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#anyway HELLO RETURN not empty-handed here u go
amaranthineghost · 5 months
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hello!! can u write something where the reader is feeling a little down while he was away because she misses him and lando reassures her and comforts her
thank u 🩷🫶🏼
| DARLING, THE BED IS COLDER WITHOUT YOU ( lando norris. ) |
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ꕥ pairing: lando x reader
ꕥ summary: she feels lonely without the company of lando.
ꕥ authors note: first, thanks so much for 200 followers! it means so much to have this much support on my writing and that so many people like my work! second, thanks so much for this request! I loved writing it and I thought it was so cute <3
SHE WAS LONELY. she often was when her beloved boyfriend traveled the world to race fast cars. it caused her worry not to be there in person, having to watch his car from the television screen in the comfort of their apartment. she wouldn't complain, she was taken care of by him. she'd never lift a finger or have to reach into her pocket.
though her days and nights filled with stoic boredom around the apartment they shared. most of her days spent on the floor on his closet, basking in the faded smell of his presence, lack of more like.
she'd lay on the floor against the pile of clothes he'd promised her he'd put away, but never got around to it. it made her smile when she thought of it when she'd pressed her face against the different materials of his clothes, the smell of detergent now faded, coming to smell like her instead.
she would try to spray his cologne, a bottle he bought just for when she missed him, but it wasn't the same. it wouldn't be. she knew, but it was the closest thing she had till he got back. when he would get back.
other than his closet, in his clothes, she would find herself in bed. his side of the bed that stayed prim and even till she ruined it. it felt weird to be on his side, met with nothing but chills. it was colder without him. her side became empty without her, but his side wasn't any better.
she'd wake up to the cold, still air, basking in the warmth of the sunlight that spilled through the curtains just right. if he was here, it would've hit his green eyes in the perfect position. it was her favorite thing about mornings.
that and when she'd wake up with his arm across her back despite how far she'd part during the night. when he'd wake, his hand stretched past her side, wrapping under her waist to pull her into his chest. he always did it.
she struggled to wake now. when he would get up to get ready, she'd roll over to his side, sighing contently at the warmth he'd left behind for her.
but the bed had no warmth to greet her with. not anymore. she'd wake up, the only warmth she had was her own that barely spread across the bed. she shivers in the mornings now.
the first ever night he'd left for bahrain, she didn't sleep. and she didn't for the following nights, only catching a night's rest when he returned for a short while.
she didn't want to worry him, he certainly had enough to deal with. she always thought he did anyways.
each time he'd return, she jumped into his arms harder. or when he had to leave, she clung to him more, each time he'd leave a minute later than he was supposed to. he didn't mind, and maybe he wouldn't notice. but he did, he always noticed.
he noticed when she would be glued to his side the second he saw her, doing basically everything with him, even going to training or simply showering. he always let her because secretly he was missing her just as bad.
he'd wash her hair, scrubbing the soap into her scalp as she hummed contently. he'd wash her perfect skin, questioning every bruise that ruined it. she'd always assure him that she hadn't a clue where it was from, but it wasn't a big deal.
when he'd go to make the bed, she'd ask him the day he left to leave it. she hated the constant reminder of his lack of presence when she'd go to lie down, but she'd claim she didn't want to stress him. he knew she lied, but he did it for her.
deep inside they were both hurting. not because of each other, they were always better together. everyone that knew agreed, which wasn't much.
most of the grid had no clue of the two and they liked it like that. their little secret that was just between them, no media or outside interference. just them and their little apartment he'd take care of her in.
but being secret meant secluded dates, or no going out with each other. no fancy restaurants, though she was never a fan. but she wished to experience it. she knew word would get out eventually.
especially if she'd travel the world with him, which to her, wasn't out of the question. she wouldn't mind going to a race posing as a fan, if it meant traveling with him. at this point, she would go as his girlfriend because that's what she was.
that's what she wanted the people to know. because it killed her to think of the girls that hit on him at the after-parties that he always attended, and she knew he would go because he always told her.
he'd relay the details of the night to her in great detail, down to the specifics of the few special drinks he would get. how he would dj. she saw the edits before he even told her.
part of her felt like that type of life and luxury wasn't for her. she wasn't raised around it, it was so foreign. one of the many reasons she'd feel reluctant to go with him as the season started.
but things change, she knew that and he did too. she missed him more than she would've imagined and it killed her inside.
she felt like she was relying on him when he was around. she always told herself she was independent, but was she really?
she felt as if she was having withdrawals without his touch. dramatic, she knew it was, but she couldn't help but feel it. she'd always longed for his company again.
they completed each other. soulmates. he'd tell her without fail that he knew he loved her in other lifetimes before this one, and he'd find her in another too. she believed it because he was the type to make it happen, he'd walk to the ends of the earth for the person he loved, and she was glad that she was the one. but it's tough when there's always life-long dreams in the way
they were both hurting. his empty hotel room he'd returned to, the pile of his clothes that overflowed the suitcase because he'd rather just throw his clothes than to place them nicely.
he had no one to scold him for his messy habits and he hated it. the silence was uncomfortable, only hearing the sounds of the cars as they drove by the hotel he stayed in. without her.
he'd sit at the small table and chair provided in his grand suite, staring helplessly at his phone. a few buttons he could press that would reveal his soulmate as his. but he wouldn't. he couldn't do that to her if she didn't want to.
he'd sigh, running his hands through the damp curls, leaning back in the chair as he yawned. his head turned towards the bed and he groaned.
he hated going to bed without her.
his phone lit up in his peripheral and caught his attention from his messily-made bed back to the screen.
she was calling him and a smile spread across his face. he hastily answered as he held the phone close to his face.
the smile was obvious in his voice as he spoke, "hey darling, why're you callin'?" his tongue glided across his chapped lips, a side effect of not having to carry his girlfriend's things in his pockets everywhere they went. he'd missed it truthfully.
he heard her tired voice hum into the phone, "missed you," she muttered, hearing her yawn and it caused him to as well. he'd sigh after her answer.
"me too, but you know, you could always come to singapore with me," he'd joke, putting the idea in her head with hope, but knew the chances of her wanting to were probably slim to none.
"can I?" his heart jumped out of his chest, he swore it did. he'd always recall jumping out of his seat, pacing the room excitedly with his hand through his hair.
"wait really?" he moved the phone away from his face, searching relentlessly for what he wanted.
"would that be okay?" it was more than okay to him. he was short for breath, pacing tirelessly, and his cheek hurt from smiling so hard.
"already bought the tickets, love." he chuckled happily through the phone and she laughed at him, smiling at the thought of seeing him, "what changed your mind?"
"I missed you," she'd answer honestly, "it's empty without you and I've got nothing to do. plus it's kind of cold," she chuckled at the last sentence, causing him to as well.
he sighed, understanding her point, "I know, babe. I'll get to see you soon," he assured her, "i've got a race tomorrow, so how about tonight you go out with some friends, alright love?"
she hummed in response, smiling as she worked through the idea in her brain, "I love you, lan."
he could tell she had the biggest smile on her face, "I love you too, darling. we'll get through this."
"promise?"
"pinkie."
she had a feeling they would. at god awful hours of night, they'd be back together through a simple call, smiling like idiots at their screens.
and she listened to his advice, asking her neighbors for the favor of holding onto their personal mail until they'd get back.
she'd call up old friends she hadn't seen in a long while and reconciling in places open for 24 hours, laughing till their stomachs hurt and their eyes cried. she'd make future plans with them, and even securing them plane tickets with her to the next race. and probably future ones as well.
and they sat talking for hours, the employees couldn't be mad at the entertainment the group provided and the vibe of homeliness between them. they'd relay every detail of their life they lived since their parting.
she'd tell them about her relationship with lando, the reason for the trip, and their long-awaited reunion. she watched as their jaws dropped. they believed her, but still, she called lando and he'd laugh at her for calling him in the middle of the night for the stupidest reason.
her stupid smile over facetime as he laid in the dark room, his face and bare shoulders illuminated by his phone screen. he was obviously tired, but he didn't care. she was showing him off and he couldn't be more proud.
"hey lando," she dragged out 'o' of his name, giggling softly, "can you please get a few more plane tickets, and maybe some paddock passes."
she watched him shake his head against his pillow, his face pressed against the material as he hid the smirk on his face. truthfully, he would happily give into whatever she wanted. anything to make her happy, and if taking her long-time friends to his race, he'd make it happen.
"whatever you want, love," he'd reply shyly to her, hearing the squeals of the group. they were estatic, but also teasing the girl in front of them. lando laughed at her red-flushed face, "i'll do you one better of getting you access to my garage."
the night had stretched on for a long time, till the sun rose the next day, but none of them were tired. they'd sit there as they watched the sunday race before they'd have to leave to pack and catch their last minute flight.
and when she'd land in the airport, late at night and tired out of her mind, he'd be waiting there. standing with his toothy smile she had missed since the last time they saw each other.
bright flashes of light blinded her when she'd drop her bags and suitcases to crash into his arms. she didn't care, she had him. his presence and his touch against her once again.
they'll be alright.
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macfrog · 11 months
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greetings from austin, tx cowboy like me chapter one
alright hwfg. first part of a dbf!joel series i'm gonna be working on. i hope you guys enjoy 🤍 please feel free to send in any requests or ideas, i'm constantly writing this so would love to know your thoughts!!!! love u all thank u sm for being the best
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pairing: dbf!joel x fem!reader
summary: you return to austin after graduating to find everything as it always was. well, most things...
warnings: age gap (reader is 23, joel is 48), little bit of alcohol consumption, and lotsa flirtin and allusions to...something more
word count: 2.3k
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The doorbell rings and your dad jumps up. “Ain’t got no cash ready. Be right back.” He jogs off past you down the hall, but your eyes remain locked on Joel, who notices you once your dad’s gone. Or so you think. “Rude to stare, darlin’,” he tsks, bringing his beer to his lips. “Wasn’t starin’.” “No?”
Summer. Texan summer. One of the few things drawing you back halfway across the country to your hometown: bright, sunny, so hot the car bonnets burn your fingertips. It had become a running joke between you and your dad: he’d send a picture of Austin’s scorching sunshine, and you’d reply a picture of New York’s grey skies.
You were ready to come back home.
That is, until your flight landed onto saturated wet tarmac, during the rainiest month of the year. It hasn’t let up in the five days since.
You stumble off the bus into a torrential downpour and throw your hood back up, but it’s no use. By the time you arrive at work, your clothes are soaked through, your hair is plastered to your shoulders, and your mood is worse than ever.
Sal hands you a towel from the back when you walk into the office, but not before giving a hearty laugh from his desk.
“You oughta be gettin’ yourself a car, anyway, lady. Now that you’re back home.”
You give him as sincere a smile as your cheeks will allow. He’s your boss, sure, but he’s also a buddy of your dad’s. Gave you a part-time job for some extra cash when you were still at school, and has taken you back on now you’ve graduated. It’s in your best interests to keep him sweet.
The hardware store is the same as it always was. A little dim, a little dusty; same old tools and same old customers, but homely. You get to work unpacking this morning’s delivery, hauling boxes off of the trolley and filling the shelves. The day passes quickly enough, and you’re folding up empty cardboard boxes to waste the last half hour of your shift when a voice hums from behind you.
“Well, hello, darlin’.”
You stand up straight and spin around to find Joel Miller before you, trademark flannel and subtle-but-still-there smile on.
“Hey, stranger,” you reply, smiling back, before he opens his arms and pulls you in for a bear hug.
Joel Miller. Same as always: tall, rugged, handsome, dark hair and beard singed with grey, warm and sweet-smelling, grumbling, mumbling Joel. His chin rests on top of your head for a second before you pull away, and he looks you up and down.
“Been meaning to come over to see you since you got back, your dad said you were pretty busy unpackin’. Thought I’d give you a few days. Everything alright?”
“All good,” you reply with a nod. “I accumulated a lot of crap in New York.”
He smirks, shoulders jerking a little with a laugh. “Didn’t realise you’d gotten your job back in here,” he looks around, “you likin’ it?”
You shrug. “It’s money. And I know how things are run. Sal’s a good guy.”
Joel nods. “When do you get off?”
You glance down at your watch. “Five minutes.”
“You want a ride home?”
You take a deep breath and breathe out a, “Yes, please,” with a sigh. It’s been a long, damp day.
“I’ll just go grab these,” he holds up two boxes of nails, “meet you outside when you’re done, kid.”
He brushes past your shoulder heavily as he passes, something he always used to do when you were younger. You snort when he mutters, “My bad.”
Joel Miller and your dad have been best buds since, like, the eighties. Your dad has a few years on Joel, but they’re as close as can be. Grew up on the same street, saw each other through girlfriends, marriage, children, divorce. Never one without the other, all that.
Joel’s daughter, Sarah – four years your junior – is a freshman out west, somewhere in California. Another of the reasons you thought it was time to come home: your dad and Joel must feel pretty lonely having both of you gone.
When you’ve grabbed your hoodie and bag and made your way back out front, Joel’s being served by Anna, a girl you went to school with. She stayed here in Austin, has some side hustle selling makeup and perfume. She flutters her eyelashes at Joel as she rings him up. You cringe as you find place at his side.
“Ready?” he murmurs, looking down at you.
You nod.
“How’s things, anyways, Mr. Miller?” Anna asks, even as he’s turning to leave.
“Uh, good, thanks. Good luck with the…makeup.” Then he gives a low grunt and makes for the door.
“Not much of a talker,” you mutter to Anna, and flatten your lips against one another in the form of a goodbye.
Joel’s sat out front in his truck, looking down the receipt.
“Girl charged me for three boxes. If she wasn’t talkin’ so damn much about her perfumes…”
You pull your seatbelt over your shoulder. “Why don’t you go back in there and get your money back?”
“What, and subject myself to her battin’ eyelashes again? Almost blew me off my feet.”
Your head falls back against the headrest with laughter. “You know, you were the first thing she asked me about on my first shift back.”
“I bet I was, baby,” he replies, switching the ignition on and reaching an arm behind your seat as he reverses back.
You spend most of the drive home catching up, telling him about New York and listening to what antics he and your dad have gotten up to since your last visit home. It’s easy talking to Joel, easier than with your dad. He hums and grunts, lets you ramble, tells you what he thinks, then the pair of you fall back into comfortable silence until the next conversation sparks. No judgement, no lectures. Just Joel.
When you pull up in your drive, Joel casts you a meaningful look and says, “He’s really missed you, y’know. We both have.”
“You both have?”
“Sure. Gets quiet ‘round here at times. And with Sarah gone…It’ll be real nice to have you back again.”
“I’ll keep you on your toes, Miller.”
“Holdin’ you to it.”
“Joel? Hey, buddy.” Your dad’s voice breaks apart your conversation and you both turn to see him approaching from the garage. “Hi, kiddo.”
“Hey. Joel came in to get some stuff, gave me a ride home.” You hop out of the truck, and Joel wanders round to meet you.
“Well, thanks, man. You say thank you?” he asks.
You glance awkwardly at Joel, muttering a thank you like some little kid. He shakes his head softly in return, giving you a look that your dad misses, but you understand.
“C’mon inside, I was just tidying up. Stayin’ for dinner, Joel? I bet this girl’s been chewing your ear off about NYC…” Your dad’s voice fades away as he wanders back into the garage, and you and Joel begin to follow.
“Ain’t no need to thank me,” he whispers, leaning into your space.
You nod appreciatively. “My presence is thanks enough, I know.”
He nudges you toward the house.
Your dad orders in pizza and you set the table while he and Joel sit to discuss a potential new client. Joel sits at the edge of the table, turned outward to face the sliding doors, elbow hooked over the back of his chair. As you maneuver around them, placing mats down, you can’t help but note how fucking good he looks.
Tousled hair, unshaven beard. A broadness that even his own shirt can barely hold in; from where you’re standing, you can see where his neck meets his toned shoulders, skin tanned from the sun and the tiniest burst of chest hair over his collar…
The doorbell rings and your dad jumps up. “Ain’t got no cash ready. Be right back.”
He jogs off past you down the hall, but your eyes remain locked on Joel, who notices you once your dad’s gone. Or so you think.
“Rude to stare, darlin’,” he tsks, bringing his beer to his lips.
“Wasn’t starin’.”
“No?”
“Uh-uh. You got a stain on your shirt.”
His brows furrow and his head instantly snaps down to his chest. “Where?”
You snort, wandering over to put his plate on the mat. “My bad,” you whisper, leaning over, “must’ve been the light.”
Joel’s breath wavers only for a second, before your dad re-enters the room and he’s forced to compose himself.
“Alright, let’s see…Pepperoni, bleh, keep that one on that side of the table, please, and plain cheese over here.”
“See you haven’t improved Dad’s taste in pizza,” you say to Joel as you pull your chair out beside his and sit down, cross-legged.
“He – he’s immune to change,” he replies, then, only once he’s regained composure, adds, “or improvement of any kind.”
“Hey,” your dad protests, lifting a slice. “Cool it on the insults, here. You’ve been back six days,” he points a greasy finger at you, then steers it in Joel’s direction, “and you’re the one who turned down Lois last month. Talk about improvement, she could turn your life around, son.”
“Who the hell is Lois?” you ask, mouthful of pizza, aiming for chill, but coming across overly interested.
Joel shakes his head, only looking at you briefly from the corners of his eyes. “Receptionist at Clark’s Plant Hire. And I didn’t turn her down.”
“She asked you out?” Your knee brushes against his waist. He feels it; you know from the way his body tenses.
“She…said she’d like to go for a drink, sometime. I said yeah, maybe…some time.”
“Ouch. Poor Lois.”
He turns to face you now. “Don’t give me the same spiel your dad did, alright? I can decide for myself when I’m ready to be…datin’.”
“Wouldn’t he be nice with a receptionist from a plant hire on his arm?” Your dad fades into the background as you and Joel back-and-forth.
“If you don’t think you turned her down, why say you’re not ready to be dating?”
“Ha! See, my little girl,” Dad waves his slice of pizza around, “she got a degree, Joel. She’s smarter ‘n us. She’s got you on that one.”
“What is your degree in, again? Law?” Joel speaks through his teeth.
You beam back, happy to have riled him. “Film.”
“Film. My mistake. Must’ve felt like I was bein’ interrogated or som’.”
You decide to pull it back then. Enough discussing Joel’s love life – it doesn’t interest you much, not for the right reasons, anyway. The conversation shifts naturally to your degree, your graduation, and the year you spent living in the city afterward.
When most of the pizza is gone, the three of you sit idly chatting; the last Rangers game, the neighborhood barbecue coming up, the weather. Right as your dad voices concern about a job he has next week, his cell starts to ring in the living room.
As hasty and tactless as ever, he jumps up and almost knocks his chair flying. You and Joel laugh quietly as he bounds off in search for his phone.
You turn back to Joel, who’s playing with the label of his beer bottle.
“Hey.” You nudge him with your knee. He grunts in response. “Hey,” you say, clearer, this time pulling your legs up and over onto his lap. “Didn’t mean what I said about that Lois lady. I’m sure you had your reasons, and it’s none of my business. Or my dad’s.”
He stifles a laugh, sucking a breath in until his chest meets his chin. Then he lifts his head to look over to you. “Sorry I snapped. Wasn’t all serious, but I don’t want you thinkin’ I’m mad with you.”
“You can be, if you want.” You lean forward. “Just not for long, okay? It’d be a long summer with just my dad to hang with if Sarah’s gone and you ain’t talking to me.”
This time he laughs. For real. You mirror his swollen cheeks, glad to see you’ve amused him. He puts the bottle on the table and his hands fall to your ankles, where he gently rubs with his thumbs.
“When does she get home?” you ask him.
“Couple weeks. Still got finals and all that to worry about.”
You nod knowingly, muttering, “Rough.”
He gently lifts your legs from his lap and stands, towering over you, your chin inches away from his belt buckle as you look up at him. He doesn’t move, just brings a hand down to cup your jaw and tilt your head back ever so slightly with his thumb under your chin.
You can feel your pulse in your throat. You know Joel can, too. You clench between your legs, an ache forming there, and the only thought behind your eyes is him remedying it.
You bring your hands up to settle behind his thighs, trying desperately to send him a message through your doe eyes. Something in the way the corners of his mouth rise almost imperceptibly tells you he hears you loud and clear.
Your dad bursts back into the room like a bat out of hell, and the two of you spring apart.
“Supplier had some trouble with directions,” he mutters, tossing his cell onto the counter.
Joel grumbles in response, then, like nothing at all out of the ordinary just happened, begins gathering the bottles and gestures to you to grab the pizza boxes. You follow him over to the sink where you set the boxes down and he runs the bottles under the faucet, filling them up and pouring the dregs of beer down the drain.
