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#like bite prevention and house training
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I just realized that even if I was paying nothing to anyone it would take me 9 months minimum on SSI to get the minimum amount of money I need to get a service dog and now I'm depressed again.
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roseghoul26 · 1 month
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Cooper Howard | The Ghoul x fem!Reader
Synopsis: After being captured by The Ghoul, he had dragged you through the hot desert of the Wasteland. You were so thirsty, and you’d do anything for a drink of water. And you meant anything. Tags: Smut, Practically No Plot, Humiliation, Begging, Spit, Blowjobs, Throat Fucking, Thigh Riding, Biting, Hate Sex(?), maybe OOC The Ghoul but I think I got it right, Not Beta Read, there's still consent because i can’t write severe noncon Author's Note: i had so many “why am i writing this” moments yet i still finished it i’m so sorry. 
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You don’t think you’ve ever been this thirsty in your life. 
Scratch that, you don’t think anyone’s ever been as thirsty as you currently are. 
Even though you had no saliva left to swallow, you tried anyway, your throat feeling like sandpaper. It caused you to cough, earning a disgruntled noise from the ghoul currently holding you hostage. 
The Ghoul. Infamous bounty hunter and the cruelest person you’d ever met. Of course, you only found out who he was after he captured you. You’d never even heard of a ghoul until a few days ago, your sheltered life in Vault 14 withholding information about the surface to you. 
You wished you were back home, suffocating as it was. At home, you wouldn’t be forced to walk countless miles under the boiling Wasteland sun. At home, you wouldn’t have a lasso around your neck, preventing you from running off. And even if you did manage to somehow escape the rope confines, you’d seen how accurate of a shot he was. He’d kill you before you managed to keep a foot away from him. 
You glanced back at him, The Ghoul, who had his sawed-off shotgun casually trained on you. He seemed unaffected by the heat, by the sun beating down on your faces. His hat made sure of that, and you supposed that you didn’t have to worry about sunburn if all your exposed skin was melted by radiation.
It had been hard, looking at him at first. After spending your entire life surrounded by “normal” humans, it was a shock seeing him for the first time. You’d seen burn scars before, sure, but never this severe, every inch of him covered in them. Of course, that wasn’t the most off-putting part. That had to be the complete lack of nose, an empty socket where the cartilaginous appendage should be. 
It unsettled you deeply, but you found that you couldn’t stop looking at him, a sick part of your brain enjoying it. You didn’t dare delve into that part of your mind right now, though, your current circumstance is significantly more important. 
He had stopped you in Filly, and after a brief discussion had decided that he was taking you with wherever he was going. You had no say in the decision, and even when you fought and kicked and screamed he still managed to get you bound. A few people tried to help, not because they cared about you, but because they had also wanted to get their hands on a “Vaultie”. Apparently, you were worth something to them up here, a commodity of sorts. It made your skin crawl. You’d gotten firsthand experience, then, of how good of a shot The Ghoul was. 
How you longed to be back in the stuffy Vault, working as a teacher to those kids. As annoying as they were, at least they weren’t currently threatening your life, or making you walk to who the hell knows. You’d take that over this any day. Hell, you’d take latrine duty with overflowing toilets every single hour over this. 
You fixed your attention back in front of you, the endless stretch of sandy dunes in front of you broken up by partially destroyed houses and skeletons of buildings. Your feet were in incredible amounts of pain, every step feeling like you had fifty pounds of bricks attached to your ankles. And that thirst, never ending, overwhelming thirst you felt nagged at you, consuming every thought of yours. You’d take anything to drink now, even that definitely radiated puddle you’d passed hours ago. Or was it minutes? You couldn’t tell.
You knew dehydration had long since started affecting you. You were no longer able to form sweat, and you were certain that your body was slowly cooking from the inside. You were almost certain it would be a better fate than whatever The Ghoul was leading you towards. 
You hadn’t even realized he’d stopped until you felt a sharp tug at your throat, nearly toppling you on your ass. You heard him chuckle as you steadied yourself, and you shot him a glare. Even faced with death, you weren’t going to let yourself be treated like this. “We’re stopin’ here,” he gestured to a dilapidated building to his right.
You had been surprised when he spoke the first time, not expecting a southern drawl. You’d never heard an accent like his before, only ever hearing them on the Holotapes your Vault would play for movie night. You’d also believed them to be fake, or to have died out with the rest of humanity. You had to admit, the one good thing to come out of this whole experience was hearing his voice. 
Momentarily confused as to why you were stopping, your eyes focused, and you realized that the sun was half set. You’d learned rather quickly that it was suicidal and stupid to travel across the Wasteland at night, after an almost perilous encountered with what you assumed to once be a bear. You’d barely escaped with your life, climbing a tree until the creature grew disinterested and found new prey. 
You almost wished it had torn you apart then. 
Apparently you were taking too long, and you felt another tug at the rope, pulling you closer to him. “Ain’t got all day, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. The name was anything but sweet, saying it with so much condescension that it made you flush angrily. At least, that’s what you told yourself. 
Grumbling something under your breath, you stormed past him, another low chuckle leaving him. “Nothin’ good is gonna come from that mouth on ya,” he threatened, waving the gun at you in a go on motion. 
The shifting sand nearly caused you to stumble as you ducked into the house through a window, and your eyes struggled to adjust to the low lighting. Holding your breath, you listened for anything else in the house besides the two of you, and when you were met with only your heartbeat, you continued further in. 
Entering what used to be the living room, you saw a large couch, still in relatively decent condition, and luckily free of decomposed bodies. Any wood furniture, however, had already decayed, leaving only fragments where they once stood. You realized that if you were to sit on the couch, it would probably crumble under the weight.
The Ghoul entered behind you, and you made your way down the hallway, checking each room for anyone or anything that could do you harm. The first room was a bathroom, sand filling the bathtub like it was water. Out of desperation you almost tried to turn the handles on the sink, lift the seat of the toilet, do anything for a drop of water. But you refrained, not willing to stoop to that level yet. But you could feel that you were close. 
The next room was a large master bedroom, completely destroyed from when the bombs fell. Sand covered everything, and the walls had practically caved in, leaving you exposed to the outside. There was no where you would stay there willingly tonight. 
The third and final room was also completely devoid of life, but the empty crib in the middle of the room had you gasping, and you heard the click of a gun behind you as The Ghoul prepared for anything. You quickly shut the door. “Nothing, sorry,” you managed to croak out, and you heard him scoff.
However, you saw that he did manage to catch a glimpse of the room before you closed the door, and in those still human eyes you saw something flash through them. Sadness? Longing? Anger? You couldn’t tell, but you sure as hell weren’t about to ask him about it. 
Living room it is, then. Heading back to the original room, you watch The Ghoul sit on the couch, right in the center of it. It held, surprisingly, but you could hear the wood groan in warning. Spreading his legs, you watched him tilt his head back, a content sigh leaving his mouth. 
If you had the energy to blush, you would’ve as you watched him, finding yourself having to look away. Maybe dehydration was messing with your brain, the way you thought that was attractive. What the hell was wrong with you, you thought. 
Thirst quickly chased those thoughts away, and you attempted to lick your dry lips, your tongue mostly sticking to them instead. You were about to go explore the bathroom until you remembered the rope around your neck. 
Like he could read your thoughts, you watched him regard the lasso in his gloved hand. “You gonna run off on me if I take this off, sweetheart?” 
You shook your head, excited to have the irritating rope no longer chafing your neck. “You’ll kill me before I could,” you responded, voice barely a whisper.
The Ghoul barked out a laugh. “Damn right I will.” He considered your response for a moment, and you fully believed that he was going to keep it there. That was until he stood, almost inhumanly fast, approaching you with long strides.
Holding your breath, you felt his tug the rope off your neck, those eerily human eyes never leaving yours as he did. You flinched when you felt one of his leather-clad fingers brush over the irritated skin. Your heart beat rapidly in your chest, mostly because of fear, but also for another reason that you refused to name. 
With a satisfactory smirk, he looped the lasso back onto his belt. You quickly exhaled when he stepped away, eliciting a coughing fit, which was dry and only irritated your throat more. Fuck, you were so thirsty. 
The Ghoul sat back on the couch in that same lounging position, and you debated sitting on the floor in front of him, but you feared that if you rested now then you’d never get back up. You watched him set a lantern on the ground, the weak oil based contraption the only source of light in the entire room. You didn’t ask why he didn’t start a fire; you also learned to not do that early on too. 
So you remained standing, even though your feet screamed for relief. You ignored them, shifting to try and alleviate the pain slightly. Rubbing your neck, you could feel that he hadn't once taken his eyes off of you, and it was making you increasingly unnerved. “You gonna stand there all night?”
You crossed your arms. “Yes.” You tried to sound defiant, but it came out more like an airy noise.
“Suit yourself, then.” He rolled his eyes, making a show of getting comfortable on the couch. “It’ll be a long night for you, that’s for sure.”
Swaying, you leaned your back against one of the barely-standing walls, screwing your eyes shut. You occupied your thoughts with memories of home, trying desperately to ignore the pain. You were mostly successful, that was until you heard the sound of a canister being opened. 
Curious, you opened your eyes back up, nearly falling to your knees when you saw him drinking from a circular canteen. You must’ve made some noise, because he was now smirking at you. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and you watched a droplet of precious water trail down his scarred chin, dripping onto his dusty clothes. 
“See somethin’ you want, sweetheart?” He was unabashedly cocky with his tone. 
You son of a bitch, you thought, glaring daggers into him.
“Now, now, no need to be like that,” he chuckled, taking another sip. “Just tell me what ya want.”
He wanted you to ask for it. He wanted you to be at his mercy. Groaning, you rest your head back against the wall. You don’t think you’ve ever hated anyone as much as you hated The Ghoul. Any humanity left in him had been stripped away, leaving behind a cruel excuse of a human. Despite that, you couldn’t deny the way your heart continued to patter in your chest as he stared at you expectantly, that cocky attitude doing things to you that would leave anyone who knew you horrified.
“I…” you tried to talk, but your voice proved to be too scratchy. Clearing your throat as best you could, you tried again, ignoring the way he looked at you like a predator would his prey. It was similar to the bear from earlier, but you’d take that now over the ghoul in front of you. “I need water.”
He tsked, crossing a leg over his lap. “And here I thought you Vaulties were raised with manners.”
It took everything in you to not just snap at him, but that would leave you without any water. “I need water, please,” you gritted out. 
The Ghoul shook his head disapprovingly. “Shame,” you heard him mutter, before he was slowly pouring the water out onto the floor behind him.
Sheer panic tore through you, and if you were able to form tears, they would be in your eyes. “Wait, wait, wait,” you pleaded, your voice cracking and breaking, and you lunged forward. The click of a gun had your blood going cold, but he at least had the decency to stop pouring. You held your hands up, taking a few steps back.
Registering that you weren’t going to attack him, he lowered the gun, but he still kept it on his lap. If he had any eyebrows left, you’re sure one of them would be raised, waiting for you to continue. 
“I’m- I’m sorry,” you stammered out, keeping your hands in the air. “I just… Can I please have some water? Please, I-I… I need it. I’m begging you… please.” You wondered if he could even make out your words. 
You watched his eyes travel up and down your body, and he cocked his head. “Are you?” You made a confused noise, and he chuckled lowly. “Are you beggin’ me?”
One problem that you always had at the Vault is that you never knew when to shut your mouth, and what you said next certainly made it clear that you hadn’t learned yet. “You want me to get on my knees, then?” You had meant it sarcastically, and you immediately regretted it when his eyes went dark. 
You heard the creak of the couch as he planted both feet on the ground, leaning forward until his elbows rested on his knees. His guns barely stayed in his lap, but he didn’t seem to care. “Now that you mention it… yeah.”
Humiliation warmed your cheeks, and you nearly let your pride stop you from sinking to the floor, but then you saw the way the canteen hung precariously in his hand. Damn it all. Taking a deep breath, you lowered yourself slowly, unable to look at the man, not wanting to see his victorious reaction. The sand shifted beneath your knees as you rested on them, but you could barely feel the relief your feet finally felt.
“Can-”
“Closer,” he cut you off gruffly. “And I want those eyes on me.” His voice had turned husky, and you realized he was enjoying this. Were… were you enjoying this too? You honestly couldn’t tell.
Wordlessly, you obeyed, shuffling forward until your knees bumped into his shoes. Your ears burned worse than they did out in the sun, and you wished it would just explode and incinerate you right now. “Eyes up, sweetheart,” he practically purred. 
You took a moment to prepare yourself before you were looking at him through hooded eyes. The brim of his hat cast a shade over his face, and you could only see the hungry glint in his eyes matched with a predatory smirk. Oh, he was loving this, and you couldn’t help but squirm under his gaze, heat pooling in your belly that was quickly doused by shame. 
“Can I please have some water? Please? I- I’m really thirsty and… just a bit. Please.” 
His grin grew more as you begged, and you sagged with relief when he brought the canteen closer, no longer dangling over the back of the couch. “See, that ain’t so hard now, was it?”
“I’m sorry,” you found yourself apologizing, for what, you weren’t quite sure. You weren’t too upset about it, though, especially when he brought the canteen to your lips. 
“Head back,” he ordered, and you did, your neck straining at the angle. You swore you heard him groan when you parted your lips, never breaking eye contact with him. The water was disgusting and acidic, but damn if it wasn’t the best thing you’d ever had the pleasure of drinking. He poured it into your mouth, and you desperately swallowed every single drop, the dryness in your mouth and throat instantly being quenched. 
But it wasn’t enough, and you couldn’t help the disappointed noise you let out when he ceased the pouring. “More, please,” you found yourself whining, any remnants of shame tossed out the broken window you’d climbed into.
“Manners, Vaultie,” he growled.
“Thank you, thank you,” you repeated like a mantra, and The Ghoul let out a pleased hum. Thirstiness still clung to you like a second skin, but you felt better than you had moments ago. Some of your energy had returned, and you felt like you were no longer in the grasp of death. 
“You want more?” He asked, and you immediately nodded.
“Please,” you whispered, and you saw something almost wicked pass over his features. 
“Don’t worry,” you felt one of his gloved hands sneak around your back, collecting a handful of hair and tugging, forcing your head back even further. You cried out, a mix of shock and pain. “You’ll get more. Just keep that pretty mouth wide open, just like that.” His normal drawl had turned into an almost rasp, and you shuddered. 
You watched as he took a swig for himself, but he didn’t swallow, keeping the water in his mouth. Confused, you closed your mouth, but as soon as you did you felt him pull hard at your hair. Obediently, you opened it back up, a shaky exhale leaving you.
If he had a nose, it would be currently pressed up against yours. He adjusted so that he was practically towering above you, and man did the angle kill your neck, but you didn’t dare complain. With increasingly widening eyes, you watched as he slotted his mouth above yours, not touching, but you could still feel the heat from his body. 
You nearly flinched when you felt the water hit your mouth, fighting every instinct that told you to shut it. The act was filthy and degrading, but you’d be a liar if you said it wasn’t getting you incredibly aroused. Your Vault-Tec suit was becoming suffocating; it hadn’t even felt this bad when you were outside. 
As he sat back on to the couch, his lips glistened in the dim light, stray remnants of water still coating them. As you held the water in your mouth, he frowned disapprovingly. “Do I gotta spell it out for ya?” He shifted forward again, grasping your face. “Swallow.” 
When you did, he let go, tapping your cheek lightly. “Atta girl,” he cooed, and you sputtered, cheeks growing warm. Shifting where you sat, you tried and failed to relieve some of the tension in you. You thought you were subtle in your movements, but his sharpshooter gaze locked onto it immediately. 
He laughed, a mix of surprise and condescension in one. “This gettin’ you turned on? Maybe you ain’t all that innocent, Vaultie.”
You eyed the half-hard tent in front of you. “I’m not the only one,” you grumbled out, and he laughed again. 
“I ain’t the one on my knees, sweetheart.”  Scoffing, you watched him lean back again. You expected him to say something, do something, but he simply watched you with anticipatorily. Something shifted in the atmosphere, and you realized he was putting the situation in your hands, wordlessly asking you how far you were willing to take this. 
You needed this. You needed him, as bewildering as it was for you to admit to yourself. 
Desire running deeper than that for water coursed through your veins, and you nodded. “More.” You both knew that you weren’t fully talking about the canteen in his hand. 
“Good answer.” Before you could even register, he was gripping your face again. Fingers pressed into your cheeks harshly, opening your mouth back up. Taking another swig, you expected him to repeat what he’d done last time, but you were startled when you felt his lips on yours. 
It was a strange kiss, his closed mouth against your open one, but it didn’t stay like that for long. His lips pulled apart, and without needing further prompting you swallowed another precious mouthful of water. You could feel that bastardly smirk against your mouth, and if you were anywhere near being able to create a coherent thought you would’ve said something. 
But you didn’t, you couldn’t. It was like you were caught up in some haze, but you were sent out of it when you felt his tongue sweep into your mouth. You’d kissed a few people, sure, but never like this. It elicited a startled noise from you that had him pulling back an inch, and you had to fight yourself to not chase after his lips.
“Never had that before?” He chuckled, and he found your following silence an adequate enough answer. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m gonna fuckin’ ruin you.”
He didn’t even give you a moment to react before he was crashing his mouth back against yours. It was all tongue and teeth and it had you moaning, and you felt the grip on your face tighten. Your head spun, and you tried to keep up with his movements, but you ended up just letting him take over, moving his mouth against your however he’d like. 
He nipped at your lower lip with his teeth, and your hands shot out, no longer able to just keep them idly in your lap. You found purchase on his thighs, the sinewy muscles tensing under your touch. But the grip on your face tightened more, almost incredibly painful. Your eyes shot open, alarmed, and a pained noise left you. 
He had pulled away again, a string of saliva still connecting your mouths, but he was glaring down at you. “You better watch those hands.” Even though his voice was husky, the threat didn’t make you any less terrified. 
You were confused, and you watched his eyes trail down to his lap where your hands were. Unable to move your head, you had to strain your own eyes to look down, and sheer dread washed over you when you saw his gun still in his lap, your hands a mere inch away from it. 
“I- I wasn’t… I didn’t… ” you gasped breathlessly. “I didn’t know! I- I’m sorry! Please.” Out of all the times you’d begged and pleaded tonight, this time had to be the most genuine. Immediately retracting your hands back to your lap, you awaited his response tensely. What you failed to notice was the way his eyes darkened as you groveled, his pants growing tighter.
His gaze returned to your face, and out of the corner of your eye you watched as he moved the gun from his lap into his hand. You half expected him to point it at you next, but you let out a very audible sigh of relief when he set it on the couch beside him. It was completely out of your reach now, but he could still easily grab it. 
