#Caleb knows he's great and he knows the people around him are great | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

0nlythrowharrybeaux · 7 months

Text

With Discretion - Part 2 **

Part 2 is here! We'll get to learn more about Harry's side of things and be exposed to a bit more of the mess Caleb is in, and of course...the reconnection of Y/N & Harry! I hope you guys like it! I think there will be a 3rd/final part to this fic:) Read Part 1 HERE & find my masterlist HERE.

Warnings: verbal argument, dirty talk, oral (f-receiving), hand job, p in v (unprotected), creampie, breast play, infidelity,

WC: 14.2K

… SIX MONTHS AGO …

When Harry saw your smiling face at the bar, asking him about some fictional business trip to Tokyo, his lips involuntarily turned up in a smile. He hadn’t forgotten about you because you had dropped a huge bomb on him when you revealed to him that his CFO was married. He didn’t care too much about his employees’ personal lives, but after learning that he started to notice how big of a flirt he was around the office. Those observations then led to him dedicating the occasional thought to you and how you might be fairing. He was pleased to see that you seemed to be doing well.

But there was also a part of him that felt sad for you . He thought that perhaps the knowledge of yet another lie Caleb had told you would weigh heavily on you and surely break you but he was surprised that as the night carried on you were the most composed out of your friends. You didn’t seem like you were upset in the slightest even as you drank, which was what usually drew the emotions out of people. You were having fun and singing and dancing, talking with everyone as if your life was a dream. Harry wanted to get in your head and see for himself what it was that you were thinking; he couldn’t stop looking at you…you were too beautiful to not draw his gaze so he kept looking until you were looking back just as much. And after an hour he was planted beside you, talking to you and flirting a bit and it didn’t seem to bother you. You were flirting back and he was having a lot of fun getting to know you. You were smart and kind and so much fun to be around!

What he was enjoying the most was that you seemed to be on the same wavelength internally and that was rare for him to find. Harry was great at connecting with people on the surface, but it was special for him to meet someone who made him feel like they got him. And you seemed to get him really well, he could feel this pull…an attraction that he hadn’t felt to another person in far too long, and it was electrifying and it was keeping him on his toes. He knew that there was nothing he could do to fix your situation with Caleb, but he wanted to go out of his way and shower you with kindness and chivalry while he could and maybe something in your head would click and make you leave that sorry son of a bitch, Caleb. “Harry?” You said as you came up to him.

“Yeah?” He asked, placing a hand at the middle of your back as he leaned his ear down to your mouth.

“I think I’m gonna head out. Cecilia is way too drunk, I want to get her back to the hotel before she blacks out on me somewhere and I can’t do anything about it.” You explained, “But thank you for including us tonight, it was so kind of you!”

“S’not a problem! And look, I have a car waiting around the block, I can help you take Cecilia to her hotel. Are you also staying there?”

“Yeah, we all are! But don’t worry about it! Stay and enjoy, have fun!” You assured him.

“Don’t know how much fun I can have after you’re gone, love.” He flirted and you smiled bashfully and looked away for a moment.

“Sure, sure…”

“I’m serious and also about taking you guys! I’ll feel better knowing I left you both safe and sound, alright? Please, s’no bother at all.” He said over the music and you sighed.

“OK, alright. I really do appreciate it, Harry.” You said with gratitude drenching your expression.

“Not a problem. Alright, let’s get to it.” He said as you started to get your things together.

Of course, there was a bit of traffic, even at 1am, and he watched as you ran your fingers through the top of your friend’s hair before gently massaging her scalp after she had laid down in your lap. He wanted to feel you like that; to be close to you and to smell your perfume and feel your fingers in his hair as he dozed off.

He continued talking to you, this time asking if you worked or if you had any projects you did in your spare time. And well, he learned that you ran your own event planning company, you had two masters degrees, one in Business Strategy & Leadership and the other in Finance & Accounting. You also enjoyed music, cooking, swimming, and traveling. Between the two of you, you had a lot in common, talking made the drive go by way too soon. But when you arrived at the hotel you two were in stitches as you tried to get Cecilia out of the car.

“I wonder if they have a wheelchair? Or maybe they’ll let us use one of the little luggage carts the bell boys use?” You asked through your laughter and he sputtered out a laugh.

“Unlikely. I ummm, I’m positive I can carry her.” He said to you.

“Oh my god, no. You’ve done more than enough tonight, Harry-”

“Just let me show off a bit, alright Y/N?” He teased and you giggled.

“Don’t think you need to carry Ceclia for that, but alright…” you smirked and he chuckled.

He was careful as he pulled her out of the car and well, he asked you to ensure the skirt of her dress wasn’t ridden up before you made your way inside. He noticed how friendly you were with the staff as well and that put a another good feeling about you in his chest. He wanted to know…to understand… to be able to rationalize Cal’s infidelity because from everything he had seen so far you were an angel in the flesh. Sure, some people were totally fake and had this dark side hidden within them. He’d fallen victim to that since he was young because of his family’s money and well, now his own money, so he could tell those people apart with ease now and if you were one of them he was none the wiser.

Before he knew it you guys were in the lift and you were looking through your friend’s bag for her room key. You looked relieved to find it and then shared a story about how one time in university the “responsible friend” was given the room key but lost her purse at some bar, so you all had to wait to get a replacement at the front desk. However, they had all been quite drunk so it complicated a fairly simple plan and a few of them ended up blacked out in the hallway and you and another girl had to drag them into the room when you got the replacement key.

“Are you the put-together friend, then?” Harry asked and you giggled.

“After my undergrad, yes.” You said and he chuckled.

“Why’s that?”

“Well, I was the only one who was going to grad school. I got into the Marshall School of Business on a really good scholarship, I couldn’t do anything to risk losing that. I had to have my wits about me at all times. The USC network is just so extensive, especially in LA, so I would probably run into another alumnus randomly at a taco bell at midnight. They’re very gossipy as well so while in school it’s good to just be on your best behavior.” You explained to him.

But soon enough you were leaving Cecilia in her room and he just wasn’t ready to leave you yet. So he offered to take you up to your room. Yeah, he’d been thinking about possibly kissing you or more throughout the night because there was chemistry between the two of you. The electricity was buzzing and he wanted so badly to see what would come of all of that attraction in an intimate setting, but you were married…to his CFO nonetheless! And well, he just had to ask you about what the deal was between you and Caleb. And he was shocked to learn that you’d been married to him for seven years though because Caleb had never once mentioned a wife and had always brought other dates around for parties or work outings and he felt angry at Caleb now. He wanted to tell you that this one affair wasn’t the only one, but that wasn’t his business to share. But it was shocking to him…he didn’t know how you kept your composure when you knew about his infidelity…he mentioned something about getting revenge on Caleb and he got a bit worried when your expression changed, maybe he had pushed you too far? And he was awaiting your response.

“I mean…thankfully, I don’t think I need that validation from anyone else.” You explained. Harry’s lips turned up in a smile as soon as he heard the words leaving your mouth, “I know who I am and I am happy with who I am, in every way. And not to sound arrogant, but I know what I bring to the table as a partner and if that’s not enough for someone then… their loss.” You said with ease.

Harry was absolutely blown away. He felt like his world had come to a screeching halt at your response. If he didn’t already like you before, he did a whole heck of a lot more now. He’d never met a person more put together than you and it was like a breath of fresh air. He had done a lot of challenging and painful work on himself in therapy, so he often found that most people lacked in self-worth or had no self-awareness, but you did. You were at his level mentally and emotionally and in truth, he had struggled finding partners because there was never really anyone out there who seemed to be on his level as well. If you’d been on a date he would’ve proposed to you then and there.

“You’re absolutely extraordinary.” He said without a single hint of inhibition.

And well, next thing he knew you were kissing ardently and then he was making you come over and over, showing you exactly how you deserved to be loved on. He was showing you how he would love on you if he were your man. And just getting to sink into you…he hadn’t had an experience that pleasurable in years. He was infatuated with your body and how it reacted to his. He wanted to ask you what felt good because he needed to make sure that he was doing exactly what you liked so that you could get off with intent. And hearing his name dripping from your beautiful lips was otherworldly. Everything about you was perfect and he made sure that he was treating you as such. You definitely needed the fuck, but you needed his tenderness and romancing just a little bit more. You needed to feel appreciated and seen above all else and he was going to give that to you while it was his chance to. Because as much as he was enamored with every part of you and longed to get lost in you, he knew that this was a first and last. A mere fluke of luck in his insignificant existence on this earth.

After everything he did to you, you had passed out almost immediately after he had cleaned you up. You were tucked safely into his side, cheek smushed against his brawny chest. His right leg was tucked securely in-between yours and his hand was smoothing up and down your lower back and just a bit of your bum. He couldn’t sleep without experiencing you like this for a bit. He wanted to see your soft and delicate features up close without alarming you in anyway. He wanted to get to smell you long enough to figure out what that perfume you were wearing was. He wanted to imprint in his memory what your skin felt like bare against his.

Harry was infatuated in a way he hadn’t been since he was 12 years old! He used to get sick to his stomach with adoration for another person and he felt it now, that everything was stirring up inside of him. He’d always felt things very deeply, but he hadn’t felt something so big in quite a while. It could be overwhelming to feel so much, to be so vulnerable all the time, he’d been hurt so often in his youth due to the heart he so proudly wore on his sleeve. So he learned to toughen up, mastered stoicism, and became the level-headed tycoon he was today. He taught himself discipline, routine, predictability…so that he wouldn’t ever be caught off guard again. But then, there’s always someone who’s just so perfectly honey-sweet that they get through the cracks. And you were exactly that. Even after your first meeting he thought of you often…another pretty picture that lived in the gallery of faces in his brain. But yours always stood out. He did hope he’d see you again, and it seemed that fate was on his side because there you were resting safely, with total trust in his arms…

The stoicism returned the following day because he didn’t want to risk perhaps being a toy in a game between you and Caleb…because if you asked he would be there for you again however you wanted him. He’d be at your beck and call if it’s what you wanted. But even still, you were kind and assured him that he was right, that this couldn’t happen again and that was that.

…ONE WEEK AGO …

Harry had imagined that it would be a while before the impression you’d left on him would fully wear off…that he’d stop fantasizing about you eventually…but here he was, six months later and feeling his irritation swelling as he watched Caleb flirting a bit with Tamika, his intern. Tamika was great. She was the top undergraduate business student at NYU. And yes, Tamika was a beautiful young woman, but he had boundaries unlike some people, and she was also gay. Maybe Cal didn’t know that, or perhaps he didn’t care…after his encounters with Y/N he started to realize just how much of a flirt he was. But as long as people weren’t complaining or Cal wasn’t wreaking havoc amongst his employees there was nothing Harry could really reprimand him about and that kind of pissed him off.

“You’re crazy, Cal!” Tamika laughed as she came up to his office door and opened it up the rest of the way, “Give me just a second and then I’ll leave you guys to it.” She assured him. “Harry, Dr. Dopico’s assistant called, her meetings are running about an hour late. I called Dean Sundaram and he said he’s flexible to what you decide. So do you want me to push your dinner plans or reschedule the meeting with NYU?” She asked him.

“Depends on what Caleb’s here to tell me…” Harry said as he smiled at Cal. He had been working on landing this potentially huge account that would be the thing that pushed him into billionaire status by the end of the year. There was some suspense in the air, but when Caleb started to grin, Harry chuckled knowingly.

“We got it.” Caleb confirmed and Harry was elated. Tamika was screaming, jumping up and down because she had been involved in the investment proposal writing and service planning that was presented to this client. This was huge for her resume and CV for grad school. Harry liked hiring students because he felt it was important for them to really apply what they learned in class, like he had. His dad was a beast in business and now Harry was too and he wanted to give others the same opportunities to learn and grow in a real world setting. But more importantly, being a billionaire would help him to launch forth tons of charitable and educational projects around the globe, like the one he was meeting Dr. Dopico for. He wanted to do more and be able to help more people and now, he could do it at a scale that actually made a difference.They all hugged briefly in celebration of what this meant for each of them.

“I’ll push your dinner reservations and update your talking points for the meeting with Dr. Dopico.” Tamika said before hurrying out of his office.

“Excellent job, Caleb! This is great news.” Harry was beaming despite his internal irritation towards his CFO. And then his smile dropped a bit as he wondered if Caleb would be sharing his big news with you tonight or someone else?

“Man, we all put in our piece. I’m glad we understood the client and them us, that’s what it came down to.” He smiled happily.

“Great work leading the team for this account though…ummm, I know I’m more reserved at work but I think this calls for a celebration with the team that made this possible.” Harry said, as his mind shot back to you. He wanted to see you.

“Oh no Harry, don’t worry about that-”

“No please, I insist! This is huge, I just want to properly thank you all for your dedication. Nothing wild, just a dinner? A nice formal one at my home up in Quogue, we can do it there. Everyone can bring a date and I mean, as you know, I have plenty of guest rooms if anyone gets a little too drunk, there’s room for everyone.” He said and Caleb smiled.

“If you’re really up for it I’m sure the team would really go for it.” Caleb assured.

“Cool. I’ll get something together tonight and send you guys an invitation. Plan for next Saturday, alright?” He said.

“Sounds good, thanks Harry.” Caleb said before heading out.

… PRESENT DAY …

Harry wanted to see you again, that’s why he had planned this dinner. He knew that the chances of Caleb bringing you tonight were next to none, but he just needed to take the shot in the dark because he was losing his mind thinking about you and not knowing. And maybe seeing you on your husband’s arm would be the thing to snap him out of this infatuation he had over you. Harry was a bit nervous as he had just run off for a moment to make a quick phone call to his dad that he’d been putting off for the last hour since he was awaiting Caleb’s arrival. He hoped to God he didn’t miss you making your entrance if Cal did bring you along.

“Yes dad, we have exclusivity. Alright…yes, bye.” Harry mumbled and hung up before shutting off his phone, no more work, he deserved to celebrate tonight.

“Mr. Hargrove has arrived.” Gerard came up to him informing him, like Harry had requested he do earlier.

“Oh, wonderful! Ummm…did he… bring anyone with him?” Harry asked and Gerard nodded, “Anyone you recognized?”

“No, but ummm, sir. He’s…married? He’s brought his wife.” He said and Harry couldn’t even suppress his smile.

“Are you sure?” He asked he asked with a pounding heart.

“Yes. He introduced her as such.” Gerard shrugged.

“Was she the most effortlessly beautiful woman you’d ever seen?” Harry asked, twinkles of adoration were already visible in his eyes.

“I couldn’t say…the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen is my wife.” He said and Harry grinned.

“That’s really good, mate.”

“Thank you, sir.” Gerard smiled timidly.

“Alright, I’ll go say hello.” Harry said and headed back to the large, bright dining room. He tried to be slow about it so that he could spot you first but you weren’t there. But he did see Caleb lingering near the bar, his eyes fixed on something else. He was alone, so he decided to approach him first. “Cal!” He called out to Caleb, who then turned quickly and immediately smiled. “It’s great to see you.” Harry stated with a bright, charismatic smile as he extended his hand to shake Caleb’s.

“Hey, likewise! Thanks for having us over.” He said as he shook Harry’s hand quickly. Harry smiled a bit brighter as he pulled his hand back, he didn’t miss the detail of Caleb thanking him for having “us” over. Maybe you were here.

Harry was about to respond when a bright color in his peripheral vision diverged his attention from Caleb; he turned in it’s direction and he swore that the earth stood still as he saw you descending into the dining area. You were a vision. Your beauty and confidence commanded the attention of the room, he swore everyone grew silent as you looked around with a kind smile on your lips, eyes darting around to find a familiar face. Finally your eyes met his and he was fighting against every instinct that made him want to rush over to you with a smile so wide it hurt.

Harry felt the air being stolen from his lungs at the sight of you in that gorgeous gown and the way it framed your body. You looked sensational and his fingers were itching to get to touch your skin again. He longed to trace all of the spots that were exposed on you with his lips, kissing at you delicately and with reverie. He had no idea how he would be able to not just stare at you all evening long, it would certainly be a challenge. He was already shaking off the sinful thoughts he was having of you as you approached.

“Ah, perfect timing!” Caleb’s voice called him back down to reality, “Harry, this is Y/N, my wife. Sweetheart, this is Harry Styles, CEO of the firm.” Cal introduced you two. You were smiling up at him cooly, but he could see the sparkles in your eyes as they met his own once more. And oh…? Were you using the triangle method on him? Harry couldn’t help but gently bite down on his lip as his eyes glanced down to yours briefly.

“Mr. Styles, it’s wonderful to finally meet you.” You said to him as you extended your hand and he was gentle as he took your hand in his and gave it a shake.

“You as well, Y/N. Call me Harry, I insist.” He said with what he imagined was a polite smile, but to you he looked like a kid who was trying too hard to keep a secret to themselves. You wanted to hug him and it was almost cruel to have to pretend like you didn’t know of each other.

“Alright. Thank you, Harry.” You said and he smiled and nodded.

“Can I offer you guys a drink?” He asked and you were the first to nod.

“Please.” You said quietly, but with zeal.

*********

You nearly had a cardiac event when you saw that Harry was already with Caleb when you walked in. You were hoping to at least have something to hang on to prior to interacting with Harry. It excited you that he was so excited to see you, or so it seemed! You were just as thrilled to see him, even just feeling the warmth of his hand in yours made you start to spark up from the inside out. Your throat suddenly felt dry and you needed a drink, so you were quick to accept when he offered to head to the bar.

“What can I get you, Harry?” The man at the bar asked with a smile.

“Just a whisky highball for me-”

“Make it two, please.” You spoke up and he glanced to you with a small smile.

“2 whisky highballs and for you, sir?” He asked Caleb.

“A scotch, neat.”

“Coming right up.” The guy said and turned to start on their drinks.

“Well it’s good to meet some fellow whisky lovers.” Harry said, sparking up some conversation.

“Right! I got lucky with this one! Usually women can’t handle whisky.” Cal added and you saw how Cal’s mildly sexist statement made Harry furrow his brows a bit.

“I don’t think it’s so much a sex thing, it’s just the flavor is definitely one to train your palate for. Everyone struggles with it a bit at first.” Harry said and you nodded in agreement. “I mean, in my experience, women handle their liquor far better than any men I know.” Harry added and you smiled.

“I have to agree with Harry. Don’t see too many women forgetting to be decent human beings after a drink or two.” You said and Harry chuckled, but you could feel Cal’s unamused glance on you for a moment. “Well anyway, your house is gorgeous, by the way. Can’t wait to see it in the daylight.” You complimented and he nodded.

“Oh, so you two plan on staying tonight?” Harry asked with an arch in his eyebrows, his eyes quickly finding yours until Cal spoke up.

“Yeah, we’re staying. I want to let loose tonight and I do not trust her driving my Quattroporte.” Cal chuckled and you let out a fake chuckle, but Harry didn’t miss as you rolled your eyes.

“Well I hope you’ll enjoy the stay. I mean, if you’re early risers, the sunrise is definitely something you don’t want to miss.” Harry said, his eyes meeting yours briefly.

“Here is the scotch neat.” The bartender said and when Caleb leaned forward to grab his drink you and Harry smiled at each other briefly, “And the two whisky highballs.” He added, causing you both to turn and also reach for your drinks. You all took a moment to try your drinks and you hummed.

“This is excellent. Thank you so much.” You complimented the bar tender.

“Thank you, enjoy.” He said before turning around to clean his area a bit.

“Well, now I know who to invite to the whisky bars.” Harry said with a charming smile and Cal chuckled.

“Definitely! We do know some pretty great ones in the city, don’t we sweetheart?” He turned to you and you nodded.

“Yeah. Haven’t been in a while but I’m sure they’re still stand up places.” You assured.

“What do you mean? We just went right around easter!” Cal looked at you incredulously and you knew that wasn’t true because he hadn’t been around consistently until the summer.

“Maybe you’ve gone with someone else more recently.” You said to him and his eyebrows furrowed, “A client or a friend perhaps, we haven’t gone there together since…at least a year ago.” You pointed out and he frowned a bit.

“Oh, you’re right…yeah, I think I went with someone else. Sorry, sweets.” He said and you smiled and shook your head.

“S’alright. You deal with lots of people so the outings blur together, I’m sure.” You assured him and he chuckled and nodded.

“Yeah. Ummm, I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick, can you hold this for me?” Caleb asked you and you nodded.

“Sure.”

“When I’m back I’ll introduce you to everyone else.” He assured before he excused himself to you and Harry and then hurried off. As soon as he was gone you put down Cal’s drink on the bar top as you felt the tension between you and Harry becoming palpable. You turned around to say something to him when another woman walked up to both of you.

“Excuse me, Harry?” She said and he turned his attention to the young woman who had walked up.

“Hey, Tamika! Glad you could make it!” He greeted her happily with a hug. She then proceeded to introduce her girlfriend, Giselle to Harry as well.

“This place is incredible, thank you so much for inviting us.” Giselle said and he nodded with a smile.

“Of course, happy to have you guys here! Ummm, let me also introduce you guys to Y/N, Cal is her husband.” He said and Tamika’s eyes widened.

“Oh wow! I didn’t know Cal had gotten married. Congratulations! I’m Tamika, this is my girlfriend, Giselle.” She greeted and you smiled.

“Oh yeah, thanks! Nice to meet you Tamika and Giselle.” You said, extending a hand to one and then the other.

“Tamika is my intern/assistant. She’s the top business student at NYU and she’s just finishing up her undergrad.” Harry bragged and you smiled.

“Oh wow, congrats! Are you thinking about grad school?” You asked Tamika, who nodded.

“Yeah! Applications are due soon and I’m just trying to narrow down my options.” She explained to you.

“You know Y/N, Tamika is interested in USC…” Harry mentioned to you with a small, suggestive grin and your eyebrows arched up.

“Are you really?” You asked as you turned back to her and she nodded.

“Yeah, but it’s so competitive so I’m keeping my options open.” She explained.

“Well I ummm, I actually went to Marshall for my MS degrees. So I have connections, I still keep in touch with a lot of the faculty there. I can certainly put in a good word for you if you decide to apply.”

“Wait. Are you serious?” She asked with shock in her eyes and Giselle was just as shocked.

“Completely serious! I mean, if Harry’s working with you I’m sure it shows a lot of promise and potential. USC would be lucky to have you.” You said with a smile.

“Yes, she’ll take any help you can give her. I’m going there so please anything to help us reunite!” Giselle cut in and you all chuckled.

“I’ll give you one of my business cards before you leave, that way you can reach out to me when you apply. I’m sure I can set up a little meet and greet with someone on the admissions board.” You said to her.

“Wow, yes I would love that. Thank you so much.”

“Yeah, of course. What about you Giselle?” You asked her and then she went on to explain that she was actually also going to USC but to the Thornton School of Music, it was her first semester. This gave them all something more to talk about before Cal returned. Caleb seemed to have good rapport with Tamika, which aided in allowing you and Harry to continue stealing glances of each other as they spoke.

But soon enough Caleb was excusing you both from Harry’s side and taking you around introducing you to a few others. He wasn’t really flaunting you like he said he wanted to though, something was off with him. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but he seemed distracted even, leaving you to do most of the talking to his coworkers while he just darted his eyes around the room. It was hard to focus on the people you were meeting when you could feel Harry’s gaze burning into you from across the room. It was making it hard to focus on the people who kept asking you questions about yourself and trying to hide their surprise as Caleb introduced you as his wife. Obviously, you knew about Cal omitting this information from Harry and from Gerard earlier, but it was getting to you the more it happened.

“Hey Cal, nice to see you!”

“Hey Amir! Likewise.” He said shaking the man’s hand.

“Thanks. This is my son, Louay. He is interested in business so I brought him along to show him how we reap the rewards of it.” He chuckled, smiling at the young man with pride. “And who’s this lovely lady on your arm?” Amir asked and Cal turned to you for a moment.

“Uh, this is my wife, Y/N.” He said and you politely extended your hand out to him. But Amir’s eyes rounded out as his eyebrows arched up in surprise.

“Oh wow! I had no idea you were married!” He said with a bright smile and shook your hand. You felt Cal’s wary gaze on you but just continued smiling at Amir as you greeted him and then his son. But Cal knew you well enough to notice the anger and frustration that were radiating off of you. You made some small talk with Amir and Louay and were interrupted by one of the staff announcing that dinner was about to be served. You glanced towards the table and your eyes met Harry’s who quickly glanced at the seats nearest to where you were before looking back at you. He wanted to sit beside you…but how? Unless you or him sat in the middle…which just wasn’t going to work.

