#Bill never can and never will agree but he can see the grey and still be there for Jay

[redrobin-detective]

you want a revelation, some kind of resolution

Well this was one shitty creek of a situation he was knee deep in. Not that Jason tended to expect any better from the dumpster of his second life.

“Boss, what do we do?” Petey asked, his voice higher and squeakier than normal with fear. “We got Bats coverin’ us from all sides.”

“Just keep cool, I know how to take care of Bats,” Jason growled out trying to keep his skittish gang in line. Though it really wasn’t much of a gang at this point, since Jay had offed most of the major players and their associates. Right now the Red Hood Gang was just a bunch of snot nosed kids with issues, anger and whole lot to prove. That included their boss. 

“We got a bunch of ammo here, none of it armor piercing but it should provide enough cover for you and the youngins to scram,” Tristan said. He was actually the oldest of them all at 26. Jay didn’t want to admit how hard it was to resist the urge to fall in step behind him. He’d mentioned once he had 3 younger siblings, sometimes talking to him made Jason think of better times with Dick...

“I told you we were doing too much, too fast,” Marco spat as he hastily loaded up empty pistol magazines. “Now we got the whole goddamn Bat Circus waiting to pounce on us.”

“Nah, it ain’t the body count they’re pissed about,” Jason mumbled to himself as he did his own double checks and loosened himself up for brawl. 

Alf had helped him with his 8th Grade production of Macbeth, he’d played Banquo, and had told him to find the happy middle ground of drama, between dull and maudlin. In his grand revenge scheme of leveraging his memory to hurt Bruce, he’d definitely overshot the mark and gotten everyone’s blood up. Hence this very aggressive show of force of trapping them in their current safe house. Only something about this whole thing wasn’t right.

“What I want to know,” Jason, Hood, said as the hairs on the back of his neck tingled. “Is why we’ve had Bats on our ass for 8 whole minutes and not one of them has made an appearance.”

“Maybe they’re already in here, hiding y’know like they do,” Mikey piped up.

“No, I’d know,” Hood responded purposefully enigmatically as he tried to pinpoint what was throwing him off. Something was different. Something was wrong and he couldn’t say what... There was a polite but insistent knock on the entrance of the warehouse.

“They’re knocking?” Big Mike, completely separate from Mikey, gaped incredulously. Everyone else drew their weapons onto the entrance while Jason concentrated on the sounds of warehouse, waiting for the other shoe to drop. He heard the near silent creaks of footsteps on the roof but no one was using the distraction to break in. Had Bruce changed up his MO that much while Jay had been gone?

“Let me in, dipshit, it’s cold out here,” a voice came from the other side of the door. “You got a choice between me and a whole lot of angry Bats. Trust me, I’m prettier.”

“Fuck,” Jason swore, lowering his weapon as he thought about how to get out of this situation. He wasn’t ready for this, wasn’t sure if he’d ever be ready for this. “Back up gents, weapons up but if you fire the next shot is in your skull, capisce?” Behind his hood, he pursed his lips and glared at the closed door. “Doors open,” he called. “No Bats, just you.”

The door was opened casually, like their guest was walking into a party instead of a den of murders and thieves. He stepped with no trace of discomfort, opening and closing the door with his foot while his thumbs were looped through the beltloop of his jeans. Blue eyes scanned the area, his face was neutral but calculating as he took in Jay and his men. God his face...

“Hood,” the man nodded at him then the guys, “Gentlemen. How’s it going?” 

“He’s just a brat, lets ice him,” Booker growled, aggressively posturing with his pistol. The man eyed Booker with an amused half smirk, not moving from his comfortable slouch. He didn’t need to, all he had to do was open his mouth.

“Fucking cool it, that brat can take down Superman,” Jason hissed. His weapon was still deliberately pointed down at the floor. He was having trouble keeping eye contact with his former best friend, no way was he gonna aim a gun at him. “So the Bat realized he and his child soldiers couldn’t take me alone so he called in the big guns, huh?”

“Nice to see you too, Hood,” Billy Batson, grinned with too many teeth to mean it as anything but a threat. “And no, your Dad got a location on you and ditched the weekly early. Didn’t realize I followed till he about to break in. I convinced him to stay outside for a minute while we talked, like old times.”

“Batman’s your dad?” Petey squawked, lowering his weapon to gape over at Jason. The others guys mumbled amongst themselves while Jay just growled at Bill’s small, shit eating grin. Damn bastard knew he had all the cards which was why he was here in his human body and not as the big guy. Hell of a lot easier to shoot at an invulnerable god then his best friend in a beaten leather jacket.

“I’m adopted, not that it made much difference in the end,” Bill’s smile slipped a bit. “What do you want, B?”

“I want you,” Bill stated. “If your guys put down their weapons, I can keep the Bats off them long enough to let them escape but only if you come with me.”

“And why the fuck would I go with you?” Jay asked through gritted teeth. As if he didn’t drive to Fawcett after every major fight with Bruce. As if hadn’t felt completely safe flying high in the sky in Marvel’s arms. As if Bill wasn’t the last person he talked to before he left Gotham for the last time, a lifetime ago...

Bill’s eyes, a faded sky blue with little streaks of gold and brown in them, glared back at hood. Once upon a time, they’d had similar blue eyes but now Jason’s eyes were more green than blue. Just another thing separating them.

“Because I had to skip dinner hunting down your ass so you owe me.” Looking like an overconfident ass, and just a tiny bit cool, Bill walked past them and opened the back door. “Boys, weapons down and you’re free to go. Hood, grab your coat, it’s cold out and I’m way too pissed at you to be your cuddle buddy.”

XxX

Bill tried not to stare at Jason sitting across the table but it was hard. He’d missed his friend so much, wasted so much grief wanting him back even for a moment. And yet what was supposed to be a joyous moment was spoiled by the boiling anger he was barely keeping a lid on. Instead, he stared intently into his coffee as he stirred in more cream while Jason looked intently at the menu.

“It’s funny you’re studying that so hard when we both know you’re ordering a chili dog,” Bill said impatiently when he grew tired of the tense silence. Even Atlas’ stamina wore out at some point. Jay flipped the menu down and sneered at him and god for a moment it felt like old times. Except Jason was older, he had new scars Bill didn’t recognize and old ones that were simply gone. His hair had gone partially grey and his eyes were different but the freckles on his nose wrinkled the same way they always did when he was annoyed.

“Yeah, well maybe you don’t know me as well as you thought, short stack,” Jay sniped back. He had one arm stretched over the back of their booth and his legs sprawled out but there was a tenseness that said he was ready to run at a moment’s notice. Like he no longer trusted Bill anymore.

“Sorry I don’t look like a linebacker on venom,” Bill countered. Jay had always been a bit taller than him but not by much. But whatever had happened to him (the Pit Bruce had, he didn’t want to think about how much that had hurt) it took away all evidence of Jay’s rough childhood living. Bill, on the other hand, was still scrawny, his height small and his immune system shit. 

“You boys ready to order?” Their waitress, Marcy, asked with a gentle smile. 

“Yes Ma’am, I’ll have some of your 24 hr breakfast with a ham and cheese omelet extra cheese and home fries. Jay?” 

“2 Chili dogs,” he grumbled, handing over the menu even as Bill hid his smile in his coffee cup. “How’d you get B off my ass?”

“I work alongside him on the team. He knows when to push me and when not to, he knows that he owes me,” Bill replied with a shrug before setting his coffee down. “Jason,” he sighed, “what the hell are you doing?”

“Oh shove off with your holier than thou shit,” Jay growled, turning to face out the window. They both knew that Bruce and most likely the others were casing the place but, for now, they were out of sight. “You don’t know what I’ve been through, what that man did to-”

“Then maybe you should tell me,” Bill frowned, gripping his cup. “Maybe instead of announcing your return with a duffle bag of heads you could’ve come to us and we’d have helped you get your shit together.”

“B-”

“Almost broke when you died,” Bill cut him off. “Jay I don’t know what you think happened but we almost lost him. If it weren’t for Tim,” Jason’s eyes turned menacingly dark so Bill diverted. “Jesus Jay, I took a leave of absence for almost a month. I never had many friends, losing you, it was like the world dropped out underneath me.”

“Yeah, well you recovered real well,” Jason huffed, leaning over the table to clench and unclench his fists. “Everyone moved on.”

“Did you think the whole world would stop for you?” Bill accused with a scoff. “Grow up, it may have felt like my world died but there were still villains to be foiled, civilians who needed saving. We moved on because the only other option was to dig a grave right next to yours. God knows Bruce did his damndest to do just that.”

“Here ya go, loves, give me a shout if you need anything else,” Marcy said, depositing their meals. Despite having had food security and his own money in his pocket for years, the sight of a full plate before him still gave his heart a little skip. He wondered if Jay remembered the feeling or if he’d forgotten that too.

“Whatever, you don’t get it so I don’t want to talk about it,” Jay grumbled, hunching over and biting into his hotdog. “The fuck you been up to, outside of capes?”

“Got my GED because the League of Babysitters were breathing down my neck. I do odd jobs here and there, whatever I can get with flexible hours. I’m thinking of doing online classes at Fawcett CC to get my degree in social work.” Jason paused for a moment before continuing to devour his dog. Bill, who learned better manners on the streets, ate like a normal human being. 

“You’d be good at that,” Jay said as he polished off the first hotdog. “I thought I might do that, back in the day.”

“I know, we talked about it,” Bill nodded, “can’t say I wasn’t thinking about that when I started filling out applications. There’s a memorial case for Robin in the Cave, a Library in Gotham named after Bruce Wayne’s son but I wanted the memory of Jay, my idiot friend, to carry on too.”

“Bill,” Jay heaved out a heavy sigh. “Why am I here?”

“In this diner? on this side of the veil?” Bill questioned, “can’t really answer the second one but as for the former, maybe I just wanted to watch my best friend make a slobbery mess out of chili dogs again.”

“I ain’t your best friend,” Jason said grabbing his second hotdog.

“Fuck you, yes you are. You never stopped being my best friend which why I’m so mad I could scream at you for the shit you pulled. I can see being mad at the world, I can even see why you’re mad at Bruce but me, Jay?” he asked, not disguising his hurt. “I had to hear about you coming back from a League debrief as Marvel. Had to go a whole shift being calm and composed before I could change back and completely fall apart.”

“The hell was I supposed to say?” Jay asked a bit too loudly. Marcy glanced over at them from across the diner. “I’m not, fuck, I’m not that snot nosed kid anymore who thought being a hero gave him magic. He died and I’m the one who crawled into his carcass and came back. Those times we had were good but they’re gone.”

“Well that’s up for me to decide, isn’t it?” Bill said with a bite of his potatoes. “So as your former and current best friend, it is my duty to tell you that you need to get your head out of your ass. Stop doing stupid shit to piss people off and do things that will actually help you because you know what? I’m not the same person you left either. You’re not special, you’re just as mortal as the rest of us.”

“Says you,” Jason snorted. He reached over and grabbed Bill’s coffee and took a swig. “You still take your crap coffee the same, drowned in cream with not a drop of sugar.”

“And you still can’t buy your own coffee and order it how you want,” Bill said with a smile, stealing it back. The atmosphere was good, calm and silent as they finished their dinners

“I’m not going back with B,” Jason said quietly. 

“I figured,” Bill nodded as he signaled Marcy for the check.

“And I’m not stopping what I’m doing in Gotham, cleaning out the filth the way Batman never could,” Jay growled resolutely.

“I don’t agree with your methods, never will. I won’t be complicit to your demons but I will be your friend. Just think about what it is you want, Jay, that’s all I ask. Oh and keep in contact this time, asshole,” he scribbled his address and phone number on one of the napkins. “Come by anytime but leave the hood at home or you’ll have to deal with the other guy.”

“Shit you’re tougher than him any day,” Jason said, shoving the napkin roughly in his jacket before standing up. “It’s been - Good to see you again, Bill. I missed you.” He stuck out a fist which Bill bumped in return.

“Not as much as I missed you. Take care of yourself, Jason and try to imagine my disappointed face next time you think about killing someone.” 

“Won’t need to imagine, I’ll see it myself when I come to check out your digs. Now I gotta avoid a whole host of flying rodents, see ya,” he said with a lazy, backward wave as he left via the back entrance. Feeling full and content, Bill waited patiently for the check.

“Oh baby, you’re all settled up,” Marcy said as she swung by the table. “Your friend gave me a 50 while I was seating you.” She chuckled and refilled his coffee. “Stay as long as you like and if I were you, I’d keep that friend. He’s a good one.”

“Don’t I know it,” Bill cheered, raising his mug in appreciation as he sipped the hot coffee. It was starting to rain outside but Bill was in no hurry to leave. So he sat at his booth and enjoyed his second cup while basking in the glow of a right wronged. No matter how far astray he went, Jay was still Jay. Bill didn’t need the Wisdom of Solomon to tell him that he just had to wait for Jason to come around. 

#billy batson #jason todd #wow ok wow this just came out #i swear I was just gonna do the gang confrontation #i couldnt get Jason warning his members that some skinny brat could defaet superman out of my head #and then there were feelings! #at some point it dribbles bc I let my mind go blank and just started typing #just let the characters tell me what to say #i still have special feelings about Jay and Billy's friendship #and how Jay coming back affects it #Bill never can and never will agree but he can see the grey and still be there for Jay #still the optimistic lovable fool after all this time #adult billy also gives me feels #like fuck yeah that kid deserves to grow up and not feel so scared and unable to save himself #he pulled himself up and he'll drag Jason to his redemption by his hair if he has to #i have so many emotions Im going to lie in the rain and die see ya #oh title is from No Light No Light by florence + the machine #every lyric is so post resurrection jay and billy i could scream

[mlmxreader]

Unexpected Guest | Tomas Vrbada x gn!reader

『••✎••』

↳ ❝ Can I request one from Smoke with the prompts 7 and 16?? ❞

: ̗̀➛ it feels like you and your boyfriend never get any actual time together

: ̗̀➛ swearing

•─────────────────★•♛•★────────────────•

Tomas rarely got the chance to see you; between working to establish a new clan with his brother and attempting to juggle Johnny Cage and Kenshi and everyone else along with it, he rarely got the chance to actually be your partner and to be present.

He didn't mean to let you down so often, but it was difficult; of course, you understood more than anyone and you encouraged him to let you down if it meant that he could be there for his brother, especially.

You knew that the betrayal of Bi-Han still weighed heavily on his shoulders, you couldn't blame him. But things did get a little easier for you both when, after some pretty awful personal circumstances, you ended up moving in with Johnny Cage.

You were glad of it, really, and even agreed to work on Johnny's social media accounts when he asked you; you never expected him to be so generous, giving you a roof over your head, paying you a more than healthy wage for your time - even on days you didn't work, he still paid you - and letting you keep all your money.

No rent, no bills, no food and drinks to buy; you didn't have to worry about anything except Tomas.

You missed him, in all honesty, when he wasn't around. When he didn't call and text, you always wondered if you would get a call from Kuai Liang to say that something terrible had happened.

Yet tonight, as you sat on your bed with your earphones in, listening to 'The First Soldier' by Sabaton, you had an odd feeling; your window was wide open, big enough for Johnny to get through - as he had done before when he had forgotten his keys - and the rain had only just stopped.

You were all alone in the mansion, with Johnny out on a recent press tour for his latest film, and you couldn't sleep for some reason. Something deep inside your stomach had told you to stay awake, although you couldn't say why exactly. You figured it was probably just nerves at being left in charge of the entire property on your own.

But when you heard a scuffle, and what sounded like a grunt from your window, you froze; your shoulders became tense as you grabbed your phone and pulled up Kenshi's number. Your thumb trembling as you held it over the call button.

But then you caught a glimpse of silver hair as the sneaky phantom pulled itself through your window, and you breathed out a sigh of relief. Tossing your phone aside, you were quick to put your earphones away as you watched Tomas haul himself onto the bedroom floor with a firm thud.

He smiled when he stood, dusting himself off.

"I wasn't sure if the door was locked," he explained, his features all a dull pink, "and I wanted to surprise you." 

You couldn't help but to laugh softly, moving over on the bed slightly to make room for him; keeping your gaze on his frame as he kicked his shoes off and unzipped his hoodie, closing the window before he practically launched himself on the bed beside you and grabbed your laptop. Big grey eyes staring at you for a moment as he cleared his throat.

"Sorry if I scared you."

"You didn't," you reassured gently, leaning into his side and wrapping your arm around his tightly, your head on his shoulder. "You wanna stay the night?"

Tomas nodded, opening the laptop and shoving it onto your thighs. "If you'll let me?"

"Tomas…" you grumbled, grinning at him for a moment before shaking your head so fondly. "Of course I'll let you - it’s just an excuse for me to have an opportunity to show my feelings.”

Tomas was about to open his mouth and ask what you meant, when you moved the laptop aside and straddled his waist; he smiled as he chewed at the inside of his lip, the weight of your hands on his shoulders all too familiarly heavy as he let out a quiet sigh.

His hands settled on the sides of your thighs as he leaned into you slightly, hoping that you were thinking the same things that he was; his heart pounding in his chest.

Every kiss always felt like the first one, every date always felt like the first, and every time he stayed the night, he could have sworn that he had never done it before - but maybe that was more because of the frequent distance and the lack of contact.

The second that you leaned down slightly to kiss him, Tomas couldn’t bite back his grin as he eagerly kissed you back, groaning softly when your hand found its way to his hair, gripping the soft grey strands tightly to keep him close.

He almost didn’t want to pull away, but his chest began to feel hollow and tight, and he knew that he needed to take a breath; guilt washed over him when he broke the kiss.

“I’ve missed you,” you said softly, gently tracing his bottom lip with your thumb. “I’ve missed you so fucking much, Tomas.”

Tomas smiled, leaning into your touch when you gently rested your hand against his cheek, just shy of closing his eyes as he swallowed thickly. “I missed you, too… maybe one day, we’ll have time.”

“Time has never been on our side,” you told him quietly, shaking your head. “You know that.”

“But,” gently, he held your wrists, pinning your hands to his chest just above his heart. “We make it through, don’t we?”

“I suppose…”

“Just remember it’s for love,” Tomas gently pleaded. “Just… please, don’t give up on us.”

“Give up?” You scoffed, daring to laugh for a moment. “I’d never give up on us - you’d have to drag me away kicking and screaming and clawing at the floors and…”

“And?”

“I’m pretty sure you’d also have to deal with Johnny,” you joked. “He’s been rooting for us since day one.”

“So has Kuai Liang,” he admitted with a soft laugh. “So, what film did you have in mind?”

#mlem writes #tomas vrbada x reader #tomas vrbada x y/n #tomas vrbada x you #tomas vrbada imagine #tomas vrbada #smoke mk #mk smoke #mortal kombat smoke #smoke mortal kombat #mk tomas vrbada #tomas vrbada mk1 #smoke mk1 #smoke x reader #smoke imagine #smoke fanfic #smoke #mortal kombat x reader #mortal kombat x you #mortal kombat x y/n #mortal kombat oneshot #mortal kombat one shot #mortal kombat fanfiction #mortal kombat fanfic #mortal kombat fic #mortal kombat imagine #mortal kombat 1 #mortal kombat 2023 #mortal kombat tomas vrbada #mortal kombat

[madamairlock]

the whole damn thing will become our frakkin’ responsibility, yours and mine. - [04x04 - bsg, escape velocity]

saturnalia in space from scratch [4/24]

~ a bsg christmas calender by @madamairlock & @lalalauraroslin 💜💜

4. keeping each other warm

“Frak, your hands are cold,” he commented. “Do they get any blood flow from the rest of your body?” 

She nearly purred when his hand closed around hers, encasing it in his never-ending warmth. He took her other hand and held them both, covering them so nothing was exposed to the slightly chilly air.  “Cottle’s confirmed it’s fine; I just run cold.” Her hands shifted beneath his and she leaned closer, her head finding its way back to his shoulder.  “This is more than running cold. I think the Underworld is warmer than this.” He pulled her hands into his lap and she moved with him until their legs were pressed together. “Are they ever warm?”   “Only when you’re holding them.” With a soft smile and a hum, she relaxed against him and let the last of the day slip from her shoulders. “I think we should do something for Saturnalia,” she added, the idea still pleasantly bouncing around in her head.  “Like what?” She shrugged without moving anything but her shoulder. “We’ll figure something out.”  “I won’t stop you, but this is all you.” He looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t look up.  “You won’t help?” she asked softly.  He sighed and kissed her head as he squeezed her hands. “I’ll help,” he reluctantly agreed. “Within reason; you’re not turning my ship into a winter wonderland.”  “Bill, I don’t think there’s anything I could do to turn this grey monstrosity into a winter wonderland.” Even as she said the words, she knew she didn’t mean them. “I love Galactica,” she added quickly, “but sometimes she gets a little overwhelming. So much grey and darkness. At least Colonial One has color and brighter lights.”  “You get used to it.” He grunted and still shot her a displeased but mild glare at the insult to his ship.  “If we can find or make any decorations, I’d like to hang a few up. Maybe in the mess, the observation lounge. I’ll talk to the captain of Cloud Nine too and see what we can do there. Just something to remind everyone.” Her nose wrinkled as she considered how to work decoration hunting in with all of her other work that was already piling up.  “You really want to do this?” He finally moved one of his hands and tilted her face up so he could see her eyes.  “If we keep focusing on work and only work, people are going to burn out very quickly. I’m surprised more haven’t.” She paused and sighed, the dwindling population number flashing across her mind unbidden. “We’ll celebrate for a few days. Then back to the end of the world.”  “I said I’ll help, Laura. Tomorrow. I’m ready to pass out for the night.” He kissed her softly. “You staying?”   “Mhmm. I’ll deal with both the Quorum and decorations while I’m on Cloud Nine tomorrow,” she decided, allowing him to pull her to her feet and lead her toward his rack.

#spaceparents #kaitlin & melissa create #kaitlin writes #melissa makes gifs #christmas calendar #battlestar galactica #bsg #battlegal #melissa does a thing #idiots in love #saturnalia in space from scratch

[angelbroad]

"If you don't stop now-"

Type: Fanfiction

Fandom: Mortal Kombat

Characters: Fujin, Raiden, Madam Bo, Tomas Vrbada, Kakkō, Kuai Liang, Lui Kang

Fujin wiped her brow as she stood up to stretch her legs a little bit, the sun shining down upon her. She smiled at the sky before turning to Raiden.

 “Thanks for the extra hands, Raiden.”

 “Don’t mention it. I admit I, kind off missed the work we did here.”

 “It feels like forever, eh?”

 “You have no idea.”

 Raiden had stopped by Fengjian again, strangely by himself, and had agreed to help Fujin with the harvest while he was here. Him and Kung Lao were two of the most capable farmers they had, so when they left, Fujin took up their chores. She was not complaining though, she was more than happy to help her village thrive.

 She cracked her back, “Oooo! I am starving!”

 Raiden chuckled, “Well, we still have work to do. So try not to eat the harvest.”

 “Fine, I’ll try. But I’m not making any promises.”

 The two continued to work for some time, but Raiden could notice Fujin’s movements were becoming slower. So he decided to act.

 “How about a deal?”

 “Huh?”

 “If you can fill and deliver your cart first, I’m paying for a meal at Madam Bo’s.”

 Fujin’s eyes lit up as she got up and pointed at her brother in challenge.

 “Oh, you’re on!”

 Both worked vigilantly to fill up their cart, and Fujin pushed her cart as soon as it was filled, running towards it so she could catch up with it, pushing it herself. She laughed as she looked behind her. Raiden was catching up with her, their carts now next to each other. They smiled at each other. Fujin then turned her gaze forward in determination, and her cart started picking up the pace. Raiden smiled, proud of his sister’s improvement in speed. He did put up a fight, but he just barely missed the mark, and Fujin won.

 “Ha! Looks like it’s your treat, Raiden.”

 Raiden rolled his eyes and held his hands up in defeat, “Oh come on, I let you win.”

 “Of course you did.”, she sarcastically said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, “Don’t worry, I won’t brag about it too much.”

 “I know you won’t, that’s Kung Lao’s thing.”

 They both chuckled, heading off to Madam Bo’s. Raiden smelled the pleasant air in the restaurant, clearly nostalgic. Fujin was more used to the environment, but more as a helper here rather than a customer.

 “I will never not miss this place.”, Raiden admitted.

 “Welcome back you two.”, Madame Bo warmly said as she walked up to the siblings to guide them to a table.

 “Nice to see you too, Madam Bo.”, Raiden said, to which Fujin nodded.

 They both sat on a table, Madam Bo turning to Fujin.

 “You haven’t been here for some time, Fujin.”

 “Ah, sorry Madam Bo.”, she said, scratching the back of her head, “The harvest has left me little time for anything else.”

 She received a smack on the head from the older woman, “Just like Kung Lao, you’ve been full of nothing but excuses. I want to be sure my lessons won’t go to waste in your hands.”

 Fujin rubbed her head where it was lightly smacked, “I know, Madam Bo. I know.”

 Raiden had an odd sense of Deja Vu.

---------

 Fujin wiped her mouth, suppressing a burp. Raiden gave her a look, to which Fujin shrugged. Raiden stared at all the empty bowls and plates on the table.

 “You were starving.”, he said.

 Madam Bo walked over to them, Raiden thanking her for the food before going to hand over the money for the bill. Fujin looked away from the table to look towards the restaurant’s entrance, raising an eyebrow as she watched a group of men in odd uniforms walking in, led by another man with an odd mask and grey clothes. She nudged Raiden’s bicep and gestured towards the odd group. She looked back at Madam Bo and Raiden, who both looked worried. And Madam Bo worrying was never a good sign. Madam Bo looked at Raiden, seemingly asking Raiden what to do with her eyes. Raiden shook his head wearily at her, and she hesitantly left.

 Raiden got up, placing a hand in front of Fujin as if telling her to stay put. Fujin did not like her brother’s sudden change of demeanor one bit, but decided to stay put, since Raiden clearly knew more than her.

 The man with the odd mask turned to their direction, Raiden clearly nervous as he walked around the table, obscuring Fujin’s view slightly.

 “The Shirai Ryu demand reparations, Raiden.”, the man said, his voice clearly modified through the mask.

 Raiden walked closer to the man, meeting him halfway through, “There is nothing for you here, Smoke.”

 Smoke? Who was he, and what did he want from Raiden?, Fujin thought, sparing a glance at the rest of the costumed group that came in who were standing by, waiting for something.

 “It is very simple, Raiden.”, Smoke said, clearly loosing his patience, “You took something from us, and now we want it back.”

 Raiden stole something?!, Fujin thought, now starting to become more alarmed.

 “The amulet never belonged to your clan. Neither of us had the right to have it in the first place, so it is in safe hands now.”

 Smoke furrowed his brows, turning his head at the group in waiting. He nodded at them, and the group begun to go rampant inside the restaurant. Fujin started to get up just as Raiden and Smoke started fighting. Fujin trusted her brother, so she ran to help the people being attacked by the group. She managed to knock down at least two of them, but one of them got up to fight more. Those guys were clearly fighters, but Fujin was just as capable. So thank the heavens for Madam Bo’s lessons. No wonder why the older woman was so insistent on training her.

 After she knocked down that fighter, she heard the sounds of fighting grow louder. She looked over at her brother’s fight with Smoke, and realised the man had a knife. He stabbed Raiden in the gut, hearing her brother screaming in pain before having his head smashed on the railing and knocking him off the balcony.

 “Raiden!”, she screamed, running towards the man in fury.

 The man threw a smoke bomb at her just as she was running towards him. She coughed as she ran through the smoke, her view obscured. She was knocked back against the railing by a kick in her head. She held her head, trying to stop the ringing. She stared down the figure standing in the slowly dissipating dark cloud.

 “This fight is none of your business, kid, stay out of this and you won’t get hurt.”, he said.

 Fujin wiped her mouth, her brows furrowed in anger as she started to take a battle stance.

 “You made it my business the moment you decided to mess with Raiden.”

 She kicked Smoke in the leg, followed by an upercut. She jumped over him after that move so she could punch him in the head from behind, and proceeded to give him two more punches in the chest when he turned around.

 Fujin landed another kick, but this time Smoke retaliated. He landed a punch on her collarbone, Fujin barely dodging the knife coming for her before the man disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before she could realise what was going on, she was kicked in the air from behind. 

 That bastard could teleport??

 She repeated her previous attack, knocking Smoke back. This time, she wouldn’t let him retaliate. Fujin ran towards the man, flying up to kick him in the chest, followed by multiple other kicks while she was still in the air. She failed to land the next kick while she was on the ground, and she couldn’t avoid the knife this time. She flinched back, taking note of a big chunk of her braid on the ground.

 Okay, now she was livid. She kicked and punched relentlesly until the man laid unconscious on the ground. Fujin breathing heavily. She turned her attention to the rest of the warriors, taking them down with ease. After the last one fell, she took a short pause to catch her breath before running for the stairs. Just as she reached the top of the staircase however, she felt a chain wrap around her ankle. She looked down to see what looked like a kunai spear, attached to three other spear heads and connected by a chain. Fujin looked back to see Kakkō on the other end, wearing a strange outfit. They tugged on the chain with both hands, Fujin holding herself on the ground on the first pull, but she couldn’t keep herself balanced on the second tug, getting dragged across the floor and towards the shapeshifter. She finally managed to lift herself up by grabbing the other two kunai spears and stabbing them on the hardwood floor, the chain around her leg loosening enough for her to escape and kick Kakkō upside the head.

 The shapeshifter put some distance between the two as they got up, cracking their neck with an unreadable expression on their face.

 “I knew something was wrong with you.”, Fujin said, “You are part of this as well?!”

 Kakkō pulled back the chains, readying the weapon in their hands, “My loyalty lies with the Shirai Ryu, not with a couple of farm boys.”, they bluntly said.

 That only infuriated Fujin even more, and she prepared for battle.

 “I would be so damn embarrassed to associate myself with the ninja mafia over here!”, she said before punching the shapeshifter in the chest.

 Kakkō knocked her back only to throw and wrap one of the three chains around her bicep, pulling Fujin back to them and elbowing her in the face. While Fujin was stunned, Kakkō shifted into a crow for a moment to move behind her before taking on their human shape to throw the chain around her waist to pull her back and kick her in the back, sending her across the room.

 The shapeshifter was sprinting towards her, and Fujin’s gaze landed on a short katana on the wall. She ripped it from its display and threw it towards the shapeshifter, who dodged. The distraction worked, and Fujin moved to kick them on the chin from the ground, earning a pained noise from the shapeshifter. She did not let up, kicking the shapeshifter in the chest.

 “If you don’t stop now-”, Fujin threatened before moving back to dodge a kick from the shapeshifter.

 Fujin followed it up with a slice of her newly aquired weapon across the shapeshifter’s chest, followed by a punch that knocked them back. Kakkō clenched their cut up clothing, Fujin noticing their black blood, and that their clothes appeared to be breathing. Fujin didn’t let that sight distract her for long, continuing the assault on the shapeshifter.

 She eventually managed to throw the shapeshifter on the wall, piercing the katana on their shoulder to pin them against the wall. Kakkō let out a scream, their hands reaching the weapon in panic, their eyes darting around the room. Black blood flowed down their clothes, staining the yellow fabrics. Fujin left them there while she ran to jump down on the second floor to finally help her brother. When she hopped up the railing, she saw another man standing over Raiden. He was a muscular man, with his black hair tied to a bun. He had a golden ask on, and the tattoo of a scorpion. Before she knew it, she fell for the kunai drag again.

 “Get over here!”, the man shouted as he pulled on the rope, making Fujin fall down from the balcony.

 She quickly got up, shaking her head. She noticed her brother on the ground, clinging onto something. She could see she would have no actual chance of getting near him unless she defeated the remaining man.

 “Leave him alone, he has nothing you need.”

 “You clearly aren’t comprehending the situation that you are in, girl.”, the man said, “You are in over your head if you think you stand a chance against me.”

 “I will defeat you. Just like your shapeshifter and your Smoke.”

