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wife-of-all-dilfs · 6 months

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rosé | f. odair

(final part of red wine)

part one, part two

summary: in the final part of the red wine series, secrets are revealed, and miscommunication threatens to tear you and finnick apart.

pairing: finnick odair x reader

warnings: angst, fluff, blood, minor injury, mentions of forced prostitution, swearing,

notes: i’m sorry this took so long to come out y’all. thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this mini fic <3

word count: 4.1k

Finnick believed he had made a lot of smart decisions in his life—like rigging a net made out of vines to ensnare tributes in the arena, accepting secrets as a form of payment from his patrons rather than material goods, and mastering the art of seduction to manipulate his way out of various difficult situations. However, shutting you out was not one of them.

Half an hour had passed since the incident on the staircase landing. He lingered within the mansion’s extravagant walls, where other guests mingled and dined on a range of bizarre delicacies. He couldn’t eat a thing. His stomach churned at the image of your hopeless expression as he walked off. The expression he caused.

It had to be done. That is what he had been telling himself. It had to be done, otherwise, everyone in the Capitol would learn of his feelings for you. Snow would find out and most likely punish you for interfering with the arrangement he had—the sale of his body. And Finnick was very aware of what happened to people who disrupted the president’s plans.

Partygoers would have already begun to spread rumours of the scene in the courtyard. Hopefully, it would just be chalked up to a simple argument between friends. Friends. The label borderline disgusted him. You don’t fall asleep to the thought of someone and think of them the moment you wake up if you’re just friends. Nor do you look for them in every room you walk into.

Even now, Finnick was scanning the lavishly decorated banquet hall for a glimpse of your pure white gown, despite being the one who walked away. It was an instinct at this point. But there was no one in the room wearing white but him; his matching half was still outside, blending in with the winter snow. Or maybe gone home.

One colour did catch his eye though. A vibrant, almost tacky red, worn by a woman who was strutting towards him, her chin held high with pride. Finnick noticed the material of her floor-length gown. Silk. She was wearing your old dress, only the colour was incredibly off, and each hem was lined with red fur, conforming with her implanted whiskers. That was when he realised who the woman was.

Her ensemble was entirely made out of fur that clung to her body, complementing the whiskers that were embedded in her face which made her look feline.

“Where’s your dancing partner tonight?” she asked, her voice low and seductive.

The bright saturation of her dress was almost blinding as she stopped in front of him. He held back a grimace and plastered on a smile even faker than her voice. “She wasn’t up for it this time,” he lied.

“Well, everyone knows she’s out of touch with our way of life,” she said. Finnick ground his jaw, struggling to maintain his façade. Words could not explain how condescending these people were. “This dress is an adaptation of one she wore quite a while ago. Such a plain thing. I only liked the colour and bodice. The only way I could wear it in public was if I spruced it up.”

He thought back to the dress you had worn. Nobody had even come close to how phenomenal you looked. Where others needed extravagance and flounce to stand out, you only needed a simple red dress. Yet here this woman was, thinking she had the audacity to call you plain.

“I noticed. It’s very… striking.”

“Thank you, darling,” she purred. There was a predatory gleam in her eyes, like that of a wild cat about to pounce and devour its meal. “I was waiting for the perfect occasion to wear it.”

His forced smile twitched. “You’re certainly turning heads.”

“Did I turn yours?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

Truth be told, Finnick hadn’t even remembered her existence until she walked right up to him. Obviously, he couldn’t tell her that, so he told her that she did. For a long period of time, they bounced back and forth, complimenting and flirting with each other, never dipping below the surface into a real conversation. Not that he wanted to anyway. Not with her. The only person he longed to conversate with was now out of reach.

The woman started talking about colourless topics such as the latest fashion trends in the Capitol and her opinions on the victor of the 72nd Hunger Games, all of which made Finnick wish she would just gouge his eyes out with her sharp claw-like fingernails. He couldn’t do anything but stand, smile, and agree. Doing anything else would result in Snow staying true to his very detailed threats

As the conversation continued, his attention began to drift. He surveyed the outfits of everyone in the room, amusing himself by deciding whether or not each person was making a fashion statement or tragedy. Only one person claimed the former title—the one in white.

Finnick watched as you entered the room. The giant golden chandelier cast down a bright light which caused your skin to glow with radiance; its glare enhanced the brilliance of your white dress. This brief moment ignited a fear in him that you had died in his absence because there was no way a mere human being could look so angelic.

“Finnick?” the feline asked, but her voice barely registered in his brain.

Captivated. He was utterly and completely captivated. One after the other, sudden realisations conjured in his mind. The first—there wasn’t a life worth living ahead of him if you weren’t by his side the whole way, and not as a friend or a fellow victor, but as his partner. His lover. The second—he would never let any harm come to you. He would keep you safe from Snow’s clutches, from the Capitol, from anyone who would put you in danger, even if it meant the two of you had to disappear into the vast forests of Panem.

And lastly, he was now absolutely certain that the woman in front of him could never compare to you, nor could anyone else in the ever-expanding universe. You were a basic human necessity to him. Without you, his heart might as well stop beating. Your laugh, your smile, your kindness, your unwavering support—every part of you kept him alive.

“Finnick?” the voice that went disregarded hissed again.

With a half-empty wine glass in hand, your anxious eyes searched the room. Finnick wanted nothing more than to sprint over, pull you into his arms, and cast away every trouble plaguing your mind. He couldn’t. Almost all eyes were on you, yet you hadn’t even seemed to notice. Only one person finally seemed to gain your attention, and that was Finnick, standing in the middle of the room, his eyes locked on yours.

The neurons firing in his brain signalled him to move and he did. But just as his legs started to walk, a forceful hand jerked his face to the side and a pair of harsh lips were crushed to his. Glass shattered on the marble flooring. Momentarily paralysed from shock, Finnick stumbled backwards, briefly catching the twisted triumphant smirk on the woman’s face before whirling around.

Your face was frozen with devastation; his heart dropped. Splatters of red wine had stained your gown, pooling in a crimson puddle of glass shards by your feet. Quiet mocking chuckles and whispers echoed around the room. Oh, if only he had his trident; they wouldn’t be laughing then.

An Avox rushed forward, attempting to clean up the mess, but you had crouched down with them.

“No, please,” Finnick heard you say to the Avox as he strode toward you. “Please don’t. I can do it.”

But delicate hands and glass shards never mix well. You gasped in pain. A jagged fragment you collected had sliced into your palm, creating another crimson pool in your hand.

Finnick’s strides quickened, eventually leading him to stop and kneel beside you. He wordlessly took your hand in his, cradling it as he inspected the damage. Blood coated his fingers, but he didn’t care. He might as well have cut your hand himself. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for him.

Pink blush overtook your face. For once, it wasn’t because he made you flustered or bashful, but because you were humiliated. He knew how much you disliked attention; now you were at the centre of it. Beside you was the Avox, tending to the mess of broken glass.

“Could you bring me a first-aid kit, please?” he asked with a polite smile.

They nodded and silently left. Finnick returned his attention to you, applying pressure to your wound. Your gaze was lowered, unwilling to meet his own. There was more to your demeanour than just embarrassment. There was sadness. Disheartenment. Neither of which were present when you walked in, only appearing after the feline woman had kissed him.

His brows furrowed in confusion. “Y/N—”

“Don’t,” you whispered, eyes unmoving.

The Avox returned holding a medical kit; Finnick thanked them, taking the box into his hands. He climbed to his feet, hesitating before offering you a hand up. Much to his relief, you accepted his assistance. And then, without a word, you began walking towards the nearest exit with apparent indifference to the engrossed eyes following you.

Finnick didn’t bother to conceal his icy glare toward the crowd as he trailed behind you and exited the room.

*******

Pain of a thousand unrelenting bees stung the broken flesh of your palm. Even the slightest movement of your fingers sent waves of throbbing agony up your arm. But it was nothing compared to the brutal ache of your heart.

You had entered the mansion in search of Finnick, determined to mend the crack in your friendship before it crumbled completely. What you got instead was humiliation and heartbreak. What you saw was another woman kissing the man you loved, whilst wearing a horrible adaptation of your red gown no less.

The air had been sucked from your lungs. Believing he would kiss you on the dance floor in the courtyard was nothing more than a fantasy, a dream, a pathetic fool’s wish—every term under the sun that defined something not real. At least now you understood why he was acting so differently. Because he had found someone else and that someone wasn’t you.

A lump formed in your throat and you knew tears were approaching. As if your night couldn’t get any more embarrassing.

Your feet carried you down a long corridor, far enough away from the banquet hall that listening ears and prying eyes were unable to reach. Finnick still followed behind you, though you weren’t sure why he bothered. How could he explain what you saw with your own eyes? Plus, the last thing you wanted was for his new romance to think something was going on between you and him. Only in your dreams.

Unsure of your destination, you decided to enter the first room you came across. It turned out to be a lavishly decorated library, walled with large wooden bookshelves which were filled endlessly with novels and historic paraphernalia. Sitting within the bookshelves was a stone fireplace.

The door closed as Finnick entered behind you, the silence so loud that the crackles from the fireplace reverberated through the room. Your hand still throbbed something awful so you looked down, taking in the gruesome sight of your dress. A stranger might have thought you had just murdered someone. If it were televised, it would have been deemed acceptable.

You sniffled, wearing a small bitter smile. “I ruined Snow’s pretty white dress.”

A few moments passed before Finnick replied. “Red always was more your colour,” he said, his tone anything but playful.

Ahead of you was a great wall of windows; in the reflection, you saw him staring back at you with an unfamiliar expression. His brows were pinched upwards, pronouncing the lines in his forehead, and the corners of his mouth drooped in a slight pensive frown. He didn’t look like the Finnick you knew. This Finnick looked pained. Anguished.

You dropped his intense gaze and ambled across the room. By the lit fireplace was a cushioned stool which you sat down on, eyes staring into the flickering flames. If you were lucky, maybe your dress would catch alight and whisk you away from your troubled life. Okay, perhaps the thought was a little morbid, but so was a broken heart. Of all people, why did you have to fall in love with Finnick Odair?

Cautious footsteps followed behind you, coming to a stop beside your feet. Without your acknowledgement, Finnick crouched down, eyeing the bloody mess of your hands with concern. His gaze lifted to yours, which was still on the fire, and he sighed.

“Let me take care of your hand,” he murmured.

Before you could refuse, you realised contracting an infection was worse than giving in to your stubbornness. So, you nodded.

Finnick opened the first-aid kit and began tending to your wound; his touch was so gentle it was like he was piecing together a broken china cup. Using an antiseptic gauze, he attempted to clean the damaged skin, whispering apologies whenever you winced in pain. After carefully applying a dressing, he began wrapping a bandage around your hand.

You stared into the orange flames, wondering how he would explain to that woman why he left her behind. You wondered when their relationship started and why Finnick continued to shamelessly flirt with you in her absence. You wondered if their relationship would be the end of your friendship.

“Are you in love?” you quietly asked.

His hands stilled at your sudden words, then he continued wrapping the bandage. “Not with her.”

He secured the binding with medical tape and climbed to his feet, placing the supplies back into the kit on a small side table.

Brows drawn together in confusion, you turned to look up at him. “But I thought—"

“Things are much more complicated than they seem,” he interrupted. There was a clear vase of white roses on the table. Finnick toyed with the petals, caressing them between his gentle fingertips. “No one understands me better than you do, and there is no one in this world I trust more. But… there are still things I’ve been keeping from you.”

The troubled expression on his face melted into one of vulnerability. This was a new appearance for him. Finnick was known nationwide for his radiant confidence and charm; he never let his guard down. You have had difficult conversations before, such as discussing each other’s hardships and innermost secrets, but none of them seemed to affect him like this.

“Everyone knows about my visits to the Capitol,” he continued. “How I spend nights with different people every time as if it’s all a game for my pleasure. But it’s not true. It’s not my game I’m playing.” He began walking over to the wall of windows, overlooking Snow’s gardens. “There’s a part of it that no one knows about.”

You rose from the stool, beginning to take slow steps towards him. “Which is?”

The fire flickering behind you deepened Finnick’s features. It intensified the shiny bronze of his hair and enhanced the defined contours of his face, making it easy to see the muscles in his jaw clench with apprehension. He stared out the window so intensely that you were sure his usual green eyes were blazing with their own inferno.

Even full of angst, he was painstakingly beautiful.

His chest inflated with a deep breath. “President Snow… sells me to the Capitol.”

Horror washed over you in monstrous waves. Sells? Only one explanation appeared in your head as to what he meant. You remained silent, praying he would prove your assumption wrong.

“After I won my Games, he saw my success as an opportunity to please his citizens. He began offering me to potential buyers—'admirers’ is what he called them—who soon became my regular customers. They would use me however they liked. Some would pounce on me the second I stepped through the door. Others were relatively tamer. Kinder. They would have me take them on dates or watch a movie with them, but one way or another, it all ended the same way at the end of the night.” He sucked in a sharp uneasy breath before continuing. “Then there were the rare few—the ones who treated me like I was nothing more than a ragdoll for their amusement. They did things that were… unspeakable.”

Nausea churned in your stomach as your mind conjured sickening images. It couldn’t be true. You refused to believe that human beings could stoop to such levels of atrocity to make one person endure so much cruelty. Then again, you lived in a world where children were sent into an arena to fight to the death on live television.

Finnick looked like he was holding himself together by a thread. Every word he confessed shattered your heart into a million pieces. How could this have happened to him?

“I’ve tried to refuse but Snow threatened to harm the people I care about—my family, my friends. After I met you, I knew you were added to that list.” He finally turned around to face you, his eyes filled with such anguish, it shook you to your core. “The Capitol owns me, Y/N. Body and soul.”

Despair riddled your entire body. As you stared at him, the image of a teenager appeared in your mind—eyes sea green and hair a fiery bronze. He was just a boy when it started. A child.

“I’m—I’m so sorry,” you managed to whisper. “I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t want you to know.” His eyes dropped to the floor. “I didn’t want you to think less of me.”

“Less of you? Finnick,” you said softly, stopping in front of him. Your eyes beckoned for his; you needed him to look at you, to really take in your next words. “There isn’t a single person alive I think more highly of than you. No one even comes close. Can’t you see? Just having you in my presence makes me feel whole. You make me whole.”

Tears glistened in his eyes as they flickered between your own, absorbing every reassuring word you said into his mind, his bones, his entire being.

“You have brought so much into my life,” you continued. “So much good. And I would never have made it to where I am now without you. So please, don’t ever distance yourself from me because you think I will judge you. I won’t and I never will.”

As the room stilled with silence, a lone tear rolled down Finnick’s cheek. His Adam’s apple bobbed, revealing the sob he was keeping restrained within his throat. And then a smile started to grow on his face, small at first, but then it stretched wider and wider, deepening those dimples that you adored so much.

You knew that your words had touched the deepest parts of him. That you had managed to convince him ‘less’ could never be a word used to describe him. He was more. More kind, more genuine, more caring than almost all of Panem.

“You’re incredible,” he whispered in awe, looking at you as if he were witnessing the birth of the universe. “Sweetheart, you’re incredible. Do have any idea how rare that is for a person to be? I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve someone like you in my life, but I swear I’ll do whatever I can to keep you. And if—” His gaze drifted, seemingly wrestling with a decision in his mind— “if that means I have to share all my secrets with you, then I will.”

“Have you got any more secrets, Finnick?”

He returned his attention back to your face. The indecision from moments ago had disappeared and was replaced with certainty, which was underscored by a sort of tenderness that settled in his features.

“Just one,” he murmured. He paused, observing the universe before him and wondering how on earth he got so lucky to have the privilege of having it staring right back at him. “I’m in love with you.”

Electricity shocked your heart like someone had placed a defibrillator over your chest and hit charge. Love? You? He was?

“What?” you asked, dumbfounded.

“I should’ve told you sooner,” he said, shaking his head. “I should have told you everything. Even if saying this means I’m risking everything between us, I can’t keep it from you any longer. God, sweetheart, I love you so much it fucking hurts. I always will, even if you never feel the same.”

Somehow in the span of twenty minutes, everything you thought you knew came crashing down. First, your heart was broken by the thought of Finnick kissing another, and then it was healed. And then it broke again as he voiced his arrangement with Snow. It could never fully heal again while Snow was alive, not with what he was forcing upon Finnick.

But Finnick pieced together every piece he possibly could with his confession, one heartfelt word of declaration at a time.

The weight of his confession hung in the air. His eyes held a mixture of anxiety and hope for your response. Time seemed to stretch out as you tried to find your voice. How do you declare your love as powerfully as someone who just bared their soul to you?

An emotional laugh bubbled up your throat, your eyes brimming with tears. “You idiot,” was what you said, the words spoken with utmost adoration. “I’ve loved you this whole time.”

Finnick’s eyes widened in amazement and a brilliant smile broke across his face. Before you had a chance to react, he had moved towards you in one swift step, pulling you into his arms and crushing his lips to yours in a powerful, passionate kiss.

Your hands were quick to cling onto him, desperately terrified that if you let go, he would vanish into thin air. Every ounce of yearning and hidden affection from the past year poured into this one single moment, into the movement of your lips against one another, and the feeling of your hands cradling each other’s bodies.

Emotions were running high. You could taste both your own and Finnick’s tears as they streamed down your faces, salty and palpable with affection. The sheer relief of finally being free to express your love was so unimaginable that you felt like you would be crying with happiness your whole life.

Finnick’s hand cupped the side of your jaw and he lowered his head, deepening the kiss as much as he physically could to make up for all the time he wasted. His lips were soft and adoring, savouring the sweet taste of your lips on his. His other arm tightened around your lower back, pulling you even further against him.

You felt like you were melting into his embrace and happily, you would have. It felt so right, so safe to be held by him. The world outside the library no longer existed; there was only Finnick and you. Your hands settled on either side of his jaw, staining his skin red from your blood-soaked bandage. You knew he wouldn’t care—the blood belonged to you.

And that is how you spent most of the night. In the library, in that one spot by the windows, in each other’s arms. At some point, you ended up sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, both covered in red and feeling blissfully content. Your back was leaning against Finnick’s chest, his arms wrapped around your middle as he occasionally pressed his lips into your hair.

You toyed with the fabric of his sleeves, your head leaning against his collarbone as you watched the flames once more.

“If Snow ever finds out…” you murmured.

“He won’t,” he reassured quietly. “I won’t let him. He’s taken too much from me; he won’t take you too.”

You turned your head to peer up at him, wearing a teasing smile. “Can’t live without me, Odair?”

He grinned, leaning in closer. “Never without you, sweetheart.”

Once again, Finnick’s lips were on yours, conveying every ounce of immense love he felt for you through his kiss. The only time either of you broke apart was to whisper sweet declarations of your devotion and reverence before returning to each other again. This was when you felt most complete.

When you felt whole.

tags: @queenofspades6 @powellssaturn @bellamybellamyblake @heroinhchicblog222

#wife-of-all-dilfs ✍️#finnick odair #finnick odair x reader #finnick odair smut #finnick odair imagine #finnick odair fanfic #finnick odair fluff #sam claflin #the hunger games #catching fire #mockingjay #peeta mellark x reader #peeta mellark #katniss everdeen

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halemerry · 9 months

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Okay so I wanna take a moment to talk about gravity. Now I know what this sounds like, but bare with me here I promise I'm not looking to do a physics lecture. But I've been rotating this around in my head for a couple days now and I think there's something really critical in the way the show presents it to us.

For example: it's one of the few things actually listed in our introduction to this show individually while our protagonists build the universe, right between matter and everything else.

The show draws our attention to it here fairly bluntly by naming it but there are other incidents that, while I would not call them subtle, are not quite as on the nose.

There are at least three times Crowley chucks something he's holding in his hands across the room. They're played for comedic bits but they all feel very weird and pointed to me - especially both times he does this to books that he seems to have no purpose for holding other than to chuck them later. It caught my attention mostly because everything in me recoiled at the idea of him doing that, but the more I thought about the way they're so visible and pointed was important. They almost feel like weird hiccups in the scene they're in.

We also get gravity as an implied threat with Gabriel climbing out the window and, of course, with every mention of a Fall. But there's also more mundane uses of gravity in the season that while not odd in isolation, the fact we get it popping up so notably is interesting to me. There's also the scene with Nina and Maggie under the awning where rainwater's weight gets pulled down by gravity, the scene in 1941 where Aziraphale drops the picture of them onto the floor before they have their gray area talk, Gabriel dropping the matchbox, and I'm sure there's more. The point is the show is littered with reminders that gravity exists.

Now I know what this sounds like. I know it seems like yeah. Duh. They're on earth. Which has gravity. Of course gravity is a factor in nearly every physical action they do. Why are you even talking about this at all?

Well, it's because of a scene that is one of my absolute favorites in the whole season: the Gravity Lesson.

The scene opens with Jim throwing a book (My Best Games of Chess, an interesting title that feels pointed) repetitively at a desk. He's testing gravity himself, looking confused.

Crowley then descends from the upper level, carrying a stack of books. He pauses his descent on the spiral staircase and notes what Jim is doing.

