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gogolucky13 · 3 years

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A Little Old Fashioned

Summary: Bucky is a bit subtle in telling you he likes you.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word count: 2,577

Warnings: Fluff. Maybe one swear-ish word.

A/N: This is a request for the lovely @emmabarnes! I’m so sorry this took me ages to finish, but I really hope you like it! Also, requests are not open. Enjoy! 😊💜 gif not mine.

Wednesday. Hump day. Quite possibly your least favorite day of the week, besides Sunday. Wednesday is just a reminder the week is still not over and the weekend is still so far away. The worst. But what makes it a little bit better is seeing the tall super soldier standing by your desk, two coffees in hand.

“Hey, Buck,” you greet as you approach your desk, depositing a pile of papers you were holding.

“Hey, Y/n,” Bucky replies. A boyish smile curls his lips, and there’s a brief pause as he seems to get lost in your presence. But then he clears his throat, blinking a few times and looking down to the coffee he holds. “Here, I got you this.”

Reaching for the hot drink, instinctively returning the smile he gives you. “Thank you,” you sweetly say, “but you don’t have to buy me a coffee every time you get one for yourself.” Smiling melting into a teasing smirk as you notice the blush creeping up the former assassin’s cheeks.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I know,” he stammers, flesh hand coming to rub at the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. “I just thought you could use a little pick-me-up.”

The bashful look he gives you is endearing, and your lingering smirk is hidden behind the lid of the coffee cup as you take a sip.

“Well, it’s very thoughtful of you,” you assure. “And you’re, right, I could use a pick-me-up. I’ve got quite the pile of paperwork to sort through, thanks to Wilson’s stunt on the last mission.” A slight eye roll in jest has Bucky chuckling.

“Well, I’ll let you get to it, then,” he replies, stepping away from your desk towards the exit. “See ya around.”

“Bye.”

Giving him a final smile and a little wave, you watch as he disappears from sight before settling into your desk. The mountain of paperwork taunts you from where it sits, but you don’t get the chance to start on it just yet.

A quiet hum in contemplation from behind has you swiveling your chair to face your desk mate, Carla.

“What?”

“Oh,” Carla says in mock surprise, “nothing.” Looking up from her desk and registering the pointed look you give her, she continues. “Just interesting how a one Bucky Barnes seems to be lingering around your desk a lot recently.”

A crease forms in your brows at her words. “We’re friends.”

“Mhm,” she hums again, “if you say so. It’s just a lot of coffee and snacks he brings up here.”

“He’s being nice.”

“Okay.”

Lips pinching together and the furrow to your brow deepening, you turn back around.

Bucky is your friend, and he is nice. The blossoming friendship you have with Bucky started a handful of months ago after he held the door open for you one day as you arrived to work. Of course you’d known who he was when he first arrived at the Tower, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t originally a bit intimated by him. Not because of the unkind and grossly unfair reputation that preceded him, but because he was an Avenger, and a handsome one at that.

But the friendly smile and considerate gesture opened the figurative door to your friendship with Bucky. After that day, he seemed to pop up more and more in your everyday life. There was the the time you were attempting to juggle a pile of papers and office supplies back to your desk. Bucky seemingly came out of no where from the conference room you passed to offer his assistance. There’s also been a handful of shared lunches in the staff cafeteria, and a few times, Bucky offered to help you file paperwork, claiming I don’t have anything better to do at the moment. And recently, as your ever observant desk mate pointed out, he’s been bringing you coffee or sweet snacks a few times a week.

Pondering the implication from Carla for another brief moment, you shake it from your thoughts. You work in administration, hardly exciting, and you aren’t oblivious to the model-esque women Bucky seems to unintentionally lure in at company parties. He’s Bucky Barnes, the Winter Solider, and you’re, well...you. It just makes sense he’s only looking for a friend, and besides, he’s never given any romantic indications towards you.

Finally, the week comes to an end. Replying to some last minute emails and filing a few bits of paperwork, you’re ready for the weekend at last. As you begin packing up your bag, and shutting down your computer, Bucky’s reflection appears on the black screen before you, a smile on his face.

Turning in your chair, you’re a little surprised to see him, but not at all put out by his presence.

“Well, hello there,” you greet. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company on this Friday afternoon?”

The smile on Bucky’s face stretches just that little bit more, and he’s quickly dropping his gaze to the awkward shuffling of his feet.

“Uh, I was just wondering if you’re not busy, if you’d wanna grab a coffee or something with me?” He pauses. “There’s a coffeehouse a few blocks down...”

It’s obvious he’s a little hesitant, nervous maybe. But you chalk it up to the fact it’s the first time he’s asking you to do something not during work hours and not in the comfort of the Tower.

“Yeah,” you say, “I could go for a coffee or something.” Giving him another smile, you stand from your chair and grab your jacket.

“O-okay, great,” Bucky breathes in content and possibly relief. “Are you ready now, or did you need a few minutes...”

“Nope! I am all done for today and ready to get the hell out of here.”

“Alright,” he chuckles, watching you slip on your jacket and reach for your bag. “Here, let me.” Without a second thought, he takes the bag from your hand and slings it over his shoulder.

“Oh, thanks.” A smile of appreciation is aimed in his direction. “Let me know if it gets too heavy for ya, my laptop’s in there.”

“I think I can manage,” Bucky replies with another soft chuckle. He holds his hand out in the direction of the exit, waiting for you to lead the way.

The streets of New York are unsurprisingly busy. Bucky gestures in the direction of the coffeehouse, and you begin the trek through the crowd. A somewhat protective hand finds it way to the small of your back. It’s subtle, but you know it’s there. Guiding you through the mass of people, there’s hardly a moment where you’re in discomfort as Bucky ensures no one gets too close.

The quaint coffee shops comes into view, and Bucky is quick to hold the door open for you to enter.

“There’s a small park across the way,” he states as you stand in line, “I thought we could get our drinks to go and maybe hang out there for a bit.”

“That sounds nice.”

You give him a reassuring smile, because it does sound nice. Being cooped up in an office all day, albeit an office with extremely large windows, the lack of fresh air can still make it a little stuffy and tiring.

After placing your orders, Bucky doesn’t hesitate to whip out his wallet to pay for everything.

“I asked you to come,” he says, “Only fair.”

The park isn’t too busy; you’ve managed to find that awkward time between the end of work and school so there are a few open benches to relax on. Sipping at your iced coffee, Bucky sits a modest distance away, but his body is open towards you.

“I can’t wait for summer,” he comments, eyes closed, allowing a gentle breeze to blow over his face.

Admiring his profile for a moment, you hum in agreement.

“It’ll be here soon,” you reply, “and then we’ll all be wanting winter back.”

“Nah,” he says, turning to look to you, “I don’t like the cold. Summer has always been my favorite.”

His comment is innocent enough, but from the knowledge you have of his past, you know there’s a deeper meaning, a heartbreaking reason, as to why this man doesn’t like the cold.

“Steve and I used to train hop from Brooklyn to Cony Island at least once a summer.”

His voice brings you out of your thoughts, focusing on him again.

“I haven’t been back in ages.” A wistful smile pulls at his lips and crinkles the corners of his eyes. “I’d love to go sometime.”

“Why don’t you?” The question flies from your mouth before you can even register it.

Startled, Bucky looks back to you.

“I mean, why haven’t you gone back?” You softly say in genuine curiosity.

“I don’t know,” he replies, “I guess I just haven’t made the time for it.”

The topic changes from there, and conversation flows until the sun begins its descent behind the large buildings. Again, there isn’t a moment of hesitation when Bucky offers to walk you home. Even though you assure him you could manage, he’s insistent.

“Thanks again for the coffee,” you say when you reach the door of your apartment building. “It was fun to sit and chat somewhere that wasn’t the Tower,” you add with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah it was,” Bucky agrees, lips etching upwards.

“Alright, well I’ll see you on Monday, I guess.”

One last look of appreciation before you’re turning to enter the building, but then the sound of his voice stops you.

“Hey,” he calls, words faltering as he realizes he’s gotten your attention and he needs to continue. A nervous energy radiates from him as you wait. “Would you wanna go with me?” A quizzical look contorts your features, eyebrows raising as you try to piece together what he’s offering. “To Cony Island, I mean. I know it’s still a little early in the season, but the rides open next weekend, and...it could be fun to go with you.”

To go with you.

The words induce a small fluttering in your belly, but it’s quickly squashed as you twist out the true meaning. It would be fun to go with you because you’re a nobody, and the chance of Bucky being recognized is significantly low. Going with Steve, or anyone else on the team for that matter, would most likely cause an uproar. You’re a safe option. A friendly option.

“Yeah, Buck,” you finally respond. “I’d love to go with you.”

A sigh of relief seems to pass through his lips, and a somewhat dopey smile takes over his features.

“Next weekend, you said?”

“Yeah, if that works for you?”

“I’ll put it in my calendar.”

__________

Returning from yet another lunch with Bucky, you still hold the small bundle of wildflowers he brought you because I don’t know, they just reminded me of you. As you approach your desk area, a knowing look is on Carla’s face when she sees the flowers.

“From Sergeant Barnes?”

Narrowing your eyes in the slightest at her suggestion, you pause before responding. “Maybe.”

A small quirk of her eyebrow, lips pressed into an unimpressed line, she turns back around without saying more.

You reach for a water bottle and one of the coffee mugs that’s taken up residency on your desk. Pouring just enough in the mug for the flowers, you place them inside, gently fluffing the little petals before setting it off to the side. But your attention doesn’t stray from the mound of color as you begin to question the friendship you’ve come to accept with Bucky.

When you step into the elevator a little later, you’re surprised to see Steve standing there. It’s not often the Avengers themselves make their way to this part of the Tower, but it does happen. He gives you a curt, friendly nod as you enter, and those thoughts of Bucky and your friendship take over again. So you decide to ask the original man out of time what it could all mean.

“Hey, Cap,” you begin, “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Back in your time,” a pause when you see the look he’s giving you, “I mean no offense, I’m just curious, how did you go about dating back then? I mean, how did one know when something was a date?”

His eyes narrow in intrigue. “Does this have something to do with Bucky?”

You nod in silence, pressing the folder full of papers against your chest.

“What happened?”

“He’s asked me to go to Cony Island with him this weekend.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s definitely a date.”

“What?” You ask in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

He turns, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the opposite wall to face you directly.

“Well, let’s look at all the facts,” he states. “Does he open doors for you?” A nod. “Does he bring you things?” Another nod. "Offer to help you with things?” A third nod. “Well, there ya go. He’s courting you, and he’s asked you on date.”

“I thought he was just being nice!”

“He is being nice,” he replies, “because he likes you.”

“Oh my god,” you softly groan. “What do I do?”

A shrug of his shoulders as he stands upright again. “That’s up for you to decide. Do you like him back?”

The question has you taking a moment, gaze falling to the floor as you contemplate. The idea was one you hadn’t fully considered because it just made sense Bucky was only looking for a friend. Protecting your heart and shielding your emotions, you never let it get to that point of falling for him. But as you think about all the little things he does for you, all the talks you’ve had, there’s only one answer to that question.

“Yeah,” you sigh, “Yeah, I do like him.”

“Then it seems like you know what to do.”

The doors open and he shoots you a wink as he steps out of the elevator, a playful smirk teasing the corner of his lips. Then you’re left alone with this new revelation.

By the time the weekend rolls around, you’re eager to see Bucky. He stopped by your desk a few times during the week, but it wasn’t the right time to ask him. To figure out if what Steve said in the elevator was correct and what Bucky’s intentions truly are. Of course you’d be happy to keep what you have with him platonic, he is a good friend. But for your sanity, you just need to know if that’s all he wants from you.

That’s why, on Saturday morning when Bucky comes to your apartment, you don’t hesitate to get it out of the way.

“Wait,” you begin, “before we go, is this a date?”

“Uh, I...um, do you want it to be a date?” He asks, an uncertainty in his voice, but he looks to you with wide, hopeful eyes, waiting.

A moment’s pause as you ponder your response. “I suppose I’m hoping that’s what this is.” A shy smile creeps across your lips, body heat rising as you look down at him from the top of the stoop.

The smile he gives you is breathtaking. Blue eyes twinkling in the mid-morning sun, a warm hand held out for you to take.

“Then it’s a date, Doll.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fluff #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky x y/n

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rebelhan · 4 years

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yield

pairing: Geralt of Rivia x Reader

word count: 5.2k

warning: 18+, explicit sex, unprotected sex (pls wrap it before u tap it), fluff, a bit of pining, sword fighting as foreplay... if u squint

a/n: this was just an excuse to put fighting with geralt and smut in the same story oops

masterlist

AO3 link

“You think you can take me?” The question is asked with an amused lilt and you can see the smirk playing on the Witcher’s face. Though his hand is on the hilt of the sword at his hip, as if he already knows your answer.

You juggle the question for a moment. Realistically, no. You could not take him. You were going to end up flat on your ass in a few minutes and you knew this. Though you also knew a duel with Geralt would only help you improve your own skills. So, not two minutes earlier, you had asked him tauntingly, “You up for a fight, Witcher?” That, and Jaskier had been sent off to fish in a nearby river so you were alone with Geralt. Being alone around him made your mind foggy in a way you didn’t know how to deal with.

Geralt wouldn’t have entertained the thought of saying yes to you had he not seen your skills with a blade first hand. The Golem he had encountered just under a month ago was quite the challenge, even for him. And of course Jaskier was of no help against the beast. Then you had appeared out of nowhere and slain the monster with your meteorite sword. When you had shyly asked to accompany him to his next destination, Geralt had already made up his mind to say yes before Jaskier begged him to agree.

It was twenty-eight days since that encounter and the three of you had been making your way through the lands, eliminating the monsters that plagued the towns you visited in exchange for coin. Geralt half expected you to end your journey with them at each inn you stopped at, but the next morning you were always ready to go, on to the next adventure. Geralt didn’t mind as much as he thought he would. You could take care of yourself and you pulled your weight, proving a valuable ally against beasts more than once.

So here you stood in this clearing of woods, the sun shining low in the sky. Instead of answering his question, you unsheathe your sword from its place slung over your back and point the tip of the blade at Geralt’s chest, a sly smile on your face.

You can’t even blink before his steel blade clangs with your own, the force of the vibration rippling down your arm. You duck as he slashes, his sword slicing through the air where you once stood. You stab towards him and he avoids it with a step to the side. When he jabs at you again, you spin against the blade, catching his sword with your own near his hilt. The sound it makes is grating and you know he felt that clash in his wrist.

You step away from him to catch your breath. He knows you’re winded. “Is that all you’ve got?” you goad, though you are the one panting. A low chuckle rumbles through his chest at the taunt; with the way you’re breathing, he knows there’s no bite behind it. He spins the blade once in his wrist while you fill your lungs and you charge at him again, hoping to catch him by surprise. The sound of your blades crashing together over and over rings through the air. It’s punctuated by the sound of your grunts, struggling with the force of each move. The birds have long fled the trees around you from the sounds of your fighting and the sun falls lower in the sky with each meeting of blades.

With the next jab, your swords lock together at the hilt. Between the cross of the blades, your face is near Geralt’s, close enough to see the vein protruding his forehead in effort. You push against his sword, groaning with the strain of holding him back. “Not strong enough to beat a human?” you jest, but the words are grunted out and you know you will lose soon enough. You may be a decent sword fighter, but your strength is no match for a Witcher’s. As you strain with the effort of holding him back, you take pride in the fact that he’s breathing hard, too. At least you weren’t making this easy for him. You weigh your options quickly, your arms are trembling and you know you can’t hold him off much longer.

Before you can maneuver away, the ground disappears from beneath your feet and you hit the dirt with a yelp, the impact knocking the wind out of you. Geralt had kicked a leg behind your ankles and sent you tumbling to the ground. He stands above you, the tip of his sword touching the fabric at the center of your chest. The smile on his face reaches his amber eyes. He raises his eyebrows, waiting for the words to end the fight.

You huff in annoyance. “I yield.”

“Is that all you’ve got?” he teases, throwing your words back at you. You can’t help the matching grin that falls on your face. He sheathes his sword again before offering you a gloved hand. You sit up, grabbing his hand, a retort on the tip of your tongue. But when he pulls you up, you stand with your torso against his, looking up at him. You’re close enough that you can feel the rise and fall of his chest and trace the specks of black in the yellow of his eyes. It’s like the wind has been knocked out of you all over again.

“What? No witty remark?” he asks, tilting his head closer to yours, just slightly. You feel the words rumble through his chest and it sends a shiver up your spine. Heat creeps up your neck and you’re not sure how much longer you can stand to be this close to him. The sly grin on his face tells you nothing. Either he doesn’t notice your dumbstruck expression and is content to tease you on the outcome of your duel, or he is entirely aware of the effect he’s having on you.

Your hand is still gripping his in a vice, unable to find the biting words you had planned to say. You’re lost in his eyes, the orange of the setting sun bringing out the same shade in his irises.

Then, just as suddenly, you hear Jaskier’s voice. “Oi! Look what I’ve caught.” You jump away from Geralt and miss the look of disappointment that flashes across his face. Jaskier seems to be blissfully ignorant of the position the two of you were just in, cheerfully gesturing at the net in his hand holding two fish. You move to pick your sword up from the where it had landed during your fall and resheathe it while Geralt and Jaskier start a fire.

You eat in silence, but Jaskier fills the quiet, prodding the two of you to approve of his new lyrics every few minutes. By the time you’ve eaten, the sun is long gone and Jaskier has the makings of two new verses. He has taken to singing them over and over again in the name of perfecting them. You glance up at Geralt across the fire as Jaskier is beginning to sing the same line for the seventh time. His gaze was already trained on you, his eyes glowing against the low flames of the dying fire. Your heart jumps into motion again and the heat of the fire suddenly feels suffocating. You give a half-hearted excuse about needing some rest and step away from the fire to find a flat area to get comfortable on for the night.

When you wake to the sun streaming in through the trees, the thump of your heart has not subsided. Your hand falls to your neck where the ghost of a pair of lips lingers. With a jolt, you sit up, mortified. You had dreamt of him. You shut your eyes tightly, willing yourself to forget, but it’s a mistake and the images of your dream flash behind your eyes. His hands wrapped tightly around you, ghosting your cheeks, running down the sides of your body. His lips on your chest, your neck, squarely against yours. His eyes piercing yours as pleasure overtook you. His hair, falling around your face as he leaned down and kissed you, your hands tangled in white mane with his head between your legs.

The heat returned to your cheeks and you furiously rubbed at your eyes, hoping to dispel both the offending images and the last remnants of sleep. A rustling noise pulls you from your thoughts and your eyes open to Geralt packing up camp and stroking Roach’s mane. It takes everything in you not to curl up into a ball and the thought of running away crosses your mind before you chastise yourself for being stupid.

The day of walking is uneventful. You keep a safe distance between yourself and the Witcher, necessary to keep your heart at bay. Though you’re consumed with your own feelings, you think you maintain an air of nonchalance successfully, especially if Jaskier’s indifference to the situation is anything to go by. The regular banter between the three of you is easy to fall into despite your thoughts being elsewhere. And when the sun beating down is too much and silence encompasses your companions, Jaskier never fails to sweetly croon, “Toss a coin to your Witcher.”

“O Valley of Plenty,” you follow without fail. It brings a smile to both your faces. Though Geralt walking behind the two of you only responds with a disapproving grunt, you can hear the smile on his face, too.

You arrive at the nearest town just as nightfall is settling in. The sole inn of the village is above a rowdy bar and though the three of you are weary from the journey, the promise of strong ale is too good to resist. You pile your things into the single available room before crowding around a table together, pitchers of golden liquid filled to the brim in front of you. Jaskier downs his first pint in the blink of an eye and his second and third go just as fast. While you’re still working on your first, Jaskier grabs his lute and leads the patrons of the bar in a drunken rendition of The Fishmonger’s Daughter. The crowd takes to him rather quickly and you’ve lost sight of him in the middle of the establishment, though his voice still rings out clear above the others.

Geralt looks out at him and though his gaze is steely, you swear there’s a hint of affection behind the hardness. You admire the straight line of his jaw over the rim of your glass, content to observe him while he’s distracted. Then his head twists towards you and you rush to move your gaze down to your drink, taking a hefty gulp and nearly choking on it in your attempt to pretend you weren’t ogling him.

You drop the glass down to the table with a thunk and dab at the ale that escaped your mouth with your sleeve. When you look back up, Geralt’s amber eyes are still fixated on you. It’s an effort to keep your voice steady when he’s staring at you so intently. “Penny for your thoughts?” you prompt him.

You’re met with his silence. Then he shrugs and his eyes flit about the bar, as if he’s deciding what he should reveal to you. “You’re not bad with a sword,” he says.

The heat flares in your cheeks. Was he thinking about the day before? Just as you had been? Compliments from the Witcher came few and far between and you dared to guess this was only the second one you had ever received, though it barely qualified.

“Though not as good as me,” he continues. The corner of his lip is raised. He’s teasing again. Whatever fluttering was in your belly is quashed by your indignation.