“Cal, project leader, come here man.” Harry called and Cal grabbed your hand and pulled you along. You bit your lip as you thought of something and then slipped your hand out of his and he turned around and your eyes met.

“What’s the matter?” He asked and you gave him a look of irritation.

“Why’re your coworkers so shocked to meet me, Cal?” He sighed.

“Not now, Y/N.” He said lowly, pleading eyes on yours as you crossed your arms stubbornly.

“I don’t want to sit beside you.” You said and he sighed.

“Fine.” He accepted before he turned around to walk the few feet to the table, but you sped ahead of him.

“You can sit beside him, Harry.” You said and then took a seat beside a woman named Andrea. She’d been a bit shy, but you felt better knowing Harry was beside you and Tamika was settling in across from you. As soon as he scooted his chair in you felt his thigh brushing up against yours; it was a tight fit around the table, so you were all a bit close. Your lips twitched up in a smile when he glanced at you quickly. He spread his legs further and you nudged at him a bit, trying to keep a straight face. Caleb was distracted talking to the person on his left and so Harry reached off to the side, as if he was going to grab his chair, but then you felt his fingers just graze the outside of your thigh. The slit on your dress leaving your skin exposed and available for him to touch. You let out a breathy giggle and his lips twitched up in a small grin. When you glanced up at him through your lashes he bit his lip for a second.

“I wish I could have you as my main course.” He whispered with a smirk and then placed his hands back on the tabletop. Your body tingled as a chill passed through you, you wished that you could touch him at the very least. Every now and again your thighs would brush, but he was mostly talking to Caleb and you were just focused on your food because if you looked at Harry you would end up doing something stupid in front of all these people.

When the first course was brought in you smiled excitedly at just how beautiful and delicious the starter looked. It was a miso citrus salad, your mouth watered at the fresh scent emanating from the dish. And then you felt a gaze on you and you quickly looked up and your eyes met with the girl sitting at Tamika’s left, as soon as your eyes met her gaze flitted off to something else. Over and over it was happening, you kept making awkward eye contact with her. Finally you got the chance to look at her while something else had her attention; you wanted to see if maybe you knew each other from somewhere. you observed the slightly pained look in her eyes and the small frown on her lips. So you followed her line of sight and stopped at Harry, but he was leaned down eating his food. And when you leaned back a bit and saw Cal mirroring this woman’s expression the realization hit you like a ton of bricks. That was her! His mistress. Suddenly you lost your grip on your fork and it clanked against the porcelain plate loudly several times, causing everyone to look at you. You blinked a few times and forced a smile.

“Sorry, butter fingers.” You excused and everyone chuckled before they resumed their previous actions. You look down at your plate of food and suddenly felt disgusted by the fish and vegetables that had been unbelievably appetizing just moments before. Harry cleared his throat and you turned to him.

“Are you alright?” He asked lowly

“I ummm…I think so. I just…” you started and then just shook your head, “Never mind.” You smiled and forced yourself to have a bit more food. Thankfully, there was a nice break between the main course and dessert and so you took that time to go to the room and grab a business card for Tamika from your purse. You were just putting your wallet away when you heard the bedroom door open. You had hoped it was Harry, but when you heard the door click shut behind you quietly you knew it was Caleb.

“Are you upset at me?” His voice was soft and had a hint of caution to it.

“You’ve been seeing someone else and she’s here tonight, isn’t she?” You said instead as you turned around, hands on your hips. You just wanted to know how much there was to it. You were ready to face this right now.

“Y/N-”

“She’s the only person you haven’t introduced me to, but she keeps looking at me from across the table and I saw how you two looked at each other-”

“She didn’t know I was married.” He said immediately and a sardonic smile came onto your lips.

“No one did! Apparently.” You said with irritation as you threw your hands up in irritation and he came closer to you.

“Look, we can be rational about this-”

“I think I’m responding pretty rationally to this situation, Caleb. Everyone thinks we’re fucking newly weds when I’ve given almost a decade of my life to you! We’ve been married seven years and you’ve been hiding it from people for three years?! Do you have any idea how this makes me feel? Why did you even ask me come tonight?” You questioned him and his lips dropped into a small frown.

Maybe you didn’t love him like before, but having to hear over and over that no one knew about you was embarrassing and it was shaking your confidence to some extent. Why had he hidden your marriage so vehemently from everyone? Was it really just to be able to fuck around or was he ashamed of you for some reason? The not knowing was clawing at you horribly.

“I’m sorry. I just like to keep my personal life as separate as possible from my work and-”

“OK, that’s complete bullshit! Why would you do something as personal as fucking a coworker if you wanted to keep the personal and professional separate?” You challenged his rationale and he ran his hand down his face, a physical sign of his stress weighing him down.

“Y/N, I don’t think this is the time and place to talk about this.” He said cooly.

“Then I’d like to leave so we can discuss this at home.” You said with finality.

“I don’t want to go yet, Y/N. And I know I’m in no position to ask this of you, but I’d like to get my thoughts together before we talk about this. It’s…it’s a lot.” He said and you rolled your lips together as you felt your eyes starting to well up a bit as your simmering anger started to reach its boiling point.

“Fine.” You said softly and just walked past him and out of the bedroom.

You closed the door behind you and just took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly to calm down. You hated so much that you cried when you were angry, but the emotion was just not one you felt often enough to know how to deal with it properly. You squeezed your eyes shut for a second to will the frustration away, but you were absolutely humiliated. It was believable and even excusable for Harry not to have known Cal was married. One typically does not to talk about their personal business with their boss, but to blatantly lie to everyone else he worked with and communicated with day to day? That was something else. Once you were calm enough you made your way back to the dining area. As soon as you sat down you felt the woman from across the table looking at you. You just glanced up to her, catching her gaze for a few seconds and she went beet red before looking away.

You could only imagine how she felt having to see you there. He lied to her too and by the looks of it, she hadn’t taken it well. Suddenly everything started falling into place…the reason for why two months ago out of the blue Cal was home more and loving on you even more and spending time with you…something had happened between them and ruined the relationship, if he had been with her this entire time. He could’ve been with multiple people to your knowledge.

“Is everything alright?” Harry’s voice pulled you from your thoughts and you turned your head to him and shook your head.

“Is there another room I can stay in tonight? Or even just a motel or something nearby? I don’t want to be here anymore, Harry. I need to be as far away from Cal as possible.” You said softly and he frowned.

“Uh yeah, there are bedrooms upstairs as well. But I can find out about a motel nearby if you’d prefer that.” He offered. You saw Cal returning to the room from your peripherals.

“I’ll let you know.” You said before you turned back to the table and grabbed your cocktail and drank the remainder in one go.

Shortly after, dessert was being placed before you all. It was a gorgeous tiramisu, one of your favorites, but you only picked at it for a bit, not really in the mood to eat or to chat with anyone any more. Harry would’ve probably talked to you, but Cal was engaged in a never-ending conversation with Harry so that he could constantly keep an eye on you; you could feel Cal’s scrutinous gaze on you. You just felt like the odd one out and you wanted this night to be over.

Even when you all migrated to a lounge room to chat you noticed that he had tried and failed several times to approach this other woman. After about the third attempt Cal just started ordering drinks with reckless abandon and eventually headed off with a couple others to the billiard room, or at least that’s what you heard from their loud and drunken conversation. Harry was busy bidding farewell to those who were heading home for the night. It looked like Tamika was getting ready to go and you’d been meaning to chat with her again, but the woman from across the table had been with her the whole time. But as of now, she was nowhere to be found so you approached Tamika and Giselle before she returned from wherever she had gone to.

“Are you guys heading off as well?” You asked the two.

“Yeah. I’ve got a big exam on Monday that I need to study for tomorrow.” Tamika explained.

“Oh OK, best of luck! Ummm here’s my card though. If you decide to apply to Marshall let me know and like I said earlier, I’d be happy to help you network with the recruiters and faculty.” You reaffirmed.

“That’s just really kind of you, Y/N. Thank you so much. If there’s anything I can do to repay you for this-”

“Oh my gosh, no Tamika! If you decide to go there just keep doing your very best, that’s all.” You said, “Of course if only to make me look good…” You joked with a giggle, despite your low mood, and Tamika and Giselle laughed along with you.

“You’re too sweet. I hope Cal brings you around more!” She said and you just nodded and smiled, “If he doesn’t I’ll badger him about it.” She added with a playfully menacing tone and you just chuckled.

“You guys are all great, I’m glad I was able to come along tonight.” You said genuinely. You were about to ask them how far their drive was when Tamika lit up a bit.

“Dani!” Tamika called out as she looked past you and waved at the person she was calling over. You turned around and saw that, that was the woman from across the table and she looked petrified, “Come here!” Tamika insisted and you swallowed thickly as she made her way over. Her eyes darted around the room, probably trying to find Caleb, but he was drunk and playing pool in another room of the house. When she was finally within reach, Tamika dragged her into her side, “Dani, this is Y/N. She’s Caleb’s wife!” She informed her excitedly and you saw in real time how Dani’s face started to pale as she swallowed thickly, which could only mean one thing. You looked around, trying to act quickly before she puked all over you, her friends, and herself. Finally, you saw a garbage can near the entrance of the room and just grabbed her hand and dragged her over to it. You had just put it in her hands when she started to throw up. You looked away, starting to feel disgusted at the sounds of her heaving and Tamika and Giselle rushed over to her.

“Wow, good save.” Giselle said to you and you just nodded as you turned to Giselle with a relieved expression.

“Yeah, I’d know that look anywhere.” You said as Tamika rubbed over her friend’s back as she just spat the taste out of her mouth. Dani’s tearful eyes met yours and you just offered her a sympathetic smile. Poor woman.

“Thank you.” She rasped out and you nodded.

“Yeah, of course.” You assured her. Just then Harry walked in and his eyes widened a bit upon seeing you four huddled up at the entrance of the room.

“Harry, have you got some mouth wash and pepto or something for Dani? She got sick to her stomach.” Tamika explained to him and he nodded.

“Yeah, of course! Follow me.” He said and they went off with him, trash can and all.

“If her boyfriend comes back can you tell him we’ll meet him in the foyer?” Giselle asked you and you nodded.

“Yeah, of course.” You said with a smile and a nod.

“Thank you. And it was so nice to meet you, thank you for being so kind.” Giselle said as she hugged you briefly.

“It’s no problem at all! Drive safe.” You said and she thanked you as she hurried off to catch up with Tamika. It was just moments later when the man who had been sitting beside the person you now knew as Dani, came into the room and glanced around. “You’re Dani’s boyfriend?” You asked him and he nodded. “She had something to take care of with Harry and Tamika, they told me to tell you that they will meet you in the foyer.”

“Oh, cool. Thanks.” He smiled before hurrying out of the room.

There were just a few more people in the room you were in, but they were laughing and chatting amongst themselves, so you were once again the odd one out. You decided to head off to the bedroom you’d been given and just get the toiletries you had unpacked back into your bag so that you could be ready to relocate. A few light knocks on the door caught your attention and you hurried over to open it. You saw Gerard standing there with a polite smile.

“Good evening, Miss. Mr. Styles informed me that you wanted to change your sleeping arrangements?” He asked and you nodded.

“Yes, please.” You said and he nodded.

“Certainly. He mentioned that you wanted a bit of space. I can offer you a bedroom upstairs? I called the motels in town and they are all booked out unfortunately.” He explained.

“Upstairs is just fine.” You assured him with a smile, “Thank you, Gerard.”

“Not a problem. Can I take your bag for you?”

“Oh no, it’s alright. Just show me where to go.”

“No Miss, I insist.” He said and you smiled at him as you grabbed your overnight bag and handed it to him and he smiled, “Wonderful, follow me.” He said and you followed him through the house. You could hear the absurd commotion from the billiard room and just rolled your eyes as you followed Gerard upstairs. The lights on the sconces were dimmed, but you could still see how beautiful everything was. “I’m going to give you the room that Mr. and Mrs. Styles stay in when they visit from England.” He informed you, “You’ll have a balcony and a lovely view of the water from it.”

“Oh wow, thank you. I hear the sunrises are to die for.” You hummed.

“They certainly are captivating.” He agreed with you. He opened up the door when you finally arrived and he switched on the lights. Your eyes widened at the beautiful, modern set up of the room. You swore you had seen this room on Pinterest or something. A king sized bed, all to yourself? Yes, please. You thought as you smiled.

“This is amazing.” You said as you looked around. Gerard had just set your bag down on the little bench in front of the bed.

“I’m glad it’s to your satisfaction. Now the lights can be controlled with this remote.” He explained, showing it to you and then placing it back down on the bench. “And your bathroom is through there.” He said pointing to a door in the far right of the bedroom, “There’s a small cabinet by the shower that contains extra towels and washcloths, you can just leave them in the hamper if you use anything. The closet is in there as well. And the balcony is just through those doors.” He said pointing to the double glass doors that were partially covered by some long, floor length curtains.

“Perfect, thank you.”

“My pleasure. And, I am sorry if I contributed to any unpleasantness between you and Mr. Hargrove. I had no intent to stir up-”

“Oh my god, no.” you pouted at him in endearment, “Don’t feel bad about a thing, Gerard. Frankly it’s…been a long time coming. It wasn’t because of you.” You assured him, “I appreciate your help tonight.” You smiled at him.

“Is there anything else I can do for you before I head out for the night?” He asked.

“Can you just thank Harry for me? Just for, indulging me.” You said with a small smile.

“Certainly.” He nodded.

“Thank you, again for all your help. Good night.” You smiled at him.

“Good night, Miss.” he said before hurrying out of the room.

Once you were alone you dimmed down the bedroom lights before drawing the heavy curtains and slipping out onto the balcony. You shivered for a few seconds as you adjusted to the slightly cooler temperature outside as you leaned against the railing of the balcony. The lack of light from the bedroom helped you see the starry sky even better. And you sighed in relief as you could hear the waves crashing into the shore not too far off in the distance. The peace and silence in your brain lasted for just a few minutes.

You just couldn’t stop thinking about Dani now…how she literally threw up at the sight of you. She probably felt awful and guilty and you wished you could just tell her that you weren’t angry at her. That you didn’t blame her. She had been deceived just as much as you had. What was frustrating for you was that you were completely in the dark about Cal. You thought you knew the man you were married to, but evidently that wasn’t the case. It didn’t even matter what you lost at this point, there was no way of moving past something like this. Your marriage was through…both of you had cheated now, so what was the point?

The sound of a door closing startled you and you whipped around quickly and saw Harry leaning back on the bedroom door. He offered you a timid smile as he started to walk across the space, but it was contagious to see his smile widening the closer he came. He met you out on the balcony and as soon as he was before you he sighed in relief and grabbed your hands.

“You look absolutely divine. You’re exquisite. Literal perfection.” He hummed softly, “Been dying to tell you all night.” He complimented you. His voice was soft as he spoke to you and you smiled at him coyly.

“Thank you.” Was all you could say as every other thought in your head vanished as you stood before him. Finally.

“Want to talk about what happened?” He asked you.

“I probably should.” You said and he smiled.

“I’ll listen if you want me to.” He assured you and you sighed.

“So obviously no one knew Cal was married and like…I don’t know, it got to me. Like I just feel humiliated a bit. Like…I don’t know if he did it on purpose to just, push me over the edge? But like, how did he expect people to react? And I think…well, I know now actually, that he’s been sleeping with some woman named Dani.” Harry looked surprised, “I don’t know for how long or if there’s more. She’d been avoiding me all night and Tamika introduced us and she just…got sick. I mean, she obviously didn’t know he was married and god, she probably feels like the worst person, you know?” You said with a frown. “Like how could he do that to someone? Poor woman.” You shook your head.

“So you’re upset that the other woman is feeling guilty.” He asked with a small smile and you shrugged.

“I know how insane that makes me sound but like…she didn’t know about me. That’s not fair to her. And like, I’ve at least known for a bit and have made peace with it…but who knows how she found out that she was the other woman. From the way he’s been acting I’d say it wasn’t good.”

“So what now?” Harry asked. You knew that his question was a lot more complex than how he posed it. There were subliminal implications that were being addressed without him having to ask them directly and it made you feel just a little bit better about all of this. He still cared. Whether his interest in you was platonic, solely carnal, or even romantic, he was asking because he wanted to know what this could mean for you two.

“Cal said he wants to talk about it after he gathers his thoughts because “it’s a lot”, or something like that.” You responded as you turned back to the vast darkness ahead of you.

“Do you think he wants to end it?” Harry asked cautiously.

“I have no idea, but I want to end it.” You said with certainty and well, Harry had no business feeling happy about that (selfishly, of course) but he remained composed with a slight furrow in his brow as he listened to you, “I mean, what’s the point of this sham of a marriage?” You asked through a sardonic laugh. “He’s been unfaithful for who knows how long, I’ve stopped letting myself love him and have also…committed adultery. Thank you very much for that, by the way.” You added with a teasing grin and a side glance, he smirked in response.

“Happy to be of service. By the way.” He replied haughtily and you both laughed softly. “So you…you want a divorce?” He asked to clarify and you nodded.

“I first thought about it after we spent the night together.” You shared, “I just…realized how much of my own heart had been out of it to like…go through with what we did and not feel remorse or anything close to it. But then he started trying again and so I took that card off of the table. But now that I’ve learned he’s been lying to everyone and living a double life I feel like I’m married to a stranger. Like who was I kidding? This has been over for a long time. So stupid…” You sighed in disappointment.

“You’re not stupid. A marriage is a huge commitment. Of course you’re going to try if you see him trying. But hey, now you’ve seen all the facets of the situation and you’ve made a choice for yourself, yeah?”

“Yeah.” You responded softly.

“Are you…are you alright?”

“Yeah, I think so. Just…letting the reality of it all sink in.” You said before exhaling. The exhale felt cathartic, like all your troubles would be gone soon just like that little puff of air released from your lungs. The silence between you two was nice, only the sounds of the waves on the shore were detectable and it was perfect.

“Can I…hold you?” He asked, breaking the silence and you nodded up at him and he turned and stepped closer as he opened up his arms and you stepped into his embrace. You inhaled deeply as your head rested against his shoulder and his arms squeezed tight around your body, “What can I do to make you feel better?” He asked and you smiled.

“This.” You assured and he smiled, “This is perfect. I needed a hug after this shit show of a night.” You hummed and he smiled as he let his cheek rest atop of your head. A comfortable silence settled over you both before you spoke up.

“I’m sorry it sucked so much for you, but it was kind of perfect for me.” He shared and you smiled, “I threw this party just…hoping Cal would bring you along. It was a fucking long shot but he did!” he chuckled and you did as well, “And now you’re here and I couldn’t be more pleased.” He said happily. You could hear the smile in his voice.

“I didn’t know you were throwing the party until we were about to arrive.” You confessed and he chuckled, “He had said it was with a few work friends, so I had accepted because I was just excited to meet some people Cal worked with. He told me to look sexy so he could "show me off”. When I found out about this being your party I was scared that you’d think I was just trying to seduce you by showing up like this.” You said and he chuckled.

“I know we don’t know each other that well, but I know that’s not how you are.” He said and you smiled.

“Yeah, definitely not.” You assured.

“You do look sensational though, you definitely met the mark.” He said and you chuckled a bit before you both just settled into the comfortable silence. He felt like a friend you’d known for ages. He was a person who you could be your authentic self around. It was rare to feel so safe with someone.

“Harry…do you think there’s any left over tiramisu?” You asked randomly, “S’my favorite dessert but I couldn’t really stomach mine when they served it.” You explained and you felt his body shake a bit as he chuckled.

“S’my favorite too so I know they made extra if only for me to take it home.” He responded, the smile he was wearing made evident by the tone of his voice. “Wanna get changed or get down there like this?” He asked.

“I think change first. Don’t want to risk getting the dress dirty…knowing me, I eat like a child.” You said and he chuckled as he gave you a bit harder of a squeeze before he started to let go.

“Alright then. I’ll change as well and ummm, I’ll come by and get you, yeah?”

“OK.” You smiled. You walked back in with him and left him at the bedroom door before he was off down the hall. You watched him until he turned around and gave you a final smile as he disappeared behind the last door down the hall.

You proceeded to slip back into your own room and got your pajamas out of your bag. You also decided to get your makeup off while you were at it and were just toning your face when there were a few knocks on the door. You hurried over and opened it up to let him in.

“Just need to get my moisturizer on and then we can go.” You said and he nodded and followed you inside. He busied himself with closing up the balcony and just waiting for you at the foot of the bed. “Ready.” You said as you came out of the bathroom and he smiled and started guiding you down stairs. Upon making it down you guys could hear the muffled sounds of the others who had stayed in the billiard room. It was nearing 1am and they were drunk, so hopefully they passed out quickly. Harry guided you down a dark hallway before he pushed open a swinging door and switched on the lights. You had to blink a few times to adjust your vision, but then he switched on a warmer pair before getting the fluorescent ones off.

“God, I forget how bright these are.” He whinged and you giggled.

“This is like a proper restaurant kitchen.” You hummed as you looked around.

“Yeah, I usually use this home for holidays. Obviously, we don’t want to do the cooking then so we hire a chef for when we stay here. Or we do a lot of parties here as well, so again, it’s just convenient for how it’s used.” He explained as he headed over to the refrigerator and then he turned around quickly, “By “we” I mean my parents and other family.” He clarified and you chuckled.

“I figured. Gerard mentioned something to me about how the room he gave me is your parents’ favorite room to stay in or something?”

“Yeah.” He smiled and then looked through it to find the extra serving of the cake and he finally did and pulled it out. “Here we are.” He said and put it down on the counter before grabbing some forks, “Are we being civilized or eating from the container?” He inquired.

“Whatever you think is best. But be warned that I might feel like I need to eat it all if we have it in the container.” You joked and he chuckled.

“Plates it is…” he played along and you giggled as he just grabbed one from a nearby cabinet, “We can share.” He said as he came back over and you sighed as he started digging into the surface of the cake to break off a piece for you two.

“Fine…” you accepted dramatically and he smirked. Without even asking he just stopped and pulled his fork further back to make the slice larger, which caused you to laugh softly. “I was joking.” You clarified and his eyes drew away from his task and met yours knowingly.

“No you weren’t.” He said with a grin and you just laughed. Once he got that done he put the container back in the fridge and when he turned he found you already digging your fork into the cake. “Didn’t even have the decency to wait?” He scoffed jokingly and you grinned.

“It looks incredible.”

“Yet you wasted a perfectly good slice at dinner…” he quipped back and you groaned and tossed your head back dramatically.

“I’m sorry!” You croaked out and he laughed and instinctually reached his arm out to wrap it around you and pull you into him. You went with him easily and when you glanced up at him he was smiling down at you.

“It’s alright, I forgive you.” He said softly and your lips curled up in an easy smile.

“There’s like…a vibe between us right? Like I’m not delusional, right?” You asked and you saw him flush a bit but he nodded.

“Yeah, definitely.” He said and you giggled.

“To there being a vibe with us or that I’m delusional?” You asked and his smile widened as he realized what he’d said and he chuckled, his eyes darted away from yours briefly out of the nerves he felt tickling through his body. Then there they were again, those gorgeous green eyes meeting yours again. They were so vibrant despite his widened pupils, a tell tale sign of his attraction. You wondered how big your pupils were right now.

“The vibe.” He clarified meekly and you hummed.

“I don’t know, but it just feels like I’ve known you for a really long time. It’s really nice.” You said with a simple shrug.

“Maybe we’ve met in other lives.” He said quietly.

“That’d be pretty cool actually.” You responded with a pensive look on your face. “Am I allowed to kiss you?” You asked him and he instantly bit his lip as he nodded and started to lean down. You started to press up on your toes to meet him halfway. It felt extraordinary to feels his smooth, warm lips pressing into yours gently.

And when you pulled back the smack of your lips felt like it echoed and your eyes blinked open and then his did as well. This hungry look was exchanged between you, practically forcing you to kiss again. And again, and again, and again in quick little pecks. After the next one he just groaned and smeared his mouth against yours sloppily before pushing his tongue into your mouth. You moaned at the intensity at which he came into it. Your skin was littered in goosebumps and a delicious tingle shot down your spine to your toes and then flew back up to your core. You sighed in pleasant surprise as your pussy’s muscles tightened up and fluttered around absolutely nothing at all in response to his hands sliding up under your flowy pajama shirt, sliding up your back and then scratching down it with a bit of force.

