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pearlywritings · 6 months

Text

The trace of you

synopsis: the marks you leave on your lover during your intimate moments

pairing: Ayato, Blade, Diluc, Jing Yuan, Kaveh, Neuvillette, Sampo, Wriothesley x fem!reader (separately)

tw: smutty, established relationship, marks, shibari, biting, implied sex, implied oral (both m! and f! receiving), collar, ABO elements, two dicks, handcuffs, scratching

word count: 5.6k+ words in total

Ayato

The head of the Kamisato clan lets his heavy lids slide closed while you are carefully untying the knots and unwrapping the ropes, abandoning the pieces of red braided strings at the foot of the bed. His limbs are pleasantly tingling and he does release a relieved sigh when he can finally stretch his legs to the curling of his toes. Cherry-like lips tug in a smile and thick lashes tremble when your palms cup his cheeks and you kiss each of his eyelids, murmuring a quiet apology for taking so long and promises of getting to rest soon. He murmurs something along the lines of everything being alright, that he doesn’t mind the hurry.

Yet when you kneel between his thighs to tend to the front of his torso, the man shakes his head and drops his forehead onto your shoulder, rolling his blades, hinting to his arms, still tied behind his back. You immediately usher him into your embrace, cheek pressed to his messy baby blue locks, fingers working on setting him free. Ayato inhales your scent, keening on the warmth and softness of your body, pressing light kisses to what skin he can reach in his hazy state. Despite being at someone else’s mercy, restricted, vulnerable - with you he feels safe.

As soon as all the ropes are undone and thrown away, you ease him onto his back, carefully moving his arms and legs to make him comfortable, to help him restore blood circulation. Somewhere in the process he must’ve fallen into slumber, because the next time he slowly blinks his eyes open, you are sitting by his side, dressed in nothing but a thin bathrobe, loosely tied and not properly held together, exposing your collarbones and some of your breasts.

“Husband,” it sounds a little old-fashioned, but Ayato loves when the term leaves your lips and is directed to him. “The bath is almost ready. Do you need another minute?”

Humming, he makes some attempts to move. He fists his hands, flexes his arms a little, tries to bend his legs in knees and lift his upper body to sit. Some are more successful than the others, but generally he’s established control over his own body again.

“Maybe just a couple more,” he sighs and lies onto his back again. Before he can say anything else, you are already crawling onto the bed to settle near him in order to rub and massage the parts of his body that were immobilized for quite some time. Your husband doesn’t stop you, only letting out groans and little moans when you apply pressure just right.

However soon your lack of any noises captures his attention and he finds your eyes trailing up and down his body, the tips of the fingers sometimes tracing the patterns on his skin. He quickly realizes why - the braided texture of the ropes imprinted their shape into his flesh. It doesn’t hurt, and it also didn’t, and thank Archons you do not look concerned. More like astonished.

“Something on your mind, wife?” The eyes he loves so much immediately dart to his face, blinking once and then crinkling a little in the corners from your soft smile.

“Nothing in particular. Just that the shibari aesthetic looks good on you even when the bondage is no longer here. Also, I am thankful for the opportunity to see you on the receiving end. I enjoyed that. Did you?”

“Mhm,” he mirrors your smile, “I did. Thank you.”

He pushes himself to sit up, reaching his hand to yours, locking fingers and then leaning forward to steal a sweet kiss from your lips. The more your lips meet, the clearer his head becomes, and by the tenth (maybe) kiss you shared he feels a surge of strength - just enough to get to the bathroom, where you two can thoroughly soak.

“I admit,” you begin, getting off the bed and offering him a hand for support, which he takes without hesitation, straightening in his full naked glory, giving you another opportunity to admire the patterns edged into his skin, “I didn’t understand before, why you loved it so much to watch me right after the ropes were gone from my body. Now I think I do. The marks they leave are truly marvelous.”

“Oh?” A teasing edge delves into his tone. “Do you imply we should practice it more often, my lovely wife?”

You chuckle, tugging on his wrist and leading him to the bathroom.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt, my dear husband.”

Blade

“Whatever you are doing - stop it,” he doesn’t want to open his eyes, the darkness behind his eyelids is soothing. He wants to rest, and the comforting weight of your body on top of his is welcomed (though he doesn’t admit it outloud), however your fingers, skimming over the expanse of his shoulders and the length of his neck disturb him.

“It isn’t fair,” in your voice he guesses displeasure. He feels you lightly dig your nails into the skin and scratch, as if this action will help you find something you’ve been looking for for a couple of minutes already. “It’s been only half an hour and they are gone already. And I tried extra hard today while biting you.”

Ah, that’s what it is all about. Fucking with Blade is…an experience. A rough, teeth-baring, primal, desperate experience. The one that always ends with breath stolen, legs shaking and many marks left. Only difference is that yours bloom for weeks while his heal in less than an hour.

“You looked very beautiful with my teeth imprinted into your skin,” you sigh, thumb running over his jaw. “Now they are all gone. That’s not fair, Blade.”

Possessing that self-healing ability isn’t fair, yet here is, breathing, living, even being involved with a woman… A very stubborn woman, he must say.

He curses when your teeth sink into the side of his neck, clamping down quite hard, jaws flexing for good measure to make the mark stay. His hand slides from the small of your back to your behind, squeezing a buttock in a silent warning. That’s enough for you to whine - flesh is still tender from the time he took you from behind, spanking your poor ass.

“I know, I know… What’s the point if this one won’t last too…” you sigh, looking at it to at least remember that you did put claim on him, even if only for a matter of minutes. Blade is silent, but his fingers relax.

Is he growing soft? Is it even possible? Or is it the fact that he’s just gotten comfortable with you enough to let many things you do slide? You do make it feel like an almost normal life. Which, given he cannot yet be put 9 feet underground, makes the existence more bearable. Even Kafka commented on it on multiple occasions and Silver Wolf rolled her eyes and huffed “stupid lovebirds” when you two simply walked into the room together…

And if you have a ‘lover’ you are supposed to heed their needs and desires, right?

Or why the hell is he doing this?

“...I think I have a solution for you,” you are startled when he finally speaks, staring at his face. He still has his eyes closed, but the hand returns to the small of your back, resting there.

“A solution? What solution?”

“Silver Wolf showed me that…trend.”

“Oh?” With every word that leaves his pale lips your curiosity grows, along with a tiny bit of disbelief at what your fellow Stellaron hunter is doing.

“Basically you bite a place on another person’s skin and the master is turning the indentation into a tattoo.”

“Blade…” you don’t recognize your own voice, so shocked you are right now. “Are you saying you’ll get a tattoo of my teeth mark on your skin?”

“...yes.”

“Anywhere? Even on your neck?”

“...” He doesn’t reply, but after a few seconds he nods. Positive.

“I… I…” you don’t know what to say. Instead you bury your face into his neck, shakily exhaling, still processing his offer. You don’t complain when he rolls you two onto your sides, putting one hand under his head and draping the other over your waist, spooning you.

“Sleep,” is all he says, putting his chin on top of your head.

We’ll talk about it tomorrow.

Diluc

“Good morning, handsome,” Diluc slightly shudders when your arms wrap around his bare waist and you push your cheek against his shoulder blade. You’ve just woken up and could not possibly resist the sight through the open bathroom door - your husband standing in front of the mirror, clad only in his black pants, with fluffy hair cascading down his back and him, clearly inspecting something in his reflection.

“Good morning to you too, my flame,” his big hand easily envelopes the lock of yours and gives it a soft squeeze. “How did you sleep?”

“Amazing. You really loved that stress out of my system tonight,” you giggle, rubbing your nose against his skin, recalling the events from less than 7 hours ago. Of his big, strong body slamming yours into the bed after you teased him by simply kissing, licking and sucking all over his body for way too long. Anyone would’ve slept like a log after such an activity.

“I see,” there is an undertone in his voice that you easily recognize as a little pinch of pride for the good job he did, and you reach up to kiss the side of his jaw in appreciation. “Speaking of tonight, it seems you, my dear, were exceptionally passionate.”

“Whatever do you mean?” He slightly turns his head and behind the heavy crimson bangs you spot mischief in his flaming eyes. “‘Luc, what’s going on?”

“Look in the mirror and find out.”

Still clueless you follow his advice, redirecting your gaze… only to yelp when you see it.

“Oh my Archon! Diluc, does it hurt??” You release him from your hold and step around to make sure that the light or something didn’t trick you and you saw exactly what you saw. And you see exactly what you saw - an angry-looking trace of teeth, your teeth, circling around the man’s left nipple.

“Not really, but it is quite sensitive,” your husband admits as you are staring at the ‘damage’ you caused his poor chest during the foreplay. You really thought the bite wasn’t that hard! “Don’t worry too much, my flame. It’ll heal eventually.”

“You sure there is nothing to worry about?” Your eyes, full of concern, play the most tender strings of his heart. At the same time Diluc can’t get why you are being so worked up over a love bite. Besides, Ragnvindr is a forward man - if he didn’t like it he would’ve voiced so, and you, having spent so much time with him, still tend to forget that sometimes.

“I am sure. It’s not that different from the marks I leave on you. And you don’t worry about them, right?”

You look at the bite again, acknowledging his words and realizing that if your initial reaction is thrown out of the window you quite admire how beautiful the red indentation contrasts against his pale skin.

“Right. You know, it actually looks very good.”

“It does. Because it’s yours,” your face heats at such lewdly blatant truth, to which the redhead simply smiles, grabbing your chin between his fingers and drawing you closer for a kiss. Your palms slide up his shoulders and around his neck, while his unoccupied one grips your waist, pushing your body flash to his. Unexpectedly you jump, but he readily brings both hands under your butt to help you settle onto his hips. With a slither of relief you note that Diluc doesn’t wince, doesn’t even crease his eyebrows when your chests collide, but the thought is quickly forgotten as he kisses you even deeper.

He breaks away only when he is sitting on the edge of the bed with you on his lap. The man loves the blissful expression on your face, the sight of your night clothes sliding down one of the shoulders, baring his own marks (not as teethy as yours, but still quite prominent and pretty). You are the image of serenity, and he is glad he succeeded in giving you a peace of mind.

“I want to be the one to put a shirt on you today,” you suddenly say, palms softly smoothing over the wideness of his pectorals, mindful of the area around his left nipple. “You tend to be rough with your movements. I can do it more gently.”

Yeah, sure, or more like gawk at the bite while busy with buttons, now that concern is out of the picture. But Diluc doesn’t let you know he is aware of your intention - as he said, it is yours, thus you have full right to do so.

Jing Yuan

Most times your husband reminds you of his very pet. Big, imposing, with thick mane of hair and a pleased cat-like smile. Especially in the moments of rest, when he practically turns into a lion himself, grayish locks all let down and cascading down his back, eyes lazily closed and a serene expression overtaking his face as your fingers gently touch him, eliciting pleasurable groans and sighs out of him.

“Glad you are not mad at me,” he perks at your words, opening just one eye, and regarding you - sitting on his thighs, with hot water reaching up to your waist and hands carefully rubbing something into his neck. You look positively glowing, with hickies blooming on your chest and shoulders and that concentrated look in your pretty eyes.

“Why would I be mad at you, beloved?” Big hand that rests on your hip gives it a small squeeze and the other one comes to support his cheek as he closes his eyes again. “Don’t you think everything is perfect? We made love, got to relieve some stress in the process and now we are relaxing in a bath. Don’t know about you, but I enjoyed every second of it, and having your body on top of me right now is all that I need.”

“Of course, I enjoyed every second of it,” humming, you lean down to press small kisses to his eyelids and the general’s smile gets wider. “And I am thankful that you entertained my desire to try something new. I just wish my actions didn’t leave such marks on your neck.”

“They are subtle, no? And it doesn’t hurt, I promise. Though I am not going to lie, I like the feeling of your hands treating it.”

You huff a chuckle, scooping a new portion of ointment to gently apply on reddish lines on his skin - the places where the collar’s edges dug a little too harshly into his neck. Tonight it’s been especially steamy - your husband delegated you the control in bed through agreeing to be put on a leash and perform any of your commands by a tug of it. And Aeons, was he great at that - burying his face into your pussy until he barely could take a breather, arching his back as you pulled on the leash while your mouth was decorating his chest with hickies, but also going absolutely feral as you drew him closer as he was pounding into you from behind, growling and moaning your name, practically crushing you with his weight, but he knew you liked it.

“Yuan,” he hums, not opening his eyes, but turning his ear to you, “you’ve done such a marvelous job for me. Do you want any special treatment in return?”

“Oh?” To that he is intrigued, finally showing you both of his golden orbs, lifting his head and putting his second palm on your other hip. “I’m honored, but you are my wife. If I wasn’t doing a marvelous job for you every day I would be undeserving of calling myself your husband.”

“And yet I want to give you extra treatment,” satisfied with the look of his neck, reddish lines slowly paling, you lower your hands to clean them, giving the man an opportunity to get closer and bury his face into your chest, happily rubbing his cheek against your breast, arms now loosely wrapped around your waist.

“Then I want you to cockwarm me while we sleep.”

“But we do that almost every night, silly,” your fingers run through his wet hair, twitching as his hips rock into yours and water splashes a little. “It’s no special treatment.”

“Hmm… If that’s the case, then I’d love to - only if you are okay with that - if we get you a matching collar. I am simply curious how you’d look wearing it,” he looks up at you, chin resting between your breasts and eyes bearing a question in them. “Would it be alright?”

“It would,” you duck your head down and peck his forehead, earning yourself a deep purr. Oh how surprised he is going to be when you tell him that his collar and leash came in a set of two, specifically for couples…

You can’t wait to match marks with your husband.

Kaveh

The blond architect has long since learned of your lack of shame. To a man who has a hard time saying ‘no’ this trait is admirable and quite helpful when you are not afraid to put exceptionally fastidious clients of his in their place with a sharp tongue of yours. To a man who enjoys a good laugh and seeing any emotion on Alhaitham’s face rather than smugness he loves your impudence and shooting the scholar down with highly inappropriate yet witty remarks. To a man who feels like he is falling apart it’s important that you take matters into your own hands to spoil him way more when necessary, extending this to the bedroom.

And that’s where your shameless nature get to him.

“Please tell me you are done staring,” Kaveh doesn’t know where to escape from your appreciative gaze. The position definitely doesn’t help - with you resting on your stomach with an elbow planted onto the mattress and a palm supporting your chin, while your other hand’s fingers dance across the expanse of his spread thighs. Thighs, that are naked like the rest of him. And you too.

“But songbird,” you smile, smoothing a thumb over one of the blooming hickies decorating his inner thighs, “you are very pretty like this. Makes me want to give you a blowjob.”

“Y/n..!” The man blushes profusely, pressing the back of his hand to his quivering lips. It doesn’t escape your attention, however, how his semi-hard cock twitches.

“You’ve worked so hard this past week - give yourself a day off, sweety. And I’ll get to keep you in bed, making you feel so good and satisfied…”

“B-but what if one of my clients asks for a meeting today-”

“Then they can go to the Abyss,” you huff, moving your face closer, placing a tender kiss to his knee, starting a slow travel to his thigh. “You are the architect in high demand… you have the right to handle your schedule however you see fit.”

“Mmm,” his head falls back and jaw goes slack in a breathy moan as your lips caress his marked skin. Once reaching the hip bone you plant a firmer kiss there and draw back a little, only to repeat the same path from his other knee.

“Come on, Kaveh. You and I know you are tired and deserve some rest. And pampering. Tonight was hardly enough to meet all your needs. Your body is still so tense. I want you to be as malleable as the clay you work so much with…”

Done with another trail of kisses, you lift your upper body, pulling yourself up, so your chest rests against his pelvis, making him take a sharp inhale through gritted teeth. If you continue with your leisurely teasing, he sure is to pop a boner. Right between your breasts.

“So?” You inquire, reaching a hand up, cupping his flushed cheek, making those eyes that remind you of mourning flower’s petals so much meet yours. “Are you staying home with me? Are you letting me take care of you, kiss your lips, make you moan, have your cock nestled between my walls? Pretty please?”

Your offer is hard to resist. You are hard to resist. Looking up at him from between his spread legs, all bare and gorgeous, with hair being a little mess and lips a bit swollen from the make out session you had upon waking up. With your palms so light and gentle, one holding his face and the other running up and down his side, thumb counting each rib. With your words - so loving, yet shameless, luring him into your embrace, into receiving everything you are eager to give him.

And he is eager too.

“Yes…” He breathes out, bringing his hand up, wrapping his artistic fingers around yours and turning his head to plant a kiss to your palm.

“Yes to everything?” You clarify, your other palm settling on his hip.

“Mhm… But can we shower and have breakfast first, please?”

“Everything for you, sunshine,” with a wide grin, quite proud of yourself for convincing him, you push your body up and get onto your knees. Kaveh exhales and releases your hand from his hold, sitting straighter to close his legs and throw them over the edge of the bed. Already with your back to him you suddenly hear a small whine of discomfort.

“Another thing, love,” the architect’s brows are pinched together when you glance at him from over your shoulder, “no more marks on my thighs. Please.”

Neuvillette

Content growling is resonating off the walls in the vast dark room. One soft and gratifying, the other deep and satisfied, they rumble in your and your lover’s throats, blending into a marvelous primal melody. Hands - big, clawed and covered in scales of royal blue cradle your face in a tender hold, lavender eyes, brimmed with adoration, look into yours and it feels like you are the only thing that exists in this world.

These moments of clarity are nice and warm, and serve as a reminder, that you are here not only to satisfy your bestial needs, but to be one as lovers, as mated for life. The male’s lengths twitch between your walls when your nose pushes into the freshly bitten mating mark on his neck, a similar one is on the side of yours. You claimed each other long ago, centuries have passed, but every time your heat or his rut begins, this euphoric feeling of having each other’s teeth clamping on that particular patch of skin is unmatched and reminds of the very first time.

Neuvillette shudders when your tongue laps on the bruised skin and closes his eyes, panting, burning under your mouth despite your cryo nature. You purr, reaching to glide your fingers over the length of his beautiful horns - the ones you tenderly kissed hours ago, to show your husband your appreciation of his dragon features, to lure him into your embrace, to beg him to satisfy the ache in your heart and between your legs, because your heat has started.

“You are gorgeous, my love,” you sigh against his neck, free hand roaming over his chest, feeling its firmness, caressing the scales. “I am so lucky to have such a caring and devoted mate.”

“I am the lucky one,” the man smiles - you know he does. And you know, that despite everything, he preens from your praise and compliments. “You are divine from head to toe and I forever shall treasure you.”

“And I forever shall treasure you.”

Exchanging sweet declarations of love, you cuddle some more, nuzzling your noses against each other, sharing deep and meaningful kisses, holding hands and wondering if you should take a proper break before the next set of rounds.

The Hydro dragon digs his claws into your hip when you draw away, his cocks slipping out of your pussy. He lets his eyes stray to the many marks he left on your neck, breasts, hips and even thighs, as you sit up and stretch. The arch of your back is mesmerizing and he is quickly reminded of the ways it can bend whenever he is thrusting into you. So tender and delicate, you writhe into his arms and then, when he least expects it…

You surge forward and bite onto his neck.

Neuvillette moans and that’s the prettiest sound to you. It makes you want to devour him whole, to kiss all over his body - over all the marks you’ve given him and the bare skin too, to bite and lick, as you make your way down his body, until one of his lengths rests heavy onto your tongue.

But by the looks of it, it seems that your lover has the opposite idea, since he’s already pouncing onto you, pinning you to the bottom of your nest and slotting himself between your legs.

“Will you claim me again, my love?” His eyes and horns are gleaming and you can’t take your eyes off of him, And as you wrap your arms around his neck, bringing him closer, making the heads of his cocks slip between your folds, leaning his face into your neck as you bury yourself into his, there is only one answer.

“Oh, darling… Only if you claim me once again as well.”

Sampo

“I told you it was a bad idea,” the man gasps when you softly hit his head with the side of your palm. “When I said ‘Sampo, get us handcuffs to try something new in bed’ I meant the soft fluffy ones used specifically for sex, not the metal ones!”

“Sorry…” he whines, raising a hand to rub the top of his stupid head, but you quickly catch his fingers, bringing them back to your lap.

“Sampo, let me finish with your wrists first. Honestly… And you tugged so harshly on them, no wonder there are marks left. I hope they won’t bruise…”

“Aww, you worry about me,” your lover coos with the intention to tease you, but deep down he doesn’t deny that he is happy to hear that. You sigh, rubbing the ointment (you farsightedly got from Natasha) into his skin to soothe the pulsing aching from hours spent in the metal wraps.

“Yeah, yeah, I do. But I am too an idiot, should’ve at least thought of putting some fabric in-between.”

“Hey, you are not an idiot,” he resents, nudging your shoulder with his. “I know an idiot when I see one.”

“Looking into the mirror?”

“Hey!”

You chuckle softly. Sampo watches you with a surprisingly calm look on his face, pout quickly dissolving and lips drawing into a small smile. You were right on that one - it was very stupid of him. However, he was running late to your meeting with all the things that needed to be done in the Overworld, and he didn’t have time to get the goods, but at the same time he didn’t want to disappoint you with empty hands. He is glad that those were used on him and not you. Partly because he wouldn’t want your pretty wrist to hurt, partly because he thoroughly enjoyed his submission to you.

You can’t really blame him for tugging too much - how could he stay stiff when your walls clenched so deliciously as you rode him and your breasts were jiggling right before his face - he wanted to grab! Generally he can’t keep his hands away from you, and it goes beyond the things happening in the bedroom. It’s your own fault for being so alluring!

“Next time I’ll get you the ones you want. Sampo Koski’s word!”

You tear your gaze from inspecting the work you’ve done and look at him. When it came to you, there was no doubt the indigo-haired male fulfilled his promises (not always accurately like this time, but he saw things through in the end). However there is another implication that occupies you…

“Oh? Does it mean you’d like to try that again?”

“Huh? Have you really not noticed how much I was enjoying all of this?” Sampo looks at you as if you grew a second head. Were you not watching him the whole time his dick was in your pussy!?

“No, no, I have! I was just unsure if you'd like to be cuffed again,” you hurry to reassure him, waving your hands in front of you. “You know, with Silvermane guards always chasing you and trying to capture you…”

“You are adorable,” he muses, freeing his hands from your careful grasp and grabbing your hips to drag you onto his lap, playing with the hem of your sleeping gown. “It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. After all, they’ll never catch me - this right is reserved only for you.”

“Wow, such a romantic guy,” his cheeks flare when you giggle - a sound too pure and heart-fluttering, and he lets you settle on top of him as he falls onto his back and reaches for the covers. That was surely a pleasurably draining night. You two should get some rest.

As he turns the nightstand lamp off and the room sinks into darkness, you get comfortable under the blanket, snuggling closer to a big warm body. Sampo is silly and an ass sometimes, but it’s hard to be mad at him for long, when he treats you to the things you want. Oh, that reminds you…

“By the way, where did you get those handcuffs?”

“...borrowed Gepard Landau’s personal pair?”

“...”

“SAMPO!”

Wriothesley

“For how long are you going to sulk and weep for my back? It’s not like I am dying,” Wriothesley turns his head to glance at you over his shoulder and sees what he’s expected to see - your knitted eyebrows, eyes practically screaming “oh no, I am the worst person in the world”, lips pressed into a tight line… That’s definitely not the look he wanted to see on his wife’s face after having sex with her.

“I am so sorry, Wrio…” you say for probably the tenth time, - he lost count in the very beginning, - your tone so miserable and quiet. “I didn’t think my nails were that long to scratch you to blood. And over your scars too…”

“I’ve already told you, I am not dyi- gh,” a hiss escapes him when a peroxide-soaked cotton ball touches a particularly sensitive place. He feels your hand flinch and he almost groans. You worry too much for him sometimes.

“I am fine. Besides, I think it’s actually pretty hot. Means I fucked you good enough for you to cling to me for dear life.”

“Wriothesley!” He lets out a throaty chuckle as you lightly hit his shoulder. “I am being serious right here! You know I don’t like when you end up hurt…” you huff, soaking a new ball to tend to another red line running down his wide back. “And this time I am the one who hurt you…”

“It felt good though, baby. I wouldn’t have even thought much of it, if you hadn’t jumped out of the bed after seeing the marks you’ve given me. But I must admit - watching you run around the room naked… That was sexy.”

“Wrio,” you whine in embarrassment, having little desire to be reminded of your debauched state in that moment of panic. Even now you are still bare, sitting behind your equally undressed husband and cleaning up the last of the ten angry-looking red lines.

“Don’t be shy,” sensing that you are done, he turns to face you properly and reaches a hand to cup your cheek. “I shall wear the marks my wife gave me with pride, right?” He leans to press a kiss to the corner of your lips and that makes you smile. “In fact, tomorrow - or rather today, given it’s almost 1 am, I’m going to fight in the ring with my shirt off.”

“YOU WHAT!?” He was ready for your shocked exclamation, grabbing your hips, and pulling into his lap, silencing your rising outrage with a firm kiss. He smirks at the little moan, swallowing it with his mouth, burying his fingers in your hair to keep you where he wants you to be - with knees planted on both sides of his hips, making out with him.

“Just imagine that,” a hoarse whisper against your lips sends a shudder down your spine, “everyone would know that my woman has perfect claws and that she doesn’t hesitate to mark what belongs to her.”

“Everyone would think I am abusing my husband,” you mutter, trying to ignore how his teeth graze down your neck, until he exhales in discontent.

“You are still thinking you hurt me? Fine, that means I hurt you first,” suddenly your world turns upside down and here you are, back pressed to the mattress with his burly figure hovering over yours.

“Wh-hat do you mean?”

“You clawed to my back only because I was pounding into your pussy roughly, right?” Your eyes bulge in your sockets at his shameless words, and mouth falls open in a gasp when he slides down your body, spreading your legs. “I bet the poor thing is all aching… Should I kiss it better?”

“Wrio- ooooh!”

1K notes · View notes

strawbrrycuteblog · 1 month

Note

Hiiiiii,Just a quick ask.

Hybridjungwon!

kitten jungwon feels so needy during his heat cycle,and if you piss him off by the slightest he won't hesitate to get off teasing you for hours as he comes almost everywhere on your body even in you not letting you get off until the last 5 minutes before he falls asleep happily dripping naked with his own juices.

xx,I love your work and I don't see many writers who like hybrid enha so I'm grateful that you like it ,I'm not alone.xx ily <3

Feeling faint.

Pairings: hybrid!jungwon x human!reader

Warnings: mature story, jungwon calls reader slut, kinda filth?, cum play a little, messy, cussing, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it) , reader annoying wonie, hard Dom jungwon ☺️ reader has pussy btw

A/n: This. Is. My. Favorite. Ask. So. Far.

jungwon had been sitting on the couch for an hour now, trying to distract himself from fucking the living shit out of you, watching many episodes of some show he didn’t every remember the name of all while you were next to him, pinching him softly but enough to piss him off, “y/n I’m not fucking joking, quit it.”

you only laughed at this, “well if I do then what am I gonna do? I’ll be bored.” you continued to pinch him then poke his cheeks, “you’re such a baby.”

His eyes narrowed as you toyed with him, his powerful hand reaching down to grab your wrist tightly before pulling it towards him, forcing you onto your lap. “Here,” you heard him say through gritted teeth, “is where you belong when you want to annoy me.” He began rubbing your hips roughly against his growing bulge, causing both of you to moan. As his excitement grew and you felt him pulsing against you, he leaned in to whisper into your ear, “I'll make sure you regret ever annoying me again. Would you like that?”

you let a moan slip but quickly thought of a bratty remark, “as if you could even make me come.”

Chuckling darkly, Jungwon eventually removed your clothing, leaving you practically naked, save for the lacy red thong you wore. He stared at you hungrily before standing up and removing his own clothes, revealing his impressive masculine form. "Watch your mouth, slut," he growled, bending over to pull off your underwear, throwing them aside roughly. With one final smirk, he sank down onto the couch, positioning you above him, his cock already throbbing against your entrance. "Try saying that to me now."

you tried to move so his cock head would go inside of your dripping heat, but he barely let you move. “wonie please..I’m sorry..”

"Apologies mean nothing right now, bloodslut," Jungwon murmured, his grip tightening around your waist as he pulled you closer, finally allowing his length to slide into you in one swift motion. You gasped at the sudden invasion, welcoming his girth inside you. "This is what happens when you annoy the wrong person," he reminded you, thrusting into you hard and fast, taking exactly what he wanted while dominating you.