“I beg to disagree! You won because you’re stronger than me, that I’ll admit. Had you not been a Witcher I would’ve had you on the ground in seconds. And I was barely winded!” It’s a bit of an exaggeration, yes, but he had successfully baited your competitive nature. His face reveals amusement at the flare of your temper. He takes a generous sip of his ale before returning his attention to you.

His eyes are alight with mischief. Even before he opens his mouth, you know he’s about to say something meant to rile you up and get some reaction from you. Though, there’s no way for you to anticipate the exact words he utters.

“Your heartbeat said otherwise” The memory has blood rushing to your cheeks again. He pauses, waiting for your retort, and when none comes he continues. “Or maybe that’s just because you like me.”

Your chest seizes in shock. Your mouth opens and closes like a fish, unable to come up with anything to defend yourself. Damn his Witcher senses. He hides his grin behind another sip of ale and you can’t meet his eyes anymore, your gaze drilling a hole into the wooden table. The tavern around you is loud and lively and Jaskier is still leading the crowd in some other drunkard’s song but all you can hear is your heart thumping in your ears.

Between Geralt’s piercing gaze and the small table, there is nowhere for you to run and you quickly calculate the fastest escape you can make to save yourself from any further mortification. With clumsy hands, you raise your glass and down what remains, clearing your throat at the burn. “I think I’ll retire for the night,” you say, your voice uncharacteristically meek. Although there is just the one room, you figure you can fall asleep, or at least pretend to be asleep, by the time Geralt is done drinking, and Jaskier will no doubt find himself in someone else’s bed for the night. If you’re lucky, maybe Geralt will make his way to a brothel and save you from the embarrassment of being around him.

Just as you get up and scrape your chair back, his voice cuts through your thoughts. “I think I will, too.”

There is no way out, you conclude. You’re fated to die of embarrassment tonight. As you make your way through the tavern towards the stairs, you spare a desperate glance towards Jaskier, but his eyes are glazed over in drunkenness and he is draped over the lap of a beautiful maiden: he will be of no help.

The hallway of the upper level of the inn creaks with each step you take. Geralt follows closely behind you as you carefully walk to the end of the hall where your room is. He is so close that you can feel the warmth emanating from his body, even through the clothes he wears. If you were to stop walking, he’d surely bump into you.

When you stop at your door and fumble with the latch, his chest is mere inches from your back. The proximity has every one of your nerves on edge. The bolt creaks against the wood as it slides out from the door frame. Before you can push the door to open it, Geralt’s arm comes up beside your head and does it for you, caging you between himself and the door.

Your mind clouds with lust at the simple action and you push forward into the room to give yourself some distance to clear your head. He enters behind you and you turn to close the door and bolt it when you find his chest at your back yet again. He places his hand over yours and you freeze. You’re sure the pounding of your heart is loud enough for him to pick up with his Witcher senses. When you fail to move, he gently pushes your fingers to help you bolt the door.

You pull your hand out from underneath his and spin around, your intention to duck away from him. But you find yourself trapped between Geralt’s body and the door at your back, his arms on either side of you to keep you in place. You can’t bring your eyes to his face, instead dropping your gaze to your hands which you clutch together in front of you. The question of what he’s doing flits through your mind, though you settle on the answer that he’s figured out you like him and he’s now enjoying teasing you and watching you squirm.

“Look at me,” he says quietly, though your combative nature is stronger than your embarrassment and you keep your gaze on your own fidgeting fingers as some form of protest.

“Look at me,” he repeats. This time, there’s something in his voice you can’t place. It’s a little gentler than you’re used to, the banter between you has always been abrasive. Regardless, you can’t seem to stop your body from listening as your head tilts up and your eyes find his. The stupid smirk is still on his face and that is enough to solidify the idea that he is making fun of you.

Your ears heat in anger and you huff indignantly, “Fine, I like you. There’s no need to be an ass about it.” There’s an angry line dividing your brow and you don’t cease the wringing of your hands until one of his hands leaves its place on the door to stop the motion.

He leans down, until there is but a hair’s breadth between the two of you. You hold your breath. Your eyes drop to his lips, and even as your heart is hammering in your ears, you’re still convinced that he’ll play out this teasing for as long as he can.

And then his lips are on yours.

Your hands find purchase on his shoulders and one of his grabs at your waist. And even as you move your mouth against his, your mind is still racing. Just how committed was he to maintaining this ruse? And as much as you were enjoying this, at what point should you push him away and come back to reality?

Then, his tongue swipes at your lips, begging for entrance, and all thoughts fly out of your mind. He licks into your mouth and you are entirely consumed by how solid he is under your hands. His frame envelops you and you are pressed between his chest and the door. His lips leave yours to venture down the side of your neck and a whine involuntarily escapes your throat. You feel his lips curl into a smile against your skin at the sound and you fight through the pleasure that clouds your brain to push him away. He looks at you questioningly as you take a moment to catch your breath.

“All right, I think that’s quite enough of teasing me. Wasn’t it enough for you to let me die of embarrassment, you had to take it this far?” you ask him, jabbing a finger at his chest accusingly. His face morphs from confusion to amusement to incredulity in the span of a second.

“You’re as thick as a brick, woman.”

Your indignation is halfway out of your mouth before he slams his lips against yours once again. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you wonder if you had missed something, but then his nimble fingers are at the ties at the front of your blouse and you can’t hold on to a single thought as the garment is loosened and his rough palm is splayed against the bare skin of your chest.

He grabs at your flesh and drags a coarse thumb over your nipple, drawing air from your chest in a gasp. That sound is enough encouragement for him to repeat the action and pinch the nub until it’s hardened. He gives the same treatment to your other breast before seemingly growing impatient. He pulls away to tug your blouse off completely and lets it fall to the ground. His gaze lingers on your heaving chest for a moment before traveling up to meet your eyes.

The yellow of his irises is nearly swallowed by his pupils in a darkened look you have never seen on him before. With a jolt, you register for the first time that your feelings may not be one sided. He holds your gaze while you allow yourself to process that thought. When you bring yourself back to reality, your brow is set in a determination Geralt only sees when you’ve got a steel sword in your hand and the taste of a fight on your tongue.

With renewed fervor, you surge toward him, a hand grabbing at the nape of his neck and crashing your lips against his. The kiss is desperate and bruising. He nips at your bottom lip as you claw at the material of his shirt, breaking away for a moment to tug the piece of clothing over his head. He spins you around, walking you back until the backs of your knees knock against the rickety frame of the tavern bed.

His teeth bite at your pulse point, eliciting a whimper from you. One hand makes quick work of the laces of your breeches and when the material pools at your ankles along with your undergarments, he presses against you until you fall onto the bed. You raise yourself onto your elbows and watch as he undoes his own breeches and takes them off. As he crawls on top of you, you’re caught between the embarrassment of holding his gaze and his arms that cage you in.

Geralt’s golden eyes scan your face, enjoying the way your wild eyes glance around and breath passes through your kiss bitten lips. He drops his head into the crook of your neck, pressing his lips against the dips of your collarbone. One hand trails your side in a feather light touch and comes to rest at the top of your thigh. A sharp nip at your skin has your chest arching up towards his, but his hand on your leg holds you down and he eases the reddening spot with a swipe of his tongue.

The hand lingering at your hip ghosts towards your center and he presses his thumb at your bundle of nerves. You suck in a sudden breath and you can feel his lips form a smile on your skin yet again, though the haze of pleasure is too thick for you to come up with a witty remark to wipe the smirk of his face. Two fingers at your entrance gather the wetness there and your body tenses in anticipation.

He suddenly raises his head to look you in the eyes. With a start, you realize he’s asking for permission. And when you nod yes to him, two fingers slip past your folds. His eyes shut in appreciation and he groans at the sensation of your warmth around his fingers. The sound comes from his chest and has wetness pooling at your core. He moves his digits in and out slowly, scissoring them gently. Each of your whimpers has a grunt falling from his lips, like he draws his pleasure from yours. His thumb presses circles at your clit, slowly increasing pace as your pleasure builds, spreading from your core to every inch of your body. He slips a third finger inside you and your hands find purchase in his white hair, tugging at the strands.

Your chest arches up, toes curling and thighs tensing, head falling back as you near closer and closer to the edge. And then his hand is gone. You groan at the loss of the sensation, having been so close to coming. A thin sheen of sweat coats your skin and when you open your eyes again, Geralt’s face is twisted into that cocky smirk that you are quickly coming to despise.

“I was so close,” you glare at him indignantly, though the quick rise and fall of your chest and the wetness between your legs gives you little leverage against him. He controls your pleasure and by the grin he sports, he is well aware of this fact, but he presses a gentle kiss to your lips in apology.

He leans back to stroke himself twice before he’s positioning himself at your entrance. This time, he asks you aloud, “Can I?”

You nod quickly, but he’s intent on teasing you at least a little longer.

“I need to hear you say it.” There’s mirth on his face but it’s overwhelmed by lust. He can’t hold back much longer.

Your response is breathless. “Yes.”

He enters you slowly, groaning with the feeling until he bottoms out. He pauses to let you adjust. Your eyes are screwed shut as you struggle to get used to his girth. When the sensation subsides you nod that you’re ready and he begins rocking into you.

His pace is steady and you meet each thrust with a raise of your hips. The pleasure slowly builds again and you feel warmth creep into every extremity of your body. His hands grab at your thighs and push them up until you lock your ankles behind his back, allowing him to hit a new spot inside you that has you babbling praises and curses alike.

His hips move faster, slamming against yours with each movement. The bed creaks rhythmically, though you barely register the sound amongst that of Geralt’s skin slapping yours and the guttural noises that fall from his throat. As you near the edge yet again, he snakes and hand between your bodies to flick tight circles against your clit, eliciting his name from your lips.

“Geralt Geralt Geralt…" you mumble like a mantra, unable to form any other phrase as the coil in your gut twists tighter and tighter

And even in the throes of pleasure you recognize the glint in his eyes that tells you he’s about to say something to rile you up.

It’s a single word, grunted as a command.

“Yield.”

You comply, tumbling over the edge as every nerve in your skin is set alight. White flashes behind your eyes and a long drawn out whine escapes from your throat. Your thighs tremble around him as he moves through your release, chasing his own high. With a few quick thrusts, he spills inside you, your name falling from his lips in a gasp, spoken like a prayer.

He collapses above you, your chests heaving in harmony as the buzz lingers in the air around you. You feel his lips at your neck again, pressing a few breathless kisses, before he rolls over onto his back. His hair is a mess from the agitation of your hands and sweat lingers on his skin.

For a beat, the nerves return and you wonder if you should say something, or perhaps get dressed and make yourself scarce, but Geralt wordlessly tugs you to him until your head rests on his chest and pulls a thin sheet over your bodies.

“Sleep,” he says, and for once, you’re content to listen to him, falling into a slumber almost immediately.

You awaken to sunlight filtering in through the dingy window of the room. You lay in the same position you had fallen asleep in, save for the thin sheet now pooled at your waist. In the morning light, the memory of your actions brings heat to your face . You hastily decide that detangling yourself from the Witcher, getting dressed, and disappearing until it is time to leave is the best way for you to avoid the embarrassment of confronting your lingering feelings.

You’re sitting at the edge of the modest bed, tugging your breeches up your legs and overthinking how to avoid talking to Geralt, when his sleep laden voice promptly cuts through your frantic thoughts.

“Where are you going?”

You nearly jump from fright, but calm your heart enough to remain indignant. You twist towards him to find the man propped up on one elbow on his side, shamelessly observing your form. The sheet across his waist leaves little to the imagination and despite the previous night’s activities, the image still has you flustered.

You turn forward again to continue dressing and mutter, “Nowhere.”

“Turn around,” you follow, “I would like some privacy, please.” The ire in your voice is apparent and you focus on the feeling. At least while you directed your energy towards anger, you could avoid thinking about everything else.

“Why?” he retorts. “It’s not like I didn’t see it all last night.”

Your hands pause at the laces of your breeches as you process how difficult he is making it to avoid discussing what happened. “It was... dark,” you respond lamely.

“Did you forget I’m a Witcher?” There’s an amused lilt to his tone and sure enough when you turn around again his lips are raised on one side. You scowl at the expression and his grin only grows wider at your irritation.

Before you can decide between smacking the smirk off his face and begging him to leave you alone, he raises himself to sit and leans forward, capturing your lips in a gentle kiss. His palm tenderly cups your cheek and you feel his thumb stroke the ridge of your cheekbone. When he pulls away, all traces of anger have left your face.

He rises off the bed to get dressed and the wood creaks with the loss of the weight. The kiss, though sweet and short, leaves you inexplicably giddy and you fumble with your blouse thrice before fastening it properly.

Geralt sits back down beside you on the bed to lace up his boots as you do your own. When you finish, he stands and offers you a hand, looking at you expectantly with golden eyes. The voice in your head screams through frantic thoughts to run away from that hand as fast as you can, but you ignore it. You clasp his work worn hand with your own and he pulls you up off the bed. He lets go momentarily, strapping his swords to his back and grabbing his belongings while you do the same with your rucksack. At the door to your room, he takes your hand and tugs you out into the hallway while your mind is still catching up to the feeling of your fingers interlocked with his.

You find Jaskier in the lower level of the inn, looking miserably hungover in front of a plate of eggs. He doesn’t register your presence until the two of you are standing right in front of him. The bard nods solemnly and rises from the table to leave, anything but eager to start the day’s journey. If he notices the hands clasped between yourself and Geralt, he says nothing. Though you suspect his Witcher song will have a new verse by dusk.

It’s your mistake that you hum the melody to Toss A Coin To Your Witcher that night at your campfire, even if you are bored out of your mind. Jaskier’s colorful new verse, featuring a rather suggestive description of yourself, has you chasing him around the clearing with your sword in hand. Jaskier begs for mercy while Geralt looks on in fond amusement.

thank you for reading!

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scalpelandrose · 2 years

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🌹A/N: This is pure comforting self indulgence in-between a couple of things I am juggling at the moment. There was a lot of personalness that was integrated into this particular one that was amplified after a long week, though it is more quietly domestic in tone, so if you do read it, thank you. There will a be follow up Part 2 about the following modern AU date.

🌹Song Inspiration: ~Sora~ by Hamao Kyousuke

🌹 Picrew used: HERE

🌹 Tagging: @jazminetoad, @the-phoenix-and-the-witch, @conchasweetheart, @lariflames, @gabrielasalazar18, @friendly-kaiju, @undercoverweeeb

The watch read 1 a.m. as the young surgeon quietly closed the door behind him, ensuring that the Christmas gift he bought for his beloved girlfriend remained safely tucked inside his jacket. An almost sublime indigo veiled the house, as if every object was locked in a dreamlike stillness, undisturbed by the activity of the outside world. Except for one room.

A bright white light from the study room illuminated the hall, causing Law to knit his eyebrows in concern.

“She’s still working on that presentation?”

He discreetly placed his jacket on the couch and headed to the hall. He’d take care of that tomorrow, since he usually woke up before Michelle. Approaching the doorway, he knocked on the frame to catch her attention.

“Hey babe,” he voiced with an incredulous smile. He watched as she raised her head from her intense focus on the screen and the rapid tapping of keys stopped. Even with the exhaustion wearing on her features and the soldier-like stiffness on her shoulders, he still found her the most beautiful thing in the world that he was lucky to call his own.

“Law!” she exclaimed, with a weight of relief. The look of affection in her eyes, as if she had not seen him in weeks, tugged at his heart, and he could feel the weariness in her limbs and how she was trying to hold herself together when she ran over to embrace him.

“I’m home,” he whispered against her hair, embracing Michelle with all he could offer after a long day, letting the warmth of their bodies holding each other together meld back the pieces that were frayed from fatigue.

Michelle lifted her head to meet Law’s silver eyes, leaning into his touch when one tattooed hand came up to caress her cheek, “Welcome home, mein Schatz. How was work?” Law removed her blue-light glasses and leaned down, giving her a chaste peck on her lips. He always found it adorable when she said that, almost as if she was his wife. Almost.

“It was good. We did a successful CABG on the governor’s uncle, so I think the hospital will see more funding in the near future.”

“That’s amazing! At this rate, you’ll definitely become a chief surgeon in the next two years…but I bet it’ll be sooner, because my Law-ve is the best at what he does!” she beamed with the leftover strength she had.

“That’s because I have someone who believes in me and makes it her duty to be the Chief of Headache Prevention,” he jested in return, but his actions in pulling Michelle closer to his body betrayed the lightheartedness of the conversation.

“Are they not pulling their weight?” he asked in a low tone, following a beat of silence.

Michelle brought her arms up around Law’s back, as she shook her head on his shoulder. “Two of the members said they were busy and will do their small part that I asked them to do next weekend, but when I checked, I saw them out drinking with friends on their social media. The other one that was supposed to make our bibliography just pasted the links without formatting anything, so I had to do it myself—even though I sent them the links to EasyBib and PurdueOWL. I already emailed the professor, but they said that as the leader of the group, I had to figure out a way to sort it out, myself,” she paused, feeling a lump in her throat, “But…thing is, we never officially assigned team roles and I hate that this happens almost every time there is a group project.”

Law stroked his girlfriend’s soft black hair, not allowing her to return to her chair. He looked over to her computer monitor in quiet fury. Michelle had been working on a group project for an upper-level symposium for the past week-and-a-half, but it appears that she was carrying the bulk of the assignment trying to coordinate every member and all the necessary resources leading up to the grand presentation.

“Unbelievable…” he gritted under his breath, before sighing, “Makes you almost miss high school when we’d pair up for almost every assignment, huh?”

This caused Michelle’s grim frown of frustration to change into a half-smile. Throughout years of mental academic frustrations with elite programs and projects, Law was always on her side where her family or friends could neither understand nor provide effective help for. Although it took time getting used to someone telling her not to overexert herself (ironically, because Law tends to do the same), she was grateful beyond words for how he took the time to understand her and help her through genuine actions—something that initially brought her to tears, being unused to such consideration, as she was put on a pedestal all her life. “You were the best project partner I had till this day,” she whispered, looking into his equally tired eyes, “But I have to get this little thing done, first. Go to bed first, ok? I’ll meet you there in 15 minutes.”

“More like 3 a.m.” Law thought to himself, well-knowing Michelle’s perfectionist tendencies. He was equally as guilty too in pulling all-nighters researching more effective methods for his trade and cures, but it was ironic that his girlfriend was doing the opposite of the advice she was always giving him to prioritize his health, so he scooped her up in his arms and began making a beeline to their bedroom with an unchanged expression.

“Babe, I said I’ll turn it off soon!” she protested.

“We both know that your ‘soon’ will be 2-3 hours, mi xao. You’re one of the most intelligent women I know, and I’m confident you can shoulder this by yourself under a better time frame, but it’s not worth sacrificing your health for people who don’t care if you overexert yourself or not,” Law stated firmly, laying her down on the bed, “I’ll help you with it on Monday, so get some rest.”

The dip in the bed rose, as Law left to save Michelle’s progress and turn off the light in the study that was disturbing the calm indigo throughout the house. He came back to their room to take a shower, but when he was done, he still found Michelle awake. He gave her a quizzical arch of his brow, as if asking why she wasn’t asleep yet.

A brief beat passes, before she extended an arm to him, “The bed is cold without you…”

It seemed that long nights of working made Michelle a bit more unguarded and clingy with her expressions, and Law couldn’t help but find this side to her adorable—especially the lovelorn look she gave when reaching out to him. But his acquiescences were for her, and her alone.

Law’s tender gaze on her never faltered as he approached her, taking her slender hand into his own, and bestowing a kiss to the inside of her palm, “You know what that means, right?”

A serene warmth filled Michelle’s chest and she gently hummed feeling the bed dipped beside her, “A kiss to the inside of someone’s palm means, ‘My heart is in your hands,’ and coming from a cardiac surgeon, that is a tremendous honor.”

The corner of Law’s lips curled into a small smile, as Michelle’s hands caressed the contours of his face, from his brow, to the bridge of his nose, his jaw, and back to his lips, before she trailed them down to chest, tracing his tattoo in careful study. She laid her palm against his heart, feeling his heartbeat, as he entwined her other hand in his own. “Listening to your heartbeat is one thing, but feeling it also brings me comfort, somehow,” Michelle said, detangling her fingers from Law’s to bring his palm to her lips, returning his earlier gesture.

“I should be telling you the same thing,” he smiled, running a calloused thumb over the plush of her lips, “But even without a reason, I’d carefully cherish your heart that you entrusted to me, Michelle…after all, I am a heart doctor.”

“And a Heart Stealer, for stealing my heart on the daily, since middle school,” she softly jested with a yawn. Unfortunately, or fortunately, for her, Law took this opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, eliciting a sound of surprise from Michelle. It was his ‘punishment,’ in a way for overworking herself and for the saucy comeback.

‘I should have seen this coming,’ she laughed inside her mind, wrapping her arms around Law’s broad back and pulling him closer as she melted into his deep kiss, drawing an amused hum from him.