Your hands fisted at his shirt almost as if the action tethered you to reality. You loved the place your mind went to when you were around him. Again, a feeling of safety came to mind and you kissed him back harder and reached for his arms and pushed them down to feel your bottom. As soon as he got there he took over, feeling groping, squeezing your butt like he’d wanted to all night. He also wanted to kiss that little sliver of your lower back that was peeking out of the cutout on the dress you wore.

“Can I pick you up?” He mumbled and you nodded before huffing out a yes. He reached down to your thighs and picked you up before placing you on the counter. His hands were on your face holding you still as he licked into you slowly, savoring your taste just in case your paths didn’t cross for a while again. “Can I go down on you?” His deep voice rasped out, lips smearing against yours as he spoke into the kiss. Your widening smile interrupted your kiss, “What?”

“I’m just…so happy to hear you ask that. Been getting off to the memory of how fucking good you are at that. I came so many times I think I saw God.” You laughed softly and he grinned.

“Like that you think of me when you play with yourself. I do too.” He confessed. “One time I even…said your name when I was with someone else.” He said and you winced.

“Ouch…how’d they take it?”

“Not too good.” He chuckled, “When we slept together…it was way too good.” He said with a reminiscent grin.

“Yeah, like oddly perfect!”

“Right. Like you were made for me. We fit so well.” He said as one of his hands came off your face and rubbed over the crotch of your shorts quickly. You sighed and parted your legs further, giving him more access to your achingly needy pussy. “Do you have underwear on?” He asked and you shook your head. He smiled and slid his fingers into your shorts through the leg opening. He rubbed over your sticky and swollen crease before wedging his fingers into it and swirling around your clit in slow and steady circles. You exhaled slowly in satisfaction, grinding your hips against him, getting yourself even more wet for him, he loved hearing it almost as much as feeling it, “God you’re so fucking wet for me.” He smiled and you hummed.

“Mhmm…Ready for a taste?” You asked and he nodded, “Go on then.” You encouraged him and he kissed you once more before dragging your shorts down by the elastic band. You lifted your hips up to help him out and he just dropped them on the ground as he crouched down and spread you open wider before delving in without a second to waste. You moaned in satisfaction as his thick, warm tongue lapped over your sensitive clit, catching just at the top of your opening every time he licked up. Your toes curled and your fingers dug in his hair as the edge of your orgasm caught you by surprise, hitting you almost as quickly as a strike of lightening. “Oh fuck, don’t stop! Don’t stop! I’m going to…I’m going to come!” You gasped out as you pushed his head closer, you were desperate and impressed by just how quickly your yearning for him caused your undoing. Harry sped up his licks and after one, two, and three accurate and precise licks right to your throbbing little clit your thighs started to tremble and your breathing to hitch a few times before you just moaned out his name. He moaned into you, staying true to his mission as you ground your pussy against his face, drawing your orgasm out, shivering as he kept licking at your clit like that until you felt like you were on fire. You stopped breathing for several moments, the feeling stunning your existence into a pause. Harry’s breathy chuckles against you interrupted the pleasure.

“Breathe, baby.” He reminded and your inhaled sharply.

“Fuck keep going!” You demanded, he didn’t hesitate before delving back in, this time sucking at your clit until you were trembling again, moaning in ecstasy as that double orgasm swept you into an orgasmic oblivion. Your ears rung and your brows furrowed as those magnificent and addicting feelings coursed through every inch of your body. “Thank you! Fuck that’s so fucking good…” you praised and he hummed against you, making your tummy flutter as he started to reduce the intensity of his mouth on you as your orgasm started to dwindle. You swore there were little shocks randomly nipping at your legs and you started to massage his scalp after the hard grip you had on his silky hair. He kissed your clit before kissing your left thigh and pushing himself up to attach your lips together. You loved the taste of yourself on his tongue, it was erotic and made you feel so proud of yourself. “Mmm…wanna feel you inside me.” You mumbled and he sighed.

“Should we go upstairs? I don’t have a condom on me.” He muttered against your cheek before kissing you there.

“S’okay. Want it just like this, just you and me.” You said softly, your eyes flickered up to his so that he could clearly see your intent.

“Don’t tempt me like that, baby.” He shook his head with a devilish grin twitching his lips up to the left.

“M’serious! I got an IUD after I found out that Cal was cheating.” You shared and his eyebrows arched up.

“Oh…I mean, if you really want to. I don’t mind either way.” He assured you.

“I want it. Like really, really badly.” You grinned and he smiled.

“OK.” He stated decidedly. His lips pressed to yours once more and you started to tug at his shirt. He reared back to strip it from his body and he dropped it to the ground before reaching for the hem of yours. You raised your arms to aid him as he undressed you. He smiled and his hands went right to your breasts. He gave them a firm squeeze and you chuckled as he groaned in excitement. “Sorry, I just fucking love your body. Been dying to touch you again.” He breathed out and you smiled. His hands then slid down to your hips as you reached for his sweats. You needed him now.

You tugged at the white ties that were fastening the bottoms to him more snuggly. Once they were untied you tugged down on them until they just dropped down his legs on their own. Your mouth watered as his thick cock fell forward, bouncing a few times from how heavy he was. You immediately brought your hand up and spit into it before wrapping it around his tip, playing with it as he moaned in pleasure. You stroked up and dragged his foreskin to the tip before stroking down and sliding it back away from his thick and leaking head. He filled you up so fucking good, it was too good to be true…

“Please fuck me, Harry.” You begged, inciting an absolutely feral response in him and he nodded before he pulled you back down to the ground, turned your around, and guided his tip to your entrance. He rubbed through your sopping folds, enjoying just how aroused you got for him, he pressed himself against your entrance and you moaned in anticipation of being stretched open around his enviable girth. Your eyes were screwed shut as you waited for him to push in. He started to surge forward, opening your little hole up with his ragingly stiff cock. Once he got about halfway he reached into your hair with one hand and grabbed you tight at your hip with the other as he plunged the rest of the way in hard. You both moaned, shrouded in ecstasy at the feeling of him being inside of you again. You’d both been waiting, dreaming, longing to be connected this way again. He pushed you down into the counter to properly bend you over and you gasped as your bare chest was smooshed into the tiramisu, the ceramic plate scraped against the counter from the collision.

“The cake!” You laughed quietly and he chuckled, but proceeded with thrusting into you and started increasing his pace.

“Fuck you feel so good!” He hummed in delight, relishing in the feeling of your slick walls creating a feeling of suction and pressure around his pulsating erection. He’d been dreaming of having you again and this felt better than the last time because now he knew that you wanted him just as badly. He shifted a bit and then grinned as he heard you gasp when he plunged right against your spot; he couldn’t forget that. He loved just how easily you’d fall apart in pleasure when you were stimulated there.

“Fuck!” You exclaimed as he started to quickly thrust into it, making your legs feel like jello. You reached down and found your clit and you started to rub, making your eyes rolled back as a satisfied smile curled onto your lips. Your fingers were a blur as you rubbed tight little circles against your clit and your tummy started to clench up and then inevitably your inner muscles and walls started to contract around Harry’s cock. He choked out a moan and squeezed your hips hard as he started to thrust harder, you were seeing stars now, “I’m about to come!” You warned and he groaned.

“Come on then, baby. Cream all over my big cock. Show me how fucking good we are together.” He grunted markedly and you moaned a bit too loudly but neither of you had a single fuck to give as his filthy talk pushed you over the edge. You smiled and dropped your head back against his shoulder as you started to come undone. He held you up as your legs became all wobbly beneath you with the aftershocks of your orgasm. He wasn’t slowing down just yet though, his thrusts were getting harder and more erratic; you were impressed by the strength he had. “I’m so fucking close…shit!” He hissed and you tightened up despite your sensitivity and he moaned deeply, “Fuck…I’m right there, baby!”

“Come inside me.” You suddenly requested and he groaned, “Please, Harry.” You keened and he swore he was imagining it.

“Yeah? Want me to finish inside your delicious little pussy?” He panted and you nodded.

“Please. Want it all inside! Need to feel you coming inside.” You begged and he panted heavily.

“Fuck, I’m…oh fuck, I’m coming!” He mumbled quickly before surging his hips forward and then tugging your hips back against him. He ground his cock into you as you felt him twitching with each rope of come he was unloading deep inside of you. Harry swore he was about to lose consciousness from how hard his orgasm hit him. He felt his knees trembling and one of his hands came up over yours on the counter, interlacing your fingers while simultaneously gripping to the counter for support. His deep moans were vibrating deep into your soul, or at least it felt that way as his body was smushed right against yours.

You could feel his warmth filling you up until you felt a bit dripping down your sticky folds. Harry caught his breath as he held himself in you for a few moments before slowly pulling out of you. “Oh shit, s’a lot.” He muttered quietly, “Hang on to the counter for a sec.” he instructed and you nodded as he hurried to grab a hand towel from the counter behind them. When he returned he dabbed at your entrance.

“I swear I’m in another dimension.” You mumbled and he chuckled.

“Push a little bit for me.” He instructed. You did as you were told and he ran the towel over your swollen and throbbing pussy again, the fibers of it tickling you just a bit. You then felt him drag it down your right inner thigh, before he sunk to the ground and cleaned whatever had dripped down to the floor. “Good to go.” He said softly as he pressed a kiss to the small of your back, to that spot he’d been dying to kiss ever since he saw you.

He then got up and you turned around and he chuckled, your tits were certainly smeared over with mascarpone and coca powder. You shrieked as he lunged you onto the counter again and you grabbed the edge of it and squeezed as his lips found your already pebbled nipple and sucked it clean before licking over your supple breast, cleaning it of his favorite dessert. He hummed contently as he sucked a little mark against the the underside of it before moving over to the other one. Your fingers raked through his curls and you tugged a bit when he sucked at your nipple too harshly, pulling it into his mouth forcefully before biting down on it a bit until you giggled in slight discomfort until it dissolved into a moan and he smiled and popped off of it loudly. He chuckled and then kissed up your sternum, neck, jaw, and then your lips again. Your smile was sincere as he rubbed his forehead against yours a few times, making the moment feel a lot more intimate.

“Alright?” He asked you.

“Yeah, just still coming off it.” You assured him and he smiled.

“Good.” He hummed before closing his eyes and you did the same, just basking in the intimacy you shared until a thought crossed your mind.

“Once again I did not get my cake.” You sighed and he chuckled.

“Well you got something…” he joked and you sniggered, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you a new slice.” He assured you before planting a kiss on your cheek.

“Ummm…do you want to stay with me for a bit?” You asked timidly and he smiled.

“Definitely.” He confirmed.

So after getting dressed and getting another slice of the tiramisu, you were both making your way out of the kitchen quietly. You guys could still hear everyone else down the hall laughing and chatting animatedly, though you could tell they were all plastered. You made your way up the stairs and Harry dragged you down the hall to his bedroom, well it was more like a suite, so you cuddled up on to couch he had in front of the TV and you shared your cake as you watched Friends re-runs for a while.

“We should get you to bed.” You heard his voice through your drowsiness and yawned.

“Good idea.” You concurred, but you nuzzled closer to him instead of making a move to stand.

“Want me to carry you?” He asked and you smiled.

“If you really want to.”

“Yeah, come on then.”

But after attempting and failing a few times because you both couldn’t stop laughing or making a serious attempt he just had you hop on piggy back. You leaned on his shoulder and held on tight as he walked you down the long hall and to the other bedroom. He walked you into the bathroom to brush your teeth and waited for you in the room. When you returned, a bit more awake now after dealing with the cold water, you cooed as he had turned down the bed for you.

“Thank you, you’re too sweet.” You said caressing his cheek and he tutted.

“S’nothing. Get in.” He said and you did just that. The bed was as divine as it looked, you wanted one like this for yourself. He sat on the edge watching as you got comfy and once you were, you peered up to see him smiling down at you. Harry traced the high point of your cheekbone with his thumb, such a sweet and comforting gesture.

“I ummm, I just want you to know that this isn’t just a sex thing to me.” He said quietly, “Like I’m not nice to you with the intent to fuck you. I like what I’ve seen of you so far and I just want to be there for you, you know? I want to get to know you. And I know things could get a bit complicated if you and Cal end things, so ummm we can just be friends until you resolve that if you want?” He asked.

“I think that would be wise.” You accepted. “I like you too and I also want to get to know more of you and I just don’t want to fall into something complex that could…hurt you while I’m already in the middle of this mess.” You said with a smile and he nodded.

“Sounds good. And I mean, I’m sure it’ll be hard even if your hearts aren’t in it anymore, so you call me when you need me, yeah?” He asked and you smiled.

“I will.” You assured and he smiled as he reached for the bedside table and handed over your phone so you could unlock it. He put his number in before setting it down on the bedside table again.

“There it is. I’m sorry it started out as a weird night, but I hope I made it a bit better for you.” He hummed and you giggled.

“That’s the understatement of the century, Harry.” You pointed out and he grinned bashfully.

“Don’t want to be too cocky, you know?” He said humbly and you shook your head with a grin.

“Well yes, you made it better. Thank you again for everything tonight.” You expressed your gratitude.

“Course, love.” He said and kissed your lips quickly before making his way out of the room.

You sighed and rolled onto your back with a big smile; you were completely enamored and taken by his way of being towards you. Of course, deep down you were a bit nervous about the big tell-all with Caleb, but you knew you were going to be alright after getting all of the information from him. There was nothing left to fight for with Caleb. Your heart was already drifting in another direction and you didn’t intend to do a single fucking thing about it.

< Previous Part Next Part >

---- Tag List ----

@sunshinemoonsposts @anotherdudetteinthisworld @matildasatellite @sad-avocado @sunflovverharry @cherrysulewski @daphnesutton @gurugirl @jessitpwk@permanentllyharry @here4thefanfics @slutfortigertattoo @angelbabyyy99 @freedomfireflies @behindmygreyeyes @mellamolayla @nikkisimps @dioc4ne @straightontilmornin @mema10 @fkinavocado @hazuniverse @lolyouallsuck @kathb59 @fictionalmensblog @criesbc1d @mamassssontour

680 notes · View notes

lucrativesoul · 8 months

Text

Espionage

summary: working in an underground crime syndicate, your job gets risky, but, the more risk, the more reward. you jumped the gun on your thievery through an art museum, and come across one certain guard who is adamant on stopping you in your path.

pairing: guard!leon kennedy x female reader

word count: 11.5k

warnings: smut, fingering, choking, slight degradation, dom leon

a/n: yall know i had to do one with tactical gear leon i mean come onnnn look at him!!! (patrick voice) i went a little wild with this one LOL i really thought it was gonna be my shortest work yet and here we are. the plot of this was inspired by Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig! if you guys liked the idea of our mc's job here, i suggest you check out that book, its a really great young adult read! i had so much fun with this one, i really hope i didn't keep you guys waiting. i hope you enjoy, thank you endlessly for the support, and I will see you soon :)

Taking a deep sigh, you reclined yourself back as far as you could in the stiff chair, which wasn’t much. The light above you was flickering, to your annoyance, but you kept quiet about it, focusing instead on the rapid typing on the keyboard from the man in front of you. The room was cold, and you pulled your sweatshirt tighter around you. You knew to come prepared this time.

You hoped you would get out of here before the traffic rush. You hated having to come all the way out here, but, after all, it was your job.

To explain how you came into this would take too long, as you tell everyone, so simply put: Some connections in your life led to other connections, and those connections allowed you to quit your two part time jobs and become a full time criminal. Literally.

You met this man, Carlos, at the gym where you liked to spar with some of the trainers when they weren’t in sessions. Simulating a fight was not something you had expected to find a lot of entertainment in, but when you got up there in front of someone and were forced to defend yourself with blocks and punches and kicks, it introduced a whole new adrenaline into your world. Keeping up with your physical shape had definitely aided in your ability to be nimble, and your history of (attempted) gym consistency helped build muscle.

Carlos had pulled you aside after a sparring session with another trainer, impressed by your moves, and had told you he wants to see you put it to the real test. He offered you a spot in the gym he frequented (which was, to your horror at first, the sketchiest building you had ever seen in your life from the outside), paired you with a trainer who wasn’t afraid to throw real punches, and before you knew it, you could fight an array of builds and heights.

From there, you kept talking to people who knew people who knew Carlos, and he weaseled you into his line of work where he trusted you to go on the scene of whatever was the target, and sold all of your loot. He was your fence, you were his robber. Quite simply.

A real threat of danger hung over your head on every job, and you knew this well enough. There was always the chance of getting caught, considering every location had guards 24/7. There was always a chance you could get hurt; fall from a high location, the failure of equipment, get shot for fucks sake, but you loved the adrenaline it gave you. You felt on top of the world, and in the back of your mind, you knew this would surely be considered an addiction, but you didn’t care. Every new job upped the ante, and you needed more.

The second deep breath you took expanded your lungs, the stretch feeling good after not moving for several minutes now. You rolled your head side to side, hearing the crack, and turned your attention back to Carlos, who finally started talking again.

“I have buyers in Europe lined up for these.” He looked down at the desk, an array of shiny stones and metals bent in intricate shapes and chains laid out in front of him. Courtesy of yours truly. “A few are interested in the same piece, but they can argue with themselves, I’m only going to sell it to them, I’m not the mediator.” He sighed and pushed back in his rolling chair, pulling open a file cabinet and a manila folder.

“Where in Europe? Can we hand deliver?” You couldn’t help but grin slightly, and Carlos didn’t have to look up from his papers to know you were.

He shrugged. “If you want to risk receiving a chest cavity the size of a gold ball, knock yourself out.” He knew you were joking, and you knew the rules well enough. Knowing who your buyers were, and going within any sort of vicinity of them while knowing their identity was strictly off limits. He turned his head towards his computer again. “Venice. Nice.” He turned towards you. “Budapest. The usual.”

You nodded. You were expecting some sort of answer along the lines of that, so it wasn't too much of a surprise to you. Oh, how it would be nice to be in Europe, though.

“Here’s the deal.” Carlos put the folder of papers down in front of you, and you lazily scanned it, knowing that most of it was going to look like gibberish anyways. Carlos was the man in between here, you simply stole things. You didn’t deal with the numbers and the logistics. “The man who is in the battle for our largest emerald is willing to step aside and let our Venetian buyer take the cake, because he reached out with another job that he and only he wants to be in the running for.”

You scoffed. “Dude must be loaded then. A solo job?”

Carlos cocked an eyebrow. “He gave me parameters for the job, and I almost turned him down without even running it by you, to be honest.”

You sat up straight. “The fuck, Carlos? Give it to me, I can take it.”

He sighed and slouched back in his chair. You were honestly surprised that Carlos was not the one in your spot. He was insanely built and could easily take down four armed guards at once, but you never found out why he chose to be behind the scenes. At least you knew he trusted you enough not to put you in anything that would be instant death.

“There’s apparently an heirloom to this guy’s lineage sitting in a chamber room of the gallery downtown. He’s been trying to find a means to reach it and claim it back for years, but, according to him, the museum won’t budge on letting him anywhere near a buying price.”

You let his words sink in. “What’s so bad about that?”

Carlos sighed again. “It’s an art gallery.” He stared at you, waiting for you to get the point. “They have armed guards posted day in and day out. Alarms at every possible entrance and cameras watching every square inch of the place. It’s just not feasible.”

You shook your head. “Carlos, come on. I know you have access to the technical means that we need to do our surveillance. We can watch their route. We can track who does what nights and who might be the easiest to take down. I did that at the villa two weeks ago.”

“Yes, and you nearly lost your life. I was shooting myself in the foot for putting you out there.”

You shook your head again. Part of you was thankful that Carlos had the decency to regret his decision of accepting that job, and feeling remorse once you reported back that one of the bodyguards had you in a near death chokehold before you managed to, by luck, weasel free. Even you were still haunted by that. But you would never let it slow you down, and would never tell Carlos, as he would surely put you in safer locations. Which meant less fun.

“I’m just saying, now that it’s been done, I can do it again. And be careful about it this time. I want to do this Carlos, I believe I can.”

Carlos was silent for a moment, thinking over your words. He sighed.

“I want our people staking out on the perimeter the whole time. I don’t want to hear objections. There will be a team this time, this is not just somebody’s home. This is government and city property, if you don’t die, you and I are as good as dead in the prison system.”

You quirked a small smile. “Come on Carlos.” He lazily held eye contact. “You think I’d rat you out like that?”

He sighed and rolled his eyes, but you could tell he was fighting the urge to smile as well. “Be back here tomorrow at 12. We’ll start our prep.”

–

You, Carlos, and two other men were huddled around a plethora of screens deep in the trenches of Carlos’ office. One of the monitors had split screen CCTV surveillance, six cameras watching the main galleries and two hallways, one was a datamine of the encrypted content regarding the people employed to stand guard at the museum, and the others were floor plans of each floor and wing of the gallery.

The size of the place didn’t scare you, in fact, it only brought more excitement to your job. As soon as Carlos brought up the blueprints and started mapping escape routes and how to avoid camera sightings, you memorized it instantly. This would be a breeze.

“Here’s who we need to look out for.” He drew up a site that had profiles of each of the seven guards that do night duty. Their employee photos looked like mugshots. “These three guys guard the east wing, these two rotate between west wing and foyer since that is the smallest wing and closer to the entrance, and these two are usually staked out by the rear gallery.”

“You seem to already have this down, Carlos.” You mumbled.

He snickered from in front of you. “I’ve been watching already.”

You sighed through your nose. “Going to turn down this job my ass.”

“We’re expecting these two to be in the west wing the night of the heist. I’ve been watching, and they tend to rotate, but there’s a pattern. I’m sure it will be them.” You nodded, listening closely to his words. Carlos might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but you knew he didn’t mess around with ensuring the best possible route. “One stands in the wing while the other stands in the foyer. They rotate at the same time, so there is a small window when no one is watching the far end of the gallery.”

“How am I getting in there? Hanging out overnight?” It was a partial joke, but you never knew with this team.

Carlos shook his head, and diverted everyone’s attention to an isolated map, similar to the layout of the floor plan. “This is the duct system.” You stifled a laugh. You should have expected this. “Big enough for a person like you. The duct room is locked whenever no one is accessing them, and the only people that do are the janitorial team, and Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday are the only times they are sweeping the building.”

“Literally, sweeping.”

Carlos sighed heavily at your remark. “The system that is connected to the electronic lock is also connected to what controls the cameras and the lights. I can get you in there, but only in a very small window of time. It needs to be during the day.”

“The day.” You echoed. “So, I’ll be camped out in there for a while, then?”

Carlos nodded. You knew what you were about to get yourself into. It came with the job description, and before the job actually launched into action, you knew that familiar feeling of anxiety blossoming in your chest. You had been in the gym consistently, trying to find someone to mock a chokehold with you in the case that it happened all over again. If it did, you decided Carlos didn't need to find out.

You knew you were physically ready. The odds of going against a huge man didn't look great from the outside, but you were flexible, and fast, and if you could bounce around their sights, you could steer clear of any sort of altercations.

“Yes, you’ll be in there for a while. It’s the only way.” You nodded again. You knew there was no such thing as comfort in this line of work. If you get too comfortable, you might as well get ready to be comfortable in a jail cell, or in the afterlife. “We move in Thursday night. Just to be sure that the cleaning happens Wednesday and we won't get any surprises. You’ll enter at 4 PM. I’ll be watching all morning to decide what you should wear to make the least waves possible and so you can disappear when they close at 6. Regular day employees stay until 7:30, then the guards move in, but we can’t make our moves until well after sunset.” Carlos was looking mostly at you, as the other teammates he rounded up were just going to stake out the perimeter. “You know the prep. Make sure you last while you wait.”

–

You spent the next week in the office watching everyone’s moves. The guards followed a monotonous routine in which areas they patrolled. Odd, considering they might want to watch for corners where people could stay hidden.

They all stuck to their schedules, no employee stayed later than an hour and a half after closing, guards immediately did a sweep of the whole building for the lame thieves who attempted to hide in bathrooms, before they stuck to their positions, and that’s where they stayed for the night, until 5 AM. You were positive you had this down now, there was no way you could be wrong.

There was, of course, but you preferred to pretend otherwise.

The guards rotated as predicted, and with every step they took every passing day you grew more confident in this job. That person who was commissioning this should be well willing to tip generously considering the amount of prep taking place.

You swallowed the lump of anxious nerves, pushing yourself into your work mindset as you sat outside the museum, the breeze cooling down your heated skin. Carlos had been keeping watch of the patrons since opening, and he concluded the appropriate outfit for you to don would be a tan hoodie, light wash jeans, and you didn’t have many options in the way for shoes, a simple pair of white sneakers having to do the trick. You knew they would be watching at the door, a metal detector as well as bag checks were mandatory, so you couldn’t risk a bag, but you had all you needed strapped underneath your clothes to your second skin layer– a skintight bodysuit, equipped with maximum breathability and flexibility– and all of your weapons holstered as close as they could get.