The ecstasy and pain mixed within you only made you crave more, pushing back against him as much as you could, your nails digging into his chest. "Fuck!" you cried out, unable to hold back any longer.

“I’m not a bloodslut.” you remarked to defend yourself, the intrusion witching your warmth had you whole body twitching, sucking him in but he wasn’t gonna let you cum.

Jungwon's smirk remained as he slammed into you relentlessly, each thrust driving him deeper inside you. "Whatever you want to call yourself, you're mine when I claim you," he said, grasping your hips tighter to keep you in place. His other hand traveled up to tweak your sensitive nipples, knowing just how much that would irritate your body in the best way possible. Every harsh thrust of his pelvis against yours brought you closer to the edge, but he refused to let you fall over it yet. Your combined bodies sweat-soaked and tangled together created a beautiful sight as they moved in tandem, filling the room with wet, slapping sounds. "Goddamn, you're so fucking sexy when you scream my name."

“jungwon im gonna cum!” you screamed out, clenching around his member, every small vein rubbing inside of you just right.

Feeling your inner muscles tighten around him was the trigger Jungwon needed, sending him spiraling over the edge of release. With a strained groan, pounding into your womb and stretching you beautifully wide. Hearing and sensing you were about to cum, he pulled out, following him by cumming on your tummy, he didn’t even expect him to finish so fast but he knew he wasn’t done. Far from it.

you started to move before he pushed you down on the couch, “you didn’t think that was it did you?” he spoke hardly, “I’m gonna ruin you, maybe even make you cry.” he spoke again before he stucked his fingers back inside of you, scissoring them and rubbing your gummy walls until he curled his fingers and touched your g-spot, “jungwon im still sensitive!”

Despite your protests, jungwon couldn't help but revel in torturing your sensitive core. He moved his fingers in a circular pattern, driving you wild with heightened need once again. "Shut up, whore," he growled possessively before swiping his thumb across your clit, causing you to collapse further into the couch. Your body writhed beneath his skilled touch, every nerve ending shimmering with pleasure. He continued to torment you, having full control over your body as your moans filled the air. Finally, he couldn't resist any longer, plunging his fingers in deep and pumping them insistentely, making you see stars as you climaxed hard around them. Only then did he remove his fingers, leaving you spent and quivering on the couch, panting heavily. "And that was just round one," he whispered menacingly, running his hands lightly up and down your shaking legs.

“I can’t do more..” coming out of your mouth whilst looking at him, crawling from him before he grabbed your hips and pressed his body against you, “so we’re just disobeying me now?” His ears flickered “don’t think I won’t torture you all night.

And he did, for the next two hours he hand you upstairs, your hips jerking and pulling in different angles, you’re sure the sheets were soaked, you’d squirted so many times already.

“Jungwon I can’t give more..” you repeated like earlier, he only jerked off in front of your face, glazing it with the salty cum, lightly tapping it against your lips, “open.”

And you did, taking his length into your warm, welcoming mouth. Groans came from his lips, his hips pushing against your face, making your head press into the mattress.

You hallowed your cheeks, the invasion of his head in your sore throat brought tears to your eyes, gagging around him but not stopping, wanting to please him until the very end.

Jungwons body was sweaty and half covered in your juices, the other half being his own. His cum was splattered along your body, from you ankles to your knees, thighs, stomach. Anywhere he could jerk off on.

“Such a warm mouth baby..”

You couldn’t stop your self from grinding against nothing, wanting to cum so so bad knowing you probably wouldn’t get it.

You moved your hand and took a hold of hid balls, squeezing them which made him mewl, you didn’t understand how he wasn’t shooting blanks at this point, did his heat mean an endless supply of semen or something?

Cause that’s for sure what this fucking felt like.

His hips stuttered and his tail wrapped around your head, pushing you face until your nose met his hair which were trimmed but still there. “Ah! Y/n! Yes yes yes!!”

He pulled out, you stuck your tongue out, showing him you’d swallowed it and he smirked, “after all this..” he panted. “You deserve a reward don’t you think?”

You sat up, if you had a tail it would be wagging so much right now. But you didn’t know if you could handle another round, you’d probably be the one having blanks.

Jungwon took his sensitive dick in his hand again, pumping it a few times to get it hard as he hissed, it didn’t take much when he was in heat, he got hard even just smelling your pillow. He took the tip, aligning it with the warm hole he already wanted to ruin.

He plunged deep into you, gasps eliciting from both parties as he looked at you, your eyes were nearly closing, he realized you were about to faint on him, the pleasure being too much as you were both exceedingly over stimulated, “hey, open those pretty eyes for me baby.”

He took your chin between his thumb and index finger, hitting against your g-spot, his cock going over it again and again, you opened your eyes.

“That’s it, look at me yeah?”

You nodded, trying to not faint, high pitched whines drawing out of your throat, you squeaked as he sped up, you pulled him close and he tried to keep his dominant look up, but losing it while he saw how helpless you looked, he always loved how desperate you got to having an orgasm. He pulled almost all the way out before slapping back in and making you cum, your mouth agape, back arched, stopped breathing for a second as you seemed to be in a sub space.

He only collapsed on top of you, both covered in sweat and juices, his cum seeping out of whatever side it could escape from, he pulled the blanket over y’all as you’d finally passed out. Both weak and almost shaky. Eventually over the next few minutes you both fell asleep.

#enhypen #enha smut #enhypen drabbles #mwah <3 #jungwon enha #enhypen jungwon #jungwon enhypen #yang jungwon #jungwon #filthy thoughts #mature theme #mature story #strawbrrycuteblog #mwah mwah #ty for the ask <3

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abrcmswrld · 1 year

Text

Talk to Strangers

Edward Nashton x Coworker! Reader

━━━━

Word Count: 4,951

Warnings: smut (18+ only MDNI), stalking, unprotected sex, angst and fluff and smut, a decent bit of tears, obligatory mentions of murder

Summary: You’ve warmed up to Edward despite his cold nature, but what happens when the puzzle pieces start to fall together and you can feel someone watching you in the darkness?

Authors Note: I actually tried so hard on this yall, I posted this to my ao3 page first so I am sorry if the formatting is all kinds of messed up on here :( This is my first fic i’ve posted since 2017 so I sincerely apologize if it’s meh, i also don’t have anyone else proofread my fics so i apologize for any errors i missed! enjoy!

Ao3 Link

He's arrogant. Oh so arrogant, and you can't fucking stand it. You watch him every morning as he strides in, past your desk at reception, white button up shirt, clear framed glasses, shaggy hair that falls over his forehead . He's certainly not a hit among the office, so maybe you're not wrong in your feelings. Though your other co-workers generally regard him as a pushover- not a self-absorbed asshole. He's good at what he does, sure. He's earned his spot, but he often brings a shadow into the rooms he walks into. A presence that you can only describe as infernal.

You don’t know much about his story. You generally pride yourself on getting to know the people you surround yourself with, but he has never let you get close enough to find out. Maybe that’s why you find him arrogant. He thinks he’s too good to speak to you for more than two sentences related to files he needs you to fax for him. What you do know about him is that he’s been at KTMJ for longer than you have been- maybe 5 years more. You can still remember the first time you met. You were fresh faced and eager. Seeking validation, in desperate need of some stability.

You extend your arm for a handshake. His hands are slightly clammy as he accepts your handshake. And though you had greeted him with your brightest smile (might as well go all in if you ever wanted to be anything other than a receptionist) he hadn't smiled back. He'd kept a rather straight face as he gave his brief introduction. "Edward."

Now you have a sense of stability. Sure, the quality of life in Gotham is subpar and you still haven't received that promotion, but you make enough to live comfortably in comparison to others in the city. You try to count your blessings.

━━━━

You had already been having a shitty day. Your landlord had informed you of an increase in rent rates by slipping an envelope under your door. Sure, it sucked to be asked to pay more for an apartment that could be deemed shitty by any normal person with a pair of eyes, but it was the lack of communication that got you. Not even the decency to call your residence and tell you with their own voice. Just a slip of paper under the door.

But you tried to bring a good attitude to the office. You hate being the one to damper the mood. You would rather leave that to him. Always him. Never smiling back at you as he walks through the door, never meeting your eyes to acknowledge your presence, nothing. And you were used to that. It would be okay, if it weren't for the stack of papers that laid on your desk when you got in. Neatly stacked with a green sticky note reading "Need copies. -Edward" scrawled in messy handwriting. You immediately feel the flames rise into your chest.

It's a quick stride from your desk to his cubicle, stack of papers tightly tucked into your fist. You slam them onto his desk as soon as you reach it, and he raises an eyebrow at you in response. "What the hell is this?" He glances at the papers and back at you. "The copier isn't working. I wrote what I needed." You sigh, annoyed at the fact that he doesn't understand.

"You couldn't have waited for me to get here and brought them to me yourself? I would really appreciate it if you would treat me like a human being every once in a while, ya know, actually acknowledge my existence." You realize how dramatic you must sound, but in all honesty you've been thinking it for years, it was only a matter of time before it came out. "I needed copies. I didn't think my acknowledgement meant that much to you." He holds his hands out in defense, feigning that he actually cared if he had hurt your feelings.

"I think you think you're smarter than everyone else here." You plant a hand on the table in front of him as you crouch to his level.

He sighs and you can see the corners of his mouth twitch. "I do. Is that so bad?"

"It makes you an asshole."

He finally faces you.

"Better to be an asshole than to be an idiot."

His voice doesn't carry any malice, yet the words feel like a slap in the face to you. It leaves you scrambling for a response, opening your mouth only to close it a second later. Until you decide to merely respond with a nervous chuckle. Sure, you thought his response showed his ego, but you had to admit. He got you. He faces you once more at the sound of your light chuckle, green eyes meeting yours completely. "I guess you're right."

You catch the corners of his mouth turning upwards.

"If it means that much to you, I will greet you next time."

━━━━

And he does. Greet you that is. You find yourself talking to him more and more. Sitting in the break room with him at lunch, looking over his shoulder at the crossword puzzle he works on at his desk and giving your best shot at an answer, relishing in the furrow of his brows as he turns to look over his shoulder at you. He's an asshole. He's arrogant. But there's something about him that's drawing you in. Sometimes you feel like a fish caught in a net. All those moments he'd brushed you off and yet you find yourself repeating the little quirks of his soft smiles in your head. You hate the term "work husband", but it seems that Edward is slowly becoming the very definition of that.

You don't speak outside of the office, but you find yourself gravitating towards him when you're stressed. You tell him about your landlord and the reason you had gotten so defensive with him. He understood.

"It's a cesspool here. None of these people actually care about people like us, not the landlords, not our coworkers, certainly not the politicians." He had said in that moment.

As October rolls around and the leaves begin to fall, you find yourself beginning to bring two coffees to work, one for you, one for him. He always shows an appreciative nod. But the moment you start to think about asking him to actually go out with you for coffee is like being the fish pulled out of the water and accepting it's inevitable fate. You were gonna let him drive you insane.

You're sure of it as you are caught up in the nerves and find yourself softly grabbing his hand to stop him outside the front doors of the office. You quickly pull your hand from his. no doubt blushed a deep red. But he just stares, waiting for you to speak. You clear your throat. "I- um- Sorry, I was just gonna see if you had plans now." And it pains you the way he doesn't speak, just continues to stare.

"There's a diner on the corner near here. I think they have decent pie."

He loosens the tension in his shoulders and looks down. "Oh. I'm actually sort of drowning in... paperwork right now." He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable. God, you hoped you hadn't made him uncomfortable. "I'm sorry."

You quickly shake your head and let out a breathy laugh. "Oh no! It's totally fine, I probably have paperwork to finish too." You hope it hides the pang you feel in your chest. "I'll see you tomorrow." You swiftly turn and walk away before he can respond.

━━━━

But you wouldn't see Edward tomorrow. Matter of fact you wouldn't see him for the next three days after Halloween. You try not to let it bother you.

It's the beginning of a cold November, he's probably just sick or desperately needed a vacation. Or perhaps you'd seriously fucked it all up and he couldn't even stand the sight of you. You can't stop the deep sigh that comes from you as you rest your forehead in the palm of your hand. Embarrassingly, you ask Zach if he's heard from Edward. Not that you expected him to be particularly helpful. "Are you guys, like, fucking?" You are stunned and stammering your words. "Wha- No! No. I just worry about him."

"Look, I wouldn't worry about him too much, I mean the guy's basically a fucking recluse. When do you ever see him outside of here? Maybe it's good that he's somewhere besides here."

Still, there's no chance of you actually focusing on work and you find yourself aimlessly scrolling through news headlines, before one in particular catches your eye.

'Mayoral Incumbent Donald Mitchell, Jr. Murdered in his Home on Halloween Night.'

Holy shit.

━━━━

Edward is back at work after three long days, and despite your worry of his annoyance and anger, he is oddly elated.

It's the first time he approaches your desk. Leaning against it, coffee cup in hand, and flashing an awkward smile before asking, "So did I miss anything?" It leaves you a little taken aback, but it's a relief to see him approach you willingly after your last conversation.

"Um yeah, Zach was a total prick as usual- Oh! And our mayor was murdered."

He raises an eyebrow and takes a sip from the coffee cup. You feign annoyance, "No but seriously where were you? I started to wonder if that psychopath got you too."

He smiles. "Just sick. November weather and all."

━━━━

The first time you see the green mask you are in a huddle of coworkers around a computer screen.

'Police Commissioner, Pete Savage, Murdered. Killer Leaves Shocking Confession.'

"My God. What a sick freak." Zach interjects.

You can barely stand to watch. The video is hardly graphic aside from the disturbing voice of the masked man, but the implications of what happens when the video cuts off leaves your stomach turning. You walk away. Desperate for some space, but also desperate for a distraction. Edward sits straight in his office chair across the room. You hesitate slightly before striding toward his desk and leaning your weight against it. You can feel the sweat beading at your forehead as you lightly brush hair from your eyes. "Shit."

It's merely a whisper to yourself, but he turns his head to face you. For once his face shows concern towards you. Yet he still says nothing, only looks. Observant as always.

"Sorry. I needed to get out of that." You gesture towards the group of coworkers still huddled and murmuring among each other. He glanced back, before turning back towards his work. "The news?" He inquires quietly.

"Yeah. It's a little too much for me to stomach." There's a little pause as if he is hesitant to say anything before finally replying, "They were pricks. Don't you think they kind of deserved it?"

You straighten up, looking at him with shock. "I think they were still people with families." He frowns at you before you finally walk away from his desk to make your way to the restroom. You needed to get a grip.

━━━━

Edward apologizes for his insensitivity after work. You had stayed with him outside of the building long after all of your other coworkers had left. "It's fine." You refuse to look at him as he lights a cigarette and gets in a few quick puffs. You're being mean. But if you're honest the combination of his rejection and his comment earlier in the day had set you off. "And I'm sorry for last week." Only then you look up at him.

"I've had a lot going on, and it feels a little unfair to bring you into all of that."

"This feels like an excuse to let me down easy. It's okay if you just don't want to go on a date-"

The feeling of chapped lips on your own stops you mid sentence. He tastes of coffee and cigarettes and you crave more, but he pulls back quickly. His free hand remains at your cheek, holding your face in a gentle caress. "It's not an excuse. Things are just complicated for me right now." His eyes never leave your face. It's the best look you've gotten of them. Of him. His features are gentle behind shaggy hair and acetate glasses.

Something feels wrong and eerie in the back of your mind. Like seeing him this close gave you a sickening feeling of deja vu. Things were definitely complicated. The bags under his eyes were showing his exhaustion well, he had gone from elated to unwell since his return. He seems like a broken man, but he'd never let you close enough to find out why. You can't help but feel the connection, like he deserved a shot even if he didn't want it. Even if he thought he was smarter. Even if there's a side to him that could hurt you. You push down your feelings of uneasiness.

You press a chaste kiss to the corner of his lips.

"When you're ready."

━━━━

You're awake nearly all night the next weekend. Spending the entire time digging through news about the figure known as The Riddler, his possible next targets, possible identities, and most importantly all of the video footage he'd put out in the last few weeks. It's certainly not healthy. You generally steer clear of these sorts of things. Years of therapy had gotten you far and you would rather not ruin it by desensitizing yourself. But you can't help it. You find yourself going deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole until you find yourself tuning into his streams late at night.

He speaks with such a confidence in himself. As if he has all of the answers, and is just waiting to enlighten the world. His followers are even more terrifying. They'd do anything for him. You wonder how low a person must be in life to resort to this sort of behavior. But, you're not a psychiatrist. Who are you to speak on these people. These strangers.

"We are going to cleanse this cesspool of city."

You slam the laptop shut.

Sleeping isn't easy after this sort of activity. You should've known. You turn on a show you don't actually care about to give yourself some sense of security in background noise. And soon you find yourself drifting asleep. It's not great sleep. You can sense yourself tossing and turning, but you can deal with it. Everything is fuzzy until you find yourself on your back.

Paralyzed.

It's not uncommon for you to experience sleep paralysis, but you've experienced it less after your time in therapy. You try to keep your breathing steady, trying to convince yourself that whatever you see is merely a hallucination.

Shh. Shh. Just breathe.

But the figure that appears is familiar. That's what scares you the most. The green coat and mask is horrifying as it inches towards the bed, and you can't scream. you can't move away. You can only watch the blood drip from his gloved fingertips onto your floor as he stares. Tilting his head at you slightly, as he brings a hand up to his head. You can hear your heart pounding and you are practically internally begging yourself to wake up. The latches on his mask pop open and you're horrified to find that the face underneath is so familiar. A slight smirk on lips you have kissed before. Blood dripping from a hand that you've held before. You try to scream. Tears falling down your temples until he is suddenly gone and you shoot up in your bed.

You can't hold back the cry that escapes your throat. It wasn't real, he's gone, and you're safe in your room.

━━━━

Until suddenly the safety of your room begins to feel a lot less safe. You hear it. The creaking of the floorboards at night, the slight tapping against the glass of your bedroom window. The slight squeak of leather rubbing and rustling together. You're too scared to open your eyes those first few nights. You'd rather be blind and take your fate than die in paralyzing fear.

But you know it's him.

It was never unclear what was staring at you in the night. Maybe the nightmares of the leather gloves touching your skin hadn't been nightmares at all. You want so badly to be sickened. To run into your bathroom to empty your stomach out of panic and fear. Instead you feel a strange mixture of annoyance and arousal in your gut.

He thinks he's smarter than you.

You find yourself playing into his games.Attempting to one up him. To show him you aren't scared of him. That you can keep up. You begin to deliberately change in front of your window. Letting lacy fabric hit the cold floor and standing just a tad longer, stalling before covering yourself back up.

You hope he's watching when you peel off your work tights. You hope he's imagining himself on his knees tearing the delicate fabric from your form, only to be blocked by a thin pane of glass. You wanted the upper hand.

You hope he's watching as you sink two fingers into yourself, thinking about crisp, white button ups and clear framed glasses.

━━━━

The next few weeks are tense at work. You heard the news of what happened to Gil Colson at Don Mitchell's funeral. Edward would walk in everyday, and attempt to greet you, only this time it's you who is short. You have a little hope that he can't see straight through you. But you can see it in the way that he looks at you that you're an open book. Who's to say that he won't just watch, but actually kill you to keep you from talking. But deep down you both know your lips are shut tight.

So you work through the days, just ready to get home. You can hardly stand to look at him. It makes you feel like you're an accomplice. A sitting duck for a man who probably doesn't even care about you, withholding a tip to the police because deep down you really do like him. And you had hoped he liked you too until things got complicated. Now you think it would just be best if he abandoned you right where you were. But he doesn't. In fact, he suddenly has more courage than you'd ever seen from him. It's evident as he catches you by your arm and pulls you into the alleyway beside the office after work is over. It's dark and you'd be lying if you said you weren't scared, but he kisses you like nothing is wrong. Like he has no clue. Like nothing has changed.

You pull away from him, wide eyes staring back at him. "Are you okay?" He asks quietly as he brushes a hand up your arm. You can't help the break in your voice. "I know, Edward."

He just stands and stares. "What?" You take two steps back. "You're killing people." He continues to stare. He drops his hand from your arm. The silence scares you more than anything. But he simply sighs.

"I think you should go home and get some rest."

And before you can argue he walks away with a quickened pace.

━━━━

So you do. You return to your shitty apartment and try to compose yourself. What would he do now that you said that? Maybe you were wrong. Maybe you had accused him of something he genuinely didn't do. But it didn't feel wrong. You sigh as the hot water hits your back. You had hoped a shower would help you feel refreshed, but for the first time in a while, it feels like a chore. You can't enjoy it, so you rush through it. As you step into your bedroom you stop in your tracks. The window is slightly ajar, a cool draft flowing in tingles your bare legs. And then you see him. The figure in the darkness of your room. This time you're not dreaming.

He's in your room. You're paralyzed. The position you swore you'd never let yourself be put in. He's got the upper hand.

He just stands there. A part of you wishes he would attack you. Kill you. Anything just to break the still silence. You realize you're shaking. You agreed to play his game and now you're trailing his lead, allowing yourself to be beaten.

"Edward."

It comes out as a shaky whisper, but he visibly takes it in as he steps toward you to close the distance. You can see his eyes crinkle at the corners through the green mask. He's smiling. And he reaches a gloved hand to your face, cupping one cheek. You can feel the warmth radiating from his hand even through the glove. So, he is human. The Riddler has a beating heart and flowing blood. He is not a cold, lifeless monster. His stoic frame you had become so familiar with at work was gone. He catches a tear from your cheek with his thumb.

He is terrifying.

"No more through the window. I'll be gone soon."

Before you can entirely comprehend the statement and it's implications, your brain forms the word that leaves your mouth. "Gone?"

He simply smiles again, this time reaching his hands behind his head to abandon the mask he had come in with, and there he is. Cherubic features glowing under the street lamp light that flows in from your window. "I watched you live for a month. I watched you eat, sleep, undress, touch yourself. But you knew that right? Otherwise you wouldn't have put on such a show."

You attempt to struggle away from his grasp in disgust at his words but he holds you tight in front of him. "But that's alright. I'll tell you the truth because I hate liars. I liked knowing that you were doing it all for me. I wanted nothing more than to cleanse Gotham, to give them true salvation, but you put a dent into that plan. You became a distraction that I foolishly indulged." The soft light is hitting his features just right. He looks like an angel in devils' clothing. And his tight grip is right back to a gentle caress. His hand reaches the small of your back and you're sucking in a shrill breath.

His kiss is soft, inexperienced. Much like the other times you had kissed. But he is treating you like glass that might break. You think it might be the first time you've seen him relax enough to be seen as a particularly gentle being. He's ditched his looming, arrogant behavior you're so used to just to show you his utmost affection. It's the first time you have seen him like this since the first time you had kissed.

But some part of you is burning. He's not your prince charming. You know exactly what he is capable of, you've seen it. You're not glass. You're not a damsel. This is a man who has watched you undress for him through your window for weeks. This is a man who has killed. And it shouldn't bring heat into your core the way it does. Perhaps it's the thrill of the danger.

You kiss him so hard that your teeth clash. It stuns him as his hand lifts from your body momentarily before finding purchase at your hips. He's inexperienced, but the desperation coming from both of you is enough to cover it up.

The warmth and weight of his tongue in your mouth is intoxicating. The little sparks of guilt and shame that flash in your stomach are quickly subdued by his nimble fingers caressing under your nightgown and up your thighs to hook in the waistband of your panties. You can't help the pathetic moan that escaped your mouth as he slowly drags the fabric down your legs.

"I wanted to do it right. Wanted to take you to that diner, buy your food, take you home, and act like I hadn't thought about fucking you into your mattress every single night."

It's almost strange to see him on his knees. He has built himself up to be godlike. You were sure he wouldn't mind you on your knees in front of him. Absolutely worshipping him. The warmth of his tongue swiping over you has your thoughts lurching, and yes, god, he is divine.

"But it would be wrong to pretend to be someone I am not. I'm not a liar."

You can't help but tangle your fingers into his beautifully unkept hair and pull. He is ravishing you. Sinking two fingers into you until you feel the heavenly curl right into the spot that makes you whimper. "Eddie-" He swallows your moans in a desperate openmouthed kiss. His fingers are working you open, you can feel tightness build in your stomach. Like a rubber band ready to snap. But it's ripped away from you as he pulls his fingers out of you and swiftly pushes you to the bed. The sounds of his belt buckle coming undone has your heart racing faster than it already was, your stomach fluttering.

He buries himself inside of you with no hesitation, no time to adjust. It hurts and his inexperience is noticeable, but the look of bliss on his face and his slight whimpers has you ready to cum before you've even started.

You're gripping onto the back of the green leather parka, reminding yourself of who you're with. Who you're letting fuck you right now. But those green eyes bring you back to all those times he'd flash a slight smile your way in the office. He'd try to hide it but you're the only person he showed fondness towards in that hell hole of a workplace. Thinking back to the night he had kissed you has tears welling up in your eyes again. He notices.

He slows his pace momentarily, letting his short thrusts turn into long drags. A gloved hand wipes tears away once again and you meet his concerned gaze.

"Does this not make you happy?"

Your hands move to cradle his face. A move that he's certainly not used to as his thrust halt for a moment in surprise. "I am happy. But what comes after this? Am I supposed to ignore you and pretend I know nothing about you? That I feel nothing for you?" He stops his movements completely now. The room has fallen silent apart from the heavy breathing between you two.

"I have to mean nothing to you. Momentarily."

You knew the answer before you asked the question, but it hurts just as bad anyway. You don't take your eyes off his. The Riddler's facade is cracking before your eyes, you can see his eyes becoming glossy. It's almost like he's turned into a completely different person. He kisses you. Deeply, but not rough. There's so much pent up feeling behind it, you could sob even harder. But you don't and he keeps kissing you as he resumes his movements.

You're not using any protection, but you're too blissed out to care. You crave that feeling of warmth. "Eddie- I-"

His hips start to stutter as he cuts you off and buries his face in your neck. " I love you- please God- just say it back to me. Tell me you love me." You hold his face in your hands guiding his gaze to meet yours again. "Edward, I love you."

That's all it takes for him to fall apart. His whimpers and cries are like music to your ears and the feeling of warmth as he releases everything he has into you is blissful. You both have to take a second to recover, foreheads pressed together. But eventually he rolls off of you carefully and tucks himself back into his pants. The silence is deafening. You said it to push him over the edge, but was it true that you loved him? The idea of falling in love with Edward was easy in your mind, in a perfect world the idea of settling down somewhere else and waking up next to him felt good. But this wasn't a perfect world. Edward killed people, powerful people, and the chance that he'd get away without paying for it was slim.

"I'm gonna turn myself in in a couple of days."

"Okay."

"You should leave Gotham. It's not going to be safe for you here. If the cops ask you're visiting a friend in Bludhaven."

His hand grips yours as he looks at you.

"I promise if I ever get out, I'll find you."

━━━━

You do as he asked of you. Got a hotel in Bludhaven and in the next couple of nights you watched the television endlessly, waiting to see his face. The night you finally did, you cried yourself to sleep, gripping the hotel sheets as you buried your face into your pillow.

But you held yourself together and did as Edward asked.

When the man in the bat suit showed up at your hotel door a week after the flood you give your best answers.

"I'm visiting a friend, but the flood has kept me in town."

"No, I didn't know him well, we just worked together."

"I mean he was a little strange, but I never thought he would murder someone."

“I would never have expected it to be him.”

"I hope he gets the help he needs."

#edward nashton #dano!riddler #dano riddler #paul dano riddler #edward nashton x reader #edward nashton x you #dano!riddler x reader #paul dano #danonation #the batman #edward nashton smut #edward nashton fluff #edward nashton ily forever -abram #gonna log off for the night to keep my nerves down i think

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rayslittlekitten · 7 months

Text

I Almost Told You That I Loved You Ch. 19

Chapter 18 | IATYTILY Masterlist

A/N: I've been waiting so long (honestly like probably a year) to finally post this chapter and this GIF. 🤣

Rating: T

Word Count: 1,143

Pairing: Jax Teller x F! reader

Plot: This takes place shortly after Tara leaves Charming. You start working at Teller-Morrow and an unlikely and messy relationship forms between you and Jax.