Your dad’s busy clearing the placemats from the table, babbling to himself about work, when you feel Joel’s shoulder lean into yours.
“Trouble,” he murmurs.
You tilt your head and furrow your brows in response.
“You,” he breathes, “are nothin’ but trouble.”
You smile back at him gleefully.
Trouble, indeed.
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sughuru · 5 months
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you, me, and the sky above
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- gojo satoru x reader
In the quiet stillness of the night, you find yourself waking to an empty bed, wondering where Satoru disappeared to. As you search for him throughout your shared home, you discover him staring into the dark sky, his eyes revealing the weariness from a challenging mission. 
genres/warnings: angsty, fluff, hurt/comfort
notes: hello hello this is my first post on this acc so if you'd like to read more of my work, come check out my other works! my first language isn't english so don't mind the grammatical errors, sorry! :') anyways i love satoru sm u dont understand
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You woke up to the bed being empty and cold. Strange, you could’ve sworn Satoru went to bed with you last night. You grabbed your phone to check the time, reading 3:02 AM. It's barely three; where did he go? You got on your feet and slowly dragged yourself out of the bedroom to look for the man. 
“Babe?’ you called out, flicking the light switch on in the bathroom, assuming he went to the toilet but there was no one. Then to the kitchen it was, maybe he needed a cup of water–But that wouldn’t make sense; he always has a cup of water by the bed in case either of you wakes up feeling thirsty. Perhaps he went out for a run, or was it an emergency mission; still, he would’ve told you. Just when you were about to give up, you noticed him.
Satoru, your boyfriend, staring out into the dark sky. What was he searching for? Upon closer inspection, you noticed the dark circles around his eyes, his eyes were slightly puffy, his blindfold dangling loosely around his bare neck.
Surprisingly, he didn’t sense your presence, he always managed to notice you but tonight, his thoughts seem to be elsewhere.
"Satoru," you said softly, approaching him cautiously. The moonlight highlighted the contours of his face, and you could see the weariness etched into his expression. You knew about how exhausting the mission was yesterday, even his facade wasn’t strong enough to fool you. Yet, you didn’t say anything, not wanting to upset him any further.
"Is everything okay?" you asked, your concern evident in your voice. Satoru turned to you, and for a moment, it seemed like he hadn't expected anyone to notice his silent contemplation. His eyes, usually vibrant with energy, now carried the weight of unspoken burdens.
Satoru hums in response, a quiet one. Usually, he would whine about how the higher-ups made him do such a tough mission or how he has to work overtime, missing out on spending time with you. Tonight, he just stayed silent.
"I didn't mean to worry you," he said, his voice carrying a weight you hadn't heard before. "I’m sorry.” he dryly laughed, plastering a smile on his face, except, that smile didn’t reach his eyes. You frowned, realizing that he wasn’t letting his guard down anytime soon.
"Don’t," you responded gently, your hand resting on his.
Satoru took a deep breath, his gaze shifting away for a moment before returning to meet yours. “I just... I needed a moment,” he admitted, his voice soft but laden with sincerity. “The mission, it hit me harder than I thought.”
For a moment, Satoru's shoulders relaxed a fraction, as if the weight he carried had found a temporary respite. "The mission...it took a toll on me more that it should have, I-”
You squeezed his hand, offering a silent reassurance. "You don't have to go into details if you're not ready. But know that I'm here to listen whenever you're ready to share."
The two shared a moment of peaceful silence.
You prompted gently, "Is that why you're awake?" 
Satoru shook his head, his gaze momentarily dropping. "Bad dream," he admitted, the vulnerability in his voice belying his usual confidence.
Your heart sank at the revelation. "Satoru-" you whispered, tightening your grip on his hand. 
Satoru sighed, and a playful glint entered his eyes. "What happened to 'you don't have to go into details'?" he asked, a lighthearted tone replacing the previous heaviness in his voice.
You couldn't help but smile at the sudden change in atmosphere. "Well, you know me," you replied, matching his playful tone, "I can’t help it, I’m nosy.” she pouts
Satoru chuckled as he pulled her into his arms tightly, “come here, you’ll get cold.” He looked up at the stars again, admiring them. You couldn’t help but admire him. His blue eyes, they always shone brightly even in the darkest of nights.
"Come on," you said gently, offering a reassuring smile. "Let's head back inside. We can talk more if you want, or we can just sit in silence. Whatever you need."
Satoru's grip on the balcony’s railing loosened, and he followed you back into the warmth of the indoors. As you closed the door behind you, you couldn't help but hope that the darkness outside wouldn't linger within him for much longer.
“I love you, you know that?” he smiled, this time, reaching his eyes. You smiled back, “I love you too.” 
Satoru’s blue eyes that were dulled moments ago, now sparkled with hope and love once again. Leaning in, you pressed a soft kiss against his forehead, a promise of warmth and solidarity.
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shipskicksandgiggles · 11 months
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41. "Hey." "Again?"
I kinda wanna see Steve/Eddie ONLY BECAUSE even if I know NOTHING about them you've gotten me to like em
Their my blorbos in law if u will and I wanna see what u do with em
ajhsjhs hello so sorry this took so long, rough semester and all that, but here we are now so that has to count for something, right?
anyways, here you are my friend
Fighting to Come Home, also on ao3
Steve didn’t want to go home. 
It was worth noting that the current reason he didn’t want to go home wasn’t the usual reason he didn’t want to go home. 
His usual reason was that he hated going home to a big empty house. It was too quiet, too lonely. 
The truth was the house hadn’t been quiet or lonely in months. Since the end of the world and their subsequent saving of it, the whole party was constantly in and out. Robin and Eddie both practically lived with him now, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. 
The latter boy however was the current reason he didn’t want to go home. Not that Eddie had done anything wrong, he really hadn’t, but he tended to hover. 
And the kids said Steve had the mother hen personality. 
Steve sat in his car for a minute longer than he typically would after he pulled into the driveway and prepared himself. Finally he got out, collected the groceries from the backseat, and made his way towards the door. 
He unlocked the door quietly, hoping Eddie was upstairs listening to one of his tapes or messing around with Robin, the two of them loud enough to mask the sound of his entry. 
No one met him at the door, so it seemed he got his wish. 
Nonetheless, he moved quietly through the house, closing the door behind him softly and depositing the grocery bags as silently as he could on the counter before putting them away. 
The one thing he hadn’t counted on was that, when he wanted to, Eddie could be quiet himself. So quiet in fact that he was often able to move through the house without so much as a floorboard creaking. 
“Steven.”
Steve flinched and turned to face him. Eddie’s eyes widened when he saw his face. 
“Hi.”
“Again?”
“It’s not so bad, you should see the other guys.”
Eddie ignored him, crossing the kitchen in a flash and cradling his face in his hands. “Oh, Christ Stevie. What happened?”
He traced over the cuts that had split open when he got hit. Steve winced. There were going to be bruises later, probably some pretty nasty ones too.
“I’ll go get the first aid kit,” Eddie sighed. “You better come up with a pretty damn good excuse for this before I get back from the bathroom.”
Steve sighed and put away the last of the groceries. He knew no excuse he could come up with would be enough. 
When Eddie returned, he set the kit on the kitchen table and pulled out two chairs, one for himself and one for Steve. He pointed to the one closest to Steve. “Sit.”
He sat. 
Eddie moved his chair closer to him and popped open the kit. He pulled out the disinfectant, band-aids, and a salve. 
It scared Steve when Eddie was quiet. Eddie quiet meant he was planning something. Putting thought into his words.
Steve didn’t dare break the silence. He let Eddie work, even doing his best to keep his grunts of pain to a minimum. 
“Stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop fucking protecting me from whatever the fuck you’re feeling right now,” Eddie nearly snarled. Then, when Steve flinched, he softened. “I’m sorry, I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but you’re allowed to have feelings, Stevie.”
“I know,” Steve said quietly. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad, Steve. I would never be mad at you for coming home looking like someone confused your face for a punching bag.”
He swabbed antiseptic over a particularly nasty cut on his cheekbone, and Steve hissed. 
“What the hell happened to you, pretty boy? I thought you were just going to the grocery store?”
“I was. Couple of guys staked out my car in the parking lot.”
~~~
“Can I help you?” Steve asked as he approached his car. 
“Don’t think so,” one of the men said. 
“Any reason you’re standing in front of my car then?” he tried again, shifting all the grocery bags to one arm so he could open the trunk. 
“Maybe you can help us actually,” the other guy said, kicking off the driver’s side door. “You’re Steve Harrington, right?”
“Sure am.”
“Up in the beautiful castle of a house in Loch Nora?”
“It’s just a house, man.” He closed the trunk to find the man closer than he expected. Still, he didn’t step back.
“Rumor has it you’re using that house to shelter criminals.”
“I have people staying with me because their houses got destroyed in the earthquakes. No criminals though.”
“Liar.” The guy shoved Steve back. “You know who we’re talking about.”
“Won’t know until you tell me,” Steve pointed out, just to be annoying. He knew what they meant, he always did when people approached him in public. 
“We all know you’ve got the Freak stashed up there,” the first man said.
“Sitting high and mighty on that hill when he should be rotting in hell,” the other volleyed.
“I think you’re mistaken, gentlemen,” Steve said. “No freaks to be found in my house. Just good old upstanding citizens.”
“You used to be a good guy, man. The cops would probably look the other way,” he continued as if Steve hadn’t spoken, “if you just took care of Munson the way he needs to be.”
Steve did take care of Eddie. He made sure he took his meds and changed his bandages, ate a balanced diet, and went to physical therapy. 
“Look, clearly this isn’t going the way any of us want,” Steve sighed. “Just get out of my way and mind your own business.”
“Not until that murderer is dead or behind bars.”
“Last warning.” Steve shifted, prepared for a fight. “Get out of my way.”
They seemed to consider him for a moment, and Steve had a split second hope they would let him leave. 
“Well, in that case,” one of them said, striding towards Steve, “might as well send him home with a taste of what Munson will get.”
~~~
“Steve…”
“Don’t.”
“You shouldn’t have to-”
“I don’t care, Eddie. It’s not like I swung first.”
“You didn’t have to swing at all.”
“You and I both know that’s not true.”
Eddie stared at him for a moment before he dropped the cotton swab he was using to clear up the last of the blood. 
“You really believe that.”
It wasn’t a question. Eddie wasn’t asking. He knew. 
“I’d tell you to stop, but I know you won’t.” He carried on, picking up a bandage for one of the nastier cuts. “I just really wish you wouldn’t. I’m not worth this.”
“You are though,” Steve said, making a face. It hurt, but he didn’t wince. “If you weren’t worth it, I wouldn’t have carried you out of the Upside Down. I wouldn’t let you stay here, wouldn’t have helped stitch you up when you insisted on no hospitals. You are worth it.”
“What, just because I gave the kids a place to be themselves? Because I saved Dustin’s life?”
“Because you’re my friend, Eddie.” Steve grabbed his wrists and forced him to look at him. “I know it’s shocking, but it’s true. I’d do the same thing for the kids, for Robin, hell I’ve even gone to bat for Nancy and Johnathan. You’re not an exception.”
“I can fight my own battles.”
“You can. Doesn’t mean you have to.”
There was a pause where Eddie just stared at him. Finally- “Can I finish patching you up, please?���
He released his wrists. “Yeah, sure.”
Eddie put the last of the bandages on in silence, refusing to speak until he was done. 
At last, he put everything back and closed up the first aid kit, setting it off to the side while he checked Steve over one last time. 
Steve let himself be moved around, complacent in Eddie’s fussing. It wasn’t until Eddie held his face for a few beats too long that he said something. 
“You don’t have to worry about me, I’m good as new thanks to you.”
Eddie smiled softly. “Sure you are. I just don’t know why I feel like I’m missing something.”
“Well, if it helps, I don’t have a concussion this time. I would know if I did. It’s all superficial bruising.”
“Big word, Steve-o, you sure you don’t have another head injury?”
“Positive.”
He still didn’t let go. 
“Short of kissing it better, I think you’ve done all you can, Eds.”
“Can I?”
“Can you what?”
“Kiss it better.”
Looking into his eyes, he could tell Eddie was serious, but there was something else there too. Something sweet, tender. It made his chest hurt. 
“Sure.”
He closed his eyes, not wanting to look any deeper into Eddie’s expression, so how could he have possibly seen it coming when Eddie pressed their mouths together softly.
“Thank you,” Eddie whispered when he pulled away. “Thank you for looking out for me. Thank you for caring. And I’m sorry if that crossed a line, but-”
Steve covered his mouth before he could finish his sentence. “You didn’t cross a line, but for Christ’s sake, I got punched in the face for you. Make it count for something, huh?”
Eddie nodded, still not able to speak. Steve removed his hand once he was sure he understood. 
“Good. Now, where were we?”
Their next kiss was less soft and more full of feeling, which almost made getting into another fight worth it. 
Thank goodness he had the courage to come home.
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daincrediblegg · 10 months
Text
WIP Game
Tagged by @brotherdusk (thank u dear)
The Rules are these:
In a reblog (or new post w/ rules attached), post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.
Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post!
After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can’t share from (for example, an event fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.
That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. If you tag me in your post, I will send you an ask request!
MY WIPS:
DIALOGUE BANG BANG (the infamous now 52 page document containing all the dialogue scenes from one warm line)
Chapter 1: Sun Dogs
Tooth and Claw
Paranorma
Untitled Document (that contains francis/lady terror/ jfj throuple stuff that I started last week that may be spoilers oops)
And Now, some Jop and Lady Terror from Dialogue Bang Bang that I wrote exactly a week ago (taking place in the interim between “First Shot’s a Winner Lads” and “A Mercy”):
“Jopson.” “Miss Sinclair, hello.” “Feels like I hardly see you these days.” “Yes, it is hard to get away.” “If… if I may ask…” “How is he?” “He is…” “Please, don’t spare my sensitivities. I want to know.” “He’s in the thick of it now.” “He’s emptying his stomach more often than he’s able to fill it. And sleeps fitfully whenever he calms long enough to do so. His mood swings. Hour to hour it seems. And the tremors…” “I can’t say it’s a good way, Miss.” “You don’t look much in a good way yourself.” “Yeah… but I’d rather lose a little sleep myself to make sure the Captain is well again.” “Jopson, you don’t have to do it all alone, you know.” “Oh Miss Sinclair, you really shouldn’t-” “Jopson. Bless your heart but you need to care for yourself as well.” “Besides I… I want to see him.” “Please, Thomas.” “You’re very kind, Miss Sinclair.”  “But he gave express orders to keep the men out.” “Well, technically you won’t be disobeying orders. I am a woman, after all.” “You do have such a clever ear for the wording of things, Miss Sinclair.” “Here. Bring him this.” “And only sips of water, if he asks. Doctor MacDonald says it may be the only way he’ll be able to keep it down.” “I think can manage that.” “Please, get some rest, Jopson. You’ve earned it well enough.” “Only because I know he’s in good hands, Miss Sinclair.” “Good night.” “Sleep well.”
And in return... I tag (with no pressure attached as ever)...  @prismatica-the-strange @ajokeformur-ray @kittensmctavish and frankly anyone else who would like to participate (but also @trantors knows I’m staring a hole into her soul girl you must show the world some of your wips or I’m going to explode)
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aurriearts · 3 years
Photo
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just a nice stroll on a cold day
(support me with a ko-fi?)
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shotorozu · 3 years
Note
Hiii how's your day?
Can you do Shoto, Tamaki, and Katsuki where their s/o hides under their bed and scare them to see their reaction? I saw this on tiktok and here is the link https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSJLpvqrn/
Btw I really admire your works and I'm always excited for your new posts🥰
Keep safe! Love youu
hiding under their bed
(tiktok prank)
character(s) : bakugou katsuki, amajiki tamaki, todoroki shouto (bnha)
legend : [Y/N = your name] they/them pronouns, quirk not mentioned
headcanon type : crack (x reader)
note(s) : SWEARING obviously bc of bakugou, anyways— i wrote this bc i was fixing up the 5 character post i was making. (i hope you guys actually read it, otherwise i’ll be really really really sad /hj)
will edit later!
»»————- ♡ ————-««
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bakugou katsuki
okay, you must be INSANE
pretending to be a monster, under the bed you share with KATSUKI BAKUGOU?? what more if it was his bed 💀
you decided to do this prank for what again 😭❓ unless it’s for a bet/money, WHY?? JUST WHY?? you’re very ballsy. its impressive
you actually decided to pull this prank on katsuki, because you and mina wanted to see who could get the most views out of this prank 💀
you then hide under the bed— phone in hand, and you’re left to wait patiently for his expected return from training.
i can practically see your life span decreasing by 10 years, because he is not going to take things lightly.
he enters the room, aspirated from training, and obviously very sweaty— he just wants your touch at this point.
katsuki was always jumpy when it came to ‘spooky’ things, like that time he jumped during the test of courage in the training camp arc
so when he sees a slipper getting CHUCKED out from under the bed, exactly when he comes in the empty room— he JUMPS
“HOLY FUCKING SHIT” he jolts back, his hand making mini explosions— almost tripping over his feet.
c’mon, katsuki knows it’s probably not the paranormal— which is wHY HE’S GONNA CHUCK EVERYTHING OFF THE BED, AND LIFT IT UP TO INVESTIGATE
uh oh. you’re met with a set of glaring irises, wanting to fight whoever was down there— doesn’t matter if it was dunce face, or a nameless intruder.
“it’s you,” he sighs, rolling his eyes as he puts down the bed— dragging you out of the bed, “what the fuck are you doing down there??” he shouldn’t be surprised
you gotta hope the tiktok blows up (which it does, by a lot) because katsuki will scold you for a while, snuggling you close to him while he mouths you off
he’s glad it’s not actually an intruder though
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amajiki tamaki
poor, poor tamaki.
it’s so similar to most of the pranks that get pulled on him— intentional or unintentional.
you probably didn’t even mean to scare him like that, but mirio wanted you to do it— because it would’ve been very predictable if he did it
you saw his reaction coming, but you still pushed through anyway.
hesitating, you sneak under the bed— your phone in hand to record tamaki’s reaction and a slipper in the other hand, and you wait for tamaki’s return back
when he walks in, he’s surprised to not see you there— but he IS surprised to see a slipper sliding out under bed
for the dramatic effect, you also managed to bring a SPEAKER down there, and you also prepare sound effects
you press the play button of the recording’s menacing laugh, and you can literally see him jump slightly
tamaki’s there like 😟 scared shitless— because he wasn’t expecting to hear a laugh under the bed. sliding slippers? sure! but,, a laugh? 😟
“u-uh,, hello?” he shakes, stuck in place as he listens to the sound of menacing laughter bouncing off the walls
you’re gonna give him a heart attack i swear
i don’t know if i should laugh or be concerned, since tamaki’s reaction is to immediately runs to the corner of the room
he’s now rocking back and forth— rambling and hoping you’d just miraculously make an entrance
it’s sad bc he’s not normally THIS scared but please— he wasn’t expecting this in HIS room, out of all of the places
laughs out of fear relief when you come crawling out from the bed, laughing hysterically at his reaction.
cuddle and give him kisses afterwards, just do it. you almost made him faint— and that wouldn’t have been good, nuh uh.
mirio laughed HARD, but you promised yourself not to post it— since you didn’t feel like getting clout over a prank you filmed for mirio specifically 💀
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todoroki shouto
he gradually start expecting tiktok pranks coming his way— ever since he got with you, of course
shouto will have to get used to it, if he wants to spend his life with you
but this still managed to make him shook to the core, he’s heard of the usual traditional pranks— but this?? this is new
tbh this wasn’t even planned on your behalf. you decided on a whim to hide under the bed and scare him— just to see how he’d react.
you hide under the bed when makes a quick trip to fetch some water, snickering when you start filming the tiktok.
shouto’s confused when he comes back to an empty bed, and when he moves towards the bed— he’s surprised to see a slipper flying from the bed
to the point he DROPS the plastic cup of water he was holding— backing up towards the wall.
“oh.” so he’s going to play it off casual, huh? it’s hilarious seeing how he tries his absolute best to avoid the sides of the bed.
then, you see him quickly jumping onto the bed— and when his legs are still dangling off the bed’s ledge, you grab his ankle
he ends up freezing your hand 💀 and he apologizes to you while your laughter cuts through the silences, unfreezing your hand in the process.
“you startled me, love.” he sighed in relief as he embraces you for comfort, thankful it wasn’t actually something paranomal. “though, i should’ve expected this.”
the tiktok blows up in a short amount of time, and the comment section is CLOWNING him— shouto can only stand there like 🧍 “i see.”
thankfully, you’re happy so— he’s pretty pleased by the tiktok’s results too! just,, try not to shorten his life span. or he’ll get you back 10x harder
»»————- ♡ ————-««
likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!
i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby
do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission
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whiskersz · 3 years
Note
hiiiii (*´︶`*)ฅ♡ wonderful writing ! could we maybe have some hcs/a scenario of a Madeleine Cookie and a reader who struggles with insomnia/constant exhaustion ? thank u !
hello! i'm glad you like my writing! here you go, I don't know much about Madeleine so he might be a little ooc but i don't think there's much content of him anyways? so this is my interpretation ;' enjoy!