He loosened the grip on your jaw, still holding it, but no longer digging into your flesh painfully. “I won’t stop you next time,” he growled, and it took you a second to register what he was saying: he won’t stop you next time because you’d be dead as soon as you began to reach for it. 
You nodded as best you could. “Good,” he’d lost the threatening tone, but his voice was still gravely and raspy. “Now, where was I?” His eyes flicked down to your lips, and you sure they were swollen and shiny. “That’s right.”
Like nothing had happened, he returned to his ministrations, teeth grazing your bottom lip again. You hesitated when you set your hands back on his thighs, gaining more confidence when he didn’t stop you. In fact, he was actively encouraging your explorative touches, a pleased noise rumbling his chest as your fingers trailed up his thighs. 
Another swipe of his tongue and a particularly harsh bite had you gripping onto him, barely able to find purchase on the thick material of his pants. You desperately needed air, but he held his grip on your jaw, seemingly unaffected by the issue you were having. Did ghouls need to breathe? It seemed like they didn’t, because he had yet to tear his mouth away for air once as he first kissed you. 
As your hands reached his belt, it was then he finally tore away, a groan leaving him. Sucking in as much air as your lungs could handle, you ran your touch across the prominent bulge. You felt the hand on your jaw go lax, falling to his lap. “You gonna take care of that?” He was giving you another out, giving you an opportunity to stop you from doing something you could regret. 
Rationally, you knew you should stop here, and pretend like this didn’t just happen. You knew the version of you from the Vault would do that. But this new part of you, exposed to the Wasteland and the savagery of the surface world found that you wanted to continue. Besides, you were probably going to end up getting killed in the next few days; why not have some new experiences before your time was up.
You didn’t respond, you simply began to undo the buckle of his belt. You couldn’t get the thing off of him, so it just rested open on his thighs. “Oh, you’re filthy,” he chuckled, spreading his legs even further apart while leaning back against the couch. “Go on, sweetheart. Let’s see what that mouth’s good for.”
This also wasn’t your first time in a situation like this. You’d only ever done it once, but you apparently weren't too terrible at it, as he frequently requested for a second time, but you always turned him down. You kinda wish you hadn’t now, wishing you had more experience now, but a part of you knew that this was about to be incredibly different from anything you would’ve experienced in the Vault.
With hands that you prayed weren’t incredibly shaky, you pulled down the zipper of his pants. He kept his eyes locked onto you the entire time, darkening even more as the unzipping noise hit his ears. You couldn’t bring yourself to look away from him, no matter how hard you wanted to. Something about his expression had you locked in, and you shifted again. 
“Don’t let me stop ya,” he rested his arms along the backside of the couch, and you realized you’d just been sitting there. Steadying yourself, you slipped your hand into the confines of his pants, underneath the waistband of his briefs. You heard him let out a small hiss when your fingers brushed over his cock, and you desperately wanted to hear him make more noises like that.
It took a bit of maneuvering before he was free, head brushing against his navel. The skin was pocked like the rest of his body, which you were expecting. What you weren’t expecting was how long he was, much longer than your previous encounter.
Before you could let nerves disarm you, you moved closer to him. Bracing your hands back on his thighs, you kissed his tip, and you heard his hiss again. Sneaking your tongue out, you ran it up his length, pressing another kiss when you reached the top. “Don’t tease,” he growled, tangling his gloved fingers back into your hair. 
When you took him into your mouth, he let out a noise that sounded like a laugh and a sigh, the grip on your hair growing painful. It didn’t deter you, rather it drove you wild, and you took as much of him as you could. When he hit the back of your throat, you had to stifle the urge to gag. Taking the rest of him in one of your hands, you began to bob your head, hollowing your cheeks. 
You couldn’t see the way his eyes locked onto his cock leaving and entering your mouth, but you could hear the small grunts he made in tandem with the movement of your head. He kept his hips surprisingly still, but his fingers were somehow getting even tighter, as if all of his restraint was being poured into his grip, and it was on the verge of snapping. “You can take more.” It wasn’t a question, and you felt his press down on the back of your head when you had him fully in you.
Startled, you tried to make a noise, but the vibrations just went straight to his cock. He groaned, louder this time, and he didn't let up. “Relax,” he bit out, and you tried. You really did. Taking as deep a breath you could, you forced your muscles to relax, your hands going back to his thighs. Tears sprung to your eyes as you really tried not to gag, but a garbled sound still left you as he pushed himself further down your throat. 
“Fuck,” he drawled out, “just like that.” It felt like five years had passed before your nose was finally pressed into his skin, his cock fully sheathed down your throat. Tears dripped onto his skin, but he didn’t seem to feel them. Your scalp stung as he lifted your head up, and you took in a shuddering breath, your lungs screaming for air.
You didn’t have a long reprieve before he was shoving you back down again, and even though the intrusion wasn’t new it still caused you to make an awful noise. It took him pulling you off again for you to realize what he was doing; he was fucking your mouth, using it for his own pleasure like you were just a toy. The realization had you moaning, the discomforts becoming an afterthought as he chased his pleasure, your own growing. 
Your Vault-Tec suit was becoming unbearable arousal tightening in your core, and you snuck a hand down between your legs, trying to touch yourself through the thick material. It didn’t help, but you still tried anyway, desperate for any sort of relief. The Ghoul laughed, not letting up the way he moved your head. “Oh, sugar, is suckin’ my cock gettin’ you bothered?”
Your head spun, the new nickname and the crude words making you dizzy, and you let out what you hoped was a confirmatory sound. He only huffed in response, and you could tell that he was starting to get close to his release. His hips had started to buck, albeit slightly, and his groans had turned to unintelligible moans. 
He cursed again, and you were barely able to glimpse his head roll back, hat hitting the ground. He didn’t care, continuing to fuck your face, and you desperately ground against your hand. “So good, fuck,” he panted, and you let your eyes flutter shut.
They shot open when you heard him moan your name, but you had little time to appreciate the way he said it. He pressed down hard on the back of your head, holding you there, your nose pressed flat against his body. A plethora of curses fell from his lips as he came, his cum spurting deep down your throat. 
He let go, hands falling to his sides, and you removed yourself, coughing and gasping for air. Your cheeks were wet with tears, your jaw aching, but it was the best pain you’d ever felt. He stared at you with lustful eyes, a ghost of a smirk on his lips. 
Holy shit. You were tired, but you wanted more. But you weren’t expecting him to do anything else tonight. This wasn’t a partnership; he’d gotten his release. You’d need to deal with it on your own. 
So caught up in what you were expecting, you gasped when you felt his lips graze the corner of your mouth. His hand cradled your cheek, leather growing damp, and you felt his lips brush the tears that had fallen on the other cheek. You realized he was licking your tears away, and when he registered that you noticed he chuckled, muttering something about not wanting to waste water. You let out an airy chuckle in return, still not fully wrapping your head about what had and what is transpiring. 
“Guess one good thing came from that mouth,” he teased, referencing his earlier threat. He tugged you up, and you stood with knees shaking like a fawn. You’re certain you looked like a mess but he either didn’t care or really enjoyed it. 
You really had no idea what was going to happen next. You observed him with wide eyes, and you couldn’t help the bewildered look when you saw him stroking himself, still rock hard like he hadn’t just come. He chuckled when he saw what had caused you to react. “One good thing ‘bout bein’ a ghoul,” he rasped. “Stamina.”
His own raked down your body, honing in on the way your thighs pressed together, and they flicked back up to your own. “Take it off.”
You didn’t have to be told twice, the zipper on your suit quickly becoming undone. Even though the air was hot, it still felt nice against your hot skin. He didn’t blink as you undressed, eyes clocking in every new inch of exposed skin. Tugging it down your shoulders and off your arms, you let it fall to the ground, the material pooling at your ankles. 
Left in only your bra and underwear, you kicked the Vault-Tec suit off your feet, and you stood there, unsure. “All of it,” he continued, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 
As you reached for the clasp of your bra, you watched him lean forward slightly, eyes watching you like you were the most delicious meal he was about to devour. Tossing the garment beside you, you reached for the waistband of your underwear. He raised a hand, making your halt, your fingers barely looped under the band.
With two fingers, he gestured you forward, grinning when you complied easily. His hands batted away your own, and you felt he begin to peel it away himself. He was almost eye level with your navel, and you felt his breath caress your stomach. It was like he was unwrapping a present, the way he ripped it down your legs, and it fell around your ankles like the suit. 
You were hardly able to kick it away before he pulled you onto his lap, your hands bracing against his still clothed chest. The couch made a very audible noise, on the virgo of collapsing, but neither of you seemed to hear it. One of your legs straddled his thigh, your bare center pressed against his pants, no doubt soaking the material.
 “You’re wearing too much,” you found yourself commenting, and you felt him chuckle. He took his hands off your waist, holding them in front of you so you could clearly see him take off his gloves, tossing them by his gun. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes, realizing that that was all you were getting from him. 
You weren’t complaining, though, when his bare hands touched you for the first time. Along with the marred skin, his fingers were calloused, years and years of harsh life, fighting, and shooting making them so, but they were the best things you’d ever felt touch your soft skin.
He seemed to be having similar thoughts, humming appreciated as he felt your body, fingers dancing up your sides. Goosebumps erupted across your skin, and you sighed as he continued his exploration upwards. Worn hands cupped your breasts, fingers toying with your perked nipples, and you unconsciously pressed your chest forward. “Look at ya,” it felt like he was mostly talking to himself, “you ain’t gotta mark on your body.” You felt his mouth graze your breasts, lips ticking you as he spoke. 
You jumped when his teeth made contact with the delicate skin of the top of your breasts, and he chuckled. Moving lower, he took one of your nipples between his lips, his hand making sure the other one was receiving the same attention. His tongue flicked, sucked, and the occasional nip had you crying out, jolts of pleasure shooting through your body. One of your hands settled on the back of his head, the other sneaking back between your legs.
With that surprising speed, he caught your wrist, not even tearing his mouth away from you. You let out a noise of complaint, and you could feel him grin. His hands left your breasts, settling back on your waist, and you felt him begin to rock you back and forth on his thigh. With every rock, your clit ground against the tensed muscle, and you let out small moans, small waves of pleasure crashed through your body.
When he felt you begin to move on your own, he let go, returning his touch to your breasts, playing and massaging them as you got off on his thigh. His mouth trailed up your body, leaving a trail of small kisses and ginger bites, your once smooth skin now slightly indented. Having been worked up for a while, you felt that you were growing close to release, his ministrations bringing you closer. 
He was at your neck now, and he bit particularly hard at the thick tendon there. He laughed when he felt your hips begin to rock harder, and you felt his tongue smooth over the bitten skin. “I-” you tried to speak, but an airy whine from your throat cut you off. Your thighs were trembling, and you could feel the damp patch that had formed on his pants, but you couldn’t be bothered to feel embarrassed right now. 
“You close, sugar?” Not trusting your voice, you nodded instead. “Fuck, yeah you are. C’mon, let me feel ya,” he groaned, mouthing at your neck. 
It only took a few more rolls of your hips before you came, his name tumbling from your lips as a loud cry, pleasure igniting all your nerves. Your stubbed nails dug into the back of his head, and he growled. Your whole body was trembling as you rode out your high, only ceasing the movement of your hips when it became too overstimulating.
A shocked laugh left you, and you slumped forward. That seemed to be the last straw for the couch, the furniture collapsing beneath the two of you. It nearly caused to tumble off his lap, but you felt his hands secure under your thighs. He stood, holding you like you weighed nothing, and your legs instinctively wrapped around his body. 
He eased you to the ground, the sand digging uncomfortably into your skin, causing your back to arch off the ground to avoid feeling it. You couldn’t help the gasp you let out when you watched him shrug off his jacket, tucking behind you wordlessly. These small glimpses of humanity you’d seen from the Ghoul, like when he saw the crib, or when he gave you a way lead you to believe that maybe he wasn’t as bad as you originally believed him to be.
Well, you still hated him, and you were still his captive, but you realized that he wasn’t a complete monster. It was moments like this, where those high walls he’d built to survive in the Wasteland began to crumble, and you could see glimpses of the man you assumed he once was.
He didn’t give you much time to reflect, though, because his lips were crashing against yours, and all thoughts disappeared. Your legs were still wrapped around his waist, and you could feel his cock pressed against your folds. He didn’t press in though, and you whined against his lips, moving your hips as best you could to try and get him to move. “Whatdya want, sweetheart?” He murmured, nestling his head in the crook of your neck. 
“You,” you gasped out.
“I’m right here,” he chuckled a bit, and he still didn’t move.
Groaning, you ground against him again, trying to get him to just push himself into you. He groaned, yet he still didn’t move, his resolve stronger than you anticipated. “Fuck me, please,” you choked out, and you could see him smirk in satisfaction. 
He didn’t respond, and you felt him press into you, sheathing into you with a single thrust. Similar noises of pleasure escaped both your mouths, and your fingers wove into the fabric of his shirt, desperately trying to find something to grip onto. He stretched you out so well, and you gasped when you felt his hips press against you. He was so deep inside of you, father than any other person you’d taken to bed, and it overwhelmed you in all the best ways.
“Sugar, you feel incredible.” You babbled something in response, and you hated how proud he looked. He didn’t give you time to adjust before he was setting a brutal pace, hips snapping against yours. The sound of skin on skin and your cries of his name filled the room, and you swore if you gripped any tighter on his shirt that it would rip.
Small puffs of air tickled your neck with every thrust, whispers of your name hidden in the gasps. Fingers dug into your waist, most likely going to leave marks in the morning, your once smooth skin littered with marks of him. You couldn't see what your body looked like right now, but you had a pretty damn good idea, and the picture you visualized in your mind had you clenching around him, causing him to falter, albeit it only for a second.
Despite the slight overstimulation you were feeling, you could feel another orgasm begin to form, slowly but surely. Letting go of his shirt, you grasped at his face, pulling back up for another breath-stealing kiss. You were so caught up in the way he continued to thrust into you and the way his mouth slotted against yours that you failed to notice the way one of his hands left your waist. 
You broke the kiss with a startled yet pleased nosed when you felt his fingers begin to work at your clit, rubbing fervent circles into the sensitive nerves in time with the thrusts of his hips. “Cum on my cock, sweetheart. C’mon,” he groaned out, and your head hit the ground, barely softened by the jacket and the sand. 
His name had turned into soft pants, unable to form a coherent thought as he relentlessly fucked you. The added stimulation brought you closer to the edge, and you tried to let him know you were getting close. “Go ‘head, lemme feel ya,” his accent had been cranked up to a hundred, and in any other situation you would’ve found that funny. 
With a final cry of his name, you came again, your vision going white as you temporarily spaced out, the pleasure too overwhelming. When you came to, he had pulled out of you, leaving you empty and shivering. You watched as he stroked himself a few more times before he came all over your stomach.
It was only the sound of breathing in the room now, both of you just staring at each other as you calmed. Relaxing on his coat, you watched as he stood, tucking himself back into his pants as he did. Closing your eyes, you focused on your breathing, jumping when you felt a cloth on your stomach, wiping away his release from your skin. 
He didn’t say anything, tossing the cloth to one of the corners of the room when he was done. He placed your clothing beside you, before sitting and resting against the collapsed remnants of the couch, head rolling back. 
Groaning, you broke free from the post-orgasmic haze you were in, sitting upright. Both pleasure and pain still lingered in your muscles, making your movements sluggish and uncoordinated. Slipping on your undergarments, the dampened fabric of your underwear was incredibly uncomfortable, but you gritted your teeth and ignored it. After putting on your bra, you debated putting on the Vault-Tec suit, but the idea of putting it back on made our overheated body cry. 
The Ghoul watched you as you redressed, thinly veiled desire and interest flicking in those eyes. You were now sitting upright on his jacket, and you got up onto your knees, freeing the garment and holding it in your arms. Scooting towards him, you held it out to him with shaking arms, almost like a peace offering. His eyes didn’t leave you as he took it, setting it beside him.
Before you could decide that it was a bad idea, you sat down next to him, shoulders brushing. If he was surprised, he did a good job of hiding. Exhaustion returned, and you felt your eyes begin to flutter close, head bobbing as you struggled to stay awake.
It was your turn to be surprised when you felt him pull your shoulder down, resting your head in his lap. You were even more surprised when he draped his jacket over your shoulders, the material thin enough to not overheat you. You glanced up at him with wide eyes, but he avoided your gaze, staring at the half-standing wall in front of him.
“Rest. We’re leavin’ at sunrise.” His voice was hoarse, back to that commanding tone from earlier. 
Getting as comfortable as you could, you let your eyes shut, sleep beckoning you. You had no idea what was going to happen tomorrow, but as you felt his fingers comb delicately through your hair, you knew that he was no longer going to be following his original plan for you.
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roseychains · 2 months
Note
could you maybe do relationship/nsfw headcanons for gojo and nanami. Please
Relationship and nsfw h/c for Gojo and Nanami ~
A/n: thanks for the request! This was pretty fun writing, I enjoyed it a lot and kinda went crazy ;3
C/w: fluff, sillyness. As for nsfw, written by a minor!