Warnings: maybe some mild, colorful misogynistic language

These last few days have made you nostalgic about Cara Cara. Working for a porn company doesn’t seem so bad anymore. Maybe you can ask Luann for your old job back. You’re pretty sure she’ll give it back to you, no questions asked. Although TM pays better and honestly, it couldn’t possibly get any worse. Jax has been hot and cold since the incident with Will. He’s been cautiously trying to get your attention, apologizing multiple times, but you’ve been turning down his advances. And when you do, he’s no longer groveling at your feet. His soft words turn into sharp knives instead. Your favorite so far is “I hope you choke on a dick!” That sure is going to get you to run back to him.

Fragile male egos. You know a few things about those. They don’t actually care about making things right. They just want the last word and if things are going to end, it’s going to be on their terms, no matter how much they have to try to charm you. They will say and do anything to win you back just so they can leave you. If you can just focus on work and keep your interactions with Jax to a minimum, you might be able to get through this until the end of the semester at the very least.

“Hey, sweetheart, I’m stepping out for lunch and running some errands,” Gemma tells you as she gathers her things. “Will probably be gone for a few hours. You’ll be okay by yourself?”

“Yeah, sure,” you nod and throw her a smile, pulling yourself away from sending a fax for a moment.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

As Gemma walks out, the phone rings so you walk over to answer it.

“Thank you for calling Teller-Morrow, how can I help you?”

Just then Opie waltzes into the office and leaves some filled forms on the desk in front of you.

“Yes, we can do that. If you come by with your car, we can take a look at it and give you an estimate.” You look at Opie and hold a finger up at him to let him know to give you a moment.

“We are open 7 days a week, 8 to 6.” You glance at the form on the desk and you look like you’ve just seen a ghost. “Uh, y-yes. You have a nice day.” You hang up the phone.

“You okay?” Opie asks.

“Is this customer still out there?” You ask him.

“Yeah, he’s gonna wait for his car and wants to pay for it now. Why?”

You stare at the window for a moment before walking over to it and taking a peek outside, recognizing the blue BMW.

“Shit.”

“What? You know this guy or something?” Opie asks.

“That’s my ex-boyfriend. What the hell is he doing on this side of town?”

“You want me to handle this? I can—“

“No,” you sigh. “I’ll take care of it.”

“You sure?” Opie asks again.

“Yeah, thank you.” You force a small smile.

Opie nods and hangs around for a moment in case you change your mind before walking out the office. When he returns to the garage, Jax walks up to him while wiping his greasy hands on a rag.

“What’s up with this preppy boy’s car?” Jax asks, his chin pointing in the direction of the blue BMW.

“Just needs his headlights changed,” Opie answers. “But also, apparently, preppy boy is Y/N’s ex.”

“What?!” Jax asks with raised brows.

“Yeah, she seemed a little spooked. Do you know what the deal is?” Opie asks as they watch you walking towards the blue BMW and its owner.

Jax doesn't answer. They can see the interaction between you and your ex is awkward and Jax sees you recoiling when your ex tries to reach out to you. Jax’s jaw twitches. He picks up the nearest tool next to him and stalks over to the both of you with a torque wrench in his hand.

“Hey, I’m gonna be the one fixing your car.”

“Jax—“

“It’s alright, darlin’,” Jax puts his arm around you. “I can take it from here.”

“Wow, are… are you dating him now? Huh. And you thought I was a piece of shit? You definitely downgraded.” A smug smile plays upon his face. "Now be a good girl and wrap this up, will ya? I have actual important things to do."

“You need your headlights changed, right?” Jax asks.

“Yeah, hope you’re smart enough to figure out that simple task,” he chuckles.

“Yeah, well it looks like you got a broken mirror too.” Jax take a heavy swing with the wrench and knocks one of his side mirrors clean off.

“What the fuck, man?!”

“Jax!”

Just then out of nowhere, Opie jumps in.

"Whoa, whoa. I'm so sorry about that, sir. We'll fix that for you, on the house." Opie tries to pull Jax away until Jax sees you walking away.

Jax follows you back to the office, calling out for you, and leaving Opie to sort out the mess.

“Why the fuck did you do that? You could’ve just changed his headlights and let him be on his fucking way!”

"You're pissed at me? That’s your piece of shit ex, right?” Jax points towards the lot.

“Yes, I'm pissed at you! So what if he's my ex? He was just here for his goddamn headlights. He wasn't here for me.”

“He tried to put his hands on you!”

“And? I can defend myself. Besides, what the hell was that out there? You can’t keep pulling shit like that.”

“I was just trying to protect—“

“Bullshit, Teller! You need to stop acting like we’re in a relationship every time another guy talks to me when you treat me like I’m one of your MC groupies every other week.”

Jax scrubs his beard and looks down at his feet.

“It doesn’t mean I don’t care about you,” Jax says quietly.

“No, you only care when it's convenient for you. You don't get to pick and choose when you want to care about me."

"I'm really trying here," Jax tells you.

"Trying what exactly? I'd much rather you just treat me like shit because at least that's consistent. You're no better than him." You point in the general direction of the lot.

"Don't compare me to that fucking asshole!" Jax shakes his head.

"You know what? You're right. You're not like him. At least he knows he's an asshole and owns up to it."

Just as Jax is about to say something, the phone rings and you pick up.

"Thank you for calling Teller-Morrow, how can I help you?"

You both stare each other down for a moment before Jax punches the wall on his way out of the office.

#charlie hunnam #charlie hunnam fanfiction #jax teller #jax teller fanfiction #jax teller x reader #jax teller x you #jax teller x female reader #sons of anarchy #sons of anarchy fanfiction

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lovergirly · 1 year

Text

mornings with wednesday

i wrote this while super drunk so please bear with me. i love y’all so much i hope you enjoy 💕

dating wednesday addams was a crazy experience. she didn’t quite know how to express emotions, but she tried for you. she held the door open, kissed your knuckles, allowed you to pick on her without killing you, etc. your favorite part, however, was mornings with your lovely, goth girlfriend. it was currently 5 am and you could feel wednesday trying to get out of your grasp.

“wednesday stop-“

“no. it��s 5, i need to get up. you should too.” you can see her braided hair was slightly messy and she didn’t have any makeup on. she looked beautiful.

“can we please cuddle for another five minutes?”

“why must you always ask this? you know i say no every time so just let me get up.” she sees your face turn a little sour so she sighs and leans in to give you a kiss. she finally gets up and leaves for the bathroom to take a shower. you stare at the door for a couple seconds before starting to close your eyes again, only to hear wednesday yell, “don’t go back to sleep,” through the door. you never understood how she knew you that well. so well she could tell your every move, even when she couldn’t see you. you disregarded her words anyway, and took a nap until she got out of the bathroom.

“i thought i gave you explicit instructions.” you simple smile at her and she deadpans back at you.

“i’m tired what can i say my love?”

“you can say nothing and get out of bed.”

“whatever.” you say while finally getting out of bed. you get dressed in your uniform while wednesday changes into the same uniform but all black. just looking at her made you fall even deeper in love. she always looked so composed. even when it’s 5:45 am and her hair is down and… wait. her hair is down. it was longer than you expected, very wavy. she looked absolutely elegant, but you knew she’d braid her hair again. it’s never not braided after all. why not make the morning just a tad bit romantic.

“wednesday?” you asked while conjuring up the sweetest voice you could find.

“yes mi amor?”

“can i braid your hair… please?”

wednesday paused. she never let anyone touch her hair. it was her thing. she always needed to look composed, it didn’t matter who she was with. as long as she was composed she’d be fine. she can’t act nervous right now because it makes her lose control of her body. and when she loses control of her body she loses control of her words. “you want to- what?… umm why may i… ask?”

“because i love you and i want to make you feel beautiful. and if doing your hair will do that then i must braid your hair.” you shrug. deep down your real reason was to be close to wednesday. you loved her. her shampoo, her hair, her face. not only that but her personality, her charisma, her style. you loved the girl in front of you with everything you could. and in return she loved you. she sat in front of you as you started dividing her hair and getting to work. she was nervous (though she’d rather swim through a pool of her own blood than admit that). she loved your gentle touches and how you can make her feel like a precious doll. now wednesday hated feeling weak, but with you she didn’t feel that way. she instead felt loved. every smile you sent her way was true love. every time you reached for her hand when you were nervous was true love. every time you apologize for pulling her hair a little too hard was true love. you both were so in love with each other and neither of you were scared to admit it. “oh mi amor, you did such a good job on my hair.” the goth praises while giving you a kiss of the nose.

“of course i did! i tried my hardest. now it’s 6:15 we need to get breakfast.”

“of course after you my love.” she says while opening the door for you and giving a false bow to show how chivalrous she is.

————————————————————————

i hope you guess enjoyed !! like i said i’m very drunk rn so i’ll probably delete this tomorrow morning or something. leave me more requests i’ll get back to them asap!!

#wednesday #wednesday addams x reader #jenna ortega #lgbtq #addams family #fanfic #jenna ortega x reader #wednsday addams #drunk thoughts #i’m drunk

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binkszamsstuff · 1 year

Text

Red

Very dark Steve! Mob Steve! Non con! Reader and Steve have a child. Angst!! Lots of grammar and spelling mistakes I’ll edit in the morning or never who knows🤷🏻‍♀️❤️

Red. the pain, the hurt, the passion, the love, everything was red. He was toxic, he was the obsessive. And you were his feen, his drug, his obsession , his love. But the days blurred, the lines no longer were standing, they had fallen. The fights, the late nights, the guessing and questions that went unanswered by him. It was a house on fire, it was red.

There was no time in the day to plan, with his anger, and yours. It was spontaneous, the fight had started because of steves affairs. The lying, the cheating, he ruined you, tore down all walls, made you just as obsessed with him as he was with you. Just to leave you in the dust, to cheat. To add gasoline to the fire that was you, or what was left of you anyhow.

Peggy was a glossy, classy woman with the perfect bubble of power and wittiness. She was everything you weren’t. You were messy, hazed with trouble, a woman gone mad by a man who drove her there. You were his frankenstein, you were old pieces of yourself glued back together again. The young, innocent, naive, funny, charming, and free girl was now chained to the scars he left.

You ran out of the house in the early morning, he came home late yet again. You had stayed up waiting for him, going to confront him in his act. Thats exactly what you did, but the end was not what you pictured. You hopped that he would hold you, say you were wrong, make love to you like in the beginning.

“Are you cheating on me?’ you asked quietly, you sat on the bed. You couldnt took at him.

“I dont want to have this conversation with you, it’ll only hurt you” steve spoke. That was all the answers you needed. You started to yell, scream, through insult after insult.

“I knew it! You’re scerwing peggy! Huh you’re fucking your secretary!” you yelled in his face crying. He rolled his eyes at you and shoved you to the side going to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

“Im tried of this steve” you sobbed walking to the closet grabbing any bag in sight packing up everything.

Once steve heard you say that so defeated he knew that you were serious about leaving him. You and him had lots a fights because of his actions but everytime he kissed it better. He drew back in promising his love and that it will never happen again. But it always does. Steve now had his suite jacket off, his selves rolled up, strands of his hair in hs face,

“You’re not leaving me” he stated

“Watch me” you said back in anger, masking the sadness.

“y/n i own you, you’re mine! You cant leave me baby” he said getting angry.

“You cheated steve! Again. I-i cant do this i cant sit here and wait for you to love me again. We are not the people we were when we first started dating. I cant and wont be the drunk housewife waiting for her husband whose never gonna come back because his mistress.” you were out of breath from crying and talking so fast while packing.

Steve stepped closer “baby come on its me! Its us! We always get through stuff like this!” he tried to manipulate you with his soft words but this time it wouldn’t work. the naive girl you used died, not even a ghost left of her

“We wouldnt have to “get through this stuff” if you didnt cheat and fuck other women.” you held up air qoutes while talking.

“I love you” steve pulled you in near, kissing the top of your head. You sobbed in his chest, hurt, angry, betrayed. The three year relationship was now smoke, the fire was all burnt out. The engagement ring heavy on your finger, it was a line of whispered lies and i love yous.

Steve drew you to the bed, kissing his way up your neck. His hands sliding down your frame gripping your hips. His false hope whispered in your ear and apologies that didnt have any meaning stuck to you, like a cigarette burn. He took off your clothes and gently laid you on the bed. ‘When was the last time he was gentle with me?’ you thought to yourself as he kissed and licked at you lower lips.

“Say something baby, tell me you wont leave me, that you love me” he begged like he was the victim. You stayed silent, numb.

“prettybaby i love you. Say it back! I need you! I cant live with out you!” both of you now naked on the bed. he pushed himself into your entrance, all you could do was cry.

Steve begged and whined for you back but little did he know the car was running outside waiting to escape him and this burning house.

Steve fell asleep hugging you, his head resting on your tummy his arm wrapped around you. You ran your fingers through his hair, soaking up what was left of the man you used to know, he was burned alive, gone. You slowly pushed him off of you and got dressed, grabbing the bags on clothes and bathroom care you walked out. You looked around the house as you left, the nicknacs and photos of you and steve. The nursery that sat empty. Steve promised children but then came peggy. You kissed your engagement ring and then placed it on the entry table by steves keys.

Getting in the car and speeding off in to what was left of the mess steve made of you.

One year later-

A wail of a new born was calling out to you in the dead of the night. You never got frustrated being a single mother, reminding yourself when you caught yourself being negative that you could still be with steve. Penny was three months old and her blonde curly hair was sticking in every which way. It made you giggle.

“Hi! Mommys here its okay penny girl” you picked her up rocked her in your arms.

She might be steve daughter but you never let her know what pain she was created from, you would never let her end up like steve nor you.

“Mama loves you” you said as she closed her big eyes again just needing comfort from her mom to make her feel better. Steve didnt know that the night that the two of you had sex before you left was the cause of a beautiful little girl. He had tried to call, and text you put after smaing you phone and leaving to state of New York for Washington you knew he wouldnt find you.

You lived in a little white house with a garden in a small town tucked away from the crazy and hurt.

You sat in the rocking chair in pennys room rocking her, your tiredness was catching up to you. Just as your eyes started to close he spoke from the depths of the darkness that was the closet.

“Oh prettybaby you are such a good little mommy, just like i knew you would be” he walked closer.

You screamed. Getting up with penny in your arms backing away from him trying stumble to the door backwards,

“Get out. Steve get out! I-i cant-” you sobbed your hold on penny grew tighter.

“Baby its okay, i wont hurt you. y/n im so proud of you, look at the life you built for our little girl, now i am mad you didnt tell me you were pregnant. But baby she is gorgeous. Now i need you to decide either you come home or we can live out here. Ya know i kinda love it here. Good thinking babe this is great place to rise kids”

You sobbed harder.

“How did you find us” you asked crying, so scared.

“Oh baby dont be naive, i will always find you”

“You cant be in our life, your toxic and i wont rase my daughter in the life we used to have. She wont end up like us! You cant be here! You ruined me!’ you sobbed and hyperventilated. He slowly walked closer like approaching an injured animal

“Baby i know i know, i was wrong and mean and cruel to you. I was blind i thought you would always be there for me. I took you for granted. Shes gone y/n, i got rid of peggy, shes taking a long nap and i aint ever gonna hurt you like that again. I need you baby…..and i need to be in my daughters life. I cant live without you nor am i gonna be able to leave her all alone now too” he explained

“I wanna have a good life, nothing like the one we used to have. You scare me steve and you’ve hurt me” you said looking at little penny who had a frown on hef face, she could read the distress from her mother.

“y/n look at me!” steve grabbed your face in his hands and made you look at him. “I will make it up to you i promise. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you baby. I cant live without you” you shock your head no

“Its okay i get it y/n we need time, but im not going anywhere” steve spoke again.

“Come on lets put penny girl back in ger crib and go to bed” steve guided you to the crib and put penny down. She was right back to being cozy and sleepy. Steve pulled you in a hug while you sobbed into his chest, he was sliding his hand over your hair while shushing you.

“Come one lets go to sleep.” steve took your hand in his and leaded you back to your room. You laid down still crying, steve undressed himself down to his boxers and then joined you. He spooned you.

“I’ve missed you so much baby” was the last thing you heard before falling into slumber because you had cried yourself to sleep in his arms.

The house was burnt but in its ashes something new rose.

Authors note; i know some people will not understand why she didnt fight more, and the reason why was because she was in shock. It been and year and he shows up and shes like oh crap he found me and our now daughter. She is really scared of him and numb. Also steve is a mob boss by the way.

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legacygirlingreen · 9 months

Text

Part 4: Chapter 1 "Leave Me" // Sebastian Sallow x Reader

Summary: Things are finally going down with the final repository and Rookwood. I decided to make this stray very far from canon to make it more interesting. The next few updates should be full of lots of angst... so I apologize. This section is also quite sporadic jumping around to different locations/people since everything happening is within the same time but different spaces!

Notes: I would like to thank @strawberrypinky again for the continued support, seriously this wouldn't have been possible without you! This is a continuation of my longer story so feel free to read the rest!

Warnings: angst, violence, hints of assault, etc.

Word Count: 12,000 words +

Part 4 - Chapter 1: “Leave me”

I have been conversing with Dorran as several members of his herd have gone missing over the last few days. He planned to look further south along the coast, asking if we would be willing to scout the Feldcroft region in search of clues since you’ve become familiar with the area. If we leave after potions we should hopefully be back in time for dinner.

With urgency,

Poppy Sweeting

Also, bring your broom, I would like to practice my flying.

She couldn’t help but sigh reading the message passed to her during class as she left the greenhouse with Sebastian. He sensed her frustration, pulling her gently into his side as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Pulling her slightly off to the left side of the stairs when they entered the library annex, he set their books down on the ground as she ran a frustrated hand through her tangled hair.

She had gotten in late the previous night from helping Amit with an astronomy table. The day before it was Imelda with a broom trial. And Natty the day before while trying to rescue a boy taken by rookwood’s men. This had led to a series of days where she had improperly taken care of herself simply out of exhaustion. The night before specifically had left her unable to take the time to run a brush through her hair, resorting to throwing it in some messy style along with her wrinkled clothes. Looking down for the first time all day she realized she had forgotten her robes in her dorm that morning, suddenly feeling the chill without them. How could she forget something so simple? Why was it always her responsibility to drop everything for the sake of others to forgo rest? In fact, she couldn’t recall the last night in which she got a full night's rest.

A silent tear slipped down her cheek as she did not have the strength any longer to fight her exhaustion. Knowing this brief pause was useless, as professor Sharp would most certainly give her and Sebastian detention if they didn’t show up in the next few minutes for potions class. However… a small part of her liked the thoughts of having a night off from her responsibilities, even if it was served in detention. She could be there with Sebastian, and not feel the weight of the world on her shoulders… No. She couldn’t think like that. Now was not the time to give up. Taking down Rookwood was a priority.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong? What did that note say?” Sebastian asked in a soft tone, drawing her into his arms as she started to shake. The last thing she saw before being pulled into his worn Slytherin robe was the concerned look he sported. His bushy eyebrows raised, chocolate brown eyes full of worry and the corners of his plush lips slightly downturned. She both loved and hated that he could always sense how close she was to breaking. Rubbing circles onto the small of her back he tried to calm her, and do so before they got in trouble for being late to potions.

It finally dawned on him as he felt the warmth of her skin through just her vest and dress shirt that she wasn’t wearing a robe. He figured she had taken it off for herbology, but looking around he realized she had forgotten it entirely. When he pulled back some, looking down to see her face he also noticed she was wearing two very different shoes : one brown and one black. The eye bags she sported along with the obvious exhaustion clueing in him that she was simply just stretched too thin.

“Who was it this time?” He asked her, knowing whoever passed the note must’ve once again been asking for her assistance with a task.

“Poppy.” She mumbled into his light green blazer.

“Ah. How urgent is her request?” He inquired, knowing that while he already had plans for the afternoon he could arrange for Ominis to entertain her while he was down at the Craigmire coast once their class let up.

“Quite. The centaurs who helped us save the snigits need help. They’ve had several members of their herd captured by poachers. Finding them may help me locate or get more information on Rookwood since it’s his men.” She knew Poppy’s request was well intended, and that ultimately she would go help, didn’t mean she was thrilled with it cutting into her ability to rest. Mentally she had hoped to steal Sebastian away, simply just to nap in his dorm bed while he poured over research for Anne.

“That sounds like it could be dangerous. Wouldn’t it be wise to wait until tomorrow? It will be the weekend, and you can hit the road after a full night of rest.” He suggested, knowing there was no point in trying to discourage her from going at all.

“We are simply trying to locate them, we will let the centaurs handle it once we locate where they are being held. Just some stealth digging then returning. Should be back before supper.” She said reassuringly and Sebastian got the vibe it was more for herself than him. She was well aware he trusted her and her ability.

“If you believe you are up to it…” he said.

“I am. Besides we are searching the Feldcroft region… would you like to come with us? We could eat with Anne and Solomon perhaps.” She suggested.

While normally he would be jumping at the chance to see his sister, he was unsure how long it would take for him to complete his errand, one she specifically couldn’t know about.

“I uh, actually promised Sirona I would go collect something for her from the far southern coast… I may not be back in time for dinner…” he said sheepishly. He felt horrible rejecting her attempt to spend time with him, as they had seen each other much less since being back at school between his working on the weekends and her constantly running errands outside the castle.

“Oh.” She spoke very deflated.

“You go see them, and I will join you all when I am finished. How does that sound?” He offered a secondary plan and she seemed to accept his proposal.

“Let’s go to class before we are late. I can see you and Poppy off as well.” He stood in front of her, sliding his school robe off, delicately wrapping it around her shoulders and clasping it in the front, before stretching out his hand.

She accepted both, allowing him to slide his warm robes over her shoulders, as his woody masculine smell surrounded her as their fingers intertwined.

One class then a small errand with Poppy before she could rest. How bad could it truly be?

“Be careful, please.” He spoke against the skin between her eyebrows as they stood near the front gate to the castle.

“I always am.” She said, clear exhaustion in her tone, but still undeterred by her heroic nature.

“Usually, you are, I will agree. But I mean it… please. No unnecessary risks…” he said, unsure why he felt that sinking feeling in his stomach once more. Last time he’d felt it, she came home, hole through her chest, bleeding out in his childhood bed. Taking in a shaky breath he moved her to look at him by lifting her cheek in his hand. “I need you to come back to me in one piece.” He explained with a shaken breath.

When she noticed the look of concern in his eyes she softened, pulling him in by the back of his head, slotting their lips together. Feeling him sigh into her mouth, she opened her lips, letting him slide his tongue inside. He gave little regard to Poppy standing only a few feet away as he pulled her closer by the waist.

Eventually Sebastian pulled away, eyes stinging slightly before he cleared his throat, trying to keep himself from allowing tears to properly form in his eyes. “Promise me you’ll come back.” He all but demanded, tone pleading with her as their fingers remained locked together.

“I promise.” She told him, seeming more confident than she had before.

While Sebastian still had a lingering bad feeling he decided to press one last kiss to her lips, stepping back as she mounted her broom, giving him one last wink before her and Poppy prepared to set off.

“Keep her safe Poppy, you know how she always needs to play hero.” He said, trying to break the tension in the air.

“Of course. Not even a scratch. I promise”. Poppy told him, looking off to the horizon as they both set off in search of captured Centaurs.

Sebastian took a few steps to the left, feeling the weight of the coins in his pocket as he also left the castle grounds using the floo flame.

“I thought you hated broom travel” she shouted over the wind to Poppy.

“It’s been growing on me…” the quiet hufflepuff responded, face blazing red, and her short brown hair a mess.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with a certain quidditch playing roommate of mine does it?” She teased, knowing that Poppy had been going off grounds with Imelda for weeks now as the girls desperately wanted alone time away from the prying eyes of their classmates.

“Perhaps… does she ever… talk about me?” Poppy asked, not quite sure what she was expecting in response but curious nonetheless.

“Poppy Sweeting! How could I betray my dear roommate by divulging such information!” She pretended to be horrified at the thought and her companion must have not realized she was being sarcastic.

“right, of course… I am sorry” Poppy told her, attempting to speed ahead but y/n easily caught up to Poppy on her own broom. Bringing them both to a halt over the town of Irondale.

“Poppy, I’m only messing with you. Truly you should see the way she’s always a mess before you all go fly together. Always pacing, asking me to help with her hair knowing the wind will send it flying anyways. I don’t know the full extent of what you get up to, but I know she enjoys spending time with you. The smile on her face when she comes back is always so bright.” She explained, looking at the racing course atop the hill before signaling Poppy to follow her.

The pair made their way over to the flying course she still held the record for, the one that brought her friendship with her dorm mate through mutual respect of flying. Hoping off her broom she made her way over to a discovery she recently had made while out on a flight with Sebastian, making a point of not mentioning it to him.

Bringing the Hufflepuff girl around one of the wood planks at the back of the landing pad she crouched down slightly, pointing to a new carving. Now in the grain of the wood “I + P” inside of a crudely carved heart. Whoever did it must have struggled and she couldn’t help but know it was Imelda given she helped dig a splinter out of the girl's hand not long ago.

Poppy didn’t speak as she ran her fingers over the plank, smiling to herself as her face flushed.

“How did you-?” She asked

“Revealio. Plus Sebastian isn’t exactly the fastest flyer. I got bored waiting for him to finish the course” she explained with a laugh and a shrug

“I didn’t want to say anything earlier…” She started by trailing off while looking down.

“But?” Y/n pressed the girl, unsure what she was alluding to.

“You both just seem very good for each other… I think if anyone could find even half the love you both share, they should consider themselves lucky.” She explained.

“What makes you say that?” She asked, curiously kicking a pebble under her shoe, realizing they should attempt to make some sort of progress before the sun goes down.

“You and Sebastian are just so in sync. I don't really know how to explain it. The way he looks at you, or you look to him. The way he is always there with a hand offering without you even needing to ask. You two both are just so attentive towards one another, honestly I find myself jealous of it most days. Not because I want him..” Poppy started to defend herself but the girl just laughed.

“I am well aware of what you meant Poppy… thank you for saying that. I feel as if some days our peers would believe us to be moving too fast. That most of our feelings are sudden, and may not be genuine. I appreciate knowing your insight.” She felt sort of relieved knowing her best friend since starting Hogwarts was more understanding than their peers, and saw them without judgment.

“Of course… thank you for showing me this carving… we should continue our search” she said, once again mounting her broom and nodding off towards the coast. Y/n mounted her broom and followed her off into the sunset as they made their way over the Feldcroft region together.

Sebastian stepped into the small hamlet along the southern coast, tracing the steps he’d taken a few times now in the past few weeks. Having followed Solomon’s advice, once he’d gotten the money from Sirona, he reached out to a metal worker in Cragcroft. The older man had been the same metal worker that his father had used when selecting a ring for his mother. The man, strangely enough, remembered the exact design he had done for the deceased Sallow’s. While his mother had always adored the ornate emerald ring given to her by his father, he wanted to put much more thought and care into this.

It took much convincing to talk the metal worker down from the lavish and over the top designs he had been doing for about a decade now, as muggle ring designs were slowly becoming more and more popular. Sebastian couldn’t imagine his witch with a large and gaudy piece of jewelry like the ones he was initially recommended. Instead he thought about their relationship, and elements of it that truly mattered to him.

He thought of the moment he first saw her, busting inside the great hall and how beautiful she looked when her robes turned green. He thought about the moment they met, and how bright her eyes were in the firelight. He thought of the moments they’d shared in Feldcroft and how alive she was in the hamlet. He almost decided on something to represent her dance in the snow but it wasn’t quite enough.

Eventually it all came back to that moment, very recently, where she’d compared him to stardust. Since that night, Sebastian couldn’t help but feel an invigorated sense of confidence whenever looking into the mirror, seeing the freckles she compared to constellations in his reflection. The morning after she had done so he stood in his dorm room, staring into the small vanity as he went to shave, seeing all the blemishes and he couldn’t stop smiling at the lovely compliment she had given him. He remembered touching them so reverently, appreciative to the fact she adored them enough to compare him to the night sky.

He thought of how she often came alive in the night, when they would sneak off the school grounds together tracking leads for the keepers trials and the goblin uprising. She always looked downright ethereal in the moonlight and starlight. Beyond that she felt like a beautiful and bright source of light in his life, much like the sun. How her very essence was that of the cosmos, of a goddess in the heavens. He knew he had to do something for her with that imagery, since that is immediately what his mind went to when he thought of her.