With nothing else except your phone (which was off) and wallet (with a fake ID), you walked up the steps, blending in with the bustle, but knowing well enough to not look too suspicious. You knew the rest of your team was around the perimeter, out of your view, and you were going to hear from Carlos for the first time when it was necessary for you to hide. He was never on location, he was seated safely in his office, every screen lit up with hacked CCTV footage and an in-ear device to communicate directly to you.

You took yet another deep breath in. You got this. You had to.

You knew you had time to kill while you waited to hear from Carlos. It couldn’t be right away, that would look too unnatural if you made a beeline past too many priceless works of art. So, not begrudgingly, you strolled through the galleries, admiring the timeless art, feeling inspired, excited, the sun streaming in through the glass ceilings of some of the halls.

It was mostly quiet, the murmur of people surrounding you, discussing what they were looking at, the occasional kid running by. As much of an admirer you were, you could feel the adrenaline coursing through your arms and hands, dying to get started. But, as Carlos taught you well, patience was a virtue, and if you rushed things, it could get bad, and fast.

After a lap, which lasted close to an hour, you sat on a bench in the west wing. You knew this was close to where you needed to be, and it would be easier to stay close in case the window of opportunity arose when you weren’t expecting it, which was typical.

You toyed around with a pamphlet you had picked up near the entrance, still keeping an eye out for any employee, or any guard, which would be out of place at this time. It was nearing 5:30 now, and they were going to be closing in 30 minutes. Your heart rate quickened at that thought, knowing they were going to be sending employees to do loops and tell people their time was being cut short. You slowly straightened your posture, trying not to look too alert, trying to calm down–

“--in, come in. Connected to base, CCTV footage overrode, stations manned.” You heard Carlos’ crackly voice through your in-ear, and you slumped backward, relieved.

“Copy.” You kept your voice low and mouth movements to a minimum. “I assume you know where I’m at.”

“Bench in the back left of the west wing. The duct room is also being watched. It has been looking clear for the last ten minutes, give me another five to make sure, then I will give you instructions.”

You gave a slight nod, knowing he could see you. You kept up your previous charades, reading the same script for the fifth time on the pamphlet, people watching, and employee watching. The next five minutes took way too long.

“Get up slowly and walk along the wall to the left. Someone is coming down the hallway telling people there is 20 minutes to closing. Let him pass you, acknowledge what he said, and let him get about 20 feet ahead.” You shifted in your seat, pushing yourself up. Taking another look at the paintings hung on the walls, you realized as you approached– this was the one you were meant to take. You were so tempted to stand here and look at it, but you didn’t want to draw a suspicious coincidence in the mind of the employee who would see you standing in front of it. One glance later, and you moved on.

“Excuse me,” A soft voice spoke from behind you. You turned around, and acted surprised. A short man with dark hair had a friendly smile on. “The gallery will be closing in 20 minutes, just a heads up.” You nodded a thank you, and promised to move on swiftly.

“Ten seconds, then when you walk through the aisle in between the columns, there’s a hallway to the left. You’ll have a really small window to duck into the door on the left side and wait while I override the door code.”

“Code?!” You whisper-shouted, taking care to keep your voice low. “This should have been something you told me earlier.”

“Don’t worry, I have access to it and can let you in. It will only take one more second, but you have to be quick with this door, you know that.” You sighed, knowing he was right. Your steps were quiet, but firm, and you caught sight of the small hallway he was talking about. “There’s no one behind you, but we can’t guarantee that’s permanent.” Oh, yes, you knew that was the truth. You wanted to turn around, but fought against it, not wanting to catch anyone’s eye.

Step, breath, step… “Go, now, hurry.” You careened quickly to the left into the hallway, knowing anyone would notice you if they walked by. “Two seconds…” Carlos configured the software to the door’s electronic lock as you approached and stood there, heart hammering. You pulled your sleeve over your hand. You heard the click. “You’re in, move.” You pushed down on the door handle with your sleeved hand and creeped into the room, wasting no time in shutting the door. You waited for the command before you moved. “You made it blindly. No one noticed you.” You sighed gently. “To your left, there's a switch. Flip the one in the middle. It’s the nightlight.”

You did as told, relaxing slightly now that you could see. The room looked exactly as expected. It was more of a closet, really. There was an electric panel on the wall opposite the door, a rack of cleaning supplies to the right, and in the left corner across from you, a large duct sock extending from a fixture that was taller than you. You had no idea where it led to, as it disappeared up into the ceiling, but you had a feeling that’s where you were destined to spend the next handful of hours.

You took your time inspecting the room, knowing there was going to be nothing quick about this next step. Behind the large fixture that filtered the air and sent it through the duct, there was a small passageway blocked by a vent grate. Carlos had told you vis in-ear to unscrew the large grate and tuck yourself in there. At least it was right next to the cooling system, and you could shed some layers. It would get hot, and quickly, in there.

Time ticked by slower than ever as you were stretched out in the vent, now loose from your jeans and sweatshirt. Your bodysuit was keeping you cool, and you managed your breathing whenever you remembered so you would be able to keep your core temperature as stable as possible. You ran over the plan once, twice, a thousand times, and maybe even drifted off once or twice, by the time you heard Carlos’ voice again, sounding angelic after all this time.

“Hey, you awake in there?” His soft, crackled voice sounded through your brain.

“As ever. What’s the time?” You whispered back, shocked at how far the smallest vocal sound carried through the metal tube.

“Close to 11PM. We have to get moving soon.” You nodded, knowing he couldn’t see you.

“Can I push this thing open? Can someone hear me from here?”

“Give me two seconds, I need to make sure I can disable central control of the cameras so no one else watching security can see. We don’t need any unnecessary backup here.” You let Carlos do his thing from base, and tried your best to stretch your limbs getting ready to move. “Okay, this will take a few minutes, but in thirty seconds, the rotation from west wing to foyer is going to start. Countdown, then crawl out as carefully as possible.”

Breathing steadily, countdown rapidly ticking in your head, you started at thirty, gripping the grate as much as you could once you hit one, and pushed outwards. You had managed to click the metal back in place behind you once you crawled in, but it wasn’t the most subtle sound. Now, it counted even more that it was timed right.

With a solid shove and a louder than you expected click (and a wince), and shimmied your way out of the vent, placing the metal onto the ground with the slowness of a turtle. You had no idea if anyone was going to open the door to this right now, so you just had to trust that the silence from Carlos meant that nothing was about to go wrong.

You stood up, sighing deeply when you could finally stretch out before getting to move for the first time in nearly 6 hours. The spandex of your bodysuit contoured with your body, and you felt unrestrained as you stretched out, ready to be as light on your feet as possible. There was a small holster on your thigh, where a retractable baton was strapped in tight, and one around your waist, holding onto three tiny knives– stainless steel– the closest thing that would get you through the detectors without being flagged. Fingers crossed they wouldn't need to be used.

“The rotation just finished, so in about ten more minutes, our window will open for you to come out and stay hidden. Remember where all the sculptures are layed out?”

“Yeah, I do.” You continued to stretch through Carlos’ words. “I’m ducking out of here at your command, softly shutting the door. I come quietly to the opening of the hallway and duck out to the right, hide behind a column and stay low.” You recited again, and heard Carlos give a hum of approval.

“Just hang tight for now, I’ll let you know when you need to start moving. Security override is almost done. Remember, they’re gonna try and reboot the system immediately, which will take another minimum five minutes, max ten. Be light on your feet, move fast.”

You steadied your breathing once again, flexing everything in your body to make sure you were adequately stretched out and ready for action. You had never felt more so.

“Exit the room in twenty seconds. Start counting.”

You pounced on your feet at the sound of Carlos’ voice after a few minutes, gloves on your hands (which had also been hidden in a pocket of the bodysuit), and gripped the handle, counting just to the pace you had been trained to.

“Move.”

You and Carlos reached the countdown at the same time, and you pressed the metal handle down and inched the door open, swiftly, but not enough to cause the hinges to make noise. You slithered out, and once you had the door shut again without a sound, you dropped down onto your knees, walking in a crouch to the entrance of the gallery.

You were hidden immediately by a column. You peeked out, knowing there wouldn’t be a guard in the aisle but checking anyway, and waddled over to the next column, feeling your heart rate increase with every step. Peeking around, you spotted the guard, who was walking slowly towards the middle of the west wing. He had his hands by his sides, gun holstered on his hip. Not much more than an average cop’s bulletproof vest on his body.

You waited for him to reach the center and do a lazy turn, back towards you, to run to the next column. Time was ticking, but as long as he stayed right where he was, you would be able to secure this artwork and disappear.

You reached the next column, and the next, all the while the guard was still turned, and you ducked back whenever he did a mandatory sweep of the area behind him. You could see the painting you needed from your current position. If Carlos had it under control, he could stifle the alarm system at the very second you used one of the knives to cut the cords and rip it from his ceiling holsters. You could tell on your first walk by this afternoon that it was nothing more than a heavy fishing wire, and it could be done soundlessly.

One more column, and you could see the guard from your hunched over position. You were pretty well hidden behind the column itself and a sculpture sat in front, and slightly to the left of it. You heard him sniffle, and shift his weight again before turning around, and crouch-running to the column that sat just to the right of the painting. This was it.

You had your head parked solidly right behind the column, watching the guard. He was still facing you, looking up at the ceiling, down all the obvious passageways, and then he turned. It was now or never.

You creeped forward, hand over the knife on your holster, ready to slice through the cord on the wall. You were waiting for Carlos’ sign that the alarms had been disabled. Nothing, but you had no time to wait. You had to try it.

You pulled the knife from the holster and pushed the blade out, gloved hand gripping the frame, and in two swift movements, the wires giving a slight shing with the cut, it was loose, no alarms, and you dropped back to the ground and ran.

Taking the same caution on the way back as you did on the way over, you stopped at columns to watch the guards, and by the tell-tale sign of him stalking forward once, you knew the rotation was about to happen.

You grew closer and closer back to the duct room; through the vents as your only way out.

Taking the opportunity of no guard in the hall, you went as fast as you could in a crouch, seeing the opening for the hallway mere feet away. It was home free. Another job done.

Still in the clear, your heart hammering, you dove forward into the hallway, not wasting anymore time. You reached the hallway, turned the corner, and found yourself staring straight into the barrel of a gun.

Stopping short, nearly screaming out, you could only stare as you tried to identify the person behind it. You couldn’t move, your limbs were frozen in place. You could not hear Carlos, you didn’t even know if he saw you cut the line. He had the alarms disabled, clearly, but where was he? And who was this man?

You couldn’t see the bottom half of his face. Behind the large gun he had pointed at you, he had a black neck gaiter covering from his nose down. His eyes were hard, eyebrows deeply furrowed, they looked blue in the dim light. His blonde hair was pushed off his forehead, stiff with gel. He was covered neck to feet in gear, a large, bulletproof vest and cargo pants, not another inch of skin showing. He was crouching to your height. Clearly, he knew you would be coming back here. What the fuck was going on?

He tilted his head in a mocking gesture at you, making fun of your momentary stupidity. You wanted to fight, but you knew better. If you drew attention now, you would be vastly overpowered very quickly.

“Looking for an easy escape?” His voice was deep and husky, and for a moment you thought this was someone on your team. But no, they were told strictly to stay outside under all circumstances. This was not someone trying to help you. He was trying to capture you.

“Who are you?” You whispered, praying that Carlos was listening, feeling more panicked that you couldn’t hear him.

He shook his head. He was not in the mood to be courteous. “Go to the door behind me to my left. If you make noise, I’ll kill you. If you fight, I’ll kill you. Go,”

Your breath hitched, you could fight him with a knife, but with the barrel aimed straight for your brain, it was no use trying right now. You needed a plan, and quick. But for now, you had to obey.

Your legs felt like jelly as you stayed low and walked over to the door, the stranger backing up and keeping his gun trained on you the whole time. When you approached it, you stood up, looking back at him. He nudged his gun forward in a go in gesture, and with a deep breath, you quietly pushed the handle downwards and walked in.

This was not the duct room, which was the door on the other side of the hallway. Why had you not seen this door, why did Carlos also not seem to know about this door? When you walked in, you for real almost choked this time, it was the goddamn control room. The very one that Carlos had overridden to let you get into the museum after hours in the first place. Oh, you were fucked.

“You thought you had it all planned, huh? I’ve been sitting here this whole goddamn time watching you. I saw you walk in, I saw you sit down, I saw you go into the hallway, I was waiting for you.” Your stomach ran cold, not knowing what to do now. Carlos was MIA. He surely must be frantic. Was he going to send the team in?

You were staring straight ahead at the vast array of monitors, way more than Carlos had. Every inch of the museum was being watched. You saw the screen with the duct room hallway. It was in the rightmost corner. The control room door was hidden from this angle. This room had been scrubbed from blueprints. You would have seen it, you know it.

The chair in front of you was pushed out, most likely from this man standing up to meet you when you returned. A coat, issued with the museum’s logo, was draped over the chair. You could see a nametag pinned to the front. Leon S. Kennedy. That name did not sound familiar.

You squeaked out when the barrel of the gun hit you square in between the shoulder blades. “Your buddies can’t save you now, you know. Next time they try to do this, they’ll have to do more than just some book research.”

You took a steady breath, urging yourself to sound more collected than you felt. “Don’t act so high and mighty, Leon Kennedy.”

He scoffed. “Don’t act so fucking smart because you know how to read.” He used his gun once more to push your shoulder so you could spin around and face him. You could only stare as he maintained his composure. His eyes were not softening up. “Did you think you could be in and out with this one? Just like all the others?” You tried to fight it, but you felt your face scrunch in confusion. How does he know about the others? He made another sound, like a laugh, and you could almost see the outline of his cocky smile underneath his mask. “Don’t act like you stayed off of anyone’s radar. Your little fence isn’t exactly a low profile criminal in the underground market.” Your stomach sank. He knew about Carlos. He knew about the whole ring, he had been watching you!

“This was… Is this even a real job?” You spat out, feeling more and more of a struggle to breathe.

Finally, Leon put down his gun. He knew he had you under his fingers. He crossed one more step to get in your face, looking down at you. “Like I said… Your buddies need to be more careful with what they decide to take on.” He muttered at you.

Something clicked inside of you. It was a life or death situation, and there were no more good outcomes. With the swiftness of air, you shot your right hand up, connecting your fist with the side of Leon’s jaw. It caught him off guard, but it did no more than knock him back a couple of steps. That was a hard jaw.

You used those two seconds to your advantage as you sprung forward, using the chair behind you as leverage as you kicked into his chest with both feet, sending him flying backwards, knocking the gun loose from his grip. He almost fully lost his balance, and you rocketed forward, finishing him off and wanting to send him straight to the floor.

It seems, though, you underestimated how well trained this man might be. He never hit the floor, and from the second you sent him reeling backwards, he was already connecting the distance between you two again, and he ducked when you sent another leg flying at him. He hooked your other leg in his grip, turning you over and forcing you to fall to the floor on your back, effectively rendering your lungs useless.

You gasped for air, finding the strength to fight back, and before he could unlatch himself from the leg he had a grip on, you tightened your other around his throat, tucking his neck right under your knee, and you squeezed hard.

Finding air again, and still keeping Leon in a chokehold, you pushed yourself up, and rolled the both of you over, so you were now essentially sitting on top of him, pushing his body into the ground as you kept him senseless. The dominance didn’t last long, as he pushed himself up, slamming you, once again, into the ground, loosening your leg, and escaping.

Your attempts at punches were meek, and he gripped both of your wrists in his hands and pinned them down; it was useless. It was over. During the altercation, most likely while he was being choked out, his gaiter slipped down, now wrapped around his neck. The rest of his features match the top half, and god dammit why did you have to make enemies with a man who looks like he should be on display in this very place?

“You should stop trying to fight me.” He grumbled from over you. You knew he had the upper hand now, definitely physically, but you weren’t going to stop.

“And just accept defeat? Accept whatever is going to happen next?” Despite knowing it would be useless, you attempted to break free from Leon’s grip anyway. It resulted in a tighter grasp around your wrists, and you winced. “What do you want from me? You set this up just to catch me. But you’re on the inside, too. You can’t nail us without incriminating yourself.”

If it was even possible, his face hardened further. He lowered his body to bring his face inches from yours, and you found yourself not turning away from his gaze.

“Maybe that’s just not what I’m after.”

The sentence brought your mind to a complete blank. What else could he be after? If he was employed by the museum you were currently trying to steal a painting from and sell it for thousands, shouldn’t he want to take you down to protect the art? Wouldn’t he want to put you and your team in jail for the crimes you all have committed?

“So, what? You just wanted to take me down? Try and make me fail? To prove something to yourself?” You were desperate at this point to hear something from Carlos, and the more time went by, you were sure Leon must have done something to the connection. Since he already knows… “Why can’t I hear my team?” You barked at him.

He quirked a cocky grin once again. “I don’t need you calling for unnecessary help. I’ve got it taken care of.” With one harsh movement, he adjusted both of your wrists so they were being held by his left hand. He then used his right to rip the in-ear out, making you cry out when the tape was torn from behind your ear. He kept tugging the cord until the tiny transmitter, which was clipped to the inside of your bodysuit, just below your shoulder, was out in the open, and tossed it aside. He was putting increasing pressure on your wrists, and you couldn't help but writhe.

“Let me go, I don’t get why you’re doing this.” You started a struggle again, but he shut it down swiftly. “Why me, Leon, why us? Surely we can’t be the only underground heist group within the vicinity, surely someone else must have tried to break in here.”

Leon stared at you for a moment from his place above you. His expression gave nothing away about his thoughts, and it was aggravating you endlessly. He thought he was all that. You were pissed off, because you also felt like that was true. He did manage to fumble your route and tackle you and cut you off from comms. Asshole.

He lifted himself off of you slowly, and you felt the pressure around your wrists disappear. He was straddling you now, his large legs encapsulating you on both sides, his arms looked massive from this angle. His vest was littered with utility pouches, and you weren't sure you wanted to find out what was in them. The gaiter was slack around his neck, and you felt so tiny, submissive, and rapidly heating up under his half lidded gaze. You can’t believe you went over his employee profile. You would have remembered a face like his.

“You’re right. You are not alone in this ring of underground syndicates, frankly, not even the first to have been here. I took on a few of them. I’m not actively working to destroy the network that you work out of, I’m just doing my job. Why should I let thieves get away with it just because they’re good at what they do?” You stared at him as he spoke. You couldn't believe how much information he truly had, and how much more he would surely not reveal to you. “I didn’t care about the other bunch, they were all dirty criminals doing it for the money with no real talent and no morals, so, fuck them, I’ll bust them when they step into my territory.” He lowered himself again, and now he was holding himself above you, arms on either side of your head. He was staring straight down into your eyes. “But then you appeared on my radar. I was surprised to see a woman in this line of business. That’s not common. I had to watch you closely. Maybe my own ignorance made me think that you would be out of play quicker than you even started, but when I discovered you had taken down two men larger than me and turned around a chokehold that surely would have killed you, I couldn't help but be impressed.”

You couldn't stop the scoff that escaped your lips. “Fuck you. You don’t know what I’m capable of. I worked my way up to where I am now.” Your sentence was cut short when he placed a rough hand on your chin, holding it in his palm.

“Shut up.” You ground your jaw, holding back snarky comments that would put you in a worse position. His demeaning command twisted your stomach in an unfamiliar way. “When I noticed your skill, as you needed to throw in there before I finished, I saw a challenge. I couldn’t just let it go.”

No words came out of your mouth right away, still trying to process his. You shook your head in confusion. “Challenge?”

“I like a woman that can put up a fight.” Leon said nothing more, daring you to stay something in retaliation. You kept your mouth shut, unsure of what kind of response you should even give. You squinted your eyes at him, but he didn't falter.

“What kind of job even is this?” His grin grew. The anger and frustration mixed with something foreign in your stomach. You curled your toes instinctively at this feeling. “Setting me up for failure just to wrestle me so you can get a workout?”

He shook his head slightly, that glint in his eyes not fading. “It’s not all about me, you know. You’re my challenge right now, yes, but I see something in you. I want you on my side.”

“Your side? Are there sides to be had here?”

“Sure there is,” His voice dropped to a low whisper now. You realized in that moment how quiet the room was. After the altercation the two of you had, you concluded it must be soundproof. There would have been a guard here by now. “You can fight. You're a spy. You’re practically invisible. That would be so useful to me. With me. I can give you that, you won’t have to worry about the inevitable end of this.”

You finally brought your hands down by your sides, and he didn’t move to stop you. “Here? You want to offer me the occasional chance of action from the museum?”

“You said it yourself.” His gaze hardened once more, and you suddenly remembered how harsh he was towards you five minutes ago. “I’m on the inside. I’m just as dirty as you guys are.” You stared, fighting the urge to gape your mouth. Someone on the inside, working right under everyone’s nose? “With me, I can make sure you’ll never face the threat of being shut down. Thrown in jail for years, for life. Carlos can’t do that.” You felt a twist at the mention of Carlos’ name, hoping he was alright.

You hated yourself for even letting that thought flick across your mind momentarily. You and Carlos were a team, he taught you everything, yes, but he had no other ‘ins’ in the world to protect you from the law. You were on your own in the field. He just directed you.

Leon had the connections. Leon worked with them. There was a chance that he really could keep you safe.

“What’s…” You grit your teeth, and swallowed hard, hating this position. “What’s in it for me? I’d be losing what I worked for the last few years. Just to be under your belt now.”

He shook his head. “You’re not losing. You’re gaining.” He came dangerously close to your face, yet again, you didn't move away. “Trust me.”

With nothing left to say to him, your body only had one way to react. You quickly hooked your left arm around Leon's neck, holding him in close, and using all the weight you could muster to flip positions with him. You could see in his face he was almost expecting this from you, yet he let it happen, and didn’t fight it.

He let out a grunt as his back hit the ground, knowing his vest took most of the impact. You were now successfully above him, in between his spread legs, his arms splayed out on the sides. The arm that had been used as leverage around his neck was now holding you up, the other was poised threateningly at his collarbone, as if you were going to choke him at any second.

But now, over him, though you felt triumph, you were at a loss for words again, still so muddled about the situation. Leon let the arrogant smile take over his features.

“We’d make a great pair, don’t you think?”

A million emotions surged through your veins, making it even harder to focus, to find the right thing to say or do. The way he was looking up at you, those eyes, that face, you wanted to collapse and give it to what he was saying, but you would be damned if you gave in to any sort of manipulation from him. The job was already fucked. There was no money. It was a setup just to get you into his lair… for a lack of better word. He seemed to know the ins and outs of this building, yet, he was working underground for the same reasons, presumably, as you were.

Fuck it, it doesn’t matter. There’s no job. You wouldn’t leave Carlos behind, but couldn’t you pretend?

Your hand gripped the collar of his shirt. “What’s the negotiation?” You mumbled. You tried your best to keep the intimidating look in your eye, but you were afraid Leon never even saw it in the first place.

He breathed out a small laugh. It infuriated you, but sent a chill down your spine. “Can’t we worry about the price later?”

You sighed, and pushed yourself off of him using his body to boost you. He grunted. On your knees now, you said, “You did all of this to get me to work with you and you won’t even tell me what your prices are?”

He followed your lead, and pushed himself off the floor with ease. He was now sitting up, staring you directly in the eye. “I’ve got a different asking price right now.” His voice became low, and you stiffened. It wasn’t every day on the field that you were met with a master tempter. Leon knew what he was doing now, and it all started to make sense to you. Regardless of if he really wanted you on his team or not, he kept an eye on you for weeks, months potentially, he brought you in here for one reason, and maybe one reason only.

“What makes you so sure I’ll accept?” You whispered, not able to find the courage anymore to speak properly.

“I think I just know. Am I wrong?” He stared deep into your eyes, yet another challenge. The challenges never seemed to end with him.

And, despite everything, you knew he wasn’t. You could feel it inside of you, he was right. You were about to accept his not-so-professional asking price, and you wanted to hate yourself for even giving in, but you couldn’t. You just couldn’t feel anything except eagerness.

You breathed in shakily, frozen in your spot, wanting him to do something first, but he was just letting you fall apart slowly under his gaze, most likely enjoying watching your reaction to a simple stare. You ground your jaw together, resorting to only shaking your head. “Cocky bastard.”