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Sfw
Gojo
Major gift giver!! It’s his love language and he certainly has the money to do so. If he sees something that reminds him of you, he’ll buy it for you. If he thinks you’ll like it, he buys it for you. If he thinks it’s a cool thing, he’ll buy it to show you
Sooo touchy. He’s clingy and cuddly. He always has his hands on you. Holding yours, snaked around your waist, hip, around your neck, on your thigh, it doesn’t matter. He needs to hold you. When he gets home from particularly draining missions, he just wants to wrap his arms around you and sleep
Speaking of sleep, he’s really sleepy. And snores loud as fuck, almost monstrously so. That’s only for day naps, at night, he won’t let himself sleep before you are asleep
He sometimes has bad dreams, dreams where something happens to you and will wake up and pull you closer. He’s gentle enough to not wake you up but holding you is a comfort to him
Loves to take you shopping and play dress up with you. He will pick out clothes with you then send you to the changing room, and have you walk out real quick to show him how you look
He loves showering together, and he loves washing your hair for you and vice versa
You play games together, and he rages. Y’all definitely have some shared concels for playing things together, and he will throw a fit when he loses
He likes helping you cook. He will get things out for you, cut veggies and wash the dishes while you run the kitchen
But sometimes he cooks for you, doing it all in an apron that says “kiss the chef” or something cheesy
Buys you the most expensive jewelry, and urges you to wear it anytime you go out
Hugs from behind!! Lots of sneaky teasing touches. Pinches you playfully. Slaps ur ass then runs knowing your about to turn around and get his 10x harder
He acts like he’s smaller than he is. Will definitely ask to be little spoon, but you end up wrapping around him like a backpack. Sits on YOUR lap, etc
Always wants a kiss. Never let’s you leave the house without a kiss, and vise versa
He will pose for you. Pose for you to draw him, pose for pics, etc
Let’s you practice hair, nails, makeup, and anything else traditionally feminine on him. He thinks he looks fabulous
Will attempt to take bites of your food when you aren’t looking
Nanami
Such a gentlemen. He will chauffeur you everywhere, open your door for you, carry you when your feet hurt, pay for 100% of all dates, treats you like a princess
Speaking of princess treatment, he makes you breakfast in bed “just because”
Definition of a male wife. He does all the cleaning and helps with the cooking, always has the bed made and the house tidy by the time you get home
Brushes and does your hair for you, learned how to specifically for you
Such a romantic. I’m talking candle lit dinners, rose petals adorning the bedroom, bubble baths and more
Surprisingly super shy in public. You have to break him out of his shell a little bit
He secretly wears women’s perfume when he can. He thinks it smells so much nicer than cologne
Puts your needs first down to the most minimal details. Not making you sit next to strangers on trains, letting you get the entire hotel bed to yourself, letting you shower first with the hot water, etc
He takes any and all of your injuries seriously. Even a small paper cut he will have you wash and put a bandage on it to prevent infection
He also doesn’t take any risks. He makes sure anytime you guys are outside for an extended period of time that your wearing sunscreen. When you guys are in grass, he’s making sure you have on some kind of bug spray on your ankles
Brews coffee everymorning like clockwork for the both of you. He likes it black but bought a ton of stuff for you, so he makes your coffee Starbucks style the way you like it with cream and stuff
Watches you sleep, not in a creepy way. More in like your so beautiful he can’t keep his eyes off way
He’s super into yoga, will go to yoga classes with you. He’s so stiff he needs it
He reads a lot of books, and will geek out about them to you
Frequently accidently sleeps with his glasses on, you’ll wake up beside him and he will just. Have them on. And when he gets up in the morning to take them off he has red marks around his eyes
Nsfw
Gojo
Such a fucking tease. He LOVES to get you worked up before giving you what you want
Edging and overstim both ways. He loves to get you so close to that edge, then pull out and make you whine or beg for it. He also really enjoys making yoy cum over and over until your crying and pleading with him to stop. As for himself, his main motive for edging himself is to help him last longer. Lord knows he can’t stand more than 10 minutes inside you without cumming. He also loves it when you milk him for all he’s worth, ridding him into tears
Absolutely into sensory deprivation. He gets a kick out of either you, not being able to know his next move keeping you in the dark, or him, being at your mercy
Speaking of sensory stuff, he fucking loves it when you wear his blindfold. Blocking your vision, you can only feel his touches and not see them
He cums so much, everywhere all the time. His favorite place to cum has to be all over your face. Have you sucking him off, but before he cums he pulls out and jerks it a few times before painting your face with his seed. It’s so hot to him, seeing you covered in it
He might even take a picture if you let him. He’s really into picture/video taking, just to have for himself. Whenever your not there, he can pull out his file of lewd photos and videos of you two
He is soooo vocal. He’s loud and his moans are whiny. He doesn’t hold back though, he has no shame. Matter of fact he wants everyone to know what you do to him
Speaking of, he’s a bit of a risk taker. He’s not past sneaking into a changing room for you to help him with the boner he got looking at you in those clothes
While he may cum fast, he can still last several rounds without break. He is the strongest, after all
Loves oral giving and receiving because it’s so messy. He loves it when your drooling all over his cock, or when his chin is covered in your slick
He’s a switch, but when he’s on bottom he’d moan if you step on his cock. Such a slutty submissive, and a brat too. He’d do things to get you angry so you punish him for it later <3
Definitely has considered 3somes with geto, but never brought it up
I can see him being into roleplay
He’s not insanely girthy, but he is LONGG and pretty. Has a cute curve at the end that’s perfect for you
He loves fucking your tits
His fingers are slim and long, and when he fingers you he will make you see stars
Thinks it’s so hot when he gets you to squirt
Somno with consent
If you need to be clean right that moment he will do so, but aftercare with him usually he prefers to cuddle up and sleep then clean up in the morning
Nanami
Such a service dom. He’s a provider, and that nature sticks in the bedroom. He lives to please you, and will make you cum several times before even freeing his cock from his tight pants
He would definitely dabble in bdsm. Specifically, what he enjoys is bondage and brat taming
With bondage, he has it all. It may be a small fluffy pair of handcuffs binding your wrists behind your back, two a sturdy rope tying your ankles and wrists to the corner of the bed, to full on shibari, ropes all over your body
Absolutely uses his tie and/or belt to bind you
Brat taming was something you insisted, and when he tried it he found out he got a kick out of it too. It started with you teasing him all day, and when you begged him to be rough with you and put you in your place who is he to deny you?
Both kinks are done with upmost gentleness and care. Of course. He may also engage in light impact play, small spanks on your ass and even your clit. Nothing enough to hurt, just a little love tap to startle you
His hands drive you insane. His hands are so big, they wrap perfectly around your wrists, neck, hips, waist, etc. they also reach all the parts inside you just the way you like
While he often takes the leading role, he’s not opposed to letting you ride him to get yourself off when he doesn’t have the energy
He’s not very loud, mostly grunts and quite muffled moans come from him
So much praise. He’s constantly reassuring you through the whole ordeal, calling you beautiful, gorgeous, how well your doing, how good you are for him, etc
He would degrade you if you really wanted. Again, you’d have to tell him because he wouldn’t ever say such things to you but when your begging him to say mean things to you, he’s nothing but a pleaser
Cockwarming is a big turn on. He’s a busy man, so when he has work to do but you wanna get off, he will let you sit on his cock
Similarly, he also likes watching you ride his thigh. Your wet pussy grinding up and down on his clothed leg does something to him
Aftercare god. As soon as you guys are done he’s running a bath, carrying you to it, washing you off as you just lay back. After he drys you off, he’s carrying you back to the bed and wrapping you with his arms
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sameschmidtdiffname · 3 months
Note
Peeta as the smallest of 3 brothers definitely had to resort to dirty plays like biting in his youth.
First off, you're right and you should say it. Second off, Peeta being the youngest is 1000% a dynamic in his relationship with Katniss once they start to recover.
No bc listen. I was the youngest of three siblings and while we never got into physical fights I learned QUICK how to use my mouth to win what battles couldn't be fought physically because my siblings would 100% go to jail for trying to rock a 3 y/os shit. So Peeta was running his mouth religiously around the household. Can't tell me otherwise. "If it weren't for the baby??" Girl, he was biting AND flappin his lips. 100% would get pinned to the ground by his brothers and be like "wow I feel bad for your girlfriend" before getting his shit rocked. He'll offer them tips inbetween punches. "Aim for the throat. Wow, you're still pathetic."
Second, Katniss is the eldest, Peeta is the youngest in their families. Once they're more secure in their relationship, Peeta is 100% causing fun! problems 24/7. She's stressed the fuck out she's gonna come home one day from hunting again and half the house is repainted with all of the furniture just shoved into one big pile away from the drying walls like "WHY DID YOU DO THIS??" "bored :))" because he's so dangerously intelligent, I'm thoroughly convinced he's a practical fucking moron. He probably had to create his own entertainment as a child, he's used to being ignored. If he gets an idea to rearrange the furniture, he just does it. Katniss and Haymitch both have to intervene with how much this happens because Katniss complained about it to Effie once, and Effie started rambling about this thing called "feng-shui," and now Peeta is completely obsessed and will spend several hours to the point of obsession planning with Effie not just his decor, but literally fucking everyones, and Katniss tried to warn Haymitch "Hey, we need to fucking stop this," and Haymitch just said "get out of my house." But now Haymitch is too sober to deal with the constantly changing furniture, and why is this idiot painting his ceiling, and can you please pick up a hobby that doesn't involve majorly changing the layout of our houses? Peeta says no. Katniss instead comes home to Peeta having several geese chasing him at Haymitchs training. He's been waiting for an excuse to reveal this.
She stops feeling bad for needing his constant comfort once he starts biting her out of boredom. Oh, come on. You can see it. He would absolutely look at her arm one night and go "you look nice :))" before taking a giant fucking bite that makes her question every decision she made from age 16-18. There's a solid minute where they just sit in their bed at a standstill. She's holding her book in shock, he's just frozen still biting her. She says "What the fuck" he says "nostalgia :))" to which she's further confused and slightly terrified. She learns how to duck. He learns how to lure her in easier. Post-canon angst + comfort is cute, give me chaotic Peeta torturing his wife who just wants five minutes of peace but secretly adores her dangerously clever idiot of a husband
Imagine when they have kids. That woman is gonna go from "peetas baby!" To "your child."
He likes tossing the motherfuckers in the air. He's the kinda dad who will take off RUNNING with the shopping cart, shove the thing as far away as he can and just wave "bye bye! :))" to the baby inside of the cart that's laughing wildly while Katniss is just chasing this fucking thing down through the store like it's the quarter quell all over again and everyone else is just watching like "Jesus Christ he's doing it again." It gets worse when Peeta collaborates his children with the attacking geese to use against Haymitch when he tries to prevent him from repainting his ceiling again.
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pettyprocrastination · 10 months
Text
Taste Test
Pairing: Line Cook!Simon Riley x Line Cook!Fem!Reader
Summary: Simon is warned by his manager about the dangers of a workplace romance. You are asked for your opinion on seasoning.
Warnings: profanity and smoking.
Wordcount: 1.3k
Note: take this silly little thing as an apology for my utter lack of activity lately I'm so sorry yall! Made simon a linecook as a little joke au but now its kinda stuck in my head and not leaving lmao. Big thank you to @madhyanas @thesadvampire and @yeehaw-djarin for being my beta readers and editors for this story! I smooch you all <3
__________________
Simon had just finished plating his sixth steak of the night when the manager, Elise, a woman with twitching hands and cold eyes, pokes her head into the kitchen and barks his name. 
“My office.” 
The others snicker and bump shoulders like schoolboys, calling out a jested “fuck did you do this time, Riley?” that he doesn’t bother answering with words so much as a choice hand gesture thrown into the air before he ducks under the door frame and disappears down the hall. 
“You want to tell me what I’m getting chewed out for?” Simon rasps as he tucks his hands into the front pocket of his apron, scarred fingers curling around the carton of cigarettes tucked within it. 
Elise’s office is hardly bigger than the pantry, just large enough for a rickety desk piled with bills and a chair with a threadbare cushion that was all but pressed flat. 
“I’m not reprimanding you, Simon.” 
“Is that so?” 
“Think of what I’m about to say as-” Elise tilts her head, flashing him a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “A preventive measure.” 
Simon fishes out a lighter from his back pocket as she continues. She doesn’t have the energy to tell him to stop.
“What do you think of the new hire?” 
Truthfully, nothing.
You don’t talk much outside of work. While the other cooks are content to crack jokes and tell stories of their weekend to one another as they prepare meals, you have no such social connection to anybody within the kitchen. The only moments Simon had even heard your voice was the rushed announcement of your position behind somebody or when coming around the corner. 
“She’s fine.” He takes a slow drag of his cigarette and exhales, smoke curling from his lips as he speaks. “Does her job and doesn’t bitch like the others.”
“She’s more than fine.” Elise motions to a stapled pack of paper on her desk. 
 “Kid went to culinary school, trained under some big fucking names and even worked at some five-star joints before coming here. All her previous employers say she’s a hard worker who picks up shifts and doesn’t cause trouble.” 
She picks up the paper and points it towards the six foot four cook hunched in her doorway.
“Which is exactly why I’m telling you now that she is off-fucking-limits to you.” 
Simon bites down on his cigarette. “S’cuse me?” 
“Don’t play coy, Riley. You’re far too fucking grown to pretend you don’t know what you do.” 
He does know. Simon is more than aware of the past flings he’s had with multiple servers, none of which have ended on a positive note and all of which resulted in a souring work environment until they up and quit - leaving front of house understaffed until the next poor bastard walked through the door asking about the Help Wanted sign hung outside. 
But the blame can’t be on him entirely, that is. Each doe-eyed waitress entered a fling with the cook knowing good and well what his intentions were, because he had no issue with saying it right to their face. 
‘I’m not looking for a relationship.’ 
Simon is a blunt man. He tells people what he wants because in a world full of dragging feet and double entendres, he values efficiency and honesty above all else. 
“Listen, I’ve never stopped you from dipping your hand in the cookie jar before, but this?” She waves your resume in front of him again. “This right here? Off-limits. If you run this poor girl out and leave us understaffed for the Sunday rush I will fucking gut you myself, Simon.” 
It’s only been a week and a half since you’ve started working with them. Part of him wants to laugh at Elise’s exasperated accusation. That somehow, in the midst of chaotic shifts where several customers complain and a few bar patrons get rowdy enough for him to have to drag them out by the collar, he’d be able to find the fucking time to learn your goddamn name, let alone sweettalk his way between your legs. 
But then he remembers the muffled laugh you hid in your sleeve yesterday when listening to the dishwasher crack jokes during the lunch rush and how you tap the side of your apron in a constant rhythm when looking for something within the kitchen. Simon interrupts his own thoughts and frowns, mildly surprised about just how much he noticed of you from the corner of his eye during the daily lunch rush. Had Elise said nothing, he wouldn’t have cast a second glance in your direction. But now?
“Simon! Are you listening?” 
She may have just cursed herself. 
“Yeah-” He stamps his cigarette out on the ceramic tray on her desk, offering her a dry clip of his voice before turning on his heel. “No fucking the new cook until we find coverage, got it.” 
Simon narrowly avoids a stapler being thrown in his direction before ducking out of her office and back into the kitchen where his coworker grins at him from the sink. 
“So? She fire your dumbass yet?” 
Across the kitchen, you cut onions with a flicking wrist that never ceased movement, brows furrowed and mumbling to yourself. 
Simon hums. 
You’re quite pretty. 
“Not yet.” He rumbles. “She likes my smile too much.” 
You spare Simon a glance as he settles back into his work station next to you before you resume cutting. He notices there’s a scar on your bottom lip, a little sliver of raised skin that goes from the bottom of your chin to the swell of your lower lip. 
“Hey.” 
His voice shakes you from your focus, hands freezing as you turn to look at him, lightly craning your neck to meet his eyes. 
Simon holds out a spoon to you, the other scarred hand hovering beneath to keep it from spilling. 
“Mind giving your opinion? Can’t tell if it needs more garlic.”
There’s a moment where your brows cinch together and you look at him with caution, as if to sniff out any sort of deceit within his offer before you mumble, “Yeah, yeah, okay,” and lean forward. 
There’s no need for him to feed you. You’re a fully grown woman who could take the spoon from his hand with no issue, but Simon finds himself guiding it to your mouth and letting his other hand tuck under your chin in an affectionate gesture far too intimate for the back kitchen of a local restaurant. 
Simon is sure that Elise has cursed him too. He hadn’t given you a second glance or a spare thought since your first day. But now, he watches your eyes flutter shut as you hum at his cooking. 
“Good?” he asks. 
Your tongue darts out to catch a stray droplet of sauce on your lower lip. “Good.” Your lips purse like you have something more to say and you raise your hand, pinching your pointer finger to your thumb in a universal gesture. 
“Could use just a bit more garlic though.” 
There’s a brief moment after you speak where panic fills your eyes as Simon says nothing. Frantic thoughts fill your brain, wondering if that was some sort of test for the new hire that you had failed due to your own personal tastes until the man that towers over you nods. 
“More garlic.” He echoes. With a short nod of his head, he turns back to his station without another word. 
Simon doesn’t speak to you again for the rest of your shift yet at times during the night, where an unexpected pause takes over the kitchen for a brief but appreciated moment of silence, you feel his gaze on the back of your neck. 
When the time of the night comes to hang up your apron and slip through the backdoor, he joins you without a word. A large looming shadow walking in step with your own, unexpected but not unwelcome. He bids you a rasped “ ‘Night” before turning to his car as you unlock your own, offering him a mimic of his words before you drive home. 
You notice in the reflection of your rear view mirror that he doesn’t leave the parking lot right away. But rather chose to wait until you do to finally depart. 
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separatist-apologist · 5 months
Text
My Whole Life Is Ruined
Summary: When you hold me, it holds me together, and you kiss me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever
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Surprise @talons-and-teeth! I'm sorry for the wait- I was not your original secret santa. I pulled this together based on what I know about you and I hope you like it! @acotargiftexchange
Big thanks to @octobers-veryown for making a moodboard with practically no instructions other than one Taylor Swift lyric and the description "Azriel has been hiding the fact he's Gwyn's mate and they have sex about it."
--
Insomnia was nothing new. 
Gwyn couldn’t remember the last time she’d fully slept through the night. The past chased the present, running in circles as she ran after her tail, almost grasping it before she woke covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Sometimes, bathed in nothing but moonlight, Gwyn wondered if there would ever come a time when she didn’t dream of her sister, of a life long gone.
It didn’t rattle her as badly as it used to. Sitting in the bed Nesta had so graciously offered up, Gwyn pushed the blankets from her legs to let the cool, winter air caress her overheated skin. Leaving the library still felt like a picked over wound. She didn’t want to go back, cloistered away from her friends and the life she’d begun to enjoy living. That didn’t mean she wasn’t scared.
Anxiety seemed to thrum beside her heartbeat, a constant presence she could only just shake if she was otherwise occupied. Right then, in the dead of night, Gwyn felt it snake around her until it was wrapped tight around her throat, choking a scream that always seemed so close to escaping.
She didn’t bother changing out of her thin nightdress, certain neither Cassian or Nesta would be up this late. If they were even back—they’d gone to Hewn City that evening for some meeting with a Day Court prince, giving Gwyn full run of the House of Wind. Not that she did anything terribly interesting with all that power—Gwyn got a book and some hot chocolate and spent the night curled in a chair reading until she finally dragged herself into bed.
Maybe she should have trained on the roof first. Really worn herself down so her brain was too exhausted to conjure up memories of the past, all the while whispering of how she might have prevented it, if she’d only been stronger, smarter, cleverer. Forcing her to relive it, to pick it apart to see what could have been different.
That was exhausting, too.
Cold air hit her the moment she pushed open the door, howling a greeting that might have scared someone else off. Gwyn liked the biting cold, the raucous yelling, the silhouette of the mountains looming like shadows in the distance. A half moon poured light over the rooftop, causing sleeping weapons to glint beneath. Maybe, she thought ruefully, she should have put on socks. Hair caught against her lips, and as Gwyn worked to push it out of her face, wishing for a hair tie, too. 
It wasn’t too late and yet she was already here, wasn’t she? Might as well just power through, ignoring her discomfort like she was so accustomed to. The bite of cold was a reminder she’d survived—she was alive. So what if it burned a little? Sometimes Gwyn thought she fought better when she was in pain.