Madeleine x Reader with insomnia/exhaustion
Exhausted, that's the word you felt like was most appropriate to describe how you had been feeling for days on end; as Madeleine's right hand man, your duties had always been taxing, if not a bit repetitive, and struggling with insomnia didn't help you get them done quickly.
But lately it had been especially hard to focus on them because of how late you were falling asleep, and how early you would wake up to make sure everything was in order, retreating only once the sun was completely set.
Madeleine, as the caring and attentive partner he had always been, hadn't failed to notice the bags under your eyes getting bigger and your tired voice and body language; trying to get you to go to bed earlier, even if you were just going to lie there for hours, didn't seem to work, and always ended up in you insisting that it was all useless and you would've preferred to get something done instead of staring at the ceiling until sunrise.
So on one particularly rainy day of that week, he decided to give everyone a day off from training which meant that both of you would've been free to relax until the next day.
He sighed when you still went to open your wardrobe, trying to decide on an outfit to wear. Your fatigued eyes scanned the clothes for what felt like an eternity to him, until you settled for a cream colored blouse and high waisted pants;
"That's an overly formal outfit for what's supposed to be our day off."
He joked, but you just rolled your eyes.
"Why even take today off? Because of the rain?"
He shrugged, cuddling into your shared bed's warm blanket. You shook your head at him and began changing out of your night clothes.
"Wait- the rain's not the only reason, I…"
He trailed off.
"…You?"
"…I wanted us to be able to relax and spend some time together for once… since I've noticed how tired you are, so don't bother wearing anything fancy, just come back to bed."
You felt your cheeks grow warmer at his words, which somehow managed to remind you of the pains you had been getting since you stopped even trying to fall asleep at a decent hour.
You thought of how nice it would've been to fall asleep and then wake up into your lover's strong arms, well rested and ready to go.
And plus, you hadn't failed to notice how he started staring at you with his puppy dog eyes, typical of when he really wanted or needed something from you.
"…Ugh, I guess I'll try, just for you." You smiled and threw your clothes back into the wardrobe, climbing back into bed right afterwards.
Madeleine beamed, wrapping his arms around the small of your back and bringing you closer to his chest; you could feel him smiling when he kissed the top of your head.
His familiar scent and the sound of the rain softly hitting the windows were definitely helping you relax, and your eyelids started getting heavier.
When Madeleine noticed, he sighed contently and began whispering anything that came to his mind to you; he remembered you telling him that his voice had helped you fall asleep faster in the past.
"Do we even really need to work until late at night…? Maybe we get tired from it easily now because we're getting old."
"Oh shut up… you're old."
You lightly pinched his side, which elicited a laugh from him.
"Don't you dare start a tickle fight right now."
"Hmm…maybe not now…but be prepared."
You both went on jokingly bickering and whispering to each other, until Madeleine could see you clearly struggling to stay awake. Your eyes were barely open and your responses had been reduced to simple hums or nods; so he yawned and cuddled closer to you, if it was even possible.
"We should sleep now, don't you think?"
"Mhm..."
He chuckled and started playing with your hair until you drifted off, which was when he allowed himself to do the same.
--
You heard a sound, not really registering where it was coming from at first, nor who was making it. With your dreams still replaying in your head, you rolled over and opened your eyes, just to find out that the other side of your shared bed was empty.
"Madeleine...?" 
You sat up and looked around in search of your boyfriend, who came running in your room shortly after, holding a tray with food and a glass of water.
"Rise and shine! Did you sleep well? Sorry I left you in bed all alone," he handed you the tray and kissed your forehead, "I wanted to make you something to eat."
"Thank you, you really didn't need to though," you smiled at the way he decorated your plate, "What time is it?"
"It's around two in the afternoon." He climbed back into bed and snuggled on your side.
"And it hasn't stopped raining yet?"
"No, looks like this was meant to be a lazy day."
You enjoyed your meal while listening to Madeleine brag about his cooking skill; though you couldn't blame him, he really was a good cook and you loved it when he made something for you.
For the first time in a while, you noticed you actually felt well rested enough, and it was all thanks to Madeleine, who happily obliged when you asked him to put his head on your lap so you could play with his hair -returning the favor, since he had done that for you earlier- while you read a book you had recently gotten for yourself, but hadn't had the time to read. 
Now you could finally relax with your boyfriend without your eyelids constantly feeling heavy, at least for a day. 
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yakultberry · 3 years
Text
like a dream ; j.ww
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✪ summary: while the kingdom celebrates the royal prince’s engagement, you would much rather curl up in your book shop and forget.  ✪ pairing: prince!wonwoo x reader ✪ genre(s): angst, fluff, exes to lovers ✪ word count: 1.2k words 
✪ a/n: hello i wrote this for my beloved, @haechanblr​ 🥺 💕  they had requested this long ago when they had a crush on wonwoo, but i am very slow :( anyway sab, i love u a lot pls marry me !!!! 
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The sight of the blue door always seemed to make you let out a soft sigh you had not realized you were holding. Despite how the paint was beginning to chip away and how the door’s brass handle shone with years of all the people who have come and gone, all you saw was the deep royal blue that you had painted over the dark wood back when you had first gotten the shop. Even the sign above the shop that read ‘Little Prince’s Bookshop and Cafe’ creaked in a way that reminded you of your years that you spent there, bringing a small smile to your face. At least you could still call those yours.
You pushed in with ease, long accustomed to the weight of the door, and let the smell of coffee beans and pages envelop you. “Soonyoung, I’m back,” you called out to the boy, who you presumed to be behind the counter. You had figured it would be safe enough to let him manage the shop while you took a little step away, especially since the whole town was probably at home to watch the royal celebration anyway. The whole town except you, who thought it was better to keep yourself busy at the shop than to mope all day; though you soon came to realize that today of all days, the shop was just a box that held all those moments of you and him. “Hello? Anyone home?” you tried again when you received no answer, popping your head around the corner to check if Soonyoung had fallen asleep.
Instead, you were met with a sight as if from one of your dreams. The shop seemed to glow as the soft beams of afternoon sun filtered through the window, dust particles swirling through the still air. Behind the counter stood a tall, broad figure; despite his build, there was nothing imposing about him, especially with the way he looked up at you with bated breath. His features were handsome and sharp, but he somehow beheld you with a familiar softness that has your heart squeezing in your chest.
You noted how his black hair was mussed up like he had been running his fingers through them over and over. You hated the way your heart fluttered at the memory of how that hair felt when you would gently pat down the stray strands. You hated how you remembered it in the first place when you had tried so hard to tell yourself that it wasn’t a memory at all, but a distant, sweet dream-- that way the heartache isn’t real either. But when you see him standing there, you’re suddenly faced with the memories along with all the joy and sorrow that they brought with them.
“What are you doing here?” To your surprise, you were the first one to speak. The words had barely come out above a whisper-- you were afraid that if you spoke too loud and disturbed the stillness that the whole scene would crumble before you like it had before. Though you soon realized your mistake and quickly straightened up to correct your demeanor. “Forgive me. I meant to ask how I might help you, Prince Wonwoo?”
“You know why I’m here,” the prince said, though it sounded more like a plea. When he gently whispered your name, it came out like a plea too. It was the same way he said your name when you told him to forget about you. You had always told yourself that the quaint little life you had built was never meant to last, and when he told you about his arranged engagement, you decided it was best for you to both return to your realities as quickly as possible.
And yet, you now found yourself taking a step closer to him. He looked at you earnestly, as though waiting for you to close the gap further, but you could only shake your head from where you stood. “You shouldn’t be here. The whole kingdom will be looking for you soon. Your fiance will be looking for you.”
“I want to be here.” He stepped out from behind the counter and took the steps it took to stand in front of you. Even as he lowered his chin to meet your eyes, standing as tall and as regal as ever, you still felt no malice, no demand. Wonwoo was still Wonwoo, which only made this all the more difficult.
“You shouldn’t want that either.”
“But I do. I don’t care about what I’m supposed to do or what I’m supposed to feel,” he insisted. “This is how I feel. I’m just here hoping you want the same thing.”
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” you croaked out thickly. It was what you had told yourself when you had decided to let Wonwoo choose his duty over you before he even had the chance to say it himself. It was never just about you and him. It was never that easy. You paid no mind to the tears streaming down your face, knowing it would take too much energy to try to hold them in. You were tired enough as it was. He could tell. There was no hesitation in the way he reached up to wipe away at your tears, hands gentle and warm.
“It does matter. It matters to me.” Wonwoo rubbed his thumb across your cheek. He still remembered how to soothe you in moments like this. “Nothing else matters besides you. Do you… do you still love me?”
“Prince Wonwoo--”
The way he said your name this time was firm, chiding. It briefly reminded you of how he would say your name whenever you would tease him, almost making you smile. “Stop calling me that. Please just answer me.”
“Wonwoo…” The moment his name finally left your lips, stripped of all formalities and pretense, just him, any efforts to distance yourself from him dissipated. Instantly, your eyes fluttered close as you let yourself lean into his touch. Although your doubts continued to weigh heavy in your chest, they were easier to bear when there was someone to hold you. “Even if I still love you, what do we do then? What can we do?”
“We run away and live happily ever after?”
You let out an amused hum, rolling your eyes at his blind optimism. “No Wonwoo, you’re giving up happily ever after.”
At that, he smiled down at you, the smile he always gave when he was about to say something cheesy. “Happily ever after is whatever life I’m going to live with you.”
“Ugh, I should have known you would say something like that,” you groaned, though there’s no hiding the fond smile on your lips. There was no longer any use in trying to hide it; you always found that trying to reign in your feelings for Wonwoo only resulted in them finding ways to burst through to the surface.
“You liked it though.” The sound of both your giggles filled the empty bookshop, which had long felt the absence of the joy that only Wonwoo could bring you.
Now that you thought about it, you had definitely been there before: a soft afternoon in the middle of your bookshop, Wonwoo smiling so wide that his nose scrunched up, the warmth of your heart blooming in your chest. But it was never just a dream. It was a memory and it was yours. He was yours. And you were his. Though that was one thing you never doubted.
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jkstompers · 3 years
Text
noise complaints | myg
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pairing: min yoongi x female reader
summary: yoongi is tired of his loud, video game addicted roommate, so he decides to move out and get his own apartment for some peace and quiet. but with his luck, gets you as his neighbor: a girl who plays bass in a band and hates the feeling of earbuds in her ears.
word count: 5.8k
genre: neighbor!au, producer yoongi, bassist oc, pwp ( ;∀;) i tried but rlly it’s just... smut
warnings: mature!! (18+!), explicit language, smut, making out, fingering, dom!yoongi, he’s a little mean
author’s note: hi!!!!!! in honor of yoongi’s birthday, i wanted to post this fic that i had sitting in my drafts! i hope u enjoy!! (´⌣`ʃƪ) pls let me know what u think!
banner pic creds here <3
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yoongi doesn’t know how to tell his roomate, mark, that his gaming obsession has driven him to take extreme measures that consist of: moving out. he never stops playing video games. all day, all night, his eyes are fixed on the computer or tv screen, always screaming to his team mates about where to go or who’s fucking up. yoongi’s not sure if he can take it anymore.
he’s finally saved up enough to move into an apartment of his own, he’s been planning this for almost 6 months; already visited the apartment complex, discussed prices, background checks, etc. all yoongi really needs to do is finish signing the papers and start moving in.
he decides to just let mark know, no sugarcoat. as yoongi expected, mark practically begs on his knees for him to stay. his parents are paying for his share of the apartment but only if he splits the cost with a roommate, but yoongi’s gone through two years of it already, he’s over it. over the next few days, mark watches yoongi dejectedly as he packs his things.
by the end of the week, yoongi has finished packing and already signed the lease. he tells mark ‘good luck’ and leaves him in the dust, hopefully he’ll find another roommate, but that’s beyond yoongi’s concern now. all he has to worry about now is unpacking his boxes in his brand new apartment.
he looks around at the empty space, with the boxes cornered in one section. he smiles to himself, no noisy roomates, no unwashed dishes, no dirty laundry, ah, finally. peace and qui—
and that’s when he hears the blare of your speakers, it’s not loud enough for the entire complex to hear, but the music obviously bleeds through the shared wall. yoongi groans, knowing that this could be a complete repeat of mark. he’s not sure if he should knock on your door and ask you to lower the music down, it’s only his first day here. don’t you treat your neighbors with respect? why are you so loud?
yoongi decides to ignore it for now. he unpacks his things and starts furnishing the room so he can have a place to sleep for the night. when everything is put together, he feels the weight of the day; how much he’s been lifting and how he’s now renting an apartment hits him all at once. the dull pain resonates in his arms, his head starting to ache, and you’re still playing your fucking music. he can’t take it anymore, especially not with this ache getting worse.
yoongi feels his fist knock angrily against your door three times, he waits for you to open the door. except, he was not expecting a pretty girl to answer, he was expecting maybe an obnoxious frat guy; he’s absolutely flustered. you stand there and look up at him confused, “hi? did you need something?” your voice snaps him out of his thoughts.
“i’m— uh, i’m your neighbor, i’m sorry to disrupt, but if you could just lower your music down a bit, i’m really tired, and—” he starts but a gasp of excitement leaves you, cutting him off.
“my neighbor?! that apartment has been empty for so long! i’m so sorry, i was just so used to no one being able to hear! welcome! i’m ___!” you greet him cheerfully, taking his hands into yours and shaking them. yoongi feels his cheeks turn pink, your hands are soft and you’re so pretty.
“my name is yoongi,” he replies, he stands there not really knowing how to respond to the way you’re so excited. he wishes he could reciprocate but his head is pounding, all he wants to do is sleep.
you pick up on his energy, letting go of his hands to wave him off, “i’ll turn the music off for today, get some rest, yoongi, if you need help, some sugar or something, you can always just knock on my door,” you smile.
yoongi nods, “thank you, ___, goodnight.”
“goodnight, yoongi! nice meeting you,” you reply, closing your door. you blush behind the door, a neighbor? a cute one at that? there’s a sudden rush of adrenaline pulsing through your veins, testing you, telling you to blast your music just so he could come back and you could look at him one more time. but you decide it’s better not to, he said he was tired, maybe tomorrow.
yoongi returns to his apartment, thankful that you kept to your word and kept the music off. his body drifts his pounding head to sleep.
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two weeks had gone by before yoongi’s eyes, he spent most of it buying furniture since the apartment looked so bare. one upside to a loft apartment was that he didn’t have to buy too much furniture, a bed, a couch, a tv, and maybe a rug was enough for him, for now of course.
in the time that’s passed, he’s learned that you like playing music when you’re studying, cleaning, when you’re doing anything really. whenever he thinks it’s too loud, he knocks through the wall, you get the hint most of the time. he’s also learned that you can play the bass and that you’re in a band. speaking of that, you’re having a meeting with them right now, and yoongi can hear every word of it.
your band mates decided to barge into your apartment today, waking you from your study nap and telling you that you all need to practice. the volume of their voices is jarring, you never realized how loud you and your surroundings were until yoongi moved in. you’re suddenly conscious about your volume at all times, his knocks whenever you were loud always made you feel terrible, but you couldn’t help but blush whenever you thought of him. you were torn, be loud and get his attention or be quiet and get on his good side.
“___! grab your shit and let’s go!” jungkook shouts. he’s the guitarist and lead singer of the band; he gets impatient sometimes.
“oh just let her daydream for a little bit, she’s probably thinking about her hot neighbor,” seulgi teases. she’s the drummer and your best friend. you don’t let her comment pass so easily, but you try to ignore the way your face heats up.
“you think he’s hot?” you quip back. a smirk on your face as you zip your bass into it’s case. yoongi is surprised at the way he can hear your voices so clearly, he wonders if you guys always talk this loud or if the walls are really that thin. “you haven’t even seen him yet,” you lug your bag over your shoulder.
“he sounds hot.” she shrugs, taking a bite of the apple she stole from your fruit basket. jungkook grows more and more antsy the longer you both talk.
“where’s taehyung anyway?” you ask. the realization comes to you when you feel a missing presence, knowing your 4th member would say something about yoongi.
“how nice of you to finally ask, he’s been waiting in the car for you slow pokes, let’s get going.” jungkook rushes, pushing you and seulgi out of the door. you turn to lock the door when you hear the door to your left slide open.
“oh my god, jungkook look, he’s hot.” seulgi smacks jungkook’s shoulder to make him look. your eyes are glued on the figure standing outside of apartment 77.
“hi— hey, yoongi,” you greet him while locking your door. it’s embarrassing the way the three of you are all almost drooling at the sight of him.
“hi, ___,” he sends a small smile to you, looking over to your bandmates hesitantly. yoongi notices jungkook, an assumption is made in his head almost immediately, boyfriend?
you scramble next to them and introduce them, “yoongi, these are my bandmates, seulgi, she plays the drums, and jungkook, he plays guitar and sings, there’s taehyung too, he plays guitar too but he— he’s um, in the car.”
“ah, nice to meet you.” he nods, greeting them as well. “i actually have to get to work, but it was cool meeting you all,” he excuses himself. you all wave to him.
“way to be fucking awkward guys,” you scold them when you’re all walking to the car. taehyung looks up from his phone to see the three of you walking his way, he starts the car once you open the door.
“hey, not our fault he’s good looking,” jungkook shrugs and seulgi holds her hand up for a high five, which he gladly gives her.
“not fair! you guys got to see ___’s hot neighbor while i was stuck in the car? i knew i should have just came in,” taehyung grumbles, pulling out of the apartment complex’s parking lot.
“it just so happened that he was leaving his apartment the same time we were, maybe you’ll meet him too tae,” you rub his arm. a somewhat sarcastic tone in your voice. taehyung rolls his eyes, starting the drive to the studio.
the music in the car was overshadowed by taehyung and seulgi arguing about when you and yoongi would finally hook up. you had to remind them that he hasn’t even been here a month yet, and that you guys barely talk besides the small hellos and awkward run ins when you’re doing laundry. it seems to keep them quiet, taehyung parks in the lot and you all move into the studio, making your way to the practice room the owners thankfully let you use to rehearse.
a couple songs are played and you all vote for a break. taehyung and jungkook having a guitar battle, seulgi leaning back against the wall on her phone, and you, need to pee! you leave the room and use the bathroom as usual, but a familiar bleach blonde head turns the corner and starts to walk down the hallway towards you, the breath you’re holding turns into a gasp when you realize it’s him. “yoongi?! why are you here?”
he looks up from the ground, looking as surprised as you when he realizes you were talking to him, “i work here, why are you here? are you following me?” he grills, you scoff at the question.
“i’m with my band, we’re rehearsing,” you explain. he raises his eyebrows, you’re not sure what it means. “you don’t believe me?” you pose.
“it’s just a little suspicious,” he shrugs, yoongi knows exactly what he’s doing. he hopes his hint makes sense to you, he’s never really been good at flirting. a familiar feeling erupts in his stomach, one that people could call butterflies whenever he saw you. he really just wants to see you play, and to hear you sing, that’s what he wants the most.
“uh, i can bring you to them? i promise i’m here with my band,” you laugh, warmth spreading to your cheeks. there is no way in hell that you’re going to play in front of yoongi. you were confident sure, but your embarrassing crush on him will make your fingers shake when you try to press the strings down. it’ll be a shitshow!
“can i pee first?” his small laugh brings a smile to your face. boys pee fast, you’ve learned that over time, so yoongi doesn’t take long. you’re both walking back down the hallway, “your boyfriend isn’t angry that you’re with me?” the random question makes your steps stutter.
“i’m sorry, what? boyfriend?” your eyebrows are furrowed as you stare up at him, his face isn’t showing any sign of humor, he’s serious.
“you’re not dating one of your band mates? isn’t that how it usually goes?” his lips purse as you continue to walk to the room that your band is occupying, he’s so serious that it makes you laugh.
“oh my god, yoongi, i’m single as a pringle, they’re my best friends, our number one rule is to never date within the band, that’s how things get messy,” you explain. a weight is taken off of yoongi’s shoulders, it wasn’t his fault he thought of it; you’re beautiful and surrounded by people that probably want you as much as he does.
“oh,” he answers, you both turn the corner and approach the door, “good to know.” the door opens to your three members looking at the two of you with raised eyebrows.
“oh my god, it’s him,” seulgi points to yoongi with her drumstick. you wave your hand to signal her to put it down, ‘it’s rude!’ you mouth.