He laughed out loud once. “You got that right.”

It seemed he had it now, not giving you time to start anything that you couldn’t move to do. With a solid palm, he pushed backwards onto your chest, sending you into the floor again. You caught yourself with your forearms and could only stare up at him as he towered over you on his knees, looking more intimidating than he did with a gun pointed at your face.

Leon brought one of his hands down to raid your holders strapped around your waist, pulling the knives free and flipping one open. Your breath caught for a second when he brought it to your neck, but then released even more unsteadily when he gripped your collar in the other hand and tore the blade through the spandex fabric of your bodysuit.

You gasped when the air hit your skin, shielded by the temperature regulating fabric, feeling more exposed than you ever had on a mission before. Of course, you figured, you decided a long time ago that the most comfortable way to don the bodysuit was with as little resistance as possible, so as soon as Leon tore the fabric apart from the middle, yourbare chest was on display for him. You felt heat run through your body, from embarrassment and the arousal that you couldn’t stop.

If it was even possible, his eyes grew darker with emotion previously undetected, and his grip on the bodysuit fragments that he was holding onto tightened endlessly, still tugging them off your body as far as they could go.

He let go, your sleeves still intact, nipples hardening, before continuing to tear it apart lower, until you felt the crotch seams rip right under you, and as shocked by his actions as you were, you were doing nothing to stop it. You tried to tell yourself you wanted to stop him, but you knew yourself better than that by now. He would have been on the ground before he could have even held the knife to your throat.

If he was a mind reader, it wouldn’t have shocked you to find that out anymore. “Just gonna lay there and let me do this to you? Maybe I overestimated your skill.”

It was one thing to be flayed out by someone you didn’t know, another to be held at gunpoint during a mission, but an entirely different field to be insulted by the person who performed all said acts.

“You don’t know anything about my skill. I guess saying you’ve been watching me was a lie.” You pushed yourself up onto your elbows, not even caring about your physical state anymore. Using your left arm, you sat further up, pushing Leon backwards with your right, and delivered him right onto his ass. “You think I can’t take charge of a situation?”

He looked up at you, not ready to physically retaliate. “I think you can, only when the person is letting you do so.”

You grabbed a hold of the gaiter still slung around his neck, and suddenly you were inches away from him. “I’m not letting you make me think that you’re allowing me to do anything. If watching me wasn’t a lie, you’d know I’m a lot more capable than what I’ve just let you do.”

He tilted his head sideways, clearly liking the new lack of distance between the two of you. “Then prove it.”

You decided to make a bold move. Repositioning your legs so you were now on top of him, you dropped yourself to sit right in his lap, feeling exactly what you were expecting. He groaned, finally not expecting something from you, and with a victorious smile, you fell lower, grinding into his erection with all your body weight. His hands instinctively went to claw at your thighs, the grip so tight it almost stopped you from moving, and his breathing became ragged.

“You give this treatment to every criminal that breaks into here?”

Leon laughed through the breaths. “I never get to them first to do this.” As you continued to gyrate on his lap, his eyes fell shut and his head rolled back, thumping on the wall behind him. His hands snaked up your legs, fingers toying the edges of the ripped fabric of his doing, and he pulled it further, trying to unsheath you as much as he could.

“Then allow me to make sure the rest of your criminals are forgettable.” You snaked your arms around his torso, letting him pull you loose from the sleeves of your bodysuit. Now free, you kept your grip firmly on his biceps, your own body weakening at the realization of how strong they felt.

As badly as you wanted to free them, as badly as you wanted to see him underneath his armor, you wanted to see it when he took you. You needed to look up at his gear and see his hardened face, the strong bodyguard who made you submit.

He continued with his deep groans the more you ground down on his hard cock, and you could feel it yourself through his pants. Leon’s efforts made it so you had barely anything protecting you, and all that stood in the way were his thick pants. You wanted to free him from his constraints, but you wanted to be a tease about it.

“I hope you had a plan for this, because I’m not obeying someone who wanted to kill me.” You had yourself steady by gripping his knees with your hands, leaning back, his eyes never peeled away from your breasts, out in the open.

He took a hand and placed it over your hip, large and warm, and it sent a wave of heat straight to your core, sure you were wet through your panties now.

“So now you want me to take charge, after going on about your own strengths, huh…” He squeezed his hand over your hip, and it made you squirm.

You basically hopped up and slammed yourself down on his lap, just wanting to make him suffer. “You’ll do what I say, and we’ll see who's listening to orders.” Your motion had made him whine as predicted, and you carefully studied his face as it was scrunched up, mostly in pleasure, probably some in pain.

“Then what?” He half whispered out at you. “Tell me what to do, then.” His hands made their way up to your chest, squeezing delicately, but enough to arch your back into his touch. His other was seated on your thigh, the pressure of his fingertips increasing by the second.

You leaned in close to him, inches away, enough to taste him if you so pleased, but you waited. “Why don’t you treat me like the criminal I am?”

A shudder visibly flowed through his body at your words, the back of his head hit the wall again. The hand on your thigh was now on your throat, not tightening just yet, but with enough sturdiness to keep you in your place. Your whole body was on the move now as Leon shifted his weight, and once again, you found yourself with your back on the floor, staring up at him towering over you. Though you had already been aware of it, your nakedness became prominent in this moment, realizing Leon’s neck and face were all you could see of his skin.

“Don’t think I’ll be gentle then,” He barked out at you, having shaken off the pleasure from you grinding down on him.

You smirked, watching him finally take his gloves off, having nothing to say, but only (oddly) excited about the new course of action. He stopped bothering with trying to get the rest of your clothes off, having opened up enough room for him to work in. You thought he was most definitely either going to push your panties aside for access or cut them off, and as turned on as you knew you would be if he did the latter, you still had to leave this place after this.

“Take my belt off.” He was rigid after flinging his gloves aside, giving you orders to obey. Keeping your back square on the ground, raising only your arms, your fingers worked swiftly to undo the belt buckle, pulling the leather through the metal and setting it free. You looked up into his eyes, which were boring holes into you, and when he made no other movement, you continued to his button and zipper.

When your hand made contact with the fabric you saw the jump his cock made at the friction, even barely there. He let out a soft, shaky breath at you working it open, never losing his composure. The rigid tent right in front of your face was long and thick, and you had to get your hands on it faster than yours could work themselves.

Finally undone, you pushed the opening aside and pulled down the elastic band of his underwear, his facial expression never changing, up until you wrapped your hand around the base of his dick, now out in the open, and he groaned. He wrapped one of his own hands around your wrist, a plea not to move it, but you ignored it, and brought yourself to a sitting position so his head was lined up with the tip of your tongue.

“You want to suck it too, like a whore?” Leon’s other hand found solace in the back of your head, fingers tangling up your hair to get a steady grip. The pull made you wince, but you silenced the feeling by running your flat tongue along the underside of his dick, swiping along the head and letting the precum sit in your mouth.

A deep sigh was the result of your actions, and everything he did only egged you on. You felt him adding force to your head to move, but again, moved at your own pace, letting your tongue trace the indents and veins, letting your hand massage the base while your other was on the floor, holding you upright.

The anticipation alone of this moment could have filled your mouth with saliva, and the throbbing cock in front of you only added to help it. You opened your wet mouth and seated your lips around the tip, feeling that push on the back of your head again. Your tongue swirled endlessly, dragging up and down the slit, pushing more of the precum to the back of your throat, and finally, when you decided you had had enough, you slid his length as far back as you could go, a heavy breath coming from above you when you bottomed out.

His grip on your hair became shaky, and his breathing never righted again the more you took him into your mouth, bringing him closer to orgasm. The friction lightened up with your saliva around the base, your hand becoming covered in it, the sickening sucking noises sending sparks straight down to your pussy, which was begging to be touched, but you had to push Leon to the edge first.

You could feel his legs starting to buckle, but you pushed on, knowing he would stop you before he could cum in your mouth. As much as you wanted to bring him to that, you wanted to be pleasured by him first.

With one more deepthroat, stifling a gag and feeling his hand lift from your hair, he pulled himself out of your mouth, strings of saliva connecting his head to your lips.

He took a deep breath in, looking down at you, almost spent but so much more to give.

With no warning, his hand was back on your throat, pushing you backwards into the floor once more. This time, the pressure was enough to constrict your breathing slightly, and you wrapped a hand around his thick forearm.

“You weren’t getting off the hook that easily,” Even with the breathiness he was speaking through, his face still showed all the authoritative attitude that he had in the first five minutes of your encounter. At this angle, the shadows on his face made him even scarier, but you felt nothing except turned on by him. Strands of gelled hair fell forward onto his forehead, a glisten of sweat decorated his skin.

“Maybe this was your plan the whole time,” He continued, the hand on your throat not allowing you to speak, but giving you enough air to be satisfied. Your breath hitched when you felt him pull your panties to the side, and deliver a rough sensation to your sensitive clit. “You knew the treatment you’d get by crossing me.”

One finger, then two, and surely your slick was in a pool on the floor by now. His appendages had no resistance as they slid in and out of you, hitting your soft walls, arching your hips to get more and more, but he had you at bay, and he knew it.

“You like this, huh?” Leon brought himself closer to your face, lips just a hair away from yours, but he wouldn’t kiss you. “You like being treated like a slut?” You took another restricted breath in when he returned to your clit, massaging it in circles, making your pussy ache even more. “Answer me.”

A choked out sob came out of you before, “Yes, I do…” and you felt your face heating up at the force of making you degrade yourself.

“Yeah, I can tell, you’re so wet I should’ve just fucked you the moment I caught you.” He was growling at you now, and it did nothing but send you into pure bliss at his treatment. “Maybe you’ll learn another lesson or two, one they could never teach you.”

Between the stimulation on your clit and the hand on your throat, a tear slipped out of your eye, but you were anything but dissatisfied. He raised himself, removed his hand (much to your displeasure), and readjusted himself, cock lined up square with your heat.

“Open your mouth.” You did as you were told, and he spit directly into your open mouth, and at the distraction of that, he slid into you.

Your jaw hung slack as he made his way in, you could feel the way his cock was stretching your walls wide, your pussy was so wet it made it easier than you were expecting it to be. Your eyes rolled back, not being able to help the way your eyelids fluttered closed, eyebrows furrowing, fingernails surely cutting Leon’s skin through his sleeves where you gripped him hard.

The stretch was immaculate, it burned and it felt like you were on fire, but none of it made you want to tell him to stop. Skin to skin contact was made on your clit when he was all the way in, you felt so full you could barely breathe, and your clit was sending rocket fire signals to your brain, it made you writhe with the sensations.

You gasped, the drag out feeling just as good as the shove in, and you cried out through the constriction around your throat, “Leon… fuck,”

Leon grunted at your appraisal, you felt the fingers over your neck twitch, knowing he was holding himself back from using all the strength he had in his one hand. You tried your hardest to pry your eyes open, you needed to see him.

“You’re such a slut, letting yourself get fucked to get out of trouble,” He spit out at you in between hard thrusts and heavy breathing. You practically felt the tip of his dick hit your stomach every time he thrust in, and from the sounds alone, you knew it had you soaked. You already knew he was a big man, but watching him in his bulletproof gear had you even weaker than you were before, this big heavy guard taking advantage of you, using you, and you loved it.

Your legs wrapped around his torso, hoisting your hips up to feel more, get him deeper, if it was even possible.

You could barely even breathe, every move that Leon made inside of you made your head spin, every noise he made turned you to jelly, every thrust had you whining so hard you were sure you were going to lose your voice.

The pressure on your throat lifted, and the sharp intake of cold air down your windpipes made you dizzy. Opening your eyes, Leon was now back to his position on his knees, still fully sheathed inside of you, and with a slick motion, and the wettest sounds you had ever heard from yourself, he slid out, leaving you empty.

You didn’t even have time to process the movement before Leon had his hand on your arms and was turning you over, bare chest to the cold floor, and you unintentionally shuddered. Using your arms to the best of your ability to hold yourself up, you felt them shake violently, and knew they would give out any time soon.

Looking up, you saw Leon reach forward and pull his discarded jacket down from the back of the chair, sliding it under your head, and pressing you back down by the nape of your neck. You couldn’t help but moan.

Strong hands settled on your hips, and you had to bite the material under you to muffle the scream as Leon pushed himself back into you, every nerve on fire as he hit the deepest spots you didn’t know existed. This time, he was relentless, like he promised.

You could barely hear him through your own screaming and whining.

“Take it like a whore, I know you can…” A slap to your ass, more tears from your eyes. “Fuck, so good, you’ll learn now…” Hands in your hair, pulling your head up. “I’m gonna fill you up, like a fucking slut,”

Barely processing anymore, your head a mess and eyes full of tears, you only registered the small change when you felt his arm around your waist, fingers teasing circles into your clit while still pounding into your pussy, still getting wetter by the second. The new feeling had your legs spreading wider for him, further weakening you, your thighs shaking with a strong timber you know no man had ever given you before.

“L-Leon…” It didn’t even sound like words anymore at this point, but Leon got the idea. He pressed harder into the soft nub, making you bite back into his jacket and moan loudly.

“Come on, I know you can cum for me,” Two more thrusts had him in, and you felt the shaft of his cock pulsing erratically inside of you as he released his seed in you, not waiting for you to say he could or not, but knowing he was going to anyway.

The feeling of being filled to the brink was what send you over the edge, his fingers still making work and his dick milking itself dry inside of your tight walls had you clenching around it, ragged breaths taking your body hostage as white flashed before your eyelids, and Leon knew he had made you finish, especially in the way your body crumpled underneath him.

Swallowing hard, your throat dry, you slowly came back to reality, and your vision cleared. You felt hands on your waist, slowly rolling you over to lay on your back.

Leon was positioned over you, edge in his eyes long gone, face shiny and slick from sweating, all his hair nearly limp over his face. He looked like a completely different person.

“Are you alright?” Still not knowing if you can speak, you nodded, letting your mouth re-salivate. He pinched your chin delicately between his forefinger and thumb, moving your head to the side to expose your neck. “If I bruised you, I didn’t mean to.”

You shook your head. “It will give me something to cover my disappearance with.” You had no idea how long it had been, but with no contact to Carlos back at base, you wouldn’t be surprised if your entire team flanked the building at this very second to rescue you. Now how to get out with an entirely ripped bodysuit…

“Consider my offer.” Leon mumbled, clear enough to hear, but low enough to hear his exertion. “I was serious.”

You blinked slowly at him, not seeing his expression change at his offer. “If I accept, I’m not a criminal you’ll have to put in place anymore.”

At this, he smiled, and dipped his head down to kiss you again, possibly one of the only times he had that night.

“Honey,” He pulled away. “You’ll always be a criminal.”

#leon kennedy #resident evil #resident evil fanfiction #leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy fanfiction #fanfiction #leon s kennedy #resident evil 4 #resident evil 2 #leon kennedy smut

520 notes · View notes

wifeyifey · 1 year

Note

Hello I wanted to ask if you can possibly write something with Deathslinger, Wraith, Doctor, and Pyramid Head where they are jealous because somebody keeps flirting/bugging the s/o or because the s/o talked and laughed with someone else of cours if it’s not a bother to write it😌 hope you have a great day or night🥰

my dear, my friend.... it is never a bother!! Sorry that it took me a couple days!! I'm doing this pretty late at night, so if there are any mistakes I apologize!

Dbd x gn!reader

Description: the killers get a little jealous of someone taking your attention away from them

Authors note: not proofread but man I got a lil carried away haha it's definitely a longer post so it's gonna be under the cut

Deathslinger

Caleb isn’t one to get jealous. It’s more so his annoyance at someone flirting with you and you just laugh it off. Knowing you, you probably don’t even see it as flirting. You probably see it as just friendly behavior. Sometimes you can be oblivious to others intentions when it's flirting. Hell, it took Caleb kissing you for you to notice he’s been genuinely flirting with you this whole time. Man, were you bamboozled. Sure you’re attractive and you’ve flirted with people before, but you never knew when people were doing it back intentionally and not just for shits and giggles.

You were sitting at the survivors camp after a rough trial with the clown. You shivered just thinking about it. He was definitely the creepiest thing you’ve ever encountered. He always got a little touchy with you and you don’t know why. Anyways, you were sitting with Nea, who was also in the last trial with you, and you were both talking about how if the roles were reversed, you’d mori the clown every time. There was a quiet moment when Nea scooted closer as she was poking the fire with a stick and casually put her head on your shoulder. You thought she was just tired and let her rest for a bit.

You didn’t notice the eyes that were watching you from the tree line. Caleb sneered at how close Nea was to you. It could be innocent, but he wasn’t so sure so he continued to watch. Nea snapped her head up at the sound of something shuffling in the tree line. She brushed it off and decided to put her arms around the one she was resting against earlier and started whispering in your ear. She was just saying thank you for saving her in the last trial and that she’ll always have your back whenever you’re in trials together. Even though her words were innocent, it felt way too intimate and you were looking up at the others hoping someone would notice your slight discomfort.

Thank god, there was someone that is good at reading people. Leon was standing and talking with Claudette. He called you over as he was trying to remember details from your time before the Entity. You and Leon had been friends back then, since childhood, and he could see the discomfort in your face and thought it was a great opportunity to call you over. You guys were laughing about what he was telling Claudette and Leon had put his arm over your shoulders. Caleb had just about had enough at this point.

You and Caleb had a special whistle so that you knew it was him calling you. At least no one has caught onto it yet. At least, that’s what you both thought. As soon as you heard it, so did Leon. I guess you shouldn’t be too surprised when Leon said goodbye to Claudette for the both of you and guided you to where he heard the call. You were both on the edge of the forest when you looked at Leon, “Well, I guess you know this is my stop. I knew you of all people would figure it out,” you chuckled. Leon turned to the forest and whispered, “ I at least know you’re safe when you’re out there (N/N). Love you, take care of yourself until I see you next.” “You know I will, love you too, butthead,” you chuckled after he punched your arm lightly as you walked into the forest.

You were walking through, but didn’t see Caleb anywhere. “Caleb!” you whisper shouted, looking around for him. “Darlin’, you need to stop being so nice to everyone. They’re gonna think you don’ belong to someone.” You quickly turned to face your lover and reached out to put your arms around his waist. He put one of his hands on your lower back and looked into your eyes with a seriousness you haven’t seen in a while. You let out a sigh, “Caleb, my love… I didn’t mean for anyone to get the wrong idea. You know Leon is harmless.” “I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout him. You’ve already given me y’all’s history, baby doll,” he pressed a kiss to your forehead. “I’m talkin’ bout that handsy girl. Stop bein’ so kind that they think they can touch ya like that.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t think she would try anything. I still don’t think she will, ok? You don’t have to worry about it my sweet man.” Caleb scoffed at the nickname. He always thought it sounded silly, but he dismissed it and gave another kiss to your forehead and led you to his realm trying to be as calm as he can be. “Next time you’re at the camp, just stay in the saloon. If I’m not there I’ll be comin’ for ya darlin’.” “Hmmmm. I’ll think about it. I still have my friends ya know.” “Yeah, well, it wouldn’t hurt to spend some time with me.” You walk just a few steps ahead and smile now knowing he was a little jealous. “Well. If you miss me that bad, I guess I can come around more often.” You turn around quickly, stopping him in his tracks with a small and gruff, “Good. Now get to steppin’,” he said as he turned you around with a small pat to your butt making you let out a yelp.

Wraith

Since he was brought here by the Entity he felt fine with his looks. Until one time he was stalking the survivor’s camp listening to them talk about life. He went back to listen to their stories the next day, but the small group he was near were talking about which of the killers could get a “pass”. He didn’t really get what they meant until they were mentioning attractiveness. Now Philip wasn’t rated last, but he was definitely low on the scale. Only then did he question his appearance.

One day he was having a slow day. Not many trials were happening with him in it and he decided to explore his realm a little. He hated the cars that were around him. None of them were really cool, nor were they noteworthy. However, today has been a slow day for you too. He recognized you from the survivor’s camp and remembered listening to some of your stories. They were really interesting and he remembered how good of a story-teller you were. He could tell from some of your stories, just what kind of person you were. You had such passion and he knows from listening to some of the gossip when there were other groups, that you helped a lot in trials. He never noticed because you were still kinda new and he hasn’t had a trial with you yet.

He was slowly approaching you as you looked inside one of the cars. He rung his bell to see what you’d do, but all you did was look around before continuing to explore his realm. He rung his bell a couple more times as he stalked you throughout the place. You didn’t have much of a reaction to it, so when he finally revealed himself, your heart nearly jumped out of your chest.

“Ahaha. Uh.. so, um. I hope I’m not bothering you. I, uh, just wanted to explore?” you end with a higher pitch hoping it made you seem more innocent and not like you were invading his space. You know he’s a killer and that he could very well hurt you here, but from the small tilt of his head you could tell it’s not going to happen. At least, not yet. You looked up to meet his eyes and slowly reached a hand out. “I’m (Y/N). I’m kinda new here.” He looked down at your hand and grabbed it lightly. You let out a light gasp as you looked down at his hand in yours and turned it over. His hand was warm and you couldn’t help but step closer to the body heat he was providing. You weren’t exactly brought here in warm clothes and there was definitely a breeze in this realm. “(Y/N)!!!! Where are you?!” you heard from the tree line. You looked over to find Mikaela about to enter the realm. Philip quickly let go of your hand and was pulling away from you, “W-Wait!” but he was already gone when you looked at Mikaela again to see if she was coming closer. You sigh in disappointment looking around you before you let out a low, “Bye, I guess.” You tried to warm your arms up before you ran over to the red head and headed back to camp with one last look over your shoulder.

Philip knew he liked you, You were too soft, too warm to be in a place like this. He definitely had tried to see you back at the survivor’s camp, but he was better at observing than trying to approach you. Today you were talking with a group near where he was hiding. The topic definitely made his ears perk up as he heard someone ask you “Hey, (Y/N), what’s your type?” You laughed a little as you said the classic “tall, dark, and handsome. Haha. Well, that’s true, but also the quiet ones. Ya know, a little shy. I talk a lot so I can definitely hold the conversation for the both of us,” you laugh. While everyone in your group was laughing and talking to each other about their types. Jonah stood up from his spot and sat next to you, “So. Tall, dark, and handsome, huh? You wouldn’t happen to be talking about me now would you?” he said as he draped his arm over your shoulders. Philip could feel himself getting upset with the fact that Jonah was touching you. You chuckled and pushed his arm off, “I don’t know if you were listening, but the keywords were shy and quiet. That is like the opposite of you.” He tried to lean in to whisper to you, but you heard a familiar bell and immediately stood up with a quick “I gotta pee. Bye.” He looked at you confused as you quickly walked into the forest. “Hello?!” You walked further hearing the bell just ahead. Suddenly, there was just silence. You looked around disappointed you didn’t hear or see anything. You were just about to give up and head back towards the camp when you turned and saw him. “H-Hi. I’ve been looking for you ya know?” He stepped towards you and kneeled down a bit. “You really saved me back there. He was definitely getting too close for comfort.” You looked into his eyes and stepped towards him a bit. Leaning down he got to your level so that you were face-to-face.

You could feel the heat radiating off of him and shivered a bit, you lifted your hand as you were about to touch his face, but you hesitated. He grabbed your hand and placed it on his face himself. He leaned into your hand and closed his eyes for a moment. You could feel him relax, but all of a sudden you heard Jonah’s voice yelling out your name. Philip snapped his eyes open and with a small growl he grabbed you around your waist and stood to his full height and you automatically wrapped your legs around his waist and threw your arms around his neck. He jingled his bell and you were no longer in the forest and back in his realm. “Mine,” he said softly enough for you to hear. You smiled at him, still wrapped in his arms and rested your head on his shoulder, “Sure thing, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome.”

Doctor

Herman is quite the sadist when it comes to the survivors. You included. However, he has calmed down quite a bit with you as your relationship grew. Since he loved making observations, he would often watch you guys at the survivors camp and how you interacted with everyone. He was trying to see what your relationships were like with the other survivors.

He is 100% a possessive man. You are his and he very much would like to keep it that way. He didn’t even stop his observations when you were in trials with him. He was excited to have you in his trial today. There were some new survivors and he wanted to see how they interacted with others. Herman was chasing one of the new survivors.