It was moments like these that made waking up everyday worthwhile to the couple. After being satisfied with their fill of eachother, they finally were in a position to sleep, with Law spooning Michelle from behind.

“We’re going on a date tomorrow, since I have off” Law mumbled against the shell of her ear, “Doctor’s orders.”

And of course, Michelle could not refuse her doctor’s orders, especially if the prescription seemed beneficial to the both of them.

#scalpelandrose #modern au #self ship #self shipping #self ship community #one piece self insert #f/o x s/i #michellaw #law x michelle #law & michelle's adventures #my writing #fluff

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kaminobiwan · 4 years

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lost in translation

pairing: captain rex x engineer!reader

summary: an off day doesn’t always mean a bad day.

a/n: this one was very sweet to write :-) it’s part of my follower milestone celebration, and came from a request from an anon. the prompt was “catching someone doing something they’re not supposed to”, and I really didn’t expect this to take the form that it did! it’s a good thing, though. I really loved writing the fluff and rex deserves the entire world.

finally, here’s something new: my freshly made taglist form is done! as always, enjoy!

He finds you crouched outside the barracks with a datapad in your hand.

It’s not something he’d usually consider abnormal, given everything that happens on the front lines in a single day of wartime, but the way you peek from behind the wall like you don’t want anyone to see you is noticeably out of the ordinary.

He sneaks up on you pretty easily. It’s in his training, after all.

“What are you doing?”

You let out a surprised yelp, juggling the datapad for a few precarious seconds before catching it and shooting him an annoyed glare. “I could have dropped that.”

Rex tucks his helmet underneath his arm, shrugging indifferently. “Not like you couldn’t have fixed it.”

You shake your head at him the same way a teacher would to a misbehaving child, holding up a finger in correction. “I fix starships, not electronics.” Your voice drops conspiratorially. “It’s a completely different area of engineering.”

It doesn’t really matter that much to him. The math, or physics, or whatever you try to teach him always goes over his head, anyways. The way you’re glancing over your shoulder to see if any of the men can hear you, though, is something he’d like explained to him.

“Are you spying on them?”

“Shh!” You free a hand to clamp over his mouth, and Rex flinches at the sudden contact. Your hand is warm, no doubt from holding the datapad for too long. But he’s thankful, lest you feel the heat rising in his cheeks from your touch. “You’re gonna blow my cover. I’m on a mission.”

Rex’s voice is muffled, but his words come out clear enough. “What mission?”

You usher him back down the hallway from where he came, dropping your arm from his face. “Can’t tell you,” you reply, gazing up at him with an intrepid grin. Even without your expression, it’s easy to see through your jest with your overtly joking tone. “It’s top secret. Goes all the way up to the top.”

Rex raises an eyebrow. That is new. It’s not often you’ll hide something from him. You’ve always been an open book around the 501st, saying it helps the boys comfortably emote after the trauma of the battlefield. You’re naturally trusting, and it encourages reciprocation without force. Even the General had noticed and enjoyed the calming presence you’d had on his men, hence your current station as head engineer of their mobile base. Good thing, too — Rex is pretty deep in his feelings for you. Has been since the moment you’d stuck out a surprisingly calloused hand and introduced yourself to him. To the benefit of everyone, his command is noticeably more effective after a late night in your private quarters or his separated bunk.

“I think I’d know if you were assigned on a mission,” he holds the door open for you as you duck inside your room. “Seeing as how I’m your C.O.”

“Is that the case?” you tuck the datapad on a bookshelf next to your bed. You turn to speak over your shoulder, obviously attempting to conceal the information you’d been recording from him. “Didn’t realize I’d be dating my boss when I got involved with you.”

Rex stumbles on his own two feet at that, and you laugh at him outwardly.

He’s still not the best with confronting the relationship between the two of you, as under wraps as it may be. After losing so many brothers to the war that birthed them, it’s hard to be vulnerable the way you ask him to be. He wants the same thing you do, but being open about how he feels is almost impossible for him.

Thank the maker you’re patient, though, and can put up with his inability to call himself your boyfriend. It doesn’t stop you from showering him in affection.

“Well, I do outrank you, even if you are a civvie tech.” Recovered from his blunder, he eases himself down on your cot, undoing the straps of his armor. “So, I could just order you to tell me what you were doing.”

A pout materializes. “You’re no fun.”

“Got me mixed up with Fives if that’s what you’re looking for.”

You sigh dramatically, plopping into your favorite sitting corner next to his feet. The stool you usually prop your feet up on is missing, though he suspects it’s in the refresher since you seem to be too short to reach the cabinet there. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Rex lets a corner of his mouth rise in a half smile. He enjoys the way you let your reactions show, exercising the full range of your emotions. You pick up the slack he leaves in that regard, and he braces as he turns, leaning his elbows on his knees as he tells you, “You do know you were holding the datapad backwards earlier, right? I clocked the screen in the hall.”

Your frown deepens, and you cross your arms at him. “Rex.”

“What’re you lookin’ up Mando’a for, anyway?”

He’d immediately recognized the script of the language on your pad. You blow a strand of hair away from your face, the remnants of your so-called mission story falling away with the conversation. “I wanted to learn it, obviously.”

Rex casts his eyes to the ceiling. “Obviously. My question was why.”

You fix him with a thoughtful stare that lasts a second longer than normal, and he extends a hand to you in your corner. When you take it, he guides you to the bed next to him, resting your legs in his lap. His fingers tap your ankle in impatient waiting.

“Does there have to be a reason?” You flex your toes, wiggling them as you speak. “Maybe I just want to understand you better.”

“Sweetheart, you understand us plenty. Jesse said you gave him a hell of a therapy session just last week.”

You raise a brow at him, mimicking his expression from before. “I want to understand you, Mr. Brooding-and-closed-off,” you sit up from leaning on your hands, and poke him in the shoulder pointedly. It’s true that he relies on his mother tongue much more than the rest of his brothers. He’ll sometimes unknowingly switch from Basic, to your endless confusion. “I seem to be able to help everyone but you.” You purse your lips before peering at him amusedly. “And I think you mean psychoanalysis, not a therapy session.”

Rex makes a dismissive face. “Whatever.”

You drop your gaze, absently trailing your hand down his shoulder, and he grimaces internally. He can tell you’re already used to him pushing you away. You’re visibly preparing for it, even now.

He’s really bad with words — it’s ironic, considering how efficient he can be when he assumes command. Although he’s known for thinking on his feet, that doesn’t necessarily transfer to his communication skills. He’s never had the patience for conversation like Cody, or the power to convey his thoughts with threatening glares like Wolffe.

But he is good at taking action. And he’s tired of disappointing you.

He takes your hand, squeezing it gently as he brushes his thumb across your wrist. Hopefully, his intentions are obvious enough by the way he pulls you closer and looks you straight on. “You know you can always ask me what stuff means,” he says, “instead of trying to listen to Fives’ annoying voice.”

You laugh, and his heart flips in his chest. His brain reminds him to get it together, but he allows himself to relax into your touch. “He does speak too fast for me to decipher,” you wrap an arm around his waist, almost chin to chin with him. “Though it doesn’t take a protocol droid to figure out that haar’chak is a curse word.” You imitate the foreign word with decent accuracy, Rex notes. Maybe he really could teach you.

“It is. And kaysh mirsh solus is ‘he’s an idiot’.” He pauses. “Well, it actually means ‘his brain cell is lonely’. But that’s a little wordy.”

Your eyes light up, both at his seamless transition into the language and his correct anticipation of your first question. It’s his most used phrase, especially around his brothers. Though, the sincerity and circumstance in which he uses it varies wildly.

“There’s another one similar to that,” you press on, and he drinks in your excitement. It’s awfully endearing, even to Rex. “Hardcase says it a lot. It ends with ‘kee-rah-mood’?”

“Kaysh mirsh’kyramud,” Rex grins at your attempt. “‘He’s a brain assassin’. It just means someone’s boring.” A realization dawns on him as you giggle at the literal translations. “Wait, when has he said that?”

You shrink back a little, suddenly more conscious amidst your amusement. “Um…”

He looks at you flatly. “It’s after my briefings, isn’t it.”

“Yep.”

“Or’dinii.” After a beat, you nudge him. “‘Moron’.”

Another laugh breaks past your lips, and you lean your head against him. Despite his grumbling, he tucks you under him and kisses your temple, his face dissolving into a contented expression. You’re happily indulging him with the physical contact he’s always craving, and he silently offers you the first concession he’s given since you kissed him for the first time in the hangars before battle all those months ago. Ni kar’tayl gar darasuum.

“What’s that mean?”

Rex jerks up in surprise, angling his neck down to see you watching him curiously. He hadn’t realized he’d said it aloud.

It’s not like him to be so out of his head, but then again, this hasn’t exactly been a regular day. He sucks in a breath, committing fully to the sentiment. He’s never made the first move with you. You’ve had to elicit every last moment from him, breaking down wall after rebuilt wall.

Not this time.

“I love you,” he murmurs, but you hear him, loud and clear. “It means I love you.”

Your eyes blaze with something he can’t get a read on, but you respond with an alarmingly straight face. “Is that what it means literally?”

Rex blinks. “Um, no. It means — ”

“I’m joking,” your facade drops immediately, and you break out into that wide, face-splitting smile he loves so damn much. “Rex, I love you.” You reach up to gather his jaw in your hands, and drag him down into a sweet kiss, and he swears he’s never felt happier. “I love you too, Rex, stars.”

Against your lips, he mumbles it again, the words glistening on his tongue. “I love you.”

Nothing he’s ever said has sounded better.

#rini writes #captain rex x reader #rex x reader #captain rex imagine #clones x reader #THIS ONE WAS CUTE NGL #this was the fic I was almost done with when I accidentally deleted all of my WIPs so it was basically written twice back to back LOL #I'm really happy how it turned out! it's kinda different from my other ones #more fast paced I think #also engineer!reader is here!!#i’ve been waiting to introduce her nyehehe i have so much planned #anyways i hope you guys like it :-)#much love xxx #rini reaches 175!

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mikwrites-archive · 4 years

Text

synopsis: you never knew loving could hurt this good until you became entangled with kuroo tetsurou and his daughter (single dad! kuroo au)

pairing: kuroo tetsurou x fem!reader

warnings: none!

masterlist: here! (this is part three !!)

a/n: another kuroo pov chapter !! next one is gonna be in readers pov more hehe but im trying to get things rolling so hopefully u guys enjoy this chapter !! it ended up being slightly more sad than I expected considering the song whoops

“Your phone has been going off like a siren. Didn’t realize you were so popular.”

You watch amusedly as Kuroo huffs, hair clipped up once again, one hand on his hips and the other reaching for his phone, having returned from his jog with Kitty who was happily waving her little limbs in the baby carrier strapped across her father’s chest.

“Some old friends are in town and want to meet up for drinks.” He scrolls through the undoubtably long list of notifications, a smile flickering to his face, but he shakes his head, and you frown.

“You aren’t going?”

“Can’t.” Kuroo chirps matter of factly, hefting up Kitty as reason as he unclips the carrier, and it’s your turn to shake your head, exclaiming in protest.

“Listen, if I didn’t want to go I totally would use the baby card, but I can tell you’re itching to go. And you finished that big paper you’ve been slaving over the past week, so I think you should celebrate.” You argue, and Kuroo laughs softly.

“I can’t ask you to watch her again.”

“Well, you’re not asking. I’m telling you. Besides,” you add on as you take Kitty from Kuroo’s arms. “I was just gonna end up having a Disney marathon, so it can be a girls night.”

“I can’t tell if you want me to go or if you want me to stay.” Kuroo smirks, and although you roll your eyes at his jest, there’s something that tugs at his heartstrings as he pictures you and Kitty cuddled in bed, sappy songs about love and courage filling the room as the screen illuminates your faces.

“I’ll get changed then leave you guys alone to your girls night.”

It’s an hour before he’s ready to leave, to which you snicker about, because he should at least have a change upon his hairstyle, but when it’s time, he still looks reluctant as he slips on his shoes.

“Say bye bye dad!” You pretend to wave with one of Kitty’s chubby fists, and she squeals as you laugh, and Kuroo can’t resist racing back to press a kiss on each of his daughter’s cheeks.

He almost finds himself swooping towards you as he pulls back from Kitty, halting awkwardly, and its broken when you laugh and wave him off, not noticing his blunder, mistaking it for attachment to his child.

“Don’t be home too late.” You order mockingly, and Kuroo salutes before he slips out the door.

“Yes ma’am.”

Luckily for Kuroo, the bar isn’t too far from the campus, leaving an easy route for him to race back if anything were to occur, but as he steps inside the dimly lit building, he finds himself grinning.

“Hey, hey, hey! Kuroo! Over here!” The white and grey haired boy waves excitedly, perking up at the sight of his friend, and his blue eyed companion sighs.

“Bokuto, there’s others in here. Please lower your voice. I’m sure Kuroo can see us.”

“Hey Bo. Akaashi.” Kuroo laughs, sinking down in the booth. “Where’s Kenma?”

“Here.”

The monotonous answer and arrival brings cheers and laughter, much to a disgruntled Kenma, who takes a seat at Kuroo’s right, but can’t help but hold back an upwards twitch of his lips.

It’s surprisingly easy, how well they all melded into conversation, as if it hadn’t been over a year since they last fully met face to face.

“How’s Kitty?” Bokuto brings up interestedly, once the topics of everyone’s daily lives had been parsed through.

“Good.” Kuroo nods, swallowing a gulp of beer. “She’s with my roommate right now.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. She’s been really helpful while I’ve been juggling volleyball and school.”

“Oh?”

Kuroo laughs knowingly as Bokuto yelps, undoubtably from being kicked under the table by Akaashi and Kenma, who glare at the exuberant boy.

“I don’t know,” Kuroo states simply, running a hand through his hair. “It’s just been so long y’know? I haven’t been anywhere near a romantic relationship ever since...”

He waves his hand gesturingly and everyone at the small table nods.

“I don’t want to jump into something recklessly because I’ve been so deprived of that kind of relationship.” Kuroo swirls his glass absently, not noticing his friends exchanging glances with one another.

“We’re here for you, bro.” Bokuto slaps Kuroo’s shoulder with a grin, and Kuroo smiles. “I know what happened last time really messed you up, but don’t let it scare you from feeling again.”

“Bokuto, that was surprisingly insightful.” Kenma notes, and Bokuto protests.

“Let’s just get more drinks.” Akaashi sighs as Kenma and Bokuto continue to bicker, and Kuroo laughs, agreeing.

It’s late before he gets back, and he has an apology ready to recite if you were awake, as he slinks back into the dorm room, wincing slightly at the click of the door, pausing so his eyes can adjust to the dark before he moves.

A moment of brief panic flits through him as he glances at empty Kitty’s crib, gaze flickering hurriedly through the room, only to rest upon your bed, where you lay asleep on your back, with Kitty curled up next to you peacefully.

Kuroo gently disentangles Kitty’s grip on your hand, fingers tenderly brushing against your arm in silent gratitude, before placing his daughter into her own bed in the dim blue light of the night.

He has a few close calls, knocking over the various bottles of product in the bathroom, yet somehow catching them uncomfortably before they clattered to the ground, and he makes it to his bed without a disruption to yours or Kitty’s slumber.

As Kuroo lies in his mattress, he finds himself staring up at the ceiling, mind running through the conversation earlier that night. He shifts, groaning quietly, shoving his pillows on either side of his head as if to block the thoughts of his feelings out.

Because that was where Bokuto was wrong.

There was no fear in feeling.

Kuroo Tetsurou knew he was falling for you, it was driving him crazy as he ran his hand tiredly over his face for the millionth time it seemed whenever he laid in bed with thoughts like this, eyes squeezed shut, for he knew there was nothing one could do to stop themselves from feeling.

The fear was in trying, for sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can’t get the person to feel the same.

taglist: @moonyremvs @insomnia-cashews @miyulovestowrite @shinsousama @givemebokutoandiwa @apathetic-trashhh @allywritesimagines @renaxwrites @ladyinmoon @annalyn-annalyn @pinkieperil @writeiolite @cosmic-goddess-leo @sweet-appletun-acres @louddreamcopcookie @dingdongitsbees @bokutosbabe @unlikelyinternetprincess @thrusteone @kaithehero @of-heroes-and-dreams @eboyhitoshi

#blue neighbourhood au #kuroo x reader #kuroo imagine #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsuro imagine #tetsurou kuroo x reader #tetsurou kuroo imagine #kuroo tetsurou x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!! x reader #haikyuu!! imagines

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mochis-hideout · 26 days

Text

Balloons 🎈

The first Juggle N’ Jest Comic

#clown oc #mini comic #Juggle n’ Jest #clowncore #oc art #digital art #yippie #mochi’s art

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floralkittygambler · 3 years

Text

Hazbin OC - Lady Luck [WIP shit]

Just a dump of some Lady concepts and some of how she’s developed. Current design + Angel forme [above] Lady’s brief bio: Name: Lady Luck, Lady Age: Various [based on rebirth], most notably the ages 31, 38 and 55. [anyone who knows where these ages from, you know] Gender: female Date of Birth: Various Date of Death: N/A Cause of Death: Perhaps ‘they’ caught up- Race: White British/Irish ‘human’ turned feline demon [current ‘life’], ‘Deity’ Occupation: Fortune Teller/Medium, Lingerie model, part time barmaid and entertainer, only a hobbyist gambler Voice type: Cornelia Hayes O'Herlihy [Fiona Belli, Haunting Ground - VA is Irish] Quirks, strange mannerisms, and/or annoying habits: [soon] Appearance: Grey feline demon [inspired by Russian and British blues], Green/Olive eyes, adding more soon lol im tired Personality: soon Sins/Vices: Alcohol consumer [non addict], past minor addiction to medicine, gambling [non addict], money hoarding, ‘playing god’ [unwilling], Witchcraft/magick [main sin]. Prone to wrathful acts, feelings of envy, moderate greedy habits. Sinned in other lives. Strong profanity, dark business, sometimes catalysts for chaos. Self hazardous. Melancholic. Virtues: Can be giving if convinced/interested, deep empathy/compassion, chastity [unintentional], though often impatient can be extremely patient for those in need. Protective of animals, children and the vulnerable but the opposite towards assailants. High tolerance against addiction. Mental illnesses: Abilities/Powers/Skills: Thin and nimble, quick witted, ability to appeal [emotional], ability to debate, reading traits [acquired], magick/supernatural powers - connects to life/death cycle, monsters, psyche, deity levels. Card magick - throwing weapons, summoning weapons, evasive. Nature connected powers. Analysist. Great with children, animals, the vulnerable. Jack of many trades [incl. mixology, divination, board games, survivalist, etc] to allow more opportunities. More intelligent than she appears. Pickpocketing [magick assisted]. Basic magic tricks. Can speak pieces in some languages, including Latin. Performer/entertainer. Dancer [helps in fights]. Observant. Comforting and nurturing. Humorous. Willingness to stand up for and defend. Listener. Sniper aim. Weaknesses: Phobias [such as mirrors, safety/romance, vertigo/heights, etc], radiowaves [can be triggered by her creations or by her loss of composure], strong deity powers [actively denies and suppresses them leading to ‘charge up’. Emotions can stir them up signaling her difficulty controlling them. Can turn these against herself as well. Prone to overexertion which can easily be fatal. Can lead to great acts of wrath]. Intimacy. Can vary from too trusting to too wary. Grey moral compass [leading to passive inaction in some cases and aggression in others]. Lightweight drinker [in denial]. Drinks when anxious/socialising [often, though easily substituted]. Heightened senses [pro and con]. Easily distracted. Can be rude/jest harshly. Closed off. Handles drug effects badly. Over-emotions can lead to ‘possession’ from a ‘friend’. Exhausts easily. Durable and fragile. Panic [can calm others]. Avoids own issues [can admit and confront them however is closed off]. Overworks. Avoidant. Melancholic. Sadistic streak that’s hard to tame. Could be way better at illusionism. Vengeful. Frozen in past. Terrible runner. Chronic conditions. Low tolerance for certain types. Can often mishandle these violently. Surprisingly shy. Can only mask for so long. Materialistic to replace loneliness. Height: 5′8 - 5′9 [human], 6′5 [demon] Body type: Pear, extremely small bust with larger rear and wider hips. Dislikes: many, soon to list. People/humans, having to socialise, being picked up [esp like a cat], phobias, worms, ‘crawling blood’, perverts, Fears: soon, mirrors, Goals: soon Relationships/Love interests: She has a potential interest, though she’s likely to approach first [or make a ‘first move’ per say] she most likely wouldnt confess feeling that she wasnt appealing to them. Definitely would make the effort to comfort and befriend [leaving Lady’s comfort zone] Hobbies and interests: Gambling, card and board games, playing games, tarot/divination of many kinds, witchcraft, magic tricks/shows, lingerie modelling [think more boudoir/classy or the playful takes of Bettie Page], botony/herbology, collecting plushies, faux smoking, drinking, overreacting to gameshows/tv shows, comedy stand ups, chocolate making, art and sewing, playing instruments [accoustic guitar, harmonica, lyre, inflatable saxophone, triangle, tambourine], mixology, learning new things, animals and caring for those who need it, fashion [often quirky or outdated], hula hoop tricks, dancing and singing [quite shy], teaching/educating children [especially in hunting/survival], taxidermy, sharp shooting, sometimes being nude [in safe areas], meditation, collecting, true crime files, star gazing, shadow puppets, laser pens, making jokes, berry picking, reading, snuggling, cats, money saving/spending, horror novels/movies, aerials, pole dancing [fitness], general fitness [in the yoga sense, not jogging], sci-fi, woodcarving [no skills], loves 70s and rococo fashion as well as classy looking fashion, playbunnies, aesthetics, nature. Laser tag. Comfy blankets. Nurturing other’s needs. Cute things. Trivial: - Was a virgin in her last life before becoming a demon, dreads sex demons like Val finding this out. - Covered in scars, both self inflicted and otherwise, these remain hidden beneath her fur. - Will go around topless or nude as her fur works as censorship. Even to the dismay of others. - Loves the 60s, 70s and 80s. - Regrets no longer liking cheese like she used to. - Enjoys stronger alcoholic drinks despite being a lightweight, her drunk self showing her softer and more optimistic hidden side. Often giggly, complimentary and cuddly. Occasionally verbally aggressive/wants to fight. - Some of her dreams include; starting a bar fight, visit a magic show, learn to spin plates, [finally] visit a Vegas style casino, own a garden/creatures sanctuary, find a meteorite, attempt to hold a lion’s mouth open for ‘Strength’, own her dream house and business away from ‘fucking everyone’, ride a dolphin, master juggling and magic tricks, create some new potions, slap the shit out of each overlord [etc] - Avoids love; from the topic to her history, though it’s implied that she doesn’t feel like it’s ‘in the cards’ for her as well as implied insecurity. - The memories of each of her past lives often collide, especially in the night, causing hidden distress - She was originally planned to have a power inspired by John Coffee where she could ‘alleviate’ other’s emotional suffering by CBT and physically ‘taking’ it from them, an ability that would land her a job at the Hotel. This idea has since been moved to another character. - She has a ‘baby face’ and is often called cute by others, leading her to be treated little more than an oversized pet. This is something that bothers her when not in jest. - Related to Dead Hand - Has had certain dealings with Valentino and Lucifer that she’s not proud of. - Lady Luck is an ironic name - Old design designed around my old cat Angel, new design ironically resembles our current cat Angel [taken over from Great Auntie. First was named after Buffy characters. Second... Idk] - [soon] [Temp: https://www.deviantart.com/pixichi/art/Very-Basic-Character-Sheet-for-OC-s-By-Pixichi-482645873 ] Old designs:

#hazbin hotel oc #Hazbin sona #cat demon #hazbin hotel #hazbin oc #what other tags dya fuckin apply to ocs?#gambling cat #cat oc #fuck it #furry #cat characters #honestly dont know how to tag ocs anymore #insert cat joke here #old insert now similar but revamped as a separate character #also no one cares but my fuckin family may have #rough paper sketches

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angstsfordays · 4 years

Text

Tell Me Now

Summary: The best part about love is always that bit before you actually confessed your feelings and officially be together. That mutual pining and fluttering feeling. But that would not last forever. You got to tell that person someday before it’s too late.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader (Main pairing), Steve Rogers x Reader (Supporting pairing)

Warnings: LOTS OF FEELINGS. Maybe a few swear words? Mutual pining and much slow burn that will make your heart ache.

Word count: 10889

Notes: Thank you for supporting my story: Stay with Me and For You! If you haven’t check it out, be sure to do so! I’m back with a new post that has been in my drafts for a while. Since I’m finally on a break from school, I managed to continue working on it!

This time, I’m back with a Bucky story and it will be in the same universe as my two other posts. So for Bucky’s stories, Steve’s girl will be named Ro(salie). In Steve’s stories, Bucky’s girl will also have a name (undecided yet) otherwise it will just be weird like Reader 1 or 2. Just take note again that Ro (in this story) is an OC from my previous two related stories!

Hoping that this story can cheer everyone up in these difficult times. Take care and stay safe! Wear masks and practice social-distancing! Anyways, hope y’all enjoy this one too! IT’S REALLY LONG BUT I HOPE IT’S WORTH A READ. Let me know what you think! 😊

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“I imagined you would have plans on a Friday night.” You were still in a deep pile of work before the voice of your boss snapped you out of your concentration.

You could not hide the frown that formed on your face as you looked up to meet his face. “I wonder who decided it would be a good idea to have a crossfire in the Amazon forest.”

“Well, we can’t decide where the bad guys want to be? Plus, no people were hurt, we were well away from civilization.” Tony tried to downplay the aftermath of the previous mission. The team were intercepting the trafficking of dangerous weapon materials by a rogue organisation. Said organisation thought it would be escape unscathed and undetected through the biggest rainforest from Earth’s mightiest heroes.

“There were no people but there were tons of wildlife, Tony! Animal activists and nature conservationists are basically rioting! That’s two more to add to the list of people that are pissing at the Avengers!”

You retorted at your boss’ almost nonchalant attitude. You knew he was not surprised that the Avengers always received backlash even if they were only trying to save the world.

It was a long week for you, having to clear up this PR stunt caused by the Avengers. You have started working for Tony Stark as his new assistant for the past six months. With Pepper taking over Stark Industries as CEO, Tony Stark could solely focus on his Avenger duties.

However, even with Friday, he needed someone on the ground that could help him with matters that require human interactions. More specifically, to deal with the Public Relations side of the matter.

Needless to say, while people are grateful for the Avengers, there are some who weren’t. Mainly any government authorities who aren’t able to control the Avengers. Fame has two sides of the coin and Tony Stark hardly has time to juggle bad press and public relations on top of his Avenging duties.

You were recruited after you left your previous job, playing the whistle blower to your company whom you found out were involved in shady dealings linked to Hydra. You refused to defend them and save them with a PR campaign, thus you gathered all evidence and decided to throw them under the bus.

Life was hell for you after, you found yourself to be in danger courtesy of your previous employer. He decided to hire a Hydra agent to take your life and you were fearing for your life. You knew that you might not be able to convince the police to help you with this matter and you were sure that you would be dead.

But with whatever luck you had left, the attempt at your life was intervened by the one and only Avengers. You still remembered how your door was knocked down by Captain America and Black Widow decided to make an entrance through your window. What a dream, right?

You remembered shaking terribly as both Avengers fought off your terribly strong assassin. As you backed up to get away from the scene, your back collided into a hard chest. A cool, metal hand had held you close and your heart leap in fear. You turned back to see the Winter Soldier, as stone cold as you have known him from the news, his eyes held a reassuring stare that prevented you from screaming your lungs out.

You did not know what prompted your next actions but you threw yourself at him, arms encircling neck and hiding yourself in his warm embrace. You hoped that he could protect you. You did not want to die just yet, you believed you still had a lot of things to fulfill in life.

And that was basically the beginning of your new life. After being rescued, Tony recruited you into the Avengers though not as an Avenger. You wished, ha! Instead, you were hired as the PR director for the Avengers. Tony Stark was impressed with what you did previously with your previous company and decided to hire you to manage PR for the Avengers. God knows he would not want to deal with that.

It was also to make sure you were under protection with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and that you did not need to worry about any attempts on your life. The agent and your previous employer were dealt with. You were in a much better place now.

“Come on kid, let me make you a drink.”

“I don’t think that it is appropriate in the workplace, boss.” You jested but you knew he mean well. Tony is a great boss despite his occasional oddities. He respected and trusted you, and that is all you really ask for in a boss.

“How about as a friend?” He shrugged off your previous comment before gesturing you to follow him to the exclusive lounge area for Avengers. This was entirely different because it was located in the private living quarters of Avenger members. All other personnel did not have access to it, even you until not long ago.

When you were first introduced to the team, you could not believe yourself to be in that situation. You became fast friends with the girls and it was Rosalie or Ro as she liked to be called (who’s also Steve Roger’s girlfriend) that made you feel at home with the team.

She was impressed at your bravery to stand up to injustice and made it a point to be your friend. She would sometimes ask you out for lunch or coffee, eventually inviting you to hang out with the rest of the girls.

All of them were so normal, unlike their fierce and badass images as Avengers. You could really see that they were just normal people with everyday problems. They have come to seek your advice on everyday stuff, such as dress for a party or planning a surprise for their significant other.

Then one day came the big question.

“Do you have anyone special, Y/N?” You crinkled your nose at Ro’s question and shook your head. You never thought about it since you have been busy with work.

You had only one serious boyfriend after college but you broke off the relationship when you realised that he was not the one for you. He wanted you to be the trophy wife in his life, proposing to you a couple of years after you started your career. He assured he will take care of you as he started climbing up the corporate ladder. He wanted to start a family but you knew you wanted more.

You wanted your own career and be part of something more meaningful and bigger than yourself. There was no way you wanted to be confined to a home taking care of children. Sure, you might hope for it in the future but you knew the potential that you had. You were not going it to give it up so easily.

“Never really thought about it.” You shrugged as you drank your iced coffee.

“Oh come on, Y/N. There are plenty of guys here in the compound, don’t tell me there isn’t one that caught your eye.” Your eyes widened at Ro’s words. While subtle, your body language did not slip past the keen eyes of Natasha Romanoff. There was one guy. Maybe. But you were not going to let them know.

“There isn’t any.” Your answer was curt before taking another sip of that coffee.

“You’re lying.” Natasha answered smoothly, if you were not close with her you would have stopped yourself from throwing daggers at her with your eyes.

“There isn’t-” You look to Wanda who was giggling at the exchange and your eyes widened at the possibility of-

“Wanda! Don’t you dare!” You warned the young girl as you knew what she was capable of. God forbid she read your mind and figure out whose image first popped in your mind. She threw her arms mockingly and gave an expression like she would not dare to so even while she had a wide grin on her face.

“Who is it?!” Ro started getting excited at the prospect of her friend having her crush.

“No one! Oh look at the time, I need to brief Tony about something-some meeting- something…BYE!” You hurriedly walked out of the pantry. You knew that the girls would hound you for answers and you were not ready to face that yet.

———————————————————————

“Earth to Y/N. Yoohoo!” The sound of Tony’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts once again and the incident with the girls that happened only yesterday.

“Wha- what?”

“I asked for your favourite poison?” Tony quipped before he started to open the cabinets for his liquors.

“Uh- surprise me with your best.” You tried to give a fast answer as you were just interrupted from your memory of yesterday. Tony threw a smirk over his shoulder before he went ahead to get some ice.

“Oooh, is Tony making drinks?” A new voice appears and you turned to see Ro entering the lounge. Behind her were the rest of the Avengers who were slowly filing into the room.

“Be prepared for an amazing show.” Tony started to wave his hands like a showman. He closed the cocktail shakers and started doing an awkward dance to a song that he requested Friday to play. It was overall cheesy and greasy, unlike his usual public image.

You started laughing and clapping to cheer him on. There was some holler in the background and Tony finally poured his concoction into a fancy glass. Adding in a small umbrella, he presented it to you. You turned to the rest of the team to show it off before taking a sip.

“It’s called ‘I cannot live without you’ because we cannot live without you now, Y/N.” Tony did a dramatic wave his hands before bowing. You chuckled at his theatrics before downing your drink.

“On behalf of the team, we’re sorry that you have to clean up our shit.” Tony exclaimed to which everyone snorted but agreed. They knew they owe you big for clearing the PR mess after every time they had to do their job of saving the world.

Natasha and Wanda decided to join Tony behind the bar and make some drinks for everyone as well. Everyone took a seat around the lounge table near the island and Ro took the seat beside yours.

“You worked hard, Y/N. Thank you.” She went in to hug you from the side.

“Anything for you, baby.” You petted her like she was your child.

“Thanks again, Y/N.” Steve (you could never get over the fact that you were on first name basis with Captain America) chimed in. You responded with a salute and spoke.

“Just doing my job, Steve.” The rest all started sitting down one by one with drinks passed out. Everyone fell into easy conversation.

A flash of blue passed by your eyes and you saw Bucky Barnes taking the sit across you. He was dressed in a long-sleeved blue Henley with dark pants. He just had his hair cut short and you could not help to leave a small gasp when he turned to meet your eyes.

You immediately swerved to face Ro who was talking to Steve. Seeing that she was busy in conversation, you turned your head to the other side to meet Natasha who was giving you a confused expression at your flustered one.

Your hand reached out to your drink to get another sip, unknowingly Bucky’s own fingers brushed against yours to reach out for his drink on the same table. Your eyes immediately averted to scan his reaction and he gave you a curt polite smile. You tried to muster a response, any really to show that you were cool-headed.

Bucky threw in another nod as he raised his drink and you nodded in response to his gesture, his mannerisms threw you off guard. In your almost entire year of working with the Avengers, you barely had a solid interaction with the Winter Soldier.

By that, you mean that the most interaction you had was a nod in the hallway, a greeting in the morning when you passed by the gym on the way to your office or when he saw you getting off work in the evening. There also was the occasion asking of refills for coffee when you see him in the pantry. And that was it.

Your first meeting with Bucky had left a big impact on you because for the first time you had felt an indescribable emotion that only he had on you. You had always had a strong independent spirit and never felt the need to depend on someone. That was how you were raised in your household and your parents had pushed for you to exceed in life, given that you were from a second-generation immigrant family.

That kind of mentality had been ingrained into your life and you never let your guard down with people. Not until that fateful day…. for the first time you just wanted someone to depend on. But no matter, Bucky Barnes is out of your league, you reminded yourself.

You have seen how the gaze of female agents or staff move over to him whenever he stepped into the room. He did not even need to try, which was even the more annoying part.

Snap out of it, Y/N.

“Hey Y/N, you would not have gotten sick of us, yet right?” Sam quipped up in the conversation. You did not know what the context of the current conversation was but you just decided to answer away.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Is a drink really going to make me stay?” You shook your empty glass and Wanda initiated to refill it.

“Well then ask away, my dearest and indispensable employee. What would you like as an early bonus?” You jokingly made a serious face and looked like you were pondering hard on the question. Nothing really came into mind as you were happy with what you had for the moment.

“Maybe a vacation?” Natasha suggested with her brows raised. You nodded with a thoughtful expression, that would indeed be nice. Would you go to the beach or the mountains for a nice personal retreat?

“That’s too simple. You should use Stark’s card to the fullest advantage.” Sam said smugly and you returned with an expression that showed agreement.

“How about a boyfriend?” Ro’s voice suddenly injected into the conversation. You swerved your head to face her, eyes widened at her bold suggestion.

“Oh, what’s this all about?” You could already imagine the gears spinning in your boss’ head and you really wanted to strangle Ro for a quick minute.

“Y/N deserves someone special in her life, you have been overworking her too hard Tony.” Ro continued with a playful expression and you swore you were going to lean over and-

“Get some, get some!” Sam started cheering to which Ro joined. The both of them acting like children.

“I don’t understand, what is Miss Y/N getting?” Vision suddenly asked in the midst and you saw Wanda giggling with an embarrassed expression at her boyfriend’s innocence.

“Stop it, Rosalie! You know I don’t like to talk about this!” You gave a fair warning to the hyped-up Avenger whom Steve almost seemed embarrassed of as he sighed at his girlfriend’s antics.

“Hey! You know I don’t like it people call me Rosalie!” Ro retorted as she folded her arms.

“Well, you crossed the line first.” You threw back a squinted glare.

“Oh come on, I just want you to find someone that can make you happy because you make us happy.” Ro started walking towards you with her hands outstretched, wanting to give you a hug.

“Uh-uh, you don’t get to be all cute on me after what you did. Steve might fall for it but I won’t.” You held up an accusing finger to which Ro pouted.

“Steve, she is so mean to me.” The girl started pouting and went to sit on Steve’s lap, hugging him like a teddy bear. Steve returned the embrace but not before looking up to you and mouthed to you ‘sorry’.

You knew Ro meant well like a sister but you REFUSED to speak of your non-existent love life in front of everyone (well specifically HIM).

“Oh come on, Y/N. Ro just wanted the best for you. It’s important to work hard but one must play hard” Sam added on with a smirk to which you threw him a glance that hinted for him to zip it.

“You sure there is no one you’re interested? I happen to be a great matchmaker myself on top of being a billionaire, playboy wait scratch that I married with a kid, philanthropist…” Tony gestured to himself smugly.

“How about no Tony, I am not going to be one of your special projects.” You waved your boss-friend off before running your hands through your hair, exasperated at what tonight’s conversation started leading to.

“Oh come on, there are plenty of men in the compound. Take your pick, any pick. I will set you up.” Tony insisted and made a gesture to actually pull up a holographic database of all personnel data.

“Oh my god Tony. Believe it or not, I don’t need your help and I am not confident about YOUR taste in men.” You gasped in shock at what he was doing and wanted to squirm into the corner of the couch that you were sitting on.

“Well then, I am sure you will be confident in my taste.” Natasha’s voice pulled you out of your recluse and you returned a disbelieved look towards the redhead.

Your eyes averted once more to the beautiful brunette in blue across you to gauge his reaction to all this sudden intervention. Bucky looked aloof and amused altogether, he had his usual calm demeanour but you could make out the small upward curve of his lips. What was he really thinking about, you wondered.

“Argh fine. If I let you have your way, can we stop having this conversation that I never needed.” You issued an ultimatum to the group; you just wanted this conversation to end.

“Deal.” Natasha answered while Ro nodded eagerly from your side.

“Fine, If there is someone nice, you can introduce him to me.” You threw your hands up in defeat before crossing them over your chest, signalling to the team that you are so done with this ordeal.

“Yay!” Ro got off Steve’s lap and started doing a celebratory dance by swing her hands in circles. Everyone’s attention went to her and her little dance was met with amusement. You could not help but to laugh at her excitement, your eyes suddenly caught the sight across you.

Bucky Barnes suddenly had a hardened expression on his face unlike before and his eyes stared right into your soul (as cheesy as it sounds). It suddenly threw you off guard because this was probably the most intimate interaction you had with each other and you immediately tried looking everywhere but him.

“Please promise he won’t be weird.” You turned to your redhead friend and requested with a pout. Her eyes fleeted somewhere else before meeting yours.

“Trust me, Y/N. Believe it or not, I am a psychic when it comes to this sort of things.” You definitely had faith in your friend, I mean she would never sabotage you. Right?

———————————————————————

You return to work on Monday well rested. You manage to give yourself a personal retreat over the weekend by visiting cafes and bookstores. You even baked some Nutella tarts on Sunday and planned to give it to the team to share.

As you stepped into your office to put your things down, Friday requested you to head down to laboratory. You gave yourself one last look in the reflection of your glass office, straightening your tan midi pencil skirt and light blue blouse. You took your Stark Pad and place the earpiece on your left ear.

You were ready to face whatever work would bring. You took light confident steps to the level that the laboratory was on. Walking in to the open lab space, you saw Tony and Bruce exchanging playful banter, well more so on Tony’s side.

The two men’s attention turned to you once you stepped into the room and you were welcomed with smiles.

“What’s up, boss?” Your eyes went to Tony before going to Bruce. “Morning, Bruce.”

The scientist returned your greeting with a warm smile before walking back to his workstation. Tony signalled for you to follow him as he started pulling up holographic images and was looking through some data information. “So how’s your morning?”

“Good. Friday said you wanted to see me. What do you need me to do?” Your statement made Tony rolled his eyes as he made a jokingly exasperated expression.

“Diving into work talk so early at 10? Relax Y/N.”

“Some people actually start work earlier, Mr Stark and I’m not paid to relax.” You knew Tony was unlike any boss, he definitely had his quirks but it was not something you could not work with.

“You almost sound like Cap for a second there, how did I get such an employee like you?” Tony almost looked thrown off for a moment but you knew it was in jest.

“You offered me a job after saving my ass from an assassination attempt on my life.” Your deadpanned expression drew a laugh from your boss. He held up his hands before resting one on his hip.

“You never fail to surprise me Y/N. Anyways, okay onto business, we have a visitor and I need you to show him around.”

“Alright? Who is it?” Looking up to your boss with curious eyes, you were surprised when he let out a sigh- as if he were actually concerned about the matter.

“The government is sending in an agent to check in on the Avengers for a yearly assessment. It is part of our compliance to be transparent with what we actually do. Of course, we do not divulge mission information and all that. But they do want to know how we run operations on a general basis.”

“And you chose me because….” Your brows furrowed at the sudden revelation of information.

“You are the perfect person for the job. You know exactly what and what not to show them without infringing on our privacy.” Tony answered nonchalantly while instructing Friday to work on some scientific analysis.

“Right, of course. I’m the PR girl.” You answered with a knowing expression.

“No, you’re now my trusted adviser and there is no one else I trust with the task.” Tony looked up to meet your eyes with a serious expression for a short moment.

“Adviser? I’m just in charge of PR.” Placing your free hand on your hip, you made an exasperated stance as you gave Tony a questionable look.