And more often than not, she suspected she deserved to feel it. That the curling peace was a mistake and everyone was going to realize what an imposter she was. They’d tell her she didn’t belong with them and cast her back out. Gwyn was always just waiting for it, a hammer that might fall at any given moment. 
A blade just against her neck, never quite striking.
Gwyn pulled out a dagger, her favored weapon, and held it for a moment in her hand. Nesta was all brute strength, and Emerie terrifying yet easy grace, but Gwyn liked to be the shadow in the dark. The knife at someone's side rather than a screaming sword coming for a person's throat. While Nesta and Emeries radiated the kind of beauty that made men cower, Gwyn liked to think she was sweeter, more unassuming. People looked at Nesta, at Emerie, and were taken by their perfection.
They looked at Gwyn and wondered why she was with them. So Gwyn trained harder, made herself someone that couldn’t be ignored. Not forever, anyway. She was good at hiding, besides, taking to trees, blending into the background so often that on more than one occasion, Cassian and Nesta didn’t realize Gwyn was in the room until she cleared her throat. 
Unbalanced, Gwyn took a second dagger and for a moment, was the wind itself. Recalling the movements Azriel had been teaching her, Gwyn stepped like a dance, twisting her body and slashing her blades against invisible foes.
A real ones, too. A shadow moved from the edge of the ring, catching her by surprise. Gwyn darted, and just as Azriel had taught her, grabbed them, slamming their body to the ground. It was thunder the way that massive, familiar form crashed against the world, a mighty god dragged from the heavens themselves.
Azriel groaned, eyes closed even as his hands grabbed her waist, holding her knee painfully against his ribs. “That was good,” he gasped, fingers curling into her skin. 
“I’m so sorry,” she replied, dropping the blade she’d pressed to his throat. A thin line of blood snaked over golden, tattooed skin, staining the rather lovely black jacket he was wearing. Why was he up here, she wondered? Shouldn’t he be enjoying himself with his friends and family? 
Azriel swallowed hard, opening hazel eyes that cut through the otherwise oppressive dark to look at her.
“I’m not.”
And then he released her, letting her scramble backwards, heart thumping in her chest. Azriel didn’t move, wings spread wide around against the ground. He looked like a fallen angel and Gwyn was awed at the sight, the realization that it had been her who’d felled him. He was looking right back at her, his expression clouded by shadow. Was he angry? He said he wasn’t, but surely he didn’t appreciate being assaulted in his own home. 
Not that she saw much of him since she’d moved in. Azriel, who maintained a bedroom in the House of Wind, was suddenly gone and when Gwyn was really down, she sometimes thought it was because he didn’t like being around her. Here he was, though, clambering to his feet, his eyes sliding down her body. She could feel the heat of them like he was touching her skin and was grateful for a sudden burst of wind hitting her like a bucket of ice water.
Careful, she warned herself. 
It was hard, though. Anyone with eyes could see how beautiful Azriel was. She wasn’t stupid. It didn’t hurt that in her worst moment, Azriel’s had been the very first she’d seen. A savior—a dark angel, come to wreak bloody vengeance on her sister's behalf. It had been Morrigan who’d taken her away to safety, but when Gwyn thought about how she’d escaped, she always remembered Azriel’s curved, lethal blade, sliding cleanly through the bodies of the same males who had killed her sister.
She’d always been grateful to him for it, even if she’d never tell him. He’d never once looked at her like he remembered, had never betrayed an ounce of pity. She’d expected him to say something back when he’d first joined their training, wary and distant. And maybe he knew, because he kept his distance until it was safe, had held himself at an arm's length and let her decide how much or little of him she wanted. 
The problem was Azriel himself. Outside of being the most beautiful man he’d ever seen, he was just nice. Not in the way Cassian was, with big smiles and silly jokes, but with serious eyes and a dagger in hand, forcing her to move again and again and again. Your steps are off, Gwyn—you’ll get yourself killed that way. Eyes on your opponent, don’t look away. Hold your breath, don’t let them know you’re there.
Because he knew it mattered to her. That she wouldn’t be caught off guard ever again, that Gwyn would never let someone hurt her. Often, she wondered if he didn’t understand that pain, if it didn’t mirror some tragedy of his own. They didn’t talk about it—they didn’t need to. It was an understanding between them, something so intimate she would never share it with another living soul.
She kept waiting for Azriel to step back, to tell her she’d done enough, that she should finish with Cassian. He never did. Even when he was gone, Gwyn practiced knowing he’d want to see the progress she’d made while he was gone. And when he returned, he’d wait on the roof even when she’d flippantly told him it would be easier to just send word via letter.
I don’t mind waiting.
Those words still felt so charged to her. Like he was trying to say something else, eyes glittering and bright like the stars overheard. Gwyn pulled herself from her thoughts to look up at Azriel looming overhead, his wings flared around him as if he was trying to make himself seem larger. It was working—he was massive, muscular and tall and just like before, half fallen angel, half terrifying god come to earth so he might reign. 
“You look cold,” Azriel commented, caught looking at her. 
Gwyn put her hands on her hips. So what if he was? “I’m not.”
“Bullshit.”
Smothering a smile, Gwyn asked with faux outrage, “Are you calling me a liar?”
She swore the corners of his lips twitched. “To your face, even.”
“The cold doesn’t bother me,” Gwyn said, shifting from one leg to another, a gesture he seemed to register with sharp-eyed interest. Proof, she realized as his fingers began making quick work of his jacket. “No, that’s not—”
“Suck it up,” was Azriel’s dark voiced response, draping the warm jacket against her shoulders, leaving himself only in a black shirt stretched over his muscular torso. His eyes slid back down to her legs, lips flattening as he realized she was without shoes, too. “You’ll catch your death out here.”
Gwyn could smell the heady, masculine scent of him coming from the fabric, her arms far too small for the large holes. Still, she didn’t protest, turning to look toward the outline of the mountains instead.
“Maybe. But what a way to go.”
“It’s hardly heroic to die from the cold,” Azriel murmured, turning to follow her gaze. Did he know what she was thinking? How they had nearly died in the blood rite, thrown in wearing only a thin night dress against well-armed warriors? She wondered if Azriel would have found that heroic, even if it had been the cold that had gotten them.
Gwyn blew out a breath, the steam of air curling between them as one of his shadows darted out, illuminated by starlight. It wasn’t the first time and she wondered if they thought she, too, had a shadow for them to interact with.
Or if it meant something else.
Something more.
“Inside,” Azriel finally said, a gust of wind ruffling his night dark hair.
“You’re fussy tonight,” she grumbled, not protesting when his fingers pressed against the small of her back, pushing her toward the door. Heat pulsated from the touch, settling low in her stomach. “Did something happen?”
Azriel pulled open the door with his free hand, his touch never quite leaving. “No. Hewn City is unchanging.”
She glanced up at him, the light softening the harsh lines of his face. “Is that a good thing?”
“It’s predictable.”
“I want to see it,” Gwyn declared, though in truth she wasn’t entirely sure that was true. Still, the corners of Azriel’s mouth twitched a bit, as if the whole thing amused him. 
“You would devour them,” was his easy, good-natured response. “To their endless delight.”
“And yet I’ve been snubbed yet again,” she teased, elbowing him gently in the ribs. “Do I file my complaint with you…or…?”
“You were spared the grating presence of Vanserra,” Azriel said, cocking his head with a half smile. “But I will pass along your discontent to the High Lord.”
“Be sure that you do,” Gwyn replied, grinning by the time Azriel deposited her into a chair in the study. He didn’t go far, sitting on the arm, his wings draped behind them. She could see the flexing muscle of his thigh beneath his well-tailored pants. If she’d wanted, she could have touched him.
It was obscene how badly she wanted to. How she had to clench her fingers to fists to keep from reaching out, well aware that Azriel would withdraw entirely and, perhaps, never speak to her again. He’d been nothing if not unfailingly polite, besides…though…he had been looking at her in the clingy, short nightdress, hadn’t he? 
Just because you were cold, her mind reminded her. After all, she was still wearing his jacket. Gwyn shrugged out of it, heat blooming over her cheeks as she shoved it into his lap. There. She’d gotten to touch him without him knowing and give him back his jacket before she convinced herself to keep it.
And possibly sleep in it.
Azriel arched a dark brow, hazel eyes staring at the rumpled fabric now balled in his lap. “What did the jacket do to offend you?” he asked, taking it in broad, callused hands. He’d removed his siphons, leaving the scarred skin wholly on display. She wondered what had happened to him—and why. 
If he’d ever gotten his revenge for it.
“It’s yours—that’s enough,” she replied flippantly. Holding her gaze, Azriel picked up the jacket and brought it to his nose. Time seemed to stop, frozen entirely as she watched him do this.
And he watched her, daring her to say something. She opened her mouth, gaping, only to close it.
And Azriel smiled. Broad and unrestrained, as if he were so delighted he couldn’t help himself. Tilting his head toward the roof, he murmured, “House—some tea, if you don’t mind.”
Of course the house didn’t mind. Two cups of steaming tea rattled on the coffee table before them, complete with sugar and honey, if either of them wanted it.
Gwyn didn’t think she could pick up a cup without betraying the rattle of her hands. Why? Azriel had discarded the jacket casually, tossing it to another chair like it was uninteresting to him. And was he closer, now? His thigh was, she was certain, but had his arm always been behind her. If she moved a few inches, he could have slid into the seat to join her.
He could pull you into his lap if he wanted. 
Which, of course, he didn’t
Didn’t he?
“Why are you here?” she asked, hating that breathless quality of her voice. Azriel heard it, too, head snapping to the side, nose flared as though searching for something she couldn’t place. 
“I like to be near you,” he replied. He could have thrown her across the room and surprised her less. Once again, Gwyn opened her mouth only for no sound to leave her throat. 
“You—you’re never here,” she finally managed. Azriel leaned forward, the faelights gilding the dark ink of his tattoos scrawled over his biceps. He took one of the cups and handed it to her, fingers brushing her own.
“I can’t stand being around you,” was his maddening, level response. 
Gwyn’s stomach sank. “What?”
She couldn’t drink—not when such a strange admission hung between them. Azriel, so unused to verbosity, was now forced to explain himself. It occurred to her just as he turned fully to look at her, some of the color drained from his otherwise beautiful face, that perhaps he wanted this confrontation. She didn’t, though, and wished she could have told him so. Things were fine between them—distant, maybe, and filled with a lopsided yearning on her end, but that was better than whatever he was about to do.
Gwyn had the distinct feeling Azriel was about to crush her. Emotionally ruin her. Destroy her so recklessly there would be no coming back.
“You still don’t feel it?” he asked instead, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “After all this time?”
A new fear speared through her gut. There was only one thing Azriel could possibly feel—and one thing she could possibly not. Gwyn had to set the shaking cup of tea down before bolting from her chair, arms wrapped around her chest. 
“You don’t feel anything,” she declared, deciding if she felt nothing, neither did Azriel. 
Pain lanced across his expression, replaced by grim determination. As he stood, Gwyn knew Azriel wasn’t going to let it go until they both felt exactly as he did—until she felt the mating bond. 
Gwyn shook her head, backing away as he advanced. “Don’t do this, Azriel—”
“Is it that terrible, then?” he asked her, his low words filled with a familiar emotion. One she recognized all too well—the loathing, the self-hatred, the expectation that of course she would reject him. 
“It’s—” Gwyn couldn’t breathe for the closeness of him, for the wanting to touch him. And maybe she did feel it, in her way. Had felt it the moment he’d strode into that cursed, wrecked room looking like the god of vengeance. She’d merely been too hurt to know it, too broken, too emotionally devastated. He should have frightened her and he never had.
Even then, towering over her with his muscular frame, Gwyn didn’t flinch away. She merely met his gaze with blazing defiance.
“You’re wrong,” she told him, keeping her voice light as she pushed at his chest so she could slip around him. “Or mistaken. There is no bond and I’m certain if you saw a healer, they’d—” Azriel grabbed her wrist, spinning her so her back was pressed to the floral papered wall behind her. Dipping his head, Azriel ran his nose the length of her neck.
“You’re no mistake, Gwyn.”
“I am,” she whispered without meaning to. Azriel could do so much better. Surely…surely he wanted better. What had that been like for him, she wondered, and before she could stop herself, she added, “When did you feel it?”
Something primal flared in those bright eyes of his. “Dinner with Nesta and Cassian. You touched my hand and I…” Holding up the offending hand, Azriel flexed his fingers in memory. “I felt the snap.”
That had been almost a year. It had been the last time Azriel had dinner with all of them, and right after she’d formally moved into the House of Wind. Gwyn still remembered that night—Azriel had bolted before dessert, murmuring something about needed to talk to Rhys. Gwyn had thought nothing of it—might never have thought about it again had he not pinned her against a wall to declare that had been the moment he’d felt a mating bond snap. 
“We’ve been training together for months,” she replied with no small amount of outrage. He’d been keeping this secret for that long? 
“I thought you’d feel it,” Azriel all but growled, eyes bouncing over her face. “And when you didn’t…”
“Rhys knows?”
“And Cassian—”
“So Nesta, too?!”
Gwyn shoved him again, harder this time. Azriel let her, she suspected, stepping back so she could have some breathing space. “They all know but I don’t.”
“And you’re taking the knowledge so well,” Azriel replied with a bite of sarcasm.
She whirled, wishing she had a dagger in hand even has the dried blood from his healed wound still taunted her. “I think I deserved to know before Cassian.”
“I needed his help,” Azriel admitted, running a hand over his mouth. “I needed to know how he managed it.”
“How difficult could it be,” she asked flippantly, intending to leave him there so she could think. Foolish to turn her back on a predator. Azriel had her again, wrapped in one strong arm, the other holding her jaw so she had to look at him.
“Hell,” he rasped, his anguish plain. “Every minute of it has been hell.” 
In Gwyn’s defense, she managed one, final, protest. “It’s just—”
His mouth covered hers before she could finish that statement, could say what they both knew she’d been thinking. As if he found the words so abhorrent he wouldn’t hear them, would swallow them until he’d snuffed them from their very existence.
Gwyn forgot what she’d been about to say at all. She’d thought about what it might be like to kiss him. If his mouth would be soft or rough, if he kissed like he fought or if there was passion bubbling beneath his icy exterior. She hadn’t been prepared for what it would feel like or how desire would overtake her so thoroughly she didn’t care about anything else. Were those her hands cupping his neck? Her lips hungrily kissing him back like a crazed, desperate creature?
Her tongue meeting his own, her legs moving until he had her back against the wall so he could press the length of his body against hers? 
There was only one thought in her name, an echo repeated over and over. Mate. Mate. Mate. 
Maybe he should have just kissed her at that dinner. Skipped the yearning, the anguish, the uncertainty. At least they would have been kissing, anyway. Gwyn forgot herself entirely, nails digging against his shoulder until Azriel helpfully hoisted her into the air so she could wrap her legs around his waist.
“Don’t talk about my mate like that,” he panted, dragging his teeth against her neck. “I love her.”
Gwyn whimpered. What did she say to that? As it turned out—nothing. Azriel kissed her again, sparing them both whatever incoherent nonsense might have tumbled from her lips. She might have sworn she loved him too, if only to convince him to keep kissing her like he was.
Gwyn was certain Azriel’s kiss had ruined her life. How was she supposed to go back to things as they were before? It wasn't knowing that he was her mate, but knowing the way his hands felt cupped against her face and the way wildfire sparked in her blood when his tongue slid into her mouth? 
The worst of it was when his hands left her ass, letting her slide down the hard slab of his body before she was ready. He pulled away, lips swollen and eyes wild, to take a healthy step away from her, though it seemed to take an immense amount of effort. For her part, she kept herself pressed to the wall, unsure what was happening.
“You know now,” Azriel managed, his voice hoarse, “and that’s…that’s all I wanted. I ah…I should go before—”
“You’re leaving?” she asked, strangely hurt by this new rejection. Gwyn knew all about mating bonds. What fae didn’t? Before she’d come here, she’d once dreamt of her own mate, giggling with her sister in their bunks as they imagined what that person might be like. If they existed at all, given the rarity of such a thing. It was almost funny that he’d been right here all along, close enough she could literally touch. 
And he was going to leave? He didn’t want to accept it? Did she? It was all happening so fast but of course you didn’t reject a mate. She could see the wariness on his face, could watch in real time as he pulled up his defenses as she realized that yes. That was exactly his expectation.
Why? She knew from Nesta’s stories that Azriel was well sought after. And she wasn’t blind. What female didn’t dream of a male with his bone structure? He was powerful and close to the High Lord, and beyond all that, Azriel was kind. A genuinely good person, the sort of male one could spend centuries with if they wanted.
What could she even offer him? Gwyn’s thoughts raced, listing all the reasons he ought to have stopped, why keeping this a secret made so much sense. She didn’t notice Azriel creeping closer and closer until his fingers were under her chin, lifting her face so she had to look at him. 
“You’re doing it again,” he murmured, his voice dark and dangerous. “Thinking unkind thoughts about my mate.”
“You can’t tell me what to think,” she shot back, her own voice trembling a little. He was so certain, so unbothered and in her entire life, had anyone ever immediately felt that way about her?
Nesta and Emerie. Catrin. 
Azriel.
“You have it all wrong,” Azriel murmured and she wondered if perhaps he could read her mind. “It is you who could do so much better.”
His words drew a gust of laughter from her lips. The mother had certainly chosen well, putting the two of them together. What a pair—she wondered who would relent first? Her, or Azriel? Who would believe they deserved a mating bond first? It occurred to Gwyn, as she reached for his arm to pull him closer, that she was a shade too competitive—she wanted it to be him who broke first. Who relented first, who believed he was worthy, was deserving. 
And she could see, from that golden glint burning in his own gaze, that he was thinking the exact same thing. 
“You’re stupid,” she whispered, surging up on her tiptoes to kiss him again. She could taste the smile spreading over his face, sweet against the warm heat of his mouth. It took her an embarrassing amount of time to realize he wasn’t smiling because she’d told him to stop talking, but because she was kissing him. Gwyn hadn’t even considered not kissing.
He was her mate, after all. He was hers. She felt that the way she felt her own heart, the possession, the desire, the heat. She didn’t feel the cord the way everyone spoke of, but perhaps that was mere metaphor. After all, Gwyn believed Azriel wouldn’t lie to her about something so life altering.
Besides. She liked kissing him, new as it was. Azriel was unhurried and thorough, just like every other task she’d ever seen him undertake. And for the first time in a long time, she wondered what it would be like if he paid her that sort of attention in the bedroom. They stood there like that, his arm keeping her on her toes, steady against his warm, solid body. Momentarily, Gwyn wondered what might happen if Nesta and Cassian were to come in and decided she didn’t care.