Vittorio was running as fast as he could when he was running up behind two other survivors. He only recognized one which was you, you’ve saved him a couple times when he didn’t know what was going on, and the other was some woman he didn’t know yet. Herman let out a loud laugh as he was creeping up to the three of you when the woman he knows to be Haddie decided to drop a palette. However, this palette happened to almost fall on you, but Vittorio managed to grab you by your waist and save you from being squished under the massive palette. You, Vittorio, and Herman looked at the fallen palette then at Haddie who was running away. Herman was not happy about Haddie, but was cautious about Vittorio’s arm around your waist and the fact that he was pulling you away from Herman. Herman was trying to be logical about the events as he broke the palette and you and your new companion ran off into the opposite direction of Haddie. As soon as he got his hands on her he shocked her until the screaming stopped. He didn’t mori her. No, that was too easy. He hooked her as soon as he found one.

He was now on the hunt for the other survivors and you. He had finally found the one that wasn’t a part of the earlier ordeal and hooked them. You heard the scream when you were working on a generator with Vittorio. “I should go grab them. Have you seen a med pack anywhere?” you ask as you stand up from the now functioning generator. He stood up and shook his head no. “I didn’t know to grab them.” “That’s ok! I’ll just have to look for it on my way to the other survivor. You go work on the last generator,” you smile at him and he nods as he heads off.

You obviously run into Herman and he wouldn’t let you pass without giving him a small kiss on the cheek and him giving you a small shock on the ass as you ran away. You grab Jill off the hook and hear the final generator roar to life which obviously meant you could escape to the camp. You and Jill run as fast as you can towards the exit, but Herman is hot on your tail. He must’ve been waiting around the wall the hook was on. You didn’t want to leave Jill behind so you grabbed her hand and ran faster. You both see the exit in front of you, but as you got closer Jill tripped over herself and brought you down with her. You groaned as you hit the ground. Herman was about to go over her and to grab you when you suddenly got yanked up by Vittorio who brought you through the gate to safety. Herman was not happy about this turn of events. Why is this man so keen on protecting you? Why are his hands on you whenever you guys are around each other?

You sighed as you guys reached camp without Jill. Haddie was already sitting by the camp and Vittorio was mad at how she put you in danger when you helped everyone in the trial, even her. He guided you to another part of the camp with his hand on your lower back. “Is everything ok?” you ask him. “Yes. I just don’t appreciate how she endangered you and ran off,” he jerked his head in Haddie’s direction. “It’s ok. Not everyone reciprocates your help. That’s just how it is here,” you say softly. “That makes no sense. Does she have no shame?” You smile and decide you better tell him about this place some more. You sat Vittorio down and talked to him about how things work around here. He was actively listening to you when you realized how tired you were from the last trial.

With a small goodbye, you got up to go to Herman’s realm as he should be back by now. You were walking through the forest towards the loud zaps of electricity. “That new survivor is quite touchy isn’t he, darling?” you hear him say as you walk into his lab. “No, he was just trying to make sure I was ok since I was helping him. He’s new and I can’t help but at least give him some tips.” “Good thing you’re so nice? Hmm?” “ What are you trying to insinuate, Doctor Carter?” you cross your arms across your chest as you lean against the table he was writing notes down about today’s trial. He looked up quickly, “Nothing. Nothing. I’m not insinuating anything. I’m simply stating the man is touchy, that's all my love.” “Yeah, well I remember what it was like being new. You aren’t exactly the easiest first killer to deal with.” “No, you’re right. I guess I’m not,” he chuckled. “Guess not,” you lean in and kiss him on the corner of his lips.

Pyramid Head

It’s been a couple days since you’ve seen your big and buff monster of a boyfriend. He hasn’t had a trial with you and you’ve managed to be chased by monstrous killers that weren’t him. Such disappointment. You were sitting at the camp since sitting by the fire was much more comforting than the elementary school. You don’t exactly have a bed or anything there. It can also get lonely when you have been waiting for him for a couple days.

There was one person who had been sitting near you that you never really got to know yet. He seemed kind of like an outsider which is weird considering the circumstances. You had nothing better to do anyways. “Psst. Hey! Jeff. Come over here real quick!” you called out to him. He looked to his side and then at you. He funnily enough pointed himself and looked at you confused. You rolled your eyes and scooted over to him. “Got any good bedtime stories?” you ask sweetly. “Listen, kid. My bedtime stories are probably not as interesting as yours. I know you’ve been here longer than me. Word around town is you’re even sleeping with the enemy.” “Man, you are just a bundle of joy ain’t ya,” you chuckled. “I could care less about your personal life. Being here is one hell of a ride. I wouldn’t be surprised if I went after that plague woman,” you instantly ease up and chuckle a bit. “Ahh, so you’re type is powerful, deadly, and gorgeous huh?” Jeff laughed and said “Yeah, I guess you can say that,” he poked the fire with a stick. “At least we got something in common,” you both chuckle at that.

You spent the rest of the night just talking about your life before this place. He seems like a pretty cool guy. He reminds you of one of your uncles with some of the things he says. He even told you that you reminded him of his younger sibling. By the end of the night you guys practically made a fake family pact then decided to take a nap before you get pulled into a trial.

You wake up with a gasp because you felt yourself being launched onto the shoulder of your hunk of a man. “P-Pyra?” you wheezed out as he put you down gently. You looked up at him when he brushed his hand against your face. You melt into him and wrap your arms around his chest. You heard a groan come from his helmet as he wrapped his arm without his weapon around you tightly. When you pulled away he grabbed your arm and wrote on your forearm and small ‘IMY’ with his finger. You leaned up a little and placed a small kiss on his peck. “I missed you too, big guy.”

As the trial went on and you somehow got the generators working with the help of Jeff. You didn’t see Pyramid Head anywhere as you were running to the gate with Jeff, but in normal klutzy fashion, you tripped over the corner of a palette. Pyra finally showed up and was about to grab you for some alone time when Jeff just yanked you up and over his shoulder as he ran out the exit. All you heard was a roar from your lover as you made it to the survivors camp. After settling everything with Jeff at the camp. You headed out to Pyra’s realm hoping to finally have some alone time.

Stepping into his realm you see him entering the school in the distance and you quickly run to catch up to him. “Pyra!” He keeps walking as if you didn’t say anything. You think he didn’t hear you so when you get to the entrance and follow him down the hallway, you wrap your arms around his waist from behind. “Bubby? Why’d you walk off?” He groaned a little in annoyance. You know it’s not at you though. You put your hands under his shirt and run your hands up and down his stomach and pecs. “I love you, you know that right?” He nodded a little and you pull his top up just above your head and placed kisses on the exposed skin. “I just made a friend in that guy that got me at the end. We talked earlier when I couldn’t find you, and we just reminded each other of family from before this place. That’s all bub.” He turned and his tongue snuck out the corner of his mask and gave you a lil lick on the cheek making you laugh and let go of him. You both knew everything was alright.

As always lmk what yall think!

Requests are still open!

#dbd x reader #deathslinger x reader #Caleb quinn x reader #wraith x reader #Philip ojomo x reader #doctor x reader #herman Carter x reader #pyramid head x reader #dead by daylight x reader

806 notes · View notes

rilli-luci · 6 months

Text

Belos wasn't a child when Caleb left

Okay great now that I have your attention, I will state that of course this is a big thing of speculation between most people in the TOH fandom because quite frankly we only got to see SOME of the portraits in Belos' mind during the episode of Hollow Mind. But since the portraits have been posted for some time now on Twitter, it's about time we look at the facts.

Starting with what we know is true, yes Caleb is Phillip's older brother. We all know this. It's just fact. However there is something that some people overlook and it's that Caleb is not that much older than Philip.

The reason we know this is because of this portrait here.

And this one here

The boys are not that far apart in age. So Caleb probably just took on the role of a parental figure because that is a very common thing to do between siblings with either no parents or abusive ones. The older siblings parentifies themselves to protect the younger sibling.

That being said they were young when they met Evelyn but Caleb didn't just leave immediately. The reason for that is cause when Caleb leaves, Philip looks like this.

Phillip now has a ponytail and a cowlick. He's at an age where he wants to emulate the person he looks up to most and that's Caleb. There are some who argue "Well Phillip could've been a teen" Well so was Caleb. They were both teens then.

In this picture, he still has the ponytail but he has extra stuff. The best bet is Phillip went back to their home to grab things he may have needed (note the lack of mask) but I don't think he stayed behind for years. That's too long to go without looking for his brother. He would want to find him immediately. So he grabbed his things then left. And the Boiling Isles is big. Walking on foot would take time. He's in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people and he doesn't trust anything there. So it takes him enough time to grow a short beard to find Caleb. Cause at the dame time, Caleb is going around with his new witch friend and learning about magic.

This same beard is just longer when Luz and Lilith met him. We don't know how long Caleb had been dead by that point but he was most certainly dead at that time. And Belos looks to be about maybe his early 30s by then. He doesn't too much older than when he killed Caleb. Because of this I believe Phillip Wittebane as at the very least a young adult when Caleb left. He doesn't need to be a child for that event to have deeply affect him. His only family left with who he was told was an enemy for a good chunk of his life. It's not just heart breaking but belief shattering for him.

I know with what Masha told the others during Thanks to Them it looks like there was a sizable age gap but keep in mind this is a story that has been told and retold and retold again and again for like 400 years. There will be exaggerations, there will be incorrect retellings that mix with the real ones. Its more dramatic if Belos was a child its more dramatic if a witch kidnapped the older brother and the younger went to save him but neither returned cause of the witch. They are telling a story that isn't theirs that they’ve been told before. Of course the details would change. And it's really our only evidence that Belos was left as a child if I recall correctly. But considering the fact the town has 2 statues of the brothers AS ADULTS.

There is no way Caleb left him while he was a child. Not really. The portraits and the statues suggest otherwise. There's no reason to make statues of the brothers without being the correct ages relative to each other when they're like with each other. This is the evidence I found and if anyone has anymore evidence to back it up, add onto the post I don't mind. But everything suggests that Belos was an adult when Caleb left and he followed shortly after to save him.

#phillip wittebane #toh #caleb wittebane #emperor belos #toh belos #toh philip #toh caleb #hollow mind #toh hollow mind #toh theory #not sure if i should tag as critical #toh analysis

138 notes · View notes

blazingstar24 · 1 year

Text

Thinking a lot about Brennan saying in the Calamity wrap up how he made sure that Zerxus had a moment where his value of redemption helped them. And how Laerryn’s scientific advancement also helped stop a bigger calamity. Because he didn’t want people to draw the hard lines of “redemption is stupid and doesn’t work and wanting to progress to new heights is dangerous” I think back to what Brennan said about how in that one instant it failed. But in another, it succeeded.

And how that relates to this journey from C2 to C3. I’m obviously not the first to point out the glaringly blatant parallels and similarities in Essek and Ludinus. The amount of them are insanely high. But the contrast is also very clear. Essek ends as a great friend to the M9, Caleb’s lover, redeemed in the eyes of our focus characters. Ludinus is currently trying to blow up the fucking moon and kill the gods.

So there’s that recurring idea of something going right in one instance. And going terribly wrong in another.

Where Essek had at least one thing, one person he cherished (his brother Verin, and eventually the M9) other than his goals, Ludinus has no one. Not a single person he would potentially stop what he’s doing for. No one he would feel true regret in disappointing. Perhaps someone did reach out to him like the M9 did for Essek, but it failed to reach him in turn. The ways in which these two characters contrast and end up in wholly different places in the narrative is so striking. One is redeemed and one remains villainous.

There’s this concept in C2 in which no matter how badly you fucked up, if you stop and try to be better, there is hope and a path forward for you. It’s with Essek and Caleb. Astrid and Eodwulf. Molly/Lucien, who get to start again with Kingsley.

C3 with Ludinus is exploring the flip of that. The instance in where this doesn’t happen. In which someone refuses to stop. To keep barreling down that destructive path. Ludinus is the culmination of every stopgap failing. He is what Caleb feared Essek would be, what he could have been. It’s interesting to get the “We’re not so different you and I” villain but the PCs aren’t the ones he paralleling.

But in a way it kind of wraps back around to Brennan’s statement in that these are choices narratively for the audience to ponder. The connections are there for us to see and reflect on. I don’t know if this means anything really but I find it quite intriguing.

#ludinus da'leth #essek thelyss #cr spoilers #cr meta

216 notes · View notes

utilitycaster · 4 months

Note

🔥 about each member of the mighty nein (instead of sending you a million separate asks lol)

Fjord - this is actually the only character from all of Critical Role where if someone does not like that character I am immediately done with anything they have to say. Ashton and Vex are my favorites from C3 and C1 respectively but I get not being particularly into what they're doing even if I disagree, but like, if you don't like Fjord you either have no understanding of the idea of characters being defined by their settings and narratives and vice versa and therefore you have no media analysis statements worth hearing; or you made a snap judgement based on like 20 minutes of campaign 2.

Beau - I wish the circlet had gone to Veth; I liked Beau's arc a lot but she started as one of my favorites and was later surpassed by a number of other characters and I think it was in part because I liked her getting things the hard way and also doing more with the Cobalt Soul and Dairon than she ultimately ended up doing.

Caleb - I think I kind of covered it with my post about his trauma recently, namely, I think he's a fantastic character and Liam did a great job and also whenever someone acts like Caleb is objectively correct at all times or should have murdered everyone in the assembly it's a MASSIVE red flag.

Veth - weirdly unpopular in this fandom but I like her more as a halfling. Also, I actually think arcane trickster was a phenomenal fit for Sam mechanically even though he wants more spells and would love to see him do another 1/3rd or half caster.

Jester - I feel I've covered my main one repeatedly (people LOVED to talk about her agency and the second she kissed the wrong person she was suddenly a stupid baby girl who didn't know what was good for her) so I think my other one is that as with all of Laura's characters she is much more fun, especially early on, if you lean into the fact that she does say a lot of shit that makes people really uncomfortable or annoyed instead of trying to turn this into a SHE LOVES SO HARD AND NO ONE LISTENS because both can be true, your love can come out in ways that people are very annoyed by, this is how cats feel all the time actually, and so much of Jester's arc is figuring out how to share this love in a way that other people can appreciate without losing her own personality in the process.

Caduceus - I've also covered this a zillion times but I will say it again, Caduceus deflected so many attempts to check in with him and he does not want to like, fix Molaesmyr, he was not neglected, he was built out to be a character who was more of a low-key support guy and Taliesin did an incredible job with that.

Molly - honestly my unpopular opinion remains that I simply found him very well built and a great concept and also irritating as hell, and the Nein's response to him was valid but the fandom's post-death lionization was very tiresome. I'm genuinely not sure the party could have bonded the way they ultimately did if someone who was throwing around "enthrall" like that were still around.

Kingsley - now, while I don't mind if you dislike Kingsley, acting like Kingsley and Molly are the same character is actually equal to the not liking Fjord thing; that's an instant "this person's interpretations of media are so bad I am blocking so as to not accidentally see anything they have to say."

Yasha - I'm not sure I have any unpopular opinions? I do think she is at times underappreciated but I also think specifically she is, like Caleb, a victim of the terrible and weirdly common fandom idea that the only way to move on from abuse and horror is by killing everyone and everything that hurt you rather than rejecting violence and finding your own path and your own meaning.

Essek - sticking specifically to his role in the Nein, again, I love Essek and he is a member of the party and also he is an NPC and acting deeply offended that he doesn't get the same treatment in terms of comic books or merch or appearances in one-shots is very childish.

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag #unpopular opinions ask meme

55 notes · View notes

arepitademanteca · 1 year

Text

A large part of the public and the fandom affirm that Flapjack was Evelyn's palisman or was carved by her as a gift to Caleb, but really, those deductions are not solidly based or well argued. Dana's latest statements do NOT confirm that Flapjack belonged to Evelyn, she just states that Evelyn's spirit was NOT in Flapjack but Belos saw it as the culmination of his brother's corruption.

In Hollow Mind, inside Philip's mind we can appreciate paintings that frame his most important memories, and Caleb is present in all of them. There is one in particular in which Caleb is carving the characteristic mask that Philip would later adopt when changing his identity to Belos. But so what? Well, both the writers and animators don't put random details, rather they put them because they are important to a great extent, and they are worth noting, so the fact that they put Caleb carving the mask was not by chance, but because the painting itself is confirming that Caleb, from an early age, was a woodcarver. It can easily be deduced that Caleb was in fact likely to have started the Clawthorne tradition of palisman carving, rather than the other way around.

Caleb is depicted as a carver from a young age.

Hunter's wish was to carve out his own future, a wish that prompts Flapjack to join immediately. I highly doubt that a young witch who was able to travel between two realms would have so many conflicts for her future.

Now let's think about Caleb's future as an orphan who had to abandon his childhood to raise his younger brother, in a puritanical society in which absolute perfection was demanded of man. The ultimate goal of the Puritan community was to maintain moral purity in all areas of life. The Puritans held that God was the highest authority on any subject of the human being. Only divine grace had the ability to change people, who had to live according to God's precepts as thanks to his mercy. In this way, they thought that they fulfilled what God wanted from the human being and, therefore, they would access Paradise, since God had great plans for those who followed him. Doesn't look familiar? Flapjack's connection to Hunter must have antecedents regarding the desire that brought them together: Hunter wanted to have enough freedom to be able to choose his future for himself without any higher entity, family or society telling him what to do. And that surely was Caleb's wish; freedom, choice and criteria.

In some illustrations of the brothers, already as adults, Flapjack is present on Caleb's shoulder. If he were Evelyn's palisman, despite how close he could be to his owner's partner, it wouldn't make sense for him to be in the human world, it's as if they represented Luz and Ghost together, much less, that he was was so familiar with the house that it belonged to Caleb and Philip.

Many began to theorize that Flapjack belonged to Evelyn or that she had carved it as a gift for Caleb due to the Wagon Ride in Thanks To Them, in which in the intro, a bird that is obviously Flapjack appears surrounded by fire in the hand of Evelyn attracting Caleb. Such an act could be perceived as symbolic, since the Hollow Mind paintings show that Flapjack was not present at the meeting between the brothers and the witch, and we all know that Philip would not have overlooked such a detail important like that. What is a symbolism? The different forms of expression that use symbols to represent ideas and facts are known as symbolism. Symbolism is the idea that some things represent others. What we mean by that is that we can think of something, say, the color red, and conclude that it does not represent the color red itself, but something beyond it: say, passion, love, or devotion. Flapjack is a red cardinal and represents all of those symbolism for Hunter.

But it can also be associated with anger, aggressiveness, revenge and blood. The series usually handles a lot of color symbolism.

I could give an example of the symbolism of the forbidden fruit and the serpent presented in the story of Adam and Eve. The serpent tricks Eve so that she and Adam eat the forbidden fruit which, according to tradition, is an apple. This act is universally known as "original sin." As a result of their disobedience, the first human beings are expelled by God from Paradise. The supposed apple represents the "knowledge of good and evil". Specifically, having their own ideas about what is “good” and what is “bad” instead of relying on God's wisdom and moral law. The snake represents the human desire to investigate and understand the unknown; our curious nature tempted Eve to seek the forbidden fruit to find her own answers.

Dana is well known for putting, or wanting to put, religion-related references, and was apparently inspired by the fables of Adam and Eve for the story between Caleb and Evelyn, and Cain and Abel for Philip and Caleb. Evelyn fills the role of the apple, magic the snake and Flapjack the result of Caleb giving in to temptation. In the story of Cain and Abel; Cain kills his brother because he did not know how to control his jealousy when he saw that God appreciated Abel's offerings over his own. This can be understood, adapting to the mythology of the Islands, that Caleb pleased the Titan by learning and adapting to magic, and Philip kills him out of jealousy when he sees his brother being happy with magic, with Evelyn, with flapjack.

If Flapjack were Evelyn's palisman; he wouldn't have left after Caleb's death. Palismans seem to be passed down from generation to generation, and the only way they stand alone is because either their owners died, or they were abandoned. If Flapjack was Evelyn's palisman, and she only lived with Caleb, she wouldn't have gone off with the Bat Queen. We could explore and get to Dell's palisman, which is a yellow cardinal, similar to Flapjack, and which is surely Evelyn's real palisman, which was inherited until it was left with Dell. I don't think it was carved after Flapjack's disappearance and Caleb's death, because he also has a scar, and that may mean he was and participated in the conflict.

Flapjack is not attached to Eda, despite the fact that the series has made clear his similarities with Evelyn. Flapjack had seen her before Hunter, and even so, it didn't occur to him to go with her, nor with Luz, who was her companion. But he did seem to know the Clawthorne family and trust them enough, therefore, Eda. I gather that because she had no problem pushing Hunter out of the way at Eclipse Lake and calling on her when Hunter disappeared. He knew Evelyn, surely he loved her, but his behavior with Eda shows that he did not own her.

Caleb represents change and the desire for freedom, reasons why he was killed, certainly. Birds may be the symbol of the Clawthorne family thanks to Caleb, and it would be poetic symbolism. A bird is a universal symbol of freedom because it represents the ability of birds to fly through the skies whenever necessary, to escape and be free. In the same way, a bird in a cage is a symbol of the freedom that has been taken from it. The Gold Guard's mask may have been carved by Caleb like Philip's to play with, and said mask represents an owl. The shield of the Golden Guard, Gravesfield and even the Emperor; they are birds, and we know for a fact that they reference Caleb, who may very well have been fond of birds, and combining it with woodcarving, results in the Clawthorne lore and Flapjack, and if we go further, reintroducing from the palismans to the Boiling Islands, then I detail that theory. Quote: "Freedom is a bird with wings; you can fly. Birds have all the freedom. They don't have to stay in one place all their lives." It's very close to what we know of Caleb.

There are other reasons that may undermine the popular theory that Evelyn was the owner or carver of Flapjack, and I personally think those theories detract from Caleb's weight in the story. As I listed the reasons, I was asked questions as I wrote them down: If the Flapjack was Evelyn's and she had carved it before the events presented in the story, why would it have the name human food?

All of the birds that the Clawthorne family is inspired to make for their palismans and their family logo are human birds, including Flapjack himself, who doesn't have any whimsical island elements.

Caleb was a woodcarver, and surely that was his job in the human world. Is it not logical to think that it started the tradition of palisman carving?

They're throwing all that data in our faces for God's sake.

Belos, in his fit of rage, called out Caleb's name when he saw Flapjack, before Evelyn's. As Philip fatally wounds Flapjack, he says "Bye, Evelyn" mockingly, but before that he declares, "You wouldn't want me to hurt a precious palisman, would you? On second thought, I don't care what you want." And he proceeds to name Evelyn and impale Flapjack, with many taking those lines at face value. We don't know who he is addressing, when seconds later Hunter regains control of his body, which alludes that his control over his body was weakening, and it is likely that those words were directed at Hunter himself, who seconds later declares his desire to carve palismans. She could also say it to Luz, who she was looking at in the act and showed genuine concern for Flapjack, or Evelyn herself, but she never refers to HER palisman, she refers to ONE palisman. He could also be talking to Caleb, and it would make sense if we analyze that, later, he would enter a mild dissociative state in which he would refer to Hunter as such and after precisely killing Flapjack, he sees his ghost or his hallucination. His enthusiastic "Goodbye, Evelyn" is due to the fact that he ended the symbol of love, freedom and union that marked a before and after in Caleb and in his relationship with Philip, and could also be part of his teasing in his internal conversation with Caleb.

Caleb's first true connection to magic, which would define his decision to remain in the Demon World and become a witch, would be Flapjack. When a warlock carves a palisman, their souls are bound for life, and Caleb carved Flapjack. The series presents many parallels between situations, relationships and characters, and from the current events we can deduce how some previous events were; Luz carved her own palisman, with the help of Eda, who was the one who gave her the wood for the palistrom. And why would it be any different with Caleb? Eda gave her the wooden palistrom because Luz really wanted to be a witch, and maybe Evelyn saw that her good human friend, open-minded and non-extremist, is a carver, and well, it would be nice if she gave him a piece of wood and BOOM! Caleb carves Flapjack, and it would make more sense based on narrative and lore for Caleb to be the one to carve Flapjack, and not be a gift or palisman from Evelyn, since, in addition to detracting from Caleb's own actions and decisions about what he wanted in doing so removes the symbolism of his character and even the relationship between the bird and the Hunter. Going back to the subject of palismans, the fact of sharing souls and that, while Caleb was in the human world; Flapjack linked it to the Boiling Isles. Flapjack was the anchor, which ended up uniting the islands completely. Flapjack represents the link with witchcraft, and at the same time with Evelyn, the culprit that Caleb has known that world. Belos sees in Flapjack the magic that ended up anchoring Caleb to the Isles, and the magic was what separated him from him.