“are you yoongi?” taehyung asks, taking his guitar and putting it down on it’s stand. yoongi nods, holding his hand out to shake taehyung’s, which he doesn’t take. instead taehyung pulls him into a hug, yoongi doesn’t expect the sudden action of affection, his arms not knowing what to do. “it’s so nice to finally meet you! ___ talks about you a lot,” taehyung’s confession makes your face flush.
“taehyung! what the fuck!? i’ve talked about you like twice, yoongi, i swear,” you defend yourself, pushing taehyung off of him. you laugh awkwardly, yoongi shoots you both a gummy smile.
“nice to meet you, taehyung,” he completely ignores your defense. he finds it cute, your flustered face as you try to tell taehyung to shut up.
“anyways,” you huff. “yoongi thinks i followed him here, so i am showing proof that i’m actually here with you guys and not stalking him.”
your friends snort at the same time, “actually, yoongi, we have no idea who this girl is! i think she’s following you,” taehyung whisper-shouts, you smack his shoulder.
“no but really, ___ we were just gonna call it a day, seulgi said she has to go to a family dinner soon and taehyung said he was hungry,” jungkook speaks up. it’s then that you realize that their instruments were almost all packed. yoongi looks down at you, a small smile on his face once he realizes what they’re trying to do.
“i leave to pee for five minutes and you guys hatch a plan to ditch me?!” you cross your arms over your chest.
“well… we just told you, so, technically we didn’t ditch you, also i can’t drop you off, yoongi, you can drop her off, right?” taehyung smiles to him.
“i—“ yoongi starts but you cut him off with plans to scold your members. they knew exactly what they were doing and you weren’t having it.
“taehyung, you’re dropping me off, let’s not bother yoongi,” you move to pack your bass but yoongi shakes his head.
“i can drop you off,” he smiles.
“oh, see! perfect! thank you, yoongi.” taehyung grabs his hand and gives him a good shake, before you know it your members are out the door.
you sigh as you lift your case and sling it over your shoulder, “it’s okay, yoongi, i can walk.”
he rolls his eyes, “don’t be ridiculous, are you hungry? we can eat first.”
his hand is outstretched and you’re not sure what it means, does he want to hold your hand? but no, he’s asking for your bass, so he can hold it instead of you. you reject his offer, “i can hold it.”
“you’re really stubborn,” he notes. it makes you snort.
“you’re not into stubborn girls?” the joke slips from your mouth before you can think.
this is the perfect time, yoongi thinks. “if it’s you, maybe i’ll make an exception.”
you try your best not to show any type of reaction, but you can’t really ignore the way your heartbeat quickened. yoongi leads you to his car, putting your bass in the trunk as you get comfortable in the front seat. he follows you soon enough and is driving out of the studio parking lot.
“you don’t have to work?” you question. getting into the car of someone you barely know is quite risky of you, but he was your neighbor, and he was hot. that doesn’t give you a reason to trust him, though for some reason, you think you can rely on yoongi, it’s a gut feeling.
“technically i work all day, i’m on my own schedule, i basically spend the entire day in the studio,” he explains. his focus is on the road but from his peripheral he can see your body turned to him, and your eyes glued on him.
“workaholic?” you guessed, he smiles.
“you could say that.”
“that’s good then, i’m giving you a reason for a break!” you clap, your nervousness fading as you start to get comfy with yoongi.
a friendship blooms from that lucky, odd encounter that day.
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you forgot how long it’s been since you officially met yoongi and spent the day with him, maybe two months? three months ago? you never kept track. but you do remember that things changed after that. the two of you so obviously flirting with each other whenever you had the chance. yoongi would offer you a ride to the studio, which you greedily took whenever he asked; because he was a cool guy to be with, and in all honesty you were trying to put the moves on him. you’re not sure if he’s taking the hints though, you’ve never been good at the shy type of flirting, most of the time you’re upfront.
speaking of being upfront: yoongi hasn’t really been complaining about your noise lately, and it’s been eerily quiet on his end. no knocks on the wall when your volume was a tad bit higher than usual, no texts telling you to ‘be quiet’ when you were practicing late at night, nothing. you figure it’s because the two of you have grown a lot closer. hanging out together and even making some inside jokes together type of close.
it’s soon that you figure out why yoongi hasn’t been upfront, complaining to you about your noise, because he talked to your apartment manager about it. you knew namjoon well, he was one of your classmates in college. his father originally owned the place, so he’s been taking over for him. you’ve grown close to namjoon due to situations that left you outside of your apartment multiple times without your keys. his master key saved your ass one too many times. so, when you received a letter from him in the mail this morning with a big red ‘important’ stamp on it. you knew you were in trouble.
the words noise complaints, your neighbor, and eviction were the only ones you needed to read for you to be stomping towards yoongi’s apartment. you didn’t care that it was ten in the morning and you’re banging on yoongi’s door. you knocked nonstop until he opened up. his sleepy face scrunched in confusion as he stood before you.
“___? what’s wrong?” his morning voice could have made you melt, if you weren’t so fucking angry. you step past him, moving inside his apartment. “okay, come in, i guess,” yoongi says as he shuts the door behind you.
“you complained about me?! i got a fucking letter from namjoon! he never sends letters!” you raise your voice. it’s too early in the morning to be yelling, your voice is a bit rough, it sounds like you’re croaking.
it’s also way too early for yoongi to be dealing with this, so his voice is soft when he says, “be quiet, we’re gonna get complaints from the other neighbors now too.” he walks up to you and your very angry expression. he just looks so kissable right now, it’s making you angrier. how could he look so perfect when you’re mad at him? that’s so rude!
you lower your voice when you ask, complying to his demand. you cross your arms over your chest, “why would you do that?”
yoongi laughs.
it makes your eyebrows furrow. was he not taking you seriously? you loved this apartment, you needed to live here. it makes the anger boil a little hotter. “you think this is funny, yoongi? i’ve—” your voice is raising once more.
this time yoongi rolls his eyes. “shut up.” his voice grew deeper than it already was, the bass traveling straight to your lower belly.
you try to act as if it had no effect on you, but your small silence before you spoke made things a little obvious. “excuse me? shut up?” you scoff. your feet carrying you closer to yoongi, breaking the distance in effort to intimidate. yoongi wasn’t one to be scared, if anything, he found it funnier.
but the way that your pretty face looks when you’re angry makes yoongi want to do more, wants to push and push because he can feel the tension between you both. you can too. “yeah, you’re so goddamn loud all the time, shut the fuck up.” he moves a little closer, the distance between you both is almost none.
it makes your eyes flicker to his lips. here you were, thinking that you were gonna teach yoongi a lesson, yet you want to kiss him. “want me to shut up?” your eyes move back to his, making eye contact. he licks his lips in anticipation. “make me,” you press.
you feel his soft hand against your cheek first, leading you to his lips. then it was the plush of his lips against yours. this feeling could definitely make you shut up. before you knew it, you were pushing yoongi over to his couch. he breaks the kiss to plop down onto the couch, you follow suit, straddling his lap.
“if you wanted to make out with me, you could have just asked.” you spoke before reattaching your lips.
he smiles into the kiss, “where’s the fun in that?”
the kiss deepens, tongues exploring each other’s mouths and small whimpers escaping your throat. they go straight to yoongi’s groin, you can feel his hard cock against your core through your sweatpants. instinctively, you grind down, the feeling makes him groan out.
his large hands move to your ass, running over them and trailing up to your waist. his hands sliding under your shirt, you know you aren’t wearing a bra, and yoongi finds out soon after. his thumbs running right over your hard nipples, “eager?” he smirks.
you roll your eyes, “i’m just cold.” the lie makes yoongi scoff, tweaking your nipples between his thumb and index fingers. now, goosebumps raise over your skin, and it wasn’t because of the cold.
“take your shirt off,” he speaks against your lips. usually, you weren’t one to follow orders, your rebellious spirit screaming in your head, telling you to take control. but you’ve never wanted anything more than to let yoongi have you, let him do whatever he wants to you. because outside of this, he just seems so nice, never mean, never demanding. you can’t help but indulge in this new side of yoongi you’ve discovered.
so you’re taking your shirt off, the breeze created by his air conditioner makes you shiver, but yoongi's warm hands are there to comfort you. running them over your breasts, squeezing them just right as he kisses down your throat. “y-yoongi—” you whimper. his lips find a certain spot that has you grinding harder onto his dick.
“you aren’t very patient,” he speaks against your skin. “i’ll let it slide this time.” a tender kiss to your neck is placed before he lingers on the spot a little longer, sucking and licking, making sure to leave a pretty red mark. he makes his way to your nipple, wrapping his mouth around the bud and sucking. the feeling makes you throw your head back, his hand tweaks your other nipple, refusing to neglect it.
it was true, you were not patient. you hated waiting too long for something, just like how you hate the feeling of your warm core go uncared for. the grinding wasn’t enough at this point, you wanted more, needed it really. “are you gonna fuck me or not?” you push him gently off of your nipple.
an almost annoyed gaze is painted on his face, “are you going to beg?” he quirks an eyebrow.
you weren’t one to plead, “no.”
“then no,” he asserts. you purse your lips, complete dissatisfaction displayed on your face. “don’t worry, kitten, i’ll make you feel good.” yoongi gives in. he didn’t know how long he could hold back, your attitude makes him want to check you, make you cum as many times he wants you to until you’re obeying.
the nickname makes you drip. he’s pushing up from below, his leg kneeling onto the couch as he lays you down. your head lays against the pillow he has on the couch, yoongi gives you a swift kiss before he moves down, trailing kisses on the valley of your breasts and your stomach, stopping just before the waistband of your sweatpants. “yoongi,” you mewl.
“hm? wanna beg now?” he challenges. his fingers teasingly slipping under the band. your body reacts so easily to his touch, your hips slightly jerking up at the graze of his hands.
but you’re stubborn, not wanting to let yoongi win even though the only thing you want right now is for him to make you feel good. “no, never.” you shake your head.
yoongi doesn't verbally reply, instead, nodding and smirking to himself. “can i eat you out then?” he asks. you don’t trust your words, so you nod, knowing you’ll fall into the trap yoongi has set. “i need to hear you say it, kitten.”
“yes,” you quickly say.
yoongi quirks a brow. “yes, what?”
you roll your eyes, just once, you tell yourself. “yes, please.”
“good girl,” he praises. you hate to admit that you liked the way he called you a good girl. your sweatpants and panties are pulled down at the same time, revealing your wet pussy. “so pretty, baby.” he positions himself between your spread legs. you bite your bottom lip in anticipation.
kisses against your thighs and pubic bone are what he starts off with, then a brief kiss to your clit that makes you gasp. “oh, god—” you lean your head back against the couch.
“also, just to let you know, the letter was a joke,” yoongi breathes. mouth ghosting your lips, where you need him the most.
at first you didn’t pay attention to what he said, a hum leaving your lips until then you realized, “what?!”
“i thought it’d be funny to scare you a little bit, namjoon and i are friends, i asked him if he could do it for me.” he explains with a smile on his face.
you rolled your eyes. you knew it was too serious to be namjoon, his style was more so speaking, not letters. you couldn’t be mad at him, at least you weren’t in trouble. but you play it up for the fun, “will you make it up to me?” a sly look on your face.
“what do you want?” he leans his head against your thigh, waiting patiently for your answer. his fingers ever so gently running up and down your thighs.
“your cock,” you demand with a mischievous smile. your hands run through his hair, eyes pleading because you won’t allow your mouth to let the words out.
yoongi acts like he thinks about it, but all he truly wants, is to devour your and make you feel so good. “you don’t deserve it.” he denies you of the pleasure you want, but he surprises you, running his tongue along your slit.
“oh— oh, yoongi,” you mewl. your hands moving to play with your boobs, but yoongi knocks your hands away. he directs them to his hair, telling you to pull. his hands replace yours, playing and tweaking with your nipples as his tongue does the work.
“taste so good, baby.” yoongi loves the sight of you so vulnerable in front of him. you’re bare, naked while yoongi still has all his clothes on. he loves it. your eager body twitching from the ministrations of his tongue. he pulls away for a second, “don’t cum until i say so.”
“that’s not— umph!” you start but yoongi retracts his hands from your breasts, bringing them back to your thighs to spread them further apart. your lips reveal your sweet spot for yoongi to take, and he’s relentless. the taste of you on his tongue drives him crazy. “that’s not fair,” you moan out.
yoongi doesn’t care. he loves being in control. so when your phone starts to ring, yoongi thinks this is the best time to assert dominance. “answer it,” he commands. he pulls away from your pussy, the loss of the feeling of his tongue makes you groan out in displeasure. in turn, yoongi rubs his middle and ring fingers against your clit. it makes you gasp. he slips the fingers in, your walls pulsating against his fingers. another moan leaves your lips. you were completely ignoring the rings coming from your phone. he repeats himself, “answer the phone, baby.”
“but,” you spoke. your worry being that you were so wound up and yoongi’s fingers were still residing inside of you. you knew it would be way too obvious.
“they won’t know,” he assures. a gentle touch against your thigh comforting you, making you believe this was a good idea.
your fucked out brain obliges, your hand moving to reach for your phone. jungkook’s contact name displayed on the screen, you press the green button and place the phone next to your ear. “jungkook? what’s up?” you answer. yoongi’s eyes locked onto yours as you speak.
“speaker,” he mouths. you nod, mindlessly obliging. taking the phone away from your ear and pressing the speaker button. his fingers dangerously still in your pussy, ready to cause chaos whenever he felt like it.
“dude! guess fucking what!” jungkook shouts over the phone. yoongi pushes deeper, bottoming out his fingers. it makes your eyes roll back, a quiet gasp escaping your lips.
you’re moving the phone away so he doesn’t hear it, but yoongi is pushing your hand back into position. “what?” you cough, trying to cover the noise.
“you okay? you sound… weird.” jungkook snorts over the phone, you can hear seulgi and taehyung in the back, their bickering all too familiar.
“i— i’m good.” you nod even though he can’t see you.
“okay, well, this guy from a record label called earlier, he said he wants to take us all out to eat and talk about our future!” jungkook informs. your eyes widen. a record deal?! even yoongi reacts, a cute, surprised look on his face. how funny was it that you were receiving this news with yoongi’s fingers fucking you.
“you’re lying.” you sit up a little bit, leaning onto your forearm. yoongi decides to be nice, letting his fingers stay stagnant in your hole so you can enjoy the news.
“i’m serious! we’re on the way to yours right now to pick you up, be ready in five minutes,” he tells you.
“right now?!” you exclaim. yoongi smirks, starting to pumping his fingers in and out of you, making your breaths a little more labored. “oh— fuck,” you groaned, you tried to cover it up by making it sound like you were annoyed. but anyone could be able to tell what you were doing, the squelch of your pussy loud enough for the entire apartment complex to hear probably.
“what the hell are you—” jungkook starts but you cut him off, yoongi’s fingers moving faster and the string in your belly about to snap from the tension.
“okay, jungkook! bye! love you! see you in a bit!” you rush the words out and press the big red button to hang up, throwing your phone onto the floor as yoongi leans over you with a smile on his face.
“congratulations, baby.” he punctuates his sentence with a quick circle around your clit. you’re so wound up, you could feel tears starting to build up in your eyes.
“yoongi, please, please let me cum.” you beg, giving in to his desires. the sound of your begging is music to his ears. he smirks, quickening the tight circles around your clit. your legs spreading wider if that was even possible.
yoongi’s plans were cut short due to your new plans, but he didn’t mind. he was happy for you, and he’s never wanted to make someone cum as much as he does now. “alright, kitten, cum whenever you want,” he whispers in your ear. his fingers coated in your wetness gliding against your clit, it feels way too good. the string in your belly snapping as soon as he gave you permission.
you found yourself letting out some of the loudest moans because yoongi was just that good. “holy fuck, yoongi,” you gasp. your chest rises and falls quickly, taking in as many breaths as possible.
“good job, baby.” he kisses your neck, letting you recover before slipping his fingers out and bringing them up to your lips. at first you furrow your eyebrows, this isn’t something you usually do; but when he says, “open,” you find yourself obliging easily. “good girl,” he smiles as you suck your cum off of his fingers.
you pull his fingers from your mouth when you’re sure you’ve sucked them clean, “i got a record deal dinner, min!” you rush to put your clothes on. yoongi tries his best to help, but all he wants to do is give you a big hug. he lets you put your clothes on before he’s holding you in his grasp, while you’re trying to make your way to his door. the two of you wobbling to his door.
“let me kiss you first, rockstar.” he smiles, his hand gently taking ahold of your face and giving you a kiss. it tastes just like you, the sultry memory that will live in yoongi’s brain for as long as it’s able.
he tries to kiss you once more, but you’re pushing him away. “i gotta go, yoongi,” you giggle. his hands holding you close to him, your back pressed against his front door as you kiss each other sloppily. “yoongi!” you smile, more laughs erupting as he helps you open the door. as soon as the door slides open, yoongi’s eyes move behind you, a sly smile on his face.
you turn to see your three band mates, all of their mouths agape. “i fucking told you! pay up, idiots!” seulgi smacks the both taehyung and jungkook’s shoulders.
your face blushes tomato red. you try to hide your face as you open your apartment door. before you turn the key, you hear yoongi congratulate the four of you. “good luck at your label meeting! make sure they don’t scam you,” he advises. your bandmates laugh, thanking yoongi and moving into your apartment. they don’t let you live down the embarrassment for the entire night.
when you come back home, you sit on your couch. a smile taking over your face when you think about how great the day was. you think the dinner went perfect, and when you hear a knock on your door, it has you rushing to open it.
yoongi stands outside your door with a cupcake and a single lit candle stuck in it. “congratulations!— it went well right?”
you stand in front of him, a sweet smile on your face as you nod. “i think they loved us,” you pull him into your apartment.
“of course they did! you guys are amazing!” yoongi hugs you, holding the cupcake above your head so it doesn’t get in your hair.
the rest of the night you and yoongi enjoy each other’s presence and the two of you talk about everything and nothing.
yoongi says the cupcake is just for you, but you take a knife and split it, “for us.” you give him a quick peck before eating your half, and then kissing him once more.
for us. it repeats in yoongi’s mind.
us.
yeah, he’d like that.
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tu-sugar-mami · 3 years
Text
Tales of the side of the road: Day #1)
You're an overworked, sleep deprived, tired barista at a pretty strange coffee shop. You don't really complain, since the payment is good and you have a lot of free time, with the shop being pretty much empty and customers walking in only once in a while. The place is big, well equipped, somehow there's wifi, and you love doing what you do even if sometimes you wish you could go home. You could say the building is placed in the middle of nowhere, in a road connecting two barely populated and pretty hidden towns. The only other building anywhere in a few miles is the convenience store, an old and beaten up OxxO across the street, the cashier doesn't speak much though.
The owner is a bit... how to say it? Cryptic, to put it slightly, but that doesn't bother you at all, you barely see them, and now that you think of it perhaps the only time you spoke to them is when you were hired.
You've seen your fair share of weird stuff in three years of working here, and you even made friends with the local cult, although with a rocky start when they tried to sacrifice you to their deity. It turned out for the best, since you gained regulars that always came in with the freshest gossip. And yes, you may have gotten a small curse because of the first encounter, but hey, being occasionally possessed by a dark goddess do come handy when one of the diverse side effects is super strength and you have to lift heavy boxes of ingredients for the drinks. Because, let me tell you, the drinks you make are not regular stuff.
You specialize in a very complex form of beverages, with basic color code names, but with a flawless, delicious, magnificent taste. At least to those who are meant for.
You see, customers here are very unique, and many have tried to eat you several times before you made it clear that you were not on the menu. They learned to not underestimate your skills manouvering a broom.
Anyway, today is a specially slow day. Not even Gary —a cultist of the highest ranks, who loves his double shot 'blue' coffee— has passed by yet and you can't help but wonder what or who held him back. Though your inquiry doesn't last long, when you hear voices outside and the approach of hurried steps.
It's almost nightfall and it starts to get chilly when you get ready for yet another endless night shift. You find it odd that other people aside from Gary would swing by the shop at this hour, but well, it is your job to serve them after all, and so you tighten your apron and ready your notepad.
Like i've said before you've seen a lot of not so ordinary stuff, and when an uncommonly tall —and absolutely gorgeous— lady along with three younger, shorter women wearing at least 10 layers of cozy clothes walk in you're absolutely unfazed and instead welcome them with the brightest smile you can muster.
"Hi! Welcome to Itsy Bitchy Spider, home of the best coffee in all 24 miles around. What can i get for you today?" You say, bringing the women's attention to you.