 “You stand no chance against the Shirai Ryu’s Grandmaster.”, the man proclaimed as he moved and kicked her stomach, followed by an upercut that sent her flying.

 Fujin tried to kick him repeatedly, only succeeding on landing one kick before the kunai spear came back. The blows she had taken from Kakkō’s fight were nothing compared to what she was dealing with now, the strength of the blows making her drop to her knees. She landed a kick on the man’s gut, which he followed with three strong kicks on her head.

 She was disoriented for a few moments, but she managed to snap out of it quick enough to avoid a punch from the man. She punched him for a change, knocking him back, but she didn’t expect what happened next. The man went for an upercut, which Fujin avoided, but his hand was covered in flames. She jumped back, narrowly avoiding another fire pillar that burst from the ground.

 Pyromancy?

 She was grabbed by the spear again and pulled towards the man, but this time, she used her free hand to punch him in the head, following it with a kick when the spear let her go. She continued the assault with punches, and she finally ended it with an uppercut and an air kick to the head, the man falling on his back unconscious.

 Fujin nearly fell on the ground as she caught her breath, making sure she was not seriously injured. She then ran to Raiden, who was laying on the ground.

 “R-Raiden?! Are you okay?! Raiden-!”

 “Oh I am.”, he said nonchalantly, catching Fujin by surprise.

 Raiden got up and Fujin followed. She then looked down and noticed Raiden was never injured by the blade. Fujin gave her brother a dumbfounded look.

 “Raiden, what was this about? Why did you make me worry like that? And who are these guys?”, she asked, gesturing at everyone around them.

 She then heard footsteps, readying herself to fight again. Another man entered the room, one wearing very odd clothes, and part of his long hair was held up by a small bun and a bandana. But by far his most distinguished features, were his glowing eyes and tattoos.

 “Fujin. It is great to finally meet you in person.”

 The girl looked at him in confusion, her body becoming more tense, “How do you know my name?”

 “Raiden has told me, and so has Madam Bo.”

 Fujin whipped her head around to look at Raiden, an interrogating look on her face. Admittedly, he did look guilty about this.

 “There is no need to be abrasive, Fujin. I am here to answer the questions that you no doubt have asked yourself and Raiden for the past two years.”

 At the sound of these words, Fujin started lowering her fists, but she did not drop her battle readiness.

 The man continued, putting his hands together and bowing in greeting.

 “I am Lord Lui Kang, God of Fire, and Protector of Earthrrealm. Today, you have been chosen to join your brother and your friend Kung Lao alongside my champions.”

 Fujin looked stunned, “Chosen..? God....? What do you mean-what is all this?”

 “A test, of your character and ability.”, he then turned to look at the man on the ground, “Kuai Liang.”, and then he turned his gaze upwards, “Tomas, Kakkō.”

 And then, everyone that Fujin had knocked out were getting up. The group of the masked warriors stood on top of the balcony while Tomas and Kakkō descended the stairs, the katana still on the shapeshifter’s shoulder. Fujin winced at the sight of Kakkō reaching for the weapon and pulling it out of their flesh with a wet sound, black blood gushing from their wound. Tomas gave them a concerned look.

 “A-Are you okay?”, he asked.

 “’Tis but a scratch.”, Kakkō responded, throwing the weapon on the ground.

 Fujin pointed a finger at Kakkō, “You are not off the hook yet!”

 “This is the Shirai Ryu.”, Lui Kang explained, “A clan formed by Kuai Liang, in order to protect Earthrealm.”

 Kuai Liang nodded slowly from his place a few feet away from Fujin.

 “Everything will be answered, Fujin. In time. For now, we must be going. The monks at the Wu Shi Academy await to continue your tutelage.”

 Fujin was ready to protest futher, but was stopped as Raiden placed a hand on her shoulder.

 “Fujin, you are one of the strongest and most capable people I know. And I trust you enough now to let you join us in protecting our home, together.”

 “Did you not trust me before this elaborate test?”

 “I did.”, Raiden said, “I just wished the testing process wasn’t so....”, he looked at his sister’s chopped up braid, “..off the rails.”

 “I-I’m sorry about that.”, Tomas sheepishly said from a little further away.

 “It’s fine, it’s just hair.”, Fujin said before turning back to Raiden.

 “Raiden, I told you to have more faith in me! I thought we were past keeping secrets.”

 “Your brother could not risk lowering your guard.”, Lui Kang said, “You were chosen because of your extraordinary skills. And I know you have a good heart. You can refuse my offer if you wish to do so.”

 Fujin looked away from the god and back at Raiden, and after a sigh, she confirmed her stay.

 “Only on one condition. No more secrets, Raiden.”

 Raiden nodded, “Yes, no more secrets, Fujin. I have faith in you.”

 Fujin allowed a small smile to cross her lips.

 This....was going to be weird.

#fictober23 #mk1 #mortal kombat #mk fujin #fujin #mk raiden #raiden #lui kang #fire god liu kang #kuai liang #tomas vrbada #kakko #madam bo #mk au

[inamindfarfaraway]

That roleswap au for king and the collector is actually so interesting and cool. like wow. I love it a lottt and i wanna know id u have any extra ideas for it or if that was all. (also yk how king had an arc trying to find his father? would there be something like that for the collector or no)

Original post here.

Yes! The Collector has an arc analogous to King’s ‘who and what was my dad, why did he disappear on me and who am I?’ arc in Season Two. This is an arc exploring, addressing and wanting to make up for their morally grey actions (namely their role in the Titan genocide), the sheer power and irresponsible behaviour of their past self as a whole, and how to reconcile all of that with who he is in the present and the mature, heroic person he aspires to be.

“Echoes of the Past” and “Edge of the World” are title-swapped in the AU, I think, because Season Two episode three has them visit Titan Trapper Island and the other becomes the one with King and his island.

So, in Season One we know that the Collector used to be a god in terms of his power level, had much the same naively careless, selfish, flippant personality they had at the start of the show, and therefore did some dodgy stuff without realizing how harmful it was. But the worst example of that we have is persecuting and trapping the Owl Beast and that hatchet is mostly buried at the start and fully buried in an early Collie-centric episode. As far as we know, his actions never had more severe or far-reaching consequences. Associating real murder with this kid who sleeps with stuffed animals and thinks making bread puns with Luz is the height of comedy is just impossible.

“Edge of the World” begins with a news broadcast about Belos and King and ‘the Titan’s plans’, which the Owl House family scoff at. Collie has already said in “Young Blood, Old Souls” that they saw live Titans and know that the very dead one they live on retaining the ability of communication is bullshit, but now they casually mention an old friend named Bill who might still be alive and will back them up on that. Luz and Lilith jump at the chance to help people - if someone other than ‘the Owl Lady’s weird delinquent kid’ can verify that nobody can hear the dead Titan, they could prove Belos is lying to his subjects to control them! Lilith individually is also interested in the rich history of a whole different civilization to be learned. Collie is on board and thinking more in the short term excited to see how Bill is doing; even if he’s dead, the Titan Trappers are probably still around, and it’ll be so fun to introduce their new friends to their old friends’ descendants! Eda is wary because she knows, but hasn’t really talked to Collie about it due to discomfort with deflating their joyful mood and damaging their faith in people, that it seems like most of the Collector’s “old friends” were just using him for personal gain. But her kids beg her, so she agrees. Off to Titan Trapper island they all go, including Hooty. They bring the Collector’s tablet to prove it’s him (their last physical form looked different) and in case they know how to fix it, or can unlock their power with their own tablet, though it’s already broken. Between prospective reunions, showing Eda, Luz and Hooty around his old stomping grounds and the slimmest possibility of restoring his god status, Collie has high hopes!

The Titan Trappers do indeed recognize the Collector. They warmly welcome “the Grand Hunstman” and their company with gifts and a feast. Collie explains the name is a nickname they gave him for being the best at playing the Trappers’ favourite game: Titan chase! Before they can elaborate on what this game involved, they’re distracted catching up with Bill, who seems genuinely interested in them and their life even after learning he’s no more powerful than he looks now. Meanwhile Luz is supportive but more interested in debunking Belos’s Titan claims. She, like Hooty and Eda is more cautious of the Trappers, but Eda is barely concealing hostility and tries to keep up with her kid. She smells a rat. This is way too good to be true. Bill inspects the cracked tablet and he and Collie dig deep into magical research.

Meanwhile, Lilith and Hooty go with Luz to look for Titan info to leverage against Belos, Lilith more focused on historical and cultural knowledge. They finds the skulls. Child skulls. They’ve seen King, so they has a frame of reference for the sizes.

Holy shit. Titan chase was genocide.

Collie led a genocide.

Bill figures out a magic-freeing ritual might just be possible, by channeling it through the two points of connection with the Collector’s former prison and exposing him to the flow. Problem is, they’ll need Titan blood to activate the ritual. And Belos is guarding the last surviving Titan. Collie is content knowing it’s possible and remarks that Belos has plenty of King’s blood fuelling his machines and stuff (as Luz observed during “Young Blood, Old Souls”) and it’ll just be a matter of stealing some of it. Then they can play all the cool superpowered games they used to and more!

Bill seems weirdly upset about this and reminds the Grand Huntsman that they still need to resume their long-paused game of Titan chase. It was so much fun, doesn’t he remember? The Titans are all cheaters and bullies anyway, like the bully that trapped the Collector in the first place. King is his very own son! Surely it would only be fair to kill him in revenge? The Collector remembers that he did find slaying Titans a lot of fun, but, well, it’s hard to explain, but it just doesn’t feel good anymore. King hasn’t really done anything bad, as far as he knows. If he has, it’s ‘cause Belos ordered him to and he thought his dad wanted to, and Belos is the meanest of all and Collie listens to Eda all the time, so he kinda understands. Everyone nowadays thinks the Titan is a god. But Collie knows they were normal people in their minds and hearts; and they’ve learned they are, too. It’s wrong to hurt people who haven’t done bad things, isn’t it? It’s wrong to kill people even after they’ve done some bad things. He and King are both people and that takes all the fun out of Titan chase. In fact… Bill tries to deflect before he can finish that thought, but they do it anyway.

What… what was the point of Titan chase in the first place? Why did the ancient Titan Trappers come up with it? What did they want the Titans’ power for?

A flashback sequence with his new perspective confirms that they were exploiting him and it all along and doing serious damage to the world around them (the authentic versions of rose-tinted memories of fun and games seen when he first recalled the Trappers). Struggling to process this, the Collector takes the tablets and backs away in revulsion and terror. Bill completely loses his patience and orders the Trappers to capture the Collector. The new plan is for them to hold him by force until they have the Titan blood, whereupon they’ll perform the spell but intercept the flow of magic. Bill himself will absorb the full extent of the magic and, as a god in his own right, restore his civilization to its former glory. And then, well… he won’t need the magic’s helpless, useless last vessel anymore. He omits when he relays the objectives to his people, instead spinning it as them ‘helping’ their confused, misguided god and ‘liberating’ him from their corporeal prison. Eda, hating that’s vindicated, tells her son to run and fends them off.

This is when Luz intervenes, spiriting the Collector to safety. On one hand, she loves her sibling figure and wants to protect them and is logically aware he didn’t understand his actions. On the other hand, her emotional side: “You killed all the Titans? Why did you kill all the Titans?”

Her frantic questioning tips Collie from panic into a full breakdown. He sobs that they lied, he thought it was a game, he thought they were all having fun, but it wasn’t fun, was it? It was never a game. Nothing was ever a game! Not Titan chase, not Eda and Belos’s hide-and-seek; everything’s always been big and real life and death and people getting hurt, and they were too caught up in the fantasy to realize it. And how much else did people lie to them? How many more of his old friends were just using him? They don’t know what’s real and what’s fake. The guilt is crushing like the bottom of the boiling ocean and he hates themselves for being naive and selfish enough to be complicit in atrocities on a scale an adult mind, let alone a child’s, struggles to process. There’ve been so many lies and misunderstandings, he doesn’t know who he is at all. Luz calms herself down and tries to reassure Collie that it matters that he didn’t have bad intentions and it’s going to be okay. It doesn’t do much.

Eda and the Titan Trappers both find them. A battle breaks out with protective big sister Luz, mama Eda, Aunt Lilith and Uncle Hooty fighting in all their in glory. But the Trappers’ numbers and unfamiliar style of magic and weaponry wear them down. During the fight a blast grazes Collie, leaving a small pink burn scar on his right cheek (parallel to the darker blue stars on his left one and King’s left broken horn) symbolic of his mortality and vulnerability and how it’s forced his personal growth. He is sick and tired of being the reason people are hurt. They don’t know who they are, but they know who they aren’t.

He stands up on a rock formation and announce to the Trappers, his sheer presence commanding their attention, “Stop! I’m not the Grand Hunstman anymore! I’m not your god! I didn’t even know what it meant that I was a god! [voice hitching] I was just trying to be your friend… but I didn’t know what that meant either. [hardening] Now I do. And I know more about power than you adults do. I know it’s wrong to kill people because of how they were born and to be even more powerful and call it justice! I don’t deserve your worship and you don’t deserve my power, or my friendship.” They rip off their necklace with their pre-imprisonment colour scheme and throw it at Bill’s feet. “This is over. We’re going home.”

Luz activates the Titan’s finger teleportation mechanism to escape on and Collie uses Luz’s ice and plant glyphs to destroy the finger. Returning to the Owl House, Hooty reveals they at least have the two tablets, which he swallowed while Collie’s speech was drawing everyone’s attention. The utterly exhausted Collie collapses into Eda’s arms. The episode ends on a note of uncertainty and innocence and ignorance, including the audience’s, shattered.

Jesus Christ, that was long. So the Collector’s subplot in Season Two is unpacking and coming to terms with all of that on top of needing to let Luz go. It’s… rough. He also gains a lot of skill in using glyphs, so they can be helpful in battles now having decided they can’t unleash his magic until he can trust themselves with it. He’s a fast learner and actually remembers how the ancient witches would do glyph magic. Those long, baggy sleeves? Full of glyphs.

“Echoes of the Past” follows on from “Hollow Mind” revealing Belos and Hunter’s origins by revealing King’s. I can’t figure out how to integrate King into the overarching plot really, but I know by this episode he’s pretty far down his ‘redemption’/abuser-escaping-and-defying arc that needs to somehow not just be a copy of Hunter’s. And Luz is determined to help him make that final step now she understands even more how despicable Belos and his parenting of both Hunter and King is is, and how urgent it is to defeat him. Collie is invested because a) he empathizes with King due to their similarities, i.e. being manipulated and exploited to enable atrocities for happening to be innately powerful organisms; and b) he desperately wants to atone for that whole genocide he led and helping to ensure the safety and happiness of the last known living Titan seems like a way to do that. Eda, like in canon, finds sending the kids to a distant, apparently safe location they could hide away in very convenient.

Though I don’t have a proper plot for this yet, I know King’s side is that he’s starting to doubt if what Belos says the Titan says is true, in a ‘Belos doesn’t realize it and means well but the connection might be patchy or something’s lost in translation from the Titan language or something’ sense, because apparently his dad doesn’t want him to have his recently developed friendship with Hunter that makes him happier than he’s literally ever been before. So he grudgingly teams up with Luz and the Collector, who are secretly planning to gently ease him into ‘your life is a lie’, to travel to his place of birth from his earliest memories, in the hopes of learning more about his father and species’s nature, culture or language from anything he or other Titans might’ve left behind there. What he gets is Belos and/or the antagonistic Coven Heads we didn’t get much of in canon coming to take him back (ironically weaponizing Titan’s blood tech he helped create), since Belos remembers that island. And thanks to Phillip’s forgotten notes, his very own ‘MY LIFE IS A LIE I AM NOTHING’ breakdown! It’s rough. This is when the false and real backstories for the previously seen broken horn are shown. We and the heroes also see all his scars and learn more of what Belos has put him through, a snippet of which along with Belos privately making it clear he purely cares about King’s power and it’s him, not the Titan, who has “big plans” for him on the Day of Unity, was observed in “Hollow Mind” (parallel to the Collector scene). But Luz and Collie are there for him. King, like Collie did his necklace and Hunter his cloak, discards his horn caps, crown regal robe for good. He keeps the underclothes because he isn’t comfortable with baring his scars yet.

Another big thing that happens in this episode is that the Collector saves the day. He and Luz are out of glyphs, Hooty is incapacitated and even King is too emotionally distraught/in shock to act at a critical moment and gets subjected to a countermeasure Belos of course devised against him. They put their faith in him, and he delivers, putting his knowledge of a really advanced spell into practice with King’s gladly offered battle-spilled blood. In the process actively risking his life. It’s the most simultaneously competent and heroic thing they’ve done so far. We have another ‘oh yeah Collie is a motherfucking GOD older than most existing continents in this world’ moment, only in a good way this time. But like how “Edge of the World” in canon ends on a overall loss, the spell is still unable to free King (to be Titan-proof, a restraint’s basically gotta be anything-proof) and when the villains retreat he’s taken with them.

Collie blames himself for this, and Luz and Hooty getting hurt before he remembered something useful. The episode heightens their already inflamed sense of personal responsibility - which brings them full circle from being all power, no responsibility, just like canon King - by both proving he has the knowledge and experience, and now the will, to make positive change and yet in his current state lacks the wisdom and raw power to always execute that perfectly. Few feelings are worse than knowing exactly what you need to do and how to do it, but just not having the ability to. This leads to their decision to finally unleash all their sealed magic in “King’s Tide”. It… doesn’t work as intended.

#collector clawthorne au #long post #very long post #i went off #the owl house #toh #toh spoilers #toh au #the collector #toh collector #king clawthorne

[yanderedreaming]

The final girl

Pairings: Reader x Serial Killer Feitan

Warnings: Mentions of stalking, blood, gore, violence, kidnapping, murder, death, dark content.

Summary: Y/n’s town was plagued by a serial killer dubbed the scarlet bandit and she fit the exact profile of the other victims. Could Y/n live long enough to get out of town or was she going to suffer the same fate as the killers other victims?

Word count: 3.8k

[Every breath you take

And every move you make

Every bond you break

Every step you take

I'll be watching you]

MDNI

“Another 2 dead bodies have been found down by the river. The two women have not been identified, but inside sources are telling us that the scarlet bandit has struck again.” The headlines were all the same these days, talking about a serial killer who has terrorised the small town you belonged to. The news devastated you as yet another two lives had been claimed at the hands of this sick person.

There news reports stated that the killer followed a pattern and targeted women who fit a certain profile, they all had [ your hair length and colour]. [your skin colour], [the colour of your eyes] and [your body type]. The terrifying fact that they all looked like you made you want to stay holed up in your room and never come out, but you couldn’t just do that. You had bills to pay, and a degree to complete. Just 6 more months and you could move to a new city. Hopefully you’ll make it past the indicated time.

You turned off the tv when the more gruesome details were being broadcasted, it was not good for business. As much as you wanted to hear more, you couldn’t afford to scare off the customers who were sitting in the coffee shop you worked at. Their tips were the only way you could hope to save enough to leave this town. 

Looking at the time you could see it was already 8:49, a mere 11 minutes before your shift ends and you could lock up to go back home. You avoided the evening shift as best you can, and your manager allowed you to work the morning shift instead seeing as you fit the exact profile of the victims, but your luck ran out today when your co-worker had called in sick and you were the one who was called in.

Your greed came into play when your manager offered to pay you double for the shift, the customers who came in on a Friday night were also much more pleasant to be around, they would leave big tips, perhaps it was the satisfaction of knowing they would get the next two days off that made them generous. 

The bell to the coffee shop’s entrance chimed, and you see one of your regulars walk in. He was a man of a short stature, with spiky black hair that fell over his face. You never saw him wear any colour other than black and truth be told, he gave you the creeps. You would always catch him staring at you with those cold grey eyes of his. 

He would order a single black coffee, no sugar or milk and stay for exactly half an hour, leaving more than triple the amount of the $4 coffee as a tip. “Black coffee. No sugar. No milk.” He said taking out his wallet. “Yes, right away sir. Would you like anything else with that?” You asked, and for the first time you heard him speak out a full sentence. “Todays a good day, perhaps I’ll reward myself with a blueberry muffin.” he smiled. Another thing you’ve never experienced.

An unnerving feeling washed over you as his eyes were still cold and calculating which didn’t agree with the smile he had on his face. “Sure. It’ll be on the house.” you smiled back at him, you didn’t exactly want to open up the cash register as you had already tallied the money thinking no one would walk into the café just as it was about to close. “Thanks.” he replied, taking out a $100 bill and placing it into the tip jar. Your eyes widened, before you could say anything he had already walked away to sit on the table on the other side of the room.

As you were preparing his coffee, you couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes on you, turning slightly you saw the man staring at you and noticed the café was nearly empty now, just 4 customers sitting there including the man. 

“Black coffee, no sugar, no milk and a blueberry muffin for- uh” You paused, he never would tell you his name when you would ask him for the order, but out of habit you spoke the words. He got up from his chair and made his way to the counter grabbing the items from you and just as he was about to walk away he said, “Feitan.” 

Feitan? was that his name? you thought. You walked over to the store front and flipped the open sign so that the closed side was facing the door. It was 5 minutes till your shift ended, and you wanted to get start with the cleaning. 2 other customers had walked out while you were handing the man- or rather- Feitan his order. 

You cleaned the table just got vacated, his eyes still on you. The final customer walked out leaving the two of you alone in the coffee shop. A shiver ran down your spine realising there was no one else here, and no one else would walk in either. You started cleaning the cash counter first, and noticed Feitan get up from his chair and make his way over to you, you started shaking ever so slightly when he came and stood right in front of you and spoke, “Have a nice day, y/n” before walking out of the café. 

You quickly ran to the store front and locked the door, after which you started cleaning up the café as quickly as you could, you missed your safe haven i.e your bed.

You chose to walk out of the front door of the store rather than the back, the alleyway was not the place you’d like to be considering the time. You practically ran back home, locking the doors behind you. You took a breath of relief and made your way to your room. Changing into your night wear, a black tank top with matching black shorts, you made you way to your kitchen to grab a glass of water. 

As you walked back to your room with the glass of water in your hand, you heard your bedroom door closing behind you, everything stopped for you right that second, turning around you saw the same man from the coffee shop earlier, it was Feitan. A smug look on his face, you opened your mouth to scream but was stopped when you felt a sharp pain on your throat, you struggled to breathe and your hands made their way to grab at your throat. 

Feitan has punched your throat just as you opened your mouth, strategically enough so that you would lose your voice. “I did say it was a pleasant day, didn’t I y/n?” He said as he walked closer to her, although he was of a short stature, it felt as if he was looming over her. She stepped back. Perhaps everyone doesn’t have the same reaction to danger, she expected her fight or flight sense to kick in, but all that happened was her falling to the ground in utter defeat.

Her legs did not move, no matter how hard she internally screamed at herself. All she could do was to stare at the man with her eyes widened. Feitan walked over to her and crouched down to face her and said, “The others weren’t sufficient enough for me. Killing them wasn’t as exhilarating as I had hoped. The thoughts of your bloody body kept on flashing in my mind and I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied till I had you. I needed to make you my final girl.” he continued, “I can’t leave the city till I finally get what I've wanted for this entire time.” he paused grabbing her face and inching closer, half whispering, “You.” 

You hated herself right now. Why couldn’t you muster up the courage to run, why did you have to slump down admitting your defeat the second you saw him. Why couldn’t you be brave and attack him? Why couldn’t you try locking yourself in the bathroom, why couldn’t you try something? Anything?

All those true crime documentaries you spent your nights watching, did you learn nothing from them? Were you not inspired by the gutsy acts of all those that got away from their killers? Did you not look up to the woman who managed to evade Bundy?

All the time you fulfilled your morbid curiosity and watched yet another true crime documentary on Netflix, telling yourself its good to know what to do if you’re in such a situation. Its good to learn how to defend yourself. Did you really not learn anything? Were you really going to be another dead body found by the riverside?

Why did you do nothing but comply when he picked you up and made you stand right in front of him? Why did you pause and accept your fate when he bent down slightly and punched you in the stomach to have you slouch forward and fall right on his shoulders? Why did you do nothing when he stood up and began carrying you out the door with you over his shoulder?

Why did you stop yourself from punching his back when your hand started to ball up to form a punch? Why did you let your legs loose when he was finally out of the door instead of kneeing him in his stomach to run away? Why did you give up hope and accept the inevitable when you found an opening, however small the possibility of escaping was, isn’t the will to live and hence fight for it an inbuilt instinct that every human possessed?

Did you not have it? No. It wasn’t that. The snippets of the new reports flashed through your head. Some victims had been mutilated beyond recognition, they were also the ones that had put up a fight. Some had been reported missing for a few days before their bodies were found, he kept them until he got bored of them. All the ones that had been kept for a while looked the most like you.

You promised yourself you would not give up. You promised yourself you would live no matter what happened, you weren’t going to give up on life. The best course of action for you was to comply right now. Try to understand him and live life a minute at a time.

Feitan placed you in the back of his black SUV, he bound and gagged you before placing a blindfold over your eyes. The parking lot of your building did not have any security cameras and you knew no one would notice you were missing until Monday at the latest. As he drove off to the hideout you tried your best to remember all the turns he made, how long before he made each turn and how you were rolling back to hit the back door of the car as it started ascending. He was taking you to the mountains.

A few minutes later the car came to a complete halt, you heard him get out and open the back door of the car, picking you up and bringing you inside, not before you heard the beeping of the car to indicate it had been locked. Feitan ascended some stairs upon entering, he was most probably taking you to his basement, the strong smell of bleach filled your nose, causing you to cough. He finally reached a halt and threw you down, your body hit the cold hard floor and you let out a yelp out of pain. He chuckled apparently enjoying the sound of your pain. 

He took off the blindfold and your eyes adjusted to the room, your breath hitched as you took in your surroundings. It was a small room, with grey cement walls which had traces of blood smeared on them, with chains attached to each one of the walls, probably where he had kept his victims. The floor had blood in between its crevice's, the only piece of furniture in the room was an old spring mattress, that was also covered in dried blood.

“Like it? Its my favourite room in the house.” He said looking around proudly, you were unable to muster the courage to say anything so you just nodded in response. “If you’re a good girl, I’ll let you live, you know.” He said, you looked up at him, wondering what type of a sick joke that was. Was he trying to tell you he had killed those other girls just because they reacted in a way that was not to his liking?

Not wanting to get yourself in trouble you silently nodded in response. “See, that’s why I like you. You’re not like the other bitches in town.” Feitan said as he walked slowly in a circle around you, as if to look at you from all angles. Something about your pathetic form appeased him, you didn’t know what it was. 

“I’ve been watching you for a while y/n.” He spoke “8 months to be exact.” 8 months? you thought, the killings had started 7 months ago, 20 lives lost at a result. Young beautiful women, with hopes and dreams all dead. They all met their fate in the room you were in.  

“I took a liking to you. I fantasised about killing you, but I couldn’t just do that, no, if I did, then I’d have nothing to look forward to.” He continued, “It wasn’t when I met Arabella Harris, my first victim that I realised I could mimic the feeling with these girls instead.” You looked down, not wanting to say anything in response. You didn’t know what could tick him off and you didn’t want to test your luck either.

“With each cut I inflicted on her, I couldn’t help but imagine it to be you. The crimson blood that gushed out as I delivered the final stab made me want more. So I found more. Until I couldn’t find anymore. I knew I had to turn to you to satisfy my cravings.” The manic look in his eyes as he talked about all of his victims, recounting all the gruesome details, telling you how much he wished each one of them was you was making her sick to her stomach.

Her anxiety was at an all time high, she couldn’t take it anymore. She needed answers so she softly spoke, “What are you going to do with me?” she asked looking up to meet his eyes. “Keep you here, what else.” He answered as if it was a given. “Well, That is until I get bored of you.” She knew she was running on borrowed time at this point, she just didn’t want it to end. The promise to live had been engrained in her mind, a sort of command.

Y/n had been chained on the wall for the next few days, her wrists bruised and bloodied from trying to break free, she was careful to never make too much of a noise, not wanting him to think she wanted to get away. Feitan would come down twice a day to give her food and water, the food was just enough to sustain her, not nearly enough to give her any sort of energy. He would admire her limp and weak form for a while before making his way back up. 

The lack of human interaction and food was slowly getting to you. You didn’t know how long it had been going on, or how much longer before you finally lose it. You just held onto the hope that someone would’ve reported you missing by now and the cops would bust through that door and rescue you from this nightmare. 

You had finally snapped slowly going insane, you wanted to leave. The cops weren’t going to find you. No one was going to, he managed to evade the cops for this long, you had to take matters in your own hands now. The fact that Feitan had forgotten to lock a small window before leaving the basement gave you hope. You could break free and climb out the window, you had to!

You began to move your wrists around, the metal of the steel cuffs digging into your skin, you had lost quite a bit of body mass during your time spent here, that had to do something for you, you thought. You allowed the metal cuff to dig deeper into your wrist till it finally started to bleed, you swirled it around to cut all around your wrist, hoping the blood would provide some sort of lubrication for you to get out. Although it was dripping down, you positioned your hand in such as way that it started to drip forward. You continued this till you got a good amount of blood coating your hand before starting to pull it out of the cuff.

It hurt more than you could’ve imagined, but the determination you felt was dulling the pain until finally you managed to slip out of it. You worked your way on the other hand and were finally freed. You took a few seconds to compose yourself, before slowly walking over to the window, stepping on a random wooden box to get high enough to reach it.

You were too weak to pull yourself up, but you gave it your all until the upper half of your body was outside, you pushed yourself out and started crawling away. Not knowing where he was, and whether he could see you from one of the bedroom windows. You crawled till you reached the trees after which you got up and started sprinting. You ran like there was no tomorrow, ignoring the pain in your entire body, ignoring the fact that you felt like you could pass out any second. Ignoring everything. 

Off in the distance you saw some headlights, a car was driving past. You knew it. You used up the last big of energy you had to run onto the street right in front of the car stopping it. You ran to the passenger side and sat in, pleading them to take you away. Telling them you were captured against your will by the scarlet bandit.

The tall muscular blonde man was wearing a track suit. He seemed concerned and assured you he’d take you back home. You sighed a breath of relief and slumped down on the seat, catching your breath and closing your eyes out of exhaustion.

The path the man was taking was all too familiar. 2 rights, a left turn. Your eyes darted open it felt like the same path that Feitan took you on. “Excuse me, I think you’re going the wrong way.” You said, he ignored you and continued on driving, “That’s not the right way, you’re going the wrong way. Please turn around.” You pleaded. He was quiet again.

Your hand made its way to the passenger side door handle, if he made another right turn you’d jump out of the car. You waited, anticipating the next turn he would take, and to your horror, he turned right, just as he slowed down to make the turn you pulled the handle of the door and pushed it to jump out, but nothing happened. You turned to face him but all you saw was his raised fist that smashed your head against the passenger side window. As you started to lose consciousness the last thing you could hear was, “found your girl wondering around” before you couldn’t hear anything anymore

Your eyes opened once again and you were back where you started. However this time, Feitan wasn’t standing alone in front of you. He had a bound girl on the floor, blood was seeping out of a stab wound he inflicted on her. Your eyes watched in horror as the girl begged for her life, she screamed and cried, but Feitan’s eyes were locked on you. He was studying each reaction you had to the scene in front of you.

The look of shock, the look of horror and the look of dread. His favourite looks on you. “This is your fault, you know.” He said picking his sword up before piercing her skin once again. She screamed in pain and pleaded for her life. You started to sob, begging him to let her go. Begging for his forgiveness. Promising him you’d never escape just let the girl go.

“You have the reap the consequences of your actions.” He said pulling the girl up and holding her forehead to expose her neck as he placed his blade right in front of it he said, “her blood in on your hands” he slit her throat without breaking eye contact with you. Your closed your eyes as soon as you saw the first few of blood on her neck.

You had accepted the inevitable now. He could kill you whenever he wanted, he would not hesitate to. You could kill yourself too. Escape this hell, but that would do you no good. The guilt eating away at you, knowing that if you chose to be selfish at this point, he would just kill every girl that reminded you of him. You had to give in.