The parallels between characters is one of the best-treated topics in The owl house. Eda, Willow, and Amity can be compared to Evelyn from the point you see it, while Hunter, Luz, and again Eda to Caleb. And I think these scenes are an indirect response to what happened between Caleb and Evelyn.

It is thinking like: I want Maduro to suffer because I am destroying everything he ever wanted, which is everything related to Chavismo. Having already given these examples that are not personal at all and that obviously do not represent the national sentiment of an entire nation; having injured Flapjack, and about to kill him, is Philip destroying everything Caleb ever wanted, everything related to magic. That's why Hunter responds seconds later saying everything he wanted to do, even though Philip didn't care. They were words directed at a man he murdered 400 years ago, from whom he has taken and continues to fight to take everything from him, and that everything is what "pushed" them away in the first place. Obviously it wasn't you stabbing him in the back and chest that destroyed his family, of course not, it was a bird that your brother carved because he wanted to do magic and fly. Yes, Philip, you would make a very interesting case study for psychiatrists. And again, yes Philip, you deserved to be puddled and stomped to death.

If you read this far, thank you for your attention. English is not my mother tongue and in my degree they only give English applied to audio, so I don't have a good command of it. little things

#toh s3 #Caleb Wittebane #Flapjack Toh #The Owl House #Evelyn Clawthorne #Philip Wittebane #Belos toh #Eda Clawthorne #Luz Noceda #Toh Hunter

192 notes · View notes

kanerallels · 2 months

Note

Kanera, retirement home or seniors community

This is almost certainly not what you were intending when you sent in this request, but my sister gave me the idea and it was too amusing to resist

Working at a senior’s community was a fairly unpredictable job. But Hera was pretty sure that finding a guy around her age climbing out through the window was a first.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, staring at him.

The man paused, one leg already out the window as he stared at her. “I… live here?” he offered tentatively.

Hera stopped at him for a long moment, until his shoulders dropped in a sigh. “Yeah, that was pretty bad.”

“It was,” Hera agreed. “And you have about two minutes to give me a better answer before I call the cops.”

Wincing, the man said, “Yeah, please don’t do that. Okay, so I’m here to see my great-grandfather, Stellan— you know him?”

“I do,” Hera said, frowning. “He’s talked about you— you’re Caleb?”

“Right, but he’s one of like two people who call me that,” he said. “You can call me Kanan.”

“Well, Kanan,” Hera said, “you haven’t exactly explained why you’re climbing out the window.”

“Um. I’m technically not allowed in here because I kind of accidentally kidnapped Stellan and his two best friends out for lunch once.”

Hera rolled her eyes. “Somehow, I’m already unsurprised by that.”

Grinning, Kanan said, “Yeah, not my best move. But I can’t miss our weekly poker games, Elzar would never forgive me. So… any chance you can let me go this time?”

Hera considered for a minute. He did look familiar, like she’d seen him in some of the family photos in Stellan’s room. And her gut was telling her that he was probably telling the truth. “Fine,” she said. “But next time I expect to see you coming in through the front door. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kanan said, shooting her a grin before hopping out the window and out of sight.

#thanks for the ask!!#it's probably not realistic but it's funny and i enjoyed writing it #and that's what matters!#also yes in this au stellan gios is kanan's adoptive great-grandpa #because i saw one post about how he and vernestra are probably part of the shatterpoint lineage and now it's canon. to me #kanan jarrus #hera syndulla #swr #kanera #writing stories is a kind of magic too

38 notes · View notes

jess-the-vampire · 1 year

Text

I think not enough people talk about how a lot of the conflict between Philip and Caleb comes from a ton of misunderstanding and lack of communication between the two brothers.

Because while yes. Philip and what he did was utterly terrible, this entire situation was also not putting him in a great position to improve or come out of his delusions either.

Having grown up in a community where he was fear mongered into hating witches, philip wasn’t given a lot of opportunities to consider otherwise or think of witches as anything but monsters. These kinda towns were very black and white about the topic and men who tried to defend those accused of witchcraft were put to death as witches pretty much instantly. So it makes a lot of sense Caleb and Philip conformed, it’s more then just fitting in, it’s also survival.

Maybe caleb fully believed in witches being evil before, maybe he didn’t, but as philip’s only family and guardian, it makes a lot of sense he’d push for philip to dive further and further into these ideals so his brother would be safe.

This however, runs into further issues, one being, philip has no one to really pull him out of these ideals when caleb leaves.

Caleb, for one reason or another, chose not to tell philip about evelyn, nor did he seem to tell him he was leaving for assumebly forever. So caleb did have a change of heart about witches, but didn’t choose to do anything on his part to change philip’s mind, deciding rather to not involve himself in that at all.

Now, there could be many reasons for this, maybe he was worried about telling philip that everything he told him for years was no longer true, maybe he was worried philip would get the village and it would put him at risk, maybe he was worried about evelyn being exposed (Tho with her being an actual witch, who could wipe the floor with them, i’m not sure on that one)....

tho judging by how much both brothers care for each other and put the others safety how they did, the idea philip would put caleb at risk from their own town seems unlikely.

And when caleb reunites with philip in his memories, he doesn’t see him as a threat, so he probably didn’t do it cause he feared philip.

No, it seems more likely to be of two options, either caleb was worried about putting philip in danger by having him be involved in magic and thought it was safer for him to leave then put his own brother at risk, or....caleb saw the isles as a place that would make him happier and live out the rest of his life and thought philip would be better off without him on earth, under the impression philip was happier there and he was holding him back.

A choice he made for philip, without telling him.

Caleb, no matter what reason he had, sure underestimated how much philip needed him though, and how far he was willing to go for him.

And the thing is, as much as so many people say it’s philip’s fault for not accepting the real caleb, this situation kinda makes it clear philip never really got to meet “The real caleb”, because caleb chose to hide that part from him.

And there is a memory where philip seems to figure out caleb has been meeting her in secret at least by his teens, given he’s older then baby philip but not as old as young adult philip.

He may be around luz’s age at this time.

Whether he confronted caleb about it remains to be seen but we also have no timeline of when caleb left philip and how much time it took for philip to get to the isles to rescue him. So we don’t know if caleb had left philip when philip was an adult, or when he was still in his teens.

Just that by the time he DOES arrive there, he’s a young adult at least.

All philip knows is the caleb he grew up with, he was never eased into this new caleb who loved witches and the isles because caleb made the choice to not do that.

So when philip finds out about caleb is gone, of course his natural reaction is to think caleb got tricked and was kidnapped. Caleb was part of the crowd who promoted the idea of witches being evil and tricking people, not to mention that for him, why would caleb ever leave him willingly? He HAD to be tricked and kidnapped!

And the he spends months, maybe almost a year, judging by beard growth, trying to find caleb and the dude is completely a different person then he knew him when he finally finds him.

He’s chilling with the witches, starting a family, and he doesn’t seem upset at all about leaving his brother at all? For someone grown up on these stories, it’s not odd at all philip most likely assumed caleb’s mind had been warped.

He doesn’t think this is how caleb naturally is and was hiding from him, he most likely saw the witches as having done something to him, because he never got to naturally get to know caleb going though these changes on earth, so it looks like something it wasn’t to him.

And we’re missing a lot of details regarding the knife fight, such as a timeline, where flapjack is, where evelyn is, what philip’s thought process was (Did he think he was saving caleb, did he go for evelyn and caleb stepped in, did he actually attack caleb in anger because he realized caleb lied and left him on purpose? ect ect) but this was bound to result in some fight between the brothers given the context of the situation.

Caleb probably had NO real harm meant to Philip at all, he’s had to be an adult while still being a child and now he’s finally getting to discover who he is and that magic and witches actually make him feel happy and free. It’s just because he chose to handle things the way he did, philip ended up misinterpreting the situation and feeling thrown away and betrayed by him and it’s easy to see why.

And why philip is so angry and upset by it.

Philip did still have opportunities on the isles to maybe realize things were not what he thought, but given he seems to truly think all witches are trying to trick him it seems like his stubbornness to not look at things from a new angle continued to make him worse.

And had caleb maybe handled things better with him, maybe philip could of come to terms like he did about witches, caleb was the character who was most likely to reason with him and because of the memories philip was still a CHILD when caleb was already changing his ways. It’s not as if he was already an adult by the time caleb was meeting evelyn apparently, he was still pretty young.

Maybe it would not of worked, maybe philip would not of listened if caleb had been open about how he felt at first, but we’ll never know.

And caleb is not a bad person, i’m not blaming him for what philip went on to do because he could never have predicted what his brother would do because of all of this. Just that it didn’t help and probably unintentionally caused philip to have issues he never could of expected.

Philip had some opportunities to improve on his own when he got to the isles and he didn’t and that’s on him, but i can’t say i blame him for not automatically being happy for his brother given caleb’s own choices and how it makes everything look to him.

Their conflict is driven by a lot of unfortunate circumstances that are out of their control and lack of communication, more then you would think the more you look at it.

Philip’s not forgiven for how he chose to respond to this whole thing and how much were hurt from it, but he also wasn’t set up on the best course to improve either when the one person he cared the most for and had the best chances to help him chose to leave him behind without thinking everything through.

The comparisons to Luz and Camilla are warranted, luz and caleb are not malicious people out to hurt their loved ones, they were just thinking about what made them happy.

They just didn’t consider the consequences of running away from their problems and how it would affect their loved one.

It makes the relationship far more of a tragedy when you consider it all.

#and it's not a perfect comparison given luz and camilla aren't living in a witch hunting town and luz wasn't camilia's guardian #and that camila also had time to adjust to luz's shift plus luz was planning to see her aagain and not seemingly full on leave her #so there are differences that make the bros situation far more set up for problems #but yeah....the comparions are warranted #the owl house #toh #caleb wittebane #philip wittebane #emperor belos #camila noceda #luz noceda #evelyn clawthorne

355 notes · View notes

maxverstappensflatbrim · 7 months

Text

Show Me Yours | Matty Healy [38]

chapter thirty-eight, act five: the ballad of me and my brain

masterlist

June 3rd 2017

The little sparkly silver birthday hat sits crooked on Tommie’s head, her freshly cut short hair in a mess and her bangs are fluffed out of control. There’s silver sparkles on her forehead, catching the light alongside the beads of sweat on her forehead.

She’s wearing her beat up skeleton cowboy boots, a pair of shorts and a new sparkly waistcoat George got her for her birthday.

Her cheeks are flushed but her tipsy smile drops when the door finally swings open, “Matt?”

“Finally!” He complains, pushing his way into the house Adam had rented in Ohio for her birthday, where her surprise birthday party was being held, “Where’s Adam?”

“Um, kitchen, I think….”

He nods, not saying much else, her eyes focus on the burnt out joint he’d dropped and she steps on it quickly before following him inside.

“You’re late.” Carly says, back of her hand hitting Matty’s shoulder as he grabs a glass to fill it with water, tipping it all down himself as he starts downing it. His white

“Late to what,” He looks around leaning against the kitchen counter, “Why’s there so many people in the house right now?”

Carly steps back, then she reaches forward, hand grasping his chin as she opens up his eyes, “Are you high right now?”

“Just on weed.”

She shakes her head and pushes him to the side, “Are you serious?”

“It’s just weed, Carly, calm down. Where’s Adam?”

“Upstairs, I think, getting Tommie’s bir-”

“Great, cheers.” He says before heading for the stairs, almost hitting Tommie over as he passes her.

She leans back so he can pass, brows raised as she meets Carly in the kitchen, “What’s he doing here?”

She crosses her arms and looks back at the door as Carly sighs slowly, “He was supposed to be here hours ago.”

Her head snaps to Carly, her hat falling off her head, being caught by the string which makes it hand around her neck, “You invited him?”

Carly reaches out to fix the hat, brushing her bangs down and then fixing her hair, “Adam invited him. Like two weeks ago ‘cause he was moping around.”

Tommie picks at the skin on her fingernails and sighs, she leans back against the counter with her arms crossed, staring into space and hoping Matty will stay away from her.

The past few months since the Brits have been hell, touring around but feeling completely alone. Of course she had the guys, but only Ross knew what had happened that night, and even he didn’t know everything.

Caleb has stayed away, they’ve been in the same room maybe once since it happened, Gabby had come to tour but she and Matty had gotten hotel rooms and travelled separately leaving the others on the bus.

That’s when Tommie felt like she could breathe again, one less person made the metal container much more bearable to be in.

And now, on this night dedicated to her- something she would’ve hated four years ago if it wasn’t for Matty building up her birthday tolerance- she’d felt the happiest she’d been in months, maybe even years.

With Carly following her around with extra drinks and Adam giving her a slice of pizza every time her hand was empty.

Even Button had been making her feel special by cleaning up her own toys (she didn’t want any of the strangers to steal them so she hid them in different places around the house).

There’s not too many people here, the band and their girlfriends, Jamie and his missus, Denise and Louis had flown over too, some tour helpers and a few other people. Phoebe had sent about ten thousand messages apologising that she couldn’t make it after receiving an invite from Adam.

There’s no Caleb, no Gabby. And until now there had been no Matty.

She sips from her drink again and Carly leans forward to adjust the party hat on her head when it starts slipping again, “Just ignore him, he’s come to see Adam, will probably leave after that.”

She nods with a quiet sigh but quickly smiles when Rome calls her over to ask about one of the presents she’d received.

It’s much later when Matty returns, she hadn’t even realised he’d come back downstairs but a loud racket from the kitchen only she seems to hear has her coming face to face with him.

There’s around three or four smashed glasses on the floor, Matty’s left hand is cut to pieces but he doesn’t seem to mind as he continues to fix himself a drink.

“Matt?”

He looks up, eyes squinting as he leans towards her to see who it is better, “Oh, hey.”

“Oh, hey?”

“Hello, Thomas, such a fine night tisn’t it?”

She rolls her eyes at his sarcasm and leaves the kitchen to head for the bathroom upstairs where Adam had made very clear to everyone is the place he’d stored the first aid kit that they usually keep tucked away on the bus. He’d made the purchase a few shows back when George had cut his finger when trying to make dinner as the bus was moving.

When she returns he’s sipping from the glass and she shakes her head asking him to come with her, “Why?”

“Just… please?”

That’s all it takes, he’s following her into the quiet hallway, and down the little steps out to the porch.

He has many things on the tip of his tongue ready to say but keeps his mouth shut when she forces him to sit.

She sits beside him and wipes the blood from his palm carefully, he winces, the pain sobering him up as he takes his hand away from her.

“I need to get the glass out.”

“How’d that happen?” His brows are furrowed and he’s leaning against her to stay upright.

“I don’t know.”

He winces again and she pulls his hand a little more harshly, “Stop babying me.”

“Stop being a baby.”

He huffs and she holds his hand up when it’s all cleaned up, “I told Gabby I wouldn’t talk to you.”

“Gabby doesn’t want you to talk to me?”

“No, Gabby said we’re bandmates and we have to talk to work well. But I don’t want to talk to you.”

She slides away a little, turning her head to look forward, “Does Caleb let you speak to me?”

“I haven’t spoken to Caleb in four months.”

“You broke up?”

“No.”

“What happened?”

She sighs and shakes her head at him, “You’re all cleaned up, can go finish your drink now.”

“What happened?”

She just looks at him, the party hat crooked and tears in her eyes catching the light reaching them from the kitchen window, reflecting the sparkles on her hat, “Oh…”

She nods as he suddenly realises, but he stands and heads for the door, but she can’t help it. Can’t help asking, reaching out.

“Why, Matt? Why’d you have to ruin it for me?”

“You were miserable.” He shrugs.

“Did you think it would make me happy?” She scoffs, “This life I have now. I’m in some kind of- of limbo with my relationship. With Gabby, with you.”

He shrugs and scuffs his shoes against the pavement, “Exactly, you don’t think Matty, only think about yourself.”

“That’s not true-”

“Not true? Look what’s happened, you’re still with Gabby, still got the guys cause they don’t know what’s happened, you’re fine. I lost my boyfriend, my best friend, Gabby…”

He shrugs again and she shakes her head one of the tears finally falling, “I’m sorry.” He decides to say, not looking at her, he can’t look at her.

“For what?”

“That you’re in love with me.”

She raises a brow, but then they furrow. And if he’d just look at her he’d see that face he hates seeing. The one that shows her confusion and sadness at the same time, the one that has tears in her eyes and a frown on her lips.

“Cause I’m not in love with you.” He tells her. “I can’t be in love with you now.” He clarifies.

She finds herself holding her breath as he stands, “Why not?”

“I- I can’t.”

She stands in front of him now, party hat long forgotten as she rips it from her head and clutches it in one hand. Giving her something to hold onto, something to hold her back. “Am I that bad? What’s wrong with me, Matty? What’s so wrong with me you can get it up but you can’t fall in love?”

He opens his mouth and then closes it.

It’s not that he’s not in love with her, it’s that he won’t let himself be in love with her.

Of course he’s in love with her, he always has been. But he’ll ruin her, he doesn’t want to ruin her. He wants to get it right, to be sober and love her every second, to spoil her and wake her up with a smile on her face. To have Allen and Button run around together in a garden of their own house, a house they’ll buy and move into together.

But they can’t have that.

He can’t give her the life he wants her to have, he knows Caleb won’t either, which is why he worked so hard to split them up. He’ll agree he went about it all wrong but he just wants her to find someone good, who can give her everything he wants to give her and more.

But at the same time he doesn’t want her to find that if it’s not with him. It’s why he worked so hard to sabotage her and Caleb’s relationship.

“Go back to the stupid party,” He tells her, “Find another friend of Adam’s to fall in love with.”

She stands, speaking before he disappears down the pathway, “Do you know what this stupid party’s for, Matt?”

He shrugs, kicking at the floor which causes him to lose his balance for a few seconds. He stumbles, and she clutches the party hat even tighter not to reach out and steady him.

She’s tired of being the one to steady him.

“It’s my birthday.”

He stays silent, still not looking at her, “Twenty-three today.”

Still he says nothing, so she goes on to fill the silence. It’s never silent between them. Usually it’s filled with their shared laughter, or calm breaths or skipped beats of the heart.

“You know, coincidentally, that’s the age you were when everything between us started going to shit.”

“Tom-”

“It’s the truth, we haven’t been us, Matty and Tommie, for a very long time. And- I’m tired of trying for us to be that way.”

“We’re fine, perfect….”

“We haven’t talked since February, Matt. We’ve been on tour for almost five months now, and haven't said a word to each other…”

“I fucked up, I know that-”

“Yeah, you did. We both did.” She admits, “But I can’t-” She shakes her head, “I don't like feeling this way.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll try harder-”

“That’s not what I’m saying, Ma-”

“Then what are you saying? I never know what you’re trying to say. So just say it. Outright, fucking say it.”

“I hate that I’m in love with you.”

The door behind them opens, Adam pops his head out, “More pizza’s here.”

She keeps staring at Matty, he looks back up at her, Adam doesn’t move.

“Happy Birthday, Baby.” He says simply.

She nods, watching him turn, hands shoved in his jacket pocket as he heads out into the street, head ducked to protect himself from the rain and disappears from their view.

She tosses the hat away from her and sits on the steps of the house, arms wrapped around herself as she watches the hat get washed away down the street in the rain.

Adam sighs, “Come on inside, it’s raining.”

She shakes her head, lighting a cigarette from in the pocket of her shorts and staring out into the street, “What’s going on?” Adam asks after he’s sat beside her on the greying steps.

She shakes her head but he nudges her, “Come on, put that big smile back on your face. I’ve missed it.”

“I’m lonely,” She says, arms wrapped around herself, a fresh cigarette in her mouth. Adam looks at the ashtray beside her, there’s fourteen cigarettes in there, and he hopes to God that it hasn’t been cleaned out for a few days. But they’ve only been here for a day, he hopes there’s a few other smokers here, but she and George are the only two that he's seen disappeared for a smoke tonight.

“I can’t sleep.” She says again, taking a deeper drag, “I think I’m depressed,” She tells him, “Or Autistic.”

“Oh, you’re definitely Autistic.” Adam says and she cracks a little smile as she looks down. “You can be both. Have you… talked to anyone about it?”

She shrugs, “Like who? Caleb?” She scoffs, “Haven't seen him since February, he’s avoiding me.”

“Why?”

“Cause he knows I’m going to break up with him,” She sighs, “Matty was right…”

“Wow, never thought I’d hear you of all people admit to Matthew Healy being right.”

She chuckles, but it turns into a weird strangled sob as her entire face contorts and she starts crying, leaning her head onto Adam’s shoulder.

“I hate him.” Adam’s not sure who she’s talking about, Matty or Caleb at this point.

“He- I hate him. Can’t stand him. He makes me hate myself… and he’s so… so American-” Caleb then, “And condescending, he has to correct the way I talk and makes me feel stupid around his friends, and I…”

“Break up with him then.”

“I can’t do it over the phone-”

“Email?”

She chuckles again, rubbing at her nose harshly, “I can’t do that. It would break me if it happened to me-”

“He knows that, that’s why he’s avoiding you.”

“You know, the end approached us before the beginning.” She says.

He readjusts his grip, pulling her back a bit so the rain won;t hit her legs, “Why did you start dating him?”

“He listened to me… and I don't know, I felt like it was a way to distract me I guess…”

“From what?” She breathes in, chest stuttering, she considers telling him. She thinks over how it will go, how she will say it, how he will react, their relationship once it’s revealed.

‘I slept with Matty, the day before I saw Caleb… we fell out over it so I went on a date with him to get back at Matty, make him feel the way he made me feel.’

‘You slept with my best friend? Are you serious? What’s wrong with-’

“Life…”

He hums, “Not to make Matty jealous?”

She looks up at him slowly, “Why would I do that?”

He chuckles, “I’m not stupid, Tommie, or blind. I know everything-”

She turns to the door in realisation of her loose mouthed best friend, “Ross! I’m gonna kill him, he told you-”

“Everything.”

She winces, head ducking down as she closes her eyes, “Ads-”

He shrugs, “You can talk to me about that kind of stuff you know-” He is quick to jump in and correct himself, “Not sex stuff… Please don’t tell me about that.”

She giggles a little, sniffling with a nod, “Okay… not even about how he-”

He unravels his arms to plug his ears and she laughs again.

He grins at the fact he got her to smile again, he pulls her into his side, kissing the top of her head, “Break up with Caleb, focus on yourself, don’t worry about Matty or the band right now. Take time off if you need it-”

She shakes her head, “I’m not quitting the band.”

“It’s not quitting, more like taking a break. No one will know, we’ll say you’re ill or something.”

She shakes her head, “I’m not leaving, not taking a break. I’m fine.”

“Don’t push yourself.”

“It’s not a push, more of a slow drag.” She says which has him laughing again as he shakes her a little.

“Promise me if it gets too much you’ll just stop. Go home, have time to yourself. I’ll come with you if you need it.”

She nods, lifting her hand and they link pinky fingers, “I will, Ads, don’t worry.”

“I always worry.”

taglist

@thereisaplaceintheheart, @indierockgirrl, @sofaritsalrightt, @julezs-bl0g, @eaglestar31, @sophinthealpss, @noacfemcel, @if-my-heart-bleeds, @befrwime, @fallingforel, @sexorchocolateorpillowsorclouds, @3terna15unshin3, @1975sophie1975, @thesocraticjunkiewannabe, @littlesoldierelleora, @procrastinatinglikeapro

-let me know if you want to be added :)

#show me yours matty healy #matty healy x oc #matty healy x reader #matty healy imagine #the 1975 x oc

71 notes · View notes

immortalmint · 9 months

Text

How many people on the Boiling Isles are related to Caleb? And are Dell and/or Gwendolyn related?

In The Owl House, there is strong evidence the Clawthornes are related to Caleb Wittebane and Evelyn (Clawthorne?). Many fans point to a connection through Gwendolyn, via the ‘lyn family suffix shared by Gwendolyn, Edalyn, and Evelyn. There is also Gwendolyn’s family knowledge of a human previously living in Bonesborough:

“My great-grandmother told me about a human who once lived here. But one day he just vanished. Rumor has it he left something in the library, and if you can find out more about him...”

A Gwendolyn connection is very plausible. We’ll get into family resemblances later.

But a connection through Dell has merit as well, given his palisman’s striking resemblance to Flapjack. We’ll call our yellow cardinal Biscuit for now. (Biscuits were ship rations in the late 1500s onward, and absolutely have been eaten for breakfast. They work in any meal. Every meal. Caleb was poor and hungry, okay?)