The old man took his ideas to heart, trying to find a way to incorporate the idea of celestial art into gold for him. At first he tried to convince Sebastian that she would like a large, ornate ring with a large center stone and several small cut stones surrounding it that resembled a star. The bloody thing looked ridiculous to him even in a sketch as he couldn’t imagine such a large piece of jewelry on her small, dainty hands.

Slowly he was able to convince the man that the smaller, and simpler the better. In fact, his ability to convey that he would prefer more detailed wedding bands as a consolation prize, with a less ornate engagement ring seemed to pique the man's interest. The jeweler confided in Sebastian that the only variety usually in the wedding bands he did were the metal themselves, as people usually cared less about the design for those rings. Having more of a challenge with the creativity in that arena finally led the two of them to a place they agreed… after weeks of pondering, trial and error.

Sebastian realized he may have been deemed foolish to get all of them at the same time, but deep down he knew there was little reason to think she would reject his proposal. They had discussed life after Hogwarts and it always included some version of the two of them as husband and wife. Having them ready to go at a moment's notice in case Anne took a bad turn with her health also seemed like a good idea to him.

So when the older man finally showed him the concept sketch for the entire set he was actually excited by the hard work they’d both put in. Walking over to the booth in Cragcroft now, he couldn’t help but be excited to finally be seeing the end result. In fact, he was so excited he could almost feel his hands shaking with the anticipation to have them in his possession finally. He had already paid for the majority of the work upfront, only owing a little more for the end result.

“Ah Mr. Sallow” the older man spoke, seeing him walking up with a proud smile on his face. He couldn’t help but notice the way the young man walked confidently, with his chin held high in the golden sunlight. When the young Sallow had first approached him, he first questioned the age and maturity of him, as Sebastian did have a young appearance due to his boyish grin and freckles. Even after he explained that he was in fact 17, legal in their world’s laws, it still took some convincing. Over the course of their time working together, he came to realize the young man was wise beyond his years, and already of age within the wizarding world. Despite this he couldn’t help but recall his very faint memory of the boy’s father, who also purchased rings at such a young age.

“I got your owl, and I came as soon as I could, '' Sebastian explained. The man reached back into a small chest, using an unlocking charm to open it, before removing a box about the size of a small tome.

“I have to say, this has been some of my best work to date. It is quite unique. You have a great eye and attention to detail Mr. Sallow.” The Jeweler spoke as he opened the box, which contained two smaller ring boxes inside. One, very ornate, and dark green while the other was simple. Beneath the boxes laid the few pieces of parchment that detailed a sketch of his work as well as notes from their time planning together. The jeweler lifted his wiry hands to select the green box, handing it off to Sebastian as he held onto the rest.

Sebastian stood there for a moment simply staring at the outside of the box, his nerves getting the better of him. He noticed the way even the box looked so small in his large hands. Eventually he found the anticipation too great and opened it.

Inside he saw the beautiful center stone, clear and radiant. It was set in a simple design that replicated a star. Along the thin band, off to the side of the center stone were small radiant white gems on each side to highlight the design of center. It looked so small and simple, but he couldn’t help but smile, finally seeing it in person. It combined both her unique sort of style while also maintaining a level of elegance. It was dainty and avoided the gaudiness of most rings he had seen. It lacked much of the height he had seen other rings have, which would suit her well as it was less likely to get caught on things. It was perfect.

“I am speechless… this is better than I could have imagined.” He said, still admiring the way it caught the light of the setting sun, sparkling inside the box. He couldn’t help but try and think of what it would look like on her finger and how he would feel sliding it on for the first time. Eventually he closed the box, handing it back to the man, who passed him the second one.

“I am glad. I must admit, I found it to be such a charming piece and I admire your commitment to making something so perfect for your soon to be finance. I am certain she shall love it. I hope the bands themselves are also to your liking” he gestured to the box as Sebastian also took his time looking at them.

Inside he found two golden bands. One significantly larger than the other, as well as much thicker. Unlike every other wedding ring he’d ever seen, the one intended for him had a simple star, the same shape as the one on her ring, engraved in the center. His parents' rings had engravings on the inside, but this was proudly on the outside, as it was integral to the design. The other was much more ornate, having many small stars and constellations depicted on the thin band, as well as some small stones sporadically placed inside some of the larger stars. They were exactly what he had hoped they would be. Hers showcasing the night sky, while his showed just a small, simple aspect that he was in fact hers.

“I don’t know what to say… these are incredible” Sebastian spoke still looking at them.

“You should make sure yours fits” the man recommended, offering a hand to take the box from him as Sebastian removed the larger gold band. He stared at it a moment, before sliding it onto his left ring finger. He’d never worn a ring, finding the way the cool metal sat along his hand to be an odd sight as well as an odd feeling. He turned his hand over, examining it. When he looked at it, he couldn’t help but feel like an adult, as it marked such an important milestone he was actually excited to take part in. The thought of himself, as a married man, was slightly odd. Not that he didn’t want to be, just to admit it to be something he wanted sooner rather than later, brought forth an excitement, nervousness and other emotions he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Sebastian also thought of how his mother would lift his father’s hand when he would become stressed, as she gently kissed the simple silver band he hardly removed. Sebastian could almost hear in his mind how his mother would gently whisper “I’m here Sampson” against the skin of his knuckles and the wedding band as his father would sigh. In the limited years he got with his parents he rarely saw his father take his wedding ring off, keeping it on while he worked, slept, and only removing it on occasion to wash. His mother did the same, only taking it off when she would clean dishes, hanging it on a nail his father drove into a beam by the kitchen sink.

When they died, and he and Anne were given their parents wedding rings, he realized that the entire time he’d seen his parents rings, he’d never once noticed the engraving on the inside of their plain matching silver bands. Ad Astra was on the inside of each silver ring, a phrase he knew in Latin meant, “to the stars”, but the significance of why it meant so much to them remained to this day a mystery. Just another reason he felt himself inclined to ask the man for something celestial for him and his beloved. For a moment he almost forgot where he was standing, as well as the fact that he wasn’t alone until the man spoke.

“I take it the smile means you are satisfied with it” he said, commenting on Sebastian’s expression.

“Yes, I just… it is going to take some getting used to seeing that soon, I suppose,” Sebastian admitted, racking a hand through his brown hair, staring down at the ring on his left hand. One day that ring would go on and rarely come off. He imagined that there would be times he would twist it around his finger when he was distracted, or perhaps his witch would toy with it when holding his hand in hers. He would see it when he was getting ready for the day. He would see it during moments they weren’t together, a reminder that he had a home in the heart of someone else. He would also get to see that ring on his hand that would be holding onto her bare body, as she writhed beneath him. He shut down that train of thought quickly, before slipping it off and handing it back to the man who placed it back in the box, handing him everything.

The man had been gracious enough to disguise the box as a book, so that it would look inconspicuous to anyone who might stumble upon it from the outside. He could probably place it on his desk along with the rest of his literature until he would need it. Sebastian reached inside his pocket, grabbing the leather pouch with the remaining money and handing it off to the man.

“I must admit, I haven’t spent much time this far into the highlands in a while. This region is quite pretty this time of day. I can understand why you live here” Sebastian admitted, watching the way the sun was starting to set over the wheat field.

“It is lovely. Have you by chance found a home yet? Or a place to build one?” He inquired.

“I have not. I suppose that is next on my list of things to do.” He explained.

“Well, a friend of mine lives in Marunween. He said recently a couple fled their home on the outskirts of their hamlet due to the recent goblin activity, deciding to relocate to America. He bought their home in order to help them get the money they needed to leave, but he is trying to find someone to purchase it. I looked it myself, considered the change in scenery, but I don’t think I can leave Cragcroft… I do believe it may be a wonderful it if you are interested.”

Sebastian thought about the man’s words for a moment before he asked him “I don’t have much money for anything fancy. Most of my inheritance went towards my sick twin sister”

“I also know of an old house atop the hill, in the same hamlet that used to belong to my sister, but a storm knocked a tree through the roof. It would require much work with transfiguration, but it still has a good structure. Visiting it breaks my heart seeing a place a beloved sister loved so dearly in such disrepair. I would love to see it restored and being put to good use.” the man retorted.

“Maruween you say?”

“Yes at the top of the mountain that the hamlet is built under. It has such a lovely view, and a jobberknoll nest out front”

“But a tree through the roof?” Sebastian asked with a wariness at the prospect of fixing such damage.

“It’s not that far from here I could show you if you’d like. It will take some work, but it may not be a bad option for someone as young and resourceful as yourself“ the man gestured to Sebastian‘s Slytherin robes as he said resourceful.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to just check it out, that is if it’s not so much trouble for you?” Sebastian knew it would put his return time further back but having a lead on a home would be nice to have.

“I was already heading that way to meet with a friend so it’s no bother at all. I think it admirable how maturely you carry yourself young man. Besides I think knowing that beautiful location is being utilized once more would be a comforting thought. With ranroks activity in the area people are fleeing. Building a future for the region is an importance people aren’t considering right now.” He replied, collecting a satchel.

“Well I still think the Feldcroft region is more of where I’d like to end up but if this place is as affordable as you say, it may be worth considering just so we could start a decent life together.“ Sebastian said realizing it may be a smart decision.

The man offered his arm for Sebastian, and the two apparated away.

Poppy and her were making their second lap over the region when Poppy finally spotted something.

“Look down there I see movement near those tents. We should land and track up on foot to get a closer look“

The pair set down in the trees about 100 yards away before casting disillusionment and slowly traversing the rocky landscape to the edge of the poachers camp. There were about 20 people milling about in the camp, along with the normal traps, cages, firs, and other items associated with poaching. They crept closer and waited behind the small Stonewall at the edge of the camp while listening for anything that might indicate the centaurs location.

Time passed, and no word on the missing centaur’s location was mentioned, so they went to leave when she overheard something troubling from two of the poachers at the edge of the camp. Her and Poppy moved closer to hear what the two poachers were saying…

“Why’s the boss got us out all this way?”

“He’s got us keeping an eye on some former auror he’s been extorting. Trying to make sure he doesn’t go to the ministry. And keeping an eye on a curse he’s been developing… he usually checks in every now and again himself but he’s been preoccupied by that student”

Immediately she had a sinking feeling in her chest over what she hoped wasn’t true about the words the poachers spoke. Surely they couldn’t be talking about the sallows…

She abandoned Poppy, attempting to follow them as they walked towards a tent at the edge of the camp. She stalked behind them quietly trying not to lose track of what they were saying but when they slipped inside the tent she no longer could hear them.

“Blast.” She whispered under her breath as Poppy, still under disillusionment like herself, caught up.

“What were they talking about? An ex auror? A curse? That doesn’t sound like centaurs…” poppy asked looking confused

She couldn’t help but grimace. Reaching over she clutched Poppy’s hand, pulling her backwards a tad before casting silencio over the two of them.

“No it doesn’t… but I wonder…” she trailed off once again. She didn’t want to believe that Solomon might’ve known the whole time what truly happened to Anne. Or that her love’s dear twin was suffering as the result of Victor rookwood trying to develop nasty incurable curses.

“Poppy, I need you to listen to me right now. I am worried that the curse they are discussing is related to Anne Sallow… and the former auror is their uncle and guardian Solomon… I don’t have much time to explain but I need to get in there and figure out what they know. I don’t expect you to come with me given the risk. But I can’t let this opportunity slip through my fingers if there’s a chance it could help save her.” She explained to Poppy, feeling the girl’s fingers shake around her own.

“You think they may have more information on what curse is killing Sebastian’s sister?” Poppy asked for clarification and she nodded.

“They may or may not but I am surely not going to neglect to find out. I can hope to slip in undetected, maybe find some more information. You should wait here” she didn’t want her friend putting herself in harm's way over something that was growing to be a more personal matter.

“Are you sure? You don’t know how many of them there are inside that tent.” Poppy asked uncertainty laced in her voice.

“If something goes wrong I am going to need to rely on you to get help.” She explained knowing Poppy could get back to the castle and get the professors.

“Alright. I will wait here but please… be careful. You know the poachers are incredibly upset with you specifically.” Poppy sounded more concerned than she’d heard the hufflepuff in the past.

“I’m always careful. Wait here.” And with that she slipped after the two poachers she’d spotted and headed closer to the tent.

Hoping over the small stone fence she slipped around the back of the tent, mindful to be quiet. Eventually the voices she had been chasing returned to earshot.

“I still don’t know why Victor has us doing his dirty work. Why should we have to stalk some farm girl to see how poorly she’s doing.”

“But feldcroft of all places. It’s so utterly boring. Not to mention rookwood castle is no longer available to us with those blasted goblins haven taken over victor's home”

That was all she needed for confirmation that it was in fact Anne they were stalking. Some quick thinking made her realize that perhaps drawing them out of the tent to see what she could find inside may be a decent idea.

Slipping around near the flap of the tent, she quietly whispered “confringo” setting some crates at the far edge of the tent on fire. She continued with “bombarda” causing a tree limb to fall on their cart. The ruckus served as enough of a distraction because both the poachers ran out of the tent to investigate as she slipped in behind them.

Inside the tent remained empty of other poachers thankfully. Only a few desks with various pieces of parchment sat on one side with the rest of the space seemed to be more for living as it had bunk beds and tables filled with belongings and food.

She stalked over to the desk, carefully sifting through the parchment. Reading the tops to see if their contents proved useful.

Most of them seemed to be detailed notes for moving magical creatures through the highlands instead of Anne. Until she came across a small, leather bound journal without a label. Opening the ties around it she turned to the first page seeing December 31 1889 across the top. The date alone made her want to lurch knowing that Sebastian and Anne’s birthday was the same time in which Anne was cursed. Pocketing the journal she continued looking for more relevant information when she heard a chuckle behind her before her disillusionment charm was forcibly dropped.

Expeliarmous! Her wand flew from his hands as she truly began to dread what was to come. Was poppy okay? Had they discovered her as well?

“Well well… What do we have here? Looks like someone has wandered too far from the castle…” she turned to see the man, grinning at her like a deranged lunatic. The other man standing next to him came closer, ready to grab her as she clutched her wand and the journal.

“Wait till the boss hears about this. You sweetheart… are going to make me rich. Rookwood put out quite the bounty on your head you know… go get the others!” he said to the other man who quickly apperated away as he came closer.

“Come here, I don’t bite” he said, snatching her into his arms as he grabbed the journal out of her possession.

“Stealing things you shouldn’t… naughty girl. I ought to teach you a lesson before the boss gets here.” He said, voice sliding into a concerning tone.

“Get your hands off me!” She struggled but he pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist as his other hand grabbed her by the hair.

“Not a chance. I’m not letting you get away this time. Besides, you’re such a pretty thing…” he said, his arm around her waist dipping lower to grab her buttocks as she continued to struggle.

“I said get off!” She screamed at him as he laughed.

“Not a chance. The boss has had eyes on you for a while now. How was Christmas down in Feldcroft with the Sallows? Tell me again, what’s that boy's name? The one you let hold your hand? The one you let kiss you? I must say… getting to watch him put his hands on you has been one of the only enjoyable things about being stuck all the way out here…” he said as she panicked knowing he had been watching them closely if he’d seen her and Sebastian. It made her stomach turn now realizing they weren’t truly alone in those moments.

“Cat got your tongue lass? I do wonder truly how much you’ve allowed that Sallow boy to do to you… has he gone so far as to deflower you?” He hissed against her neck as she continued to try and break free from his arms.

“Perhaps I ought to drag him in here. I can ask him myself… and if he hasn’t… well I’ll let him watch as a real man-“ his words were cut off as she heard a loud bombarda sound in the air. The man’s grip was ripped away from her as he went flying across the tent, his head smacking one of the beams as he fell to the ground, limp.

Poppy must’ve been alright. Suddenly the hufflepuff in question ran inside and up to her.

“Are you alright? I saw them follow you and when I got closer I heard him talking. What happened?” Poppy’s questions ran together as she looked around.

“We don’t have time, we need to get out of here. I need to find my wand” she explained searching for her wand eventually finding it.

The sounds of many people apparating filled the air and the two looked panicked at one another.

“Shit. Poppy you need to leave. You need to get out of here. Please. Take this” she said, thrusting the journal and the parchment into the girl's hands as she brushed herself off ready for the fight.

“Not without you. I promised sebas-"Poppy started but she was stopped by the girl.

“No. I don’t care what you promised him, this is more important. That journal may contain the key to saving Anne. Go to Feldcroft immediately and warn Solomon they are coming and to get Anne to Hogwarts. Then leave, take the journal back to nurse Blainey. After you make sure she has it, go get professor Sharp. Tell him where we are. Tell him what’s happened. If you have time, find Ominis and tell him that Solomon knew this whole time what happened to Anne and that I sent you.” She rushed out an explanation as she ran out of the tent seeing the field absolutely filled with rookwood’s men. Poppy ran out behind her seeing over 2 dozen men waiting for them.

“You there, stop!” They shouted at the girls as y/n began firing spells and to protect them both. Poppy joined in for a moment, but with holding onto the journal and parchment, trying to avoid dropping them, she became distracted, missing a poacher lurking behind her.

“Poppy look out!” She shouted blasting him, as a curse from the opposite direction struck her in the back. She struggled but kept herself upright. Looking into the scared brown eyes of her friend she felt herself being blasted with a curse that sent electricity through her body.

Turning around she tried to cast protego around the two of them, to no avail.

“Poppy go, you must!” She shouted over the fighting. The girl shook her head refusing to listen.

“Poppy please, you must… I can’t let her suffer. I can’t let him suffer any longer” she explained, out of breath.

More poachers appeared as she struck them down. The fight seemed like it would be never ending. Lifting her wand she drew down a cloud of her ancient magic, attempting to level the field some and reassure poppy she could leave.

“Poppy go, I’m right behind you. If you don’t warn them now I fear they’ll be in trouble” she explained and poppy nodded sadly accepting the situation.

“I’m coming back for you, I promise. Just hold them off "Poppy said just as she heard the words crucio muttered behind her. The last thing poppy saw before she apparated away was y/n falling to the ground writhing in pain as several poachers crept closer.

Well… the house certainly wasn’t what Sebastian expected. When he and the old man appeared in front of it, he was amazed at the view. It overlooked a massive lake and a small hamlet. There was a tree filled with jobberknoll flying and landing all around them. The view was something out of a dream… the home however.

Had a tree through the roof.

“I know it’s not ideal and will take a lot of work to get the tree out and the roof fixed but it’s got a solid foundation, and you can’t beat the view. Plus I honestly couldn’t think to make you pay much for it. The only thing worth a sickle is the land itself” the man explained. He did have a point but Sebastian worried this sort of transfiguration was above his pay grade.

“It’s not going to be an easy one, but I think it could be…” Sebastian wasn’t sure what possessed him to say “fun” but he did.

The old man chuckled, finding it amusing that a young man would consider this to be the home for his bride to be, and that the insane amount of hard work it would take to restore it would be enjoyable.

“That’s one way to put it for sure.”

“I enjoy a challenge, and I’m quite resourceful. Besides my witch, she’s actually quite the novice at transforming spaces using magic” he explained thinking this might actually be a worthwhile idea. Taking a step inside he could see where the second level used to be and that for the most part only a destroyed potions station remained.

Anne would cringe seeing a potions station destroyed.

Anne. He was supposed to go meet everyone in feldcroft. They were probably waiting for him right about now.

“The fireplace is hooked to the floo network, so once restored it will make traveling easier,” the man explained as he walked around trying to imagine the space being a place that was actually livable. While difficult I'm in its current state, he could almost imagine coming in and seeing her baking bread at what could be the kitchen. Or him playfully chasing her up stairs that they could conjure, as he laughed trying to catch her. Sebastian could build library shelves into the wall so that his books had a home. He could see a small section they could add on; when they needed room for a nursery someday…

“How much would you want for it?” He asked the man.

“Before the tree and the goblin activity in the area I might’ve been able to get a decent penny for the place but now… 50 galleons?” He responded.

Sebastian almost fell over knowing that the man practically intended to let him have the place for a few shifts at the three broomsticks. Money he actually had on him currently.

“That’s all?” He asked, trying to clarify.

“It has become more of a burden to track all the way out here to make sure there’s no squatters if I’m honest. I would be happy knowing a very resourceful young man who seems intent on handling things respectfully is taking care of the place my sister used to love.” He explained and Sebastian pondered.

Should he wait for her? Should he buy it and worse comes to worse they could sell the land and find somewhere else? What if she wanted to live closer to school? It wasn’t Feldcroft but it wasn’t that far knowing they had their own private floo.

“If you’re sure… I think it may be a fun idea for us to fix it up together. I can see that with some love it could be a very beautiful home” Sebastian said after a moment.

“I can send the deed via owl, since I have it back in my home, but if you want to just scribble out a written agreement on those parchments there “ the man pointed to the table and Sebastian nodded, handing him the parchment and quill.

Sebastian reached into his pocket, finding the money Solomon had given him, counting out the gold as the man wrote a loose contract before he signed, handing him the gold and taking the paper.

“I should be going now to meet my friend” the older man explained and Sebastian thanked him, knowing the man had single handedly helped him in many ways with securing a happy future.

As the man left, Sebastian took a look at the home and plot of land, jotting down some crude notes on what he knew he would need to fix and sketching out the current layout, with plans to illustrate things he intended to do. After a long time examining the home he took a walk to the tree out front.

Climbing up its branches he sat upon a decent sized limb lookin out as the sun started to descend, turning the sky brilliant shades of purple and pink. It was quite peaceful from up this high.

He thought of his future, their future. How he could come home every day and see her, happily tending a small garden. He knew she would be thrilled to see the jobberknoll so close to their home, maybe even introduce more beasts to the area. Would she bring her vivariums and protect others? They could build a small wooden table and place it out front and eat dinners on days like this and watch the sunset together or enjoy morning tea or coffee outside.

He could wake up each morning in a double bed instead of his current single and hold her close before they descend the stairs together, perhaps bathe together to get ready for the day. Maybe he could build a swing in the tree and they could relax next to one another overlooking the hamlet.

When she would get sick he could carry her from a spot on the lounge upstairs to their bed, tucking her in and making sure she kept fluids and potions in her. Whenever she was having a bad day he could collect a book from the library he could build, because Merlin knows he loved to read, and he could cheer her up by reading aloud and acting out the voices.

On weekends they could walk down to the coast together, and enjoy a quiet picnic on the beach. When they ran low on things like eggs they could travel down to the hamlet below together and say hi to their neighbors. Then they could walk back, cooking breakfast together as he undoubtedly would make a mess and she’d laugh while attempting to clean it up.

She could help him shave with the razor she got him, the one he was always so happy to use in the mornings even now. He could jokingly make her think she’d nicked his skin just to see her reaction before he’d laugh and allow her to continue. Perhaps he’d even allow her to cut his thick brown hair when it got too unruly as the thoughts of allowing her gentle hands to do so didn’t seem frightening.

They could stay together and share secrets and stories and never grow tired of one another. He’d never known what he wanted in life until he met her and now it all made such sense. Every mundane thing seemed wonderful if it meant it would be with her.

Realizing the time, Sebastian knew he should be heading back, that he should go to Feldcroft and see his family, not to mention: her. But he couldn’t find it in himself to leave this daydream that was slowly becoming a reality. Perhaps he could stay just a little longer and happily continue thinking of the future…

“Mr Sallow! Mr Sallow!” Poppy banged on the door of the home y/n had described as Sebastian’s frantically as she looked over her shoulder. Taking her advice she tucked the journal away, no longer fully trusting Mr. Solomon as she continued trying to get someone to open up. Eventually the door swung open.

“What is Merlin's name?!” The very angry face of a man poppy could only assume was Sebastian’s uncle opening the door. Poppy noticed the way he shared the same brown eyes as Sebastian and Anne but his hair was much darker, with streaks of gray and he had a beard.

“Poppy? Poppy Sweeting?” A timid voice called out behind the man as Poppy pushed her way inside with no regard.

“Anne! Mr. Sallow! We need to leave. I need to get you both out of here.” She said frantically.

“Not until you tell me what the hell is going on here Miss. Just because you go to school with my niece and nephew doesn’t mean you can just barge in here on a Friday nig-“ he started but Poppy interrupted.

“Y/n is in trouble and there are about a dozen of Rookwood’s men most likely headed here this instant. She sacrificed herself so I could escape and warn you both. Please don’t let that be in vain. I need to get her help and you need to leave before it gets too dangerous. We haven’t got long!” She explained hoping to appeal to Solomon’s better nature. Realization crossed the older man’s features and then his eyes hardened.

“Have you no proof for what you speak? I refuse to leave my home on the words of a student.” He explained.

“Uncle Solomon, if she is in trouble we need to help her. You can’t possibly leave y/n to Rookwood’s men all alone. I trust poppy… if she says we need to leave-“ Anne tried to reason but it seemed in vain as Solomon interrupted her.

“I don’t care what you think, we aren’t leaving” he said stubbornly.

“I am. I am no longer a child and you cannot keep me here. If you want to stay here and fight poachers, be my guest” Anne said, grabbing her coat and following Poppy to the floo flame near the home.

“Anne, get back here!” Solomon called behind her but the girl broke out into a faster walk.

“Anne, we have to hurry… y/n also found more information about your curse. Let’s get to Hogwarts and we can go from there "Poppy explained as they approached the floo network, disappearing in time to miss the poachers that ascended on the hamlet, charging towards the Sallow residence.

Solomon, deciding not to fight, went into the home, grabbing what possessions he knew were irreplaceable before apparating away from the home.

He heard something about Hogwarts, knowing he would have to appear off school grounds before heading towards the school due to its charms. So he started after the girls, hoping that his fear of y/n and miss Sweeting discovering his knowledge of Anne’s curse was just in his head…

As Poppy and Anne made their way into Hogwarts, ascending to the hospital Poppy filled her in on what had happened. About the poachers in the area, that Rookwood had been the one to curse Anne, and that she had made out with the journal detailing what exactly he had done to her. How Sebastian’s love had bravely faced a small army of men on her own to ensure Poppy could escape. The only thing she neglected to tell Anne was that Solomon might’ve known the whole time…

Handing the girl the journal they discovered,Anne shook almost violently realizing that it hadn’t been goblins to curse her this whole time and that there was more to the story. The two quickly rounded the top of the stairs, rushing into the hospital ward.

“Nurse Blainey, I believe we may have discovered more information about the curse that affects Anne, if you could look over this journal and notes we discovered for a possible cure, I need to go find professor Sharp,” Poppy explained and Anne grabbed her arm before she left.

“Wait, don't leave me!” Anne said fearfully that once Solomon caught up he’d drag her from school.

“I need to find Professor Sharp to help y/n since he will know how to handle it being an ex auror, since your uncle refused to help. I will see if I can find Sebastian or Ominis, and I will tell them what’s happened I promise "Poppy told her before running off to find help. Just as she left the hospital she was intercepted by Garreth Weasley, climbing the stairs to get to his Aunt’s room.

“Woah, slow down Poppy, you keep running like that you’ll fall down the stairs' ' the ginger joked playfully but when he saw the almost tears forming in her eyes he moved to catch up with her.

“What’s wrong Poppy? What happened?” he asked her, searching for an answer.

“They took her. Rookwood’s men, they have her. I barely escaped. She told me to leave her… Sebastian is going to be so angry with me” she said before dissolving into tears as she continued rushing down the stairs.

Garreth didn’t know who the Hufflepuff was referring to until she said ‘Sebastian’ and then it dawned on him that Sweeting was referring to the new 5th year. Merlin.

“Where are you going? You can’t possibly be going after her on your own?” Garreth exclaimed as Poppy shook her head. Stopping only to catch her breath and explain to him what happened.

“We figured out that Anne Sallow was cursed by Rookwood, and that he had men keeping an eye on her for months now. I am not sure fully why or how, but somehow the twin’s uncle knew more than he’s been letting on. Then we got surrounded and she covered my exit so I could warn the Sallow’ and get Anne out of their home. When I told Solomon what happened… he refused to go back for her, almost didn’t let Anne and I leave. We came straight here. She’s with the nurse going over what we found to maybe see if there’s a cure. But I need to go get Professor Sharp, he will know what to do. He’s a former Auror.” She explained running past a door with a large tortoise shell outside when Garreth stopped her again.

“He won’t be down in his classroom this time of night. Professor Sharp goes to his home away from Hogwarts on the weekends to see his wife.” Garreth explained, and if it hadn’t been for the moment of high stress she’d have inquired how Weasley knew so much of the potions master’s private life.