“Another dead body has been found by the river side. The woman could not be identified. Close sources say that it was the work of the Scarlet bandit. 2 years have passed since the first murder occurred, police have exhausted all leads.” Feitan turned off the tv and smiled to himself. His work was being recognised internationally now. He looked over at you, sitting across him on the breakfast table. Nibbling at your piece of toast.

“Y/n” he spoke, “yes sir.” You replied half dead. “Don’t play with your food.” He said, “yes sir.” You replied. For the past year, the only words you ever spoke were yes sir and i’m sorry. You felt empty inside, it was too easy to piss Feitan off. The smallest mistakes could cause him to release him anger out on you. A single snarky come back would make him kill another person in front of you.

You became an empty shell of a person, walking on egg shells all the time. Trying your best to appease the man who held you captive, making sure to keep him in good spirits by listening to his commands. You wanted to be selfish and end it all. But the faces of the women he killed to punish you made you stop. You were his captive forever. You wouldn’t be surprised if he followed you to the afterlife and continued his torture there too. You did not know when he would finally showcase his final girl, part of you wanted it to be sooner rather than later.

#hunter x hunter #hxh #feitan #feitan porter #feitan x reader #serial killer feitan

[oh-for-fic-sake]

Tik Tok Leggings

Masterlist

Summary: Time to test these Tik tok leggings.

Warnings: swearing, Fluff, Cheeky Henry, Suggestive Themes, Plus sized reader

A/N: Just wanted to do something different thinking of maybe having a mini TikTok onshot series but unsure yet. Either way I hope you enjoy and happy Easter to those who celebrate  and those who don't? Have a brilliant Sunday xx

Taglist: will be in comment/reblogs

You eyed the package wearily... just how the fuck were you meant to pull this off? Slowly but surely the confidence  and 'fuck it' attitude was waning. They looked small.... very small.

You huffed a sigh looking at yourself in the mirror eyeing your form. You swear you'd gained some more weight, just a few pounds maybe? But you felt huge. Slowly you unravelled the leggings, it had been a good idea at the time but now you wasn't so sure. They were expensive and even thought you bought them as a little prank you did hope they would boost you confidence or at least be comfy enough to wear around the house.

Being a larger girl it was hard finding comfy clothes and you had to be comfy now that your boys were running around the house like headless chickens. You thought the terrible twos with trainers were bad? Your four year olds had scooters!

You grit your teeth and decided to try the leggings on gearing up for an all put war with the waist band but was pleasantly surprized. The fabric was firm and tummy controlling without feeling you feeling caught by a bloody boa constrictor! A comfy tight not spandex tight. You casually wondered about seeing if the company did bras, this shit would stop the girls from trying to knock you out on the stairs!

You pulled the material setting the... elasticated seam in your ass crack and winced... Okay that's a little strange... but not unpleasant and almost thong. You spun around eyeing yourself in to mirror. You didn't look to bad, if you said so yourself. Sure you wasn't magically strim and fit, you were blessed with a nice thick ass... but unfortunately had the thick hips and large thighs to go with it. You'd never be petite or dainty, but then again henry was huge behemoth of a man so you didn't need to be. As he said on many occasions he wanted a woman as thick as him... and you definitely fit that bill. His thighs were only slightly bigger then yours.

You turned around a few more times. Fuck okay hello there~ you grinned. You may not be the perfect sized woman but fuck if your ass wasn't glorious in these leggings~ this just might work.

You grinned and pulled on one of Henry's tshirts, the grey marines one it was snug and would ride up a little over your tummy showing off your bubble but that you felt was your best feature. And then padded downstairs, henry. Was in the large garden trying to teach the boys how to play rugby... Wanting to start them young.

You pottered about the kitchen chopping up the salad for tonight. Contrary to what people thought you were not large because you ate to much or did little exercise, you had always been bigger and admittedly since having the boys you had gained a little more weight but not ridiculously, you wasn't dangerously over weight.

You hummed looking out the patio door seeing henry jumping for joy as his boys and Kal played 'rugby' darting across the garden to the tiny rugby post at the end. Moving to Jersey to raise the kids was a brilliant idea, you had a huge country house with the land to go with it. Flat and immaculate that spread around the house in nearly four acres the lawn was mostly to the back and side and cornered off with tall hedge rows then beyond it a cornered off veggie plot and greenhouse and a work in progress chicken coop. Soon there will be a decent sized pond and some ducks... Henry didn't know yet, but if he was allowed to have a stables built four god knows how many horses you were allowed your ducks god dammit.

You grinned watching as henry ran around both the boys with his phone out cheering them on as they tor across the garden wrestling each other for the ball. You had panicked when you were told twin boys but you should have known henry would be able to handle it. It was perfect, days like this when he was home and strived to make his sons lives as magical and fun as he could, everyday was a holiday when dad was home.

You shook your head seeing the boys both lay on the floor in the shade completely tuckered out from the mornings fun. Henry can into the kitchen and you held your breath quickly bending over the counter a tad more then normal hoping to get a favourable reaction from your husband. But you couldn't help the tinge of doubt  what if he didn't like them? Or thought you looked bigger then you were?

"Hey sweetheart are the boys fruit shoots in the fri-oh sweet baby Jesus" he coughed cutting himself off  and took a half step back as he came in the kitchen. You giggled and turned to him then nodded your head to the fridge.

"Yeah their in there love" you said smirking and blushing as you saw him eyeing your ass tilting his head slowly down trying to get a better look at your ass making you bite your lip.

"Err yeah yeah... I... hold that thought" he said snapping out of it holding a finger up at you and looked to his phone.

"You just stay right were you are- no nope over bend over again babe... fuck me how did I get such a sexy little mama~" he growled one hand swiping over his screen. You flushed and wriggled our hips a little as you leant forward feeling on top of the world as he openly gawked at your ass. For a second you thought he was taking a photo and made to move wanting to snap up right but he napped his fingers to you pointing for you to get back down and brought the phone to his ear.

"Henry what are you?-" you tried standing once more but he crossed the kitchen pressing himself up against your ass and rocked slowly making you mewl as his bulge pressed against your ass half hard already. Henry huge hand pressed you down on the counter before him and winked then he spoke as who ever was on the phone answered.

"Hey mum, hi can you come get the boys?" He asked and you gasped at him shaking your head at him laughing. He wasn't palming the kids off to their grandparents because he wanted a midday fuck! Not that Marie-Ann would mind, she loved hosting the kids and frequently showed up out of the blue and took them out for the day. She was adamant that both you and henry still had alone time.

"No, no everything's all right I just- somethings come up~" he smirked and you laughed loud shaking your head at him, he was a little bugger! He wriggled his brows at you and nodded then flushed stuttering for a few comments.

"I.. No no of course not mum... muuuum stop- well yeah... yes I know you were young once-oh shit no I didn't mean of course your still young! Your in your prime! Okay yes, yes I promise to try my hardest... yes okay, see you in ten okay love you bye... bye mum I will. Yes I will mum bye" he muttered slowly moving through being embarrassed, shy and strangely confident before hanging up.

"Soo the boys are going out?" You giggled finding the way he reacted ridiculously cute. It wasn't what you expected, maybe a kiss on the cheek and a slap on the ass. But not him shipping the kids off for the day.

"And staying over night" Henry muttered moving both hands to your ass and squeezed and rolled the cheeks about making you squeak and try rising on your tip toes but he just growled following pressing a kiss to your neck.

"And what have we agreed to for this mighty generous gift? What have you promised?" You said arching back into him with a teasing tone knowing Marie would make henry pay for the 'young once' comment.

"Oh you know nothing too big just another grandchild, which wont be hard with these in your closet" he chuckled pinging the fabric that clung to your ass like a second skin. You flushed gasping out at him batting him away slowly. But it was a hard fought battle, Henry won easily sliding the cutting board back then let you spin to face him. He quickly hoisted you up onto the counter top behind you and kissed your lips moaning into you before pulling back and pointed at you.

"Right you stay- right here. Don't you move a muscle Mrs Cavill" he said seriously and backed away from you still pointing making you laugh and kick your feet biting your lip before nodding. Henry backed up to the back door and called out to the boys.

"Boys come on! Your going to grandmas for a sleep over! Go pack a bag, jammies, tooth brush and clothes for tomorrow! Come on mush hop it or cop it!" he called you smiled hearing two high pitch excited voices squealing at the thought of grandma. She spoilt them rotten. They dashed into the house quickly running past the both of you giggle as henry tried playfully nudging them on the bottoms with his foot when they ran through the kitchen to dart up the stairs and pack an overnight bag. Henry slunk out of the kitchen following the boys but kept glancing back at you.

"Remember right there babe, been too long since we fucked in here~" he growled making you flush remembering the last time you'd made love in here. It'd been when you were pregnant, the day you moved in before you redecorated you'd had Chinese take out and then made love in every room in the house.

"I'll be right here love I promise, now... You might want to sort yourself out before answering the door to your mother~" you teased pointing to the large lump in the front of his shorts making him grunt and cup himself trying to reposition himself and left the kitchen to help the boys pack.

You can safely say, these leggings were a success. You were definitely leaving a five star review... You did however regret not filming his reaction for tiktok. Honestly you didn't even have the app your sister in law had shown you and you thought it'd be something fun to try with Henry. You may just get more than you bargained for though, not that you minded... You just hoped you had a girl this time, it was about time to try and even things out a bit.

#henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill x plus size reader #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill x you

[biletdoux]

temporary bliss | j.sc

Member | jung sungchan (nct) + female!reader Rating | m Genre + Tropes | idol!sungchan, asssistant!reader, fwb!au, romance (smut, slight angst) Warning(s) | explicit language, sexual content (pwp, oral [m +f receiving], nipple play, face fucking, doggy, cowgirl, missionary), sungchan is a fuck boi and reader is dumb smh Length | 4.1k+ Prompts | ‘After Midnight’ by WayV for the Event # 3: Song Association - Risqué hosted by the Neo Smut Collective network! Please go check out the other wonderful works in the event and check out the whole network if you get the chance <333 Playlist | After Midnight - WayV // Temporary Bliss - The Cab

Summary | The closest you can get to Jung Sungchan being yours is after midnight. 

(Or; when it comes to Sungchan, you take what you can get.)

Note: hi!! it’s a bit late, but it’s here !!! this is the i’ve never really written super explicit smut before, so this is by far the filthiest thing i’ve written ;; i originally wanted to do some sort of cinderella!au or something, but i couldn’t think of a sufficient plot, so i came up with this instead haha. maybe i’ll visit the cinderella!au in the future. please let me know what you think! it would mean a lot to me haha

It’s late when you’re finally able to call it a day. 

Your muscles creak and ache in ways that it shouldn’t for your age and your feet hiss from the constant running around to tend to errands and preparing props and make up. The elevator of your apartment complex has been down all week, so you’re forced to trudge the three floor trek against your will. When you finally make it to your door, your phone buzzes with a text notification and you’re tempted to toss it over your shoulder. It’s been a long day and you want nothing more than a hot shower before flinging yourself onto your bed. 

You want to ignore it, but you know the photoshoot is coming up soon and everything is on a tight schedule. The slightest mishap will throw everything out of order and since you’re at the bottom of the totem pole, you know the magazine editors and photographers will take out their wrath on you. 

You heave a sigh and jam in your apartment key with misdirected anger as you open the text. 

[23:41] 0XX-XXX-XXXX: you free tonight?

It’s an unsaved number, but you know exactly who it is. You suck in a deep breath in spite of yourself. Your body is prickling in anticipation as you mindlessly scroll up through the past text history with the number. 

It all unfolds the same. He texts first and you reply each and every time. You’re not proud of yourself, but you can’t help it. Tonight is no different. 

Your fingers dance across the keyboard on their own accord and you bite your lip thinking about how you have to be at the studio tomorrow at 06:00 sharp.

[23:43]: yeah.

Yes. It’ll be fine. You can make time. You always do.

The little grey text bubble with the three flashing dots pop up immediately and you find yourself feeling embarrassingly giddy at the sight of it.

[23:44] 0XX-XXX-XXXX: cool. same place, same time?

So much for a hot shower and much needed sleep. You waste no time in replying. Playing hard to get and coy with him gets you nowhere and you’ve accepted it. 

[23:45]: works for me. see you there

A bolded ‘Read at 23:45’ appears in the corner of your message and you don’t get another reply from him after. 

You quietly make your way to your room, as to not wake up your roommate, and you beeline straight for the shower. The hot water trickles over your body and you swear you can melt entirely, but you don’t allow yourself the luxury of enjoying it. The motel is a twenty minute walk from your place, so you need to hurry. You spritz on perfume before throwing on a quick outfit and a cap before you grab your keys and make your way out for the night. You used to put much more thought and care in your wardrobe when it first started, but you realized the clothes you meticulously picked out never stayed on long enough to be appreciated anyway. 

The night is chilly and you adjust your mask for a more snug fit over your face. 

Late night texts and substandard motels are not things you would expect to be associated with Jung Sungchan, but here you are making haste across dark alleys underneath a starless Seoul skyline. 

It was just a few months ago when the two of you were strangers.

Jung Sungchan was the latest model for the pictorial your mentor was spearheading for Allure in partnership with Dr.G. You were a newly hired assistant with only a few months time of wetting her toes in the magazine business. The work was tough and the pay abysmal. There were more menial tasks, such as fetching coffee and ordering lunch, than you’d like, but you understood the industry and knew how competitive it was. You were young and you were willing to bite your tongue in order to climb to the top. 

It was his first real third party photoshoot, so he was stiff, but still polite nonetheless. His skin was alabaster and he towered over the bustling staff who were in charge of styling and make up. He was very handsome, but you weren’t exactly swept off your feet at the sight of him. Working with various models day in and day out made you immune to a pretty face, no matter how pretty Jung Sungchan’s was. 

At least that’s what you thought. You didn’t realize how taken you were with him until the celebration party after the successful shoot. The shoot took close to 20 hours to finish in its entirety and everyone was in a drinking mood. The party was at rented loft and spanned the entire night. Three hours and multiple bottles of soju in, you found yourself next to the man of the hour. 

It’s a little hazy, but somehow after exchanging conversation and a few, okay, maybe a lot more, drinks, you found yourself in bed with him. Jung Sungchan was a little too charming to resist and before you knew it, the two of you crossed the line. 

You were sure you’d be in the biggest of trouble, but all the staff was plastered and you thanked every higher being that you could think of for getting away unscathed. Your indiscretion would stay nothing more than just that, and you could go back to living your life as if you hadn’t just bedded one of the new members of NCT. 

But here you are, at said motel where you’d agree to meet Sungchan the first time after that night and the very same motel where you two have agreed to meet at every time. 

“Is the queen suite available for three hours?” 

The man at the front desk didn’t even lift his eyes from the computer screen to meet yours. “Yeah, you know the hourly rate right?”

“I do.” You say as you handed over the appropriate amount of bills. 

He counts the bills and finally hands over your room key when satisfied. 

You make your way to the room, the path practically muscle memory at this point. The room is moderate sized with scant decorations, but the mattress plush and bathroom clean. That’s what Sungchan likes most about this place. 

You plop yourself on the mattress after placing your cap and face mask on the nightstand. The neon green of the clock reads ‘00:19’ and you know he’ll be here soon enough. 

This relationship, no, this arrangement the two of you have is dangerous and you’re not stupid enough to not know. The risks involved far outweigh any possible benefit, but the one benefit was being close to Jung Sungchan, so you allow yourself to play with fire a little longer. 

You were never one to mix business with pleasure, but a random text a few weeks after the Dr.G shoot has you biting your words. Now you’re at the whim of Jung Sungchan. He texts. You answer. You two meet up at the same motel. You usually pay for the room, but he’ll pay if he gets there first. You two fuck. He leaves first. He always leaves first. It’s the same song and dance, but your heart cracks just the tiniest bit each time, but when he texts, you answer. 

The clock reads ‘00:24’ when you hear a quiet knock on the door. You take a quick breath to steady yourself before opening the door. It’s been weeks since you’ve seen him and the sight of him at the door frame of a dimly lit motel is no less breathtaking. 

Sungchan wastes no time when he sees you. He pulls you in for a rough kiss and you stumble slightly before steadying yourself against him. He haphazardly closes the door and locks it clumsily without ceasing to kiss you once. 

This is how it is with him. All efficiency and no pleasantries. Jung Sungchan knows what he wants and gets it. 

He backs you on to the mattress and you fall back, the mattress sinking with your weight and some of his as your hair is splayed back on the white sheets. He gives himself a moment and drinks in the sight of you before diving back down and kissing your neck. 

“How long did you reserve the room for?” He asks between kisses as he makes quick work of your clothes.

You grab at his shirt and try to unbuckle his belt before answering, “three hours.”

“Hm,” he pulls back to take off his shirt. Your shorts are halfway off at your knees and your shirt’s gone too, your bra is exposed to his appreciative gaze. “I have an early start tomorrow. I have to leave earlier than usual.” 

“That’s fine.” Disappointment pools at the bottom of your belly and you grab his face to pull him into another kiss. It’s wet and unrestrained, your tongue against his, but it does little to dispel your negative feelings. Sungchan groans against you, deepening the kiss while absolutely clueless to the sinking feeling in your body. 

You want to yell at him and kick him out. If he couldn’t stay long then why come at all. Why text you in the first place. You had an early start too. You just finished a 18 hour work day and you’re fucking tired too. You want to scream and shout, but you don’t. 

You’re nothing more than a coward, so you bite his bottom lip in frustration, but that just gets him more riled up and you feel his growing erection strain against his jeans. 

“Fuck,” he lets out. “You’re so sexy today.” 

You’re a little annoyed that he’s enjoying it, so you grab his head by the hair to be at eye level with him. You’re careful not to pull too hard despite your anger. His pretty face and every pretty little hair on his head has always been your weakness. 

Sungchan stares back at you, eyes brimming with unbridled lust and your resolve falters just the slightest bit, but you bite it back.

“Eat me out.” You demand. 

His eyes are unwavering as pulls you in for another rough kiss. When you start to match his rhythm, he abruptly pulls back. You’re embarrassed at the way your neck arched toward him to chase his retreating lips. 

“Sure,” he says as he completely pulls off your shorts. “I’ll gladly eat you out.” 

Your panties are soaked and it may have been because you were so excited at the prospect of seeing him for the first time in a while after weeks without hearing from him, but you’ll never admit it out loud. 

“Aw babe,” he teases with a quick swipe of his finger over your aching folds. “Look at how wet you are. All wet for me, right?” 

You look away as you keep your mouth sealed. You’ll never let him have that kind of satisfaction over you. 

Sungchan chuckles to himself at your little show of defiance before he gets to work. His tongue laps at your core and he switches up the pressure just the way you like it. He eats you out like a man starved and makes his hand useful by stimulating your clit simultaneously. Your hands are threaded through his locks and your toes curl. Sungchan knows exactly how you like it from your many hook ups and he has you seeing stars in no time. Your body writhes underneath him, but he’s unrelenting against your pussy. He doesn't stop fully simulating you until you’ve fully ridden the extent of your climax. 

Your chest is heaving and your skin sticky with a slight sheen of sweat. 

“So fast today,” he mutters. He makes direct eye contact as he licks his fingers dry.

“Shut up, I’m just pent up that’s all.” You snicker.

“Did you miss me?” he asks before capturing your lips for another kiss. You can taste yourself on his tongue, but you pay little mind as you match his fervor. His lithe finger works hard to unclasp your bra to have you entirely exposed to him. He admires your body in all its beauty and places a peck over your collarbone. “Just admit you missed me.” 

“I didn’t.” You lie. Your body is sensitive from your high and you flinch as his hands ghost over your torso. He peppers kisses all the way down to your breasts and skillfully takes a nipple in his mouth and rolls the other between his fingers. You gasp out loud and your body arches to meet him. You can feel him grinning against you and you kind of hate yourself. 

“Aw, don’t be like that.” His words sound as if he’s hurt, but his cheeky tone is impossible to miss. “Cause I missed you, babe.” 

Your throat goes dry and he moves his mouth over the other nipple to give it the same treatment. You decide to say nothing and just allow yourself to give into his ministrations. By the time he’s done, your nipples are sensitive to the max and your core is aching. 

You kiss him again, wanting nothing more to be close to him and he kisses you back greedily. It’s messy with no hint of grace, but it gets the job done. Sungchan pulls away first, his words raspy and strained. “Suck me off.” 

You want to argue, but he’s already taking off his pants and urging you to get on your knees. 

Sungchan is sitting on the edge of the bed with you snug between his legs. His cock stands stiff and proud as he looks at you expectedly. You act annoyed, but you do as he says regardless. 

You start with a quick kiss on the tip before making long drawn out licks on all sides of his cock. Once satisfied, you decided to take him in. You bob your head along his length and alternate between taking it in and pressured licks. You grab his balls and fondle him gently where he likes it. You also learned what he likes from all the clandestine escapades you two shared. 

You also learn that Sungchan is loud in bed. 

“Fuck,” he groaned. He grips your hair tightly as he guides your head and whenever you do something he’s especially fond of, he likes to stroke his thumbs against your cheek in praise.  “You’re always so good, babe.” 

His words edge you on and you find yourself wanting to please him more. You’re more turned on than ever and you use your free hand to finger yourself. You feel tightly wound and crave some form of release. 

“Oh my god,” Sungchan rasps. “Are you touching yourself right now?” 

You take him all the way in as a reply. His dick is touching the back of your throat and you firmly make a fist with your thumb wrapped around your fingers to suppress your gag reflex. You take him as far as you can and your nose just misses his navel by the slightest bit. His hips buck against your mouth and you do your best not to choke. 

“Baby,” he hisses against you as he holds your face in place. His hips are moving again and you feel tears prick your eyes as drool comes out from the both sides of your mouth. “You’ve always looked the prettiest between my legs with my dick in your mouth.” 

He fucks into your face for just a few more strokes before pulling you off. “I want to come in your pussy, babe.” 

Sungchan’s words have a wild edge to them, but you can barely register them as you’re coughing. Your throat feels raw and you wobble at your feet as you make you way back on the bed. He’s putting on a condom as you get into position. You know he always likes to take you from the back first, with your face in the pillow and your ass up in the air. 

You grab a pillow to prop under you for support and you allow yourself to slump over for a few seconds of rest. Just a moment later, you can feel Sungchan looming over you. 

“I love how you know just what I like,” he hums as his tip teases the edge of your lips. “Saves so much time.” 

“Just fuck me.” You’re exasperated and so desperately horny for him. 

He does what you say. Sungchan sinks into you and gives you just time to adjust to his length. You’ve been too busy to even play with your toys, so you haven’t had any stimulation down there at all. You feel stretched out, but in the most delicious way. Sungchan starts moving before you give him the okay, and normally you’d be pissed, but god does it feel so fucking good. 

His grip is tight and painful as he holds onto your hips while he rams into you. His pace is intense and delicious. You drown yourself in Sungchan.

“Shit,” you moan. You don’t like to stroke his already massive ego, but he has you feeling delirious. “So good. Feels so fucking good.” 

“What was that?” He taunts. “I couldn’t quite hear you.”

“Fuck you.” you spit.

His pace halts to an aching stop and you feel like crying. His cock is all the way in and he leans over your body. His hand reaches over to play with you clit as he whispers in your ear. “That’s not very nice. I just couldn’t hear very well, that’s all. No need to be so nasty, you know it hurts my feelings.” 

You try to buck against Sungchan, but he uses his free hand to keep your hips in place and his other plays with your clit even harder. He bites your shoulder blade and you think tears really are going to come out.

“Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you.” You cry. “Stop being such a fucking dick and just fuck me until I can’t think.” 

Sungchan freezes against you for the slightest bit, before you can feel him slide out of you. You expect him to ram into you and fuck you senseless for being so disrespectful, but you feel the mattress shift as he lies down next to you. 

“You really are so mean, babe.” His eyes twinkle as he looks at your confused face. “I don’t think I’m really in the mood anymore, you really hurt my feelings this time.” 

Your mind goes blank at the loss of his heat. It’s a lie of course, his dick is ramrod straight and aching to fuck you again, but fuck you’re just too damn horny to think straight. 

“I’m s-sorry” You splutter. It’s pathetic how easy you give into him and fall into his traps. “I said you’re good, so fucking good. So don’t make a liar of me and just fuck me.” 

“I will,” You sigh in relief, but you jolt up when he finishes his sentence. “But only if you ride me first.” 

The shock you feel leaves you speechless and he eggs you on even more. “What is it, babe? Don’t know how to ride a dick?” 

You know exactly what kind of stupid game he’s trying to pull, but your pussy desperately needs to be filled, so fine. You’ll play his game and beat him in process. 

You climb on top of Sungchan, your knees on both sides of his hips as your dripping pussy hovers over the tip of his cock. You can feel him twitch in anticipation. He’s looking up at you with a cocky little smile, but you can see the dangerous glint in his eyes that’s full of need. You had more fight in you, but his look erases it all. You take your right hand to line up his length at your entrance while your left hand steadies your body. When you sink on his dick, the both of you groan simultaneously. 

You rock against him slowly as you experiment where to put your hands to maximise your control. Once you’ve settled into a steady rhythm that has the both of your going crazy, you’re relentless on top of his cock. He has one hand on your hip to guide you while the other plays with your clit. 

All types of noises and expletives escape your mouth as you near your high. “Yeah,” you pant. “Just like that, Sungchan. Keep touching me like that.” 

He groans under you and grips your hip even harder as you reach your second orgasm. You slump over his body, your hair stuck against your slick back. You roll off his body out of breath and Sungchan sits up over you to kiss you. It’s leisure and languid and you wrap your arms around his neck to pull him closer. He allows you to do as you wish, but he pulls back shortly after.

“Ready for more?” He asks.

“What?” Your mind is a little slow after two orgasms.

“I didn’t come yet.” He reminds you. 

“Right.”

Sungchan takes off the condom and strokes his dick slowly. It’s still stiff and you realize you don’t mind another round.

“Yeah, sure.” You agree.

“I’ll give you a treat for riding me, babe.” He grins as he puts on a fresh condom. “You can pick the position.” 

You mull over your choices. Your body is sensitive to the max right now, so you don’t need that much more stimulation. You finally decide. “Missionary.” 

“Sure.” He says while setting up a pillow for you. You lie down slowly as he moves to position himself. 

Sungchan enters you with ease and once he’s all the way in, you wrap your legs around his waist. He grabs the other pillow and motions you to raise your hips before placing it under your hips for a better angle. He rocks into you at a moderate speed before picking up his pace. There are other positions that make you see stars, but nothing beats the intimacy of missionary. Sungchan is the closest to being yours in this position, so you allow yourself to indulge. 

You wrap your arms around his neck for another kiss and this one is soft and sweet. Sungchan returns it in the same manner and you allow yourself to think of him as your lover and your lover alone in that brief moment. 

“I’m about to come,” he grunts against your mouth. “Can I come?”

You nod and he hugs you tight before bucking his hips in a near frenzied pace. You can feel him reach his high as his body stutters against yours. Sungchan collapses on you shortly after and you both heave your chest in synch. You revel in the post-orgasm bliss with Sungchan, but it never lasts long. 

He moves to extricate your sweaty bodies and you want to ask him to stay in bed a little longer, but you don’t. He removes the condom and makes a little knot before tossing it in the trash bin. 

“I’m going to wash first, ‘that cool with you?” Sungchan asks as if you have a say in the matter. As if he isn’t already in the bathroom and turning on the shower as the words leave his mouth. 

But you know your role and you play the part. “Go ahead.” 

You know Sungchan can’t hear you anyway because he shut the bathroom door before you can reply. 

The sound of the shower fills the room as you look up at the ceiling. You allow yourself to rest for a few more minutes before rolling over to see the clock reading ‘01:59.’ You take a complimentary towel to give yourself a preliminary clean before your turn in the shower. He’s never asked to shower together once. 

When Sungchan is done, he leaves the shower looking fresh, but smelling of cheap motel shampoo. It’s another thing that you’ve come to associate with Jung Sungchan.

He gathers his things from the nightstand and you make your way to the shower. 

“Hey,” Sungchan calls over his shoulder just as you reach the bathroom. “I’ll see you again?” 

No. 

This isn’t any good for you. You can’t just keep crawling back from for a quick climax and a few minutes of intimacy. You can’t let him use you in whatever way he wants just in exchange for a few kisses. You can’t keep being at his beck and call and drop everything to give him a quick release. You have your own life and schedule too. You want more than what he can give, so stop doing this to yourself and cut it off. 

“Yeah, just text me.”

masterlist.

#neosmutsongs #neosmutcollective #neowritingsnet #cznnet #nctcreations #nct scenario #nct fanfic #nct smut #sungchan scenario #sungchan fanfic #sungchan smut

[taetaesbaebaepsae]

Lunar Violence (jjk)

Summary: You’re not a big fan of your best friend’s favorite band, Lunar Violence. Their werewolf gimmick makes you roll your eyes, even if the music isn’t too bad. When she drags you to a concert just as the blood moon rises, though, everything changes.

Warnings: werewolf sex, possessive behavior, choking, knotting, marking, heats and ruts so whatever consent issues you feel are within that realm, unrpotected sex, werewolf dick, abo dynamics

Word Count:7445

Rating: Explicit

You're not normally a fan of gimmicks, particularly with your music. So when your best friend begs you for a solid week to go with her to this concert, you're wary when you do a simple Google search.

Lunar Violence might be the dumbest fucking name for a band you've ever heard, but they certainly seem like they're going for a certain vibe. You'd definitely have been into it when you were a teen, the fake fangs, the facial piercings and torn leather pants, the howling they do at the ends of some of their songs.

The music itself isn't bad, the lead singer is stupid hot and has a smooth low tenor and bedroom eyes. 

You flip through only a few of the member pictures before making a decision based on the fact that they're good eye candy, at least.

Your friend Jia jumps up and down excitedly when you tell her and shows you the signs she's made. She's got a thing for the one they call Happy, a lean bassist who has a bright smile and a sexy glare.

"What are with these names? The seven dwarfs? I think they're mixing metaphors."

Jia snorts. "They call the drummer Baby because he's the youngest. It’s not that dumb and the music is really good, you’ll love it, I promise!"

"This is so dumb. You owe me."

"If I get close enough to Happy to make eye contact I'm gonna make him mine and then I'll give you anything you want." Jia says determinedly.

It’s a few weeks before the concert, so you find yourself listening to a few albums and actually getting pretty excited about it. It should be a fun time, get you away from the stress of your every day life, at the least.

You had no way of knowing that the night of the concert would complicate your life tenfold.

“Do we always have to schedule concerts around rutting season?” Namjoon whines after hitting yet another wrong chord on his guitar.

“It’s the best part about this job!” Hoseok grins.

“I can’t fucking concentrate being horny all the time, I agree with Joon,” Yoongi agrees, banging his forehead down on the keyboard.

“Should have called you Horny rather than Lucky,” Seokjin snorts, and Hoseok laughs so hard he nearly knocks over his bass guitar.

Jungkook watches them with a fond smile on his face, his brothers. Not by blood, of course but being the only werewolves in the city made them have an instant connection and camaraderie, and they’d created a pack pretty quickly. The music had come later, they’d all been interested in it, all had some talent and all been blessed with good looks, and after that it was only a matter of who did what and stage names.

Kim Seokjin, with his regal looks and sharp jaw: Prince.

Min Yoongi, with the scar over his left eye he’d gotten scrapping with a grey wolf in the woods behind his house in Daegu as a pup: Lucky.

Jung Hoseok with his easy smile and eager nature: Happy.

Kim Namjoon, always so serious and intelligent: Beethoven. 

Park Jimin, with his pretty face and sneaky smirk: Sly.

Kim Taehyung with his sweet nature and affectionate personality: Honey.

Finally, Jeon Jungkook, because he'd been barely old enough to breed when they'd met: Baby.

"Baby hasn't had his first rut yet, yeah?" It's Jimin, smirking, always giving Jungkook grief about something. 