The visual clues we get are intermingled between Dell, Caleb, Biscuit, and Flapjack. When Dell is first injured by the Owl Beast, the red blood over his closed eye makes the same shape as Flapjack’s scar. Both Dell and Flapjack are wounded in the same eye, their left. These wounds share symbolic similarities, as they were both from family members: Dell’s injury was caused unintentionally by Eda when she was startled and turned into in Owl Beast form, and Flapjack’s injury likely occurred during Philip’s failed attempt to murder his sister-in-law Evelyn and Philip’s (also unintentional?) murder of his brother Caleb.

(As for physical appearance, note the similar nose shape between middle-aged Dell and teenage Hunter in the screenshots below.)

Looking at older Dell, the scar’s color and shape greatly resembles Flapjack’s head. Both Flapjack and Biscuit have two-peaks of feathers crowning their heads, similar shaped face and chest feather patterns, bicolor wings of light and dark from their respective color pallets, and identically shaped feet. These birds were clearly a matched set, Biscuit likely being carved by Caleb to complement Evelyn’s Flapjack. Sometime after Evelyn’s death, Flapjack presumably left for the Bat Queen, and Biscuit stayed on with the family (I strongly believe Biscuit was Caleb’s palisman, and bonded with his young daughter to relay the love of the father she was deprived of). Biscuit continues to stay with the family to this day, adopting a young witch every 3 to 4 generations. She now belongs with Dell.

It’s also telling that all the Clawthorne family palismen are birds.

If you’re wondering why Biscuit is a she, check out the Northern Cardinal, which is quite common in Connecticut. I took pictures from this lovely bird website: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/id

Male Northern Cardinals are red, and females are supposedly “brown,” but if you told me that bird looked yellow, I’d agree with you.

What about family appearance? We’ve compared Dell to Caleb/Hunter. So let’s take a look at Evelyn. We’ve got a lot less to go on here. Just a few memory photos from Philip’s mindscape. But from what we can see, Evelyn has impressively full hair very similar to Gwendolyn and Eda. The washed out colors of the photo make it difficult to determine an exact hair color, but brown to reddish-brown seems plausible.

Looking at the Clawthornes, we see various shades of brown, red, and orange (yeah… I know they’re still called redheads, but that’s because the word ‘orange’ wasn’t in the language when redheads first showed up.) These are all plausible hair colors for the descendants of Caleb and Evelyn.

Am I saying that both Gwendolyn and Dell are related to Caleb and Evelyn?

Yes!

Yes, I am.

‘But isn’t that gross?’ you may wonder.

Eh, not really. They’re around 13 generations away from their shared common ancestor, Caleb and Evelyn’s daughter. We’ll call her Caylyn for convenience. With each generation, the percentage of DNA from a relative goes down by half. Example: You share 50% of your DNA with your mom, but only 25% of your DNA with your grandpa. The calculation is 1/(2^generation) x 100%, where that little ^ character means “to the power of.” So by the time we get to Dell and Gwendolyn, each would only have 1/(2^13) x 100% = 0.012% shared DNA. That’s very low risk for hereditary birth defects. You probably don’t have your own family tree documented well enough to avoid hooking up with your 13th cousin.

‘But what are the odds of two Caylyn relatives hooking up?’

After 13+ generations on an island? It’s more likely than you think!

Now that you’ve been lured in with screenshots and pretty birds, it’s time to get to my favorite part: MATH!

I mean, EVEN MORE MATH!

And dates. Yeah. They’re important too.

From Masha’s account, in 1613, the orphans Philip and Caleb Wittebane arrive in Gravesfield. Based on how small the boys are compared to a butter churner meant for adults, it’s safe to assume Caleb is 10 or younger. Philip is likely 7 or younger.

Now fast-forward to Evelyn’s pregnancy. Philip has a full beard in this photo, which means he’s at least 18, more likely in his early-to-mid 20s (most white males can’t grow a full beard until their 20s). That would put the date sometime between 1625 and 1630 for Caylyn’s birth.

To simplify our generational model, we’re going to assume that Caylyn was born in 1625 and that she and her descendants had 2 surviving children each when they were approximately 25 years old. That means in 1650, Caylyn had 2 children, and Evelyn became a grandmother.

If you’re wondering about my assumptions, the birthrate didn’t fall below 2 children in the USA until the 1970s. And before 1800, the birthrate was over 7 children! But when we look back at the 1600s-1800s, 40-50% of children died before adulthood, leaving only 3.5-4 children surviving to have kids of their own. I went with the assumption of 2 children per generation to account for additional factors such as people deciding not to have kids or cultural differences in family sizes that may have existed in the Boiling Isles. In all likelihood, Caleb’s descendants had a higher birthrate than 2. But we’ll stick with 2 to be conservative, and to make the math easy to see the effects of doubling!

Let’s finish the century out with 4 great-grandchildren (2 x 2, or 2^2) in 1675 and 8 great-great-grandchildren (2 x 2 x 2, or 2^3) by 1700. We get another 4 generations of descendants every century after this. So, by 1800, we have 128 (2^7). By 1900, we have 2,048 (2^11). And by the year 2000, we have 32,768 (2^15) new babies born related to a human! That’s a lot of people! And if we add together the most recent 3 generations, there’s even more living relations to Caleb on the Isles. At least 57,344 people!

Dell and Gwendolyn are 13 generations away from Caylyn, with birthdays approximately in 1950. I get this date based on Eda being in her mid to late 40s at the start of The Owl House (2020) according to Dana Terrance (so Eda’s birthday is ~1975). Her parents would be ~25 years older than her. So, when Dell and Gwendolyn meet, our number is around 8,192 (2^13) descendants of Caleb in their generation. And in all likelihood, Caleb’s descendants are more concentrated on the forearm where Evelyn originally lived. This makes it extremely likely that at least some of Caleb’s descendants marry each other.

How likely? First we need to know the approximate population of the Boiling Isles in the 1950s. Dana Terrance said the BI is roughly the size of Vermont in this interview. And in 1950, Vermont had a population of 377,700. We’ll use this as our rough population number for the 1950s BI. For the group born in 1950 (8,192 of which are descendants of Caleb), they make up 2.17% of the total population. But if we think about the number of people in that generation who would marry someone of similar age, we’re looking at the 20-30 year-old bracket, which is about 10% of the total population, or 37,770 people. And 8,192 is 21.7% of the people in Dell and Gwendolyn’s generation (gen 13). It isn’t a question of if two Caleb descendants got married, it’s a question of how many marriages!

(If you’re curious: [chance of person 1 being a Caleb descendant] x [chance of person 2 being a descendant] x [half of gen 13 population], because we’re looking at pairs of people, not individuals. So 21.7% of 21.7% = 4.7% of marriages in gen 13, times half the gen 13 population (18,885) is 887 marriages!)

Dell and Gwendolyn both being descendants of Caleb isn’t even that rare! The Clawthornes are one of multiple families where both sides of the family can claim human ancestry. It’s amazing how far one person’s genetics can spread in 400 years of breeding!

Alright, let’s get back to the main question: How many people on the Boiling Isles are related to Caleb?

By the Day of Unity (2022), we’re close enough to generation 16 (2025), which is 65,536 (2^16) babies, that we can look at a range between 2020 and 2025. In 2020, the 3 generations alive are 8,192 (2^13), 16,384 (2^14), and 32,768 (2^15), or 57,344 total living descendants. In 2025, the 3 generations alive are 16,384 (2^14), 32,768 (2^15), and 65,536 (2^16), or 114,688 total living descendants. In 2022, Vermont had a total population of 647,064 people, and we’re assuming the Boiling Isles population grew similarly. So we have between 8.9% and 17.8% of the BI population related to Caleb on the Day of Unity.

Belos wasn’t only attempting genocide against witches. Philip Wittebane was trying to kill thousands of his own relatives.

Food for thought.

#the owl house #evelyn clawthorne #caleb wittebane #philip wittebane #dell clawthorne #gwendolyn clawthorne #toh flapjack #dell's palisman #emperor belos #toh analysis #toh math

109 notes · View notes

aeor-is-for-reccing · 5 months

Text

Spanking: A Shadowgast Rec List

This week, we have spanking! Check under the cut for 7 fics that feature spanking with a hand or toy for sexy reasons, and don't forget to comment and kudos if you like them!

Break Me, Mend Me by kaiannae (21835, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Dubcon/Consensual Non Consent

Caleb's finds himself in a pit of self loathing, Essek offers a nice long session of punishment and debasement to help him get past it

Reccer says: This fic is so wonderfully cathartic to read, and the character writing is incredibly on point. Caleb is a self-loathing mess, but Essek cares for him so well here (even if that caring involves spanking him until he cries)

Are you hurting the one you love? by TheatricArcana (2341, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

Caleb and Essek both get really into a scene, only for Caleb to unexpectedly slip into the wrong headspace. Essek takes notice and uses their safeword on Caleb's behalf and does his best to comfort Caleb.

Reccer says: I liked it!

Discipline (Catharsis) by RoseArcaneum (4168, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek is experiencing a lot of self-loathing guilt feelings during the aeor arc, and Caleb spanks Essek over his knee.

Reccer says: One thing I really liked about this fic was the inclusion of both the negotiation and the aftercare of the scene, its like the cherry on top of some good emotional smut!

If nobody knows, tell me, what’s the crime? by MarsBar2019 (53612, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence

From author's summary: "For a master of subterfuge, Essek hasn't been so great at hiding that he might have some specific interests in the bedroom. Caleb is more than happy to oblige."

Reccer says: It's glorious! I love how Essek starts out constantly telling himself to keep it together, keep it cool, only to slip up and panic. And, of course, it's delicious that Caleb is into the very things that Essek was nervous about. And the wizards love each other very much!

Coping skills by Eldritchmochi (251061, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: None

Disabled Essek meets Caleb at a munch and ends up entering a dynamic with him. aleb shies away from impact play but it's what Essek craves.

Reccer says: I myself have EDS and have wanted to engage with the BDSM community. Until reading this fic I really wasn't sure what would be possible! It is a fantastic and accurate depiction of EDS and how disabled people want to be treated.

the golden thread around your neck whispered visions of my undoing by MarsBar2019 (177218, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes, Drug Addiction

Caleb becomes secretary to the wealthy CEO Essek Thelyss, an accidental kinky relationship forms

Reccer says: The tension is just amazing, in both buildup and payoff. The way they tease each other is so fantastic and theres a lovely wide range of kinks featured

There were two recs for the following fic:

Harnessing Gravity by TiliaC0rdata (12338, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Dubcon/Consensual Non Consent

Caleb and Essek decide to do a little sexy roleplay- Caleb as the helpless exchange student, Essek as the arrogant bully who's decided to take advantage of him.

Reccer 1 says: Features a lot of really hot CNC roleplay between the wizards, mixed with some very tender and sweet boundary negotiation

Reccer 2 says: A+ roleplay with Essek domming empire student Caleb. I love that Caleb does safeword, they discuss what went wrong and are able to continue the scene

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week, we’ll be back with polymorph shenanigans!

#shadowgast #caleb widogast #essek thelyss #critical role #fan fiction rec list #cr fic recs #aeor is for lovers #cr fic #cr fics #critical role fan fiction

39 notes · View notes

jasonscaramel · 4 months

Text

i guess only the stars would know the truth - chapter five - jason todd x reader

series summary: there's something going on in gotham. you transfer into gotham university's journalism program. simultaneously, people are going missing in gotham at record rates. it's only a matter of time before your curiosity gets the best of you.

words: 2.8k

crossposted on ao3 | masterlist

Okay, you’re regretting agreeing to the date so easily.

Not because you don’t want to go out with Jason, but because you can’t find anything good to wear. And you ran out of that one product that made your hair look really good. And, frankly, you haven’t been on a date in a while. What if you completely fuck it up?

To convince yourself to make do with the clothes in your closet and the hair products on your counter, you tell yourself that Jason is too good of a guy to cancel on at the last minute. The least you can do is go and make an absolute fool of yourself so he has a good time. And you know you’re right, so despite the anxiety, you continue.

When six-thirty rolls around, you’re completely ready and pacing back and forth in your living room. You’re debating taking a shot of the cheap liquor an old school friend gifted you before your move when you hear a knock at the door. You practically sprint to the door, eager to rid yourself of any lingering anticipation—it’s growing painful.

“Hi,” you’re sure the nerves are all over your face, but you smile anyway. “You’re early.”

“Couldn’t help myself. Are you ready, or do you want me to wait out here while you finish?”

“I’m good. Let’s go.”

“It’s a pretty short walk from here. Roy and I used to walk over right before closing and piss the line cooks off…”

By the time you approach the restaurant, Jason holding the door for you as you enter, whatever nerves you had earlier seem to have faded away. He’s so warm, you find it hard to be anxious in his presence. As the door shuts behind you, you’re greeted with the smiling face of a woman who looks about in her seventies, standing behind the host stand.

“Jason! It’s so good to see you again!” The woman rushes around to hug Jason, pecking each of his cheeks to greet him. “It’s been so long! Where’s your brother? Who’s this?”

Jason chuckles at the twenty questions. “He’s in town, I’ll tell him to drop by. This is my date.” He introduced the two of you, you learn her name is Mags, and she tells you she’s been feeding Jason since he was just a kid. It makes his face go red, and you can’t help the wave of emotion that rises in your chest. When Jason removes his gaze from the ground to meet your eyes, you give him a reassuring smile. When he returns it, he seems at ease.

Mags waves over one of the younger hosts to walk you to your table, a nice booth situated in the back of the restaurant. It’s a very private, dimly lit area, lit mostly by candlelight. The red booths seem to glow in the flickering light as you scoot into one, sitting across from Jason.

“I’ll have Caleb out to take your order in a minute. You want your usual?” She asks, directed at Jason before both of their attention turns to you.

“Do you like red wine? We could do champagne if you want.” Jason’s words are soft and casual, and he’s got a confident look on his face. You could get lost in those eyes without any effort, but then you notice movement out of the corner of your eye. Jason’s hand, resting on top of the table, fidgeting. It’s such a stark contrast to the confidence he’s trying to play that you can’t help but smile at him.

“Red wine is perfect.” You turn your attention to the hostess. “Thank you.”

“I guess you’ve gathered I’m a regular here,” Jason starts, still unaware of his thumb tapping away at the tabletop. “I thought it’d be a good way to get to know me. I’m not always great with words.”

You grin. You can’t help it, it feels like it crawls from the back of your throat and claws its way onto your face. “I appreciate you bringing me into such an important part of your life. And I don’t always need words, I can read in between the lines.” He gives you a small smile and opens his mouth to speak before he’s interrupted by your server.

“I am so sorry for the wait.” He sets down two wine glasses, pops the cork on the wine bottle, and serves you both. Caleb ends up being a delight, keeping you laughing as you and Jason decide what to order. You think they know each other well, with how comfortable they seem around one another. It makes you wonder just how much time Jason has spent here.

By the time Caleb leaves to put your order in, your cheeks hurt from smiling so hard, and you can spot a rosy tint on Jason’s cheeks as he recovers from laughter. He was right about bringing you here, you’re sure of it. Not that the man has ever been standoffish to you, but seeing him in his element is helping you see a new side of him. And this is only the beginning of the date.

The two of you spend some time shooting silly questions back and forth: favorite color, movie, music genre. He’s always very interested in your answers and always asks follow-up questions. The more the two of you spoke, the more you could see him truly relax. Maybe the wine had something to do with it, but twenty minutes into your wait, he’d stopped fidgeting completely.

The conversation comes to a comfortable lull, and you stop to watch him for a moment. You’re beginning to think he’s had a little more to drink than you thought with the way his eyes are sparkling in the candlelight. But you can’t be mad, because it makes him look that much more inviting.

“You’re staring.” He says with a chuckle. You feel your face go hot, an embarrassed smile overtaking your face.

“Sorry. Honestly, I can’t help it sometimes.” You give a shaky laugh that he returns in kind, and you’re so warm you think you have a fever, so you take a sip of wine to help your racing pulse.

“Never apologize. It just means you can’t tell that I’m staring back.” His laugh turns to a smirk, and you can’t help the shy smile on your face as you avert your eyes.

“If I’m being super honest, I can’t believe you wanted to go on a date with me.” You laugh, half joking, and while the smile stays on his face, his eyes narrow.

“Oh, don’t do that.”

“What do you mean?” The tone of his voice makes your heart drop to your stomach, and you’re worried you finally said the wrong thing.

“You’re gorgeous. You’re allowed to be gorgeous. I’m not One Direction; you not knowing you’re beautiful doesn’t make you beautiful to me.” His words initially hit your ears as casual, and aloof, but then you see the look on his face. You realize he’s just trying to tease you a little, and you relax a little.

“I… I’m sorry, did you just invoke One Direction to rid me of my insecurities?” You ask, unable to keep a little chuckle out of your voice.

“Absolutely. Did it work? If not, I learned Little Things on the guitar—”

“Oh my god. Please, no.” You’re laughing into your hands, stomach aching at the amount of laughter you’re doing. You hear Jason laughing along with you, which makes you want to laugh even more.

“Is everything okay?” Caleb asks, and you finally pull your face out of your hands to see a worried look on the man’s face. He’s carrying two plates of food that you have to admit look absolutely divine.

Jason, mid-laughter, reassures him, “Yeah, man. Wow, looks delicious. Tell Antonio I said thanks.”

“Of course, Jason. He always expects me to relay your compliments. He likes them more than tips.” Caleb jokes as he sets the pasta in front of both of you. Some special Jason swore was incredible, so you wanted to try it. “If you need anything, I’ll be around.”

“Thanks, Caleb.” “Thank you!”

You and Jason both speak at the same time, eyes meeting afterward and giggling at each other. As Caleb leaves, the conversation dies down as you both enjoy your pasta. You were right to trust Jason because the dish is delicious.

By the time you’re done, you’re so full you can hardly breathe. Jason is chatting with Caleb as he picks up your plates, slipping him a credit card before he leaves again.

“We have two options,” Jason starts. “Get the dessert menu here, or we can go to a spot I know. They’ve got ice cream, frozen yogurt, even fried cheesecake on a stick.”

“Oh, well, that’s the obvious answer then, isn’t it?”

So the two of you head out on foot to this spot Jason has warned you is a bit of a hole in the wall, but he assures you it has fantastic ice cream. You don’t care where you go, as long as it’s with him. As you walk, he’s got his arm wrapped around you, letting you huddle into his warmth. You were right about him becoming exponentially more comfortable with you as the night progressed, and he even stopped drinking well before you did. He was blooming like a flower right before your eyes; opening up and showing you his beauty under the stars.

This is the moment you’re convinced that soulmates exist and that he’s yours.

He opens the door to the ice cream shop for you, ushering you in to escape from the wind that picked up. You’re still full from dinner, but you’d do anything to extend the date, even eat ice cream on a full stomach.

“What would you like, sweetheart?”

“Do you wanna split a milkshake maybe?”

“I’d love to. What are you feeling? Cookies and cream? Strawberry?”

“Definitely strawberry.”

And so there you sit, in the corner of a dingy dessert shop, sipping on a strawberry milkshake, having a light conversation with the most kind, intelligent, handsome man you’ve come across in months. Years, honestly. You feel like you’ve hit the jackpot, like someone’s going to come out at any point and reveal you’ve been punked.

The feeling continues as he walks you back to your place. He’s back to wrapping you up in his arms, and this time you’re fighting butterflies as you try not to step on his toes. You inevitably do, and apologize profusely, but he just laughs. Pressed against his chest, you can feel the vibration of it, and you feel both put at ease and restless.

Jason is quick to grab you from your reverie, though, his arms tightening around you and pulling you into the nearest alleyway.

“What are you—”

“Shh.” He whispers, making sure you’re hidden behind the wall before leaning over for a peek. He stares for a moment, so you consider it safe enough to do the same. Before he can stop you, you see a group of men in owl masks, kicking at something on the ground. There must be six or seven of them crowded around this thing, so there’s no way for you to get a good look at it to know what it is.

When you hear a groan, you realize what’s going on, and you’re worried you’re going to be tasting that strawberry shake again.

“Jason,” you whisper, “we have to do something.” He nods, reaching into his pocket and firing off a quick text before returning his attention to you.

“Dick will call the cops. In the meantime, we need to get you home.”

“But—”

“There’s nothing we can do, and I’m not putting you in danger. Let’s go. Please?”

“He’ll call the cops? You promise?”

“I gave him the exact location, they should be here any minute. I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this.”

“Okay. Yeah, I know. But how are we going to get around them?”

“I know a shortcut. C’mon, sweetheart.” He grabs your hand, pulling you further into the alley. After a few minutes of silently following behind him, being pulled along by the hand, you speak.

“Jason, who were those guys? I mean, I know about people like Joker and Scarecrow, but the records on these owl people are practically nonexistent. And from what I can tell, they’re behind like… all of the disappearances recently.”

Jason stops in his tracks, looking for something in your face but saying nothing. You feel exposed, laid open; something about his eyes tells you that he’s not just looking, he’s seeing.

“They’re not… As dangerous as Joker and Scarecrow are, the Court is a different breed. Just trust me when I say you need to stay far away from them.” He sighs, grabbing your hand again and pulling you along the winding path between buildings.

“The… Court? Jason, could you just explain a little? I can’t find anything on these guys, but it seems like they’re everywhere.” You’re beginning to get frustrated. Not really with him, but with the entire situation. You know they’re dangerous, but you’d argue it’s more dangerous for you to not know anything about the enemy.

“I probably know as much as you do.” He shrugs. You’re watching his back intently, and something about his posture leaves you unconvinced; like he’s trying a little too hard to be casual. “From the reports I’ve seen, it looks like they’ve been committing a lot of kidnappings recently. Other than that, though, I only know that anyone that has ever gone sniffing around there hasn’t come back.”

That leaves you silent, and Jason sighs again, slowing down a bit to walk in step with you. “Look, I know it’s your major and your passion, I just… I don’t want something happening to you. Not ever, but especially not before you can start doing some really good work.”

He stops you at the edge of the alley, your apartment building just across the way. You’re pleased to not hear any sounds of someone getting the shit kicked out of them. “I know you’re going to make a difference in Gotham, and I hope you don’t see this as me discouraging you from your dream. I just want you safe. This city… it’s not what you’re used to.”

You shake your head, knowing that even though he’s keeping something from you, he has valid reasons to do so. It’s only your first date, after all. And it’s not like you aren’t keeping things from him. “No, no, I appreciate it. Really. It’s nice having someone who knows the city looking out for me.” And you mean every word as you throw yourself into him in a hug.

Will you take his advice? Well, that’s another story.

Jason walks you to the front door of your building after scanning the street, no owls in sight. Before you scan your badge, he speaks. “When can I see you again?”

You grin, another one of those you just can’t help even if you wanted to. “Whenever you want.”

His eyebrows raise and he lets out a huff of a laugh. He steps closer, barely a foot away from you now. You feel like you can’t catch your breath, the butterflies in your stomach are making a great escape through your throat.

“I’ll call you tomorrow?” He asks, his voice low as his eyes trace your face.

“Sounds perfect.” All you can do is smile. Your cheeks are beginning to ache.

“Could I… Is it okay if I kiss you?” His voice is quiet, soft like his hands as he puts a gentle hand on your cheek.

“It’s more than okay, Jason.” At your permission, he leans down to press a soft, chaste kiss to your lips. It’s like being struck by lightning, a warmth courses from his lips to your toes, and you wonder if you’re vibrating.

When he pulls away, he’s all smiles, and you have a feeling you’re both on the same page. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

As he turns to leave, you stop him, “Wait, text me and let me know you made it home safe. It’s late; I worry.”

“Will do, sweetheart. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight!” You open the door to your building and watch him leave through the shutting door. You sigh, unable to rid yourself of the wide grin plastered on your face, and push the elevator button, not bothering with the stairs tonight. Consider it a reward.

You even do a little happy dance, taking comfort in the fact that you would be able to see the redhead coming before he could spot you.

Back in your apartment, you opt to immediately change into comfortable clothes before anything else. Despite it being on the later side, you still have some nervous energy you can’t get rid of, so you open your laptop to see if you can find anything good.

It’s not your fault the Gotham Gazette’s website was featuring a story on the disappearances. But this time, your heart sank when you read the title.

SURVIVOR CRYSTAL JORDAN TELLS ALL ABOUT EXPERIENCE WITH KIDNAPPING CULT

You don’t think you’ve ever clicked on something faster.

#jason todd fanfiction #jason todd x reader #jason todd x you #red hood x reader #red hood x you

31 notes · View notes