The tall lady seems a little thrown off by your warm welcoming. Or by the weird name of the franchise, or perhaps because she wasn't expecting a fragile-looking human to be behind the counter, who knows, but she usher one of the younger girls —a brunette one, who wears a creepy but charming smile peeking from under a thick scarf— towards the counter and clears her throat. "Hello, yes, my daughter got into a little bit of a situation earlier and she has to clean herself up. We're on our way to a very important meeting and she has to be presentable."
It's only now when you notice that said daughter has bloodied clothes, and when she lifts her head you can see that there's blood dripping from her chin too. But again, not the weirdest.
"Sure ma'am," You say with a smile, wich has her giving you a curious look. "the bathroom is on that black door over there." You point and the girl goes on her way, almost skipping. Kind of adorable, you think, like a small child would be, except much older and dangerous. "So, is the cult holding a meeting? That'd explain why Gary hasn't come by." You say casually. The woman is about to answer when another uh, you suppose is a daughter too, suddenly points at the pastries countertop.
"What's that?" A redhead girl asks. She looks excited and genuinely curious about a colorful piece of a cake. You don't make them, and honestly you don't want to know what's in them, but you know they're suitable for any kind of customer that walks in, so you pull out a piece and arrange it on a plate, decorating it with red syrup, the red syrup.
"Try it, it's on the house." You wink at her while sliding the plate towards her and she looks at you like you just handed her a priceless jewel.
"Really?" She says, but is more a formality since she's already pulling the plate closer. "Look Bela! Look what i got!"
"No, Daniela you shouldn't eat that. Your tummy will hurt, you know this." The tall lady says as she grabs the plate and pull it out of Daniela's grasp, which is easy given her height. "We're sorry, but we can't take this. We have a very strict diet." She hands the plate back to you.
You smile and gently take the plate away, aware of the sad puppy eyes the redhead is giving you. You discreetly, almost as if it wasn't your intention, you put the plate within her reach and keep talking. You pretend not to notice when the girl sneakily grabs the plate and runs back to her sister to share her prize.
"Ma'am, i assure you it is perfectly safe. You're not from around here, are you? Well, let me get you acquainted with the place." Not wasting any time you quickly prepare a concoction of 'red' coffee and top it with regular whipped cream while the lady's gaze is fixed on every move. "Here, try this."
"Try what?" The dark haired girl has returned from the bathroom all freshened up and looks curiously to the tall glass you slide on the counter. "Oooh, that looks nice!"
"It is nice. It's one of the house's specials. We call it 'red coffee' though it's up to you discover if you like it."
"Cassandra, i don't think we should..." The lady seems hesitant, but when you rise the glass as close as you can to her face and she takes a whiff you can clearly see her pupils dilate. "What... is that?" She asks, breathless, as if she's just found something she craved for so long and didn't even know it.
You smirk, knowing that you guessed correctly about what would work on her. "Why don't you take a sip and find out?"
"Mother, i think you should give it a try." The blonde girl, the one who hadn't said a word since she first entered says. You notice that there's some cake frosting right on the corner of her smiling lips.
"Perhaps i should listen to you, Bela. Let's see, shall we?" The mother takes the glass from your hand, tiny in comparasion to hers, and she guides the brim of the cup to her red lips. She cautiously takes a sip and as soon as the liquid touches her tongue and she tastes, the drink is downed in seconds.
"So, what's the veredict? You like it?" You say as you put the lid on the last of another three cups of the same drink that you finished making while the cup on the lady's hand was being emptied, ready to hand over to the girls.
"It's exquisite..." She says, and you can see the awe on her face. "How?"
"Well, that's a secret, isn't it? You can come by whenever you like, we're open all day, every day." You look behind the four women and spot a grumpy looking man wearing sunglasses and a hat just outside in the parking lot. Odd when there's no sunlight to protect his eyes from, but you don't judge. "Looks like someone is looking for you." You point past them to the guy.
And sure enough:
"Alcina! Where the fuck are you? Miranda is waiting for us, we're late!"
The annoyed expression on the lady's —Alcina, now you know— face almost make you laugh, but you don't want to be disrespectful and instead you just cough a little. "Looks like we have to part ways." She says, putting the glass on the counter delicately. Her eyes are glued to your own and you can see fire in them. "For now."
The lady turns around and walks away with determination and elegance in her stride and behind her the daughters follow with the grace of young gazelles. One of them, the blonde girl turns her head enough to see you over her shoulder and waves goodbye. You wave back.
"Have a safe trip!" You say. Much, much later you'll call this 'day one', when Alcina first entered your life, but for now:
Alcina... The name feels sweet like honey in your mouth and you smile. You can't wait to see her again.
-------------
@thejennystuttle here it is the first one i finished. I got carried away, srry. Hope u like it?
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If you love my work, buy me a coffee?
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phoebe-delia · 3 years
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could u write a drarry oneshot inspired by sweet creature of harry styles? :)
Hello Nonnie! I absolutely can. This is a great suggestion, I love this song for Drarry. I hope you enjoy it. Warnings: injury, drinking, attempted sexual assault that is VERY QUICKLY STOPPED and NOT H/D!!! Thank you to @apr1cots for the beta!
3 Times Harry Brought Draco Home...+1 Time Draco Brought Harry Home
1.
The first time, Harry found him in the cafe near their flat.
He sat down in the chair across from Draco, who glared at him over his cup of tea. "I thought I told you not to follow me."
"I waited three hours. I figured that would be enough time for you to come to your senses, but you didn't come back, so I got worried."
"I can handle myself, thanks."
"I know you can. But you didn't tell me where you went."
Draco's eyes flashed. "That was for a reason, you imbecile."
Harry shook his head. "Flatmates don't do that—disappear for three hours after a fight without saying where they’ve gone."
"I'm an adult. And you're not my father or my boyfriend, so back off."
"No, but I am your friend. And your flatmate. And I don't want to be worried sick for three hours when you fuck off to Merlin knows where because you're feeling pissy!" Harry snapped, letting his anger creep into his voice.
Draco sighed. He took a moment to sip his tea, and then he looked at Harry. "I'll tell you what. If we fight, and I don't return, send an owl, Floo or contact you in some way within six hours, you can send out a bloody search party."
Harry shook his head. “I will give you three hours.”
“Five”
“Three and a half.”
“Four and a half.”
“Four is my final offer.”
Draco scoffed. “Is that so? What are you going to do, show up with half the Auror department?”
Harry pursed his lips. “Not if I don’t have to. But I would.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
“Care to find out?”
“You’re mental.”
“Maybe,” Harry shrugged. “Trouble is, I don’t care. Now, will you be here for a while, or are you coming home with me?”
“I suppose I'll go, but only since I've already finished my tea,” Draco said with another sigh, which Harry ignored as they both rose from their seats. While they walked to the Apparition point together, Harry replayed in his mind the flicker of emotion on Draco’s face when he said “home.”
2.
The second time, Harry’s glass nearly shattered in his hand from how firmly he was gripping it.
He ignored Hermione’s knowing gaze and Ron’s eye roll as he unabashedly stared daggers at the bloke practically groping Draco at the bar. Harry saw Draco’s eyes widen imperceptibly, noticed his smile falter and his cheekbone twitch.
Yes, he observed this from across the room. You get to know a bloke after living with him for almost a year; besides, Harry was very perceptive—constant vigilance and all that.
Speaking of being an Auror, Harry was pretty sure this prick was breaking some sort of public indecency laws by the way he was sliding his hand further and further up Draco’s leg. Draco gently pried the man’s hand from his thigh, only for the stranger to laugh and reach over again, gripping it even more firmly.
Harry didn’t think beyond getting up from his seat and striding toward the bar, quickening his pace when he saw Draco’s eyes widen in panic. He barely registered the look of horror on the stranger’s face when he grabbed the hand gripping Draco’s thigh and pinned the man face-down on the bar.
“He said no,” Harry said through clenched teeth, ignoring the man’s grunts and protests.
“We were just talking!” The man sputtered, his cheek pressed against the counter as he twisted and wriggled to get free.
Harry tightened his grip. “Conversation’s over. If I catch you trying to ‘talk’ to him again, I’ll make sure you have a nice chat with the Wizengamot about sexual assault. Now, apologize.”
“But—”
“Apologize!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry.”
Harry smirked. “Good.” He released the man’s arm and let him right himself. The man froze, looking between Harry and Draco expectantly.
Harry raised an eyebrow. “Leave. Now.”
The man nodded, scurrying out of the now silent bar, the bell attached to the door tinkling behind him.
“You didn’t have to do that, you know.” Draco’s face was blank other than a raised eyebrow.
Harry shrugged. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“No, I’m not. But I am glad you’re okay. You are, right? He didn’t hurt you?” Harry’s chest tightened at the suggestion.
But Draco shook his head. “No, I’m fine. But I think that’s my sign to head home.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“You don’t have to. I’m fine to Floo.”
“I want to.”
“What about your friends?”
Harry cringed and turned back to face the table to see Ron and Hermione looking at him, expressions full of nausea and amusement, respectively. He held up a hand in a small wave. Hermione shook her head and smiled fondly.
Harry grinned and turned back to Draco. “They’ll be alright without me. C’mon, let’s go home. I’ll make us some tea, yeah?”
Draco hesitated at first, but he nodded. And if Harry let his hand linger lightly on Draco’s back when they headed toward the Floo, they could both chalk it up to a safety measure.
3.
The door to Pansy Parkinson’s flat swung open before Harry could knock.
She took one look at him and rolled her eyes. “Could you have taken any longer to get here?”
Harry bristled. “I was—”
“Don’t care. Get in here, he’s on my couch.” She turned and walked away purposefully, and Harry trailed behind her.
“I thought you two were just going for drinks?”
Pansy sighed. “We were, but then we came back here for a few more, and he got into my tequila when my back was turned.” She shook her head. “Tequila is his one weakness—well,” she smirked. “One of them, anyway.”
Harry furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to respond when a shout sounded from the living room.
He looked over to see Draco sprawled across the couch, an empty glass in one hand and the other nearly touching the floor, his leather-clad legs spread wide.
Draco grinned at Harry. “Harrryyy!!! Come to join the party?”
“He’s come to end it, more like,” Pansy crossed her arms. “It’s time for you to go home, love.”
Draco let out a high, keening whine and burrowed himself further into the couch. “Don’ wanna. Tired. Stay here.”
“No, Draco, we’ve got to go home,” Harry walked up to the couch. His breath caught when gray eyes blinked wide and pleadingly up at him.
Draco held out his arms. “Up.”
“Er, what?”
Draco jerked his arms up and down, keeping them in the air. “Up! Help me up, you great oaf!”
Harry sighed and bent down, taking Draco in his arms and nearly stumbling when the blond let his body weight fall into him.
Draco smirked lazily. “Oops,” he said with a grin in his voice. “Guess you gotta carry me.”
Harry scoffed, looking to Pansy for appeal.
She waved a hand dismissively. “He’s your problem, now. Just get him out of my flat and back home intact, will you?” She didn’t wait for him to respond, walking away into another room.
Harry sighed. He wasn’t sure about the safety of Apparating or taking the Floo with someone in your arms, and the twists and turns of the Knight Bus could make a sober person sick up. With a grunt, he hoisted Draco up and into his arms bridal style, and the other man yelped and then giggled wrapping his arms around Harry’s neck.
“Home,” Draco said softly, and affection spread through Harry’s chest.
“Okay, Draco,” Harry whispered as they made their way out of the flat. “I’ve got you.”
+1.
Harry woke to the sound of muffled voices shouting at each other and the constant beep of a monitor.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, wincing as a sharp pain exploded in his side with the effort. Memories came rushing back: the raid, turning his back for a split second to shout something at Ron, blinding pain, then darkness. He tried to sit up in the hospital bed, but he let himself lie back down when his side throbbed once more.
Suddenly, the door was opened and then promptly slammed shut. “Honestly, the nerve of these people. If he needs bed rest, then where is better than his own bed? Is my Healer degree rendered meaningless the moment I’m off the clock?” Draco muttered, running a hand through his hair as he paced the room angrily.
“Draco?”
Draco jumped and turned to Harry with wild, startled eyes that made Harry laugh, and then wince in pain.
“You’re awake, thank Merlin,” Draco approached the side of the bed, relief replacing the shock on his face.
“How long have I been out?”
“Two days. You were hit with a rare curse that caused an ever-bleeding wound in your side, and the healers had to put you in a magically induced coma to reverse it.”
“That sounds good. Do Robards and—”
“Yes, Ron gave Robards the full briefing. You’re not expected in the office until a Healer permits it.”
“So, can I go home?”
“Yes, now that you’re awake, you can go home. I’ll monitor you from there.”
Harry frowned. “You don’t have to.”
Draco let out a short, humorless chuckle. “You were in a coma for two days, Harry. The only reason they’re discharging you is that you’re going home with a Healer.”
“But you don’t actually have to stay and watch me all day, right?”
“What part of ‘I’ll monitor you from there’ don’t you understand?”
“But I’m fi-!” The last word was cut off as Harry hissed through another spark of pain.
“Fine, are you?”
“Shut up.”
Draco smirked. “Not likely.”
Harry scowled, eliciting a real laugh from Draco, who moved to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Flatmates don’t do this, y’know.”
Draco’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”
“Take several days off of work to care for the other when they’re injured. I’m not even sure friends do that.”
Harry noticed Draco’s jaw tighten. He ached to reach up and relax it with a gentle touch, but he kept his hand at his side.
“What are you saying, Harry?” Draco asked, his voice low and even.
“I’ll tell you what,” Harry swallowed. “I won’t argue about you wasting days away from work if you let me take you to dinner when I’ve recovered.”
The beginning of a smile curved Draco’s lips. “And what will we do in the meantime?”
Harry waggled his eyebrows. “I can think of a few ways to pass the time.”
Draco chuckled. “If you think I’m missing work just so you wind up back in here because you restarted bleeding during sex, you’ve another thing coming.”
Harry pouted halfheartedly. “Apparently I won’t be coming at all.”
Draco mimicked his petulant frown. “Aww, ickle Harry, being waited on for days by his flatmate-turned-boyfriend.”
“I’ll tell you what—”
“Didn’t we already make a deal?”
“I’ll tell you what: I won’t argue about you missing work or not having sex until I’m recovered if you let me take you to dinner once I’m healed and if we can snog as much as we like.”
"What makes you think I’ll agree to those terms?”
Harry shrugged. “If you don’t like those terms, I can come up with more. Now that I’m on bed rest, I’ve got plenty of time to think.”
“You’re not supposed to strain yourself,” Draco smirked when Harry glared at him.
Harry huffed. “You need to work on your bedside manner, Healer Malfoy.”
“I’ll get plenty of practice this week, then, won’t I?”
“Yes, you will. Now, can we get out of here? I want to start my healing regimen right away.”
Draco laughed and laced their fingers together. “Alright, Harry. Let’s go home.”
Send me an ask about Harry Potter, broadway/musicals, The West Wing, and/or Taylor Swift! Or just about life in general :).
Also, I have a playlist of my 99 most listened-to songs of the year so far. Pick a number 1--99 and send me an ask and I'll write you a fic based on it!
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Hey, I hope you're had a very pleasant birthday and birthday month! If the prompte are still open: Can you do Stony with Tony finally and sorta randomly confessing his love to Steve and Steve only then realizing that what he feels for Tony is romantic love as well?
Hello! Sure thing! Quick note: there’s a change between present and past tense for a flashback, for anyone who doesn’t like that kind of thing
As always, everything I write is also on ao3
~
“I love you,” Tony says, and Steve doesn’t quite know what to do about that.
He won’t say that he’s thought about it before because he hasn’t. But he won’t say that he’s never thought about it either—because he has, occasionally, glanced at Tony’s ass outlined by his perfectly tailored pants and appreciated the sight, and he has, once or twice, wondered what Tony’s warm, sparkling eyes would look like when hazy with pleasure. But a quick, glancing thought that he immediately moves on from is not the same as being attracted enough to Tony to think about asking him out or anything past that.
And now that he’s faced with that question, he doesn’t know what to say. Is he supposed to thank Tony? Is he supposed to acknowledge his feelings and say that he doesn’t feel the same way? Is he just supposed to ignore what Tony said? This is why he has so much trouble with his dates—he never knows how to act in a way that isn’t awkward. No wonder Natasha recently declared him hopeless after he came back from his last date covered in her sticky drink because he accidentally called her a dame.
“I love you,” Tony says and Steve doesn’t know what to do about that, but as it turns out, he doesn’t have to do anything, because Tony nods immediately afterward, says, “Good talk,” and turns and walks away like he wasn’t expecting an answer—or at least, not one that he would like.
Steve doesn’t know what to do about that either.
~
“Do you think I’m in love with Tony?” he asks Natasha later that day when they’re relaxing on the couch while some mindless sitcom plays in the background.
Natasha blinks at him and then caps the nail polish she was using and puts it on the coffee table. “Do you think you’re in love with Tony?” she asks carefully.
He frowns at her. “That’s not what I asked.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure I should just tell you what to think.”
He sighs and takes another sip from his Coke, only to realize that it’s empty. Yeah, that describes his life pretty well. “I’m gonna get another one,” he says, standing up. “Do you want something?”
She shakes her head. It’s not until he’s in the kitchen, grabbing another Coke from the fridge, before she asks, “What brought this on?”
Steve thinks about the vulnerable look on Tony’s face as he said those three words. He probably wouldn’t like it if Steve told Natasha what they’d discussed. Or, well, he’d probably act like it was fine but he’d secretly feel hurt and might put the workshop into blackout mode again. Steve hates it when the workshop is in blackout mode. He doesn’t like that he can’t get to Tony when he’s feeling so terrible that he has to shut himself away. He wants to be there to support him, and he hates it when he’s the one who makes Tony feel like he has to close off the workshop.
“Nothing,” he tells Natasha.
She gets up to come into the kitchen, where she eyes him for a moment and then declares, “Tony finally told you, didn’t he?”
How does she always know?
“How do you always know?”
She smiles enigmatically. “I always know,” she says in that mysterious tone.
Steve glares at her. “Tony told you, didn’t he?”
“Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.”
“One of these days, you’re going to have to admit that you two are friends.”
“Hmm,” she agrees. “But not today.” She hesitates, watching as Steve starts preparing a ham sandwich. “So Tony told you he loves you and you said?”
“Nothing,” Steve says with a shrug. “JARVIS, do you think it would be a good idea if I took this to Tony?”
“Sir has not expressed an explicit desire to keep you out of the workshop but I believe he would not appreciate you down there at the moment.”
Steve sighs. “Great. Could you send U up here to bring this sandwich down?”
“Of course, Captain Rogers.”
With that taken care of, Steve turns back to Natasha, following her back out to the living room. “I didn’t say anything because Tony didn’t give me the chance. He just took off.”
Natasha is quiet, studying him for a long moment. He knows what she’s thinking, since it’s probably the same thing he thought: that Tony was too afraid to hear the answer to give Steve the chance to respond. Eventually, she asks, “So how do you feel about it?”
“I don’t know,” Steve says honestly. “I can’t say I’ve ever thought about Tony like that before but—we act kinda coupley, don’t we?”
Before Natasha can respond, the previously bright sky outside goes dark. There’s a bright lightning bolt right outside the window, followed by the crash of thunder and then a loud rushing sound. It dissipates after a moment, the sky lightening again.
“Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff,” JARVIS says, “Thor has returned to the tower.”
~
The Steve and Tony story goes something like this: instead of going on his planned road trip, Steve returned to the tower the day after the Chitauri invasion to offer his apologies to Tony about what he said on the helicarrier. Somehow—and he’s not sure how, even to this day—he found himself getting wrapped up in the tower repairs with a room of his own on one of the lower floors. And by the time those were done, Tony had apparently also redone some of the apartments near the penthouse as a headquarters for the Avengers. Steve hadn’t been lacking for options after the battle (the Army, in particular, wanted him back) but he’d moved into the tower permanently instead.
He and Tony had clashed a few times in those early days but once Bruce came back from wrapping up his affairs in India and Natasha and Clint left SHIELD to join them, they settled into a bit of a truce.
And over the semi-regular movie nights and the training spars and the late-night conversations after they both couldn’t sleep, that truce became a friendship and before Steve quite realized it, Tony had become one of his best friends. Slowly, Steve found himself being pulled out of the shell he’d withdrawn into after waking in this new century. Tony dragged him to lunch at new and exciting places, places that Steve could never have even dreamed of when he was growing up. They planned missions and training days together. Steve had even gotten adept enough at handling the press with Tony to feel confident accepting interview requests with him.
He hadn’t realized though that Tony had taken it as something more serious though. And now that he does know, he’s not sure what to do about it.