Jungkook narrows his eyes and chucks a drumstick at him but it's no use, Jimin catching it in one band and twirling it like a goddamn baton. Jungkook would say Jimin was graceful if he hadn't seen him fall off about a dozen barstools and half a dozen stages, sober even for the latter.

“Kinda late, isn’t it?” Seokjin speaks up, and Jungkook knows he’s teasing but it stings a little, nonetheless. 

“He’s only just turned 23. You were two weeks from your 23rd before you ever popped a knot, hyung, or have you forgotten?” Namjoon snarks, and Jungkook snickers as Seokjin makes a face, that vein on his neck pulsing just a bit.

He shouldn’t laugh, they’re just as likely to come to blows during the beginning of a rut and in a full moon cycle, but he can’t help himself

Yoongi, as usual, manages to keep the peace by offering to order pizza and foot the bill, a truly saintlike act since they could go through a pizza each, as hot as their temperature would be running by now.

Jungkook doesn’t say that he’s had a knot for two years now, the very thought of his hyungs knowing that makes him blush so much he hides it by wiping his face with a towel, pretending to have been sweating. 

Truly, he should have had a rut by now, triggered by all the pheromones' from the shows they’d been doing, this tour had been particularly rough due to the upcoming blood moon, at least for all the other boys, and it isn’t as if Jungkook hasn’t mated, of course, but a full rut? Not even the hint of it. It worries him, but Namjoon keeps assuring him that everyone gets there in time, people are just different.

Taehyung had been a late bloomer himself, not starting his first rut until he met and fell in love with his girlfriend, a short feisty redhead he’d met after a hand injury from stringing his bass guitar and slicing his palm open. She’d been a nurse who scolded him for not coming in sooner and it’d been almost instant, her green eyes triggering every wolf thing about him, or at least that’s how he tells it, all wide eyed and dreamy.

She’s a near constant in Taehyung’s hotel rooms now, sometimes riding along on the tour bus, but he doesn’t let her into anymore of the concerts even when she pouts, because human mates around a group of wolves around rutting season can be a dangerous time.

Taehyung is one of the gentlest wolves Jungkook knows, but he’d seen him snarl when Yoongi so much as winked at the redhead near a rut, so it’s probably for the best.

Anyway, Jungkook wasn’t worried (much). He’d find his true mate eventually, but probably not at a concert. Maybe he’d start his rut there, at least, around the full moon. He’d never have imagined that he’d find both.

The crowd is nice enough, although they seem a little feral. Some of these girls have signs that should be x rated, but you're not one to judge, especially since you've never actually….done anything too x-rated. 

You feel a little strange when you enter the concert venue and you can’t quite put your finger on it. You shrug and blame it on the strong drink your friend had made you chug before you entered since she couldn’t finish it all herself.

It’s like there’s something living under your skin, some rush like heat, and it  makes you feel antsy, ready to dance along to the music or at least laugh at your friend losing her mind next to you.

There’s a lot of gimmick to the concert and it’s bright and dark at the same time near the stage. You’d swear you’d seen the guitarist strum with no pick, with a sharp claw instead, but you’re sure it’s makeup, part of the show. They’re wearing contacts, too, you’re pretty sure, and the music is good, your friend isn’t wrong.

The song you’d heard that you’d like is actually their encore song, heavy on the bass and drums, and the lead singer even makes your skin feel hot a little when he makes eye contact and winks at you. The last solo the lights come down on the drummer, he’s on the back stage so all you can see is his long hair bouncing, the flex of his admittedly impressive biceps as he finishes the song.

You’ve been jumping up and down and singing along so much that you’re sweating and feeling a bit dizzy, so you drag your friend out the back alley while she’s still swooning, having gotten a direct smile from her favorite bassist.

“Did you see him? He looked right at me! We’re in love, Y/n. Do you want to be my maid of honor?” She’s babbling when you hear the click of a lighter next to you.

There’s people milling about, it wasn’t exactly a sold out show but there was a decent crowd, and people are now piling into the bar next door.

“Did you like the show?” 

When you turn your head you’re shocked to see that it’s the lead singer, a couple strands of his silver hair falling over his eye as he smiles at you.

“Oh. Oh, yes, I liked it very...very much,” you stammer. He’s even more handsome up close. Those are some really good contacts, you can’t tell they aren’t real at all, even though surely no one’s eyes are a violet color like that.

“Sly!” Your friend screams, and you jolt forward, surprised.

The singer’s hand lights on your shoulder and you look down. You have time to think that they must make great money for these expensive special effects because they sure do look like claws before your friend rushes past you, yelling because Happy had come out the back with the rest of the band.

There’s no mob or anything, maybe a dozen people other than you and Jia, but it makes you a bit anxious nonetheless, especially since you’re still feeling just as antsy, hot and dizzy as you were before.

It might be worse, actually, as you stand outside in the moonlight.

“Sly’s just my stage name.” His voice sounds softer, closer to your ear as he leans in. “You can call me Jimin.”

“O-okay,” you stutter, unused to feeling this way. You’re usually more outgoing, talkative, but it feels so strange. You find yourself looking up at the sky as if looking for the moon.

It’s better, once you’re inside the bar, there’s not as much of a crowd and you’re sitting at a big table with Sly...Jimin, you remind yourself, and Jia and Happy, who seems to fit his name well, laughing open and loud with your best friend as if they’ve known each other forever.

After a few hours and a couple of drinks you’ve lost most of that antsy feeling since being indoors, and you and Jimin vibe well, becoming fast friends. You’re both flirty and talkative after getting to know each other, and your mood is lifted from the concert, the alcohol, and the socialization.

You even laugh about calling their gimmick dumb as they dodge questions about where they get their makeup and accessories. You assume it’s some kind of sponsorship situation or contract, not thinking much of it.

You manage to excuse yourself long enough to look for the bathroom, although Jia abandons you since she’s made her way into Happy’s lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and with a blissful smile you’re not sure you’ve ever seen on her.

There’s someone standing in the hall and it’s a narrow hallway and he’s pretty wide from the back so you stumble a little when you turn, placing a hand on the wall.

“Oh, excuse me!” You say, brightly, but when he turns you gasp, a little surprised by the bright red of his eyes before you realize it’s another member of Lunar Violence.

“Hello,” he says, quietly with a little smile and he has these prominent front teeth that are pretty cute, make him look a lot less intimidating, despite those contacts and an eyebrow piercing and his size.

“Oh, hello! You’re…”

“Baby,” he blurts, and it makes you giggle.

You feel a little tipsier than you’d realized, and you guess it must be since you’ve been sitting down for an hour or so and just gotten up.

He puts a hand over his face, embarrassed. “My name is Jungkook,” he explains. “I’m the drummer?”

It’s cute how his voice pitches up into a question, as if you wouldn’t recognize him. He’s definitely a bit more modest than the other two members you’d met, with Jimin and Happy (who you’d just learned also goes by Hoseoki), bragging about tours and performances. 

“Pretty big for a baby,” you tease, and he makes an embarrassed sound in the back of his throat.

“I keep trying to get them to let me change it,” he mutters.

You introduce yourself and he smiles again, and his eyes aren’t as red as you’d thought at first, anyway, maybe it’s just the light. You brush past him as you continue to the bathroom after excusing yourself, and it’s a little zing through you, like static electricity.

It takes you longer in the bathroom than it usually would, that last drink really must have packed a punch, and when you return to the table Jungkook is sitting there, too, next to your empty chair. Jimin looks a little sullen and pouty, but he smiles at you, those violet eyes crinkling up at the corners, and you give him a bright smile back.

Jungkook, on the other hand, is all energy, jiggling his leg and tapping his fingers on the table and Hoseok seems to be watching him intently.

The atmosphere in general seems to have changed, and after exchanging numbers with everyone with the urging of Jia, you two excuse yourself.

The three men walk you outside and Jimin is close while Jungkook hangs back. You imagine Jimin is so close since you mentioned feeling a bit dizzy and he asks you twice if he can call you a car but you tell him that the fresh air will do you good.

It’s funny, the moonlight seems to energize you a bit. When Jimin leans in to kiss you on the cheek, you jump a little at a sound behind you, something like a bark.

Jimin jolts back a little, eyes widening, and you both laugh at your nerves.

“Stray dog,” you remark, and Jimin snorts.

“Something like that.”

Namjoon pinches the bridge of his nose. “So what exactly the fuck happened after I left?”

Jimin is sullen on the couch, arms crossed over his chest with a busted lip and Jungkook is sitting next to Hoseok on the floor on the other side of the hotel room with tissue up his nose, Hoseok tilting his head back.

“Baby is about to go into rut,” Taehyung sings, laughing, his girlfriend draped over him on the bed drowsily, his teeth marks littering her neck and throat.

“Don’t,” Yoongi warns. “Everyone’s just wound up. Full moon is in two days, after all, cut him some slack.”

“Sees one girl he likes and suddenly no one else can talk to her,” Jimin complains, gingerly working his tongue across his lip ring to see if it’s torn.

“You tried to kiss her,” Jungkook growls, and Hoseok pushes on his chest to keep him from getting up.

Jungkook can’t explain why his wolf wanted to rip Jimin’s throat out when he leaned in to kiss you, he’d just met you, didn’t even know your last name, but it was visceral, sudden, something crawling up his throat. He’d almost moved forward to do it before Hoseok said his name, sharply.

“We all get a little possessive about potential mates around the full moon,” Namjoon reasons. “But that’s not the way to handle it, Jungkook.”

Jungkook hangs his head and removes the tissue from his nose with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry, hyung.” He looks over at Jimin but he means it for Namjoon. He’s still bitter, somehow, about Jimin’s hand on your lower back, his lips brushing your cheek. It makes his head feel fuzzy, his guts roll.

Namjoon, on the other hand, had been the one to “discover” Jungkook, back when he had no idea why his eyes were starting to change color with the moon cycles or why his nails grew out like claws. He’d started learning percussion just to get rid of some of the energy he had around those times, and he’d been 17 when Namjoon approached him in a music store when Jungkook was looking into buying cymbals. 

Jungkook had been abandoned when he was a baby, adopted at four years old and he had no idea about his wolf lineage, or even that they existed, until Namjoon explained it to him.

“Jungkook doesn’t know his lineage,” Namjoon reminds them all. “He might just be presenting as an alpha, that’s a lot around the full moon, Jimin, you remember.”

Jimin grumbles something under his breath and Jungkook has to take a deep breath through his nostrils, smelling iron from their scuffle earlier, in order not to lunge across the room and hit him again.

Eventually, Jungkook has to move to his own room despite usually bunking with Jimin, and he finds himself unable to sleep, staring at the ceiling. He keeps seeing your bright smile, your curls bouncing around as you talked and laughed, mostly at Jimin, and it makes him stiffen to think of how Jimin had met you first.

Why did it matter, anyway? You’re just a person, just like he is, just a girl, and he doesn’t have the best track record with talking to girls, anyway. You’d been in the front row, with your friend who Hoseok had gotten so smiley about, he’d seen you just before he started his set, his vision clearer around the full moon.

The others laughed at him for how he talked about “the wolf,” as if it wasn’t a part of him, as if it wasn’t who he was, but that’s how it had always felt. He just hadn’t had a name for it until he’d met Namjoon. It was like this thing, inside him, this beast, something that clawed and scratched to get out.

Seokjin keeps telling him that he’s fighting the wolf, that’s why he hasn’t gone into rut or popped his knot, that’s why he feels so achy and fidgety around the moon cycles, that’s why he hasn’t shifted. Namjoon would always respond there was no way to know that but Seokjin just rolled his eyes.

“Aish, I’m your hyung, listen to me. I fought mine, too, when I was young, and when I shifted I broke a few bones. You should give in, let it ride in the front seat once in a while.”

Jungkook had nodded at the time but now, he doesn’t know how to do that. Drumming helped, it was a lot of work and energy expelled and it felt like he could let him out, the wolf, just a little. It’s why he’d gotten so big, staying active and lifting weights was something the wolf liked.

The wolf came sometimes when he masturbated, too, when he’d feel particularly worked up around the full moon, after a concert, sweaty and rolling his hips into his hand.

When he tries it after meeting you, he can’t even finish, ending up panting and sore, the wolf still snarling over the memory of Jimin’s lips barely brushing across your cheek.

Surprisingly enough, it’s Jungkook who texts you first. Wanna go for a drink?

You’re not sure whether to say yes at first, you’ve been feeling so strange. You can barely sleep, your skin feeling hot, as if you’d burned yourself with a too hot shower. You think about that night at the concert a lot, Jimin’s violet eyes, Jungkook’s almost red ones, how odd you’d felt.

You would have talked to Jia about it but she’s been abducted by the werewolf band, apparently, you’ve barely seen her in a week and when you had she’d been littered with hickeys and with a big goofy smile.

Part of you wonders if this is all some sex ring cult but she seems happy, jubilant even, so you agree, meeting Jungkook at a downtown bar.

He’s there before you arrive, you can see him through the window sitting at a table, looking wide and a bit intimidating until he lifts his head and smiles at you with a little wave.

His eyes are a warm brown now, pretty and wide, you’re able to notice the shape more without the contacts.

Jungkook is still all energy, maybe that’s just how he is, talking to you more and more as the nights go on and you two share a pitcher of beer, scooting his chair closer. You find he flushes a pretty rose when you flirt with him and can’t stop laughing when he nearly falls out of his chair when you prop your legs up in his lap.

By the end of the night he can’t stop smiling at you and you’re intrigued, moreso than you’d imagined you would be when you’d first met him, smiling shyly at you at the bar near the concert. You start to feel funny again, your head fuzzy, probably from the alcohol.

When you tell him, he’s all wide eyed concern.

You giggle. “Now I know why they call you Baby.” 

He huffs a little. 

He walks you outside just as he did before but this time he doesn’t hang back, and when you reach the alleyway, he places a hand on the swell of your hip as you take a few deep breaths of the night air.

You’re surprised, laugh a little until you look up into his eyes. You’d swear they looked red tinged again, but surely it’s just the beer.

“Not a baby,” he murmurs, moving closer, pressing you up against the brick with his body, and you hitch in a breath.

“No?” You ask, boldly trailing your finger along his collarbone through the black tshirt he’s wearing.

He shakes his head, leaned down close enough to your face that his nose brushes yours.

“Prove it,” you tease, and he makes this rumbling sound in the back of his throat that makes goosebumps break out across your flesh.

He leans down further, nips at your lower lip, and you moan, body surging forward toward his as if it was made to fit it. You’re not sure if you kiss him or he kisses you, but his tongue is in your mouth, his hands on either side of your head, caging you in.

You feel hot all over, dizzy in the most pleasant way, at least until he pulls away, gasping.

You whine, a sound you don’t think you’ve ever made before, when he’s not touching you anymore.

“I’m sorry,” he gasps. “I’m sorry. I should go.”

He’s gone before you can even gasp out another whine of his name, and the moonlight on your skin burns instead of cools.

Jungkook tells this story in a burst to his bandmates the next day, hungover with his head pounding.

“You just left her there?” Jimin says, his face shocked, and Jungkook feels the wolf make a growl start at the back of his throat.

Namjoon puts a hand on his shoulder and it turns into a whine instead. 

“I’ve never felt him that close, hyung. Right at the surface. I wanted to…”

Namjoon and Seokjin meet eyes above Jungkook’s lowered head.

Jimin catches it. Jimin catches everything, it’s one of the best and worst things about him.

“What? You think…” Jimin laughs. “No. She can’t be his.... She’s not a wolf, I would’ve smelled it when-”

Jungkook surges out of his seat, a deep growl rumbling from his chest. “When what, Jimin?”

Jimin’s eyes glow a pale violet as he snarls back, uncaring that Jungkook towers over him.

In the end, Namjoon and Seokjin have to separate them physically as they bark and snarl at each other.

Hoseok and Taehyung are missing, having holed up to ride out their ruts with their human mates instead of the house the seven share.

Yoongi huffs out a breath. “He’s definitely presenting as an alpha.”

“No shit,” Namjoon barks, unusually on edge. 

Yoongi, Seokjin, and Taehyung are the betas of the group, and until now there had only been a slight difference among the bandmates despite their different rankings.

Alpha pheromones were stronger and their senses were more heightened around rutting season, particularly for other mates. 

In the end, they have to completely change how they house themselves, with Jimin sharing a room with Yoongi, and Jungkook sharing with Seokjin.

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Jungkook says miserably, his wolf finally calmed as he sits down on the bed.

“It’s not your fault,” Seokjin says, voice much less harsh than Namjoon’s had been earlier when he’d scolded him. “I saw Namjoon during this time, and it wasn’t easy.”

Jungkook looks up at the elder with wide eyes. “Really?”

Seokjin snorts and nods. “Yeah, around the full moon he was unbearable, snarling at everything.”

“I just didn’t want to scare her or...or hurt her...I wanted to put her against the wall and…” Jungkook trails off, embarrassed.

Seokjin only smiles and ruffles Jungkook’s hair. “That’s normal too, Baby. You wouldn’t have hurt her, especially if it’s what we think it is.”

“What...what does that mean?”

Seokjin shakes his head. “Something you gotta work out on your own.”

Jungkook groans and flops down on the bed as Seokjin laughs, heading downstairs to make dinner while things are calm.

He has trouble sleeping again, but this time instead of wondering why, he knew, could almost feel the soft skin of your hip on his palm like it was still there, how you’d moaned into his mouth, whined for him.

Jungkook isn’t sure there’s a cold enough shower to help.

You can’t seem to sit still as the full moon nears, feeling like you might jump out of your skin. You can’t count the number of friends you’d called but no one seems up to going out. You bite your lip while looking at Jungkook’s contact on your phone screen.

If you think about it long enough, you can still feel the way he pressed against you, how the hair on the nape of your neck stood up when he nipped at your lip, how hot you’d felt, how wet…

You sigh and scroll up, seeing Jimin’s name instead. Jimin had been fun to be with the night you’d met, easy to talk to, less….intense. And he didn’t make you feel like you were about to crawl out of your skin, so you ask if he wants to meet up for a drink.

It’s late, by the time you decide, and the moon is out, waxing toward fullness. There’s only a tiny sliver remaining, big in the sky, and you can’t stop looking up at it as you walk to the bar near your house.

You’d chosen it because it’s close and not because it’s where hot drummer Jeon Jungkook, also known as Baby, had pressed you against an alley wall and made you almost…

Jimin jolts you out of your thoughts, calling your name and waving as you approach the door. He’s leaned against the doorjamb, giving you a smirk and you think now you understand why they call him Sly.

It makes you smile and again, you vibe well with him, you get along in the best way, conversation is easy and you don’t feel gooseflesh or your hair stand up when he brushes his fingers against yours.

Jimin knows he’s playing with fire when he replies to your text, but they don’t call him Sly for nothing, and you’re interesting, for a human. He’s only met one other female wolf, a tall and feisty woman with a sharp tongue and the most beautiful brown eyes, but she’d had a mate and well...things hadn’t ended well. 

Jungkook thinks of his wolf as this separate entity but Jimin disagrees, let’s his wolf do what it wants, so that all the bad things he feels have some kind of outlet. This was especially so after he’d lost his brown eyed wolf girl, so he invites you back to the house, knowing that Jungkook will be at the gym all night before the full moon tomorrow.

In fact, all of the others will be out, finding fun of their own, and why shouldn’t Jimin do the same? It isn’t as if Jungkook has marked you, or even can, since you’re human. 

Your eyes aren’t quite the same shade of hers, but he can pretend.

Jungkook works out until his muscles ache but nothing can shake this feeling he has, like something’s wrong. When he leaves the gym even the moon looks off, as if it’s dimmer than it should be, and something’s pulling him home, like this tug in his gut. It feels like it used to as a kid in his first foster home, when he’d get so anxious he’d climb onto the roof and stare up at it.

He’s almost running as he gets closer, feeling his skin prickle as he gets to the house, his wolf so close to the surface he can feel the fur that isn’t there yet standing up on the back of his neck.

He smells Jimin first, wrinkling his nose at the alpha pheromones, and when he walks upstairs it isn’t as if he decides to let the wolf take over, or struggles with it - it’s instant.

You’re standing in the hall, head tilted up, and Jimin is leaning against the wall, smiling down at you, and when you lean up to just softly brush your lips against Jimin’s, Jungkook’s heart nearly leaps out of his chest, and the wolf barks, loud and warning.

You turn, surprised, and Jungkook doesn’t think, doesn’t act, it’s all wolf. He grabs you by your waist, hefts you up over your shoulder, and begins to walk you to his room.

Jimin protests and Jungkook growls over his shoulder, daring him to try something. Later, Jungkook is glad his friend didn’t follow, because he isn’t sure that he could have held the wolf back.

You kick and yell and beat on his back and Jungkook doesn’t realize what he’s done until he’s plopped you down on his bed, crawling toward you.

You kick him in the chest and it barely registers. You stand up and that’s when he snaps back to himself, at least to a degree.

"Don't leave. You can't leave." It's panicked, his voice, higher pitched almost like a whine.

"I can do whatever I want," you snap.

He makes this sound between a whine and a snarl and it's startling, strange, and you stop at the door.

"I know that! I know, but he doesn't!" 

"He..." you turn to look at him and he's trembling, head down, and you step closer, worried. "Baby, what do you mean?"

Jungkook just stands there, still trembling, until you reach out to touch his hair, gently. "He thinks he owns you, that you're his, that no one else can touch you." He explains, almost in a whisper.

"Who is he?" You ask slowly.

He raises his head slow and you gasp when you look into his eyes, instead of a warm brown this burnt amber, red hued.

"The wolf."

You stand there, blinking in surprise, for a long moment before actively telling your feet to move to the door. Unfortunately, your brain seems to have some kind of disconnect to your limbs, because you just step even closer, lean in and inhale along his neck, this scent of sweat and the iron of the weights he’d been lifting washing over you.

Rationally, you know that you should be shocked, horrified, even, that werewolves are real and you’re apparently standing in a house full of them but all you can do is run your tongue along the vein in his throat and Jungkook is trembling all over, whimpering like a puppy.

“Y/n, please, don’t-” he chokes out.

“Why not?” You murmur against his skin, the scent of him making your body react like you’ve never felt before. There’s this ache between your thighs that you’ve only felt a hint of before and you want more, nipping at his skin, unable to think clearly.

“He wants to...wants you,” Jungkook stutters, balling his hands into fists to keep from touching you.

“He does? Or you do?” You ask, lifting your head to pout at him, and Jungkook groans.

“Both,” he whispers hoarsely. 

“Then take me,” you say, and you don’t even know where the words came from. Your head feels light on your shoulders, dizzy with the scent of him, how his skin tastes under your tongue, and you do what he did to you the last night you’d seen him, nipping at his lower lip. Your canine pierces the skin and you taste iron on your tongue

Jungkook growls and lifts you again, this time with his hands under your ass and thighs and your legs wrap around him instantly. He all but throws you down on the bed, this time, and you whimper when he grips one of your thighs with his big hand, squeezing the flesh there.

“Mine,” he snarls, that high pitched whine at the end, and it makes you arch your back, claw your nails across his shoulders.

Jungkook leans down to sniff at your neck and growls again, wrinkling his nose and when you open your eyes he’s staring down at you with those red/amber eyes. 

You look back defiantly but you’re rolling your hips against his, you can feel him hard against your core and even though you’d never gone all the way with anyone before you want him inside you, can’t think of anything else.

“You smell like him,” he accuses, voice hoarse, and his wide eyes fade back to brown, just slightly, the color dilating around his pupils.

“Jungkook,” you whisper, feeling something like guilt, even though nothing had happened, really, and even it if it had…

He rubs his nose against your throat, covers you with his body like he’s replacing any of Jimin’s scent with his own. He licks against your neck, bites down on your skin, making you yelp.

“I’m sorry,” Jungkook whines. “I’m sorry, I have to. You’re mine, I have to mark you, have to scent you anywhere he touched you,” he tries to explain, his hands skating down your ample curves.

“It’s okay,” you say, and somehow you mean it, you understand, the very thought of Jungkook smelling like anyone else makes your heart jump into your throat, something primal rise in your gut. “I know, baby.”

“You’re mine?” He says again, voice pitching up into a question just like when he’d introduced himself and it scares you, the way it makes your heart ache.

Instead of speaking you kiss him again, hard, moving your hands to his hair to get him closer. You had worn a skirt and halter out, it’s so warm even though it’s close to winter, your skin feeling so hot under the moonlight that you couldn’t wear much else.

Even as you kiss him he’s tearing at your clothes and you lean up to help him until you’re bare beneath him and panting, this whining noise coming from your throat that you can’t explain.

“God,” Jungkook groans, rubbing a hand over his face. “I don’t know what I’m doing, I-”

“You haven’t...haven’t done this before?” Your eyes widen.

Jungkook realizes what you mean and he blushes a bit. “I’ve...yeah, I’ve done this before but not...not like this. I feel like...the wolf feels like...he’s been crazy. Since the first moment I saw you.”

“Like you’re gonna jump out of your skin? Always feeling...hot?” You ask.

Jungkook nods slowly, eyes widening.

“Me too,” you admit. “I don’t...I don’t know what it means. That’s why I came out with Jimin, I-”

Jungkook cuts you off with a choked whine. “It means you’re supposed to be mine.”

He snuffles against your neck again, hands at your hips, still holding back, trembling. “It means he never should have touched you.”

“I’m sorry,” you say, even though you know you have nothing to apologize for. “I want you. I’ve never...I’ve never done this before but I want you so bad,” you admit, clutching at his tshirt, pulling it up until he gets on his knees and pulls it off, tossing it to the side. You spread your hands across his chest and he lets out a wrecked moan.

“You’re holding back,” you accuse.

He nods. “The wolf, he doesn’t….I don’t want to hurt you. Especially...fuck, no one’s touched you like this before?” His hands slide up and down your thighs as he stares down at your body, your breasts, the cleft of your cunt.

Jungkook knows that shouldn’t make him so hard, shouldn’t make his dick pulse in his sweats, shouldn’t make the wolf keen with pride. Mine mine mine, the first, the only is all his brain is chanting, he feels dizzy like he’s drank too much even though he hasn’t had a drop.

“Please, please, please,” you beg, but he can’t, can’t let the wolf out, he’s afraid he’ll rip you apart. You’re human and a virgin and he can’t risk hurting you.

The wolf won’t even let him say it, so he just shakes his head. 

You huff out a breath, your body aching all over, need making your arousal coat your thighs. You don’t know what you’re going to say until you say it.

“Should I ask Jimin to do it? I bet he can smell me,” you taunt, shocking yourself.

Jungkook freezes, his eyes bleeding to red again and one hand jolting out to wrap around your throat.

“Don’t,” he warns.

You know you should be cautious since you’re about to fuck an actual werewolf, but fuck, you’re so hot, you can’t think, you need something inside you and you drop your feet to the bed, spreading your legs wide.

“Jimin would mark me. He’d fuck me, fill me full like I want.” 

Jungkook feels something in him snap, and his heart hurts and his cock aches and the wolf is keening, clawing inside him and he can’t control it anymore, just like before.

“Never,” he growls, squeezes his fingers around your throat and you gasp, your stomach aching with need.

Finally, finally he slides his fingers along your pussy and you choke out a sob as his thumb slips across your clit but it’s not enough.

“Jungkook,” you whimper. “Make me yours.”

“Already mine,” he murmurs, and finally slides two fingers inside you, making you cry out. “You’re already mine but I’m gonna give you what you want, mark you, fuck you, make sure Park fucking Jimin never so much as sniffs at you again.”

“Yes,” you sigh. “Yes, please, please.”

Jungkook still worries somewhere in the back of his mind that he’ll hurt you, that the wolf will, and by now he understands they’re one and the same but you’re rolling your hips up and his cock feels heavy and full like he’s about to burst, somehow wider at the base and he rips down his sweats, fucking you with three fingers now. 

When his cock bounces against his stomach you gasp, and if you’d been in your right mind you might worry he’s too big but something inside you is crying out in pleasure just at the sight of it. You spread your legs wider and he releases your throat, leaning over to kiss you instead, biting your lip as he slowly works himself inside you.

It’s a tight fit even after three fingers and you’re whining into his mouth, wanting more.

Jungkook isn’t a virgin, far from it although a little less experienced than some of his band members (Hoseok had once bragged about fucking a house of sorority sisters during a rut), but the way you clench around him has his hips twitching, wanting to buck into you even if it would split you open. 

Despite his worry, neither he or the wolf wants to hurt you, though, so he waits for you to adjust even as you beg, waits until you can take all of him.

He’s barely realized that he’s popped his knot until he looks down to see where you’ve joined and he groans. He knows how to do this, has been talked to (endlessly, by Taehyung, about his human girlfriend and how she desperately wants to take his knot and they’re working on it but it will take time and training), knows that you can’t take his knot but the wolf is howling for it, wants to fuck you hard and then pop it inside you, spill a littler into your womb.

You whine and pulse around him, reaching up to tug at his hair. “Kookie,” you pout. “Baby. Want you inside me, fuck me harder, please-”

“I can’t-” he chokes out, but then you wrap your legs around his waist and pull him deeper and the wolf growls, leans down, mine mine mine chanting in his head. My mate.

You felt a tiny pop when Jungkook first entered you, nothing painful and then just need, you want more and more and you don’t even know how to say it. You look up at him, near tears, needing something that you feel he won’t give you.

“I’m not yours yet,” you slur, and he looks pained, his eyes dilating from warm brown to amber red again and again.

He rocks his hips against you slow, and you’ve orgasmed twice already, once from his fingers and one from his cock but it’s not enough and you whine, it comes out almost inhuman, like his.

“Fill me up,” you urge, and Jungkook tries to hold the wolf back, he really does, but he’s too far gone, this close to the full moon and in the start of his first rut. 

Jungkook groans, fucks you harder and faster and when you cry out his name his balls draw up and he thrusts forward harder than he’d meant to, popping his knot inside you.

You make a surprised sound and his eyes pop open, his hands cupping your face even as his hips twitch as he cums, spills inside you.

“Y/n. I’m so sorry,” he mourns. “I’m sorry, I love you, I’m sorry,” he babbles, kissing along your neck and throat, seeing that he’d already marked you twice, once on each side of your throat, and he barely remembers it.

You let out a happy sigh and wrap your arms around his neck, feeling finally sated, at least for the moment. “What are you sorry for, silly baby?”

“Doesn’t it hurt?” He asks, and you look up into his eyes and they’re heterochromatic, now, red hued amber and brown both.

“You’d never hurt me,” you mumble against his throat.

“Never,” he promises. “Never, I love you so much.” 

You’re half asleep, sated with him still inside you, planting soft kisses on your lips and face. You don’t know where you’d learned the word, but it feels right when you say it, right before you drift to sleep.

“I love you too, Alpha.”

It takes a while to understand, especially between Jungkook being barely able to leave his room since he’s in rut and you’re in heat, but eventually, you figure it out.

Your great grandmother had been an omega werewolf, and it’s a recessive gene so you’d been the lucky one to receive it. Since you had never shifted because your gene wasn’t activated by male wolves, you had no smell.

At least, not until the full moon, when you shifted into what Jungkook says is the prettiest wolf he’d ever seen.

After, when you’d near your heat, Jungkook would snap and snarl at the boys so much just for talking to you that it made you roll your eyes, but eventually you got the dates right (for the most part, there’d been one instance in which Jimin had made a snarky comment and Jungkook had lunged at him and they’d gone rolling down the stairs), and you holed up in your apartment, instead.

Jungkook was working with Seokjin to understand that the wolf is him instead of some seperate entity. You tell him you’ve always known that. From what you know now, if the wolf wasn’t, he would have taken you the very first night. True mates are rare, and you’d both known it the whole time, even when you hadn’t.

You and Jia went to every concert, her always telling you her neverending sexcapades with Hoseok to be able to take his knot, front row, waiting for your Alpha’s set. It’s cute, you think, that they call him Baby on stage but he’s your Alpha, especially since he’s both, always, to you.

#jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook x reader #bts imagines #werewolf!jungkook #bts werewolf au #jungkook imagine #bangtanshadowfamily #bangtanheadquarters #btscreatorscorner #btswritersclub

[micahscowgirl]

Bite Me ~ Chapter 6

Micah Bell x f!reader

Rating: Explicit (18+)

Warnings: SMUT (finally), cussing, biting kink (w/blood)

Word Count: 2550

Wow. This just happened.

Chapter 6

“What’s taking you so damn long?” 

“Quit yappin’,” you sternly bite back at Micah through the curtain. “I’m not even done trying everything on”

Micah has brought you to the tailor shop in Valentine to pick out some new clothes. You have a small pile of garments sitting on the bench and floor next to you. You wouldn’t admit to Micah, but you have already tried everything on, but are debating between a few options. 

After trying on a very different combinations of tops and pants, you finally settled on a grey, long-sleeved button up, a leather jacket, and black riding pants. You pull the curtain back and do a quick little model for Micah, fully aware of the flattering fit of the pants. 

“So, what do you think?”

“My, my,” He starts, “who’re you trying to impress, doll?” 

You shoot him a quick glance before returning to collect the clothes you didn’t want. “A lady’s got to make herself presentable, don’t you agree?”

When you turn your head towards him again, you notice him biting his bottom lip while admiring you. His hat was tilted in front of his eyes, so he didn’t realize you caught him. The sight gave you butterflies and you felt yourself throb slightly. You quickly push any thoughts that might have been making their way into your head away.

“So, uh, what do you normally do whenever the camp moves without you?” you try to make conversation.

“Well, it’s definitely not as simple as asking around. Hey Mister!” He begins to mock towards an imaginary man. “Can I bother you with a question? You see, I’ve lost my crew, most of whom have a huge criminal bounty, you wouldn’t happen to know where they headed off to, do ya now?”

This puts a grin on your face, “Well, well, Mister Bell, I never would’ve pegged you for the comedic type.”

He smiles, “Well, doll, I don’t show that side to many people.” When he makes eye contact with you, he turns away and clears his throat, “Ahem, anyway we should, uh, probably be off now.”

He pays the shopkeeper for your clothes, and walks out of the shop, leaving you to finish folding the clothes. You know you should be upset, but you’re not. You can’t help but feel sorry for him. 

I wonder why he conceals himself so much. And what makes me different from everyone else?

~~~~~~

Micah had tracked the wagon trail tp the train tracks before turning towards town that morning, so that’s where you returned to. It was a silent ride, so all you had were your thoughts. No matter how many times you tried not to, you couldn’t stop thinking of the way he looked at you in the shop. What was he thinking about? Was he simply admiring you? Or was he imagining all the things he would do to you, given the chance? 

“You ain’t falling asleep back there, are you?” He startles you out of your thoughts. Without realizing it, you had slowly started to lean onto his back, like you had slept the night before.

“Oh, uh, sorry. I was just, uh, lost in thought.” you stutter, trying to not make anything obvious.

“Oh? What were you thinking about, doll?”

Oh my God, does he know? He couldn’t know, right? Or--

“Micah? Is that you?” someone calls from up ahead. 

“Yeah, me and Y/N.”

Bill steps from behind a tree, “Camp’s right up ahead.” he says to Micah. As y’all pass him, he nods to you. “Glad you made it back safe.” After some distance is made, Micah scoffs.

“Figures.” He says.

“What?”

“They’re only glad you made it back.”

Without knowing what to say, the trot towards the camp is a silent one.

Once you arrive at camp, you begin to notice the same reaction from everyone.

“Y/N, you made it!” Arthur walks up to the horse. Micah hops off, and knowing you’re still sore from the night before turns to help you, but not before Arthur beats him to it. “Dutch was so worried about you after he sent you off to Strawberry.” You accept his help and Micah turns and walks away stubbornly off into the trees.

“I ran into some trouble up that way, thankfully Micah was there to save me,” you say, giving him the credit. Even so, it was brushed away.

“Let’s get you something to eat.” Mary-Beth chimes in, taking you by the arm and pulling you away. “Charles and Hosea said they’d hitch your tent if you made it back today.” You turn your head and get one more glimpse of Micah before he is erased by the trees. I wouldn’t be back if it wasn’t for him.

~~~~~~

The afternoon is full of celebration led by Dutch. You can’t help but feel that this is his way of hiding that he did choose to move without waiting for you or sending anyone to find you. If it wasn’t for Micah, you’d be dead or even worse. “You’re going to be my little whore.” The voice of the O'Driscol echoes in your head. 

Even though your sitting in front of a warm fire and everyone is singing and laughing, you can’t help but feel cold and sad. Micah hasn’t come back since he walked off earlier. He’s the one who saved your life and no one batted an eye for it. 

When no one is paying attention, you stand and sneak your way to behind the tents. You make your way over to the horses and Baylock is still there. For the first time all night, you felt a small smile sneak it’s way onto your face. Micah must still be here somewhere.

“Y/N,” you jump and turn to see Arthur walking towards you. “What are you doing over here? You missing all the fun!” Arthur isn’t a heavy drinker, but you can tell he’s a little more than tipsy. 

“I just needed a moment from the crowd.” You say, trying to hint at him to leave. With no prevail, you continue. “I was just going to take a small walk by myself.”

“Well, I can keep you comp’ny!” he slurs. 

Dammit, Arthur.

You have an idea. “You know, Arthur, I think Mary-Beth has quite the thing for you.” He looks intrigued. “And, coming from a women’s perspective, a nice cool night like this is quite the romantic setting. I think you could make a pretty good move tonight.” You wink. 

“You really think so?” he ponders the idea. “If you think I have a chance, maybe I’ll go for it!”

You gentle grab his arm and turn him to face the camp. “Go get’em, cowboy.” 