“Where can I find him?” she asked, worried Sharp would’ve already left the school grounds and she would have to go to Hogsmeade to track down officer Singer, as she was already devising a plan to track down Natty to help locate the officer when Garreth pulled her arm to stop her once more.

“Slow down for a moment. This door right here is Sharp’s quarters. If he is still on school grounds he will be in here. Come on” the tall Gryffindor boy said, dragging her up the few steps, knocking on the door as they waited to see if the potions master was still around. Eventually they heard shuffling behind the closed door and Poppy sighed in relief as the stern and angry face of Aesop Sharp opened the door.

“Mr. Weasley I thought I told you to stop bothering me in my place of residence. I am already late, and my wife Rebecca is already expecting me home…” he trailed off, noting Poppy standing beside the boy with tears on her face and twigs in her hair. His instincts as an Auror kicking in, as he realized something was deeply wrong “Miss Sweeting why are you crying what has happened?”

“I am going to get my Aunt!” Garreth said turning to run when Poppy yelled after him.

“Please try and track down Ominis or Sebastian, they need to know what’s happened” she explained as Garreth nodded, rushing up 3 stairs at a time as his long limbs quickly carried him out of sight.

“Miss Sweeting, I demand to know what happened this instant,” Sharp said, extremely concerned.

“Sir, Rookwood’s men have her. When I escaped they were using the torture curse on her. It was awful.” Poppy said while beginning to cry once more, filled with guilt once more that her friend took an unforgivable curse to make sure that she survived. Unable to explain the situation further she continued to cry as Aesop panicked seeing the young girl filled with anguish. Bending down to her height, despite his injured leg protesting, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Softening his tone he forced the girl to look up at him “Poppy who did they take? Where were you? I need you to help me here. I know this is upsetting but we don't have much time” he explained. Professor Sharp knew the young girl’s past. He had several run-ins with her parents over the years, as they were well known poachers, and had a bounty on their heads. As a professor, he rarely used student’s first names, only really in anger at students like Garreth blowing up cauldrons, however sensing the girl’s distress and needing to find out information quickly, he resorted to breaking formality in order to comfort her.

“The new fifth year. We were near Feldcroft…” Poppy explained, omitting details about what they were doing there.

“How many of them were there?” he asked, still attempting to pry information away from the student as Professor Ronen, having heard the noise up the stairs, came to join them.

“Aesop, what is going on here? Miss Sweeting, are you alright?” Abraham asked, looking down at the girl worried.

“A student has been taken by Rookwood. Go get Professor Fig, as it is Miss y/l/n and I am sure he would like to be made aware she is missing. Miss Sweeting, I need you to show me where you both last were.” Professor Sharp sighed as he looked back in his quarters, knowing his weekend away from the school would be put on hold. Summoning a quill he quickly jotted down a message for his wife, informing her he was going to be late coming home, as an urgent matter involving a student’s safety had taken priority, profusely apologizing before he turned back to Poppy.

“Sir… there’s something else you should know” Poppy said, having finally calmed down.

“Yes?” he asked, trying not to sound annoyed as he filled a satchel with potions and started off towards the bottom of the faculty tower to the floo network.

“Mr. Sallow… Anne and Sebastian’s Uncle… he knew that she had been taken, possibly even why she was taken and he refused to help her… he also was mad that I brought Anne to the school” she explained quickly as confusion crossed his face.

“Solomon Sallow knew the girl had been taken and didn’t try to help her? Correct me if I am wrong Miss Sweeting,” he said, rounding the last flight of stairs with her as adrenaline slowly filled his body with the strength to ignore the pain in his leg “as much as I try to ignore my student’s personal lives, it's been a tad hard to neglect noticing… but isn’t Miss y/l/n involved with Sebastian Sallow? I admit it appears the girl has been a fine influence on the boy either way” The thought that Solomon would allow his nephew’s friend or sweetheart to be hurt by criminals confounded the man, however having worked with him at the Ministry for some time, it wouldn’t fully surprise him. Solomon Sallow often walked too closely to the line of dark wizard’s for his taste.

“Yes sir. They are courting Sir. Quite seriously I may add… she spent the holidays with them in Feldcroft” Poppy explained as they came to stand near the flame, poppy holding out her pouch filled with power.

“Remind me to have a word with Solomon regarding the matter.” he said sternly as they both used the Floo network to disappear off school grounds.

Sebastian’s stomach rumbled as he decided that it was well past the time he had intended to meet the others at his home. Stepping back one last time to look over the peaceful view of Marunweem he finally decided to apparate to Feldcroft to join his family.

He was expecting the normal quiet sounds of the hamlet when he arrived: the birds chirping, the wind blowing, the distant sound of waves breaking on the shore, the occasional cow mooing. What he was not expecting was to be thrown in the midst of his neighbors trying to fend off Rookwood’s men.

Small fires filled the hamlet and lots of shouting sounded in the air. Curses and spells being called out all around him.

“We must fend them off and drive them back out of the village!” Bernard the merchant shouted as Sebastian frantically looked around for Solomon and Anne. Not seeing his uncle, who should’ve been leading the charge as a former Auror with the most combat experience, his stomach dropped.

Sebastian rushed over to his childhood home, seeing it swarming with poachers. When he made it through the front door, which remained ajar, he blasted the first man he saw into the wall, not caring for how hard the man’s head smacked into the brick there. His mind went unconscious as he only briefly scanned the faces of those who had invaded his home, only making sure it wasn’t his uncle or sister, before blasting them into oblivion.

He tore through every single one of them, with little thought as they all fell to the floor, incapacitated and some possibly even dead judging by the looks of it. He hardly cared, as defending his home was a priority over the criminal's lives.

It wasn’t long before he felt a hand on his shoulder, aggressively shoving the tip of his aspen wand in the face of Mr. Ndiaye, who’s wide eyes at the sight of the light wood looked startled. Sebastian lowered his wand, recognizing the man as his neighbor, not another poacher.

“What happened?” Sebastian asked frantically, looking around to see if anything had been taken from his home, attempting to douse a small fire in the corner.

“We are not sure. I heard a small argument between your sister and Uncle, along with another student. Anne left with the girl and as Solomon left to follow after them, Feldcroft was suddenly under attack by Rookwood’s men. They were looking for something in your home. Solomon did not stay to help.” Mr. Ndiaye said, sounding shocked that their long time friend had left them to defend themselves against dark wizards.

“Solomon left you all?! What student? Was it y/n?! Was she here?” he said frantically, looking around before cupping his mouth and shouting her name to no reply.

“No it was not. It was some girl who must’ve been in Hufflepuff… she wore yellow and looked frightened.” Bernard explained and Sebastian almost felt his legs give out under him. Poppy. Poppy was in Feldcroft. Without her. Poppy wouldn't have been alone unless...

“Are you sure she was alone? That she didn’t have my… that y/n wasn’t here with her” Sebastian asked hoping the man had mistaken what he’d seen.

Mr. Ndiaye looked down reverently and shook his head. “She was not here Sebastian…”

Sebastian took a step back from him, running out of the house, and down the hill some. He started shouting her name, praying to Merlin that by some miracle she was out there, where she could hear him, and that she would come running to him. After a while of shouting, his voice went raw and he fell to his knees, feeling the ring box in his pocket as he sobbed into the cool air of the night…

To be continued...

#hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow #anne sallow #fluff #ominis gaunt #sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow x slytherin!reader #sebastian sallow x you #sebastian sallow/reader #aesop sharp

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jake-whatthefisgoingon-kiszka · 4 months

Text

Sorry this is so late, but Happy New Years here’s part 12! I hope you hate it as much as I do! Want to find out what’s happening? Start here in part 1.

Pairings: Sam Kiszka x Danny Wagner ***slash for 2024!

Warnings and tags: 18+ only!!!, slash ofc, sexual situations including oral (m receiving), slight masturbation, messy love triangles, lots of angst, third person POV Sam, Danny, and Jake, restaurant AU

Word count: 6k

Come on Danny pick up. Jake tried his number again when the first call eventually went to voicemail.

“Hello?” Danny answered with a slightly confused, slightly concerned tone in his voice.

“Hey, I’m sorry for calling like this”. Jake sounded a bit frantic on the other end, though whatever the matter was he still had the mind to apologize for calling out of the blue.

“No umm, it’s alright” Danny replied, looking over at Sam who was laid out on his bed, stark naked, hair still dripping wet, with an unamused look on his face. His brows were perched on the verge of an eye roll, mouthing ‘seriously’ to which Danny just shrugged. Sure it was bad timing to answer a phone call right now, but Jake never just called for nothing. “What’s up?”

“Kim is sick, she woke up this morning not feeling well. Thought she might get over it but now she’s running a high fever. We’re on our way to the hospital”.

“Oh no, Is she okay?” Surely she was fine, he’d seen her just last night. Although looking back on it she did seem a little lethargic and short fused, he hadn’t looked into it. He wished now he would have stopped and at least asked if she was alright.

Sam lost his attitude when he heard Danny’s voice turn more serious, wondering who it was he was asking about.

“She will be fine, just want to get her looked at. I’m sorry to ask, but do you think you could go in tonight to cover for her?”

Danny’s shoulders fell as he looked over at Sam again, waiting for him to give him any more clues about what was going on. “Yeah. I can do that, give me about fifteen minutes to get dressed and I’ll head over there”.

“Thanks, I owe you one”.

Danny hung up the phone and let out the long sigh he’d been holding in, then moved over to his closet to start getting ready.

“Where are you going?” Sam questioned, standing up off the bed and wrapping his arms around Danny’s waist in a feeble attempt to convince him to stay.

“Kim is sick, I’m going in to work to cover for her” he replied, pulling one of his black button ups out and tossing it onto his desk.

“Can’t anyone else go?” His arms tightened around him, pressing his now neglected erection into Danny’s hip with a purposeful whiny whimper. “What am I supposed to do about this?”

Danny’s lips pulled into a Cheshire grin. They were no longer going to get the night he envisioned, but he was not about to leave his lover high and dry.

“It will only take me five minutes to get dressed” he informed him, turning around in his arms and walking him backwards back to the bed. “Lay back down, you’ve got ten minutes to make this count”.

Sam wasn’t happy Danny had to go into work. Danny wasn’t exactly thrilled about it either, but he was at least pleased that he was trusted enough to be called in as Kim’s replacement.

Being Kim for the night proved to be a little more challenging than he’d expected though. It gave him more appreciation for her management style and how she was able to juggle helping with tables, answering a dozen and a half random questions at the drop of a hat, organizing the team and delegating tasks, all while being extra bright and friendly to the guests and staff alike.

Being the stand in dining room manager also meant he had to work side by side with the bar manager on duty tonight. Which of course was Savanna.

He didn’t expect much more than the bare minimum from her when he asked a couple of times for help, but when he got the cold shoulder the second time he decided at least having to figure it out by himself would be a learning experience.

Savanna ignoring him he understood, even felt like he deserved a little bit, but in the previous days this week Jake couldn’t seem to look him straight in the eye either. Let alone talk to him for more than a few short words here and there.

Danny wasn’t exactly sure what was getting to Jake, but he figured it must be something to do with the conversation they’d had in the garage back at his parents house. Jake was probably putting some distance between them which made sense, he only wished it didn’t feel like it had to be this way. That their friendship had to be kept within tight boundaries now otherwise toes might get stepped on.

Though all the extra time he spent with Sam was rewarding in more ways than one, he did miss hanging out with Jake. He was a cool guy, easy to be around, and he did always cook really good food when Danny came over.

Kim was the only one Danny still regularly met up with, though he figured their usual friend date this weekend would probably be canceled on account of her illness. Even then, she seemed a bit more reserved than usual during their brunches. By this point everyone in their circle knew of him and Sam dating, but still no one seemed to talk much about it very much. That made it feel even more like a dirty secret than it ever did before.

The one thing Danny wasn’t sure of was how much Jake had told Kim. Had he said anything to her about the two of them? They never really discussed what they were and were not comfortable talking about after everything all went down. Danny did prefer that only their very close friends know, if necessary at all, though he wouldn’t deny Jake his freedom to tell who he wanted his own history.

The more he thought about it, the more he considered Kim knowing everything would actually be a relief. He couldn’t exactly talk to Sam about these pent up feelings for missing Jake. No, Sam wouldn’t take that lightly. For some reason, telling Jake he missed him sounded a little too far out of line as well. Being able to talk to Kim about the mess in his head might actually help clear some things up for him.

They closed later than usual, having gotten behind during the chaos that was their dinner rush. Danny still felt good about all he did manage to accomplish tonight though, considering it was his first time closing solo without Jake or Kim guiding him.

He checked his phone for the first time in hours after climbing tiredly into his driver's seat. A few texts from Sam asking him how it was going, then about an hour later a text that said ‘guess you’re busy, goodnight’.

His heart clenched a little bit. He probably could have taken a quick break and slipped into the manager's office to text him back. If he had done that though, he might have said something in the moment about Savanna out of frustration.

Sam and her seemed to still be getting along well while at work. Danny tried not to let it bother him. He trusted Sam. Though he didn’t exactly believe she was just going to back down quietly after trying to get him back once already.

Just before he was about to start the car and head home another text came through, a text from Jake.

Thanks again for covering for Kim tonight. We got back from the hospital about a couple of hours ago. She has a really bad case of the flu but she’s medicated now and has been sleeping it off

1:03AM

He stared at the dim screen for a few minutes, debating on how to reply, before just hitting the contact and giving him a call. It rang only a couple of times before Jake answered quietly.

“Hello? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine, just closed up. Wanted to call and check on you”.

Danny squeezed his eyes shut and let his head fall to the window with a muffled thump of his hair against the glass. Check on you? Jesus, could he be any more obvious? Kim was the one who was sick, he should be more concerned with how she’s doing.

“Oh, yeah I’m alright. Kim tried to fight me about going to the hospital at first so I tried my best to take care of her all day. Finally got to the point where I had to put my foot down and nearly carry her to the car”. He chuckled a little bit on the other end of the phone and Danny felt immediately relieved.

Jake really cared about Kim which made him extremely grateful that two of the most important people in his life right now were finding comfort and solace in each other. Everything should've been perfect by this point, what with him and Sam and Jake and Kim being together, but Danny couldn’t deny that something still felt off.

A silence fell between them while Danny attempted to collect himself. He was tired, drained both physically and mentally, and the jumbled twist of emotions within him were finally starting to take their toll. Digging their roots deep into the seams of his skull until he could feel them starting to crack the bone apart.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Danny questioned with his temple and shoulder still slumped against the door. Jake replied with a simple hum of his own raspy tired voice. “Do you ever wish that you loved me?”

The words came rolling out before he could stop and think about rephrasing them, or maybe even keeping them locked away like many of the other trifling thoughts he’d had.

Jake didn’t seem caught up by the question though, bursting out into a cute little fit of laughter that he tried to stifle quickly. He was probably still nearby Kim and didn’t want to wake her. “What? I do love you Danny”.

Danny’s blood ran warm. Like it did when he’d had one too many drinks, or when the right pull off a joint finally hit him.

“And Josh loves you, and Kim loves you, and Sammy loves you, we all do”.

Of course Jake wouldn’t think of answering that question any other way. Danny wasn’t even sure why he’d asked it in the first place. Perhaps other than his own selfish desire to please everyone to the point that he’d started to lose exactly who he was without the constant reassurance that he was loved by others.

He forced a chuckle to attempt to match Jake’s tone, like that’s exactly what he’d meant by that question. “You’re right, thanks for reminding me”.

“Thanks for checking in. I’ll talk to you later okay?”

“Of course, goodnight Jake”.

“Goodnight Dan”.

Jake let out a shaky breath when he heard the line go silent. Danny’s question rattled him.

What was he supposed to say? No? Jake knew all too well the sting of that simple word.

What if he were to tell the truth though? He never could. Not for Sam’s sake, he was already on thin ice with his brother in regards to Danny. And certainly not for Danny’s sake.

What good would it do anyone to dredge up feelings that had been washed away. Carried out to sea like tiny grains of sand from a beach somewhere far away.

He peaked back through the crack of his bedroom door, from the hallway where he’d hurried off to answer Danny’s phone call. Kim slept soundly, no doubt in a steroid induced slumber from all the meds they’d pumped her full of at the hospital. She was dehydrated, despite all the fluids he’d tried to persuade her with before he made the decision to take her.

Despite the day he’d had Jake wasn’t quite ready to go to bed just yet, but he didn’t want to bother Kim so he left the door cracked open and went downstairs.

After boiling some water, he poured it over a random tea bag from a stash he’d found Josh had left high up in the pantry. He took a sip of the hot herbal liquid and exhaled, it was pretty good, Josh always had excellent taste.

Jake sat down on his couch and picked up the remote as he continued to sip on his tea, flipping through the list of movies on the TV until he stopped at one that looked familiar though he couldn’t remember exactly what it was about. He selected the movie and saw that he had already watched it at some point. He hit play from beginning and sat back into the couch, watching intently as the flashing images started to make sense. He had watched this movie before, well at least started it before Danny came over and they… yeah he didn’t really watch the movie.

Deciding to give it a shot this time he watched until he finished his drink, getting up to place the mug in the sink before returning to lay on the couch.

Jake stared at the TV, but his head was filled with anything but the movie. One of his arms raised up to the back of the couch and he gripped the frame, feeling and remembering the way he’d gripped so tightly onto it that evening. Before he could think about what he was doing, his other hand came to rest high on his thigh and his breath started to pick up.

He didn’t remember what had happened in the movie, but his body remembered how it had felt with Danny’s hands all over him. His throat started to feel raw again, remembering the way he’d groaned and cried ‘more, harder’. His head fell back and he closed his eyes as the hand on his thigh crept across and he started palming himself over his pants.

There was hardly any friction, and he was too exhausted to worry about actually getting himself off, but his body relaxed as his hips started to roll forward in sync with the rubbing of his hand. It felt good, not just because he was lazily touching himself, but because of the rushing memories pumping through him.

Seeing Danny while being with someone else, drunk or not, was certainly not okay and he’d been trying to rectify that ever since by distancing himself a little more than he wanted to. Letting himself remember though, there was no harm in that right? He was alone down here and he just wanted to let go. So let go he did, until the memories faded away and his body went limp as sleep took over.

When Danny got home, his room was dark and empty as he changed into something warm and comfy to sleep in. He made his way down the hallway to go to the restroom once more before bed, but stopped by Sam’s door on his way back. He’d left it open, unusual for the times when he slept in his own room.

A light was still on as well, so he peaked inside and found Sam slumped over on his desk. A textbook was open in front of him, and his cell phone was on the charger but near his hand like it had fallen out of his grip when he fell asleep.

Danny sighed, Sam really could sleep anywhere, but he couldn’t leave him like that.

“Sam, come on let’s get you in bed”. He shook his shoulder, hardly waking him up as he helped Sam stand up. When he successfully got him vertical he was able to take in the state of him, and smiled at what he saw.

Sam had gone through his closet when he left and pulled out one of Danny’s old shirts from his highschool golf team. He hadn’t seen that shirt in at least over a year, so Sam must have really dug to the back of the closet to find it. Danny wondered if he had just been bored, or if Sam had gone looking for that shirt in particular.

“Mmm, I was having a good dream” Sam mumbled as he stumbled over to his bed, swinging around out of Danny’s grasp to plop down onto the edge.

“About what?” Danny indulged him by stepping forward, though he only intended to ensure Sam successfully got into bed and under the covers.

Sam’s mischievous smirk was illuminated by the soft glow of the lamp left on at his desk. Once Danny was within close enough range he reached up and grabbed his shirt collar then fell back onto the bed sending Danny tumbling forward on top of him. Danny barely caught himself with one hand on the bed and one on Sam’s shoulder, but Sam tugged him again and connected their lips.

“Shall we pick up where we left off?” He tried to seductively suggest by wrapping his legs around Danny’s waist as he continued to attack his lips with his own.

Danny let Sam kiss him, though he didn’t return the same energy. Not only was he physically not up for the task now, but mentally he wasn’t in the right place anymore.

“You’re insatiable” he chuckled lowly when he was able to pull back, trying to mask the true turmoil he was fighting within. Sam stared up at Danny with an uneasy questioning in his eyes, his legs falling limply to either side of Danny as he gently caressed the hair at the top of Sam’s head.

Earlier Danny was sultry and demanding in his words and actions. Sam had liked it, the way he controlled the moment and all Sam had to do was play along. Now Danny was light in his touches, easy with him like Sam was some porcelain doll he could break if he pressed too hard.

“What’s the matter?”

Danny sighed, but continued his petting. He leaned down to attempt to kiss his worries away, at least for tonight, but Sam turned away letting Danny’s kiss fall on his jaw instead. He looked again, his brows furrowing and his eyes repeating his question.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve really enjoyed this week together,” Danny hesitantly began, hoping that Sam wouldn’t take this the wrong way, “but I think we should slow down a bit again”.

He waited for Sam to reply, to ask more questions, anything, but all Sam did was forcibly push Danny off of him and roll over to crawl up to the head of the bed.

“Sam-”

“Get out” Sam cut him off, curling his legs towards his chest and pulling at the blanket underneath him.

“Sam, please don’t be mad at me” Danny begged, wishing now that he hadn’t said anything at all. He should have given Sam some other excuse and let this wait until morning.

“I don’t understand you Danny” Sam groaned, rubbing the leftover sleep from his eyes and face. “First you want to wait, then you don’t, and now you want to wait again? What’s changed? Is it because I said I wanted to fuck you? Did you think I was just always going to let you have it any way you wanted?”

“What? No!” Danny was stunned, did Sam really think that was a problem for him? He didn’t care about the logistics of who did what. He just wanted to make sure his mind was in the right place before they continued to get carried away with the physical side of their relationship.

Sam had said it himself at Christmas, he wished Danny would have talked to him first before they had sex. That’s what he was trying to do this time, talk to Sam about what was bothering him before trying to mask it, only he was failing horribly. What even was he trying to say? He didn’t know, but he knew he had to figure it out before he hurt anyone again.

“Didn’t you and Jake do it all the time? What’s the problem with me then?” Sam’s voice sounded his hurt which only made Danny quiver with grief.

Danny wasn’t surprised to hear Jake’s name come into question. Sam was smart, sometimes a little too smart for his own good, and he had an intuition that was incomparable to anyone else he’d ever met.

“No Sammy, there’s nothing wrong with you” he reached out to try and put a comforting hand on his knee, but Sam pulled his legs tighter to his chest. “There’s never been anything wrong with you, not ever. I'm just… a little mixed up right now”.

“Mixed up?” Sam scoffed which turned into a dark laughter as he moved to hide his face by landing his forehead on his knees. “How long have you been ‘mixed up’ exactly?”

That was a good question. Only Danny didn’t know the real answer, because there was more than one. It could have been since tonight, when he heard Jake’s voice over the phone and realized that it still made his chest uncomfortably tight. Or it could have been when he got that book in the mail that he’d given to Jake for Christmas, suddenly remembering the night he laid in Jake’s bed rummaging through his things while Jake showered. He’d thought at the time how intimate that was, being left alone in someone’s room surrounded by all their most personal belongings. He hadn’t intended to gift him the book when he’d ordered it that night, only slip it into its place alongside the others on Jake’s headboard. He had no reason to be in Jake’s bed anymore now, but he thought the book still deserved to be where it belonged. With who it belonged to.

“Okay then” Sam shakily exhaled, finally pulling the blankets up over his body and sliding down. “I want to go back to sleep now. I think it’s best we stay in our own beds until you’re not ‘mixed up’ any more”.

Sam’s words stung but he was right, so Danny didn’t contest. Instead he just leaned over and left him with a kiss to his crown and quietly left, turning out the light on his way.

When Sam heard the click of his door closing behind Danny he let out a hard choked sob.

Fucking Jake. He always got in the way. First with whatever his vendetta was against Savanna, and now Sam was afraid he might have stolen Danny away.

“You’ve gotten your flights already?” Danny questioned as he watched Sam start packing his bags for his trip in the next few days.

Since learningthat Sam was going to LA after graduation, they had talked about it only a handful of times. Though he had already given his answer to their offer, Sam wanted to visit once to get the lay of the land before really preparing to move.

Danny was going to go with him, but recently they had been trying to spend some time apart, so they decided Sam going alone was for the better.

Spending time apart didn’t mean completely abstaining from each other though. Sam still slept in Danny’s room a couple of times, yet cuddling and kissing had been the extent of their activities.

“Yeah, I have an early morning flight. Tomorrow night I’ll sleep in here so I won’t bother you when I get up”.

Danny stood up from where he had taken a seat at Sam’s desk and moved behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and rested his chin on Sam’s shoulder. “You won’t leave without saying goodbye to me though will you?”

“We could say our goodbyes tonight if you wanted?” Sam suggested, letting his body lean fully against the weight of Danny on his back.

Danny nuzzled his nose behind the shell of Sam’s ear, breathing in his natural scent and letting the endorphins take him over. After the intoxicating smell, he decided he needed a little taste, so he pulled Sam’s lobe between his teeth and gave it a little nibble.

Sam let out a whimper, his body shaking slightly underneath Danny’s hovering form, and he twisted around in his grip so they could face each other. His arms came up to circle around Danny’s shoulders, and he pulled him down into a heated kiss, quickly parting Danny’s lips with his own and slipping his tongue inside for a taste of his own.

“You want to?” Danny asked just above a whisper, not letting their lips separate for long. Things still weren’t settled between them, but he couldn’t silence the desperation in the way his body talked, especially when Sam’s was sending him so many signals.

He felt Sam nod and tighten his grip, again answering without his words. “Do you want to go to my bedroom? Or stay in here?” Danny looked past Sam’s shoulder at the mess of clothes and bags sprawled out on his bed. He didn’t want to interrupt his packing but Sam didn’t seem to mind. He blindly reached behind himself and swiped his hand across the sheets, sending all his belongings tumbling onto the floor in an arrangement of soft and loud thuds, before sitting down and taking Danny along with him.

Here they were again, Sam was underneath Danny and he was bucking his hips upwards, trying to get any friction he could, as fast as he could before they could back track. He held Danny close by the collar of his shirt, and when Danny’s hands circled around his wrists to pull them off, he halted his movements and started up at him with the fear of being rejected again.

Danny’s expression didn’t read rejection this time though, no the fierceness had returned. The blacks of his eyes had blown wide, leaving only a small halo of mossy green behind and he peeled his shirt off before returning to kissing Sam.

Sam closed his eyes and let the fiery feeling sink into his skin and settle into the pit of his stomach as Danny trailed his kisses down to his neck. He wondered if Danny would leave any new marks on him where all the others had already faded.

“Want… Jake…” he heard Danny’s voice muffled against his shoulder, causing his eyes to snap open and his blood to run cold.

“What did you just say?”

Danny pulled back, unphased, and repeated what he’d said. “Want to take this off” he tugged at the collar of Sam’s shirt. “Can I?”

“Oh, yeah” Sam tried to steady his heart beat as he lifted his shoulders and helped Danny pull his shirt off.

“What did you think I said?” Danny chuckled, unaware of the mini heart attack he’d just given him.

“Nothing, nothing at all” Sam replied, wrapping his arms back around him and trying to keep going.

Danny let his hands trail down Sam’s torso, leaving behind a trail of goosebumps now that Sam was cold and still shaking.

Danny thought he was just really into it, which only urged him to do more. He kissed his chest, then his naval, then hovered above his groin as his fingers played with the waistband of his sweats. If there was anything he could do to make up for the last time, he knew this would be it.

Sam bit his lip and lifted his hips as Danny started to pull his pants down.

“…Jake… so good”.

“What?” Sam snapped again. Why the fuck did he keep hearing Jake’s name out of Danny’s mouth? And when it was so close to his faltering erection?

“I said”, Danny kissed his member over his underwear next, letting his hot breath linger there, “gonna make you feel so good”.

Sam reached down and pulled his last piece of clothing off, making Danny chuckle again at his impatience. “No more talking” Sam demanded, weaving his fingers through Danny’s hair and pushing him down.

Danny gladly took him in, bobbing his head up and down eager to please. Sam stared up at the ceiling, digging his fingernails into Danny’s scalp with each downward movement, trying to keep his concentration as best he could now that he’d been rattled a few times.

He attempted to close his eyes again, but when he did he pictured Danny on his knees in front of someone with long brown hair. At first he thought maybe he was picturing himself, but then they turned around and of course it was Jake.

“Goddammit!” Sam yelled, starting Danny off him.