How many times had she walked in on them in far more compromising positions, besides? 
Tiny steps had Gwyn flush against the wood wall, pressed against Azriel’s hard body and oh. He wanted her. Wanted her in a way that emptied her mind of all other thought beyond the desire to touch him.
And she was allowed, she realized with giddiness. He belonged to her. It was a possessive thought that overrode everything else, including all her good sense. He was hers.
“Mine,” she whispered into his mouth, not meaning to. Azriel groaned, tangling a hand in her hair to tilt back her head, his tongue delving back between her teeth to really taste her. Without the leathers he usually wore, it was surprisingly easy to find the golden buttons on his jacket, undoing them before Azriel’s own brain seemed to catch up with what was happening.
His wings flared, enveloping around them for a moment as he pulled back, his breathing heavy.
“Cassian will be home soon,” he whispered, holding her close against him as if he expected his friend to take her away. “Nesta too.” “You have a bedroom here, right?” Gwyn said with more daring than she felt. Azriel’s once half-lidded eyes flew open, those hazel eyes searching her own. 
“I do,” he whispered, swallowing audibly. “There’s no rush—”
“Please?”
One moment she’d been standing there, her hand flat against the white, linen shirt Azriel wore beneath his jacket and the next her feet were in the air, her body cradled against him as he walked.
“I can’t think when you’re around,” Azriel was saying, his steps echoing against the wood. “Can’t think just looking at you. Sometimes I think I’ll wake up and this will have all been a dream.”
“It’s real,” she replied, pressing her lips to his neck. “I’m real. We’re real.”
He shuddered, all but running up a flight of stairs. There was no reaction when his wing clipped a door frame nor did he say a word when he had to use his nice shoe to slam his bedroom door shut. Gwyn wasn’t given the opportunity to really look around his space, either—though it seemed sparse and filled with dark, moody colors. 
Azriel had her on the bed, his own body over top her own before she could exhale the breath she’d just taken. 
“Tell me to stop,” he said, the maddening male. She would have told him she didn’t want him to, but he was kissing her again, his burning lips all but bruising her own. Drawing a leg up, Gwyn could line up their otherwise mismatched bodies so he was pressed exactly where she wanted him. 
They were going to do this. She wanted to do this. When she managed to take a breath, the taste of blood faint against her tongue, she rasped, “Take this off.”
Azriel was on his knees in a moment, shucking off his jacket before all but ripping off his shirt, too. There in the dark with nothing but silvery moonlight to illuminate him, Gwyn was allowed to really look at him. 
He didn’t move, a lock of dark hair half obscuring the intensity of his gaze. “All of it,” she decided before she lost her nerve. 
Azriel cocked his head, his lips pursed as though he’d tell her no.
“Please,” she added.
Azriel groaned again, softer this time. Somewhere in the house, a door slammed closed and a mingling of male and female voices rose like music, a soothing hum in the background as Azriel slid off the bed entirely.
Wings tucked tightly against his toned back, he quietly locked his door before turning back to her. “We don’t have to,” he said, his fingers hovering over the laces of his pants. Gwyn had a suspicion Azriel would spend the next century saying this and she’d spend the next century  reassuring him that she wanted all of it. All of him.
Maybe he’d realize in the morning when she snuck into the kitchen and begged the house for his favorite meal. She had no idea what it was, but surely the magic that governed this place did? Would he eat it from her hands? Or would he balk, certain this was just another dream?
“I know,” she said, leaning up on her elbows. “Take it all off, anyway.”
Gwyn knew what Azriel was wondering but her past was murky—forgotten in the dark, the ugly replaced with his easy, unassuming beauty. Still, she held her breath as he undressed entirely, drinking in the sight of him. This was the male she’d knocked to the ground, the very same that could kill another person without a second thought.
Underneath the thick, armored leathers and weapons lay just a male made of skin and bone. Gwyn’s eyes traced the tattoos adorning his shoulders and chest, the intricate swirls snaking up his neck and vanishing behind his back. Every inch of him was muscled, softer now that he was relaxed and still present just below the warm brown of his flesh.
And between his legs…
Gwyn giggled. She couldn’t help herself. It was so big—surely they weren’t supposed to be that large? That thick? There was an air of male pride shimmering around him, his legs spread a little wider as if to say, drink it all in. 
“Are you laughing at me?” he asked, his voice a dark, teasing growl. Prowling forward, Gwyn’s heart spiked loud enough he must have heard.
“I wasn’t prepared for…” For what? For him? Azriel was so quiet, so unassuming…she just assumed if he had all that going on he’d brag a little more? Swagger about the way Cassian always was? 
“I’d be a poor mate if I left you wanting,” he replied, his eyes glazed over once his knees hit the edge of the bed. Perhaps it was the sight of her, still dressed, scrambling on her hands and knees so she could crawl toward him. She just wanted to touch, to feel if his cock was as hard as it looked. 
Azriel sucked in a breath when her fingers curled around the base of his shaft, just barely touching. Looking up, she murmured, “Is this what you like?”
“I like you,” he replied, scooping up her hair in his hands as Gwyn stroked him experimentally. He choked out a sound, his heartbeat thudding in her ears. She supposed that was her answer—he liked the way she touched him.
Pride filled her chest knowing she could please her mate, even with something as simple as touching him. Gwyn stroked again, letting her wrist twist at the end as her eyes refused to leave his face.
“Gods,” he whispered, his wings tightening against his back. “I’ve imagined…Gwyn…”
She was allowed a third pass before he pushed her back, her clothes pulled off her body so quickly all she managed was to lift her hips and raise her arms. 
“Do you know how many nights I’ve laid in this exact bed and imagined you just like this?” Azriel began, his voice a dark, sultry whisper. “Splayed out…naked…undone?”
“No,” she squeaked out in response, half embarrassed to be undressed before him. Azriel’s gaze burned against her skin, warming a path from her collarbone to her thighs. 
“Would you like to know what I dream about at night?” he questioned, sinking to his knees so he was eye level with the edge of the bed. 
Arousal ribboned through her, making a fool out of her. “Yes,” she replied, strangely excited to be the object of this man’s fantasies. 
Strong, scarred fingers curled around her thighs, pushing them wider before hooking them over his shoulders. He was staring at her cunt, now, studying her like she was some priceless piece of art. 
“I dream of tasting you,” Azriel breathed, the warmth of his breath fanning against her. Gwyn squirmed when he kissed her inner thigh—the left, and then the right—before using his tongue to lightly take that first taste he’d been dreaming of. Gwyn might have asked him how he liked it had it not felt so good. 
Besides, she knew he liked it—Azriel groaned loudly, spreading her apart wider with his fingers so he could taste her everywhere. Gone was his slow exploration, his desire to take his time. All of it had been replaced with the animal kneeling between her legs, licking and touching her cunt like his life depended on it. 
All traces of her embarrassment evaporated, leaving only instinct behind. Gwyn surrendered to the urge, letting desire wash over her until it was all she knew. “Don’t stop,” she breathed, well aware he probably couldn’t. 
Azriel pushed a finger into her gently, moaning at whatever he felt. Gwyn hadn’t considered what it would feel like to share space with him—to feel him inside her own body but now…
“Az,” she panted, her hips rolling against his mouth and hand. She wanted him to stop licking, to replace his fingers with his cock. Heat was building in her chest beyond simple arousal, heavy like a chain. 
Unbreakable.
A bond. A real thread she could follow straight to the male between her legs. It reverberated and then snapped just as Azriel sucked her clit into his mouth, eliciting a scream that was half his name. Could he feel it too? No—his had snapped months ago and he’d just been living with it.
Gwyn couldn’t see how. If she didn’t have him right that second she might go insane. Reaching for his powerful biceps, Gwyn tried to pull him off her but the waves of pleasure made her hands shake. 
“Az,” she tried again, his name a breathy moan against her lips. Her hips moved of their own accord, grinding against him in what must have seemed like encouragement to keep going. Maybe it was—she didn’t try very hard to get him off her.
Azriel managed a third finger, a whine slipping from his throat at the effort. Gwyn just barely registered any of it, her body jerking a second time from pleasure so bright and heady she could have died from it. It was too much—Gwyn was burning, was in free-fall with no one to catch her.
Digging her nails into his skin, she yanked at him. Azriel emerged, lips wet and eyes wild. “Please,” she heard herself saying, the magic words that, apparently, could convince him to do anything she wanted. “I need you.”
His fingers were wet as they skimmed the side of her body, palm grasping her breast before his lips found hers. He tasted sweet and she supposed it was herself, truly, she was tasting on his tongue. He was hurried, his desperation making him sloppy. When his teeth clashed with her own, nipping the sensitive skin of her bottom lip, Gwyn had enough.
“Az—”
“Don’t beg me,” he breathed, pressing his forehead against her own. Caressing her cheek, Azriel added, “I’ll do whatever you want. You don’t have to beg.”
“I feel it,” she replied, running her hand up and down his spine. “It’s a real thread.”
Azriel exhaled with relief, a smile ghosting his pretty face. Whispering something that sounded like gratitude toward the gods, he adjusted his body until she felt the blunt head of his cock pressed against her. How had he stood it? The waiting, the wanting, the utter need that Gwyn was all but drowning in. If they didn’t do this, she thought she might die from it. 
“You’ll tell me if I hurt you.” It wasn’t a request, though Gwyn had no intention of telling him anything. She expected a little pain, expected little pleasure. Why else had he used his mouth first? 
Gwyn had read enough books to know that there was blood and pain and so when Azriel slid himself an inch into her, she braced herself against him, her nails digging into his biceps. She could feel his eyes on her, searching for even a hint of discomfort. There was something reassuring about knowing he’d stop if she wanted. That he cared if she enjoyed herself. 
Gwyn didn’t need a book to know not all males cared about such things.
Azriel took his time—like he knew he had eons of it, that he didn’t have to rush. Gwyn loved him for it, eyes burning with unshed tears at the thought. She’d tell him all this later, when they’d had a chance to breathe and eat and really talk about everything that had otherwise been left unsaid. Instead she dragged her lips down his neck and focused on the feeling of his cock in her body, pushing further and further without any of the accompanying pain she’d expected.
She was slick enough that he felt less like an intrusion and more like a welcomed guest, and once he’d seated himself entirely, it seemed as though they’d been made like two puzzle pieces destined to fit. 
It took a moment to get used to the stretch, to breathe despite the feeling of fullness. Azriel gave it to her instinctively, as if he knew exactly what she both wanted and needed. There was that same sense of I have all the time in the world, despite her knowing he was desperate. A bead of sweat slid from his temple, rolling down his neck and his arms shook from restraint.
He didn’t move. 
Not until her mouth made its way to his collarbone and she whispered, “Give me more.” He groaned loud enough to shatter the silence, pulling himself out with a slowness that bordered on madness. 
“You’re so wet,” he whispered, burying his face into her neck. “I’m losing my mind.”
She couldn’t help the exhaled smile, raking her fingers through his hair. “Did you dream of this, too?”
“No,” he admitted with a grunt, sliding his cock back into her body. “I didn’t dare.”
“Why?”
“Couldn’t,” he managed, thrusting again with a little more intensity. “Would have gone crazy from wanting you. Surprised you couldn’t smell it on me.”
As if she would have known what she was smelling. There was no point in telling him so—not as Azriel confessed the depths of his devotion, the lengths he’d gone to give her time, space, and whatever else she’d wanted. Would he have continued to do so forever? 
Gwyn kissed his cheek. “I want you. I want this.”
He groaned again, sliding his hand between their otherwise flushed bodies to rub at her still swollen clit. She’d been half distracted by his words to pay attention to her body but right then, when his thumb began making tight circles, Gwyn was pulled back under the depths of shadowed darkness, half consumed by the male laying on top of her. 
Their mouths met, messy and unrestrained. Strange how kissing merely heightened the pleasure coiling through her—Gwyn wouldn’t have guessed that. In her books, everything was so neat and clinical. They kissed, they touched, they fucked with nothing in between. In real life, sex was messier, more fluid. Or maybe she and Azriel merely had more passion than the people in her stories.
Those love stories had once brought her such joy. Now they seemed dimmed in comparison to what was happening to her and her own feelings. 
“I need to feel you come,” he whispered, betraying how close he must have been. Gwyn felt the same way. She needed to feel him, needed to see him wholly unraveled. All because of her—no one else was allowed to know what he sounded like, what he looked like. They got control, they got the ice but she got the heat, the impulsivity—everything he was, everything he’d ever been. 
Gwyn came to the thought of that future, tightening around him as her back arched her into his chest, offering very little give. Azriel kissed her, swallowing the sound of her moans greedily. They belonged to him, anyway. 
He came mere seconds later, his own noise of pleasure delightfully loud for a male that was so often silent. Gwyn kept herself wrapped tight around him, arms winding against his neck, her teeth sinking into his shoulder. His pumping was erratic, uncontrolled and a little desperate. Gwyn was obsessed with this side of him—wanted more of it.
Azriel didn’t withdraw when he was done, his heart thudding against her breast. “It’s not enough, is it?” she whispered, thinking they both ought to feel sated. She didn’t. In her books, the heroine was always spent, the hero falling asleep not long after. The pair would wake in each other's arms, content and glowing from the night before.
Gwyn wanted to shove him to the floor and climb atop him. Wanted to hear him beg, too—wanted more of the whimpering, the groaning and everything in between.
“It was never going to be,” he panted, kissing her softly. 
“How long will it last?” she wondered, brushing a damp lock of hair from his face.
“Eternity, I imagine,” he replied, his eyes burning with that same unflinching intensity. “For me, at least.”
Gwyn’s heart exploded, racing in her throat. “Are you hungry?” she whispered, deciding she couldn’t wait for the morning. She wanted to do this right now. Wanted him to know that this meant something to her, even if she was scared, too. 
Azriel went still. “There’s no rush—”
“That’s yes or no, Azriel.”
A smile broke over his face. “Starving,” he admitted in that dark, sultry voice. 
“You have to get up,” she reminded him, pushing half-heartedly at his shoulder. Azriel lowered his mouth for another kiss.
“In a minute.”
Strange how a minute could stretch.
Into lifetimes, even.
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your works are jaw dropping broOOO. gorgeous. a work of art. you SLAY at writing hcs i love it so much i really hope you can write more <33
demon slayer povs: the hashiras tending to your wounds
this comment really motivated me to write more of this TYSM ANON ily
wc: 1.1k>
Giyu
he’d probably complete the whole procedure silently, as he’s scared you’d waste your energy talking to him
you saw him carefully unwrapping the bandages and painstakingly wrapping it around your arm as you slightly winced at the pain
‘oh-, y/n, you okay? sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,”
you reassured him with a small nod as he gently continued to wrap the bandage, placing a kiss on it once he was done
“thanks hun,” you smiled weakly at him
“get well soon, darling,” he said before he got up to fetch some water
Iguro
just like giyu, he’d do it with silent treatment though you’d hear kaburamaru’s quiet hisses along the way
throughout the bandaging, he momentarily stopped as it reminded himself of the time where he had to bandage his own mouth to hide his traumatic scars
“darling, you okay?” you asked, worried at the sudden slight widening of his eyes
“oh, its nothing,” he shrugged it off, but you sensed that it had something to do with the bandage on his mouth
while he was calmly wrapping the wound on your leg, you leaned down and placed a heartfelt kiss on his forehead
“you're beautiful just the way you are,” you said as he glanced up at you
his eyes crinkled slightly; you knew that put a smile on his face
Mitsuri
she’d probably tend to your wounds the loudest way possible, constantly asking if you were okay
“oh dear, y/n, this looks terrible,” a pouty frown emerged on her face as she cleansed your wounds with cotton pads. “you okay??”
“im fine, honey, don’t worry too much,” you replied with a smile as you admiringly watched her bandage up the injuries on your knee
“alrighty! i hope this makes you feel better, darling. i put some ointment that kocho offered,” she smiled cheerfully, as she gave you a gentle headpat
“thanks ‘suri, youre the best,” you returned her smile with an even happier one from you
Muichiro
would be quiet too but would occasionally check up on you
he’d go like “oh, does this hurt?” or “you feeling okay?”
you were technically the only person he could express his true behavior to
he’d be experienced in this kind of stuff since he had to take care of his mom when she was sick
the thought of his sick mom made him want to protect you even more. he’d already lost his family, he couldn’t afford to lose you too
he’d treat the wound as meticulously as possible to prevent it from worsening
“thank you, mui. you don't know how much i treasure you,” you warmly smiled at him
though he didn’t say anything back, you knew his smile was all you needed to see.
Kyojuro
tbh i feel like he’ll just treat you like how he treated tanjiro when he got stabbed during the mugen train arc
“kyo, it huuurts,” you whined, hoping that he’ll do something instead of keep asking you to control your breathing
“okay okay, i’ll go fetch the med kit. make sure to control your breathing to stop the blood from coming out!” he darted to the other end of the house to get the necessities, his voice still loud as ever
when he got back, he tended to your lacerations as gently as possible, doing all of it with a proud smile on his face
“why the long face, y/n?” he noticed that your usual happy aura had dissipated all of a sudden
“i- i just hate being weak. i hate that you have to get distracted by your missions just to tend to my injuries,” you pouted, biting your lip
“my love, its part & parcel of your journey to make mistakes. as you continue on, you’ll find that these obstacles are nothing compared to what you’re actually facing. so, heads up, and look brightly into your future, okay?” he cheered you on while giving you a soft pat on the shoulder
“thank you, kyo.” you gratefully smiled as you dozed the rest of the evening off
Sanemi
he definitely wasn’t the best at playing it gentle
“ouuuch, nemi, be gentler please,” you winced as he placed a bandaid on your collarbone
“bold of you to say, y/n. somehow you don’t act like this when we’re making out,” he sneered, as he discarded the cotton wools in the trash
you were left speechless as an obvious blush sprawled across your face. only your boyfriend could make you like that, and you loved him for it
“yeah that’s right hun. now be a good toy and rest till i come back,” he taunted, though you swore you heard him mutter “get well soon darling” before he uttered those words
Tengen
he most likely cleans injuries with flamboyance no matter how bad it was
definitely has custom bandages embroidered with random stuff just for you
you saw him putting on gloves and stuff although your wound was really mild
“tengen- babe, there’s no need for all this,” you sighed in embarrassment; your boyfriend would go out of his ways just to treat a mild scratch
“nuh uh, i aint letting you pass with this wound. it could be infected, who knows?” he cocked his eyebrow as he placed a not-so-modest looking bandage on your wound
“aight, i really hope that helps, darling! want me to bring you some munchies?” he chuckled as he packed back up the amenities
“there’s really no need for that, babe. you’ve done more than enough,” you smiled, softly caressing his cheek
obviously he couldn’t care less about your response as he brought you snacks and then cuddled the night away
Shinobu
DEFINITELY would come up with an antidote just to cure your injury
“darling, we need you back on the ground as soon as possible. all your mentees are worried for you, and i can't bear seeing you in a state like this, okay?”
in this case, your injuries were quite bad and she had to put you on an iv drip
after she was done tending to your wounds, she placed a soft kiss on your cheek
“get well soon, honey,” she smiled as she rubbed her thumb on your fingers
“thank you, love. i’ll definitely recover fast thanks to you,” you chuckled weakly, squeezing her hand and never letting go
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rendy-a · 2 months
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If your interested i would like to request a self aware au where the player instead of possesses Ramshackle instead of Yuu
My first thought is that I don’t understand this request.  Possess the actual building of Ramshackle?  Then I thought it might actually be funny if the Player were stuck in the building Encanto-style.  Feel free to drop in a new request if this isn’t what you were looking for.  Until then, enjoy this silly idea.