You sigh as he makes his way back to the camp, now to find Micah.

~~~~~~

You had made your way into the trees. Thankfully, the moon was bright tonight and you could see under the shade of the trees. Finding him shouldn’t be a problem. Your confidence grew thin the longer you looked, though. You were about to give up when you saw a small wisp of smoke glow from behind a tree. The pine needles beneath your feet made it hard for him to hear you, so you speak softly as to not startle him.

“Micah, is that you?” 

“Yeah, it’s me.”

You approach the tree he is leaning on and turn to face him. He is sitting on the ground and his head is tilted so you can’t see his eyes. You want nothing more than to see them and get lost in their deep blue color.

“What’re you doing way out here?” You know the answer, but you needed something to say.

“Same thing I always do, sweetheart. Avoiding those who despise me, which unfortunately seems to be everyone at the moment.”

After a small pause, you say, “I don’t despise you.”

He takes a long draw from his cigarette before he looks up. “And why is that? What do you see in me? ‘Cause there ain’t nothing here worth giving two shits about.”

You can’t think of anything to say that won’t set him off. You can tell he’s right on the edge of snapping.

He sighs, “That’s what I thought, there ain’t--” He stops when he sees you walking towards him.

You move so your standing over him, one foot on either side of his legs. He flicks away his cigarette and slowly runs his hands softly up your legs. Once he reached your thighs, you lower yourself to straddle him. Your heart is pounding, but you don’t want to let him see how nervous you really are. 

One of his hands stops on your hip, while the other one continues. He runs his fingers up your arm, following them with his eyes. They brush over your shoulder, onto your neck, and down your jaw. He finally makes eye-contact with you making you shiver. 

“Now what do you think you’re up to, doll.” 

You don’t respond with words. Instead, you place your hands on his chest, grab the fabric of his shirt, and lean in to kiss him. You pull away, stopping only a few inches back, just so you can look into his eyes. 

He moves one hand around your waist and the other gets lost in your hair as he pulls you in to a much deeper kiss. As his tongue enters you mouth, you begin to feel yourself throb. You’ve been hoping for this for so long and it’s finally happening. Your heart beats faster as you begin to grind against him slowly but rough.

He pulls himself away from the kiss. “Are you sure you want this? With me?”

You reach down to start undoing the buttons on your shirt. “I want this. I want you, Micah.”

You pull off your shirt and your battered undershirt, revealing your breasts. He glances at you approval before he grabs them. He leans back in to kiss you. As he moves his hands to hold your waist again, he grazes your nipple, causing you to moan into the kiss. That must’ve been what did it for him because he grabs tightly onto your hips. 

“If you want me, your gonna need to loose these,” He runs his fingers down your pants. Before you can respond, his thumb has reached down the the seam right in-between your legs. You didn’t realize how wet you had became until he started to apply pressure. You let out a small moan again. You were so sensitive from anticipation for the moment, you could hardly stand it.

He begins to rub more as he leans in to start sucking on your neck. It’s becoming too much for you; you want him so bad. You reach down, moving your hand past his to grab onto his bulge through his pants. When you do this, he bites down onto the spot he had just made on your neck, causing you to whimper. All at once, he removes his mouth from your neck and his hand from your pants. You let out a sigh, missing the sensation. 

He starts to undo his belt. Taking that as a sign, you stand to remove your pants and panties. Wasting no time, you straddle him again. 

“This is your last chance, doll, you sure you want this. I can’t promise I’ll be gentle.”

“Yes, Micah, please. I’ve been wanting this for so long.”

He smiles as he moves his hand back down, starting to run small circles or your clit. “Trust me, princess, I’ve been wanting this too.”

You lean in to kiss him again, trying to silence your moans. He slowly begins to move two fingers to enter you. You can’t hold back the whimpers escaping your throat; you crave him so much.

He continues to rub your clit with his thumb as the two fingers curl inside of you.

“P-please, Micah, I can’t take it. I want you.”

As much as he was trying to hold back as long as he could, your begs pushed him over once again. He reaches into his pants and pulls out his dick. 

“Look at me,” He says. You do as you’re told. You bite your lip as he rubs his member over your clit and entrance, wetting himself with your slick. All at once, he shoves himself into you, causing you to let out a loud moan. He reaches up and covers your mouth.

“Shhh. You don’t want the whole camp coming over here and interrupting us, do you, doll?” He hisses. You shake your head, his hand holding back muffled whimpers as you get use to his size. Once you’re quiet, he moves his hand away. “Good girl.” 

He grabs onto your hips tightly, his thumbs digging into them hard. He lifts you and slams you back onto him. Another moan tries to escape you. “I’m not going to continue until I know you can be quiet, babe.” he teases. You pout your lips at him. He smiles and tilts his head, exposing his neck from underneath his hair. You look at his neck then back at him. He grins.

“Bite me.” he says in a deep tone that you can feel in your chest, causing you to shiver and tighten on his cock that’s deep inside you. “Well?” he smirks.

You put your arms on his shoulders and place your lips on his neck. You can’t imagine actually biting him, that would hurt too much, right?

He starts to slowly lift you and thrust into you. You wants to moan so badly, but you know he’ll only stop again. You keep your lips shut tightly, keeping them pressed up against him.

He begins to thrust harder, grinding your clit against him every time. It’s too much and you open your mouth to moan, but instead bite down onto his neck. You hear him snarl and feel a growl in his throat. He speeds up, lifting you high enough each time to take in his whole shaft. He pounds into you, you feel your clit start to throb more and more and your insides tighten. 

You start to taste the metallic flavor of blood right as you tip over the edge. You can’t help it, you pull away from him to arch your back and ride through your climax. The feeling keeps getting better and better. You sense he’s lifting you lower as his arms grow tired. You begin to lift yourself, riding him until he’s finished. You feel his cock grow stiffer and begin to throb as he’s about to come.

He reaches up and grabs your hair, pulling you forward into a sloppy kiss. He reaches down and grabs your hips a final time to slam into you as hard as he can. He let’s out a deep moan through gritted teeth and he finishes, filling you up. This causes you to let out one final moan before you fall onto his chest.

“God-dammit, Y/N.” He pushes you up so he can look at you. “What the hell got into you?” 

You smile, too exhausted for words. You lean forward and lick the small drops of blood from his neck.

“You wouldn’t happen to have enough space in that tent of yours for one more, would you?” he says. He leans forward to leave a small trail of kisses up your neck and across you jaw.

“Hmm, I think I can make some room.”

#wow #micah bell #micah bell smut #smut #yummy #rdr2 #Red Dead Redemption #it's about time #yay

[timelesslords]

Cheater, Cheater

This is for @halfbloodcarrie who has gifted me beautiful works of art that you should go read instead of this absolute nonsense I wrote her in return ❤️ I’ll get you back for real soon but take this as recompense in the meantime 😌

Read on AO3

“You know what, if there’s something you wanna confess, why don’t you get it off your chest now.”

Percy had hardly ever seen his girlfriend this angry. At least, hardly ever seen her this angry at him. Those grey eyes were scary like this, bright and stormy as a thundercloud. Percy felt a wave of unshakable dread wash over him, but he knew he just had to get it over with. He’d fucked up, and now he just had to man up and tell her the truth.

That was easier said than done, what with her piercing gaze tearing his resolve to bits, but somehow he managed to find his voice anyway.

“Fine,” Percy said, the words sticking on his tongue, “I cheated.”

For a brief second, Annabeth just stared. Then—

“You what?” she asked, voice cold, each word clipped. Percy winced. He’d known her reaction was going to be bad, but hearing it out loud was so much more awful than imagining her reaction in his head.

“I cheated,” he said again. The words came easier this time, but not very much so. Annabeth stared at him, unblinking.

“You cheated,” she repeated.

“Yes,” he said, swallowing uncomfortably. His mouth was suddenly very dry.

He saw Annabeth take one unsteady breath, then two. She was mad, really mad, and he knew he deserved it but it hurt to see anyway— hurt to see how much she was hurt by the whole thing. That was the worst part of it all, not the anger directed towards him, but the guilt at how upset he’d made her.

“What happened?” she asked, voice still stiff and unyielding. Percy sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

“I don’t know, I’d had a drink and I was feeling bad and I just— I don’t even know why I did it, it just happened.”

“Cheating doesn’t just happen, Percy!” she snapped, anger finally flowing into her voice, the dam broken. Percy felt a little of his own irritation break through his carefully prepared exterior. He was in the wrong, he knew that, but still— she couldn’t be that mad.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? It was a mistake.”

“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you,” Annabeth muttered, turning away from him.

“Annabeth, please—“

“No, just— gods just shut up. I can’t even look at you right now.”

“Annabeth, come on,” Percy sighed.

“No! You cheated!”

“Are you serious? I stole five hundred dollars from the Monopoly bank and you’re acting like I had an affair!” Percy exclaimed, unable to take it anymore.

“Yeah, because you used the extra five hundred dollars to buy Park Place and ruin my strategy!” she yelled, whirling back around. Her hands were curled into fists by her side.

“It’s Monopoly! Everybody cheats!” Percy yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

“Nobody cheats at Monopoly!” Annabeth yelled back.

“Oh, so you don’t play banker every round so you can skim a few hundreds off the top?” Percy accused, knowing it was completely unfounded. It’s what everyone but Annabeth would do if they ever got the chance to play as banker, which, of course, they never did.

And, okay, maybe Frank and Jason wouldn’t loot the bank either, but every single other person present at game night definitely would.

“No! It’s so I can keep track of the money and make sure cheaters like you—“ at this, she pointed a very deliberate finger at his chest, “Don’t get away with stealing!”

“Well clearly that plan was a bust,” Percy muttered, not really meaning to. Annabeth glared at him. He maybe deserved that, just a little.

“When did you even do it?” she asked. She wasn’t shouting anymore, at least, but her voice hadn’t lost that cold quality.

“When Frank showed up,” Percy admitted. It had been the perfect crime— everyone had been so distracted by his arrival, and subsequently the arrival of the pizza he’d picked up along the way, that nobody had noticed Percy stealing a couple of bills from the bank.

It was lame, pathetic, really, to resort to stealing to not even win Monopoly at a game night among friends. But Percy had been a little tipsy, and, well, it had been a little too easy.

Annabeth still hadn’t said anything.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? It was lame of me. I was just losing really bad and I wanted to stay in the game.”

“It was lame of you,” Annabeth agreed, folding her arms over her chest. If Percy wasn’t mistaken, her eyes were a little watery.

“Aw hell, are you crying?”

“No,” Annabeth said, with a very unconvincing sniffle.

“I’m really sorry, Beth. Really.”

He really was. If he’d known just how upset it would make her, he never would have done it. Percy hadn’t even thought it was a significant enough move to keep him in the game more than a few more turns, but a few lucky rolls on top of that had made his deception a bit more nefarious than he’d intended.

“I hate losing,” Annabeth said, finally.

“I know.”

“I would’ve won if you hadn’t done that.”

“I know,” he agreed.

“I hate you a little right now.”

“I know.”

She sniffled again, making less of an effort to hide it. Percy couldn’t stand the distance between them anymore. He stepped forward, opening his arms in invitation. She slid into them easily, burying her head in his chest.

“I still hate you,” she repeated, voice slightly muffled by his shirt.

“I still love you, and I’m very very sorry.”

“You have to tell everyone that you cheated.”

“I’ll send an official confession to the group chat,” Percy promised.

“I’m going to absolutely demolish you next week,” Annabeth mumbled into his chest. Percy couldn’t hold back his laugh at that, even if she glared at him for it. If he wasn’t mistaken, she was holding back the smallest of grins as she did. He felt her relax underneath him, her anger slowly ebbing away.

“I look forward to losing fair and square,” he said.

“You’d better,” Annabeth said, settling herself into Percy’s chest once more, “Next time I won’t be so nice about it.”

Percy laughed, and he could feel her laughter too, just a little.

“I expect nothing less.”

#percabeth #percy jackson #IT'S NOT AS BAD AS IT SEEMS I PROMISE #pjo #percabeth fic #annabeth chase #pjo fic #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo oneshot #percabeth fluff #percabeth angst

[drarrily-we-row-along]

Day 27: Home

"He's got to be somewhere!" Harry all but shouted at the bloody incompetent people milling uselessly around him. What was the point of all of these people if they couldn't even do their jobs?

"Sir," one of the junior aurors said, "We're doing the best we can, but-"

"Do better,” he exploded.

Ron gripped his forearm and led him off to the side of the room. "Listen to me," his best friend said, "I know that you are worried and I know that you are chomping at the bit for us to figure this out, but we cannot work any faster."

"We have to," Harry said. "We have to work faster because every moment that we spend in here, is another moment that he is out there with that psychopath and I don't have to tell you how vicious Marcus is."

The horrific images of the bodies they'd found a few days ago flashed to the front of his mind but instead of being the strangers bodies naked and covered in cuts and bruises, it was Draco's body. The well-loved, all but worshiped body of the man that Harry was desperately in love with. And Draco didn't even know, he'd never even told him. He shook his head, biting back the urge to vomit, trying to keep the panic to a dull roar. "We have to find him."

"I know," Ron murmured, putting a warm, steady hand on his shoulder. "I know and we are doing everything, we have everyone on this. The moment anyone finds anything they'll let-"

"Sir!" Darcy called, dashing into the room, "I think we've got him."

(Read more below the cut)

"Give me the coordinates," Harry said, reaching for the paper in her hands.

"You can't just go in there," Ron protested, trying to snatch the paper away from Harry, "we need a plan of attack, we need to figure out how to coordinate our people."

"Yes," Harry agreed. "You're in charge of that and you can meet me there. I'm sure I'll need the back up."

"Harry, don't-"

But it was too late, obviously, as if Ron could have ever expected him to stay, as if there was anything on this earth that could have kept him from Draco.

Harry wasn't especially good with blind apparation, but he knew the instant he arrived that this was definitely the spot. The air around him when he landed felt tainted and dark, sparking with evil that touched the depth of Harry's soul and set the hairs on the back of his neck on end. A cabin sat just at the other side of the clearing, smoke rising from the chimney.

Casting a silent spell that would show any hidden wards and traps, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak, enlarged it to it's normal size, covered himself, and set off across the clearing, deftly avoiding any of the places that quivered gold from his magic.

His heart hammered against his ribs, so loud that he feared it would give him away the moment he got into the house. He crept to the window and peered inside, Draco sat slumped in a chair near the fire place. His long blond hair was dirty and Harry got the sickening feeling that some of the darkness was where blood had dried. Bruises and abrasions mottled his pale skin, covering his face and neck, and undoubtedly places that Harry couldn't see.

The only relief was that he was obviously still breathing, labored though it appeared to be.

Marcus was no where in sight.

He cast several spells that Bill had taught him one summer when he was considering becoming a curse breaker and the ward fell apart around the window, leaving him a space to crawl through.

No sooner was he through the window when that tickle of awareness prickled up his spine, he spun and cast, "Expelliarmus," before he'd even fully realized why. A wand clattered to the ground and he cast, "Petrificus Totalus, incacerous," in rapid succession and Marcus hit the ground wrapped in ropes. Harry yanked his cloak off and glared at the man on the floor, "Give me one reason," he growled at Marcus, "One reason and I will fucking end you."

When the man made no attempt to move, he rushed over to Draco, "Draco," he murmured, "Draco," he repeated, carefully brushing his fingers over the other man's swollen, bruised cheek.

His silver eyes flickered open and he flinched away from Harry's hand.

"Oh, love," he managed, his throat tight around the words. "I'm here, you're safe."

Draco's eyes widened when he realized it was Harry, a tear slipping down his cheek.

"Okay," he breathed, "We have to get out of-" he began but the door behind him was blasted open and he cast a hasty "protego" preparing to fight off whomever had just come barreling through.

"I cannot fucking believe you," Ron hissed as he stomped in.

"Is the perimeter cleared?" Harry asked as he turned back to Draco, far more at ease now that Ron was there guarding his back.

"No it is not," Ron replied. "I broke a million protocols to get here while everyone else is working their way in-"

Harry stopped listening as he took the gag off of Draco. "Are you alright?"

Draco nodded weakly, "I'll be fine," he assured him.

He untied him quickly and efficiently and then helped him to stand before pulling him into his arms.

"Harry," the other man gasped, "We shouldn't. Everyone can see-"

"Let them," he whispered, tears stinging the back of his eyes as he held the other man, "Godric, Draco," he rasped, "I was so bloody worried about you."

He pulled back minutely and cupped the other man's cheek, brushing a finger over his bruised cheekbone. "He hurt you," he said, "We need to get you to St. Mungo's, get you checked out."

"It's superficial," he said, shaking his head, "I can heal them myself. Just," he swallowed, "Can we go home?"

"Ron?" Harry called.

"Yeah?" the other man replied.

Harry turned his head, but kept Draco in his arms, "I'm leaving. I'll owl you with a report of what happened prior to the team's arrival."

"Harry," Ron said, lowering his voice and stepping closer, "You're going to be in a lot of hot water about this."

"I don't care," Harry said.

"I mean all of it, going rogue, coming here without any plan, without back up, leaving now will be the least of your worries."

"You're right," Harry replied. "But I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. What are they going to do? Fire me?" He rolled his eyes, "They'd be doing me a favor."

Ron shook his head, "Go on, then."

"Thanks," Harry said, nodding once at Ron before he turned to Draco, "Ready?" he asked, "I'm going to apparate us."

Draco nodded and Harry focused on Draco's living room, even though his own sofa and fireplace beckoned him, before he apparated them out of there.

When they landed, Draco looked around, looking a bit crestfallen, "This is my flat," he said.

"Yeah, you said home?" Harry replied. "Oh, did you mean the Manor? I can take you there-" Harry started even as it made his heart ache, he knew he wouldn't be welcome to stay there.

"No," the other man interrupted, shaking his head for emphasis and wincing a bit at the motion, "I was rather hoping we might go to your home?" he asked uncertainly. "I feel safer there," he added, a little hitch in his voice.

"Yes," Harry said. "Yes," he managed again because his heart was racing and soaring all at once and he wasn't sure what else he could possibly say.

He apparated them into his home and stroked Draco's hair back from his face, "You're sure we shouldn't go to St. Mungos?"

Draco nodded, "I'll be fine. I've left a kit here with some potions and such since you're always injuring yourself," he added with a pained smile. "I'm just going to use the restroom so I have a mirror."

Harry nodded, "I'll light the fire. Are you hungry?"

"A bit."

"I'll heat up some stew," Harry said, "I could make a batch of the biscuits you like?"

Draco nodded, "That would be nice."

"Draco," Harry called once the other man started limping to the bathroom.

"Yes?"

Harry crossed the distance between them, cupped his face and gently, so very gently, pressed his lips to Draco's.

Draco pulled back, "I'm covered in blood."

"I don't care," Harry whispered, brushing his lips over Draco's once more. "Call me if you need help, yes?"

He nodded and started toward the bathroom.

After starting the fire and making them food, Harry went to get a pair of sweatpants (the grey ones that Draco always stole when he stayed over for breakfast) and a tshirt (one from when Harry was training to be an auror that was worn and faded, Draco always borrowed it when they went out flying) and wandered to the bathroom. He knocked once before opening the door to find Draco sitting on the closed toilet lid with his head in his hands.

"Oh," Harry murmured, moving to kneel at Draco's feet.

"Sorry," the other man said, wiping at his eyes, "Circe I'm sorry, every time I look at myself in the mirror I lose it."

"Okay," Harry murmured, "It's okay. Let me help."

"I fixed my rib already," Draco said, "Episkey ought to do the trick for the rest."

With as much care as he could muster, Harry tenderly healed all of the wounds on Draco's body. He was covered in gashes, and scrapes, and bruises and Harry ached with all of the words that stuck in his throat, with everything that had remained so desperately unsaid.

After he finished healing him, Harry drew the other man a bath and filled it with the lilac soap that always left Draco smiling and pressing his nose to Harry's skin to smell it. Draco reached out a hand for the flannel but Harry whispered, "Let me?" and the other man nodded.

He cleaned his body of all of the dirt, the grime, the blood; washing every inch of him until there was no trace of the horror the other man had endured. Then he moved to his hair; he carefully washed, conditioned, and detangled his hair before helping the other man out and drying him with equal care and diligence, and helping him into the clothes he'd brought in.

"Sit for a minute?" he asked, gesturing to the toilet seat and the other man obliged him without a word. He carefully brushed his hair and then braided it the way Draco so often did before bed, starting at the crown of his head and drawing in section after section, braiding all the way down to the middle of his back.

"All done," he whispered when he finished, pressing a kiss to the top of Draco's head.

"Thank you," the other man murmured, reaching back to cover Harry's hand where it rested on his shoulder.

And all of the things that had been scratching at Harry's throat, trying to claw their way out at once and stuck there now, "I'm so sorry," he managed, "Godric, Draco, I'm sorry." Tears welled up, prickly and hot at the back of his eyes.

"Hey," Draco said softly, clearly recognizing that Harry was about to break. He turned so he was facing Harry and grabbed his hand, "This isn't your fault."

Harry shook his head, "It's always my fault. Everyone that I love-" he broke off abruptly realizing what he'd just confessed.

"You," Draco started, brows furrowing, "You love me?"

He nodded miserably, "And I should have told you before now. You're going to think it's just the trauma, but Draco I should have told you every day for the past year," he added. "All I could think today was that I was going to be too late and I'd never be able to tell you how I really feel. Because I am completely gone on you Draco Malfoy and I wanted you to know."

A smile tugged at the corner of the other man's lips, "I love you, too, Harry Potter."

"Yeah?" he whispered.

Draco nodded.

"Will you stay? Here?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Draco replied.

"But like, forever?" he asked.

"I'd like nothing better," Draco affirmed, smiling as he leaned up and pressed a kiss to Harry's lips.

Harry kissed him back for a long moment, letting the kiss assure him that Draco was going to be okay, that he was here with him, and he wasn't going anywhere. He rested his forehead against Draco's and said, "I still have so many things I need to say."

"They'll keep," Draco replied, stroking a finger lightly over Harry's cheek. "Let's just have dinner and then I really just need you to take me to bed and hold me."

And if they held each other a little tighter than usual that night, there was no one to know but the two of them.

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

Ah!!! Please go and look at the gorgeous art that @pato-roldnart drew for this ficlet. It’s stunning and heart wrenching and I’m so overwhelmed by how amazing it is!! You’re seriously spoiling me!

Day 26: Broken Bone | Day 28: Shopping

Thank you, @atticus-bluejay for the prompt! I hope you enjoyed it!

#100 drarry drabbles in 100 days #drarry #drarry ficlet #drarry drabble #hurt/comfort #bamf harry #auror harry #happy ending #Harry saves the day #boys in love

[hoodharlow]

Callin’ Out My Name

AN: Thank you to @nowherebound and @wastelandcth for giving me and hyping me up for this. Ily both.

Reminder this is NOT part of the quarantine AU, this is before Cal and Claudia dated :)

Requested: Kinda by Gemma and Candy 💕💕💕

Warnings: smut 😏😏😏 brief awkward Cal and Claudia over cuties that are dumb and don't become official

Word Count: 3.5k words

Their Target outing wasn’t planned. Calum had seen on Claudia’s snapchat that she was still in town and that she didn’t go to Rosarito with her friends for spring break. So he worked up the courage to ask her what fabric softener she used. A phone call later, consisting mostly of her laughing at how he pronounced ‘Suavitel’, they jokingly agreed to meet in an hour at the Target that’s half way between his house and her place in Long Beach. 

Calum smiled to himself seeing her emerge out of her car in his grey Santa Cruz hoodie. He had let her borrow it when they went to Roscoe’s and she got cold. She joked about how it was now hers and that he's never going to get it back. He didn't mind that. For all he cared she could take all his clothes. He also didn't mind that she sent him a few pictures in just his clothes. 

Claudia grabbed a shopping cart and followed Calum around. They stopped by the grocery aisle first and filled up on some snacks the guys needed for tomorrow. They were going to reshoot the music video for their song ‘Who Do You Love.’since the editor lost the original video. 

The song received mixed reviews. Some people praised The Chainsmokers for working with 5SOS because they’re pretty much an unproblematic group. But people wondered why 5SOS would work with The Chainsmokers since they don’t have the best track record. Even Claudia was surprised the guys worked with them, but she did like the song, especially Calum’s solo. 

After getting Michael’s vegan cheese crackers, they went to the cleaning aisle. Calum grabbed some puppy trash bags for Duke. They went a little further down and reached the detergent and fabric softener. Claudia posed like Will Smith showing off Jada in front of the Suavitel.

“Tada!” She said happily. 

“You’re such a dork.” Calum teased. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture of her. 

Claudia smiled at him and flipped her hair over her shoulder. She got down to the bottom shelf and dove inside the shelf. The vanilla scented fabric softener was all the way inside the shelf. She used to use the blue one, but recently in the past year it got super waterdown so she just switched to the vanilla one. Her mom uses the yellow one, but she never got the vibe for it. 

Calum was answering a message and when he looked down to Claudia, all he saw was her ass. Her leggings were thin around her ass, making her cheeky panties visible through them. He cleared his throat and tried looking away, but he couldn’t. Him and his left hand were going to have fun when he goes to bed tonight.

She set the gallon-sized bottle in the cart. “Where to next?” She asked him.

“Office supplies?” 

“Oh my god, yes. I need pens.” She nodded enthusiastically. 

She stood on the railing of the bottom basket as Calum pulled the cart. She squealed when he would do a sharp turn, almost knocking her out of the cart.

Calum went to where the journals were while Claudia was getting her pens. When she went back to find him, she saw the good paper she used in stock. She grabbed three packs and followed Calum to the line. 

While she waited in line, she realized that she only had a ten dollar bill. She had left her card and other cash in her purse at him. 

“I’ll be right back. I’m gonna put these back.” Claudia told Calum.

“Why?” He asked, confused. He saw how her face lit up when she was holding her school supplies.

“I only have ten bucks. The pens themselves cost fifteen.” She explained.

“I can buy them for you.”

“Oh my god, no. I can get them later.” 

“It’s fine,” he said, taking her pants and paper. He placed them on the conveyor belt with his groceries. 

“Okay let me just venmo you then.” She said, pulling out her phone from her hoodie. 

“Claudia, they’re just pens and paper.” 

“No, they're the uni-ball 207 Retractable Gel Pen 8-pack and 5-Star college ruled binder paper, Cal.” She explained to him as if that was going to make a difference to him.

“Don’t worry about it.” He said, taking her phone and putting it back in her pocket.

He paid and they were on their way back to their cars. He noticed how she smiled to herself. He placed the things in the back of his car and went back to his side. They both stood awkwardly not wanting their outing to end. 

Claudia stood on her tippy toes and kissed Calum. It took him a second to realize what she was doing, but when he did. He deepened the kiss. He pushed her back against her car and held on to her waist. She moaned into his mouth wanting more of him. 

A siren blared behind them, making them jump. 

“Take it home kids.” the security guard said before rolling away in their gold cart. 

Calum and Claudia giggled. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Calum asked. 

“Yeah, I may or may not have made a chocoflan.” Claudia said, wrapping her arms around him. 

“You’re the best, you know that right?”

“I’ve been told.” 

She got on her tippy toes once more to kiss him, but this time it was a quick peck. After agreeing that he was going to pick her up at seven, she got in her car and drove home.

It felt weird that she was the only one home. Her housemates had gone back home to see their families. Claudia was going to go to Rosarito with her brother and their friend group, but at the last minute she cancelled. Paco was going to go, and she wanted to avoid drama. She knew that after a few cantaritos she was going to say something that she wouldn’t say if she were sober. 

She knew she wasn’t going to miss much. Since they were high school seniors they would go down to Rosarito to party and hang out. One of her friend’s parents owned a beach house so they didn’t worry about going to bars or clubs. They would all just drink there or hang out at the beach. 

She was kinda happy to be home. It gave her a chance to hang out with Calum before he left for New York. 

She still couldn’t believe he bought her pens and paper. And the good brands at that. She didn’t even use them when she was on campus because she knew if she let someone borrow her pens, she’s not going to get them back. So she always carries the BIC ones in her backpack. 

When she got to her room she took off his hoodie and her bralette. She opened up the pen back and sat on her desk chair. She fixed the lighting around her desk, making sure it got her good side. She pulled out her phone and angled herself so Calum got a good shot of her breasts. She used one of the pens to hide her nipple, since the other was covered by her hair. She took a few with other pens and sent them to him, thanking him for the pens and paper. 

She threw her phone and herself into her bed and squealed into her pillow. She knew she was being bold, but she didn’t care. She was just giving him a taste of what he'd be getting if they were an official couple. 

Claudia propped herself against her pillows and let her mind wonder. She played with her breasts a little, squeezing them, gently pulling her nipples. After she teased herself a bit, her hands wandered down her body until they reached her panties. She slipped them off and rubbed herself. 

She imagined Calum was the one touching her. Her mind went back to Valentine’s Day when Calum spent the night. Her fingers imitated the way Calum took her. It felt good, but her fingers couldn’t compare to his. 

She immediately moaned out for him as she got closer to climax. She pulled her fingers out and reached for her vibrator. She set it to the lowest setting and slid her fingers inside once more. She whimpered and cried his name when she came. She increased the speed and rubbed it all over her. her moans and whimpers got louder. 

Once her high faded, she turned off her vibrator and went to sleep.

***

Calum's leg bounced and the tea he drank was not calming him down. He was in the middle of getting himself off when he got Claudia's messages and accidental phone call. The only thing on his mind were her moans and whimpers. That was a lie, he ended up writing a few lines for a song that has been in his mind. So along with her moans and whimpers, the words 'I hear you callin' out my name, I love the sound, I love the taste,' were stuck in his head.

Nonetheless, he couldn't look her in the eye when he picked her up. Nor engage in the small talk. It also didn't help that she wore a sundress with a slit, giving him a good view of her new tattoo. Well he couldn't really decipher it, but he knew she got a new tattoo. The few times he was lucky enough to be in between her thighs, he never saw a tattoo in that area. 

"Is this for me?" She asked, breaking the silence. She pointed at the matcha latte he had also bought. 

"Yeah,"  he nodded. 

"Thanks." she smiled at him. 

Claudia took the drink and sipped it. She sighed and pulled out her phone. She played Tetris, annoyed with Calum. She didn't get it. Yesterday was great and now he was avoiding her. He didn't even mention her pictures. It made her feel slightly embarrassed. Did she cross the line? Did she seem desperate to him? Was she doing too much? Those were questions she needed to be answered, or she was going to go into a downward spiral where she would end up embarrassing herself. 

Calum parked next to Michael's car and got out. He opened the back and grabbed the bags from yesterday. Claudia followed him with a box of White Claws. Everyone shared a look seeing the couple that's not a couple but is a couple showing up together. More because they didn't know Calum was bringing Claudia. 

KayKay pulled Claudia into a hug and guided her to the couch. They made small talk while the guys got ready. 

Claudia watched as the makeup artist flirted with Calum. She felt slightly uncomfortable so she walked out to the bathroom. 

Calum followed her through the mirror and frowned. 

"I'm gonna need you to take off your shirt so I can get your neck and chest." the make-up artist told him. 

He knew that tone and it took everything in him not to roll his eyes. One thing he hated was when people acted unprofessional. It's like they all thought that all bands hooked up with everyone with legs. 

He huffed and took off his t-shirt. 

"Fuck, Claudia got you good." KayKay teased. 

Calum flipped her off, making her laugh. He knew she wasn't wrong. Their little makeout session last night got hot and heavy. He did even notice until he woke up. Luckily with seeing all of his hickies, the makeup artist stopped their flirting and did their job. 

Calum got out to use the bathroom. Outside the bathroom he heard Alex and Drew talking.

"If she showed up with him then maybe they are a thing." Alex reasoned.

"I asked Luke and he said they're not dating." Drew argued back. 

"But they can still be a thing."

"Whatever."

Calum heard their steps fade away. He got out of the stall and washed his hands. He went back to the dressing room and frowned when he found Drew talking to Claudia. He walked over to them and pushed himself in between them. 

"Hi," Claudia smiled at him. She pushed herself onto him and intertwined their fingers together. "Can we go to your car? I think I left my portable charger there."

"Yeah." He nodded. 

He patted Drew's shoulder as they walked past him. He whispered into Ashton's ear that they'll be back in time for him to record. It earned them a chuckle and condom from Ashton. 

Calum watched Claudia climb in the backseat, making him confused. She didn't put anything in the backseat. So he followed suit. 

"Thanks for butting in back there." Claudia said quietly. 

"You're welcome. I overheard him and Alex talk while I was taking a piss. I had to."

"You'd think he'd remember his ex's little cousin." 

"What?" 

"Yeah. He briefly dated my cousin Vanessa back in 2016. She was going to be in the Closer music video and everything. But she dumped him." 

"Shit."

"I know. It's also one of the reasons why I don't like them." She giggled. 

Claudia felt Calum's eyes on her so she not so subtly stretched her legs, showing off her tattoo and the lack of panties. 

"When did you get your tattoo?" He asked. 

"Oh, this?" She answered, feigning innocence. She opened the slit more and jutted her hips to him, so she basically straddled his leg. "A few days after Valentine's Day."

"May I?"

"Go for it."

Calum traced her tattoo with his index finger. It was a simple tattoo of the sun and moon with arrows and stars vertically aligned. But on her it was breathtaking. 

Claudia sat on his thigh and wrapped her arms around him. She pulled him into a kiss. They kissed slowly as if Calum wasn't supposed to be out on set in twenty minutes. She pushed him back into the door and motioned him to take off his shirt. 

Calum hesitated. This not where he wanted them to have sex for the first time. It was going to be her first time and he didn't want her to think back to this time and cringe. 

"We're not having sex." He said, gently pushing her away. 

"Okay." Claudia scoffed.

She laughed nervously. She adjusted the strap of her dress. She climbed off his lap, frustrated. She felt rejected. She wasn't planning on having sex with him and the fact that he thought of it and pushed her away, made her feel embarrassed. 

"I'm going back to the dressing room." she said. She got out of the car and slammed the door shut. 

"Wait, Claudia." Calum called after her, but the director called him and the rest. 

He just hoped that he didn't fuck up his chance with her. 

***

"We're going." Ashton yelled to Calum. 

After filming the music video, the guys, KayKay and Claudia all went back to Calum's house for a barbecue. Calum knew he fucked up when Claudia asked Ashton to ride with him while she went with KayKay. The whole time they avoided each other until now where it was just the two of them and Duke. 

When Calum came back he found Claudia in the kitchen washing dishes. 

"I can wash them." He said getting her attention. 

"It's fine, I just have a few left." She said, not turning back to him. 

Calum grabbed a towel and dried the dishes. Five minutes later they finished. 

"I'm going to order an Uber." She said softly. 

"I can give you a ride home."

"Why did you say that we weren't going to have sex?" She asked him, ignoring his offer. "I felt so humiliated."

"I didn't want your first time in the back seat of my car." 

"Well it's not your place to decide. It's mine. For the record I was just gonna give you a blowjob." Claudia stomped away to the living room to get her portable charger. 

Calum followed her, frowning. "I kinda have a say where I have sex too. You're not fucking yourself. Well last night you were, but in the car—"

"How did you know what I was doing last night?"

"You buttdailed me."

"Oh god," 

Claudia squatted down, embarrassed, and covered her face. She cried. She couldn't do anything right with Calum. For once she wants her almost sex encounters with him not end with her crying. He sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her. She buried her face into his chest as she cried. 

"If it makes you feel better, it was pretty hot. Especially after seeing those pictures." he said, not sure how to stop her from crying. 

Claudia stopped crying. She pulled away and looked at him. "Really?"

"Honest. That's why I was so nervous when I picked you up."

"That's nice to hear." She said quietly, earning a chuckle from him.

Calum laid down and pulled Claudia next to him. They laid together in silence, enjoying each other's presence. She wedged her leg between his and draped her arm over his tummy. He gently rubbed her thigh, slowly inching his hand to where she wanted him. He slid his hand back to her knee. He did it once more, but this time she pushed his hand higher up. 

"Please," Claudia begged. She opened up legs, giving him enough room to do what he wanted. 

Calum picked her up and carried her to the couch. He sat down and pulled her to his lap. He spread their legs so his hand could have better access to her. He groaned, feeling how ready she was for him. 

"Forgot you weren't wearing panties." he said. 

"I was going to wear a lace teddy, but this dress was backless." she explained. 

"I'm not complaining."

Calum kissed her shoulder, pushing down the thin straps down her shoulders. He did the same to the other and toyed with her breasts through her dress. His pants tightened, hearing her moan. He continued touching her, making her whine whenever he briefly touched her core. 

"All day, I thought about slipping my fingers in you whilst you sat on my lap." Calum whispered. His hand once more made its way up to her core. "No one would notice my fingers—"

Claudia gasped feeling his ring and middle finger inside of her. 

"Inside of you."

She clung to the blue and gold sleeve of his jacket. After they filmed the music video, they left in their clothes. Claudia didn't mind. To her he looked like a prince. 

Calum pressed his thumb to her clit and sped up his fingers. Claudia whined and placed her head on his shoulder. But he gently held her up by her neck. 

"Eyes on me, pretty girl." He said. 

“Shit—Calum!” She whimpered. 

She gripped his hand as she came. Once her high faded, Calum let go and let her lean into him. He slipped his fingers out of her and licked them clean, moaning at how delicious she tasted. 

After a few minutes, Claudia got off his lap and got down on the floor to her knees. She took advantage that Calum was spread out and situated herself in between his legs. She tied her hair into a bun and leaned forward. She tugged his shirt, so he could take a hint. 

He shedded off his jacket and shirt. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"I know."

Claudia pushed down the top part of her dress, exposing her breasts to him. She leaned forward and tugged his belt open. She popped the buttons of his pants, pulling them down along with his boxers. She licked her hand before slowly jerking him off. She kissed his tip and slipped him as far she could take him. 

Her eyes never left Calum’s as she took him deeper in her mouth. He cursed loudly, encouraging her to keep going. His stomach began to contract, letting Claudia know that he was close. Slowly, she pulled him out of her mouth until only his tip rested on her tongue. She widened her eyes, making her look more innocent as she stroked him. She took him back in her mouth, bobbing her head, just as he began to come. When finished, she sat back on her knees and closed her eyes. She felt Calum’s hand on her cheek. His thumb slowly ran over her bottom lip. 

"You know, you're the only one who makes me cum. Especially when you use that ungodly mouth of yours." He panted. 

His eyes widened, he had come to a realization. He pulled up his pants and quickly went to his piano. He opened his journal and jotted down 'you're the only one who makes me, every time we' on the page where he wrote a few lines yesterday. At the top of the page he wrote 'WILDFLOWER' in capital letters and underlined the word three times as a way for him to remember that's the title. 

He looked back at Claudia and found her sleeping covered in his jacket. He smiled to himself. People find their muses, but he found his wildflower.

Taglist: @suchalonelysunflower @f-mu @another-lonely-heart ​ @sunshinebabycal-deactivated2021​   @calumscalm ​ @karajaynetoday ​ @cherryxwildflower ​ @myloverboyash ​  @idontneedanyone ​ @findingliam-o ​ @5-secondsofcolor ​ @mulletcal @sexgodashton ​ @fckingpernico ​ @2fangirl4u ​ @calpops

Special Guest: @nowherebound @wastelandcth

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[felix21im]

"Ice Cold", a Leon Kennedy x reader fanfiction

As an Art and Design student all you want to do is just knuckle down and finish that one goddamn piece you've been working on for months. Too bad your time is constantly stolen by your Waiter job with minimal pay, but hey, at least the tips are good if you unbutton your shirt that one more time.

Masterlist

Chapter 6: The Bar

“You have to be kidding me right now!” You couldn't believe what you were hearing. “It was the first time I haven’t shown up to work, I always did my job exactly how you wanted me to and this is your thanks? I told you what happened and you don't even care at all! I was literally unconscious and in shock after what occurred that day.” You exclaimed and shook your head, not believing what you were hearing.

“I'm truly sorry, but you know how we handle things here. I'm sure a young and outgoing person like you will find a new job without any problems. We will send you the money for the last days you were working. Now, if you will excuse me, I’ve got a restaurant to take care of.” Your boss, well ex-boss, went through the door and left you standing in his office in disbelief. You picked up all your personal items before then heading to the front door. You looked around once more, thinking about all the years you were working here. You said one last goodbye to your coworkers before heading out the door, leaving this part of your life behind.

You went to your own car - finally having a driver's license after Leon made sure you got your private lessons - ready to drive home. But as you were sitting down you realized that that wasn't what you really wanted. The best thing to do now was to see Leon, so that's exactly where you were going.

You pulled into Leon’s driveway and parked in front of the front door. “I didn’t know you were going to be here today.” Angel greeted you as you stepped out of the car.

“Neither did I.” You answered and walked to the door, letting yourself in. You found Leon in the kitchen and he was leaning over a bottle of whiskey. “Leon?” You raised an eyebrow, thinking it was kind of early to drink but didn't say anything to him.