“What? Did I hurt you?” Danny started to panic. He wasn’t sure what he’d done, but he’d been so focused on trying to do a good job he might not have noticed if he nicked him with his teeth or something.

“I’m sorry, I thought I could do this but I can’t”. Sam stood up off the bed and snatched his sweatpants up from off the floor, hurriedly stuffing his legs back into them and covering himself. He suddenly felt very exposed.

“Sam, talk to me, what’s the matter?”

Sam raked his fingers through his hair and shook his head, trying to get the images he’d been repressing over the past few days out of his head. “Every time I’m with you like this I can’t stop thinking about you and my brother! At first I thought it was a one time thing, but it just keeps happening, and it’s getting worse”. His voice came out louder than he’d intended, but he really was tired of this, tired of it all.

He thought maybe if he could get through one time, then go on his trip and let himself start to miss Danny, then he’d come home and things might just start to finally fall into place.

Danny stared at him blankly, which only pissed him off even more. “Why would you think of that?” He babbled dumfoundly, though in the back of his mind Danny knew the reasoning was obvious.

“I don’t know Daniel, maybe if…” he started to trail off, thinking finishing this thought out loud might do more harm than it would any good.

“Maybe what?” Danny pushed on, starting to get a little worked up himself. He couldn’t keep going around in circles like this, they had to hash this out now before they both started losing their minds.

“Maybe if you had said something sooner, before you and Jake ever… I mean if I’d had just known sooner then maybe things would be different”. His thoughts were coming out in a jumbled mess, but Danny was getting the gist of it. Sam tried to come to grips with the fact that he and Jake had been intimate many times before, but the truth was he hated it.

He hated that Danny felt like he couldn’t confess to him sooner, but somehow Jake was easy enough to open up to without all the extra fuss and complication that their whirlwind relationship had accumulated over the past few months.

He hated that he felt like maybe his brother would be a better lover than he ever could be.

“How was I supposed to tell you when you were with Savanna? You have nothing to lose with this Sam. You think if you went crawling back to her right now she wouldn’t take you back?”

“You think if you went to Jake he wouldn’t take you back?” Sam's voice was filled with venom now, biting at Danny for insinuating that he was the only one who had nothing to lose. Sam being afraid of losing Danny was the whole reason they’d gotten swept up like this together in the first place. He promised to give this a chance, see how far they could go together, but he was starting to think that the true beauty in their relationship lied in the way it was before.

He didn’t want to hurt Danny, and he could never hate him; Sam simply wasn’t capable of actually hating anybody. He just missed the effortlessness of their friendship.

“So what does this mean then?” Danny questioned after a moment of silence. They were in a standoff, standing in the middle of a shaky wooden bridge over a never ending gorge with their only options being pushing forward and hoping the fraying ropes wouldn’t snap, or going back to where they knew it was safe.

“I think you know what this means”. Sam couldn’t look him in the eye, couldn’t bring himself to see the way his words tore through Danny like he was ripping pages right out of a book. Pages that didn’t belong anymore, at least not in this story.

Sam wanted a break, a chance to get away and figure things out on his own without the constant pressure of others. Taking this trip now was probably the best thing that could happen for them. Sam would go away for a few days and when he got back hopefully they could sort this out once and for all.

“I understand Sam” Danny replied dejectedly, but at least there was no more anger in his tone. He couldn’t be angry at Sam, not when the both of them had made the choices that led them here.

He thought back to a comment Jake had made a while ago-

“Danny, you don’t regret anything we’ve done do you?”

The thing was, even with this outcome, Danny still didn’t regret anything. Because all the things he’d learned about himself along the way, and the confidence he grew, were what made him capable of even attempting this with Sam. If he had said anything sooner, he wasn’t sure he would have been ready to face everything they had and things could have ended up a lot worse.

“I’m going to go, let you finish packing up. I’ll see you in the morning, ok?”

“I’m sorry Daniel” Sam’s lips quivered as he spoke. Danny was holding himself together better than he’d expected he would, and he knew that was a good thing, but that didn’t mean he still wasn’t sorry.

“Don’t be,” Danny stood and placed his hands lightly on each of Sam’s shoulders mustering up the best half smile he could manage before giving him a feather light kiss on the cheek. “I still love you, I always will”.

Sam nodded and sniffled a little, wiping the corner of his eye before the tear could even fall. Danny was being strong for him, he knew he was, so he had to reel it in too. The thing was, he wasn’t crumbling because he thought this would be the end of them. He was letting it all out because he knew it was the right decision.

The next day Danny tiptoed around Sam, wanting to still spend time with him before he left, but not wanting to overstep any new boundaries he knew they’d have to establish eventually.

The day seemed to drag on, but at the same time he felt like after he cried himself to sleep that night, when his eyes finally did shut, they were open again the next morning and Sam was gone.

Now that he had the space to himself he knew he could begin to collapse. He could open the floodgates and let the rush of emotions he kept damned up sweep through him until every nerve in his body had eroded away.

Something told him if he let that happen though, he might not be able to plug it back up when Sam returned, so instead he looked for distractions.

The first distraction was cleaning, but the problem was he and Sam were actually pretty tidy people to begin with, so there wasn’t much for him to do there.

The second distraction was work. He’d picked up an extra shift knowing he was going to be antsy and in a bad mood while Sam was gone. He realized though that the monotony of doing the same thing he always did, taking orders, tidying up the dining room when he had the chance, and stocking menus and utensils didn’t help keep his mind from telling him over and over again that he wasn’t good enough.

By the time his shift was finally over he was ready to bolt out the door, but he was dreading going back to an empty home. So instead Danny drove around for a while, thinking he could head to the library and maybe studying would keep him distracted, but he didn’t want to run into any classmates while he was in this state.

Eventually his car came to a stop on a familiar street and he waited outside, debating on if he should even attempt walking up to the door.

Danny held his breath as he knocked. There wasn’t an answer right away, but his car was also parked outside so Danny was pretty sure he was home. He jumped a little at the sound of the door unlocking, forcing him to breathe again as Jake opened the door.

“Hey, what's up?” Jake asked, surprised to see Danny at his doorstep unannounced. He took one good look at Danny and immediately knew something was wrong. “Wait, are you alright?”

Danny opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was an incoherent jumble of “Sam… gone… broke up” as tears started to well up again.

Jake threw his arms around Danny and tried to console him and he drug him inside, shutting the door behind them with a kick of his bare foot.

He sat Danny down on his couch and crouched down in front of him, waiting patiently as he caressed one of Danny’s hands until the tears started to run out.

Once Danny was done he moved to sit next to him, not letting his hand go and sympathetically asked him,

“Tell me what happened”.

@alwaysonthemend @psychedelicstardust-gvf @twistedmelodies @heckingfrick

#greta van fleet #greta van fic #greta van smut #danny wagner #jake kiszka #sam kiszka #gvf #sanny gvf #janny gvf

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anniebear-92 · 9 months

Text

Afterlife

Part Six - A little boy's hero

Summary: Apologizing to your Poltergeist you now know as Katsuki Bakugo, you try to make the best of the situation for the both of you. Going surprisingly well until you get a call that brings you back into the case you had asked to be removed from...

Warnings: Cursing, adult jokes, talks of death/dying, harm of a child. Dark themes this part.

Tag list: @browneyedgirl22 @simplybaconic @ghostsofscarley @optimisticprime3 @lukerycyja-reblogs @eyesforbkg @derangedmango @bakucumsackslut @jazzafaye5294 @lynnsqueendom @Iwannahaveaprettyaestetic @blackout-ice-biohazard

You awoke that morning with the bright sunlight bullying it's way into your eyes, a groan leaving you as they finally crack open from losing the fight. The sight before you made you shrink back for a brief moment, something you never thought you'd see.

The poltergeist living in your house was laying peacefully across from you in the bed, not one frown line in sight. His stupid handsome face was slack with rest, soft puffs of air passing through those soft looking, pink lips. Though ghosts technically don't require to breath any longer, it was a habit from living most continued after death.

You took the rare opportunity to take in his features that you would otherwise not be able, either a scowl, yelling or annoying the living piss out of you in the meantime would fill this moment. The last time you knew he had been in the bed was the second time you saw him, the first time officially meeting. His messy bangs fell gently onto his forehead, making you wonder if they were as soft and silky as they looked.

Your gaze fell lower to be met with those pools of crimson, blinking slowly at you as a soft frown set into his lips and his brows furrowed.

"Good Morning." You offered with a soft smile, shaking off the embarrassment of being caught watching him sleep like some creeper. He grunted in response while you stretched your limbs out like a cat, groaning from the ache in your muscles from being curled up all night.

"How did you sleep?" You tried again in an attempt at civil conversation after the period of his cold shoulder, a few moments of silence you let out a soft sigh before slipping out of bed and expecting yet another day of silence.

"Like the dead."

Your head whipped back to him, watching as he pulled the blanket up over his nose so only those surprisingly relaxed eyes were visible. He watched as you broke into light laughter at his sudden joke, turning to find clothes for the day.

The clock advised it was later in the afternoon, since you had been up most of the night looking up everything possible about the man... ghost? Whatever he is a man.

"Any plans for the day?"

A grin to yourself knowing full well he couldn't leave, a stuffed toy hit the back of your head as you turned quickly to see him smirk in triumph.

"I can do that now."

Huffing you leaned down to pick up the thrown object, he was really embracing that Poltergeist nickname.

"I have to go shopping for some groceries this afternoon, I was hoping after we could sit and talk?"

You shot him a hopeful look while hugging the stuffed toy to your chest, he rolled his eyes and snuggled back down into the blankets.

"No."

Pursing your lips you cocked your hip to the side, "You're really going to talk to me this morning and then go back to ignoring me?"

He shrugged and flipped his body away from you as he loved to do.

"Fine! Be that way... Bakugo."

His body tensed visibly, turning slowly back towards you with his eyes narrowed into pinpoints. "How the fuck did you learn my name?"

You shot him your best shit eating grin, "Guess you'll have to talk to me later to find out huh?"

Turning on your heel you hid away in the bathroom in order to get ready to pick up essentials needed for later. You had planned out what you wanted to try and wasn't even sure if it would work or not. After your discussion with Mitsuki, you had found out a few things that you hoped would help out with your plan.

The trip to the grocery store was a short one, only throwing in what you needed one at a time. Since you planned to make this short you decided any major grocery shopping would be done another day so you could return quickly.

Once back home you found him no where in the direct vicinity, dumping out your haul on the counter. Placing the items where they belonged that you didn't need and leaving out the fixing for dinner you were about to make.

"The fuck did you buy? Half the store?"

The voice behind you made you turn quickly, finding him standing a little close for comfort. He had been peering over your head at what you were digging out of the bags, your hands gripped the counter behind you.

"You really need a damn bell sometimes!" You spat, turning back as heat found it's way into your cheeks from the proximity.

"I'm not a fucking cat, Those shits hate me." He moved to your side now, picking up a head of lettuce and eyeing a few other things as he simply ran his fingers over some of them in what seemed to be experimentation. Not being able to touch simple objects for several years had to be fustrating.

Snatching the vegetable from his fingers while managing to avoid touching him as a scowl deepened onto his face.

"I suddenly have the urge to get a cat."

To be honest Toshi had an older cat he had adopted back in high school. It had passed not too long before our lease had come due, we had discussed adopting another down the road once settled into our new place. However their mission had put the thought on hold, getting your own now that you knew they 'hated' the ghost that annoyed you was sounding like a wonderful plan.

He was in for a rude awakening when the roommates returned.

Ignoring your words, he placed two large hands on the counter and leaned beside you while watching you prep ingredients.

"The hell you makin'?" His voice finally broke the silence as you let a breath of air leave your lips.

"Mapo Tofu." His brow quirked in interest, his hand reaching over to slide a knife from the block.

You eyed him from the corner warily, "You designed to kill me now?"

He scoffed and snatched the item you had prepared to cut from your hand and sliding the cutting board his direction. You blinked in surprise as you watched how he purposely avoided skin contact.

"Not yet." He responded as his arm began moving up an down in soft chopping motions. The whole ordeal felt strangely domestic as both of you stood arms almost brushing but far enough apart while working on your own part of the meal. Silence drifted between both of you until not being able to stand it any longer, you flipped on the radio hanging under the counter. Your favorite station filling the space instead.

Words were not shared as he finished placing the now chopped up ingredients into the waiting bowl, watching him with interest as he began digging into your spice cabinet. Setting out the spiciest ones you owned.

"Did you cook often... before?" Deciding to try and start conversation he froze for a brief moment, hand holding a chili pepper over the pan. His eyes dropped towards yours.

"Sometimes, Fast food is shit for you. Prefer to make my own, I'm a damn good cook." A soft smile crossed your lips at his taking part of the conversation. "You don't cook a lot."

You nodded at his observation, adding your own ingredient into the pan to simmer. "Honest, I get lazy. It's sometimes easier to just pop something in the microwave or oven and move on."

He huffed as if that was the stupidest thing he had ever heard, "You should try more often, it's healthier for you." Shrugging your shoulders in response, "Maybe."

He bullied you from the pans, adding his own spices and a few other things he pulled from the fridge you had not originally set out or planned to add. Deciding to let him take over since that was his clear intent, you hopped onto the counter and kicked your legs back and forth while watching him work.

"I spoke with your mom."

His back stiffened, his hand stirring the sauce froze as those vermillion eyes met yours over his broad shoulder. "And?"

Fidgeting with your fingers and contemplating how much you wanted to admit about looking him up or asking his mom.

"She told me a lot about you."

His face softened into a look you had never seen on him before, though brief, you could see a sadness creep into his features before settling back into his stoic face.

"Like what?"

You sat there swinging your legs for sometime, recounting some of the things she told you while he tended to dinner. Some of the embarrassing stories had him visibly cringing and huffing in annoyance that his mom had revealed his deep dark secrets to you.

You actually found yourself laughing at his off handed comments he made, openly discussing in more details about some of the things she had told you.

He told you about the time he got his quirk, he had been playing ball in the back yard with a friend who jumped out of a bush to scare him. He had pushed his hands out to defend himself when sparks had lit up his fingers.

You heard about his meeting Izuku Midoriya who became "Deku" because it was the nickname he gave when they were kids.

The burner turned off with a click as he turned to inform you after his last story, "Dinner is done Spooky."

Chuckling softly you hopped down and collected plates from the cupboard. He eyed you with a cocked brow when you grabbed enough for him as well.

"I can't eat all of this by myself can I?" You offered a plate to him as he raised a hesitant hand to grip it, his eyes then trailing to the stove longingly.

"I don't know if I can." His voice was surprisingly soft and barely there as you grabbed a utensil and added some to his plate.

"Of course you can, you don't have to, but you can eat." Serving yourself and handing him his eating utensils with a reassuring smile.

Leading him to the island you sat down and placed your hands together in the traditional prayer as he occupied the seat beside you. HIs palms rested on his thighs or a few moments before he finally picked up the spoon and took a small bite. An audible groan left him as you smirked, watching him from the corner of your eye.

"You're fucked now." He spoke as you coughed on a mouthful. "What?"

He grinned at you after finishing his next bite, "I'm going to eat you out of house and home."

Sighing deeply, you knew he would do just that out of spite. "That's Great."

Taking a piece of tofu you placed it inside your lips as your own groan involuntarily left your lips. A deep chuckle beside you made you freeze.

Did Bakugo just laugh?

"Told you I'm a good fucking chef." He took another bite as you followed along, a smile on your face from the flavorful meal he had prepared. Fuck being a poltergeist, he could be your personal chef!

"You should do this more often, I'll love you forever." Shoving another bite into your mouth as yet another chuckle left him.

"Careful what you wish for Darlin'."

A piece caught in your throat as heat filled your face, watching his devilish grin cross those lips. "Don't say shit like that!" Swiping your spoon at him he ducked easily with a laugh.

"Oh, you don't like that one? How about... Angel?" He leaned forward, breath softly brushing the skin of your nose, you leaned back with a squeak.

He let his head fall back in full belly laughter that was music to your ears. It was the most beautiful sound you had ever heard, even at your expense it was something you wanted to hear always. A soft puff of air left your nose affectionately as you wiped the tears from your eyes.

"Your face is just too good when embarrassed." He caught hold of himself as you rolled your eyes and finished up the last bit of your meal. Thanking him for the meal as you stood to take the plate to the dishwasher.

Afterwards you turned back to see he still had a few left himself. "This is much better than arguing you know."

He eyed you with a slight tilt of his head in confusion, reminding you of a puppy and pulling at your heart strings.

"The fuck you mean?"

Then he has to open his mouth.

Shrugging and leaning back against the sink, "Laughing, sharing a meal and joking with each other. Not annoying the other to death just to see them upset?"

He chewed thoughtfully on his last bite, pushing himself back a bit. "Yeah, too much fun though." Shaking your head with a smile he leaned past you to place his dishes in the sink. "I cooked, you wash the damn dishes."

His voice was soft, relaxed even as his eyes matched with not a hint of annoyance or malicious intent. Your own eyes dared to glance up into his, the moment stretching longer than planned as neither of you spoke. Clearing your throat after realizing just how long you had been staring before turning from the handsome man so close. You could almost feel his body heat, strange even though the man was dead. It was something you could not explain.

"Anyway, I hope we can be friends since we're going to be living here together as Roommates basically."

He nodded slightly before passing by into the living space, flopping onto the couch as he reached for the laptop you had brought out before leaving for the store.

You had just flipped on the sink to wash the pans when you saw what he was reaching for, knowing you had yet to close out of the pages from your search. Rushing into the room you tried to grab the object as he hit a button to wake it, His reflexes still fast as ever he snatched the object out of your reach when he saw you reach for it.

With a whine you watched as his face lit up in amusement, looking at the posts you had been reading. "Doing some reading on me huh?" His eyes met yours with that devilishly handsome grin that made your head fuzzy.

"Your mom told me your name so I thought I'd get to know who you wer- Are." Grumbling you fidgeted with your fingers as he snorted, reading a bit into the articles.

His amusement quickly faded the more he read, that same sadness settling back into his features.

"You don't... have to read them you know."

He nodded and clicked on an article about the dedication ceremony UA had for renaming the battle center in his honor.

"They have my fucking suit!" He growled, looking over the photo showing the display case. After a moment he continued reading and then eyed you from the corner.

"Don't you have the water on?"

A gasp from you as you realized he was correct, rushing over and turning it off. Hanging your head over the sink you gave a short memorial, RIP your water bill.

Dishes could wait, you returned to the couch and found Bakugo paused in scrolling with his eyes squeezed shut. Sitting beside him you let him know you were there gently.

"Bakugo?"

He shoved the device away from onto the table with a clatter, leaning back into the couch with a far away stare.

"I don't want to be dead."

Chewing your lip you watched as his gaze fell to the floor, narrowing in obvious frustration. His jaw tensed as he ground his teeth, after a brief moment you cleared your throat and his eyes met yours once again.

"I don't know what it means to be dead, though I have a connection to the spirit world... it's different. I haven't experienced what you've been through, I do know hearing from the Reapers though that passing on is like a paradise."

He huffed and rolled his eyes, "You sound like Grim, I ain't passing on."

Nodding you laced your fingers in your lap, "That's your choice, though I do think sitting here and thinking on everything you lost isn't going to help. Just hurt in the end."

He leaned forward and clasped his own hands as he glared holes into your table. "Yeah, well what else is there to do? I've only got a few fucking months left and then it'll be all over."

Cocking a brow your interest was peeked. "Is this about your deal?"

His eyes snapped to yours, "The fuck you know about my deal?"

Shaking your head softly you continued, "I don't know the terms, wasn't even sure if it was you I heard about but this confirms things. Other than that I know things are not in your favor."

A growl sounded from his throat, lip curling into a snarl. "Yeah, Fucking Grim gave me a doozy of a deal. Then left me with shit terms so it makes it damn near impossible for me to win."

Tilting your head he shook his own, "I ain't telling you about my deal so don't ask."

Shrugging you chose to turn on the tv and offered him the remote. He eyed it as if you had spit on his ancestor's grave. "I won't ask, it's not my business. In the meantime, Friends?"

He simply stared for sometime before taking the device and turning his attention to the connecting object so he could choose the program.

"Sure, Friends."

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

The next few weeks flew by quickly now that Bakugo and you were on "Friend" terms. There were less angry words and pranks against one another, though from time to time they continued out of pure boredom. You heard from Hitoshi a few days ago that their mission continues to go well; However they would still be gone for some time.

You were now a few months in the house without them... well as alone as you can be with a roommate that rivals the ghost of an angry porcupine.

Ending your current call with a huff you set the phone on the couch cushion a bit rougher than necessary. Bakugo narrowed his eyes at you for disturbing his peace of watching a documentary that had been released on him. He loved to watch and critique like some movie critique, what they got right, what they got wrong.

You rubbed the bridge of your nose, no cases have come up within the last few weeks and since your poltergeist had decided to eat everything in sight once he knew he could, money was starting to run low. Rent would be due in a few days, where Hitoshi had sent you their portion, you were running a little low. The call had been to the precinct to see if they had any current cases that would benefit your services, hell you even considered calling some local hero agencies to see if they needed a backup for patrols, someone who was out on leave etc. There was a reason you held onto your hero license.

"The fuck is wrong with you? Over here huffing like a damn cow." His crimson stare bore into the side of your head as he awaited your response. His arms raised to easily block the pillow swung for his insult, sticking his tongue out at you as you discarded the object between you at the failed attempt.

"First off, Fuck you. Secondly no cases to speak of, the only one would be a follow up on an old case. It still involves kids and I told him I was done with those."

A cocked brow was your only reply and you rolled your eyes knowing he wanted the details. "I took a case a couple weeks ago about this little girl that had been hit by a car... She was one of a string that had occurred so I went and checked it out to see if I could find the culprit. I got some good evidence but it sounds like this guy is thorough, no sign of his car or anything. But last night another kid got hit, same car description and plate."

Sinking back into the couch your fingertips began massaging your temples now, "Kid lived, thank the stars. They're in bad shape but still gave a full description that matched perfectly with what we know. Law enforcement has been unable to locate it. Shit news is If I want to pay rent and for your food habits then this is the only case right now."

He nodded remembering the few cases he had to take on involving crimes against children. It had always turned his stomach when he knew a minor was involved. He could only imagine her feelings in the fact that with dealing these types of situations the child didn't make it. In his interactions at least most times the kids were going to be okay... eventaully.

"So what do they need you for if the brat lived?"

You rolled your head to look at him against the couch, "The kid I spoke with passed onto the afterlife, however there are still past victims out there I could contact. They want someone familiar on the case and since I was able to actually get people to talk last time they want me to join the facilitator of the case... Deku."

Bakugo's jaw set, visible annoyance filled his face. "Fucking Deku?" Nodding to confirm before explaining he had been leading the investigation for some time so naturally he would be the one to team up with.

Low grumbles continued to fall from his lips as you picked up your device once again to reluctantly accept the case. Message was sent between the inspector and the green clad hero in a group message, immediate responses from both of them showing their excitement you had agreed to come aboard. Your phone's keyboard clicked as you requested where you would be meeting up while continued curses sounded from the ghost beside you. They finally silenced when yet another chime of your phone cut him off, his lip curling into annoyance.

"Who the fuck are you texting that's got you grinning like a freak?" His long fingers snatched the device from your hand as a whine of annoyance slipped from your throat.

"Do you exist to give me gray hairs?" He snorted while thumbing through your screen, how he was able to activate the item was beyond your comprehension but finally the device was tossed back into your lap with the flick of his wrist.

The last message came in from Deku himself stating that he was going to revisit one of the crime scenes shortly should you be interested in joining. You shot a quick message you'd be there shortly and pocketed the device. Leaving the bane of your existence on the couch to make your way upstairs and locate your costume case once again from the closet.

Finding the case on the top shelf you heaved a sigh, all the crime in the world and not a single case besides this one you could work.

In the costume now you glanced over yourself in the full length mirror, running a hand over your curves. You tilted your head, Is it too late to become a stripper?

.....Nah

Now fully decked out in your costume you styled your hair and applied a bit of makeup around your eyes to go with the mask and finish the look. Once back in the living room you found the blonde still perched on the couch, arms crossed to show off his hard earned muscles. His eyes wandered over to you and widened ever so slightly but enough that you caught it. His eyes began slowly lowering down your entire frame and then raising back up to meet yours, heat filled your cheeks as the attractive man checked out your costume that fit you in all the right places.

"That's your hero suit?" He lip curled into a faux sneer, secretly wishing he could put his own on at least one more time. He had originally been in his costume however Grim had thought he would be more comfortable in something he wore daily so she had taken his suit somewhere never to be seen again.

"Yes, simple but sleek for a ghost quirk hero. Why? You don't like it?"

His shoulders rose and fell in a shrug, biting his tongue to keep from vocalizing what he actually thought about the hot woman he enjoyed terrorizing. So he simply went with, "Mine was cooler."

A loud laugh erupted from your chest, raising your hands to splay your fingers wide on either side. "Sorry my costume doesn't have cool hair extensions like yours did."

"That was my original costume you absolute fuck! When I was a damn teenager! I got rid of those my second year."

He pouted as your phone went off in your hidden pocket. Deku was on his way to the site so you quickly grabbed a light snack from the fridge and placed your mask on the bridge of your nose. The Poltergeist named Bakugo began digging into the fridge for something of his own when you caught his attention above the door.

Placing your hand under your chin you wiggled your fingers at him, "Don't wait up honey I'll be late." Sticking your tongue out at him for full effect he scoffed and stood to his full height.

He returned your gesture of waiving his fingers under his chin with a "Be safe you spooky bitch."

"You know I will."

Your eyes rolled when he leaned down, face hovering just over yours. His voice lowered into a tone you had never heard come from him before.

"Good girl."

Heat filling your cheeks once again you tossed the wrapper of your treat into his face while he threw his head back into full on laughter.

"Fucking tease!" You squealed while hauling ass out of the door.

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

The drive to the meeting site was short, finding yourself back in the lower end neighborhood of your city. Darkness started to creep into the sky when you saw the tall hero waiving his arm frantically in your direction.

"Hi Phantom!" His thousand-watt smile blinded you as you waived your hand. "Tone down the enthusiasm sir, it's too early for this."

He cocked his head with confusion spreading into his features. "It's eight in the evening?"

Shrugging you began walking next to him down the sidewalk, "I said what I said."

During your stroll down the walk he ran you through what you had missed since the last time you worked the situation. Apparently the car had resurfaced finally even if unfortunate circumstances. He hoped we would find one of his other victims around so we could try to get more information since none of the living were still willing to help. In the meantime, wandering around the area would at least get more hero patrols in the area that rarely sees hero attention.

The patrol was mostly in silence and you finally broke it after awhile. "So how is your fiancé and the wedding preparations?"

A fond smile crossed his features, soft freckles lining the apples of his cheeks as they glowed in the street lights above. Too bad the hero had been taken, he really had grown into quite the handsome man. Generous, honest and closing in on that number one spot, he really had taken the "Symbol of peace" seriously once had graduated our alma matter.

"Aw they're great! We booked a venue the other day, decided on fall of next year when the leaves are just turning colors. They absolutely adore fall, and I... well I adore them. So I plan on giving them their favorite time of year."

Your lips spread in a smile as he went on and on about the wedding. They had chosen muted colors to stay with the theme of fall, little handmade center pieces his mother insisted to make. Everyone would be getting their own little treat bags as thanks for joining them on their special day.

He shocked you when he mentioned even All Might himself would be making an appearance, even after being wheelchair bound now with his body catching up to him a few years ago. The former her would be his best man, since his first choice was... no longer available.

Your heart sank as you watched sadness fill the heroes eyes, knowing exactly who he was referring to. His childhood friend taken too soon.

You found yourself wondering if he was still here, would he have said yes? Hearing his stories of "Deku" he spoke with annoyance in his voice, but getting to know the man you could tell it was a front for his fondness of his childhood friend.

A screech of tires snapped both of you out of your funks as a car skirted around the corner, clearly in a hurry for something. A mother and her young child were walking on the opposite sidewalk, hand in hand with bright smiles as she listened intently on how his school day went.

"Deku!" You managed a call out, noting the make and model of the car matching the description as the vehicle everyone had been searching for. Both of you sprang into action with practiced speed as the car quickly gained ground, suddenly swerving into the path to take out the oblivious young child.

The boy was light in your arms as long black tendrils wrapped around the mother's waist, yanking her out of the way of the speeding vehicle. Your hand curled around his small back and the other placed on top of his head as you knelt, the moving car passing straight through while screams filled your ear drums.