Then we get this shot. Notice the light here. Jim is in the light from the windows but relatively in the middle of the shot. He's an angel still, though not nearly as in the Light as he was as Gabriel. And he's notably at ground level, on earth. Meanwhile Crowley blends into the shadows of the shop itself. He continues down the staircase, sauntering vaguely downward, until he finally hits earth level to be even with Jim. There's symbolism here, in the lighting, in the way they move through these frames, in the way the staircase spirals like an orbit.

Crowley continues this same sweeping circular pattern to come around the bookshop and place him in front of Jim. Unable to resist a question, even one that wasn't asked out loud, Crowley tells him about gravity. He moves center toward Jim here. A meeting in the middle. This is the first scene we see Crowley interact with Jim in a way anything near amicable. He explains how gravity works. "It's, um... A thing that happens when objects are pulled together. In this case, they're all pulled downwards because Earth is the largest thing around."

As he speaks, Crowley moves away from Jim, toward the back of the bookshop. But he stops very rapidly because Jim goes and asks him why. Crowley frowns to himself. He says he can't remember. He says it seemed like a good idea when they were all talking about it.

He walks back to Jim, giving this question some real thought, and settles on, "So things would stay where you put them, not just drift off." And Jim, backlit by the windows still, kind of frowns and drops the book again and points out. "But it doesn't stay where I put them. It goes down."

When the book hits the table it also visibly does not land precisely over where Jim dropped it either. It settles out of place, bouncing slightly from the force of it. This is what drew my attention to this scene more than anything else.

Because it's interesting isn't it? They're both right in their assessment here. And so much of this story is about people not fitting quite where they're dropped. Aziraphale and Crowley are both caught in Earth's gravity, jostled out of their respective places. The very first shot in the intro sequence emphasizes this idea. Crowley and Aziraphale meet in the middle on earth (where Crowley then says let there be light and lights a flame to guide them going forward).

Gabriel and Beez too fall out of line as soon as they get caught in Earth's gravity. Memories are deleted, but can't entirely escape the gravity of their old home. Memories are added, but you can't predict exactly the way they'll form. Miracles backfire and don't land quite as they're expected. We obey Heaven or Hell as far as we can, but not necessarily exactly as they'd like. These shifts eventually become predictable and eventually we learn we can calculate the odds of how gravity can impact something, but as Jim shows us here a little bit of the drift still happens. In the end it's all just firing bullets at ears and pretend to catch them in our teeth.

And there's viewing this line of thinking from the perspective of God. God who functionally dropped the universe into the gravity of Fate and Choice just to see where it would land.

And then there's the Fly.

As Jim points out here, some things actively resist gravity, at least temporarily. Flies go up. This is very fun, given Beelzebub's arc this season, but I think it's getting at more than just that. Crowley and Jim both pause to watch the fly rise upward, drifting away from Jim and toward the dark half of the shop. Crowley says Jim makes a good point and then shifts into "Right, the plan, Operation: Lovebird."

Given the plot of season 1, I find the use of the word plan here pretty interesting. Especially given that the event that follows this is Crowley trying and failing to get Nina and Maggie to recreate his own meet cute. Like the idea of these two being drawn together will fix everything.

And that got me thinking about Crowley's line at the end of season 1. About what if God planned it that way. What if they're God's own Operation Lovebird. We know that together they can do very powerful things. This whole season starts with them, while trying to keep their power under control and contained, do a miracle so big it could've brought someone back from the dead nearly 25 times. Last season ends with Heaven and Hell thinking they've become something impossible. The Metatron here goes out of his way to separate the two of them like he's afraid of what they're capable of together. And he seems to have successfully managed to do this.

But a Fly can't stay in the air forever. The Fly is always drawn back to Jim. Because not all gravity is about Earth itself. The same way Gabriel's memories are drawn back to him. The same way Beelzebub and Gabriel are drawn to each other in the first place. The same way Aziraphale and Crowley have been described time and time again as drawn in by each other. They're Alpha Centauri. Twin stars orbiting each other. They're constantly going in circles around each other. It's a dance. With the hands touching in the middle. Because that is a gravity too. They complete each other the same way the Fly completes Jim.

So what about choice? Think about the Ball episode. Think about how everyone in the shop is being influenced by some sort of miracle. Their clothes and behavior shift and change and Nina in particular shows us that this is Noticeable. Forcing something in a gravity it doesn't like or want makes it have a hard time settling. It doesn't go quite where you drop it.

And then there's the chat Nina and Maggie have with Crowley. "We're not a game. We're real people," says Maggie. And Crowley tries to argue this saying that they both needed help and they both push back that it is still not his right to meddle with. A game. Like the title My Best Games of Chess. Like the thing we know God has been using as a framing device since season 1. A thing the narrative always has pushed as a bad thing.

Maggie and Nina are choosing to not let beings above them influence their choices. They actively resist being compelled by Aziraphale in the bookshop together because they know what's right. His gravity is not enough to overwhelm their choices. And at the end maybe they're not together but they're working on it. And, maybe, if they do come back together (when they do, according to Maggie) it will be when they are ready and when they are choosing each their free of the constraints of the game or higher power. And that gives me hope that's where we're headed for the Ineffables as well.

#good omens #good omens spoilers #gos2 spoilers #good omens season 2 #good omens meta #Crowley #Aziraphale #Gabriel #Beelzebub #Maggie #Nina #gravity #I'm going sicko mode and I am Thriving

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reve-writes · 1 year

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—dense; kaz brekker.

ʚ kaz brekker x reader | grishaverse | 2,2k words. ʚ you're a bit clueless as to why the dirtyhands do the things he does, like call you schatje and pay you to steal something when he clearly doesn't need to. ʚ fluff. ʚ a/n maybe ooc kaz im sorry. more at the end!

Ketterdam is a marvel from afar, a pretty little flower offering promises of its nectar—new life, new opportunities, debauchery—only to catch you in its trap and swallow you whole. All the way up on the clock tower, roughly centralised in the port city, the Barrel is nothing more than bright lights emanating from bar signs and glittering roofs.

The bell rings, reveberating to signal the change of the hour. It's time to work, finally.

Your boots thump as you make your way down the spiraling concrete staircase, paying attention not to step on the chunks flaking off of the edge. Whoever was responsible for building this was clearly cutting cost, the concrete is about as fragile as clay.

A painting. It is an annoying job to do on your own, but your contractor offered a lot of Kruge for it—perhaps too much, but if Mr. Kikkert is willing to scrape his pockets for it, then you're more than happy to accept. It is more Kruge than you would ever need for a while, so you won't have to scrounge for scraps in this Ghezen-forsaken town. Moreover, it's been a while since your last job and you're frankly not doing too well.

You step lightly over the rooftops, hopping from building-to-building with sure, steady steps. You have done this for most of your lives, to avoid being stomped into the vile muck at the bottom of the Barrel, you learned to hide near the skies.

Where the painting is being kept isn't far from the Canal, just on the rows of overpriced apartments for rent. You were told that it was housed on the third floor of the corner building. Everything is going well. Your journey is uninterrupted and the stadwatch aren't on alert.

Until you spot him.

The familiar curve of his black hat. The high collar of his coat. The shining leather of his gloves.

Brekker.

You strut towards him as if you are neighbours crossing paths on your evening walks. When in truth, his Crow Club is on the other side of the town and you never come to this area without reason. You call his name sweetly. His head whips around immediately, finding you in the dwindling foot traffic of the street.

He says your name in a warning tone, suspicious of your being here.

“What? Can't I come and see an old friend?”

Brekker scoffs. “I don't know. Can you, schatje?”

You almost turn around and leave when you hear the term of endearment. He knows it gets under your skin—it always does. Your heart skips a beat or two and your train of thoughts gets interrupted whenever he calls you that. He means it as a jeering nudge and your head is wholly aware of that. Your heart, though. What a fickle little thing.

“A bit of a walk from the club, isn't it?” you say, falling into step next to him as he turns the corner towards the apartment building. “I assume you must be up to something.”

“Ah, but I'm always up to something.”

“I can't say I disagree,” you snort. “You don't happen to have a job around the area, do you?”

He halts, his cane knocking against the stone pathing. He turns to look at you and your elbows brush against each other. “Do you need anything? I have important matters to attend to.”

You bring a hand to your chest exaggeratedly, feigning a frown. “How callous. Call me schatje and throw me aside. Is this how you treat everyone, Kaz?”

“Only you, mijn schatje.”

You roll your eyes, unsure how to behave. Huffing, you say, “Stop calling me that.”

“I was under the impression that you liked the nickname.”

Oh, you do.

“I'll be going now. I've something to do. Stay off my job,” you warn. “You still owe me literal crown jewels from last time.”

Kaz's neutral expression shifts into fond nostalgia as he recalls the incident you're referring to. The crown jewels in question were under dispute by a pair of soon-to-be divorcees. One of them hired the Crows' help. The other called on you. One thing led to another and the item ended up in Kaz's hands and you went home empty-handed.

“I won that fair and square,” Kaz retorts. “Your current job wouldn't involve a certain painting, would it?”

Judging by his smug thin smile, you know that he knows.

“Tell me it isn't what you're here for.” You sigh exasperatedly. “Stay off of it, Brekker. I can't afford to lose another job.”

You think to be threatening, bluff your way out and tell him you'll tear down his Crow Club if he gets in your way, but you doubt it will work against the Dirtyhands. After all, you're one person and he has the whole Dregs behind him.

He looks at you with a raised eyebrow for a moment and for that terrible moment, you think that he may be there for the same reason you are, but he shakes his head lightly. “Fortunately, schatje, no. Stop looking as if you're going to murder me in my sleep.”

An involuntary smile blooms. “I wouldn't dream of it, Kaz.”

“Go on, then,” he says. “Be careful.”

You bite the insides of your cheeks to keep from smiling. “You too.”

With that, you part ways with Dirtyhands, entering the building. Your acquisition of the painting goes smoothly and the deal is closed swiftly a few hours later. It's too easy. You know it is. You're missing something.

Miss something, you did.

You push open the door to the Crow Club carelessly. The loud chatter mixed with atmospheric radio surges to meet you as you push your way past sweat-slicked bodies and drunken patrons. Your eyes dart back-and-forth, trying to spot the familiar curve of his black hat or the shiny glow of the head of his cane.

Jesper spots you from one of the open gambling tables.

“If it isn't my favourite thief,” he says, inclining his glass towards you. “Fancy a game?”

It isn't until you stop by his table that he sees the downward slope of your frown and the sharp glare you're giving. He instinctively sits up straighter, taking his shoes off of the corner of the table.

“Where's Brekker?” You ask, to-the-point, without indulging in your usual chit-chat whenever you visit.

The other three patrons on the table freeze—sensing the tension on your shoulders, too. They look between you and jesper, both confused and intrigued to know more. What is Ketterdam if it doesn't have rumours and secrets whispered about?

Jesper's brow furrow. “Are you okay? What's going on?”

To Jesper's knowledge, you and Kaz are on friendly terms, despite the frequent bickering. Hell, he assumes you're more-than-friendly, with the way Kaz gives you a nickname—an endearment, to be specific. Is it possible that you're going through a lover's spat?

“Brekker, Jesper. Where is he?”

A familiar rasp cuts through the rowdiness. “Here.”

Your head whirls around and you shoot an accusatory stare at the source of the voice. You stomp your boots as you make your way towards him. As you pass by him, you tug on the sleeves of his coat.

“We need to talk.”

“Hold on, schatje,” he says, still trailing after you. His cane knocks against the hardwood of the floor. “About what?”

You make your way up the stairs, to the second floor and swing the door to his office open as if it belongs to you. He has an eyebrow raised when he enters after you, closing the door behind him. He leans back against it, waiting for you to speak whatever it is that's on your mind.

“Kikkert,” you snarl. “You paid him to pay me.”

“That's quite a conclusion. How did you come to it?” His voice is level, not betraying whether or not you've spoken the truth.

You're pacing in front of him. “He says, and I quote, ‘If you're so close to Brekker, why doesn't he ask you himself to do this?'”

His eyes furrow and he runs a hand through his combed hair. He sighs, holding a hand up in a you-caught-me gesture. “Kikkert clearly has no idea what discretion means.”

You glare at him. “Do you think this is funny?”

He seems taken aback. “I don't see why this is a big deal, schatje. It's a job. You're paid. I get the painting. What's wrong with it?”

“Why are you doing this, then? Pay me for something you clearly are able to do yourself? Hell, whose painting was it? Was it yours? Did you pay me to steal from you?”

He doesn't reply, but the way he shifts his gaze away from you let's you know. It's as clear as a verbal admission.

“It was yours. That's why you were there. From your safehouse, wasn't it?” You stare at him in disbelief. “Is this amusing to you? I'm sorry if I don't quite see it as such.”

“Schatje—”

“I told you to stop calling me that.”

You can't wrap your head around Kaz Brekker's thinking process. He pays someone to pay you to steal a painting he already owns. What's his plan in the long run? To embarrass you? Hurt your pride? Is this some sort of ploy to rope you to be indebted to him?

He sighes. “You were struggling. I only wanted to help.”

“Dirtyhands doesn't help people. You don't run gangs the way you do charities,” you retort.

Is that all you see him as? The demjin? The one who's willing to stain his hands for the right price? Is there no other version of him in your eyes?

“You're forgetting the man behind the monster here,” he says softly.

“Am I?” You approach him, leaving a little over two steps in-between the two of you. “Who exactly is the man behind Dirtyhands then?”

He pushes himself off of the door, taking one step forward. The thump of his cane practically echoes in the room. The hustle bustle of the Crow Club is nothing more than a muffled sound. There's a sudden tension in the air—the same one that hangs over you whenever he calls you his schatje, but this one is heavier due to your lack of light-hearted banter to parry.

“Do you really not know?” he asks, as if the question is staring at you in the face. As if it's the most obvious thing in all of Kerch. His stare is heavy, dark irises acting like magnets that pull you in. He scoffs, “You really are dense.”

“Well, enlighten me, Brekker! None of this is making a lot of sense to me.” You let out a frustrated huff of breath. Your hands move wildly to stress your points. “You know what? Whatever it is, I don't want to know. Just — quit doing it. I'll never take another job from Kikkert. I'll stay away from your damned club and all your friends. I'll stay away from you. I'm a capable enough thief without your pity, Brekker. I don't need it. You can shove it up your—”

His gloved hand wraps around your wrist as it's flailing in the air. Your speech immediately comes to a halt and your eyes widen.

“You are impossible,” he says.

You snort. “And you aren't?”

“At the moment, no,” he retorts.

His stare is intense. It isn't until then that you realise you've taken a step forward during your rant, decreasing the perfectly amicable distance and turning it into a heart-thundering one.

“It wasn't pity,” he says. “You're capable, I have never doubted that, but even the most capable ones struggle sometimes. My intention is to help. Trust me on this. I know you're too prideful to accept any, so I paid Kikkert.”

“But why? Why bother?”

“Why?” He blinks, sighing loudly before continuing. “Why? Have you ever stopped and thought, for a moment, that I've been calling you schatje. Do you think that was out of pity?”

You bite the insides of your cheek and shake your head. “It was something else.”

“Has it ever crossed your mind that it's because —ghezen forbid— I may actually harbour fondness for you?”

You blink once, twice. Kaz thinks he much prefers breaking into the ice court than having this conversation right now. His hand trembles when he brings them to brush your cheekbone lightly. He lets out a relieved sigh when you don't pull back. Your hand wraps over his gloved one, the leather cold on your skin. You lean into the touch.

“I thought it was one-sided,” you say finally. “I'm quite fond of you, too, you know.”

“You do a horrible job of showing it.”

“Says you,” you argue. “Just—don't do it again. Let me handle my own problems, Kaz. I'll let you know if I need your help.”

He hums in agreement. “You'll let me know.”

“I will.”

The two of you jump apart abruptly when there's a loud knock.

“Boss?” Jesper's voice sounds muffled through the door. “Everything okay? I hope ___ hasn't murdered you yet.”

“I haven't,” you answer, half-chuckling. Turning to look at Kaz, you say, “It's funny how he doesn't assume you'll murder me instead.”

Kaz shrugs. “He knows I can't.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Can't or won't?”

“Both,” he answers. “Can we not talk about murdering each other after what just happened?”

Heat rushes to your cheeks. What just happened is you practically professing your little (well, maybe not-so-little) crush on him.

“So, is Kaz okay?” Jesper shouts again.

“Fine,” Kaz answers. “You can go back to your table.”

[ ]

i wanted to write something cute. schatje is taken from google and inspired from a kaz fic i read that used 'schatz' as a nickname. the plot is slightly ehhh? because it didn't really end the way i intended it to and i didn't proofread (when have i ever?). i was hoping to turn it into a two or three part series, but this is what we've ended up with & im quite happy with it. thank you for reading!

#kaz brekker x you #kaz brekker x reader #—ki writes 🍯

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christinesficrecs · 5 months

Text

It's the time of the year where I sneak holiday fics into all my recs. 🤶🏻

Scent Left Unsaid by bleep0bleep | 2.5K | Mature

In a society where werewolves are second class, Deucslist is an alternative werewolf network (similar to Craigslist) where humans and werewolves offer (mostly sexual) services. Derek is a long-term client of an anonymous human omega whose scent is just perfect. He never expects to meet him, until it happens.

Derek has slept with that faded red hooded sweatshirt every night since he got it in the mail. It’s calming, that scent; it’s everything to him. So it’s strange now that Derek is smelling it wafting from the end of the subway car as it careens towards the L line, lights flickering on the passing platforms.

My World Is Filled With Cheer And You by bleep0bleep | 10.8K

In which Derek and his daughter are displaced just in time for the holidays, matched up with Stiles and his young son in a government protection program.

Sidequest by bleep0bleep | 11.4K

Agent Derek Hale has been working up the courage to ask his partner Stiles out on a date (finally!) when he heads out on a solo mission—without Derek. Eager to provide support, Derek arrives in Beacon Hills, only there is no mission, and Stiles’ dad thinks Derek is Stiles’ boyfriend.

Well. It could be worse.

The Kiss Doctor by bleep0bleep | 3.5K

“That’s me,” Derek says. “Are you, um— the Kiss Doctor?” “Stiles,” is the reply, and the guy grins. It’s charming.

i wait for you like a lonely house by bleep0bleep | 4.5K

Derek isn’t sure why he buys the house. He doesn’t need the space, that much is certain. While it’s not as big as the one Derek grew up in, something about the cheerful yellow paint and the wide staircase (with banisters wide enough for children to slide down) draws him in.

affettuoso by bleep0bleep | 13K

Derek mentally kicks himself for just standing there like a lovestruck fool, but it’s been exactly forty-six days since he saw Stiles, and he still remembers the taste of his skin, how Stiles feels underneath him.

The Gentleman And The Fox by bleep0bleep, Inkforwords | 15.7K

Derek doesn’t expect much from his arranged marriage. When his inattentive husband, Lord Stiles Stilinski, tells him he’s free to look for a lover, he doesn’t know where to start, until a dashing bandit named the Red Fox catches his eye.

All's Fair in Orgasms and War by bleep0bleep | 63.2K | Explicit

The one in which (almost) everyone is a porn star, and Derek just wants to curl up with his fluffy blanket and watch the Hallmark channel, but work and falling in love gets in the way.

nom de plume by bleep0bleep | 3.9K

There are no more chapters. 22 is the last one. Derek groans in despair. He has to know what happens.

Five Times Detective Stilinski and Fire Captain Hale Had Sex In Public, and One Time They Did It In A Bed by bleep0bleep | 32.8K

“Did you say–” Stiles starts.

“What?” Derek growls.

“We’re not a couple!” they both retort in unison.

“We’re not together,” Stiles insists.

Lydia coughs pointedly. “An incident report filed by 87th Precinct Captain Erica Reyes. March twenty-fifth, eight p.m. Came back to the precinct to grab my coat, only to hear Stilinski banging his new boyfriend in the holding cell.”

i wanna dance with somebody (who loves me) by bleep0bleep | 10.5K

Derek gets in an accident and loses a few years of his memory; suddenly everything is different— he’s not a freshman loser anymore, but a popular senior, captain of the basketball team, a shoo-in for prom king, too, and he should have everything he’s ever wanted— except he doesn’t seem to be friends with Stiles anymore.

Mauve by bleep0bleep | 7.3K

It’s been ten years since he’s seen Derek Hale, but Stiles would recognize that ass anywhere.

remember my love by bleep0bleep | 23.3K

Stiles wakes up and suddenly the war is over, he's no longer a penniless mage, and living in an exquisite manor married to the man he's been in love with for far too long.

“It’ll be fine,” Stiles says gallantly. “I am certain I will just fall in love with my husband all over again, and I will find plenty of joy doing that.” He winks at Derek for good measure. Derek blinks.

of course, of course by bleep0bleep | 12.9K | Explicit

Derek swallows, watching Stiles mull over the paperwork. “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely,” Stiles says, licking his lips. He signs with a flourish and pushes the contract back at Derek.

Derek knows every word of the contract by heart, but his heart stutters anyways when a sentence jumps out at him. The client acknowledges that any bond created during the heat session is temporary.