You must have scared him as he shot up to look at you. He looked rough, his hair was a mess and his grey clothes were stained. “Buttercup!” He smiled as he walked over to you. “I didn’t know you were coming over today, I thought you were at work.” He planted a kiss on your forehead and rubbed your arms.

“I got fired.” You simply blurted out, rather than trying to avoid it. “Since I didn’t go to work that one day last week my boss seriously wasn’t happy.” You lightly waved Leon off of you and sat down at the kitchen counter. “I’ve never missed a day for like three years but one day! One day! Is enough to get me fired.” You placed your head in your hands and groaned.

“Well fuck that guy.” He pulled a cereal box out of a cupboard under the kitchen island and placed it into a bowl.

“Fuck that guy…” You replied. “Now I need to waste the next week of my life trying to find a new job.

Leon finally put some milk into the bowl too. “You’re a college student, you don’t need a full time job.” He placed the bowl in front of you as you looked up at him. “Eat up, Buttercup.”

You looked down at the cereal and you pushed it around with your spoon. “I’m not really hungry, Leon.” You pushed the bowl back towards him and you brushed your hair with your hand. “It’s not that I need a job, I just like having one, it keeps me busy and the extra money never hurts.”

“But wasn’t the pay terrible?” He raised his eyebrow as he began to eat your food. “And super sexual? Your co-worker Mimi told me about how you would unbutton your shirt and wear super tight pants so that the customers would tip you more…”

“True.” You admitted. “So I’ll look for something different. Maybe I can be a personal assistant like Angel and Daisy.”

“They’re more than just assistants y’know.” Leon continued to eat. “Those two have joined me on a job, saved my life once or twice.”

“It’s four in the afternoon, why are you eating cereal?” You eventually asked.

“We don’t have any food, Angel wasn’t able to go shopping this morning.” He said as he placed his empty bowl in the sink. “How about an office job?”

“That’s a bit boring, dontcha think?”

“Umm. How about that internship you were going for?”

“I still have three months left of college, once I'm done with that and I have the grades for it, I can apply.” You admitted as you got off the bar stool, not having eaten any of the food Leon gave you. Leon watched you while you were filling your glass with water and some ice to cool down. You drank it and watched Leon do the same, just with his glass of whiskey. “Isn't it a little too early to drink?” The words left your mouth before you were even thinking about it. Now it was Leon's turn to raise an eyebrow at your comment.

“Are you my mom or what now? I think I know when or when I cannot have a drink.” He snapped at you, which really surprised you.

"Obviously I am not. But that's not really responsible of you, is it? I just don't get it, why you're drinking at this time and so often in general the past weeks." You thought about what you were saying, realizing his drinking behavior dates back to the first time you even met. "I get that your job isn't easy and stuff but day drinking? Really? Seems kind of low to me, Leon."

Leon let out a laugh and shook his head. "If all you want to do now is complain you can leave. That's not what I wanted you here for."

You looked at him again with big eyes. "So you don't wanna talk? I don't know what it is that’s between us, but it can't always be good and fun. I'm literally just worried about your health!"

"Worried? I think I know what's good for me much better than you do, I'm not the child here." He spat at you as he drank from his glass.

"So if you’re not ‘the child’ does that mean that I am?” You looked at him speechless. “That's how you see me? I understand that I'm a lot younger than you but I'm not a child! And just because I'm trying to talk about something serious? What is going on with you Leon?" He didn't even look at you. Instead he poured himself another drink and took a sip. You shook your head and let out a scoff. You then grabbed your jacket and went to the door. Before leaving you looked back to Leon, hoping he would apologize or stop you from leaving, instead you got nothing. You slammed the door behind you shut and you heard something break. “A fucking mansion and his front door cant even handle a slam..” You muttered to yourself as you went over to your car. Angrily you left his driveway and drove in the direction of home.

Your roommate was home for the holidays, leaving you in your apartment alone. Rather than sitting on the couch feeling sorry for yourself you tried to get some work done.

Looking for jobs was much harder than you remember. “Host. Nope. Grocery store worker. Eh, I guess that could work. Stripper?! Hm, if I'm desperate enough, maybe…” You spent hours looking and applying to jobs, most of them being just over minimum wage but any money is better than none.

Eventually you gave up and just began to watch TV on your laptop, endlessly flicking through the channels available to you. Since none of it looked interesting you put on something random and picked up your sketchbook. As the noise played in the background and your pencil ran across the paper your eyelids became heavier and heavier, those combined with the fact that it was now eleven at night.

The sound of your phone vibrating on your wooden desk ripped you from your sleep. At first you ignored it, being far too tired to want to actually open your eyes. It started to vibrate again. You rubbed your eyes, trying to see clearly in the dark and waking yourself up. You looked at your phone confused, wondering who wanted you so late at night. You unlocked it and looked at the time first. “Almost two in the morning... damn”, you muttered to yourself. After that you checked your notification and let out a sigh. Multiple messages from Leon just in the past few hours you were asleep. You didn't even bother looking at them, knowing that he was drunk. Most of the messages didn't even make sense and there was no way to read or understand them. Before locking the phone again, an unknown number called you. Unsure about who it could be, you waited for the call to end. But soon after the same number called again. You let out a sigh, answering the call. "Hello? Can I help you?" You asked tiredly. You didn't recognize the voice talking to you, but you could hear Leon mumbling in the background. The person told you something about Leon being totally wasted and that he requested for you to come and pick him up. Unsure about what to do, especially after the argument you had earlier, you still agreed to picking him up. You ended the call and put your phone away. Putting your head in your hands, you let out another sigh and shook your head. You quickly went to your kitchen and put on a pot of coffee, needing caffeine otherwise you would fall asleep before you even got to Leon.

As you grabbed your jacket, phone and coffee you looked at your car keys and shoved them into your pocket. You knew you couldn’t take your car as you didn’t want to leave it at the bar considering it was twenty miles from home. “Why couldn’t he have gone to a local bar?”

You waited outside in the rain for a taxi to come and pick you up. You’d be sure to charge this cost on Leon’s credit card.

Faint music was in the background as you walked through the door to ‘Billy’s Bar’ and it only took you a second to find Leon. “Buttercup!” He waved and blew a kiss at you the second he spotted you.

“Hey Leon.” You somewhat smiled as you sat down next to him at the bar. “What mess have you gotten yourself into?” You muttered as you waved over the bartender, them giving you the bill. “How can you rack up eighty dollars in one night?”

You searched Leon’s pockets for his wallet but came up empty. “Woah there Buttercup, let’s go home first before you start to pull my pants off.” You simply rolled your eyes at his drunk comment.

You groaned as you gave up the search for his wallet and eventually you just placed your own stack of cash on the bar, giving a little extra for the bartender as a tip. “Come on.” You got off the stool. “Let’s get you home.” Leon got off his stool and he wrapped his arm around your shoulder, giving you a kiss on your forehead. “Jesus Leon, don’t do that…” You wiped the kiss off of you and shook your head as the two of you left the bar and into the pouring rain. “Keys?” You held out your hand and he placed his keys in your palm. The keys to one of his fancy cars that you don't even know the name of but you were pretty sure that it was an Audi of some sort. It had four doors and four wheels, good enough.

“I can drive Butterc- cup.” He hiccuped as he talked, proving just how much he shouldn’t drive.

“I’ll be fine…” You clicked the keys and the lights on the car flashed. You took Leon to the passenger side of the car and forced him off of you as you opened the door for him. He leant on the roof to help himself into his seat and you then closed the door behind him. “Alright, it’s just like my car… just a lot quicker and a lot more expensive…” You mumbled to yourself as you hopped in the driver’s seat and started the engine. The loud roar was enough to make you almost pee yourself due to your nerves.

You gripped your hands on the steering wheel and put the car into drive. The car immediately shot forward and you instantly slammed on the breaks, causing Leon to bash his face on the dashboard. “Oh fuck!” You put the car into park and looked at Leon’s nose. “I’m so sorry.” You carefully brushed your hand on his nose and luckily it didn’t feel as if it was broken.

“I’m fine…” Leon’s eyes rolled back in his head and he leant back in his seat. You simply huffed at him and leant over him, grabbing his seatbelt. As you went back to your seat you sighed at him as you looked at him sleeping.

You buckled your own seatbelt and started the car again, now more carefully. You checked all the buttons and hoped for the best as you left the parking spot slowly. Before you stepped on the gas once more to drive onto the street you looked over to Leon, who was now half asleep. Just sometimes he looked up again or out the window without saying anything. Which was probably better because he wouldn't say anything useful anyway in his state. You drove on the main street and gripped the wheel, concentrating on the dark and rainy road before you. You tried putting on some music but soon shut it off again because it just irritated you. So you just drove around silently trying to find a way to Leon's house. Every now and then Leon muttered something, more to himself than to you. You shook your head blaming yourself for his behavior. Letting out a sigh you concentrated on the road again and silently went on.

You drove for around five minutes before Leon began to get bored. “Buttercup?”

“Hey Leon…” You replied to him, keeping your eyes on the road because you didn’t want to swerve into a ditch.

“You’re the best.” You could see him smile at you in the corner of your eye. He held out his hand and you simply ignored it. “Please?” He wiggled his fingers, wanting you to hold his hand. You scoffed as you dropped your right hand from the wheel, placing your hand in his. “I love you, Buttercup.” He smiled at you again but you simply ignored it.

“You’re drunk, Leon.” You took your hand back from him, in annoyance.

You wanted him to say that he loved you, but not like this, not in a drunk slur. “I’m serious.”

"Yea, sure you are." You rolled your eyes and looked straight to the street, not giving him anymore attention.

"You're so mean, Buttercup." He began whining like a little child which made you laugh sarcastically.

"You’re behaving like a child now, Leon. I told you earlier today that it doesn't have anything to do with ages." You shook your head, thinking about the argument from earlier.

"I'm sorryyy..for snapping at you like that earlier.. do you forgive me? Pleaseeee Buttercup.." You raised your eyebrow at his apology, not thinking much of it.

"I can't forgive you when all you do is lie when you’re drunk. Say sorry again when you're sober and we'll see." You felt him moving in his seat, now directly facing you. You gave him a short look and tried pushing him back into his seat. "Leon, please sit down correctly. I can't concentrate like this."

He had a smug smile on his face now. "Am I all you can concentrate on now?" Leon came closer to you and you backed up, now shoving him away with your right hand. The road in front of you was still slippery and dark and you couldn't drive like this. In a short motion you stepped on the brakes and stopped at the side of the street. Now facing Leon as well you tried pushing him back into his own seat, hoping he would leave you alone now. He still resisted and even though he was totally drunk he still was stronger than you. He grabbed your wrists and came closer to you, almost sitting on your lap now. You were able to keep some distance with your legs but it wasn't an easy task. "Buttercuuup.." He began again as he started playing with your fingers. "I'm serious.. I loveee you, since the first time I met you." You looked at him, searching his face. People always say that drunk people speak the truth but a part in you didn't want to believe it. Not because you didn't have feelings for Leon, but this whole situation seemed wrong to you. You realized it wouldn't get you far when arguing in this state so you just let him talk, not giving it much thought. Leon continued talking but he soon noticed you didn't even listen anymore. As soon as he came closer to you again you snapped back to reality.

You unfastened your seatbelt and got out of the car. You walked through the rain to Leon's side of the car and also opened his door. He looked at you confused but didn't say anything. You loosened his seatbelt and almost threw him out of his seat and out the car. He just about caught his balance, looking at you perplexed. You tried finding the right words but didn't even know what you were doing here. Leon leaned on the side of the car, already totally soaking wet. "Leon, I don't know what's going on with you but I can't continue driving when you keep on annoying me like that! So please just shut up or we're gonna stay out here until you're sober again, I don't care!" You shouted towards him, hoping he would even hear you through the loud and heavy rain. You came closer to him again, waiting for an answer. It seemed like hours passed, but Leon didn't say a thing. You groaned and opened the back door. You grabbed Leon's arm and pushed him inside. Overwhelmed by the sudden force, he fell into the backseat taking you with him. So now you lay on top of Leon, both of you totally wet. You felt Leon's warm breath and also the smell of alcohol. You suddenly felt hot and everything around you seemed to stop, all you saw was Leon. He looked you deep in the eyes and you into his. Without even thinking about it, you felt Leon's big hand on the back of your head, pulling you closer to his face. And the next thing you felt were his lips on yours. For a split second you leaned into the kiss, before realizing what was happening. In an instant you shot up and pushed yourself away from Leon. He looked at you, confused and heartbroken. "Leon. Let's just get you home now." You helped him put on a seatbelt without speaking another word and then went back to the driver's seat. The rest of the drive home neither of you spoke a word but every now and then you felt Leon staring at you from the back.

Finally you arrived at his home. Even though it was raining you could still make out the driveway and main door. You didn't bother parking the car in his garage, so you stopped in front of the door. You took the keys and before leaving the car you looked back at Leon. He wasn't asleep. He looked out the window, like most of the time during the ride. It reminded you of a child that wanted to stop at the local McDonald's but his parents didn't want to. You shook your head and tried hiding your smile. After that you left the car and also helped Leon out. Both of you didn't say a word as you walked to the door. Leon's arm was around your back for balance but you didn't mind it. It was better than letting him walk alone and him ending up injuring himself. You opened the front door, which was unlocked to your surprise. Apparently no one in this house thinks it could be possible that a thief would come here to say hello. You took off your own jacket which was totally drenched and hung it up. You then did the same for Leon, without any words exchanging either.

"I should probably get you something dry to wear. You're gonna get sick otherwise." You said more to yourself than to Leon but he still heard you and agreed.

"Let's.. just go upstairs and change there. It doesn't matter if the house gets dirty." Leon already started walking towards the stairs but you soon followed after noticing how he couldn't even walk straight. You then helped him upstairs and you went into the bathroom.

"I'll get you something to sleep in, just.. sit here and don't move. Can you do that for me?" He nodded silently and you left the room. You went into his bedroom and got some pajamas for him and also something for you to wear. As you entered the bathroom you found Leon sitting in the bathtub, naked. Even though you've seen him half naked before this wasn't what you wanted to see. Covering your eyes you threw his pajamas over. Obviously he didn't catch them so now they were lying next to him. "Jesus, Leon. What are you doing? I asked one thing of you and-"

"Sorry, Buttercup.. I just didn't want to freeze." He put his legs closer to him and rested his head on top of them. You shook your head and even though you didn't want to, you had to agree with him. You were also cold and wearing wet clothes didn't help. You sighed and looked at him. "Are you gonna shower by yourself or do you need help?" You felt like his caretaker right now but you also couldn't leave him hanging now. He looked at you with big eyes, which basically begged for you to help him. You sighed once again before walking over to him. You started the shower making sure it was warm enough. It was just a quick way of warming him up, not wanting to spend any more time with a naked and drunk Leon. After you were done you helped him out of the bathtub and put him into a towel. After drying him a little bit you helped him get into his pajamas and walked him into his bedroom. You watched him get into bed and before taking a shower yourself you saw him drifting off into a deep sleep. Closing the door behind you silently you went back into the bathroom and took a shower and changed into some of Leon's clothing. Nothing too special but at least it would keep you warm. After you put all the wet clothes away you went downstairs to try to get some sleep as well. You entered the living room and lay down on the big couch. Just a few minutes later you felt sleep take over and take you into a world of dreams.

You woke up the next morning to Angel's voice. "Hey there. Sorry to wake you up, I just wanted to see you before heading out again." You sat up and stretched, looking at Angel. "Thank you for bringing Leon home. I wasn't home yesterday and.. I'm sorry you had to see him like that." You shook your head, putting a hand on Angel's shoulder.

"Don't apologize for that. It's no big deal.. I think. Does this happen often? He was so.. weird yesterday." You looked down, feeling guilty for snapping at Leon like that yesterday, maybe being the reason for him ending up drunk.

"It's, well, it happened before. He always likes to drink but I'm not sure what's going on to be honest. But don't worry, okay? It has nothing to do with you or anything. Chances are high he's just fed up with work, I don't blame him." You nodded, smiling at Angel now. She then stood up and gave you a small smile before turning to leave. Before leaving though she turned back to you. "I prepared some coffee for you and Leon. Maybe try waking him up. And.. try not to be too mad at him, would you?" She waved to you one more time before leaving the room and soon the house.

You got your two mugs of coffee and you went up the stairs to wake up Leon. As you put your hand on the doorknob you could already hear his snoring so you made sure to be quiet. He laid face up on the bed and his hair was extremely messy, so rather than waking him up like you originally planned you just sat on the chair by the window and drank your coffee. The rain from last night was still just as terrible, if not worse to the point where you couldn't even look out the window, you needed some other source of entertainment. You picked up one of the books that Angel had placed in there as decor and began to read it. It was only a small book, something about a knight in shining armor there to save the princess, just like all the other fairy tales. As you were reaching the end of the book you could hear Leon beginning to stir, his breathing had become a lot lighter and his snoring had stopped, meaning he was pretty much awake now. You took another sip from your coffee and you could see Leon sitting up in bed. He had his hand on his head and you could tell that it was pounding. “Good morning, Sleepyhead.” You gave him a faint smile as you tapped the table, another mug of coffee waiting for Leon.

He groaned as he waved his arm at you, wanting you to bring the coffee to him. At first you just shook your head at him and clicked your tongue but he wouldn't give up, you were too tired to argue about it so you just sat on the side of the bed, your back facing him. “You’re mad."

“You think?” You snapped at him, still looking forward, at the blank wall in front of you.

“I’m sorry, Buttercup.” He sat up properly and shuffled towards you, being careful not to spill his cold coffee. “I was being stupid. I had a bad morning and I just wanted to chill out for the rest of the day, have a nice drink and just relax by the pool or something.”

“Oh so me arriving for a surprise visit, that's what derailed your day?” You turned to face him and you could tell that the two cogs in his brain were working overtime.

“What? No!” He shook his head as he tried to get a grasp on the situation. “I overreacted to you asking about my drinking problem-”

“Oh so now you admit that it's a problem?” You interrupted him, by now your body was fully turnt to him, just by your body language he knew that you were more than just pissed at him.

“It’s always been a problem.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I can try and explain it.” You simply huffed at him, wanting to hear his excuse but still wanting him to know that you're angry. “After Raccoon City I began to get pretty bad nightmares. Like really, really bad nightmares. You can guess why.” You simply nodded at it, feeling guilty now that you got him to explain. “I couldn’t sleep for weeks at a time, so I tried my best to just keep myself busy. Hobbies, people, anything. I would sometimes go out to bars and whatnot and I figured out that after a few drinks I would usually sleep better that night.” He adjusted himself in bed so that he was fully sitting upright, his full attention on you as he talked. “I’ve been doing it for years, Buttercup. It’s just a hobby I guess.”

You didn’t really know what to say. Sure you lived with college kids so you were around drinking fanatics 24/7 but an actual alcoholic? You didn’t have much experience.

“Buttercup, I’ve tried everything.” He leant forward and grabbed your hand, rather than you recoiling like the night before you accepted it and you shuffled yourself closer to him, sitting cross legged next to him on the bed. You hesitated before leaning your head on his shoulder and also grabbing his hand.

"I don't know how I can help, Leon. But you can't continue like this. I.. I didn't recognize you yesterday, you were so different. I don't want to worry about you, when you're out for a drink. I just-" You looked up to him with big eyes, some tears forming inside them. You felt so helpless and even bad for not noticing anything earlier. Leon squeezed your hand.

"Shh.. it's okay, Buttercup. After I met you, I tried to stop drinking, you can even ask Angel. But the nightmares never end. The only time I was able to sleep through the night was.. when you were here and slept next to me. Knowing I wasn't alone, feeling you next to me, it helped me." You blushed and gave him a small smile, but deep down you knew this wouldn't help long-term.

"Even if I stay here to sleep in your bed, you will always want to drink. And I can't be here with you all the time. You need.. we need something else to fix this problem." You took a deep breath. "Leon, I think you need professional help. Like, I don't know, medication to help you sleep?" You looked at him unsure of what you could do to help.

"I tried that before, Buttercup. I swear I tried it many times before but I also fell back into this habit. I can't change it anymore." You shook your head.

"No Leon, stop saying stuff like this. You may have tried before but.. now I'm here. I'll help you. I promise I will not leave your side, we will do this together. We can work in small steps, you hear me? Like.. you always drink your whiskey with ice, right? What about you trying to put in less alcohol and more ice? Step by step? It's worth a shot and this way it isn't cold withdrawal. What do you say?" You looked at him with big eyes, kind of proud of your idea. A small smile rested on Leon's face as he looked at you.

"It's worth a shot. But don't get your hopes up too high. This won't be easy and.. if things don't work out, I don't know who I'll be then."

"Leon. I am not leaving you alone now. We will do this together and no matter what happens, I'll be here. I believe in you." You lay your arms around him and hugged him. You felt his arms around your body and smiled. After a short while you let go of him. Both of you took a sip of your stone cold coffee and sat there in silence, the only sound being the rain outside the house.

You saw Leon fidgeting around and looked at him questioningly. Before you could ask what he was thinking about he began speaking. "You know, uhm, what I said yesterday. I meant it. Sure, I was drunk and all but…", he turned to you. "I love you. I have for a long time now but I didn't know how to say it. But I really do." You looked at Leon with big eyes, shocked that he would bring this topic up again. Unsure of what to say you stood up and walked around the room. Leon's gaze followed you and you felt bad for not saying anything. After walking up and down you finally sat back next to him again. "Leon, I.. I don't know what to say. I mean.. I. God. Leon. I love you. I really do." You let out a small laugh. This whole situation felt so bizarre to you. You saw a big smile growing on Leon's face and you had to return it. He grabbed you by your arm and pulled you to him. You looked each other in the eyes, knowing what both of you needed now. Leon closed the gap between you two and after so long you kissed him. Without being drunk. Just a real and honest kiss, both of you wanting it and knowing it was the right thing. “So what was the bad news that you got yesterday morning?” You asked him as you pulled away.

“I have to go to Italy for a job.” He smirked. “But I think I might drag you along with me, we can have some time together once I'm done with work.” You thought about the offer for a split second before agreeing.

"At least I don't have a job where I have to ask for permission anymore." You jokingly said, trying to make the best of the situation.

"Well then we have a plan. Sooo, you better get home and pack your things. We should be at the airport early tomorrow morning. I'll text you the time and pick you up. Sounds good?" You nodded before going for another kiss. You stayed at Leon's house for a while longer before eventually going home and packing your stuff. You were excited to be by his side at a job and couldn't wait for it anymore. God knows what you've gotten yourself into...

----

Taglist: @trinswhimsys @dixanadu @oppsie--channie

#resident evil vendetta #re2 #re4 #re6 #leon Kennedy #leon s kennedy #leon x reader #leon s kennedy x reader #leon kennedy x reader #resident evil x reader #x reader #x male reader #x female reader #x gender neutral reader #x gn reader

[imaginethoseguys]

Liquid Courage

Hi, I need to submit a seminar paper in 10 days so naturally I wrote this 3k+ fic for Itadori Yuji girl, bye

Pairing: Itadori Yuji x fem!S/O Word count: 3.3k Warnings: fluff, drinking, drunk confessions, slight angst, au motifs Summary: No matter the chosen activity, Yuji would be equally excited to simply spend time with her. He didn’t even need her to reciprocate his feelings. He felt comfortable in his lovable bubbly state, and she most likely loved him as a friend, so all was well. Trying to take things further would be a risky move anyway and he would not dare take his chances at the expense of making things worse between them because the last thing he would ever want is to make her upset or uncomfortable. He still remembered all her stories about friendships she inescapably lost after the “I need to tell you something” texts in the middle of the night from guys who she felt comfortable enough to be herself with.

Yup, no way that was happening. a/n: Itadori's in his 20s (as well as s/o)

gif credit

It wasn’t Yuji who offered to spend the Friday night at a bar. He didn’t enjoy drinking that much, and there was some weird old movie at the local theatre that they could watch and make fun of together. But it was an unusual occasion, they were on a week-long mission, dealing with curse activity in Osaka, and, well, it was  her  who asked, so of course he agreed. He never went against her suggestions, he trusted her fully, maybe even too much. Possibly, it was her way with words. Somehow, she knew exactly what to say in situations where Yuji often found himself at loss for words. She was reliable and reassuring and had a certain kind of warmness to her.

Or, possibly, it was Yuji’s six-years-long crush on her that had him blushing and hyperventilating at anything she did, so opinions were divided on this one.

No matter the chosen activity, Yuji would be equally excited to simply spend time with her. He didn’t even need her to reciprocate his feelings. He felt comfortable in his lovable bubbly state, and she most likely loved him as a friend, so all was well. Trying to take things further would be a risky move anyway and he would not dare take his chances at the expense of making things worse between them because the last thing he would ever want is to make her upset or uncomfortable. He still remembered all her stories about friendships she inescapably lost after the “I need to tell you something” texts in the middle of the night from guys with who she felt comfortable enough to be herself. Yup, no way that was happening.

“Oh, look, they have homemade plum wine!” her exclamation brought Yuji’s attention back to reality. “And it’s in pitchers too. Lucky!”

“You do remember you can’t hold your liquor, right?” he said, propping his face on his right hand while watching her mumble giddily “plum wine and soda, plum wine and soda.” She lowered the laminated menu sheet and leveled him with an annoyed gaze.

“I am a grown young woman who earns a living by exorcising curses, I’m pretty sure I can handle a glass or two,  Yuji .”

“Including that time when you threw up on Fushiguro mid-conversation?”

“That was graduation! And we did shots.”

“Yeah, it was also 7pm.”

“Enough of you, mister.” She threateningly pointed a finger at him and turned around to call the waiter. Receiving an acknowledging nod in return, she turned back. “Besides, if we’re talking about you, everyone is terrible at holding their liquor in comparison.”

“I’m just heavyweight.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“You’re just a beast machine who suppressed the King of Curses and can run 50 meters in 3 seconds,” she shook her head at her own description, “no wonder you’re Special Grade. Why do you bother drinking at all? Pretty sure it does nothing to you.”

“I don’t do it on my own. I like the company.” He said timidly.

“Aw, see? This is why I love you.”

Yuji’s eyes widened unintentionally, but she didn’t look at him long enough to see it, her attention swiftly taken away by an approaching waiter. He assured himself he was better at controlling his feelings, but it was all falling apart now, like a bunch of lies, because he could feel his entire face and ears pulsate from heat. He stared at the way her lips moved, making the order.

as a friend as a friend as a friend as a friend as a friend

“Yuji? Yuji!”

He snapped back, looking even more surprised.

“You wanted the Ginjo-Shu, right?”

His gaze lingered on her face, open and bright, with eyebrows slightly raised.

“Yeah.”

This is fine.

* * *

“Ah, see? This is exactly what I was talking about.”

Yuji furrowed his eyes helplessly and took the glass from her hand. She tried to down her drink in one motion but missed and spilled it over herself. Looking back now, he wasn’t sure if it was her being lightweight or her not stopping in time.

“When did that even happen,” he mumbled to himself, “she was fine a minute ago.”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” she moaned in drunk annoyance, “because I  am  here.”

“So it seems,” Yuji smiled.

“And I may be many things, but there’s one thing that I am not, and it is deaf. Or stupid.”

“Yup, that’s two things though.”

She sighed loudly and leaned back on the wooden wall of their booth. They were surrounded by soft mixes of white noise: distant frying and sizzling from the kitchen, clinking of glasses, and giddy discussions of the upcoming weekend. They could almost feel like they belonged here, to the normal crowd of Osaka drinking their weekly stresses away, complaining about their bosses, bills, and personal dramas.

Is that what it’s like to be normal?  Both of them thought.

Yuji looked over at her and felt the heat returning to his cheeks. This drink spill felt too deliberate to be accidental. And her bra was very thin, and the bar’s AC was on and—

Yuji groaned and swiftly took his hoodie off, almost throwing it in her direction.

“Wear this, please.”

She didn’t really fight it and slowly put it over her head, beginning to crawl inside. She stopped somewhere in the middle and breathed in.

Ah, it smells so good. Smells like him.

She pressed the fabric into her face, taking in his scent. When did he manage to put on cologne? That’s just unfair.

“You okay in there? Are you stuck?” Yuji looked questionably at the wrinkly bundle that was now his hoodie with her somewhere inside.

“Listen, Yuji.”

“You’re just gonna talk to me like this, huh?”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured in a soft voice. “I know this isn’t how you would spend your night, but—I wanted to—you know. But in the end, I just—and—”

Suddenly, she felt a gentle tug, and her head popped out of the hoodie, revealing Yuji’s face lightened by a warm smile.

“I told you, I like the company.”

There was a needle prick somewhere around her heart, and she pressed her lips together, taken by a sudden wave of sadness.

“Let’s get back, yeah?”

* * *

Their hotel wasn’t far from the bar, but due to her condition, the walk back took longer than usual. Summer was ending, the air was still warm, but there was a tingling coldness with each wind blow,  a careful reminder of the approaching grey sky and smell of wet concrete, covered by tired leaves.

The path to the hotel entrance was hidden among the sleeping quarters, illuminated by floor lights, and framed by tall bamboo sticks. Yuji walked first and was right in front of the automatic sliding doors when he stopped and turned around to check on her. Instead of right behind him, he saw her at the beginning of the entrance path with her head down.

“Hm? Are you okay? Wait, are you sick?? Then stay right there, if you wanna throw up, do it—um—” he swiftly looked around. Seeing a gardening pot near one of the doors across the street, he pointed at it. “Here, maybe in this pot? Wait, no, this is a nice neighborhood, imagine waking up and finding vomit in your plants… ah, maybe in this bamboo? I’m not sure if it’s real though… ah, but this hotel allows hosting of jujutsu sorcerers because the owner is a friend of someone from the higher-ups, and if we vomit here—"

“Yuji.”

“Oh, maybe vomit in my t-shirt? And I’ll carry it to the nearest dumpster? No, that’s a horrible idea. Are you sure you can’t hold it until we get to our room? Then—”

“I’m not sick, Yuji!” she said loudly, maybe even too much so. “Although all this vomit talk is grossing me out.”

Yuji raised his eyebrows. “Then what’s wrong? Wait, did drinking uncover your hidden phobia of hotels? I read that somewhere…”

She smiled sadly. “You’re such an idiot.”

He bared his teeth, clearly offended. “Well, I’m sorry for trying to be helpful! Jeez, if you can’t walk – just say so, I’ll carry you to our room.”

“I don’t want to go to our room!” she yelled again. Yuji’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t say anything.

“Because then we go to sleep, come back to Tokyo and—I—” She squeezed the hem of his hoodie, “and I’ll never get another chance.”

There’s a short silence after her outburst. Yuji glanced over her hands that were clenched in fists and looked to the side.

“I mean, it’s not like this is our only chance to visit Osaka, we can always book a vacation and come back here.”

“Huh? Who cares about Osaka? It's—”

“I’m not very smart,” he interrupted her quietly, “so you’ll need to be straight with me, otherwise I won’t understand what you mean.” Then, his voice got even quieter. “Or I’ll start imagining things that aren’t real.”

“Yuji, I—” she tried to speak fast, because she felt a betraying lump in her throat, “I never wanted to drag you into a bar. There was this old movie at the local theatre that we could have watched, but I—If I didn’t drink, I would have never gotten the strength to say the things that I’ve been meaning to say for a long-long time. And this trip felt like a perfect opportunity, and you’re right, I’m a lightweight and I overdid it, and I was so close to saying it, but I thought—I cherish you so, so much , Yuji, it hurts me to even think about it. I tried to tell you before, after graduation, but you distanced yourself from me that night, so I figured it was a bad idea. I still think it is, but I—Yuji, I—”

Yuji shortened the distance between them with a desperately fast sprint and grabbed her with both of his hands, squeezing her so tight that she could barely talk anymore, her face pressed into his chest. He was silent for a bit.

“I distanced myself from you during the graduation night because you looked so vulnerable. I thought you were doing things you would regret the next day, so I didn’t want to take advantage. Because when you’re like this with me, I,” his hands trembled, “It’s so hard for me not to be selfish.”

“Wait, Yuji,” she tried to move away from him, but no matter how hard she pushed, she would never win Yuji in a battle of strength. “Please, let me finish.”

“No,” he sounded uncharacteristically serious. He lowered his head and pressed his cheek to her forehead. “When you say that this is not the way I would spend my night… You can invite me to dumpster dive or read books about molecular physics in a public library, or lick poles in winter, and I’ll choose it over anything else. When I found out we would go on this mission together, I was so happy. I can be doing the grossest, most stupid, and pointless things, but if I’m with you – it would be the best way to spend all the time I have. I hate being alone, and it's all I ever felt for so many years of life. But when I met you—when I’m with you – I feel so warm. You make me forget about the bad stuff. When you’re next to me, I—I feel wanted. So please,” his hands weakened his grab on her frame, letting her lean back and catch a glimpse of his face. “Please, don’t give me false hopes.”

Their breaths were hot and shaky as they looked each other in the eyes, hypnotised by each other’s presence. She cautiously moved closer to him and cupped his cheeks. Yuji swallowed thickly, he had to stop himself, but her hand was soft and warm, and the number of times he dreamt about this exact moment didn’t let him move an inch of his body. She raised herself on her tiptoes and leaned to his lips. She smelled so sweet, and her body was so close to his that—

“Ghh, stop,” Yuji groaned and pressed his forehead to hers in agony.

“Why?” She asked breathlessly, “you don’t want this?”

“ No ! I mean, yes. God, I want this so much my head could explode, b-but,” he leaned back slightly, revealing his glowing red face, from the neck to the tips of his ears. “You’re drunk, and we’re tired and I,” he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “I want this to be right. If you wake up tomorrow and don’t remember any of this, I—”

“Stop talking,” she moaned and pulled him back by the fabric of his t-shirt, crushing her lips into his, arms then moving up to snake around his neck. Yuji had to resist. He had to, but when she touched him like this, the taste of plum on her lips, and when her—

“Mhm,” Yuji groaned hopelessly, feeling her tongue explore the insides of his mouth. It was hot and wet, and he felt like his heart could stop. Suddenly, he was so putty in her hands, he would do anything for her to keep touching and kissing him like this. No, for her to do anything she wanted with him. He would make a pact with a curse and sell his soul to stay like this a little longer, or to never feel the need to breathe again, so her lips can remain sealed with his forever. Still desperate for air, however, he forced himself to pull away, a shining string of saliva stretching between their lips.

She breathed in, preparing to talk. “I—”

“No, please, don’t say it.” He pressed their foreheads together again, breathing heavily. “Allow me to be selfish. I—I want you to say it tomorrow, in the morning. So that—”

“—It’s real?” she finished for him.

“Yeah,” he smiled bashfully, looking into her eyes. He could see himself in the glassy reflection of her eyes. They were bright and kind, and they looked at him the way he never thought would ever happen. He never thought he would be close enough to her to have the chance of examining just how deep and gentle they are.

Yuji moved a hair strand away from her face. “C’mon, I’ll carry you.”

He lifted her in one motion and pressed firmly to his chest. She could hear the rapid pounding in his chest, and it made her heart race after it. Pressing her ear closer, she could almost hear his thoughts. She didn't really need to hear them, she got the general idea from how uneven were his breaths and how his fingers trembled around her form.

While they waited for the elevator inside, she looked at him.

“Can I keep kissing you?”

His face heated up for a hundredth time this night, as he diverted his gaze nervously. She could feel his hands now squeezing her a little tighter.

“Y-yeah. I would like that.”

* * *

Yuji did not know that pain can bring such an amount of happiness with it. There were two single beds in their room, but they ended up sharing one of them together, which resulted in soreness and numbness in different parts of Yuji’s body. His back ached from arching it so that he didn't fall, and he couldn’t feel his right arm anymore because he went to bed while hugging her. Not that he was complaining though. He could go to sleep on hot coals for all he cared if that meant she would lie on top of him. Feeling her body next to his sent vibrations down his spine. Suddenly, he heard her groan, and his heart fastened its pace.

Nanami Kento was right when he said that getting old is manifested in small things. One of them was getting morning sickness and headaches from any amount of drinking, moderate or otherwise. She hid her face in both of her palms and turned to the side, trying to hide from the morning sun. Sliding the palms down to her chest, she was met with Yuji’s glowing but anxious face: his hair was a mess, and there was a big imprint on his right cheek from the pillow wrinkles. She smiled softly, reaching out to fix one of his hair strands.

“Hi,” she rasped.

“Hi,” he responded, sounding relieved.

“Remind me to never drink again,” she said, turning on her back tiredly. “I lose years of my life from each hangover.”

“I mean, it’s exactly what I’m doing each time, but the strategy doesn’t seem to be working.” He chuckled, slowly getting up from the bed. “I’ll bring you an aspirin.”

Her eyes traced his features radiating in the morning sun as he made his way to the coffee table across the room. He had plenty of scars across his back and more on the chest. None of Jujutsu High students got anything close to normal school life, but Yuji certainly took the cake. And to remain so gratuitously giving and caring all while dealing with so much burden and pressure—her heart sank from just the thought.

She sat up as Yuji sat in front of her on the side of the bed, giving her a glass of fizzling water. She smiled in gratification and brought it to her lips.

“By the way, can you tell me what we ended up doing yesterday? I don’t remember shit,” she said nonchalantly before starting to gulp down the medicine.

The look on Yuji’s face filled with terror and chagrin; he felt his fingertips grow colder as he grasped the bedsheets beneath his hands. He lowered his gaze in silence, feeling the heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Meanwhile, she downed the glass and put it on her nightstand. Looking back at him, she lifted the corners of her lips.

“Kidding.”

He let out a questioning yell and grabbed a pillow, aiming a blow. “You’re so mean! Never  ever  do that shit again!”

He threw the pillow into her face, and she laughed, grabbing his hand, and pulling him on top of her. Yuji positioned his hands on both sides of her head and felt the familiar heat run up his neck to his cheeks, nose, and ears.

“Sorry,” she whispered softly.

“I’ll think about it.”

She lifted her hands and palmed his face, looking deep into his amber eyes. Yuji swallowed thickly, both of his palms twitching uncontrollably.

“Yuji.”

“Y-yeah?”

“I love you.”

The warmness from her hands went deep beyond his face. He felt her arms reach out gently into his chest and cradle his heart, calming its frantic heartbeat and holding it with such care that it sent lumps to his throat. He fought back the quivering of his lips as her thumb stroked across the scar right beneath his eye.

“I love you so  so much,” she murmured fondly, squinting from her growing smile. Yuji lowered his body closer to hers and hid his face in the crook of her neck, hugging her from behind.

“If you don’t stop, I might die.”

“Why?”

“I shouldn’t… feel this happy.”

She closed her eyes contently and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing a slow kiss to his temple. “Well, that’s not for you to decide, dumbass.”

She played with his messy hairs, breathing in his scent.

“But if you don’t reciprocate, I might die as well.”

Yuji rose sharply on his hands and leaned forward, crushing his lips into hers for a quick second.

“I love you,” he said loudly after breaking the kiss. Then he leaned in and kissed her again.

“I love you. I love you I love you I love you,” he kept repeating after kissing her over and over again. “I lov—” She interrupted him mid-sentence and took initiative, thrusting into his lips and parting them with a twirl of her tongue. He moaned and gave in, moving his head to the side.

Please, don’t leave me

I’m with you until the world collapses

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk x reader #itadori yuji #itadori yuji x reader

[anagentinwriting]

Lifeline - Part 12

Summary: (First Responders!AU) Moving to Los Angeles and living with your brother, Thor, was never part of your plan nor was being a 9-1-1 dispatcher, but plans change when you are faced with your own emergencies. In your case, it was leaving behind a relationship that wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. Will this be the fresh start you were hoping for or will your past find a way to catch up with you?

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Odinson!Sister Reader

Word Count: 8700+ (whoops!)

Warnings: Angst, language, fluff, jumper/suicidal, snakes

Lifeline Masterlist / Main Masterlist

AN: Flashbacks in italics

