeron #azriel acotar #elriel #anti nessian #anti ic #anti inner circle #acotar 6 #I’m just growing sick of the night court tbh #I think Feyre is stuck but free Nesta and Elain please

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artyandink · 1 month

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Light My Fire (Again) | beau arlen

Summary: “I thought I’d swore off love, Jenny.” I smiled, chuckling a bit as I looked down to my feet then back up the skies, taking in the twinkling lights. “God, I really thought I did, and I was doing such a good job at it too. But, well, I just… I couldn’t help it.” I wet my lips slightly, biting the bottom one. “It’s improper, but it’s true.”

SERIES MASTERLIST

MAIN MASTERLIST

(divider credits go to cafekitsune)

A/N - Feedback is my fuel ❤️

three - landslide

PREVIOUSLY ON LMF:

I looked down at my hands, the hands that could’ve stopped everything, stopped her suffering, the hands that were only a flight of stairs and a trip down the hall away. My ignorance at the time was crippling. The cruel thought that Lucy was safe and sound. It resulted in Olivia losing her mom and everything she knew, and having to live with her auntie.

Not that I’m not the best option, but if I’d picked up my metaphorical magnifying glass and looked closer, I’d see. See that things were wrong. Someone was after her, I didn’t know who, but one psycho was out to kill her, and succeeded.

The one of many times someone’s success felt like it twisted my heartstrings. The worst success.

I remembered the desperation that I had when I first investigated Lucy’s murder. The wild look I had in my eyes when I spotted myself in the mirror, and then one like a wounded animal when I wound up battered in a hospital. I didn’t want to go through that again. Not the false hope that I’d get somewhere. I didn’t need it, I didn’t want it, I couldn’t handle it. I’d possibly go feral if I found out the truth, but all the same, Lucy needed me. It was always me and her. When she was nineteen and I was eleven , not wanting to let her go because she was everything I had and more.

I hadn’t had that stable of a home life growing up. My dad cheated on my mom with his secretary and left her when I was three. Mom did the next best thing to dealing with the loss of her husband, which was filling herself brain high with any booze she could find. Lucy had taken the job of taking care of me, and she did a damn good job at it. Even got rewarded with an apple pie, white picket fence life to boot. I couldn’t have been happier for her, because she deserved every bit of happiness she got.

Even if I didn’t want to deal with the inevitable pain of investigating into my sister’s murder, I owed it to her. I needed to bring whoever killed her to justice.

I reached for my phone, dialling the first person that came to mind who’d help me with this case. I bit my lip, jogging my leg as I waited for him to pick up. ‘Hey, darlin’.’ I heard Beau’s voice from the other end, cherry as ever. ‘What can I do for ya?’

“Hey, Sheriff.” I breathed out, looking at the cassette player with stony eyes. “What d’you say to reopening a cold case?”

I slammed a dusty, yet rather small, file down on my desk, with Jenny and Beau gathered around it. “This is what I have from six years ago. My sister, found by me in the backyard, eleven stab wounds in her chest. Cameras were off, no prints, killer didn’t go through the garden as there were no prints. It rained that night, so footprints were washed away.”

“Tough case, huh?” Beau sighed, folding his arms. “No prints, no murder weapon at the scene- the killer ain’t giving you much to work with.”

“No kidding.” Jenny looked over the case files. “Lucy didn’t have any enemies, by what this file says.”

“She didn’t.” I shook my head, sitting on the table. “Luce, she was… an angel, to say the least. Kind to everyone, always optimistic. I’ll be damned if anyone hated her.”

“No motive.” Beau muttered, looking up at me with slightly raised eyebrows. “Could this just be a random crazed psycho?”

“No.” I shook my head again, rubbing my chin. “Can’t be. Whoever it was knew how to get inside the house and through to the back. Only somebody who knew Lucy could do that. Somebody I know or someone she knew murdered her, and I ain’t resting until I find them.”

“Do we at least have any leads?” Jenny rubbed her forehead, looking over to me. “Any at all?”

“The cassette.” I shrugged. “It’s the last thing she left to me, and judging by the sounds behind the voice, it’s Lucy’s 42nd birthday party. I remember it, Mark was doin’ bad karaoke in the living room.”

“So this is essentially a note, but no suicide involved.”