Tires screeched once again as the vehicle came to a halt, your head raising to quickly appraise the boy for any signs of injuries. Fat tears rolled down his rosy cheeks, his wide eyes taking in your costume.

"Avery!" The woman's voice rang across the street as she clung to your partner, her arms opening wide as he tore himself from your own. Standing quickly you turned attention on the vehicle that was now sitting idling nearby. Dark eyes returned your glare above the roof of the vehicle.

A medical mask covered the bottom of his long face, greasy hair hanging in tendrils around his shoulders as his eyebrows scrunched up into pure rage.

"You bitch! I had him!" His crooked finger pointed in your direction as you raised your own middle in response, showing exactly what you thought of him.

"Sucks to be you shit head! You're going to Tartarus for killing those kids!"

His raspy voice resonated through the dark, empty street. A cackle that chilled every last drop of blood in your body.

"You'll have to catch me first, whore."

Green lightning crackled loudly as it replaced his ugly laugh, lighting up the street. The dark eyes of the villain widening when he realized who stood just behind you.

"I don't have to... He will."

The man barely got back inside the driver's seat when the speed of the number two proved too much for him, pulling the scum from his seat. He now sat on the curb with quirk cancelling cuffs around his wrists while you radioed to the police that the hit and run villain had finally been caught.

The man sat glaring holes into a suddenly interesting rock at his feet while both of you stood guard until the authorities arrived.

"That was anticlimactic, I thought he'd at least give a better chase." Crossing your arms you kicked said rock from the villain's view.

The hero huffed a soft laugh, "Sorry about that, I think I was a little angry seeing him almost take the life of another."

A grin crossed your lips as a soft tug at your suit caught your attention. "Miss Hero?"

Your eyes lowered to find a violet colored pair, the young boy who had been in your arms not moments prior trying to get your attention. You lowered yourself to his level, balancing on the heels of your boots. Barely stabilized little arms suddenly flung around your neck, a squeak of surprise leaving you as he squeezed on as tight as he could. Letting out a low sigh you slowly returned the hug and squeezed him back.

His little thank you in your ear had hot tears staining your cheeks, grateful you had been fast enough to grab the boy before the unthinkable could happen again.

"You are so welcome little man."

Releasing the boy just a little bit your hands hovered over his sides as he ran his short, stubby fingers over your cheeks to try and collect the tears as they fell.

"Don't cry! You're my hero! You know what helps when I cry? Ice cream!"

A short strangled laugh left your throat and left a smile as Deku placed a large, gloved hand on the boy's head. "I'll make sure she gets ice cream young man, I think in the mean time your mother is waiting for you over there. We need to get this bad guy to the police."

He nodded and thanked your green clad partner as well, the mother giving him the biggest hug before she made her way over and threw her arms around you as well.

"Getting all the hugs today." You mumbled so softly that the words were lost on the mother. Lights filled the area as police cars pulled in one by one in a hurry, uniformed officers stepping out and taking the man into custody.

Inspector Tsukauchi exited his personal vehicle, clad in his casuals as he crossed over and clasped Deku on his back. "You two did amazing. We finally got the son of a bitch and they'll never hurt another child again!"

"Good because I never want to experience that ever again." Crossing your arms and narrowing your eyes into a glare towards the dark eyed man who sent you a hateful look. He was pushed into the car and his mask fell, revealing long needle sharp teeth he bared in your direction.

"Don't think this is over bitch!" His voice muffled as the car door slammed into place, making him jump back a bit.

"He'll never see the light of day again if I have anything to say about it." The salt and pepper haired inspector patted his badge attached to his night shirt.

"That's quite the look sir, trying for a new uniform?" You teased and he swatted at you playfully, dodging his weak attempt you giggled.

"I was at home relaxing and reading a good book when the call came in, I figured this was more important."

Once again you were informed to stay on standby for the trial in the event they wanted you to testify since he was finally in custody. The man had taken the lives of three children and hospitalized one more before this final last ditch attempt. A pair of little eyes peeked around an officer who was taking the mother's statement.

His hand clasped another pair of stubby fingers as the other came into view. You sucked in a deep breath upon recognizing their faces from the photos from the original briefing with the inspector. They both waved their opposite free hands and mouthed a 'Thank you' in your direction.

They both turned to each grab a hand of the waiting man in a suit, one on either side as they faded from view while no one else but yourself watched.

Leaning back into the brick building you inhaled to keep the tears away once again with your eyes screwed shut.

"Phantom?"

Your eyes opened once more to find those of your temporary partner.

"I just wanted to thank you for your help on this today... and to give you this."

He pressed something into your hand with his bright smile and turned away to answer the questions of another office as you looked down.

In your hand was a card with very expensive feeling texture, you flipped the item over to read;

"You are cordially invited to the wedding..."

A soft chuckle left your lips as you pocketed the card and strode towards your car.

You're damn right you're going to that wedding.

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

Yay! Glad we were able to close that case out because whew! Sorry that this was not released yesterday as I promised, had some family matters that reared their ugly heads I had to deal with and just couldn't find a chance to finish this up. We'll be seeing more of Katsuki's former classmates in the next few chapters so keep an eye out ;) Smooches! <3

#bakugo katsuki #bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugo imagine #bakugou x reader #katsuki bakugou #mha bakugo #mha bakugou #Poltergeist bakugo #Ghost AU #Dead AU #Ghost!Bakugo #Ghost!Bakugo x reader #Bakugo x y/n #katsuki x y/n #Afterlife #Izuku Midoriya #MHA Izuku

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writingformyblorbos · 2 years

Text

It's cloudy above (Part 1) [next chapter >]

Steven Grant × gn!Reader (possible Marc × Reader and Jake × Reader in the future) Summary: You spot the cute man from the bus while buying groceries and try talking to him. A strange encounters takes place later on. Word count: 2.2k Warnings: Mugging, canon-typical violence (death, guns, you know the drill), swearing in Spanish, not proof read (taking risks is my speciality not really). a/n: This is my first fic in a loong while, but I wanted desperately to write something for Steven and make a shameless self-insert. I just love him so much. Also, I don't think I'll want to see the word mushroom in a long while. Lastly, I want to apologize in advance if i got the intricacies of London's public transport wrong, I tried to do my best as a foreigner with the most research I could. I hope you enjoy:)!!

It was late in the afternoon on Sunday, and you had gone to your nearest Tesco to stock up on groceries. You were on the vegetable isle, looking for some items from the shopping list on your phone. As you were reading what the next item on your list was, you couldn’t help but notice a familiar figure out of the corner of your eye. When you looked up, you saw the back of a man with curly hair you swore you could almost recognize. When he turned around, you couldn’t believe your eyes. ‘Could it be? There’s no way,’ you told yourself. But it was. It was him; the cute guy from the bus you had a crush on.

You would see him often on your way to work, always having dark bags under his eyes, adorned by the messy curls in his head. He seemed like the shy type, and the poor man always looked totaled, like he hadn’t had a good night’s rest in a long while, often falling asleep on the bus; there was even one time he screamed and looked frightened, which was weird, but you figured was because he'd had a nightmare. Who doesn't dream a clown is chasing them every now and again? You didn’t know that much about him, only that he would get off on Trafalgar Square and that he was a person keen on history and other intellectual stuff, judging by the hieroglyphs on his phone case and the kinds of books he would occasionally read on the bus to keep himself awake, poetry and history books of the sort —always wearing his reading glasses, of course— yet your little knowledge of him and his generally disheveled appearance didn't stop his sharp jaw, his curly hair, his beautiful brown eyes, and his intriguing interests from drawing your attention, leading you to develop a crush on him. He was the whole package, after all (smart and handsome).

But one day, he stopped boarding the bus. You figured he'd gotten a day off or he was sick, but days turned into weeks, and eventually, it had been a while since you'd last seen him. Maybe he'd switched jobs or had moved. Either way, he wasn't a part of your life anymore.

Or so you thought, up until today, seeing him going about his errands. You stared at him in disbelief. He still looked as tired as ever, you could even say he looked more tired, like he'd been working out an entire week non-stop. You wanted to ask him so many things, but there was no way you could ask him why he no longer took Bus 24 without sounding like an absolute creep. You contemplated on whether it was better to leave him alone or if you should try talking to him, but this feeling in your gut told you this might be your chance: what if you never saw him again and just lost the opportunity of a lifetime? So, you started brainstorming any kind of small talk you could spark up in the supermarket without it being awkward. Then bingo! He was holding two packets of mushrooms: one was a packet of normal mushrooms, and the other was a packet of sliced mushrooms, and he was looking at them indecisively. You could help him and go from there?

You felt absolutely ridiculous, but you had to. Your conscience would never leave you alone if you didn't. So, you mustered up all the courage you could and made you way towards him. You took a deep breath, trying to stop your hands and legs from shaking, and said:

"If I were you, I'd get the sliced ones."

"Sorry?" he asked, a bit startled by the sudden comment.

"Oh! I just, I would get the sliced mushrooms. They really help you save up time. Unless you have skewers, then you can just..." —you gestured your hands as if you were pricking an imaginary mushroom with your imaginary skewer— "stick it in the mushes and slice them".

He looked at you a bit confused, but you could also see a glimpse of surprise in his eyes.

"That's quite impressive, seems like you know your mushrooms," He chuckled, leaving the normal mushrooms in the bin they were. "I don’t happen to have skewers back at home, so I guess I'll just take the sliced ones, more practical. Thank you"

"No problem," you smiled.

Great, what now? That wasn't the most captivating conversation starter you could bring up. Perhaps it was a stupid idea to try talking to him, 'he probably thinks I'm a weirdo for talking about mushrooms' you told yourself, so you decided to turn around and get back to your business.

"Wait!" You heard from the dark-haired man, "do you happen to take Bus 24 in the mornings?"

No way. There's no way he actually recognized you. Now that you thought about it, what if he thought you were stalking him? I mean, you weren't, but anxiety often leads you to the most extreme trains of thought.

"Uhh, yeah! Yeah, I do," you answered, nervously waiting for him to get angry.

"That's mental! I remember you. You watch videos of cute animals, yeah?" He immediately looked flustered, like he regretted what he'd said, "I mean, not that I eavesdropped on what you were doing on your phone. I only saw it once."

You were relieved he wasn't angry, but also a bit amazed he'd remembered that small detail. He said he didn’t eavesdrop, but that was clearly a lie. Watching cute animals was a must in your daily commute to work though. You could see he was a bit embarrassed by his comment, so you tried to reassure him.

"Oh no, no worries. I once saw you reading a book on Ancient Egypt, right?" he affirmed with his head and seemed to be a little less afflicted, so you tried breaking the ice a bit more. "My name is (y/n). (y/n) (l/n)" you said as you offered your hand for a handshake.

He shook your hand back, with his big, calloused hands, "Steven Grant. The Steven is with a 'v'"

Steven. ‘A pretty name and very fitting,’ you thought. He indeed looked like a Steven.

"It's nice to finally know your name, Steven with a 'v'".

“Likewise, (y/n),” he nodded back, and you both stayed silent for a while, smiling and blushing.

"Well, I'll see you around then. Cheers!" he waved off. There he was, again, slipping through your fingers, like sand on the desert. Come on, had you really gone through embarrassing yourself by talking about mushrooms to just see him walk off? Steven was such a mystery, but one you wanted to know oh so desperately. It was now or never, you had to try to ask him out, or at the very least get his phone number.

"Hey! Uhm..." You called out. Steven turned his head and looked at you with those gorgeous eyes of his that made you feel all jittery inside.

"I was wondering if, I know we just formally met, but..." you started fidgeting with the keys in your pocket, trying to get the words to come out of your mouth, "Could we exchange numbers? I would really like to see you again, and I know this place that makes amazing pastries, so maybe... we could go out?"

That was it. You shot your shot. The ball was in his court now. There's nothing else you could've possibly done. It was only up to fate if—

"Yes, I'd love too."

Your eyes probably shot out of your face, similar to a cartoon, because of the way he looked at you, with a tiny bit sweet grin on his face. You were absolutely over the moon. He said yes! You swore you would’ve danced in the middle of the veggie aisle if it wasn’t considered something weird to do.

Still, you managed to stay calm on the outside and exchanged numbers with Steven. Finally, each one went on about their shopping. But on your way home, you couldn't help but feel butterflies in your stomach thinking about the next time you would see handsome Steven Grant again. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too long.

By the time you’d finished placing the groceries in their place, the sun had gone down, adorning your windows with London’s city lights.

You were sitting on your couch, scrolling through your social media. One of the hottest topics of the moment was the latest hero-related incident: some people started dropping dead for no reason in Cairo, which would be shocking news if the world didn’t seem like it was on the verge of ending every couple months. Apparently, a cult had been behind the attack, and there were two heroes involved. One was a woman with curly hair and her suit had golden wings, people started calling her the Scarlet Scarab, and there was this other man with moon motifs who seemed to be able to go from a full-on costume with cape to a fancy suit; people hadn’t come up for a name for him, yet. If it was up to you though, you’d call him the Moon Shifter, or something along those lines. You were glad you weren’t in charge of naming superheroes.

Tired of reading about this latest tragedy, you stood up and opened the nearest window to admire the nocturnal landscape, a cold breeze hitting your face; it felt oddly comforting. You glanced around the street. Nothing was out of the ordinary, just the usual noise of cars passing by. You felt as though the city was luring you out of your flat to go on some moonlit adventure around its streets.

You figured you wouldn’t be going on an adventure, but you sure as hell were starving and didn’t feel in the mood to cook, but there was a Chinese restaurant not far from your place you could get some takeout from. Determined to get your dinner, you grabbed your coat, a pair of shoes, your tote bag, and headed out into the windy streets.

As you were walking to the Chinese restaurant, you felt someone was staring at you from a distance. When you were about to turn around, someone on a moped snatched your tote bag from your shoulder and drove off.

“Hey!” You tried chasing the person with your belongings to no avail, they were long gone. Your first thought was to call the police, but your phone was inside your tote, along with your wallet. You scooped your faced and whined in desperation, feeling this empty hole in your chest. You figured your best course of action was continuing your trip to the restaurant and ask if you could borrow the phone to call the police, so you continued making your way to the restaurant in resignation.

CRASH!

There was a loud noise not so far from where you were. Weary of your surroundings due to what had just happened, you cautiously made your way to the noise. You poked your head towards the alley where it came from and, to your surprise, saw the same moped that had just mugged you crashed into a garbage container. The guy was in the floor, pleading for his life, and in front of him was a figure with a white cape who remained silent.

The caped person only took a step forward, retrieved a gun from his waist, directed it to the man, and said in a raspy voice:

“Mejor ruégale al diablo, pedazo de mierda”.

You covered your mouth to stifle the tiny yelp that escaped your mouth when the shot was fired. You felt the urge to throw up as you saw the man lay lifeless on the pavement.

“Ahí está, Jonsu. ¿Necesitas que me ocupe de alguien más hoy?” The man said nonchalantly to the air, as if he hadn’t just killed a man. Silence followed. Was he expecting someone to talk back to him? Then, he growled in desperation, “¿Qué? ¡Pero Harrow está muerto, tú mismo viste que lo maté!”

It seemed he’d gotten a response, but he wasn’t too happy about it. After a few moments of the wind talking to him, he turned around, looking directly at you.

Shit! You hid from him on the outer corner of the alley. You could hear his steps drawing nearer, but you stayed frozen in fear. He was probably going to kill you for what you’d just seen. Then, the footsteps stopped. You slowly opened your eyes and got a full view of the man. It was the superhero from Cairo, only his costume looked slicker, less mummy-like.

“This yours?” he asked with his thick accent, reaching your tote bag towards you. You nodded.

“Be more careful,” he warned as you grabbed your tote bag from his hands.

As soon as you had a hold of your bag, you made a run for it. After all, you’d just gotten mugged and had seen a man get shot, so you definitely weren’t going to stick around to chit-chat with the superhero in front of you. After running for a bit, you made it to the Chinese restaurant. You opened the door and slammed it shut, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Are you alright?” the person at the register asked. You made your way towards them and slumped down in the counter, head burried in your arms.

“Can I get the large combo?”

Another a/n: Tysm for reading! I am going to be working on a follow up to this fic, so look foward to that. I am planning on making this a Marc × Reader and Jake × Reader series , and maybe even add Layla into the mix because, lke I said at the beggining, I live vicariously through the fanfics I write and I am a bisexual disaster who would really like to be in a poly relationship with all of them.

#moon knight #moon knight series #moon knight disney+#moon knight fanfiction #moon knight fanfic #moon knight fic #moon knight x reader #moon knight x y/n #moon knight x you #steven grant #steven grant x reader #steven grant x you #steven grant x gender neutral reader #jake lockley #jake lockely x reader #jake lockely x you #jake lockley x reader #jake lockley x you #jake lockley x y/n

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fiveloml · 2 years

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Hii first i love your writing!

I never really send requests so i apologize if it's nothing special, but what about Five having a thing with someone from comission who gets angry when he leaves back to 2019, and in the 60s comes back with Lila but in a younger body to take revenge on him, but thwir feelings win and there is a sweet partners to enemies to lovers moment 💗

five hargreeves x reader. “why did you leave?“ [ gender neutral reader. ]

─ ✧ being time traveling assassins can be messy, but your feelings for your work partner are even messier. especially when you want to kill him.

─ ✧ i'll write a part 2 of this . eventually. maybe i dont know LMAO but if you're interested in another part, let me know ( or want to be tagged if i do ) sorry for being dead for a few weeks lmao.

“five! this is stupid, what on earth are you trying to do?! you might aswell let me stab you now since you're leading your family into a death trap.“ you hiss, grabbing his wrist before he could blink away.

“i have to save my family, y/n. i've told you this so many times!“ five snapped back, pulling away as he looked at the handler.

“your time is running out.“ she mouthed, a scarily wide grin on her face.

“and if that plan doesn't succeed?“ you say with a very big emphasis on the doesn't.

five looks back at you and sighs. “i'll make it. i'm sorry, but i need to get back to them. it was great working with you.“

in a blink, he was gone.

you stood there, letting out a scoff and shaking your head.

“i'll kill that bastard.“

[ timeskip .. ]

you and lila walked towards hotel obsidian, hands in your pockets as a small boy followed the two of you.

“are you sure they're here?“ you questioned lila. “yeah, saw the idiots all mumbling and fumbling to get through the front door.“ she replies.

“yeah.. definitely them.“

“i'm here to kill five. once i'm done, you're on your own.“ you muttered, looking at the knife in your pockets as lila chuckled.

“me? on my own? in that body of yours, you'll be taken in by an adoption center!“

“right..“

you looked down at your 13 year old body, letting out an annoyed sigh and stared back at lila.

“i'll be fine..“ you continued to walk ahead as she quickly caught up, hand holding onto stan's.

“this is where we part ways, i'll look for diego and you can look for five.“

you nod your head and rushed away, entering the hotel and doing a quick search. noticing klaus, luther and diego sitting on a table with one figure turned away so you couldn't see his face.

however that annoying ugly haircut wouldn't belong to anyone else.

you watched quietly as five eventually stood up, deciding this was your chance to move as you casually walked after him.

once you were both in the quiet hallways and away from everyone else, five stopped and turned around.

“didn't think someone was already after me! what now?“ he says with jazz hands, a forced smile and clearly sarcasm in his voice.

“old habits die hard! not one day i don't want to put a knife through your torso.“ you laughed, pulling out your dagger as five's expression quickly turned into one of confusion.

“wait!-“ he barely avoided your attack as you aimed straight for his chest, you nearly trip but turned your foot to look back at him.

“i've waited so long to do this, i am not waiting any longer.“ you say angrily, trying to strike once again but five blinks behind you, grabbing your wrist and pinning you down.

“y/n?!“ he questioned, you struggle under his grasp as you writhe and squirm.

“yes, its me! now get off you scumbag!“ you quickly pushed him off you, turning the tables as he was now on the ground. you held onto your weapon and raised it into the air, preparing to stab it right through him, but you were stopped.

a hand, one that held onto your hand rather tightly as you looked up. “luther! have you lost weight?“ you said with an annoying smile, he lifted you up with ease as five got up.

“if i'm the scumbag, what does that make you?“ he huffs, dusting off his suit while you tried to get luther to release you, kicking and punching as luther was unphased.

“you're backstabber! an abandoning, ugly haircut having backstabber at that!“ you scowled, luther finally dropping you down onto the ground.

“thanks..“ five mutters, watching luther walk away as you gently rub your wrist.

...

“this is awkward.“ he inserted his hands into his pockets and looked down at you, tapping his right foot as you grumbled incoherent words.

“alright, enough moping on the floor. follow me.“ five hoisted you up as you didn't refuse or say a word, simply following wherever he went in defeat.

you found yourself in a room, one you assumed was five's due to the umbrella academy uniform hanging behind the door.

“for starters, how did you get here?“ he asks, leaning on the nearest wall with a cup of black coffee in hand.

“i've been with lila, and for some reason my body shifted to its younger self while we went to your timeline. it's pretty damn annoying considering now i'm a child in normal people's eyes.“

“well now you know how i feel.“

you chuckled at his statement. “yeah.. i remember asking the handler why she made me have a 13 year old as my partner.“

“well that '13' year old was better than you in every single aspect of assassination.“ he says with a smug smirk while you playfully roll your eyes at him.

“..why did you have to leave..?“ you whispered, five's smirk disappeared and a sigh in its place.

“it was lonely without you, you know? having to deal with lila alone wasn't very fun.“ you say with a dry chuckle, inevitably returning to the gloom you had from before as you looked down at your shoes.

“why don't you get the job done then?“

you looked up at five, handing out your dagger towards you with a blank expression.

“your family needs you, or whatever sappy bullshit. i'm not saying i won't try and kill you again, because i will. i just.. i dont't know. i hated you all this time but seeing you again..“ your voice trailed off, you knew that five brought you more comfort than anything in the world.. but you couldnt have him. he loved his family and nothing could beat that kind of love.

“i should leave, i don't want to be here any longer.“

“wait!-“

you didn't bother to listen, walking out the door and resisting every urge to look back.

you couldn't have five, as a friend or as a partner. you were always just someone passing by in his life.

#tua x reader #the umbrella academy x reader #tua x you #the umbrella academy x you #five x reader #tua x y/n #five hargreeves x reader

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silvermistanimelover · 2 years

Text

Reasons

So remember that part of Jojo’s Linked Universe web comic where Sky asks Wild to borrow a sword and explains that Fi would shock anyone who raises her against any of her masters? And Wild mutters a comment like ‘hasn’t stopped her before’? I wrote a little snip of what would happen if Sky and the others took his comment more seriously.

Also, this was written at like 3AM so it’s short and messy, sorry.

“Hey Wild, you’ve got extra weapons, right?” Sky asked, drawing the scarred youth’s attention.

“Yeah? Why?” Wild blinked.

“Well, Time wants to spar.” Sky explained. “I’ll need a sword.”

“Can’t you use the Master Sword?” Wild raised an eyebrow, but Sky shook his head.

“She’ll burn my hands if I try and raise her against any of her masters.”

Wild was quiet for a long moment before he pulled out a simple broadsword and handed it to Sky, a rare serious expression on his face. “Really? Doesn’t want to hurt us, huh?” He scoffed quietly. “Hasn’t stopped her before.”

Sky startled at the statement, and Time glanced worriedly at Wild. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.” Wild went to leave, but Sky stopped him.

“Has… Has Fi hurt you?” The sword on his back glowed softly, as if offended by the very thought.

“Guess she never recognized me as her master.” Wild shrugged. “Or perhaps I just fell from her good graces.”

“That’s not how that works.” Sky shook his head. “She should never—”

“My scars say otherwise, Sky.” Wild snapped, bringing up a bare hand. His palms were crisscrossed with distinct burn scars that matched the hilt of the Master Sword precisely.

“H-how…?” Sky looked lost and confused and more than a little hurt at this revalation.

Wild shook his head, irritated. Their argument had drawn the attention of the rest of the group, who were staring at the scarred hand of their brother in disbelief.

“Maybe I’m just different.” Wild sighed. “Maybe it’s because I failed.”

A distinctive chime sounded from the sword and Sky glanced over toward her for a moment. “She said that you have not failed in her eyes.”

“Your Fi is not the same as the Master Sword from my lands.” Wild sighed, running a hand through his hair, pulling out several strands from his already messy ponytail. “The Sword that Seals the Darkness is a ruthless blade. It will kill any fool unworthy of wielding it. And it nearly killed me several times before I became strong enough to withstand the pain of drawing the thricedamned thing. The first time I tried drawing it after my failure, the Great Deku Tree forced me to stop after only ten seconds. He warned me that I would die if I didn’t. Several times I found myself passed out with burns on my palms from attempting to draw it. I almost went after Ganon without it. Perhaps that was why I was finally able to draw it.”

“But…” Sky looked pale and several of the others shared looks of fierce concern. “She should never… She’s even telling me now that it’s against everything she is to hurt any of us—including you.”

“Well tell that to the blade that rests in the Lost Woods.” Wild crossed his arms.

“Wild is pretty far ahead of us, right?” Four spoke up quietly. “It’s possible… maybe Fi no longer inhabits the sword in his time? If that’s the case, then it wouldn’t matter who tried to pull it, it’d be unable to recognize anyone.”

“There’s no way to know unless we can see Wild’s Master Sword ourselves.” Time finally stepped in.

“Look.” Wild started, scrubbing a hand across his face. “I’m sorry, Sky. I didn’t mean to offend you or Fi. I just… have some strong feelings about my Master Sword, is all. If it makes you feel better, I’ll see if I can take us to it when we next visit my Hyrule.”

“I think that’d be a good idea.” Sky nodded. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. For what your Master Sword did to you. And Fi apologizes as well.”

“Thanks.” Wild gave him a halfhearted smile. “And really... I don’t hold it against either of you.”

“Come on.” Twilight held up his blade. “Let’s all blow off some steam. Care to join us Wild? Make it a three-way free for all spar?”

Wild hesitated for a moment before tapping his Slate, producing another simple blade. “You’ll regret asking.” He smirked.

#I don't know what this is #linked universe #A what if scenario #I'm just partial to Wild #Fi deserves more attention #fanfiction #snippe

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allinthemagicshop · 1 year

Text

Not All Bad

I finished my last final of university and it didn't bring the happy rush I thought it would, so this one was for me.

Best Friend!Changbin x GN!Reader

wc: ~1k

genre: angst to comfort

warnings: mentions of eating/skipping meals

I do not own Stray Kids or anything related to them, this is a complete work of fiction and is just for fun

Today just seemed like it was doomed from the start. You woke up only to realize you were late for your final test in your hardest class. You rushed to catch the next bus to your university. You had made it in time to get through the whole test, but hadn’t had enough time to properly check your answers, leaving you with a horrible weight planted in your stomach. As you walked towards your favorite cafe to try and make yourself feel a little better, it started pouring down rain. Unfortunately, you hadn’t bothered to check the weather in your rush out of your apartment and were subsequently caught in the downpour with no umbrella, no jacket, and now soggy sandals. You pushed open the door to the café only to look up and realize that your favorite items were all out of stock for the day. Sighing, you ordered a hot chocolate to at least warm up your hands.

On your walk to the university library someone rushed by you, presumably late as you had been to your first final, and knocked your drink onto the ground. At least they shouted an apology and you hadn’t gotten blasted by the hot beverage. You continued through the library doors, heading towards the study group you had formed with a few of your classmates to study for your next final of the day. As you sat down, the rest of the group looked up at you and laughed at your state. Messy hair stringy from the rain, clothes sticking to every part of you, and a permanent frown had made its residence on your face. “I don’t want to talk about it, can we please just go over the notes one more time?”

“Uh, sorry, y/n. We were all actually just finishing up our studying to go grab some lunch before the final. You can come with us if you want,” one of the others said, refusing to make eye contact. You felt your shoulders tense. You couldn’t even count on both hands the amount of times this had happened in the last month of studies. The rest of the group had gotten closer while you studied for other classes and worked, missing nearly every non-study hangout they planned. You felt the sting of the obligatory invite.

“Yeah, no it’s okay. I just grabbed a bite at the cafe so I’ll just stay and study then,” you shrugged as you tried to make eye contact with any of them. Instead, they all got up with mumbled goodbyes and waves as they finished packing up. You could hear their laughter pick up as they walked farther away from you. Refusing to cry in public, you angrily rubbed your eyes as you continued walking to the farthest corner of the library. As you went to put your earphones in to block out the world while you studied, the case blinked at you to indicate that they were in fact dead. At least you were no longer surprised by the continuous bad news bombarding you anymore.