“Oh well, would you look at that? You’ve been promoted. Congratulations, that will be your bonus for handling the Amazon stunt.” Tony started clapping to himself before making a grand hand gesture.

“Seriously, Tony? That’s like my job, it does not call for a promotion.” Your brows quirked and you had to give him a ‘I’m not buying this’ expression.

“Well, I’m the boss. I’m right, you’re wrong and thus I can promote you.” He gave you an all-knowing expression before he suddenly had a look that said he was reminded of something. “He will be here in 1 hour.”

“You are giving me 1 hour to prepare? Oh my god, Tony. That’s too little time!” You started stomping in your heels before frantically looking to your Stark Pad and asking Friday to send you information on your soon to come visitor.

“You can make it work; you always do.” Tony gave you a thumbs up with an eat-shitting grin. You could not even return him a verbal response and let out a short grunt before making your way out of the lab.

“I am experienced enough to do this. I am capable enough to do this. I can do this” Chanting a mantra to calm your nerves, you started preparing information on your Stark Pad to come up with an agenda to welcome the government agent.

You were definitely going to request for a vacation soon after this.

Walking to the lobby at 10.45 am, you stood by the receptionist desk as you waited for your visitor. You chatted with the receptionist, Jenny briefly to calm your nerves. She was a sweet-looking lady in her early 40s who was a single mother of two boys. However, her appearance was just a façade as you knew her to be tough and hard worker who was great at her job.

You once witnessed her putting a rude government employee who was here to accompany a higher up in meeting with you boss. She took no shit from the man who looked down on her for being a ‘front desk lady’ and asked her to get coffee.

That moment never failed to make you feel good about being a woman.

Looking down at your Stark Pad, you read through the profile of your visitor. Keith Wellings. Age 45. A federal agent with the US government for almost 20 years. This man rose the ranks quick to his connections and tenacity to mix with the right people at the right time. He is definitely going to use this opportunity to curry favour both sides.

He will definitely make it hard to pass assessment in exchange for favours from your side. Keith will definitely be careful on how he presents this assessment to his bosses as he definitely knows the government will go to any lengths to get dirt on the Avengers. He will be on the offensive on this visit. You need to make sure he does not cross any line.

You could hear the footsteps before you saw someone walking through the door. To your surprise, the man entering through the door does not look like the one in your tablet.

He had a sense of familiarity around but where had you seen him before?

“Y/N Y/L/N! How has fate brought us together again?” His voice ringed an alert in your memory and you took an intake of air to calm yourself. There was no way it could be….

“Teddy Radnor?” Your voice was soft but you knew he could hear you. This was evident in how his face lit up at your recognition of him.

“It’s great to see you again.” You did not anticipate the hug that was coming for you and almost dropped your tablet as he pulled you in for one.

Teddy Radnor was your college friend. You both were studying the same major and became fair friends. You saved him from getting humiliated at a party by agreeing to be his ‘hot’ date as part of his frat house orientation. You were from the sister sorority which you only agreed to join as it was free housing on campus.

Teddy was a bit of a dork back in the college years and he was only in the fraternity because his family were legacies. You still thought he was a nice and sweet guy, albeit he started being clingy seeing that you were the only person who was genuinely nice to him. You did see him as a friend and brother though you knew he saw you otherwise.

While you did attract some attention from guys, you were focused on your studies. Teddy made sure to be the buffer and saw himself as your unofficial boyfriend. You tried on many occasions to give him the hint and ultimately told him the truth. He seemed to accept it but he believed that he could stand a chance one day in the future.

You lost touch with him upon graduation. You were busy in your career and you heard that he was busy advancing in his too. You just never thought you would be reunited after five years later under such circumstances.

“Wow, you’re working with the Avengers? That’s so awesome.” Those were his first words as he released you from the hug.

“Yeah, I switched job. And you’re working with the government? Wow.” You tried to match his enthusiasm.

“Yes-yes, not easy but I figured if I worked hard enough, I would be able to work in a place of importance.” Teddy’s words reminded you of why you were friends with him in the first place. Even while he’s sometimes awkward and couldn’t take a hint on your unrequited feelings for him, you knew he was a good person.

“I’m proud of you Teddy. I know you always wanted to work in public affairs.”

“Well, I could say the same for you. You’re working with the Avengers. I can’t believe I’m also here. Keith had another work thing so I was called in at the last minute to replace him.” You nodded in understanding. So that’s why Teddy was here.

Lady luck had to be on your side. You knew Teddy and Teddy definitely would not make it hard for you. This assessment would be a breeze.

———————————————————————

You gave Teddy a walk through of the entire compound, from the back end communications to the training grounds. He looked like a child at a playground with a piece of candy. You were sure he would give you the benefit of a good assessment.

You had lunch with him in the cafeteria and was ready to seal the deal when you heard him mention one important thing. “I know it sounds unprofessional of me but between friends, I want to let you know that I’m secretly a huge Avengers fan. I was stoked when I got the call to come in.”

“Oh yeah, who’s your favourite?” You tried asking casually, trying to hide the fact that you had a plan up your sleeve.

“Oh my gosh, they are all amazing. They truly are, but it has to be Cap for me. He really is the cream of the crop for me.” Nodding deviously, you already had a feeling that Teddy’s idol had to be Steve. Teddy was the history buff back in college.

“Of course, I understand Teddy. Well, it just so happens that I am acquainted with Cap and I could introduce you to him.” You gave your most award-winning smile to hook him in. Teddy looked at you for a moment before speaking. “Oh I see what you’re doing.”

You tried to conceal your expressions and gave him a confused frown at his words. Shit, was he catching up? “You’re trying to butter me up.” Shit, he did. Teddy continued on talking.

“And it’s working slightly but I still have to be impartial about this assessment, Y/N.” You heaved a small sigh of relief before smiling sweetly up at him again. “Oh come on, Teddy. I am just doing this for an old friend.”

“Old friend, right….” It was meant to be a mutter to himself but you could hear it loud and clear. You tried to brush it aside as you asked him if he was done with lunch. The two of you cleared your plates before continuing the walk through.

You brought Teddy to one of the lower levels and stopped in front of the door. You did not have to do anything as Friday recognised your presence and went ahead to open the door for you. Teddy turned to look at you in amazement once more while you returned a smug look in return at his response.

The two of you were brought to the sight of an Avengers-only training exercise. Saving the best for last, you peeked at Teddy’s response and had to bite your lip from forming a full-on grin.

Hook, line, sinker.

———————————————————————

Bucky Barnes had to focus. Steve had come up with a new training regime for field operations after reviewing past mission scenarios.

Playing to each member’s strength, Steve came up with offensive and defensive pairings for field combat. He was paired with Ro in the exercise, she was on defence while he was offense. While Ro had firepower with the nature of her powers, Steve decided she suited long range attacks with her ability to fly and that she can direct her powers from a further distance.

The duality of her flame like energy blasts was able to incinerate and tranquilize made her perfect to defend the team from attacks. Bucky on the other hand, more experienced in operative work will be the one to sneak into enemy lines and obtain the necessary data or item of interest.

In this particular scenario, Ro had to build an energy -based force field to defend the both of them from raining firepower. The rest of the team collectively tried to break the barrier while Ro had to endure it and bring Bucky into the ‘enemy base’.

Bucky looked over to see Ro enduring attacks from both Vision and Natasha. Steve was overseeing the practice while Sam took the side-lines to help Steve with the analysis of the training practice.

Bucky focused on defeating the holographic images that Wanda was conjuring to mimic potential enemies. Bucky’s ears suddenly perked up at the sound of new arrival into the training room.

Looking up, he saw you with an unknown man who seemed like he was in awe of everything. Bucky broke concentration for a moment and felt himself being punched in the jaw by one of the holographic enemies.

“Bucky, why are you not focusing-” Steve’s words were interrupted as he too looked up at the presence of new arrival into the room.

“Alright, we can take a break. Buck, Ro, the both of you were doing great. It was the right decision to pair you two together. We can resume again later.” Steve’s approval was all he needed for him to let loose and catch a breath.

Reeling away from Captain mode, Steve immediately switched to boyfriend mode. He went ahead to grab the water bottle and towel before making his way to his girlfriend. As Ro immediately gulped down the water, Steve lovingly wiped up the sweat on her face and placed a peck on the side of her temple. Bucky could hear him whispering ‘You did so good, darling’.

Ro gushed outwardly at Steve’s words by muffling her squealing into the towel. Steve chuckled at how she can still be blushing like a schoolgirl even when it was a year into their relationship. Bucky started to feel envious because he also wanted that relationship with someone too. Perhaps with someone who just entered the room.

The mysterious man and you started making way down the steps to the training grounds. Bucky gave the guy a once over, he looked decent enough but he didn’t like the way he was standing so close to you.

“Steve, I would like for you to meet someone. This is Teddy Radnor, he’s an agent from the government and is in charge of the assessment today.” You finally revealed who and where the guy was from.

“Captain Rogers, it is an honour to meet you. It’s an honour to meet everyone here, really.” This Teddy fellow stepped ahead to give Steve a handshake. Steve, putting on his public persona greeted the guy with a courteous smile.

“Likewise Agent Radnor. I hope you had a good experience.”

“Oh definitely. Y/N here has been a great host.” Agent Radnor placed his hands around your shoulder as he responded. You looked slightly taken aback by the sudden contact which made Bucky felt defensive all of a sudden.

As he was standing nearest to you, he though of taking a step forward to intervene when you turned to smile at Agent Radnor, looking embarrassed. What was going on-

Steve must have sensed the same thing he had because he asked what exactly Bucky had on his mind. “You two know each other?”

“Yes, we were college friends and in the same fraternity-sorority house.” Agent Radnor was quick to answer eagerly as he looked to you for affirmation. You just silently nodded in agreement.

“Oooh, college friends. Were you two close?” Ro started to join in the conversation as she stood beside Steve.

“Yes, yes indeed. In fact, I kind of confessed to her but she told me no. She did not see that way and wanted to focus on her studies which I respected that.” Agent Radnor seemed very pleased with his answer when it garnered intriguing responses from the rest of the team.

Bucky already started to dislike him.

“Teddy!” You were shocked at his sudden revelation and looked like you wanted to crawl into a hole as you brought up the Stark Pad to hide your face. You had a grimaced expression formed on your face after removing the tablet from your face. Your frown then turned into an irritated expression causing Bucky to follow your line of sight to find out what was the cause of it.

Bucky turned to see the girls namely Ro, Natasha and Wanda exchanging hush whispers with Cheshire grins on their face. Steve, Sam, and Vision did not know how to react in this circumstance and looked at each other awkwardly. Bucky did not like this man one bit.

“I’m sorry. Too much information. I always tend to be socially awkward when I’m nervous. I babble and say awkward stuff. I guess it’s because I’m just such a big fan of everyone. Oh wait, too much information again. I’m an agent and should be impartial during this assessment-” Agent Radnor started blabbering on and on, it was almost uncomfortable to endure.

You placed a comforting touch on his arm and tried to calm him down. ‘It’s alright Teddy, they’re just normal people like you and I.’ Bucky heard you say to him.

Even if Agent Radnor had embarrassed you before, you still offered him reassurance. That was one of the many things Bucky admired you, how effortless you were with people and the comforting presence you brought when you were in the room.

Bucky knew this was why you were so good at your job and that Tony Stark trusted whole-heartedly to place the well-being of the Avengers as your highest priority. He admired how level-headed you were no matter the crisis and the positivity that you had in ensuring that it will be dealt with.

More importantly, Bucky admired how you were genuine around the team. He was not sure when Tony recruited you after saving your life from Hydra. He was amazed at your bravery to stand up to injustice even if you did not any hero like powers. He was not sure how you would be like with the team, he preferred to keep you at a distance as with any strangers.

However, you started gaining fast friendships with everyone with your easy-going personality soon enough. He could see similarities between you and Ro in how you are friendly towards others but he could also see the difference. While Ro had an infectious and bubbly energy, you on the other hand draw people in with your cool and calming presence.

Bucky always wanted to get closer to you. He just didn’t know how to. Whenever he sees you, it was as if everything in him stilled and he could not express how he really felt. He only resorted to making sure he acknowledges your presence when in the same room, this was his way of him respecting you.

Bucky was not sure how else to approach you without making a fool of himself. He envied how the rest of the team were easy to warm up to you and he wished he could do the same too. But Bucky knew he didn’t deserve someone like you. Perhaps with his past, he does not deserve to be loved by someone at all.

Agent Radnor continued to have small talk with the rest of the team while Bucky looked on silently. You were looking on the exchange with interest without saying anything. You provided smiles of reassurance to Teddy as he spoke animatedly of his admiration for the Avengers.

Your eyes suddenly met his. Blood started rushing to his cheeks as he tried his best to maintain eye contact with you. This was the most imitate way that he could have with you without actually having to talk to you. God knows what nonsense would come out of his mouth if he actually tried to have a full-length conversation with you. How you render him speechless was beyond him.

Bucky could sense that you were getting nervous, your started blinking and your eyes were fleeting. Was it too much? Did he overdo it? Bucky saw you tucking a hair behind your ear before sending him a small smile his way.

While subtle, your smile made his breath hitched. Bucky then remembered to return the same gesture and the corner of his lips went up when he saw you trying to hold back a full smile while looking on the ground.

He wished he could have seen your full smile but he was sure you did not want to attract attention from the rest. What Bucky didn’t realise was that three devious women were observing this subtle exchange between you and him. The three women let out silent gasps as their theory was confirmed.

They always thought that they were imagining it because Bucky Barnes was always trying to mask his emotions around you while you tried your hardest to do the same. Wanda had her theory first before Natasha caught on immediately. Ro was the last but boy oh boy, when she knew, she was the most excited to bring this pairing to life.

Ro glanced over to Wanda and gave her the signal by rubbing the bridge of her nose. With a wave of her hands, Wanda caused one of the nearby pipes to burst and hot air started gushing, creating a high-pitched scream.

The sound took everyone off guard and Bucky went ahead to take you into his arms when he first heard the loud burst. You immediately returned the gesture and allowed yourself to stay in the protection of his arms.

When the realization of what happened dawned upon everyone, everyone let go of their ears to turn and check on each other.

Teddy was huddled and squatting down on the floor while most of the team squirmed slightly at the outburst, given that they were more used to loud sudden noises during field operations.

You opened your eyes and your heart started to race wildly as you found yourself in close proximity of Bucky. The previous time you were so close was during the first time when you two met and he saved your life.

“You alright, doll?” Did he just called you doll? You were hearing correctly right? Bucky chided himself as he realised what he had said. Who was he to call you doll? You may not even like the name!

“I’m alright, Bucky.” Bucky’s hands were still around your shoulders.

“Thank you.” You continued and it seemed like Bucky was suddenly snapped out of a trance. He let go of you immediately and you tried to adjust yourself, looking at the ground as you couldn’t meet his eyes.

Your exchange was not missed by Teddy who got back on his feet.

“Oops, better call maintenance.” Ro suddenly chimed in. Oops? Bucky’s brows frowned as he found Ro’s words to be weird in this situation. He looked to see Ro exchanging glances with Wanda but could not put together what was going on.

What were those girls up to?

———————————————————————

“Well, I hope you will give us a good assessment. We really are just folks trying our best to help the world.” Steve sealed the deal as he tried ending Teddy’s experience on a good note.

“Of course, Captain. I am well aware.” Teddy gave a salute to Steve to which Steve returned awkwardly with matching enthusiasm. Teddy gave the rest an acknowledging nod and you gestured for him to leave. You suggested for him to return to a private space for you to wrap up the day.

As Teddy walked up the stairs, you quickly turned back to the rest of the team and gave Steve a thumbs up. The team gave silent holler and cheers as a sign of support and you gave a reassuring expression in response. They knew you had it in the bag.

You led Teddy to one of the small meeting rooms on the office level and discussed over how the assessment will conclude. Teddy had noted down his remarks in a government issued smart tablet of his own and he informed you that he would have to come up with a more comprehensive report for submission.

You understood and thanked him for his time. As you walked Teddy out to the lobby, you continued to make small talk and caught up on what you missed in each other’s lives for the past six years.

“Well, this has been fun.” Teddy turned to face you.

“Indeed, not trying to influence you using the friend card but I really hope you can give us a fair chance on this assessment. The Avengers may look glamourous with their hero-act but there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scene. It’s really a lot of work and sacrifice on their part, putting their lives at risk so that they can make sure those who are not able to defend themselves are given the chance to live.” You tried to conclude the assessment on a positive and sincere note.

“Spoken like a true PR representative.” Teddy spoke as he chuckled.

“No. I’m speaking as someone who really truly witnessed it first-hand.” You hoped that Teddy could hear the sincerity in your voice and know that you were speaking from your heart. Teddy was not able to find the words to respond so he just nodded in understanding.

“Well, you will hear from us in a week.”

“I look forward to it.” You gave your most heartfelt smile. You initiated to say goodbye to Teddy first, wishing him the best in his work. He returned the same gesture and he started walking off.

As you saw him leaving out the door, you turned back to head to your office after a long day. Your name was suddenly called and you could see Teddy re-entering the building again to walk up to you.

“What is it, Teddy?” You were curious to know why Teddy had returned barely after he left. Looking over, you could see Teddy nervously rubbing his hands together and cracking his knuckles. You knew this was his tell sign of nervousness back in college. Guess he still had the same habit.

“Hey, Teddy. What’s wrong?” You tried to reassure him, hoping to calm his nerves with a supporting tone of voice.

“I was- I wanted-” You kept quiet to indicate for him to continue his sentence. Teddy looked at you straight in the eyes before he spoke.

“Y/N, I was hoping after this is over, we could have dinner together. To catch up again. Would that be alright?”

“Oh Teddy…. I’m not too sure, would that be alright-” You were starting to panic. Was he suggesting this so that…

“This is not some sort of exchange in any way and it would not affect the results of the assessment.” Heaving a sigh of relief, you looked up to meet Teddy’s eyes. It was déjà vu all over again, this was exactly how he looked like when he confessed to you back in college.

“I’m not too sure Teddy-”

“Please. Would you like to give me one more chance? To prove that maybe it can work out between us. I really really like you, Y/N. I still can’t forget about you after all these years….” You wished so hard to not be in this position again.

You weren’t sure if you wanted to agree to this, knowing that you maybe had feelings for someone else. Even if it was impossible between you and said someone.

But you couldn’t lead Teddy on when you know your heart isn’t fully in on this.

“I would let you know again. Maybe once this is over?” You tried to give a neutral answer, one that didn’t give him too much hope but also not a crushing answer. Well, it seemed to please Teddy as he had a wide grin on his face when he heard your answer.

“Alright, sure. Yeah. Should I get your number?” He suggested with his grin still full-on.

“Well, I have yours. Stark Technology and all-” You pointed to your tablet and he just nodded in understanding.

“Great, well I hope to hear from you soon. With good news.” Now it was your turn to nod and Teddy took it upon himself to bid you goodbye with a hug. You returned it and then send him off.

Releasing a big sigh out of your body, you were glad that the day was really over.

It was soon evening and it was time for you to end work. You were packing up your stuff when Friday informed you that you were wanted in the Avengers’ private quarters.

Wondering what it could be about, you swiftly made your way there. You were then greeted with the sight of Wanda and Bucky making dinner while everyone was waiting at the table.

“Y/N!” You first hear Ro’s voice before you even entered the room. The rest followed in their greetings. The smell of food immediately drew you to heading over to where the chefs were.

“Food smells so good.” Taking a deep inhale, the smell of home cook food was starting to make you growl with hunger.

“Perfect, cause it’s for you.” Natasha remarked as she was helping to set the table.

“For me?” You asked excitedly as you placed your things down and went ahead to stand beside Wanda as she was stirring something in a pot.

“Tony had to go home to take care of Morgan but he told us what you did for us today.” Natasha continued saying.

“It was nothing. Just part of my job.” You tried waving it off casually as Wanda offered you a taste test of the soup she made. You gave her a look like you were in love as the soup tasted so so good.

“Bucky is making your favourite. Mac and cheese.” You could die on the spot as mac and cheese was your ultimate comfort food. You peeked out behind Wanda’s silhouette to look at Bucky earnestly topping different layers of cheese on the macaroni.

You bit your lip, debating privately on which sight was more delicious? Stop it, Y/N. You chided yourself. This was highly inappropriate. Bucky looked up from his cooking to meet your gaze and you decided to give him an appreciative smile. “Thank you. That’s so sweet of you.

“It’s nothing.” His voice was low and muffled and sexy, oh my god, you needed to control yourself. Bucky’s entire being was doing things to your insides.

Soon, dinner was ready to be served and everyone gathered around the communal table. Everyone started digging in and fell into conversation immediately. As everyone was having second rounds, Natasha who was sitting across you spoke up.

“So how do you think the assessment went?” Natasha asked you with a curious gleam in her eye, as if she was expecting something.

“It was good, I think we can expect good results. Teddy really seemed impressed by what we have here.” Your friends nodded as they listened to your answer.

“Or more specifically, he’s impressed by what we have here.” Ro looked at you with an all-knowing grin.