The Dorm Magical
All the characters in Twisted Wonderland had an innate sense for when they were being observed by the Player.  It was a feeling so sublime that it was the only thing a character craved.  One day, they stopped receiving that feeling as they did lessons, went about the storyline and even engaged in event stories.  These were all the Player’s favorite times to grace them with their notice!  It was deeply disturbing to them (could you have quit playing the game?) until they noticed that feeling again within the walls of Ramshackle Dorm.  Now this unique dorm isn’t just the home to the odd students Grim and Yuu but also the only place left on campus to experience the notice of the Player. 
Nothing matters anymore unless you can do it in Ramshackle or take it to Ramshackle.  Riddle brings every perfect-scored test to casually hold up to the walls, hoping you’ll take notice.  A suspicious number of movies being filmed by the Film Club seem to use old houses as a setting.  If any odd floorboard squeaks or movements of doors happen, all the club members merely clap and declare that the Player is so good at ad-libbing. 
Epel bursts into the lounge of Ramshackle and Grim nearly chokes on a bite of tuna.  “Nya!  What’s the big idea barging in here like that?” he asks between coughs.  Epel holds up a spelldrive trophy enthusiastically, “We won the tournament!”  Yuu smiles at him indulgently, “Great job.”  Epel shoots him a puzzled look as though to say, ‘Why are you talking to me?’  Then he turns about the room, holding the trophy aloft until a beam of sunlight from a window seems to shift and hit the trophy perfectly.  Epel grins as though the Player had personally awarded him that trophy.  “Awe, shucks!” he beams while grinning like a fool.  Then, he suddenly seems to recollect somewhere he needs to be.  “I…I should probably get this trophy back now before Leona notices its missing.  See you later Player!”  He makes awkward eye contact with Grim, “and…I guess Yuu and Grim too…”
It’s not just students, so many classes seem to be held in Ramshackle dorm.  The same students that used to try to sweet talk teachers into holding class outside on sunny days are now suggesting they can concentrate so much better in the quiet Ramshackle dorm.  Staff are surprisingly fast to agree.  There is now a sign-up sheet in the faculty lounge to reserve a Ramshackle day.
“Turn to page 101 in your textbooks.  Today we are covering proper methods of distilling potions,” Crewel begins his lecture.  A hand raises, “Professor, couldn’t we learn this better in Ramshackle?”  Crewel lets out a long-suffering sigh, “There aren’t even potion making facilities in that dorm.”  Another hand raises, “But Trein got to have history there twice this week already.”  Crewel pauses for a moment considering that petty argument.  “Screw it,” he finally replies in an arrogant tone, “Grab your things.  We are moving this class to the kitchen of Ramshackle.”  A cheer erupts from the masses.
Rules had to be made preventing transfer to Ramshackle.  Crowly is very firm on this; if he can’t live there, no one else can either!  The few times in the main story where people stay over are the highlight of those student’s year.
Vil slides his hand gently down the banister of the staircase as he descends and lets out a satisfied sigh.  “Stop stroking my house,” Yuu retorts in an annoyed tone. “For the duration of the VDC training camp, it’s our house,” and continues to lightly run his fingertips along the wallpaper with a dreamy smile.
The guest room is the most coveted invitation on campus.  Students would gladly jump over any number of couches and tables for the honor of being trapped in the corner of the Ramshackle guest room.  Even Riddle is happy to cut class, dress up in his Halloween costume and stand idly by. 
Deep in the corner of the room, Sebek stands on two small squares of open space.  He paces a single step backwards and forwards.  He’s been trapped there for at least an hour, yet he still sounds at the peak of happiness as he exclaims, “THIS DECORATION REMINDS ME OF THE THORN FAIRY HERSELF!  WHAT A MAGNIFICENTLY APPOINTED ROOM!”  The door blows open slightly in a breeze and Sebek preens as though receiving an approving wave from the great Player themselves.  Ah, what a moment to be alive and trapped in a room.
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thedeviltohisangel · 2 months
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Blurb idea of Cass bringing John a gift back after her overseas trip?
All The Things I Did (Interlude): All I Brought Back With Me
CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 INTERLUDE 1 CHAPTER 3
INTERLUDE 2 INTERLUDE 3 interlude 4
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a/n: this got a little out of hand. cass and john have a mind of their own. i took the prompt in a bit of an evil direction but am i sorry? you be the judge. interlude ideas still open/come scream thoughts and questions at me. esp curious if you guys think cass should visit more? what does she do when she notices bucky's decline? does seeing her help or hurt? interested in your thoughts. love you all, enjoy !
When she landed at Thorpe Abbotts, her trip to rescue John failed, Colonel Harding was waiting for her on the runway. He looked like her father did when he caught her sneaking back into the house after night swimming with friends back in South Carolina. Hands on his hips and jaw twitching. 
“You look like hell, Lieutenant.” Cass had spent the flight back biting her lip so hard it drew blood in an attempt to keep it from trembling. The tears had fallen silently but she was doing her best to keep them at bay. She couldn’t waste time crying over the current situation. Emotion would distract her from the task at hand. Prevent her from focusing the way she would need to do to break him out of the camp. She wasn’t going to sleep until he was back with her and safe.
“That’s where I came from, Colonel.” Her ribs were hurting with each breath, the bottle of whiskey the pilots had given her not numbing the pain at all. 
“We’ve got to get you in front of an interrogator.” Cass nodded. She knew the drill. Knew they would want to know about the layout of the camp, the susceptibility of the guards, the process of transferring pilots. “For what it’s worth, Cassandra, I’m sorry about Egan. He was one of our best.”
“Is. He is one of the best. He’s at that godforsaken camp and I’m going to get him out.” She grimaced and reached for her side. 
“I think your supervisors at the OSS have an opinion on that. They’re waiting for you inside.” Fuck. Now she was screwed. They had kept out of her business the entire time she was in the field. Had sent her instructions by classified mail or cable and praised all of her reports. For them to show up in person, she must have pissed someone off all the way up the ladder.
“Well, Colonel, I guess this is goodbye.”  Harding removed his aviators and looked at her with sadness behind his eyes. He reached out and tenderly touched the bruise on her cheek before his hand dropped back to his side. “Cassandra-”
“Colonel, you already declared your love for me once. Don’t do it again.” Every professional wall she had built would break. She turned before he could change his mind and take the risk and walked into the building where she was sure her career was going to end. In there was a table with a man in a suit sitting behind it, a thick file open in front of him. All the chairs for her to sit in had been removed and she would’ve taken a deep breath if she thought it wouldn’t have killed her.
“Lieutenant Cassandra Ann Egan. Ink barely dry on the marriage certificate before your husband goes down over Germany and you recklessly insert yourself  behind enemy lines. I might add, also in defiance of orders from your local, cover consistent chain of command, in direct violation of your training. Any comment so far, agent?”
“No, sir.” 
“You’re lucky you were successful in Berlin last month. If you weren’t the only officer to ever accomplish that operational objective, I’d be here to escort you back to the states in handcuffs.” Cass gulped but maintained eye contact as best she could. “Instead, I’m here to promote you.”
“Sir, that doesn’t seem-” She caught the new rank he threw her way as best she could with one hand. 
“Captain, you’re being sent on mandatory R&R back to the states until DC decides where to place you. Understood?”
“Yes, sir. Do I get to choose my location for leave?” 
“I presumed South Carolina-”
“Wisconsin. There’s some people I need to meet.” He looked at her pensively but nodded. 
“Very well. Now, let’s get a doctor in here and start the interrogation, shall we?”
----
When Cass finally made it back to her room, breathing was easier and the moon was illuminating a giant trunk that was now at the foot of her bed. She froze in the doorway. It was John’s. And now it was hers. She kicked her shoes off and padded over to her desk, his large sheepskin resting over the back of the chair. It still smelled like him when she put it on and it shattered her last will to stay strong. She dropped to her knees and wrapped his jacket around herself tighter, the sheepskin catching her tears like she imagined John would himself if he were here.
“You were right, Johnny. We should have never left London.” It had been the happiest two days of her life. It had been normal. Just like she imagined falling in love with a boy might be. They had gone to dinner and danced and danced and danced until her feet hurt. He had kissed her and ran his hands down her body and whispered in her ear how he needed her. They had gone to bed and claimed each other over and over until she forgot where she was and how awful the world around them was. Until she forgot how dangerous it would be to tell him she loved him and said it anyways. Had married him the next morning because neither of them could shake the feeling something bad was going to happen. That they needed to be each other’s fully in this life to guarantee they would find each other in the next.
Cass crawled over to the trunk and opened it shakily. There were the items she was expecting. Books, gum, cigarettes. A photo of his family back home and Yankees baseball cards. There was a pile of letters from home and then at the very bottom, an envelope with her name on it. And then she found another one and another one until there was a stack of letters he had written to her on the floor. 
The first one dated the night she found the nerve to claim him in public. He wrote that he was going to tell her he loved her. That he couldn’t keep it in any longer so he wrote it down. That he knew she would be the one to get his trunk if anything happened to him because he had known she was it for him all along. She held that one close to her chest and felt the words seep into her skin and soothe the ache in her chest. 
The rest of them followed similar themes of John pouring out emotions he was too afraid to say out loud. They all made her giggle because almost immediately after the letter was dated, he had said those words to her in person. He was never good at restraining himself when it came to her. The last one made her heart ache. It was the morning of the last mission, his handwriting rushed and sloppy. He poured out his love for her, how he was fighting for a future with her and hoped at least one of the men who owned the bullets she collected was down there today.
And as soon as I get back, we are going to celebrate our wedding and plan our trips to South Carolina and Wisconsin and practice our baby making. Cass smiled. The version of her that had met John that first night at the social club would have never guessed how broody he was. Now that she knew, it made her tingle. My sun. My moon. My stars. My wife. My precious Spook. I love you, Cass, and am eternally yours. She wiped the tears from her eyes and gently placed the letter back in its envelope. Sitting at her desk, her pen hovering over the blank paper, she looked up at the moon. Whenever her dad spent the nights camped with the farmhands in the field and Cass missed him, her mother would tell her to look at the moon and remember he was looking at the same one. John was looking at the same moon as her tonight. As she whispered her love into the moonlight and wrote the first of the daily letters she had promised him, she hoped the moon did her a favor and carried the message to Germany.
----
She spent the first day or two of her leave building up the courage to knock on the door of the Egan family. Her and John had discussed the eventuality of meeting his family. It felt odd to do it without him but she felt in her heart they deserved to know where he was and how he was doing. Selfishly, it was like getting a piece of him back. 
After knocking on the door, she hoped for a moment it didn’t answer. Maybe this wasn’t going to make her or them feel any better. Maybe it would just break her heart all over again.
And then, the door opened.
----
A few weeks later she was pacing outside that wretched chain link fence. She had managed to make it without any broken ribs this time and she was thankful her contact hadn’t confiscated her canvas bag. In it were hats and gloves for John and Gale and the other men, enough chocolate to hopefully bring them some happiness and some mementos from Wisconsin his mother had sent with her. Cass wasn’t even sure how many of her letters had made it to him yet. If he even knew of the trip she had taken. 
“There’s my beautiful, beautiful girl.” Her smile split her face, surging to meet his lips through a gap in the fence. “I��ve missed you.” Seeing her soothed the ache within him only incrementally. There was still something endlessly aggravating about the fence in between them but John knew he was lucky to even be able to see her like this. Counted her as his chief blessing before he tried to find sleep at night.
“I’ve missed you too but your face looks better than the last time I saw you.” John scoffed.
“Worried I wasn’t handsome enough for you anymore?” 
“Worried you weren’t going to take care of yourself more like it.” 
“Buck’s got me covered.” He pressed as close to her as the fence would allow. “I’ve gotten a few of your letters. Wrote you one back.” She smiled at how sheepish he seemed. Nervous that maybe she hadn’t liked what he had written.
“It hasn’t made its way to me but I’m sure it's lovely if the letters to me in your trunk are any indication.”
“You found those?” he asked while rubbing the back of his neck.
“It was waiting for me when I got back from here the last time. You loved me a lot earlier than you said it, John Egan.”
“Loved you from the moment I saw you.” He smiled, he thinks he only smiled when he read her letters or the one time she had visited, took any opportunity to escape into their solar system that he was allowed. “Your last letter said you got in trouble at work.” 
“Colonel Harding ratted me out for not obeying his orders.” John’s jaw clenched at the mention of the man. The man who had used his rank to take Cass to dinners and dances and promised her the life of a General’s wife if she wanted it. “But you’ll be happy to know after I got my ass thoroughly chewed, I got promoted.”
“Promoted?” 
“You are now the lucky husband to one Captain Cassandra Ann Egan.” He whistled, heart stuttering at the reminder she was his wife, as she did a little twirl and took a bow. 
“Congratulations, Captain. You certainly earned the hell out of it.”
“You’ll have to feign surprise when the letter telling you all of this gets to you.” John watched as her face fell and grew concerned. “You’ll also see some letters from me that are postmarked from Wisconsin.”
“Wisconsin?” Then realization settled on his face. “Cass, did you…did you…” He was struggling to formulate the question.
“Please don’t be upset with me,” she breathed desperately. “When they mandated stateside leave it just slipped out. It was selfish of me. I’m sorry. I should’ve just gone to South Carolina and left it alone.”
“I haven’t been to Manitowoc in years,” he spoke wistfully. Had wanted to go back with her on his arm when all this was over. “My sisters give you a hard time?”
“I brought some fabric from my last trip to Paris to butter them up.” John laughed. Only his Spook would be able to tame his two older sisters. “I spent most of the time promising you were okay. They thought you injured your head when I told them we’d been married, something about you not seeming like the type.”
“Just had to find the right girl.” 
“Your mom misses you. A lot. Wanted me to give you this.” Cass reached into her bag and pulled out a slightly tarnished silver watch with a date engraved on the back. 
“My dad’s watch.” It was hard to swallow around the lump in his throat. “His dad gave it to him on my parents' wedding day. That’s what the date on the back is. Told me when I got married, it would be mine.”
“I can get it cleaned and upgrade the engraving and bring it back if you’d like.” John coughed and shook the fog from his head.
“No. It’s perfect. We’ll get the engraving done together when I’m out of here.” He tucked the watch into his shirt pocket. 
“She also gave me this. Was horrified I wasn’t already wearing it.” Cass handed him a small ring box and he knew it was his grandmother’s engagement ring before he even opened it. “I told her it would be wrong to put it on my own finger. One more thing for us to do when we get you out of here.” 
“Yeah but you best keep it safe while we wait to get the chance.” He removed the cross from around his neck, slipping the small diamond ring onto it and passing through the fence. She took the chain but slid the cross charm off and handed it back to him with a look. “I’d rather use it to protect you.” 
“It’s not up for debate.” He took it and slipped it onto the same chain as his pendant. “Here comes our friend. Catch.” Cass launched the canvas over the side of the fence, John gathering it with ease.
“Thanks, baby. I’m sure all the guys will be very grateful.”
“I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Moscow is my new station.” She had asked for London but was turned down. Told she had earned more of a challenge than London presented. “I have to get the lay of the land and keep my head down for a little bit.”
“I’m sure you’ll win them over in no time, Spook.” She rolled her eyes and reached for a kiss. “I love you, Cass. Now and forever. I promise.”
“I love you, too, Johnny. I’ll see you soon.” Cass stayed until he was walked out of sight, the chain heavy against her chest once he disappeared from her view. 
Soon was never soon enough.
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katcoquette · 2 years
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Can you do a rooster x reader where rooster comes home from work and all he wants is to be held and for reader to them him they love him ? Just really fluffy
Hold Me
Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Reader
masterlist | taglist
summary: sometimes the best medicine is love, especially when it comes to Rooster.
★ word count: 645
★ tw: fluff
★ author's note: thank you for your request! this one was so cute to write <3
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“Y/N?” His muffled voice calls from the front of the house followed by the sound of his bag hitting the floor.
“Kitchen!” You call back, reaching for your phone to turn down the music you had playing through a speaker while you cooked. You can hear his footsteps padding through the house as you search the fridge for the last few ingredients you need.
 “How was your day, B?” You question when you feel his arms wrap around you from behind. He rests his head on your shoulder, looking into the fridge with you. “It was fine.” He grumbles, “Just a day.”
You move to place the vegetables you’d just grabbed on the counter and let out a breathy laugh when Bradley moves with you, not letting go. You shut the fridge and twist around in his grip.
“Do you want to talk about it?” You ask, one hand resting on his bicep while the other absentmindedly brushed his hair to the side.
You recognize his mood by the way he clings to you. Something had happened during training today, and you’d bet money on it having something to do with Mav or Hangman. When he had bad days he liked to stay close to you, always touching you in some way, like he was making sure you were still with him, grounding him.
He leans closer, sighing against your lips, “Not right now.” Then he kisses you softly, “Just need you.” You move your arms to rest over his shoulders, smiling as you kiss him again. “Okay, Bradshaw.”
He hums contently in your arms, and you stand holding him for a few more moments until you hear the sizzling of your pan pick up and you remember the meal you’re in the middle of making.
“Ah!” You jump out of his grasp slightly, still keeping one hand on his arm, and reach to stir the food, turning down the heat while you’re at it. With a crisis averted, you shift into a normal position in front of the stove, pulling him gently with you.
He reverts to resting his head on your shoulder, “Smells good, babe.” You smile again, leaning your head against his, “I’m making your favorite. Had a feeling you might need it today.”
He doesn’t respond right away, biting the inside of his lip to prevent the emotions of the day from spilling over. “How do you do that?” He finally asks, voice softer now.
“Do what, baby?” You hum, keeping your eyes on the pan.
He kisses your cheek, arms squeezing around your waist. “Always know what I need.” You laugh.
“Well, I’ve known you a long time, and I love you a lot-“ You start to explain.