#sterek fics #sterek #ficrecs #fanfic writers #sterek fandom #author spotlight #bleepobleep #author appreciation

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the-roo-too · 8 months

Text

wildside -> ravenclaw! kang haerin

-your stupid little cat likes running away, but he doesn’t like bathrooms at all

warnings: blood; injuries

genre: friends to dating (?)

notes: prompt for this was meant for haewon but then i saw i had only haewon drafts so…. i love wildside

　∧＿∧

（｡･ω･｡)つ━☆・*。

⊂　　ノ　　　・゜+.

しーＪ　　　°。+ *´¨

kang haerin, the ‘harry potter wannabe’ from your house. that’s what they often called her because of some silly scar on her forearm.

after all the famous incidents, harry potter was a famous persona in the school so it wasn’t all that weird for people to call her that way.

you found it a bit stupid to do so (“it’s only a small scar on her arm? it’s not even a lighting mark, it looks more like a bite mark.”) some first years loved the rumours. especially the ones about her talking with snakes.

that one always made you chuckle.

haerin was like your best friend (she claimed to have no best friends) and you never saw her hissing like a mad woman, unless hissing at slytherin counts.

you could say you saw her meowing? she had a weird bond with you cat (nugget), who clearly liked her more than you.

actually, nugget is what brought you to the halls of the school in the middle of the night. the furry animal disappeared from your room just after dinner, and you couldn’t find him anywhere.

although school was technically safe by itself, you didn’t want your companion wandering out alone at night (especially after all the weird dementor events that started happening lately).

with that in mind, you begun your search around your own common room, searching under your bed, in your closet, under the tables, in the sofas.

nothing. no sight of nugget.

in attempt to receive some help, you knocked on haerin’s doors. much to your surprise, she didn’t answer. to be fair, she could’ve been asleep by that time.

next place to search in were the moving staircases. surprisingly, you got that over with quickly, courtesy of the paintings annoyed with the lighting coming from your wand.

getting into detail about how many floors and weird places you had to look into would be a waste of time. only on the second floor, near the girl’s bathroom (that was out of order for years by now) did something interesting happen.

interesting is one way of naming it, but you did hear someone meow.

∧＿∧

（｡･ω･｡)つ━☆・*。

⊂　　ノ　　　・゜+.

しーＪ　　　°。+ *´¨

the girls bathroom on the second floor was quite famous amongst the students, mostly because of the random ghost ‘moaning’ in there at night.

moaning was close enough to meowing, so in last desperate attempt to find your beloved nugget, you decided to check there.

“hi bathroom ghost! have you seen-!”

you had to duck as a piece of porcelain (?) flew over your head.

“what was that for, huh?!”

“s-sorry!” your head turned to the source of the voice, and your eyes widened when you saw haerin standing there.

well, standing would be an overstatement. she was leaning on one of the sinks, breathing heavily. you could see her chest heaving up and down as blood tricked from a uncomfortably big wound on her shoulder.

“haerin?”

her eyes meet yours for a split second.

“duck!” and you did, just barely missing a huge piece of cement flying over your head. “hide, y/n!”

“what?!”

“hide!”

you threw yourself behind one of the big sinks in the middle of the room. you could see occasional flashes of light and cries of pain coming from the other side of the pillar, yet you were hesitant to go there.

it was dangerous to do so.

“shi-! my leg!”

the sound of haerin yelling out in distress was what made you lean over the sink. your best friend rarely liked to show weakness like that. your eyes widened when you saw another wound on her, ever bigger than the one on her shoulder.

“haerin!” your yells attracted the attention of whatever opponent haerin was facing.

“y/n? i told you to hide!”

it was a bit too late as you felt something hard collide with the side of your head, knocking you out immediately.

∧＿∧

（｡･ω･｡)つ━☆・*。

⊂　　ノ　　　・゜+.

しーＪ　　　°。+ *´¨

you never really liked the hospital wing of the school. truth be told, probably nobody liked it. it smelled of medicine and weird potions, although at least the teacher in charge was nice (usually).

when your eyes opened, the only light was coming from the outside, the soft glow of the moon. it was beautiful.

“oh. you’re finally awake.” one of your favourite voices sounded through the room.

you turned your head to the side, your eyes meeting the cat-like ones. “haerin..”

“that’s me, yes.”

her whole face was bruised, bandages all over the place. you tried not to think about whatever bigger wounds she was hiding under the hospital blanket.

“what was that? back there..” she sighed, expecting you to ask the question.

“i don’t think i can tell you yet.”

“why?”

“because i can’t protect you from it yet.”

her words stirred something in your heart, making it flutter. you were too tired to pursue more questions (maybe better so).

“have.. have you seen nugget?”

“nugget? your cat?”

you nodded your head wordlessly, you gaze falling on the edge of the bed.

“he was there. ran off just before you came in. don’t worry, he wasn’t hurt.” a small smile broke out on your face at the revelation.

“that’s amazing… he’s such a naughty kitten! but i love him, you know?”

“i know, y/n.”

“i wish i could meow like you…” she chuckled a little. “then i could talk with nugget!”

“you always talk about him..”

“yes, but i could talk with him! you know how cool that would be?!”

“hey..” haerin said softly, grabbing your attention. "you keep talking to me about your cat and i find it a little annoying but you look very cute so i don't mind.”

you froze for a second, the words stopped spilling from your mouth. “..what?”

“i was wondering.. would you wanna go to hogsmeade together? you know, like a date..?”

the cat like eyes meet yours shyly and you couldn’t help the little giggle that fell from your lips when you noticed a light layer of blush painting her cheeks.

“a romantic date?”

“i-if you want it to be..”

“sure, haerinnie.”

∧＿∧

（｡･ω･｡)つ━☆・*。

⊂　　ノ　　　・゜+.

しーＪ　　　°。+ *´¨

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eloquentreverie · 3 months

Text

𝐄𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: DBF! Ari Levinson x Female reader

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: One night when Y/N, after a harrowing experience at a party, calls her father for help. To her surprise, it's Ari Levinson, her father's best friend and her long-time crush, who comes to her rescue.

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭: you come and pick me up, no headlights. requested by @brandycranby

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: age gap,(reader is in their mid 20's & ari is 33) reader has strict parents, mentions of assault(not from Ari.), smut, vaginal sex, fingering. ( let me know if i've missed any potential triggers.)

𝐚/𝐧: here it is, re-uploaded! I hope you guys enjoy reading this. It's definitely not my best work but I am proud of this piece.

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐈𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐱 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑

The cool summer night air sent shivers down her shoulders, her yellow sundress fluttering in the wind. Y/N never wanted to be here in the first place. Parties were never her thing. She would rather be curled up in bed, wearing her pajamas, engrossed in one of her favorite supernatural novels, or binge-watching her beloved TV show while enjoying a bowl of popcorn.

But Eliana, her best friend, had different plans. “Come on, it’ll be fun,” she urged, yanking her inside. After just an hour, Eliana abandoned her to fend for herself amidst the crowd of intoxicated and sweaty bodies. Not wanting to appear too dependent, she attempted to blend in. She grabbed one of the many red cups scattered across the kitchen table and took a sip.

Part of her wanted to feel annoyed, but it was typical of Eliana to leave her like this. Despite insisting that she should step out of the house, Eliana had left her alone to navigate the situation. She took another sip of her drink and settled onto an empty couch, observing the mingling and dancing people, the booming bass from the music reverberating through the lavish home’s walls.

She surveyed the room, taking in the luxurious splendor that surrounded her. The towering ceilings and grand staircase captured her attention, while she marveled at the spacious and open floor plan adorned with magnificent, expansive windows. The elegant furnishings and intricate artwork added to the lavish atmosphere, transporting her to another world.

Despite the luxury, unease settled within her. She was out of her element and unfamiliar with anyone at the party. Thankfully, she had her cell phone with her, just in case something went wrong.

While seated on the couch, a handsome man with a defined jawline, dark hair, and green eyes approached her, edging closer with his arm draped over the loveseat’s edge. He purred, his breath tickling her neck. “Well, hello there, darling. What’s a beautiful creature like you doing all alone?”

A cold shiver raced down her spine, an unsettling feeling causing her stomach to churn. She felt frozen, unable to move or speak for what seemed like an eternity. But amidst the fear and panic swirling in her mind, she finally managed to utter a few words.

“Um... I... I can’t do this,” she whispered. As she began to move, she felt his warm hand grip her leg, his fingertips inching closer to her thigh.

“Aw, don’t be like that, babe,” he grinned, his face mere inches away from hers, the stench of alcohol on his breath. “Come on, you know you want this,” he whispered, his lips brushing against her ear, his fingers digging deeper into her thigh. Y/N swiftly rose from the couch, abandoning her drink without a care if it spilled, and marched out the front door.

As the music from the party faded into the distance behind her, she stood on the edge of the driveway, wrapping her arms around herself against the cool summer air. It had been only a few minutes since she had called her father to come pick her up. She could have called an Uber or contacted one of her friends, but with the incident that had just happened still playing over and over in her head, she just wanted to go home and curl up in bed.

Just before she was about to sit down on the ground, she spotted a familiar red pickup truck. It was similar to her father’s, but when it pulled up to the side of the road, and she saw the handsome, buff man behind the wheel, she recognized none other than Ari. Her dad’s best friend and also her long-time crush.

Her heart started pounding, and now her stomach swarmed with butterflies. The good kind. The kind that made her excited and nervous all at once. She took a step back as she watched him roll down the window, and her breath caught as she saw his charming, big grin - the grin that always made her heart flutter.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Ari greeted her, and his voice made her melt even more. “Your dad called me to pick you up. He said he was busy. Go on and jump in.” She stood there for a few seconds, unable to move, but eventually, she mustered up the courage to open the door to the passenger side of his truck and climbed inside.

An awkward silence fills the car as Ari drives down the road, heading toward her house. His eyes are focused on the road, but he can’t help but notice the change in her attitude. She’s usually cheerful, happy to talk with him and joke around but, tonight is different. Y/N’s quiet, shifting nervously in her seat. She watches as the flashing lights of the cars pass by on the road.

After what felt like an eternity, Ari finally broke the silence. He shifted his attention to her briefly before looking back at the street in front of them. “Hey, what’s wrong? You’re really quiet tonight.” He comments, his brows furrowing in concern.

Y/N thought the urge to sigh as she felt Ari’s gaze burning into her, as she continued to look out the window. “It’s nothing, I’m fine.” She lied, swallowing hard before she turned to face him, but her eyes never met his. A part of her knew it was a pitiful excuse. She’s never been good at lying whenever it comes to him. She felt a pang of guilt, too. Ari had always been so lovely to her throughout the years. But she was also aware of his temper and how protective he was of her at times.

Ari felt a flare of frustration. He knew she was hiding something—her unusual quietness tonight told him that much. She was one of the most open and cheerful people he knew. To see her this closed-off didn’t sit right with him. “Y/N, I know something’s going on,” he said, letting out a sigh. “You’re clearly upset about something. Do you not trust me enough to tell me what’s bothering you?”

He kept his eyes trained on the road but stole a couple of quick glances her way. Hurt creeping into his voice, he pressed further. “I care about you. Please, talk to me.”

A soft sigh escaped her lips before she spoke. “Ari, I know you care…It’s just…” she trailed off, trying to search for the right words.

His jaw clenched when he heard her response, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel. He knew he probably shouldn’t press further, but he just couldn’t drop it. There was this pitiful feeling in his stomach, telling him that something had happened. He wouldn’t stop until he got to the bottom of it.

“What? Come on, tell me. I need to know what’s going on with you.” He urged, and his tone shifted from annoyed towards caring again; though whether he liked where things were headed remained questionable.

She winces as Ari’ voice takes hold. Her heart speeding up a little faster as she contemplated if she should really tell him. She shifts uncomfortably in the seat of his car, the hem of her dress rising slightly and revealing the fresh mark on her thigh. As Ari’s voice washes over her, a wave of conflicting emotions crashes within her.

Her heart quickens its pace, the rhythm echoing the tumultuous symphony of her thoughts. She gazes out of the window, her reflection staring back at her, torn between the truth and the consequences it may bring.

The hem of her dress betrays her, rising ever so slightly, exposing the tender mark on her thigh—a silent testament to the unspoken secrets she carries. In the confines of his car, she fidgets uneasily in her seat, the leather beneath her palms growing slightly damp. The ticking of the clock seems amplified, each second stretching into an eternity.

His eyes snap to her legs as she suddenly moves, noticing the small bruise on her thigh that he hadn’t seen before. He gasps in shock and concern, the anger in his chest melting away as he reaches out to touch the bruise gently, but before he has a chance, she quickly tugs down the hem of her dress. “What happened, Y/N? Who did this to you?” He asks softly. For a brief second, he forgets about driving. He looks back down at the road and pulls over to the side of the street.

“There was this random guy, and before you ask, no, I don’t know his name. He tried to have his way with me. But…I left before he had the chance to do more.” Her words came out fast and by the time her gaze met his, Ari’s face had an expression of empathy and anger. Angry that someone would even dare touch her in that way. But he was mostly upset that she had to go through something like this—and he wasn’t there to help her.

He looked away, exhaling loudly through his nose. His strong fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly once more. “I should go back there. What’s he look like?” Ari questioned, his eyes furrowed in concentration while he struggled not to let his anger boil over any more than it already had. His mind filled with a variety of images of how he would make this man. No, this monster regrets ever touching her again.

A chill ran down her spine at his words, a wave of nausea washing over her. She hated the idea of him going back there and hurting someone. Not because she cared about the other man. She couldn’t have cared less about his well-being. But she didn’t want Ari going to prison, or worse, just to teach someone a lesson. That wasn’t him.

She shakes her head firmly. “Ari, please. Just... take me home. Please? He’s not worth it. Come on,” she pleaded, reaching out and touching his shoulder.

His eyes flickered to her touch, his anger simmering. “Alright,” Ari relented. “But if you see him again, tell me.” He says before turning the key in the ignition and starting the truck back up again. All she did was nod in response. The rest of the way home was filled with awkward silence.

She didn’t know what to think. Too many feelings swarmed around in her brain. As he pulled into her driveway, she noticed how some of the lights were still on and there was no doubt that her mother was still wide awake in the office. Before she reached for the car door, Ari’s voice broke through the silence.

“Hey, Y/N, are you sure you’re alright?”

The heat rushed to her cheeks, making her feel embarrassed. She knew her feelings were written all over her face, and she couldn’t stand the fact that Ari was probably seeing right through her.

She could feel the tears prickle in her eyes before she spoke. “Yeah. I’m fine.” Her voice cracked a little as she spoke. She was anything but fine. She just wanted to lock herself in her room and cry, forget that the whole night had even happened.

Ari’s face softened before he leaned in. “Hey, come here,” he cooed, wrapping his arm around her. His thumb gently ran up and down her back, trying to soothe her. “Do you want to stay the night at my place?”

“Um, no, it’s fine...” she started, her voice trailing off. A part of her wanted so badly to go home with him, to feel safe and comforted under his roof. But the shadows of what happened earlier still clung to her, making her hesitant. She stared down at her hands, weighing the internal battle.

“Actually...” She lifted her eyes back to meet his caring gaze. “Do you want to stay for a bit?” she asked softly.

His arm wrapped around her, pulling her into him. She sank against his sturdy frame, comforted by his steadying presence. His hand gently brushed a strand of hair back from her face. Rather than getting lost in thoughts of his kiss, she just let herself feel protected. Safe.

With that, they both exited the truck, and Ari grabbed her bag from the back seat.

The two of them slowly walked inside her house, careful not to wake her mother. Standing outside her door, she hesitated, the weight of Ari’s presence suddenly feeling both nerve-wracking and exciting. Pushing down her swirling emotions, she slowly opened the door, hyperaware of his closeness behind her.

Y/N watched as he set down her bag. She felt the heat rise up from her stomach into her chest, and her pulse quickened. “I’m gonna go get dressed. Just make yourself comfy, okay?” she says softly, making her way toward the bathroom.

“Alright. I’ll just be here, okay?”

The door closed behind her, and the silence that filled the room made her realize what was about to happen. She hadn’t been alone with him since... well, since... never.

After she had showered, changed into her pajamas, and made herself presentable, she opened the bathroom door. Ari was sitting on her bed, scrolling through his phone. Y/N paused for a moment, questioning if letting him into her bedroom was the right decision after all. But a wave of anxiety clenched her chest at the thought of being alone tonight. She ultimately decided having Ari’s comforting presence nearby would ease her nerves more than isolating herself.

She walked up to her bed and climbed up beside him, initially leaving some space between them. Despite having known Ari for years, being this intimate in her private space felt strange and nerve-wracking. She took a slow, deep breath in an attempt to relax her rigid posture.

As she gradually settled in and felt his warmth beside her, Ari's presence reminded her of the safety he represented. Back in familiar territory, his scent and steadiness calmed her racing mind.

“Thanks for doing this, Ari,” she whispered, scooting down and laying on her back. She let out a soft sigh, staring up at the ceiling and watching the fan spin.

He placed his phone on the nightstand before laying back down on the bed and staring at the ceiling with her. “Anytime. You know I’d do anything for you.” He reached his hand over and intertwined his fingers with hers. He had been thinking about what had happened earlier.

The mere thought of someone harming her ignited a fiery rage within him, while the notion of her being with anyone else left him physically and emotionally sickened. These feelings had been simmering beneath the surface for some time, but now they were reaching a boiling point.

His hand felt warm against hers, and the butterflies in her stomach had been back, fluttering around inside her. The room felt so warm and she was suddenly very aware of the fact that they were lying on her bed together. Her heart was racing, and she had never been so nervous.

“So, is everything okay?” He asked, his voice deep and soothing.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her hand reached over and ran through his thick brown hair. His eyes were dark, his brow furrowed in concern. “Honestly? No.” she sighed, biting her bottom lip. “It’s just...I keep thinking about that guy and how things could’ve ended badly if I hadn’t...”

She trailed off, her other hand subconsciously running over the bruise on her leg as tears began to trickle from the corners of her eyes. “God, I feel stupid,” she mumbled, trying to hide her face.

“Hey,” he cooed, lifting up her chin with his finger, meeting her tear-filled gaze, “Don’t you dare say that. None of what happened was your fault.” He rolled over onto his side, cupping her cheek gently, and wiping away her tears with his thumb. “Listen. I care about you, Y/N. So, so much. And nothing will change that. Okay? Don’t you ever forget that.”

She nodded, sniffling slightly as she looked down. “I know, I know. It’s just... I can’t help but think what would’ve happened if I hadn’t gotten away.” She was shaking slightly, her skin warming up underneath his touch. “I could’ve done more.”

“Sweetheart, you did more than enough. I promise. I’m proud of you,” He sighed, moving his hand up to stroke her hair. “Is there anything else bothering you?”

“Well. The truth is... I don’t know what I would have done tonight without you, Ari,” she said softly. “Having you here by my side, reassuring me I’m safe...it means more than you know. I’m just so thankful to have your friendship.” She bit her lip, hesitating. Her heart pounded as she debated admitting her deeper feelings. But the weight of the day’s trauma held her back for the moment.

Ari gazed at her, taking in the emotion in her eyes. “You know I’ll always be here when you need me,” he said gently. “Your friendship means everything to me, too. Especially tonight.” His sincerity made her heart swell. It gave her a burst of courage. She took a shaky breath.

“There’s something else,” she confessed, her voice small but steady. “Ari, I think I have feelings for you. I’ve been struggling with it for a while now.”

She fell silent, her cheeks warm. She searched Ari’s face nervously for his reaction.

Ari stared at her in disbelief, his heart pounding in his chest as he listened intently to what she was saying. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Y/N...” He whispered, his eyes searching hers, trying to find the words to express how he felt towards her.

He took a deep breath before leaning in and pressing his lips against hers. His hand moved up from her cheek and into her hair, tangling in her locks, as he pulled her closer to him. The kiss started out slow and gentle before becoming more passionate and heated as time went on. Her hands ran down his sides, gripping onto his shirt tightly as she returned his affections eagerly.

Before he could continue, he pulled away. This didn’t feel right after what had happened to her tonight. He didn’t want to take advantage of her.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that,” he apologized, looking away from her.

“What? Why?” she asked, confused by his sudden change in mood.

“I don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of you or anything like that. Not after what happened tonight.”

She sighed, reaching out to touch his arm. “Ari, you’re not taking advantage of me. I want this. I want you.”

He stared at her for a moment before smiling. “Not tonight. Believe me, I want this too, but I want to do it right.” He looked into her eyes deeply, his palm cupping her cheek.

“Okay,” she said softly, nodding. “I trust you.”

He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers once more. This time, the kiss was soft and gentle, full of passion as he pulled her closer to him. Her hands ran down his sides before resting on his hips as she kissed back with equal fervor. She could feel her heart racing faster than ever as they continued to embrace each other.

After a few moments, they pulled away from one another, both breathing heavily. “Let’s get some sleep, okay? We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Y/N nodded, laying back down and pulling the covers over herself. Ari laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat against her ear, and it was soothing. As she closed her eyes, she listened to the steady rhythm of his breathing.