“Somebody was sending threats.” Beau figured out, pointing at the case file with his pencil. “Think about it. Her voice ain’t exactly chirpy in that recording. Maybe a threat was sent, that she was gonna die soon.”

“A necklace.” My head perked up, my fingers snapping. “One of ‘em, it contained a raven’s feather. Or some of it. Lucy was a folklore major.”

“So she’d know it symbolises death and/or loss.” Jenny added, nodding. “That’s a start.”

“That also narrows it down.” Beau nodded, all of us going into a rhythm. “Somebody had to know she’d understand this reference, which also means someone close to her- good work, Belle.” He patted my knee proudly, giving me a broad smile. “At least you’re closer than you were before.”

“Hold on, though.” I held up a hand, frowning as a thought piqued my interest. “If that’s the case, if Lucy wanted to warn me… why now? Why at Olivia’s sweet sixteen?”

“Maybe it was something personal, something important to her.” Jenny shrugged, running a hand through her hair. “Maybe she wanted Olivia’s sixteenth to go smoothly, as if some threat would resurface at that time.”

“That’s what’s stumping me. Which person who we both know would possibly wanna harm my sister? Me, I’d understand, I don’t get on with everyone, but Lucy? Doesn’t make a lick of sense.”

“Is Lucy’s phone still kept safe?” Beau asked, deep in thought. “Maybe there’s some voicemails on there.”

“I’ll have to dig them up.” I replied before hearing a ping on my phone. I took it out, seeing the name lighting up on the screen, which made my eyes widen. I hadn’t seen this name in ages, not since eleven years. Not since I was 29, and I don’t know why I saved the number.

“Who is it, darlin’?” Beau frowned slightly, his lips also pouting imperceptibly as his eyes flickered down to my phone.

“Again with the darlin’?” Jenny chastised, and he let out a small noise in protest. My eyes were glued to my screen, trying to figure out if I was seeing things right. Jenny confirmed for me, snatching the phone out of my hand and taking a look at it, her eyes widening when she saw the name. “Cal Joyner.”

“The cheating dad Cal Joyner?”

“Yeah.” I nodded breathily. “He’s… here. In Montana.”

“Your dad in town, the cassette tape, this can’t be a coincidence. If it is, I’ll eat my hat. And trust me,” He chuckled deeply, “I love my hat.”

“There’s also how you can’t eat a hat.” Jenny contradicted with a judging look.

“I’m the sheriff, Hoyt, I will eat my hat if I damn well please.”

“Right, let’s get off the subject of eating hats.” I interrupted with a snicker. “I’ll talk to Cassie, see if I can get her and Denise to maybe research into possible news stories surrounding Lucy’s death. Maybe also get them to help with figuring out why my deadbeat dad is in town. You guys maybe look through the case files or whatever you can scavenge, see if you can find anything worthwhile.” I raised an eyebrow, looking between them expectantly. “Sound good?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

I didn’t find Denise at the desk in Dewell and Hoyt HQ, so I went straight to Cassie’s office, knocking before opening the door to find… Cassie and Cormac mid-make out. They jumped apart, wiping their lips while Cassie got off the desk, trying to act as if nothing happened.

Well, it’s not everyday that you catch two grown ass people making out on a frickin’ desk.

“Woah, Cassie, get some.” I teased, leaning against the doorframe with a grin. “You too, Cormac, haven’t forgotten you. Montana’s Thor Odinson- now, would you be a stud and give Cass and I a mo’?”

“Gladly.” Cormac hurried out, and I closed the door behind him, turning to Cassie with s as chuckle.

She opened her mouth to speak, but I waved her off. “Beau and Jenny won’t hear a thing.”

“Thank you.” She smiled in relief, breathing out with her hand on her chest.

“You’re welcome. Now, we have a bit of a problem.” I frowned, running a hand through my hair. “We’re reopening my sister’s case.”

“Oh, damn.”

“Indeed. We’ll need all the info we can get from you and Denise on the matter. My dad’s in town too, so I’ll have to see what’s up with that.”

“Wait- Cal Joyner?” Cassie raised an eyebrow, folding her arms. “Cheated on your mom, left when you were three Cal Joyner?”

“The very same.” I nodded, making a face that said I was feeling awkward. You lot can put that to your imagination. “Yeah, so I have to find out why he’s in town now when evidence from my sister’s case has suddenly resurfaced.”

“I’ll get on that with Denise.”