“Ro! Teddy and I are old friends but college besides that would have been entirely inappropriate. He’s here to do his job.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time someone mixed work and pleasure.” Sam sent you a smug look as he wriggled his eyebrows. You scoffed at what he was insinuating and shook your head while reaching out for a glass of water.

“So?” Natasha drawled out the word as she asked. You made a frowning-confused face and tilted your head to signal for her to continue. “That’s it?”

You knew exactly where she was steering to in the conversation and you could back out of it, but you knew she will stop at nothing to get answers out of someone. Placing down your cup, you let out an exhale as you held onto your temple as if you had a headache.

“Teddy asked me out.” You weren’t surprised when your friends let out gasps at your revelation. Well more so on the girls and perhaps Sam. Vision, Steve and Bucky had neutral expressions worn on their faces.

“Please, are you really surprise?” Your eyes averted to the girls who seemed more excited at what you had just revealed.

“I’m surprise he got the balls even. He might have gained some respect from me.” Natasha coolly remarked as she took another bite of her food. Such savagery….

“Hey, Teddy is not so bad!” You protested.

“You gained a soft spot for him?” Natasha calmly quipped back.

“Come on, I’ve been friends with him throughout college. He is odd at times but he’s harmless.”

“Like a Teddy bear?” Sam chimed in. His words gained many laughter and he even tried giving high-fives to show off his wit.

“I’m not going to talk to you people if you’re going on like this!” You threatened to back out of the room. Pulling your chair out, you started to clean your own dish and you could hear the rest of the group continued on their chatter. You could hear Steve reprimanding the rest like a disappointed parent at his kids’ behaviour.

Bless Steve.

As you returned to the table, Natasha spoke up again. “So are you going to say yes to the date?” You knew everyone could sense your hesitation and your eyes went to Bucky who had a passive expression on his face. Oh god….

“I don’t know, Nat.”

“What do you mean know?” Ro continued. “He’s not expecting you to go on a date to get a better assessment, is he? If not, I WILL-” Ro went on to mimic a punching gesture with both hands and Steve had to calm her by pressing down on both her hands.

“Yo Y/N. That won’t be cool, I’mma also-” Sam went on to make his own gesture of beating Teddy to a pulp. Steve once shook his head at the immaturity of his friends but he held a serious look as he turned to you. He was indeed worried if it was really the case.

“No-no, Teddy wouldn’t. He said it’s not like that. He just wants to reconnect.” You tried to calm your two rather rash (but loyal) friends.

“Do you want to?” This time Wanda was the one who spoke up. Taking a moment to seriously think about it, you figured what was the harm on going on one date with Teddy? Would it really be that bad? If you don’t feel the same way, you could always settle it there and then.

Why were you denying yourself at a chance at love again? You figured it you could start dating again. “Maybe. I don’t know. I should try, should I? It’s been awhile….”

“Listen to your heart, sweetie.” Wanda reached out to hold your hand dearly. You smile gratefully at her support.

“I will think about it, anyways I told him I will give him an answer once this is over. So I still have time.” You said to reassure your friends. You tried redirecting the conversation away from this topic and continued to spend a little more time with your friends.

Bucky Barnes tried his hardest all evening to not falter. Hearing that agent had asked you out stirred up some emotions within him. He realised you were not going to be available forever. An amazing woman like you will catch the eyes of other and eventually they will make a move to ask you out.

Bucky caught Steve glancing over at him. Even without talking, he knew what his friend was trying to tell him. Go for her before you lose your chance, punk! Steve while terrible with dealing with women except for his own girlfriend was not stupid. He was still able to read the room and more importantly, his childhood friend.

Steve always had his suspicions. He noticed how Bucky’s eyes fleet to you immediately when you entered the room and how they lingered too long for it to be a normal behaviour. Bucky was eager to greet for you even if it didn’t look like it. Bucky while accustomed to the team, was still reserved with strangers.

Steve could see that Bucky was always conscious of how he acted around you. You might not have noticed but Bucky always tried to look out for you in his own subtle way. Perhaps, it was not easy for his best friend who sometimes remained in the dark shadows of his thoughts, believing that he did not deserve to be happy with someone because of his past.

Steve knew Bucky wants to be loved by someone special and that he deserved to be loved. He just wants this punk to not sit around and wait any longer.

You decided to call it a night and wanted to return home. The girls were whining for you to stay and asked why you could not stay at the compound for good. There were plenty of rooms in the private quarters for you to call your own.

You refused, saying that you deserved your own quiet space away from dealing with this chaotic energy (referring to the team). Ro protested at your words but you just laughed it off and bid farewell to everyone.

Steve looked over to Bucky and with the power of eye contact and practically 90 over years of friendship, signalled non-verbally to Bucky that he should take action. Wanda’s voice popped up and stated that you had forgotten your car keys on the counter.

Raising his hand up, Steve indicated for Wanda to pass it over to him. Wanda gave him a smirk before using her powers to push the keys onto Bucky. Steve gave an approving nod at what she did and both people turned to Bucky to give him a ‘what are you waiting for?’ look.

Clutching the car keys in his hands, Bucky got out of his seat and gingerly made his way to the garage. He took in deep breaths as he quickened his steps in hopes of catching up to you.

Luckily, you were not far along and heading for the elevator. He called for your name and you were surprised to see him. Bucky took the last few steps to face you and he look down on the ground for a moment to adjust himself.

“You forgot your keys.” He started off nervously as he stretched out his hands to pass it to you. Your mouth made an ‘o’ shape as you realised why he even came up to you in the first place. You let out a nervous laugh and took it from him, not forgetting to thank him as well.

“It’s nothing.” Bucky replied. Silence followed with awkward tension.

“I gotta go, can’t wait to be back in bed.” You tried to break the silence. There was another pregnant pause and you chided yourself for even trying. This was going nowhere.

“Yes, you had a long day.” Bucky tried coming up with another response. No use forcing it, this was even more awkward than the time Teddy confessed to you. You heart sank in disappointment. Should you even try? Were you willing to give it up before giving it a try with Bucky?

Bucky’s movement snapped you out of your inner thoughts as he began to make his way back. He gave you a once over and nodded to bid you goodbye once more.

The words were at the tip of your tongue. You wondered if you should-

“Hey Bucky.”

Bucky stopped in his tracks and immediately turned his body back to face you. What could you possibly call him for? He made his way back to you and stood face to face to you. His eyes bore into yours and you had to take a gulp before gathering courage to speak.

“Should I go?” Your question caused Bucky to be all confused and you then realised you weren’t clear enough.

“Should I go on the date with Teddy?” While your question was indirect, but you were hoping he got the drift. If he liked you any one bit, he would not let you go on the date. If he had any ounce of interest in you, he would stop you right?

Your held strong eye contact with him, trying to gauge his feelings through non-verbal cues as you figured he was trying to come up with an answer. Seconds felt like hours, he did not give you an answer.

You let out a low chuckle. What an idiot you must have sound like? Why would Bucky care about your date at all?

“I’m sorry. I’m asking stupid questions. Goodnight Bucky.” You made your way to press the elevator and stood right in front of the lift. You hoped Bucky would just leave and save yourself from more humiliation.

As your elevator came to your floor, you were going to take one step in when you felt a hand grabbing onto your wrist. You turned to see Bucky with a slightly panicked look on his face.

“Don’t go.” You scrunched your face into a confused expression as you tried to understand what he meant. His next words caused your heart to skip a beat and the corners of your lips to move up.

“Don’t go on that date with him.”

———————————————————————

Hello my readers! You didn’t think this was the end, did you? Thanks for sticking till this end of this long ass one-shot!

Here’s the bonus epilogue for this story.

You sat in the corner of a café that you looked up online. It was a third-generation family business that had the best pastries in New York. You pick on the loose threads of your yellow gingham midi dress as you waited for your date.

The bell of the café rung to signal the arrival of a new customer. You looked up to see a man in a dark outfit of black and blue. Black jacket over a blue t-shirt and dark washed out jeans. He was wearing a glove on his left hand and an eager smile on his face.

Bucky made his way towards you and first complimented on how beautiful you looked. You returned the same compliment and ravelled in how he easily embarrassed he was at the slightest praise.

The two of you went ahead to the counter, picking out a few sweet treats and two iced coffee. When your order was set on the table, you went ahead to cut a slice of cake and offered to him first.

Bucky eagerly took it and your heart melted at the bashful boyish grin he donned. The two of you fell into an easy conversation and you brought up something on your mind.

“These pastries are so good; we should get some more and you can bring it back for the rest of the team.” Bucky nodded in agreement as he took a sip of his drink.

“You know, Natasha had something to do with bringing Teddy in that day.” Your statement had Bucky’s attention on you. “Yeah, she told me a few days after. Trust her to use her skills to do something like that.” You laughed before continuing explaining.

Apparently, Natasha had a hand in making sure Teddy replaced his colleague for the assessment that very day. When questioned if she had any intention to bring you and Teddy together in the first place, she laughed and shook her head. She always intended for this plan to push you and Bucky towards the right direction.

She believed that if Bucky realised you cannot always be there and will eventually end up with someone else possibly, he will stop being in denial. Bucky commented that Natasha truly was a work of wonder and said that he was eternally grateful for her intervention.

Bucky reached over to hold your hand with this flesh hand but you went ahead to also grab his gloved vibranium hand too. It was your way of telling him that you accepted him whole-heartedly and loved him very much.

Bucky brought both your hands up to place multiple kisses and tell you how he really felt. He knew he shouldn’t hold back his feelings anymore and that you deserved to know how important you are to him.

“Doll, you’re the best thing that happened to me.”

———————————————————————

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #james buchanan barnes #bucky barnes #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes x y/n #marvel fanfiction #angstfordays

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solari-writes-things · 4 years

Note

Greetings, my lovely friend 💖 May I request Prompt 3 from the Friendship List with Tig please? Sending you a big THANK YOU and all the love! 🌞🌻✨

Thanks for the request, my friend! I love this prompt, and I think it’s absolutely perfect for him!

I apologize it’s a little brief. :c Request me another and it’ll probably be longer lmaoooo

Prompt > Friendship #3: “What do you mean you’re sick?! You’re my partner in crime!”

Reader is Tig’s close friend!

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

You didn’t expect to come down with a cold. You weren’t one to get sick, let alone for more than a couple of days. It was honestly a blessing in disguise, but needless to say when it didn’t apply here it made you just a tad bit frustrated.

You were supposed to be going out with the man who was essentially your best friend in the club, looking for little gifts that he would be giving to someone that he had been laying his eyes on for quite some time. Her name was Venus, she was a trans escort that occasionally came by to work for Nero.

You got along with her swimmingly. She was classy, eloquent, and loyal to boot. You knew she would be a good fit for Tig, and the fact that he chose to pursue her so avidly made you quite happy. The man hadn’t been the same since Dawn, and seeing someone who was able to whisk him away by her mere existence alone was refreshing.

You winced at the sharp tone of your cell phone ringing, the bog in your head feeling like it parted just enough to prompt your arm to reach for the shrilling device. You pulled the phone close to you, your eyes adjusting to see the name that would pop up on the Caller ID screen.

Tig.

You weren’t surprised. After you had texted him a couple hours ago, you were expecting some form of hell raising on his end. So you exhale, knowing your brain would need to catch up, and answer the call.

“Hey, Tiggy,” you greet, your voice quiet.

“Hey, doll, what’s going on? Why aren’t you able to go?” he asks.

“It’s that time of year, man,” you explain, rubbing your eyes.

“What time?” he asks. “Are you sick?”

“I sound like shit, so I’d go with that,” you snark in return.

“What do you mean you’re sick?” he practically groans. “You’re my partner in crime, [Y/N]!”

“I’m sorry, Tig,” you apologize as you roll over onto your back to get more comfortable in your spot. “I know, it’s inconvenient. Just bear with me, man.”

“Who else am I gonna ask to go help me pick out stuff for Venus?” he complained in jest.

“I can still technically help you,” you mutter. “When are you seeing her next?”

You listen to him ponder a bit over the phone, before he inhales to answer. “In a few days. But I wanted to make sure I had something selected soon.”

“Just go get me some cold medicine, orange juice, and other shit. Pray this passes overnight,” you say. “I’ll give you cash.”

He seems to juggle the idea in his head, a couple seconds of silence before he chuckles. “Alright. Alright, fine.”

“Thanks, Tiggy. I owe you big time.”

#tig trager #tig imagines #samcro #sons of anarchy #redwood-imagines #writing prompt

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orderofthefanfic · 5 years

Text

Moving on in Life and Home

It’s All Over but the Laughing: Chapter 3

Arthur watched the phone like a hawk the moment he got home. A day passed with nothing and he tried not to be discouraged. A few days passed and all he did was wait. He felt like his mother, obsessed every day with whether she'd receive her letter from Thomas Wayne. And like his mother, he was probably waiting on a lost cause. Until the phone rang.

It had been six days since he last saw her, Arthur made note she wasn't at the office, and he bolted towards the phone. With only one ring, he yanked it from the receiver and shoved it to his ear.

"Hello?" He restrained himself, aware that his life was probably looking as bleak as usual and it wasn't the call he hoped for.

"Hey, Arthur!"

He nearly dropped it when the sound of her cheery and hyper voice flew through the speaker. He noticed his name didn't catch in her throat.

"So, about that vacancy."

His lips cracked into a grin as her nervous chuckle met his ear. The call was brief, he could tell she was struggling to talk over the phone and when she disclosed she was actually at a payphone feet from the steps of his building, he didn’t see the need to prolong the conversation, and he hung up. Arthur tripped scrambling to put on his pants and nearly forgot a shirt when he dashed for the door.

His limber form shot down the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator, and darted out of the front. (Y/N) was juggling a few bags in her hands, catching one before it tumbled onto the pavement, and holding her foot behind another suitcase to keep it upright. An awkward smile was plastered on her face as she bounced on her toes. She had an unusually high amount of energy, contrasting greatly with how she was when they'd met. Her hand moved to wave but another bag tipped from her arms. He jolted forward and caught it by the handle, the weight yanking him slightly before he straightened.

With a breathless thank you, she nodded her head towards the door and cheered, "I got an apartment!"

Her grin widened and Arthur smiled back. But confusion still glinted behind his eyes at the change in demeanor, she seemed to be filled with nervous excitement. He mentioned his intrigued to her and she suddenly seemed to realize he didn't know something she did.

"Guess what? Guess!" She exclaimed, barely leaving time for Arthur to take a breath before she rambled through a giggle, "I told him to f-fuck off. I did! I told him to fuck right off. I finally said it."

She almost seemed to twirl as she said it, elated, but he was slightly taken aback by the statement, lost as to what she was even talking about.

When she noticed his raised brow, she launched forward, dropping her bags haphazardly and gripping Arthur's shoulders, glancing down at her fallen items with a small "oops" before she beamed, "My uncle! I-I finally did it! I said 'fuck you' right to his face and left!"

She was almost giddy, putting him slightly into shock at the sudden contact, and his brow raised even higher. With the close proximity, Arthur could now see an odd blush of shadow across her cheek and a pinkness to her eyes he hadn't seen before. Her speech was better, but he assumed it could be credited to her hyper-focused exuberance. It was, even by his standards, an odd encounter.

He was slow to congratulate her, the thought coming out more as a question than anything but she took it in stride and released him to bundle her bags back up.

"I told you already about calling the landlord. I have a month to pay my first rent, but I have an apartment now!"

He nodded, gesturing before he took some of the extra luggage from her hands to help her. Arthur had to admit it was slightly jarring, her drastically different attitude, bouncing in her place, rambling, acting as if they’ve been friends and hadn’t only seen each other once before. He couldn’t tell whether he liked it, or was frightened by it.

Her fingers grazing his arm from underneath her full hands brought him out of his thoughts as she smiled and nodded towards the building, “Help me carry my stuff?”

“Oh, yeah,” He started, shifting the weight of the bags, of which he had less of, and pulling ahead of her to hold the door open with his foot.

(Y/N) smiled and practically skipped through, swaying slightly to maintain her tower of luggage, and headed for the elevator. Her finger dashed out to push the button, but the leaning skyscraper in her hand blocked Arthur from seeing the floor number. And it finally hit him, as he waited for the decrepit elevator to lurch up, that she was going to live in his building, someone he could actually know and befriend. His heart began to pump harder, rising as the floor numbers rose, and waited. As each floor passed, he bounced his leg, watching as it neared his floor, waiting to pass it before-

It stopped.

Arthur's floor number was blaring in his face and the ding of the elevator's warped doors rang in his ears like a flashbang went off. She was none the wiser, hopping with a little squeal in excitement before she stepped out into the hall. He nearly slammed into the back of her when he followed, unaware she had halted in the middle of the floor, staring at the peeling walls and disgusting floor, and bathing in the nauseating artificial light. Embarrassment began to flush Arthur's cheeks.

"I know it's not mu-"

"I love it!"

He was utterly speechless by her exclamation, blinking his eyes a few times in wonder as if she was seeing a different hall than he was. With a double-take between the room and her, he settled into his feet with awe. She was something else.

Bearing her teeth in a wide grin, she sauntered down the hall, the weight of the bags lighter in their arms. As she passed his apartment entirely unaware, Arthur smiled, too.

To say he didn't know there was a vacancy on his floor, would be a lie. To say he thought fate would actually work in his favor and give her that apartment, would be the absolute truth. So as she headed down his hall, nearing that empty room at the end of the building, the dank air felt just a little lighter.

"Arthur," she chuckled out, "Little help?"

When he shook himself from his stupor, he looked up to see her pushed against the door, using it to hold her bags up as she stretched to reach the handle. Her fingers barely grazed the metal before she gave up to secure her hold.

He was quick to step forward, passing her an awkward smile as he grabbed the keys lightly from her extended finger and turned the lock. When the door swung open, it was unbelievably musty, coated in dust with leftover furniture from whatever sorry soul had lived here before. But she seemed unphased, aside from a short puff of air, and waltzed in to drop her things on the ground. He was still hovering in the doorway, watching as she flitted around the space, with a pep in her step, dragging her fingers along the dirty counters and feeling the imperfections in the wallpaper. When she shoved the window open, the room filled with the evening sun, dust floating like little fairies through the beams, and warming the room. It stopped just short of the tip of Arthur's shoes and he shuffled forward into the golden light. No one, it seemed, opened windows in Gotham. But she wasn't just some no one.

Helping her set up the apartment as best he could, they chatted about everything and nothing as the room slowly began to feel a little more like a home. (Y/N) had dusted off the counters, wiped the windows, and even went as far as to clean the floor. When they finished, they hovered awkwardly in the living room, the doorway, the hall, knowing it was time to leave but unable to pull themselves away. They were leaning, her on the doorframe and he on the wall of the hallway, and laughing softly at something one of them said. The low hanging sun now shone straight through her apartment and illuminated the side of her face with an orange glow. He didn't want to leave.

"I can't thank you enough for all your help," she started, and Arthur knew their time was up, "It means so much."

He noted the almost lack of stutter, her posture relaxed as she spoke.

"Ah, don't worry about it, it was nothing."

"Not to me."

He met her eyes and smiled, a comfortable silence swirling between them. One of her feet had slipped back through her doorway, her hand resting on the frame.

"Well, I should leave you be. But maybe, I mean if you're still going to the office, we can go together? Then you wouldn't have to go alone. I don't mind getting there early."

She beamed.

"You sure you won't get tired of me?" She joked but he shook his head, "I would love that, thank you."

"Okay, yeah, you could just stop by my apartment in the morning, o-or I could stop by yours, and we can go together."

He jested behind him lazily as he said apartment and she piped up, "Gotta tell me where that is first."

His hands went into his pockets, and she narrowed her brow at his sudden hunch, a mischievous look dancing behind her eyes.

"Actually, uh, it's funny because.." his hand escaped the fabric to run a hand through his hair before he looked to her with an airy laugh, "I'm just down the hall."

Her eyes widened, before her head cocked to the side, "So it is, is it? Now, what a coincidence."

He was half worried she would be mad, maybe even creeped out, but relief flooded him when her smile deepened and she brought her hand out comically to shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you, neighbor."

She winked as he shook her hand, "And you.. neighbor."

"So, I'll see you at 8 am?"

"I'll see you."

"Then it's a date!" (Y/N) winked again.

They were all smiles as they said goodbye. When her door was closed, she waited, although a bit longer than she thought she would need to, for Arthur's footsteps to reseed down the hall before she pressed her back against the wood and slid down with a grin.

#arthur fleck fanfic #arthur fleck x reader #arthur fleck #fanficiton #joker #joker reader insert #joker x reader #joker fanfic #joker 2019 #reader insert #dc #dc fanfic

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dashesofink · 5 years

Text

The Speaker | Chapter 2 |

A Hobbit Fic

Summary: Accompanying a group of 15 across the lands of Middle Earth was never something you dreamed of doing, especially after waking up in a strange forest. Yet after being found by a group of dwarves, you find yourself following after a Dwarven King and his company to reclaim a mountain. You had expected the hardships and battles that you all faced on the journey; however, the last thing you expected was finding someone along the way who would steal your heart away for himself, all while giving you the key to his own.