She had never felt so safe before. She knew that no matter what happened, he would always be there for her. With a smile on her face, she fell asleep, content with the knowledge that she had finally found her rightful place.

When morning came, the warmth of the sun made her skin glow. Ari’s body heat warmed her cheeks and made her feel safe, safe in his arms. She felt his body move before he shifted and turned to face her. Ari smiled at her.

A warm, sleepy smile as his fingertips brushed the strands of hair from her face. Her smile grew as she met his gaze. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Ari murmured, his lips brushing against her ear. Her arms wrapped tighter around him as she breathed in his scent and sighed peacefully. Her hand moved to his chest, feeling his heartbeat softly under her palm. It all felt like a dream.

A wonderful dream that she never wanted to wake up from. Her lips parted, just about to respond, when there was a slight knock on her door, followed by the knob jiggling and her mother’s voice. “Y/N? Y/N, are you in there?

Ari and Y/N both jumped up in shock from their interlude, making sure to cover himself with a blanket while she spoke up. “Mom! Yeah, I’m here. What’s up?” she responded before smirking at Ari and pulling the cover over her head. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re a little too big to hide under the cover from my parents,” she whispered in a sarcastic tone.

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “What? Do you have an idea or a plan I don’t know about?” She shushed him to keep him quiet as her mother spoke once more. “Are you going to come out anytime soon? It’s nearly noon.”

She tugged on his arm, leading him toward her huge walk-in closet. Ari stood still in complete shock as she tried pushing him in.

He barely moved an inch and crossed his arms with a displeased look plastered across his face. “In there? How the hell do you expect me to stay in there? I could barely fit!” She hushed him one last time before whispering, “Will you just get inside? It’ll only be for a couple of minutes!”

“A couple of minutes? You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered under his breath before reluctantly stepping inside. He crouched down and sat on the floor, trying not to knock anything over. Y/N shut the door behind him and quickly made her bed. She quickly opened the door, forcing a small smile onto her face. “Sorry. Eliana dragged me to this party last night and...It was really late.”

Her mother raised an eyebrow at her, “Oh really? Well, I’m glad she finally invited you somewhere other than her house for once.” Y/N’s smile faltered a bit as she nodded. “Yeah, it was fun.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. I just came in to check on you. Your father and I are going out for lunch today. Do you want us to bring something back for you?”

Y/N shook her head, “No, thanks. I think I’ll just stay in today.” Her mother nodded before making her way out of the room. Y/N let out a breath of relief before shutting the door and opening the closet door to reveal Ari sitting on the floor with one of her lace panties. She snickered at him as he dropped them immediately and stood up. “Really? You’re gonna go through my underwear?”

Ari smirked at her before stepping out, “Hey, I didn’t go through your underwear. I was just admiring it,” he joked before wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. She rolled her eyes and turned around to face him. He smiled down at her before leaning in and pressing his lips against hers for a brief moment. “I should probably get going. Your dad is probably gonna be home soon.”

Later that day, Y/N was lounging on the couch, swiping through her phone. She was startled, however, when she heard her parents walk through the door. “Hey! How was lunch?” she asked them as they walked into the living room. Her father smiled at her. “It was good. We went to that new restaurant downtown.”

“Oh, yeah. I’ve been wanting to go there,” Y/N replied, smiling back at him. Her mother sat down on the couch next to her. “How was your day? Did you do anything fun?” Y/N shrugged, “Not really. Just stayed in and watched some movies.” She looked up at her mother and noticed a strange look on her face. It almost seemed like she was suspicious of something. “Oh, that reminds me. Did Ari get you home safely last night, kiddo?”

Y/N froze for a second before forcing a smile onto her face. “Yeah, he did. Thanks for asking.” Her mother grinned, nudging her slightly. “Oh? So, Ari took you home last night?” Y/N nodded slowly, hoping her mother wouldn’t pry. Her mother would often tease her about her crush on Ari.

“He did,” she confirmed, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. Her mother raised an eyebrow at her, “And did anything happen between the two of you?” Y/N shook her head quickly, “No! I mean...why would ask such a thing?” She laughed nervously, trying to play it off as if nothing had happened between them. Her parents looked at each other before looking back at her and laughing softly.

Her father patted her on the shoulder gently. “Well, we’re glad you had fun last night.” As if on cue, her phone dinged with a text message from Ari. She smiled to herself as she read it.

Today. | 1:30pm.

Ari: Hey. What are you up to?

Y/N: Nothing much. Just hanging out.

Ari: Cool. So, what are you doing later?

Y/N: I don’t know yet. Why?

Ari: I was thinking we could hang out at my place?

Her heart began racing in her chest as she read his text over and over again. Was he really asking her to come over to his house? She couldn’t believe it! She quickly responded back to him before looking up at her parents, who were still chatting amongst themselves. “Hey, mom, dad?” They both looked up at her curiously. “Yeah?”

“Is it alright if I go over to Elli’s house later?”

Her parents exchanged a quick glance with one another before nodding in unison, “Of course. Just let us know if you’re staying the night.” Y/N smiled brightly at them as she stood up from the couch. “Thanks!

She looked down at her phone before typing a quick reply.

Today | 1:38pm.

Y/N: Yes. I’d love that. Where do you want to meet?”

Ari: Meet me at the docks at 6 PM.

Y/N: Okay. Sounds good! I’ll see you soon. :)

Ari: See ya soon, beautiful <3

Y/N couldn’t help but grin widely at the nickname he had given her. She quickly ran up to her room and began searching through her closet for something cute to wear. After a few minutes of debating on whether to wear a dress or jeans, she finally settled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a white crop top with a black leather jacket over it.

She waved goodbye to her parents and quickly rushed outside, shutting the front door behind her, and headed towards her car. As she arrived at the docks, she parked and walked towards Ari, who stood casually in the moonlight, smiling warmly at her. “Hey, gorgeous,” Ari murmured as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

She giggled softly as she hugged him back tightly. “Hey yourself.” Ari pulled away from her slightly before leaning down and kissing her passionately. Y/N sighed softly into the kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck. When they broke apart from one another, Ari smiled down at her lovingly before taking her hand in his. “Come on, let’s go,” he said quietly.

Y/N nodded eagerly as they made their way towards Ari’s truck. Once inside, Ari started up the engine and drove off towards his house. She couldn’t help but stare out of the window at all the beautiful scenery passing by as they drove along. After a few minutes of driving, Ari pulled up in front of a large two-story house. He parked the car and turned off the ignition before getting out and opening the door for Y/N.

“Wow,” she whispered as she got out of the vehicle. Ari smirked at her. “What? You like it?” Y/N nodded excitedly as she followed him up to the front door. Ari unlocked the door and stepped inside, holding it open for her. She stepped inside and looked around in awe at how nice everything looked. “You have a beautiful house. It’s so big too!”

Ari chuckled softly as he closed the door behind them. “Thanks. I’m glad you like it.” Y/N smiled brightly at him before turning around and looking at all the different paintings hanging on the walls. “These are amazing!” she exclaimed as she admired each one carefully. Ari walked over to her side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, my mom painted those when she was younger.”

She turned to face him with a surprised expression on her face. “Really? Wow... she must be very talented.” Ari nodded proudly. “Yeah, she is.” Y/N continued to look around the room until her gaze landed on a framed picture sitting on top of a bookshelf. She picked it up and examined it closely. The picture showed Ari standing next to his parents and sister. They all looked so happy together.

Y/N smiled softly at the image before placing it back down onto the shelf. “So, how was work?” she asked curiously as she sat down on the couch.

Ari sighed heavily as he plopped down next to her. “It was alright, I guess. Nothing special happened today,” he replied casually. She nodded understandingly as she leaned against the armrest of the couch. Ari glanced over at her and noticed that she seemed nervous about something. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head slightly and forced a smile onto her face, “Nothing... I mean... nothing important.” Ari raised an eyebrow at her skeptically, “You sure? You seem kind of anxious about something.” Y/N bit her lip nervously before looking away from him, “It’s nothing, really. We haven’t really talked about last night. And I don’t know where we stand now.”

Ari frowned slightly as he reached out and took hold of her hand gently. “Y/N, look at me,” he whispered softly. She slowly turned her head to face him once again.

He smiled reassuringly at her as he stroked her knuckles with his thumb, “Last night was amazing. I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time now. I’m glad it happened.” Her face warmed as she gazed into his beautiful blue eyes. “Really?” Ari nodded, “Yes. Absolutely.”

“But what about my parents?” she asked worriedly.

“What do you mean?” Ari questioned. Y/N sighed heavily as she looked down at their intertwined fingers. “They would never accept it. I just...I can’t lose them. My whole life, my family, has always been there for me. And if they find out that I’ve been keeping secrets from them...” Her voice trailed off as tears welled up in her eyes.

Ari reached out and cupped her cheek, wiping away her tears with his thumb, “Hey, listen to me, Y/N. Your parents love you more than anything else in the world. They would never leave you over something like this.” She sniffled softly as she looked up at him hopefully.

“Do you really think so?” He smiled warmly at her. “Of course I do. Besides, we’re not doing anything wrong. We just like each other.”

Y/N giggled quietly as she leaned into his touch. “Okay. You’re right,” she replied with a smile.

Ari pulled her into a warm embrace and kissed the top of her head affectionately, “Everything’s going to be fine, I promise.” Y/N sighed contentedly as she snuggled closer to him and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck.

Ari chuckled softly as he tightened his hold on her, “Come on, let’s go make dinner, alright?” Y/N nodded eagerly as they both stood up from the couch. Ari led her into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “How does chicken sound?” he asked.

Y/N shrugged her shoulders indifferently. “Sounds good to me.” Ari nodded as he grabbed a couple of vegetables from the basket sitting on top of the countertop and placed them inside the sink. “Alrighty then. Let’s get cooking,” he stated enthusiastically.

“Do you want some help?” Y/N inquired shyly.

Ari smirked mischievously at her. “Only if you want to help,” he answered. She grinned sheepishly as she moved beside him and helped wash the vegetables while he prepared the chicken breasts. Ari glanced over at her with a grin as she focused on slicing the tomatoes.

She bit her bottom lip in concentration, which caused him to chuckle under his breath. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow in question. “What’s so funny?”

Ari shook his head amusedly as he returned his attention to the task at hand. “Nothing,” he mumbled. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him before focusing back on her own job. “Liar,” she teased, smiling coyly. He glanced at her sideways and winked playfully at her.” Maybe.” After they finished preparing dinner, Ari took the food outside on the patio, setting the table and lighting candles.

As they ate, Ari kept staring at Y/N with an intense gaze. His eyes were full of longing and desire, and it made her cheeks heat. “So. Is this how you usually get the girls? You make them feel special, bring them home to your place, and cook for them?” She asked teasingly, hoping to ease some tension.

He snickered at her remark and shrugged nonchalantly, “Not exactly. This isn’t my usual style, but I admit, I wanted to do something extra nice for you.”

“So, what is your thing, then? What’s your style?” she asked, curiously.

“My thing?” Ari repeated in amusement. Y/N nodded eagerly, “Yeah. Your pick up lines, flirting techniques, that sort of thing.”

Ari leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not really one for cheesy pickup lines. If anything, I’m straight-to-the point. If I’m interested in someone, I tell them outright,” he explained. “Oh? Like when you kissed me the other day?” Y/N shot back with a sassy grin. He grinned in return. “Yeah. Exactly.”

He cleared his throat loudly before continuing on, “As for the other part...flirting techniques? I just use what feels natural to me.”

Y/N couldn’t resist laughing at his bluntness, “And what’s natural to you?” Ari glanced down at her lips and licked his own subconsciously, “For instance, I could compliment your beauty, but I’d rather kiss you senseless instead. I could pull you close to me and hold your body against mine. I could whisper sweet words into your ear, telling you how much I adore you. All of these things come naturally to me when I’m around you.”

Her mouth went dry as she stared into his handsome face. “You...really think that about me?”

“Of course.”

“Then why haven’t you tried anything before?” Y/N inquired curiously. Ari smirked roguishly, “Because I’m waiting for you to take charge first. I want you to feel comfortable enough around me to make the first move,” he replied honestly.

She nodded thoughtfully before looking back up at him, “Can you...show me some examples?” Ari chuckled deeply, “Sure,” he replied huskily. She smiled happily, “Alright! So...what do I do?” She scooted her chair closer to him and gazed up at him expectantly. Ari leaned forward and placed one arm around the back of her chair.

With his free hand, he gently traced small circles against the bare skin of her upper thigh with his fingertips. She sucked in a sharp breath at the intimate contact as goosebumps spread over her entire body. “Well...you start off slow at first,” Ari murmured softly. His hand slowly trailed higher towards the hem of her skirt. Her heart raced erratically as she felt his hot breath brush against the shell of her ear, sending shivers throughout her body.

She instinctively tilted her head back slightly to expose more of her neck. Ari leaned closer to her, allowing his lips to linger close to the sensitive area behind her earlobe. Her eyes fluttered shut as he began leaving light kisses along the base of her throat. She moaned softly at the sensation and reached up to run her hands through his hair, grabbing a handful tightly.

His hand slipped under the hem of her skirt and cupped her ass. “What...what’s next?” she breathed out quietly. Ari responded by lifting his head to look into her half-lidded gaze, “Next, you try to gain control of the situation. You want to assert yourself as dominant,” he murmured.

Her mind fogged up with lust as his thumb started massaging the curve of her rear. “Show me.”

“Gladly,” Ari purred.

She gasped as he suddenly pulled her onto his lap so that she straddled him, “Oh...” she muttered weakly, feeling his arousal pressed up against her inner thighs. Ari wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him.

Her face heated further at the sight of his erection poking at her leg. “Now, you take control, Y/N. Tell me what to do next,” Ari demanded roughly.

She swallowed hard as she placed one hand flat against his chest. “Kiss me, please,” she begged shamelessly.

Ari didn’t waste another second, leaning down to capture her lips in a fierce kiss. Their mouths moved fervently against each other. Their tongues danced wildly, each fighting for dominance. Ari cradled the back of her neck with one hand, keeping her in place while the other rested possessively on her hip, pulling her closer to him. Y/N moaned against his lips as she bucked her hips upward, rubbing her crotch against his erection.

Ari growled low in his throat, pressing himself harder against her as he continued devouring her mouth. Their breathing became labored as the temperature between them grew more intense. She broke apart from him momentarily to catch her breath. Ari quickly dipped his head down, trailing hot open-mouthed kisses along her jawline, traveling lower toward her neck.

“Ahhh... Ari...” she mewled when he bit into her skin harshly, leaving behind a noticeable bruise. “I’ve been dying to taste you, baby. Now it’s my turn to pleasure you,” he groaned seductively. She whimpered pitifully as she grabbed at his shirt desperately, trying to rip it off him, “Please...” she pleaded. Ari smirked smugly at her eagerness, “Whatever my princess desires.”

Her stomach did somersaults at his words and tone, causing her core to throb with need. She dug her nails into his flesh as she tugged on his shirt. “Take it off!”

Ari chuckled darkly before grasping onto the bottom edge of his dress shirt. Slowly, he lifted the fabric upwards until he was completely bare from the waist up. His defined abs and taut muscles glistened brightly in the soft moonlight, making her mouth water. She ogled hungrily at him as she reached out to caress every inch of exposed skin within her reach.

His toned chest flexed underneath her fingers as they roamed along his pecs, tracing downwards towards his six-pack abs. She bit her lip, suppressing a moan as her digits skimmed over the dips of each ridge. Ari inhaled sharply as she grazed her fingernails gently along the V-shape leading down below his jeans, “Mmm...just wait till I have you begging for me.” Y/N shivered pleasurably at the thought. “Why wait?”

Suddenly, he grabbed hold of her hips and hoisted her up easily. “Ari!” she exclaimed, wrapping her legs around his waist instinctively. Ari chuckled wickedly before carrying her bridal style inside his house.

“Don’t worry, babe. I’ll take care of everything from here.” She giggled softly as he carried her through the kitchen and into the living room before bringing them upstairs. When they arrived in front of his bedroom door, Ari kicked it open, not once breaking his stride. He stalked over towards the bed and deposited her down onto the mattress.

She smiled excitedly as he loomed above her, crawling onto the bed himself. Ari crawled on top of her and stared deeply into her eyes. “I can’t believe we’re finally doing this after so long,” he whispered.

Y/N reached up and cupped his face lovingly, “Me neither. But I’m glad it’s with you. You make me feel safe, Ari.” He kissed the tip of her nose before leaning back slightly, “May I remove your clothing now?” he requested. Y/N nodded eagerly.

Ari smirked mischievously at her response before grabbing hold of the hem of her tank top and slowly pulling it upwards, exposing more skin to his hungry eyes. After removing the garment completely, Ari carelessly tossed it aside and lustfully gazed at her bare torso. She bit her bottom lip as she covered herself shyly with one arm across her chest.

“Don’t hide yourself from me, baby. You’re beautiful,” he murmured softly. She swallowed hard as he reached out towards her and gently pried away her arm, revealing the rest of her body.

“So perfect,” he breathed out in awe. Her heart raced wildly as his fingertips traced along the outline of her curves, “You’re so gorgeous, Y/N.” Ari dipped down and captured one nipple between his lips, suckling gently upon it.

She gasped loudly as he swirled his tongue around the hardened bud, sending jolts of electricity throughout her entire being. He then moved onto the other breast and gave it the same treatment. She writhed underneath him as he continued teasing her sensitive nipples with his mouth.

Eventually, Ari released them with a pop and began trailing kisses down her stomach, stopping right above the waistband of her skirt. He glanced up at her briefly before hooking his thumbs into the sides of her skirt and panties and pulling them both off in one swift motion. Her cheeks became hot when he stared hungrily at her exposed lower half. “You’re so wet for me already,” he stated huskily.

Y/N whimpered softly as he spread apart her legs wide open, “Ari...” she whined pitifully. Ari smirked wickedly at her before lowering himself between her thighs.

“I’m going to devour you now, baby girl.” Y/N panted heavily as he pressed his lips against the inside of her thigh, kissing his way upwards towards her dripping core. She cried out loudly when his tongue swiped across her slit teasingly, tasting her juices. He hummed appreciatively at her flavor before diving back in, lapping eagerly at her entrance.

She moaned uncontrollably as he sucked and nibbled on her swollen clit, sending waves of pleasure throughout her entire being. Ari continued feasting on her until she was trembling violently underneath him.

He lifted his head slightly to look up at her. “Are you ready for me?” he asked huskily. Y/N nodded frantically as she reached down to grip onto his hair tightly, “Yes... please... I need you inside me,” she begged shamelessly. Ari chuckled darkly before crawling back up towards her face and capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. She moaned against his lips as she tasted herself.

He broke away from her mouth and gazed intensely into her eyes. “Are you sure?” he questioned seriously. She nodded eagerly once again.

“Yes! Please, Ari!” He grinned devilishly at her response before reaching over towards the nightstand beside them and grabbing a condom from the drawer. Y/N watched intently as he ripped open the package with his teeth and rolled the latex over his length. Once he finished preparing himself, Ari positioned himself at her entrance and pushed forward slowly, entering her completely.

Y/N cried out loudly as he stretched her walls apart, filling her completely. He groaned deeply as he buried his face into the crook of her neck and began thrusting in and out of her at a steady pace. She clung tightly to him desperately as he repeatedly slammed into her forcefully. Ari lifted his head from her throat and stared deeply into her eyes, “You feel so fucking good wrapped tightly around me, baby,” he murmured lowly.

She moaned breathlessly in response as he increased his pace, pounding into her relentlessly, “Ari...faster!”

He grunted in his throat as he obeyed, quickening his movements while still maintaining his control over her. She threw her head backwards against the pillows, arching her spine upwards.

The combination of his relentless assault on her sensitive spot and the friction of him rubbing against her clit made her delirious with bliss. He continued driving into her mercilessly until her climax hit. A rush of pure ecstasy overwhelmed her senses. She screamed out his name as she convulsed powerfully around him.

“Fuck yes,” he hissed as he continued pounding away, prolonging her orgasm for several minutes. Afterward, she slumped against the mattress, gasping for air, completely spent. He slowed down eventually before halting his movements completely, staying buried deep inside her.

She whimpered pitifully as he pulled out slowly and carefully removed the condom. He tossed the used prophylactic off to the side as he knelt on the bed between her spread open thighs.

She gazed up at him exhaustedly as she ran her fingertips lightly along his thighs. “That was amazing,” she breathed out with a blissful smile.

Ari grinned proudly down at her as he leaned forward to kiss her lips tenderly. “You were incredible.” She giggled softly as she returned his affectionate gesture before pulling back slightly to look into his eyes, “So...does this make it official now?” she teased, referring to their relationship status. Ari chuckled deeply before wrapping his arms around her waist and rolling them over so that she straddled his lap. “I guess it does,” he replied huskily.

She smiled widely as she placed both hands upon his chest and began rocking her hips against him, grinding herself against his hardness. He groaned appreciatively as he gripped onto her hips tightly, guiding her movements.

“Ride me, baby girl,” he demanded huskily. Y/N grinned wickedly at him before lifting herself up slightly and sinking down onto him slowly. They both moaned loudly in unison as she enveloped him completely. She began bouncing on top of him, riding him hard and fast.