He interrupts you, “Say that again.” You smile, amused with how needy he got sometimes. “What, that I love you?” He nods, kissing your neck.
“I love you.” You tell him, turning to cup his cheek. “I love you.” You kiss his face, emphasizing each word. “I love you.” You say, kissing his lips.
You lean your forehead against his, “And I’ll tell you as many times as you need to hear it.”
“I don’t doubt that.” He turns back to the stove, switching off the burner, “But maybe we can continue this after dinner.” He grins as you playfully swat his chest. “Someone’s feeling better.” You tease.
He pulls out two plates from the cabinet, “Hey hey, I didn’t say that-” You hold out your hand and he passes you the plates. “I’m gonna need lots of cuddling to beat this. I’m talking two, three hours minimum.”
You roll your eyes and scoff, handing back the now full plates. “I just want to enjoy the delicious meal you made first.”
“Alright Lieutenant.” You chuckle, following him to the table. “Let’s eat, and then we can see where the night takes us.”
Taglist: @gcldtom @picked-off-by-barzal @sarahghae @lucianaasf @strawb3rrydr3ss @classygirlything21
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irenethewoman · 8 months
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Mrs. Shelby - Chapter One- Escape (part 1)
This chapter is quite long, it’s going to be in two parts. Hope you enjoy.
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In October 1914, I found myself in Birmingham. The train came to a halt on the platform, and as it did, a person in brown hastily disembarked from the car. I scanned my surroundings cautiously. The platform lay in dimly lit solitude, the air was chilly, so I draped my half-worn cashmere coat around me and hastened forward, my gaze fixed ahead. My hope was to secure a job in Birmingham that would sustain me, putting an end to my northward travels. My intention was to find a place to rest and recuperate for a while before seeking employment. With all the men away at war, the factories surely lacked labor. Ideally, it would be an office job, but upon arriving at a hotel, I discovered a hole had been cut into my wallet, and the coins inside had vanished. The gaping gash, created by a blade, danced in Birmingham's cold breeze, taunting me. The innkeeper's eyes spoke volumes; he clearly regarded me with suspicion, assuming I had ulterior motives. Over the past two weeks of fleeing, I had endured much hardship.
The injustices I'd encountered, unlike any I'd known in the past 15 years, left the Baroness in a melancholic state. I had wanted to unleash my anger, to scold the innkeeper, but considering my current predicament, discretion was the better part of valor. I couldn't risk leaving a lasting impression that might lead to my being taken back to London. So, I swallowed the sharp retort on the tip of my tongue, turned on my heel, and exited with my head held high. It wasn't until I was out of the innkeeper's view that I crouched down on the street, wrapped my arms around my knees, and wept. If my father were still alive, this would never have happened! He had aspired to marry his little princess into No. 10 Downing Street. The memory of Nurse Claire and Sister Mary helping me pack on that night remained vivid. The wet nurse had packed my luggage with nearly all the jewelry and coins I could carry. My pregnant sister Mary had suffered at the hands of her child's father, my illegitimate brother, for concealing my whereabouts. I'll never forget how Nurse Claire clung to me in tears inside the dark closet, preventing me from rushing out. We had held each other in silence while Sister Mary's voice faded into the distance. I would never forget the sight of the bloodstains on the marble floor of Turner House as we hastily departed. Shards of shattered glass glistened under the crystal lamp's glow. We had left in a hurry amid my sister's screams, and Nurse Claire had personally escorted me onto the northbound train. Despite my pleading, she had refused to accompany me, choosing to stay in London. Her brown eyes had been brimming with tears as she'd said, "Live well, miss, live well..." The gnawing hunger in my stomach pulled me from my reverie. I needed to survive, for the honor of Baroness Turner, for Nurse Claire and Sister Mary. Only through survival could I have a future. I wiped away my tears and, after patting myself down, retrieved three chocolate pieces wrapped in gold foil. It was a humble brand available at malls. In the past, we had imported Swiss and Belgian confections, and I wouldn't have touched this variety. But now, with not a penny to my name, I welcomed it gladly. As I unwrapped the chocolate, ready to take my first bite, I noticed a young boy sitting across the street, about the age of my brother, his blue eyes locked onto me and the chocolate coin in my hand. We shared a prolonged gaze from across the street. He was a child, and I, in my desperation, was acting rather childishly myself. Eventually, I made my way over, suitcase in tow, and sat beside him, offering him the unopened chocolates. My intuition told me he was a runaway. To run away at a time like this, he must have been loved and cared for at home. Perhaps he was the little angel I needed to escape my troubles. He accepted the chocolates but seemed in no hurry to open them. I paid him no mind as my hunger overtook me, devouring the chocolate in my hand. "What's this?" he asked softly, eyeing me as I ate. "Chocolate," I replied honestly. "You're lying. The chocolate here doesn't look like that," he retorted, still fixated on the chocolate in his hand. True, even though it was a cheap brand, the glittering wrapping paper had an irresistible allure to children, not to mention the delicious chocolate within. "But this is how they make chocolate in London," I shrugged. "I've tasted better ones, from Switzerland and Belgium. The French are skilled in making chocolate desserts too. We used to have a French chef at home, and his desserts were exquisite." The boy's interest grew with each word I spoke. It was a promising start. "So, can I come to your house?" I feigned regret, "I'm afraid not. We had to let that chef go." The boy's bright blue eyes dimmed at my response, but I quickly added, "But I did learn a few dessert recipes from him. If there's a kitchen, I can make some for you." After some internal struggle, the boy finally stood up, took my hand, and led me to a busier street.
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car1no-xx · 1 year
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Not Your Baby - Part 2 (Pedri x reader) 
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Your secret relationship with Pedri was discovered by your brother and his best friend, Gavi. Now Pedri must decide whether being with you is worth the risk of jeopardizing his friendship with Gavi, or facing his wrath.
Warnings: some smut, swearing, heartbreak
A/N: I wasn’t originally planning on making a part 2, but here we are. @gavisuntiedboot​ thank you for inspiring me to write 🥺 I had fun writing this, I hope you all have fun reading it x 
Part 1
~~
Two weeks. Two weeks you spent mourning the end of a - was it a relationship? A situationship? You blamed yourself, your brother for forcing it to end, you blamed Pedri for walking away instead of fighting for you, for the “us” that you weren’t even sure he wanted. Gavi was still fuming, more so at his best friend for using you and jeopardizing their friendship. But then he saw the used tissues on your nightstand which you used to blot away your tears, the unmade bed that you barely refused to leave in two weeks, the dirty pajamas that you didn’t want to take off. 
Is it normal for me to be feeling like this? Why am I crying so much? For what? These were the questions you quietly asked yourself, and yet you couldn’t bring manage to pull yourself together. At least, not yet.
Gavi stormed into the house after practice one night, still in his tracksuit and sweat still covering his forehead after the training session. “Y/n?” He called out to you. You were in bed yet again, snacking on chocolate chip cookies and rewatching Eat Pray Love. You bitterly laughed at yourself - this was so cheesy, so absolutely cliché. But it was better than staring at the ceiling and crying yourself to sleep. You do what you can to cope. “In my room,” you dryly responded to your brother. 
You heard a few muffled steps heading towards your bedroom.
“What are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” You snapped.
“This is getting out of hand. It’s been two weeks of you moping around in this bed.” Gavi stole a cookie from your hand, taking a bite. His tone didn’t quite convey it, but he was clearly concerned, wanting the vivacious, witty, bright personality that was his sister back.
“Well I wouldn't have a need to ‘mope around’ if it wasn’t for you, would I?” 
“Not getting into this again. Just please get up and take a bath, at least. And change the pajamas.” He rolled his eyes and left the room. 
You didn’t understand why it was so difficult for Gavi to just accept the relationship. Had it been the other way around, you would never stand in the way of his happiness and would do anything to prevent the same excruciating heartbreak you were experiencing right now. Wouldn’t it be better for Gavi to know that you were dating his best friend instead of a random guy, someone who he knew nothing about and would have to vet, no doubt? You were snapped out of your thoughts when your cellphone lit up with a text. Your heart nearly stopped and then fell out of your chest.
[Pedri]: Can we talk?
Your mind started to flood with thousands of thoughts. What does he want? What does he want to talk about? What is there to talk about? I wonder if he’s been feeling as broken as I’ve been. You couldn’t deny that there was some immense satisfaction in him texting you. True, you were in love with him, but to allow yourself to let him know just how much he’d hurt you and be the first to reach out? Never. Of course, you had the occasional temptation of texting him paragraph after paragraph cursing him out, but decided against succumbing to that. He had already seen you cry in the parking lot of the training grounds. You would not let your pride falter that way again. If he wanted to talk, that’d be fine. If he wanted you, even better. But no begging for him back. 
[You]: What about? 
[Pedri]: Just...talk. I have things to get off my chest. I’ll pick you up in 20. 
Another heavy feeling in your chest. You sprang off your bed, the quickest you’d moved in weeks. How was this possibly going to work? Pablo would strangle you and him both, simultaneously, if he looked outside the window and spotted the green Mini Cooper. Fuck it, you thought. At the end of the day, this was your heart, your feelings on the line. Pablo would have to swallow his. Bouncing your leg, you waited impatiently on your bed. 
Seeing him in his car was strange, painful. Your mind immediately went to the memories of you and him fucking in his car so many times, desperate for each others’ touches, of the times you would have late night drives with the windows down, bellowing out music. Sitting down in the front seat, you turned to him. No “hello,” no “how are you”. You weren’t sure if he even deserved that. “It’s good to see you,” he said quietly. You could only manage a nod. He drove off, parking at a nearby street so you could talk in private (and without the threat of Pablo catching you two and being the direct cause of your death). “I...listen, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. For walking away from you like that. And not checking up on how you were doing afterwards.” His voice was shaky.
“Why did you walk away?” 
“It was all too much. Too much to try and face losing Pablo as a friend, too much to see you so upset.” His eyes kept flicking from your face to the steering wheel in front of him. “I’m so sorry, okay? I didn’t want to hurt you.” The apology, as nice to hear as it was, didn’t particularly answer the burning questions that you needed answered. Both feet in, you thought. He can’t hurt me twice. 
“Look, Pedri, this is difficult for me to say so don’t interrupt me. I need to know how you feel about me. Because I can’t keep wasting my time. I need to know.” 
He was clearly caught off guard. “How I feel about you? I feel...I feel like the past two weeks have been hell. Pure hell. Not only because Pablo hasn't been speaking to me, but also because the thought of hurting you makes my insides twist. Because the thought of not being with you actually, physically hurts my heart. Porque te amo.” Because I love you. Tears pricked your eyes. So much for trying to look unbothered, you thought to yourself. “And with Pablo, we’ll figure it out.” 
He grabbed your face, passionately bringing his lips to yours while wiping off your tears with his thumb. Your heart couldn’t possibly feel any more full than at this very moment. He deepened the kiss, pulling you in closer to him. You brought your hands to the hem of his beige sweatshirt, urging him to pull it over his head. He threw the sweatshirt towards the backseat, then pulling your own sweatshirt off of you. Feeling your breasts under your bra, he kissed and sucked on your neck, hardly able to control himself after two weeks of not being able to be with you. “You’re so beautiful. So, so beautiful,” he murmured. You palmed his cock through his jeans, his breath hitching as he continued kissing you. “Pedri please,” you moaned. “Fuck me now.” 
He pulled away chuckling, his tongue clicking against the roof of his mouth. “Patience, amor. I’m not fucking you right now, not in this car. Not now. I want the first official time with my new girlfriend to be somewhere where I can take my time with you.” 
“Girlfriend?” You smirked. 
“Yeah, that’s right. You’re stuck with me now,” he shrugged.
You couldn’t contain your giggle. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love you,” you said, as you pulled the zipper down his pants. “Then let your girlfriend please you some other way right now,” you said, your head going down on his shaft. 
~~
You and Pablo pulled into the Ciutat Esportiva parking lot. The last time you were here, you left with your heart shattered into tiny pieces. Now coming back, you were a girlfriend. Pedri’s girlfriend. Gavi noticed the shift in you - noticing how your eyes sparkled a bit more, how you finally took off those two-week-old pajamas, how your cheeks had a bit more color to them. He chalked it up to the old “time heals all wounds” cliché. 
Heading over to the entrance, Pedri was standing at the front, looking down at his phone. Fuck what my brother thinks, you told yourself and you ran over to Pedri, trapping him in a hug and kissing his cheek. He looked at you cautiously - Gavi was right behind you, his eyes going wide. “Do I really have-” he was cut off.
“Hermano, just listen please. I know you don’t approve. Maybe in time you will, hopefully. Te lo juro, I’m not just using her,” I swear. “Please don’t sock me in the face right now. I asked her to be my girlfriend. I love her, I really do. And I promise you, on my life and my career, I will make sure she feels loved and cared for every minute.” You nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
A blank stare from Gavi.
Then, after what felt like a lifetime: “You’re really serious about her?” A nod. Another pause from your brother. “Pedri, I promise to the good lord above, if you hurt her, if you cause her any pain, your balls will be nailed above your locker for everyone to see. I’m very reluctantly agreeing to this because I’m tired of seeing her mopey ass roam around the house, eating all the cookies in the pantry.”
A smile spread across Pedri’s face, pulling Gavi into a handshake and a hug. “Yeah whatever, go be together, ride off into the sunset, blah blah. Yuck,” Gavi said mockingly.
And ride off together you did.
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ecoamerica · 2 months
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The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!
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Donald Trump’s shortlist for his running mate is full of the right wing’s worst political stars—aside from himself, that is. But reported vice presidential hopeful Kristi Noem has one skeleton in her closet—er, in the woods—that will not be helpful in the polls.
The South Dakota governor admits to deliberately killing her 14-month-old pet dog Cricket in her upcoming book No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, reported The Guardian, which obtained an advance copy of the book, on Friday. The book is due out next month.
“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, calling her “untrainable,” “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with,” and “less than worthless… as a hunting dog.”
After repeated failed attempts to train Cricket as a hunting dog, the straw that broke the camel’s back was when Cricket mauled a family’s chickens when Noem stopped at their house following a pheasant hunt.
Cricket had escaped Noem’s truck and attacked the family’s chickens, “grabb[ing] one chicken at a time, crunching it to death with one bite, then dropping it to attack another.”
Noem wrote that she repeatedly apologized, wrote the family a check “for the price they asked, and helped them dispose of the carcasses littering the scene of the crime.”
“It was not a pleasant job,” she writes, “but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done.”
Noem recalls getting her gun and leading Cricket to a gravel pit before executing her.
Critics were quick to point out that the fault was not with Cricket, but with Noem herself. A 14-month-old dog is a “baby that doesn’t know any better,” Dan Lussen, a professional hunting dog trainer, told Rolling Stone.
“To me, it’s a lack of guidance by the owner, or training by the owner, or discipline by the owner,” he said, explaining that training a young hunting dog is a lengthy and slow process. “There’s a lot of steps that you take before you take it to a field and shoot birds over it.”
Noem’s record as governor of South Dakota isn’t clean, either. Several Native tribes in the state have banned her from their reservations over her racist assertions that Natives in the state work with drug cartels and neglect their children. Plus, Noem’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a high number of cases in the state, and she tried to prevent Native tribes from implementing their own COVID safety measures.
Her attitude towards canines may not put her in Trump’s VP doghouse, though. He has repeatedly called his opponents dogs as an insult, mentioned on multiple occasions about how much he doesn’t like them, and famously avoided having a pet dog as president because he said it “feels a little phony to me.”
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rayraygo1267 · 6 months
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A Gabenath Fanfiction: Threads of Warmth
Note: OMG YOU GUYS! I’VE BEEN GONE FOR SO LOOOOONNNGGGG! I’M SO SORRY!
I’ve had a lot of stuff in my personal life going on and I did kinda lose my motivation for a bit but I’m back now. I do not know if I will be posting daily like I used to, but I will still be posting much more frequently. As a way to make it up to all of you I made this little fluffy gabenath one-shot. I hope you all enjoy and again I’m so sorry I’ve been gone for so long. 😭😭😭
Rated: K
Warnings: None
Word Count: 2,674
Summary: Nathalie and Gabriel find themselves both awake in the wee hours of the cold, wintry night and decide to take a midnight stroll. Some minor angst and fluff ensues.
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The frost on the window was pristine and crisp. A fog trailing along the opaque glass, curling in various designs that reflected out to the sparkling puddles of snow from the outside. 
Nathalie Sancoeur exhaled sharply. It was the first snowfall of the season — the sky was a sea of flying diamonds. She had to bite her lip to prevent a burst of laughter at the small childish desire that coursed through her, the desire to go out and wait for flakes of crystallizing snow to fall on the tip of her tongue and dissolve with a flourish. 
A gust of a windchill met her as she popped the latch of the door. Flurries dashed past, causing her eyes to widen in awe. It wasn’t as if she’d never seen snow before but the first remnants of it never failed to leave her mesmerized. 
She walked on the white powder, her silky slippers crunching in the icy mist. The moon was a balm of white light shimmering down on her, making the small icicles hanging from tree ledges and house fronts sparkle and gleam. 
“I didn’t think you’d be one to go out on midnight strolls,” came a soft intone. Nathalie felt a spritz of shock waver through her system, a poignant gasp leaving her lips. She hadn’t thought anyone else was out, much less at this hour. 
A chuckle reverberated, adjacent to the sound of doming bells. “Sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.” 
Nathalie paused and upturned her gaze, her expression regal despite the quick patter in her chest. “I figured you’d already be retired for the night sir.” 
Gabriel Agreste sighed, running a hand through his hair, pushing back the black beanie that obscured his head. He wore a pair of tight knit leggings that perfectly aligned with the outline of his hips and a maroon colored turtleneck sweater that climbed up his chest. 
Nathalie pursed her lips, a small pink flush rounding her cheeks. He seemed to be dressed quite appropriately for a winter night promenade; unlike her who only adorned a light nightgown, which although kept her covered was still quite flimsy, as it draped over her bodice, flowing lightly in the rashful breeze. In short, not the best choice of clothing for an icy outing on her part. 
“I couldn’t sleep. I tried to work on some designs to clear my mind but…” he paused, his throat working as he sighed once more, a puff of air fogging out into the wind. He trained his eyes on the snow covered path ahead of them as he spoke his next words. 
“My thoughts get too crowded sometimes, especially at night.” 
Nathalie was aware of this. As much as Gabriel tried to hide it, Nathalie could see through the dark circlets under his eyelids and the container of empty coffee pouches, accompanied by  the kitchen sink full of various drained coffee mugs, that Gabriel rarely, if ever, slept. 
Not that she could blame him, she herself didn’t get much sleep either. Perhaps that was something they shared in common, in the wee hours of the night their hearts would race and thrum due to the constant whispers of their anxieties and misfortunes daunting them. 