Pairing: TBA

Word Count: 9.6k

Warnings: none so far

A/N: this is mainly a filler chapter, so it’s a bit longer than the first. hope y’all don’t mind! also, please give some feedback at the end and let me know what you think!! I still don’t have any set pairing yet, so I’m open to any suggestions on who you would like to see!!

Chapter 1

The Speaker Taglist: @legolaslovely @c4ts4ndstuff @nerdbirdsworld @anilynsworld

Main Taglist: @t00-many-th0ughts @fizzyxcustard

Also on: AO3 Wattpad

A couple days had passed since your arrival in Middle Earth. You still had yet to grow fully accustomed to the dwarves that had found you in the forest, but with each little kind word that Ori would utter, or each tale that Bofur or Dori recited over the blaze of the campfire brought you closer to the company. The first two days were rough, to say the least. Your back ached from sleeping on the rough ground; not even Fili's thick coat provided enough cushion for you to have a full nights rest. And you were positive that your spine and butt were bruised from sitting on a pony for too long. Your clothes and hair had grown dirty throughout your journey, and it was often that you wished you could be back home for a proper wash. But that was behind you now, as Gandalf had put it on your second day with the dwarves.

Fili and Kili kept as close to your side as their uncle would allow. Often times you found your eyes dancing over to the brothers while you trecked your way through the forest, your arms tightly around Bofur or Balin’s waist in fear of falling off of his pony. You felt a sense of relief wash over your body when the brothers were near, something that you hadn't felt much of since you first woke up in Middle Earth. While yes, other dwarves had tried to engage in conversation and be friendly towards you, your predicament of not being able to speak tended to push them away. You wanted to speak with them, to voice out your concerns of the quest and the well-being of the company, but you just couldn't. That, and Thorin's constant belittling of you often scared some of them away as well.

You hated the way Thorin looked at you. His blue eyes staring deep holes into your back or side, almost as if he was hoping you would drop dead so he could continue his quest without any more interruptions. After many explanations from Kili or Fili, and a heavy scolding from Thorin soon after, you had learned of the quest these dwarves were going on. Your heart settled with guilt when you had realized just how much of a distraction and hassle your presence in the company would be to them, but it wasn't your fault that you just appeared out of nowhere. If Thorin could have his way he would leave you at the next campsite and never turn back. But much to his disdain both his newphews and Gandalf, along with a few of the other dwarves, would most definitely protest and drag you along with them.

"She may not do much now, but she's a helpful lass!" Bombur often shouted, his red cheeks puffing out as he smiled towards you. As days passed you found yourself offering to help him cook the scrappy meals that he made for the company, and almost immediately he took you up on your offer. Soon enough you found yourself smiling as you cut the odd vegetable or grilled some rabbit or venison from a hunt while you listened to Bombur tell you about his life in the Blue Mountains. After everyone had their fill of food you were the one to collect the bowls and other utensils, trying your hardest to scrub them clean. The festivities around the campsite was always loud in your ears, but joy filled your heart whenever Fili, Kili or Bofur gravitated towards you and away from the others. Bofur was one of the few dwarves that didn’t seem put off by your lack of speech. Luckily for him though, that meant he could talk as long as he wanted or tell you a funny story about one of his brothers.

It was a rare sight to see you without one of the three dwarves by your side. Whenever it was time to pack up camp and start on the quest again, you found yourself being juggled between the three dwarves, as they often argued over who you would ride with next. You couldn't help but roll your eyes at their behavior whenever the arguing ensued, your legs carrying you over to Balin as he always agreed to let you join him on his pony. That put a pout on the three arguing dwarves faces almost instantly. Balin never seemed to mind your silence. In fact, he had found himself growing used to it, not that he had much of a choice. He noticed how you only ever really 'spoke' with Fili, Kili and Bofur, keeping your special ways of communication to yourselves unless others asked about it. Everyone else was fine with reading your thoughts from a sheet of paper.

The older dwarf had, as most of the other dwarves had, grown fond of you. Your presence among the rowdy group of dwarves was like a breath of fresh air. If you weren't feeding the group with Bombur, than you were following behind Oin a bit as he checked up on everyone. If you weren't preoccupied with Fili and Kili, than you were like the Dwarven healer's little assistant. Oin was hesitant at first, letting a human girl follow him around, and just letting you read the dwarves ways of healing over his shoulder felt odd to him. But he saw how interested you were, and the eagerness to adjust to this world was clear in your eyes. With a couple of reassuring words from Balin and the compliments that Fili and Kili constantly spoke of you, Oin finally gave in ad taught you a few things about the different types of ointments and salves and what they did, as well as how to properly stitch and bind a wound. You were thankful that at least most of the older dwarves finally took to you.

Though slowly, you were adjusting well to your new life with the dwarves. Much to Gandalf's amusement, even the Hobbit had a soft spot for you. But that could be seen since your first meeting. Bilbo understood what it was like to have the constant glare of Thorin on your back. He tried his best to ease your worry about the leader, a gentle smile on his face when he tried to distract you. He often told you of his home back in Hobbiton. The more he told you about the warm and cozy place, the more you longed to be there rather than in the wild. Constantly moving and switching ponies was rough. The nights weren't any better. Yes, a fire was almost always lit, but you always found yourself shivering, a cold settling in your bones while you tried to will yourself to sleep. Early to bed and early to rise seemed to be Thorin's motto most of the time, one which you were never fond of. Oh how you longed to sleep in a warm bed, or to hold a warm cup of tea to rid yourself of the chill in your body.

Today was no exception from your newly found aches and pains. Your bottom was already beginning to grow numb. "You alright back there, lass?" Bofur, your riding companion for the time being, questioned as craned his neck while taking out his pipe, his floppy hat almost hitting you in the face if you hadn't ducked a bit. You were desperately trying to get comfortable, but your legs were tingling as the numbness slowly extended down from your butt to your legs and feet. You gave a small huff in response, one of your arms unwinding from his waist so you could tap your leg, your face scrunching up in discomfort. Bofur's lips pulled into a jesting smile, his head shaking as he let out a laugh before sticking his pipe between his lips. "Still not used to riding, are ya?"

You shook your head no. A soft breath fell past your lips as you held on to him again, you cheek falling against his back as boredom soon overtook you. You found yourself watching the leaves on the ground, the older, brown and yellowing ones crunching under the heavy hooves of the many ponies. You closed your eyes, suddenly preferring to rely on your sense of hearing instead of sight. You listened carefully as a gentle breeze blew against the trees, their branches creaking and groaning as they shifted against the small force. The chatter amongst the company was quiet, carrying softly against the breeze along with the clicking of hooves and into your ears as you zoned out.

Fili and Kili glanced towards each other when they caught you leaning against Bofur's back, the dwarf not seeming to mind at all, the sudden weight of you pushing against him. The brothers slowly steered their ponies to ride in tune with Bofur's, the older dwarf shooting them a look when they fell next to his side. "How can I help you lads?" He asked, pipe held between his teeth. Kili's eyes raked over your limp body, taking in the way your hair fell delicately over your face, your slow, steady breaths blowing a few strands up and away every once in a while. You seemed at peace.

"Has she fallen asleep already?" Fili looked up as he spoke, his eyebrows knitting in confusion. If it was one thing that confused the most out of the dwarves, it has how easily you could fall asleep. It seemed that even though it was nearly midday, you were already sleeping soundly atop of a pony. It was unbelievable. Bofur felt you stir against his back at the golden-haired princes words, your eyes meeting his briefly after tossing your hair over your shoulder. Kili let out a laugh when you shook your head no. Bofur too gave a chuckle, watching the way the brothers faces lit up when you paid attention to them. The two tried their hardest to keep your spirits up, he noticed after the first two days. Whether it be by talking you up about a new prank that Kili had come up with, or by telling you an exciting story about their home in the Blue Mountains. Either way, your focus was almost always kept on the young dwarves, your eyes wide with fascination as you absorbed their words intently. You were quite the curious one.

"Care to explain what you were doing then, hm?" Kili quirked an eyebrow when you finally looked to him. You gave a small tap to Bofur's front as you uncurled your fingers from his coat, his hand letting go of the reigns of his pony so his palm could face towards the sky. The day before you had decided to expand your horizons on who you wanted to communicate with, your mind settling on Bofur. He was one of the couple of dwarves that had warmed up to your presence quickly, his words always spoken gently or he would act funny as a smile was ever present on his lips. You gave a small hum before resting your finger on his skin, and soon after he turned to the dark-haired prince after you had finished writing.

"She said she's listening."

A snort came from Kili, his brother shooting him a stern look before he went went to speak again. Kili just brushed it off. "Listening to..." Kili found himself looking around the forest, his eyes dancing between tree after tree and taking in their similar green and yellow leaves before he looked back to you. "What, exactly?"

A pebble suddenly hit Kili in the temple, a pained gasp, followed by some curses, falling from his lips as his fingers gingerly rubbed his new injury. You pressed hand over your mouth to stifle your laughter, your eyes turning to Fili who bounced another small stone in his hand as he shot his brother yet another warning look. A glaring match started between the two princes, and bickering soon ensued as they inadvertently spurred their ponies to move forward. Amusement swam through your eyes as you watched their squabble, your fingers grasping Bofur again as you settled against his back. You forced yourself to drown out the bickering between Fili and Kili, your lips turned up when you suddenly heard a few birds chirping from their perched in the trees. A small clearing was coming up, as you could see from your position towards the back of the company.

By now your legs were tingling, having sat on the pony for too long causing your nerves to fight for feeling again. It appeared that everyone else in the company was growing restless as well. Ori was trying his hardest to keep himself occupied, however failing to initiate an awkward conversation with Gandalf. Dwalin, one of the few dwarves who had appeared to yet feel the slightest bit okay with your presence, was stuck by Thorin's side up front, their conversation kept quiet between them. Your eyes suddenly found Gandalf's as you looked towards the back of the company. A pleased glint was always in his eyes as he watched you open up more and more to the dwarves. He gave you a small nod, the pointy grey hat on his head bouncing a bit before he clicked his tongue. You watched silently as he rode past you, falling in line with Dwalin and Thorin up front.

"Do you suppose we'll stop sometime soon?" Ori's voice sounded as he glanced towards you, your shoulders shrugging as you sat up. You rose an eyebrow in question to his own, a deep blush crawling up his neck and settling on his cheeks and nose as he quickly looked away from you. "I-I am needing to... t-to relieve myself.. a bit."

The blush on his face darkened when you threw your head back in laughter, Bofur reacting the same way at the young dwarfs statement. You found his embarrassment adorable, to say the least. The more you stayed within the company the more you learned that it was okay to be yourself, or rather then be themselves around you. Each night you found yourself laughing more at the odd and sometimes crude jokes that Bofur or Nori would say, your shoulders knocking together with Kili's or Fili's as you gripped your ribs tightly. You've heard Ori's statement more than once on this journey, and yet you still found it amusing when they shied away from you concerning that stuff. You were a grown woman, you knew how the body worked and when it needed it's release well, there wasn't anything you could do about. Still, they didn't need to announce it every time they needed to take a piss. That part was getting a bit annoying.

"I'm sure we'll stop soon, Ori." Bofur reached over and gave the dwarf a pat on his shoulder, his lips still turned into a large grin when he noticed the blush that lingered on his freckled cheeks. "Y/n here could do with some stretching, couldn't you—"

"We stop here!"

Thorin's orotund voice was loud, his tone commanding as he pulled the reins to slow his pony. Cheers sounded throughout the company at his words, some letting out sighs of relief as everyone slowly rode towards the clearing you saw from earlier. After everyone stopped, one by one the dwarves clambered off of their ponies, some stretching their arms above their heads while others hurriedly made their way into the forest to, as Ori had made mention of, relieve themselves. Bofur kept a tight grip on your hand as he helped you off of the pony, making sure your feet were firm on the ground before he too hurried off. You let out a sigh of relief as you bent at the waist, a series of satisfying cracks being heard as you stretched. Your legs were screaming, numbness still lingering in your nerves as you slowly made your way around the small clearing.

You found yourself wondering a bit a way from the group to do your business. It wasn’t often that you had much time to yourself nowadays, so even this little bit of time you had to be alone was great, even if it was to empty your bladder. You were quick to clean yourself as best as you could, and after making sure your pants were situated you made your way back to the group. However, you found yourself stopping on the edge of a small rock, your eyes growing wide for a second as you looked down into the steep clearing, beautiful green trees and a small stream running down below you.

The air was crisp and inviting in that area, and you sucked in a deep breath, holding it in your lungs for a second before you slowly let it out. Your eyes closed again, your ears going to work as you listened to the others around the company. Slowly they were appearing at the edge of the forest, looks of content and relief dancing over their bearded faces as they made their way back to their ponies. No one mounted just yet though. Tummy's rumbled with hunger, each dwarf reaching into their packs for a small snack as they conversed again. Your thoughts weren't too consuming this time, and you heard footsteps slowly crunching the dead leaves and the odd twig as someone neared you. You kept your eyes closed though, breathing in the refreshing air gently as you waited for whoever had taken the spot beside you to speak.

Fingers brushed against the skin of your hand hesitantly, and a small smile made its way on to you face when you recognized the familiar touch. You finally opened your eyes, turning to face Kili as he meekly grabbed a hold of your hand. The tips of his fingers smoothed circles into your wrist and palm for a brief moment, his own palm opening and facing the sky before he placed your hand on top of his. "Sorry if I was being a kakhuf inbarathrag earlier." He began, an apologetic smile on his face. Usually you would've question him on the term, as the Khuzdul language was something that you clearly weren't familiar with at all. But instead you focused on the tiny cut on his temple, a purple and blue bruise surrounding the wound. "I mean, I understand if you—"

Kili froze when your hand suddenly brushed against his face, your fingers gently prodding the cut on his skin as a frown pulled down your lips. The hand that rested against his palm started to move, your index finger digging into his skin as you lowered your other hand from his face.

DOES IT HURT?

"What, this old thing?" To shake off the sweep of emotions in his stomach Kili let out a loud laugh, his hand dropping away from yours and falling to his side. Your frown deepened at his sudden change in mood, and even though you would usually believe the smile on his face, you refused to this time. "Tis but a flesh wound! There isn't any need to worry, y/n." The cut had already been tended to, you could tell, as a dab of green paste seemed to be smeared over the cut. Oin's doing most likely. Fili was probably the one who, after explaining why he chucked a rock at his head and apologizing for it, had probably taken his brother to the healer when they had all stopped in the clearing. Kili could tell you didn't believe his words. The frown on your face had turned into a grimace, your fingers curling tightly into your palm when he went to reach for your hand again. He opened his mouth to speak, to try and explain that he was truly alright, but he was cut off by loud command.

"Kili!" It was Thorin, his azure eyes watching as his nephew interacted with you. You could feel the glare he was casting in your direction, and you quickly turned your back to him before you felt compelled to send one back. The dwarf in question froze at the angered tone his uncle had, and he quickly dropped his hand reaching out to yours before he turned to his uncle. Kili shot you an apologetic look, his fingers instead brushing against your elbow before he hurried over to Thorin. You didn't mean to listen in on the dwarfs scolding, but Thorin's words continued to bite at your heart as he reprimanded his nephew for once again hanging around you alone. You still couldn't quite understand why the raven haired leader detested you so, and no reassuring words could change the fact in your mind that he would never accept you as a part of the company. Hell, you didn't even accept yourself as a part of the company.

A comforting hand was suddenly placed on your shoulder, as well as another gripping your forearm tightly, pulling you away from your thoughts. To your left Balin was patting your shoulder, his lips pulling into a tight smile as to your right Bilbo held your arm. "He'll warm up to you eventually, lass." Balin’s words, though sympathetic and somewhat reassuring, did nothing to ease your tense nerves. "Just give him some more time." How much time did a dwarf need to warm up to a woman? From the stories that Bofur and Balin had told you, in Dwarven culture women were, due to them being few and far between, cherished and protected. They had explained that all women, no matter what race, were considered as precious jewels, though most could hold their own in battle. So why were you any different from the dwarrowdams and other human women? Why did Thorin hold such a hatred towards you?

Once again you were broken from your thoughts when a Thorin's voice echoed through the clearing, his lips pulled into a tight line after he called for everyone to gather again. It was time to leave. You felt Balin give your shoulder a soft squeeze before he left to find his pony, your eyes falling to Bilbo as he did the same. Bilbo didn't seem to happy with the idea though. You knew that he still wasn't quite used to riding yet. You didn't blame him. It was uncomfortable and rough riding on the back of a pony for hours at a time. It amazed you that neither one of you had fallen off yet, and you were sure that you would both gain a glare from Thorin and a fit of laughter from the others if either one of you did so. You let out a sigh as you silently followed Bilbo back to the others, your arms wrapping around your middle as you came to a stop next to Ori. The dwarf still seemed embarrassed by his earlier comment, a red tint flooding his cheeks as he avoided your eyes.

"Y/n!" A shoulder suddenly rammed into yours, a soft grunt falling past your lips as you steadied yourself against a nearby tree. "Looks like I'll be your riding companion for the time being." You rubbed your sore shoulder as you looked to Fili, a grin snuggly on his lips as he puffed out his chest. You rolled your eyes at the prince, but nodded wordlessly as you slowly followed behind him. You could feel eyes watching you as you mounted the pony, yet you ignored them as Fili's hands fell secure on your waist as he lifted you up and on to the pony. He didn't waste any time in pulling himself up, with a little bit of help from Gloin, before situating himself in front of you. You kept silent as his hair briefly brushed against your nose, the scent of pipe smoke and for some odd reason, apple, flooding your senses as you wrapped your arms around his middle. You always did find the way he smelt relaxing, though you were never going to tell him that.

You ignored the sudden bristle of emotions you felt as you leaned against his broad back, and you instead occupied yourself by watching the rest of the company mount their ponies. Soon enough, after everyone was repacked and on their ponies Thorin gave one last call before starting off towards your intended path. Your grip tightened around Fili when your shared pony gave a whine, jolting forward a bit to follow after the others. "And off we go." Fili murmured, his hair falling over his shoulders as he turned his head back, making sure that you were as comfortable as one could be on a pony. Once his eyes met yours, you gave him a small smile before giving his middle a squeeze, and after he had turned again you pressed your face into his back.

Fili let go of the reins to give the back of your hand that held on to his waist a small tap. You didn't acknowledge him for a minute, his eyebrows quirking until he felt you give a small grunt against his back as you shivered against him. The wind was nipping at your skin again, turning the tip of your nose and cheeks red as a chill set in your bones. One of the dwarves had graciously let borrow one of their cloaks the day after your arrival, but even the new fabric upon your back didn't seem to warm you up. The entire day was deeming itself miserable so far, and you couldn't wait until you sat in front of a blazing fire, a hot bowl of whatever you and Bombur could cook for supper in your hands. Fili could feel the misery radiate off your body in waves, and he flinched a bit when your shivering increased. Sure, his body was providing some warmth as well as blocking most of the wind from biting you, but that didn't mean you still weren't cold.

The two of you fell into a comfortable silence after while, your chilled fingers pulling up the hood of your cloak as you set your forehead against the fabric of Fili's coat. As the company fell back into the chatter as they had done earlier, you found yourself listening to the forest again, rather than watching as you closed your eyes. You could still hear Thorin talking with Kili, this time the prince having the gall to argue back. Your brows furrowed at the anger that laced his usually jolly voice, and for a moment you opened one eye to look for him. He was already staring in your direction, eyes blazing as he fought with his uncle, but as soon as he locked eyes with you he grew quiet, lips pursing together before he turned away to glare at Thorin. Their argument ended in an instant and Thorin turned away with a flick of his raven hair as Kili slowed his ponies pace, falling back. You half expected him to fall back to ride with you and Fili, but when he didn't you frowned, concern growing in your stomach as you closed your eyes again.

You exhaled a deep breath as the same wind that froze your bones blew the leaves across the ground, the ponies whining in what seemed like a reply to the few birds that chirped high above them. The noise was soothing to you, your body relaxing against Fili's warm one as sleep soon took hold of you and you dozed off peacefully, momentarily forgetting about the other dwarves in the company and the quest that they had set out to complete.

Somehow you managed to pretty much sleep through the rest of the journey for that day. You remember a few times something, or someone for that matter, would nudge your shoulder or something soft would press against your cheek, but despite your awareness of your surroundings you couldn't be bothered to wake up. Fili found it comforting knowing that you felt safe around him, your arms subconsciously tightening around his middle whenever his pony got particularly rowdy. Kili noticed that, when he was finally found the courage to ride next to his brother again, that you were sound asleep. He made sure to keep his conversations with his brother quiet, fearing that he might wake you. But you were in such a deep sleep that, even when he prodded your side with his fingers, your eyes didn't stir under their lids, only your head turning to face away from him in return. The company left you that way, snoring softly against Fili's back until Thorin declared they had found a good spot to set up camp in. By this time the sun was beginning to set, and everyone's belly's were growling with hunger.