Ari growled low in his throat as he watched intently as she bounced up and down on his length, “Fuck...you’re perfect,” he praised. Her eyes rolled back into her head as his tip repeatedly hit her g-spot over and over again. Ari reached up to cup both breasts firmly, squeezing them roughly as she continued bouncing on top of him. He pinched her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, twisting them harshly.

A small whimper escaped her lips, “Ari...” she whined pitifully. He smirked smugly at the sound. “You like that, don’t you, baby girl?” Y/N nodded frantically as she increased her pace, slamming herself harder against him. Ari released one of her breasts and moved his hand downwards towards her clit. He pressed his thumb against the sensitive nub and rubbed it while continuing to pinch her nipple with his other hand.

“Ahhh! Yes! Yes! Yes!” she chanted loudly, throwing her head backwards. Ari growled ferally as he thrusted upwards meeting her halfway, “Come for me, baby girl!” he commanded forcefully. She cried out his name as she felt her walls convulse around him, milking him. Ari grunted deeply as he climaxed simultaneously with her, spurting his hot seed inside her womb. He groaned huskily as he filled her completely.

Once they rode out their high together, she collapsed upon Ari’s chest, gasping for air. He wrapped his arms around her frame protectively and held her tightly against him as he nuzzled his nose against her forehead. “Mmm...that was wonderful,” he murmured softly. Y/N hummed contentedly as she snuggled closer towards him, “It was...but can we cuddle for a few minutes? I’m exhausted.” Ari chuckled deeply as he pressed a loving kiss upon her head, “Of course. Whatever you wish, baby girl.”

She smiled happily before closing her eyes tiredly, allowing herself to drift off into a peaceful slumber while listening to the comforting sound of Ari’s heartbeat thumping steadily beneath her ear.

When morning came, she woke up feeling refreshed and satisfied. However, a sudden wave of panic washed over her when she realized the bed was empty. Quickly, she sat up and looked around frantically, only to find Ari nowhere in sight. “Ari?” she called out timidly. There was no response. “Ari?” she tried again.

Still, nothing.

Her heart rate spiked as her breathing quickened in fear. “Ari?!” she yelled out louder. Suddenly, the bedroom door burst open, revealing a shirtless Ari wearing only pajama bottoms and holding two mugs of coffee. “Sorry. Had to make coffee,” Ari chuckled as he sauntered over towards the bed with a charming smirk plastered upon his face.

Y/N sighed deeply in relief as her panic disappeared completely. “Oh, thank god,” she breathed out, placing a hand over her rapidly beating heart. Ari handed her a mug before sitting down beside her. “You ok, baby girl? I didn’t mean to scare you,” he apologized. She smiled weakly, “No, no. It’s fine. I was just worried you’d left or something.”

Ari frowned slightly at her admission. “Of course not. Why would I ever leave such an amazing girl?” he murmured gently. Her cheeks heated at his words before sipping her coffee. Ari chuckled lightly as he pulled her onto his lap and began nuzzling his nose against the nape of her neck lovingly, “I could never abandon you, baby girl.”

She giggled joyfully at the ticklish sensation his action created. “You promise?” Ari lifted his head to look into her eyes. “Absolutely. I’m yours forever.” She beamed brightly as she leaned forward to peck his lips lightly. “Good.”

Two months had passed since Ari had started dating and during those couple months, she felt happier than she’s ever been before. But it was increasingly getting harder to keep her parents in the dark about their relationship.

As much as she hated the idea of having to sneak around behind her dad’s back, it was worth it to avoid unnecessary drama and tension between her father and Ari. They haven’t seen each other as often as she wished, though.

However, today would change that. Her father was visiting relatives in New York while her mother had gone away on a business trip for the weekend.

So, she decided to invite Ari over for dinner tonight so they could spend some quality time together without worrying about getting caught. She wanted to cook something special for him since he’s always treating her so wonderfully.

So, she spent all afternoon preparing a delicious meal for them both: homemade lasagna, Caesar salad, garlic breadsticks, and chocolate cake for dessert. Once everything was ready, she quickly showered and changed into a cute outfit before heading downstairs to wait for Ari’s arrival.

Just as she finished setting the table, the doorbell rang loudly throughout the house. She smiled brightly as she skipped over towards the front door excitedly and swung it open, revealing Ari standing outside holding two bouquets of flowers in each hand.

“Hey beautiful,” he greeted with a charming smile. Y/N grinned at his gesture as she stepped aside to let him inside. “You didn’t have to bring me flowers.”

Ari chuckled lightly as he handed her one of the bouquets before leaning forward to kiss her cheek softly. “I wanted to.” Her cheeks heated as she accepted both gifts from him and closed the door behind him. “Thank you. They’re gorgeous.” Ari smirked smugly at her response as he followed behind her towards the kitchen. “Not nearly as gorgeous as you are.”

She shook her head as she placed the flowers into a vase filled with water and set them on the countertop before turning around to face him again. “You’re such a charmer,” she teased playfully.

Ari shrugged casually before pulling her close against him and wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. “Only for you, baby girl.” Y/N giggled happily as he dipped down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. She moaned softly into his mouth as he slipped his tongue inside, tangling it with hers.

After several minutes of intense kissing, they broke apart breathlessly. Ari gazed deeply into her eyes while stroking her cheek tenderly with his thumb.

“I missed you,” he murmured huskily. “I missed you too. So much,” she replied softly. Ari smirked mischievously at her reply before leaning forward once more and pecking her lips lightly. “How long do we have the house to ourselves?” he asked curiously. She bit her bottom lip as she averted her gaze away from his intense stare. “Until Monday.”

Ari raised an eyebrow at her response. “Really? That’s quite a long time. What about your father?” Y/N sighed heavily at the mention of him, “He’s out-of-town visiting relatives in New York for the weekend and mom had gone away on a business trip for the entire weekend.” Ari grinned widely at her words as he cupped both cheeks between his palms and kissed her deeply again. “Perfect. We can spend all day tomorrow together,” he murmured against her lips.

“Come on, I cooked us dinner.” She grabbed hold of his hand and led him towards the dining room where their meal waited patiently for them to eat it. Ari whistled loudly as he took notice of all the food she had prepared.

“Damn, baby girl. This looks incredible.” Y/N smiled proudly, overjoyed by how well everything turned-out. “Thanks. It’s nothing really.” Ari shook his head firmly as he pulled out one of the chairs for her to sit down before taking a seat beside her. “Are you kidding? This is amazing! No one’s ever cooked me anything so extravagant before.”

“Well, it’s not every day that we get to spend alone,” she pointed out as she served him a generous amount of lasagna and salad. “Now enjoy your food. Don’t want it going cold,” she instructed firmly. Ari grinned appreciatively at her generosity as he took a bite out of one of the breadsticks. He groaned loudly in appreciation at the delicious taste. “You made these yourself?”

She nodded proudly as she sipped on her wine. “Of course. Only the best for you.” Ari hummed appreciatively as he swallowed down his first bite with another swig of red liquid, “Fuck me...” he murmured lowly to himself after taking a few seconds to savor the flavors lingering within his mouth, “This is the most exquisite thing I’ve ever tasted.” She giggled softly at his dramatic reaction before scooping up some salad onto her plate. “Thank you. I’m glad you like it.” Ari glanced over at her briefly with a boyish grin. “Like it? I love it!”

Y/N giggled again as she nibbled on some greens. The two ate their fill before clearing up afterward and deciding to move things to the living room, where they enjoyed a bottle of champagne whilst watching TV. She snuggled closer into Ari’s side as he wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders. Ari leaned over and placed a chaste kiss against her forehead. “What did you have in mind for our weekend alone?” he asked with a slight hint of curiosity laced through his voice.

“Well, I thought we could stay in all weekend. You know, watch movies, make-out, fuck,” she teased playfully, earning a chuckle from Ari.

“Sounds perfect. As long as we get plenty of time alone together,” Ari replied huskily as he squeezed her arm lightly, “I need you, baby girl.”

The following morning, Y/N awoke bright and early, ready to start her day with Ari. She quickly showered and changed into shorts and a tank-top before heading downstairs to fix breakfast for them both. Ari stumbled sleepily down the stairs shortly afterward, dressed only in loose sweatpants hanging dangerously low upon his hips. He yawned tiredly as he ran a hand through his messy bed head while shuffling his way towards the kitchen where Y/N stood making coffee.

“Morning, handsome,” she greeted cheerfully. Ari grunted groggily as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and buried his face against her neck. “Morning baby girl,” he mumbled against her skin, placing a soft kiss upon her pulse point. She giggled lightly as his facial hair tickled her slightly. “Sleep well?”

Ari hummed deeply as he pressed another tender kiss against her flesh. “Better than ever. It’s been ages since we last shared a bed together,” he remarked sadly. She frowned slightly at his words. “I know. But I do have some good news. I’ve been thinking about getting a place of my own.” Ari lifted his head from her neck to peer down at her with furrowed brows. “Really? How come?”

Y/N shrugged casually. “It’s time to start my life. And I can’t exactly do that with my dad constantly breathing down my neck,” she explained before pouring two cups of coffee and handing one to Ari. “I want my independence.” Ari smiled proudly at her as he accepted the mug gratefully and took a small sip. “I think that’s an excellent idea.

When are you planning on moving out?” She grinned widely as she reached up to caress his cheek tenderly with her palm, “Hopefully next month. Maybe you could help me?” Ari chuckled deeply at her request. “Of course. Whatever you need,” he answered lovingly before dipping down and pressing his lips against hers firmly, kissing her deeply.

She moaned softly into his mouth when she tasted hints of bitterness upon his tongue. Ari growled low as he gripped onto her hips tightly while backing her against the kitchen island.

She gasped in surprise when her bottom came into contact with the edge of the marble countertop. Ari took advantage of her parted lips to slip his tongue past them and delve deep into the wet cavern of her mouth.

She reluctantly pulled away. “As much as I love kissing you, I need to finish breakfast.” Ari pouted slightly at the loss of contact but didn’t protest any further. “Fine.” Y/N giggled lightly as she pecked his lips quickly before turning around and continuing with making pancakes for them both.

Ari watched her intently as she worked diligently on preparing their meal. He admired how beautiful she looked standing there wearing nothing but shorts and a tank-top with her hair pulled up into a messy bun atop her head. He loved seeing her like this: relaxed and carefree.

He couldn’t resist anymore. Ari closed the remaining distance between them, standing directly behind her, and wrapped his arms securely around her waist once again. “I love you,” he murmured into her ear softly. She froze momentarily when his hot breath ghosted over the shell of her lobe, causing goosebumps to form on her skin, “Ari...”

“I’m serious,” Ari stated firmly as he trailed small kisses along the side of her neck down towards her shoulder blade where he bit down on it gently causing her to gasp loudly in response, “Ever since that evening, when your Dad invited me over for dinner, you’ve captured my heart completely.

He pressed his chest firmly against her back as he nuzzled her hair affectionately, inhaling her intoxicating scent of strawberry shampoo mixed with her own sweetness. “I’ve never felt this way before about anyone. Ever,” he breathed out heavily. Y/N spun around in his embrace and gazed deeply into Ari’s sincere blue irises.

“Ari...I...” she began only to trail off, unsure of what to say next. He smiled softly at her uncertainty before leaning forward and capturing her lips in a loving kiss once again. “Say you love me too,” Ari pleaded against her mouth as he cupped her cheeks tenderly between his large hands.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as she responded, “Ari, I- “ She was interrupted by a sudden loud ringing coming from above, startling them both. They jumped apart immediately. Ari frowned deeply at the intrusion before sighing heavily and pulling away from her completely to head upstairs and grab his phone off of the nightstand. She groaned internally when she heard his footsteps receding from her sight, leaving her alone once more to continue making breakfast in peace.

What just happened?

Ari walked back downstairs, holding his cell phone in one hand whilst typing away on the device with his free one. “That was your father. He’s calling to check on you since it’s Sunday. Apparently, he hasn’t heard from you since he left town,” he informed her with an annoyed tone evident in his voice.

She rolled her eyes as she placed their food onto plates. “I haven’t answered his calls because I haven’t talked to him.” Ari furrowed his brow as he sat down at the dining table across from her. “Why? What happened? Are you fighting with him?”

“Not really. It’s complicated,” she answered vaguely. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fine. Then let’s eat.” She nodded her head silently while munching on a piece of bacon, “So...how did it go with dad yesterday? I hope you didn’t cause any trouble,” she teased playfully, hoping to lighten the mood.

Ari smirked slightly at her comment. “Nope. I behaved myself perfectly.” She laughed loudly at his answer before taking another bite out of her pancakes. Ari watched her closely with a serious expression etched across his handsome features, “I’m serious, Y/N. Your father is very important to me. I would never intentionally upset him by getting into an argument with him. Especially not over something so trivial as a simple misunderstanding.”

“Yeah well, dad is a bit of a drama queen sometimes,” she joked lightly. Ari chuckled deeply in agreement. “Yes, he certainly is.”

After finishing their meal together, they moved to the living room where they relaxed lazily upon the couch while cuddling under a warm blanket and watching reruns of Family Guy. She laid her head upon Ari’s chest as she listened to the steady rhythmic beat of his heart beating beneath her ear. She felt completely at ease listening to him breathe steadily.

“So...is there a reason you’ve been avoiding talking to your father? Or are you just being stubborn?” Ari asked curiously. She shrugged indifferently. “No reason. Just haven’t spoken to him since last week.” Ari hummed thoughtfully at her answer. “And what happened last week?”

She sighed, “Nothing much. Just a typical argument between father and daughter.” Ari nodded his head slowly as he ran his fingers through her silky locks tenderly. “I see. And what about?” she remained silent, refusing to give an explanation, “Y/N, please. Whatever it is, I promise not to get upset.”

“It doesn’t matter, Ari,” she whispered quietly. Ari frowned deeply at her stubbornness, “Obviously it does if you won’t tell me what happened.” She sighed again in frustration, knowing that he wasn’t going to drop the subject until she gave him an answer. “We were arguing about moving out,” she mumbled reluctantly. Ari raised an eyebrow at her response as he tightened his arms around her tiny frame. “Really? Why?”

“Because he’s scared that I’m growing up too fast,” she admitted honestly, “And that I’m gonna get hurt or something. Plus, he doesn’t want to lose me.”

Ari chuckled softly, causing her head to bounce lightly atop his chest. “And is that a possibility?” she glanced up at him briefly with an uncertain expression. “I don’t know,” she answered truthfully, “Maybe.”

Ari shook his head firmly at her uncertainty. “Well, I don’t think so. You’re strong and independent. You can handle yourself just fine.” She smiled gratefully at his words. “Thank you. That means a lot coming from you, Ari.” Ari returned her smile with a loving one of his own. “Anytime, baby girl.”

A week later, Y/N and Ari decided to tell the truth about their relationship after dinner one night. She invited Ari over and everything seemed to be going fine. They cooked together, ate together, cleaned up together and then afterward they sat down in the living room together for a nice chat.

“So, dad, mom, there’s something I need to tell you,” She announced nervously. Ari took hold of her trembling hand into his large one and squeezed reassuringly, “It’s okay,” She gulped loudly as she glanced over at her parents’ faces who wore confused expressions, “Mom, dad, Ari and I have been secretly seeing each other for... a while,” she blurted out quickly, waiting anxiously for their reaction.

Her mother’s eyes widened slightly. “What?” She nodded her head slowly. “Ari and I have been together romantically. For some time now.” Her father stared directly into Ari’s gaze with narrowed eyes filled with anger. “Is this true, Ari?” he demanded through clenched teeth.

Ari nodded his head confidently. “Yes, it is. And I care deeply about your daughter.” Y/N smiled brightly, overjoyed by his confession. Her mother smiled too as she reached over and gripped onto Ari’s other free hand tightly, “Well, then welcome to the family Ari,” she said happily, causing her to laugh loudly in relief. She leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on Ari’s cheek.

“Wait, hold on a minute here,” her father interjected, suddenly gaining their attention. “Are you serious, Ari? You’re dating my little girl?” Ari grinned sheepishly at his friend as he nodded his head. “Yes. Yes, I am.” She smiled widely at Ari. “Dad, please don’t be mad. I love Ari,” she pleaded desperately. Her father sighed heavily. “I’m not mad, honey, but it does concern me.”

She frowned at his statement. “Why? Are you worried that we won’t last long?” she questioned curiously. Her father scoffed loudly at her question. “Of course not, honey. Ari is like a son to me.” Ari grinned proudly, overjoyed at hearing that information. “Thanks. That means a lot to me,” he thanked gratefully.

Her father smiled at him genuinely. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go get ready for bed. I need to...process this,” he announced before standing up abruptly and making his way out of the living room, leaving everyone behind.

Her mother stood up next and stretched her arms above her head, “He'll come around. Night you two,” she bid goodnight before walking out of the room and following behind her husband. She waited a few moments after everyone left to finally speak up.

“Well, that went a lot better than I expected,” she teased playfully, making Ari chuckle softly in amusement. Ari turned to face her completely with a serious expression etched upon his handsome face, “So what now?” he wondered aloud, causing her to tilt her head sideways curiously at him, “What do you mean?”

“Now that they know, are things going to change between us?” he asked anxiously.

“No. Not at all,” she answered confidently before adding, “If anything, they will only get even better. Besides, you’ve always known that my dad loves you.” Ari sighed contentedly, “I know. I just had to hear it come straight out of his mouth before believing it,” he confessed softly.

A month after moving into her new home, Y/N had settled in comfortably, thanks to Ari’s help. Living under her parents’ roof, with their disapproval of her relationship, was no longer an option. Now, she was just a few blocks from Ari’s place, which turned out to be incredibly convenient. Ari had practically moved in with her, staying over every night and cooking all their meals. They had become closer and more intimate, learning how to trust each other completely.

Tonight, she was making spaghetti and meatballs, Ari’s favorite. She hummed softly as she stirred the marinara sauce, watching it bubble. From the garage came the sound of Ari working on his old Cadillac convertible, Metallica blaring from the radio.

The kitchen timer dinged, indicating the garlic bread was ready. Opening the oven, she carefully took out the hot dish with potholders, the delicious aroma wafting up to her. She set the bread on the countertop and removed the potholders, smiling in anticipation of the meal they would soon share.

“Ari, dinner’s ready!” she called out, trying to be heard over the music. There was no response; he was probably too engrossed in his work. Barefoot, she made her way to the garage.

Entering, she saw Ari lean over the car’s engine, his shirt off, revealing a sweat-drenched back. His usual black sweatpants and leather shoes completed the look. “Baby, dinner’s done,” she said brightly, her eyes admiring him from a distance. Ari looked up, his attention shifting to her. “Did you say something?”

“Oh shit! Sorry, princess. I was so engrossed in fixing this damn engine I didn’t notice you were there. Give me a few minutes and I’ll rinse off real quick and meet you inside.” She nodded understandingly. “Alright. I’ll get things set up. Don’t be long, okay?” Ari flashed her his trademark charming grin as she turned away and walked back inside the house, leaving Ari alone again in the garage.

After setting aside his dirty gloves, Ari headed for a quick shower while she prepared their spaghetti and meatballs dinner. Minutes later, he re-entered the kitchen, looking fresh and crisp in a white button-up shirt tucked into dark blue jeans, his damp hair loosely falling to his chin. His blue eyes shone under the fluorescent lights.

“Took you long enough,” she teased, laying out the silverware on the dining table. Ari responded with a deep chuckle, wrapping her in a warm embrace. “Sorry, princess. It took a bit to scrub off all that grease and oil.”

He kissed her forehead gently, breathing in her scent. “You smell great, baby,” he complimented, his eyes briefly trailing over her before meeting hers again. “Mm, I’m starving. Let’s eat.”

Dinner was mostly uneventful, save for their occasional flirting. After their dishes were loaded into the dishwasher, Ari wrapped his arms around her and spun her around. “Woah there, big boy,” she giggled. He dipped her gently until her hair hung loose against her shoulders, the tips brushing against the floor. She stared up at him with adoring eyes, her arms encircling his neck.

“Thanks for cooking tonight, baby. It was great,” he whispered against her skin as he placed light butterfly kisses along her neckline, earning a sigh from the woman he loved. “Always,” she responded.

A soft moan escaped her when his lips trailed up to her earlobe where he nipped on the sensitive skin, drawing out a gasp from her, his tongue licking across its edges. Heat began pooling between her legs at his touch and she closed her eyes as shivers ran throughout her body. “Ari, wait...”

“What is it?” he whispered against her skin again.

“Let’s go to the beach.”

Ari pulled back and stared at her, a confused look plastered on his face, “The beach? Tonight? It’s pitch black outside,” he laughed softly.

“So?” she responded innocently, giving him a coy smile. He grinned and shook his head. “Whatever you want, princess.”

Hand in hand, they strolled out towards the beach, arriving at the shore where the waves lapped softly at the sand. Ari encircled her waist, pulling her close as they both gazed out at the ocean. “Ari?” she spoke softly. He hummed in acknowledgment. “Thank you. For everything. Life is so much brighter with you.”