“Yeah, and I’m sorry I interrupted your getting on with Cormac.” I winked with a smirk, unfazed when she looked at me in exasperation.

“You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?” She sighed.

“No, absolutely not.”

I was sitting on my living room couch at midnight, flicking through my photo album of when I was growing up. Lucy’s broad smile and shining eyes when she saw baby me in Mom’s arms just after I was born. Another my first birthday, and Lucy was helping me blow out the candles. Lucy’s eleventh birthday, the last time Lucy was innocent and unassuming before Dad made off with his mistress. Lucy’s sweet sixteen, where she celebrated with Dean, her current best friend, me, a couple of family members and friends, including Mark, who was our next door neighbour’s son at the time. It was safe to say that Mark had always harboured a deep seated jealousy of Dean.

My eyes landed on a photo of Harry and I at a bar, and my heart felt like it was breaking all over again. The guy’s brunette hair and laughing brown eyes had always pierced my heart in a way that I couldn’t fathom. It hurt to know that those eyes didn’t look at me the way they used to anymore.

Harry was the first and last relationship I had after my sister was killed. After the car crash and I was in a bad place, which I labelled as the ‘withdrawal symptoms’ of stopping my investigation, I found him in an unexpected collision in a mall. He brightened everything somehow, made me feel like the only girl in the world until I found a text in his phone along with a very inappropriate picture.

Rhea: See you tonight, handsome ;)

I couldn’t help but think that he was just pitying me, pretending so he’d get the satisfaction that he helped someone to some extent. But here I was, moping over a guy like I was some hormonal teenager rather than a mature 40 year old. For a relationship that didn’t even feel real at this point.

After that point, I’d sworn off love and men entirely, instead deciding to focus on Olivia. The beautiful little girl who was my last blood reminder of my sister. Well, the last morally sound reminder. For the first three years, in the pursuit of my sister’s murderer, I’d neglected what I really needed to preserve. So I’d set up a rule - that men weren’t my priority.

“Aunt Isa?” Olivia was at the door to the living room, rubbing her eyes tiredly. I sat up, frowning as I saw her looking exhausted but freaked.

“Yeah, sweetheart? It’s late; are you ok?” I asked softly, my motherly instincts kicking in as I saw her trembling slightly. I didn’t wait for a response, setting the album aside and opening my arms. “C’mere, darlin’.” She hurried over, curling up in my arms. I held her tight to me, stroking her hair as I rubbed her back, my chin resting on her head as I let her calm down a bit. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“Nightmare. About mom’s death.”

“You didn’t see your mom dyin’, sweetie.” I kissed her hair lovingly. “It wasn’t real.”

“I imagined it. Filled in the blanks, and it was like I was watching.” I heard her voice tremble, which broke my heart at every quiver. I hated seeing my baby girl upset.

“Oh, Liv.” I whispered, kissing her forehead. “Sweetheart, I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry you had to imagine that.”

“Is this how you felt?” She questioned timidly, looking up at me, her blue eyes pleading me to be honest. “When you… when you found her?”

I paused, thinking about it. “If I was to describe it, it’d be like my world’s walls were fallin’ down. It was that, plain and simple. Your mom, she was an angel. Like you, she never truly got mad, she cared no matter what you did, she gave a lot of credit where it ain’t due. She took care of me even when I was your age and mopin’ about for no apparent reason, even though she worked a job. She couldn’t be more prouder of you, wherever she is.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” I nuzzled my cheek on her head. “You’re such a beautiful girl, Liv. So smart, and kind, I know for a fact that if your mother was here, she’d never wanna let you go.” I stroked her hair, remembering Lucy. Her smile, her laugh, her tendency to call everyone ‘love’ because she had a damn lot to give herself, her frightened voice when making the tape…

I couldn’t focus on that. Instead, I hugged Olivia tight, focusing on her. She needed to feel safe. Deserved to feel safe, and that was what I could do for her. I started to softly sing the song that Lucy sang Liv when she was a baby, gently rocking her. It was Landslide, by Fleetwood Mac.

“I took my love, I took it down, I climbed a mountain and I turned around. And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills 'til the landslide brought me down...”