The others immediately started in laying out their bedrolls, roping the ponies against a sturdy tree and getting a warm fire going. The brothers, however, eased your limp body from off of the pony, your eyes finally peeling open as you let out a groan when you felt two pairs of warm hands grab your body gently. "Ah, sleeping beauty awakes I see." Fili teased. Sleep clouded your eyes when you peeled them open, your feet almost falling out from under you was you stumbled forward in a haze. Kili watched you from the sidelines— while still being ready to catch you in case you fell— amused when you stumbled to a stop in front of a log. Bilbo had sat himself upon the same log, his hairy feet stretched out in front of him as he tried to ease the feeling back into them. Kili watched silently as Bilbo's gaze reached your own, his eyes lighting up before he stood to his feet.

"Oh, y/n!" He thrilled, his hands grasping one of yours as you continued to rub the sleep from your eyes. Bilbo eased you to sit next to him, his fingers fiddling with your borrowed cloak before pulling the fabric tighter around your body. You usually pushed away his fatherly antics, as he had seemed to develop a deep fondness for you, but your mind was still foggy with sleep, your eyes only half-open as you took in your new surroundings. "I suspect you slept well, judging by the marks on your skin." Bilbo chuckled when he saw yours fingers brush against your cheek, a slight blush forming on them when you felt the divots in your skin from the bumps under Fili’s coat. Most likely a sword or knife.

"Aye, Mister Baggins." Bofur suddenly came up behind you, his hands landing heavily on your shoulders as he shook your body back and forth. You flinched at the harsh feeling, your eyes narrowing as you looked back to the dwarf. "Like a bear in hibernation, I tell you." You grunted at his statement, catching his teasing wink as he gave your shoulders a squeeze before turning to finish setting up his pack and bedroll. You turned to the front again, a soft sigh falling past your lips when you felt the heat of the fire against your chilled skin. As the sun set lower in the sky and the moon rose higher, the cold grew. Your breath turned visible in the air, floating away into the dark night. Stars twinkled magnificently in the sky, as the clearing that Thorin had chosen to camp out in being open enough overhead to display the enchanting night sky and its endless clusters of stars.

Clashing of pots and pans drew you away from the moon, your eyes catching Bombur as he began to set up for the meal. Your eyes widened suddenly and you jumped to your feet when you realized you had a duty to complete. You brushed past Fili and Kili, who were still unpacking their pony and setting up, before making a beeline for the red-headed dwarf. Bombur gave you a smile when you shuffled over to him, his hands already holding a knife and make-shift cutting board before he passed them to you. "Here you are, y/n." He spoke, watching as you plopped down next to him to begin cutting up some carrots. "Tonight's gonna be another stew, lads!"

Bombur's calls elicited groans from the other dwarves and your lips pulled up in amusement as you began chopping away at whatever vegetable or other items of food that Bombur handed to you. You worked silently, as always, as he kept a keen eye on the boiling pot of stew. It wasn't long before all of the food had been chopped into pieces and other spices and herbs were added into the mixture. Chatter began sprouting amongst the dwarves as they awaited their warm meal. As Bombur stirred the stew you washed the knives and cutting board, your eyes trailing every-so-often to the other dwarves. They kept themselves busy to try and get their hunger off of their minds; some whittled away at chunks of wood while others preferred to sharpen their weapons. As always, Thorin and Dwalin kept to themselves away from the group, whispers being shared amongst them. You often wondered if they were a thing, as they always seemed to be close, or at least within touching distance. You didn't bring it up though. It wasn't any of your business.

Soon enough the stew was ready, Bombur calling for the attention of the company with a short yet loud shout. You helped Bombur portion out the food, laddeling the warm stew into outstretched wooden bowls before handing each outstretched hand a small loaf of slightly stale bread. It didn't take long for the dwarves to eat their fill, and if you hadn't snagged a bowl for yourself before anyone else did, you would've gone without supper for the night. You didn't eat though, until you were sure that everyone else had eaten. Even Thorin, even if he did still cast you a wary glance. Just because he hated you didn't mean you had to hate him back. You were close though.

"Thank you lass!"

"Oh, how kind you are, y/n!"

"Do you think you'll need any help washing up?"

The dwarves praises and questions sounded muddled together when you went to collect their empty bowls at the end of the meal. You made sure to keep a steady hand on the messy bowls and spoons as you denied their requests for help, a small smile spreading across your face as you went back to wash them. The longer you stayed with the company the more you realized how everyone worked as a well-oiled machine. It would be wrong to just tag along and do nothing. So you took it upon yourself to wash the dishes each night, making sure they were ready for use the next day before settling down for the night. It didn't take long though, to wash the dishes. The dwarves always seemed to be hungry, and the bowls were licked clean by the time you grabbed them so it made them easier to wipe away the leftovers.

The moon was high in the sky by the time you finished with the dishes, setting them to the side with a sigh before you stood to your feet. Your back cracked loudly as you stretched your arms above your head, your arms hanging loosely at your side behind your cloak as you went to find your bedroll. Gandalf had miraculously produced a spare and he let you have it your second night with the company. You were grateful for that, as the dirt and rocks you slept on the first night left you with a nasty knot in your back. It did take much time to find your place. However, instead of being placed in between your usual two bodyguards, your bedroll was placed a bit away from them. You always told them that you felt more comfortable by the fire, as the nights got incredibly cold and the fire did much to warm your body. But they persisted in moving you bedroll next to theirs. Tonight, however, you noticed a difference in your sleeping arrangements; Bilbo had made himself comfortable next to your spot, the two princes who usually slept new you set up further away. You frowned at this, noticing how distant the two had recently been.

"Lovely supper, y/n." Bilbo praised, patting you gently on the shoulder as you sat down next to him. You shot Fili a discreet look, hoping that the prince would know why you suddenly had a new addition to your group and he was situated further away, but he merely shook his head. In all honesty you didn't mind Bilbo's present, but he usually wasn't one to sleep close to the others. His pack and bedroll were always set further away from the others and closer to the trees, but tonight something spurred him to move and now he was next to you. "You know, I've been thinking about something." Bilbo's words pulled your attention away from Fili, your fingers gripping the front of your cloak while you noticed his fingertips drum against his thighs. You cocked an eyebrow in response, watching as he rummaged around in his pack for something. "Ah, there you are. Here."

A thick book was shoved into your grasp, it's leather binding feeling smooth against your palms. Your eyes blew wide at the sudden gift, and you looked between the gracious Hobbit and the book in your hands before smoothing your fingers over the leather. There weren't many details on the front or the back of the book, but a few leafy patterns and branches had been carved expertly into the cover, and the dark red dye that had been added made it seem all the more worn out and used. But it's pages, you noticed, were crisp and clean. Not a single ink stain to be found. "For you to write in." Bilbo explained, his nose twitching in delight when you ran your fingers over the pages. He had set a quill inside the empty book, and a small jar of ink was held delicately in his hands before he held it out for you. You eyes were swimming with shock, your mouth hung open in awe as you reluctantly reached to grab the jar from his grasp.

Your actions must have been to slow for him, for he gave a small scoff before gently grabbing the back of your hand and curling your fingers around the cold glass jar. You flinched at the feeling of cold glass against your palm, but held to the jar tightly before retracting your hand to your chest. Bilbo watched as his gift produced a grateful smile from you, and he nodded once before leaning back, his elbows supporting his weight. Once again you went back to marveling at the gift, but your attention was drawn away from the leather and fresh pages when a loud snore broke through the camp. You grimaced when your eyes landed on Gloin, his mouth parted as he let out another loud breath. Fingers moved quickly to open your book, and you carefully set your now opened jar of ink on your knee before grabbing your quill and dipping it inside the jar gently. Bilbo chuckled as you went to work, whether you were drawing out the scene or jotting down words he did not know, but he was glad that you liked his little gift.

"You've got to hand it to the lass."

From his place next to the king Dwalin grunted, his pipe held securely between his teeth as he watched you through dark eyes. Thorin made a small hum for him to continue, but kept quiet nonetheless as he crossed his arms over his chest, his back resting against a fallen tree. "She's persistent." Thorin did have to admit that you were getting along fine with the dwarves, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Thorin had made a promise when you first joined them that as soon as they reached suitable civilization, you would be left there. But he noticed how much more lively his company had become since you opened up to them. Even Bifur, whose words had only been translated by Bofur a handful of times, seemed less grumpy with you in the group.

"Aye," Thorin grunted in reply after some time. His thick fingers juggled his metal key to Erebor, yet his watchful eyes were trained on your form once again. To the left of you sat Bilbo, the hobbit watching as you continuously scribbled in your new book, your eyes dancing across the group of sleepy dwarves. Further to your right, separated from you by another dwarf and a log, sat his nephews. Fili was messing with one of his knives while Kili, he noticed, struggled to keep his sorrowful eyes away from you. A frown pulled down Thorin's lips as he looked to his youngest nephew, his eyebrows knitting together and his fingers setting down the key as he thought about their earlier conversation.

"You are not some guard dog, Kili." Thorin's voice was hard and his gaze was piercing as he gave his nephew another scolding. Though while usually the brunette would take the heated words, he fought back, his lips parting to argue.

"She is defenseless, uncle!" Kili scoffed, still not believing that his uncle would be so cruel to you. Thorin has somehow learned quickly of his and his brothers pact to watch over you, and he wasted no time in telling the both of them off for it. If you were to travel with them, you were to hold your own, not feed off of others and their compassion. "We cannot just leave her to fend for herself when she hardly even knows—"

"You follow her like a lovesick fool, as does your brother." Thorin hissed, his words cold and biting. Kili snapped his mouth shut at the backhanded comment. He kept his chin high though, refusing to back down even though his heart thumped with disappointment. Thorin let out a sigh when he saw his nephews reaction, and he set a heavy hand against Kili's shoulder. He didn't want to sound so harsh, but he couldn't think of any other way to get Kili to understand. "You are distracted, as is your brother." At the mention of his brother again Kili looked over to him, watching as he laughed along with something that Bofur had said. Thorin grabbed his attention again, his hand squeezing his shoulder before he spoke. "I'm doing what's best for you, you must know that...”

Thorin was sure that Kili had informed his brother of their conversation. It was easy to tell that his words affected him, as every since they had started their journey again from that stop Kili had been acting distant, not just towards you, but towards him as well. Another sigh fell past Throin's lips, a hand falling heavily onto his shoulder before he looked to the ground. "You mustn't judge them for caring, Thorin." Balin's voice reached his ears, soft and kind. "You taught them to be mindful of those who need help. And if I'm wrong— which I don't think I am— y/n fell into that category when they first met."

Thorin knew Balin was right. Not just Fili and Kili, but each one of the dwarves had been taught to take care over those who needed it and to make sure everyone could be as safe as possible. So no, he didn't blame his nephews for taking a liking to you or wanting to protect you. He blamed them, though he knew deep in his heart it was wrong, for becoming immersed in just you. "Try not to be so harsh on the lass." Thorin felt surprise run through him when Dwalin let out a small grunt of agreement, his eyes dancing over to the burly dwarf to catch his nod. Thorin quirked an eyebrow at this.

"She's adjusting well." Dwalin suddenly pointed out, his eyes dancing over the fire and towards you for a split second before he looked to the ground. "At least she's trying to pull her own weight, Thorin." Dwalin shifted in his spot, his fingers pulling his pipe out of his mouth as he leaned his elbows across his knees. Though earlier in the journey Dwalin had agreed with Thorin's statements; that you would only hold them back, he felt a wave of compassion wash over him the more he saw you begin to work along with the dwarves. Though you mostly kept to yourself, you were strong willed. Always keeping your head high when Thorin barked at you, or always having a smile ready when someone asked you for help or told you what to do. In a way, Dwalin was proud to see you adjust so well to this new world. Though he would never admit it out loud.

Fili watched you scribble in your new book from the corner of his eye. Kili's words echoed in his mind, the harsh words that his uncle had told his younger brother biting at his heart. Though he knew it was foolish to follow after a girl as they were doing, he didn't mean it to come off as lovesick. Neither of them did. They just wanted you to feel as comfortable as possible and be protected. You had barely any idea where you were, and he doubted that you knew how to properly defend yourself. What if an orc pack was to attack? What, was he going to just let you die by the hands of those filthy creatures? No, he didn't have the heart to do it. His blues eyes danced over to his brother, who was silently sitting next to him as he whittled away at some chunk of wood he had picked up off of the ground. Fili could tell how affected he was by Thorin's words. His whole demeanor had changed from one of a young dwarf to that of a sad old brute.

But that's just what Kili was; a young dwarf who needed to keep his mind occupied in some way. Fili couldn't deny that yes, maybe Kili was focusing on you more then he ought too, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It wasn't long ago that he had acted the same way, but he grew out of his silly little antics, and he knew that sooner or later Kili would too. After letting out a sigh Fili dug his elbow into his brothers side, the latter dropping his chunk of wood with a grunt before shooting a glare in his direction. "What?" Kili snapped, causing Fili to shoot him a stern look before he nodded in your direction.

"Go talk to her."

"Uncle Thorin said that—"

"Oh Mahal, forget what uncle Thorin said." Fili hissed, keeping his head low and avoiding eye contact with the others. His fist curled around the collar of Kili's coat, his fingers lightly digging into the side of his head. "I can see that she's worried about you, as you have been avoiding her since our previous stop." Upon hearing of your concern Kili found his eyes traveling towards you, and a small smile pulled up his lips when he saw you had finally stopped your scribbling to look over at him, a flush covering your cheeks at having been caught. Kili, however, soon shook his head and frowned again when he remembered his uncle's words. He pushed Fili's hands off of him and let out a disgruntled huff.

Kili remained silent when Fili let out a frustrated groan. Sometimes he never did know what went on inside his title brothers head, but he looked up to Thorin, they both did. So whenever he told them something or gave them an order they followed through without any complaints. This time, however, Thorin was wrong, Fili had decided. The golden-haired prince finally pushed himself to his feet, and shooting Kili one last look he stomped over to you, falling into the spot next to you with a huff. You immediately acknowledged the dwarfs presence, a warm smile pulling up your lips as you closed your book after setting a make-shift bookmark onto the pages.

"Mind if I set up over here, y/n?" You took notice of the agitation that settled on Fili's face, his lips pulled down in a small scowl. Your fingers grabbed a hold of his hand, and you removed the glove that covered his palm before placing your fingers onto his skin. Fili watched as your fingers moved delicately across his calloused skin, a small smile replacing the frown when he felt how smooth your skin was. It was shocking to him how fragile you truly seemed to be, how your skin remained unmarked throughout the journey and even beforehand. How could someone wake up in a forest without a single cut or bruise? It was astonishing.

I DON'T MIND.

Fili gave a thankful nod at your agreement for him to stay, but as he went to stand again to fetch his things, the grip you had on his hand tightened, pulling him back to the ground. He looked to you in concern at your actions and he opened his mouth to question you, but you fingers moved against his palm again and he snapped his mouth shut. KILI TOO?

His lips pursed at the mention of his stubborn brother, his blue eyes drifting over to where Kili was sat. "He's... probably not coming tonight." Fili knew what you were asking. The frown on your face that his words produced was something he didn't like. The bright look in your eyes faded quickly when you finally dropped his hand, your fingers grabbing a hold of your book again before you wrapped it shut with a leather cord. Kili was the first one who you had actually talked to in the group, the first one that you had opened up too. You felt comfortable around the prince, well, more comfortable than the others, and it hurt you to see your friend grow distant after only a couple days. Fili kept his eyes on you for a moment as he stood, his fists clenching and unclenching a few times by his sides before he looked away and went to grab his bedroll and pack. Kili kept quiet again when Fili neared, the latter giving his brother a heavy glare as he came to a stop next to him.

"Obviously she won't tell you—" Fili made sure that his brother could hear his words, his fingers grabbing a hold of his things and shoving them haphazardly into his pack. "— but y/n cares about you." Kili's knife froze against the now small lump of wood in his fingers, his eyes just barely raising to look at his brother. A look of disappointment had hardened Fili's face. One that Kili had never seen on his brother before. "Brother, you were the first one she opened up too— now you're not even talking to her."

"She has you," Kili finally responded, his brown eyes burning when he finally locked gazes with his brother. "She has Bofur, and Bilbo and the others too." To support his statement Kili gestured back over to where you were sitting, seemingly chatting away happily with Bilbo as the hobbit began to settle down for the night. Fili scoffed at the poor excuse. Honestly he was surprised at how hard-headed Kili was being, but the apple didn't fall far from the tree, as everyone in his family had a bad habit of being incredibly stubborn. "She doesn't need everyone waiting for her beck-and-call."

"Do you hear yourself right now?" Fili was about ready to deck his brother in the jaw, hoping that maybe if he hit him hard enough Kili would listen or understand. But Kili looked away again, dropping his knife and lump of wood to the ground with a soft thud as he crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. "Y/n doesn't need us to wait on her; she needs someone to keep her company, to be her friend you wazzock."

"I'm not a—"

"But you're acting like one." With one last shaming look, Fili spun on his heel. Kili felt his face fall as he watched his brother leave, his fists clenching angrily by his side. He knew that what Fili was saying was right; he shouldn't throw away a new friendship because of something that his uncle had said. But Kili thought that Thorin saw him as a foolish young dwarf, and he didn't need his uncles thoughts of him to be filled with anymore disappointment. The brunette dwarf cast a wary look in your direction, lips pursing together when he saw how your face fell when Fili explained that only he would be joining you tonight. Your countenance changed; your face wrinkled with dismay as you shifted on your bedroll, a ghost of a smile barely making an appearance when Fili placed a comforting hand against your shoulder. With one last glance Kili turned away, tucking his blanket up under his chin as he settled down into his rebroll for the night.

"I bet by midday tomorrow he'll be talking to you again." Fili's voice was soft to your ears, his arm giving your body a small squeeze after he had set up his bedroll again. He had shed his coat again and hafplaced it over your legs as he had done the first night when he saw your body tremble in the cold. You gave him a grateful smile, raising your cold fingers to your lips before puffing out hot air to warm your skin. The fire was still blazing as Oin, who had been put on first watch for the night, stoked the flames and added more logs when needed.

You kept quiet, leaning your head gently against his shoulder. It bothered you, knowing that Kili was refusing to speak to you. You noticed his change in attitude after the talk he had with Thorin, and you didn't need Fili to tell you anything to know that his uncle had something to do with Kili's cold-shoulder towards you. Your eyes were low, watching the flames dance against the wind and devour the logs as you listened to the group. All but you, Fili, Kili and Oin had finally fallen asleep, each dwarf letting out a series of loud and somewhat quiet snores. Even Bilbo was sound asleep now. Bilbo was taking longer than you were to get used to the forest, but after he explained his life in the Shire and how hobbits usually lived, you understood where he was coming from. But now he seemed quite used to sleeping on the ground, his curly hair splayed messily across his little pillow. He seemed warm under his blanket, and suddenly you were thankful that Fili was next to you.

"Don't think too hard about it, y/n." When Fili squeezed your shoulder again you looked to him, seeing a small smile pulling up his lips. "Kili's still young, not that that's an excuse, but he looks up to uncle." You watched him as he spoke, his blue eyes sparkling in the flame and his blonde braided mustache bouncing as he smiled. His words were soft when he spoke of his uncle, and you could feel the admiration he too held for the Dwarven leader. "Just give him space; he'll come back."

You didn't miss the comforting hand that grabbed a hold of your fingers, your heart soaring with gratification when you felt him press a gentle kiss against your forehead. You had never been more thankful for Fili's presence then you did in that moment. Though you didn't speak, he knew exactly what you wanted to say or possibly shout, and his words eased the worry in your mind. He was a warming comfort to you. Your fingers glided across the skin of his exposed wrist as he held in fo you, using that as your 'paper' as you drew patterns into his skin. You relaxed into his hold, sleep suddenly sounding delightful once again despite the hours long nap you had earlier that day.

An amused grumble sounded in Fili's chest as he felt your body slowly relax, your eyes falling shut as a small yawn fell past your lips. His arm tightened around your body, and he tucked you gently into his side as you dozed off again. You immediately cuddled into his warmth, sleep slowly taking you under. Fili didn't move again until he was sure you were sleep, your even, shallow breaths fanning across his clothed arm as he shifted. Fili's eyes danced across the sleeping company as he held you, his gaze landing on his brother once again, only find a pair of dark eyes already staring back. He held his brothers gaze, narrowing his eyes in a way that said 'you should be comforting her, not me' and Kili knew that.

It wasn't that Fili minded holding you, reassuring you and keeping you warm. But he knew you were more comfortable around Kili. He found it odd how you were calm around his much more rambunctious brother, but he didn't question it. Within seconds Kili averted his gaze, his arms tightening around his body before he tried to will himself to sleep. Fili bristled with annoyance at the gesture, a scoff coming from him as he shook his head. He hated how stubborn his brother could be. As the snores around the company grew and the night waned on, Fili too found himself being pulled under, his eyes dropping low as his mind went foggy. He made sure you were tucked snugly into his side before he finally drifted off, his coat keeping you warm and his arm protective over you body as a deep sleep fell over the tired company.

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