Facing him, her smile grew as she met his gaze. His own smile widened, his eyes tender and warm. The intensity of his look sent a wave of warmth through her.

Gently cupping her cheek, Ari spoke with deep affection. “I love you more than anything, Y/N.” His words left her breathless, feeling the weight and passion behind them.

He pulled her even closer, their bodies pressed tightly. “You mean everything to me, princess.”

Her eyes shimmered with emotion. “I’d choose you again and again, Ari.” His own eyes moistened under the setting sun. Leaning down, he kissed her sweetly, a kiss that resonated with happiness and love. Her fingers weaved into his hair as their kiss deepened, perfectly in sync.

Breaking away after a few moments, she ran towards the shallow waves, laughter trailing behind her. She twirled in the water, feeling free and elated as Ari jogged after her. “Don’t you dare ruin this moment!” he called out playfully, his wide grin matching her joy.

“What ever do you mean, Mr. Levinson?” she asked coyly before splashing water at him. Ari chuckled deeply before chasing after her through the cool ocean waves. They chased each other for several minutes until Ari caught up with her, wrapping his arms securely around her waist from behind.

He lifted her up into the air effortlessly as she squealed loudly in delight. He spun her around slowly in circles while gazing lovingly into her beautiful eyes. “You’re my whole world, princess,” he whispered. “And I’ll never let anything bad happen to you.” Sheleaned in and pressed her forehead against his. “Promise?”

“I promise, baby. With all my heart.” Their lips met once again in a passionate kiss, sealing their future together.

#chris evans #ari levinson #ari levinson fanfic #ari levinson fanfiction #ari levinson one shot #ari levinson imagine #ari levinson x reader #ari levinson x y/n #ari levinson x female reader #ari levinson x you #ari levinson smut #mywriting

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exhaustedcatte · 2 months

Text

Marauders Code

“We’ve got each other’s backs, no matter what,” the four wizards chanted as they performed a blood-binding oath illegally in their dormitory.

Remus was sent straight into McGonagall’s office, where she stared at him from behind her eyeglasses.

“Mister Lupin,” she raised a brow. “Sit, please.”

He sat, weary and suddenly tired of everything that had happened.

McGonagall exhaled sharply. “What’s this about you breaking a nose, then?”

Remus lifted his left shoulder listlessly, “He was being a dic– berk to Sirius and. Well. Yeah.”

He didn’t disclose that the three boys had spent the morning cheering up Sirius after the awful, long winded howler he’d gotten from home. And just when the boy had begun to laugh, that stupid fucking idiot Yaxley had come and rained over their progress.

But Remus’ pre-moon jitters had slithered down his arm, which shot out at the older boy’s nose, breaking it upon contact.

In the four years his friends had known him, Remus’d always been mild and patient. It helped his self-esteem to be something other than a monster, but exceptions, he’d come to learn, had to be made. Quite like Sirius Black.

James and Peter had stared at him with pure admiration and Sirius gaped at him with wide, grateful eyes.

“S’alright,” he’d said awkwardly when he retrieved his arm, unscathed, from a yowling Yaxley’s face. “Worth a detention.”

“Damn right!” James hollered, tackling Remus carefully, aware of his pre-moon pains, despite his excitement.

“Moony,” Peter breathed, “You’re brill!”

Remus offered a half smile as he followed a prefect down to McGonagall’s office.

That was fourth year.

In fifth year, Sirius was the one who was laden with detention.

He’d been skidding down the stairs using a dandy charm that him and Remus had been practising for a prank.

Sirius slid down the marble steps directly into a gossip session.

“He’s such a peacock,” one of them groaned.

“Gosh, I know! And did you see how he kept babying Pettigrew in Transfig? Like he’s some kind of genius, what a git!”

Sirius frowned. Peter? James was the one who partnered with—oh.

He listened closer, sneaking up on them from behind. And of course. Evans, MacDonald, McKinnon, Fortescue.

“Potter’s inflated ego–”

James had been assisting Peter with the lesson, one that Peter had read up on with Remus but while Remus had succeeded in his second try, Peter was struggling in his twenty second.

He was reassuring a boy who needed to be reminded that sometimes things take time and that was quite alright. That it didn’t speak to your intelligence or your capabilities. These girls, who hated James purely because he was smarter than them (okay, so Sirius knew James could be a right twat, but not this time), could go straight to hell.

Sirius grinned.

He followed them behind a Disillusionment charm that he’d perfected over the winter-break at Hogwarts and spelled every staircase they took to bring them back to the same hallway. After several attempts of them running away but landing right in front of the same charms classroom, he gave in and appeared in front of their frazzled beings.

“That’ll teach you not to speak on what you don’t know,” he said coldly.

Needless to say, McGonagall was furious at him for making them skip class and gave him a week of scrubbing trophies in Filch’s office. They became fast friends after that incident though, so no harm done.

James was running late.

He had to take notes for Remus, who was lying stock still in the infirmary, Skele-gro working on his bones. Sirius was keeping watch, having dropped Herbogy in their sixth year; he had Os in every subject, he could drop anything he wished.

James dashed into the Greenhouses right behind Sprout, barely squeezing in as the glass doors slid shut. Peter waved from their spot in the corner.

Their lesson was not very fun since they were with the know-it-alls. Ravenclaws were either amiable, or they had claws.

“You’d think he’d handle plants better, with how much he eats them,” Billy whatsit sneered at Peter.

Peter wilted like his Aconite. James felt fury rise in his throat.

“Gluttony,” one girl simpered cruelly.

“Look at those love handles on him,” a third one said. “I don’t understand how he’s a Marauder.”

“Pity friendship, I think. One would think he’s a Squib,” Billy gurgled.

James rose to his feet. “Professor Sprout? I think Billy Blabbermouth and his lackeys are having trouble here.”

The class turned to them.

He hexed the trio publicly. It was a silly one, helped jog your memory, repeat your previous words (he’d used it plenty on Sirius when he was fumbling around Remus like a shy maiden).

Billy and his friends looked aghast as their disgusting words came pouring out at Sprout’s face. She took a hundred points off them, and handed detention for the next two weeks.

“Thanks James,” Peter whispered.

“Of course, mate.”

James also got detention for hexing a student in class, but he took it happily, Remus was minding that detention as Prefect anyway.

In their last year, Remus had come back with a long wooden cane, much to his chagrin.

His body couldn’t carry his weight right after the moons, so he’d been forced into a magnificent cane with a golden lion at the head. They had tried to make him feel better about it but Remus was a creature of self-reliance, of pride.

Remus hated it, Peter knew.

It happened on their way to breakfast.

Peter was behind the other three boys, voted as the one to lie to Mary about their Halloween plans (they were planning on transforming all the beds into pumpkins; no, they weren’t going to be creepy about it—mirror charms, duh), when Davey Smith traipsed past them and tripped Remus.

Remus fell down like a bag of bricks, red-faced and irate, unable to retaliate after the moon and otherwise (monster, monster, Remus chanted to himself to prevent himself from snapping, Peter knew).

Sirius and James helped him up, jaws locked with anger, as their first priority was to check on their friend.

Smith jeered. “Feet useless, cane broken, face cut up. What kind of an ugly invalid are you, Lupin?”

Davey Smith, jealous of Remus simply because he’d been asked out by Davey’s crush. What a piece of work.

“Sirius, no. James, put your wand down,” Remus sighed. “Smith, kindly get lost.”

Peter smiled. He’d not been warned. “Sorry, Mary, duty calls!”

He turned into Wormtail behind an armour and scurried up an unsuspecting Davey’s pant leg.

Wormtail bit into the Hufflepuff’s flesh.

Davey howled.

McGonagall swept into the hall, took one look at Remus, at the anger tinged faces of James and Sirius and at Peter’s self-satsified expression. Then she noticed Davey, who was flopping about the hallway embarrassingly.

“Mr Pettigrew,” McGonagall ground out tightly, “I don’t know what you’ve done, but his thigh is bleeding! Detention for the week. And Mr Smith, we will have a Talk after Madam Pomfrey is done with that gash. No Hogsmeade for the rest of the term for you.”

Peter smiled benignly. “I’ll be there, professor.”

She whisked Smith away, scolding him for hurting her kids, no doubt.

“Pete! That was fab!” Sirius laughed and James thumped his back. “Wish I could’ve given him rabies, but you might’ve done me up with plague.”

Remus was rolling his eyes, but a smile was hooking his mouth up in the corners, “I should know better by now, eh? Of course one of you will rush to defend my honour.”

“It’s what you deserve Moony,” Peter said, smiling.

Really, they’d always have each other’s backs. Until the very end.

69 notes · View notes

bloodynereid · 7 months

Text

Reapers & Ravens

<< prev | chapter iii | next >>

pairings: jordan li x oc

tw: swearing (like A LOT but come on it's gen v), seizures, mentions of death, drinking of alcohol, mentions of sex, iffy morals, bad parents

description: the story of a girl. a girl cursed by compound v to live a life without touch.

a/n: so this chapter is a little shorter that the rest cause i tried to stay as faithful to the ep as i could! hopefully u enjoy the addition of vic's dad and some more convos and interactions between jordan and vic. lmk if you wanted to be added to the taglist and my asks are open if you feel like chatting :) also one of my wonderful mutuals (the same one who created gemma) helped me write a few of their interactions so writing credits to them as well <3

The harsh white light that illuminated the stairwell cast strange shadows on Cate’s face as she convulsed. It had already been over 3 minutes and she wasn’t stopping, Andre and I were completely lost on what to do. We couldn’t just call an ambulance - we were in a restricted area of the school where a top secret Vought bunker was literally placed.

Then I remembered the incident with Luke’s blood, the way that his power seemed to have soaked into my veins when I absorbed the remaining energy in his cells. If I could control it, I could save Cate. Control over greed. Control over greed. Fuck okay I can do this.

Taking a deep breath, I looked over at Andre, watching as he scrambles to do anything and everything to get Cate out of her seizure. Goddammit. I start pulling off my gloves and stretch out my now naked fingers.

“Andre… I have an idea.” He looked up at me with pleading eyes but then he realized that my hands were uncovered.

“What- Vic, you know what don’t tell me, just do it.” I nodded and inched my hands closer and closer to Cate’s convulsing face.

“You need to be prepared to pull me away if I can’t stop myself.”

“Wha-” Before Andre could finish his exclamation my fingertips shakily laid on top of Cate’s forehead. As soon as I felt her energy start entering my body I wrenched my hand away and took a deep breath. I could feel everyone’s life force around me, even the ones behind the concrete door.

“Vic what the hell did you just do?”

Ignoring Andre’s voice I focused on the foreign force that tingled in my brain. Unlike the cold fire that corresponded to Luke’s powers this sort of felt like spicy chocolate. Sweet but also imbued with something peppery.

I focused the power on my hands. I delicately placed them again on Cate’s face, this time I didn’t feel any of her life force seeping through. Only human skin. Oh wow so that’s what it felt like.

“Stop Cate. Relax.” Once the words left my mouth Cate stopped spasming and the spicy chocolate feeling left my brain, suddenly replaced by a rush of my power which instantly started to absorb her life force. I jerked my hands away and rubbed my wrists. I did it. I actually did it.

“Oh my god Vic, what the fuck?” I blinked up at Andre and pulled on my gloves, taking extra time to do up the clasp.

“I- I don’t know Andre. Something happened when Luke’s blood hit my body and I took a chance.”

Andre opened his mouth to respond, thankfully his eyes didn’t seem to hold anger, just a whole lot of confusion and something like… awe but then Cate let out a loud groan.

“Uh guys?” My eyes left Andre’s and looked down at the blonde, she had a confused but weak smile on her face and her eyes were all bloodshot.

“CATE! You’re okay, oh thank god.” Andre gingerly encased her in a hug and a fragile laugh was heard in the corridor.

“Aww thank you I wasn’t aware that I’d been raised to the status of god.” I said with a chuckle and Cate looked at me with a confused look on her face.

“What exactly did you do Vic?” Andre asked while we both helped Cate to her feet, I unrolled my sweater from where it laid on the floor and pulled it onto my shoulders. Carefully maneuvering around the guards, we stealthily (not really) walked up the staircase.

“So you know how I told you ages ago that I never once absorbed a supe?”

“Yeah… what does that have to do with this?”

“Well, a few days ago when he umm died, I was sort of able to siphon some of his power from the blood that hit me. I don’t have any idea how I did it but if I didn’t do anything Cate could have gotten really hurt so I needed to at least try.”

“You two are literally going to be the death of me. It’s like looking Reckless #1 and Reckless #2 over here.” Andre said with a roll of his eyes but a teasing lilt in his voice.

“Oh and you’re one to talk.” Cate adds meekly, a teasing tone evident in her statement. I laugh slightly and make her lean more of her weight against my side.

Once we got Cate to her dorm room, I left Cate and Andre to talk. They had this tension between them that I very much didn’t want to get involved in. Then a realization hit my brain like a freight train. The fucking interview! Shit I had promised Jordan.

I twirled around in place and started sprinting to the auditorium where we had the shoot earlier today. My heels clicked hard against the concrete and my enhanced stamina helped me stay at the same furiously fast pace until I reached the doors.

Slamming them open with as much force I could muster (with supe strength it ended up with the doors being knocked off their hinges slightly) and walking into the now darkened auditorium. The only things in sight were not camera equipment, a talk show set or even any other people. At the end of one of the rows, I heard whistling and saw one of the school’s janitors mopping the floor.

I let out a frustrated sigh through my teeth and rubbed a hand over my hair. Pulling on a couple of the blonde strands, I twirled around and made my way back out into the warm night.

“Fuck!” I moaned out, kicking a stone into the green grass surrounding the walkways. I needed to find Jordan. I needed to find them quickly.

I ran over to the junior dorms, knowing that Jordan’s dorm was only a few rooms away from Cate’s. Pounding on the steel door, I prepared myself for the inevitable backlash my decision was going to result in.

“Fuck off.” Jordan’s voice seemed almost distant because of how muffled the door made it.

“Jordan look I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” I heard some distant scuffling inside before the door was unlocked and pulled open. There stood Jordan, eyes rimmed with red and in pajamas. Still looking as stunning as ever.

“What?”

“I don’t really know how to explain this without fucking things up but uh Cate and Andre needed me.”

“Oh really? So you just decide to go against your promises for a quick fuck?”

“WHAT? No, no. Where the fuck did you hear that? I didn’t sleep with them.” I frantically tried to explain myself, stumbling over my words like there was no tomorrow.

“Yeah sure.” Jordan’s face was now covered in a mask of annoyance and indifference, a sarcastic smirk trying to cover the cracks of her vulnerability.

“Jordan… Cate had a seizure, Andre was busy doing something illegal again and dragged me with him. Cate tried to help but she pushed too much. I was trying to help her.”

“Oh. Shit. Is Cate okay?” Jordan’s face no longer looked angry instead pure worry seeped through their pores, they instantly shifted with a soft pop.

“Yeah uh Andre and her are in her room.” I chuckled slightly but Jordan just rolled his eyes.

“Sorry for assuming I just thought-”

“No you’re good, I would have done the same thing. Probably would have blown up more to be honest. I should be the one saying sorry.”

“Oh it’s fine, not like the trustees would do anything different.” Jordan answered in a self-deprecating tone.

“Did Marie at least say something?”

“Oh no she was playing her part like a perfect little puppet.”

“God I’m really fucking sorry, Jordan.”

“The system’s fucked what can I say? At least we have the memorial ball tomorrow, I can try to get some sponsorships and stuff there.”

“Fuck right the ball. My dad’s supposed to be coming to that.”

“Shit I’m hoping and praying that my parents don’t show up. Uh do you want to come in?” A smile immediately blossomed on my face at their suggestion.

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“Nah come on in. It could be like our first meeting of the shitty parents club.”

“Oh do you have stories cause I have plenty?” I aaked as I shut the door behind me and stood slightly awkwardly in the middle of the room.

“I’ll give you one better, I have stories and weed.” He said as they held out a bag of gummies.

“Fuck yeah!”

I, as silently as I could, carefully opened the door to my shared dorm. The sun had risen about an hour ago and it felt like I was living the literal definition of ‘walk of shame’ even if Jordan and I hadn’t actually done anything yesterday.

Somehow I had completely forgotten that Gemma was an early bird so the second I stepped through the heavy door, my roommate jumped up from her bed.

“Ah Vic where have you been? Did you sleep with someone? Ooo was it Andre? Tell me everything.” Gemma said as she joyfully jumped up and down around me, before I could even take notice of her barrage of questions I realized that her hair had changed. It no longer was her usual shade of red instead it hung down her shoulders in strawberry blonde ringlets.

“Your hair? Also wait- Andre? Why does everyone keep thinking I’m sleeping with Andre?”

“Oh right, I got bored last night but come on! Tell me what happened. And I don’t know you guys just have this vibe.”

“We do not! I think we’re going to need all morning for me to clarify the fact I’m very much not sleeping with Andre.”

“I don’t have any classes and I’m pretty sure you don’t either so stop making me wait.”

“Alright, alright.” I let out a laugh at her contagious joy and spent the next hour discussing every minute of last night’s adventures, even the illegal bits.

After our little catch up, I decided to get changed out of my day old clothes and finally get some softer gloves on my hands. When I had inevitably crashed on Jordan’s bed last night, I wasn’t able to change into my usual pair of sleep gloves. So after having leather on my hands for more than 24 hours I was more than glad to welcome the feeling of soft and pillowy cotton.

Once I had put on a whole new outfit and washed my face I felt like an actual person again. The soft sheets crumpled around my body as I readjusted my reading position. In front of my eyes stood the text of a psychology book on conspiracy theories. It was actually pretty interesting and so far removed from my usual school readings that the world around me just disappeared for a little while.

Unfortunately, my little moment of solitude was disturbed by our dorm room’s door flinging open and as I turned to look at who the intruder was I recognized her to be Emma. Emma who hadn’t even realized I was there so she just kind of threw herself onto Gemma’s bed. Since the divider to our room stopped me from being able to see what was going on I just decided to rely on my senses. Closing my eyes, I blindly shut the book and focused.

“Gemma, I- fuck I need you to shift into me.”

“Uh okay sure?”

A second later I hear sounds of kissing and my mouth drops, oh OH shit. The sounds of moaning and whimpering seemed to start increasing in volume and I realized I probably should leave. Two sets of loud moans made me make up my mind instantly. Yup definitely leaving.

As silently as I could, I grabbed my books, iPad, headphones and phone before shoving them into my canvas bag. I also put an extra pair of gloves, purple this time, in case they were needed for whatever reason.

Tiptoeing my way over to the door, I risked a glance at the couple with a slight smile on my face. Gemma deserved the fucking world and hopefully Emma would be able to provide some of it. I twisted the knob of the door and just as I stepped through the door I turned back one last time.

“Wear protection!” I said with a teasing lilt in my voice and let the door slam close as a loud ‘fuck’ echoed through the hallway.

Group Chat with Cate, J, A.A. & Luke

Me: anyone free?

don’t have classes until the afternoon

i’m boredddd

J: can’t

got some stupid essay i need to do for a fucking extra branding seminar about lunchboxes

Me: lol what

why r u taking that?

J: fuck if i know

it’s mandatory supposedly

Cate: WHAT

no it’s not

who told u that?

also vic i’m free meet me @ the tables outside the caf

Me: k omw

J: ITS NOT MANDATORY?

fuck that little fuck louis

A.A.: really?

u trusted louis?

J: he’s my academic advisor u bitch

ofc i trusted him

Laughing, I locked my phone and tried to spot Cate at the tables. My eyes caught hers at one of the end tables and she waved with a smile on her face, urging me to join her.

“Hi. It’s good to see you’re doing better.” I said once I put my bag down on one of the benches and got a good look at the blonde. She looked absolutely radiant today, clad in a sage green blazer and dangling pearl earrings.

“Yeah, thanks for that. You quite literally saved my life.”

“Hey that’s what friends are for right?” I asked as I laid my gloved hand over hers. She smiled and tugged a flyaway strand of her hair away from her face.

“Of fucking course, now tell me all about what happened with Jordan last night.”

“How did you know?”

“I have my sources.” She says in a sing-song voice as a smirk paints her face. I huff out a laugh and shake my head fondly.

“Fine, keep your secrets but… you have to tell me everything that happened with Andre.”

“Deal.”

Cate and I talked for what seemed like hours (in the best way possible) and we ended up ordering lunch. A pasta dish that was probably one of the best things I had ever tasted.

“Vicky, I didn’t realize you had already made some friends.” The familiar voice made my spine seize up and goosebumps appear on my arms, and not the fun kind. Cate’s mouth had dropped open as I swiveled around to look directly at my dad’s hazel eyes.

“Hey dad.”

“Kiddo! Come on, give me a hug.” He had a wide smile on his face, he looked genuinely happy - not buzzed happy. That was probably one of the only reasons why I actually decided to hug him. After he left me out of a slightly too tight embrace, he looked towards Cate and smiled.

“Oh right dad, meet Cate Dunlap. Cate, meet my dad.”

“Uh hello Mr. Oaks or uh Frostbite, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She said, politely offering her gloved hand.