I was sitting in Jenny’s kitchen with Beau and Jenny, of course, the latter busy making lunch since I’d handled our breakfast. I was, again, scrolling on my Instagram, most of my feed Harry and Rhea the redhead. The guy even had the audacity to tag me in a photo, which I didn’t respond to or react to. Beau’s eyes followed mine, locking on the screen with a frown. “That’s Harry the jackass. Why are you lookin’ at photos of Harry the jackass?”

“He’s with the redhead he cheated on me with. Rhea.” I explained with a sigh, and he snatched the phone, not giving me time to protest as he looked at Rhea with an unreadable expression on his face. Then he smirked, nodding.

“I see the appeal.” He chuckled, looking at me playfully. Jenny gasped in horror, swatting his arm while I looked at him incredulously, taken aback by his audacity. “I mean, she’s gorgeous-”

“Beau!” Jenny scolded while I looked away, starting to internally panic. He… thought Rhea was gorgeous? Did he really? Was Harry justified in leaving me because I wasn’t good enough?

“I’m messin’ with you!” Beau raised his hands in surrender, taking another look at the photo before handing my phone back to me. “Sweetheart, Harry the jackass doesn’t even know who he’s lost. This Rhea girl? Doesn’t even hold a candle to you. She’s an LA three, or a Texas one. You are a ten in both worlds, darlin’. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“Thanks, Sheriff.” I sighed in relief, rubbing my face. Jenny patted Beau’s shoulder, giving him a look that said ‘I was about to rip your head off’. “You got me there for a second.”

“I got Hoyt too.”

“Yes, he did.” Jenny nodded, glaring playfully at Beau. “If you’d said that truthfully, no joking, I’d rain down hellfire.”

“Well, I’m glad I was just poking some fun.” Beau smirked, then patted my knee. “You’re gorgeous, Southern Belle. Ain’t no messing around there.”

I was about to smile and give him a compliment back, but I got a call from Cassie, and I picked it up, putting it to my ear. “Talk to me, Cassie.” I said, taking a breath out while a small chuckle threatened to escape my mouth.

‘Hey. Uh, Cormac just spotted your father at the Blue Fox Diner.’

“Cormac, huh?”

‘Yes. Now, we’re keeping an eye on him, but you should get over here quick.’

“Gotcha.” I nodded, then cut the call, turning to Beau. “Sheriff, can I have you as backup? So I don’t blow up at my dad?”

“Yeppers, let’s go meet the man who ruined your life so I can make him feel guilty.” He stood up, slinging his jacket over his shoulders.

“Beau, as be nice as you can.” Jenny chastised, but he shrugged.

“Sorry, Hoyt, no can do. If she hates him,” Beau made finger guns at me, “then I hate him.” He turned the finger guns on himself. “Can’t help it, it’s principle. Now, c’mon, Belle. Let’s meet this dude.”

I walked into Blue Fox diner, Beau rubbing his hands in excitement. “D’you mind if I get one of them there sandwiches?” He looked like a giddy schoolboy, and I rolled my eyes with a smile and nodded. Beau was always a sucker for Donno’s sandwiches. As he practically skipped off to get one, I found Donno staring at me. I locked eyes with him, then he broke into a small smile.

“Elle.” He said in a deadpan voice that did not match his face, but I’d come to know over the past two months that Donno was a lot more compassionate than he let on.

“Donno.” I grinned, feeling more at ease. “Nice to see you again.”

“You too.” His eyes went down to my stomach, where I found that my hand was resting protectively over my healing bullet wound. “You were shot.” His eyes narrowed slightly. “Are you ok?”

“I was shot, good eye.” I nodded, chuckling as I looked down at my feet. “But hey, I’m doing fine. Healing.”

“Good. I don’t like seeing you hurt.” Then he pointed to a booth, where a balding man was sitting. “That’s your dad. If you’re looking for him.”

I gave him a genuine smile, my eyes furtively glancing to that booth. “Thanks, Donno.”

“You and Sheriff. You make a good couple.”

I didn’t really know what to say to that. “Uh… thank you, but we’re not a couple.” And with the awkwardness now in play, I turned on my heel and met up with Beau, who was now holding a sandwich and munching on it. I nudged him, nodding to the booth which Donno had led me to, and he clocked Cal instantly. His eyes narrowed, and he swallowed his bite as we sat down. “Cal Joyner.”

“Can I help you?” He asked, looking between Beau and I with a confused expression.

“Sheriff Beau Arlen, sir.” Beau introduced coldly, his eyes steely as he looked at my father with pure disdain in his eyes. I’d mentioned my family history to him, which made him have a deep seated hatred with my dad.