~
He eventually goes to Bruce, since Pepper is busy dealing with a business merger and Colonel Rhodes is out of town in some undisclosed location (though Steve is certain that Tony knows where). Bruce’s lab isn’t quite the wonderland of light and holograms that Tony’s is, but it’s still impressive to someone who grew up with nothing. Tony makes sure that Bruce has all the latest equipment so the lab is a gleaming marvel of sleek instruments with silver and white colors everywhere. It doesn’t look like the most soothing environment but the speakers pipe out some sort of piano music that Steve vaguely recognizes and there’s a teapot on one counter, keeping whatever Bruce is drinking warm.
Bruce is currently examining something under a microscope. Steve can make out what looks like a purple smear on the slide from where he’s standing in the doorway, but that’s it. Bruce doesn’t seem to have noticed him yet, even though JARVIS announced him, so he waits patiently until Bruce has rolled away from the microscope.
“Bruce, you got a second?” he asks quietly.
“Hey, when did you get here?” Bruce asks, offering him a tired smile. He waves Steve over to the teapot and offers him a cup.
“Just a couple minutes ago. I didn’t mind waiting,” Steve assures him. “What’s the blend?”
“Lavender and chocolate.”
“Sure, I wouldn’t mind a cup.” Bruce hands him the steaming mug. Steve has to add the sugar himself (only Tony knows how he prefers his tea).
“What brings you to my lab? Tony’s downstairs today,” Bruce says, fixing a cup of his own.
“I’m not looking for Tony. Not yet anyway,” Steve corrects. “I did want to talk about him though.” He hesitates and then decides to take the plunge. “Has Tony ever said anything to you about—ah—”
“About his feelings?” Bruce asks knowledgeably. “It’s come up a few times.”
Steve takes that to mean that it’s come up fairly frequently. Tony does like to overshare sometimes and trying to figure out what he’ll overshare about and what he’ll clam up about is about as accurate as trying to make one of Clint’s trick shots. “He told me today,” he begins carefully. “But he didn’t let me say anything.”
“Well, he wouldn’t,” Bruce says, like that’s perfectly reasonable and not absolutely surprising to Steve. He must see the confusion in Steve’s face because he adds, “He only just figured it out a few days ago himself, even though he’s been talking about you for months. I don’t think he was expecting you to feel the same way as him right after he realized it.”
“But why would he say it then?”
Bruce takes off his glasses, holding them in front of him as he thinks. “Tony—he’s got a weird relationship with love. He told me once that he thought he’d lost the chance to tell Pepper he loved her, first in Afghanistan and then with the palladium poisoning.”
“His parents,” Steve realizes. “He didn’t get to tell them either.”
“Exactly,” Bruce says, pointing at him with the glasses. “He doesn’t like to wait. So even though he knows you don’t feel the same way, he felt it was important to tell you.”
“What, in case I die tomorrow?”
“Or if he does.” Bruce must catch the stricken expression on Steve’s face as he smiles gently. “It’s not just about getting the feeling off his chest for Tony. It’s about making sure that you know you’re loved too.”
“Oh,” Steve says softly.
~
Normally, he would go down to the workshop to think about something that’s puzzling him but he doesn’t want to bother Tony right now. Instead, he goes to his second-favorite room in the entire tower: the library. The library was designed specifically by Tony for Steve after he mentioned how much he liked the tablet Tony had given him but how he missed paper books too. He hadn’t been angling for a library out of the conversation but Tony, generous to a fault, had immediately gotten to work on one.
It’s a beautiful room, completely incongruous with the sleek modern style of the rest of the tower, but perfect despite that. It takes up an entire two floors of the tower with balconies, a spiral staircase, and several sliding ladders for Clint to reenact a scene from some movie that Steve hasn’t gotten around to watching yet. Tony had done the room in dark wood with enough windows to make it feel light and airy instead of cramped. There are little nooks hidden among the shelves and a few window seats for anyone who wants to gaze out over the New York skyline while they read.
It’s perfect, made all the more so because Tony designed it for him.
“Steve, you should have realized how Tony felt sooner,” he mutters to himself as he settles on one of the cushy armchairs with his sketchbook. But how could he have? According to Bruce, Tony hadn’t even known how he felt until a few days ago.
He sketches as he thinks, no subject in mind until he looks down to find that he’s roughly sketched out Tony at his workbench, arguing with DUM-E over something silly. Steve smiles fondly down at the drawing, rubbing his thumb over the curve of Tony’s cheek. He remembers this argument. It had been a couple weeks ago. Tony had asked DUM-E to bring him a wrench and instead, DUM-E had brought him two screwdrivers, three hammers, and a level before finally bringing the wrench. It had made Steve laugh, which had just encouraged DUM-E. Tony had acted frustrated but he knows Tony well enough to know that Tony had been secretly proud about DUM-E’s personality, both for DUM-E and for himself. After all, as Tony said, any monkey could design an AI. It took skill to design one with character.
In his sketch, he’s drawn something of that conflict in Tony’s face—the frustration in the downward turn of his mouth but the pride in the twinkle in his eyes—and it only makes him more beautiful.
“Beautiful,” Steve repeats, awed at the thought. Tony is beautiful, when he’s tinkering, when he’s flying, even when he’s going toe-to-toe with Steve over something stupid (usually Tony’s self-sacrificial tendencies).
He flips through the book, taking in each drawing: Natasha, Tony, Clint, Thor, Tony, Bruce, Tony, Tony, Tony. “Yeah,” he murmurs, looking back down at the drawing he just finished again. He thinks he’s got it figured out.
He stands, tucking his sketchbook under his arm. “JARVIS, do you think Tony would mind talking to me now? I’ve got something important to tell him.”
JARVIS is quiet for a moment, then says, “Sir would be happy to see you.”
He makes his way downstairs, thinking about what he’s going to say, but as soon as he sees Tony—wonderful, beautiful, perfect Tony—playing with one of those incredible holograms he designed, the words fly from his mind and he blurts out, “I’m not in love with you.”
And then he winces. Yeah, okay, so he’s a bit of a disaster.
Tony looks hurt for a moment, but it’s quickly covered up with dramatic offense. Before Tony can make one of his infamous quips that’ll just make light of the situation, Steve crosses the workshop and pulls Tony’s hands into his, rubbing them gently with his thumbs.
“I’m not in love with you,” he repeats. “But I think I could be soon. I’m not where you’re at yet—my brain isn’t nearly as quick as yours, Tony, of course you’re a step ahead of me here too. But Tony, you’re on almost every single page of my sketchbook. We go on what we might as well call dates together. We talk for hours. I know you almost as well as I know myself. I’m not in love with you yet but I think I’m only a couple dates away from it, so you should take me out, and we’ll see how fast I can catch up.”
Tony is smiling by the end of his little speech. “How are you always so good at that?” he asks.
“I was born like this,” Steve says seriously, only to crack a grin when Tony laughs.
“No you weren’t,” Tony argues. “You were born small and spiteful.”
“And full of good speeches. But no one wanted to listen to a little guy like me so I had to bottle them up to use on you.” He pauses and looks down at Tony. “Um, not to pressure you, but does a date sound good?”
Tony thinks about it for a moment. “Depends. Where are you going to take me?”
“Oh, am I taking you? You’re the billionaire, shouldn’t you be treating me?”
Tony’s eyes darken as he purrs, “Only if you’re very nice.”
Steve shivers. He hadn’t really thought about how it would feel to have the full Tony Stark Seduction TechniqueTM turned on him, but he’s thinking about it now and it is absolutely delightful. “What if I’m not nice at all?” he whispers, hands tightening on Tony’s.
Tony’s smile turns downright filthy and he leans up to brush a kiss over Steve’s cheek. “Hmm, I’ll think of something,” he murmurs into Steve’s ear.
He’s not going to act like a caveman and take Tony to bed. He’s not. He’s going to—“Sal’s!” he blurts out, immediately regretting it when Tony takes a step away, brow wrinkling confusedly. It’s really cute. Steve wants to kiss it away.
“What?”
“Sal’s,” Steve says again. “Best burgers in Brooklyn. I want to take you there.”
Tony smiles again. “Sounds like a date.”
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fnf-amateur-writing · 3 years
Note
Hello! Can I request a scenario where l Updike with an s/o who got kidnapped and now he has to go save them- if u feel uncomfortable with that you can just do general relationship headcanons for him!
Hey there, Anon. I'm cool with your prompt, no worries!
TW: Kidnapping and violence.
Updike finding out S/O was kidnapped
Everything was rather dull at work. Sure, dealing with anomalies can be cool, but it wears on Updike after a while. Everyday was starting to become nothing more than paperwork, keeping tabs on the freely roaming safer anomalies, and trying and failing to kill Whitmore. Fortunately, his lunch break finally started after a long and boring morning.
Once he readjusted his tie and tucked away his trusty gun in his pocket, he went on a near daily walk to a local cafe. To be honest, it wasn't all that boring, since he now got to be with you during his lunch breaks. About a month ago, you two found out that you took your breaks at the same time. The cafe was also conveniently in between your workplaces, allowing you to walk an equal distance.
Without any incidents or that pestering metal head, Updike made his last turn, with the cafe now being just two buildings down. Strangely, the police were also two buildings down, talking to an employee that Updike recognised in front of the prematurely closed cafe. Avoiding involvement, Updike quickly turned around, waiting until he out of sight of them before checking his phone. You were always there first, so you probably texted him a heads up, but his phone showed no new messages.
It was pretty annoying, but no big deal. He'll just go somewhere else, and maybe you'll be there too if he's lucky.
~~~
The phone next to him rings, whilst Updike sat alone in his office, showing the front desk receptionist's name. That was rather unusual; that number almost never calls him directly, so it was probably important enough to be an exception. "Updike speaking," he spoke in his monotone voice, which was in a tone that easily showed how he says that a dozen times a day.
"Mr. Updike, the police are requesting your presence outside."
Okay, now that was very unusual. Not that the police are here, they show up all the time whenever a case involves an anomaly. But for them to make him go outside, when they usually go up to see him or a collegue, was odd. And he had a clean record too, so it's not like they were going to arrest him.
"I'll be right there," he said. He felt somewhat stressed from the sudden request, so he went a faster pace to the lift--to which he almost pressed the wrong button. He and a cop quickly made eye contact the moment the lift opened, and he followed the man as he beckoned him outside.
"Now, I know you're busy, so I'll get right to the point," the officer says, pulling a phone from his pocket. "Do you recognise this phone and the owner of it?" Updike wish he could say no, but he couldn't; it was clearly your phone, except it now has a large crack on the screen. "Yes, it belongs to my partner. Their name is (Y/N) (L/N)." As clear as he made those sentences, his throat was sore from the dread.
"Sir, are you aware that they've been kidnapped."
... No.
~~~
Looking back at it, he wasn't sure how he kept calm the whole time as the police explained what had happened. Some man had taken you right in front of the cafe. It happened so quickly, that the witnesses didn't seem to notice anything wrong until it was too late. They contacted him when told by employees that he always sat at the same table as you.
As he rushed home, he didn't quite know what he felt. It was a mixture of sadness, anger, stress, and whatever the hell else that couldn't be named that made his hair grey. But he wasn't going home just to wait in misery until the police did something; he was going to look for some clues, as recommended by the authorities. He wasn't aware of any troubles you may have wih your family and friends, but he was informed that most kidnappings are done by people the victim knows, so he had to snoop around your stuff to see if he could find anything to report.
However, he almost slammed himself into his own front door when something else caught his attention: a plain white envelope taped to the door. There was no markings or writing on the outside, Updike noted as he took it for inspection, but he could tell it had a letter in it. Surely, it couldn't be a coincidence this showed up the same day you were taken.
As he went inside, closing the door behind him, he didn't take another step away from the door before tearing the letter open. Within the envelope was a typed letter, which had a clear message despite never mentioning you or Updike by name. Also made clear was that this was nobody you knew, nor was it an anomaly trying to spite him, but rather a particularly greedy criminal who took notice of who you were with.
The letter demanded an absurd amount of cash to be hand delivered, an amount that clearly overestimated even his own wealth. And if he brought anyone with him or brought a weapon, then you would be shot on the spot. Finally, he had until midnight to do so, too, adding onto the stress.
The stress started to become a bit much as his hair grew darker. He had no way of knowing whether the bastard was bluffing, but it wasn't worth trying to find out. But still, there didn't seem to be a good way out anyways. It felt like he was about to snap, feeling some sparks from his head and... a spark of an idea.
He went up a flight of stairs to a closet within the hallway. There wasn't anything remarkable about it's contents, but he took interest on one side, where some suitcases of his were stored. Only one of these was useful right now: a sleek metal suitcase he can't remember even using, but he remembered it being there. After grabbing the case, he ran back downstairs while neglecting to close the closet door.
Now, he wasn't going to place any money in it. No, nothing would be in it. But he had an idea, because maybe the guy didn't quite know who they decided to mess with.
~~~
Updike parked his car on the side of the road, getting out in the abandoned yet familiar area. It was a small part of the outskirts of the city that eventually lost it's population and was left to rot, which amazed him that it hasn't been torn down yet. The only people who regularly come here are the homeless and obnoxious teenagers with cameras who pretend that one of the buildings are haunted for internet clout. However, he does remember coming here too a long time ago to hunt down Whitmore a couple times.
The meeting place was a short walk away, having used to be a local library. The evening sky was getting darker by the minute, and the sun was near set behind Updike as he looked into the old library. As dark as it was, a light was barely visible from the entrance, partially blocked by empty bookshelves. With the case in hand, he walked through the shattered glass double doors and in between two of the shelves.
"I'm here."
The light across the library shifted and footsteps approached. The man looked as dodgy as he expected, except with a bit of a 1950's greaser look to him, and the gun the man held never pointed to anything but Updike. He placed the lantern onto the shelve and approached, saying "hand it over." Definitely not a negotiating type.
Time passed too slow, yet also too fast. Though he normally used his head, Updike had to channel what was within him elsewhere or else the man would shoot him seeing the thunder from his head. Hard, sure, but dong it for you was a pretty good motivator.
In three, two...
As soon as both hands were on the case's handle, Updike managed to give a hard zap through his hand. The case's material made it guaranteed it would shock him, and shock him very badly. He shouted at the sensation comparable to that of a taser, unable to pull the trigger before collapsing. Updike wasn't sure if he was conscious, but it didn't matter since he was already slamming the case into his face. Giving a man a free nose bleed such as this one was usually seen as too barbaric for Updike's taste, but damn it was satisfying.
He took the man's gun and briefly searched his pockets for anything else he might use as a weapon. He pocketed the lighter for the box of cigarettes he carried, since he might wake up and pull a fast one by burning the place down. And then there was a key, and not a usual key one would think of. In fact, Updike knew from the shape that it was meant to unlock a pair of handcuffs. It may be best if he took that as well.
"(Y/N)!" he called out, "are you there?" He made his way to the back, peeking into some rooms as he passed. He heard some sounds coming from nearby, causing him to peek through the old bathroom door. There you were, gagged with a cloth and both hands cuffed to a pipe beneath a sink. You were trying to say something, so he quickly worked the cloth off your mouth and let it fall under your chin. Upon closer inspection he now saw how disheveled you looked and that one of your eyes was black and swollen.
"G-GABRIEL!" you finally managed to scream before coughing from finally having your mouth to breathe through. "I thought you- I thought..." He hushed you before using the key he found on your cuffs, allowing you give him a much needed embrace. "Shhh, it's okay," he said as you cried, "I've dealt with him."
"Now," he picks you off the ground and carries you away from the dreaded building, "let's go. I have an interesting story for the cops."
Now for a surprise bonus ;)
Aftermath headcanons:
Unsurprisingly, you both took off work for a while.
Regardless of how well you can handle trauma, Updike WILL take you to a therapist. He's already got one booked, so you don't have a choice really.
For the first time in the relationship, Updike has been the one to initiate cuddles. He's also just as paranoid as you are, and has become somewhat clingy as a result.
When it was nearing the day you two would return to work, you discussed plans on preventing another incident. Though it may seem a bit far, you agreed on wearing a small tracking device clipped to your clothes until the fear wore off.
The forced therapy sessions did come with benefits for the future. When you eventually had to testify against your kidnapper in court, you felt more confident in your words and managed to tell them everything without a breakdown.
The man didn't stand a chance and earned himself several years in prison.
Finally, once you felt everything was behind you, you walked together to the cafe again. It was a nice cafe and it would be a shame if they stopped visiting.
Some of the regulars and employees recognised you two, and welcomed you back. And as you two sat in your usual spots with drinks on the house, you could finally say it was a pretty nice day with nothing to worry about.
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ahatintimepieces · 3 years
Text
Fabric Hearts
Remember the first part of that build-a-bear au I wrote for @smieska-draws? It’s back! But now the au name makes sense! Imagine!
Luka, known as the Snatcher to most of the mall locals, runs the Kraft-a-Kid while his daughter, Hattie, runs around with her friends. There’s definitely nothing suspicious about Luka. The rumors that he snatches the souls of children and stuffs them into the dolls are completely unfounded. Probably. Most likely. Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it’s fine.
This is, of course, another au that Smieska and I both developed and like to swap ideas for SO send her your love and adulation because I couldn’t have written this without her ;o; <333 Here’s the link to the piece she did for first part if you haven’t seen it yet (which u should because it’s fabulous and incredible). Without further ado, here it is!
Words: 4,131
The door squeaked open as Luka recorded the number of tiny, elastic collars with bright bells in the back.
“Dimitri can’t make it today,” he warned without looking up from his clipboard. His golden gaze flickered up towards the boxes filled with cotton stuffing and he quickly counted them as footsteps approached. “If you get a sudden influx of customers, come grab me.”
“It’s me, Dad,” Hattie’s voice came from right beside him.
“Did I stutter?” He glanced down without missing a beat. She gave him a deadpan stare as he grinned. His sharp canines glinted in the unnaturally bright florescent lights. “Come on, kiddo. How about you help me with my business endeavors instead of frittering away your summer romping around the mall?”
She readjusted the brim of the top hat she made from her millinery lessons at the fabric store. Why his child fixated on hat-making out of everything she could have taken an interest in was beyond him but even he had to admit her royal purple top hat was well crafted.
“I’m going with Belle and the others to get lunch at the food court,” she said, ignoring his jesting. “Can I have money?”
“You know if you had a job you wouldn’t need to be asking me,” he lamented dramatically before wedging the clipboard between his arm and side. He reached for his wallet in the back pocket of his slacks.
“I’m not even twelve.” She blinked up at him with large blue eyes. “There are child labor laws.”
“Excellent.” He nodded, opening his wallet. “Don’t let anyone in the mall convince you otherwise. But,” he slipped out a bill and gave her a pointed look, “if you accept this, you have to do me a favor.”
“I already cleaned the bathrooms last weekend,” she whined.
His grin widened.
“Tough luck, kiddo.” He twisted the bill in the air, watching her nose scrunch as she seriously weighed her options. After a second of letting her think that she was going to have to do her least favorite chore, he extended the bill towards her. “Just bring me back a coffee and I’ll consider us even.”
Relief instantly flooded her features as she took the bill.
“I can do that! Your usual?” She headed towards the door.
“That’ll work,” he said, tucking away his wallet and grabbing the clipboard again.
“Thanks, Dad!” she chirped before moving to open the door.
Just as she reached for it, the door swung open, and she stumbled back. Luka immediately dropped the clipboard and slipped behind her with the speed of shadows dodging the light. She smacked into his legs, and he placed a steadying hand on her shoulder as Alex walked in with wide eyes.
“I’m so sorry, kid! I didn’t see you there.” Alex winced, looking from Hattie to Luka’s hard glare.
“I’m fine!” Hattie promised, giving a bright smile until she placed her hand over Luka’s fingers. She jolted and twisted around. “Dad, are you okay? You’re really warm.”
“It is hot in here.” Alex tugged at their collar, wincing.
“The thermostat dial was probably nudged,” Luka dismissed, pulling away and stooping to grab the clipboard. “I’ll take a look.”
“Should I get you water?” Hattie asked.
“I have water. Now go have fun.” He shooed her towards the door. “The sooner you leave the sooner you can run my errand.”
Hattie hesitated but when he returned to his task of recording inventory, he heard her retreating footsteps.
“Sorry,” Alex muttered as they crossed over to the table for the employees. They dropped their backpack before grabbing the light purple apron with their nametag.
“Let’s just be careful with how forcefully we open doors, hm? I don’t want to deal with any workplace liability cases. They’re a pain.” Luka shot the teen a toothy grin. Glancing back down to the clipboard, he added in a more monotone cadence, “Anyway, Dimitri can’t come today, so once Ember leaves, it’ll just be you and me for the rest of the day. If it gets too crowded on the floor and I’m not around, come find me.”
“Right.” They nodded firmly. While wiping back their bangs and smearing the beads of sweat on their brow, they hurried out. Once the door closed behind them and Luka was alone, he let out a sigh.