“I understand that. Sleep is…well…sleep is just difficult,” Nathalie chuckled lightly, brushing a stray wisp of her hair behind her ear.
Gabriel scoffed ruefully, “yes, well it doesn’t get much easier when all you can think about is the smell of rosemary poppy lotion and light feather skin…” 
Nathalie could hear the lonesomeness anguish in his voice as he spoke. She could practically feel it seething in her bones. 
He always got like that when he spoke of his flower — his Emilie. 
Nathalie felt the sprinkle of dots of snow dropping on the tops of her own skin, causing a sparse gooseflesh, as she reached out and placed her hand on Gabriel's padded shoulder in a supportive embrace. She knew there were not many words out there that anyone could say to soothe the heartache of the loss of a loved one. 
She knew enough of her employer to know that the torch he carried for his dear Emilie was one that could not be extinguished, in fact it only seemed to grow more vibrant — a pipe of gasoline dousing the remains of a nearly burnt out candle. 
Nathalie’s gaze roamed down Gabriel’s body, right from where her hand pressed on his shoulder, their mingled breath was meshed between them in moats. 
“I know this is your first winter without her sir. I know…” she blew out a breath, “I can see that you’re hurting.” 
She speaks with tenderness almost as if she were trying to coax a wounded animal out of a den. Though in this case she might be the wounded animal considering that Gabriel was known to always be ready to pounce. 
She waited, her heart a soft tick like a hummingbird's wings. 
To her astonishment, Gabriel’s eyes seemed to soften, though whatever thoughts he had on her statement he had chosen to keep to himself. 
He turned and headed down the gilded footpath in front of them, his eyes lingered on her, seeming to signify that he wanted her to follow and despite her lack of proper dressing for the occasion, she couldn’t stop herself from allowing him to guide her. 
They walked on in silence for a while. Their surroundings were too vacated in darkness to differentiate in which direction they were headed, but Gabriel appeared as if he knew where he was going, so Nathalie did not feel the need to comment. 
Her eyes studied the treks Gabriel’s long fur-lined boots made in the sleet. The firm imprint that his feet made in the ground was an easy compass for Nathalie to follow. At some longer intervals Gabriel would stop and look back over his shoulder to make sure she was still keeping pace with him. Although she would find herself taking lengthened strides to match his own, he never made out to rush her. He would wait for her until she stood only a few short feet away from him, the heat emanating from his body washing over her. 
Mixed in with the brisk air, the sparkling icicles  and the illuminated moonlight, Gabriel stood out — his golden hair a shining beacon in a world of shadows. He was a tall man with a firm build, easily recognizable. He always held himself in a stoic manner, one pertaining to confidence which was partly why Nathalie could always spot him in a crowd. He was hard to miss. 
Eventually they reached a small secluded grove, shrouded by wistful bare willow trees. From the tips of the elongated branches hang glacier spears that glistened and sparkled. Muffin-like puffs stuck out, covered in mounds of glitter that was snow. These puffs enlightened into bushes during springtime, but for now they were starry abstract shapes that swayed and danced on a pond of frost that Nathalie imagined had been gilded on by the ice skates of many neighbor children in the past, perhaps even Adrien as well. 
Despite the desolate beauty of the landscape before them, this meadow of crystals still had a cold bite. The adrenaline and the flush rounding Nathalie’s cheeks had kept her aboard and heated earlier but now here, in a stalemate with this whimsical winter wonderland her eyes couldn’t help but drift to the warm concealed body next to her. 
“Emilie and I shared our first kiss here, right in the center of that circle of ice.” He lifted his finger, pointing out where he and Emilie had stood. Nathalie’s eyes drifted to where his finger lay. She can imagine it. A young and dumb Emilie pulling a head over heels Gabriel onto the ice. Emilie’s hair would be voluminous, dashing around in the breeze, her eyes a plume of periwinkle. Gabriel would follow her lead, hanging on her every move. 
Nathalie could see vividly in her mind the moment their lips touched, warm and passionate despite the fierce chill surrounding them. Nathalie felt a prick of an unpleasant indescribable feeling strike her, a flurry, like a jab of ice. 
A poignant, feverish shiver ran down her spine, filling her from the inside out. Suddenly the adrenaline pumping her didn’t seem so potent, as it felt as though a mask of icy glaze was overcoming her. The corners of her vision were clogged, perhaps with flakes of snow or perhaps tears, she didn’t know. Even out and fully alert, her tiresome thoughts did not cease. 
“Are you cold?” 
Gabriel’s inquiry pulled Nathalie from her musings. She shrugged, a crimson coating her cheeks. 
Gabriel’s brows creased, “you’re shivering.” 
Nathalie chuckled nervously. “Am I?” 
Gabriel smiled softly, the corners of his mouth perching up. He placed a warm gloved hand on her shoulder. Her body stiffened and stilled.
“You’re not even wearing a proper coat!” 
His voice sounded as a drumbeat — exasperated. 
Nathalie felt the crimson dotting her cheeks begin to slither down her body like an unforgiving snake. 
“Well I didn’t think we’d be walking this far!” She argued, with a furious, maddening flush that didn’t seem to want to disappear. Gabriel chuckled softly to himself, causing Nathalie’s blush to only deepen. 
“Here,” his hands moved to his abdomen, “why don’t you take my sweater?” 
Nathalie’s brows raised to her hairline. 
“Sir—“ 
She couldn’t even muster another word, before the maroon velvety sweater was sliding off Gabriel’s body. The heated flush consuming her insides was like a replant to the bitter cold. She imagined her skin was as red and bright as the steaming star of mars. Then it was in a flash of a second. Everything seemed to move at the speed of light and then abruptly slow like a hockey puck sliding on withered ice. 
Underneath his sweater, shining out against the droplets of snow was Gabriel Agreste’s chest, though not completely bare due to his clear white undershirt, the contours and flexes of his chest were clearly, unmistakably visible. 
A puff of air that appeared as smoke escaped Nathalie’s lips in a plume as her mouth fell agape.
“I…” she somehow mustered out, though her throat was croaky as full of rasp from her shock. 
“Here Nathalie. Please, I insist,” his hand was outstretched, his arm as light and pale as the balming moon. His bare, naked arm. Nathalie’s breathing shaked, the warm puffs of it in the air quivering like notes rising up a music staff. 
Her fingers twitched and grappled at the texture of the cotton sweater. Her eyes darted down to it. It was long and slim and smelled of cologne and of newly dried laundry. 
Her gaze traveled back up to the eyes of her superior. His steely bluish gray eyes were misty and soft — kind. Nathalie felt as though she were deflating like a balloon. 
“Are you sure about this sir? I don’t want to be of any trouble…” she gulped, her throat closing for a brief pause. “Won’t you be cold sir? That…” she cleared her throat with a forceful swallow, “that is a very light shirt you are wearing.” 
Her rambling ceased though when she felt a gentle squeeze on her fingers. 
“Please Nathalie.” His tone was fierce and sincere however churned with a slight undertone of sternness. 
And yet with the way his eyes were pleading with her and how his grip on her hand did not loosen in the slightest, she could not bring herself to deny him. 
“Yes sir.” 
She didn’t allow herself to think, as she threw the sweater over her head, permitting it to mold with the shape of her torso. Though she should have because her senses were suddenly overwhelmed by a potpourri of stimulants. The cologne and musky scent of Gabriel’s sweat filled her nose along with the cloud of fuzzy warmth that soothed the goosebumps and trembles racking her body. The fringe of the turtleneck coursed around her neck and the fabric clung to her body, complimenting her curves. 
She felt as though she were wrapped in a warm comforting shield that would hold her up so she wouldn’t be blown away from the winter weather wind. 
Her eyes found Gabriel’s again. He stared at her a moment, his lips parted as if he were about to speak but couldn’t get the words out. 
He eventually closed his mouth, choosing not to comment at all. 
“Thank you sir.” Nathalie murmured, not knowing what else to say for this moment seemed so oddly intimate and yet so oddly fragile — a bubble that could pop at any moment. 
After another pregnant pause Gabriel finally spoke, though his voice was in a hush as if he were trying to whisper a secret. 
“Emilie gave me that…it was the first thing she ever gave me.” His fingers played with the lower  hem of the turtleneck, turning Nathalie’s heartbeat from soft pitter-patters to blazing gunshots. 
A sound of surprise and awe left her throat. Suddenly it felt a lot harder to accept this gesture. Gabriel didn’t seem to notice her unease. 
“I had stopped wearing it,” he admitted with a withered, grief stricken sigh. “In fact, I couldn’t  even bear to look at it…it hurt too much.” 
A gust of air left his lungs, a confession finally free from his conscience. 
Nathalie nodded in understanding, her gaze never leaving his. As he spoke she didn’t comment on how she could feel him guiding her forward. She didn’t comment as her feet turned to crystals when they met the ice. She didn’t comment as she felt herself sliding forward into a moonlit abyss. 
Suddenly they were standing in the center of the frozen over pond. 
Right where Gabriel and Emilie had once stood, hand to hand, mouth to mouth. 
Gabriel’s hushed voice returned, the only sound reaching Nathalie’s ears. 
“And then I think to myself…perhaps this sweater that holds so many memories and so much happiness and heartache deserves a new beginning. I am a man of my roots, a fashion designer at heart and I think…” he exhaled slowly, a plume of smoke arising from his mouth. “I think this sweater, fueled with the stitches and threads of Emilie and my love, deserves a new home.” 
Nathalie’s eyes widened, her glasses fogging with her breath and the watery glaze covering her irises. Her heart rate doubled when she fully managed to comprehend his words. 
“You want me to keep it sir?” She murmured, overwhelmed, confused and slightly unsure. 
Gabriel did not hesitate with even a breath on his response. He lowered his head, looking down upon her. His hand found its way around the side of her moisture covered and frost coated cheek.  His hand was warm yet cool at the same time — cold with a warm interior, just like Gabriel Agreste himself. 
He pushed back an errant strand of the scarlet streak in her hair, curling it back behind her ear. 
“Yes…” he breathed, his puffs of breath mingling with her own. 
Could this really be happening? Were they really this close, mere inches apart? 
The warmth of Gabriel’s hand and the comfort of his sweater took everything surrounding them away. Was this how Gabriel and Emilie felt when they were here at this pond? Nathalie pondered. Like they were at the center of this rink and even if they were to fall through and sink to the bottom it wouldn’t matter because they were all that mattered? 
Did that even make sense? 
Did any of this make sense? 
Nathalie decided that didn’t matter. All that mattered was this, her and Gabriel were at the center of this pond, breaths away from each other, surrounded by diamond filled weeping willows. 
It didn’t matter if Gabriel walked off now, even though Nathalie knew he wouldn’t. 
It didn’t matter because she knew his gift — this sweater — concealed with so much history of love and loss would keep her warm. 
Gabriel’s threads of warmth would keep her warm always.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! Please don't hesitate to tell me what you think, I love feedback. Also if y'all have any fanfic requests let me know and I'll get to them as soon as I can! Again I want to apologize for my absence and I hope this little fic will be a good way to make up for it.
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serpentthecrow · 2 years
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Through the storm
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(platonic)Aemond Targaryen x twin!reader (Aegon Targaryen x sister!wife! reader) (Targaryen oc)
Summary: you are sent to Storm's end with your twin Aemond, preventing catastrophic consequences of your brother's rage.
Warnings: mentioned violence, canon-level incest, spoilers of HotD season 1 finale, me liking Aegon, English is not my first language, hopefully, the high valyrian is right.
A/n: I love-mostly ooc- Aegon. There. I said it. Lucerys lives in this <3. Aegon is very ooc it this, not a perv and recently sober. Interactions are always welcome, enjoy!
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"I am going to Storm's End" my brother's voice booms through the chamber. "For Lord Baratheon's support, I know. what of it?" I retort, grieving my interrupted conversation with Aegon. "Come along then! Mother didn't inform you?" By the confusion on his face he declines any jesting from his side. "Inform me of?" I raise an eyebrow as I turn to look at the Queen Regent. "I think it would be best if you went with your brother" she answers my question almost immediately. She says an entirely different sentence with her eyes though. 'go with him and make sure he doesn't fuck up' is what the look says. I have given her body language too much thought over the years not to notice it. "Very well then. Your dragon then?" I say to Aemond, despite my gaze lingering on my mother still. I don't wait for and answer as I get up from my chair. "Take care, please" pleads Aegon, still holding my hand. "I will love" I say back, kissing the crown of his head in silent promise.
Aemond is already out of the door and I follow his long strides for what feels like hours, until we reach his dragon-mount Vhagar. He gets on her back first and helps me up as well. We take flight and in no time we land in Storm's end. As we enter the throne room, I don't bother to engage in the talk that happens between my twin and the storm lord. Until the words "We have come with an offer" reached my ears. That was my cue to say my part. "What could you offer me, my prince" said lord Baratheon with a doubting look. "We're here to propose a betrothal" i answer before Aemond bothers to open his mouth. The lord looks me up and down and with a slightly clueless tone he says"Pardon me, your Grace, yet the last time I checked, you were already wed" I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes, not sure if because of the new title as Queen Consort, or his stupidity. "Not me, him!" I gesture to the man standing next to me. "We propose that one of your daughters marries prince Aemond" i clarify. The frown of the lord face dissapears as if he cracked a difficult riddle."Men" I sigh as Aemond struts towards the Baratheon girl. 'if she likes him and he stops being insecure, we're fine'.
My train of thoughts is interrupted as my nephew Lucerys, the son of Rheanyra, the self proclaimed Queen, enters. 'we're not fine, we're fucked' my inner monologue spirals as the boy hands off the message by his mother. Being clearly met with denial, the 'Velaryon' plans on taking his leave, however, my twin seems to finally snap.
"Wait, my lord Strong" he calls out. And that is where it goes down. I approach him like a wounded animal, while he declares how he wishes to make the child's eye a gift to our mother. "Give me your eye bastard!" He yells as he launches forward at Luke's denial, yet I am quick to catch up to him. I grab him by the shoulders and look deep into his eyes, his now uncovered sapphire reflecting the occasional lightning above us.
"Aemond stop this madness!" I raise my voice. "He took my eye!" he bites back just as powerfully. We are two dragons, fighting eachother other, fire in our gazes. "Is his eye worth a war? The destruction of house Targaryen? The death of everyone around you and yourself?!" I spit. The rage in his expression fades. "If you do this right now brother, you will be the doom of us all" my voice ceases in volume and the tone is new, soft. I grab the both sides of his face hurriedly, yet gently in a way."It is you, the younger brother who studies history and Philosophy" I begin, the look on my face affectionate as I quote his words from couple of days prior."it is you who rides the biggest dragon in the world. You are bigger than this Aemond, don't let yourself become a kinslayer." He is an educated man, he knows how bad the title is. "Ÿdra daor gaomagon visa ñuha idaña" don't do this my twin. Lucerys is but a shadow in the maze of clouds by the time we finish arguing. He is alive, however unbeknownst to us, The Rogue prince will take the threat to Luke's life to heart.
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pocketramblr · 6 months
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Five ask game: au where Endeavor is shopping for quirk marriages for his kids after todoroki started doing his rebellion thing
(ideas for who he would probably approach for each child
Manual or Aizawa for Fuyumi: adding water to ice or quirk nullification to ice would both be super op
Mount Lady or Midnight for Natsuo: gigantification + ice = giant ice obv (and ice that knocks people out when it touches them would also be nice)
I feel like he would be actively shopping around UA for someone for todoroki for whenever he "comes to his senses", so I imagine he's just always on campus in this au to everyone's dismay)
Man's gonna wear down the few threads keeping Natsuo from jumping on the patricide train if he keeps this up
1- ok so the divergence of him actually caring about this is Rei's mother immediately coming to the house after hearing her daughter shout and drop the call. Then she doesn't leave. And she brings that wonderfully eugenicsy Himura family values with her. When she sees Touya and Natsuo and Fuyumi ignored, she purses her lips and tells Enji that the Himuras have not been creating stronger quirks for generations for nothing, and they didn't do it by ignoring the middle steps on the way. Enji tries to tell her he's not really interested in further quirk marriages since Shoto was a perfect success, and she looks at the six year old who's ten seconds from biting into his father's ankle and tearing his tendon out, and goes, "oh, of course, that'll work out perfectly for you, why didn't I realize you'd just give up on them like you did my daughter, no no, I won't worry about it if you won't, I need to get started on dinner now," and leaves.
2- "oh great, I think I hate my father second most now." Shoto says and is ignored, but the thought sticks in Enji's head even after a few years when Grandmother Himura returns home after saying Fuyumi can care for the family now. A few more years, when Fuyumi is eighteen, the Himuras make oh-so-subtle comments about if she's seeing anyone, and an aunt offers to make a match for Fuyumi, since poor Rei is still in the hospital and can't, though Enji must have better connections in the hero field, and Fuyumi says she couldn't possibly think about leaving her family alone right now. She thinks she won't have to worry about it but on the car ride back home, Enji asks what sort of man she is looking for- he does have more connections as a hero, and there's sure to be many quirks that would work well with ice, so she can be selective with the personality too. Fuyumi repeats that she couldn't think about that right now, while desperately being glad Natsuo didn't want to come to the Himuras and Shoto skipped out by saying he'd train instead, and Enji nods, deciding Fuyumi is still too young and he can just keep an eye on on matches in the meantime.
3- After that meeting in Vigs when Manual had the deep misfortune to be awkwardly sitting at the table with Endeavor, Enji thinks his quiet temperament might be a good match for sweet Fuyumi, and the quirks line up. Manual, on being asked a few questions, catches on to "being set up" almost as quick as he does "this guy is plotting murder" and awkwardly stammers out that he's gay and really needs to go now. Ingenium looks up to ask "really?", Midnight laughs at how hopeful he sounded, Enji crosses off both Tensei and Masaki from the potential list, and then they get distracted by an attempted bombing.
4- Literally whenever Natsuo is dating someone, Fuyumi talks about it at length in front of Enji, hoping something will sink in and dissuade him from looking, because the day he says something to his middle son about a match is the day Fuyumi never sees one of them again because Natsuo either leaves to not return or puts their father in the ground. Fuyumi's words don't actually sink in because Enji is great at selective listening but she manages to keep Natsuo from being around enough to prevent any discussions about the matches that Enji is consistently failing to set up.
5- once Shoto is at UA, Enji uses that to try to check out the teachers there, because somehow he still hasn't found a match for Fuyumi, but hey she's a teacher so maybe a common interest will work? What do girls like? Do girls like cowboys? (Snipe: I'm gay and also married) Enji gives up after the SF because he's distracted by the joy of Shoto using his fire, and also assumes that since All Might is teaching at the school he's just cursed to find no success there.
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ecoamerica · 1 month
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Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc
The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!
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