Pulling out the textbook, you set it on the table before putting your forehead against it and taking deep breaths. If this day was going to continue like this, you were sure to lose it. Making a quick decision, you texted your best friend, hoping he could meet you after your final and spend the rest of the day cuddled together watching whatever you could find to distract yourself. After a brief explanation of the miserable comedy show that was your day, you turned your phone on silent and began studying. There was no way you wanted to see if he couldn’t get out of his schedule to make you feel better before you had actually finished your final. Let it be another bad surprise after you had fully drained your energy on the test.

Three hours later, you made your way out of the building feeling much better about that final than the previous one but still with an overwhelming sense of dread from the rest of the day’s events. You had completely forgotten about the text you had sent until you spotted him staring at his phone with one arm suspiciously hidden behind his back, but not enough to hide the massive bag in his grip. You quietly walked up to your best friend and cleared your throat. “Hey, Binnie.” He snapped his head up to you and shoved his phone in his pocket. One look at you had him setting the bag on the still damp ground and throwing his arms around you.

“Hey, sweets. I’m so sorry about today. I’m so beyond proud of the hard work you continue to put in for school. You’ve done so well and I’m sure the tests today went well, no matter what you believe. You’re so incredibly smart and I’m lucky to have someone as kind as you in my life. I love you so much, don’t forget that.” Changbin squeezed you to him a little tighter after he finished his speech. You wrapped your arms around his waist as tears began flowing down your face. He pulled away when he felt his shirt get damp and moved his hands to your face. “Y/n, you’re so incredibly strong,” he murmured as his thumbs wiped the tears from your cheeks. “I asked Chan for the rest of the day and tomorrow off. I’m ahead on all of my parts for this next comeback so it was no problem. Felix sent me with the leftover brownies from last night and Minho is making your favorite tonight to bring by your apartment during our movie marathon.” Changbin smiled at you as he picked the bag back up.

“What did I do to deserve you, Binnie?” you barely were able to speak above a whisper, the words trying to get caught in your throat. Changbin shook his head as he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and began walking you towards his car. He held the bag up to you wordlessly, wanting you to take it. You peered inside to see all of your favorite snacks and drinks as well as a new fluffy blanket and a pig plush. Tears threatened to spill over again at the kind gesture.

“Sweets, you are the one I don’t deserve. Please don’t put my best friend down like that. And I know you skipped breakfast and lunch. Yes, Minho is bringing dinner, but a couple snacks before then should be enough to get your strength back up for this mega movie marathon I’m going to drag you through. And I have more groceries in the car so we can make all three meals together tomorrow. Well… you can make them and I’ll cheer you on. You can cheer me on when I do the dishes after, okay? I’m all yours to cuddle until you’re so sick of me that you have to call Chan to drag me out of your apartment.”

You shook your head and laughed. As you turned to look at Changbin, he gave you the brightest smile and opened the car door for you. You set the bag onto the seat before pulling your best friend into one more hug. Immediately, his arms wrapped you back into a warm hug. No matter how bad your day had gotten, he was always there and determined to make sure it would get better.

#stray kids #skz x reader #skz changbin #skz imagines #fanfic #changbin #comfort #fanfiction

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raccoongrippers · 1 month

Text

◁☆Ghost + Soap (can be non-platonic if you so desire) x any gender reader☆▷

TW : Depictions of depression, self harm, helplessness, loss of appetite (?), self neglect, 1 or 2 swears spread out throughout writing. [I apologize if I missed anything triggering]

This is comfort + fluff (I tried, at least.)

(Reader can be any gender, doesn't change anything about the story)

-If you are uncomfortable with any of these, please do not read-

This is a TF141 fanfic. If you do not like that, or are triggered by any of the things listed above, do not proceed.

If you don't like what I've wrote, don't spread your opinion and just move on, thank you very much.

Days are bleak, the nights that follow even more so. It's an unbreakable routine that doesn't change – wake up, get dressed, maybe eat something, leave for work at the base, do bland paperwork for hours on end, leave, shower, maybe eat again, go to bed, repeat.

The cycle is boring, bland, and overly familiar. But the one thing that breaks the routine, that temporarily wipes away some of the stress in your bleak days–self harm. You know damn well it isn't a good coping mechanism, it only wrecks you further, but it's almost become an addiction at this point, and even your last bright brain cells can't stop you from making the clean, bloody cuts that line your arms/thighs.

Today is especially bleak. It's one of your days off, one you should be spending doing something to try and better your mental health, but instead using as time to just sink into your sorrows, laying in bed for countless hours as your own self-destructive thoughts cloud your brain and make you lose track of time. By the time that you actually get out of bed, it's already the next day, and you hadn't showered, eaten, or drank a single thing in the past 24 hours.

The only reason you actually got out of bed was to answer the door after hearing a loud knock upon the wooden plank, only to find two very familiar faces on the other side–Soap and Ghost.

They don't usually visit when they have their days off, so this is something entirely new for you.

You end up opening the door despite looking like shit–messy and unwashed hair, dark circles under your eyes, and your scarred arms showing the new and old scars that line your once smooth skin. You shift in the doorway, looking exhausted, earning you a concerned look from both men.

They're both silent for a bit longer, before Ghost finally breaks the silence with a soft tone, ".. Are you alright, y/n? You haven't come out of your barracks for 2 and a half days, everyone is worried sick about you. What's going on?"

This sudden care sprung into view sends an unexpected flood of warmth over your body, silencing a few of your darkening and depressed thoughts for a while. You don't know how to speak in response, so Soap speaks, following suit of Ghost, "Do you mind if we come in?.." He sounds just as concerned as Ghost did when he spoke, if not more.

After some much understood hesitation, you stepped out of the way and opened the door fully as a silent invite for the men to come inside. Only then do you notice them both holding at least one bag in their hands, seeming to be grocery bags. Soap quietly shuts the door after himself, Ghost having been the first to enter after being invited inside.

Your barracks only reflect your inner sorrows with no blinds opened, no sound other than the ones being made by the three's breaths and the ticking clock somewhere in the distance, and the place just straight up smelling of sorrowful regrets.

Soap sets down the bags on your kitchen counter as Ghost goes over and opens a few blinds, just to let some light into the dark place you shamefully call 'home'. He then opens one of the windows, letting a much needed gust of fresh air into the gloomy area.

You simply watch the two work as they help to clean and brighten your living quarters, making it much less gloomy and just a bit more liveable. Just as you were being distracted with the sound of fresh, beautiful breeze coming in through a window, Soap gently takes one of your hands and kindly leads you to the bathroom, where he already has a clean pair of clothes set on the counter with a towel.

He speaks in a gentle voice, "I already drew a bath for you, so all you have to do is get into the bath tub and wash yourself. If anything at all goes wrong, I'll leave the door just a tiny crack open so me and Ghost can hear you, alright? We're here for you." He then walks back out of the bathroom, leaving it the tiniest crack open, just as he said he would.

This is all completely new to you–the care, the actual non-toxicity of the people and things around you–it's enough to rise you from your thoughts for a while. You slowly step into the bath tub after getting undressed, and you can already feel the warm, welcoming water caress and flow against your skin. It's a nice change from your grimy and dirty bed sheets and covers that constantly are wrapped around you, enveloping you in your own despair.

After your bath, you dry yourself off and put on the fresh pair of clothes, feeling rejuvenated. It's a nice change of pace. You step out of the bathroom only to be met with the sound of your washing machine and dryer working away at your own clothes that Soap graciously put in there for you. He even put your old sheets in there along with your blankets, which Ghost is now in your room working on replacing with new ones. Your room looks so much less gloomy than it usually does–your blinds are open, shining in the welcoming and bright sunshine of morning. Ghost is currently inside straightening your bed and cleaning up all the sprawled out clothes, random items, and garbage that was scattered across your bedroom.

When both the men are done, you almost don't even recognize your own living quarters anymore. You can actually fully see the wooden floorboards of your flooring, the sun is shining nicely in through the window, and your bed is finally neat and tidy after the many times you woke up and told yourself today's the day I'll straighten it out, despite knowing in your gut that you would never get around to doing so.

Both Ghost and Soap are at your side now, giving you all the love you'll ever need; hugs, head kisses, comforting words of reassurance, and other simple affections. As Ghost is warmly cuddling you in your bed, Soap is in the kitchen making you some actual food, knowing full well that you were too drained to make yourself more than something stale that you found lying around in your cupboard.

"Me and Soap are going to take you grocery shopping tomorrow, and you're going to pick out some actual food for your cupboards and fridge that you will eat, and some fun drinks if you'd like," Ghost promises as he plants a gentle kiss to your forehead. "We're here for you, and so is the rest of the team, alright? You don't have to go through this alone. It's okay to ask for help, it's okay to need someone by your side. You're only human, you can't help it."

You and Ghost lay there warmly cuddling, snuggled against each other for a while, before Soap enters the room with three plates of food. Each plate has two well made eggs, a piece of toast, and two pieces of bacon. Ghost sits you up gently against the pillows that are set up against the headboard, Soap handing you one of the plates before sitting across from you and Ghost at the foot of your bed.

The two men stay with you for the rest of the day, and the day following, just to make sure you stay healthy and happy under their watchful eyes. And you don't mind the company either, it's nice not to be alone for a change.

ᰔ-------------------------------------------------------ᰔ

Note : You're only human, and don't let other people make you feel like shit. If you just look and find your person of solace, I promise it'll all work out. And sometimes going to a therapist or counselor can help you a lot if you choose to go to it, and choosing not to ask for professional help for many reasons is perfectly okay too. But talking about your feelings is deeply important, bottling them up isn't healthy for any human being. You're worth so much more than you may think ᰔ

#TF141 #depression #cod fanfic #Ghost #Soap #cod #fluff

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werdlewrites · 1 year

Text

Season of the Witch (Steve Harrington x OC)

Chapter Twenty-One: We Were Happy

masterlist-about-patreon-ao3

taglist: @brittney69

summary: “They found him in the quarry,” his voice cracks through the silence, a pained sigh flowing out into the emptiness as a hand runs over his tired face. “How could he have been so close,” warnings: mentions of absent father, heartACHE, rip will?, feeling of guilt wc: 4,183

Time was a difficult concept to take hold of. The world moving all too fast, yet slow all the same. It was bewildering - leaving the girl in a permanent state of confusion the moment she stepped from Eddie’s van, to an unknown time in the evening - her room much darker than she had last seen it. She had come home, a slurred thanks spared for the new acquaintance as she sluggishly moved up the driveway, pushing down any anxiety she may have felt once noting the dull red Morris Marina sitting silent, now cold. She was not ready to face her father - not ready to hear his apologies, to make amends and carry the weighted load on her back as they put the crumbled bridge back together. She only wished for sleep as the pressure within her skull grew, leaving her eyes heavy and vision faded, her form hunched forward as she moved through the entryway. She hadn’t noticed him sitting in the den, newspaper in hand but with attention now on her. He says nothing at first, only watching as she struggles to kick her shoes away and drop her bag against the wall, a messy hand running through her hair to reveal a mess she had shied away from under Eddie’s eyes. Ian; her father, is quick to react. The fold of his newspaper as he sets it down is enough to pull her focus in his direction, watching with a heavy lidded stare as he closes the gap - lips parted yet struggling where to begin with the girl. And she doesn’t give him the chance to figure it out, a heavy sigh passing through Autumn as her head simply falls to rest against his chest - tired, exhausted, and beaten down by her own mind. And he holds her, if only for a moment. Allowing her to leave her troubles at the door, empty herself of unsettling thoughts and to simply be.

They speak nothing of her day, his only words being to encourage her over to the kitchen where he cleans her face with a hot cloth. She accepts this act of kindness without fuss or comment, choosing to not think of their lives before this moment.

He was a good father, yet not always present. He pushed without knowing her truth, and tried to ask about a life he knew nothing about. Spending days - weeks, letting her life flourish and crumble while he worked. Then taking time to ask about this or that, things that no longer mattered - long left in the girl's past. Was it the struggles of a single father and a troubled daughter, trying to make do with the cards they were dealt? Or was it an unfortunate mix-up within the universe? A cosmic fuck up? Had Ian been given the wrong daughter? His true child elsewhere, healthy, happy, and forgiving as he nearly missed every school event? Did this girl excel where she fumbled? Was she good in art class? Would he have praised her work and hung it up on the fridge as she grew? Collected it in a folder to admire her progress.

But they laughed, didn’t they? She brought home embarrassing, sad excuses for art and he would beg to see them. Autumn would threaten her father, “Don’t you dare laugh.” “I won’t, I promise,” and he would sit there, staring at the picture in hand with pursed lips before hiding a creeping smile behind a fist, feeling her intense stare on him. A snort breaks through, and her glare intensifies despite the crack in her facade. Her lack of talent brought them joy, but he never hung them up for all to see - proud despite knowing they would never win any competitions.

They were happy in their own way, right? That’s what she told herself as he ushered her up the stairs, leaving her undisturbed for hours as she drifted off to sleep in her room. She would have slept through the entire night if it hadn’t been for the sound of his office phone chasing her from a dull, and quiet sleep. It had been a rare occurrence, dreaming of nothingness - a blank slate with only the sound of her peaceful breathing. She felt at ease, and it had been stolen away - her tired eyes studying the shadow that moves across the beam of light to stretch out beneath his door, his voice muffled behind thick wood and paperwork as he speaks to colleagues. The girl knows sleep is far from her reach now, feeling once heavy eyes become more alert with every passing second, so she chooses to pull herself from the bed. In her doorway, she finds her bag dropped off by her father before vanishing into his work. She pulls it inside before shutting the door, closing herself off from the world to change in privacy, sighing out in relief as the day's clothes are left in a pile on the floor in favor of something more loose, and comfortable. The dirtied cardigan is pulled from the bag, added to that same pile and pushed off to the corner for another day - another problem. Homework now splayed out before her at a neatly kept desk, late assignments pushed to the forefront as she thanks her lucky stars to have been graced with an extension. Despite the insomnia, the occasional dose off in class, and lack of care for people within the school, Autumn had risen above expectations. So when trouble began to brew, pity was spared.

Yet she lingers, cheek pressed into her palm as she stares at the paperwork - feeling unmotivated by the mere thought of touching the pen to its surface, so her eyes wander. Ash from old incense was smeared along the desk, though easily hidden by various trinkets she collected. Her stones, crystals, empty and full vials that held secrets and promises for safety. A small mirror looks back at the teen, the bags under her eyes more evident than before though at least now her skin was clean, like the incident had never happened. Just next to it, a framed drawing - Will The Wise rides his horse out across the field, his staff pointed out towards an unknown enemy while a woman dawning layered robes, similar to his own soars above, fire burning in her hand. He simply called her, “The Sorcerer” yet took inspiration from his babysitter and her many stories. It had been a gift given to her on her sixteenth birthday. She had always found happiness in his art, yet since his disappearance she had debated over putting it away in some drawer. Unable to cope with the pain it now held.

In the quiet, there’s a shift - so subtle, yet so alarming it’s enough for her to reel back in surprise. The bronze frame shifts, but only slightly. The corner tilting toward Autumn, leaving a clean path through the dust and ash, the only true sign to say she hadn’t hallucinated in her isolation. She waits with bated breath, anticipation, and even fear building of what may come next - the seconds ticking onward painfully slow. There’s a knock at the door from downstairs, it’s bizarre timing, a mere coincidence, eyes shifting to her own door as she listens to her father shuffle across the carpet and hurry down the steps. She assumes he had expected company despite the late hour, and ignores the murmurs from down below. Against her better judgment, the picture is torn from its place at her desk and tucked safely between the pages of a nearby book, letting out a shaken breath as thunderous steps begin their climb to the second floor.

Without a knock or any sort of announcement, a familiar sandy haired boy charges into her room. Uncaring of her state - what she may have been doing, how she may have looked. “Jonathan,” his name falls like a whisper, softer than she had said it earlier in the day. Kinder. His eyes were swollen, face red and wet from tears still freely spilling just over the edge. He’s defeated, worn down to the bone with nothing left to give, and despite all they’ve gone through in such a short while, he still found his way to familiar comforts. To her. Nothing is said between them as that heartache returns, shared between two friends. She takes the weight of his pain and holds it close as he falls into her embrace, letting out a pitiful sob that reveals his story. Why he’s come to her in a time of need. And she bites back her own sorrow, giving her focus to the boy that’s withering away in her arms.

What’s come between them is long forgotten in the moment - his sorrows flooding through the Reid home, leaving no room for anything else. The pain drags them down, bodies falling to her bed where they lay until the morning, the sun not yet rising to greet them but there are signs of life heard outside, small chirps of birds flying from their nests to further build their home or search for a mate to grow a family. Neither of them had slept - or so Autumn thinks, their steady breaths melding together to become one. The pain of his hurt now washed away by time though it still lingered deep in his chest - simply too exhausted to open the flood gates, and instead letting the pressure build at the walls, threatening to break free without warning.

“They found him in the quarry,” his voice cracks through the silence, a pained sigh flowing out into the emptiness as a hand runs over his tired face. “How could he have been so close,” It’s not a question for himself, or for anyone to truly answer - but expressed frustration to the universe. A cruel punishment to have stolen his baby brother away, and to leave the family the tiniest of breadcrumbs only for him to be just under their nose.

Autumn’s eyes are left closed, nails dug into her own skin as she relives every moment against her will. Jonathan at her front door, making flyers to laying eyes on his abandoned bike and the pain it left boiling under the girl's skin the moment she touched it. A discomfort that followed her, left her awake at night and haunted by the possibilities buried beneath the voices in her mind. Was it really all so simple? Could she take it for what it is, bury it, and move forward?

“I don’t know,” she whispers, voice not yet strong enough to speak. “What happens now?” Another heavy sigh, filling his chest and letting it fully deflate until his ribs become more defined beneath the layers of blankets. The boy's head falls to the side, tired eyes taking in the time of her alarm clock before muttering, “We go to the morgue. Confirmation, y’know.. That stuff.” The mere thought of it leaves her empty stomach twisting, bile brewing with the image of Will laid out for his family on a cold table - pale, just an empty vessel. It’s enough to bring a tear just to the corner of her eye, though quickly wiped away with a heavy sniff to hide a building sorrow. “And your mom?” The atmosphere instantly shifts - his once relaxed form with hands folded over his stomach now seemed stiff, breath held tightly within his chest as a stern stare burned a hole through her ceiling. “I don’t want t’talk about her,” Jonathan’s body turns away, hands now pushing himself up to move through her room and out the door. His steps are soft against the carpet until they suddenly meet the cold tile of the bathroom, the sound of running water echoing through the otherwise quiet morning. And she sits waiting, eyes locked on the now opened door to a darkened hallway - wondering if she’s stepped just over the thin line. She understands Joyce hasn’t been quite herself, stressed - thinking to have heard her son and drowning in the pain of the unknown, but the Byers were still family to her. She had to know how deep this wound was.

The water stops, and his form emerges from the shadows, quick to dodge her gaze. “Jonathan,” “No, Autumn,” he warns, though it doesn’t deter her. “Why..are you here? And not with her?” He looks to her, clear irritation in his eyes with posture slouched, weak yet seeing tension build as the veins in his neck begin to protrude. “What do you want me to say, huh? That she’s gone off the rails? That she’s acting like an insane person?” “Don’t say that about your mother,” her tone has shifted, no longer soft spoken, treading lightly to walk amongst broken glass. She straightens her stance to defend a woman not there, fighting for Joyce as her son drags her through the mud. “No, you don’t get it, Autumn. She’s losing it,” the lanky boy is beginning to pace through her room, his energy radiating so strongly that she feels forced to remain seated on the bed and watch him fly by her, anger evident in his expression. “She’s talking to the goddamn walls, okay? The house -” an exhausted sigh, arms flailing outwards as he’s unable to find a place to expel his frustrations. “She’s torn it apart. She says she spoke to him last night.”

The sun is creeping in, just enough to kiss the plants that sit along her windowsill - reaching out for the first rays of the morning, a stretch as they awaken to a new day without worry. “Not on the phone, but through lights.” “Lights?” A blank expression falls on the girl, finding himself annoyed that his friend was finding this more intriguing than concerning. “Yes, lights. She says he’s hiding. Running away from a monster in our house but there is nothing, and I mean nothing there,” he exclaims loudly, his hands pointed out her window until they fall with defeat back to his sides, uncaring that her father was just downstairs trying to sleep.

An unseen monster - a plague consuming a home from within, consuming her from within. His words are disruptive. Taking the smallest shred of peace she held onto knowing that he was now found, no matter if the feeling was false or misguided, and crushing it within his hands. Twisting it into shreds until she had been left in the cold to fend for herself. “A monster,” she repeats, barely audible and more to herself than to Jonathan as her attention begins to shift elsewhere. Bandages had come loose, revealing reddened skin from something not yet discussed - something she wished to keep for herself, and yet he takes note of where her attention has fallen. “Oh, come on. No, don’t do this,” “Why? She’s saying there’s something there-” “This is different, Autumn!” he shouts back, pain and anger visible in his darkened eyes. The lack of sleep is no longer evident as red crawls up his neck and into his cheeks, a creeping poison to delude his mind. “How? You seemed so sure at school-” “It’s bullshit, Autumn! She’s literally hallucinating. There’s nothing there! And you - I don’t know,” her expression becomes contorted by his words, shocked by his sudden change in tone and unsure of who she was now speaking with. The man standing at the edge of her bed wasn’t a Byers boy, that was certain. “So, it’s easier to dismiss because it’s me?” “I didn’t say that,” he groans, head falling back with eyes closed to collect scattered thoughts, all swimming through water as frantic hands dive through the surface in attempts to take hold. They all easily slip right from his grasp. “She just lost a son, Jonathan-”

And then the flood gates open. He’s rested, no longer tied down by his pain and instead fueled by it, using this newly discovered strength to pull the bar from heavily guarded doors so the storm washes her away. His stare is direct, like an arrow through her chest just before the waves come crashing in. “What about me? What about what I’ve lost?” A gentle sigh falls to her lap, eyes closed as she’s unable to withstand the pressure of his stare - a stranger under her roof. “Jonathan,” “No,” he interrupts with a firm tone. “My brother is gone, and who is there for me? I can’t talk to her about how I feel. She’s too busy talking to the damn lights - the walls.” With a swift motion, he reaches to grab his button up layed out over the frame, forgotten in the night from discomfort. He pulls car keys out from its pockets, already turning towards her door without another word from the boy - worried the flood may grow too tall for either of them to withstand, drowning them in the process. And just as he reaches the doorway, she calls out to him - his name sounding frail yet strong enough to lure his eyes back to the girl. She swallows hard, nervous to continue and send him into an emotional spiral, though valid it maybe. “You two need each other. Go home, if not to just..be with her,”

He’s unable to fully accept her words, eyes cast away as they slowly settle in. His jaw is tense, fingers toying with the keys of his car before a heavy sigh falls from his chest. He doesn’t respond, or look back in her direction - only pushing himself forward on his journey, out into the dim hallway and down the stairs, and she watches him go. Eyes not once leaving where he once stood until the sound of the front door is heard, a car engine soon roaring to life moments after. She lets the pain in then, knowing she’s alone with it - no one to support with the strength of her back as they fall into her. But it’s a silent, aching agony. A lake run dry in the hottest of summers, the sun reaching into the earth with a violent force, pulling back to only have crumbled dirt and no water. There was nothing left to give, yet it still tried to take. Her chest would cave as a sob tried to come through, skin becoming flushed from an overwhelming sadness and heavy eyes locked on the window just by her bed. She swears in the shifts of shadows and creeping light of morning, she can see him out there. A boy walking just beneath the street lights, on his way back home - and when he wasn’t there, his reflection in the glass stared back at her.

This voice - all along, had it been someone else? Or was he lost within the choir of misfortune?

The girl feels heavy - a soothing, warm melody beckons her back into the covers for comfort, and yet she pulls away. Every ounce of energy is used to stand back on her feet, moving through her room like shackles had been tightly wound across her ankles. She can feel him looming just behind her as she trudges forward, a dark, heavy shadow filled with only hurt - burning a gaze through her soul to leave her feeling guilty and hollow. Could he have come home sooner, if only she had tried harder?

Each thought leaves her feeling simply as a ghost of the girl from the day before. Water washing over her, carrying away all that she was down the drain to leave her shivering despite the steam and burned skin. She sees him when she closes her eyes and it’s added salt to an open wound each time. All the while she knows there’s a world out there moving forward, unaware of the pain his loss brings and knowing in a matter of years, she’ll join them. Time makes it less evident, more tolerable. You never stop thinking of your lost ones, but your pillow remains dry as the tears slow to a stop, and the guilt follows.

Autumn had hoped the world would come to a standstill the moment he had gone missing, but her classmates continued to laugh and live as though nothing mattered. And as she sits cross legged in bed, it’s clear as day today had been no different. She prunes one of countless plants of its dead leaves, and she spots neighbors turning on their lights to greet the morning. She sees them pass their windows, smiles bright - though groggy as they kiss their partners or hug their small children. Not even Hawkin’s had taken pause for grief.

Knuckles tap against her door frame, pulling the girl from her trance and towards the tall figure in her doorway, heavily leaning into the structure as if he hadn’t found his strength to stand on his own just yet. He wears a warm, yet sad smile - it’s full of pity as her eyes remain just as vacant as he had seen her last. A broken heart stripping away everything that made her whole. The silence between them is thick, and he’s unsure of how to break it - or if he even should. He wonders if his presence is enough as he begins to stumble over his words, unfinished sentences spilling over. She doesn’t react to his fumble, or his heavy sigh as he grows frustrated with himself - only watching as he collects his thoughts before proceeding. “I know what happened,” he comments, voice soft in an attempt to sooth her. “I wanted to give you both..time alone.” Autumn chews at her cheek, eyes falling back to the Philodendron in her lap and the dead leaves that lay in a pile. She reaches across, stretching outwards to set the pot in its tray just far enough for the oncoming sun to barely reach it. “Thanks,” is all she manages to give back and he’s weary of how to take it, so he treads lightly.

“It’s been..hard, lately,” Ian pauses, catching her eyes suddenly on him and they seem to be filling with a familiar spark. There’s a darkness he recalls from that night she came home, anger boiling over the edge to scald anyone that came too close - and he’s quick to lower the heat, not willing to suffer through another battle with his daughter. “Things have been hard. But, worse since Will went missing.” Her eyes begin to soften, the fire fizzling out until only smoke remains - clouding the air in its heavy fog. “Yeah.” “I was thinking..tonight, we just stay in, yeah?” His offer brings curiosity, the girl waiting patiently as she looks for another plant to tear its withering pieces away. “You order whatever you want for dinner, and I’ll swing by Family Video on the way home with some movies to pick from.”

A movie night - something lazy and peaceful as the two brought out folding tables to the den, eating dinner and then whatever they had for dessert as Autumn buried herself beneath the blankets, eyes locked on the screen. Their reactions were animated and wild, sometimes Ian would simply laugh at her reaction as he had already seen the movie. But in the times it was fresh and new for them both, they sat as the credits rolled, sharing their opinions and what rank it held on the scoring system. They haven’t sat together like that in awhile - she hasn’t asked to, and she hasn’t asked why as she already knows the answer, already hearing his voice play out in her mind; “There’s just so much to do. Maybe next time.” or “I have a deadline, I’m sorry.” But he’s there, just feet from her with an offer she may never get again, so she takes it. A gentle nod of her head and suddenly that pitiful smile he wears turns upwards into something more bright, like he was genuinely looking forward to it. “I have some things to finish up on. I’ll leave money on the table, and I’ll call the school, okay?”

There’s another silent nod of acknowledgement, watching as he slowly pulls himself away from the door and into the hallway. “And tonight, we can talk about..I don’t know, everything.”

He seems hopeful, taking her silence as something positive before turning on his heel to move down the stairs towards his own room, getting ready for the day ahead. And her eyes linger like they had with Jonathan, unmoving from where he once was and feeling heaviness creep in to close around her heart. She swears that she can see him - see Will. He looms in the shadows just after her father leaves the second floor, and she’s too afraid to make direct eye contact - so she remains frozen, letting his statuesque form remain just at the border of her vision until she all too eagerly closes the door.

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