“Deputy Isabelle Joyner.” I added, which, as expected, made Cal’s eyes widen as he sat up straighter, a wide grin cracking on his face.

“Isabelle?” He whispered, tilting his head as he scanned me. “You’re… oh, God. It’s really you. My little girl.”

“Back up for a moment, cowboy, I’m not here for a family reunion.” I frowned, drumming on the table with my fingers. “I’m here to know why you’re in town. My last contact with you was eleven years ago, and that was on a voice call.”

“It was my granddaughter’s sixteenth birthday.” He excused, looking at me incredulously while his fingers played with his collar, and I locked on the mannerism immediately. “I had to visit, right? But this town’s so big, i-it’s hard to find anybody-”

“You’re lying.” Beau pointed out, expression unchanging. Cal turned to him with an outraged expression.

“Excuse me, young man?”

“Flattered, but I’m forty. Ain’t that young.”

“He’s right, Cal. You’re lying.” I frowned, my fingers still tapping out an insistent rhythm on the table. After all these years, he’d had a character arc going from scumbag to scumbag.

“Isabelle.” Cal gasped in disbelief. “Cupcake, you’ll believe this man over your father?”

“Not to be cheesy, but this man is one of the most noble men I know, so I’m sure I can trust him over a man who’s been out of my life for thirty seven years.” Cal was ready to convince me otherwise, but I held up my hand. “You’re fiddling with your collar. First sign of anxiety and possible lying. Big Sky is rather a small place, everyone knows everyone, so I don’t see how it would take you long to find me. Third, defensiveness. Trying to detach me from someone I trust- so tell me, how can I trust you?”

“You can’t.” He whispered, but his eyes, which I shared (to my disgust), looked into mine with a silent plea. Which I ignored.

“There it is. The one thing I couldn’t do and never did: trust you.” I scoffed, and Beau leaned forward, taking the lead.

“See here, Mr Joyner, you are Belle’s father, and I will respect you that much, but a lot’s happened that somehow coincides with your arrival.” He explained with a low, intimidating tone. I glanced towards him, taking in his set jaw and raised finger. “Now, you’re gonna tell your daughter why you came back after all this damn time or we’re gonna find out usin’ methods that you won’t approve of, ie hard questioning and digging into the evidence we have, which I bet will uncover some nasty secrets.”

“It’s good that you elaborated.”

“Yeah, it is. Now, Mr Joyner, you need to speak up before we find out ourselves.” Before Cal could reply, we heard a loud bang and a scuffle, and when my head turned, I saw Donno wrestling a guy with a gun to the ground. Beau turned to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Stay put.”

“You know I can’t do that.” I protested, reaching for my own holster, but he grabbed my wrist with a warning look. I wanted to argue, but I knew what he was insinuating. I wasn’t healed yet, so I couldn’t fight.

“Stay. Put.” He then pulled out his gun, holding it up at the assailant. “Sheriff’s department, hands where I can see ‘em!” My eyes were locked on him, ready to jump in and help if need be while Donno was growling at the man for almost pulling a gun on me. I saw Tonya getting up from her chair, pointing behind me with a gasp.

“Elle!” She cried out, looking terrified. “Behind you!” I whipped around only for my head to snap back around, the muzzle of a gun connecting with my temple. My vision went blurry as my head spun, but I could make out an unfamiliar figure in the haze that I instantly tackled blindly, collapsing onto the floor in an undignified heap coupled by what felt like a gigantic needle through the hole in my stomach. I coughed for a moment, my hand covering the area as I was roughly rolled onto my back amid the struggle between Donno, Beau and the assailant. I managed to make out the silver glint of a knife, so I quickly crossed my forearms over one another and held them over my face so I could catch it just in time.

After what was a struggle for a few seconds, the guy seemed to have a change of heart, throwing the knife aside and getting me in the temple again with a gloved fist this time.

Neither of them felt great.

I heard Cal protesting against something, and Beau’s shouts as the former was seemingly roughly dragged away, my vision going from blurry to borderline black as I tried to recall… what the guy looked like. I could remember… grey hair, possibly Mexican… or Hispanic… strong… build… 6’ 4”…

“Belle! Stay with me, damn it! This is Sheriff Arlen, I need paramedics and backup…”

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