“Nice to meet you as well Cate. These are beautiful gloves, similar powers to my daughter then?”

“Uh kind of, I can mind control people using my hands.” Dad’s eyes widened as he whistled appreciatively.

“Wow, now that’s a cool power. If you can excuse us, I need to pull my beautiful daughter away for a bit. We have a fitting.” Right, the memorial gala. Ugh.

“Yeah sure. I’ll see you there.” Cate quickly encased me in a hug and then leaned close to my ear, “I forgot how hot your dad was.”

“Cate!” An outraged gasp left my mouth as she just laughed while she walked in the direction of her dorm.

“Well isn’t she a charmer?” He was watching her walk away with a smirk on his face causing my mouth to turn into a disgusted sneer.

“Dad, really? I told you I had a rule about my friends, plus you’re like decades older than her.”

“I know, sweetheart. Come on, I found the perfect dress to match my suit. After your little interview stunt you’re going to need all the help you can get to stay in the top 10.”

“Yeah dad, I get it.”

I rubbed my temples as we made our way to one of the many cars that are in dad’s collection. This one was an Aston Martin DB5, the James Bond car. It was a wrap gift from one of Vought’s many rip off movies my dad starred in, he had gotten to play James Bond-type for 3 movies and somehow managed to still get roles.

My heels sunk into the plush of the red carpet, flashes of the many cameras seemed to permeate my eyes and kept me changing my poses. I was wearing a beautiful sleeveless dress that made me seem like I was floating. The folds of bluish gray mixed perfectly with the pearly white, even my gloves were designed specifically to complement this outfit.

Sometimes you had to give my dad some credit, he did have an eye for fashion. He stood next to me with an open white shirt and steely gray suit. Once I had done enough solo posing I skipped my way over to dad and gave him a one armed hug, painting on a cheerful smile for the cameras. I was careful not to let any exposed skin near his hand because that would be bad… not for me but for literally everyone else.

It was like the cameras exploded, so many flashes were now directed towards us that it was blinding. I endured it for another minute before thankfully dad dragged into the ball… where we were greeted by even more cameras. I adjusted the ribbon that dad insisted I wear and gave a little smirk to the cameras. Dad walked next to me until finally the cameras focused on Marie and the dean behind us. Now that was a weird pair.

“Good job sweetheart. You ready to mingle?”

“Are you?”

“Always.” He flashed me his politician smile and quickly grabbed two glasses of champagne before handing me one and moving towards a group of old white guys, the trustees probably.

I took a sip of champagne and looked around the room, spying quite a few familiar faces before I landed on Gemma’s, she was standing off to the side with a glass of water - staring out into the sea of people with a thoughtful look on her face.

I weaved my way through all the trustees and potential donors until I finally sidled up next to her and offered the glass of champagne in my hand.

“You look like you need this more than I do.” Gemma jumped slightly at the sound of my voice and turned to look at me.

“Shit you scared me. Ooo champagne thank you.” She passed me her water and then proceeded to down the entire flute in one go.

“Okay wow, what is going on?”

“Nothing. You look incredible by the way.”

“You do too,” I looked down at her impeccable suit, it had bubbled sleeves and a sheer patterned shirt under the white blazer, “but there is clearly something up. Come on, you know I’ll probably just ridicule you slightly and not actually judge you for it.”

“So you know how I slept with Emma…”

“Yes? I was there for like the first bit of it.” She cringed back for a second and took back her glass of water, taking a sip before she continued with her admission.

“I don’t think I can actually have a serious relationship with her.” Oh okay wow, heavy topics already and I had only had a sip of champagne.

“Okay do you mind if I ask why? You know I support you in anything you might choose.”

“Well… she’s really hot and sweet and so goddamn nice but I can only see us that way in the short term. I was able to help with the whole video thing and I’m actively trying to help her realize how fucking incredible she is but I don’t think we would be good together.”

“Gem, for the short time that I’ve known you, you are quite literally the most selfless person ever. That’s really fucking rare for people like us so if you feel like this is something that is going to help you then I think you need to choose it. Keep being friends with Emma and have fun but do what you need to do.”

“Yeah, I just don’t feel like I’m at a point in my life where I can be a serious girlfriend. I literally just made it to university and everything is already pretty fucking insane. We talked about it a lot... afterwards. Emma knew that I was happy to help her get through this and to learn to love herself - a bit literally I guess - but we both decided that she needed an actual partner and not a shapeshifting fuckbuddy therapist. She needs someone that is going to be there for her in ways I can’t. I just… I feel like I change too much. ”

“Woah hey, you’re perfect how you are but honestly I agree with you, getting into a serious relationship right now might actually mess up everything else so I’m glad that you actually know what is good for you. I’m so fucking proud of you Gem, and it’s good you talked about this with Emma so now you’re both on the same page and weird shit won’t go down.”

“Aww stop it. We’re going to make each other cry and our makeup will get all kinds of fucked up.” I laughed wetly and pulled her into a hug, gingerly maneuvering so none of my very exposed skin was touching hers. The single problem that this dress had was that I could literally kill anyone instantly.

“VICKY! Darling get over here, look who I found.” Gemma and I both turned to look in the direction of the voice that just shouted my name. My dad was standing next to Andre and his dad and was frantically waving me over.

“Your dad?”

“My dad. I’ll talk to you later okay?”

“Yeah thanks for checking up on me. I think I really needed that.”

“Anytime.” I smiled at her and then started making my way over to the little group, dropping off the champagne flute on a passing waiter’s tray.

“Hey dad, Mr. Anderson. Good to see you again.”

“You too Victoria. You look absolutely beautiful tonight, as always. Doesn’t she Andre?”

“Hmm yeah Vic, you look incredible. The color really looks good on you.”

“You have to thank dad for that one, he picked out the entire thing.”

“Aww Vicky you give too much credit to your old man, I have way too many designer friends that were happy to finally design something for you.”

“Right, Adrian - you and I have some catching up to do. Let’s leave the bright young heroes of tomorrow to mingle.”

“Yes, let’s see if they’re serving any of that top shelf whisky.” I heard their chuckles as the pair walked off towards the bar and I turned to Andre.

“So… you and Cate huh?”

“Fuck off.” He answered with a laugh clearly slipping into his voice as we started making rounds around the groups of trustees. Better to be a united front against these people.

I grabbed two glasses of champagne and made my way out of the main reception. There were too many people and everyone’s clothes kept brushing against my naked arms. All I wanted to do was grab someone’s exposed hand and take away every inch of their life force just to feel a little less staticky. So I thought that the next best thing was to absorb any and all of the plant life outside the building.

Sitting down on the stone steps I pulled off one of my gloves and eased my fingertips into the soil. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and focused. The little pulses of the underground root systems started to sing against my power, each cell produced enough energy that after a few minutes the static that filled my mind faded away. I dusted off my hand and pulled my glove back on and was about to head back into the hall when I heard some leaves rustling.

“Uh, is anyone out there?”

“You know if this was a horror movie you would definitely be dead right now.” Jordan’s unmistakable voice rang out into the night making let out a laugh.

“Aww don’t kill me Jordan, I want to make it to season 2.” Jordan walked out from behind one of the bushes and ran a hand through their hair. It made her look so fucking good that it should be a criminal offence.

“Of course you like Scream. What are you doing out here?” They asked as they took a seat next to me and grabbed one of the champagne glasses, shifting as their mouth made contact with the rim of the glass.

“Killing some plants and trying to get away from all the people. Why are you out here?” I took a sip from my own glass and leaned back so my elbows made contact with the cold concrete floor.

“Trying to get away from my parents. They’re just so fucking frustrating, like I know they’re trying but I’m not just their son. Fuck you really don’t want to hear this.” Just as they were about to get up, I extended my hand and grabbed her forearm.

“Hey look, I do want to hear about it. You don’t need to pretend everything is perfect all the fucking time cause it’s not.”

“I- yeah thanks. I just don’t want to be too much and we literally just met.”

“Hey! We got high and have gone through more trauma than most people have in their lifetimes. I think we’re bonded for life now.” He lets out a chuckle and traces a hand over my gloves. A giddy little smile appears on my face.

“Yeah I guess we are.” His eyes level up with mine and something softens in them, they are about to open their mouth again when I hear a loud shout from inside.

“Vicky!” Fucking hell not again.

“Seems like someone is calling you.”

“Yeah my dad is having fun showcasing me like a prize trophy to all the trustees. We’ll talk later?”

“Definitely.” They switch with a pop and extends their hand. My leather gloves stop the contact from feeling too intimate but it still felt like sparks were extending all over my body.

“Vicky!”

“Fuck, see you in a bit.” I blow them a kiss as I dash inside searching the crowd for my dad, once he sees me he points at the people next to him with a smile and mouths: ‘trustees’. Great, just perfect.

I leaned my head against the cold bar top, the dean’s speech had grated my already raw nerves and dad had almost started giving me an entire lecture on why I should have been up there with Marie. I was happy for her truly, but this whole situation was fucked.

“Oh wow you two look rough.” Cate’s voice made me look up from my position on the bar to see that Jordan had silently joined my side and was downing a glass of champagne.

“I hate this.”

“What happened to you?”

“Parents.”

“Dad.” I said at the same time as Jordan and we sent each other empathetic looks.

“Say no more.” Cate took off her glove in a swift move and pressed her fingers to the bartender’s hand. “Vodka. The expensive shit you save for the big swinging dicks. Oh and three glasses.”

I got up from my position and smiled gratefully, grabbing the extra glass I followed the duo over to one of the more secluded sections of the room. We spent the next few minutes, while everyone pretended to give a single fuck about Brink, steadily downing multiple shots of vodka and talking about campus gossip and the latest shitty show Vought had put out.

“Hey Moreau.” I turned to look in the direction that Jordan had directed her spiteful tone at, there stood Marie, looking stunning in that red dress. As their argument progressed I silently poured myself another shot (if you could even consider it a shot) of vodka.

“I didn’t know I had powers until my first period… I couldn’t control the blood so it sliced right through my mom’s body. My dad came, same deal.” My heart dropped, holy shit - and I thought my situation was bad.

“Fucking hell.” I said I took a sip of my glass.

“Yeah so if you can excuse me, I have just spent the entire night being dragged around like a fucking showpony.”

“Hey.” Cate pulls up one of the seats to the table and pats the cotton cushion.

“My family and I were on a camping trip, my little brother kept kicking at my shins. I didn’t know about my power so I grabbed him by the arm and told him to go away and never come back. He did just that - they sent out search parties and everything but… we never found him. My mom never touched me again. Neither did my dad.” I swallow dryly and move a drop of condensation along the rim of my glass. Why the hell would Vought do this to us? Greed probably. It’s always about greed and power.

“I had no idea. I’m so sorry.” Marie stuttered out and I cleared my throat.

“It’s not your fault. Your parents gave you a dangerous drug as a baby to make a buck off you-”

“No, no they weren’t like that.”

“Yes they were, they did this. You didn't, so don't you spend a second crying over them.”

“I- uh. I know the official story is that my mom died giving birth to me and that I got my powers much later but umm that didn’t exactly happen. I don’t remember it much because supposedly I was just a few days old but she touched my hand while singing me to sleep one night. My dad puts on a show for everyone most of the time. He expects perfection because that’s the only way he can cope with the literal murderer of his wife living under his roof.”

I felt a tear slip from my eyes and wiped it away quickly as the entire group just looked at with guilt in their eyes.

“So yeah there’s my little sob story. I still feel responsible even if dad gave me these godforsaken powers, which fucking sucks.” I laughed wetly and took a swig of vodka, letting the burning sensation cloud my thoughts.

“Vic, holy shit. I’m so fucking sorry.” Cate rubbed my shoulder and I smiled at the feeling of warmth that radiated from her gloves against my skin.

“You know… I killed my grandpa with my powers.” I turned to look at Jordan who was staring at me with a neutral expression on their face.

“No you didn’t.” Cate responded.

“Yeah I know… I was just feeling left out.” I let out a loud snort and covered my face with my glove as I continued to giggle. Jordan smirked at me and nudged their pinky against mine.

“Hey… umm guys - I fucked up.” Andre said as came up to the table, panic clearly showing in his eyes.

“Andre…” I started, a clearly annoyed tone seeping into my voice.

“What did you do?”

“It’s about her roommate.”

“Emma?”

“Who the fuck is Emma?”

“Andre…” I repeated as I realized what he had done. Oh no.

“I think she’s stuck.”

“You didn’t.”

“Where? Where is she stuck?”

“You know where.”

“Andre. You promised.”

“Andre, you fucking idiot.” I leaned back in my chair as I uttered the words and closed my eyes tightly. This nightmare seemed to be never-ending.

links to the outfits cause i was bored: vic's dress but greyer, vic's dad's suit, gemma's suit

lmk ur thoughts <3

taglist: @neapolitantoebeans @scorchedfangirl @losers-club6 @vvyuqi @bubblebuttwade @fix5idiots @ponypickle @nellyboosworld

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rashomonss · 1 year

Text

A HUMANS WRATH

Prologue

A/N: So this is my first story thing on here so please be nice, I’m sensitive lmao. Anyway this idea came to me one night as i was trying to fall asleep. I was wondering what it would be like if there was an MC who hated the brothers after lesson 16 and ended up treating them like crap. But if they got switched with the regular timeline MC (which is y’all). Anyways hope you enjoy! <3

Warnings: Lesson 16 spoilers, death, choking, angst?

The start of something disheartening

There are numerous different timelines in this world however most of them aren’t as great as others make them out to be, you of all people should know. You have lived through almost being killed in cold blood and hell you even watched yourself take your very last breath with your own eyes.

It was a weird feeling to describe, in front of you was yourself however not you at the same time.

You had quietly watched from the staircase as you were being held up by your neck slowly losing oxygen and struggling to free yourself from the demon's grasp.

Belphegor held you up with a single hand and watched mockingly as you had met your demise. You were connected. Everything they felt while dying you felt it too. I mean that is you. The firm grasp on your throat, the burning sensation in your lungs as you try your best to gasp for any sort of air available.

The tears prickling the corners of your eyes as your head feels like it’s about to explode. And lastly the hurt you felt in your chest, not from your lungs or even the lack of oxygen, but from the betrayal. You weren’t stupid, he was a demon after all, a very cunning one at that. You knew he could kill you, however just as you did for his brothers, you had also given him a chance, it’s only fair right?

Well if it isn’t the consequences of your own actions. Lucifer did warn you after all, but no matter what he did your curiosity continued to fuel your persistence. All of the brothers admired that about you, but could that quality be so admirable at this instant?

Bringing you back to the present you stood there watching your face contort and struggle as you clawed at the demon holding you. Why couldn’t you look away? Was this something out of a nightmare? What did you even do to deserve this? All those thoughts swirled around in your head but came to a halt. After everything that happened, at the end of the day that is you dying right there is it not?

You had finally taken your last breath. The body in front of you went limp. Your body went limp. Screaming and shouting were then followed after your body hit the floor. Whose voice was that? Mammon’s? It didn’t matter at that second, nothing mattered. Everything was spinning, the demons were spiraling, what was going on…

But before the situation could get worse low and behold the demon prince was there to save the day with his charming butler at his side. Explaining to the seven demons that you were a distant descendent of their most beloved sister. After that knowledge their demeanors changed in an instant and a part of you hoped that it wasn’t because of your lineage. However with each passing day they assured you that they had loved you for being you, not just because of your ties to their beloved sister.

In the end the incident was never brought up again and you continued your journey with your companions through your stay at the Devildom. However, did anyone ever apologize to you? Or did you just forget about the whole ordeal as a response to the trauma they had caused.

Well maybe you did, but another version of you didn’t.

As Barbatos said, there are many different outcomes to a situation in many different timelines. Yours just happened to be a favorable outcome for everyone. However another version of you in a different timeline despised the brothers.

You felt completely sick knowingly you were a descendent of their sister. To be related to such creatures was enough to make you gag. Sure you tried to enjoy your time with them previously but all that was thrown out the window the second Belphegor had killed you. You weren’t about to forgive them, not a chance. No matter how hard they tried to get close to you all of them had been pushed away and kept at an arm's length.

You weren’t about to let them deceive you again. They were demons after all so you could never be too careful. However they just didn’t know when to quit. It honestly annoyed you at how much they cared after Diavolo revealed that little secret about your history. You never believed they cared half as much as they did before that was revealed so why are they bothering now.

The demon brothers however approached the situation differently. Sure they felt great guilt for watching as Belphie killed you but there you stood a second after your last breath, completely fine, not even a single scratch on your head. And that’s when they realized they were given a second chance, a chance to make it up to you, to make things better, to ask for forgiveness. It was only a bonus to them that Diavolo had revealed that you were a descendent of Lilith.

They however were in for a rude awakening when you wanted nothing to do with any of them. That can’t be right? You should have been able to forgive them so this incident could be swept under the rug and be completely forgotten about. But no you were stubborn and they knew it, it was a quality they had also admired in you, now however it’s soon to be one they despise.

Next part

#obey me angst #obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me x reader #obey me belphie #obey me mc #obey me mammon #obey me luficer #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #shall we date obey me #demon brothers

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angelbaby-fics · 1 year

Text

Chosen Family

Pairing: CG!Ransom x Little!Reader

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: Mean family members and a canon referencing curse word!

A/N: Ahh the Ransom feels continue.... I saw Glass Onion recently and I absolutely loved it, but it sure made me miss Chris 😅 so of course I've been revisiting Knives Out now 💕 This is kind of based on a true story with my own family, only I wish I had protective Ransom to come rescue me 🥺😣 so even if that didn't happen in real life, I can just write it instead 💕💕 enjoy!!

The tires of Ransom’s car threw gravel across the driveway as he peeled in, coming to a stop directly in front of the house. He didn’t want to be here a second longer than absolutely necessary, and this was the easiest way for a quick getaway. You’d fallen asleep in the backseat on the drive over, the rain on the windows and the winding forest roads lulling you to dreamland. Ransom grabbed your backpack out of the passenger seat and got out of the car. He circled around to your door and opened it, noticing you wince as you felt a blast of cold outdoor air enter the heated car. He undid your seatbelt and lifted you out of the car and into his arms, while you buried your head in his sweater clad shoulder, desperately clinging onto your nap.

“I know, I know, doll. We just have to make an appearance and then we can go home and cuddle by the fire, you like that?” Ransom said softly in your ear, petting your head against his chest. “You wanna walk by yourself, baby?”

“Mmm…” You mumbled, which Ransom knew meant no. You’d been more little this week, more often. The dreary weather and stress of the holiday season, the fact that the sun was gone by 4pm, all this had you falling deeper and deeper into headspace as winter settled over Massachusetts. Not that Ransom minded at all, but you’d never been so little at one of his family’s big gatherings, and he was anxious to see how this day would play out.

“Aww, come on, baby, I know you can do it.” He said, attempting to lower you to the ground, but your legs latched around his torso. Just then, Harlan’s dogs came bolting from across the yard. Ransom backed up against the car, trying to shoo the dogs away, not wanting to get dirty paw prints and slobber on his clothes. They growled at him, sensing his rigid energy, before you unclenched your fist from Ransom’s sweater and reached a little hand down to give the nearest pup a pat on the head.“Hello good doggy.” You said quietly with a smile, wriggling out of Ransom’s grasp to better play with the dogs.

“So you won’t walk for daddy, but you will for a doggy, huh?” Ransom laughed, patting your head as your affection subdued the dogs. They happily trotted alongside you as you approached the big house, and Ransom grabbed your hand, giving it a squeeze before you walked in. “Well, nice of you to finally join us.” A scathing voice floated through the foyer.

You shifted behind Ransom, slightly shielding yourself from the judgment of his family. You knew they didn’t like him, and by extension, that meant they didn’t like you. Usually you were big enough to hold your own against them, or to stay home alone when you weren’t feeling up to it, but you’d been inseparable from Ransom lately, and when you were still regressed the day of the Thrombey’s annual holiday dinner, he brainstormed all the ways to get you through the event with as little incident as possible. That’s when Ransom shrugged your backpack off his shoulder and handed it to you.“Here you go, angel,” he whispered, “go run upstairs and play with your toys until it's time to go, alright?”

You nodded, taking the bag and running up the staircase to an empty room where you knew you wouldn’t be disturbed, leaving Ransom to face the brunt of his family on his own. As much as he hated having to spend an afternoon with them, he’d do it a million afternoons if it meant you could be spared.

You dumped the contents of your backpack onto the rug, scanning your eyes over them before reaching for your iPad. You didn’t get much screentime when you were little, Ransom preferring to have you spend quality time with him, so you were delighted to see he’d packed your tablet for you, allowing for a rare opportunity to rot your brain on mobile apps all afternoon. Your favorite game was still on the loading screen when you heard a voice carry out in the hallway.

“So bizarre… like his little pet.” You heard someone say.

“Honestly, if I were Ransom I’d be so annoyed.” Another one chimed in.

And you felt it. The words hit your core like a bomb, wiping out any bit of confidence and joy you had in your headspace. You knew they probably talked about you and your relationship with Ransom, your big self knew that kind of gossip was inevitable, but you’d never heard it for yourself, especially in such a sensitive state. The words cut through you like icicles, freezing your blood and your body in place.