The flame that had flared when Hattie nearly got hit crackled noisily in his otherwise empty chest. Luka placed one of his pale hands over the flame and counted out the seconds between metered inhales and exhales. The snap and pop of embers faded and when he glanced towards the thermostat, the temperature in the room lowered back to a comfortable range.
Not that he was bothered by the heat, but he didn’t need his employees passing out.
Ember’s shift ended as he got to counting the unstuffed plush shells. As she hung her apron over the hook, she informed him that two separate groups had just entered the store. Luka nodded, finishing his current count before getting ready to help Alex on the floor.
He brushed back his long, spiky hair into a ponytail. Stray strands the color of soot fluttered against his cheek, and he tucked them behind his ear.
They reflected a warm violet when they caught the light.
With his hair as contained as he could manage, he grabbed his own amethyst apron with the Kraft-a-Kid’s signature logo; a stylized baby goat and parent goat waving a friendly greeting. After draping it over his black suit and making sure it didn’t displace his dark purple tie, he tied the apron with nimble fingers, clawed at the tips. He double-checked that the pocket had extra thread and a compact sewing kit before he clipped on his name tag and headed out into the workshop.
Alex snapped their head up from one of the stuffing stations, looking relieved when they spotted Luka rounding the counter. Alex returned their full attention to the small girl and her mother while Luka smiled at the two teens with a younger child hovering by the bins of unstuffed shells by the entrance.
While he didn’t know them personally, he recognized Brooke and her younger sister Hali, who worked (or in Hali’s case just hovered around in the back when not at daycare) at their uncle’s travel agency, and then Makoto, who worked at the jewelry store. Judging from their uniforms, the teens were probably using their breaks to accompany Hali. Since he often heard good things about their work ethic and Hali’s sweet nature from Mari, he assumed he had an easy session ahead. He waved them over.
Brooke and Makoto shared a nervous look while Hali bounded over with a bright smile.
“Why, hello there!” Luka pasted on his most vibrant customer service smile as he lowered onto the seat by the stuffing station. Cotton and soft fibers filled the glass tank decorated to look like hearty trees and branches climbed around the edges. The machine itself matched the lilac walls and brown and bronze gears that decorated them. The bins and shelves that held the merchandise throughout the store were all structured to look like spools of golden thread.
Holding an unstuffed goat with dark brown fuzz and silver horns, Hali shyly smiled up at Luka as Brooke and Makoto slowly joined.
“I see you’ve picked your new friend!” Luka held out his hands and Hali gingerly lowered the flat goat into his palms. “Before we bring them to life, how stuffed do you want them to be?”
“Um?” Hali tilted her head with a blank expression.
“Do you want them to be firm or squishy?” Luka clarified, fitting the goat around the nozzle and getting his foot ready over the pedal.
“Fiwm, pwease!” Hali declared in a cutesy voice.
“Excellent choice!” Luka set to work, pumping the pedal as he filled out the head of the goat plush. The machine roared to life, blowing air and fluff with the force of a vacuum. Though, his ears perked when he caught Brooke and Makoto in an intense discussion as they remained a couple steps back. What he couldn’t hear over the machine, he pieced together easily enough.
He knew the rumors and could guess what was on their mind when they mentioned the Snatcher and stolen souls.
Luka smirked as he pulled his foot from the pedal and the machine hushed.
“Now it’s time for my favorite part.” He beamed, pulling off the firmly stuffed goat and then reaching for a bucket full of small felt hearts. “The soul ceremony! Go ahead and pick the heart that most resonates with you.”
“If it’s just a heart, why is it called a soul ceremony?” Brooke asked, her voice quivering as she pressed closer to Makoto.
Hali, meanwhile, was completely enraptured with picking out the right fabric heart.
“Hearts, souls, same thing, really,” Luka soothed with a toothy grin, giving the teens a considering look.
Makoto’s gaze flickered down to his fangs. She lifted her chin, trying to project an air of confidence. But her furrowed brows wavered.
“Souws awe heawts?” Hali gasped, looking up with awe.
“Absolutely!” Luka kept his voice cheerful, gesturing to the bucket. “It’s what gives your new friend life! I imagine without one, they would feel pretty empty and hollow.” Keeping his chin tilted down, he lifted his eyes towards the teens and lowered his voice just a touch. “Wouldn’t you feel pretty soulless without a heart?”
The two stiffened.
“Pwobabwy!” Hali chirped, completely unaware of their increasing unease. She dug around the hearts and pursed her lips. “How do woo know which heawt is the best?”
“That’s up to you!” Luka bounced effortlessly back into an upbeat cadence. He pinched a heart with a checkerboard pattern in red and white. “The nice thing about these hearts is that they’re blank slates. They’ll be filled with whatever you put into them. But don’t put in too much!” he added with a chuckle. “Wouldn’t want your new friend to be more you than you!”
Brooke squeaked in fright and his grin stretched.
“I wiwl take this one, then!” Hali held up a solid red heart.
“Great! Hold on to it, now.” Luka placed the tub back down. “First, why don’t you rub the heart on your hair so your little buddy will always have soft fur!”
Hali beamed at that and rubbed the fabric heart on her hair. When she pulled it back down, some of the blond strands followed the heart while the strands too far away stuck up from the lingering static.
“Well done! Now, rub it against your funny bone so your friend has a sense of humor.” Luka tapped his elbow when Hali crinkled her nose for a moment. Her eyes lit up in understanding and once the heart was granted good humor, Luka added, “and why don’t you strike a superhero pose, so that your pal will hold courage.”
Hali giggled as she placed her hands on her hips and preened.
“Fantastic. Lastly, I want you to rub the heart between your palms!” Luka motioned for her to mimic him as he demonstrated. “Now, when it’s nice and warm, give it a clap to start its heartbeat!”
The clap resounded through the workshop and the teens jolted behind her.
“That should do it,” Luka praised, holding out his palm. Hali handed the heart over, and he slipped it into the goat, tucking it snuggly away in the cotton and fluff.
He then set to filling out the rest of the plush. Once it was stiff and sturdy, he handed it to her, asking if she was content with it. When he received an enthusiastic nod, he took it back and sealed the hole. He snipped the extra thread with the scissors in his apron and then passed the goat back to Hali.
“Here’s your new friend! Be sure to visit our shop in the back! We have plenty of accessories and outfits for the newest member of your family,” Luka recited the same sales pitch as always. “Once you’re ready, head over to an open kiosk so you can fill out the adoption papers. If you need any help, Alex or I will be overjoyed to assist.”
“Thank woo!” Hali hurried over to the accessories, hugging the goat to her chest.
Luka clasped his hands and turned to the teens. When his gaze flickered to the floppy hooded doll in Makoto’s arms, her embrace tightened.
“Ready?” He motioned for her to hand it over so that he could stuff it.
She looked to Brooke, who shrugged with uncertainty. Makoto stepped forward.  
Keeping his tone light, he went through the same script as always. He asked if she wanted the doll to be firm or squishy and, in an effort to loosen her up a bit, offered to add any fun sound boxes or scents to the plush. She remained on edge until he asked about the nametag on her uniform as the machine roared to life again. She explained how her boss liked to give everyone themed nicknames and she was saddled with “Makoneko.” When he asked if she appreciated the nickname, she pointedly rolled her eyes as he removed his foot from the machine pedal again. Her shoulders relaxed when he chuckled.
“Your turn to pick a heart,” Luka twittered in an overly cheerful voice as he held out the bucket.
“Do I have to do the ceremony?” Makoto hesitated, plucking the first heart she saw. Rather than scared, her bored expression mirrored that of many teens who wanted to skip the step.
Perfect.
“I wouldn’t recommend it.” He shrugged casually. “What is a heart without a heartbeat? A soul without a person behind the personality?”
“What?” She faltered, shoulders slowly stiffening again as Brooke’s eyes widened.
“I only mean it’ll be a sorry existence for this little friend.” Luka waved the stubby hands of the purple plush toy. “And you get out what you put in.” Her brows dipped in slight confusion, and he smirked. “You have to at least start its heartbeat. You don’t want to bring a ghost home, do you?”  
“Just do the ceremony!” Brooke hissed through clenched teeth.
“F-fine,” Makoto said, slowly lifting the heart to her long black locks. “So, hair for soft fur?”
“Does it look like this one has fur?” Luka gestured to the doll with the yellow spiral in its hood. He scoffed, turning up his nose. “Of course not! No. First, why don’t you rub the heart against your belly so that it’s full of laughter.”
“I thought that was the elbow.” Makoto crinkled her nose. Though she rubbed the heart against her stomach, eager to get it over with.
“There is a difference between telling good jokes and laughing at them, kiddo,” Luka offered with a smirk. “Now, how about you jump up and down a few times? I’m sure your friend would love to share some of your energy.”
“What does that mean?” She jolted.
“Just that exercise keeps the heart healthy,” Luka said placidly.
Her eyes narrowed but she eventually gave a sluggish skip.  
“Then, rub it against your ear, so it will always listen.” He smiled brightly, being sure to bare his teeth. Once she complied, he clasped his hands together. “I’m sure you know what to do now! Warm it between your palms and then clap to start the heartbeat!”
She let out the breath that she had been holding, relieved it was finally over. She gave a small clap before passing the heart back. He slipped it into the doll.
“Any names in mind for your friend?” Luka prompted as his foot tapped the pedal.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled curtly, purposefully trying to let the whirling air in the stuffing machine drown out her answer.
“How’s this feel?” he asked a few seconds later when the machine hushed again. He pulled the doll from the nozzle and passed it back to her.
“Good.” She returned it after assessing the squishiness.
“If you haven’t got any names, I always thought these particular dolls looked like minions,” he prattled, closing the seam. When she didn’t respond, he continued lightly, “so Minion might be a good name.” He glanced up to meet her gaze and lowered his tone. “You did make sure it’ll listen. It’ll be an obedient little kiddo.”
Her breath hitched.
“Obedient to who?” she challenged, maintaining a fragile glare.
“All done!” Luka snapped upright after snipping the excess thread, pretending he hadn’t heard her question. “Welcome your friend into the world!”
Makoto accepted the doll, her gaze flickering between it and Luka with uncertainty.
“Same as always,” he droned in his peppy, customer service voice. “Browse to your contentment. My daughter recommends the plush purple cherries. You want to keep your buddy happy and fed! Make sure to finalize the adoption and meet Alex or I by the counter.” He glanced over to find the other young girl with her mother already at the cash register. “Looks like it’ll be Alex!”
Makoto nodded numbly as Brooke stepped forward and looped her arm through hers, rescuing Makoto by tugging her away.
“One more thing,” Luka began, keeping his eyes on his clean-up routine. The teens’ footsteps paused as they hovered. Though his smile laced his voice, his enunciation was sharp. “I’m sure the Snatcher doesn’t have to tell you but be sure to treat your new friend as you would yourself. You put your soul into bringing them to life, after all.”
The teens gasped.
“Have a good day, kids.” Laughter laced his voice.
They rushed away as he chuckled.
While he finished cleaning up, Hattie returned with her friends. As soon as she spotted him behind the stuffing machine, she rushed across the tiles decorated to look vaguely like a forest path.
“Here’s your coffee,” she chirped, holding up the cup.
“Any plans for the rest of the day?” he asked, pushing to his feet and picking stray fluff from his apron. Once he was as clean as he was going to get, he accepted the drink. He held it towards his lips, pausing to quirk a brow at young Muriel and Timmy as they passed the stuffing machines to check out all the colorful outfits. Belle, meanwhile, joined Hattie with her azure bow bouncing in her dark coils.
“We’re going to head to the bookstore.” Hattie shrugged. “Tim’s friend is hosting a card game tournament.”
“Remember to be back by six,” he instructed. “Don’t go snacking after four or you’ll spoil your dinner.”
“I know, Dad,” she huffed dramatically.
“Also, Mom says hi, Mr. Kingsley,” Belle pipped in.
“Tell Mari I return the sentiment. Now get your friends to stop loitering.” He turned back towards Hattie and rose his voice so Timmy and Mu could hear. “They scare away customers.”
“Says the Snatcher,” Timmy whispered to Mu.
Luka covered his smirk with the coffee cup. His gaze shifted over Hattie and Belle and he watched as Makoto and Brooke fled the store at a brisk pace. Hali struggled to keep up, but she managed to meet his eyes and offered a cheerful wave.
“Fine,” Hattie sighed. “Come on, guys!”
“I need to stop by Mom’s before we head to the bookstore,” Belle mentioned as she and Hattie turned to leave. “I left my cards with my backpack.”
As the girls left, Luka turned to head back towards the counter, taking a sip of his coffee. He immediately winced.
“Ugh, tepid,” he grumbled as Timmy and Mu ran past, hurrying out to follow Hattie and Belle.
After making sure the kids all had their backs turned and Alex was busy with something on the counter, Luka summoned a gentle ember to his hand. While the flame harmlessly licked the cup, the coffee warmed inside until steam wafted from the hole in the lid. He took a tentative sip and swallowed the scalding liquid.
The flames in his chest crackled and popped, and the knots in his shoulders eased.
He snuffed out the ember in his hand as he lowered the cup. Mist trailed from the lid as the coffee maintained its heat.
“I think you scarred those two for life,” Alex muttered as Luka returned to the counter.
“Which two?” he asked, mind still on Hattie and her friends.
“Brooke and Makoto.” Alex glanced up, shaking their head with a scolding expression.
“I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary,” Luka said calmly. He leaned against the counter, sipping his coffee during his momentary break. “If those hooligans are letting their imaginations run wild, it’s not on my conscience.”
“Uh-huh.” Alex gave him an unimpressed look. “Also, I think we’re running low on the beach ball accessories.”
“I noticed,” Luka muttered, swirling his cup pensively. “Those aren’t particularly popular, and we are getting near the end of the season…”
While they discussed whether they needed to send out an order or if they would make it until the fall selection came out, Hattie rolled on the balls of her feet as she, Timmy, and Mu waited for Belle to return from her mom’s flower shop just across from Kraft-a-Kid. Hattie idly watched all the mallgoers, thoughts blank, but Timmy and Mu had their eyes locked on Kraft-a-Kid, thoughts whirling noisier than the stuffing machines.
“Okay, I’m ready!” Belle announced as she bounced out with her deck of cards.
“Hattie.” Timmy whirled around. “Your dad’s magic!”
“Timmy, he doesn’t steal souls, we’ve been over this,” Hattie whined, crossing her arms.
“If he doesn’t steal souls, then what’s with his coffee?” Mu snapped, nodding her head towards the display window where Luka could be seen leaning against the counter inside the workshop.
Hattie squinted, trying to figure out what was out of place with the steaming coffee cup. After a moment, she turned to Belle, who shrugged.
“It’s hot!” Mu gestured wildly, causing her blond mustache to bob with her movement. “Look at that steam!”
Hattie blinked in disbelief.
“Yeah,” Belle supplied dryly. “Because Hattie ordered it hot.”
“But he said it was tepid!” Timmy argued. “We heard him!”
“He probably thinks it is,” Hattie said, knitting her brows together. “He likes his coffee hot enough to burn his tastebuds.”
“You aren’t getting it!” Mu huffed. “It wasn’t steaming when he said it was cold!”
“Okay, but even if he somehow heated it up, that didn’t have anything to do with stealing souls,” Belle appeased.
“That’s what we mean!” Timmy urged. “If he can use one type of magic, he can use others!”
“I regret the day I told you about those rumors,” Hattie grumbled.
It didn’t matter as much when strangers said it, but instead of laughing with Hattie when she told them that people thought her dad was some kind of heartless, soul-snatching monster, Mu and Timmy had latched onto the conspiracy and ever since refused to let go. She couldn’t talk about new product plushies or designs around them anymore because they would just start a debate about which shell would best hold the souls of children.
“Look can we just get going?” She started walking in the direction of the bookstore and Belle matched her pace. Mu hurried to catch up as Timmy trailed behind, keeping a watchful eye on Kraft-a-Kid.
“Are you sure you haven’t seen anything weird?” Mu insisted. “Heard any screams of children he caught? Seen any dolls move in the corner of your eye?”
“You know he laughs like a cartoon villain?” Timmy added.
“The store is literally called Kraft-a-Kid!” Mu continued. “Open your eyes, Hattie!”
“Kid is just another word for baby goat!” Belle argued. “It’s cute!”
“We aren’t talking about this anymore!” Hattie snapped, tugging down on the brim of her hat. She turned away from them and focused on Belle. “So, what deck are you using? The one with fairy types? Or your cat themed one?”
“Both!” She grinned mischievously as she happily helped to redirect the conversation. “I combined them because I wanted to use all my favorites. How about you?”
“Going with the forest deck.” Hattie glanced up, where her deck was safely tucked away in the hidden compartment she stitched into the top hat.
Timmy and Mu huffed, letting their argument go as they pipped in with talking about their own decks. But it was only a matter of time before they started back on their theories about her dad’s supposed magic. Trying not to deflate too much, she kept her eyes forward. She swallowed her frustration and focused on the upcoming tournament.
Besides, even if her dad did have magic and only used it for heating up coffee, it hardly seemed something a heartless monster would do.
Right?
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halloweenhoneylover · 3 years
Text
the struggle bus
summary: spencer is the kindest human alive, which makes things tough for the reader :/ (spencer reid x fem!reader)
word count: 5.3k (a doozy kinda!)
warnings: i guess angst, but really just idiots in love (my fav trope). reader is kind of a hot mess. also, mention of overdose via multivitamin.
author’s note: hi, it’s been approx 4000 years since i last posted, but it’s just because i have no concept of ‘efficiency’ or ‘speed.’ but it’s okay. some of this is good, some of this is eh, make of that what you will. also, this is supposed to be #funny sometimes so uhhhh, keep that in mind. ALSO, the title is majorly stupid, but it was the title of the google doc, and i couldn’t think of anything else......anyways, love u!
For once, the bullpen was quiet.
Spencer was immersed in some case file, doing some work that you should have probably been doing as well, but it was approaching the late hours of the night, and you would barely be able to keep your eyes open if you came even close to trying to read or write. Your desks were situated against each other, so you shifted your gaze across the small divider to him. His sharp features were softened in the lamplight, a sight that tugged on your heartstrings, and you took a moment to just look at him. Most everyone else was gone or was too focused on getting their work done to pay attention to your reverie. Derek, if he were here, would dub you as ‘lovesick’ and shoot mischievous smirks and wiggling eyebrows in your direction, but luckily for you, he was not. Twisting carelessly in your chair with your feet propped on the desk, you chewed absentmindedly on a pen, lost deep in thought. “Hey, Spencer?”
“Yeah?” He continued scribbling on the file without so much as a glance towards you, but that was perfectly fine by you, more time for not-creepy staring.
“How many of my vitamins do you think I could eat before I died?”
At this, he furrowed his brow and neatly laid his pen down.
“That depends on what vitamin you’re taking. If you’re talking about iron supplements, the limit is somewhere around 20mg of elemental iron per kilogram of body weight. Any more than that will have incredibly unpleasant side effects like abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, rapid breathing, and coma. However, if you’re talking about Vitamin C, it’s virtually impossible to overdose, but you might get a bad headache if you supersede 2000 mg.”
“Okay, what about my gummy vitamins?”
He narrowed his eyes at you. “While it still depends on what vitamins are included, eating a whole bottle of your typical multivitamin could easily result in death.”
You mulled this over. “So, I should definitely not go home and eat the rest of my gummy vitamins tonight?”
Spencer chuckled, “I’m not a medical doctor, but yes, I’d recommend that you don’t do that.”
Tossing your head back and letting out a small groan, you protested, “But Spencer, my gummy vitamins taste so good! And I have no food at home, so I guess I either die by overdose on gummy multivitamins or starvation.”
He couldn’t help but grin at your melodrama. It could be 12:06 in the morning, and you could still somehow make him laugh. He was starting to understand that he was in too deep, but he also had the startling realization that he didn’t mind drowning if it was in you. 
“You’ve got quite the predicament on your hands there, (Y/N). Maybe you should go grocery shopping with me the next time I suggest it, so you don’t end up in this situation again.”
“Oh my god, dude!” you moaned. “I told you I was actually busy; I had to take Oscar to the vet for his vaccines! I try to be a good mother to my dog, and you know I’m not an anti-vaxxer. I’d never decline time with my favorite guy without a good reason.”
Spencer’s heart was doing somersaults at the thought of him being your favorite guy. He’d won plenty of awards and medals in his lifetime, but somehow, none of those measured up to the accomplishment of being your favorite. Pride and butterflies boiled in his stomach. 
“Alright, fine, I’ll let it slide this time.”
You snorted, “I appreciate your unmatched benevolence, Dr. Reid.” Locking eyes with him, you tried to dampen the lava flow of heat in your chest that erupted when he looked at you with the softest expression you’d ever seen, but you failed miserably. You had to clear your throat and look away; it was becoming all too much. “Hey, I’m gonna run to the restroom. Don’t leave without me!”