You yawned at your reflection in the mirror, bringing tears to the corner of your eyes. Today was the softball tournament, and Steve was picking you up at 6:30 in the morning. Unlucky for you, when you agreed to go with him as his date, you didn’t think it started this early. Station 107 was playing in one of the first two games of the day. It wasn’t a huge bracket with only twelve teams competing from different fire stations, dispatch call centers, paramedic units, and police departments. Nat and Clint’s West LA Police Department won last year, and they were hoping for another win.

You sighed, splashing your face with cold water, hoping it would shock your body awake, but it only made your face cold. You grabbed a towel, dabbing your face as you stared at your reflection. Your eyes shined back at you, and you couldn’t help the small approving smile spread across your lips. You shake your head, reverting your eyes back to the counter. Only an insane person smiles at themselves in the mirror, but you couldn’t help but look at yourself. Really look at yourself. You looked different, but it was a good different; no dark shadows under your eyes, a calm, relaxed expression, and a smile that came so much easier.

You were happy. It was a weird feeling, waking up refreshed without fear coursing through your veins. You were never going to be the person you were before you met him or even the person you were when you were with him; a weak, abused, and frightened woman. No, this was a whole new you. A stronger you that was finally letting old wounds heal and allowing yourself to move on and start over. You let out a deep breath as your phone vibrated on the bathroom counter. 

Steve: Good morning. I’m outside ;)

YN: Be out in a second

You sighed, slipping on the baseball cap Thor gave you to wear with LAFD (Los Angeles Fire Department) stitched on the front with their station number on the back. You let out a breath and smiled at yourself. It was a new exciting feeling, a feeling of improvement, and a fresh start.

________

You sat on the bleachers watching the game between Station 107 and Station 93. The whole team wore the same dark blue station shirt, grey sweatpants, and the same cap you had on. Your eyes scanned the field, finding Steve covering first base. The car ride over didn’t do any justice to his uniform. His shirt was stretched tight across his chest with his biceps bulging out from his tight sleeves, and his joggers hugged tight to his quads. He caught you staring, giving you a little wave before hitting his hand into his glove. 

The game was slow to watch, with the lead changing almost every inning.  Every time the batter hit the ball, your breath caught in your throat, waiting to see how it would play out. You were caught up in the game when out of the corner of your eye, you spotted a familiar redhead. 

“Hey, YN. Guess what? We won!” She nudged you on the arm.  “How are Val and the boys doing?” 

“Winning, but not by much. Carol needs to get her ass here. I think they’re feeling lost without their Captain,” you smiled, and she nodded in agreement. “Her shift ended about 10 minutes ago, so she should be on her way, and then she’ll set them straight.”

“Yeah, I noticed that. Like, why is Thor catcher?” she pointed at him. “And Bucky at second base? I mean, he can run, put him in the outfield.”

“I was wondering the same thing, but then I realized he already got to second base with you, so...”

“Oh shut up,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “He hit a home run, but I could say the same about you and Steve.”

“And you’d be wrong; we haven’t even got to first base yet.”

“Wait, what!” She slapped your arm. “But, I thought you two have been hanging out for like two weeks. I figured you two would be doing a little somethin-somethin,” she teased, nudging you in the side. 

You chuckled, shaking your head. “I get why you’d think that, but we’re in no rush,” you insisted with a half shrug, earning a nod from her.

You heard a car door slam and glanced over your shoulder to see Carol charging over to the dugout with her cap and aviators on. 

“The boss lady has arrived,” Nat announced loud enough for Carol to shoot you two a smirk. 

Everyone huddled around her in the dugout. She used all kinds of hand gestures, some a little inappropriate, but her team stood together, nodding their heads and hanging onto every word like they do when they are on call. With it being a single-elimination tournament, they couldn’t afford to lose. It might have been a charity event, but some teams still came wanting to have bragging rights until next year. When she stood up, they broke apart, and it seemed like everyone's energy changed from defeated to conquering. It was like they finally suited up and wanted to win with two innings left.

Carol was a competitive person and always felt like she needed to take an extra step to prove herself. Growing up, she never got along with her parents; they always insisted she couldn’t do something because she was a girl. No matter how many times she got knocked down, she would always get back up and try again. When she got the job as Captain of the 107th, many men under her didn’t want to follow her orders or be controlled by a woman. Many of those ignorant men left her station, even though she proved herself time and time again. She earned the respect of a few firefighters who stuck around, and to those, she felt earned her respect as well. With everything she has gone through to get this far, you couldn’t help but admire her. 

A slight chill ran up your spine, sending a tingling sensation coursing through your body. It forced the hair on your arms to stand up straight and make your hands shake. You rubbed them together, glancing over your shoulder, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. You gulped, sitting up straighter, getting the feeling of someone’s eyes on you. You bite your lip, scanning the faces one by one until they landed on Nat.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you replied, seeing Clint take off running to a van. “But it looks like your cheering section has arrived.” 

“On that note, I will be back--” she patted your leg “--I have to go hug my favorite niece and nephews.”

She stepped down the bleachers with a huge grin on her face and ran towards the van. Clint’s daughter met her halfway and pulled her into a hug. She hopped on Nat’s back, and Nat gave her a piggyback ride back over to her parents. You smiled at their interaction. It was such a simple gesture, but it meant so much to both of them. 

Family has always been important to you; even when you didn’t think they would be there for you, they still showed up. You always thought you were the glue that held Thor and Loki together, but now, you were almost positive they were the ones holding you together. 

Your eyes focused back on the game to see Station 107 heading back out to the field. They were up 3 points, heading into the top of the 7th inning. You couldn’t help but notice that Carol changed their field positions; Bucky and Thor moved to the outfield, but Steve stayed put at first. It’s surprising how moving a few players around made it look like a brand new team, and the game quickly ended with three straight outs, advancing them to the next round. They shook hands with the other team before huddling together in the dugout. 

Thor was the first to leave the huddle, making his way over to you with a closed mouth smile plastered on his face. He hit the bill of your hat and continued to walk past you. 

“Hey! What was that for,” you shouted at him over your shoulder. 

“Felt like it,” he grinned with a shrug, walking backwards. 

“Jerk,” you said under your breath, readjusting your hat as Steve approached you. 

“Hope you weren’t too bored.” 

“No, it was entertaining, watching you all fall over your feet until Danvers showed up and helped you pull off a win.”

“It wasn’t that bad. We kept a good pace with them all the way to the end. Just needed an extra push from Danvers,” he chuckled, putting his hands on his hips. “Did you want to get breakfast?” He offered, pointing to the line of food trucks behind you.

“What....no Wade’s Chimichangas?”

“I don’t think I have the stomach for that this early in the morning.” He rubbed his stomach before offering his hand to you. You took it with a chuckle, walking over to one of the most famous breakfast trucks in LA, Stan Lee Scrambles.

Thor had mentioned to you once before how Stan and his old firefighter crew decided to open up a food truck after they gained popularity. It started out small but soon became very successful, and they had to get a second truck. Everyone loved them, the food, and how they gave back to their community. They didn’t have a huge array of options, but it revolved heavily around breakfast items, including their award-winning breakfast sandwich, The Egg-celsior, a sausage bacon egg english muffin sandwich.

“What can I get you, Big Guy,” the old man, wearing tinted glasses and an old fire station hat, asked Thor.  

“Well, Stan...I will take two Egg-celsiors with a side of hash browns and a parfait,” Thor replied, squinting his eyes at the menu. “I think that will do for now, my good man.”

“Coming up, Big Guy.” You smirked at Stan’s nickname for your brother and moved up in line with Steve.  “Hiya, Steve. How’s your dog...Cosmo, right?” Stan asked, putting his elbows on the truck's small counter ledge. 

“Yeah, he’s doing much better. He’s gotten a lot more friendly and isn’t as skittish. I’ve been teaching him a few commands and lovin’ up on him.” 

“That’s terrific to hear. Remember, every relationship starts off a little shaky, but before you know it, the two of you will be inseparable.” Steve nodded with a smirk, as did you, reading into the double meaning. “Now, let’s get you two something to eat; what will it be?” 

You and Steve placed your order, and before you could beat him to it, Steve had his wallet out, paying. You shook your head, taking a few steps back to wait for your order to be called. You didn’t miss the subtle wink Stan shot Steve, making your eyes drift to the ground, hoping your hat would hide the bashful smile appearing on your face. 

Steve’s feet came into view, and you looked up at him. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“No problem,” he smiled. 

“So, what are the chances of you winning the next game? Any big competitors you're worried about?”

“I don’t know.” He lifted up his hat, scratching his head as he leaned in close to you, and whispered. “We’re not that good. We might make it to the next round, but I think the final four is as far as we’ll get.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Observation.” You narrowed your eyes at him as he tilted his head to the fields. “For one, one of the games behind us is already up 5 to 0, and they're still in the first inning. Second, Nat and Clint’s department dominated because Clint hits a home run every time he is up to bat. And three, I think we just want to start drinking.”

You chuckled, shaking your head. “You seem so sure of yourself.”

“I know a thing or two about baseball, and the odds are stacked against us.” Steve shrugged.

“Maybe, I should’ve joined your team. I’m pretty good with a bat,” you smirked, earning a breathy chuckle out of him.

“Maybe next year, you and Bruce can put together a group of individuals…”

“Let me stop you right there. No and no. I’d rather eat, drink, and watch,” you giggled, making Steve nod in understanding.

Your order was called, and you both went to the counter to pick it up. Steve followed behind you, taking a seat at one of the picnic tables with Bucky, Sam, and Thor. You took the spot beside Sam, and Steve sat across from you next to Thor. 

“You did not do that, Sam. I don’t believe you. I bet you made that up,” Thor said, waving his hand around with his Egg-celsior in it.

“I’m not, it’s 100% true.” 

“Lies. All lies this guy.” Thor shook his head, sliding over to give Steve a little more room on the end. 

“What is he lying about?” Steve asked, unwrapping his breakfast sandwich.

“Thor doesn’t believe I ran five miles in thirty minutes.”

“It’s true; we ran it together once,” Steve confirmed, nodding his head. 

Thor rolled his eyes, doing a double-take at someone behind you. “WHAT? Bruce is here! I didn’t know he was coming. YN, did you know he was coming?” Thor pointed at him, talking with Happy by the silent auction tables. 

“He told me he was going to try and make it.” You shrugged, glancing over your shoulder. 

“BRUCE, BRUCE,” Thor called, standing up in a half-sitting half-standing position at the picnic table. “BANNER, BRUCE BANNER.” Bruce noticed him and waved at him, not wanting any attention. “BANNER, IT’S ME, THOR. YOU POPPED MY CHERRY.”

All eyes in the surrounding area stopped what they were doing and looked between Bruce and Thor. You swore you saw Bruce roll his eyes from more than a few hundred feet away and let out an annoyed sigh before he headed over with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders slouched.  “Hey, Thor. Fellas, YN, Carol, Val. How was your first game?”

“We won,” Carol answered from the table next to theirs, where she was sitting with Val.  “It was a tight game before I showed up.”

“We just didn’t want to win without you, Ace,” Bucky smiled at her, forcing her to shake her head.

“Steve, did I ever tell you how I lost my dispatcher cherry to Bruce?” Thor asked as everyone stood up from your table and the table next to yours, besides you and Steve. “Wait, where is everyone going?”

“To watch the next game starting, but tell Steve the story, we have heard it one too many times,” Val stated, stepping out of the picnic table. 

“Yeah, he hasn’t heard it yet; he deserves to hear it at least once,” Sam replied with wide eyes before walking to the bleachers with Bucky, Carol, and Val. 

Thor did love telling the story. Maybe a little too much because each time he told it, you swore he added something new to it or remembered something he forgot the other 15 times he mentioned it. It was a story that only needed to be told once, but Thor liked talking about his first time. 

You shake your head, sneaking a peek at Steve through your eyelashes as a small smirk tugged at your lips. He caught you staring, widening eyes as if he was asking if they should've made a quick getaway, but it was too late for them. 

“That’s right, I did tell those guys,” Thor nodded with an amused smile. “Anyways, Bruce, take a seat. We will tell it together.” 

“No, that’s okay,” Bruce assured, holding his hands up “I got to go and...”

“Nonsense. Take a seat, Banner.” Thor tapped on the spot next to him.

“Okay,” Bruce mumbled with a shrug. “Since when do I ever get what I want.” Bruce sits beside him, knowing the faster he got this over with, the faster he could leave. He shot a quick glance in your direction, almost asking for help to make a quick getaway. 

“That’s right.” Thor patted Bruce on the shoulder. “Now, it all started when I was working at my first station in LA. I was a young greenhorn, learning the ropes many years ago...

“Thor and Sif,” Captain Heimdall spoke into the walkie on their jacket. “There is an EMT emergency at the Los Angeles Zoo. We are the closest unit, and I need you two to head there now. The team and I will finish putting this blaze out.”

Thor and Sif got into the ambulance as instructed, blasting the sirens, and drove to the access point the dispatcher routed them to. A few zookeepers were waiting as they lead them through the zoo, stopping directly in front of the reptile building. Sif ran to the back of the ambulance and threw a paramedic bag at Thor as she grabbed another bag before running into the building behind the other zookeeper.

“Now, at this point, I never had to deal with the whole paramedic, injured people side of things, so it was an intense situation. Luckily, I was able to stay calm and collected through this whole situation, and I had Sif to thank for that. She remained so focused in these emergencies, I always thought she took Xanax, but it was just her personality.” Thor shrugged, taking a sip out of his water bottle in front of him. “Back to the call...

“Did the dispatcher mention what is happening to either of you?” Zookeeper Carina asked while weaving them through the halls of the building. 

“Not much,” Sif answered. “The victim called in mentioning a snake. A few guests must have seen it happen through the viewing windows and called it in, too. I’m hoping you cleared the viewing area for now.”

“Yes, of course, we did,” Carina nodded as they continued down the hall.

“Wait, this involves a snake. I love snakes. My parents got me one when I was younger, thinking it would give me more responsibility, but then my brother let him out of his cage, and he was never found again. I like to think he found a mate, and they are living happily ever after.”

“Great story, Thor, but let’s get to the matters at hand right now,” Sif commanded, earning a serious understanding nod from him. “What’s the current situation?”

“Miek, our 16 foot long 237-pound Burmese python snake from the Asian exhibit, latched onto my fellow zookeeper, Taneleer Tivan, leg, and she started coiling her body around Taneleer’s leg, cutting off his circulation. Taneleer collects snakes, so I don’t know if he read the situation wrong or did something to provoke her.” She shook her head. “It’s protocol to have two zookeepers present during feeding to avoid these types of situations, but his co-worker was running late, so he started the feedings by himself.” 

Carina stopped at a door. “He is behind this door.” She opened it, and they both stepped in to see Taneleer holding a phone to his ear, mumbling and grunting. His eyes and head traveled to the door with a faint smile on his lips before he went unconscious. 

“OH MY GOD, that snake is huge?” Thor shouted in surprise, seeing the snake wrapped around Taneleer’s leg. 

“Taneleer, you still there? Taneleer?” The caller on the speakerphone asked. 

Sif went over to pick up the phone and tossed it to Thor. “I’m Fireman Thor Odinson. Who am I speaking with?” Thor questioned, keeping a watchful eye on Sif. 

She slowly moved into position to check his vitals while keeping an eye on the snake. Her eyes traveled over his body, further assessing the situation. She noticed multiple bite marks across his stomach that were bleeding profusely, and Miek’s jaw was still latched on tight to his stomach. Sif tried her best to put pressure on the wounds, trying not to disturb the snake while Mieks body seemed to coil tighter around Taneleers leg. 

“Dispatcher Bruce Banner here, how is Taneleer doing?”

“He’s unconscious.”

“Okay, how are his vitals?” Bruce asked, but Thor ignored him.

“Carina, do you have any protocol when this happens? Like what is the best way to get the snake off them without harming them?” Sif asked, trying to keep pressure on the wounds.

Her eyes went wide, and she shrugged. “This isn’t usually my area, I fill in where I’m needed, and…and…” her voice drifted off, staring down at Taneleer. 

Sif nodded, looking at Thor. “Thor, can you try uncoiling the snake off of his leg.”

Thor nodded, starting at the tail end, but as much strength Thor had, he couldn’t unwrap the snake. “I think Miek is getting pissed. She is making herself tighter and heavier,” Thor grunted through clenched teeth.

“STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING, THOR?” Bruce shouted from the breast pocket on Thor’s shirt. 

Thor slowly set down the snake’s body and pulled the phone from his pocket. “Then, what do you suggest we do, Banner?“

“Find some alcohol and put it in their mouth, but make sure the head is pointed downward and make sure it goes into his mouth. The alcohol won’t work if you put it on their face or body.” Carina disappeared as if she remembered something and returned with a small bottle of vodka and a syringe. 

“It needs to be the mouth, okay. I got it, but we don’t want to get this snake drunk, Bruce.”

“It will work, trust me. The snake will become disoriented and unlatch herself from Taneleer. Then you will need to slowly unwrap her from his leg. Go slow because you don’t want to make the snake uncomfortable.”

“Got it. You sure she likes vodka,” Thor winked at a blushing Carina, filling the small amount of vodka in the syringe. 

“Thor,” Sif shouted at him. “Focus.”

“If she bites me, this is on you Sif, and this Bruce Banner guy.” Thor pointed his fingers at her and then to the phone.

Thor held the syringe just enough to place a few drops into the python's mouth. In an instant, the snake disengaged its teeth and retracted them away from the bite zone. Sif stepped into action and put pressure on the wound while Thor grabbed a hold of his jaw and head, gaining full control of the snake. With his other hand, he pointed to Carina to start unwrapping the snake slowly at the tail end.  

“And just like that, another person saved.” Thor smacked the table with a big grin on his face. “If I remember right, you Banner had quite the temper in that situation.”

“Well, when a person needs help, you have to think of the best way to help.”

“How did you know the alcohol trick would work?” Steve asked, looking at Bruce.

Bruce opened his mouth when Thor spoke up for him. “This guy, right here--” he grabbed both Bruce's shoulder and shook him “--took some fancy snake class and learned how to disarm them.”

“It wasn’t for that reason per se, but it was a class at the local herpetology society to better understand situations involving reptiles and amphibians.”

“Exactly, fancy snake class,” Thor smirked, patting him on the back while Bruce nodded his head, rubbing his lips together. You couldn’t help but shake your head at them. These two had nothing in common but that one call they experienced together. “I want you to remember, Bruce, you will always be my first.”

“Okay,” Bruce nodded with a fake tight-lipped smile. 

“It was good to see you, Bruce, but I am going to go see if Stan has any more Egg-celsiors left.” He patted him on the shoulder, crawling out of the table and walking back to the truck. 

“Good to see you, too.”

“And here I thought my first time was good.” Steve winked at you, forcing you to roll your eyes.

“I will say one thing,” Bruce mentioned, peeking over you to make sure Thor was out of earshot. “He wasn’t that calm. If you ever want to hear the real version, we have it in the archives, it's in my favorites.”

“And here I thought my brother loved snakes,” you added, making both men chuckle. 

________

Steve went to warm up for his next game while you made your way over to the bleachers to watch the rest of Nat and Clint’s game.

“YN, come sit with us,” a woman with brown hair called, waving at you with a huge grin on her face. A little boy sat next to her, focused on the game in front of him. You recognized her as the woman Nat hugged earlier. “I don’t think we have been properly introduced, but I’m Laura, Clint’s wife, and this is my youngest, Nathaniel. The little lady in the purple shirt by the fence watching the game is Lila, and the young man next to her is my other son, Cooper.”

You nodded as she pointed at them. “I’m YN, but you seem to already know that,” you smiled, shaking her hand. 

“I did, I’ve heard so much about you, and it’s nice to finally put a face to the name. Here join us on the blanket.”

“Thanks.” You plopped down on the blanket, getting comfortable. “Nat’s told me so much about her niece and nephews, too, and they do seem pretty adorable.”

“Do they? Because if I’m being honest, they can be little terrors sometimes, and the sibling rivalry, well don’t get me started,” she huffed, shaking her head. 

“Oh, don’t I know it. I’ve experienced plenty of it growing up with two brothers.”

“I can imagine, but I didn’t know you had another brother.”

“Yeah, Loki. He’s adopted.” You shrugged, watching Nathaniel look through one of the books in front of him.

“Was it like sporting event after sporting event growing up? Because let me tell you something, once you have kids and they want to play sports, then that's all you're going to be focusing on until the season's finished. Bye-bye social life.”

“I’ll take that into consideration,” you let out a soft chuckle, “but for me, it wasn’t like that growing up. Loki and Thor are two very different people. Loki was more into drama theater, but Thor did play a lot of sports. And their personalities, well, they couldn’t be more opposite. Loki is great to talk to when you need someone to tell you how it is or how something is going to be, but Thor always takes your feelings into account by telling you what you want to hear before telling you what you should hear. Each brother has good and bad traits, but I still loved them and would do anything for them.”

“Do you miss Loki?” She reached over and patted your hand. “I’m assuming he doesn’t live around here because Nat mentioned you’re from New York, right?”

“Ahh, yeah. I miss talking to him and seeing him. We were close growing up and up until I moved at the last minute, but it’s just tough, right now.” You shrugged, biting your lip as your eyes drifted to the field. 

You hated not being able to talk to Loki. He helped you through so much, and you hoped he knew that. As dramatic and theatrical as he could be, you missed him. He was often hard to read, but once you cracked his hard shell, he showed a different side of himself, some never get the chance to see. You wished you could tell him what you have been doing lately, but you didn’t want to draw unwanted attention to another cell phone besides your brothers in California, in case Billy was keeping an eye on them.

“I’m sorry--” she gave your hand a reassuring squeeze, and your head snapped to hers “--I didn’t mean to pry or anything. I’m just a stay-at-home mom that hasn’t had any adult communication since last week.”

“No, you’re good, Laura,” you smiled at her. “Don’t you have Clint to talk to?”

“He’s like my fourth child. He is the oldest but acts like the youngest,” she whispered the last part, making you let out a loud laugh. “So, tell me...” She nudged your side, tilting her head at something behind you. You turned to see who she was referring to only to spot Steve. “What’s going on with you and Steve?”

“Depends on what has Nat told you?”

“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be! Wow!” She pushed you, and you laughed, falling onto your side. 

“MOM, Dad's up to bat,” Cooper shouted, sprinting over to inform her before going back to the fence.

“Is he? Oh yes, look at that,” she smirked, seeing Clint square up in the batter’s box with the bases loaded.

With the first pitch, Clint swung the bat, sending the ball flying over the fence on the opposite side of the field. He hit a grand slam, earning cheers from his teammates as he jogged around the bases with a fist up in the air. 

"Showoff," Laura snorted, shaking her head. “I’ll cue you in on a little unknown fact about Clint. He only hits those over the fence because he doesn’t want to run around the bases.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah, he’s the worst, but I love him,” she smiled with a half shrug. 

You may have just met Laura, but you already adored her. She was so easy to get along with, and seemed like the type of friend you could share all your secrets with and she wouldn’t tell a soul.  

"How long have you and Clint been together?"

“It’s been seventeen long years, but he’s been worth it,” Laura smiled, running her hand through Nathaniel’s mop of hair. “How about you and Steve?”

“Okay, back to me, then.” You shake your head, finding it hard not to smile. You glanced over at Steve to see him talking with Sam, flipping his baseball glove around in his hands. “We’ve been hanging out, but I wouldn’t call it serious.” 

“Steve’s a great guy from what I’ve come to understand. I’m pretty perceptive, and let me tell you, not many people can finagle themselves into their little group, but he fit right in. And from what my perceptive powers are telling me, he likes you,” she grinned, tilting her head at him. 

You took a deep breath and looked over your shoulder to catch Steve and Sam staring at you. Steve bit his bottom lip, a smirk forming on his lips. You stuck out your tongue at them, making them both laugh as they leaned down to grab their gear for the next game. Steve headed towards the dugout, but you didn’t miss the ever so subtle double-take Steve shot your way. You shot him a cheesy grin, and you could’ve sworn his ears couldn’t get any redder. You chuckled, your eyes drifting back to the game in front of you. 

“And that Nathaniel, my little man, is called the double-take. It means Steve is into YN.”

You scoffed. “May I ask what you’re teaching him?” You bit your lip, looking at the smiling boy. 

“My perceptive powers, of course,” she said, reaching over and tickling him. 

“No, mommy,” he screeched in a burst of high-pitched laughter. 

“He’s got the trait. Cooper and Lila are screwed.” She confessed, and you mouthed ‘wow’ with a half-smile on your lips. “Regardless, you two are cute together.” 

“Thanks,” you mumbled under your breath, feeling a rush of heat to your cheeks. 

_________

The West LA Police Department took the win and were moving onto the final four. Nat and Clint were walking over together, and Lila took off running towards them. Clint leaned down with open arms, but she ran right to Nat and wrapped her arms around her waist. You didn’t miss Clint let out a sigh of defeat as he stood back up and smirked at them.

“Did you watch us kick the other teams butt?” Nat asked, smiling down at her, patting her back. 

“Yeah, you were so awesome, Nat. I want to grow up and be just like you,” Lila grinned, looking up at her.

Clint shook his head at them, giving Lila a knowing look. “Yeah, no, that’s not gonna happen. You wanna give your old man a heart attack or something because I’m not ready for that," Clint sighed, walking over and laying down next to Nathaniel and Laura. He rested his head on his wife’s thigh with a huff. “I’m getting too old for this sh...stuff,” he groaned, closing his eyes and was out like a light. 

“Man, I wish I could fall asleep that fast,” Nat admitted, staring down at sleeping Clint.

“Don’t we all,” Laura chuckled. “At least I know where Nathaniel gets it.”

“How’s your team doing?” Nat asked, standing with her hands on her hips. 

“I haven’t checked up on them. Been too busy talking with Laura.”

“Happens to most of us. She’s so easy to talk to.”

“She is,” you nodded at Laura, and she shot you a soft smile. 

Station 107 won their game, moving them onto the final four, which started after lunch. To your surprise, Happy’s Hydrant was catering the event, and all the food looked delicious. All you had to do was pay for the plate, and all the money collected would be donated to the winning team's charity.  Everyone from the team agreed, this last game wasn’t important and that it was time to finally start partying.

_________

It was the bottom of the 7th inning of their final four game with Station 107 down by one point with one out. Val was up to bat, and the current count was one strike and two balls. She stepped back, taking a few quick practice swings before returning to the plate. The pitcher threw the ball straight across the plate, and Val swung with a miss. She stepped back out, shaking her head as her teammates cheered her on from the dugout. 

Steve gulped, seeing her set herself back up in the batter's box, doing one more quick practice swing. Steve never really had a one on one conversation with her, but he had a ton of respect for her. He was always impressed with how determined and focused she could be in a high-pressure situation. Those calls were a walk in the park for her, and he knew with the current situation at hand, she would knock that ball out of the park.

The pitcher tossed the ball, and in an instant, it landed in the catcher's glove slightly out of the strike zone. 

“Strike 3, you’re out,” the umpire called, making a fist with his hand. Val stood there with a questioning glare at the ump before she turned around and walked away. 

“What the fuck?” Steve commented under his breath, pushing his way out of the dugout and passed Val. “What kind of fucking call was that, ump?” 

“If you don’t like the call, you can get out of here.” The ump stood tall in front of him, but it didn’t do much since he was shorter than Steve. 

“The ball was nowhere near the damn strike zone, and she didn’t even swing at it. She’s not out.” 

The umpire tore off his mask. “Listen here, buddy, I’m in charge here--” He stepped closer to Steve and poked him on the chest with his mask “--from my view, she swung the bat but didn’t commit to it. Get over it or get out.”

“You know what I think…” Steve started, but Bucky showed up, forcing himself between them. Sam stepped in and grabbed a hold of Steve’s arm, pulling him back to the dugout.

“All good, Rumlow, all good. It’s just a friendly annual charity grill-out game. Can’t we all just get along,” Bucky added with a slight smirk, walking backwards to the dugout.

“Keep your new recruit under control, and we won’t have a problem.” Rumlow shook his head and pulled his mask back on with Thor up to bat next.  

“Who is that guy?” Steve asked Sam, taking a seat on the bench in the dugout.

“Brock Rumlow. You kind of took his job.”

“What do you mean, I took his job?”

“We were going to hire him, but then, Bucky told you to apply, and you got it.” Sam patted his back. “He is not very fond of our station anymore, but you were the more qualified candidate.” Sam squirted his water bottle into his mouth. “It’s probably why Val didn’t say anything to him about the call because she saw who it was and knew it wasn’t worth the fight.”

“I see,” Steve nodded, taking a drink from his water bottle. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing you watching him. Nat was saying something to you, but your attention was on him. He held up his hand with a slight smirk to show you he was fine, and you nodded at him.

“Why am I always cleaning up your messes,” Bucky inquired, plopping down in the seat next to him.

“Bad timing,” Steve smiled, forcing Sam and Bucky to shake their heads. 

You and Nat stepped down from the bleachers when the game ended, with Station 107 losing by 2 points. Nat nodded at you, leaving to prepare for the championship game. Once you realized the umpire was Rumlow, you and Nat knew it was inevitable that they were going to lose. Rumlow knew how to hold a grudge, and he was still holding onto it. You shot Steve a side smirk as he walked over to you. 

“And here, I thought you guys didn’t care about the game, and who knew you were so competitive?”

“What can I say, I got into it a little bit. We all did.” He shrugged with a tight smile.

“You did,” you chuckled, patting him on the bicep. “The ump was making some terrible calls anyways, and it doesn’t help he’s an asshole.”  

________

You sat down in the same spot at the picnic table from earlier, and Bucky and Steve joined you, still talking about their loss. 

Bucky took a bite of his BBQ ribs and grabbed his napkin, wiping the sauce from his lips. “It’s a good thing you’re not in charge of the grill, Steve? You remember what happened that one time.”

“What are you talking about? I’m great on the grill.”

“Yeah, but there was that one time, Peggy threw you that Fourth of July Birthday bash at your new house. You were on the grill and had the gas turned on too high and when you lit the match, a fire blaze shot up in the air. Hell, I thought you were going to lose your eyebrows, but Peggy was more worried about the house,” he chuckled with a crinkled-eyed smile, shaking his head.  

“In my defense, it was a new grill,” Steve snickered. “I didn’t know what it was capable of yet.”

“Who’s Peggy?” You asked, glancing between Steve and Bucky, who seemed to be in their own little world. They fell silent as Steve bit his lip, shooting Bucky a hard glare. Bucky looked away from him, shoving more mashed potatoes in his mouth. 

“Story for another time.” Steve peeked over at you, letting out a breath. He moved his potatoes around on his plate as a few different expressions crossed his face. 

“I understand,” you nodded, taking a sip of your drink. 

You knew better than anyone that there was a time and place for certain things to be shared, and this was not one of those times; it was too public. You took a bite of your sandwich, trying to remember if Steve mentioned Peggy before, but you don’t think he ever did. You peeked up at him across the table to see him laughing with Bucky, but it seemed forced. It wasn’t the hand clutching to the chest kind of laugh or the adorable chuckle that made the butterflies erupt in your stomach. It was almost like it didn’t have a sound, but the emotion hiding behind it was there, like a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He was physically here, but his mind was somewhere else. Whoever this Peggy was, she was special to him. 

“Clint and Nat’s team is fucking dominating; 12 to 2 in the bottom of the 4th. They should just call it at this point. It’s tough to watch,” Sam stated, sitting down next to you.

Everyone’s head at the table nodded in agreement. Your eyes started to wander around the park, noticing the whole Barton clan invested in this game. The line to Happy’s Hydrant was still long but moving swiftly. Thor, Val, and Carol were talking with a group of people by the beer wagon, paying no attention to the game. Your focus returned to the table, hearing Bucky comment on Nat’s uniform, forcing Sam to roll his eyes and bring his sandwich to his mouth.

“I’m gonna head back for seconds; do you want anything else? I can grab it for you,” Steve asked, catching your wandering eyes. 

“I’m fine, thanks, though.” You smiled up at him, and he nodded, stepping out of the picnic table.  

Steve stood back in Happy’s line, which was much longer than it was the first time he went through. Drunk munchies, he assumed. He glanced over at you and couldn’t help but smile. Sam must have made a comment about you and him because you smacked Sam on the arm as your gaze landed on his. You waved at him with a playful smile while giving Sam a stern look. 

He couldn’t help but smirk at your interactions with the guys. They were a rowdy bunch, but you could always hold your own against them and put them in their place, even him. Every joke you made, every laugh that escaped you, and every smile you shot his way made his heart leap in his chest. It was a feeling he hasn’t felt in a long time, a feeling he hasn’t felt since Peggy. 

"Is this the line for Happy's?" A guy behind him asked, interrupting his daydream.

“It is, yes,” he nodded, turning around to look at the guy, wearing a Northeast LA police department t-shirt and cap.

“Was your department playing today?” Steve questioned, pointing at his shirt.

“Oh no,” the bearded man chuckled. “We prefer being spectators and drinking.” He pointed behind him to a group sitting by the game with lawn chairs and coolers.

“Nothing wrong with that,” Steve smirked, shaking his head.

“What’s it like being a firefighter at the 107th?” He gestured to Steve’s shirt. “Doesn’t Thor work at that station, too?”

“Yeah, he does. Good guy.” The brunet nodded in agreement. “I like it. It’s both a physically and mentally demanding job, but I enjoy it.” Steve shrugged, grabbing a few extra napkins from the table.

“Same with me, but we aren’t fighting fires or rescuing kittens from trees.”

“If only it was that easy,” Steve nodded, narrowing his brows. “How do you know, Thor?”

“He helped me with a call a few months ago….it was a jumper,” he gulped, putting some vegetables on his plate as they made their way down the line. “I was the first officer on the scene. I was working on talking him down, and then this big intimidating guy from the 107th showed up, had a heart to heart with the guy, and he got down off the ledge. It was amazing to watch.”

“Did Thor tell the guy his wife left him and that he found himself in a similar situation?”

“Yeah.” 

“Thor made that up on the spot.” The guy furrowed his brows at him, not really understanding. “You see, sometimes to calm people down in these stressful situations, we try to find some common ground. In this case, Thor made up the story about his wife leaving him, and it ended up saving the guy’s life.”

“Wait, so Thor was never married.”

“Nope,” Steve smirked, taking a couple more BBQ ribs for his plate. “We do what we have to do to save lives, even if it means making up an emotional story for the victim to know they are not alone, and people still care.”

You glanced over at the food buffet to see Steve talking to someone in a dark blue cap that you didn’t recognize. Steve always seemed to be able to start up a conversation with anyone, even though he seemed like a quiet guy. Bucky snapped his fingers in front of your face, pulling you away from them. 

“Eyes on me, darling, eyes on me.” He pointed his middle and forefinger at his eyes than to yours.  “Stop giving Steve all the attention. He’s the real troublemaker.” Bucky shook his head. “Has he told you about all the stupid things he did when he was younger and how I had to rescue his ass?”

“A little,” you snickered, pinching your thumb and forefinger together.  “And here, I always thought you were the troublemaker.”

“Nope, all Steve. You’d be surprised how often I got into trouble for shit he did. He’s such a punk.”  You couldn’t help but grin at Steve’s back, shuffling down the buffet line. 

Steve hesitated before scooping one more serving of potatoes on his plate. He deserved a few more carbs after playing softball all day and consuming copious amounts of water. “Sorry, I don’t think I caught your name?”

“Oh, my friends call me Jig.”

“Jig?” Steve mumbled, cocking his head to the side. “I bet there is a story behind that one, but I’m Steve.”He held out his hand, and Jig shook it. “I better get back to my squad, but it was nice talking to you.”

“You too. I’ll see you around, Steve.” 

________

“Do you think Cosmo is staring at the door waiting for you to come home? I miss that pretty boy,” You suggested, standing next to Steve watching the final game between West LA Police Department and Fire Station 113. 

“Maybe,” he smirked. “I know he misses you. Won’t stop talking about it.” He shook his head, making you bite back a smile. “He wanted me to ask if you wanted to come over after this?” He shrugged, acting all innocent.  “I told him I would ask, but I wasn’t promising him anything.”

“What...like a play date?”

He chuckled under his breath, eyeing you with his blue orbs. “I guess you could say that.”

You turned your head to the ground, biting your lip. “Yeah, I'd love to, but only if it's okay with his Dad. I know he has a strict bedtime.”

“I think he will let this one slide this time,” Steve murmured next to your ear, wrapping his arm around your back and putting his hand on your hip. You leaned closer to him and wrapped your hand across his waist, pulling him closer to you.

“Where is Cosmo anyway?”

“My neighbor is watching him, and let me tell you, he is not a fan of her. I think if he sees you, he will be much happier, and then he’ll forgive me for leaving him with her.  

“I’m sure he will. If not, I’ll talk to him and put in a good word for you.” You squeezed his side and shot him a promising smile, forcing him to shake his head at you. 

“Thank you.”

To no surprise, the West LA Police Department won with the scoreboard shining 18 to 7. They decided to forfeit after the 6th inning, knowing they weren’t going to be able to catch them. It was a boring game to watch, but you were in good company. 

________

The car ride to Steve’s house sent a chill up your spine and a warm rush to your face. It was a sensation you couldn’t explain. The butterflies in your stomach erupted, and every nerve in your body made your skin tingle with anticipation. You hung out at his apartment a few times before, but tonight something felt different. You sighed, leaning back in the passenger seat, staring out the windows and watching the sky change colors. It was a beautiful sight. You glanced over at Steve, watching him bob his head along to Marvin Gaye. He tapped his hand on the steering wheel as his gaze caught yours and cracked a coy smile, causing your heart to race.

You walked up the steps behind Steve to his apartment on the second floor. He opened the door to let you in, so he could retrieve Cosmo from his neighbor. You stood next to the island by the front door with your hands on the counter, listening to the quick chit-chat Steve was having with his neighbor. You heard paws charging down the hallway followed by footsteps not much later. Under the door, you could see the shadows dancing and hear Steve giving Cosmo a little pep talk. 

“Okay, Cosmo. Someone decided to come visit you, but you have to promise me you won’t embarrass me.” Cosmo whined, and you couldn’t help but think how cute it was. “You’re gonna embarrass me, aren’t you?” Cosmo barked in response, and Steve let out a loud sigh. 

The front door creaked open, and Cosmo charged in, his head looking around the room until his eyes landed on you. He ran over to you with his front paws landing on you.

“Hello to you too, Cosmo,” you grinned, scratching the top of his head. “I heard you missed me.” His tail continued to wag, and it hit the kitchen cabinet, but he didn’t seem to have a care in the world. 

“See, I wasn’t kidding when I told you he missed you.”

“I see that now. Did you miss me, Cosmo?” You crouched down, rubbing his ears, and he licked your face. “Yuck, Cosmo, no kissing.” You shake your head and wipe the drool off your face.

“Did you want anything to drink?” Steve offered, opening a cabinet with glasses. “I was thinking about opening a bottle of wine?”

“Yeah, I’ll have a glass.” You nodded, standing up straight at the end of the bar with Cosmo sitting right beside you, waiting for another scratch. 

Steve grabbed two glasses, setting them on the counter. “See, all he wants is your attention; he could care less that I am here.” 

“I’m sure he still loves his Dad.”

“He kind of has to; I feed him,” he breathed a small smirk, shrugging his shoulder. He grabbed a wine bottle at random from the small rack on the counter. He opened the bottle, pouring it into the glasses, and handed you one. “What’s the movie going to be tonight?”

“Have to check the list.”

You turned to follow Steve to the living room when you tripped over Cosmo, and the wine glass fell from your grasp. It crashed on the hardwood floor, shattering into tiny little pieces. Your hand covered your mouth, feeling a chill run up your spine. As you stared down at the floor, your heart sped up, causing tears to peek at the corner of your eyes. A lump formed in your throat, making it harder to breathe, and your hands started to tremble. You felt him reach out and touch your shoulder, forcing you to jump back and stare at him with wide eyes. In a glimpse, you saw Billy standing where Steve used to be. A sob escaped your mouth as you squeezed your eyes shut, shaking your head. When you opened your eyes, Steve was holding his hands up, his mouth was moving, but his words weren’t reaching your ears.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” you whimpered, backing away from him.

“It’s okay, YN, we’ll clean it up. It was an accident. These things happen.”

“No, no, I should go. I forgot I had...um...I’m sorry. I should go.” You grabbed your jacket and took off out the door with tears streaming down your face. 

The door closed with a loud bang, causing Cosmo to whine at the door. Steve let out a deep sigh, looking at the door and then at his dog. “What am I going to do, Cosmo?” He ran a hand down his face, walking over to grab his broom.

______

AN: Thanks for reading Part 12! Soooo much happened in this part, so where do I start. I originally thought about breaking this part into two, but got lazy, and was like nahhh! Haha! But what a way to end it, am I right?! Everything was going so well until it wasn't. 😬 What is Steve gonna do now? Do you think Cosmo feels bad about it? Poor pup! Did you like the Stan Lee cameo? Whenever I write a story, I try to add him in since he is the one who started it all! And what did you think about the story of Thor losing his dispatcher cherry? I don’t know anything about snakes, I just googled and this is what came up, so it could be inaccurate, but regardless, I hope you at least got a little laugh out of it! Anyways, thanks for reading, comments are always welcome!

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