Annoying.

Bizarre.

Little pet.

Was this true? Were you annoying to Ransom, following him around everywhere, relentlessly clinging to his side? Was that why he’d sent you up here all by yourself, to get rid of you for at least an afternoon of relief? The faces of the colorful characters on your favorite app blurred through your tears as these thoughts swirled around your head. You wished you’d never heard them at all.

Someone else had heard them too.

Ransom had been stomping his way up the steps, already wanting to leave the gathering after just a few agonizing minutes with his mother, when he heard his cousin’s voice from a nearby room, and then his name. He heard the nasty things they said about you and prayed to anyone listening that you weren’t within earshot. As soon as he found you, still sitting frozen on the carpet with tears streaming down your face, he knew that prayer hadn’t been heard.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Ransom muttered, coming towards you with open arms, but you pushed him away. “No, it's okay, I just want to go home.” You whispered, shoving all your belongings back into your backpack.

“Absolutely, honey, I was just about to say the same thing.” Ransom replied, taking the backpack from you and slinging it over his shoulder. “I could’ve carried that.” You spat, hurrying past him out the door and down the hallway towards the stairs. Ransom sped up to match your stride, wanting more than anything else in the world to get both you and him out of that house as soon as possible. You pushed open the front door, Ransom yelling an emotionless “goodbye” to the rest of the family before slamming it behind him. He reached towards the back seat door to open it for you, but you were already getting settled in the front, pulling your seatbelt across your chest. Ransom got in the driver’s seat, zooming out of the driveway just as hastily as he’d arrived. The two of you remained silent throughout the journey home. You stared out the window with a head full of overwhelming thoughts until finally they got too much and spilled out.

“Am I annoying?” You whispered as the Beemer pulled into yours and Ransom’s driveway.

“Not in a million years, angel.” Ransom answered, confidently and quickly, with all his heart.

“But I heard Joni say… I’m like a pet. And Meg said you’re annoyed by it. Your family hates me.”

“Baby ignore them. They’re idiots and they can all eat shit.” He said with a grin that he hoped you’d return, but once again he was out of luck.

“But… but they’re your family!” You sniffled, finally turning to look at him. . “Not anymore, not after tonight. I don’t associate with people who can’t respect my little angel. You’re the only family I need, babydoll.”

The tiniest hint of a smile ghosted your face when you heard your favorite pet name. Ransom hooked a finger under your chin, lifting your face slightly so he could see it better, and gave you a soft, sweet kiss on your lips. “You are too, daddy.”

“There’s my baby. Now to make up for today, I think someone deserves lots and lots of cuddles!”

#ransom drysdale x little!reader #little!reader #ransom x reader #ransom x little!reader #ransom drysdale #cg x little!reader #agere fic #chloe's fic

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gregorovitch-adler · 8 months

Text

Sock

"John this is ridiculous."

"I know! But it's fun, so let's go for it."

"Aren't we supposed to put the notes in some Christmas stockings?"

"Forgot to buy them," said John, closing his eyes momentarily. "Let's just use a pair of socks instead. They're perfectly clean."

"D'you think Father Christmas is real?" asked Sherlock, picking up a fresh, lone sock from the coffee table. "You think he'd fulfill my wish if I just wrote it on a paper and placed it in this stupid sock?"

"I don't! I realised long ago during my childhood that he isn't real. But Harry and I used to do it anyway. It just became a habitual thing," said John as he tore off a piece of paper from a small notebook and scribbled something on it. He folded that paper and placed it in the other sock - which was of the same pair as Sherlock's.

He looked up at Sherlock with expectation, who was just sitting there on his armchair, looking at the floor with his lips pressed together.

"Go on," said John and passed another piece of paper and a pen to Sherlock across the coffee table.

"If you know your wish isn't going to come true, this whole thing is a waste of time," Sherlock said and picked up the pen paper to write something anyway.

"It's not! Think of it as a type of manifestation." John stretched his legs and yawned.

They didn't have elaborate Christmas celebrations in 221 B, but John was still happy about tomorrow. Any special occasion spent at home - with Sherlock - was a day well spent.

"I don't believe in all that. Whatever's going to happen will happen. No matter how much you manifest."

John shook his head and sighed. "All right. Suit yourself then. I'm off to bed."

John got up from his armchair with the sock in his hand. He walked across the room to the fireplace and hung the sock over it.

His note inside it was short and simple: My Current Life.

He knew it was not a wish, technically, but he did not want any external factors to take Sherlock and his life at 221 B away from him. Again.

He'd had a deep and long talk with Sherlock about the staged suicide, and why Sherlock had to do it. John had finally started to see that incident from Sherlock's perspective too, and he really wished to keep his current life forever.

Besides, John knew that his feelings for Sherlock were unrequited, and things between them were going to be that way. It was not as though he could ask for Sherlock as his partner. He would rather keep his manifestations realistic.

With these thoughts, John went to the staircase leading to his room and started to climb up.

He entered his bedroom, closed the door behind him, and hopped onto the bed immediately. It didn't take him long to doze off.

John's eyes fluttered open in the middle of the night. He was thirsty. He got up and dropped his feet on the floor. After stretching his limbs, he got off the bed and stepped out of the bedroom to go downstairs.

John stopped in the middle of the staircase to take in the whole sitting room. They had decorated the Christmas tree a day before, and despite Sherlock's complaining now and then, it had been a pleasant time.

John noticed a pair of socks hanging above the fireplace - not just his own. He smiled. Sherlock had participated in something just because John had asked him to.

John went to the kitchen to grab a glass from one of the cabinets. He took it to the sink and opened the tap to fill it.

As he began to drink, leaning against the counter, John stared at the socks in the sitting room again.

He and Sherlock were not too dissimilar from a pair of socks, were they? Each completed the other; both were useless on their own.

He did not know about Sherlock, but John knew he was pretty much useless without him.

John closed his eyes and shook his head to get these thoughts out of his head again. He sighed. If only Sherlock felt the same.

Finishing the glass of water, he put it in the sink and wondered: What had Sherlock written in the note inside his sock?

John went to the sitting room and walked to the fireplace to reach for the other sock. He knew he shouldn't be looking into someone else's note - it was prying, and it defeated the purpose - but for some reason, he could not stop himself from doing it that night.

After all, what was it that Sherlock wanted in his life so much that he ended up hanging the sock with the note - when he didn't even believe in things like that? John felt like he needed to know.

John ran his fingers over the fabric of that sock, feeling the piece of paper from the outside.

John looked over his shoulder before finally taking out the paper. He swallowed as his heart began to race. He opened the paper carefully with his fingers, and his jaw dropped when he saw what the note said.

John.

Was he dreaming? Had Sherlock written that to mess with John? But no... he wouldn't have expected John to read the note. No, it was real!

Sherlock had wished for John this Christmas. It sounded unrealistic, so John turned around the note this way and that to see if there was more to it.

Nothing. Sherlock had actually wanted John, and that was it. Nothing else.

John couldn't control the huge grin forming on his face. But that grin quickly turned into a rueful smile. If only he had known about it sooner. Then again, John had not done a great job communicating about his feelings to Sherlock either.

Anyway, as he folded the paper to place it back in the sock, John made a decision.

The moment he faced Sherlock again in the morning, he was going to discuss this with him finally. No more misunderstandings. John was going to put an end to this pining tomorrow.

But tonight, he was going to sleep fine - cherishing the memory of Sherlock's note in that sock.

Tagging: @helloliriels @topsyturvy-turtely @gaylilsherlock @lisbeth-kk @keirgreeneyes @missdeliadili @lookingforlifeoutthere @peanitbear @a-victorian-girl @calaisreno @kettykika78

#johnlock #bbc sherlock #john watson #sherlock holmes #sherlock holmes/john watson #sherlock x john #ficlet #new ficlet #fic writing #30 days of sherlock september 2023 #prompt: sock #fluff #Christmas theme #pining john watson #sherlockian #sherlock headcanon

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moomv · 5 months

Text

—till death do us part ; chapter four - loose strands of time

when a girl vows to save an ever-destined agency from death, even if she's been trying 106 different times and even if she's died 106 different times in the process.

-series masterlist

-word count. 2.7k

-genre. fic, comfort/angst, eventual romance

-tags. fem.reader, maybe ooc dazai??, small panic attack, mentions of blood

You were running out of time.

You question now why you hadn’t started to act earlier. You question why you hadn’t started to plan sooner.

You curse yourself now why you had been swayed by the sentimentality of beginning a new life, why you had done what you had.

Foolish.

You knew the consequences if you didn’t act, you knew how it went, you have been doing this 105 different times, you knew, so then why?

Foolish.

You shouldn’t have brought yourself into the public by going with Osamu, you shouldn’t have followed Akutagawa and you shouldn’t have had met Fyodor.

Foolish.

Now you were out of time, the strings of fate squeezing every crevice of you, killing you with every breath it made, the guillotine of fate swung upon you for defying the all-knowing god.

Foolish.

Your lungs protested against every action you took, your stomach squeezed with the prospect of losing to him again.

You weaved through the few people that occupied the street before catching up to Ranpo’s side, your hand still firmly latched onto his, the chill of the evening seeping into your clothes.

“Where are you taking me?”

He looked back down at the case file he held before answering your question, “A case.”

You nodded, “Yes, but why all of a sudden?”

He stopped midway down the street, “Wait- which way was the train station again?” he turned to you expectantly.

You smiled before taking the lead, “Seems things never change.”

He huffed behind you, “I could if I used my ability. But it’s such a hassle when I have you.”

You laughed, placing your hand on your chest dramatically, “I’m flattered,”

You could practically see him smile behind you, “You should be, it’s a great honour you know.”

You smiled, “Oh, of course.” you turned a corner just as you spoke, in the end coming into contact with the train station, a sea of people exited and entered the underground entrance. You turned to the brunette, “Here we are, where do you need to go?”

“Kanagawa.” Ranpo let go of your hand and took out a lollipop from his pocket before opening the wrapper and folding the case file and shoving it into his pocket, he looked at you, “Want one?”

You shook your head, “No, I’m okay.”

He shrugged, before going back into motion and into the train station, you took a deep breath as you entered the sea of people, close behind Ranpo’s form.

“What’s happened in Kanagawa?” You asked, he rolled the lollipop around in his mouth before answering, “Murder case.”

“Murder case?” You asked back.

He hummed, “Which way?”

You pointed to a set of staircases, he followed where you directed before answering your previous question, “Something about a murdered man, probably his wife that killed him.”

You pulled him in another direction, before frowning, “Are we meeting anyone and does Fuku-san know?”

He nodded, “Yes and yes.”

“Who are we meeting?” You questioned.

Ranpo looked at you before sighing, “Do you have to ask so many questions?”

You directed Ranpo to the station, “Here and yes I do.” he huffed, “Police. Now stop asking so many questions!”

You sighed, “Yes, yes.”

Finally you the two of you arrived at your train’s location. Patiently the two of you waited for the arriving train, the crowds of the evening filling the room slowly, workmen and women, children and high schoolers, everyone and all and you regretted that Ranpo had to choose now for this little case.

You never really did well in crowds, ever since that one incident. They always felt all-consuming, drowning you in each person, suffocating you till nothing was left, leaving you feeling breathless and dizzy.

It wasn’t always so bad, sometimes you did okay and sometimes you were fine, but why is it so bad now?

You went behind Ranpo, you could feel your head get a little bit lighter, the world meshing together in a fog of noise and people. You gripped the hem of your sleeves in an attempt to ease your body and chain you back to reality. Why, why, why, now? Why is it happening now?

You placed your head onto his shoulder to try and drown out the deafening noise of the outside world, you took another deep breath, the air burned your lungs, setting you aflame with invisible fire.

Ranpo turned around and with one look at your state, grabbed his hat and placed it on your head, effectively covering your face and line of eyesight, hushing the rampat world that sat outside you and him.

You were grateful in that moment that he was so intuitive.

“There, there, [Name]-chan, it’s okay.” His voice was quiet, a soothing calm to your storm, you took in another breath of air, the world clashing together in a fight for your attention.

He grabbed your hand again and then quickly walked away from the crowds of people.

You arrived at a small nook, a bench and a vending machine sat in the little area. He sat you down on the nearby bench, while he went to grab drinks from the vending machine.

The soft clang of coins and the beep of the vending machine filling in the noise. He came over to your side with a drink, gently he placed it in your hands before sitting down on the bench next to you with an exaggerated sigh.

You took another breath, the world easing back together, thread and needle till you were only left with the ringing in your ears. “Sorry.”

He opened his drink before answering, “No need to be sorry, I should’ve known.”

You tightened your grip on the can, “But-”

He tilted his head to look at you, his eyes open, all-devouring seas that you couldn’t help but drown in. “It’s okay.”

You looked up at him, your eyes widened before you looked back down, the spinning of the world coming to a sudden stop, you let out a breath that you didn’t know you were holding. “Still… I’m sorry. I became a burden again.”

He closed his eyes, a childish smile suddenly overtaking his lips, “You could never be a burden to me.”

Your hands gripped the can of your drink before easing into a delicate hold. You turned away from him, a small making itself home on your lips.

You hated the end of each life the most.

When the fateful time came you were left with left with only a sense of failure. Failure at your own duty, you were supposed to protect them so why couldn’t you? Why do you always end in failure? Why-?

You have asked yourself that question a thousand times over, turning in your mind like a forever broken tune, a tune without melody a tune without words and forever did you come to the same conclusion that it was just fate’s sick way of taunting you, taunting you with forever what if’s and imaginary scenarios- What if… it says, that you joined the agency with a different ability and what if you never had to go through the hardships you’ve had to endure. What if… your parents never died and you happily lived with them, oblivious to the truths of the world and the cruelty you wouldn’t ever learn.

What if- you died that day and never came back, you died and you were in death’s embrace, shielded away from fate’s hands and shielded away from the world. What if you weren’t dying right now?

You could feel the bark of the tree behind you dig into your back, you could smell the metallic tang of blood in the air.

Distantly you gazed at the sky, fluffy grey clouds and the sweet smell of soon rain on the horizon, how cliche, you think, to die in the rain.

“[Name]-chan.” You hummed at your name, your thoughts filtering in through your mind in soft recollection.

“What is it Dazai-san?” Your eyes flickered to the brunette, his face was smoothed out in a look of serenity, his eyes softened with the weight of your death on the near horizon, it almost looked like he didn’t care. But you knew he did, you knew that seeing you die and not being able to do anything because of the chance of his ability activating was crushing him.

“” Dazai-san? ”’ He mocked your earlier words, “I thought we were closer than that.” A sliver of a smile appeared on his face, you smiled back at him.

“What is it Osamu?” you tried again and in the end pleasing the brunette.

He looked down at his intertwined hands, “Promise me you won’t try to meet me when you go back.”

You looked back at the approaching clouds, rain would soon dampen the ground and earth, you wondered if you would be alive to feel it. “I promise.”

Dazai looked up at you, quick surprise flickering in his eyes before settling on realization, “You knew?”

“Of course, I knew. I have lived countless times Osamu, this wasn’t our first meeting.”

His eyes widened before he burst out into melancholy laughter, “Of course, you knew, of course.”

You looked down at your reddened shirt, “I only have a few minutes left. I can’t feel my hands anymore.”

Dazai stopped laughing, quietness stretching around the two of you in heavy weight, you sighed. “It’ll be okay.” you didn’t know if you were comforting yourself or him but nonetheless the words felt like a soothing balm on an aching wound.

You looked back out at the sky again, “It’ll be okay, I’m used to this.”

He stayed silent so you took that as your cue to continue, “It never is easy dying, even if I know I won’t really be dead.” you took in a shuttering breath, “That was the hardest part, not being able to die. You never know the luxury of it until it's been taken away.”

“But I’m okay as long as I get to see everyone again, see you again. I’m okay dying for you till the end of the world, as long as I get to be by everyone’s side, by yours… I’m okay.”

“Why you?” He spoke it as though thought rather than question. His words hung heavy in the air, thick with a multitude of unsaid words shared between the two of you, if only you had more time, if only-

You took in a deep breath before gently shaking your head, your hair swaying with the movement, “I don’t know.”

Dazai hung his head, his hair covering his expression, you wondered what he looked like, what his face read. “It’s not fair, is it?”

You smiled, “No. But if I can protect you all I don’t care if it is.” each word you spoke got quieter and quieter, your voice mixing in with the soft wind of the air, each second your vision got darker and darker, fireflies of night consuming your vision whole.

He sighed and brought his head back up, slowly he stood up and walked over to your slouched form, “How cruel this world is to you.” his voice was soft, a delicate blanket that draped over your body in warming comfort.

Your eyes eased shut, once more death kissing you with frosted reassurances that now felt futile in the weight of your ability, futile in the weight of eternity.

The sun peacefully shined in the distance, alighting the world in warm hues of yellow. You basked in the presence of it while Ranpo talked to the police officers.

“The wife did it.” He stated it matter-of-factly, the officer in front of him swallowed hard before gesturing to another officer, a silent command.

Ranpo took off his glasses and pocketed them. The officer in front of him nodded twice, “Right.” he noted down on the notepad before swallowing again, “...The evidence?”

“In their garden shed, a knife with her fingerprints and his blood.” Ranpo turned to you afterwards, you sighed already knowing what he wanted. “Things really don’t change, hm? You're still the greatest detective it seems.”

Ranpo laughed, “Of course I am!”

You smiled gently, your heart all too aching to see his smile forever bright, forever radiant. “Good job, Ranpo.”

Ranpo beamed before pulling his hands behind his head and sauntering off, “Let’s go, [Name]-chan, I want to try out the new bakery near the agency.”

You nodded to the officer, “Case solved, yes?”

He straightened up, “Yes! Thank you for your help.”

“You really should be thanking…” You looked in the direction of Ranpo, he was silently watching the exchange, impatience laced within his features, you sighed. “Ah, never mind. That will be all. Have a good day.” You dipped your head before walking over to Ranpo.

Ranpo took your hand once you were close enough before starting to walk down the street.

“I didn’t bring my wallet you know.”

Ranpo huffed, “Fine. I’ll buy them this time then.”

You giggled, a smile easing its way to your lips, “Ranpo buying me a treat? How unheard of!”

He huffed again, false exasperation filling his breath, “It won’t happen again. Don’t get used to it.”

You came up to his side, before smiling at him, “Thank you, Ranpo, truly.”

He stayed silent, his eyes focused on the street ahead of him, his eyes pure emerald, you admired the colour before looking ahead again. Warm comfort filling every bone, you were glad you were back. Back within their embraces of warmth and never-ending affection, back within their words and protection, truly, if it was for them, you would do anything.

You had first met Dazai at the beginning of your 13th life, 13th attempt.

You were still new to going back, you were still new to everything, your ability, everyone forgetting you and dying, you were still new at it.

You had met him when the sun descended into the horizon, darkness stealing away the world in temporary bliss.

You had just gotten back from getting sweets for Ranpo. He was sitting by the window, Kunikida was talking his ear off, comical shouts coming from the blonde. Dazai was smiling, a loose type of smile, a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

The rest of the agency was empty, except for you four. You dropped the bag of sweets on Ranpo’s desk, he gleamed happily up at you before digging into the bag.

You walked over towards the two, “Who is this?” you asked the blonde. He stopped shouting at the brunette and spun around.

Quickly he straightened himself and pushed his glasses up, “New agency member. [L.Name]-san meet Dazai, Dazai meet [L.Name]-san.”

You titled your head to the side, “Dazai? Have we met before? That name sounds familiar.”

He blinked a couple of times before getting up and gently grabbing your hand, “No, I would have remembered a beauty like you.”

Kunikida quickly hit him with his notebook, a comically loud thunk echoing in the room, “Show some respect, you idiot!”

You smiled, “No need to be so harsh, Kunikida, I don’t mind. What’s your first name, Dazai-san?”

“Dazai Osamu,” Gently he rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

“[L.Name], [Name]. It's a pleasure to meet you, Dazai-san.”

Dazai smiled, “As it is to meet you, [L.Name]-chan!”

Kunikida huffed, “You don’t need to show so much respect towards him, [L. Name]-san,” he glared at the brunette, “he doesn’t deserve it.”

Dazai blew air, “How cruel, Kunikida-kun!”

You laughed, “It only feels fitting,” sheepishly you rubbed the back of your neck, “I’d feel awkward otherwise.”

Kunikida pushed his glasses up, “You’re lucky you scoundrel. But if I ever catch you harassing [L.Name]-san again, you’ll get more than just a warning.”

Dazai held his hands as though guilty, “Yes, yes.”

You giggled before walking over to the brunette and you held out your hand, “Let’s work together well, Dazai-san.”

Dazai smiled this time and this time it reached his eyes, molten brown that seemed to quell all other senses. He took hold of your hand, “It’s a pleasure to work with you, [L.Name]-chan.”

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#bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd angst #bungou stray dogs x reader #bsd x reader #ranpo edogawa #ranpo x reader #dazai osamu #dazai x reader #kunikida doppo #kunikida x reader #bsd imagines #bsd fic #₊˚ʚ writes ₊˚✧

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