As you dashed away, a thought crossed Spencer’s mind, and he stood up and set off down the opposite hallway.
You returned a few minutes later to an empty bullpen which made you frown, and your heart sank. You had thought he was going to wait, but guess not. Sighing, you tried to not let it sting too badly when you noticed a light on in JJ’s office. You knocked and pushed the already ajar door with a quick hello? before being met with an exhausted-looking JJ.
“Hey, (Y/N). I thought everyone had left by now.”
“Nope, not quite yet,” you replied, offering a weak smile. JJ noticed and wrote it off as fatigue. “You didn’t happen to see Spencer leave a couple minutes ago, did you?”
“Uh, no, I thought he’d gone too.”
“Hm, okay, thanks anyway!”
You prepared to leave, but she stopped you, cocking her head. “Why do you ask? Is he still here?”
Leaning your head against the doorframe, you sighed. “I’m not sure. He was here when I went to the bathroom, but he wasn’t at his desk when I came back. I’m a little disappointed. We always walk out together because we’re both afraid of the parking garage at night.”
A grin simmered on JJ’s face at that fact. “Well, I could walk you out if you’d like?”
“Nah, that’s okay; I don’t want to bother you.”
There was something behind JJ’s eyes you couldn’t identify as she replied, “Alright, then. Just let me know if you change your mind.” She definitely wasn’t thinking about how you didn’t want her intruding on a you-and-Spencer tradition. Not that she minded! She’d been rooting for you both since the minute you’d stepped into the BAU, and Spencer had looked like he was about ready to melt into the floor at the sight of such a pretty girl.
“Thanks, Jayje.”
Dragging your feet a little, you made your way back to your desk to gather your things, trying to fend off the disappointment. You had gotten your jacket on and were about to pick up your bag when you heard a (Y/N)! from down the hall. Well, that was certainly not JJ. Hesitantly, you called out, “Spencer?”
He finally emerged with his arms loaded with...something, you couldn’t discern what in the dim light. His face lit up like the Vegas strip when he saw you. “(Y/N)! I didn’t want you starving or eating all of your vitamins, so I went down to the vending machine and got you a couple snacks!” Arriving at his desk, he dropped the various bags and packets on his desk, and your eyes widened immensely.
“A couple? Dude, did you buy out the whole machine?”
Slightly breathless from his quick jog back, he waved a dismissive hand. “It was nothing. And hey, look!” He picked up a bag. “Fruit snacks! Just like your vitamins, but without the part where you get really sick.”
You were astonished, to say the least. And minorly speechless too, as evidenced by your mouth that was gaping like a fish. “Spencer...this is so nice. You really didn’t have to.”
“Don’t worry about it; I’m sure you would’ve done the same for me.”
At that, your face nearly split in two, and he mirrored your grin. You thought you might pass out at his kindness, and you knew you’d be thinking about this every day for the next two weeks at least. Your expression then turned mischievous, as you tried to tamp down all of the warmth bubbling in your stomach. “Do you want to help me try to fit all this in my bag?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
——— 
Garcia had been practicing her ukulele peacefully when she got the call.  (Well, ‘peacefully’ might have been a stretch as she had threatened to smash the object on her coffee table when she simply could not get the finger picking pattern she’d practiced for what seemed like hours, but it was supposed to be a relaxing hobby, so yes, it was peaceful.) Huffing a sigh of relief when the caller ID said [(Y/N/N)!!] with the longest stream of heart emojis and not [hotch >:( ], she picked up with her usual air of cheer. “What can I do ya for, my loveliest, most bewitching—”
She was cut off abruptly by the sounds of your horrible, heart-wrenching sobs, and her brows furrowed in concern. “Oh no, my sweet! What’s wrong?” She had to wait a few moments for your tears to calm (somewhat) while you tried to wrangle in your breath, so you could form some sort of sentence.
“Penny!”—gasp—“Oh my God,”—hiccup—“it looks so bad!” With your last word, you tumbled into incoherent bawling once again.
“Dear, what looks so bad?” She held her phone between her ear and her shoulder as she began to gather up her things. Whatever was wrong, it was clear you needed some good, old-fashioned Garcia TLC, and she was ready to give it.
The sniffling subsided minorly, and you choked out, “Remember when we were talking the other day, and I mentioned that my hair had gotten a little too long for my liking?” Oh no, Garcia could see where this was going. “Well, I figured I’d spend our evening off getting my hair cut, and I went to that new hairdresser, and oh Penelope, it looks awful. I don’t think I can ever go out in public again.” With that, your tears resumed.
“Darling, you know I’ve been where you are, and I know it seems bad right now, but everything will be fine. Let me grab my scissors and I’ll be over faster than you can say, ‘Penny, I love you so much, you truly are my fairy godmother.’”
You paused before whispering into the phone, “Penelope, I do love you so much, and you are my fairy godmother. But please, hurry.”
And hurry, she did.
Garcia was knocking on your door a little over five minutes later, which was incredibly suspicious because she lived at least 10 minutes away on a good day, but in the state of your disarray, you were not inclined to care. She sat you down on the toilet in your bathroom, whipping out her hair care set (she had definitely spent a significant amount of time dabbling in cosmetology, and it was desperate times like this when it came in handy). Squeezing your eyes shut through most of it, she snipped here and there, trying to make the best of this...horribly atrocious cut (seriously, that hairdresser should be sued), and when she was finished, it was not as bad as when they started, but it still wasn’t great. The rest of the evening was spent watching cheesy rom-coms and baking in an attempt to get your mind off of your hair.
Everything was mostly fine until the next morning, when you realized you’d have to go into work like this, and as terrifying as that prospect was in a normal work environment, you also worked in a place with an abnormal amount of hot people. (And you happened to be developing feelings for one of those hot people, but your brain was insistent upon ignoring that for the time being.)
Already anticipating your worries, Penelope had sent a text without your knowledge to a BAU group chat that excluded you (she had one of these for every member, it just made surprise birthday party planning so much easier).
[penelope :)] please DO NOT MENTION (Y/N)’S HAIR!!!! she got a bad haircut and she feels really terrible about it and doesn’t want to think about it so do not talk about it!!!
[jennifer!] Oh, no! :( Lips are sealed!
[rossi ;)] rip.
Emerging from the elevator in the nicest work outfit you own (an attempt to distract from the monstrosity), you scurried to Garcia’s lair before anyone could see you. Once inside, you slammed the door shut, and leaning against it, you slid down and covered your face with the files in your hands. “Pennyyyyy,” you moaned. “I don’t think I can do this!”
She swiveled to face you with a look of empathy. “Sugar, I know you can. It—it doesn’t even look that bad!” But Garcia was a horrible liar, and if looks could kill, she would have been dead instantaneously. 
Heaving yourself up off the floor, you came to sit in the seat next to her. “Can’t I just work in here today? And maybe for the rest of time?”
“You know I would love that, but those other lovely people on our team need you! Especially the young doctor, you know he’d be lonely without you.”
As if her mention had summoned him, Reid opened the door to their secret meeting, files in hand, and your eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets. Garcia stared at him very intensely, attempting to telepathically tell him to not mention the hair, and you looked like a deer in the headlights, trying to figure out a way to hide yourself from him and possibly the entire universe. And poor Reid shifted his gaze between the two of you, helplessly confused as to what he had walked into. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Uh, no!” Garcia said in the least convincing manner.
“Okay,” he responded, not convinced in the slightest. “I just came to give you some files from Hotch.” So, he handed Garcia the papers and then turned to leave when you caught his eye. 
And because he was not the greatest with technology, Spencer had not checked his phone that morning…. Meaning he had not seen Garcia’s text. So he looked at you a moment and cocked his head. “Your hair looks really nice today, (Y/N). Did you get it cut?”
This time, it was Garcia’s turn to glare (because read your texts, dammit!), and you fumbled for a response. As you scanned his face, searching for a sign that he was lying, that he was just saying something to make you feel better, you came up empty. He was telling the truth. He genuinely thought your hair looked nice. “Um, uh—yeah. Yeah, I did. Thanks for noticing.”
“You’re welcome.” He offered you a smile, which you returned easily (a fact that surprised you). “See you.” Retreating from the office because the vibes in there were weird, he shut the door, finally leaving you and Garcia alone again. 
You were reeling.
You thought about when you had gotten dressed that morning, and you had entertained each outfit with great scrutiny, trying to come up with something that might draw attention away from your hair. In that half hour you’d spent, you had realized that you didn’t really mind looking bad in front of Morgan or Emily or Hotch or really anyone on the team. Almost anyone. With an increasing amount of discomfort, you had realized you didn't want to look bad in front of Spencer. Of course, he’d never judge you, but you wanted to look good for him. For your best friend.
And he told you your hair looked nice.
You smiled to yourself.
Garcia turned to you with a look of shock on her face. Had that been anyone else, she was sure you would have curled up in a ball beneath her desk and would not have left until every single other person had left the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but you hadn’t, and she smirked.
Oh, she knew where this was going.
——— 
To put it lightly, it had not been the best of mornings. 
It seemed that everything that could’ve gone wrong did, so you burst past the glass doors of the BAU six minutes late with a coffee-covered shirt, mud-stained pants, soggy shoes, and a most miserable attitude. Hotch, while a sympathetic man, was still your boss with rules to follow and when you stumbled into the bullpen, gave a pointed stare between you and the clock, and you nodded sullenly. You understood his silent admonition, but knowing that he was even slightly disappointed in you, made your knees want to buckle. Swallowing around the slug in your throat, you set your bag down beside your chair and noticed a foreign object sitting on your desk. Interest thoroughly piqued, you reached forward to find it was a book with a satin ribbon tied on it.
It truly was a beautiful book with a deep crimson hardcover and the kind of deckled edges that you loved. Running your fingers along the rough-hewn pages, you finally noted the title, and you gasped. Beloved by Toni Morrison. Your favorite. The cursive words curved in black on the cover to match the ribbon, and you carefully traced the curling letters, wondering where this gorgeous book could have come from.
In the desk across from yours, Spencer watched the scene in front of him with a grin. He couldn’t help but feel pleased at the look of awe on your face as you inspected the book with careful fingers and a gentle gaze, and his heart swelled more and more the longer he looked. “Did you know that Margaret Garner, the woman the character Sethe is based on, her trial was used as part of an effort to dismantle the Fugitive Slave Act?” Your eyes flickered up to meet his, and those stupid freaking butterflies erupted in the pit of your stomach as you realized who had gifted you the book. “The presiding judge didn’t accept her lawyer’s argument that the act violated the right to religious freedom, but it was still somewhat of a turning point in the movement to strike down the law.”
“I did not know that, but thank you. For the fact and the book.”
“You’re welcome.” He had to avert his eyes from your strong gaze because he thought he might melt otherwise.
“Please don’t misinterpret this as me being ungrateful because I’m so, so thankful, but why?”
He shrugged, “I was just in the book store, and it made me think of you.” No, he didn’t keep an eye out specifically for this book on his weekly trip to the bookstore by his apartment after you had briefly mentioned your love of Ms. Morrison’s metaphors. And he definitely didn’t ask the owner Alice if she would let him know if she ever got any new copies.
Frankly, you were at a loss for words. Combing back through your conversations with him, you tried to remember when you had talked about the book, but you couldn’t come up with anything other than a couple words tossed briefly here and there. Suppose it wasn’t really the fact that he had heard, but the fact that he had listened. He listened and remembered things about you, little things tucked in the back of his brain, and it was how he thought about you even when you weren’t around. So, you clutched the book to your chest tightly as if it could meld with your heart and let your thoughts rage with the implications for a minute before smothering your mushy grin and tucking the book into your bag.
(Later, you pulled it out on your ride home on the metro. Spencer had already gotten off at his stop a few minutes before, so you took this moment of solitude to revel in the glory of your new gift. Every time you smoothed a hand over the cover, your mind was overwhelmed with what-ifs. What if he felt the same? What if his stomach rumbled with the same butterflies when you looked at him? What if this means he likes you as more than…. And abruptly, you were doused in doubt once again, muzzling those dangerous, rearing hypotheticals. This was a path that would only lead to disappointment.
Those thoughts only got worse when you read his inscription, though:
Dear (Y/N/N),
I hope you find great joy in reacquainting yourself with the graces of Ms. Morrison’s elegant prose in this new copy. I was inspired by your praise and read this classic again, and I can say that I definitely understand your veneration of her story-telling. Hopefully, we can discuss it soon, so I can try to see all of the details that you so admire. You are always much better at appreciating the finer things in life.
She says that, “something that is loved is never lost.”
I hope you know that you will never be lost to me.
Sincerely,
Spencer
(P.S. I wrote this in pencil, so you can erase and have the clean copy you wanted.)
You would never erase it.)
——— 
“Hey, are you alright?”
You sat at your desk with your head in your hands. Your responding “no” came out muffled. 
Spencer frowned and sat on the edge of your desk. “Is there anything I can help with?”
Running your hands over your face, you finally met his gaze. His eyes were soft as they searched your own, and the expression on his face was not of pity or frustration but empathy, and of course, he was just being his sweet self. Your eyes watered in response, and his heart clenched at the sight. You shifted your eyes somewhere else, anywhere else. “Uh, no.”
It was clearly a lie.
Furrowing his brows at your obfuscation, he scanned your face for any indication of what might be the problem. A small sigh. He came up with nothing. “Alright,” he conceded hesitantly. “May I ask what is wrong?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
You stared down at the files neatly ordered on your desk, trying to mentally shoo him away with the sheer force of your willpower alone. But Spencer Reid was a stubborn man, and you knew this, and you also knew he wasn’t leaving until he knew you were alright. So, you both sat in the silence of the bullpen that only accompanied the arrival of midnight. The glow of your lamp bathed the vicinity in a warm yellow, and the tick of the nearby clock rattled around your chest as you attempted fruitlessly to subdue your incessant thoughts. He was close enough that you could hear the soft susurration of his exhales as his eyes flitted about the room to give you some sort of breathing room, and you shut yours for a moment to appreciate this moment of peace before the inevitable catastrophe to follow.
“I’m—uh, not okay.”
Finally turning back to you with a mildly surprised expression (he didn’t expect you to say anything so soon. Or so bluntly.), he offered you one of his signature tight-lipped smiles as encouragement to continue.
“I’m kind of really struggling…” you trailed off, gaze empty, ensnared in your thoughts.
Ever the gentleman with persistence that could last a thousand years, he gently prompted, “With…?”
A strong gulp and eyes squeezed shut. “With you.”
Well, that was not the answer Spencer was expecting. He felt like he’d had the wind knocked out of him, and he was hollow and shaken and in pain. Gaping, he fumbled hopelessly for an answer, trying to find some reason you could be upset with him. He had always thought you two were the best of friends; he’d never doubted that before. How could he have missed this?
Swallowing hard against the lump in his throat, he strained to ask, “Uh—um, what—what did I do?”
Upon witnessing his struggle, you quickly amended your previous statement. “No, no, no, no, no! I’m not mad at you, well, I kind of am, but you don’t need to feel bad, it’s not your fault.”
“I’m not really sure what to make of that.”
You huffed a sigh and covered your face with your hands in a poor attempt to try to hide the blush rapidly coloring your cheeks. “I’m sorry, I just—you’re so nice!”
Now Spencer was really confused. “You’re mad at me...because you think I’m nice?”
“Yes, Spencer! You’re so nice, and it makes me incredibly frustrated. You see this?” You picked up a book from your desk and waved it frantically. A little intimidated by your crazed look, he nodded timidly. “Do you recognize this book?”
“It’s a special edition of Beloved by Toni Morrison.”
“It’s the special edition of my favorite book that you bought for me because you know how much I love this book.”
Spencer looked like a deer in the headlights. “You always said that your book at home was so messy with your annotations and that a fresh copy would have been nice.”
“You didn’t even buy it for my birthday or a special occasion! You just saw it in the store and said that you thought of me and had to buy it. That’s so unbelievably thoughtful! Not to mention the fact that I can barely look at fruit snacks now without tearing up. And—and the other day! When I got my haircut, I hated it, but I came in the next day, and you were the first person to tell me you liked it. You weren’t even lying to make me feel better; I’m a profiler, and I know that you were telling the truth. And it took no effort or thought because Spencer, you are the most kind-hearted and compassionate and generous person I’ve ever met. You are so—so genuinely good. 
“No, you are the best. You are the best person I know,” you stated with finality, holding his stare with an unshakeable firmness. It was the first time you truly looked at him all night, and his heart felt like it was going to expand past his ribcage and burst open like a balloon. Your resolve melted though and your voice dropped to a near whisper. “And you’re not just nice. You’re nice to me. Which just makes it so hard.”
You deflated, withering into your seat.
“Makes what hard?”
“It makes it so much harder for me to not fall in love with you.”
Stunned silence. 
Until it was shattered by a hiccup, and Spencer finally noticed the tears leaking from the corner of your eyes, and he tried, he tried so hard to puzzle through all of this new information and the fact that you just admitted you’re falling in love with him, and for some reason, you’re crying? He couldn’t even get his stupid genius brain to come with a single word before you started stumbling into an apology. “I know that’s not what you want to hear because we’re supposed to be friends, and I know that you’re just a good person, so you’re nice to everyone. Believe me, I know. And I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable, but I couldn’t keep holding on to this by myself, and I knew if anyone would let me down easy, it’d be you.” You chewed on your lip and avoided his stare at all costs. “So, I’m sorry.” You sniffled. 
The quiet that followed weighed heavy on your chest, and you couldn’t seem to breathe. You had expected rejection; you hadn’t expected complete silence. And this was somehow so much more unbearable. In a voice so faint you weren’t even sure if he could hear, you begged, “Please say something.”
A beat.
“(Y/N), I love you.”
A whisper just barely verging on hopeful, “What?”
“(Y/N), I—I love you so much.” His heart felt like it was in his throat, and his voice broke slightly as he stood. “You’re the first person I think about when I get up in the morning, and you’re the last person before I fall asleep. I dread going home at the end of the day because you’re not there. When you’re not with me, even if you’re in the other room, it feels like I’ve forgotten something, and for the longest time, I couldn’t figure out what I was missing, but it was you. You consume my every thought, which is saying something because I think a lot. Actually, it’s kind of funny,” he chuckled somewhat morosely, “I truly cannot comprehend the fact that you don’t know how much I’ve liked you, how long I’ve loved you because it feels like it’s so obvious and so potent that it seeps out of me, whether I want it to or not.
“And I’m nice to you because no one else is more deserving of kindness. I’d be lucky if you let me be the one to remind you of that, everyday. Because you’re the best person I know.” You looked up at him with shining eyes and the meagerest beginnings of a smile, and he just beamed right back. With a creased brow, he ventured, “You’re my favorite person in the world, you know that, right?
Failing to suppress your growing grin, you nodded your head meekly. “Yeah, I know.”
“Good.”
Spencer felt pleased with himself until he remembered that he had forgotten the most important part. “Would you like to get dinner with me sometime? Like a date?”
Standing from your seat, you wrapped your arms around his neck and burrowed your face into his chest, and he immediately reciprocated, clutching you as close as he could. “I would love that.” It came out muffled, but he understood well enough as he pressed his face into your neck. And you stood like that for a few moments, just existing together, and for the first time in a long time, nothing hurt. There was no worry of unrequited yearning or pain of terrible pining; there were just two people who finally knew peace. Knew that the person they loved most in the world loved them back. Neither ever wanted to leave.
However, sometimes necessary duties like breathing take precedence, so you pulled back from him enough to finally claim some air. Your hands slid down his front, resting on his chest, his on your waist, and you just stared at him. The most beautiful face you’d ever seen looking right back at you with the same expression of awe that made you realize just how lucky you were. And slowly, hesitantly, you both leaned in ever so slightly with heads wavering and tension buzzing. Gingerly and sweetly. Neither could commit, but no one could pull away from fast-approaching revelation. 
Finally, a breath away.
“Can I kiss you?”
You nodded.
When your lips met, your chest heaved with your eager, romantic hopes and dreams bubbling up near your lungs, finally coming to fruition. His hands came up to caress your jaw, and you leaned into him. His touch was so gentle, but he also touched you with intention. For once in his life, Spencer Reid felt no hesitation, kissing the girl of his dreams. And you felt held by him. You were bursting at the seams of your existence, swollen with infatuation and tenderness, yet totally and completely encompassed by him. You could shatter into a million tiny, little pieces, and he would be there to collect every shard. How cheesy.
Both of you grinned into the kiss; the sickly sweet itch in your heart was contagious. You finally released him, and wanting to savor the moment, you tucked yourself into the crook of his neck, so his chin could rest on the crown of your head. “I love you a lot, Dr. Reid.”
He hummed in agreement.
It didn’t need saying.
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